The United States and Great Britain are two countries
separated by a common language.
This famous quote, commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw, highlights the differences between two countries where the language is the same (or similar!) to your language. It could also apply to Australia or Canada.
I admit to being a devotee of British dramas, mysteries, and comedies, and occasionally I come across a term that I don’t understand, and have to look it up. Favorites tv shows are Downton Abbey, Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders, and Agatha Christie Mysteries. Then there’s Miss Fisher Mysteries, an Australian production. Here are some of the terms/words/phrases I’ve run across. Any that you’ve heard and been perplexed by?
Jumped up (adjective) – denoting someone who considers themselves to be more important than they really are, or who has suddenly and undeservedly risen in status: “she’s not really a journalist, more a jumped-up PR woman.” Heard on more than one program, but especially on Downton Abbey, when Violet’s maid calls Dr. Clarkson a “Jumped up old sawbones.” I love this one, and will attempt to include it in my own vocabulary.
All Sir Garnet – Said by Thomas Barrow on Downton Abbey (suspected things were not “All Sir Garnet”). This is a one-time British army slang term meaning that all is in order or everything’s OK. It’s a memorial to one of the most famous soldiers of the latter nineteenth century, Sir Garnet Wolseley, later Viscount Wolseley.
Cheeky – Playfully impertinent. “Did you just whistle at that old lady? You cheeky monkey.” Mrs. Patmore calls a local merchant a “cheeky devil” for flirting with her.
erysipelas – Erysipelas is an infection of the upper layers of the skin (superficial). Erysipelas results in a fiery red rash with raised edges that can easily be distinguished from the skin around it. Mentioned on Downton Abbey, when Isobel Crawley mistakenly diagnoses Mr. Moseley’s rash as erysipelas, when it really is a rash caused by an allergy to rue.
King Canute (Cnut, Knud) – King of Denmark, England and Norway, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After his death, the deaths of his heirs within a decade, and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history. The medieval historian Norman Cantor has stated that he was “the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history”, although Cnut himself was Danish, not British or Anglo-Saxon. Cnut’s name is popularly invoked in the context of the legendary story of King Canute and the waves, but usually misrepresenting Cnut as a deluded monarch believing he had supernatural powers, when the original story in fact relates the opposite and portrays a wise king. Mentioned by the dowager Countess Violet Crawley on Downton Abbey.
Agony Aunt – The writer of an advice column, like Dear Abby. In Downton Abbey, Violet’s butler (Septimus Spratt) writes the Agony Aunt column in Lady Edith Crawley’s ladies’ magazine.
Blue crested hoopoe – The rare bird that the bird watchers argue about in an episode of Midsomer Murders is a Blue Crested Hoopoe – which doesn’t exist. A Hoopoe does, which is a colorful bird found across Afro-Eurasia, notable for its distinctive “crown” of feathers. It is the only extant species in the family Upupidae.
Casu marzu – Also seen on Midsomer Murders. Literally translating into English as “rotten/putrid cheese”, is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese, notable for containing live insect larvae (maggots). Although found in the island of Sardinia, a variety of this cheese is also found in the nearby Corsica, where it goes by the name of casgiu merzu.
Parvenu – a person from usually a low social position who has recently or suddenly become wealthy, powerful, or successful but who is not accepted by other wealthy, powerful, and successful people. The word is borrowed from the French; it is the past participle of the verb parvenir (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something).
Don’t tell the world about it – Heard more than once, but Lady Flintshire says it when her husband mentions aloud that their days of personal servants are over because of their reduced circumstances.
Blighty – a wound suffered by a soldier in World War I that was sufficiently serious to merit being shipped home to Britain: “he had copped a Blighty and was on his way home”. Mentioned by Lady Cora Grantham’s maid, speaking about Thomas Barrow’s war injury.
Mumsy – drab or dowdy; unfashionable.
h’aporth -As in “you daft h’aporth”. Half penny worth. A silly or foolish person.
Other widely used words and terms:
Toff – Upper Class Person
Punter – customer or user of services (more specifically, of businesses which “rip off” the customer). Occasionally refers to a speculator, bettor, or gambler, or a customer of a prostitute.
Bob’s Your Uncle – There you go!
Bits ‘n Bobs – Various things
Her Majesty’s Pleasure – To be in prison
Knackered – phrase meaning “extremely tired,” often uttered after a long, exhausting day; also see: “zonked.”
Slap And Tickle – making out, heavy petting or [!]
Starkers – completely naked.
Tickety-Boo – phrase for when everything’s going great.
Gutted – a British slang term that is one of the saddest on the lists in terms of pure contextual emotion. To be ‘gutted’ about a situation means to be devastated and saddened. For example, ‘His girlfriend broke up with him. He’s absolutely gutted.’
Gobsmacked – a truly British expression meaning to be shocked and surprised beyond belief. The expression is believed by some to come literally from ‘gob’ (a British expression for mouth), and the look of shock that comes from someone hitting it.
