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:
“The inhabitants of St. John’s and vicinity are described by an English traveler as “singularly unprepossessing,” and before completing his period he adds, “besides, they are generally very much disaffected to the British crown.” I suspect that that “besides” should have been a “because.””
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is a mass language only in the same sense that its baseball slang is born of baseball players. That is, it is a language which is being molded by writers to do delicate things and yet be within the grasp of superficially educated people. It is not a natural growth, much as its proletarian writers would like to think so. But compared with it at its best, English has reached the Alexandrian stage of formalism and decay.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)