Considering most Americans struggle with basic British slang, it’s reasonable to assume that the latest brand of abbreviations would send them reeling and wondering why the hell Ketchup is being called Tommy K.
Whether you’re from another country and struggling with foreign lingo or an older generation and wondering what Gen Z is talking about, demographic-specific slang can be hard to grasp. Brits and Americans seemingly have a particularly hard time understanding one another’s terms.
British slang got an update, and it’s confusing
After the UK announced a date for the next general election, TikTok user Matthew (@matthewcba) posted a video about the event being referred to as the Genny Lex. Naturally, he had to keep the trend going and dream up a bunch of his own words.
Though most of the terms were very UK-centric, most Americans could take issue with ketchup being renamed Tommy K. Shockingly, it’s not the worst nickname out there as social media users have also reported hearing ketchup being called Badminton, Blood, Hobo Soup, Red Lead, and Hemorrhage.
A full list of Matthew’s new breed of British slang:
- Gender Neutral: Gendy Nooch
- Professional: Profesh
- Passive aggressive: Pass Agg
- Tottenham Court Road: To Cro Ro
- Hundred Percent: Hundy P
- Unfortunately: Unforch
- Conditioner: Condish
- Mitigating Circumstances: Mitty Circs
- Absolutely Ravenous: Ab Rav
- Reservation: Resso
- Absolutely fabulous: Ab Fab
- Natural Wine: Natty wines
- Vitamin D: Vitty D
- Sensational: Sensash
- Mental Breakdown: Menty B
- Nervous Breakdown: Nervy B
- Elizabeth Line: Lizzy Line
- Cocktail: Cocky T
- Expensive: Spenny
There were even more suggestions
Since posting, Matthew’s video has accumulated over 1.7 million views, upwards of 170k likes, and hundreds of adoring comments and further suggestions.
“Noshy numb numb – national insurance number,” one person suggested, earning a “Please” from Matthew in the comments.
“Mitty Circs has absolutely SENT ME,” another person wrote, while a third said on Twitter, “This is genuinely how I talk irl I’m sorry.”
