British phrases
 

I love "Bob's your uncle". I picked that up about 15 years ago on a BBS that had a messaging system with other BBSs around the world. Then, just today I ran across "horses for courses".

Neither of these phrases is very common in the US, but they seem just the thing to use in the right context. We've got a number of folks from across the pond, here. What other Britishisms should I know about?

a sticky wicket

I think it has something to do with eating croquettes??

;)

"Don't let's start" -- which I suspect may be northern -- it turned into a very fine They Might Be Giants single.

"Full of beans" -- i.e., hyper

Don't know if this is a Britishism or not: When denoting an event to happen a week on Thursday, "Thursday week".

I am reading a book which is heavy on the cockney slang. I am in awe of the authors ability to even spell it and my ability to even read it.

I went looking for some examples instead of taking excerpts from the book.
I found a site that will translate the internet into slang...so I entered the some Cellar tag lines.

http://www.thevalkyrie.com/clubhouse/cockney/index.htm

A well-organized army of rabbittin' 'eads -sycamore


Post and give yourself yer own reason to return It's all about yer! And yer and yer and yer and me Patiently awaitin' the dot-org bubble As addictive as nicotine, as nutritious as muvver's milk Free wth registration: a bunch of people to rabbit to Trolls, morons and spammers will be shot on sight -undertoad


The Cellar: Where thought provokin' discussion is talked about. The Cellar: Where somebody might agree wiv yer. The Cellar: Because yer 'ave nothin' better to do. -Whit


:lol2: that was fun ......

sorry......I'lll leave now. :o

Definitely a Britism, as is "a week on Thursday". Both are better constructions than our "next Thursday". That inevitably starts a discussion of whether one means the next Thursday to come, which is not "next Thursday" but "this Thursday", until somebody breaks down and figures out the full date. "OK, you mean Thursday the 23rd." "Yes, next Thursday."

We kind of have the same debate sometimes until someone clarifies by saying, "no, I mean Thursday week"......" Ohhh....right, next, next Thursday".

It's more of a term than a phrase, but I've never been certain of the full meaning of "piss artist". (When I was hearing it as a kid, it would have been impolite to ask.)

hehehehehe that term has several meanings. Mainly it refers to somone who is messing about, not taking something seriously. It comes I think, from 'taking the piss'.

Saying "fortnight" instead of "two weeks".

"Pip pip" and "cheerio"

it's lunchtime and I'm feeling a mite peckish.

but first, I need to spend a penny.

How about "innit" or "summat" ...?

and izzit.

I've heard "cheers" to end a phone call. Do folks over there still use cheerio? And did they ever use "Pip pip", or is that a Hollywood thing?

Don't know about the pip pip. Might have been in vogue 50 or 60 years ago, or might just be a tv/movie thing.

Cheerio not used much except by older peeps, or in some small areas it might still remain. Cheers we use a lot, as thanks, or farewell, or as a toast.

'Gutted.' Anybody other than Brits use that? meaning -disappointed, or upset.

knackered - dead tired (the knackers yard is where dead livestock get umm... recycled)

having kittens - nervous, very expectant.

just ran across this handy-dandy translator

Nice site BS. I ran across this browsing around.

beer cf n :
standard American beer is colorless, odorless, flavorless, sugarless, untainted by calories, alcohol, and caffeine, and contains no IOC banned substances, but is obscenely effervescent and so cold that each sip is a guaranteed brain freeze. Happily, microbreweries have been springing up everywhere producing outstandingly fine, normal beers.

I disagree - I think it means someone who drinks a lot. Also "to be out on the piss" = out to get drunk.

A Scottish-ism "One for the shuch" (pronounced shukh) - To have another (perhaps final drink); syn. "One for the road".
The "shuch" is the ditch at the side of the road ... :D

That too. As I said, it has several meanings. Where I hail from, if someone is being a dickhead, or just not taking something seriously, someone will say " Oh don't be such a pissartis." also used for someone joking about.

'Sticky Wicket' is a cricketing term meaning that the wicket isn't very favourable. It's obviously also used to describe a difficult situation. Stuck between a rock and a hard place so to speak.

This is a term we use over here too.

I use "cheers" all the time (to mean 'thanks and bye", usually, rather than just "bye") but you hit the nail on the head with "pip pip". Say that to a Brit over here and you're likely to end up with a set of authentic British teeth. Sadly, some people still say "cheerio". ;)

Does anyone say "wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more..."

:D

Coz that would be cute.

I use "having kittens" to mean panicky/panicking, sometimes in a situation where one might be extected to be handling it better. "The children started a paint fight in the classroom and the sub teacher was having kittens". "My keys were locked in the car, my cellphone was dead, my kids were due off the school bus in the middle of nowhere and the tornado sirens were going off -I was having kittens"

They do, sometimes. It isn't cute. ;)

Everybody sick of the Pythonisms?

Here's some for you to be going on with:

Up the duff
Three sheets to the wind (I think that's British)
The dog's bollocks

Up the Junction, a fine Squeeze single. I take it to mean in a big load of confused trouble.

