How to Speak Like a Californian

In this video you will learn some slang and phrases that Southern Californians use. By the end you will know how to speak like a true Californian!
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[@glitrcamille]

I say "bro" "I'm down" "hectic" "yeah no" "no yeah" and "like" all the time. it's a kind of a Californian problem🤣

[@AMPProf]

that's hella true Man!

[@johnnyzambrano8308]

Do you want some carmex? XD

[@daydream5120]

I’m a Californian and sometimes I use like way too much especially in one sentence and especially when I’m trying to explain something but I have no idea how to explain it

[@johnheng1040]

Australian men say hectic a lot. Don't understand why

[@jaredconnor]

Don't forget "Yeah no for sure" 😂😂

[@RickySpanish-]

Another thing people from Southern California say: No yeah=Yes Yeah no=No No yeah for sure=Definitely

[@johnnyzambrano8308]

Yup, definitely the last words are really what people mean lol.

[@AlexM-uq3cm]

I have never heard this coming from one in California

[@RickySpanish-]

@@AlexM-uq3cm Yeah no, that’s because you’re not from there.

[@AlexM-uq3cm]

@@RickySpanish-I represent the 661 area and nobody says that in the hood bro .

[@RickySpanish-]

@@AlexM-uq3cm Lol Who’s talking about the hood?

[@julianhess7527]

I’m a monotone Californian and I get asked frequently if I’m stoned even if I’m completely sober lmao. Never understood why until I looked up Californian accent

[@SirGavinIII]

Yeah same man, except people think I’m a surfer

[@kevinbeltran8118]

Ive been asked if I'm high a fair amount of times and I'm also pretty monotone. It's pretty interesting to see another similar experience.

[@taylorskyblue9413]

I'm not monotone but people ask me if I'm high all the time bc I'm like a happy go lucky mfer 😂 And it's the accent too I think. Just sounding carefree I guess?

[@AlexM-uq3cm]

Bro me too😂

[@kaykayfabulous8228]

This is halirious 😊

[@ryanfrizzell736]

As a Californian this video is great to reinforce my Californian accent.

[@Rigbyyyy]

For those outside of Cali wondering. This is so cal talk. In the bay we don’t say fersure we say fasho. We also say hella. But one thing that all Californians say and I mean all Californians and we say it allll the time is “like”

[@rtp5768]

I hear hella a lot on the East Coast. "for sure" is a mix of "for sure" and "fer sure". Everybody, everywhere says like all the time, pretty much since the early 80s, that stuff spread from the Valley fast, especially to the other coast.

[@Blue-jd8jf]

Californian accents are basically 1)Valley girl 👱‍♀️🌄 2)Surfer Skater dude🏄🛹 3)Urbanite Metropolitan denizens, Black and Latino 👨🏽🌆👨🏿

[@babyvanderwoodsen]

i am all 3 of these at any given moment

[@93Hiroko]

You’ll find those accents in Bikini Bottom.

[@baconweave5159]

Yeah man, #2 over here but I like to think I give it a stoner twang... wait, shit.

[@keithwaynejones]

central valley ppl are almost southern sounding or just general american sounding

[@michaelkingsbury4305]

Check out the accents in the Central Valley and the deserts, they sound more like Texas than they do the Coast.

[@popkinbobkin]

so Californians mostly talk about food and parties, what a blessed place

[@wobwobwubwub]

pretty much

[@redyoshi4687]

I wish

[@kaykayfabulous8228]

😂 hahahahahaha!

[@stevebrown739]

Dude, your accent is super sick 😍

[@kiki1573]

Dude you're comment is from Santa Monica lol♥️

[@primal.warrior]

Ahahaha that's radd dude

[@l.t.1305]

No.lol

[@MarkSmithhhh]

We actually do talk like that

[@raymondjblaze7761]

I like the way people from Cali talk!!!! Floridians talk too funny

[@kindadecent9754]

Just give any Californian a couple drinks or rips and the accent comes out strong

[@tartarus01]

As a californian, the “No yeah, yeah no” I feel in my soul LOL

[@commanderwolffeex]

lmfao same i didnt realize it 😭😭

[@ianhansen6840]

Nice, dude! You actually represent our accent without being self conscious. You mumble and your inflection is natural.

