Argot and Slang: A New French and English Dictionary of the Cant Words, Quaint Expressions, Slang Terms and Flash Phrases Used in the High and Low Life of Old and New Paris

Step into the hidden Paris of 1889 - the world behind the world, where criminals spoke in code, fashionable society whispered in euphemism, and the streets hummed with a language the respectable never heard. Albert Barrère spent decades collecting these cant words, slang terms, and flash phrases from the lips of thieves, bohemians, workers, and aristocrats, assembling them into a dictionary that functions as both linguistic record and cultural excavation. This is the argot that Zola populated his novels with, the secret vocabulary that gave the Naturalistic school its raw authenticity. Barrère's passion for what he calls "the lively part of the French language" shines through every entry, revealing not merely words but an entire ecosystem of resistance, humor, and survival. For readers tackling Balzac, Hugo, or any of the great 19th-century French realists, this dictionary unlocks meanings that have faded into obscurity. More than a reference work, it stands as a portrait of Paris when its underworld still kept its secrets.