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Hey everyone, and welcome back 
to another episode of the 

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Understandable English podcast. 
My name is Oliver and today's 

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episode we are going to dive 
into. 

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We're going to discuss and 
explore the fascinating world of

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English slang. 
So we're going to look at 

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everything from cockney rhyming 
slang to modern slang. 

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I'm going to teach you some 
interesting and common phrases 

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that you might hear in everyday 
conversations. 

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So let's get started. 
I'll also, sorry, I'll also 

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explain what slang is and why 
it's important. 

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OK, so slang is informal 
language or casual language 

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which can often have special 
meanings. 

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Almost every country has its own
slang within each language, and 

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this can be different from place
to place and area to area, even 

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different types of people. 
And it can be used by certain 

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groups of people to create a 
sense of identity or to keep 

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conversations, you know, a 
little bit more casual or fun. 

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So that is that is basically 
slang. 

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And in the UKI would say slang 
varies based so it's different 

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based on region or area, even by
age group. 

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So younger people have a 
different slang and older people

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can often have different slang 
words to and even it's different

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by social circles. 
So there can be new words, old 

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words, and even new words which 
used to be old words that have 

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new meanings. 
So that might sound a little bit

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complicated, but we will look at
some slang examples a little bit

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later. 
But you might be wondering, hmm,

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Oliver, why do I need to 
understand slang? 

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Shouldn't I just learn the most 
common words, the normal words 

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in the dictionary? 
Well, understanding slang will 

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help you to better understand 
native speakers and movies, TV 

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shows and cultural references. 
So really, I'm not saying that 

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you should use slang or speak 
with slang, but you should be 

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able to understand it because 
there are some words that people

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here really use a lot. 
And if you don't know those 

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slang words because they don't 
teach them in a textbook or I 

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don't know a course, you could 
arrive in the UK and find out 

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what there's all these strange 
words that I don't know and they

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seem to be very common. 
So that's why I think it's 

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important to learn some slang. 
So to start with, I want to talk

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a little bit about Cockney 
rhyming slang. 

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So I've had some students in the
past that asked me about this 

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because they've heard about this
London slang called cockney. 

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So it is quite famous but not so
common anymore. 

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And Cockney rhyming slang is a 
type of slang which came from 

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the East End of London and it 
was known for kind of a playful 

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use of rhyming, so making words 
paired together that rhyme. 

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So for example, they might say 
apples and pears, which means 

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stairs. 
So they could say I'm going up 

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the apples, it means they're 
going up the stairs, which is 

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quite, quite strange. 
Another example might be dog and

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bone, which means phone. 
So give me a ring on the dog, 

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which means call me on the 
phone. 

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Very strange and I wouldn't 
recommend you try to learn 

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these. 
I don't think I don't even 

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understand cockney rhyming slang
and if I heard someone use it or

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speak this way I would be so 
confused. 

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And today cockney rhyming slang 
is very like rare. 

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It's very uncommon. 
And to be honest, I've never 

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actually heard it in real life. 
I've only seen it in or heard it

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in British films and TV shows. 
And even then I don't hear it so

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much. 
It's not so common. 

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OK, so that brings us on to the 
modern slang, or more common 

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slang that you will actually 
hear today. 

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I think slang is very common in 
the UK and we use it quite a lot

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more than we often think. 
For example, let's learn some 

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words. 
So the first one I will teach 

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you is chaffed. 
So CHUFFED, chuffed and this 

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means very pleased or happy. 
For example, I'm chuffed with my

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new job, means I'm very happy 
with my new job. 

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People love to say this word and
I hear it all the time. 

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Another phrase that I actually 
use quite a lot is knackered. 

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So that's KNACKERED with a 
silent K at the start. 

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Knackered and this means 
extremely tired. 

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If someone says I'm knackered, 
it means they're very tired. 

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I use this word a lot and I 
didn't really in the past even 

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realise that it was slang. 
I just heard it all the time. 

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OK, the third word that I want 
to teach you is one which is 

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commonly used across Europe and 
the US, but in the UK it means 

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something different. 
Well, it can mean the same, but 

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also something different. 
And I've talked about this 

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before. 
It is the phrase cheers, cheers.

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So cheers while commonly used 
when we toast drinks, so when we

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have a drink of alcohol, in many
countries people say cheers and 

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then they have a drink. 
But in the UK, interestingly 

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enough, it can also mean thank 
you or even goodbye. 

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You'll often hear people saying 
cheers whenever someone gives 

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them something. 
Cheers mate, cheers friend to 

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say thank you. 
So that's quite, quite a common 

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use and I think it's quite 
different for other countries. 

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And to be honest, in parts of 
the UKI hear cheers more often 

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and it's more common than I hear
thank you. 

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So that's something to keep in 
mind and to remember whenever 

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you visit the UK. 
So of course, there are also 

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idioms or phrases which are 
slang, and these are kind of 

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like slang phrases. 
And so you can learn some of 

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those too, even just to 
understand. 

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But today I'm not going to 
teach, you know, loads and loads

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of slang words. 
But I will also talk about how 

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best to learn and use slang. 
To be honest, one of the best 

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ways is just to Google or look 
up British slang or learn common

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British slang and you can look 
and read the most common phrases

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and what they mean. 
But another great way is to 

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watch British TV shows, movies 
and British podcasts. 

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So these are great ways of 
hearing and learning slang from 

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context. 
And then when you hear these 

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phrases and you don't 
understand, just Google them and

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find out what they mean. 
It'll surprise you how much 

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slang there actually is in 
British TV shows and movies. 

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It's virtually everywhere. 
So yeah, do do check it out. 

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But also do remember to use 
slang appropriately. 

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So a lot of slang words are rude
or maybe too informal sometimes.

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So like any language there are 
very negative or insulting, so 

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offensive or bad slang words 
which people may be offended by 

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or upset if you use them. 
So do make sure to understand 

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the context so when you can use 
it and how it's used and before 

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you use it. 
Of course, it's better to fully 

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understand what you're saying 
than to just repeat it if you've

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heard it in ATV show. 
So to really sum up, and there 

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is so much slang in the English 
language, it's very important to

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learn in my opinion, if you 
visit the UK or you want to 

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watch UKTV movies. 
And it's a great way of further 

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understanding the culture as 
well. 

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So I recommend each and everyone
of you to learn some British or 

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English slang. 
There's different slang for the 

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United States. 
We also use some kind of 

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American English slang in the UK
too. 

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But it's important to study the 
slang of maybe the country that 

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you're wanting to visit or move 
to. 

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So good luck and I hope that you
enjoyed this podcast. 

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Cheers.