{"id":975,"date":"2017-07-13T17:22:06","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T16:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/?p=975"},"modified":"2025-10-06T15:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T14:01:11","slug":"seven-essential-british-slang-words-know-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/seven-essential-british-slang-words-know-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential British slang words to know before your trip to Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The world of British slang\u00a0contains hundreds of thousands of fascinating <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/60-english-idioms-and-phrases-to-learn-before-visiting-the-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">words and phrases<\/a>. Half of them wouldn&#8217;t be recognised outside of their hometowns, whilst the other half are too rude to use in polite company!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t let that scare you, however. The vast majority of weird and wonderful English slang words or <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/12-new-british-abbreviations-to-know-before-your-next-trip-to-the-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abbreviations<\/a> are rarely used in everyday speech. For practical purposes, it&#8217;s not worth trying to learn more than a handful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re taking <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/day-tours-from-london\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=7-british-slangs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a trip to the UK<\/a>,\u00a0however, there are a few key slang phrases that it&#8217;s difficult to survive without. Let&#8217;s take a look at the <strong>seven most useful slang words to know in English<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cheers!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fortnight<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ace<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gutted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skint<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grub<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out what they mean below!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_1903528606.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_1903528606.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_1903528606-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_1903528606-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_1903528606-270x180.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cheers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First up, we have possibly the most useful word in the English language. &#8216;Cheers&#8217;\u00a0means&#8230;well, pretty much everything. From hello, goodbye, to thank you, and no thank you, to formal or informal toasts at the bar. It&#8217;s difficult to get through a day in the UK without hearing this one a few times. If you learn only one slang word for your trip, make it this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This one is often heard as a quick follow-up to the word &#8216;Cheers&#8217;. Mate is used as a term of endearment but is also frequently used to casually ingratiate oneself with a stranger or new acquaintance. You might refer to a waiter or fellow barfly using the word &#8216;mate&#8217;. When used to address somebody or get their attention, the word mate is usually reserved for men only. However, women might often refer to themselves as &#8216;good mates&#8217; too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fortnight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s one you&#8217;re likely to know already. &#8216;Fortnight&#8217; refers to a period of two weeks &#8211; as in &#8216;we&#8217;re staying in London for a fortnight&#8217;. The two are used completely interchangeably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Put this word together with &#8216;cheers&#8217; and &#8216;mate&#8217;, and you will have perhaps the most useful phrase in all of English slang. Ace can certainly refer to a number one in a pack of cards, but to us Brits, it also means &#8216;that&#8217;s really great&#8217;. Picture yourself being handed a lovely battered fish and chips at the local chippy and replying, &#8216;Ace, cheers, mate!&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gutted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If, however, you managed to miss out on the trip to the chippy, then you&#8217;re likely to be left feeling a bit &#8216;gutted&#8217; &#8211; that is, disappointed or heartbroken. Gutted is frequently spoken in understatement to diminish misfortune, for example, &#8220;My girlfriend dumped me. I&#8217;m feeling a bit gutted&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_712430905.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5621\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_712430905.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_712430905-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_712430905-270x180.jpg 270w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/shutterstock_712430905-770x515.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Skint<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you got too overeager at the fish and chip shop and spent all your money on battered Mars Bars, you might end up &#8216;skint&#8217;, meaning without any money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grub<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Who knows how this odd word originated, but it&#8217;s certainly a useful one to know. &#8216;Grub&#8217; means food, and can be used in a variety of different contexts, such as &#8216;grub up&#8217; (food is ready), &#8216;get some grub on&#8217; (start cooking), or &#8216;grub down&#8217; (go to get food). You can have a lot of fun with this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s it! You&#8217;re now all set to head over to the UK for a<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/day-tours-from-london\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=7-british-slangs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trip with Evan Evans Tours<\/a>.<\/span> If you have any questions about slang words, you can always &#8216;give us a shout&#8217; via our <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/customer-support\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact form<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world of British slang\u00a0contains hundreds of thousands of fascinating words and phrases. Half of them wouldn&#8217;t be recognised outside of their hometowns, whilst the other half are too rude to use in polite company! Don&#8217;t let that scare you, however. The vast majority of weird and wonderful English slang words or abbreviations are rarely<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1330,1329,1858],"tags":[804,802,805,803,806],"class_list":{"0":"post-975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-british-culture","8":"category-british-history","9":"category-fun-facts","10":"tag-british-english","11":"tag-british-idioms","12":"tag-british-language","13":"tag-british-slang","14":"tag-english-language"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>7 essential British slang words to know before your trip<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The world of British slang contains hundreds of thousands of fascinating words and phrases. 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