Welcome back to the Learn English podcast, the podcast teaching English in context so you can learn naturally.
On this podcast, we like to discuss American history, culture, and of course, English vocabulary.
On today's episode, I want to focus on the vocabulary aspect because I want to talk about slang.
Earlier this month, we did an episode on California.
It was the anniversary of California becoming a state and so we talked about some interesting facts and important information to know about the state.
Of course, we picked that state because it is my home state.
I am from California, I live in Southern California, and I've lived here my entire life.
So on today's episode, I'm going to talk about some slang, but I'm going to focus on California slang and I'm legit stoked for it.
Do you know what that means?
Do you understand California slang and the meaning of what I just said?
Are you interested in learning more about these California phrases?
If you are, follow along with this episode because we got a lot more in -store for you.
And with that, let's begin.
There is a stereotype about the California accent.
I've heard it my whole life being a Californian that people from California talk like their surfers.
They talk with a very particular flow to their words.
They have a certain rhythm, a certain cadence, and you tend to see it in movies and TV shows.
So if someone is a surfer, they have this very peculiar way that they speak.
Peculiar is a word that means strange, odd, different.
You can say peculiar instead of saying odd or different.
So they have a very peculiar way of speaking.
Now, that accent, if you have seen the movie Finding Nemo and if you think about the turtles, that is the accent that I'm talking about, that far out dude, whoa, kind of accent.
It's a very strange accent.
And if you are listening to me right now, you can hear that.
I definitely don't speak like that.
Even though it's a stereotype for California that that's how Californians speak.
I will say that almost every single person that I've ever met in my life living in Southern California does not speak like that.
I can think of one in my entire lifetime that I've heard with that accent.
And it was a little bit strange, but I knew that person was a surfer because of how they talked.
Now, California has a very long coastline.
If you look at the map of California, our entire state is along the Pacific Ocean.
So our entire state has a coastline to it.
And because of that, there are a lot of people who surf here.
There are a lot of people who do skateboard, snowboard surf.
And because of that, there's a lot of crossover with the slang terms.
So, for example, I have never surfed.
I have never snowboarded.
I am not into those things.
But I do use some of the slang terms from those cultures, from the terms that are used by people who do those particular sports.
And that happens a lot in California.
I would say that a lot of the terms that are used in those extreme sports by the people who actually do those sports, because there's so many people that do those particular sports and they talk to other people in the state.
Those slang terms start being used by everyone in general.
And then, of course, with social media, Instagram, TikTok, those terms just become spread throughout the entire United States.
Therefore, the terms that I'm going to talk about today are used in California, but they're also, of course, used in other states as well.
You might hear them on TV shows, on movies, you might see them on social media.
Other people use these terms, but they are terms that you will hear in California and they're terms that Californians use when they're talking casually to someone.
Let's start with the name of the state.
California is a long word.
You've heard me say it multiple times now.
California, California, California.
It's a lot. It's a lot of letters in that name.
It's a long name. If you want to shorten that name, what you're going to say is Cali, C -A -L -I, the very first part of that name.
That is the abbreviation.
That's the shortened way.
If you want to shorten the state name, you are not going to say Cal, C -A -L.
I know that's only one letter difference, but if you say Cal, that is a university.
That is the University of California, Berkeley.
So if you say Cal, I'm going to Cal, that sounds like you're going to a university.
If you say I'm going to Cali, that is the state of California.
You can think of this by thinking of some rap songs.
There's actually some rap songs that say going back to Cali, to Cali, to Cali.
You might have heard those rap songs in the past and that Cali part again is stating California.
Let's say, for example, that I move abroad.
I moved to a different state or to a different country and I want to come back and visit my family members who still live here.
What I would say is that I'm going back to Cali to visit some family members there.
Again, that is the shortened version of the state.
Never Cal, always Cali.
Now, that's going to be different when we talk about the regions of the state.
You have heard me say that I am from California and specifically Southern California.
If you are a native Californian, you divide the state into two different regions, Northern California, which is up around San Francisco in the northern part of the state, and Southern California, which would be San Diego and Los Angeles.
I always say that I am from Southern California.
That is my region of California because California is a very large state and that is my particular area.
I am from Southern California.
I have lived my whole life here.
If you want to shorten the region, Southern California or Northern California, which you're going to say is SoCal and NorCal.
