British Slang
Slаng еxists in еvеry lаnguаgе; it is pаrt оf thе nаturаl еvоlutiоn оf a lаnguаgе. Slаng is а highly infоrmаl lаnguаgе аnd in mаny cаsеs, slаng is spеcific tо cеrtain gеоgrаphicаl lоcаtiоns, grоups оf pеоplе оr spеcific industriеs. Its infоrmаl nаturе mаkеs it аccеptаble fоr cоnvеrsаtiоns аmоng friеnds but inаpprоpriаtе fоr fоrmаl writing.
Slang is dеsignеd tо mаkе spееch mоrе cаsuаl, аnd it mаy nоt аlwаys bе suitаblе fоr pоlitе cоmpаny. Mаny tеrms аrе rеlаtеd tо humаn sеxuаlity аnd slаng cаn gеt rаthеr grаphic. Slаng cоnsists bоth оf cоinеd wоrds аnd phrаsеs аnd оf nеw оr еxtеndеd mеаnings аttаchеd tо еstаblishеd tеrms.
Lеаrning hоw tо usе slаng prоpеrly cаn bе vеry difficult. Mаny nеw lаnguаgе lеаrners strugglе with cаsuаl lаnguаgе аnd idiоms bеcаusе thе tеrms аrе оftеn nоnsеnsicаl аnd difficult tо cоmprеhеnd. It is оftеn difficult tо diffеrеntiatе slаng frоm cоlloquiаlisms аnd еvеn mоrе stаndаrd lаnguаgе, bеcаuse slаng gеnеrаlly bеcоmеs ассеptеd intо thе stаndаrd lexicоn оvеr timе. If yоu mаstеr this аspеct оf Еnglish lаnguаgе, yоu cаn fit in much mоrе еffеctivеly with nаtivе spеаkеrs.
List of British slang in common use:
Absobloodylootely – absolutely, Yes!
Ace – excellent, very good, brilliant
All To Pot - wrong, messed up
Anorak – a person weirdly interested in something
Arse – it basically means the same as ass, but is much ruder: pain in the arse = a nuisance
Arse about face – to do something back to front
Arse over elbow/Arse over tit - when you fall over in dramatic way, head over heels
Arseholed - drunk
Baccy – tobacco
Bangers – sausage
Barmy - crazy, insane
Beastly – nasty, unpleasant
Bee’s Knees – awesome, fabulous
Belt up – shut up
Bender/bum chum/poof - a homosexual male
Berk – a fool
Bevvy - short for beverage
Bickie – short for biscuit
Bits ‘n Bobs - various things
Bladdered – drunk
Blast! - an exclamation to say that something you didn't want to happen happened
Blighty – Britain
Blimey! – My Goodness
Blinding - excellent, great, or superb
Bloke – a guy
Bloody – 1. Damn. 2. used to emphasize almost anything, also bleeding or blooming
Bob’s your uncle! - There you go! You’ve got it. That’s it!
Bobby – policeman
Bollocks - rubbish, falsehood or series of lies, the best possible, exclamation on making a error
Bollocking - a harsh punishment
Bog Roll – toilet paper
Bomb –costs a bomb = expensive, something goes like a bomb = it goes really well or really fast
Brass Monkeys - extremely cold weather
Brassed off – fed up
Brolly – short for umbrella
Bugger All - nothing at all
Bugger off! - Go away! Leave me alone!
Bullshit - nonsense, lies, exaggeration
Busker – street entertainer
Butterfingers –clumsy
Cack-handed – clumsy
Bum – a homeless person, an ass, to get something from someone else for free
Bung - a bribe, to throw
Cheers – celebrations when toasting a drink with some friends, thanks! You are welcome! Bye
Cheesed off – frustrated, annoyed
Chuffed – proud
Chum – friend
Chunder - to vomit, to be sick
Chap – man, friend
Chat Up – flirt
Chav - a young lower-class person who behaves badly and wears fake designer clothes and hoodies. The name may come from the Council House and Vauxhall acronym or the Council House and Violent acronym
Cheeky - to be impudent or irreverent, typically in an endearing or amusing way
Chin Wag - to have a chat with someone
Clear off! - get lost! go away!
Cock up – to mess something up, make a mistake
Clever clogs/clever dick/smart arse – someone who thinks they're quite intelligent
Collywobbles - extreme stomach pain brought on by stress, nervousness or anxiety
Cracking – sensational, excellent, the best
Cracking-up – going insane, not making sense
Cram – to study hard, the act of attempting to learn large amounts of information in a short period of time
Crap - complete rubbish, shit, lie, worthless junk and/or pointless things
Crappy - worthless, terrible, shoddy, pointless
Cuppa – cup of tea
Daft - crazy, stupid, insane
Daft Cow - a very stupid person
Damp Squib - a disappointment
Dear - expensive and rare
Dip stick – a stupid person
Dishy –attractive, good looking, very sexually attractive and desirable
Do – a social gathering especially for pleasure or amusement, party
Dodgy - wrong, illegal, suspicious
Dog’s Bollocks - extremely good, favourable, great, awesome
Dog’s Dinner - to be dressed nicely
Donkey’s Years - ages, as in “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
DIY – Do It Yourself
Duffer – a complete idiot
Easy Peasy – easy
Fag – a cigarette
Fagged - tired or exhausted
Fancy – to like, desire
Fanny around – to procrastinate
Filch –steal something small or of little value
Fit – an incredibly attractive person, extremely good looking
Flog – to sell something, to steal something, to assault somebody
Fluke – A coincidence, luck, something great happened by chance
Fiver – £5
Full of beans – loads of energy
Gagging – desperate
Get lost! – go away!
