Slang in English speaking countries.

Hey Julian,

Thanks for your valuable help. Plus, I have to ask a question.

"...everyone in my neck of the woods started using it like ...."

Did you mean to say "neighborhood" by saying the term "neck of the woods"?

You're welcome.

>>>Did you mean to say "neighborhood" by saying the term "neck of the woods"? <<<

Sort of. I was actually thinking of a much bigger area than a neighborhood. The expression "neck of the woods" refers to a particular area or part of a country.

There were some more terms that I learned. Here are they.

21) All that Jazz.
22) Flip out
23) Chicken out
24) No biggy!
25) Piss off
26) Mellow out!
27) Bullshit
28) Pinhead ( I heard it in a movie).
29) a piece of crap
30) Freak out
31) Bucks.
32) asshole
33) all that ( I heard it in a movie, e.g she's all that)
34) Cut to the chase.
35) What the heck/ what the hell (which one should I use more?)
36) Dog ( I heard it in a movie, e.g Sam is my great dog).
37) Hunk
38) Headbanger.
39) Two fins ( I heard it i.e in the comedy show "friends").
What does that refer for?
40) cakes, there're lots of cakes at your party.
41) Yoo Hoo!
42) Gates ( I want to make a sentence with it, please correct me if there is any mistake) -- Look, guys, Julian and I are gonna knock off all banks of California and then we'll be "Gates" in no time).
43) Jerk
44) maxing and relaxing.
45) eats ( I heard it in a movie e.g, Let's have some eats).

P.S I took all those examples directly from movies.

Hi, boy --

Are you asking what all the terms and phrases you listed mean or whether they're in current use? Please clarify.

>35) What the heck/ what the hell (which one should I use more?)

It depends on how much of an impact you want to make and who your audience is. There was a time when "hell", used as an interjection, was taboo in polite societies (and still is in some areas, e.g. the Bible Belt). So keep that in mind when you say "what the hell"; some people might find it offensive.

>36) Dog ( I heard it in a movie, e.g Sam is my great dog).

That's "dawg" - black slang for a close male friend (e.g. "Whaddup dawg?" "That's my dawg"). As opposed to "beeyotch" (or biotch, biyotch, bee-otch, and many other various spellings), which COULD refer to a friend (usually female), but can also be taken as an insult (e.g. GOOD: "Whaddup beeyotch?" BAD: "Beeyotch, I saw you eyein' my man!).

>39) Two fins ( I heard it i.e in the comedy show "friends").
What does that refer for?

"Fin" could refer to a $5 bill OR something or someone undesirable (opposite of "deck" - cool, hip, cutting edge).

>42) Gates ( I want to make a sentence with it, please correct me if there is any mistake) -- Look, guys, Julian and I are gonna knock off all banks of California and then we'll be "Gates" in no time).

I've never heard one. Perhaps the characters in the movie you watched said "skate" (e.g. "We're gonna knock of those banks, and then we'll skate.")

I think the characters are trying to say they'll be as rich as Bill Gates. However, this isn't common American slang but just a "cool" metaphor these particular characters said in this movie.

Ryan

Hi Julian,

I just asked whether they were "in" or "out".

Ryan, Are you sure "Gates" isn't a common slang?

It could be. Of course, if Gates is slang then it will probably be out of fashion in a year, as it is most likely "American urban" slang, which by its very nature often is not "permanent" slang.

Ryan

21) All that Jazz - cliché
22) Flip out - still in
23) Chicken out - still in
24) No biggy! - out
25) Piss off - in
26) Mellow out! - out
27) Bullshit - commonly used slang
28) Pinhead ( I heard it in a movie) - out
29) a piece of crap - in
30) Freak out - in, but drop the "out": "Hey, man, don't freak." "I am seriously freaking right now."
31) Bucks - do you mean, "Can you loan me a few bucks?" - commonly used slang
32) asshole - commonly used slang
33) all that ( I heard it in a movie, e.g she's all that) - out
34) Cut to the chase - cliché
35) What the heck/what the hell - commonly used slang
36) Dog - answered in previous post
37) Hunk - oldtimer's slang
38) Headbanger - oldtimer's slang
39) Two fins ( I heard it i.e in the comedy show "friends") - answered in previous post
40) cakes, there are lots of cakes at your party - "cake" has several different meanings:

a) a homosexual male - I haven't heard this one in awhile
b) vagina - I rarely hear this one used, but that's probably because I hang out in respectable circles ;-)
c) easy, not difficult - still hear this usage

