What does slang mean
What is slang?
‘Slang’ is a very informal kind ofvocabulary, used mostly inspeech by people who knoweach other well. Examples:
Can you lend me some cash? (money)
My shoelace has bust. (broken)
He’s a real prat. (fool)
Those boots are real cool. (fashionable)
Let’s chill out. (relax)
How are the kids? (children)
Slang expressions are notusually written, and not used informal kinds of communication.
2
strong feelings
Many English slang expressionsrelate to things that people feelstrongly about (e.g. sex, familyand emotional relationships, drink, drugs, conflict betweensocial groups, work, physical andmental illness, death).
She’s got really nice tits. (breasts)
I spent the weekend at mygran’s. (grandmother’s)
God, we got smashed last night. (drunk)
Prods out! (Protestants)
Can you get that sitrep to theMD by five? (situation report; Managing Director)
I’ve got some sort of bug. (illness)
He’s lost his marbles. (gonemad)
When I kick the bucket, I wantyou all to have a big party. (die)
Slang can be used in order to beoffensive.
Shut your gob! (mouth)
For more about ‘taboo’ words forsubjects that some people findshocking, see 575.
3
group membership; using slang
Many slang expressions (e.g. cash, kids) are widely used. However, some slangexpressions are only used bymembers of particular social andprofessional groups, and nearlyall slang is used between peoplewho know each other well orshare the same socialbackground. So it is usually amistake for ‘outsiders’ (includingforeigners) to try deliberately touse slang. This can give theimpression that they areclaiming membership of a groupthat they do not belong to. There is also the danger that theslang may be out of date – somekinds of slang go out of fashionquickly, and when it gets intobooks it may already be dead. Itis best for learners to avoidslang unless they are really sureof its use. If they start becomingaccepted as part of an English-speaking community, they willlearn to use the community’sslang naturally and correctlyalong with the rest of theirlanguage
taboo words andswearwords
1
introduction
Many languages have wordswhich are considered dangerous, holy, magic or shocking, andwhich are only used in certainsituations or by certain people. For instance, in some Africantribes the names of dead chiefsmust not be said; in manycultures, words associated withreligious beliefs are used only onreligious occasions, or only bypriests. Words of this kind canbe called ‘taboo words’.
English has three main groups oftaboo words and expressions:
aA number of words connectedwith the Christian religion (e.g. the names Christ, God) areconsidered holy by somepeople. These people prefer touse such words only in formaland respectful contexts, andthey may be upset or shockedby their ‘careless’ use.
bCertain words relating tosexual activity and theassociated parts of the body(e.g. fuck, balls) are regardedas shocking by many people. Thirty or forty years ago someof these words could not beprinted or broadcast, and theyare still comparatively unusualin public speech and writing. In polite or formal languagethese words are generallyavoided, or replaced by otherwords and expressions (e.g. make love or have sexualintercourse, testicles).
cSome words referring to theelimination of bodily wastes(what one does in thelavatory), and the associatedparts of the body, are alsoregarded as ‘dirty’ or shocking(e.g. piss, shit). They are oftenreplaced by more ‘polite’ words and expressions withthe same meaning (e.g. urinate, defecate) or bysubstitutes (e.g. go to thelavatory, wash one’s hands).
Because taboo words areshocking, they are common insituations where people want toexpress powerful emotions byusing ‘strong’ language. This iscalled ‘swearing’. When peopleswear, taboo words usuallychange their meaningscompletely. For example, fuckoff and piss off have nothing todo with sex or urinating – theyare simply violently rude ways ofsaying ‘go away’. The strengthof the original taboo word isborrowed for a different purpose.
Linguistic taboos in English-speaking countries are lessstrong than they used to be. Most taboo words andswearwords shock less than theydid, say, twenty years ago. Andincreasingly, people are usinginformal taboo words which arefelt to be amusingly ‘naughty’ rather than shocking, such asbonk or shag instead of fuck, orwilly instead of prick (= penis).
None the less, students shouldbe very careful about usingtaboo words and swearwords. There are two reasons for this. First of all, it is not easy to knowthe exact strength of theseexpressions in a foreignlanguage, or to know what kindof people are shocked by them, and in what circumstances. Onemay easily say something that ismeant as a joke, but whichseriously upsets the people oneis talking to. And secondly, usingthis sort of language generallyindicates membership of agroup: one most often swears inthe company of people oneknows well, who belong to one’sown social circle, age group etc. (Children usually avoid swearingin front of adults so as not toannoy or shock them, and adultsavoid swearing in front ofchildren for similar reasons.) Soa foreigner who usesswearwords may give theimpression of claimingmembership of a group that heor she does not belong to.
