Try this fun quiz to check your understanding of English slang

Slang Quiz: Mixed.

Action (1)

If you're interested in American politics, the action is

in London in Washington in Tokyo

Axe (1)

The company had to axe Georgio because he

worked too hard always came early made too many mistakes

Beat it

If somebody tells you to "Beat it!", they're telling you to

hit something defeat something go away

Blast (2)

The manager blasted his secretary for

forgetting to give him a message writing an excellent letter doing such a good job

 

Crap (2)

Shane said that the website we showed him was crap. He thinks it's

a pretty good website a really bad website a very interesting website

 

Drag

It was such a drag when my new computer

wouldn't start up worked beautifully booted up perfectly

Fart

If someone farts, it's possible to know by using the senses of

seeing and tasting hearing and smelling touching and feeling

Guts

It took a lot of guts for my son to

bully a smaller kid bully a bigger kid help a kid who was being bullied

Horny

Ben got really horny while he was

mowing the lawn doing his tax return watching a wet T-shirt contest

Rip-off (1)

If something's a rip-off, you probably

don't need it won't buy it can't fix it

Slang Quiz: Teen

Ace (1)

Louis is an ace driver on the Formula One circuit, so he's

very good at driving golf balls highly skilled at racing fast cars an average Formula One driver

Awesome

Francine said the most awesome thing she did on her holiday was

read an interesting book buy some clothes go skydiving for the first time

Dork

A young person who is called a dork is probably

good at sports not good at relating to people clever at maths and science

Dweeb

The kids call Mark a dweeb because he's

clever but he doesn't say much stupid and aggressive good-looking and smart

Gnarly

When my kids say something is gnarly, it means they think it's

extremely good extremely bad either of the above

6. goof off | goof around

On the weekend, my son goofs off with his friends. They

study hard work part-time play computer games

Gross

Which would most people find gross?

wearing unwashed underwear washing unworn underwear wearing underwear under water

8. hang | hang out

In their free time, most teenagers like to hang with

their parents their friends their computers

Hickey

If someone has a hickey on their neck, they have probably

been bitten by an insect got a skin disease made love recently

10. hooky | hookey

Students who often play hooky will probably get

excellent grades poor grades very fit and strong

 

Revise your knowledge

Action (1)

Meaning: important or exciting activity

For example:

• I've always lived in inner-city areas because I like to be where the action is.
• If you want to get into movies, Los Angeles is where the action is.

axe | ax (1)

Meaning: to dismiss someone from a job (v.) | dismissal from a job (n.)

For example:

• Because of the economic downturn, many companies will have to axe a lot of their workers.
• Anyone who creates too many problems for the boss will get the ax.

Note: "axe" is mostly used in British spelling and "ax" is mostly used in American spelling

Beat it

Meaning: go away

For example:

• Some kids were smoking in the carpark, but when one of them saw a teacher coming they grabbed their stuff and beat it.
• When Peter came back from the bathroom, some guy was talking to Leanne. Peter said, "Beat it, pal! She's with me."

Blast (2)

Meaning: to strongly reprimand (v.) | a strong reprimand (n.)

For example:

• The team's manager was really upset with some of his players, and he blasted them for making so many mistakes.
• When the boss told us all to come into his office, we knew we were in for a blast.

crap (2)

Meaning: something worthless (n.) | worthless (adj.)

For example:

• Stevie reckoned it was a crap game, but I thought it was pretty cool.
• Did you see that new reality TV show last night? It was so bad I had to turn it off after ten minutes! I can't watch crap like that.

Note: The word "crappy" has the same meaning as, and can be used in the same way as, "crap" when it's used as an adjective, as in "it was a crappy game".

Drag

Meaning: something boring, tiresome or troublesome

For example:

• Getting up at five-thirty in the morning in the middle of winter is such a drag. I just wanna stay in bed and keep warm.
• My flight's been cancelled, so I'll have to go by train instead. What a drag!

fart

Meaning: to release gas from the anus (v.) | a release of gas from the anus (n.)

For example:

• Did you know that one of the main causes of global warming is cows farting?
• We were driving home when someone did a fart. It smelled so bad that we had to open the windows.

Note: This word is quite offensive and should only be used in private among close friends. If one really must refer to a flatulent occurrence in public or during a formal occasion, we would suggest using the less-offensive alternative "breaking wind".

Guts

Meaning: courage

For example:

• It took a lot of guts to tell the boss what you really thought.
• Do you think Dave has the guts to tell his family and friends that he's gay?

Horny

Meaning: in the mood for sex; sexually excited

For example:

• Fran told us how her boyfriend gets horny after two or three drinks. But if he has any more than that, all he wants to do is sleep.
• The nurses say they get sick of pushing away the hands of horny male patients.

Rip-off (1)

Meaning: charging too much for something

For example:

• Ten dollars for a cup of coffee? That's a total rip-off! It's about three dollars anywhere else.
• Why do people pay so much? Don't they know it's a rip-off?

Ace (1)

Meaning: very skillful, very good at something

For example:

• My little brother was never interested in sports when he was young, but now he's an ace basketball player.
• If you want to be an ace fighter, you should learn hand-to-hand combat skills like karate or Muay Thai.

Awesome

Meaning: amazing, impressive, really cool

For example:

• Last night was awesome! We went to three clubs and didn't get home till after six!
• Have you seen Joey's new jacket? It's awesome!

dork

Meaning: a socially awkward person

For example:

• My son is upset because some kids at school called him a dork.
• You call my little brother a dork again and I'll beat the crap out of you! You got that?

Note: This word is usually used among young people, and has a similar meaning to "geek", "dweeb", "nerd", etc.

Variety: This is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

dweeb

Meaning: a studious but socially inept person

For example:

• This new guy at school's a real dweeb, but he'll help you out if you've got some problem with math or whatever.
• We know this pair of dweebs who think they're dating, but they only get together in cyberspace.

Origin: First appeared in the U.S. in the 1980's, possibly as a combination of the words "dwarf" and "feeb" (from feeble).

Variety: This is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Gnarly

Meaning: extreme (in either a good or bad sense)

For example:

• That was a real gnarly spill, man! You sure you're OK?
• Hey dude, that concert was gnarly! Whooa!!

goof off | goof around

Meaning: waste time, play around

For example:

• Whenever the teacher leaves the classroom she tells her students to keep working, but as soon as she leaves they start goofing off.
• It's the kids who goof around in college instead of taking their studies seriously who'll be in trouble when they try to join the workforce.