User:Hharvey

== American’s Page of British Slang Words and Phrases ==

Introduction
Many of our vastly used expressions in the United States come from old or current British slang words and phrases. If an American traveled to England and listened to casual conversation between friends, they would find themselves lost and confused. However, if they wrote down the expressions and slang, and considered each one, they would find links to common expressions in the U.S. There are many words that have merely been adapted, however, there is also a type of slang called Cockney Rhyming Slang; all of these styles are widely used.

Cockney Rhyming Slang
Cockney Rhyming Slang is a type of slang, used mostly in the Northern parts of England, in which words or phrases are substituted by something that they rhyme with. Not only can the words be replaced, but the new word can be a double rhyming word such as “nitty-gritty” or “namby-pamby”. Some of the phrases derive from historical figures that represent a certain thing. For example, “Hampstead Heath” for “teeth” because it is an alliteration in which Hampstead is a dental care company and Heath rhymes with teeth. The reason for this vernacular is still unknown, although it is evident that it was formed for excluding outsiders to the conversation. Cockney Rhyming Slang is very common among friends, coworkers, or any other types of groups. Many people continue to use Cockney Rhyming Slang, some just doing it for the fun of it, others for a purpose unknown to us. The use of this slang is often thought of to be working classmen’s language, however, the flow and sleekness of it is actually quite desirable. The following are some examples:

Apple and Pears, stairs. Barnet-Fair, hair.

Bird-lime, time.

Lath-and-plaster, master.

Oats and chaff, footpath.

(http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cockney-rhyming-slang.html)

How to do Cockney Rhyming Slang
Cockney Rhyming Slang can be an extremely interesting thing to try to do, so here are some tips to replacing dull words with interesting phrases. The first thing one would do is pick the word that they would like to replace. Then they would think of something completely unrelated to their word, but that rhymes with it. Next, they simply replace their common every day word with their new arbitrary word or phrase. For example, if one were to say “can I borrow your pen?” they could change that by replacing the word “pen” with the rhyming phrase “clen-den” which has absolutely nothing to do with the original word. The final phrase would come out to be “can I borrow your clen-den?”. Another example could be taking the word “boots”, rhyming it with “roots”, and finishing by replacing the word “boots”, with the phrase “tree roots”. The name Grant (as in Ulysses S. Grant) is often associated with war. Therefore, to replace the word war, one can take the name Grant, combine it with a word that rhymes with war, such as sore, and create “Grant-sore”, meaning “war”. The British’s favorite Cockney Rhyming slang is the word “Septic”, which is something they call Americans. The reason is that it is short for “septic tank” which rhymes with “yank” which is another word for an American. Here are some more examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang:

Donkey’s Ears, Years Dog and Bone, Phone

Frog and Toad, Road

Elephant’s Trunk, Drunk

Pronunciation
Like every other language in the world, English has its different accents and pronunciation, whether it is Australian, American, Irish, or many others. When visiting another English-speaking country, people find it harder to understand the natives, and therefore should be taught about the pronunciations so that when they need to, they can apply what they know. The number one thing that one should know about, is how most of the English do not pronounce an “r” in the middle of a word. For example, when the British say the word “hard”, they pronounce it “haad”. A similar example would be the word “farther” that the British pronounce just like “father”. Another very common thing is “shire”, which comes after the name of many counties. For example, Hampshire, would not be pronounced “Hamp-shyer”, but “Hampshuh”. Also in names of cities and towns, “ham” is a common ending, but is pronounced differently than it appears. Such as in “Nottingham”, the “ham” is not pronounced like the sandwich meat, it is pronounced “Notting-um”. One must also be aware of the letter “t”. For example, in America, we pronounce “butter” like “budder”, however, the British say “butter” with enunciation on the “t”’s.

Clothing
Knickers: underwear (mostly ladies)

Pants: underwear (mostly men) Trousers: pants, jeans

Jumper: sweater

Frock: dress

Dressing Gown: robe

Cozzy or Swimming costume: swim suit Dinner Jacket: tuxedo

Dungarees: overalls

Nappy: diaper

Pinafore (pinafore dress): jumper

Polo neck: turtle neck

Suspenders: garder belts

Tights: pantyhose

Trainers (short for training shoes): sneakers

Vest: undershirt

Waistcoat: vest

Wellies (Wellington Boots): galoshes

Transportation
Bump start: jump start

Bonnet: the car’s hood

Cab: taxi

Car park: parking lot

Coach: like a Greyhound

Double decker: bus

Dual carriageway: divided highway

Economy: coach (the cheaper seats on a plane)

Hire Car: rental car

Jam Sandwich: police car

Juggernaut: 18 wheeler

Lorry: truck

Magic Roundabout: a roundabout with cars moving in both directions

Motorway: freeway

Petrol: gas

Subway: underpass

Zebra crossing: crosswalk

Slang
Ace: cool

All right?: Hi, how are you?

Any road: anyway

As well: also

Barmy (or mad): gone crazy

Belt up: shut up

Best of British: good luck

Bite your arm off: enormously excited

Blast: exclamation of surprise

Bleeding or bloody: derogatory exclamation of surprise

Blow me: exclamation of surprise

Bob’s your uncle: and that’s it!

Brill: brilliant or cool

Cheeky: flippant; smart alec

Cheerio or Cheers: good-bye

Chinese whispers: the game “telephone”

Codswallop: bologna

Daft: stupid

Dicky: feeling sick (cockney rhyming slang-see if you can figure it out!)

Dishy: good-looking or attractive

Duck or Ducky: term of endearment

Fag: cigarette

Fagging: at a boarding school when a new boy acts as a slave for an older boy, the act of doing this is called fagging

Fancy: desire or want

Fit: good-looking. A fit bird is a good-looking girl and a fit bloke is a good-looking guy

Getting off: making out

Hanky-panky: making out

Snoggingh: making out

Have: get (saying “can you go get it” is rude in England)

Jolly: very good

Khazi: bathroom

Kip: nap

Knock on: to go to someone’s house

Knock up: wake someone up

Love bite: hickies

Mate: friend

Morish: when you feel like you want more (food)

Mug: someone who is gullible

Nosh: food

Pants: total crap

Pavement Pizza: vomit

Posh: high class

Prat: insulting name for someone

Quid: the British pound; like saying “buck” in America

Right: “I’m feeling right sick today”, means very

Ring: a (phone) call

Row: argument

Rubbish: garbage; used literally and used to describe someone talking “crap”

Skive: to skip or ditch (as in a class)

Slapper: tramp

Snog: making out

Spend a penny: go to the bathroom

Ta: thanks

Taking the biscuit: sweeping the floor

Tidy: used to describe a woman being attractive

Two finger salute: giving the middle finger

Watcha or Wotcher: hi

Yonks: ages

Zed: the last letter of the alphabet; the letter “Z”

Other Useful Sites
http://www.businessballs.com/clichesorigins.htm

http://www.panix.com/~acohen/expr.html

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm

http://www.zoo.ufl.edu/bolker/vocab/vocab.html

--Hharvey 23:33, 5 December 2006 (UTC)