What does BEV actually mean? Exploring all meanings of Lucie Donlan’s go-to word! Tue 4 June 2019 10:52 Eve Edwards
Matthew Barrera
Published Apr 05, 2026
Love Island has done many things for us… Given us fantastic TV, introduced us to some of the nation’s most attractive young singletons, but it has done one thing we didn’t expect of it: Give us some hilarious (and often bizarre) new lingo.
So with the return of the show for its fifth season means your slang for the summer is sorted!
And although it would seem the catchphrase of the show has already been sorted by Sherif Lanre, Lucie Donlan’s Cornish terminology has been flying about the villa.
But what does Lucie’s go-to word ‘bev’ actually mean and does anyone actually know? We dissect all of the meanings of the word…
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What does ‘bev’ mean?
We knew from the outset that Lucie Donlan was slightly offbeat and quirky when in her introductory video she could not stop talking about her Cornish slang.
And it became apparent very quickly that she would not drop the slang and insist on others in the villa using it.
Here are all the meanings of ‘bev’, its usages and whether it actually makes sense…
Bev
The primary use of of bev is to describe a “hot guy”. But a bev can also mean your boyfriend.
Lucie stated: “If he’s your boyfriend he’s your bev, but if he’s not your boyfriend he’s a bev”.
But here is where things get complicated, as the term descends into multiple meanings.
Bevvy
When it turns into an adjective, bevvy means someone is looking “hot” or “sexy” according to Lucie.
And bevvy can be used for both men and women, as Lucie called Amy’s sexy pyjamas as “bevvy outfit” in the first episode (Monday, June 3rd).
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Bevved up
Bevved up, according to the dictionary of Lucie Donlan, means that you are in a relationship.
Logical, but we don’t think it really translates… And nor do the viewers.
Lovely girl but saying a man is a “bev” and being in a relationship is being “bevved up” … honestly makes no sense, complete different meaning where I live 😂 #LoveIsland
— Danielle (@DanielleCurtin3) June 3, 2019
Will ‘bev’ catch on?
Sadly, we think this lingo is going to be Lucie’s only and won’t catch on.
Looking at Urban Dictionary – the reputable source of all slang – the only thing bev means is a beverage. And ‘bevved up’ means drunk.
So sorry Lucie, yours probably won’t compete!
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