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submitted 3 weeks ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Original question by @Justathroughdaway@lemmy.world

I like to lean about words from around the world and use them in my speech. I have a particular love for British words. I just love words like spiv, nod, wasteman, barmy, slapper, bruv, shafted, nonce, junkie, bint, smackhead, slag, breve, chav, squiffy, slaphead, dosh, shafted

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[-] expatriado@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago

i used to import words from other countries before tariffs kicked in

[-] aramis87@fedia.io 15 points 3 weeks ago

I speak English. And, as James Nicoll said,

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

I speak some Spanish and some Dutch, but I don't know if I borrow many words from them that aren't "normal" borrow-words.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago

Dutch is also great at mugging others for words.

[-] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

Pure English should not use Latin Alphabet.

It's back to celtic writing.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's a weird take when it's not a Celtic language. It's Germanic (with heavy Romantic old French influence), so you should really be talking about runes or something.

Latin letters are a terrible fit, though, you're absolutely right about that. It gives you 4 vowels to work with and my spoken dialect has 17.

[-] kcweller@feddit.nl 5 points 3 weeks ago

I'm Dutch, but often speak English as I'm fluent in it, so it sometimes mixes. Other words I often use are

  • some German, Spanish and French phrases (secondary languages),
  • various toasts, like lechajim, skål, depending on the people I'm with,
  • some Arabic like shukran, habibi,
  • Surinamese slang (kaolo is a fun one)
[-] frank@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

We often toast in the language of the liquid we're drinking

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 weeks ago

Surinamese slang (kaolo is a fun one)

I love people using it as a synonym for "very", when in fact means "shit hole".

[-] kcweller@feddit.nl 1 points 3 weeks ago

That's the idea of slang

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 0 points 3 weeks ago

lechajim

I've never seen that spelling before. Usually I see 'L'chiam'

[-] kcweller@feddit.nl 3 points 3 weeks ago

Since it's from modern "Hebrew" it doesn't really matter how you spell it since Hebrew is an abjat script

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago

Along similar lines, I once saw a food review that talked about Peking duck and Beijing, China.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 3 weeks ago

Plenty of borrowed words from other languages that don't have an equal word in English. Shadenfruede. Je ne sai quoi. Cologne. Et cetera (literally).

[-] cloudless@piefed.social 4 points 3 weeks ago

Bone apple tea.

[-] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

I tend to use kanpai as my toast and cheers in place of thanks as an American

[-] darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago
[-] khannie@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

We use "no bueno" quite a bit in our house. Not sure how it crept in but I like it.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 3 points 3 weeks ago

All the time.

There is no such thing as a (modern) language that is not assembled from borrowing from other languages. So even speaking a single language, one may already be 'borrowing' from quite a few more. Add to that many of us will speak at least two languages (native + English), or more.

So yeah, like many, I borrow words and expressions from any of the languages I speak, even more so with those words and expressions I have a sweet spot for ;)

[-] Quokka@quokk.au 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I’ve picked up some words from colleagues, so I often say yalla yalla or acha.

Sometimes American words can be fun like “yo man wassup”.

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 weeks ago

Words from different countries? That's cute. Kawaii, even.

[-] Kennystillalive@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

As a non native english speaker I use quite a lot of Enhlish words in my language as well as some French words here and there.

[-] astrsk@fedia.io 2 points 3 weeks ago

All the time! I say maccas for McDonalds.

[-] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago

it's better than "MickyDs" or whatever the americans say 🤭

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

Petrol > gas. Using the same word for gasoline and natural gas gets confusing as hell in any number of conversations.

[-] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

j'accuse and pamplemousse are pretty good and fun to say

[-] Tiger666@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

De quoi vous accusez les pamplemousses, justement?

[-] TheWeirdestCunt@lemmy.today 1 points 3 weeks ago

I've started learning Sinhala and sometimes I'll swap between English and the few Sinhala words I know when I'm talking with my girlfriend

[-] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 3 weeks ago

Depends on the person. My spouse and I, along with 5 or 6 friends, use a variety of key words from a couple shared languages to talk about things when we don't want other to understand. Mostly haggling or talking about sales stuff to discuss if we like something or think it's too expensive when a human is hovering right there. So I can give body language of disappointment while saying "this is great."

[-] CptInsane0@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago
[-] vfsh@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago

From the States, I say Maccas instead of McDonald's, and things like bellend and wanker occasionally. It's fun picking up words and stuff from other cultures

[-] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago

I use things like "excusé moi" for when I burp/belch and when alone and thinking out loud to myself will slip on random words I know from other languages if I end up on a random tangent. Otherwise, I tend not to.

[-] MSids@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

I am from the US and have been referring to the dumb people around me as donuts recently. Still not exactly sure what this means to people in the UK, but it seems nicer than the words I was using previously.

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago
[-] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

"Chingadera" and a smattering of other Spanish words/slang; "świnia", which means pig in Polish, because my Grandma says it, and "haiyaaaaaa", said with a long sigh, thanks Uncle Roger.

[-] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Gesundheit

Kindergarten

Peckish

[-] Gieselbrecht@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

Altijd. Ich aime this mucho.

[-] undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 1 points 3 weeks ago

I speak English natively and Spanish as a second language but most people I talk to speak English as a second language.

When I go back to my hometown I have a pretty noticeable accent and I tend to use a smaller vocabulary.

[-] darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

Nej, jag vägrar att använda utländska ord.

this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
29 points (96.8% liked)

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