Partner's slang language

[oreo2020]

My partner was born in 1970s and grew up in London. I am an immigrant.
He's now in his 40s and fairly professional and still uses a lot of slang language that he grew up with intermittently with friends and colleagues, for example:

Jack diddly squat
Brown bread
Bird (talking of me)
Snuff it
You get me
Bump off

And similar...

He also says 'Valentimes' instead Valentine's although he spells it correctly!

I don't correct him as English is not my native language but I find it somewhat stuck in 1980s and do think a grown up man would have grown his vocabulary as he was building up his life and career.
But maybe it's more common than I think?

I used to like being called "bird" as it made me laugh. We constantly say "innit" at home. Whilst I would never use slang when speaking properly I find it funny at home. I love all that though - "grub", "gutsache", "arseache"; it reminds me of my DF.

I'm from Wales and people do this a lot, it does make it hard for any non native English speaker to interpret to be honest.
It even varies from region to region.

@user1471538283

I used to like being called "bird" as it made me laugh. We constantly say "innit" at home. Whilst I would never use slang when speaking properly I find it funny at home. I love all that though - "grub", "gutsache", "arseache"; it reminds me of my DF.

In a big fan of "treacle" 🤫

My partner is a 4th generation east Londoner and actually speaks very grammatically correct English, as do his family. He uses slang like we all do, some cockney colloquialisms (which i love) but no incorrect pronunciations.

Mispronounced words and wrong grammar are not colloquialisms to me. Saying 'aks' instead of ask or 'was' instead of were are just wrong English. The slang, expressions and the accent are colloquialisms and I find it endearing. But if that was all he spoke without much else of a vocabulary, I'd personally find it grating but only because he's my partner. I wouldn't judge anyone else for it!

You need to learn the lingo then OP.
If I spoke to my customers in the slang terms I use when talking to my friends and family it would be un-professional but most of us adults have managed to build up a life and career without having to adhere to received pronounciation.

Mispronounced words and wrong grammar are not colloquialisms to me. Saying 'aks' instead of ask or 'was' instead of were are just wrong English.

Why not, though? If the locally accepted way of saying 'ask' is 'aks', and it is widely understood, and the users know how to spell and pronounce it properly should they need to- why can't it be regarded as a colloquialism?

Which part of London is he from?

iklboo that's not London slang is it?
English isn't my first language, I understand the local (London or Estuary English) colloquialisms, but I have no idea what iklboo is saying.

DH is from East London and he speaks completely differently with his old school mates vs. at work.

I can't say much in my local Italian dialect but I remember it all perfectly even though I haven't lived there since I was a small child. Whenever we go back I struggle for the first few hours speaking formal Italian at the airport/train station, then as soon as I get back to my village and hear the local accent/dialect my brain clicks and I can speak Italian well. Very weird!

@TeachesOfPeaches South London

Be aware, too, that people 'code switch' between environments - I'm Scottish, the Modern Scots English that we speak at home bears little resemblance to the way I speak at work.

I wouldn't talk to a non-native English-speaking colleague in Singapore using the same vocabulary I use when cooking dinner with my OH, for example (although I am with you on 'pacifically', bugs the shite out of me).

It's horribly snobby to think this about someone you supposedly love 'I find it somewhat stuck in 1980s and do think a grown up man would have grown his vocabulary as he was building up his life and career.'

It is a certainty that, whatever your native language is, you speak it with your own personal idiolect, using words and phrases more commonly or regularly than others.

He doesn't owe you put on airs and graces and a more formal turn of phrase.

I was told yesterday on here I sound like a teenager because I said lolz. So I guess there's plenty of uptight people around. Personally I would feel annoyed about being called a bird.

I actually love slang and playing with language. I think there are some really interesting examples where languages or dialects play with grammar and slang to change and emphasise meaning. For example she 'be' dancing. In African American way of speaking
Meaning she is always dancing or she's a dancer.

Pigin is also an amazing example. I think if we overly focus on what is correct or proper we lose individuality. Unfortunately I do think you have to know how to use slang and where and when is appropriate. As many people don't feel the same. So it will (wrongly in my opinion) effect how people view you.

That's because he's from saaaarf of the rivva!

I agree - incorrect such as Valentimes and pacifically would make me cringe and I would correct.

Cockney rhyming slang and other slang I wouldn't unless he had asked me to check a formal piece of writing/application and he had used them in that.

@unmarkedbythat

Because an incorrect pronunciation of an existing word, or wrong grammar can't be a colloqualism - if they had a completely different word for it (like 'summat' for something, or 'bruv' for brother, or 'innit' for isn't it) - those are colloqualisms. Mispronouncing or misspelling something is not a clever play on words or a creative new slang. There is still such a thing as bad English - it doesn't all get excused away because a % of people use it ( many locals in that same area would also consider it just wrong English).

[quote BibbityBobbety]@unmarkedbythat

Because an incorrect pronunciation of an existing word, or wrong grammar can't be a colloqualism - if they had a completely different word for it (like 'summat' for something, or 'bruv' for brother, or 'innit' for isn't it) - those are colloqualisms. Mispronouncing or misspelling something is not a clever play on words or a creative new slang. There is still such a thing as bad English - it doesn't all get excused away because a % of people use it ( many locals in that same area would also consider it just wrong English).[/quote]
I'm not seeing the inherent difference between using "summat" as an alternative to "something" and "aks" as an alternative to "ask".

There are colloquial terms all over the country. It's really not unusual.

They aren't even peculiar to the UK.

Bold fail

@unmarkedbythat

Because 'summat' is a different word. It's slang, it's a shortened way of saying it.

Aks is just ask mispronounced. If something was pronounced semothing, it would be equally wrong.

It's subtle but most people can tell when something originated because it's a clever shortening or play on words. Or because someone just misspelled or mispronounced a word.

@BibbityBobbety

Do you consider it 'wrong' to pronounce 'th' as 'f' or 'l' as 'w'?

@ClaudiaWankleman

You mean like 'sumfink' - yes, I would. Again, it's not shortening the word, or a clever play on it, or changing the word. Just mispronouncing it. It's not even an accent thing as people with the exact same accent do pronounce it with the right syllable sounds. I hear it a lot around where I live and even the natives here consider it poor English, rather than a colloqiualism.

I see.

It isn't incorrect - it's just a regional pronunciation. It's no different to the pronunciation of 'a' in bath.

I personally don't think it reflects very well on people who judge others on their pronunciation. And yes, this 'native' th fronter and l velariser is qualified to comment.

[quote oreo2020]@TeachesOfPeaches South London[/quote]
Sarf Lunnun?

Well 'brown bread' is Cockney rhyming slang for dead. Loads of Londoners (and those such as myself with ancestral roots there) use it.

Nothing wrong with either that, or using colloquialisms.