[@stephaniestevens4873]

I wasn't even aware that we mumbled until I watched SNL's The Californians. I also added "all" to your "being self conscious" without thinking.

[@jenniferhuynh9138]

Born & raised 🙌 most of these words are totally in my vocab 😂

[@v1760side]

Totes 😂

[@Jeanette.Hall71]

Fr

[@jeffmorrison2915]

I’m from LA and I endorse this message. Interestingly, thanks to movies, most people from other states understand these terms.

[@youtubeaccount5356]

You forgot to put the word “foo” for all my Mexican people lol, but yea as a Mexican who grew up in OC (ghetto part of it) I do use a lot of the words written on the board, for example “let’s kick it” “I’m down” “dude” “sick” “dawg” “dope” and that’s about it.

[@juanbeltran7266]

For reals dude. He forgot my personal favorite "sick a$$ foo." Here in the san fernando valley we also use totally. The olders mexicans and latinos tend to use it more along with the white folks.

[@drewski818]

@@juanbeltran7266 odele. Don’t forget “I knooow huh”

[@Omw2fyb]

Cant forget “foo Thas righhhht” XD

[@Marks420life]

That’s right foo 😂 You can’t forget that word.

[@jessebrucepinkman9353]

Das riiiiiiight

[@kiki1573]

As a native LaLa girl I never hear "narley" I hear and say "like" alot. Use like and dude as filler words without the vocal fry lol.🤣

[@theaarongarcia]

Narley is def a coastal / SD surfer slang. A lot of these are.

[@johnnynezha2634]

Never heard gnarly either!

[@FabioPoianMusic]

For what it's worth I lived in LA for 5 years and many friends of mine there said it a lot

[@thecozywriter1698]

Same I've never hear someone say narley

[@JT0007]

Spreading narley in NorCal for years

[@patriciapearl2529]

I'm also born and raised in California and didn't realize I had an accent until I went out of state(Oklahoma). People asked me where I was from when I was over there and that they liked my accent. I guess we do!!

[@beerussama7093]

A common misconception that people have of Californians is that we either sound like Surfers or Valley girls. The only true part is the slang, the accent will vary depending on where you grow up in Cali. I’ve met surfers and skaters that sound nothing like surfers and girls from other states who sound like Valley girls.

[@cristiancastro5853]

Me, a Californian who’s lives there my whole life: Yeah I need to Learn this.

[@redyoshi4687]

Same

[@Ghost-dv9wp]

i haven’t ever used guy or dude on objects but as a southern Californian this is pretty damn accurate

[@jaex9617]

Bruh

[@xeeen0]

You probably have and didn't notice. Example. Sitting a a stop light that's taking way to long to change, you say Dude fing periwinkle already.

[@FourPointOhhh]

I never thought about it until he said it but I CONSTANTLY say things like “little pen dude”

[@johncasor9698]

me to never used guy or dude on objects just dumb...

[@stevenmetz1324]

yah......you definitely nailed many!! you should really do a part 2, though.....definitely missing a lot.

[@grumpyschnauzer]

As a Californian native I use “I’m down” for compliance or going along with something and “I’m up for that” to convey voluntary enthusiasm. Also, you hit the nail on the head with (wa)sah. It’s typical for us Californians to blend words of a sentence and take out parts. Example: y’wana get that? Good video. Recently moved to Washington to 2 years ago… now reflecting back used a lot of these words while speaking to my Supervisor LOL 🤦🏻‍♀️ I feel lame but she calls me “cool” 😎 so whatevs. Btw, I’m also from The South Bay of Southern California or the “beach cities” as the freeway off-ramp labels it. Oh yeah, I had to drop “the” when speaking about freeways and streets in Washington… total giveaway of a Californian. I say “foo” a lot to be exaggerate and “so truuueee,” like a stoner but not a stoner. I say “that’s cool, no it’s cool, yeah sure it’s cool, we got this” a lot too. No wonder why when I had to speak in meetings at work in Washington people just blankly and quietly stared at me…

[@Andi_Frost_XPR0PR18]

Love the abrupt cut off at the end, lol.

