Tag: chum

Welcome to the Slangpedia entry on friends! 😊😊 Here you’ll find a bunch of slang terms for “friend” and “friends”, along with slang which is more generally ralated to the topic of friendship, and also slang that is specifically for best friends. Without further ado, here’s our list of slang words for “friend”:

• Dawg: A friend, or perhaps a close friend. Often specifically refers to a male friend. It’s a close synonym for dude, bud, pal.
  • Usage: “What’s up dawg?”
  • Origin: African American and/or Mexican American street language (originally “perro”, in Mexican) starting in at least the mid 1900s, but the earliest usage was likely towards the end of the 1800s. The “aw” in dawg may have evolved from the southern pronunciation of dog.
• Amigo: Spanish for “friend”, but used as slang for friend in many English-speaking countried.
  • Usage: “What’s up, amigo?”; “Me and my amigos.”
• Chum: A close friend.
  • Origin: Derived from “chamber fellow” (roommate)  in the late 1600s.
• Bestie: Short for “best friend”.
  • Usage: “Shawna and I are besties.”
• Biffle: Comes from the acronym “BFFL” meaning “best friends for life”.
  • Usage: “He was acting like we were biffles, even though I hadn’t heard from him in years.”; “You will always be my biffle.”
• Bhessy: Best friends.
  • Usage: “You’re ma bhessy for life!”
• Fam: Used to refer to any person you trust dearly – a person you consider family.
  • Usage: “What’s crackin’ fam?”
• Mate / m8: A friend, or a synonym for “man”, “dude”, etc. that you can use even if you don’t know the person.
  • Usage: “Thnx m8, you a real bro!”
• Mang: Made popular by Al Pacino in Scarface, “mang” is the distortion of “man” that occurs when said with the cuban accent of “Tony Montana”.
  • Usage: “Hey mang! What’s up?”
• Homeboy: A close male friend, especially (though not necessarily) from one’s home town.
  • Usage:  “My homeboy, Santiago, will take care of you – just tell him I sent you.”
  • Origin: Etymologists generally trace this term to Mexican-American “Spanglish” from the late 1800s meaning a male friend from back home (in Mexico).
• Homegirl: A close female friend, especially (though not necessarily) from one’s home town. Derived from, or originated at the same time as homeboy (see above).
• Homeslice: Derived from “homeboy” (see above) and used in the same context. Also spelled “home slice”. Similar terms are: homedog, homefry, and home skillet, home slizzle, home skittle.
  • Usage: “Hey homeslice, how much cheddah do I owe you?”; “I’m just lookin’ after my home slice here”
• Homie: Short for homeboy or homegirl. A close friend, especially one from your home town, or who you grew up with.
• Homie g: A combination of “homie” and “g” in the “gangsta” sense. Used to refer to a close friend.
  • Usage: “Wassup ma homie g!”
• Homes / Holmes: Synonym for man or dude, probably derived from homie.
  
