Out of the Mouths of Brits, Volume II

 Alright, a lot of people really liked my English Slang post from last week, so I spent a few days compiling more sayings and phrases and words to share with you! Here goes.

Knob- a slang word for male genitalia, often used for an insult. "Don't be such a knob!" It's not as offensive as it seems. 

Stroppy- this is used when someone is being very moody. Sometimes when I'm being bratty and throw a sassy line at Mick he looks at me all exasperated and says in a high-pitched voice, "Alright, stroppy!"


Got a cob on- A way of saying you're in a bad mood or sulking. Again, Mick has asked me "why have you got a cob on?" I'm not entirely sure where it comes from. And for the record, I'm not always in a bad mood!


Thick- Stupid, unintelligent.

Innit- A chavy way of saying "isn't it." Example, "that car is well fast, innit?!"

Trolly- grocery cart

Lorry- Large truck, like an eighteen wheeler.

Pikey- common, low class, trailer trash. Can describe a thing, area or a person. "This place is full of pikeys." or "This neighborhood is so pikey!" It's kind of how they describe gypsies and pikey comes from the term "turnpike" which is the side of the road and where lots of gypsies would camp out.

Chav- This one took me ages to understand. I still find it difficult to explain, so read here.

Holiday- what they call vacation. "Oh, I'd love a holiday on the beach!"

Cheers- Thanks.

Plonker- comes from Only Fools and Horses. Stupid, idiot. Del Boy always told his brother Rodney "don' be a plonka awl ya life!"

Tart- promiscuous woman or slutty dressers

Biscuit/Cookie- Okay, this is a huge debate between Americans and Brits. In America, we have cookies. It's a pretty broad range of tasty snacks. In England, it's broken down into two categories- cookies and biscuits. In England, this is a cookie, just like it is in America:

image from cookiedelivery.com

And in England these would be considered biscuits, even though in America they'd just be more cookies:

image from buchnknight.blogspot.com

Bobby- from kaboodle.com

So, all very cookie type things. The best way I can think to describe the difference is that fluffy more home-made type things are considered to be cookies, while harder, more compressed baked goods are considered biscuits.

Copper- A police officer. Not to be mistaken for a bobby.

Bobby- A certain type of police officer that wears a helmet.

Ickle- small, tiny. On at least one occasion Mick has called me "ickle sleepy head."

Petal- An affectionate nickname, generally for a woman. If I'm lucky I get called this.

Plank- a stupid person.

Ponce- Someone who dresses and acts fancier than they probably are.

Posh-  Classy and sophisticated

Sod- Meaning sodomite, but that is in the old fashioned context. More commonly used as a gentle form of fool, bastard, or idiot. "You cheeky sod!"

Blow off- To break wind

Bog roll- Toilet paper. The restroom here is sometimes called the bog.

Chuffed- Pleased, stoked, proud. "I was really chuffed that everyone liked the cookies I made!"

Toilet- The restroom. You don't really ever hear someone say "I need to use the restroom" over here. It's generally "I need the toilet," which kind of grosses me out, because it makes me think of the actual bowl and it's just yucky.

Fit- sexy, attractive

Fiver/tenner- Five or ten pound note (money).

Frog- What the English people call the French. The French and the English don't like each other much, but then again, who really likes the french?

Gogglebox- This one I haven't heard too often, but it means television. "Turn on the old gogglebox, will you?"

Kip- Sleep. "I'm going to try to catch some kip."

Taking the piss- Messing with someone, joking around. A less offensive way of saying it is "taking the mickey." I got Mick his favorite television series on DVD for Christmas and he looked up at me shocked and said "are you taking the piss?!" In this case he pretty much meant "are you serious?!"

Skint- broke, no money. "I'd love to go, but I'm skint."


That's probably all I'll do for a while, because for now that's all I know! But if I learn more I will post them.

Mick and I have been talking and we (I) really want to get a rabbit. We both want a pet- I haven't had one since my childhood dog, Bailey, passed away a few years ago and Mick misses his rats. Where we live we can't really have a dog or a cat and they're a bit more of a financial obligation than we're looking for, so we decided a rabbit would be nice. It seems to be alright with Mick's mum and step-dad. I've fallen in love with a little guy an hour away who looks something like this:

image from petrabbitworld.com

He's a Dwarf Lop baby and I have to have him so I can schnoz all over his little face.We're going to go see him later in the week and put down a deposit.