[@JaneDoe-bc8hx]

As a 4th generation CA beach-girl, I am embarrassed to confirm that this is 100% accurate. Going to hide in my room now. Later

[@curious1053]

Fer sure fer sure

[@Boywonderz_]

This was spot on bro 😂 dope realizing we got our own slang. Another one we say a lot is “ hella “ or “ foo “ or some people say “ you know what I mean “ .. “ you know what I’m sayin “ .. “ you feel me “

[@k.summerfield4866]

I’ve been in So Cal all my life and you are right on the money!

[@servantofg-d5393]

I'm originally from Southern California. You forgot other Cali slang like "Totally", That's totally rad", "I'm stoked" and "Bitch'n" like for example "That's a Bitch'n car." Also "That's wicked." Also "That's killer dude." And if you grew up in the 70's like I did you would here phrases like "Mellow Out" and "Just kicking back."

[@OhYaSure]

Bitchen isn’t used much anymore.

[@yodaddie1000]

This sound like only white neighborhoods… definitely not southern cali brown areas

[@redyoshi4687]

I never heard anyone say any of that here I kinda want to now

[@olivervandebeer7492]

That's a bad dude...from older people. I was born in San Francisco and my dad was from Oakland...Cheers

[@rtp5768]

Yeah all of those too. They pretty much spread nationwide by early 80s I think. Hear all of those a ton in NJ. I think wicked might have spread out of Boston as much as SoCal though.

[@faolangt7136]

As someone from Boston I use over half of these lol

[@elendel1493]

I'm Spanish. Is very funny that you use "fuego". In Madrid we use "a fuego" in the context that is like "go for it".

[@chainmail5886]

FUCK. I've been using California slang my whole life! >

[@jonschmidt9845]

Dude thats some sick gnarly dank weed bro

[@caligirl10]

I was getting ready to type “ this sounds more like So. Cal” and then I read the description and started the video over 🤣 but most of these words I do use😂. I’ve never heard anyone use gnarly here in N. Cal. Also, “like” and “hella” should be on the list.

[@johncasor9698]

hella..... is a young persons word...

[@charliegotaway]

I’m not even Californian and the accent and those words seem like normal English for me. I should be Californian

[@SarahZ333]

LMAO this is so accurate! I was told I have an socal accent and I see it now hahah

[@djibrilfamily2283]

I have californian origins and i learned some words 😂 thank you so much for that video, that was FREAKING AWESOME!

[@Devilhedd632]

We also say BOMB

[@ayyo-bun3534]

Dude is literally the name for our only brother in the fam. It's awesome how we got an accent cuz I thought we did but not in the way I assumed. Bruh far out and amazing, I hope you vibe on!

[@MagneticMessengerofOrion]

Dude..for sure I’m down to subscribe to your channel bro. Super sick dog! This video was mad fuego 🤙

[@rayg1]

“Sketch” as a San Diegan

[@DreamingEnglish]

Hello from Boston and a fellow English teacher on KZbin 😊

[@aksamgunesi.]

More videos like this plz 😊

[@melissaarenas9437]

Thank you for this video

[@krista6538]

I was born in Orange County and raised in the San Fran suburbs until I was 7…then we moved to New Jersey. I went to college in DE, and now live in New York City. I tell myself my residual accent from CA and NJ cancel out (ouueeeet).

[@sandrasalinas9787]

Dude I’m Californian, you got this to the tea 🍵. I wasn’t born here, but raised in California for 40 years, I have and American Californian accent now. You could barely hear my Latin accent. Lol 😂 you are good 👍some words I definitely use not all.. lol 😂

[@turgisourwayoflife9619]

I'm thinking of moving from Adelaide south australia to Los Angeles so I thought I'd learn some Californian words

[@turgisourwayoflife9619]

Why do the children always sound like they have no accent

[@93Hiroko]

Even his chuckle was socal lol

[@shabaee]

What a useful video thank you so much❤

[@jairesemccoy9779]

California is a large state. There is a difference between the coast and the valley. And also a cultural difference in norCal and soCal. Women say like a lot. We use the word Hella some times. We did say kick it. Or we have events called "kick backs," but that's usually with friends. I don't use that often, bjr I've heard people use that often in here. If something is awesome, if you grew up in the suburbs, then you're probably going to be a skater/surfer dude who says the words, "wicked and Knarly." If you grew up in urban areas (a lot of people, especially in the valley), you will hear all types of hood slang. Instead if wicked, we'd say "that's tight, or that's dope." This is a SMALL section of California's dialect.

