Slang Americano vs Slang British
The British and the Americans parlano la stessa lingua, ma con molte differenze lessicali, grammaticali e in termini di varietà di slang.
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Ma attenzione: qualsiasi slang di qualsiasi lingua dev’essere padroneggiato con cura, per non rischiare un approccio troppo informale in contesti che non lo richiedono o per evitare di (s)cadere addirittura nel ridicolo. Di seguito, alcune espressioni tipiche in American & British English:
🇬🇧 Lo slang British 🇬🇧
SIGNIFICATO |
ESEMPIO |
|
| CHUFFED | molto contento | I’m dead chuffed to have won |
| GUTTED | turbato, deluso | I know how gutted the players must feel |
| UNI | università | My daughter is in her second year at uni |
| TAKE THE PISS /
TAKE THE MICKEY |
prendere in giro | Are you taking the piss? |
| DODGY | rischioso, disonesto | That person looks dodgy |
| KNACKERED | stanco, esausto | She is always knackered by Friday |
| SCRUMMY | delizioso | Wow, this cake is so scrummy |
| BLOKE | uomo | Did you see that bloke over there? He is a famous dancer. |
| BOG | bagno | I need a bog |
| BUDGE UP | stringersi per fare spazio | Come on, we will budge up and there’ll be a space for you too! |
| CHEESED OFF | irritato | I am so cheesed off with her behaviour. It’s just out of order |
| CHOCK-A-BLOCK | pieno di gente | The store was so chock-a-block, people everywhere! |
| DOSH | soldi | Have you got any dosh with you? |
| KIP | sonnellino | I need to take a kip, I am so knackered. |
| STUFFED | sazio | No dessert for me please, I am so stuffed! |
| LEGLESS | ubriaco | I believe he got a bit too much wine, he’s legless. |
| PLASTERED | molto ubriaco | Actually, he is completely plastered! |
| QUID | una sterlina | Have you got a quid? |
| SKINT | essere al verde | I am sorry, I am skint, I can’t come out tonight. |
| THE DOG’S DINNER | fare un casino | They made a real dog’s dinner of that job. |
| BLIMEY/CRIKEY | accidenti! | Blimey, you have lost so much weight! |
| SMASHING | favoloso, formidabile | I had a smashing time on holiday, it was so much fun! |
| TO FAFF | sprecare tempo | Stop faffing around, we’re going to be late! |
| KNICKED | rubato | I got my handbag knicked the other day |
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🇺🇸 Lo slang Americano 🇺🇸
SIGNIFICATO |
ESEMPIO |
|
| COOL | fantastico | Are you coming to the party? Cool, that’s awesome! |
| AWESOME | ‘ccezionale, grandioso | Are you coming to the party? Cool, that’s awesome! |
| TO HANG OUT | passare il tempo | Why don’t you come home and hang out for a while? |
| TO CHILL (OUT) | rilassarsi | What did you do at the weekend? Nothing. I just chilled out. |
| AMPED | non vedere l’ora | I can’t wait to see Beyonce live. Me too! I am amped |
| TO HAVE A BLAST | spassarsela | At Beyonce’s concert we had a blast |
| TO HAVE A CRASH (ON SOMEBODY) | prendersi una cotta | My friend has a crash on Jim, but he doesn’t like her. |
| TO DUMP (ON SOMEBODY) | terminare una relazione | Alex dumped her last night |
| GEEK | nerd, imbranato, asociale | Tim was the smartest geek in the IT department/Peter was a geek at school and didn’t have a lot of friends |
| HOOKED (ON SOMETHING) | dipendente | One cigarette and he was hooked |
| IN (AGGETTIVO) | di tendenza | I understand this kind of music is really in at the moment but I just dislike it! |
| EPIC FAIL | un grande fallimento | My exam was an epic fail, I must retake it next year! |
| LOSER | idiota | Simon is such a loser for leaving his office job. |
| TO RIP OFF | truffare | The taxi charged us €60 for a 5 km trip, we were so ripped off! |
| ON FLEEK | bello | My hair is on fleek |
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Spero che ora, in un film o in un libro in lingua originale, o in una conversazione con un British o un American, saprete riconoscere alcuni degli slang tipici trattati in questo articolo. Cool! 😉