41) Yoo Hoo! - not unless you're a cake ;-)
42) Gates - never heard
43) Jerk - commonly used slang
44) maxing and relaxing - out
45) eats ( I heard it in a movie e.g, Let's have some eats). - out

Hi Julian,

You've been a great help for me. I really appreciate your this effort. I hope you won't mind If I ask something more about the usage of slang terms.

I've just known that you live in CA. The thing is, it is a monster big and it beats me where you live specifically. I want to post a few off-topic queries.

1) Have you ever heard about these cellular companies "Pacific-bell" & "Invertix" ?

2) Do you know what does a "Radio-frequency" engineer perform if he is working in the United States?

3) Have you ever visited to a "Laguna Beach"?

4) Do you know how far "Hollywood" is from Orange or Greenwich county?

5) This is a personal question. Where are you studying at? or Have you completed your studies?


Later, Gator!

Sorry, I forgot to ask one thing.

There are lots of cakes at your party. In this sentence, the word "cakes" are referring to girls. Is this slang "out" with respect to this usage?

I have never heard of "cakes" to refer to women. The slang words I use myself are chicks and babes. Chick is frequently used with the adjective "hot," as in the Rob Schneider movie "The Hot Chick." I'm in my late 20s though, so I may not be the best judge of the "coolest" slang. Younger people tend to throw the word "hottie" around a lot for either a good-looking boy or girl, but I don't use it.

I'm in the USA, of course. In the UK they say "bird" and I don't know what else.

Ryan

>1) Have you ever heard about these cellular companies "Pacific-bell" & "Invertix" ?

Pacific Bell, now known as SBC, is the only hard line domestic phone company here in the West Coast, so I'm very much familiar with them. I know that they also provide cell phone service and internet DSL. I've never heard of Invertix, though.

>2) Do you know what does a "Radio-frequency" engineer perform if he is working in the United States?

An "RF" engineer designs and optimizes wireless networks (cellular, PCS, data networks).

>3) Have you ever visited to a "Laguna Beach"?

Yes. Nice place. Has a large artistic community and is a liberal "oasis" in the conservative "desert" known as Orange County (The Orange Curtain).

>4) Do you know how far "Hollywood" is from Orange or Greenwich county?

It's about a 35 minute drive from Hollywood to the LA - Orange County border. Orange covers a lot of territory though, so where exactly in Orange do you mean? There is no Greenwich County in California. Is that in another state?

Note: in LA, we measure distance by length of time it takes to drive there (sans major traffic). So, a 35 minute drive would probably be about 30 miles.

>5) This is a personal question. Where are you studying at? or Have you completed your studies?

I've already got my BA and am currently working on my teaching credentials at Calif State Univ Northridge (CSUN).

Here's a question or 2 for you: Where do you live and why the interest in American slang?

Here are some examples of strine and Aussie slang:

Adrians. Rhyming slang for drunk. From tennis player's name Adrian Quist. Quist rhymes with pissed, hence drunk.

aggro. Aggravation, bother, belligerence, aggressiveness, aggression. Much Australian slang results in word contractions with an "o" at the end.

airy-fairy. Insubstantial, hare-brained, nothing much, in your dreams.

Al Capone. Rhyming slang for telephone.

apples, as in she'll be apples. In Australian slang, she'll be apples simply means everything will be okay.

apples and pears. Rhyming slang for stairs. To shoot down the apples and pears is to go down the stairs. Sometimes shortened to just apples.

arvo. Afternoon. Another Australian slang contraction.