• BF: An acronym for “best friend”, but is used just as commonly (if not more) to mean “boyfriend”.
• BFF: An acronym for “best friends forever”. 
  • Usage: “We are BFFs and we always will be.”
• BFFL: Acronym for “best friends for life”.
• BGF: An acronym for “best guy friend” or “best girl friend”, that specifies a platonic (non-romantic) relationship.
• BFBFF: An acronym for “best facebook friend forever”.
• Fool: Urban slang for friend or buddy. It is sometimes shortened to “foo”.
  • Usage: “Hey fool you wanna play some b-ball?”
• Chica: A term of endearment used between female friends.
  • Usage: “Hey chica what’s happening?”
  • Origin: In Spanish it means “girl” or “gal”, but also translates to “cute”.
• Chiquita: A term of endearment, or a pet name used between female friends, similar to “chica”. It’s especially used if the person is shorter than average.
  •  Usage: “Hey chiquita wassup?”
  • Origin: In spanish it means “little girl”, or “petite” but in slang it translates to “shorty”.
• Girl: A form of address for a female friend, used similarly to “man” and “dude” between men.
  • Usage: “What’s up, girl?”; “Oh girl I’m so proud of you!”
• Girlfriend: A form of address between female friends, similar to “girl”.
  • Usage: “Hey girlfriend, what’s happening?”
• Sis / Sista / Sister: A term of endearment used between women, similar to “bro” and “brah”.
  • Usage: “Take care, sista”
• Ace: A very good, trusted friend, often from childhood.
  • Usage: “He used to be my number one ace until he started on the drugs.”
• Ace buddy: A combination of the words “ace” (great, excellent) and “buddy” (friend).
  • Usage: “She’s my ace buddy.”
• Ace boon coon: A very good, close friend. Generally used between people of African American descent.
  • Origin: The term “ace boon” means “top notch; helpful”, and coon is a perjorative term for a dark-skinned person. This term is used in a non-perjorative way, similar to how the perjorative term n***er was transformed to “nigga” meaning “friend”.
• Pal: A friend.
  • Usage: “We’re best pals”; “A pal is sleeping on my couch tonight.”
• Buddy: A close friend. Often used in plural form: “Best buddies”, meaning best friends. This term may give off a condescending or patronizing vibe if used in the wrong way – implying that the person who said it feels superior to the other person in some way.
  
  • Usage: “We go way back – been buddies since pre-school.”
  • Origin: May have originated as a variation on “butty” (see below) or as an evolution of “brother” in the 1800s.
• Buddy man: An alternate version of “buddy”. The term “buddy boy” is also used.
• Butty: A historical British variation on “buddy” used by miners.
  • Origin: May have originated from “booty” in the phrase “play booty” meaning “join in sharing plunder”.
• Bud: Short for “buddy”. Often used in plural form: “Best buds”, meaning best friends.
  
  • Usage: “Kalid and I are best buds”
• Bro / brah / bruh: Short for brother, but used for close male friends who aren’t actually brothers.
  • Usage: “Howsit brah?”
  • Origin: The term “brah” likely started in the 1960s with Hawaiian Pigeon English.
• Hebro: A Jewish bro.
• Bruv: A slang term for “friend” which is derived from “brother”.
• Blad: A slang term for brother or friend that comes from the word “blood” and is of Jamaican origin, but is spoken in Britain also.
  • Usage: “What you got for me blad?”
• Blood / blud: A close friend; like family.
• Bromance: An extremely close (non-sexual) friendship between two males. 
  • Usage: “Those two have such a bromance, they literally know what the other is thinking.”
  • Origin: Comes from “bro” and “romance”.
• Broseph: A good friend. Can often be used in place of brother, dude, man or friend.
  •  Usage: “Yo broseph, what’s happening tonight?”
  • Origin: Probably a combination of “bro” and “Joseph”.
• Brother from another mother / BFAM: A male friend who feels like a brother to you, but isn’t an actual sibling.
  • Usage: “Yeah, we go way back. He’s my brother from another mother.”
• Sister from another mister / SFAM: A female friend who feels like a brother to you, but isn’t an actual sibling.
  • Usage: “Yeah, we go way back. She’s my sister from another mister.”
• Brohan / brohanski: Surfer slang for “bro” in some places. The term broha is also used.
  • Usage: “Brohan! That was sick!” 
  • Origin: Likely the combination of bro and Gohan (of Dragon Ball Z fame).
• Brotato chip: Another phrase for homie or friend. The plural version may also refer to a bag of potato chips that is eaten with your bros.
• My boy / my man: Slang for “my friend” when said by one male about another male.
  • Usage: “That’s my boy other there, I’ll introduce him to you.”
    
• Nizzle: A term meaning “friend” when spoken between African Americans.
  • Usage: “Fo shizzle, my nizzle (For sure, my friend)”
• B: Slang for friend, brother, and sometimes bae (meaning boyfriend/girlfriend).
  • Usage: “Whatup B? What’s been happenin?”; “Thanks, B!”
• G: Short for gangster/gangsta, but used as a synonym for friend; homie. It may sometimes be used as a synonym for gangsta (meaning someone who “has their sh*t together”; is good at life) though.
  