I should do.

seems out of order when first you hear it. or missing the 'it'..got used to it from my english friend , .......Tim?


you know much that is hidden, o' Tim.

[translator]Up the duff, to have one up the duff - to be with child
Three sheets to the wind - to have overimbibed the alcoholic stuff
The dog's bollocks - something very good indeed [/translator]

Oh great, what the hell does Pikey mean?:rolleyes:

Pikey is a Gypsy or more commonly these days a scumbag twat with limited or no education who spends their days getting pissed/stoned and being a general annoyance (trailer trash I suppose)

Three sheets to the wind is an interesting one, it does imply a pissed condition but it dates back to the Royal Navy days when sails needed to be constantly adjusted depending on the wind conditions. If the crew were busy getting pissed below deck instead of seeing to the rigging, then the sails could flap aimlessly in the wind hence the term three sheets to the wind.

Why are Gypsies given such short shift?

It's a British disease, we like to feel permanently superior.


To elaborate, Pikey was originally a London term for Gypsy, but it has recently developed into a generic term for scumbag unfortunately.

Ah! I know that disease well! :lol: we all think we are special, don't we?

Ah, but there's a subtle difference between thinking and knowing.

Ah, thank you. A common term in New England as far back as I can remember. :beer:

That-sproglet-is very, VERY good stuff. May I have the courtesy? Only a true Brit would think in those terms (you must, really, forgive Americans, because they are completly without an inheritant class system, a system you Admirable Brits have cleverly devised and we Yanks have continually ignored)...and continue to follow no matter what. Bully for you.

I think many, many Americans (if I may so present them, bandits as they are) would be only too glad to help you 'remember' the differance betx "thinking" and "knowing"

erm, it's cheating if you are a Brit.... :rolleyes:

Sproglet and Sprogs. Not sure if those terms are used elsewhere. Any Brits remember "Sprog-bashing Day"? Was it just a Northern thing?

I always refer to my offspring as the Sprogs. It words great in the stores/playgrounds -I yell sprogs and they know I mean them, no-one else thinks it means them, no need to waste time saying each name :D

I always thought 'Pikey' referred in particular to Irish gypsies as opposed to Romany gypsies? Maybe that's just how it ended up being used up here in the North.

"Shine on", used to add emphasis to a sentence, or as a mild emphatic statement on its own. "Shine on, I haven't seen one o'them in years".

Do you guys have 'pubcrawls'?

Not sure if Blimey and Crikey are used worldwide - for surprise
and Pants for irritation

Jeanie Mac for surprise/ frustration too, but I suspect that's Irish

I say "Up the stick" for pregnant, if it's to comic effect.

I'll say Cheers when I get off the bus - so it's Goodbye and Thank You combined in that case

Using Trouble affectionately is possibly British too - I'll say to my cats, "What are you up to, Trouble?"

It's actually tricky to work out what is British and what isn't, until someone picks you up on it!

Certainly is. I never realised 'fortnight' was a Britishism

I didn't realise stones (as in weight) was until I sat next to a woman on a flight to San Francisco and we got talking about diets!

Undertoad is The Cellar's dog's body ;)

Sorry :o will try not to do it again.

Well who's going to tell us what they mean, if not a Brit?:confused:

... but Brits don't cheat....
it wouldn't be cricket, and our peers would condemn us for 'not playing the game' whilst exhorting us to 'play the white man'

I think we (superior beings) should be allowed the amusement of your guesses before we fill you in on such things! ;)

That's it, I'm callin' Homeland Security and tellin' 'em your keepin' secret's from Americans. You'll be in Gitmo in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

Oh, wait, they keep secrets from Americans....hey, are you in bed with the administration?:eyebrow:

Plums

As in testicles. But then also used in this way to describe people.

Is "King Edwards" used in the same way? I understand it's a variety of potato?

Not that I know of....
The only potato references I've heard are about Wayne Rooney, a football (soccer) player who's head somewhat resembles a spud

Another term for a guy's 'bits and bobs' is his 'family allowance'. Usually used when injured ie. "Fuckin got me right in my family allowance".

Peculiar to the North I think: "Our Kid", referring to one's brother or sister. Also sometimes used with someone who is a close friend, a bit like calling someone Bro. as in "A'reet our Kid." (meaning hallo).

The use of 'Our' to denote kinship more generally. Eg, our dad, our mam, and in Yorkshire a guy will refer to his wife sometimes as 'our lass'.

So how did Prince Albert become a certain type of body piercing?

Am I missing somethin here?
I've always been confused by the joke - Do you have Prince Albert in a can? Let him out then.

To me Prince Albert was, and is, simply the late husband of Queen Victoria. Very fertile, much mourned, celebrated in The Royal Albert Hall and the slightly incredible Albert Memorial outside.

Here in the States, we refer to a male genital piercing through the glans as a "Prince Albert". I'd kind of like to know why, also.

Perhaps a male Brit would be a better source, here. No offense, SG...