Slang Words: Food and Drink

Learn 16 American English slang words and expressions about food and drink! Read the slang words and example sentences, listen to the pronunciation and repeat the words and sentences out loud to improve your English speaking. At the end of the lesson, try the quiz to test your understanding of these American slang words.

grub

“Grub” is a slang word for food. 

“I’m hungry. Let’s get some grub!”

Two other slang words for food are nosh and chow. All three of these words are very informal, and they are most frequently used with “Let’s get some…”

booze

“Booze” is a slang word for alcohol.

“We found him asleep next to an empty bottle of booze.”

cup o’ Joe

“Cup o’ Joe” is a slang word for coffee.

“If I don’t have my morning cup o’ Joe, I can’t stay awake for my 7 AM class!”

grinder

“Grinder” is one of many slang words for a long sandwich:

“Have you tried the new meatball grinder? It’s really good!”

Other names for this kind of sandwich include hero, sub, hoagie, andpoor boy. The names vary depending on the region of the United States.

lay off

To “lay off” something means to stop eating so much of a food.

“I’m gaining weight. I should probably lay off the fast food.”

pig out

To “pig out” is to eat a LOT of food.

“We all pigged out at the all-you-can-eat buffet.”

doggie bag

A “doggie bag” is food you take home from the restaurant if you didn’t finish it.

“The restaurant served so much food that I couldn’t eat it all, so I took the rest home in a doggie bag.”

If you are in a restaurant and you want to ask the waiter or waitress to give you a doggie bag, you can say:

“Can I get a doggie bag?” OR “Could you wrap this up for me?”

plastered

“Plastered” is one of many ways to say very drunk with alcohol.

“He’s completely plastered! He can’t even stand up!”

A few other ways to say “plastered” include wasted, juiced, sauced, sloshed, hammered, trashed, and shit-faced. “Shit-faced” is a little bit offensive.

Note: with all these words, you can use “completely” or “totally,” but not “very.”

“He’s totally wasted”
“He’s very wasted”

“She’s completely hammered”
“She’s very hammered”

brunch

The word “brunch” is a combination of the words “breakfast” and “lunch.” It is a meal eaten in the late morning, which replaces breakfast and lunch.

“We’re having brunch at 10:30 on Sunday morning.”

sweet tooth

A person who has a “sweet tooth” is someone who loves candy, cookies, cake, chocolate, and other sweet foods.

“My son has such a sweet tooth, he’d eat candy for breakfast if I let him!”

veggie

“Veggie” is short for “vegetable.” It can also mean vegetarian food:

“I’m making some veggie burgers.”

yummy / yucky

“Yummy” and “yucky” are two words that mean “delicious” and “disgusting.” These words are mostly used by children.

“Macaroni and cheese is really yummy!”

“I don’t like broccoli. It’s yucky.”

wolf down

If you “wolf down” food, it means you eat very fast.

“He wolfed down four pieces of pizza and asked for more.”

snack on

To “snack on” something means to eat lightly.

“If you want to lose weight, try snacking on dried fruit instead of potato chips.”

have a bite

If you want to taste some of your friend’s food, you say:

“Can I have a bite of your… (steak / spaghetti / salad / etc.)”

grab a bite to eat

To “grab a bite to eat” is to get something to eat.

“Let’s grab a bite to eat on the way to work.”