British slang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
British slang is English language slang used in Great Britain. While some slang words and phrases are used throughout all of Britain (e.g. knackered, meaning "exhausted"), others are restricted to smaller regions.[1] London has its own varieties of slang, one of the most well-known of which is Cockney rhyming slang.[2]. General British Slang is arguably the most clever of all English language slangs, incorporating and mastering colourful subtlety that only a comprehensive daily vocabulary could conceive.
Lexicographer Eric Partridge has published many works about British slang, most notably A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, currently revised and edited by Paul Beale.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Varieties of slang
[edit] Rhyming slang
Rhyming slang, chiefly associated with cockney speech spoken in the East End of London, replaces a word with a phrase which rhymes with the word, for example, plates of meat for "feet", or twist and twirl for "girl". Often only the first word is used, so plates and twist by themselves become the colloquialisms for "feet" and "girl".[4]
[edit] Back slang
Back slang is simply the practice of using words spelled in reverse, e.g. yob for "boy" or ecilop for "police".[4]
[edit] Polari
Polari is a variety of slang used by gay men and lesbians in Britain and the United Kingdom, which has a history going back at least a hundred years.[5]
[edit] Definitions
- Arse bandit, bender, bent, bum bandit, fairy, marmite miner, pillow biter, poof/poofter, ring raider, shirtlifter, shit stabber, turd burglar, uphill gardner
- homosexual (offensive, derogatory)
- Bang-Tidy
- hot, sexy or beautiful woman, (adjective) "a bang-tidy lass"
- barney/in barney
- trouble/in trouble (from Barney Rubble, Cockney rhyming slang for trouble)
- Bean
- a woman's clitoris
- bell/bell-end
- glans of the penis or fool
- berk
- idiot, irritating person (from Berkeley Hunt, Cockney rhyming slang for cunt)
- Billy
- amphetamines. (From Billy Whizz, a British comic strip character.) friendless (Billy No-Mates)
- Bird
- girl, woman (usually fit)
- Bobby, Old Bill, Plod, 5-Oh, Rozzers, Bizzie (Scouse),Dibbles (as in Officer Dibble from Top Cat), The Scum, The Filth
- police, police officer
- Blagger
- Liar or Robber. Also 'Blag' is 'lie to' or 'rob' someone. Also somebody who boasts a lot.
- Bloke, chap, geezer
- Man (informal)
- Blooming
- euphemism for bloody
- Blue-Veins
- breasts (Yorkshire slang, referencing the protuberance of blue veins in women's breasts)
- Bog
- toilet
- Bog off
- Go away
- Bog roll
- Toilet paper
- Bollocks
- Derogatory term used for testicles. Also used to describe something as "useless" or having "poor quality". Ex. "That's a load of Bollocks" or "Bollocks to this!". But it can also be used to describe something that is admired by the speaker.
- Boozer
- a pub or bar
- Brown bread
- dead
- Bugger
- Anal sex, an exclamation of dissatisfaction ("OH BUGGER!"), in a dire situation ("Well, we're buggered now"), acute surprise
- Bum
- The Buttocks, The Anus or Both.
- Chav, ned, bam, scally
- A person who dresses in a certain style, typically badly or in sports clothing. Often used as a form of derogation.
- Cheers
- Thank you or goodbye, or a drinking toast
- Cock
- An idiot
- Crachin
- The best
- Crack
- (or craic in Ireland) good times, the happenings etc.
- Duff
- Doesn't work "these batteries are duff" or beat "let's duff him up"
- End away
- to have sex (male reference), e.g. "I finally got me end away with my new bird"
- Fag
- Cigarette
- Fanny
- Female external genitalia, a woman's vagina
- Fit
- Sexually Attractive, hot
- Flick the Bean
- female masturbation, similar to wank: e.g. "I walked in on Susie flicking her bean again to Robbie Williams last week"
- Gaff
- house
- Gaffer
- boss
- gash
- derogatory term used for females or the female genitalia
- gay
- bad e.g. "It was 'gay' being mugged"
- git, bell-end, knob-end
- incompetent, stupid, annoying, or childish person
- Geezer
- similar to American vernacular "dude"
- Gob
- Mouth; to spit
- Gobsmacked
- Flabbergasted, dumbfounded, astounded, speechless
- Half-Inch
- To Steal
- Ham-Sandwich
- a woman's vagina (Yorkshire slang)
- Helmet
- 'Glans of the Penis' or 'fool'
- handbags
- a harmless fight
- Ickle
- Small
- I('ll) say
- expression of surprise, amazement (quaint)
- Jack, Raise
- Steal
- jammy
- lucky. (also 'spawny')
- Jizz
- Semen
- Kip
- Sleep, Nap
- knackered
- exhausted, tired
- Knob head
- a stupid, irritating person
- Knob Jockey
- homosexual (to ride the penis like a jockey rides a horse)
- Knob-end
- an idiot, or tip of penis (same as bell-end)
- Lad
- boy (or man)
- Lass
- girl (or woman)
- Loo
- Lavatory
- Manc
- someone from Manchester
- Manky
- Dirty, filthy
- Mashed
- Drunk
- Meat and Two Veg
- male external genitalia
- Minge
- Vagina, also female vaginal pubic-hair
- Minger
- Ugly or filthy-minded person
- Minted
- Wealthy
- Munter
- Ugly person
- Nick
- Steal or Police Station "He's in the 'Nick'"
- Nicked
- Arrested or Stolen i.e. "He got 'Nicked' after he'd 'Nicked' that Car"
- Nonce
- Paedophile or idiot
- N'owt
- nothing
- Nutter
- Insane person
- Owt
- anything, something
- pig pen
- police station
- pikey
- is a pejorative slang term used, mainly in England to refer to travellers, gypsies or people of low social class
- Pillock
- Someone who is stupid, a penis
- Pinch
- Steal
- Pissed
- Drunk (or Pissed Up)
- On the Piss
- getting drunk, drinking alcohol
- Porkies
- lies (shortened from the cockney rhyming slang Pork Pies = lies)
- Ponce
- an effeminate man, or homosexual
- Punter
- a customer/patron, or gambler
- Ring, ring piece
- Anal Sphincter
- Safe
- Good, Agreed
- See A Man About A Dog
- Attend a secret deal or meeting or to go to the toilet.