2
taboo words
The following are some of themost common English taboowords, with explanations of theirliteral meanings wherenecessary. Their approximate‘strength’ is shown by stars: one-star words like hell, damn orblast (which are scarcely tabooin modern English) will not upsetmany people, while a three- orfour-star word may be veryshocking if it is used in thewrong situation. Note, however, that individual reactions toparticular words (and toswearing in general) varyenormously, and that attitudesare changing rapidly (andgenerally becoming moretolerant of this kind oflanguage). So people of differentages and backgrounds are likelyto disagree a good deal aboutthe strength of the words listed.
The words associated withreligion are not consideredshocking when used with theirliteral meaning, and the starsshow their strength when usedas swearwords. The strength ofthe other words is mostly thesame whether they are usedliterally or for swearing.
Religiontaboowordmeaningdamn *condemn to hell (rarein literal sense; mainlyused as swearword)blast * (BrE)strike with divinepunishment (rare inliteral sense; mainlyused as swearword)hell *(Damn, blast and hell have lostmost of their strength, and arescarcely regarded asswearwords by most people inmodern English.)God *Jesus **Christ **
Parts of the bodytaboowordmeaningarse ***
(AmEass **)bottom, buttocks, anusarsehole***
(AmEasshole**)anusballs ***testiclesbollocks*** (BrE)testiclescock ***penisdick***penisprick ***penistits ***breastscunt****woman’s sex organstwat ***woman’s sex organs(rare)
Sexual activitytaboowordmeaningfuck ***have sex (with)wank***
(AmEjerk off***)masturbate (have sexwith oneself)bugger*** (BrE)have anal intercoursewith a person oranimal; person whodoes so (rare in literalsense)come **reach a sexual climax(orgasm)sod ** (BrE)homosexual(abbreviation ofsodomite; rare in literalsense)bitch ***female dog; earlierused for ‘immoral’ womanwhore**prostitutebastard**child of unmarriedparents
Lavatorytaboowordmeaningpiss ***urine; urinateshit ***excrement; defecatecrap **excrement; defecatefart **let digestive gas outfrom the anus
3
swearwords
All of the words listed above, and a few others, are used inswearing. The meaning of aswearword is always differentfrom its literal (taboo) meaning(see introduction above). Compare:
What are you doing fucking inmy bed?
(= Why are you making love inmy bed? – literal meaning offucking)
What are you fucking doing inmy bed?
(= Why the hell are you in mybed? – fucking used as aswearword)
The meaning of a swearwordcan also change with itsgrammatical form. For instance, piss off is an aggressive way ofsaying go away; pissed is Britishslang for drunk; pissed off isBritish slang for fed up. Manyswearwords are grammaticallyvery flexible. Fucking, forexample, can act both as anadjective (e.g. fucking idiot) andas an intensifying adverb (e.g. fucking good, fucking soon, it’sfucking raining, fucking well shutup). It is even sometimes putinto the middle of another word(abso‑fucking‑lutely). Swearwords are the only wordsin the language that have thisgrammatical range.
The following list shows some ofthe most common expressionsused in swearing; they aregrouped according to meaning.
a
exclamation of annoyance
Damn (it)!
Blast (it)! (BrE)
God damn it!
God damn! (especially AmE)
Hell!
(My) God!
Jesus!
Christ!
Jesus Christ!
Bugger (it)! (BrE)
Sod (it)! (BrE)
Shit!
Fuck (it)!
Examples of use:
Damn it! Can’t you hurry up?
Christ! It’s raining again!
Oh, fuck! I’ve lost the address!
b
exclamation of surprise
(My) God!
Jesus!
Christ!
Jesus Christ!
God damn! (especially AmE)
Well, I’ll be damned!
Son of a bitch! (especiallyAmE)
Damn me!
Bugger/Fuck me! (BrE)
Well, I’m damned/buggered! (BrE)
Examples of use:
My God! Look at that!
Well, I’m damned! What areyou doing here?
Bugger me! There’s MrsSmith. I thought she was onholiday.
c
surprised question
Who/What/Why etc the hell …? (AmE also … in hell …?)
Who/What/Why etc the fuck…?
Examples of use:
What the hell do you thinkyou’re doing?