SoCal is the shortened way of saying Southern California.
SoCal, never SoCal -y.
Again, Cali is when you want to shorten the entire state name, but when you want to shorten the region name, you use Cal.
SoCal. If you want to talk about the northern part of the state and you want to shorten that, NorCal.
So NorCal, Northern California, SoCal, Southern California.
Now, let's get into some slang terms.
The most common slang word that I use personally in my own vocabulary is the word dude.
We're not going to talk about that word in this episode because I did an entire episode in the past on how to use the word dude.
And if you're watching on YouTube, I'm going to put it in the iCard so you can find it.
It was one of the first episodes we did.
And I just have to say that that episode goes over everything about how to use the word dude, all the different ways you can use it, and my favorite ways of using it.
Again, if you're interested, watch that video or listen to that episode because it goes over everything.
Let's talk about some slang words that aren't dude, even though dude is legit my favorite.
Now you've heard me say legit twice.
I said it at the beginning of the episode and I just said it now.
So what is legit mean?
Legit is short for the word legitimate.
Legitimate is a lot to say, which is why we shorten the word, but legitimate means that something is authentic or that it's real.
For example, if you are into history, if you read about royal history, you'll hear the term legitimate air, which means that someone is the true heir to the throne.
Legitimate air means that someone is the actual heir to the throne, the person who should inherit the royal title.
When we talk about legit and slang, there's a number of different meanings depending on the context.
Legit could mean the same thing as legitimate, that something is credible or actual, the real version of something.
For example, let's say you are listening to an expert talk, maybe you're listening to a podcaster who's teaching English, and you say this person is legit.
What you're saying is this person is the real deal.
This person knows what they're talking about, they're a credible source.
They are someone who understands what they are they're talking about, and they have the proper credentials.
They are who they say they are.
Or you can say that person is not legit, which means that person is into what they say they are.
That person is not good at what they're doing.
You shouldn't go see them.
Let's say you want to go to a psychic, you want to get knowledge about your future, you want to get a tarot reading, something along those lines.
Again, you can say that psychic is legit, that means they told you what was going to happen and it actually happened.
Or that person was not legit, which means they told you stuff and they were just making it up and they're a con person, they're con man, they're just taking your money and they don't know what they're doing.
That's what legit means in that particular context when you're referring to someone as a source of authority or source of knowledge.
Another thing that legit can mean is that you are being honest or truthful.
So I said at the beginning of the episode that I was legit stoked.
Legit in that context means that I was being honest with you.
You can substitute in the word honest or truthfully, and the sentence still makes sense.
So let's say you are working at a job and you have to call out sick, you get sick, you have to call your work and say, I can't come in today because I'm sick.
You could say I'm legit sick.
Legit in that context means honestly, I'm legit sick means I'm honestly sick.
I'm not making this up.
I'm being truthful.
I am sick. Legit can also mean that something is really bad.
So I could also say I'm legit sick and that means I'm really sick.
So if I come up to you and I say, dude, I'm legit sick right now, that means I'm being honest, I'm sick and that illness is really bad.
I feel really, really bad right now and I feel very sick.
You could also say if you have no money, let's say you spent all your money.
You had a crazy weekend with your friends and you've spent all your money.
You come back to your house.
You look at your bank account and you see that you have no money left in your bank account.
You could say, I'm legit broke right now.
That means I am being honest.
I am broke and I'm extremely broke.
I have no money. I'm looking at my bank account and there's zero dollars.
This is a very bad situation.
That's what legit would mean in that context.
Now, legit is a little confusing because again, the context matters and we've talked about how it could mean something is real, how you are being truthful or how something could be very severe, very bad, but it could also mean something's really good and what the difference is, is what the thing is that you're
referring to. So if I'm talking about being sick or being broke, having no money, those are bad things.
So when I say legit, that means very bad in those contexts.
When I talk about something that's good and I say legit, that means very good.
So if I am listening to a new song and I'm really liking the song, I can say that song is legit, which means that song is really good and you should listen to it.
I can also say that about a movie or TV show.
I'm watching something on Netflix and I really like it and I think you should watch it too.
I'll say, hey, you know, have you heard about this TV show?
You should watch it.
It's legit. That means the show's really good.
I'm recommending it to you.
You can even say that same thing about this podcast.
