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This question is primarily for Brits, although anyone knowledgeable is welcome to contribute.

Recently I conducted an activity at my school to spread a bit of information about common British slang. I selected the words to be used from a list found at: 88 very British phrases that will confuse anybody who didn't grow up in the UK

However, it was pointed out that my description may not have been accurate. I used it as an affirmative answer to a question:

Boy: Lovely weather today.

Girl: Innit? (Meaning: "Yes, it is.")

My co-worker informed me that the term most commonly is used as a question tag expecting a positive answer.

Boy: Lovely weather today, innit?

Girl: Right you are!

So, the question is: Can "innit" be used as a response to someone's statement with which you can agree, and are there any other usage notes that would be important to have?

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    The Americanese translation is amirite.
    – choster
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 15:42

3 Answers 3

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As a Brit I don't agree with David that it is ever used as an answer.

innit is a monosyllabic teenage phrase, where every extra sound is terrible.

Your second example is wrong, somebody who was saying innit would never say "lovely weather", and "right you are" is very old fashioned, so I have corrected your example

Boy: Hot innit?

Grandad in a Yorkshire accent: Right you are!

and your first example, the misspelling is on purpose to give a hint of accent

Mum: Lovely weather today.

Girl: whateva

enter image description here

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    To expand, "innit" doesn't really have to make sense. It can be appended to pretty much any sentence, innit.
    – Omegastick
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 9:52
  • It’s short for “isn’t it” but can be used in more flexible ways.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Aug 18, 2022 at 8:22
  • innit is a stand in for English tags: isn't it, doesn't it, hasn't it, etc.
    – Lambie
    Commented Aug 18, 2022 at 18:01
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    Me: Great news about the election! Other passenger: Innit! Using the 'word' on its own is absolutely normal and unusual, although it is rather informal.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jul 6 at 9:32
  • @MichaelHarvey this answer is 5 years old, slang changes a lot in that time :)
    – WendyG
    Commented Jul 8 at 14:45
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As a US resident who reads a good deal of British writing, I think that "innit?" is short for "isn't it?" and can be used in any sense that "isn't it?" can be. I think that both the questioning sense and the affirmation sense you mention are valid. I write subject to correction by actual speakers of BrE.

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innit is not slang. It's a dialectal tag in some varieties of British English.

It is a stand in for tags like this: He likes me, doesn't he? He likes me, innit?

They're nice people, aren't they? They're nice people, innit?

They left early, didn't they? They left early, innit?

etc. etc. etc.

Listen to the male character in this Catherine Tate skit:

innit_male character

More innit: A Party Invite

innit and I ain't bothered

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  • @the-baby-is-you You won't get far around here writing things like this: Uhh your mum is good at life and is a good person and stuff,
    – Lambie
    Commented Aug 19, 2022 at 14:09

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