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Gatso

(transitive, UK, informal) To fine (a driver) for exceeding the speed limit with the help of a speed camera.

ˈɡætsoʊ141 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
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UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK

(transitive, UK, informal) To fine (a driver) for exceeding the speed limit with the help of a speed camera.

Hmm, sounds like a plan we should recommend to the next idiots who come along moaning about how unfair it is they've been '''Gatso'ed''', to go speeding back past the camera in the opposite direction.
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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK

(UK, informal) A speed camera.

Origin: From the Gatso brand of speed cameras and red light cameras, widely used in the United Kingdom. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents

"Gatso" means: A speed camera.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.

For ESL learners

"Gatso" means: A speed camera.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. Note the regional or dialect label (UK) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.

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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang

UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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