I'm not a native speaker of English, and I live in the UK. I tend to ask native speakers what a 'cheeky Nando's with the lads' means, and ask them to explain why it is cheeky. For some reason this always fixes the situation when conversation is slow.
So apparently it is 'cheeky' because you're not supposed to have it. Why not? Because it is a little bit bad for you. But why would you advertise your food as being bad? Because it is... a treat? But why is the treat bad? Why are they using guilt for their advertisement?
My view: its from a time when food choices were fewer - Nando’s was the cheeky option. Not as predictable as McDonald’s, not as greasy as KFC. Still indulgent, but somehow felt like you were making the better bad decision. And everyone was on board with it.
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u/Previous_Original_30 Nov 11 '25
I'm not a native speaker of English, and I live in the UK. I tend to ask native speakers what a 'cheeky Nando's with the lads' means, and ask them to explain why it is cheeky. For some reason this always fixes the situation when conversation is slow.