In UK slang, particularly in London and Irish-influenced English slang used widely across the UK, a gaff is commonly spelled G-A-F-F but often pronounced and sometimes written as gaf, and it means a house, flat, apartment, or place where someone lives, or a party location. For example, someone might say come round my gaff meaning come to my house, or we had a party at his gaff meaning at his place. The term originates from Irish and British Romani and old thieves cant and has been used in British English since the 19th century, with gaff originally meaning a fair or cheap theatre and later a home. In modern UK youth slang, gaff is very common and neutral, not offensive, and is used in everyday conversation like are you at your gaff or let's go back to my gaff. It is also used in phrases like free gaff meaning a house where parents are away, so you can have a party. The spelling gaf is often used in texting as shorthand for gaff. In UK drill and grime music lyrics, gaff appears frequently to mean home or trap house. It should not be confused with gaffe meaning a social mistake, which is pronounced differently and has different spelling, or with GAF meaning general purpose acronyms. In UK slang, gaf almost always means house or home when written phonetically.
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