| Term | Definition |
|---|
| a bit off of the other | having sex. |
| arse | ass. as in arsehole, that's my arse. "arse over tit" is a phrase that is something akin to ass over elbow in US English. "completely arseholed" means you are really drunk. |
| aubergine | eggplant. the big purple weird fruit thing. |
| apples & pears | stairs. not sure why? |
| bender | everything from a pub crawl, to a heavy drinking session, to a true multi-day mega-blowout global party. the British get to take credit for this great word with serious depth. see Rules for the global bender |
| bang | screw. have sex. look for a sly smile from the cute British girl when the stylist asks her what she'd like to do with her bangs. |
| bespoke | custom made, just for you. as in tailored clothing made for you on sevile row, the street in London for bespoke clothing. see the post on marble2 on bespoke for more details. |
| blow | So surprised you could knock me over by blowing. not the same thing it would mean in the us, where it refers to a blowjob. |
| bob's your uncle | that's all folks, a matter of fact conclusion to something like a description, recipe or story. |
| bollocks | testicles. balls. that is the literal translation, but this is a complex slang word. "dog's bollocks" actually refers to something at peak performance, or "that's bollocks" means that it's rubbish, or someone who is "talking bollocks" is generally talking rubbish. if you hear "the dog's" then it refers to the dogs bollocks, which is something good, not like the rest of the bollocks, which would be rubbish. |
| bonk | screw. have sex. |
| bum | butt. ass. "get off your bum" "stop touching my bum". you get the picture. you'll hear this word a lot. |
| bugger | camp - drag/gay/effeminate. camp it up means to dress in drag. |
| bung | throw it, as in "bung me my keys, mate." |
| centre | center. almost ever opportunity for something that ends in "er" in US English becomes "re" in British English. just to keep you on your toes. |
| cheerio | - sayanora. goodbye. chinese whispers |
| cheers | - thank you, goodbye, and a toast all work for this complicated multi-faceted British word. cheeky |
| cheesed off | pissed |
| chin wag | chat. a sit-down conversation between close friends. |
| chips | french fries. as in "fish & chips" this particular type of cuisine is surprisingly quite popular still. |
| chav | this one requires it's own hotspot. suffice it to say that a chav wears fake and discounted burberry, gold chains and other bling and enjoys all things tasteless. chav hotspot n. (British) lower class, section of the population with a low socio-economic status, lowest social stratum |
| chick peas | garbonzo beans. used interchangeably in the US, uttering "garbonzo" might get you weird look from your British counterpart. |
| chinese whispers | a passed along story that morphs and changes from person to person. by the time it goes around all your mates it's completely different than the original. |
| chuffed | pleased, happy. "she was chuffed when we met" |
| cockney rhyming slang | born of east london, this is a deep slang pseudo-language used to allow people to talk about anything, legal or illegal, in front of the police. this slang system allowed them to avoid problems when discussing semi-legal things in public. "septic tank" is cockney for "yank" which is a North American. |
| cock up | is a mistake you've made, not referring to any male body parts. |
| colour | color. color in US English just doesn't quite cover the full range of colour available in the UK. generally speaking, your "or" endings will become "our" in British English, for words like colour and flavour. |
| corgette | zucchini. |
| coriander | cilantro. very popular with UK cooking, which tends to be a mixture of ethinicities. |
| cracking | stunning. |
| cunt (pronounced "coont") | when curled off the edge of the tongue in British English, it doesn't share quite the same horror it does when used in the United States. it's very commonly heard and used. |
| dickhead | tosser (see below). this one is used so often by the British that the scales of ownership between the US and the UK English for ownership of dickhead lean towards the British. regardless it sounds more sophisticated when the British say it. |
| do | party. "go to a do" means go to a party in London. |
| dodgy | sketchy. this is a personal favorite, referring to a "dodgy character" something "dodgy in the fridge, or even something that is stolen (nicked in the UK). |
| drop a clanger | shit a brick. something that is enormously embarrassing that you did would lead you to drop a clanger. |
| engaged | busy, not committed to marriage. a busy line on a mobile would lead you to believe someone was engaged. |
| fag | cigarette. not like the American version which is a gay person, and not very frequently used for a bundle of wood, it's a cigarette and used by gay and straight people alike to refer to one. "can i have a fag?" a complex word, you could also so "i can't be fagged" which means "i can't be bothered." "fagging" is the process similar to hazing (tradition of subjecting newcomers to humiliating initiation rites ) where kids new to a boarding school have to do undesirable things for the older kids. |
| fanny | pussy/cunt. go figure. |
| fit | good looking. becoming more popular due to the band the streets and more frequent usage, fit can be applied to a bird (girl, remember from austin powers) or a bloke (which refers to a male). |
| fizzy | soda. cola. could be just a fizzy, or a fizzy drink. |
| flavour | flavor. as in flavour flav. see the "colour" rule above. |
| flog | sell. not beat, but when you flog the dvd player you sold it to one of your mates. |
| full monty | the whole thing. all the way. from the movie, it's easy to conclude that it means to take all your clothes off. not true, but to strip full monty would be to strip all the way. |
| get stuffed | get lost. |
| getting off | another way to say "snog" or make out or "hanky panky" |
| glamour | glamor. |
| globalise | globalize. a topic near and dear to our hear. globalize in US english, and most instances of a "z" in this particular context, becomes and "s" in British English. go figure. |
