Slang was something cool, when I was a kid.
It was the way the older kids spoke – their special, cool, grown up, mysterious way of communicating.
As I learned a new slang word – usually from my only older cousin – I was trying to plug my new acquisition into every phrase imaginable – the more vulgar, the better – much to my mom’s chagrin.
Slang is also a way to fit in in a new language or a new country. When you start to know and use slang, you step outside of the purely academical realm, and you start become one of them. Sometimes you start using the small words and bring them back home without even realizing. Other times, it’s a sort of a humble brag, but that’s another story.
Slang also evolves. When I moved to Canada, the french came up with the Verlan – an argot where they inverse syllables. Visiting Budapest a few years later, I found my french speaking friends to be already fluent in this cool new way of speaking, and I felt utterly left out, I did not get the memo.
The British have very colorful and imaginative slang. Some are quite difficult to decode – the sound of the word either doesn’t give any clues to what it is or it’s completely misleading.
These are some great examples of such slang where Americans tried to guess the meaning of British slang and then you see the actual meaning.
Check it out here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/british-slang-as-guessed-by-american
Their cool sexy accent, colorful slang and sharp style make the Brits among the coolest kids on the block.
