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Sinhala slang is used by the Sinhala speaking majority of Sri Lanka, and in the Sinhala speaking Sri Lankan diaspora.
Sinhala Dialects
Sinhala dialects are the various minor variations of Sinhala language which is based on the locale (within Island of Sri Lanka) and the social classes and social groups (e.g. University Students). Most of the slang are common across all dialects. However certain slang are restricted to certain social classes or groups.
Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language and exhibits a marked diglossia between the spoken and written forms. As such, it is also difficult to find instances of colloquial slang, in any form of formal literature. Also certain slang (specially sexual slang and swear words) are considered to be so taboo, that definitions of those words are not found in any public domain literature. If you take a language such as English, the level of taboo on most of the profanity has gradually declined over the time. If you take USA or UK for example, most of the English profanities are broadcasted unsensored in cable channels like HBO. This is not the case with Sinhala profanities. They are not found in any form of media, publications or even internet, apart from unmoderated blogs and talk pages. Having said that, most of the non-taboo slangs given as examples below, are in widespread and frequant use even in popular media; especially in various FM radio channels and popular TV channels.
Slang, Vulgarism, Profanity and Swear Words
Each dialect and within each dialect; regional, class, age and gender differences would lead to unique slang and swear words. Following is a list of potential slang by different categories up until 2007.
Certain slang are used only within certain social groups and sometime not understood outside of that group. For example, Aais Amma (අායිස් අම්මා) is a slang used by certain segments of the Sri Lankan society to express pleasurable surprise (similar to wow!). This slang is not picked up by most of the social classes who regard themselves as more refined. Instead they might use Shaa (ෂාා) to express the same feeling. Within Sri Lankan universities, diverse slang exists, which is only used and understood by the university students and the alumni. For example Kuppiya (කුප්පිය) which literally means 'small bottle' or 'small lamp' is used to refer to an informal tuition class conducted by a student(who is well versed with the subject area) for a small study group for free of charge. Within the Army, the term Aati (අාටි) is used to refer to artillery shells so that Aati gahanawa (අාටි ගහනවා) means shelling. These terms such as Kuppia (කුප්පිය) and Aati (අාටි) are mostly not understood outside of the demographic group which uses them.
In this Wikipedia article, only the contemporary sinhala slang commonly understood by larger social groups are listed.
