This is where I'll share whatever new words/phrases I'm learning. Maybe they'll help you fit in when you come visit me. Or maybe they'll just give you a good laugh.
Either way, check back here periodically to for your English (slang) lesson.
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Ace - Great, wonderful, brilliant; Sheila, my flatmate (and someone who uses it frequently), defines it this like this: "It is just...awesome."
Bagsy - As in, "bagsy that;" meaning dibs or shotgun.
Bang out of order - Crossing the line; behaving badly or doing something you shouldn't do.
Barbecue - A grill or a cookout; doesn't necessarily (doesn't often) involve BBQ sauce.
Bin - Trash can
Biscuit - A cookie
Boot - Trunk (of a vehicle).
Braces - Suspenders
Brill - Short for brilliant; as in, "That's brill," meaning great, awesome, perfect, etc.
Butty - Sandwich
Call - To visit; as in, "I'll call up in a bit."
Can't be bothered - As in, "I can't be bothered to..." meaning it's not worth the effort or you just don't care enough to do something.
Cellotape - Scotch tape (the clear stuff).
Chav/chavy - This one's hard to explain in one sentence, but it's basically a person (typically teenaged) who clearly thinks he's really cool, but his clothes/actions prove otherwise; there's a whole Wikipedia article about these types (and pictures make it clearer!), so I'll just refer you there.
Cheers - Thanks
Chips - French fries
Chuffed - Pleased or delighted
Click - Snap; like the sound you make with your finger and thumb.
College - Classes between high school and university that we don't have in the States; this caused a lot of confusion my first few days; here college ≠ university.
Cornflour - Cornstarch
Crisps - Potato chips
Dressing gown - Bathrobe
Drink driving - Drunk driving, just as you'd expect. But it sounds weird to me.
Elevenses - Tea/coffee time with cakes, typically around 11am.
Faff about/around - To waste time doing something unnecessary.
Fairy cake - A cupcake
Fancy dress - As in, "fancy dress store"; costume (NOT gowns/tuxes).
Fell off the back of a lorry - Stolen goods
Fit to burst - Full
Fitty - A particularly attractive ("fit") individual.
Flat - Apartment
Fresher - Short for freshman; at Kingston, you can sign up to be a Freshers' Angel and help the new kids adjust. (Baylor friends, think Welcome Week leaders.)
Full stop - Period (as in the punctuation mark).
Get a wriggle on - Hurry up.
Gobsmacked - Shocked
Go off - Go bad or spoil; as in, "I have some milk that will go off tomorrow." (Always makes me think of exploding produce...)
Gutted - Really upset; as in, "I was gutted when..."
Haitch - Common pronunciation of the letter 'H' (with a hard 'h' instead of a silent one).
"Half eight" - 8:30 (can swap eight for nine, or ten, or eleven, etc.)
High school - Junior high; again, caused a lot of confusion.
Hiya - Hello
Hob - Stove top/burner
Hole in the wall - An ATM
Ill - Not feeling well; sick (but see 'sick').
Jacket potato - Baked potato
Jelly - Gelatin/Jello; not the stuff you use for a PB&J
Jumper - A sweater/pullover.
Knackered - Completely exhausted.
Lad - Guy; now this one's obvious, but I had no idea how often it'd be used.
Lash - As in, "going out on the lash;" going out and getting drunk.
Lie in - (or, "have a lie in); sleep in
Lift - Elevator; harder to find than you might expect here in the UK. And, by "harder," I mean almost impossible.
Lob the gob - To kiss, often unexpectedly (disclaimer: Fiona's the only one I've heard say this, so it might be an Irish -- or just a Fiona -- thing.)
Lorry - Truck
Mate - Friend
Mince - Ground beef
Mobile - Cell phone
Mutton dressed as lamb - Those older mom types who don't realize they're no longer 21 and have got the wardrobe to prove it.
Note - The equivalent of a dollar (or other) bill; as in a ten pound note.
Off his/her face - Drunk
On about - Talking about; as in, "They were on about it last night."
Pants - Underwear
Peckish - Hungry, needing something to munch on; as in, "I'm feeling a bit peckish, so I'm going to have some chips."
Petrol - Gas, like what you'd put in your car.
Pissed - Drunk (not angry)
Plasters - Adhesive bandages, like a Band-Aid.
Pop in/up/by - To visit; as in, "I'll pop in to see you."
Porridge - Oatmeal
Pram - Stroller
Proper - An adjective that intensifies (like "very"); as in "He's a proper chav"; interchangeable with "well" or "right"
Pre-lash - Getting drunk before going out; saves money, apparently.
Pudding - A general term for dessert.
Pull - To attract the attention of someone of the opposite sex -- basically, you're out hoping to meet someone and some random guy or girl ends up taking a liking to you; as in, "Grab your purse, you've pulled."
Pumps - or "plimsolls"; NOT high heels -- basically flat soled canvas type shoes (disclaimer: Hannah, my flatmate, is the only person I've ever heard refer to them as such).
Queuing - Standing in line; it seems to be all the rage here.
Quid - £1 (one pound)
Ring/rang - Call/called; as in, "Ring me later," or "I rang home."
Rubbish - Trash
Shocking - Terrible/awful; not synonymous with surprising.
Sick - If you were sick, it means you actually threw up, as in, "I had food poisoning and was sick."
Slag - A girl who sleeps around (or at least dresses like she would).
Smart - Dressed nicely; stylish
Sound - Good
Squash - Concentrated juice you add to water to give it flavor.
Squirty cream - Whipped cream from a can.
Stone - (1) Unit of weight equaling 14 lbs; (2) A pit, like in a peach.
Suncream - Sunscreen
Suspenders - Women's garter belts
Swimming costume - Swimsuit
Ta - Thanks
Tache - Short for mustache; like "stache" but no 's'.
Take away - To go; a good phrase to know when ordering coffee.
Take the piss/mickey - To ridicule or give a hard time.
Talent - Good looks; when someone is "scouting for talent," they're just looking to see if there's anyone particularly attractive around.
Tart - Not just the dessert -- Can also mean a flirtatious person.
Tenner - A ten pound note; can also be said of a five pound note (fiver), etc.
Tea - The drink, obviously. But it can also mean dinner; as in "Don't forget to defrost some chicken for your tea tonight."
Tick - Check (like when you select yes or no on a form).
Till - Cash register.
Tosser - An idiot.
Trolley - Cart; shopping, luggage, etc. I've found that many UK shopping sites have "trolley" instead of "shopping cart" up at the top where you click to checkout.
Tutor - Professors/lecturers; not fellow students who are paid peanuts to teach you how to correctly punctuate a sentence.
Uni - Short for university; as in, "I'll meet you at uni later."
Vest - Undershirt
Washing up liquid - Dish soap
xx - Those little x's at the end of messages are kisses. So when you see three, don't immediately think inappropriate for minors.
You alright? - A greeting; in place of, "Hi" or "How are you?"; NOT the implied "You look terrible," that you get in the States when you forget to shower...not that I ever do that.
Zed - The letter 'z'
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing :)
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