British slang is English language slang used in the UK. Slang is informal language sometimes peculiar to a particular social class or group and its use in Britain dates back to before the 16th century. The language of slang, in common with the English language, is changing all the time; new words and phrases are being added and some are used so frequently by so many, they almost become mainstream.
While some slang words and phrases are used throughout all of Britain (e.g., knackered, meaning "exhausted"), others are restricted to smaller regions, even to small geographical groups. The nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own slang words, as does London. London slang has many varieties, the best known of which is rhyming slang. Some of these terms are used in other countries, such as Australia, Ireland or Canada.
British slang has been the subject of many books including a seven volume dictionary, published in 1889. Lexicographer Eric Partridge published several works about British slang, most notably Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, revised and edited by Paul Beale.
Read more about British Slang: Definitions of Slang, History and Dating of British Slang, Varieties and Purpose of Slang
Famous quotes containing the words british and/or slang:
“I ... would rather be in dependance on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of those too who rather than submit to the right of legislating for us assumed by the British parliament, and which late experience has shewn they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)