After so many years of studying English, you may still get confused like you first come here just because of the slang the students use! Now let us see how 'street talk' and 'regional talk' are. Street talk is a way to categorize many 'hip' words used on the street. There is a playfulness about street talk. What about the word 'hip?' You might have thought that this was derived from 'hippie'--a follower of social fashion in the 1960s and 70s. But no, it comes from a much older usage, the word 'hep'. The word 'hip' is marked as 'out-of-date slang'. But it seems to have come back into fashion. Other bits of old-fashioned slang are also popular here, such as 'cool'. The expression 'that’s cool' is often used to agree to a suggestion. The problem with slang and trendy expressions in general is that they change fast, so that only those who are using them all the time can keep up. A great deal of slang used by students comes from television and films, especially from 'catch phrases' that are used by characters in TV programmed or films. A 'catchphrase' is a phrase that a particular character repeats, if you live here among students, go out to the cinema, watch similar programes and listen to popular music, you might find yourself using slang with- out even thinking. If you meet students from outside London and the south-east, you may notice that local people some- times don’t use textbook English. Traditional dialects are dying out here. But there are still many regional variations in the way English is used. One example is the way people address each other. If you are in Newcastle, you might hear people (particularly women) refer to each other as 'hinny'--a common term of endearment. 'Hinny' refers to the 'sterile hybrid offspring of a male horse and female donkey, 'but that is not what they mean when they call you 'hinny' in Newcastle! Probably, the word they’re using is the local form. of 'honey'. Other parts have their own endearments. If someone in Glasgow calls you' hen' or someone in Notting- ham adds 'duck' to the end of what they say, they’re being friendly, not rude. Younger people tend to use these terms less. And these phrases are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rich regional variations found in informal speech here today. So after you think you’ve got the hang of slang, do you dare use it yourself7 Take care! Most informal and colloquial usage marks you as coming from a particular social background--to a native speaking thing. Since English is not your first language, people may find it odd if you use slang. But you should spare time for chatting with, and learning from native - speakers and try to understand different usages. As you gain experience, you’ll learn which phrases are safe to use. But make sure you don’t use them in the wrong place. Stick with official English whenever in doubt! The author is a ______.