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I was in France (Lyon and Provence) a few months ago and I noticed that everyone kept saying a certain word when they handed me something. For example when I was sitting on a terrace or buying a baguette. I used to study French in high school for 3 years (and my girlfriend for 6) in the Netherlands but I (us both, actually) didn’t recognise the word, and still don’t know what they exactly said. Do people in Lyon or the South say something specific when handing something? Was it slang as I think most people were relatively young that said this?

It seemed to be an equivalent of the English “here you are”, when someone gives you something.

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  • This is a hard one to answer. I'm from the south and I have no idea what that mystery phrase could be. A typical phrase might be "et avec ça?" or "ce sera tout?", which something you will hear anywhere, not just in the south. I don't think there's any southern slang anymore, but there is a southern accent, maybe that's what threw you off.
    – PatrickT
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 6:16
  • Tenez ? Bon app ? If you said "thank you" before, maybe a very fast « j'vous en prie » ?
    – Derek Allums
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 8:57
  • Ah! They were saying “app”, indeed. Without the “bon” in front of it, which caused me to not recognise it as “bon appétit”. Is it common the shorten it like this in all of France?
    – Bjorn
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 10:22
  • @Bjorn Probably they were saying it very fast/shortened, so it sounds like « 'n app ». Anyway glad we could figure it out!
    – Derek Allums
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 11:07
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    Bon app' has exactly the same meaning as Bon appétit, only a change in register. I never had a waiter/cashier/baker telling me Bon app', only friends, colleagues, neighbours and close relatives.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 13:11

2 Answers 2

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It's likely they say the following when having processed your order (wanting to know if you want to order something else) :

  • Avec ceci ?

expected answer : "Ce sera tout, merci." or "Je vais prendre aussi ..."

  • Ce sera tout ?

same expected answer as above.

the following are more specific to act of giving you an object :

  • Voici.
  • Tenez.
  • Je vous prie.

or (but this one is less likely since it's from north or east of France) :

  • S'il vous plaît.
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You may have heard Avec plaisir (literally "With pleasure" but rather "My pleasure").

This expression was initially common only in the South-West of France like in Toulouse where I first noticed it, but it tends to spread and has possibly reached Provence or even Lyon.

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    Pour moi, "avec plaisir" serait une réponse à un "merci" (comme un "de rien" en plus poli), Pas vraiment quelque chose qu'on dirait en posant un plat sur une table ou en donnant une baguette de pain (à Lyon en tout cas).
    – XouDo
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 14:57
  • @XouDo Oui, c'est l'usage initial, mais je l'ai déjà entendu par anticipation a un merci virtuel qui n'avait alors plus lieu d'être, mais c'était dans le Sud-Ouest. C'est très proche du s'il vous plaît belge.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 15:15

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