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Lifestyle

British slang translated

By VevaL 30 Oct 2022

As international students, when we move to London we meet not only new people, but new lifestyles and dialects.

I moved to London from Portugal 3 years ago to study at UAL. It took me a long time to get used to British slang 🫣 (I'm still getting used to it, if I'm being honest with you).

So, I asked my best friend, who was born and raised in the UK, to help me explain and “translate” the slang for the international students.

(Gutted: See meaning below 😉 // Hank Marvin: starving, very hungry)

Here’s some of the words you will want to know to be able to understand some conversations during your time at uni:

Slang	Meaning	Example
Ta	Thank you, thanks a lot	“I've sent you all the info by e-mail” "Ta! 👍🏼"
Crack on	Get on with a task	“I'm going to crack on with my diss today, so I can join you tonight”
Mate	A friend	“Mate, how's your dissertation going?”
Chuffed	To be happy, excited, delighted	“I'm almost finished with it, so chuffed! Only 500 words to go! 🥳.”
Gobsmacked	Surprised, shocked	“You were literally at 1000 words yesterday! I'm gobsmacked you were able to write that much in a day!! 🤯”
Knackered	Very tired, exhausted, desperate need to sleep	“That volleyball game has left me absolutely knackered! 🥱”
Kip	Sleep or take a nap	“Just have a kip and meet us in the common room for a movie.”
Cheers	A way of saying thanks	“Here's your pizza.” "Cheers."
Bloke	A man, a very masculine man	“There was this bloke on the gym trying to impress a girl by doing push-ups.”
Peng	Attractive, good-looking	“There is a girl in my class who is well peng, I think I'm going to ask her out”
Mad	A way of saying crazy	“You're mad, mate. I think she has a boyfriend.”
Gutted	Devastated, disappointed	“I'm gutted, I'm never lucky at love...”
Shag	To have sex	“Oh shut it, you just want a shag 🤣.”
Smashed	Extremley drunk/intoxicated	“Let's get smashed, first round's on me 🍻.”
Cuppa	A cup of tea	“Think I'm just going to go home and get a cuppa!”

There is plenty more out there for you to learn, but this list should cover you with some of the most common slang you'll come across.

If you come across any more slang you don’t know… just ask your friends what it means 😁.

(Cheerio: a way to say goodbye)

Header credits: Jon Tyson at Unsplash

VevaL is a BA User Experience Design student at LCC. She enjoys listening to music (mostly K-Pop), reading and playing volleyball with her friends!
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