  • Usage: “What up, G?”; “Yo! G! I need some advice.”
• Cuz: Shortened slang for cousin, but meaning “close friend”, even if there is no relation.
  • Usage: “Wuddup, cuz?”
• Cuddy: Another shortened slang version of cousin. 
  • Usage: “Waddup cuddy?”
• Kemosabe / Kemo: Friend, faithful friend, or trusty scout. 
  • Usage: “Hey kemosabe, long time no see!” 
  • Origin: In the TV series “Lone Ranger”, Tonto (fictional Native American sidekick) often referred to the Lone Ranger as kemosabe, meaning “trusty scout”.
• Goombah: An Italian-American slang term for a close friend, pal or companion.
  • Usage: “I’d like you to meet my goombah. We go way back.”
• Weeble: Close friend; homie. People you frequently hang out with.
  • Usage: “Sup my weebles.”
    
• Star: A common Jamaican term similar in meaning to dude, man, and buddy.
  • Usage: “Wagwan, star? (What’s goin’ on, star?)”
• Bedrin: Jamaican slang term for a friend/homie.
  • Usage: “Na, you cool bedrin.” 
  • Origin: Comes from the term “brethren”, meaning “brothers”.
• Bredren / Bredjrin: A slang distorion of “brethren”, but it refers to one friend – a close male friend (whereas the actual word “brethren” refers to multiple “brothers” – so they don’t have the same definition).
• My youth: Slang for “my friend”.
  • Usage: “Wassup my youth, where you heading to bruv?”
• Bang buddies: A synonym for “friends with benefits” (FWB), meaning someone with whom you have sexual relations, but aren’t in a romantic relationship with. Instead the relationship is “platonic“. Other synonyms for this are “cut friend“, “friends for the cut“, and “cuddy buddy“.
• Cheesemuffin: An affectionate term for girlfriend, or a close friend. Like cuddlemuffin, but can be used for close friends too.
  • Usage: “You lookin fine my little cheesemuffin!”; “What would I do without my cheesemuffin?”
• Bitch: An urban slang term of endearment used between women meaning “friend”. Similar to “dawg”.
  • Usage: “What’s poppin’ bitch?”
    
