nope, nah, nay

[Learneng]

Are the above slang?

[luke]

Hi Learneng,

Slang is a difficult thing to define. The above terms are colloquial English forms of the word no, and are usually only fond in spoken English. You could also say that this effectively makes them slang.

Naturally with slang, regional differences account for a lot when deciding which term to use. Personally I would use nope when answering no to a question, although I might say nah. I rarely say nay, as it is not a UK term (I couldn't be certain where it comes from, although it sounds country American).