UK Slang - I have just started watching Skins where they use the word "safe" as meaning cool, good, or awesome. Was that a real slang word in the 2007 time frame or were they just trying to make it a thing?

>It really feels like they were trying to make it a thing and feels very forced. That sums up the show in it's entirety. However it was a thing before the show came and out and still is.

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thesockpuppetaccount@reddit

No no no I did not sign up to be made to feel old, not today. I’ll tie an onion to my belt.

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walnutwithteeth@reddit

Which was the style at the time.

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ebola1986@reddit

Yeah I did not realise that this is no longer common parlance.

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Sage-Freke-@reddit

I’m guessing it’s a shortened version of “safe and sound”. Although, “sound” was also a thing.

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Sage-Freke-@reddit

Safe, bad, phat, sick. All a thing

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Maichy@reddit

I still say sick, I have a friend that says wicked, is it time we enter the crypt?

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moo00ose@reddit

Me and friend from college still use this word haha

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Round_Engineer8047@reddit

Yeh but if you wanted to keep it livid, keep it dense you'd say 'well cheeks'.

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Kaballis@reddit

I still say ‘wicked’ to describe something affectionately.

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I used to work in a private school in the mid 2010s . One family with a dad who drove some six figure sports car and considered himself uber cool, hadn't paid the fees. They emailed him and requested payment by the end of the week. He replied with a single word: SAFE So that's all I think of when I hear it. He was the funniest joke in the staff room for quite some time after that.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

The GLC and "safe as fuck" was actual slang from the time in South Wales too, but it is always going to sound forced on a TV show like that.

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asymmetricears@reddit

Yeah that was a thing. I remember a few jokes from the 00s that were based on slang. What do you call a chav in a box? Init What do you call a chav in a locked box? Safe What do you call a chav in a filing cabinet? Sorted

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DeapVally@reddit

If you interact with a suspicious chav? Innit, safe it, sorted.

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alphahydra@reddit

It was common slang up through the late-2000s. Similar to "sound", which has the same meaning (like "safe and sound"), though you still hear "sound" sometimes here in Scotland. Haven't heard "safe" in a while.

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ayeayefitlike@reddit

Sound is definitely still a thing in Scotland, albeit in the 30+ gang probably.

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Curiousinsomeways@reddit

It was in the 90s, it's old.

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ohnobobbins@reddit

My friends used ‘safe’ as a slang word from about 1988, something like that. It was definitely a thing in London.

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DeapVally@reddit

'Safe' is a very millennial word indeed. The show was so popular because it was well written for the target audience.

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Drug_Taker917@reddit

Still is

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learxqueen@reddit

Safe as houses

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BaldyBaldyBouncer@reddit

Safe as fuck

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vipros42@reddit

Fucking safe as fuck. Goldie Looking Chain had some Top Trumps you could download and print. One of the categories was Safe Factor, which could either be Safe, Safe as fuck, or Fucking safe as fuck. Other notable categories: Draw Tolerance and Skinning up speed

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swashfxck@reddit

Back when you could use Draw as a word for both the flower and the amount

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klc81@reddit

Definitely a real thing. It was starting to be a bit dated by 2007 - late 90s/early 2000s were probably it's peak.

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ResultFirm492@reddit

I have a horrible feeling I still use this without realising

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dani-dee@reddit

My husband definitely does. I never used it back then and I remember when we first got together I asked him why he still spoke like it was the early noughties. He was a bit put out but not enough to stop using it lol.

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Spazhazzard@reddit

Tell him other people still do it as well!

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ResultFirm492@reddit

Most of my life is based on the early noughties

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dani-dee@reddit

It’s not a bad place to be!

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CaerwynM@reddit

Yes I know people my age do too

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jesussays51@reddit

My 4 year old keeps asking me why things he says are ‘Cool’ or ‘Safe’

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Valentine_scum@reddit

Skins was actually a very accurate portrayal growing up at the time, at least for me it was

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Original-Material301@reddit

Yeah it was for me as well.

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Spazhazzard@reddit

I didn't realise it wasn't still a thing.

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theegrimrobe@reddit

was a thing way before skins

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alltorque1982@reddit

Safe as ouses

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Dangerous-Pair7826@reddit

80’s hoodrat scouser it was around back then…….. pleasent living human being since ‘89

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Equivalent_Relief553@reddit

A "safe bro" with the fist bump was the daily goodbye in school.

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jaycakes30@reddit

This is a real thing, people still seem to use it occasionally

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ahfckicntblvuvdnths@reddit

It feels forced because the demographic depicted in skins (upper middle class kids, generally) had appropriated the language from elsewhere. Give them accents like in Top Boy and it'll sound pretty natural. Posh/west country hybrid accents are always going to sound a bit off when it comes to street slang.

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Spiritual_Weather656@reddit

Yes I was 7 when this happened but it was said by many 7 year old boys too

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jake_folleydavey@reddit

Yes it was absolutely a real thing. And if you wrote it down there was a special way of drawing the S too.

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Quality_Controller@reddit

I was too much of an metalhead to use it, but yeah, definitely was a thing.

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Still pretty common, not sure when it became a thing but was definitely used a lot in the 90s.

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jack5624@reddit

Skins, OH that’s so safe…

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EFNich@reddit

yeah, safe

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DrLucianSanchez@reddit

“S-S-S-S-S SAFE AS FUCK” - Goldie Lookin Chain

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Careless_Squirrel728@reddit

Safe bruv - absolutely

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Safe had been around since the 90s in the rave scene at least. [Here's an example from Human Traffic from 1999.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i7GID7Ze8c) > What's your name? What have you had? Reach for the lasers. **Safe as fuck.**

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Bish922@reddit

I still say it now at 38 - Probably need to grow up.

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PeppercornWizard@reddit

So much so that it was part of a now forgotten series of jokes… “What do you call a chav in a metal box?” “Safe mate, safe” “What do you call a chav with a speaker on his head?” “Soooound mate. Sound”

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Tough-Oven4317@reddit

Still use it lol if I'm leaving your presence you might get a 'safe bro' lol

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RopeHand@reddit

It was definitely a thing and still is. Now it's more an acknowledgement.

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nonoanddefinitelyno@reddit

My kids keep saying slay. This appears to be a noun, adjective and a verb with an unknown meaning. I'm getting too old for this.

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without_your_love@reddit

It was common In the 90s all the lads used to Use it

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DrH1983@reddit

Was definitely used. The show may have overused it a tad, but it wasn't uncommon and existed before the show.

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zephyrmox@reddit

I still hear it occasionally now

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-_Error@reddit

I don't remember saying it but Yeah it was common among other people of my age

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dani-dee@reddit

Yes it was very much a thing.

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