Popular American Slang That People Always Use

Today, I am going to blow your mind with some popular American slang.

BOOM!

So in today's lesson, I'm going to talk to you about

some popular and common slang that Americans regularly use.

And remember, learning slang...it's mostly important

for your listening comprehension.

I've had many English learners tell me like...

you know in the classroom I understand everything.

But when I go outside in the streets, or if I'm watching a movie, it's really hard to understand.

And that's because people use it informally, casually, in colloquial speech.

If you're an English learner, it's not really necessary that

you go out and use these words.

But it is good for your listening comprehension.

So let's talk about some common American slang

that Americans love to use, especially me.

The first one that I want to talk to you about is COOL.

And no, I'm not talking about the temperature.

I'm talking about something or someone that you like.

If something or someone is cool, it means that

that you are impressed by this thing, or you are impressed by this person.

Now, if you are really impressed, then you could say that something is AWESOME.

I use this all the time if I want to express that

this is something that I really like, I really enjoy.

I'm really impressed with it.

I say that it's awesome.

For example, if you guys hit that like button, that would be awesome.

You guys...you'd be so cool.

Next is the word BABE.

Now, this is used to refer to a person's loved one.

One's girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife.

And you say babe instead of saying their name.

I think it's a little more common that men use it to refer to their girlfriend or their wife.

But it is a gender-neutral word.

Women do use it when referring to a man as well.

Be aware. Don't just say this to anyone.

Not to an acquaintance, not to just a friend, or a colleague.

Because it can be very offensive, and they might take it the wrong way.

Why are you calling them babe?

Are you trying to be romantic with them? What's going on?

Just don't do it.

Now, younger people might not use babe as often.

It's a little bit of an older slang term.

Instead, they may use BAE.

And this is an acronym that is short for Before Anyone Else.

It's also a word that can refer to your boyfriend, or girlfriend, your loved one.

Someone that you have a romantic relationship with is your BAE.

Next is a slang word that I like to use.

And maybe I use it a little too much.

And that is DUDE.

And this just refers to a younger man, a guy.

Because if somebody says "It's a dude."

Then they're talking about, well...It's a guy. It's a man.

Now I found a lot of fascinating information about this slang word.

Because it's been around for a long time.

And according to the Urban Dictionary, over a hundred

years ago the word used to mean a person that was very snobbish and stuck-up.

Then the meaning changed and it referred to a person that moved out west into the countryside.

And this person just didn't know what the hell they were doing.

And the meaning of the word has changed again.

Because today it just refers to a younger man.

A guy. A dude.

Next, we have RIPPED.

Most of us would just think of the verb "to tear something."

But that's not what we're talking about.

Instead, we're talking about somebody that is very strong very, very muscular.

Muscles are really well defined.

You would say that person is ripped.

For example, I think I'm pretty ripped.

Here's a picture of me at the gym.

Muscles very well defined. Very strong. Ripped.

This slang word also has another meaning which is to be intoxicated.

If somebody is ripped, then maybe they've been

drinking a lot or maybe smoking a little too much.

We could say that this person is ripped.

If you're talking about somebody who's intoxicated,

ripped is not the most common way that somebody would refer to them.

Instead, the slang word that they would probably use

is this one right here, which is WASTED.

So if somebody is very, very, very intoxicated,

I'm sure you've probably seen somebody who fits this description.

Somebody's intoxicated. They've been drinking way too much.

Then, they're wasted.

Another popular slang word is LIT.

And no, this is not the past tense of light.

It used to mean somebody who was intoxicated.

However, that meaning is outdated. People people don't use it anymore.

Nowadays, younger people use lit as an adjective

to talk about something that is that is really awesome, really exciting.

Or maybe even a person that that is really cool.

So you could say that movie is lit.

Or my best friend, she's lit.

Interactive English...it's lit.

I don't really use this word.

So I feel a little strange saying it because I think I'm a little too old to say it.

It's mostly younger people nowadays.

Another slang word that I really like is ANTSY.

And this is an adjective to refer to somebody who is impatient.

Somebody that just cannot wait any longer.

They're ready to do something else.

They don't want to sit still anymore.

That person is antsy.

Another popular slang word, and one that is not so good is DIS.

Dis this is short for disrespect, and it means to disrespect someone.

So it can be either a verb "to diss (someone)," or it could be used as a noun, "a dis."

But it means to disrespect someone in some way.

You say something mean or nasty and you dis someone.

We should all be respectful. You shouldn't dis anybody.

It's not nice. It's unnecessary

Next is BROMANCE.

And this is just a cute amalgamation of the words "bro" and "romance."

And it means love or affection shown between two heterosexual men.

So most guys out there, they may be involved in a bromance.

Or maybe they were involved in a bromance at one point or another.

But it's when...guys, it's nothing sexual.

Maybe you're gushing over this other person and maybe

showing a little too much affection and expressing it.

And other people see it.

And they could think, "Oh okay. These guys have a bromance going on."

The next line word which you might hear in TV or movies is GAYDAR.

This is another amalgamation between two words.

And those words are "gay" and "radar."

And gaydar is just the ability to tell whether or not somebody is a homosexual.

And it's not really used in a derogatory sense at all.

It's mostly...you'd hear it in conversation if you're talking

about some other person, and you're trying to think

well maybe this person's gay, maybe they're not gay.

And you talk about that person's ability to tell.

And you mention somebody's gaydar.

If you are in school or when you were in school,

I'm sure you came across this word and that is CRAM.

So cram is used as a verb.

To cram is to try and learn a large amount of information in a very, very, very short period of time.

So things that you can cram for.

You can cram for an exam. You could cram for a test. Cram for a quiz.

We've all been there.

I think we've all done it.

We didn't study, and we waited until the night before.

And we have to cram

I hope some of these words were new for you.

And that the next time you are watching a movie or listening to music,

you could try to listen for some of these because again, it's good for your listening comprehension.

Now I want to hear from all of you guys.

So in the comments, I want you to share with us

any slang that you know, that you are familiar with.

And this could be American slang. It could be British slang, Australian slang.

Just write the word and tell us what it means.

It's great to be able to expand our list and learn more.

Even if you don't know of any slang, we still want to hear from you.

Write to us. Tell us something that you think is awesome.

We just want to hear from you guys.

If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button.

And as always, thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time.

Bye.