buller

Informal for lazing about, doing nothing (passer la journée à buller). Descends from the military slang expression coincer la bulle — artillery crews leveling a weapon by centering the bubble in a spirit level, then waiting, sometimes indefinitely, for the order to fire.

• On a bullé tout le dimanche devant la télé. — We lazed around all Sunday in front of the TV.
• Après les examens, j'ai juste envie de buller. — After exams, I just want to do nothing.
• Il bulle au lieu de ranger sa chambre. — He's lazing around instead of tidying his room.

Buller means to relax by doing nothing, not to make bubbles or fizz — a false-friend trap for anglophones thinking of 'bubbling.'

• expression "Coincer la bulle" — Buller derives from this mid-20th-century artillery slang expression, in which gun crews leveled heavy weapons using a spirit level and then waited — sometimes for a long, idle time — for the firing order.