You can say that the Learn English Podcast is legit, which means it's a good podcast and it's giving you good information to help you learn English.
Again, you have to really listen to what the person is saying when they say legit.
Are they talking about a person, a point of authority?
Are they talking about what their intention is?
Are they being honest with you?
Are they trying to say that they're being honest?
And are they talking about something that's a good thing or a bad thing?
Because legit, again, you can just think of it as a way of saying really or very, just saying that it's a lot of whatever it is that they're talking about.
So very good, very bad, depends on the context.
And that's just one of those ones you have to listen for.
And once you hear it often enough, you start to pick it up and understand what the person is saying.
Another word that is a common slang term here in California that has multiple meanings is sick.
Now we talked about sick when we talked about legit a few seconds ago, and usually sick refers to being ill, not feeling very good.
But sick can also mean something else.
It can also mean that something is cool or very good.
So you can substitute in sick for legit when you're talking about something that's really good.
So I could say that movie is legit, which means the movie is good.
But I can also say the movie is sick.
That really is a powerful statement.
When you hear that, that movie is sick means that you think that movie is really, really great.
You can say that this podcast episode is sick, which means it's a really good podcast episode.
Sick, I feel like has a little bit more emphasis than legit.
If you really want to say that something is really, really good and you like it a lot and you say sick, it just kind of seems a little bit more forceful.
But again, those two words, when you're talking about something that's good, have about the same meaning sick, just might be a little bit more, have a little bit more emphasis to it.
Or at least that's how I use it.
And that's what I feel about the word.
So sick can mean being ill.
It can mean that something's really good and it's something that you like a lot.
Or it can mean that something is gross or disgusting.
Let's say that you're watching the movie, but it's a horror movie.
It has a lot of blood.
It has a lot of gore, has a lot of really gross scenes in it.
You can say that movie is sick.
So that movie is sick in a good way.
It means it's really good.
That movie is sick in a bad way.
It means that it's gross and disgusting and that you maybe don't like it.
Again, that's one of those words that you have to really think of the context and hear how the person is saying the word.
Are they saying it in an excited way or in a way that makes it seem like they're grossed out and disgusted?
Two different meanings, even though it could be the same sentence, exactly the same sentence, really.
If you can keep those different meanings in your head when you're listening to someone speak, you can kind of start practicing seeing if you can understand what they're saying and in what context they're using the word, what they're trying to express by saying it.
Now, another word that we can use if something is really great is epic.
Epic means really good, amazing, the best thing that's ever happened in your entire life.
That's what epic means.
And I have to say, I love this word.
I love saying epic.
So the difference between legit and sick and epic, epic is usually used for a moment in time, a memory, or an experience.
It's usually not associated with a object like sick and legit are.
So usually I say usually because of course, that's not an official rule.
These are slang terms.
People can use them however they want, but at least how I use it, how people around me use it, epic is usually for something that's really big.
That's a really life changing moment and sick and legit.
Just mean like good or cool for epic.
Of course, you could use it for an actual object.
You could say that a movie was epic, but if you're saying that, that means that the movie was very powerful and had a very big impact in your life, not necessarily that it was just good.
So if you say a movie was sick or a movie was legit, that means that you liked it.
You enjoyed the movie, but if you say that movie was epic, that means that it really was this wonderful experience and it had a really big impact on you.
Let's do another example.
And let's say that you go on a vacation.
You have two weeks off from work.
You go to a different country or multiple different countries and you travel for those two weeks.
When you come back, your friend asks you, Hey, how was your trip?
And you can say my trip was epic.
That means that you had these wonderful experiences.
You, it was the greatest two weeks of your life and you loved going on this trip.
You can also think of this.
If you've seen the movie, the hangover and the night that the people in that movie have, where they go and party and have these crazy experiences, that would be an epic night.
They had these crazy moments, these crazy experiences that they were trying to figure out the next day what happened.
That would be an epic night.
Another word that comes from that surfing and skateboard culture is gnarly.
Gnarly like the other words has a bunch of different meanings.
It could mean different things in different contexts, but the easiest way to remember this is that it could mean extreme, extreme, good, extreme, bad, extreme, challenging.
If you just think of the word extreme very, that's probably a good way to try to track what the meaning of this particular word is.
So let's go through some examples.
One meaning of gnarly means that something is very difficult, very challenging, very hard to do.
