London’s Slang & Phrases

How to understand different Londoners’ dialect

Photo taken by author

People from all over the world travel to London. Those who study English usually learn American English or Received Pronunciation (RP) also known as “The Queen’s English” or Standard English.

If they haven’t learnt English, they’ve most likely been exposed to it through the news, music or films with posh actors like Hugh Grant or Hollywood actors like Will Smith.

The UK itself has over 37 dialects ranging from Cockney, Estuary, Geordie, Yorkshire, Scouse, Northern Irish & many more.

We’re going to focus on the two major dialects from London; Cockney and Urban.

Not only can a tourist get lost wondering the streets of London, they may get lost when a Londoner opens their mouth.

Just like every city, country and continent has their own dialect(s) of their main language(s), London has its very own.

RP is called “The Queen’s English” for a reason. Each word is pronounced with precision. There are no lazy consonants and the use of flamboyant words are a must. This is just not the typical way most people speak.

Of course many speak correctly, yet they don’t often sound like the Queen, I think this should be associated with the term Standard English. Even so, this may be accompanied by an accent depending on the region/country they’re from or some words associated with their dialect. Also many people adapt their speaking depending on their audience e.g. they may use their cultural terms when amongst family or friends who are from the same country right down to a complete change of accent.

The English language uses words from many other places and continues to develop each generation. If you’ve read any Shakespeare play and visit London you’re certainly not going to hear “thee, thou or thy" unless watching a Shakespearean performance!

If you visited or lived in London around the late 80s — 90s you would hear many youngsters adopting phrases from the Patois dialect such as “Wagwan" & “ mi yard" regardless of not being Jamaican.

Many slang words have transformed and are often recycled e.g. “beef" was used in the late 70’s — 80’s, died off & showed up again in the late 90’s.

Who should learn about dialects?

If you’re a writer especially with regards to fiction, it’s great to study different dialects to shape your characters.

Actors delving into a role, you should bring your character alive by emulating how they speak; which words they’re likely to use even down to the grunts, sighs and other sounds.

You may be a comedian and want to illustrate the stereotype of a character and connect with the audience through imitation.

Parents/guardians/educators- it’s useful to know what children/teenagers/students are saying. Although this isn’t an extensive list, there are slang words like “merk" that may go over your head & you could be overhearing a dangerous plan or event that occurred. Stay with the times.

Travellers & language lovers — it’s important to explore the variety of dialects a country has to become familiar with that culture, it will enhance your experience & comprehension.

Let’s jump in!

Cockney Slang

The cockney accent is a famous one, it derived from and is associated with East London. It’s one of the easiest British accents to imitate. Drop your h’s, exaggerate the ‘ah' sound, add an ‘ay' sound before the last y in a word & drop the ‘g’. Watch shows like Eastenders, Football Factory or simply listen to the British actor Danny Dyer (he’s in both of these shows)and you’re on your way!

So here’s an exercise based on characters from Eastenders :

Bianca —

Bianca said in a cockney accent would sound like Be-ank-kaaah, give it a try!

Ricky —

Try saying Ricky by adding the ‘ay' sound; Rick-kay.

Here’s a list of cockney words/phrases:

• Ain’t - not e.g. “It ain’t mine.”
• Apples & pears — stairs
• Av ya! — threatening phrase to mean I’ll beat you up
• Barking mad — crazy
• Barking up the wrong tree — got it completely wrong/not to be messed with e.g. “Sharon’s barkin’ up the wrong tree ‘anging around them.”
• Bird — girlfriend/woman
• Do one! — go away/ forget it e.g. “You think I’m coming back ‘ere? You can do one!”
• Doris — wife/partner
• Gaff — home/house
• Geezer — man
• Jiffy — unknown time period/ soon e.g. “Back in a jiffy.”
• Lost your marbles — gone mad
• Trotters — feet e.g. “Put ya trotters up luv”
• Mate - a friend or even a stranger, weirdly enough used in confrontation e.g. ‘Oi mate, say that again & I’ll ‘av ya!’
• Me — my e.g. “Pass me wallet.”
• Mug — face e.g. “Why would I wanna see ‘er mug around ‘ere?’
• My cuppa tea — my type e.g. “Is he your cuppa tea?”
• On ya bike! — Go away!
• ‘Old ya ‘orses - wait a minute
• Old bill — police
• Old dear — mum
• Old man — dad
• Scuttle off — to disappear somewhere
• Stick it where the sun don’t shine — I’m not interested
• Shove off! — Go away!

