Words that make noise (1)

Fracas

/fʁaka/

Frrah-kah 

Long a's. Rough rrr, silent s. It's mean, I know. If you can master this, then you can definitely speak French.

It's a literary word for loud clatter, great noise. 

I like that it has two hard consonants. It sounds like the noise is doubled: fra-cas. Picture someone who stumbles and falls flat on their faces, crashing a chair on the process. Which is always somewhat funny. 

It can also sound like an echo: something happened in a cave or a church, and the sound bounces off the walls.

'The hall resounded with a great fracas as colonel Mustard dropped the candlestick.' 

Note that the English meaning of fight, brawl, does not exist in French. So fracas is a faux-ami , a false friend, which is a delightful category I'll soon be telling you more about.

Avec perte et fracas

/avɛk pɛʁt e fʁaka/

Ah-vek pairt ay frrah-kah

With loss and clatter. 

In a brutal, spectacular way. Somewhat flamboyant.

'The Congressman was forced to resign when the scandal about his spendings became public. But he did it avec perte et fracas, bringing down a few other people on his way out.'

 

Emphasis and enthousiasm (2)

Trop

/tʁo/ 
Trrow. With the rough french rr from the back of the throat. (Make sure you keep it dry, you don't want to sound disgusting)

Too much. Too many.
Slightly more intense and young than vachement. Emphasize the rr :tRRop 
'C'est trop bon.' It's so good.
Use with a verb :'I am trrop into Michel Houellbecq's movie art.'


  

Grave

 /ɡʁav/
Grr-ah-vuh. With a long a 'You say tomayto and I say tomahto', the second one.

It means stern, weighty, serious. Nothing to do with a sepulture. Definitely modern. Works with anything. Easily used alone, with an emphasis on the a. Grraaave, like a hearty 'totally', with a little head nod.
'Are you hungry ? Grave.'
This one is so short and efficient it could be american english ! It does carry something post teenage-ish that you need to take into account (don't you have the feeling that this hungry person is about to indulge in some unhealthy fast food junk ?). It is also grammatically incorrect of course as it is an adjective that tends to be used as an adverb.
Not for use in a grown-up/serious/in-laws/professional context.

Enthusiasm and emphasis (1)

La vache !

/la vaʃ/
Lah vasch

The cow ! is an interjection to express how impressed or how surprised you are. Don't ask me why. I have no clue.
 'Oh, la vache ! It's raining hard !'

 

Vachement

 /vaʃmɑ̃/

Vah-schuh-mah

Cow-ly ? The adverb made from cow. It means ' a lot'. It belongs to that nice homy slang you would let your child use in front of you, but not in a writen essay. To be used everywhere, in any situation from 'a vachement cold afternoon' to a 'vachement nice-looking neighbor', or even on its own.

'Did you like it ? Vachement.'