| globalisation | globalize. same as above. |
| have | it's worth pointing out that most americans would say "can i get a sandwich" or "get a beer," seemingly referring to themselves getting up from the table to go get it themselves. the more polite british approach that will work better for you in a pub is to say "can i have a pint?" |
| her majesty's pleasure | put in prison. nothing to do with, ah, pleasing the queen, it just means you've been put behind bars. |
| humour | humor. things that make you laugh. |
| jammy | really lucky, as if a major fluke(a stroke of luck) happened. |
| jimmy riddle | piddle. pee. take a pee. you see, jimmy riddle, rhymes with piddle. so if you are at a bar with one of your mates (see below) and they say to you "jimmy riddle" it means they are politely excusing themselves to visit the loo. "jimmy" for short. |
| John Thomas | willy. dick. |
| jumper | sweater. a pully. |
| keep your pecker up | keep you chin up. |
| kip | nap. short sleep. |
| knees up | dancing. a dance party, you are going dancing. |
| knock up | wake someone up. there used to be a human version of this, or it can mean to make something out of random parts - as in knock up a skateboard ramp from the wood behind the house. in the US knock up would mean to make someone pregnant. |
| knockers | breasts. yes, that's where this one came from. |
| loo | bathroom. restroom. the place where you relieve yourself. |
| mates | friends. generally male skewed (xuyên tạc). the British love their mates, and talk about them all the time. "there I was with my mates...." |
| momentarily | for a moment. not "soon" like it would be in the US. so when they say the plane will be landing momentarily, all the British globalites will laugh to themselves wondering if they will have time to get off of the plane. |
| mug | gullible, block headed type. |
| mutt's nuts | yes, this one is the dog's balls, which remember strangely is a good thing. generally my first thought is not a good thing, at all, but alas, I'm not British either. |
| nice one | good job. good one. |
| nick | steal. pilfer. filch is also another popular word. "knock off" works too. |
| nut | give someone a headbutt. like zidane did in the world cup match. |
| organisation | organization. a company, business entity with that "s" not "zed" twist to it. |
| organise | organize. |
| orrible | horrible. as in "that's horrible." you really need the british accent on this one. |
| pants | blows. as in "that blows." pants, as in a dog that is panting, this one could be used to describe a person, a bar, some lame clothing or a chav car. total crap. |
| pass | i don't know. i know, it means "i don't know" from an old British TV show called Mastermind. |
| pissed | drunk. |
| piss poor | low quality crap. |
| piss up | a vulgar(tho tuc) word for drinking session, not quite a bender(A drunken spree - binge, period of unrestrained self-indulgence (drinking, shopping, etc.); fun social activity). |
| posh | luxury. "posh" spice is both a thorn in the side of the british and representative of the term posh because she blows a lot of cash and is married to Beckham. |
| pub-crawl | the British like to drink, heavily. a pub crawl is a multi-stop tour that starts at a brisk pace and slows to a crawl as you get further into the night. to the British, drinking is a sport, when played well it produces outstanding outcomes. |
| pull | scouting for birds. trying to meet girls. |
| pulling | getting some action. could include everything between "having it off" or just a snog. |
| pullover | sweater. to keep you warm. for a chav, this would be last year's Burberry, or even a fake Burberry print. |
| pully | pullover. an even more favorite term. "don't forget your pully, your fags before running out to meet your mates" |
| radiator hooch/cheap booze | cheap-ass drinks. cheap booze (n. alcoholic beverage, hard liquor; immoderate drinking, intoxication ). the lowest of low. |
| quid | pound. which is is more than $2. a fiver or a tenner is something you hear a lot referring to the 5 and ten pound note. |
| roger | screw, copulate, have sex. it's a little more complex though, in you would say something like "to roger" and it might mean to have "a bit off of the other." British people were hysterical when the cartoon "Roger the Rabbit" came out as it had some interesting connotations. |
| rubbish | trash. as in to talk trash. british people place trash in the "bin", but this word is used quite a bit when something is trashy or nonsense. |
| screw it | as in forget the details, let's move forward.. this one could be argued either US or UK English, but Sir Richard Branson's famous quote "screw it, let's do it" plants this one squarely in the UK camp. richard branson hotspot |
| shag | screw. sex. have sexual intercourse (British Slang); yes, austin powers put the global spotlight on this and it is still used in modern British English. |
| shite | shit. the polite version |
| smashing | terrific - adj. terrifying; extreme, intense; excellent; tremendous |
| snog | making out. kissing, heavily. maybe some petting involved. |
| tab | cigarette. "i smoked my tab to the nob" can be used interchangeably with fag of course. |
| taking the piss | making fun of someone. if you haven't already guessed it, the British adore irony, sarcasm and "taking the piss" or making fun of people and themselves. |
| tossing off | jacking off. masturbating. |
| tosser | one who jacks off (masturbate). a great and frequently used insult. a dickhead (insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous (synonym) asshole, bastard, cocksucker, shit, mother fucker, motherfucker, prick, whoreson, son of a bitch, SOB). |
| up-market | swanky. posh. luxury. pricey. |
| wank | dick. can refer to either self-manipulation of one's own wank, or simply to one's wank in general. |
| wanker | one who wanks. |
| willy | dick. a man's, er, organ. also known as a "knob" |
| zed | this is shared across many other languages. not "zed's dead, zed's dead baby" from pulp fiction, but just the letter "z" is referred to as zed in British English. |
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