English Vocabulary Builder: Learn 15 Slang & Informal Words

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on some expressions in English which

are rather informal, casual. Other words to describe them are colloquial, slang. So, these

are the kinds of words that you would hear people using in everyday conversation with

their friends and with their colleagues. Not so much in the more formal situations like

interviews or meetings with clients. So, I've just got a selection of these on the board,

so let's have a look, and I'll give you some examples of how each one is used.

So, okay, the first one is "wicked". So, the word "wicked" in its usual straightforward

meaning actually means bad or evil, somebody who does something wicked, really bad, a bad

person. But in this sense, it's actually the opposite of the real meaning of "wicked".

It means great. So, if... If somebody likes a television program, for example, they really

enjoy it, it's one of their favourites, they might say, "Oh, that program, it's wicked",

meaning they really like it. So, it's actually the opposite of the usual... The dictionary

definition. Okay, so I think it originated with schoolchildren using opposite words just

for fun, and this... This one, you know, got into the... The general language. Okay, so

moving on, we have "cool", which has been around for a very long time now. I think maybe

from the 1960s onwards, I think it started in America. The straightforward meaning of

"cool" is just a bit... A little bit less than "cold", if something's cold, but then

if it's cool, if the weather is cool, it's not sort of freezing and cold, but it's not

hot either. So, you've got cold, cool, warm, hot, boiling, you've got the different temperatures.

So, "cool", it's not cold or freezing, but it's maybe just comfortable, but not warm.

So, "cool" is a temperature, but also it's been used since the 1960s, I would say, to

mean good. It means, you know, oh, that's cool. If it's maybe a bit fashionable or trendy,

it's cool. And also if somebody maybe apologizes for something, like, "Oh, I'm sorry I'm five

minutes late. I do apologize. I hope I haven't been keeping you waiting." "Oh, no, no, it's

cool. It's cool." So, that kind of use as well.

Okay. So, then we have "brilliant", which is closer, really, to the meaning of "brilliant",

literally means shining, brilliant. If you have a diamond which is shining and reflecting

the light, it's brilliant. But generally, in the more casual sense, if something's brilliant,

again, a television program that you really like, you can say, "Oh, that program, it's

brilliant." Or sometimes people just use this word automatically without even thinking,

you know, and it may not be anything special, but they might just say, "Oh, brilliant. Oh,

brilliant. Oh, the bus is coming now. We've been waiting 10 minutes for the bus at the

bus stop." And then, "Oh, brilliant. The bus is coming." You just see the bus approaching

from a distance. So, sometimes people use "brilliant" in a rather ordinary situation,

not to do with something bright and shiny at all. So, it sort of loses its original

meaning that way. Okay, so next one, we have two words here together. "Dead funny", I mean

the word "funny", you know, something that makes you laugh. But if it's dead funny, that

means very funny, really funny. It's a sort of intensifier, if you like. Really funny,

very funny. But it's a strange one because "dead" is not a nice word, so you think, why

does that make it stronger to put "dead funny"? I don't know. It's just the way the language

has developed. So, there it is. You just have to... That's what people say, that's what

it means. Nobody can change it, so that's just what it is. Okay. Right, so next is "cheers",

which may be a rather sort of British English kind of word, although there was that television

program from America called "Cheers", which was, I think, set in Boston, and it was people

in a bar, and it was called "Cheers", but many years ago now. But this is what people

say in a pub in the UK if they're having a drink, especially if they're sitting down

or standing up and it's their first drink, and it's alcohol usually. They say "Cheers"

before they drink, a kind of, you know, good health, that sort of thing. But I think it's

used more in the UK than perhaps in other countries, but it's one of those words meaning

good health, you know, here's to you sort of thing, so "Cheers". But people also use

it a bit more generally as well. So, if you're in the office and you bring somebody a document

that they've asked for, or if some post or a parcel has come for somebody, and you see

their name on the parcel and think "Oh, I'll just... I'm going that way, so I'll take this