Taking The Piss – Given the British tendency to mock and satirize anything and everything possible, ‘taking the piss’ is in fact one of the most popular and widely-used British slang terms. To ‘take the piss’ means to mock something, parody something, or generally be sarcastic and derisive towards something.
Dodgy – In British slang terms, ‘dodgy’ refers to something wrong, illegal, or just plain ‘off’, in one way or another.
Scrummy– One of the more delightful British slang terms in this list, ‘scrummy’ is used as a wonderfully effusive term for when something is truly delicious and mouth-wateringly good (Heard on The Great British Baking Show.)
Kerfuffle – A rather delightful and slightly archaic word is ‘kerfuffle’. ‘Kerfuffle’ describes a skirmish or a fight or an argument caused by differing views.
Tosh – A nifty little British term that means ‘rubbish’ or ‘crap’.
Wanker – Possibly the best British insult on the list, it fits a certain niche for a single-worded insult to lobbied out in a moment of frustration, anger, provocation, or, of course, as a jest amongst friends. ‘Wanker’ fits the closest fit by ‘jerk’ or ‘asshole’, but to a slightly higher value.
Brilliant – not a word exclusively in the British lexicon, but has a very British usage. Specifically, when something is exciting or wonderful, particularly when something is good news, ‘brilliant’ can mean as such.
Barmy – Crazy, insane.
Chin-wag – A chat or brief conversation.
Collywobbles – Nervousness; butterflies in the stomach.
Peckish – Slightly hungry.
Tosser – A contemptible idiot.
Twee – Overly dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint. “Her bunny-themed tea set is so utterly twee.”
Blimey – (informal) an exclamation of surprise. (Originally gor blimey, a euphemism for God blind me, but has generally lost this connotation.)
Bubble and Squeak – dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and other vegetables. Often made from the remains of the Sunday roast trimmings.
By-election – special election.
🤔😊
Poncey or poncy
ADJECTIVE
derogatory, slang, mainly British
ostentatious, pretentious, or effeminate
That’s pretty offensive now. (Always was in my opinion) It’s a derogatory term for homosexual.
Stop pearl clutching.
How is not using derogatory terms about homo-sexuals pearl clutching? Do you call them the f word?
Oh, I see, I’m sin binned again. Twice in one day. A veritable record. I put the word in question in quotes to demonstrate a point. Sorry if doing so crossed the veritable Rubicon of politesse.
“Masculine” is toxic.
😅😅😅😅😅😝😂😂😂😅
-🤮
I call them poofters or poofs, but that’s not what ponce means. A ponce is a pimp or someone that dresses like a pimp.
Or is effeminate…
…case in point.
Is it as offensive as calling someone a … cigarette?
Haha.. Some will get my little joke…
Oh no , God forbid somebody is offended . Offending people is A OK , it’s called freedom .
Hope you’re not offended when you’re knocked flat on your backside for using your freedom of speech to insult someone.
I was trying to explain that concept to a couple of my teenage daughter’s friends when they were ramblin’ on about free speech.
Blank stares all around, maybe a 4-watt light bulb going on for them.
Was it an LED Bulb??😁🤗🤔
It is also a superb concoction of offal bound in caul, baked and served with a rich onion sauce, mash and greens. Bloody scrumptious.
You’re hopeless.
Not necessarily. It means an upper class twit
Another term for the same thing from Bridget Jones’ diary: Poof
Bridget uses the term freely, while one of her very best friends in the story, played in a witty manner in the movie, is gay.
Like a lot of things, the goal posts move a lot…
.
I for one will not change my language because someone else decides to redefine a word. Do you?
.
Fund
A
Mental
Trans
Formation
YOU
Didn’t
Build that!
Pay
YOUR
FAIR
Share
Yes
WE
Can
JUST
words
“Creampuff” was another.
I thinks it’s a dang shame that the 🌈 has been hijacked!
I am a massive EPL (English Premiere League) “soccer” fan. And I am a voracious consumer of Brit speak. I’m sorry to say that we Americans don’t speak the English language properly … but the British do! You’ve covered a LOT of the terms … except a most important one:
Lost the Plot
Used when someone is utterly FAILING, as in: The Biden Admin has completely lost the plot. They don’t know the storyline. They’re wandering aimlessly. As in … the recently fired coach of The Wolverhampton Wolves had completely lost the plot.
language as food is cultural…who is to say who speaks it “correctly?”……I am sure different regions of the UK itself would have a kerfuffle about which brand of REGIONAL dialect was the most correct
Sign language must be getting dangerous.
🫣
You’ve never used “lost the plot”? That’s not specifically British.
American version: Jumped the shark. But it’s from teevee and You Had To Be There to get it.
I prefer the Brit version – but as a lifelong Anglophile, I usually do!
I love jump the shark. It’s so perfect for what it means. I’ve watched the clip many times and it always makes me laugh. In French they have “You should stop smoking the carpet”, which means roughly the same thing.
Here people say “smoking the curtains” and Judge Judy uses the term “kerfuffle” a lot.
Throwing your toys out of the pram….
