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'My bluds say the skets round here are nuff deep' - the new inner city language

existentialist said:
I think you answered your own question - if you are trying to create a language that is opaque to outsiders, what better way to confuse and alienate them than by reversing the meanings of "their" words for your purposes!

I still use that "like a bastard" construction quite a lot - I hadn't even thought of it as a hangover from some adolescent lingua franca :)
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got to say " allow" (eg "allow that tune mate" " - ie : turn it off) - is a confusing one, have never got it ....
 
Ive only been in this country for a few years, and a rake a the boys I knock about with have this kinda spiel goin on, took me a good while to figure out lots of it, particularly "allow it/low dat" , but the best and most useful term is "bait" , I'm not sure if this is a new fangled word or older, but there just isn't an equivalent I've heard. Definitely a excellent addition to the language. This post is probably bait!
 
Limerick Red said:
Ive only been in this country for a few years, and a rake a the boys I knock about with have this kinda spiel goin on, took me a good while to figure out lots of it, particularly "allow it/low dat" , but the best and most useful term is "bait" , I'm not sure if this is a new fangled word or older, but there just isn't an equivalent I've heard. Definitely a excellent addition to the language. This post is probably bait!
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"long" works for me, succinct and kinda subtle in it's differentation from everyday use, but easy to understand, + I think i'm hearing it cross over into everyday use abit ..." that film was LONG " etc , which doesnt refer only to the length, but has the wider "and boring" meaning built into it as well.
 
Limerick Red said:
Ive only been in this country for a few years, and a rake a the boys I knock about with have this kinda spiel goin on, took me a good while to figure out lots of it, particularly "allow it/low dat" , but the best and most useful term is "bait" , I'm not sure if this is a new fangled word or older, but there just isn't an equivalent I've heard. Definitely a excellent addition to the language. This post is probably bait!
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Especially if you're out fishing.
 
Lol. Old people is funny. It ain't 'yard' it's 'endz'.

And the London accent of the under 30s is pretty uniform across creeds and colours, it certainly isn't BBE.

The big back 'oo' sound as in 'rude' is definitely of Turkish/Asian origin, there's plenty in there that is not Jamaican or black.
 
chelseagrill.jpg

"Why is everyone getting up in my grill ?"

If this sort of thing could be encouraged, the youngsters would soon opt for RP.
 
Doesn't "bait" mean blatant, too obvious, unsubtle?

maomao said:
Lol. Old people is funny. It ain't 'yard' it's 'endz'.

And the London accent of the under 30s is pretty uniform across creeds and colours, it certainly isn't BBE.

The big back 'oo' sound as in 'rude' is definitely of Turkish/Asian origin, there's plenty in there that is not Jamaican or black.
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Endz is area/hood, yard is home, both of which are still used by young people. I think someone should tell 'da yoot dem' that much of what they say is understood by adults, especially when they're talking about shotting, picking up food/cheese, beating some gal, etc. The undies must love it....
 
MLE is most exciting thing happening in English anywhere as far as I know. I loved sitting upstairs on the bus in South London listening to the stuff schoolkids and teenagers came out with.
 
It is really interesting, and very dynamic. I love the way that words change as soon as they realise everyone gets it.
 
Mind you, there are some down-sides. I was in court with a young man once, who didn't 'switch codes' and goes to the judge, "Man took the bike, innit.." :facepalm:
 
shygirl said:
It is really interesting, and very dynamic. I love the way that words change as soon as they realise everyone gets it.
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Yeah "blud" got dropped the minute the wider public caught on. Last time I was around in 2011 everything was "fam" and "cuz". I don't know what the latest man/mate/bruv variant is.
 
fam and cuz are still pretty much current, in fact, I can't think of any other words for friend at the mo. Oh, yeah, bredren, but that's usually used about someone who's not present.
 
Like slang's a new thing.

What I like is seeing words creep back into the lexicon - Like I thought the word "snide" appeared when I did, I knew the word existed in the past but in the form of a counterfeit thing, I thought the term snide was coined by my generation in the late 80's, like snide trips etc - Imagine my surprise when the pub landlord from the 1950's film "Hell Is A City" exclaims "Has some bastard bin passing me snide money" - Words come in and out of fashion and no mistake.
 
Frances Lengel said:
Like slang's a new thing.

What I like is seeing words creep back into the lexicon - Like I thought the word "snide" appeared when I did, I knew the word existed in the past but in the form of a counterfeit thing, I thought the term snide was coined by my generation in the late 80's, like snide trips etc - Imagine my surprise when the pub landlord from the 1950's film "Hell Is A City" exclaims "Has some bastard bin passing me snide money" - Words come in and out of fashion and no mistake.
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The thing is though - the way slang has developed in the past decade in London has been amazing and at a breakneck pace. I am not an out-and-out expert on it but what I know is that the difference between the way kids there spoke in 1997 (when I first lived there) and now is massively different. Help me out with this Londoners, but I think I'd be right in saying that while there was a strong London urban slang in 1997, what we have now is way beyond that. It's a full-on dialect that plays all kinds of games with syntax and structure rather than having simple vocabulary variations that youth culture always has.
 
ooh, er, that's a bit deep for me! We'll have to wait for someone who knows about this linguistics stuff to answer that one.
 
Favelado said:
The thing is though - the way slang has developed in the past decade in London has been amazing and at a breakneck pace. I am not an out-and-out expert on it but what I know is that the difference between the way kids there spoke in 1997 and now is massively different. Help me out with this Londoners, but I think I'd be right in saying that while there was a strong London urban slang in 1997, what we have now is way beyond that. It's a full-on dialect that plays all kinds of games with syntax and structure rather than having simple vocabulary variations that youth culture always has.
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How much of that is London slang & how much of that is youth prison slang though? I'm asking btw, not having a go - I've only been to london a couple of times but I reckon young peoples slang these days transcends areas - They just talk prison slang. Which is funny in a way. But sad in another way.
 
I think it's London slang and if it's being spoken in other places it's because kids in other areas are making a conscious effort to ape London slang heard in grime and other urban London music.
 
Favelado said:
I think it's London slang and if it's being spoken in other places it's because kids in other areas are making a conscious effort to ape London slang heard in grime and other urban London music.
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I'm not so sure about that - I just think youth slang has become a lot more homogenous, TBH I reckon it's more a prison thing than a London thing - Though a lot of it may have originated in London. Christ, you've got street drinkers in places like Rochdale talking about next man and that
 
Favelado said:
The thing is though - the way slang has developed in the past decade in London has been amazing and at a breakneck pace. I am not an out-and-out expert on it but what I know is that the difference between the way kids there spoke in 1997 and now is massively different. Help me out with this Londoners, but I think I'd be right in saying that while there was a strong London urban slang in 1997, what we have now is way beyond that. It's a full-on dialect that plays all kinds of games with syntax and structure rather than having simple vocabulary variations that youth culture always has.
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Yeah, that's how it feels to me. But then again, I'm no expert. I've just spent the last two years in environments when I'm exposed to it daily. Maybe that's because I work overwhelmingly with those under 25 years old and that suddenly the generation gap seems wider...
 
shygirl said:
Doesn't "bait" mean blatant, too obvious, unsubtle?
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​
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Yep. ​
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Nang is the best word bar none. ​
​
Basically there was this Filipino girl called Nang Phen who was fit. Thus the word nang came to represent anything that was cool/amazing. Only word that's been mentioned on this thread that I as a lad from Cardiff would feel like a dick saying. Way too East London for me to get away with. ​
 
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