Where the fuck are the carkeys?
d
insult (noun)
Note that these nounsgenerally have no realmeaning. They simply expressa strong emotion such ashatred, anger, envy orcontempt.
bastard
fart
prick
fucker
cunt
shit
sod (BrE)
bugger (BrE)
wanker (BrE)
twat (= idiot)
bitch (applied to women)
son of a bitch (AmE)
arsehole (AmE asshole)
motherfucker (AmE)
cocksucker (AmE)
(stupid) fuck (esp AmE)
dickhead (= idiot)
Examples of use:
You bastard!
Stupid old fart!
He’s a real prick!
Stupid fucker!
Lucky sod!
She’s such a bitch!
That guy’s a real asshole!
Stupid twat!
e
insult (imperative verb + object)
Damn …!
Bugger …! (BrE)
Blast …! (BrE)
Fuck …!
Sod …! (BrE)
Screw …!
Examples of use:
Damn that child!
Fuck you!
Screw the government!
f
insulting request to go away
Fuck off!
Piss off!
Bugger off! (BrE)
Sod off! (BrE)
Examples of use:
Can I have a word with you? ~Fuck off!
If Andy comes asking formoney, tell him to piss off.
g
expression of unconcern (= ‘Idon’t care’)
I don’t/couldn’t give adamn/shit/fuck; … a bugger(BrE).
Examples of use:
They can come and arrest meif they want to. I don’t give afuck.
Mary’s very angry with you. ~I don’t give a bugger.
h
violentrefusal/rejection/defiance
(I’ll be) damned/fucked if I will!
… buggered if I will! (BrE)
Stuff it (up your arse/ass)!
Get stuffed! (BrE)
Balls!
Balls to …! (BrE)
Bollocks! (BrE)
Kiss my arse/ass!
Suck my cock!
Why don’t you take a flyingfuck?
Examples of use:
Mr Parsons wants you to cleanout the lavatories. ~ Fucked ifI will!
Management are offeringanother £8 a week. ~ Theycan stuff it.
Give me a kiss. ~ Get stuffed!
You’re afraid to fight. ~ Balls!
Balls to the lot of you! I’mgoing home.
i
intensifying adjective/adverb(used to emphasise anemotion)
damn(ed)
bloody (BrE)
goddam (AmE)
sodding (BrE)
fucking
Bloody has no literal tabooequivalent in modern English.
Examples of use:
That car’s going damn(ed)fast.
She’s a fucking marvelloussinger.
Where’s the bloody switch?
Put the fucking cat out!
It’s bloody raining again.
When these words are usedbefore verbs, the word well isoften added in British English.
I damn well hope you nevercome back.
I’m not fucking well paying thistime.
It’s bloody well raining again.
j
miscellaneous
Fuck (up), screw (up) andbugger (up) (BrE) can mean‘ruin’, ‘spoil’ or ‘destroy’.
Somebody’s fucked up the TV.
You’ve buggered my watch.
Fucked and buggered canmean ‘exhausted’ (BrE).
Want another game of tennis?~ No, I’m fucked.
Screw (especially AmE) canmean ‘cheat’.
Don’t buy a car from thatgarage – they’ll screw you.
Cock up (BrE), balls up (BrE), fuck up and screw up can beused as verbs or nouns to referto mistakes of organisation. (When used as nouns, they areoften written with hyphens.)
That bloody secretary’s cockedup my travel arrangements.
Sorry you didn’t get yourinvitation – Mary made a balls-up.
The conference was acomplete fuck-up.
Well, we really screwed up thistime, didn’t we?
Balls (BrE), bullshit (AmE), cock and crap are used tomean ‘nonsense’.
What’s his new book like? ~ Aload of balls.
Don’t talk crap!
In American English, shit canmean ‘lies’ or ‘nothing’.
Janie’s getting married. ~ Noshit?
He don’t know his ass from ahole in the ground. He don’tknow shit.
Bugger/fuck/damn/sod all areused in British English to mean‘nothing’.
There’s fuck all in the fridge. We’ll have to eat out.
In British English, pissedmeans ‘drunk’ and pissed offmeans ‘fed up’.
Steve was pissed out of hismind again last night.
I’m getting pissed off withLondon.
In American English, pissed is‘annoyed’, ‘angry’.
I’m pissed at him because ofwhat he’s been saying aboutme.
A sod of a … means ‘a verybad …’
It was a sod of an exam.
It’s a sod of a place to get to.