Wheels coming off your trolley…
My teen is a Man U fan, so has had to watch every possible EPL game for years (and Pogba/Mata/etc on web). Dinner last night, my pre-hooligan was not inclined to the casserole I made. Not only had I lost the plot, but if I do so again tonight, I will be relegated. His friends are mates.
When he was about 10, I had to run last-minute to the store, and forgot to change a jacket I had been gardening in. He informed me my attire was worse than Arsene Wenger’s cardigan.
He is my youngest, absolutely not feeling broody after this one!
I thought the phrase originated from plotting a ship’s course for navigation and losing it meant to go off course from your objective. I don’t think the Biden administration has “lost the plot” at all, it’s all intentional.
And that makes him a wanker
vitamins prounounced vhitaminns rather then vyteamins.
chemist for pharmacist
<vitamins prounounced vhitaminns..>
Not to be confused with Lucy’s Vitameatavegamin 🙂
Aluminium
Bonnet for your car hood … boot for your trunk
“I say po-tay-to and you say po-tah-to. I say to-may-to and you say to-mah-to. Po-tay-to. Po-tah-to. To-may-to. To-mah-to. Let’s call the whole thing off.”
(Starts at around 0:27)
Doctor’s surgery there.
Doctor’s office here.
Doctors rooms
Slapper
As in kamala Harris is an ignorant slapper.
It’s not a complimentary term.
Kind of like the “rent boys “is used for the guys
She could also likely be a slag or a bike (as in gets ridden a lot) – the town bike.
The recycled cycle.
Her “drive through”
Interestingly, we don’t use “ignorant” as a derogatory term. Had a discussion with an American colleague about Sarah Palin, he was saying that she was stupid. I said she has a degree in Media and she’s very good at media. He replied, yes but from a shitty university. It was weird to me, we would never criticise someone for that.
It’s interesting how the US is often MORE stratified socially than the UK.
Perhaps true, but your Palin example doesn’t really encapsulate social stratification over here.
Class is defined more along the lines of “having class” as opposed to external trappings such as degrees or expensive items.
Palin was mocked because she did not buy into woke-ness and represented those (of any income) still holding dear to old fashion American values.
Over here you can be dirt poor and “have class” and filthy rich and have none.
You betcha!
———————————
Ignorant is to not know / to not know better / uniformed/ naive …
Stupid is as stupid does…
-dumb bell; ding dong, ding a ling
-Words are fun
Among the so-called elites, identifying with the working class and coming from a rural area automatically means you’re low class and beneath them. In America, the university you attended, the part of town you grew up in, and if you’re working in the right industry is what separates the classes. The sciences, politics, medicine, corporate leadership, and education are seen as respected by the upper class but working in the military, service industry, or trades is for the plebs.
Only in their minds.
Thankfully most of us didn’t attend Harvard or Yale. Someone has to have some common sense in this country.
She’s a total trollop.
I would be “gutted” if my urologist told me that my “wanker” was “taking the piss.”
a wank is more the solo act, rather than the machinery.
So someone may also be a wankstain
I followed a few Brits on Twitter & they used this one alot. 😆
TWATWAFFLE:
Complete idiot that mere idiot, dumbass, or imbecile can not adequately describe.; however, to earn the title of twatwaffle, one must also attempt to assert authority/expertise where none is had, or use power/authority when they are offended by things that most people find humorous, and then use that authority to get the “offenders,” in trouble and the “offending material” removed.
Twat is fish wank….
Well, it does have the stink of fish, but it means something very crude in the USA.
What does it mean? How cruder can it get? 🙂
That one is better than Karen – at least for those named Karen!
Co*kwomble- A person, usually male, prone to making outrageously stupid statements and/or inappropriate behavior while generally having a very high opinion of his own wisdom and importance. (Britain, slang, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.
Boris Johnson (since we’re talking Brits) leaps to mind.
But Biden does even more so…
Great article! Learned some Modern UK slang while watching Mount Pleasant. We found it interesting when watching the Australian show, Packed to the Rafters, they seem to abbreviate a lot of words. For example sandwich becomes “sammy” and present becomes “prezzy”.
My fav is “the tinny” 🙂
That’s antipodean.
And breakfast is brekky.
The dunny, for place to go relieve ones self. Also on small boats when sailor was told which was the dunny side.
Thanks. Handy list. Especially for the excellent British mystery/comedy ‘New Tricks’; Jerry Standing (Dennis Waterman) flings these terms around with aplomb.
I love that show. Jerry is my fav.
Ha, some of these got lost in translation…Blighty means Britain, it’s an affectionate word for home. The wound was such that you would get sent home.
Twee means overly delicate, to a certain extent falsely delicate. Cutesy in American?
A parvenu is someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else by dint of recent wealth. See Duchess of Montecito. Kind of the opposite of a self-made man.
Gutted, the idea is you’re like a fish which has been gutted.
Kerfuffle is similar to the US snafu.
Barmy is often affectionate, bats in the belfry, but the person is harmless.
Tosser is an aggressive wanker. Both mean the same as to jerk…Piers Morgan is a Tosser, Hunter Biden and Anthony Wiener are wankers.