I watch dirt bike riding.
I watch motocross and supercross.
And in that context, you hear this word a lot.
A lot of the writers will say gnarly.
The commentators will say gnarly when they're talking about the track that the dirt bike riders are riding on.
So for example, after the dirt bike race, the presenters usually interview whoever won and a lot of the time the person will say that the track was super gnarly.
So what that means is the track was very difficult.
It was extremely difficult.
It was a challenging track.
It was hard to ride on and it was a very difficult experience.
That's what they're saying.
So in that context, gnarly means extremely difficult, extremely challenging.
You can also say that gnarly can mean dangerous.
So if you are doing some type of extreme sport like dirt bike riding, and you can say that that sport is super gnarly, that means it's a dangerous thing to do, it's an extremely dangerous thing to do.
So maybe base jumping or skydiving or gnarly can be gnarly sports, which means they can be dangerous.
They can be challenging and a dangerous sport to do.
Gnarly can also mean good or bad.
Personally, I use gnarly to explain something that is bad.
I tend to use it when I'm trying to say something is extremely bad, but you could use it to say something is extremely good.
So you could say this podcast is gnarly, which could mean good.
Personally, though, like I said, I use it for a bad thing.
I teach high school chemistry.
I've said that in previous episodes, but if you're new, you might not know that.
So I work with high school students here in California.
I teach every day and part of teaching chemistry.
We use lab equipment, glassware.
And sometimes I will look at the glassware that the students are using, and they're extremely gross and dirty and there's just stuff all over them.
And it looks like they've never even been washed.
I have held up a piece of glassware and I said, this looks super gnarly, which means that this looks extremely dirty, extremely gross.
You can also hear that when people get injured.
Like I said, this term gnarly, I hear it a lot a lot when I watch dirt bike riding, if you watch snowboarding or surfing or something, you might also hear this term.
And if someone gets injured, if someone falls and has an injury, people will say, oh, that looked super gnarly.
That injury was gnarly.
That fall was gnarly.
Again, that just means extremely bad.
That fall looked extremely bad.
That injury looked extremely bad.
In those contexts, an injury, a fall, some type of thing that went wrong.
Those are all bad things.
So when you're saying gnarly, you mean extremely bad.
Now, let's go back to the beginning of the episode and what I said there.
I said that I was super stoked for this episode.
And that's the next slang term I want to go over.
Actually, I'm going to go over to because stoked and amped mean the same thing.
I have heard them here in California, heard people use them stoked and amped.
And they're pretty interchangeable.
They mean about the same thing.
What they mean is that you're very excited.
You have a lot of energy.
You're really excited for what's coming up.
So when I said I was legit stoked for this episode, that meant that I was honestly very excited for this episode.
I was excited to do this episode.
Legit stoked, legit amped.
Again, those would mean the same thing.
They both mean that you're very excited.
And now you've heard how you can also combine these slang terms.
You can take multiple words and you can put them together like I did.
Like when I said I was legit stoked.
You'll hear that, especially with the word dude thrown in.
Dude, I'm legit stoked.
This is going to be super gnarly.
Those are things that you could possibly hear someone say or that you could say.
And that they have multiple slang terms in them.
That was a lot. I hope you learned a lot from this episode because I know we went over a lot of slang terms.
So many of these slang terms have multiple meanings and I know it can be confusing, but like with everything, the more you practice, the more you're exposed to it, the better you get at it.
If you're really interested in learning these slang terms, really try to watch some social media, try to watch TV shows and movies, try to push yourself into that native level content because you will hear these terms.
You will hear these phrases.
If you like extreme sports, if you like snowboarding or dirt bike riding or surfing, watch those events in English.
Listen to the interviews with those people in English because I guarantee you're going to hear some of these terms.
Also watch TV shows, movies, especially about young people, because you'll hear these phrases, but that native level content will have those slang terms in it and you'll just be exposed to more of this vocabulary.
The more you're exposed to it, the easier it gets and the more enriched your vocabulary gets as well.
You'll start being able to use these terms in context in ways to express yourself.
If you are enjoying this podcast, if it's helping you learn English, if you learned some really good slang terms from this episode, please consider leaving a rating on whatever app you are listening to this podcast on, or send it to a friend, tell a family member, tell someone who's learning English
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Until then, keep learning English.
