SLANG WORDS USED IN SONGS

   
        

                                       


Songs often use slang and colloquial English that you should understand, but never use in formal situations.

Nevertheless, a lot of current slang is found in songs. Let's clarify some things:



Slang is a subset of a language used by one particular group of people. It consists of words and expressions which cannot be found in a common dictionary and they can be distortions of existings words or entirely invented terms. It is used in informal situations. It is not appropriate in formal situations. It is important to say that slang and informal English are not the same. Some slang can be used in formal situations and some of the words that can only be used in informal situations are not slang.



There are many situations in everyday life where informal English is allowed, even preferred. Some examples include of these informal situations are: while playing sports, while studying with friends, at a bar, with close family members, on the phone with frinds, among others.




Slang is used by all kinds of groups of people who share situations or interests. The group which uses these words is a minority and often use slang to set themselves apart  or to make it difficult for ordinary people to understand them. Sometimes singers use these slang words to catch rhythm or to make the words more fluent. 

Here you will find the translation into normal English of the most common colloquial words used in songs (and also on television and movies!):

ain't: the verb to be or the vert to have in all the forms in the negative, i.e. am not, is not, are not, have not, has not.

bae/babe: baby (a person's boyfriend or girlfrind's)

beef: a conflict


bling-bling: flashy jewelry worn as an indication of wealth

bootylicious: sexually attractive

bounce: time to leave

'bout: about

c'mom: come on

coolin it: relaxing

cos, 'cos, coz, 'cause: because

coulda: could have

dat: that

dime: a very beautiful woman

dontcha, don't cha: don't you

dunno: don't know, doesn't know

'em: them

ev'ry: every

fly (fly-boy): a shrewd or sophisticated guy

gerroff: get off

gimme: give me

gonna: going to

getcha: get you

get jiggy with it: to get into the groove

gotcha: got you

gotta: (have) got to

hafta: have to

innit (GB): isn't it

kinda: kind of

lemme: let me

lil, li'l: little

luv: love

musta: must have

'n', 'n: and

no diggity: no doubt

o': of


ol': old

outta (US): out of

sez: says

shoulda: should have

scrub: a guy who thinks is fine and still lives with his mom and is always broke

tho': though

tight: stylish and cool

trip: to act unreasonably

wanna: want to, want a

watcha: what are you (watcha talking about?), what you (Do whatcha got to do?)

woulda: would have

yada yada yada: I don't want to bore you with details

yeah/yasss: yes

I hope this will be useful for you!!