Bubble and squeak is Cockney rhyming slang, it’s the sound the cabbage and mash make when you reheat leftovers for your full English breakfast.
Bye-election (More commonly written with an e) is a special election to replace a member of Parliament, normally called because an MP has resigned or died.
“Kerfuffle is similar to the US snafu”…..not even close…..kerfuffle = a struggle or argument
Situation
Normal
All
Fouled
Up
SNAFU
Very delicate of you to say Fouled.
PG version….I am an old salt but as I have drawn closer to God that form of expression has fallen from me more often than not
Mari,
Actually, it was very wise. If he was going to enough trouble to make the post, he would want it printed, not relegated to the bin and Ad Rem’s tender ministrations. Using the common military term would undoubtedly get his post binned and probably him put on probation.
A kerfuffle is not necessarily a struggle or an argument, that’s not a good definition. It’s close in meaning to a SNAFU.
Sometimes in the British love of understatement, we might call a fight a bit of a kerfuffle, but it means a mess. There was a mess. So very similar to SNAFU. A balls up would be a BIG mess.
a kerfuffle means a situation tense with excitement that could break out into actual physical violence……nothing close to that for a SNAFU which means an unsatisfactory situation in its entirety but it is SOP for the organization
Never used it like that, never seen it used like that. Maybe your definition is pre 1960s?
maybe my definition is the more widely used or accepted and yours is the more narrow or personal use….I have been using both of these terms for decades and there was never any doubt as to their meaning….that you are confused is your own problem but you should not foist it on others
Esperanza is hopeless.
It’s not pre-1960s. I was born in 1966. SNAFU is American sarcasm at its best. It is an acknowledgment that whatever stupid or damaging thing just happened, it most definitely is not out of the ordinary and will probably be OBE’d by an even dumber and more damaging action in the future.
OBE= overcome by events.
I thought SNAFU was a US army term from the Second World War? But I was talking about kerfuffle, not SNAFU, I’m not American, so I can only go by why I understand from seeing Americans use it.
….or deteriorates further into FUBAR.
OBE is one of my favorites. I use it routinely.
In the same vein as a B-52 being a
Big
Ugly
Fat..
(Ummm…)
FELLOW
they pre-date me by a few years and by the looks of it will post date me too
Similar to
Things
Are
Really
Fouled
Up.
or
Fouled
Up
Beyond
Any
Recovery
Deleted
As my late Father said to me. He was born in ‘23.
So that is the original meaning (fouled).
We use kerfuffle and gutted here in America, never thought of them as British.
And I’ve heard twee as well, for overly cutesy.
It seems kerfuffle doesn’t have the same meaning in the US. See above.
seems you are the outlier here….maybe it is your definition in question
You’re a Brit? How old are you? If you’re a Brit, where are you from? You do know slang changes over geography and time? The whole point is it doesn’t have a “clean” dictionary definition.
Where I’m from, the West Midlands, it was used in the definition I gave.
…and the definition given here by EVERYONE else it seems differs from yours and yet you tell them it is they who are in the wrong….not a Brit….never been….have met many and Canucks as well as Ozlanders in the Pacific before you so wrongly regifted HK to PRC
Oh, my, I gave you the British definition. It’s become obvious it’s different to the US one.
So I learnt something today, did you?
Are we colonists witnessing the beginning of a kerfuffle on CTH????
Hopeless.
Kerfuffle were a four-piece English folk band, originally formed in 2001 around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions of the UK.
It also is not spelled kerFuffle. More often, I see kerKuffle in the USA.
Did you read the title? It’s about how British and American slang differ. It’s becoming very obvious kerfuffle doesn’t have exactly the same meaning in the US and the UK.
Not sure how your two spellings are different?
I’ve been pronouncing it wrong I guess, saying “kerfluffle” with the intent of it meaning a dust-up or skirmish.
Definitely not similar to SNAFU which is much more of a serious situation.
British– a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views.
“there was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship”
Also a:
Kerfuffle were a four-piece English folk band, originally formed in 2001 around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions of the UK.
Snit fit comes to mind.
.
Oxford dictionary: a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views.
.
Kerfufuffle;
Kroe & Esper siitin’ in a tree…
Happy Friday ya’ll!
Started a bit of a kerfuffle over kerfuffle.
That’s a very British reply😊
Thank you! I got a recipe yesterday for “bubble and squeak” and I thought it sounds delicious but where did that name come from???
Maybe from the way it looks and sounds when the cabbage cooks down… ?
Yes, that is where it came from. And it’s usually always leftover cabbage and mash and then other stuff can be added like eggs, other vegetables.
When I was a kid, my mom made fried potatoes and beets for me. Sounds strange, but delicious!
I have a family recipe from a friend, tasted great when she made it (hers has cabbage and cauliflower) but I never made it because I don’t keep lard around for cooking. May have to hunt down the recipe and ingredients and give it a go.
Esperanza,
“Blighty” is actually a British soldierly corruption of a Hindustani word, “belait,” which means Great Britain. So, if a soldier “copped a Blighty,” in the First World War, for example, the translated meaning is that he was wounded badly enough to require him being repatriated to the United Kingdom.