[@crystald.3758]

Trying to figure out which type of person you are in SoCal.🤔 I was getting laid-back, hippie, blue collar, casual beach goer vibes at first but as I cont to watch, I started thinking naaaah. He's gotta be a valley type or whte collar OC dude. Something I've always touched on is the diff types of accents and lingo within SoCal. Ethnicity and class are definitely factors when it comes to the way one speaks here. I grew up mostly in an L.A. County barrio and the way ppl speak there (Chicano and thick Mexican/Latino accents) greatly differs frm the way many blcks in L.A. speak AND whtes. But I love the great diversity of our great state. Go GAVIN NEWSOM.📢🔊😁

[@Nootlest]

People actually like that governor? Lol

[@spicyspectrum1346]

I mean, they elected him again lol.

[@crystald.3758]

@@spicyspectrum1346 I KNOW.🤪😆😆😆😆😁🥳

[@MakamoCreations]

This is hilarious dudeee.. good work

[@Existmusiccloud]

Cazh presentation dude. (So Cal 70’s for “casual “, meaning “really good”)

[@mocrg]

As an old California dude I can say a few of those have been around for decades. Fer Sure, dude, bro. Sick. Down . Gnarly I’m surprised is still around .

[@programmersurfdude]

I’m from SoCal a lot of this is used everyday. But this is all something you’d hear surfers say. I live in HB and hear people talking like this all the time. But most people don’t say pitted, dank, gnarly, shacked

[@janicemorales2754]

Dank ! 😂 I haven’t used that in soooo long

[@dval1059]

Red states looking at this to find the Californians living among them.

[@AMPProf]

Dued like no way.. That's Hella wrong Man

[@rayarayson3381]

I have to admit dude is definitely in my vocabulary I say it all the time

[@dnicole1391]

I use gnarly as a synonym for big and/or crazy. “She got this gnarly ass scar on her leg from the car accident” “I went to a gnarly party last night”

[@blackrifle6736]

*Barrett: Only one thing you missed. Born in SoCal and lived there for short time, this never occurred to me until I landed in MA. There, some gal said to me "Hey, you're from California." "How did you know that?" I asked. She replied "Because your "R" is so hard." Well hell, for turkey-herders that letter doesn't even exist!*

[@CraigSakada]

We are the same up north, BUT we have some other stuff…. Like.. We say “huhhhh” when we agree with someone A LOT. Or sometimes it’s “I know reyt” We say “like” in every 2-3 sentences. We call each other “fool” but only to certain people. And of course, we say “hella/hecka” to emphasize something. “Dude, that meal was hella bomb huhhhh. I was like, what the hell is this crap and like I tasted it and like, it was just hellla bomb bro. I’m hella down to eat there again.”

[@ThePawsketeer]

As a regionalist from Cali (my home states) this helps a lot

[@andream8671]

I'm from California but my parents made us move to Arkansas 3 years ago and ppl will say that I talk werid. So ce I always talk like this lol 😂

[@jaygill5582]

My condolences to you!

[@moderatedoomer2945]

Basically, we have the open vowels of the South and the nasal inflection of the Great Lakes, throw in definite articles before a freeway, dropping the middle "t" in place names, loan words from Mexican Americans and few eccentricities all our own and that's our accent.

[@bayanali3337]

I live in california I love this state :)

[@karenjewell6543]

From Detroit,lived in Huntington Beach for a year in the 80s.I just remember everybody talked sloooow & they all thought I was from New York 😅

[@andinewman4865]

I’m an oldie who’se lived in Cal nearly all my life. A lot of this language is age-related-your words & phrases are more ones that younger people use. Us baby boomers had many other slang & phrases. We don’t use most of them anymore, but we don’t really use your words too much either. I was into the surf scene in high school-we used words like BOSS, BITCHEN, FAR OUT, COOL, GROOVY, etc. Those are pretty much passe’ ! Interesting! All generations have their own lingo, & I guess it all depends on who you hang out with: surfers, hippies, valley girls or whoever!

