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French Word of the Day: Blindé

The Local France
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French Word of the Day: Blindé
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

You might hear this French expression used to describe a popular restaurant, the Metro, or your very wealthy friend.

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Why do I need to know blindé?

Because if you want to sing along to 

What does it mean?

Blindé - roughly pronounced blahn-day - technically translates to 'armoured', but its true definition is found in French slang. If you say je suis blindé, a colloquial expression, you are claiming to be ‘filthy rich’, ‘made of money’ or just ‘loaded’. It is popular among French rappers, and it even features in the book Tout l’argot des banlieues, (All the Banlieue Slang).

It can also be used to refer to a place or location being particularly crowded or full of people. For instance, your friend might advise seeking out a different restaurant because the previous one was 'blindé'.

It's a pretty informal expression, so it is best used with a young crowd or among friends.

There are plenty of more formal expressions to choose from if you are looking to describe someone as being wealthy - you could simply say riche, or you could say aisé, which is often used as a term to describe those ‘better-off’ (usually when talking about the wealthier part of the population in socio-economic terms).

There is also fortuné and opulent, or rupin (which means ‘posh' or 'plushy').

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As for calling a place crowded, you could instead opt for bondé. You might also say "il y avait trop de monde" (there were too many people).

Blindé is less frequently used to describe being physically full of something - like food or alcohol. 

Use it like this

Le Metro était blindé - The Metro was packed.

Si je suis aussi bien sapé, c'est forcément que je suis blindé - If I’m this well-dressed, it’s obviously because I’m loaded.

Faut pas exagérer, papa n'est pas blindé quand même - Don't get your hopes up too high, dad's not made of money you know!

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Iain 2023/08/22 15:27
And of course the original meaning crops up in descriptions of the Liberation of Paris which was led by 'la deuxiéme division blindée' commanded by Général LeClerc.
Iain 2023/08/22 15:27
And of course the original meaning crops up in descriptions of the Liberation of Paris which was led by 'la deuxiéme division blindée' commanded by Général LeClerc.

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