French · Joy & Hype
C'est de la balle !
say duh la BAL · /sɛ də la bal/
It's the bomb! / Awesome!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"It's (of) the bullet/ball"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Enthusiastic "this is amazing," slightly slangy, very current with younger speakers. "Trop de la balle" doubles down. Wholly positive; the mild coarseness is just register, not offence. Clean enough for most company.
Heard in the wild
Ce resto est de la balle, tu vas adorer.
This place is the bomb, you'll love it.
Where it lands
France (universal); youth-leaning
Quick answers
- What does "C'est de la balle !" mean?
- In French, "C'est de la balle !" means "It's the bomb! / Awesome!". Literally it's "It's (of) the bullet/ball". Enthusiastic "this is amazing," slightly slangy, very current with younger speakers. "Trop de la balle" doubles down. Wholly positive; the mild coarseness is just register, not offence. Clean enough for most company.
- Is "C'est de la balle !" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "C'est de la balle !"?
- Say it "say duh la BAL" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: sɛ də la bal.
Related in French
Oh la vache ! oh la VASH Holy cow! / Wow! / Whoa! C'est ouf ! say OOF That's insane! / Crazy! (good or bad) Ça déchire ! sa day-SHEER That rocks! / That's awesome! Grave ! GRAHV Totally! / For real! / So much (intensifier) Putain, c'est trop bien ! poo-TAN say troh BYAN F***, this is so good! La classe ! la KLASS Classy! / So cool! / Stylish!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "That's awesome".
- German Geil! Awesome! / Sick! / Hell yes!
- Greek ρε μαλάκα Hey man / dude / bro — the affectionate-insult greeting between friends.
- Italian Figo! Cool! / Awesome! / Sick!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 존나 Fucking / hella — the vulgar intensifier that goes in front of everything.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Do caralho Fucking awesome — OR, with 'casa do', the middle of nowhere
- Russian Класс! Awesome! / Great! / Cool!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.