12 Slang words used in English that we won’t find in our school textbooks

It’s difficult to do a student exchange, build a career in a multinational or travel abroad comfortably without speaking English. Many people started studying the language in school and continued at university, but even so, they do not master the language of Shakespeare. The language is constantly evolving, however, in the classroom, teachers do not always teach informal English, practiced on a daily basis.

We, from awesome.clubwe decided to fix this gap and found some words that will help our readers to speak English like true native speakers.

When seeing a beautiful woman, we remember the most obvious words: beautiful or pretty woman. However, in American English there is a shorter option: if a person of either gender deserves the highest score on the attractiveness scale, they are called a dime.

If you want to speak English like an American, remember one rule: the word friend, known to us from school days, is never used as a way of addressing a friend. According to Americans, the phrase Hello, friend sounds a little scary. When men talk to a friend, they often say What’s up, dude?

The word friend is only used when talking about a friend in the third person. That’s why the phrase My friend has a dog sounds natural, but My dude has a dog is weird.

In 2021 this slang came into fashion. It is used to define new and cool cars. In the US, when people want to brag about an expensive purchase, instead of saying my new car, they use the phrase my new whip.

The word husband appears in English textbooks on a regular basis, so almost all students know it. But there is also its abbreviated version — hubby, which is more often used in social networks and informal communication.

If we don’t hear what was said, we can always ask the person to repeat it. At school we learned a simple phrase: Can you repeat? However, if you want to sound like an American, native speakers advise using a simple Sorry? It is important to pay attention to the tone of voice, which, in this case, is descending-ascending. And if you’re afraid of getting the intonation wrong, there’s another good option: What was that?

The word receipt is translated as “receipt”, but it also has another popular meaning, common in American English. Native speakers use receipts as a synonym for proof and evidence. In informal messages, these can be links to websites and videos or screenshots.

We all know that “sim”, in English, is yes. But the British prefer to use the yep variant, especially during everyday conversation. The same happens with the word “no”: in England instead of no, the more informal expression, nope, is often used.

It’s hard to believe, but many native speakers say they never use the word Goodbye! to say goodbye. In England, for example, during an informal conversation people prefer the abbreviated form — bye. In a more formal event we can say Have a lovely day! or Take care! And in the United States it is more common to Have a great day!

Mayo (“mayonnaise”) is another example of abbreviation of words in popular language. Of course, the short form is much more convenient than the correct word mayonnaise.

Veggie is not only an abbreviation for “vegetarian”, but also for “vegetables”. The word is often found on the internet. The explanation for the term so abbreviated? Native speakers are probably too lazy to write the “long” ve-ge-ta-ble.

In school dictionaries, the word “sad” has always been translated into English as sad. But there is another way to express your emotions, using blue slang, which, by the way, is often found in songs.

Gucci is not only an Italian fashion house, but also a slang term that, in everyday conversations, is used to replace good, great, okay. If someone asks you “How are you?” feel free to reply to Everything’s gucci.

Did you know these abbreviations in English? How did you learn the language? Tell us in the comments!