In ref. to “Her Majesty’s Pleasure”when I lived in Florida that was called “Working for the State.”
Another work related phrase. “To be made redundant” means you were fired or laid off from your job.
I know the word biscuit does not mean what Americans use it for. I believe they use it for cracker.
Not unless you use cracker to mean a biscuit lol. a cracker is hard tack, a biscuit is something like an Oreo (don’t know many US biscuits).
crackers in britain are savory (often with cheese), biscuits are sweet (like cookies but not chewy – tea and biscuits).
The biscuit jar in Lady Mary’s room in Downtown appears to contain something along the lines of shortbread…
A biscuit is a cookie.
Thanks, so if I ever go to the UK I won’t order biscuits and gravy.
Don’t ask for a napkin either.
So are you just supposed to wipe your hands on the drapes? Lol…
No, ask for a serviette 🙂
Serviette
But you could order Yorkshire pudding and gravy 😋
And your name in English English is a bogey 🙂
LOL. As a Southerner from Florida, a biscuit is a large, round breakfast bread made of flour, shortening, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and buttermilk. They are baked in the oven. When they come out, they have risen and are flaky, steamy and ready to add butter and homemade preserves to them when pulled in two.
You have not lived until you have eaten a true Southern biscuit.
Ha, that sounds like a scone…
Yes, both are quick breads but there are differences. Bisquits are more fluffy and flaky whereas scones are a more dense crumb.
Biscuits aren’t sweet like scones as well
My southern dad used to bribe us kids by saying he’d give us a ham biscuit. Good ham back then too.
Biscuits and pan gravy ! YUM YUM. 😋 Pure heaven !!
We call them “cat head” biscuits as they are roughly the sizes of a cat’s head.
A biscuit is what we call a cookie.
And chips are French fries and crisps are potato chips.
And a bar cookie (in the US) is called a tray bake?
Biscuit is more like a cookie in the US. Other words are used in Brit-speak for a biscuit like scone, bun and I’m forgetting others. A bar cookie in the US is called a tray bake in England (because it’s baked in a sheet pan/tray).
Blighty is much more commonly used as a slang word meaning England as a place.
All the British slang I learned in my formative years came from watching Monte Python.
So many sources:
Mine include many already mentioned (adore Downton, and its predecessor Gosford Park) – also Jane Austen, the wonderful Chronicles of Narnia, the naughty teevee series Blackadder, and the very naughty series Coupling.
Oh, and Dial M for Murder – such a wonderful Hitchcock flick.
Blackadder is incredible. I still watch those when I need a laugh.
I’m also a big fan of Gosford Park. 🙂
It was the Goodies for me.
Goodie goodie yum yum!
The British call sweaters “jumpers”.
And according to C.S. Lewis, a flashlight is a “torch.”
A wrench is a spanner, and braces are suspenders
Sticking with American language slang.
Thanks.
Yet you bothered to comment?
Ted is just needling so that we call him one of those British words. 🤣
Ted is just being a stick in the mud…
Slang is fun. The more the merrier in my opinion.
I have a brother-in-law with dual US and Canadian citizenship, though he spends most of his time on St. Maarten with his sailboat. A few more common words I’ve picked up from him. Whenever we’re on vacation I refer to it as “holiday” and a person attending college is in “university”.
College is 16 to 18 in the UK. Another one is “professor” has a very different meaning in the UK, it’s the head of a department, a very import member of the Faculty.
Also we say “He’s in the hospital.” Brits say “He’s in hospital.”
That’s the way Australians do it too.
Great post, will keep for future reference.
As well as the shows you listed, we also watch Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis and Endeavor. Great shows, never get old, even when re-watching in binge-mode.
I loved Endeavor!
And…..”.Brokenwood mysteries” (New Zealand) on Acorn and” Shetland” (Scotland) on Britbox. Very entertaining.
So the wife walks in and I tell her about this post, being hugh British TV watchers.
I’m going through a few and I get to “wanker” and the meaning.
She says: we sure do have a difference on the meaning of this, on this side of the pond.
Thanks for the post Stella for the laugh it brought.
What does it mean in the US? Never heard it before.
I always thought it meant complainer, but once told someone to quit wanking and was informed it meant something much cruder….
Think Jeffrey Toobin
You might be confusing ‘wanker’ with a ‘whinger’.
Around here, wanker is a whiner, loser, or pain in the butt. Quit yer wanking. He is such a wanker.
We refer the hospital as a person being, “in the hospital.” I often here British usage describing it more as a state of being than a place, as being “in hospital”
The one that always get me is that Brits call mathematics “maths”, and we shorten it to just “math”. Theirs makes more sense when you think about it.
Another word that Brits use all the time is “pop”, as in “just pop that in the oven”, or “I just popped in to see granny”.
Do you sing “Pop goes the weasel”?
Yes. I don’t use the word pop frequently in regular conversation, though, which is the point I was trying (apparently poorly for you) to make. You certainly are putting us all in our places today!
