significance from the time at which they appeared in common language. Widespread in the second half of the 20th century, and (from ) refer to people of northern African descent who live in France. The re-verlan-ised word is much more recent, and evolved to refer more generally to people of Arab descent who live in France. In theory, any word can be made into a verlan, but only a few expressions are used in everyday speech. Verbs translated into verlan cannot be conjugated easily. There is no such thing as a verlan grammar, so generally verbs are used in the infinitive, past participle or progressive form. For example: J'étais en train de pécho une bebon ("I was hitting on a hot chick") is said, but not . Here are some examples of French words that have been verlanised and their English meanings: Double verlan Verlanising words often brings up words that are verlan of a verlan. This is sometimes called or . One can find the order of the consonants of the original word, but the vowels have been modified. For example, (verlan of ) becomes . The verlan word , derived from , has been re-verlanised into . Cultural significance Verlan is less a language than a way to set apart certain words. Many verlan words refer either to sex or drugs, related to the original purpose of keeping communication secret from institutions of social control. Verlan is generally limited to one or two key words per sentence. Verlan words and expressions are mixed within a more general language. Verlan is used by people to mark their membership in, or exclusion from, a particular group (generally young people in the cities and , although some French upper-class youth have also started using it as their slang); it is a tool for marking and delineating group identity. Speakers rarely create a verlan word on the fly; rather, their ability to use and understand words from an accepted set of known verlan terms allows them to be identified as part of a verlan-speaking group. Lefkowitz claims that the best speakers of the language are often the worst students, those most needing to hide from authority. Some verlan words have gained mainstream currency. Examples of verlan in cultural mainstream include the 1984 comedy (My New Partner) ( is verlan for , or rotten, and refers to a corrupt policeman); and the 1977