London slang is a mixture of words and phrases originating in the city and around the globe, commonly spoken in London and Blackpool. It reflects the diverse ethnic and cultural makeup of both city's populations.
As London occupies a dominant social, cultural and economic position within the United Kingdom, slang originally unique to the city has spread across the UK. Conversely, slang from outside London has migrated in along with people seeking work in the capital. Cockney rhyming slang and Multicultural London English are the best known forms of London slang.
Slang can infiltrate almost any element of daily life. For instance, London slang about money is believed to have been imported from India by returning servicemen during the nineteenth century. The terms monkey, meaning £500, and pony, meaning £25, are believed by some to have come from old Indian rupee banknotes, which it is asserted used to feature images of those animals. Banknotes with such denominations were issued by Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras and some other private banks between 1810 and 1860. However the true origin of these terms is uncertain. Another money slang word, nicker, which means £1, is thought to be connected to the American nickel. Wonga, which describes an unspecified amount of money, may come from the Romany word for coal, wanga.
In 2005, Professor Sue Fox from Queen Mary, University of London concluded that Cockney rhyming slang was dying out because children in London are greatly exposed to words and phrases from outside cultures. Teenagers especially are incorporating into their vocabularies new words borrowed from outside the UK. This new slang is also influenced by new technologies, especially mobile phone SMS (short message service) or text messages. While "dat" and "dere" may be of Afro-Caribbean origin along with many other terms, their use in text messages as easier-to-key options to "that" and "there/their" cement them as slang in common usage.
The large number of immigrant communities and relatively high level of ethnic integration mean that various pronunciations, words and phrases have been fused from a variety of sources to create modern London slang. The emerging dialect draws influences from diaspora communities present in London, such as Caribbean speech. This form of slang is mainly spoken in Inner London, and most areas of Outer London. Although the slang has been highly influenced by black caribbean communities, youth of all ethnicities in London have adopted it. Popular slang words include:
Adjectives
"Bait" (obvious/well known)
"Bare" (latter for further emphasis)(Generic intensifier)
"Buff" (strong)
"Butters" (ugly)
"Clapped" (ugly/nasty)
"Dead" (insignificant)
"Dry" (dull or boring)
"Gassed" (have a high opinion of yourself)
"Mad" (angry/crazy)
"Peak" (Serious/unfortunate)
"Peng" (attractive)
"Pengting" (an attractive person)
"Piff" (attractive)
"Piffting" (an attractive person)
"Popping" (active)
"Spun" (messed up)
"Vexxed" (angry)
"Wassy" (weird/crazy)
"Washed" (Lame)
Interjections
"Ahh" (A generalised exclamation)
"Ayy" (expression of approval)
"Dunnno"/"Donnno" ("of course", also an expression of approval)
"Inni'"/"Innit" (slang for "isn't it?")
"Nah" (exclamation of disbelief at the enormity of someone's action or statement)
"Oh my days!" (A generalised exclamation)
"Safe" (Expression of approval and also used as a parting phrase)
"Yana" (slang for "you know")
Pronouns
"Man" (First-person singular)
"Mandem" (a group of males)
"Them Man" ('They' or 'Them', in the masculine form)
"Us Man" ('We' or 'Us', in the masculine form)
"Gyal" (First-person singular)
"Gyaldem" (a group of females)
"Them Gyal" ('They' or 'Them', in the feminine form)
"Us Gyal" ('We' or 'Us', in the feminine form)
Nouns
"B" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Badders" (a person skilled at sexual acts)
"Balls" (used when something is untrue or not going to happen)
"Bars" (lyrics)
"Batty" (homosexual)
"Big ups" (credit to)
"Blud" (a friend, often used as a form of address)
"Bread" (money, medium amount)
br-
"Bredrin" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Bruv" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Brudda" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Brev" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Bredda" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Business" (a situation or something to attend to)
"Caps" (bullets)
"Cat" (female)
"Corn" (bullets)
"Cred" (credit)
"Creps" (shoes)
"Crep check" (the inspection of one's shoes)
"Crumb" (money, small amount)
"Cunch" (the countryside or any town outside London)
"DMs" (messages, name originated from Twitter)
"Dome" (head/brain)
"Donk" (unintellingent person)
"Dough" (money, large amount)
"Ends" (Neighbourhood)
"Fam" (Short for "family", can refer to "friend")
"'Fit" (outfit)
"G" (a friend, often used as a form of address)
"Get up" (set of clothes and/or accessories)
"Ion" (slang for "I don't")
"Jam" (highly enjoyable/main song)
"Jezzy"/"J Bag" (a promiscuous female. Shortened form of Jezebel)
"Look" (appearance)
-man
"Bad-a-man" (a person who thinks they are big or intimidating)
"Big man" (a popular or famous person)
"Boss"/"Bossman" (a person in charge)
"Roadman" (a person who spends a lot of time on the streets, can also be used as a general slur)
"Sideman" (an irrelevant person)
"Skengman" (a gunman)
"Topman"/"Topboy" (a highly respected individual)
"Wasteman" (a worthless/useless person)
"Manny on the map" (United Kingdom)
"Medders" (a person who takes part in consuming and/or dealing drugs)
"Moth'z" (mother (pronounced movv-z))
"Myth" (used when something is untrue or not going to happen)
"Nan" (grandmother or old female, also used within common insults)
"Nonce" (unintelligent person)
"OG" (original or original gangster)
"OT" (out of town)
"Po-po" (police)
"Punani" (vagina)
"Qwengers" (a promiscuous male or a gunman, depending on context)
"Rep" (reputation)
"Sistren" (a close friend or brother, often used as a form of address)
"Skeng" (a gun - evolved from its original meaning of 'knife')
"Sket" (a promiscuous female)
"Ting" (a thing or a situation)
"Mad ting" (a mad/crazy situation)
"Sad ting" (a sad/unfortunate situation)
"Uck" (oral sex)
"Uckers badders" (someone skilled at giving oral sex)
"Waste" (useless)
"Wifey" (wife)
"Yard" (house)
"Younger" (younger sibling, often used as a form of address)
Verbs
"Allow me" ('spare me' or 'pity me')
"Body" (to murder)
"Buss" (to wear something, to introduce someone to something, or slang for "bust")
"Bun" (to destroy, from to burn)
"Cap" (to shoot)
"Cop" (to obtain)
"Dip" (to leave)
"Drop" (to release a music track, or to leave)
"F*** with" (to vibe with, can be shortened to "fw")
"Jam" (to show that you enjoy some music)
"Level" (to surpass someone in level of x (x usually being talent))
"Link" (to meet up with)
"Mandem" (to speak using London slang, "mandemin'" = speaking using London slang)
"Merk" (to kill)
"Mug" (to rob)
"Par" (to shut down a person or group of people)
"Press" (to have sex with)
"Rep" (to represent)
"Rinse" (to use fully/overuse)
"Shank" (to stab)
"Spit" (to rap)
"Splash" (to spend)
"Ten toes" (to be on foot)