Wow, I was just asking, have no idea what children’s songs you sing in the US. My question was just that, a question. Your post is great fun. And lots of words have very different meanings in the UK and the US. We see them all the time because we watch so many US films and TV shows, but you see ours much more rarely.
I go looking for British tv shows because I like them.
There are some very good ones. 🙂 Some great classic films too. Try Brief Encounter if you like romantic films.
That’s a David Lean movie, which is a recommendation in itself.
Did you ever see Same Time Next Year? Similar theme in a later decade.
I watched it because I like Alan Alda. The premise of it bothered me.
Me too
I mentioned it because it has a similar plot to Brief Encounter.
I understand it was meant as a comparison.
I love All Creatures Great and Small! Kids love it too! First episodes of first season are slow getting started, but a great classic. Later seasons, after he goes to war, aren’t as good as the earlier ones.
Another good one!
Some of my faves, Are You Being Served, AbFab, Open All Hours, Vera, Keeping Up Appearances
One thing I’m certain you’ve noticed is that the actors in British shows look like ordinary people…the kind I knew when I lived there. No flashy Hollywood types, especially in older productions.
These days, unfortunately, British television has become so “woke” and ideological, that one can’t get two minutes into a programme before the diversity, inclusion, wokity woke makes an appearance. And that’s a darned shame.
Waiting to start watching Shetland on Britbox, Series 7. Simply splendid. Based on Anne Cleeves’ books.
True enough. One thing about British shows is that so many of the same actors are on a variety of shows. I play a little game trying to remember where else I have seen an actor who sounds or looks familiar.
I have noticed that, they don’t have starlets and hunks, mostly plain Jane types, just average everyday people. I find it refreshing over the too perfect w/white teeth types like in America.
I’ve seen the first 4 episodes of the new Shetland season on Amazon Prime. Riveting, as always.
Yes, Vera too.
Acorn Tv. Get a subscription
all British shows
https://au.acorn.tv/browse/all/
Thank you Stella!!
Add to that, people are picked up on a “drugs” charge or are charged with “drink” driving.
My local SO lists people picked up on drug charges or charged with drunk driving.
LOL!
I use that a lot and never thought about a British origin. But I’ve read English novels and watched British TV for much of my life.
I lived in England for years and I still retain many words and phrases. Windscreen (windshield), lead (leash), hang about, needs done, are just a few.
And we say a doctor has an office or a practice and they say “I’m going to Dr. Smith’s surgery tomorrow” instead of “I’m going to Dr. Smith’s office tomorrow”/”Dr. Smith’s practice has had positive reviews”
Over on this side of the pond we do the same thing for college. “He’s in college”
And doing something ‘at the weekend’ instead of over the weekend
Q: What did the Brit say to the juicy succulent?
A: “‘ello, Vera.”
Delightfully silly!
Was that from the Ministry of Silly Talks? 🙂
Check out some of the classic old British comedies:
Last of the Summer Wine
Are You Being Served
Fawlty Towers
Keeping Up Appearances
As Time Goes By
Watch/watched all of them!
I do need to watch more of those. We found Fawlty Towers season 1 streaming but no more so far. (No cable, and watching only through streaming, usually means a lot of hunting around and often buying used DVDs…)
I have a subscription to Acorn TV. Another source is Britbox. Subscriptions are reasonable.
Filmrise British Television is a free steaming channel.
Hyacinth Bucket!!
And that’s pronounced Boo-kay, if you please. lol!
Yes. As many times as I’ve seen them I never get tired of them. The casting was excellent.
It was.
And the writing was so tight!
I loved the watchdog/ jump onto the hedge scenes. I thought she was great.
I’m glad to see this got mentioned here – it’s my favorite, along with Downton Abbey and Hercule Poirot! and Sherlock (the Benedict Cumberbatch version).
Some of it is way too silly for me, so I’ll stop watching. But I adore (and bought the full set on DVD) “As Time Goes By”.
I love that series, too!
Thats Bouquet . Don’t cha know.🤣🤣
“It’s Bouquet!” 🤣
Another favorite from a while back “Absolutely Fabulous”
I need to watch that.
Love keeping up appearances. Never get tired of it. Have laughed till I 🤣 cried.
All Creatures Great and Small watch the seasons in order. First few episodes of season one are like first episodes of Seinfeld…. Kind of boring as they set up the characters.
“Kind of boring as they set up the characters”
That’s because, according to Jerry and George, it’s a show about nothing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched every episode and re-run.
“Tom Jones” (based on the Henry Fielding novel).
Love them all
“At her/his Majesty’s pleasure” means a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
This was supposed to be a fun post, and some of you get it. No arguing please! It is possible that at various times words “meant” one thing and another they mean something else. Or they mean one thing in one place and something else elsewhere.
It isn’t important enough to argue about.
Agree!
Just thought of another – don’t the Brits call all dessert “pudding”?
(Harry Potter is another source… But I’ve seen it elsewhere as well…)
Yes, they do. Unless it’s the Great British Baking Show.
Yes, but I think they also call it dessert too.
Boy, I would never substitute the word dessert with the word pudding. I’d be worried the server would bring me a dish of tapioca when I really wanted apple pie ala mode.
