Slang.

In this lesson, we are going to talk about a very fascinating part of the English language.
Give me an S
Give me an L
Give me an A
Give me an N
Give me an G!
Yes, today, we’re going to talk all about SLANG.

So the first question must be…
What exactly is slang?

Using slang means replacing a common word or sentence with a totally new one.
The use of slang has been around from many years.
It is often associated with younger people.
Mainly due to the fact that each new generation wants its own identity.
So in many ways it would be true to say that slang defines a generation.

Let’s take a look at a simple example of slang.

Can you see what I’ve got in my hand?
Look! ... I have some money.
There are many slang words that can mean money.
For example…
We can say “Cash”, “Dosh”, “Dough”, “Foldable Stuff”, “Moolah”, “Notes”, “Readies”, “Smackers”.
We can also use slang to express certain currencies.
For example…
The US Dollar … could be described as “Buck”, or “Green-Back”.
So in my hand, I have 1 “Green-Back”.
The English Pound on the other hand … can be called… “Quid” or “Nicker”.
So I could say… In my pocket I have 1 “Quid”.

Another word that has had many slang terms given to it…
Is the word “Great”.
For example, instead of saying great, we could say…
“That’s ace!”; “That’s awesome!”; “That’s bad”; “That’s bona”; “Cool”; “Excellent”; “Far-Out”; “Intense”; “Radical”; “Wicked”.
These days, the most commonly used slang word for good or great is “Awesome!”, and “Cool!”.
Did you know that the word “Cool” has been around as a slang term for over 50 years!

So as you can see there are many slang words around. Although it’s worth remembering that some slang terms from years ago are no longer used today.
For example… In the past we may have described a woman as a bird or a chick…
Nowadays these two terms are considered, very offensive.
So if you used it today, you may… get a slap in a face!

Let’s take a look at some more