Love Island 2024 lingo: from ‘horses for courses’ to ‘mad game’

"Horses for courses" is a rogue term Trey Norman used during Movie Night when a clip showed Jess White admitting that she had a better connection with Casa Amor's Hugo Godfroy. The internet was confused (and so were we) but it actually means 'different people are suited to different things'. So he wasn't being shady, he was just stating facts.

'Moving loose' is one of those sayings that made us shout 'SURELY NOT?' Especially when it was followed by "they call me WD-40."
Twitter went into overdrive when George Fensom spoke such words, it's his way of saying he'd be charming all the girls and flirting his night away on the outside world.

Do we really need to explain 'Turkey Teeth?' All the Islanders seemed to have a perfect set of white nashers whether it be full on veneers, composite bonding or a little whitening. Casey O'Gorman and Rosie Seabrook previously bonded over they love for their one-hundred-real-not-at-all-fake teeth.

All you need to do is take a look at the above photo and you'll know EXACTLY what having 'mad game,' means. It was Zach Noble and his bombshell ways essentially knowing when to offer a compliment and how important eye contact is.

'Gucci' seemed to be featured in every sentence that came out of George's mouth. 'It's all Gucci,' essentially equates to 'it's all good'.

Lipsing is slang for kissing. If an Islander says they want to lips someone, it means they want to kiss them.

'Dead it' means to end something. This could be used when referring to a romance or an argument. Viewers saw Kai Fagan try to dead his feud with Olivia Hawkins, although she's refusing to let drop the issue.

Similar to 'dead it', 'squash it' is normally used when the Islanders are trying to end a feud or argument.

You may have heard the expression 'the math is not mathing' being used in the villa. This means that something is not adding up or doesn't make sense.

Capping means lying. If an Islander says 'no cap', that means they're not lying.

When Islanders say, "My head is scrambled," they mean that they're confused or not sure what to do. This is usually a result of a new bombshell entering the villa and turning their heads.

This year’s crop are all about putting in the hours. The boys especially love saying they’re ‘on job’, or telling each other to ‘get on job’; this refers to putting in the hours and grafting to form stronger connections. In other words, they’ve got one job to do – get the girl or boy – so they better get to work.

You’ve probably heard one or two of this year’s Islanders say ‘I’m not deeping it”. Think of the phrase ‘it’s not that deep’ and it start’s to make sense. If an Islander says they’re ‘not deeping it', then they’re not thinking too deeply about something. Nah, too easy.

To ‘back yourself’ is to have self-belief or self-confidence. The boys this year seem to like saying ‘you’ve gotta back yourself’ to one another, which is basically them telling each other to believe in themselves. Cute, really.

You’ll frequently here the adorable Will Young telling people he’s “gassed”. This means that he’s excited. According to Urban Dictionary, ‘gassed’ is when one is overwhelmed or cannot hold in the excitement any longer’. So very Will. We didn’t even really need to define that one, did we?

Islanders are actually bringing back an old classic this year: ‘everything happens for a reason’. This one’s pretty self-explanatory, right?

The word 'misogynistic' was thrown around in the 2022 series with Women's Aid issuing a statement over 'misogyny and controlling behaviour'. Misogyny means 'dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women'.

The charity issued a statement after it had been tagged in a 'stream' of posts on social media highlighting behaviour by some of the male Love Island contestants. ITV said 'dedicated welfare producers and psychological support on hand at all times' in the show's villa in Majorca.

You've probably heard the phrase 'opening the salon' being used by those horned up 2022 Islanders while discussing bedtime antics with fellow Islanders. Just in case it isn't already crystal clear, there was no actual salon on the island; the only salons opening and closing in that Vila are the ones in all their pants. Yep, 'opening the salon' is surprisingly creative code for opening up for business; with a variety of treatments on offer.

The Love Island 2022 girls thought of their very own beauty-themed sex code, with Tasha Ghouri starting things off by revealing that she had given Andrew Le Page a 'manicure' in the hideaway. Now, we're pretty sure she didn't get her cuticle oil out, she just got very, er, handsy. Basically, a manicure means some hand-play and/or oral sex, or both. We'd embed a video, but our servers won't let us.

You might've heard of some of the Islanders talk about 'window shopping' before they open the salon. In other words, they mean checking out the goods and possibly getting a little bit touchy feely before they commit to a full treatment...

The phrase 'blow dry' was used a fair few times last year while discussing treatments in the, ahem, salon. We don't need to explain this one, do we?

Normally we'd only refer to our french tips when we're getting a new set of acrylics, but according to Indiyah Polack, getting french tips in the villa means some sexy time involving your fingers.

The Islanders might think they're being subtle with their euphemisms but the meanings aren't too hard to work out. As you can imagine, getting a full set means going all the way.

Microbiologist Dami Hope was sticking to what he knows when it came to sex chat in the 2022 villa, as he spoke to the rest of the boys about their 'pipettes' or 'bunsen burners' and 'how full they are' every morning. We think that one is pretty obvious, too.

Ikenna was a fan of 'Bundas', which in normal terms just means a good bum.

During her first ever conversation with Luca Bish, who the public chose her to couple up with in the beginning, paramedic Paige Thorne declared that her favourite sex position was 'The Broken Eagle'. It involves one person lying on the mattress, with one leg out straight and the other bent at the knee. You learn something new everyday.

Sticking with the sex chat, Luca then went on to explain to Paige that his fave is 'The Oyster', "My one, my favourite sex position is the oyster? Your legs are like, up in the air…". Did he make that up on the spot? We definitely think so.

When two Islanders go 'exclusive' it means that they're only dating each other but still don't have the girlfriend/boyfriend label. It's the stage before going official with each other.