Urban/street slang

This is associated with the stereotype of ‘hood’/’ghetto' people. It’s typically used by young people or those trying to be ‘cool’. Check out the comedian Doc Brown’s Slang 101:

• Allow it/allow dat — don’t allow it to happen/stop it
• Bait — obvious e.g. “Dat’s so bait!”
• Bare — a lot of
• Beef — a fight
• Bell me — ring me
• Blitz/Chapping — cold weather
• Blud/blood — friend e.g. “Me do that? Nah blud"
• Boom — this is a dramatic part of a story
• Buff/choong — good looking
• Butters — unattractive
• Chick /gash— girl
• Chirpse — chatting someone up/flirting with someone
• Cotching — chilling (old urban word)
• Crepes - trainers
• Dizzy — mad
• Don’t lie! — really?
• Down da road — not far (this means they’re usually no where near you)
• Dry — boring
• Ends — refers to where someone lives e.g. “ I ain’t from dem ends.”
• Fam — family
• Feds — police
• Getting in the shower — still in bed
• Hood — ghetto/where someone lives e.g. “She’s from da hood.”/ “He’s too hood to meet my fam.”
• Link up/link — to meet/dating someone
• Mandem — friends/ group of guys
• Merked — assaulted/ stabbed
• Nang — good (old urban slang)
• Peak — bad
• Peng/ piff — good looking
• Safe — thanks/ cool/okay e.g. “Safe blud"/ “Safe for that"
• Shubbs — party
• Sparked — slapped/punched
• Stoosh — stuck up
• Swag — rubbish e.g. dat show was swag!
• Swear down — telling the truth
• Two’s me — pass the roll up so I can have two puffs
• Two two’s — all of a sudden
• Rah — an expression when shocked
• Wha gwan — what’s going on
• Y’aright — hi
• Yo — a greeting e.g. “Yo blood!”

Did you know there’s actually a course on Memrise called Roadmanology?

https://app.memrise.com/course/1113078/roadmanology-the-study-of-becoming-a-roadman/

Rules to the usage of the dialects

Young people growing up in London often feel pressure to fit in and use certain words, as well as more other gripping pressures.

I was once told a story where a guy with a very strong accent tried to use the slang but didn’t quite get it.

The Guy: “Don’t lie to me blood man!”

This was seen as trying too hard. He should’ve chosen either the word “blood” or “man". There are rules to these dialects and to be respected and not laughed at for overdoing it, the rules need to be learned.

• Learn when to use the words e.g. don’t use them in an interview, it won’t get you far!
• Don’t over do it, you’ll look like you’re trying too hard
• Be careful of using certain words especially in the instance of strangers e.g. saying you’re going to “spark" someone could get you hurt.
• If you’re a parent using these words to your children, you can either come across as “cool” or “ridiculous”

Dialects were and perhaps still are frowned upon especially by the middle & upper class. They associate slang and regional accents as lower class & with many negative connotations (which can’t account for all users of the dialects).

Your Take Away

I hope your take away is this; don’t look down on dialects. It’s a form of communication, it’s a bond between people & it doesn’t mean that they’re always negative. Some actually pretend to speak a certain way just to feel part of a group, if it makes them happy & it’s a good crowd then let them be free.

Explore different dialects to learn more about other people’s culture and to enhance your creative art!

Which dialect are you familiar with?

Thanks for reading!