• Beau: Boyfriend or girlfriend. Pronounced “beau”.
  • Usage: “Me and my beau went out last night and had a fabulous time!”
  • Origin: French word for beautiful.
• Boo: Boyfriend or girlfriend. Someone you care about a lot and whom you love and adore – your soul mate. 
  • Origin: Possibly derived from the French word “beau” (pronounced “bo”, not “boo”), meaning beautiful (see above).
• Booski: An alternate form of “boo” (see above).
• Cutty: Bay area slang for a friend. A synonym for “dawg”.
  • Usage: “Ay, what up cutty?” 
• Crew: Your group of close friends.
  • Usage: “My crew have always been there for me.”
• Squad: Slang for a group of friends that regularly hang out. Synonym of “crew” and “gang”.
• Boys: Synonym for “homies” and “crew”.
  • Usage: “Me and the boys went to that new place yesterday.”
• Fellas: Used as a synonym for “crew”.
  • Usage: “The fellas and I are thinking about going south for the weekend.”
• The gang: A group of friends. Has the same meaning as “the crew” and “the fellas”.
  • Usage: “Where’s the gang?”
• Posse: A group of friends who regularly hang out together. Similar to “crew” and “gang”.
• Peeps: Slang for friends.
  • Usage: “Me and my peeps are heading out tonight.”
• Bull: A word used in Philadelphia to describe a male friend, but it can also be used to refer to any male who’s name you do not know.
  • Usage: “Your bull just came by – he’s been looking for you.”
• China plate: Cockney rhyming slang for “mate”. A chum, friend, buddy. May be shortened to “china”.
  • Usage: “Me an’ my china’s are heading to town – you should come along.”
• Chap: Can be a synonym for man, friend or chum, depending on the context. It can refer to people you don’t know.
  • Usage: “This random chap approached me on the street.”; “Come on chaps, let’s go.”
• Chuck: A term of endearment that can be used in place of “man”, “mate”, etc. It is used in Northern England.
  • Usage: “You feeling all right, chuck?”
• Droog: Mate, pal, buddy. Used in the novel/film “A Clockwork Orange”.
  • Usage: “It took me and my three droogs just 2 hours.”
• Duke: A term that can be used to replace someone’s name, like “dude” or “man”.
  • Usage: “What’s up duke?”
• Dun: A friend, or someone who’s name you do not know.
  • Usage: “My duns and me are catching a movie tonight”; “I want large fries with that, dun”
  • Origin: Likely started out in Queens, NY as a distortion of the word “son”. 
• Ese: A fellow hispanic person, especially a close friend. Takes the place of words like “dude”, “dawg”, “man”, “homeboy”, “friend”, etc. Pronounced similar to “essay”. It’s the Spanish word for “that”.
• FOAF: Acronym for “friend of a friend”.
• Roll dog: A good friend, or best friend. Someone you roll with all the time.
  • Usage: “Just been at the mall with a couple of my roll dogs”
• Frenemy: A person that acts as your friend while having alterior motives.
  • Usage: “Dude, he’s your frenemy. Straighten him out or leave him. Don’t put up with it.”
• Friend crush: Experiencing a strong desire to become friends with a person you don’t know very well. Often people experiencing friend crushes will exhibit nervousness, giddiness, admiration, and clumsiness similiar to those emotions experienced when being around a regular crush.
  • Usage: “Wow, that girl is so cool! Who is she?! I totally have a friend crush on her.”
• Habib: Arabic for “beloved” or “darling”. Unfortunately it has become a derogatory/racist word in some places used to refer to certain people of middle-eastern descent.
• Thick as thieves / thick: If you are very close friends with someone, the two of you may be said to be “thick as thieves”. This may be shortened to “thick”.
  • Usage: “Tam and I are thick as thieves – we go way back.”
• Pana: Slang for friend or close friend (synonyms with buddy, pal) in some countries in Central America. More details on origins here.
  
• Compita: Spanish slang for buddy/friend.
• Pisan: A friend, especially of Italian descent.
  
• Boet: An Afrikaans word meaning “brother”.
  • Usage: “Hey boet, wanna catch a dop this eve after the rugby?”
• Pard: The cornish word for “mate”.
  • Origin: Before the English languahe reached Cornwall it was used to refer to a miner’s workmate, since they commonly mined in pairs.
• Mucker: Irish term for friend.
  • Usage: “You alright mucker?”
  • Origin: Comes from the Irish phrase “mo chara” (my friend). May have originated in West Belfast.
• Whody / Whoody: A friend or companion. Many different spellings, including “wodi”.
  • Usage: Let’s go get some pizza whody.
• Tight: To be close friends.
  • Usage: “Tim and I are so tight. He’s always got my back.”
• Comrade: Often used as a slang term for friend, even though its actual definition tends to imply a fellow member of a movement or organisation, especially a socialist one.
• Compadre: A friend or companion. In Spanish it means “godfather”.
• Woe: New Orleans slang for friend.
  • Usage: “Say, woe, was happenin’ tonight?”
• Damie: A close friend. It’s a synonym of homie.
  • Usage: “Sup, my damie!”
  • Origin: Apparently popularised by the film Pootie Tang (2001), it is a combination of the words dude, man and homie.
• Nooka: A very close friend.
  • Usage: “Girl, you my nooka – we always gonna be tight!”
• Flirtationship: When you regularly flirt with an acquaintance or friend but do no more.
• Doobhead: Friend, homie, dawg.
  • Usage: “Whats up doobhead?”

That’s our whole list of slang words for “friend”! Do you have a word we’re missing? If so please share it in the form below! 👍