to that person's desk and give it to them", you don't have to, but it's a nice, friendly

thing to do. So, you take the box, they're sitting there at the desk, you say "Oh, there's

a parcel here for you, Jane. Oh, cheers. Cheers." So, it's just a way of sometimes saying thank

you for doing something, an alternative in a sort of casual, friendly way. Okay. Right,

so now we're getting on to some more negative ones. "Dodgy". If something's dodgy, it can

either mean, oh, it's a bit dubious, a bit doubtful, you're not sure if it's legal, possibly,

it could be illegal, whatever it is. You might say "Oh, that... That contract they're asking

us to sign, it looks a bit dodgy to me. I don't think... Or that company, or that person,

I'm getting bad... Bad vibes. I think they're a bit dodgy. I don't want... I don't think

I want to have anything to do with them. That sounds like a dodgy deal to me." Something

that's not quite right, so... And "to dodge", if you go by the basic meaning, the straightforward

meaning, "to dodge" is when you move out of the way of something. You know, if someone's

about to hit you, you go like that and dodge... Dodge the punch. Or if some... If some object

is flying towards you, you just get out of the way, you dodge it. So maybe a dodgy deal

is something you want to get out of the way of. I think that that may be the connection

there. Okay. And then another negative one, "gutted". So, in a literal sense, this is

what you do if you're preparing some food, like a fish or maybe a chicken or a fish that

has the guts. You know, the guts are the insides of the animal or fish, the intestines. They're

sort of digestive insides, digestive tract. That's the guts. So, to cook and eat a fish

or a chicken or anything like that, you have to take the guts out. So, you might say, "Oh,

I've got some fish for dinner. I've just gutted it." So, that's the literal meaning. You've

cut the fish open and you've removed the insides so you can just cook the meat. But if somebody

says, "Oh, something terrible happened yesterday. I was absolutely gutted." So, obviously not

literally true, but it upsets the person so much that they feel as if their guts have

been ripped out. I mean, that would be horrendous. You know, it would kill the person, but...

You know, it's a big exaggeration, really, but that's what "gutted" means. "I was gutted."

You know, "Oh, we lost the match. Football, we lost the match. I'm gutted." You know,

as if... You know, I know it's important to a lot of people to win the football match.

Your team or if you're a player in a team, you want to win, and if you lose, you feel

gutted. So, you feel you've lost something big, like your insides. So, that's the idea

of that one.

Okay, so... Oh, well, this follows on quite nicely in a strange way. If you're a bit peckish,

it means you're feeling hungry. You feel like something to eat. I guess "to peck", I think

of chickens and hens for this in the farmyard, because with their little beak, they're pecking...

Pecking at food in the farmyard, at the farm. So, "peckish" means you feel like eating something,

pecking at something. So, feeling a bit peckish means it's not a huge hunger, but just feeling

like a little snack or something, that sort of thing. Okay.

Then this one, if you're knackered, the usage I've heard where it's more, you know, basic

is if... If a horse becomes very old and it's no use anymore, I mean, you might keep the

horse and just look after it in a field, but some people would, especially in the past,

they would send the horse away to be killed because it's just eating and drinking. You're

having to spend money on it, looking after it. It's not commercially viable, a terrible

thing to think. But, you know, in the past, especially, horses were sent to a place called

the knacker's yard. I don't know if this is a typically UK kind of thing, but there would

be people whose job it was to kill old horses and probably use parts of their bodies for

recycling for different purposes. So, the knacker's yard was the place to send an old

horse when it was no longer of any use. It couldn't be used to pull a cart anymore. It

wasn't strong enough for you to ride it, and so on. So it went to the knacker's yard. So,

the knacker being the person who did the killing. So, if somebody says, "Oh, I'm knackered.

I've been working all day. I'm so knackered." And it just means very, very tired, a little

bit like an old horse that, you know, has no life left in it, so that's knackered. But

of course, it's a big exaggeration, again, if someone says they're knackered. Unless

they're really, really tired, it is a more extreme kind of tiredness. Okay.

