Famous French Acronyms Trivia Quiz

Answer: SNCF

"Société Nationale de Chemin de Fer" is literally the national railroad company. 'Chemin de Fer' is literally, road or way made of iron. They often go on strike at strategic moments of the year. The SMIC stands for 'salaire minimum interprofessionel de croissance." If you only earn this minimum wage, you get the wonderful nickname of 'smicard' which means one who's just earning the SMIC. If they speak about smicards in the paper, they are generally talking about how difficult it is to live on the minimum wage.

The EDF is the Electricite de France or French electric company. The TIP is a payment method between banks or to pay bills.

Answer: RIB

« Relevé d'Identité Bancaire" is a little slip on your statement which you detach and give to the person to whom you wish to pay, or who is to pay you. The money is taken directly out of your account. The RER is the Parisian train system or 'Réseau Express Régional" that links to the Metro which goes out to the suburbs. You have one from the airports as well.

The PNB is the "Produit nationale Brut" or GNP in English.

Answer: BD

"Une bande dessinee" means comic strip or book or album and the French consume millions of them and normally call them BDs for short. "Quartier Générale" means headquarters. HLM means 'habitation de loyer modéré' or publicly funded housing. CP means "Cours primaire" or US equivalent of First grade when you are six. CP is considered one of the most difficult years as before that you get to play a bit more, and in CP you must learn to write French, a dreaded prospect for many kids. For many of these kids, BD will continue to be their preferred reading material.

Answer: OGM

"Organisme Génétiquement modifié" means GMO and French law states you must warn consumers if there are OGMs in their food. Apparently it's a bit late, as it's hard to stop the infiltration of this food into the chain. ONU means "Organisation des Nations Unies".

Answer: SAMU

SAMU means 'Service D'Aide Médicale Urgent' and often when people refer to calling them, they use the plural. "Appelez vite les SAMU!" The TGV is the Train a Grande Vitesse, or France's high speed train. You can know travel from Paris to Marseille in approximately three hours, much faster than crossing either of those cities in rush hour! MSF is the "Médecins Sans Frontières » or Doctors without borders. These volunteers operate in war torn and poverty stricken countries. PACA is short for the region of "Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur".

Answer: They're dying laughing.

Mort de Rire, or MDR is about the equivalent of LOL in chatspeak in French. On the internet, the French tend to spell phonetically with k's instead of qu, and other sundry modifications to their language. It little resembles French and uses 'Verlan' or envers =backwards language. ASV is "age sexe, vocation" or age, gender and career in French.

Answer: Homeless

"Sans Domicile fixe" means homeless and there are many measures destined to help them. Unfortunately even in a country with many social protections, it is hard to deal with those who fall through the holes in the safety net. A PDG is the "President Directeur Général" or company chairman. EDF is "Electricité de France."

Answer: CNRS

CNRS is short for "Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique ». The CRS is the police force that goes to keep demonstrations from becoming riots, perform mountain and beach rescues and whose motorcycle patrol does highway patrolling. Their true title is the "Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité".

A SICAV is a « Sociétés d'Investissement à Capital Variable » or an investment. An SA is a « Société Anonyme ».

Answer: A police officer or meter reader, it's a ticket

A PV is the most common way to refer to a 'contravention' or ticket or violation of some sort. It stands for a 'Procès Verbal' which I could never figure out because; you normally didn't get to say much when you got one. Curiously enough, when someone puts one on your windshield, it's called 'verbalisé' though.

Answer: PACS

"Pacte Civil de Solidarité » is a contract concluded between two adults of same or different gender to be mutually responsible for one another. In French the verb 'pacser' exists now. ANPE is 'Agence Nationale Pour L'Emploi' or the Unemployment Agency.
Picsou isn't an acronym but the name for Scrooge in French ( il pique des sous).