Aussie. Australian.

Aussie salute. Moving the hand around to flick off or drive away flies, particularly from the face.

back of beyond -- far away in the outback

billabong -- a watering hole

bloody -- general all purpose adjective, once thought profane

bludger -- a sponge who lives off the labor of others

cobber -- a friend

cuppa -- a cup of tea

digger -- Australian soldier

g'day -- hello, good day

good on ya / G'donya mate! -- well done, general term of approval

fair dinkum! -- Ya don't say or "It is the truth."

jackaroo -- apprentice cowboy, station (farm) hand

jumbuck -- sheep

Kiwi -- New Zealander

larrikin -- boozy, anti-authoritarian, mischievous fellow

mate -- friend, buddy

outback -- the bush, the interior of Australia, or desert country

plonk -- cheap wine

Pom or Pommy -- an English person ("prisoner of mother England")

swagman -- a vagabond, a tramp

up a gum tree -- in a bad situation

wowser -- a puritanical, blue-nosed, do-gooder

Yank -- an American
Sepo -- Rhyming slang for yank. Septic Tank rhymes with yank.

nick off -- Scram.

Bewdy -- good or the best

Bloke -- Australian male

True Blue -- something that is real Australian

Bloody oath -- agree with someone

Bob's your uncle -- something that has worked out well

<<<<Here's a question or 2 for you: Where do you live and why the interest in American slang? >>>>


First off, "boy" is my nick name, got it from Micheal Jackson's recent interview to a satellite channel. An interview-taker requested him, please showed me your that dance from which you became a heart-throb of many cool chicks all around the world. He replied like this: Oh, BOY, I couldn't, I jus' couldn't, but after lots of persuautions made him to do that dance again for normal audience. I loved the way he pronounced "oh, boy".

I live in Islamabad. I'm currently on vacations. I visited Lahore and then now come to karachi, here my cousins live. I write posts right here just for killing time and at the same time to learn something useful about the English language. I'm 17 years old and my real name is Adeel. My parents migrated from India. I'm the youngest child of my fam.

My elder brother whose age is now 32, used to work for Pacific-bell and Invertix. The second company was basically based on in Virginia. He is an "RF" engineer and completed his masters in Telecommunication from the University of California, Longbeach. He used to design cellular phones and when my mother went to there at a visit, she witnessed alot of his work.
I've never been to abroad, so I have no idea about his work whatsoever.

It is really difficult for me to remember county and street names. I guess Greenwich might have been a street name and Orange is a county name.
There was something atleast with the name of "Greenwich" and I'm damned sure it was in Califor.


As for alot of interest in American slang, there're many cable channels on my tv and I initially didn't understand the meaning of "shit", "crap" and "fuck-variations". Then, I tried searching their meanins on the net, found some slang websites too, learned some more slang terms just for fun, then when I heard those terms in movies and understood them without any obstacles then it encouraged me to learn more.

You see, I have a couple of American pals. They wrote me like that "What's up, dawg?" I didn't know how to reply my respond. So, I was confused.
First up, I learned that you'd have to give an answer with a negative notion if somone had to ask a question like that. For e.g "oh, nothing much".
Then, when I wrote the same question to one of my e-pals, he then replied to me like that "oh, nothing much, same old days".

It still doesn't sound like a native speaker. Yesterday, when my folks wrote the same term to me but I replied differently. "Oh, nuthin', same shit, different day". So, ya know I was sound like a native speaker. I learn American slang terms 'coz they're easy to digest. I don't want to write English just as formal. I want to make my writings as a blend of simple and collaquial terms.

Anyhow, dude, I can recognize them easily in English flicks and that's what my accomplishment so far.

I hope this help. By the way, You and Ryan are stealing the show slowly and steady at this forum. :-)

>>Yesterday, when my folks wrote the same term to me but I replied differently. "Oh, nuthin', same shit, different day". <<

A-hahahahah. You actually said this to your parents??? You do realise that "shit" is a bad word, right?