lang: How do young Brits speak?
Language changes all the time. New words and phrases appear and evolve. The words and pronunciations used by young people in the UK can be radically different to those used by adults. Living in a multicultural society has an effect on language, especially on young people, whose friends are often from a mix of backgrounds. TV and music also have a massive impact on the language of the young. Often UK singers will even sing in American accents without realising.
Young Brits use lots of language that you usually can’t find in most dictionaries. These highly informal words and expressions are known as slang. It is not possible to come up with a complete list of modern British slang. By the time the list was completed, it would be out of date. New words come and go like fashions. However, here are a few examples:
* Safe!, Sorted!, Sound!, Cool! or Wicked! mean That’s good or, I understand.
* Instead of using different tag questions like …isn’t it?, …can’t you? or don’t they?, people use innit (e.g., It’s hot here, isn’t it? = It’s hot here, innit!, He can dance really well, can’t he? = He can dance really well, innit! or They always say that, don’t they =They always say that, innit.).
* Instead of saying very, really or completely use well (e.g., I’m well tired or You got it well wrong!).
* Whatever means I don’t care (E.g., A: But the teacher says we can’t leave until we’ve finished. B:Whatever. I’m going).
* He’s fine or He’s fit both mean He’s good looking. Fine and fit can describe a boy or a girl.
* A hoodie is a young person who wears a jacket with a hood (after all, it rains a lot in the UK). It is a negative term and suggests that the young person might be interested in committing a crime.
If some British people use language like this then it’s no surprise that some students say that even after years of studying English they still can’t understand native speakers. But perhaps learners should not worry about communicating with native speakers so much. Research commissioned by the British Council shows that most of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “International English”, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker.
So how important is it to understand these slang words and expressions? If you watch films or TV in English, read magazines in English, chat online in English or are interested in English song lyrics then understanding slang can be very useful. You probably won’t see any slang in your English exam though.
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