[@johncasor9698]

correct ...

[@rtp5768]

In 80s NJ , bitchin’ and cool were heard a ton, I still hear cool used a ton everywhere today. Still hear bitchin from GenX aged people. Stuff like far out, groovy were considered like sooo totally old fashioned here in HS mid to late 80s era.

[@rtp5768]

A few on his list have never been used much in NJ, although many have been routine since early 80s. A few on his list like dawg, dank I never hear though until much more recently, definitely not in the 80s, probably not until 00s. I hear lit a ton in recent years, I feel like it actually was used by us a tiny bit in the 80s though already.

[@Au3and3]

Spot on but I do use “like” “omg” and “totally” a lot like a lot 😂😂

[@kumokundomo9705]

I guess I never thought about Californians having accents or different vocabulary...haha. Interesting though. When someone has a thick accent, I can't understand them but just smile.

[@sadiedeville6884]

As a Cali girl, I'd say this vernacular is more like OC or Bay Area speak. Most these words aren't that common in the IE or SD.

[@MrGenaralHummus]

in cali we dont say cali, we say california

[@TrinaryAdept]

I'm from SD and yeah This is an OC or LA

[@OmniTorch]

@@MrGenaralHummus I'm from San Jose, California and my bay area peeps say Cali...

[@MrGenaralHummus]

​@jadiebug fr real you wouldnt call your country a Cun***, why call california "cali." I also dont like people getting starbs at the lib.

[@nothnx3210]

@@MrGenaralHummus I'm from OC. I say Cali 😩 or NorCal/SoCal

[@knitkicker]

I’m from Nor Cal SCruz to be exact now in Oakland Ca I often say all that with Hella thrown in now and again

[@FIyingDumpling]

SHREDDED

[@michaeljustice124]

Bro should have been on your list. “That shit was GNARLY BRO!”

[@rebelredcarnation]

I say “gnarly” a lot for like negative things. Like the other day I saw something gross and I was like “that’s gnarly!” I also say “sick” for something that others may find awesome 😅

[@tavialew3224]

So true I was born in Los Angeles I talk like this

[@bikesbeersbeats]

As an Indian in california this has really helped me integrate better.

[@TheCritter001]

Third generation Long Beachian, yeah you're pretty much on point.

[@meliameli3523]

I from Paris mais j'aime beaucoup la Californie je rêve de visiter cette region

[@aracelirosales7328]

California is AWESOME!! ❤❤❤

[@belindathecpa]

the list is pretty good. As a SoCal gal, i only use about 60-70% of it tho.

[@MrWFactor]

Mob is also used here for speed, something fast. Whoa that car was mobbin' !

[@oscarmartinez2538]

A lot of those phrases we use in ny

[@kevinparme7699]

Yeah, no. No, yeah! This guy knows his stuff!!!

[@HydraRoohanYT]

The surfer dude ones are a little unknown to me, but apart from that i have heard all of these and i gotta say, this is exactly how Californians speak (I am Mexican btw)

[@77Catguy]

As an L.A. native from another generation and another part of town, this is really fascinating to me--but I would still define it as the accent of a cultural subset: sort of "surfer speak," as was made reference to. There are many, many accents in L.A.--in most cases I would say relating to what part of the country or what part of the world one's parents come from. In number of speakers, I'd guess that those from various Hispanic language backgrounds and their particular speech patterns and accents would far outnumber those who spoke in this way, and distinctive speech patterns of those of other language influences in their background would as well.

[@lite0221]

“Nah fer-shur man!” for “yea!” is something I say a lot and I’ve had this pointed out many times.. lol sounds like a mouthful but it feels natural ya know?

[@mikeg8276]

NorCal is very similar. Things we also say: I’m down, for sure, dude, sick, hectic, dope, lit, snag (situationally), yeah no/no yeah, freakin’, kick it, sketch/y, & sus. Things we don’t say: gnarly, dawg, pitted, shacked, dank, cruise, mob, wa/sah, guy, and fuego. Additional things we say: hella, lush (used like dank), janky, man (like guy or dude), stoked, butt hurt, doing too much, legit, deadass, trynna, outta pocket/outta line, finna, dip, head out, came in clutch, etc.