Not if it’s Yorkshire pudding. ‘How can you have any pudding, if you don’t eat your meat?!’
Pink Floyd, “School’s Out”. Great song.
Just had a funny thought.. If any alphabet agencies are lurking here, they are going crazy thinking we are talking in CODE !!😂😂
I thought the same! One could do this if one want to flummox them
Bit of a Row-argument, mild physical exchange
Also very useful. Pronounced rouw, not roe.
Tiff
wanking = masturbating
a wanker is a masturbater but the term is used figuratively to denote someone who is just wasting everyone’s time.
Surprised the list didn’t include bollocks.
Bollocks!
Hugh Grant, actor.
First time I heard the word. He said it well.
It’s the dog’s bollocks!
I like “He has form,” also from Midsomer Murders. He has a criminal record.
Cumberbatch Sherlock recognized an American because he said “cellphone” rather than “mobile.”
You don’t mention watching Shetland. The stories are engrossing but I seriously need subtitles on that one. I get about half of what they say in THAT accent.
Agatha Christie’s fantastic Murder On the Orient Express (best movie version in my opinion is the 70’s one, hands down!) also has a plot point turn on whether an American character, pretending to be British, knows that “trunk call” is “long distance” and “solicitor” is “lawyer.”
I have watched Shetland, but not lately . I DO use subtitles on many shows too!
“Bellend”.
Seen it a lot. I assume it means an idiot or worse. Someone contemptible.
It means “d—head”. Not to put too fine a point on it. 😉
You know things are not going well in the City of London when you get stories like this…
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/qatar-stadium-builder-cimolai-seeks-new-capital-after-bad-forex-bet-1.1829465
The game of musical chairs (eurodollar market) is slowing and somebody has to find a seat…
Here is another one:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/central-banks-hoard-cash-in-case-they-need-to-save-their-currencies-1.1829627
Eurodollar collateral anyone?
Wrong thread.
Looks like Stella covered the British language from A to Zed.
Well, “…in France every Frenchman knows his language from A to Zed…”
(Now I have a Henry Higgins earworm…)
Thanks Stella! Jolly good way to start my day.
Plaster for bandaid. I’d run across the term in Jane Austen’s Emma but had never pursued its definition until recently, when in England, I asked if the grocer sold bandaids and met with a blank look.
I use a number of the listed terms in ordinary language. “Peckish” is a particularly useful word, and I also like “gobsmacked.”
And Europeans like our brand of Bandaid because it sticks better, from what a European friend said (I don’t know about Briton though).
“I am stuck on Band-Aid (brand) ’cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!”
Whenever I am subject to perhaps-too-dubious praise for my music performances, I always use the lovely Austenism “But you are too kind…”
The only British show I used to watch was with my dad. He like
Benny Hill.. But for words I don;t know if it is British but I have
only seen it used when talking about the fashions wore by the
Royal ladies… Bespoke..or as we call it custom made..
WHITE LIVES MATTER! FOX News Tucker Carlson Interviews Kanye West “Ye” (FULL VIDEO)
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2022/10/white-lives-matter-fox-news-tucker.html
Wrong thread.
True. Be that as it may, that was an awesome interview. Delightful like this thread!
Not be be nadmenny, but we need to cut this baddiwad out and talk some serious stuff:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:A_Clockwork_Orange
Ha!
And have eggiweggs for breakfast…
One thing we’re happy to NOT adopt from the Brits is the habit of installing laundry appliances in the kitchen.
And we hope to never turn our fossil fuel vehicles into Euro Carbon-neutral contraptions
. . . . . . . . . . . like THIS.
Bumpershoot (not sure if that is the correct spelling = umbrella and boot = trunk of the car.
Bumbershoot.
A couple of words confused me right off the bat (by the way, Brits doing business here are likewise flummoxed by Americans’ endless sports metaphors): surgery for anything other than what we think of as surgery. I had a friend whose husband was a member of Parliament, and when she first told me that he had an upcoming surgery, I expressed alarm until she explained. They also use it in terms of a meeting. Her husband was having a meet with some of his constituents.
Another was the use of the word “tea” for food. When my stepchildren first visited, they said the wanted tea, so I dutifully produced two cups of tea. The first of many “What the hell, lady” looks ensued. They meant dinner. Also the use of “pop”, constantly. Everyone’s forever popping something into a bag, or popping round for a drink.
Certain words have (for us) unusual and therefore confusing connotations, for example “boring” can mean irritating or annoying, rather than dull.
“Shops” for stores, which actually makes more sense; ditto “petrol” for gasoline. Yet another word in Britain that makes more sense to me than the way we say it is “hospital”, rather than “the hospital.” We say, “John’s in the hospital,” whereas they say, “John’s in hospital.” Thinking about it, why do we say it that way? Do we say our children are in “the school?” Which school?
Some adult phrases: knocking shop for w**** house. “Tosser” isn’t a nice word at all. It does mean a-hole or jerk, but it comes from tossing, which is a word for masturbation. In the 90’s, my then teen stepson went with a school group on a student exchange to California. While there, they found Talk N Toss phone cards in convenience stores, and were convinced that they were phone sex cards, which I found hilarious.
