The Sheffield slang terms featured on list of UK's most iconic, including one made famous by Arctic Monkeys

There are numerous words and phrases unique to Sheffield which will leave many people from outside the city, and even a fair few within, scratching their heads. There are some which just make sense, especially in the Sheffield brogue, and once you’ve heard them you can’t understand why everyone doesn’t use that turn of phrase. Others take a bit more getting used to and, even among lifelong Sheffielders, debate still rages about the correct way to describe certain everyday items.

Preply, the language tuition website, has mapped slang in the UK to see where it is most commonly used and which are the most frequently used terms. In Sheffield, it has highlighted four slang words. Top of the list is ‘mardy’. Used in a relatively affectionate way to describe someone who is irritable or prone to complaining, it was made famous through its use by the Arctic Monkeys in their song ‘Mardy Bum’. It is the only bit of Sheffield slang to make Preply’s list of the top slang terms in the UK.

The other Sheffield slang highlighted by Preply is ‘spice’, used in the Steel City to refer to sweets; ‘lug oil’, referring to your ears; and ‘laik’, meaning to play outside.

The most iconic slang terms in each UK city, according to Preply

Stoater (Glasgow)

Our kid (Manchester)

Chocka (Liverpool)

Babby (Birmingham)

Cwtch (Cardiff)

Drive (Bristol)

Jitty (Leicester)

Dapper (London)

Mardy (Sheffield)

Gill (Leeds)

Howay (Newcastle).