The Love Island 2021 girls decided to use NVQ levels (aka National Vocational Qualification levels) as their code for sex in the villa. So Entry Level NVQ means a snog, NVQ1 means a sexual act using hands, NVQ2 is oral sex and NVQ3 is sex.

This one is pretty simple, 'The G' means girlfriend. For example Faye Winter is worried about the moment Teddy Soares may or may not bring up 'The G' question - aka asking her to be his girlfriend.

The Love Island 2021 boys decided to use football terms as code for sex in the villa. FYI - one nill means a sexual act performed on a fellow Islander, handball is a sexual act using hands, a header is oral sex and a streaker on the pitch is complete nudity.

'Marj' is slang for mum. After Michael Griffiths mugged Amber Gill off, Ovie Soko questioned whether the firefighter would talk to his Marj like that. Fair play.

Usually used when a guy tries way too hard with a girl and ends up going all factor 50 on them. Anton decided to not go 'factor 50' when the Casa Amor girls arrived.

This word 'bev' was introduced to the 2019 series by Lucie Donlan. The Newquay surfer uses the word 'bev' or 'bevvy' to describe hot men. She said, "A bev is a hot guy, if he's your boyfriend he's your bev, but if he's not your boyfriend, he's a bev."

'Mugged me off' is used when someone goes behind your back, or acts sneaky and plays you for a fool. Often mistaken for describing warm, humid weather. Use it in a sentence, "You started chatting her up when you know she's with me. You mugged me off, mate" OR "What you did back there, that was proper muggy". Love Island's Joe Garratt didn't want to be mugged off when Tommy Fury entered the villa and tried to swipe Lucie from him.

Islander Sherif Lanre shrugged and declared, "it is what it is", when none of the girls stepped forward for him in the savage opening show on Monday night. Meaning 'there's nothing you can do about it', Sherif used the phrase again when Amber stepped forward for Callum Macleod and rejected him.

Georgia Steel's "I'm loyal" phrase will go down in history for the amount of times she used the words . "Loyal" describes someone who stays true to their Love Island partnership and friendships. However, the word took on a whole new meaning in series four as Georgia used it at every opportunity, claiming she was loyal above everything else.

When someone is being deceitful or sly behind your back the Islanders will use the word 'snakey'. Don't panic, this isn't to be mistaken for actual reptiles in the villa."She's such a snake"In the villa, someone is 'snakey' if they make romantic advances towards a coupled up Islander.

The Do Bits Society, otherwise known as DBS, was a members-only club for Islanders who have successfully taken part in sexual contact. The club was founded in 2018 by Islander Wes Nelson after he had some fun under the sheets with Laura Anderson. The club went on to have daily meetings for other members to find out how their fellow islanders were getting on.

Literally every islander has uttered the phrase, "eggs in baskets" at some point and, although its pretty self-explanatory, we couldn't write a Love Island Dictionary without adding this one in there. It basically means to refer to your potential partners as 'eggs', so if you really like someone then you may put all your eggs in one basket. Use it in a sentence: "Are all your eggs in Alex's basket then? Or are there still some left over?"

'On paper, they re my type' is when someone is an Islander's type, but there's just something missing. Use it in a sentence: "On paper, he is 100% my type"

'Pranging' is when something gives you a sudden wave of anxiety and panic. Use it in a sentence, "When that new boy came in, I immediately started pranging out"

If you're acting a bit pathetic and getting a bit soppy over a girl/boy, but not in a good way, you're a bit of a 'melt'. Trying too hard, acting a bit desperate. Although we know its hot in Mallorca, the islanders aren't actually melting. Use it in a sentence: "You're such a melt" OR "The guy is a tuna MELT"

If you've got the 'ick', the relationship is basically over. When you get a bad gut feeling about someone that you just can't shake off. Olivia Attwood broke up with Sam Gowland in 2017 because of the ick. She explained, "When you've seen a boy, and got the ick, it doesn't go. It's caught you, and it's taken over your body. It's just ick. You can't shake it off."

'Sticking it on someone' is to make a move on someone (graft), flirt with someone or express desire/intent. Nothing to do with actually sticking anything on anyone. Note: this does not always result in a positive outcome...

'To graft' is when you put in the work with someone romantically. Not to be mistaken for doing actual hard work, which we know none of them are really doing during their seven weeks in the villa. Use it in a sentence,"I've been grafting all day" OR "You really gotta put in the graft with that one".

To 'crack on' is to try and start a romantic relationship with someone. Use it in a sentence, "We're done now so you two can crack on." If an Islander is attracted to someone single who hasn't already been claimed by another cast mate, they're free to crack on.

Like quicksand, 'dicksand' is what you get caught in when you're totally obsessed with a guy and can't get him out of your head. Love Island's Olivia Attwood introduced this phrase in 2017. She said, "I've fallen right into dicksand".

'Extra' is when you take something too far, and are overdramatic about something. This one genuinely doesn't make any sense to us.Use it in a sentence, "Why are you getting so extra about it?"

'A bit of me' is a phrase used by Islanders to indicate interest in a fellow Islander, most often soon after a new contestant has entered the villa. Someone tends to announce "He is a bit of me" or "she's a bit of me".

Catching feelings refers to falling in love when you weren't supposed to or starting to like who you are matched with too soon. Olivia once said: "When a f***girl catches feelings, it ain't a pretty sight."

Contestants will use the phrase 'aggy' to refer to Islanders that are angry, agitated or aggravated. You could say, "she's so aggy today".

'Wavey' is just another word to describe someone as good looking. Casa Amor had a slight revamp for 2019 and included new slogans on the walls, including 'wavey', 'catch feelings' and 'buff'.