So, I guess if you're knackered, you've had a long day at work, you need to chill or chill

out. You need to rest. So, "chill" in the literal meaning, you might chill food by putting

it in the fridge, make it colder. So, that's one. Or if the weather is chilly with a "y"

on the end... Oh, it's chilly today, isn't it? Meaning cold, quite cold. But if you chill,

oh, just chill. I just want to chill, meaning I just want to sit around and relax. Okay.

Watch television, listen to some music, something like that. And to chill out also, it's used

with the preposition "out", which is the same meaning. Also, I think people use "chill"

if... If someone's getting a bit upset or a bit annoyed, people might say, "Oh, just

chill. Chill. You know, cool it." It's a similar idea, cool it. You know, don't get so upset

about it. It's not a big issue. Oh, let's just chill. Okay. Right. And then these two

here, "kip" and "forty winks" are to do with having a little sleep. So, it's not like a

long sleep, all night kind of sleep. It's just a short one. I'm just going to have a

kip for 20 minutes, something like that. Kip. Or I'm just having 40 winks. Winking is when

you close your eye, like that. So, it just means you might close your eye, count to 40,

and then open your eye again, or both eyes. Forty winks, it's a very short little sleep.

Okay. And "kip", well, I'm not quite sure where that word originates. I can't think

of any connection with anything else, so it's just a kip, a little... A little sleep. Again,

it may be a very sort of UK type word. Okay.

This one also I think is quite a UK one. "Blimey", if you've heard people say it, they might

even say it with quite a Cockney accent. "Caw", with "caw" in front of it. "Caw", "blimey".

So "caw" is a way of saying "God" without saying the name "God". It's to avoid saying

"God", "caw". And then "blimey", it's actually a shortened version of "blind me". So, to

say "God blind me" is, oh, a risky thing to say, I would think. I wouldn't like to say

it, really, because you don't want anybody to blind you, to stop you being able to see.

So that's what it is anyway, "blimey". It's just a very mild kind of swear word, really,

if you're surprised at something. So, if... You know, if you... Oh, if the doorbell rings, and there's

someone there with big bunches of flowers that you weren't expecting. You know, ten

bunches of flowers. "Blimey, who sent these?" You know, it's a sort of what you say if you're

surprised or shocked by something. Okay?

"Skint". Okay. So, "skint", it's like the word "skinned", so if you have... Or with

an animal, if, again, preparing an animal for cooking, removing the skin, taking off

the skin. This is a sort of similar idea, but it's "skint". It actually means you're

short of money, you don't have enough money either at all or just with you in your pocket

or in your bag, in your purse, in your wallet. "Oh, I'm a bit skint at the moment. I can't

pay for the drinks. Can I borrow some money?" or "Can you pay, and I'll pay next time?"

if you're in a pub or a cafe or something. So, to be "skint" means you have no money,

and it kind of comes from having your skin removed, which sounds horrible, but that's

the idea of it. Okay. Right.

And then finally, "fancy that" with an apostrophe, maybe. So, if you've been told something surprising,

like, "Oh, you've won some money." Suddenly, you didn't expect to, but you've won some

money. "Oh, fancy that. I didn't expect that." So, to "fancy" is to imagine or to wonder.

So, "Oh, just imagine that. Oh, what it's like to win some money when you weren't expecting

it." So, anything surprising that you're told, you could say, "Oh, fancy that."

So, okay. So, I hope that's been an interesting set of words for you, and to give you an idea

of how you might use them. Or if you hear other people using them, either face-to-face

or in a film or on television, whatever, you'll have a better idea of what they're talking

about. So, okay. So, if you'd like to do a quiz on this subject, just go to the website,

www.engvid.com, and try the quiz. Test your knowledge. And thanks for watching, and hope

to see you again soon. Okay. Bye for now.