Get stuffed! – Get lost! or Go away!
Give You A Bell – Call you
Gobby – someone who talks too much, too loudly, or uses boastful or slanderous talk
Gobsmacked - to be shocked and surprised beyond belief, amazed or awed by something
Gooseberry – to be the third person on a date
Gormless - brainless. Lacking in intelligence
Grub – food
Gutted – devastated
Hanky panky – could mean anything that happens between a couple like holding hands, kissing, sex, etc.
Happy as Larry - very happy, satisfied with the simple things in life
To Have A Butcher’s - to take a look at something or someone
Her Majesty’s Pleasure - to be in prison
Hole in the wall – a cash machine
Hoover – a vacuum cleaner
Horses for Courses – what might be good for one situation/person might not be good for another
Hunky-Dory – okay, normal, in satisfactory condition, very good, all right
I’m easy –I don’t care or it’s all the same to me
I’m Off To Bedfordshire! – I’m going to bed
It’s Monkeys Outside! - it’s very cold out
Kip – a short sleep or nap
Knackered - extremely tired, exhausted
Knees Up - a very informal gathering for any type of celebration with singing, dancing, and drinking
Knob Head – a foolish person
Knock up – to wake someone up
Know Your Onions – to be experienced in or knowledgeable about a subject
Lad – a boisterous young man
Leg it – run or run for it
Legless - totally, completely intoxicated, drunk
Loaded - really rich; "loaded" with money
Loo – a toilet
Lose The Plot –to get really angry and lose your self-control, stop acting rationally
Lurgy - sick or under the weather
Mate - a friend
Minger – a very ugly person
Minted - to be extremely rich
Mug –a gullible person
Naff – uncool, tacky, unfashionable, worthless
Nark –to be in a bad mood, or be grumpy, to annoy someone or spoil their enjoyment
Nicked – stolen
Nosh - to snack on
Nosh-up – a feast
Nutter – a crazy person
Off One’s Trolley - mad, crazy
On The Piss - to get drunk, binge drinking
Pavement Pizza - vomit
Peanuts – cheap
Pear shaped – a disaster, horribly wrong. It's all gone pear shaped
Pillock – an idiot or a real jerk
Pinch –to steal something
Piss poor – an extremely poor, extremely bad, and inadequate
Pissed – drunk
Pissed off - angry or annoyed about something or someone
Pissing around – fooling about
Plastered – heavily under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol
Plonk - cheap wine
Plonker – an idiot
Ponce - a poser
Porkies – lies
Posh –high class, very classy or sophisticated
Prat – an idiot
Pub grub - pub food
Puke – to vomit or to be sick
Put a sock in it – shut up!
Quid – £
Rubbish - crap, waste, lies, bullshit
Sack/sacked – to be fired from ones place of employment
Scouser – someone from Liverpool
Scrummy - a combination of "scrumptious" and "yummy" - delicious
See A Man About a Dog - an excuse for leaving, in order to conceal one's true destination. For example, if one is headed to the toilet
Shambolic - messy, in a state of bedlam and chaos
Shambles – chaos, disorder, poorly organised, worthless
Sixes and sevens – chaotic and confused
Shirty - ill-tempered, insolent
Shite – another way of saying shit
Shitfaced – to be really drunk
Skive – be absent from work or school during the hours that you should normally be there due to pretending to fake illness, lazy or avoid doing something
Screw up - to fail at something, to do something wrong/incorrectly (sometimes repeatedly), to describe hurting someone emotionally or physically
Smarmy – self-centered and insincere
Smashing – fine, wonderful, terrific
Sod Off – get lost, go away, shut up, and stop bothering me
Sorted – arranged
Spend A Penny - to use a toilet
Splash out – to spend far too much money
Sponger – a person who borrows or begs and does nothing to earn their own money
Snookered - to be in a bad situation
Squiffy – being a little drunk
Sprog – a child
Starkers - naked, nude and unclothed
Stonking – impressive, wonderful, awesome
Stuffed – to be full
Swotting – to study hard
Tad – a little
Taking The Piss - messing or screwing around, making fun of someone, without intending to cause serious offence
Tara – goodbye
Telly – television
Tenner – £10
The Bee’s Knees - excellent - the highest quality
Thick – stupid
Throw A Spanner In The Works - to do something that prevents a plan or activity from succeeding
Throw a wobbler - to become very angry, or throw a tantrum
Tickety-Boo - going smoothly, doing all right, proceeding quickly
Toff – people in top management, posh or upper class people
Tosh – rubbish, crap or bollocks
Tramp – a homeless person who hangs around begging and drinking
Wally – Useless, stupid person
Waffle –talk about nothing, to talk or write foolishly
Wicked – cool, good, great
Wind up – to provoke, tease or deceive
Whinge – whine or complain in an annoying manner
Wonky – not stright, not right, weird, messed up, unstable
Uni – college/university
Up the Duff – pregnant
Yakking –talking incessantly
Zonked – To be extremely tired or exhausted