Teen-Speak Translation Thread 2021

[SlightlyJaded]

We haven't had one of these in a while.

I have DC 13 and 15 and we are in a very 'naice' part of London. No matter - they think they are gansta, so I make it my business to try and keep on top of their roadman chat. Some of the ones below have been around for a couple off years and seem to be on the way out but I've tried to include every ridiculous turn of phrase I've heard in the last six months.

PLEASE ADD MORE . We can then collectively become fluent in Teenspeak

Leng: Derivative of ‘Peng’ – same meaning of really attractive/nice/fit

Say Less Understood / Great – you don’t need to say another word. I get it and it’s good.

Drip: Money/Flash/Rich/Expensive. Your trainers are Drip! Check my Drip

Peak: Still very much in evidence – meaning rubbish/awful. Bare Peak is REALLY rubbish.

Lit: On it’s way out I think, but meaning ‘banging/good’. The party was Lit

G-Dot – to do something stupid – esp whilst drunk or high

Link: To get with someone of the opposite sex but not be officially boyfriend/girlfriend ‘Nah blud, we’re just linking” or on social media "Link me!" to someone you like.

Ends: Local area. “Come to my Ends”

Wavey: Drunk or high on drugs

Reh teh teh Blah blah blah or etc

Dench: Derivative of Hench. To describe someone who is bulked out or muscly from gym/training

Piff: On it’s way out I think but to describe someone who is attractive. Gal was a piff ting.

Clapped: Still very much in use to describe something ugly or un-attractive.

Thirsty: Used to describe someone who is desperate for attention

Rents: Parents

Next man Someone irrelevant – said with derision

G/My G Still very much in use. Shortening of the word Gangster. Often used my middle class white kids (as is most of this to be fair)

Lad: Well liked male. A comment saying ‘Lad’ under a post on social media would be a compliment suggesting the male in the photo is popular and well liked.

Motive: A meeting of lots of people/gathering/party

Gath: More informal/smaller gathering of people to get high /drunk

Free Yard Empty House. ‘Come my ends, I got a free yard’

Beef: Ongoing argument. “They’ve been in beef for ages” or "I don't have beef with you"

Finesse: To steal or take advantage. Can be applied to a person. “She finessed my boyfriend”

Ping: To take ecstasy

Bait: VARIOUS MEANINGS 1.to expose someone/reveal a secret/snitch

1. To be clumsy or stupid. “Don’t be bait, my dad will hear us”
2. When something is a bit naff or a cliché. “He’s so bait dressed in head to toe North Face”

Gassed: Still in use to mean happy or excited

Air: Ignore - especially on social. "He's airing me"

Flipping: Selling or dealing anything

Trapping: Selling Drugs. See also ‘Trap House’ – the place where you can buy drugs

Jarring: Annoying

Deep: Serious. Grave. To overthink or be unkind to someone. ‘Don’t deep it, she is ok”. "Don't deep it" meaning - it's not serious

Calm: Nice, relaxed good. Also can be used to describe the state of a friendship or relationship “Don’t worry, we’re calm”.

Allow it On it’s way out but means ‘stop it/let it go’

[SlightlyJaded]

@pinbinpin

I wonder how "bare", which means naked, get to mean "much, a lot"? Seems so random.

I wonder if it is a reversal thing: like cool/bad/wicked/sick (very old school) but all meant good when the literal translation is the opposite.

Bare can mean scarce so I wonder if it's a flip like that?

This is why I love slang - it's like a puzzle.

[Tehmina23]

We have 18 year old student nurses at work, not heard this type of slang from them, maybe they save it for their mates?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

I think teenage patois stays amongst teens generally. I have only really picked it up from hearing the DC talking to their friends. They don't usually use it to proper adults. I would have thought that other youngsters would do likewise.

[LynetteScavo]

I tested DS yesterday to ask if he wanted to come downstairs to play Trivial Pursuit. The replay was: "I'm going out fam"

I do wonder if any GCSE English examiners ever see any of this.

[Summer7]

Great thread... 🤣

[PleaseHoldCaller1]

My 13 year all greets me with 'whatsup my slime' when he gets home from school. He often refers to me as 'my drilla G' too. I am asked to 'allow it G' many times a day.

He is on the PlayStation now and can hear him shouting 'I'll pattern you bruv' through the headset.

This afternoon he is off for a walk with 'his woman' - also 13 and a 'peng ting' apparently.

Until fairly recently he spoke like Prince William so this is highly entertaining for the rest of the family.

[SlightlyJaded]

@PleaseHoldCaller1. Do we have the same son?

I am also greeted with 'Easy my Drilla'. Apparently 'Drilla' refers to a gang member who carries a gun....righteho then.

Pattern up seems to mean 'pull yourself together' or 'get a grip' in our house.

There is a LOT of comedy chat during FIFA 21 sessions on the Xbox in our house. And equally DS and all his friends sounded like Prince William not that long ago. His DS calls him 'Cecil' or 'Lord Fauntleroy' sometimes given his preference for 'soft' clothes, earl grey tea and a hot water bottle....

