Just when you thought you got wagwan and bomboclat in the bag, you start to hear uckers and dun know.
Although Black British slangs – from a mix London’s grime music and Jamaican Language, patois – has been around a long time, but the likes of Dapaah, Stormzy and JHus are hyping it more than ever before.
Starting with the bufftings, then the generals and the peaks, here are some eye opening worldwide trending slangs to keep you in the game – bearing in mind most of these depend in the context.
The Bufftings
Boomting: means extremely good, which can be in reference to a person, place or thing
Buffting: Similar to boomting, mostly refers to a person, beautiful/handsome
Peng: like the previous two, it is good-looking mainly towards a girl
Bless (up): like a prayer/good wishes on you
Bangin: as in really good/great/sexy/fine
Bossman: a boss usually referred to ‘out of respect’ to call other
Pow Pow: though it references gunshot sound, its an expression of feeling/bigging-up self as being cool (not cold)
Brap brap: bigging up self/someone else
Sick: dope/really good
Gassed: Excited it can also be someone who received great compliments their ego is on cloud nine
The Generals
Bait: meaning it’s obvious
Endz: a person’s area/postcode/hood
Bare: plenty/many
P: Money
Po-po: Police
Shook: Scared/Nervous
Paigon: Useless/pointless
Extra: Over the top, too much
Fam: Family, friends
Yard: House/flat/room
Mandem/Gayldem: Men/Girls
Allow it: Leave it/stop doing it/Let it go
Safe: Sometimes used instead of bye, which can mean keep/stay safe
Blad/Bruv: Shorthand for brother but usually used towards a friend
Link up: get together/hook up/meet with someone
Longtin: complicated/long road to something
Bomboclat: An expression to release and exagerate an emotion
Madting: something mad/stupid/strange/odd/not what was expected – depending on context
Bars: refers to lyrical lines, someone “spitting bars” is same as rapping words/lyrics
The Peaks
Skeng: Gun, can also be a knife
Vexed: Angry
Peak: Something that is bad
Merk: To ruin someone/something
Batty: Jamaican for gay/homosexual used as an insult on anyone
Wasteman: Insult referring to someone as a waste
Roadman: someone who lives the street life – sells/uses drugs, dresses in hoodie, thug life and more
Yardie: A person from Jamaican typically a Jamaican criminal
Ucker: Used by Michael Dapaah in ‘Man’s Not Hot’ mean prostitute/good manhood sucker
Beef: Quarrel/argument
Rasclaat: Insult meaning arse-cloth
Snitch: A label given to someone who reveal a friend or known person’s secrets to the police