- Scouser
- Someone from Liverpool
- Scrote
- Scrotum or pestilent child or teenager[dubious ]
- Shag
- Have sex with
- Shiner
- Black Eye or Erection
- Skint
- without money
- Skanked
- Ripped-off, daylight robbery, expensive
- Skanky
- vile
- Slag, Slapper, Tart, Scrubber
- Prostitute, Loose woman
- Slash
- urinate, urination
- snog
- French kiss
- Sod
- idiot, moron, or annoying person (from sodomite)
- Sod off
- go away, i.e. fuck off.
- Steaming
- Extremely Drunk
- Stuffed
- sexual intercourse (e.g. "Get Stuffed") or to have had too much to eat ("I'm stuffed")
- spawny
- lucky
- spunk
- semen, ejaculate
- Take the piss (out of)
- To mock, "Are you taking the piss?"
- Tosser
- Literally someone who masturbates (to toss off), but generally means an idiot or someone whom the speaker doesn't like
- Tuppence
- a woman's vagina
- Twat
- Female genitalia or an idiot
- Wank
- masturbation
- Wanker
- Literally someone who masturbates (verb - to wank), but generally means an idiot or someone whom the speaker doesn't like.[6]
- Whizz
- Amphetamines. See also 'Billy' or the need to urinate i.e "i'm just off for a quick whizz"
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
[edit] References
- ^ Mattiello, Elisa (2008). An Introduction to English Slang. Polimetrica. p. p. 51. ISBN 8876991131. http://books.google.com/books?id=5KXdKLDym2QC&pg=PA51.
- ^ Todd, Richard Watson (2006). Much Ado about English. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. p. p. 67. ISBN 1857883721. http://books.google.com/books?id=zb-ISQHfz70C&pg=PA67.
- ^ Algeo, John (1999). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge University Press. p. p. 58. ISBN 0521264774. http://books.google.com/books?id=NxHuNOvwt7wC&pg=PA58.
- ^ a b Kövecses, Zoltán (2000). American English: An Introduction. Broadview Press. pp. pp. 135-136. ISBN 1551112299. http://books.google.com/books?id=1-sL6hIbW-MC&pg=PA135.
- ^ Baker, Paul (2004). Fantabulosa: a dictionary of Polari and gay slang. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826473431. http://books.google.com/books?id=T72TJfZoywAC&pg=PR7.
- ^ http://entertainme.excite.co.uk/news/5569/Bono-calls-Chris-Martin-a-wanker-the-BBC-panic
[edit] Further reading
- Partridge, Eric (2002). Beale, Paul. ed. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. ISBN 0415291895.
- James, Ewart (1998). NTC's Dictionary of British Slang and Colloquial Expressions. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0844208388.
- Baker, Paul (2002). Dictionary of Polari & gay slang.
- Baker, Paul (2002). Polari-- the lost language of gay men.
- Bernstein, Jonathan (2006). Knickers in a twist : a dictionary of British slang.
- Geris, Jan (2003). American's guide to the British language : really, they talk like this every day.
- Green, Jonathon (2000). Big book of being rude.
- James, Ewart (1999). Contemporary British slang : an up-to-date guide to the slang of modern British English.
- Parody, A. (Antal) (2007). Eats, shites & leaves : crap English and how to use it.
- Soudek, Lev. (1967). Structure of substandard words in British and American English.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary – an online dictionary of British slang, viewable alphabetically or by category.
- English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom
