Faff
FAF /fæf/
Informal Neutral
What it really means
To waste time on small, fiddly things ("stop faffing about"), or a task that is annoyingly complicated ("printing here is such a faff"). A very British complaint word.
Chinese explanation
磨蹭、在琐事上浪费时间（stop faffing about 别磨蹭了），也指麻烦费事的事情（printing here is such a faff 在这儿打印真是麻烦死了）。非常英式的抱怨用词。
Example conversation
A: Why are you late?
B: Sorry, the ticket machine was a right faff. It rejected my card twice.
A：你怎么迟到了？
B：抱歉，售票机太折腾人了，刷了两次卡都不成功。
All British Slang
Reviewed by the UK Decoded editorial team
· Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake