Zendaya Doesn’t Understand Tom Holland’s UK Slang

Zendaya and Tom Holland have been dating on and off since 2017 (and totally on since 2021). However, despite the Spider-Man couple’s many years together and clear chemistry at red carpet events and in interviews, there’s one thing Zendaya says she still doesn’t get about her British boyfriend and likely never will: his UK slang.

In an interview with The Sun, published on April 8, Zendaya said that while she loves Holland’s South London accent, the UK idioms he uses sometimes make her scratch her head in confusion. “As much as Tom tries to explain it to me, I will never understand rhyming slang,” said Zendaya. “Like, I understand the concept — but what do apples and pears have to do with stairs?”

The “Euphoria” actor refers to a form of Cockney slang where Londoners use rhyming phrases (in this case, apples and pears) to refer to an object that rhymes with the second part of the phrase. The confusing part is, they more often than not omit the second part of the phrase (“I’m going up the apples!” means “I’m going up the stairs,” which rhymes with the omitted second word in the phrase “apples and pears”), making the meaning confusing to anyone unfamiliar with Cockney slang . . . aka, Zendaya. “It’s cute when he tells me all the different phrases — but I really don’t get it!” she admitted.

Luckily, in most other aspects of the famous couple’s love life, they’re connecting swimmingly. Zendaya even told the Sun that they have settled into a routine when it comes to the kitchen. “He is really good in the kitchen, which is fortunate as I am really accident-prone . . . We learned early on that only one of us could be in the kitchen at a time, we are both control freaks, so we can’t be in there together,” she said.

Image Source: Getty / Cindy Ord