1 00:00:00,340 --> 00:00:02,500 Welcome to the Summer of Slang, 2 00:00:02,500 --> 00:00:09,280 where every video in July and August, we go over American slang terms and meanings. 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:16,180 Today we’re looking at slang that uses acronyms, like GOAT and BAE. 4 00:00:16,180 --> 00:00:17,400 What do they mean? 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,760 How should you use them? Let’s find out. 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,980 In this video, we’re also going to talk about when it’s appropriate to use slang. 7 00:00:25,980 --> 00:00:27,940 Hint: not all the time. 8 00:00:33,180 --> 00:00:42,680 Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that I just released a new episode on my brand new podcast and it is also on slang. 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:44,680 Just like this video series. 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,740 The podcast is called the Rachel’s English podcast. 11 00:00:47,740 --> 00:00:50,500 And there will be new podcasts once a week. 12 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:54,880 I’ll be covering all sorts of topics in learning English and spoken English. 13 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,000 Idioms, slang, questions from you guys. 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:00:59,760 So be sure to check it out. 15 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,280 So much good stuff there. Okay. 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,080 Back to slang. 17 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:09,060 An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words. 18 00:01:09,060 --> 00:01:17,020 So ‘bae’ comes from a phrase with three words that start with B, A, and E. 19 00:01:17,020 --> 00:01:19,180 Before anyone else. 20 00:01:19,180 --> 00:01:23,120 So this would be your boyfriend or girlfriend, your significant other. 21 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,240 David’s my bae. 22 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,080 But, what often happens with slang is a term will evolve. 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:34,300 And from what I understand, now anything can be bae. Like, ‘pizza is bae’. 24 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:38,240 Someone who really loves pizza might say that. 25 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:39,640 GOAT. 26 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:46,740 A phrase where we have a phrase with four words beginning with G, O, A, T. 27 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:50,480 This stands for greatest of all time. 28 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,520 The absolute best, the absolute best at something. 29 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,260 Of course the word ‘goat’, not in all caps is also an animal. 30 00:01:59,260 --> 00:02:01,000 Unrelated meaning. 31 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,620 Unless you think a goat is the greatest animal of all time, then the meaning is related. 32 00:02:06,620 --> 00:02:13,640 I said in my last video, a great way to get context for the meaning of slang is to go to Instagram. 33 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:15,440 Let’s do that. 34 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,620 3.3 million public posts. 35 00:02:18,620 --> 00:02:23,320 Looks like most of them have to do with sports, doesn’t it? 36 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,960 This person says ‘2 GOATS’, greatest of all times. 37 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:33,320 We have Jay Z and Michael Jordan. 38 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,640 Here’s Michael Phelps. 39 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:37,280 Olympic swimmer. 40 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,560 Happy Birthday GOAT! 41 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,640 Greatest of all time. 42 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:47,540 And it looks like we even have some actual real goats. 43 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:49,660 And finally, AF. 44 00:02:49,660 --> 00:02:56,340 Now, I need to be careful here because I don’t want to be marked as explicit for using this cuss word. 45 00:02:56,340 --> 00:03:01,660 This stands for ‘as fff.’ 46 00:03:01,660 --> 00:03:08,440 F beginning a four-letter word which is probably the worst cuss word in American English, or at least one of them. 47 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,860 F consonant, UH as in BUTTER vowel, 48 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:13,940 and the ending K consonant. 49 00:03:13,940 --> 00:03:17,100 So I’m not going to say it. You probably know it. 50 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:21,120 But you can add this to pretty much any phrase to show intensity. 51 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,100 An extreme amount. 52 00:03:23,100 --> 00:03:25,980 I’m tired AF. 53 00:03:25,980 --> 00:03:28,660 That means I’m sooo tired. 54 00:03:28,660 --> 00:03:33,160 Now, even though you’re not saying the cuss word, you're just saying 'F', 55 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:38,500 it is slang that involves a cuss word. So be really careful about how you use it, 56 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:42,080 when you use it, where you use it. 57 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,000 I’m hungry AF! 58 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,380 Only use it around people you’re comfortable swearing around. 59 00:03:49,380 --> 00:03:52,140 And actually, that takes me to an important point. 60 00:03:52,140 --> 00:03:55,240 When is it appropriate to use slang in general? 61 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,360 I guess the main guide that I would use for this is: 62 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,660 only use it around people who are also using slang. 63 00:04:02,660 --> 00:04:07,140 Let the people you’re talking with guide the appropriateness of that. 64 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:12,320 For example, I would say in general, it’s not a good idea to use slang in a work environment, 65 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:18,580 but maybe you work in a laid-back setting with lots of younger people and they use slang a lot in conversation. 66 00:04:18,580 --> 00:04:21,500 Great, then you can feel free to use it. 67 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:25,860 Honestly, when you’re in a situation where other people are using slang, 68 00:04:25,860 --> 00:04:29,860 that’s really where you’re going to get to know what current slang is, 69 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:31,980 what it means, and how to use it. 70 00:04:31,980 --> 00:04:34,880 And if you don’t know what it means, don’t be afraid to ask. 71 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,900 It’s not just because you’re a non-native speaker. 72 00:04:37,900 --> 00:04:43,880 It’s because it’s slang, and lots of native speakers also don’t know what certain terms mean. 73 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,960 Let’s go over the pronunciations. 74 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,860 So we have bae, goat, and AF. 75 00:04:49,860 --> 00:04:53,360 What’s interesting is, bae and goat, 76 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,700 we say both of those as words. 77 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:58,940 But AF, we say the letters out loud. 78 00:04:58,940 --> 00:05:03,600 When you’re saying a sequence of letters, it’s always the last letter that gets stressed. 79 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,720 So it’s a-F. Fff-- Not A-f. 80 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,460 a-F. da-DA. 81 00:05:11,460 --> 00:05:15,980 Stress pattern: da-DA. Second syllable stress. 82 00:05:15,980 --> 00:05:19,020 Bae: simple pronunciation. 83 00:05:19,020 --> 00:05:21,120 B and the AY diphthong. 84 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:27,420 But I’ve been teaching English long enough to know that a lot of people have problems with the AY diphthong. 85 00:05:27,420 --> 00:05:33,000 It’s really common to say beh- or bey instead. 86 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,780 Eh, ey. 87 00:05:35,780 --> 00:05:39,100 Both of those are vowel sounds. But we need a diphthong: 88 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:41,600 a changing sound with two positions. 89 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,400 Bae-- 90 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:49,820 So drop your jaw: bae-- then bring it up. Bae. 91 00:05:49,820 --> 00:05:51,280 Bae. 92 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,320 You’re my bae. 93 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,640 Goat: We have another diphthong. 94 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,720 Two positions: jaw drop and lip rounding. 95 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:05,260 Oh, oh, oh. Goat. 96 00:06:05,260 --> 00:06:07,300 Goaat. 97 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:12,200 Now, the ending T pronunciation can be a True T, goat, 98 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,340 or a Stop T, goat. 99 00:06:15,340 --> 00:06:20,200 Goat, goat, goat. 100 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,860 Make up a sentence with one of these slang terms and put it in the comments. 101 00:06:24,860 --> 00:06:28,940 Fun! And if you want to see other videos I’ve made on slang, 102 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:33,320 learn even more terms, check out this slang playlist. 103 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,440 If you want to see my absolute most recent video, click here. 104 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:43,160 If you’re new and you want to know more about what kinds of English lessons I do, then click here. 105 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,480 I make new videos every Tuesday. 106 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,120 Be sure to subscribe and check back often. 107 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,760 You’ll get all sorts of tips and tricks on the English language. 108 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,920 And, the thing that would be the best possible thing 109 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,580 would be for you to sign up for my mailing list. 110 00:06:57,580 --> 00:07:02,780 Click here or visit RachelsEnglish.com/newsletter.