For information about slang, see 533
‘Slang’ is a very informal kind ofvocabulary, used mostly inspeech by people who knoweach other well. Examples:
Can you lend me some cash? (money)
My shoelace has bust. (broken)
He’s a real prat. (fool)
Those boots are real cool. (fashionable)
Let’s chill out. (relax)
How are the kids? (children)
Slang expressions are notusually written, and not used informal kinds of communication.
2
strong feelings
Many English slang expressionsrelate to things that people feelstrongly about (e.g. sex, familyand emotional relationships, drink, drugs, conflict betweensocial groups, work, physical andmental illness, death).
She’s got really nice tits. (breasts)
I spent the weekend at mygran’s. (grandmother’s)
God, we got smashed last night. (drunk)
Prods out! (Protestants)
Can you get that sitrep to theMD by five? (situation report; Managing Director)
I’ve got some sort of bug. (illness)
He’s lost his marbles. (gonemad)
When I kick the bucket, I wantyou all to have a big party. (die)
Slang can be used in order to beoffensive.
Shut your gob! (mouth)
For more about ‘taboo’ words forsubjects that some people findshocking, see 575.
3
group membership; using slang
Many slang expressions (e.g. cash, kids) are widely used. However, some slangexpressions are only used bymembers of particular social andprofessional groups, and nearlyall slang is used between peoplewho know each other well orshare the same socialbackground. So it is usually amistake for ‘outsiders’ (includingforeigners) to try deliberately touse slang. This can give theimpression that they areclaiming membership of a groupthat they do not belong to. There is also the danger that theslang may be out of date – somekinds of slang go out of fashionquickly, and when it gets intobooks it may already be dead. Itis best for learners to avoidslang unless they are really sureof its use. If they start becomingaccepted as part of an English-speaking community, they willlearn to use the community’sslang naturally and correctlyalong with the rest of theirlanguage
taboo words andswearwords
1
introduction
Many languages have wordswhich are considered dangerous, holy, magic or shocking, andwhich are only used in certainsituations or by certain people. For instance, in some Africantribes the names of dead chiefsmust not be said; in manycultures, words associated withreligious beliefs are used only onreligious occasions, or only bypriests. Words of this kind canbe called ‘taboo words’.
English has three main groups oftaboo words and expressions:
aA number of words connectedwith the Christian religion (e.g. the names Christ, God) areconsidered holy by somepeople. These people prefer touse such words only in formaland respectful contexts, andthey may be upset or shockedby their ‘careless’ use.
bCertain words relating tosexual activity and theassociated parts of the body(e.g. fuck, balls) are regardedas shocking by many people. Thirty or forty years ago someof these words could not beprinted or broadcast, and theyare still comparatively unusualin public speech and writing. In polite or formal languagethese words are generallyavoided, or replaced by otherwords and expressions (e.g. make love or have sexualintercourse, testicles).
cSome words referring to theelimination of bodily wastes(what one does in thelavatory), and the associatedparts of the body, are alsoregarded as ‘dirty’ or shocking(e.g. piss, shit). They are oftenreplaced by more ‘polite’ words and expressions withthe same meaning (e.g. urinate, defecate) or bysubstitutes (e.g. go to thelavatory, wash one’s hands).
Because taboo words areshocking, they are common insituations where people want toexpress powerful emotions byusing ‘strong’ language. This iscalled ‘swearing’. When peopleswear, taboo words usuallychange their meaningscompletely. For example, fuckoff and piss off have nothing todo with sex or urinating – theyare simply violently rude ways ofsaying ‘go away’. The strengthof the original taboo word isborrowed for a different purpose.
Linguistic taboos in English-speaking countries are lessstrong than they used to be. Most taboo words andswearwords shock less than theydid, say, twenty years ago. Andincreasingly, people are usinginformal taboo words which arefelt to be amusingly ‘naughty’ rather than shocking, such asbonk or shag instead of fuck, orwilly instead of prick (= penis).
None the less, students shouldbe very careful about usingtaboo words and swearwords. There are two reasons for this. First of all, it is not easy to knowthe exact strength of theseexpressions in a foreignlanguage, or to know what kindof people are shocked by them, and in what circumstances. Onemay easily say something that ismeant as a joke, but whichseriously upsets the people oneis talking to. And secondly, usingthis sort of language generallyindicates membership of agroup: one most often swears inthe company of people oneknows well, who belong to one’sown social circle, age group etc. (Children usually avoid swearingin front of adults so as not toannoy or shock them, and adultsavoid swearing in front ofchildren for similar reasons.) Soa foreigner who usesswearwords may give theimpression of claimingmembership of a group that heor she does not belong to.