Other than that, I've been just doing odds and ends. I had my first adventure in drying clothes on the line

 

And bonding with the dog 

Last week was nice. Mick and I were able have a belated anniversary celebration. I took him out for an English Fry Up, his favorite thing about being English.

My first English fry up at the Hobgoblin Pub in Canterbury last summer. I've had a few more since then...

And he made a really nice pasta dinner and we exchanged cards. Nothing big this year because we've spent a lot of money on flights and rings for the wedding and stuff.
And oh yeah, news on the wedding. I've gone back and forth a bit but we've decided to just do one wedding rather than a legal one and then a big fancy one. I really want all my family to be able to be there, but I kind of feel like having the two weddings, they end up stealing thunder from each other. The first isn't fancy, but it's the real deal. And the second one would be pretty and formal and a big party, but we'd already be married. So we're just going to do a small but elegant wedding in September. I'm waiting to hear back from the place, but I think it will be September 2nd. Which will make a very busy three weeks for me and Mick! My birthday is August 23, our anniversary will be September 2, and his birthday is September 12!
We spent the weekend in Kent and got to go to a friend's housewarming party. It was a very cute older house and made me really look forward to a time when Mick and I will be able to do the same thing. Now we are back in Bognor for a couple of weeks. I have to say I'm glad to not be back and forth for a bit. I keep forgetting things at one house or the other, this week I forgot my razor!

A very Happy 4th of July to all my friends and family back in America. I always feel like such a traitor when I'm here on this particular holiday. Inside I'm waving a little flag. I'm going to miss the hotdogs and fireworks, though. Perhaps I can stream a live firework display or something.

That's all for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend and a not too miserable Monday. :)

Out of the Mouths of Brits, Volume I

Something that has fascinated me since I first set foot on British soil are the differences in American-English and English-English. There are all sorts of different words for words I'm used to, and different names for things. So, I thought I'd start keeping track of some of these and share them with you. I'll be doing a few of these from time to time, especially whenever I hear something that makes me laugh. And oh, do the Brits make me laugh. Here goes.

image from randomrockers.wikia.com

Chips/French Fries
First off, we call these french fries. The Brits call them chips. It makes total sense, really. Especially when Mick explains it to me. Not all 'fries' are fried. Plenty of them are baked, and we don't call them 'bakes,' now, do we? Alright, I can get on board with that. 'Chips' it is then.

image from allthingsjennifer.wordpress.com

Chips/Crisps
Next, we call these 'chips' but here they are 'crisps' which I can also get behind because, yes, they're crispy. But this is only for potato based 'crisps.' If they're made from corn (like Doritos or Tostitos) they're nachos. Even if there's no cheese on them. That one I can't get behind, it should be corn crisp. Or something. 

Pudding
Also, to us Americans, pudding is something very particular. A thick almost saucy substance made from a Jell-O box. Here, 'pudding' is what they usually call 'dessert.' The word dessert of course exists and is commonly used, but so is pudding.

Blatant: Used for what we would call "obviously." For instance, in America if we saw someone who was, say, very tan. You would say to your friend
"Looks like someone hits the tanning bed."
"Obviously."
Here, the reply would be "blatantly." This has taken me a while to get used to. Mick says it all the time and at first I didn't like it but sure enough, I'm saying it now :/ I tend to pick things up that other people say around me really easily.

Have a Butcher's:
Commonly said for "have a look." Now, this goes deeper than just the differences between American and English. In England there's something known as rhyming slang. Mick (with the help of the classic TV series Only Fools and Horses) has taught me a bit of this. Rhyming Slang began in London when crooks would talk to one another. It was a sort of code language so that nobody (police) would know what bad things they were up to. This is all a Cockney thing. Now, what's a Cockney? A Cockney is someone born within the sound of Bow Bells. (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, London). It's a specific area of London. So, "Butcher's hook" rhymes with "look" so to "have a butcher" means to "have a look." There are loads of other things, it's like an entire language. Here are a few more:
Loaf of bread: Head (Mick's dad would always tell him as a kid to "use his loaf" ie. "use his head")
North and south: Mouth
Mince pies: eyes
Barnet fair: hair
Apples and pears: stairs
New Delhi: stomach (belly)
Pork pies: lies
The list goes on and on, like I said, it's like an entire language. You can learn more about it here.