[@nomadiclife-martin]

The algorithm took me here after I watched SNL's 'the Californians' 😆

[@LUR1FAX]

Just make sure every other word is "like"

[@johncasor9698]

or MAN...

[@SexyCletus]

Ahh dudes. This is Gnarly and this is also how we talk down in port Richey Florida🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻

[@Nootlest]

Funny, in NY we use these words too. Do people not use them everywhere else?

[@piglice4585]

Im a white Californian but now Im in Ohio and people here say I sound like a surfer but when I was in Riverside my mexican friends said I sounded like I was from Texas.

[@Queencupid]

I love how many of the comments are just other Californians lol

[@eileensianez6766]

Rolly for really,prolly for probably and " Oooooh myyyyy Gaaaaaaaawd!!!!" Grew up in La Mirada (So Cal.) in the 60's-90's.

[@sabinehalfhill4005]

Being a SoCal native, this so accurate. Also, you can drop the Y on sketchy and just say Sketch … same meaning . “Dude, that was sketch”

[@dmhq-administration]

The music for this is giving Me Charlie Brown/Peanuts vibes! 🤔😁👍🏻 I'm ALWAYS "down," to eat, especially spicy egg ramen! 🍜

[@andresartes]

Cali Vocab List: Awks (Awkward) Bang/Bangin’ Basically Bestie Bet Bomb Bro Bud Cali Style (has avocado in it) Chill Dawg Def(initely) Dope I’m Down/You’re Not Down Dude Dumb (used positively or negatively) Eww Foo For Sure Girl… Gross Guys (when referring to a group) Hella (NorCal) Homie(s)/Homeboy/Homegirl Hood Honestly Joint (place or weed) Kick It/ Kickback Kinda Like (filler word) Lit (or Litty) Literally Nah No Way (Yeah) No “Oh My God” Pull (Up) Rad Reeks Scene Seriously Sick Sketch Smoke Stoked Sup Sus Totally Uh/Um (filler word) Whatever (No) Yeah Note: A lot of these can be combined (e.g. oh my god you guys, no yeah for sure, honestly I’m kinda down dude)

[@solenstyle]

This is accurate, but it's also dependent on the generation you're from. For Millennials, it's more common because rock and skate culture was very prominent in main stream while growing up. There was a time where everyone skated and it was weird if you did not. So much so that people would use fingerboards all the time. Most people would shop at skateshops for fashion. So a lot of people no matter ethnicity used these words as they were ingrained in skate culture which was blended by extreme sports in general (surfing, snowboarding). And like I said, this is also when nu metal started to gain ground, and you had many punk pop bands dominating. At the same time, hip hop was still listened to by a big portion of the generation, so there was just a general amount of tolerance towards any type of music influence. I almost forgot how weed legality was pretty big in the 2000s which blended all cultures together. That's the context for why this accent is still very prominent amongst millennials Probably in the OC the culture is still like that, but maybe not as dominant as it used to be during the late 90s to mid 00s.

[@rodgreen6021]

Not only in California , but some of these words in New Zealand

[@eddiemartinez6027]

A lot of this is more so-cal/surf talk. Up north we use for sure"fasho" completely different.

[@MLittleBrony]

i spent my most impressionable years in California and it really shows i think. if you ever had a conversation with me, you could probably do a drinking game where you take a shot every time i say "like" or "dude". down the whole bottle if i say "i mean like". or don't, i can't drive.

[@nilnada5773]

I live in the central valley, never heard anyone say gnarley unironically but everything else here is kinda like on point

[@redixdoragon]

Fer Sure. Central Valley ends up with everything non beach related, except tourists asking how far they are from the beach.

[@JohannesLabusch]

Thanks for you efforts, but I don't need any of this. All I had to learn was "Devin? Ooooooooooowhadareyouu doin herre!"

[@chraosta]

We use dank for food & “other things ”… lmao I wonder what other things 👀😂

[@bigshotz1240]

Guys will usually use Down, girls use up And normally being down for something is usually something you do offer like “being down to go to the movies” vs being up for something means it may be new or adventurous. “ you wanna sky dive”? “ I’m up for it”