My Scottish friend uses tosser to mean a-hole or jerk. Same with wanker. She also used eejit (in print) for idiot, long before you had to spell it that way to dodge online censors, lol.
My Scottish friend uses skiver for lazy people.
Moogy for cat
“Moggy” = cat.
“Skiver” really means someone who avoids work.
Cf Spanish “esquivar” to dodge, feint.
you don’t ‘plug it in’, you ‘connect it to the mains’
and if you overload the circuit, you ‘fuse the mains’
the Brits do not ‘install’ auto parts, they ‘fit’ them (makes you wonder how much ‘field modifications’ are needed)
and they don’t ‘ask for a quote’, they ‘put out a request for tenders’
and the author left out ‘Upper Middle Class Twit of the Year’…………
Electrical outlets are called points.
Plugs
My favorite expression is
“Ta”
Used down under like thanks is in USA.
Acronyms are the downfall of effective communication.
Less widely used acronyms should be spelled out the first time utilized followed by the acronym in parentheses.
Situation normal all fouled up(snafu).
After that everyone should understand. Ta.
When I visited Italy, I’d of course heard the word “ciao” (pronounced chow) which means “bye” essentially. But what I was surprised at was the way many Italians used it, like on a phone call and when the person wanted the call to end they’d say “Ciao, ciao ciao ciao. Ciao ciao ciao ciao ciao.” The faster they said the word, the more they were like saying “I’m so done.” It was funny to me.
I was introduced to the use of “Cheers” by an Irish coworker in the 80’s – it seemed to me to be a salutation indicating “thanks and goodbye” in emails – I ended up adopting it…
I used the expression “cute little bugger” in discussion with some from a UK subsidiary. I got a lesson…
And then there is the Irish chap who used “girls” for female employees. He also used “c**t” commonly and expressively, a practice that I strongly discouraged.
I about fell off my chair listening to an Aussie go off about various government official using the C**t word. Oh my goodness, what a carry on that was.
Would that have been Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson? I’ve seen him live when he did that song and also ‘You can’t say C**t in Canada’. The only person worse than him is his daughter, the delightfully named ‘Jenny Talia from Australia’. Look them up on YouTube.
Being of British heritage, bloody well-done Stella! Love this and sharing.
During the “covid years”, I found myself binge-watching Midsomer Murders. In fact, I’ve begun using the British terminology in my daily speech. My husband often has a “bit of a lie-down” (nap) many afternoons.
I’ve also found that the British still despise the French and will often change words just so they don’t have a French connotation. For example: “caff”, not Cafe. Also: “eggy bread”, not French toast.
And since guns are discouraged in England, we are baffled by the many ways people murder one another.
Love Britbox and Acorn TV. I am with you Stella, I love binge watching those mystery shows.
A change up from the hard hitting and ultra violent shows sometime shown on our TV stations. Everything has turned so political. Used to love NCIS and FBI until a few years ago.
And how. Those shows used to be my favs. Now too PC for me
My vote for the best British medical comedy show ever goes to ‘Doc Martin’ from Acorn Media.
“Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes), a brilliant and successful vascular surgeon at Imperial College London, develops haemophobia – a fear of blood, forcing him to stop practicing surgery. He obtains a post as the sole general practitioner (GP) in the sleepy Cornish village of Portwenn, where he had spent childhood holidays with his Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole) and Uncle Phil, who owns a local farm. Upon arriving in Portwenn – where, to his frustration, the locals address him as “Doc Martin” – he finds the surgery in chaos and inherits an incompetent receptionist, Elaine Denham ……….”
The first series began in 2004 and the tenth and last season premiered this September.
Love that one too!
I also enjoy “Call The Midwife”, although their recent commentary on the legalization of abortion doesn’t please me much.
Digestive, aka a “cookie”.
Krikey!
I think this is a brilliant thread, Stella!
Good fun, and reminds me of long-ago cth poster A2, whose clever term for the news media was ‘the Wankerati.”
Love that! Wankerati, that is.
Whatever happened to A2’s posting? Just quit or disagreement with SD?
I honestly have no idea.
Numpty – I’ve used that a lot since January 2021. Also, smarmy git comes in useful from time to time.
Another good one is to tell someone to, “bog off,’ rather than the eff word.
I don’t know whether “sod off” is considered vulgar but I see that one used frequently as well.
It’s the equivalent of eff off, but it sounds so much more civilized, especially with the accent ☺️
A great addition to one’s library of British Slang is the book, “Shakespeare’s Insults, Educating Your Wit” by Wayne F Hill & Cynthia J Ottchen, published in 1991 and 1995.
It is 300 pages of polished insults.
I have this book
You can click on the book icon and read bits
To “knock someone up,” is to telephone them.
To exclaim that “The whole world and his wife are here!” is to express one’s surprise at the size of the crowd.
I say “everybody and his brother” – similar.
It’s also the term for getting someone pregnant so be careful of who you use it about 🙂