Cheeky: Smart ass

Dodgy: Not to be trusted, shady

You alright/alright?
This one always threw me off at first. Commonly, in America, someone only asks you if you're alright if you seem upset, look down, are moody, etc. Every time Mick and I would talk, going back years, he'd ask "you alright?" or "alright?" And I'd be all alert and ask "yeah why? What do you mean?" And he'd just shrug it off. After a little while he explained to me it was nothing more than asking something like "how's it going?" This one's very, very common.

Gutted: Really upset, crushed. Also very common.

Knackered: Really tired, exhausted.


Pants: Underwear. This caused a lot of confusion the first time Mick's mom asked if I needed any laundry done.

Right: Really or very. For instance "I'm right hungry."

Ring: Call. So you don't "call" someone on the phone. You "ring" them.

Row: (rhymes with cow) argument. "We had a row."


Bits and bobs: Odds and ends, this and that, etc

Sack: to get fired from your job.

Cushty: when everything is great, comfortable. As far as I know, this comes from Only Fools and Horses, which I've mentioned before. It's like the cornerstone of British television.

Smart: If someone is dressed nice but not really formal, they look smart. "Wear some smart trousers" etc.


Sorted: Fixed or solved. Often when Mick and I trying to figure something out (how we'll get somewhere, when we'll go somewhere, how we'll pay for something) and we decide he'll say "sorted." Not "good it's sorted." Just "sorted."

Tosser/wanker: Used when you want to insult someone and call them a jerk. Also has a more yucky sexual meaning, but mostly used for jerk.

Having a go: If you're "having a go" at someone it means you're laying into them, lecturing them, tearing them a new one, etc.

Proper: Slang again for really or very. For instance "oh that's proper messed up!" would mean "that's really messed up!" This one is used a TON!


Bollocks: Ok, this one technically means balls, like testicles, but it has many uses. You could say you were "kicked in the bollocks" or you can just use it as an expletive. For example "oh bollocks, I can't find my keys!" This one is one of my favorites, though I tend to just say "balls." It's a fun word and it makes me giggle. You can also say "that's a load of bollocks" if you think someone is BSing you. It's a good all around word.


Zed: Ohhh, this one confused me for a while! If you're talking about the alphabet, "zed" is how Brits say the letter "z." So, if you had someone spell out a word for you, like zebra, they wouldn't say "z-e-b-r-a" like we would in America. They'd say "zed-e-b-r-a." Stupid if you ask me. But whatever.

Okay, that's all of that for now. I'm sure I'll be coming up with more as I learn more. There are also products with funny names, which I wanted to include but I've gone and forgotten them. I thought it would be a good idea to post these, because at some point I'm sure I'll start to actually use these words as part of my everyday vocabulary and it will be good for you to be able to use this post as a reference. I've already started thinking with a British accent, though not talking with one. I guess it's because that's all I hear now. It's strange and a bit confusing because the voice in my head no longer really sounds like myself and when I think something before I say it, I feel like it comes out wrong because there's no accent when I say it! Weird!

Not much is going on the past couple days. I went with Laura (my to be sister in law) and her boyfriend Russ into Maidstone today while Mick stayed at home and did some work. We had a quick lunch then Russ went off to try and find Laura a birthday gift. Laura and I wandered around a department store looking dress ideas. I need something cute to wear for the Registry Wedding next month. We didn't find anything, just looking for some ideas. I want to wait until closer to the wedding because I think I might be able to drop a few pounds between now an then as it's so muggy and we walk everywhere so I'm sweating something fierce. Also, my appetite isn't what it used to be so I'm not eating quite so much. Yay! Time to get some of that new relationship weight off! Then Russ needed some help picking out a gift so he came and took me away. So we left Laura on her own for a few minutes and picked a couple things out. I'm glad Mick has a sister. Especially a nice one. It's a built in friend for me. It's really scary, you know, moving to a new place and leaving your friends and family. I'm just glad Mick has such a cool one (family) to share with me.

Tomorrow should be fun, we're going to the zoo and out to dinner for Laura's birthday. My first English zoo! I'll take pictures and hopefully it won't be so stinking yucky out. The weather itself isn't so hot, but it's reallllly humid, so I'm a bit unhappy. Today it's only about 80F but the humidity is really high, nearly 50%. It's supposed to rain soon, though, so that will help. Thank goodness!

By the way, here's a picture of the Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone on the river. This is where we'll be getting married next month!

image from wikireadia.org.uk

Okay. That's all for now. My laptop is getting hot in my lap and making me even hotter.