2
taboo words
The following are some of themost common English taboowords, with explanations of theirliteral meanings wherenecessary. Their approximate‘strength’ is shown by stars: one-star words like hell, damn orblast (which are scarcely tabooin modern English) will not upsetmany people, while a three- orfour-star word may be veryshocking if it is used in thewrong situation. Note, however, that individual reactions toparticular words (and toswearing in general) varyenormously, and that attitudesare changing rapidly (andgenerally becoming moretolerant of this kind oflanguage). So people of differentages and backgrounds are likelyto disagree a good deal aboutthe strength of the words listed.
The words associated withreligion are not consideredshocking when used with theirliteral meaning, and the starsshow their strength when usedas swearwords. The strength ofthe other words is mostly thesame whether they are usedliterally or for swearing.
Religiontaboowordmeaningdamn *condemn to hell (rarein literal sense; mainlyused as swearword)blast * (BrE)strike with divinepunishment (rare inliteral sense; mainlyused as swearword)hell *(Damn, blast and hell have lostmost of their strength, and arescarcely regarded asswearwords by most people inmodern English.)God *Jesus **Christ **
Parts of the bodytaboowordmeaningarse ***
(AmEass **)bottom, buttocks, anusarsehole***
(AmEasshole**)anusballs ***testiclesbollocks*** (BrE)testiclescock ***penisdick***penisprick ***penistits ***breastscunt****woman’s sex organstwat ***woman’s sex organs(rare)
Sexual activitytaboowordmeaningfuck ***have sex (with)wank***
(AmEjerk off***)masturbate (have sexwith oneself)bugger*** (BrE)have anal intercoursewith a person oranimal; person whodoes so (rare in literalsense)come **reach a sexual climax(orgasm)sod ** (BrE)homosexual(abbreviation ofsodomite; rare in literalsense)bitch ***female dog; earlierused for ‘immoral’ womanwhore**prostitutebastard**child of unmarriedparents
Lavatorytaboowordmeaningpiss ***urine; urinateshit ***excrement; defecatecrap **excrement; defecatefart **let digestive gas outfrom the anus
3
swearwords
All of the words listed above, and a few others, are used inswearing. The meaning of aswearword is always differentfrom its literal (taboo) meaning(see introduction above). Compare:
What are you doing fucking inmy bed?
(= Why are you making love inmy bed? – literal meaning offucking)
What are you fucking doing inmy bed?
(= Why the hell are you in mybed? – fucking used as aswearword)
The meaning of a swearwordcan also change with itsgrammatical form. For instance, piss off is an aggressive way ofsaying go away; pissed is Britishslang for drunk; pissed off isBritish slang for fed up. Manyswearwords are grammaticallyvery flexible. Fucking, forexample, can act both as anadjective (e.g. fucking idiot) andas an intensifying adverb (e.g. fucking good, fucking soon, it’sfucking raining, fucking well shutup). It is even sometimes putinto the middle of another word(abso‑fucking‑lutely). Swearwords are the only wordsin the language that have thisgrammatical range.
The following list shows some ofthe most common expressionsused in swearing; they aregrouped according to meaning.
a
exclamation of annoyance
Damn (it)!
Blast (it)! (BrE)
God damn it!
God damn! (especially AmE)
Hell!
(My) God!
Jesus!
Christ!
Jesus Christ!
Bugger (it)! (BrE)
Sod (it)! (BrE)
Shit!
Fuck (it)!
Examples of use:
Damn it! Can’t you hurry up?
Christ! It’s raining again!
Oh, fuck! I’ve lost the address!
b
exclamation of surprise
(My) God!
Jesus!
Christ!
Jesus Christ!
God damn! (especially AmE)
Well, I’ll be damned!
Son of a bitch! (especiallyAmE)
Damn me!
Bugger/Fuck me! (BrE)
Well, I’m damned/buggered! (BrE)
Examples of use:
My God! Look at that!
Well, I’m damned! What areyou doing here?
Bugger me! There’s MrsSmith. I thought she was onholiday.
c
surprised question
Who/What/Why etc the hell …? (AmE also … in hell …?)
Who/What/Why etc the fuck…?
Examples of use:
What the hell do you thinkyou’re doing?
