“Welcome to my house, we don’t have to go-wo out …”
It’s a good thing you didn’t hear me sing that! To pick up on the topic though, we’re going to look at some different ways to refer to someone’s house. Well, the most popular slang ways, that is. There are multiple words one might use to describe a person’s house in English, whether it’s yours or somebody else’s. Some of these words can make the house sound better and others are … a lot less flattering.
When referring to a small place (or when being sarcastic) people often refer to their home as a “humble abode.” Some people take it to the next level and call it a shack (hence the expression, shacking up). When people get a little carried away, they might say “hizzouse” or something like it. There are so many types of houses too. For example, a cabin, a duplex, townhome, country home, condo, split-level, etc., etc. Okay, swell. But what about common slang terms for a house?
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- Adventures of Charles stories
Crib
From my African-American perspective, this has got to be the most common slang for “house”. Literally, a crib is a protective bed where we usually put babies to sleep. It’s a comfortable, safe place, so maybe this led to cribs being used to talk about homes. This is one of the more common slang words for a house, at least in the U.S. This is especially due to the show, MTV Cribs, ever since it started airing (and re-airing).
- Do you want to go to the crib and play video games?
Spot
Spot has a lot of different meanings in English. Being slang for a house is one of them. Given all these many meanings of spot, it can sound a little more vague or ambiguous than other words when referring to your house. This is especially since “spot” is sometimes used to refer to a place in general. Note, this is very similar to the use of “place” to specifically talk about a house. Check the links below to learn more!
- We should go to his spot after the movie. (Similarly, “go to his place”)
Pad
A pad in normal English is something nice and soft. It’s mostly used to soften a physical impact or any other kind of damage. I don’t know why we’d call a house that, but maybe it’s because a home is our safe place? So, possibly similar to “crib.” Again, these are mostly American slang, so I don’t know how extensively this word and the others are used in all English-speaking countries.
- So, what do you think of my new pad?
So these are just a couple of the most common slang you might use to talk about a house in English, or at least the American variety. There are many other ways to refer to a house in an informal, exaggerated, or silly way. You can check the links below for more information.
Also, below is a short story with dialogue to show you how today’s words might be used in context. Check it out if you like! Thanks, and take care out there.
Soft Place Baby Bed – slang words for ‘house’
— There we are. Wanna come in?
Sheila turned a wide grin at her friend, Charles. In the happiest way possible, she urged him to come into her house. Charles, on the other hand, was utterly shocked.
— Wow, I didn’t know your house was so big, he said. — Don’t you ever get lost?
Sheila brushed away his statement and pushed him along. He had good reason to be nervous; it was his first time alone with Sheila, a friend he’d been crushing on the past few months. The friend zone is a hard wall to cross, but a big house with no one in it could be the “tunnel” underneath he was looking for. Suddenly, he wasn’t so nervous after all. They arrived at the front gates.
— Ready to see my crib? she laughed and led her friend further.
Once inside the front gates, they came to a yard filled with strange objects. There were plastic women and rubber bones lying on the ground. Mixed in with the dry scattered leaves, the yard looked like a sort of toy wasteland.
They eventually made it past the garden and into the house. Sheila shut the high wooden doors behind her and revealed her world to Charles.
— So, this is my pad. Sorry about the mess. I picked up a couple’a side gigs while I wait for my album to finish. Covid kinda ruined my schedule. I know! Let’s go upstairs. I can show you my room.
She stuck out a hand and grabbed onto Charles. Before he could figure out where he was, they had already arrived at her room. Was this his moment? “This is finally it!” he thought to himself.
BWAAA!
The sound of a thousand babies flushed into both of their ears. Okay, it was just two, but they were yelling super loudly.
— Oh, crap! I forgot about you two!
Sheila rushed over to pull the two babies out of their tiny beds, repeating “Sorry, sorry” to them.
— I know you were talking about your house, but I didn’t know you were gonna show me your actual “cribs,” Charles told her.
He reached his arms out to help hold one of the babies. She cried for a minute but soon relaxed against his chest.
— Look at you! You’re a natural with the kids.
Charles felt extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn’t deny how nice it felt to hold the baby girl.
— If you say so. What’s her name?
— That is Janey, and this here’s little Maxy. She stroked Maxy with her hands.— Sorry I couldn’t show you the house. I know you really wanted to see more of my place.
That was just part of the plan, Charles thought, but okay.
— It’s fine. The house is really nice. But next time let’s go to my spot, alright?
Sheila laughed and agreed. After sitting a while the babies were finally asleep.
— Shh! Look, they’re sleeping, she advised Charles.
He nodded, and Sheila tapped the bedside next to her as if to invite him to come sit closer. Charles got up and sat next to Sheila. They smiled wide at each other, then he reached his hand over to fix her hair. Then …
BAH-BAH-BAH-WAH!
— Oh, no, I forgot … I also take care of dogs!
To be continued …
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Culture Surf 
I love saying pad! Lol
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Haha yep! It’s one of the cool ones
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