Curious George

A fountain of material and immaterial information - Things that I spend my days wondering about... and perhaps you have been too? Check out www.figenschou.net for more curious questions (and answers to them)

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Funny British Words & Expressions

  • On your jack - by yourself (ex. he's coming on his jack)
  • geezer - old man, but also mate
  • knackered - tired
  • kip - sleep
  • Brolly - umbrella
  • dustpan - trash can (WHAT is up with that... do people only throw away dust here in Britain?)
  • And then also of course; Dustman - garbage man
  • Lad/Lass - boy/girl
  • Blimey - pretty good to use this when you are suprised
  • Chuffed - happy
  • Cloakroom - see it's NOT A cloakroom at all, its a TOILET!
  • Corking/Spiffing - excellent, only usually used sarcastically
  • Dodgy - supicious
  • Fortnight - two weeks
  • Git - Oddball,Jerk
  • Jolly - very, happy
  • Nick - to steal
  • Nip - to run quickly to a place
  • Spend a penny - go to the loo (from the days the public toilets cost a penny)
  • Wellingtons - duke of Wellington invented the rubber boots
  • Feeling peckish - feeling hungry
  • afters - dessert
  • pudding - another word for dessert
  • Duff, Naff, Bollocks, My arse - words for B.S.
  • cheeky bugger - smarty pants/bold
  • duffer - silly bugger
  • Waffli'n - talking silly - stop waffling, or even can be used as "stop waffling about"
  • taking a brad - from Brad Pit..... (yepp you're taking a shit)
  • Tank - Yank (American for those who didnt get that) (Crazy Brits I tell you)

posted by Riff Raff @ Saturday, February 05, 2005  

4 Comments:

  • At 8:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    dustpan - trash can (WHAT is up with that... do people only throw away dust here in Britain?)
    -No, dustpan and brush...for sweeping up dust or general debris from the floor.

    Cloakroom - see it's NOT A cloakroom at all, its a TOILET!
    -No, a toilet is never referred to as a cloakroom, not in the UK anyway. Well maybe the Shetlands, but that'll wasted on 'Tanks' :P

     

  • At 7:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yes, we Brits used the word dustpan (as in dustpan and brush which is something that is used for sweeping the floor) but for a "trash can" we say dustbin!!!

    A cloakroom is somewhere you hang you coats/jackets...

     

  • At 10:57 AM, Blogger Nick said…

    Also we recycle lot, and you just waste everything, so yeah dust is not such a bad thing to throw away. Dustbin it is.

     

  • At 6:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    no need to be insulting in your comments. We do not throw away everything, we recycle as well. I have many British friends that I have come over to visit and we laugh about our differences in expressions and meanings. We poke fun at each other but it is out of love and respect and not in an insulting way.

     

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