Where the fuck are the carkeys?
d
insult (noun)
Note that these nounsgenerally have no realmeaning. They simply expressa strong emotion such ashatred, anger, envy orcontempt.
bastard
fart
prick
fucker
cunt
shit
sod (BrE)
bugger (BrE)
wanker (BrE)
twat (= idiot)
bitch (applied to women)
son of a bitch (AmE)
arsehole (AmE asshole)
motherfucker (AmE)
cocksucker (AmE)
(stupid) fuck (esp AmE)
dickhead (= idiot)
Examples of use:
You bastard!
Stupid old fart!
He’s a real prick!
Stupid fucker!
Lucky sod!
She’s such a bitch!
That guy’s a real asshole!
Stupid twat!
e
insult (imperative verb + object)
Damn …!
Bugger …! (BrE)
Blast …! (BrE)
Fuck …!
Sod …! (BrE)
Screw …!
Examples of use:
Damn that child!
Fuck you!
Screw the government!
f
insulting request to go away
Fuck off!
Piss off!
Bugger off! (BrE)
Sod off! (BrE)
Examples of use:
Can I have a word with you? ~Fuck off!
If Andy comes asking formoney, tell him to piss off.
g
expression of unconcern (= ‘Idon’t care’)
I don’t/couldn’t give adamn/shit/fuck; … a bugger(BrE).
Examples of use:
They can come and arrest meif they want to. I don’t give afuck.
Mary’s very angry with you. ~I don’t give a bugger.
h
violentrefusal/rejection/defiance
(I’ll be) damned/fucked if I will!
… buggered if I will! (BrE)
Stuff it (up your arse/ass)!
Get stuffed! (BrE)
Balls!
Balls to …! (BrE)
Bollocks! (BrE)
Kiss my arse/ass!
Suck my cock!
Why don’t you take a flyingfuck?
Examples of use:
Mr Parsons wants you to cleanout the lavatories. ~ Fucked ifI will!
Management are offeringanother £8 a week. ~ Theycan stuff it.
Give me a kiss. ~ Get stuffed!
You’re afraid to fight. ~ Balls!
Balls to the lot of you! I’mgoing home.
i
intensifying adjective/adverb(used to emphasise anemotion)
damn(ed)
bloody (BrE)
goddam (AmE)
sodding (BrE)
fucking
Bloody has no literal tabooequivalent in modern English.
Examples of use:
That car’s going damn(ed)fast.
She’s a fucking marvelloussinger.
Where’s the bloody switch?
Put the fucking cat out!
It’s bloody raining again.
When these words are usedbefore verbs, the word well isoften added in British English.
I damn well hope you nevercome back.
I’m not fucking well paying thistime.
It’s bloody well raining again.
j
miscellaneous
Fuck (up), screw (up) andbugger (up) (BrE) can mean‘ruin’, ‘spoil’ or ‘destroy’.
Somebody’s fucked up the TV.
You’ve buggered my watch.
Fucked and buggered canmean ‘exhausted’ (BrE).
Want another game of tennis?~ No, I’m fucked.
Screw (especially AmE) canmean ‘cheat’.
Don’t buy a car from thatgarage – they’ll screw you.
Cock up (BrE), balls up (BrE), fuck up and screw up can beused as verbs or nouns to referto mistakes of organisation. (When used as nouns, they areoften written with hyphens.)
That bloody secretary’s cockedup my travel arrangements.
Sorry you didn’t get yourinvitation – Mary made a balls-up.
The conference was acomplete fuck-up.
Well, we really screwed up thistime, didn’t we?
Balls (BrE), bullshit (AmE), cock and crap are used tomean ‘nonsense’.
What’s his new book like? ~ Aload of balls.
Don’t talk crap!
In American English, shit canmean ‘lies’ or ‘nothing’.
Janie’s getting married. ~ Noshit?
He don’t know his ass from ahole in the ground. He don’tknow shit.
Bugger/fuck/damn/sod all areused in British English to mean‘nothing’.
There’s fuck all in the fridge. We’ll have to eat out.
In British English, pissedmeans ‘drunk’ and pissed offmeans ‘fed up’.
Steve was pissed out of hismind again last night.
I’m getting pissed off withLondon.
In American English, pissed is‘annoyed’, ‘angry’.
I’m pissed at him because ofwhat he’s been saying aboutme.
A sod of a … means ‘a verybad …’
It was a sod of an exam.
It’s a sod of a place to get to.
For information about slang, see 533
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