Max's Musings

Cheeky Nandos

Cheeky Nandos

After last week's blog on the varieties of American English, I stumbled across this blog   post about the international varieties of English. It's about cheeky Nandos.

Say what?

I suggest you first glance at the blog and peruse some of the impenetrable explanations of what this term means. Here's one, by way of example:

it’s when u and the lads are having a bit of banter in town and ur mate is like “im hungry lets go greggs” but then ur like “nah man not feeling a pasty lets go somewhere else” and then ur top mate (probs called Gaz) is like “oi lads lets go for a cheeky nandos” and ur like oh gaz ur a ledge

After that clear and concise explanation, you know exactly what a cheeky Nandos is, right?

No? Well, let me help you, based on some Googling. From context I can figure out a bit of this up front. "Pasty" is what we in in the US call "pastry," so "Gregg's" must be a place to buy, say, donuts. Sure enough, Google verifies Gregg's is a UK chain that sells "pasties." A "mate" is of course a bud, but why would your BFF be called "Gaz" (short for Gary on the other side of the Atlantic)? Got me, but it's not essential to understanding a cheeky Nando. Now we come to the term in question, "cheeky Nando." Since Nandos is an alternative to Gregg's, it must also be a food chain in the UK. Sure enough, Google tells me that Nandos is UK chain that sells fried chicken among other things. So, the buds in the above have decided to have KFC rather than donuts. "Ledge" is probably short for "legend," and the urban dictionary verifies this.

But that still doesn't answer why the Nando's chicken is cheeky. I think I get "cheeky" in general. Depending on context, we Yanks might say "impertinent," "sassy," "brassy," or even "saucy," but that doesn't quite fit here. Basically, as nearly as I can tell, a "cheeky Nandos" is an unexpected suggestion to have chicken. It's fun, a bit clever, and perhaps a touch irresponsible. It reeks of a charming insouciance.

In a US context, then, these buds know that they should do the responsible thing, say catch some reps at the gym or hang with the old ball and chain. Instead, they kick back and suck some brewskies, maybe slinging some #bantersaurusrex or even #barackobanter. Then they get the munchies, and consider snarfing down some Krispy Kremes. But when one of the dogs goes hey, let's do the Colonel, they're all over it like #sheldononflags.

Does that help? Of course, I have no idea if I got this right, even in the US version. But it was kind of fun researching it.

If anyone can tell me what a "cheeky Nandos" really is, there's the comment section below.