[Getabloominmoveon]

This thread really makes me laugh. My ‘kids’ are now in their 20s but went through various language fashion phases when they were young. I think there’s definitely a market for a You Tube video of mums living their regular lives in fluent roadman.

[SlightlyJaded]

@Getabloominmoveon 'RoadMum' - I may start it!

[Sunbird24]

I remember my Cumbrian housemate using Sket in this context back in 1996... 😂

[iklboo]

When I grew up sket was short for persketti, which was a joke name for tinned spaghetti

[Greenandcabbagelooking]

Yes, BTEC means fake or second rate.

I'm a teacher in Greater London. Sometimes I have to ask my class to translate, especially if someone is trying to tell me about an incident.

[FelicityFeathers]

Pog.

That's what my 14 year old says constantly right now. It's means ' good.' Think it's comes from Player of the game but I maybe didn't pay enough attention there

'Do you like your pizza?' -- yes, it's Pog

'That t shirt looks nice on you!' -- yes it's Pog.

Etc

I've had to absolutely forbid some language though. He's not allowed to swear - and tbf - he doesn't (not in my earshot anyway!) and round here there's still lots of ' that's so gay!' so that's been stamped on. I also have forbidden the N word and explained why a white boy from Oxfordshire does not use this word when talking to his friends.. he fully understood I think.

But mainly it's all a minefield and it's practically a full time job keeping up with it all

[LadyJaye]

My 17-year-old niece lives in the leafiest of leafy SW London suburbs and boards at school in Kent (KENT, FFS).

When I hear her and her wee chums speaking like this, I cringe so hard I fear an onset of acute IBS.

[FraggleShingleBellRock]

"Yes it is almost like a hybrid of cockney and Jamaican and something else I can't put my finger on, it just sounds really odd to hear it!"

@EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide

I did my English language dissertation on this subject. It's called MLE ( multicultural London English) and evolves just like slang anywhere. There is a type in Singapore called Singlish and in fact in most cities that are melting pots of different cultures. MLE has also been called Jafaican when it was first coined and was heavily influenced by Jamaican culture and oddly, Rasta mouse. The rise in cross communication platforms like text/call/email/forum has also been blamed for it becoming more mainstream as the kids are less likely to code switch across platforms and now only seen to code switch around Adults/members of authority.

[1lbperweek]

So glad were in Scotland

[stodgystollen]

I'm not in the UK, so I have the important task of teaching my non-native English speaking colleagues colloquial English and now I think I've taught them all wrong

I use chatting shit to mean either talking bollocks/out of your arse ('The manager's talking shit') or just talking about nothing in particular ('No you're not disturbing us, we were just chatting shit') Am I massively out of date?!

[1lbperweek]

Although I don’t like Scots slang either. Can everyone just speak properly please, many thanks!

[MajesticWhine]

I love chatting shit! From my teen it seems to be gossiping / bitching about someone. eg "they've been chatting shit about me"

[pinbinpin]

@FraggleShingleBellRock

Fascinating!!

Rasta mouse!

So true about the switching thing, regional differences must now be less of a barrier than the peers Vs parents thing as they all share the same platforms wherever they live - Fortnite, FIFA, tiktok, YouTube etc

Tell us more.

[FraggleShingleBellRock]

Not really much more to tell but linguisticaly changes happen much quicker now than say the 70s. Back then a band might be interviewed in a news paper or magazine and a new buzz word might be picked up and used but would take months, if not years to become mainstream. After a few years of constant usage they may even get into the OED. But now we live in an instant world. So a top s'leb says something ridiculous like " tonight I'm golding the guns like a Neo-Adonis " with a video of him doing an intensive upper body work out. Millions will see it instantly, share it, retweet it etc. It may make it into hash tags. It's very very quickly that it makes it into everyday language but crucially, it's used only amongst the people that want to emulate that certain person or peacock that they are in that circle. It shows belonging.

That's why slang is such a big thing in schools. It bands small groups together with a hive mind identity but also marks groups as separate from each other but also , crucially, separate from the teachers and the establishment.

[FraggleShingleBellRock]

Also, some places are much more committed to their local slang than anywhere else. My favourite city, Liverpool is the perfect example. Yes we add new slang words but we have kept the same core words for years and that's boss. It's because despite everything, all the papers (wrong) attempts to shame scousers over Hillsbourough etc, we just get stronger and double down on how proud we are of our city. That pride is typically shown by a sound uniform of red or blue, smart trabs, and going for a top scran with our lid down the spoons. Maybe a trip to the Asda with my fella if he isn't being an arlarse 😂

[SlightlyJaded]

New word alert:

We were just playing Monopoly and DD was about to run out of money. I landed on one of her hotels and both DC shouted 'Clutch!'

Apparently is something 'comes in clutch' - it arrives just in time to save the day. So "I missed my bus but my mum came in clutch and gave me a lift".

[Grooticle]

@FraggleShingleBellRock- I lived in Liverpool back in the early 2000s and remember all those words, how great that they haven’t changed!

[MillieVanilla]

I just went through the list with DD
She said yes to about two but they use them ironically, then said, "err mum we aren't chavs"
So clearly chav is still used 😂