Slang

英國大使館文化教育處

Slang is very informal language which isoften used by young people. It’s hard to keepup to date with it as new words and phrasesappear and evolve. Living in a multiculturalsociety has an effect on language， especiallyon the young， whose friends are often froma mix of backgrounds. TV and music alsohave a big impact. Here are a few examples：

Instead of using different tag questionslike “…isn’t it？” “…can’t you？” or “…don’tthey？”， people use “innit”.

For example， “He can dance really well，innit！” （= He can dance really well， can’t he？）or “They always say that， innit.” （= Theyalways say that， don’t they？ ）

Instead of saying “very”， “really” or“completely” use “well”， e.g. “I’m well tired.”or “You got it well wrong！”

Whatever means “I don’t care”， e.g. A： “But the teacher says we can’tleave until we’ve finished.” B： “Whatever. I’m going.”

He’s fine or he’s fit both mean “He’s good-looking”. Fine and fit candescribe a boy or a girl.

Not everybody uses slang and not everybody likes it. A school in thenorth of England recently told its pupils to stop using slang words such as“hiya” （hello）， “cheers” and “ta” （both mean “thank you”）， if they wanted to geta place at university or a good job.

When British people use language like this， it’s no surprise that somesay they can’t understand native speakers. But perhaps learners don’t need?to worry so much. Research shows that most of the English spoken aroundthe world today is between non-native speakers of the language.

So， how important is it to understand these slang words andexpressions？ If you watch films or TV in English， read magazines inEnglish， chat online in English or are interested in English song lyrics， thenunderstanding slang can be very useful. You probably won’t see much slangin your English examination， though.

Activity 1 Match the words from the text to their definitions.

1. background

2. evolve

3. impact

4. keep up to date

5. out of date

a. be aware of the most recent information，ideas， etc.

b. change or develop slowly

c. effect or influence

d. old， invalid or unfashionable

e. social class， education or experience

Activity 2 Decide if the following statements about the text are true（T）or false（F）.

1. Modern slang changes very quickly.

2. Slang sometimes makes grammar simpler.

3. “Fit” is only used to describe boys.

4. Schools encourage people to use slang.

5. More English is spoken by non-native speakers than by native speakers.

6. It is essential to learn some British slang.

參考答案：

Activity 1 1. e; 2. b; 3. c; 4. a; 5. d Activity 2 1. T; 2. T; 3. F; 4. F; 5. T; 6. F