(PG-rated!)

I'm an Anglophile from WAY-Y back.

When I was but four years old in rural Texas, I'd watch movies like MARY POPPINS, BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS, OLIVER! and so forth. I was enchanted by the accents.... and by the way this strange country never seemed to have the blistering heat that ours did! I'd turn to my parents very solemnly and say, "When I get big, I'm going there."

....and that's exactly what happened.

On another online Forum, I was asked to provide as many British-isms as I could remember. Here's the list I came up with (minus two or three of the REALLY naughtier expressions).

Can you think of some more to add? My dear Britons here, please chime in, won't you??



truck=lorry
aluminum=aluminium
airplane=aeroplane
wrench=spanner
FOR RENT=TO LET
radio=wireless
kitchen stove or range=cooker
tacky & outmoded=naff
a nap, some sleep=kip
movie theater=cinema
complain= to whinge, to moan
potato chips=crisps
french fries=chips
dessert=pudding, pudd
cookie=biscuit
biscuit=scone
you guys='you lot'
everything='the lot'
carnival=funfair
domino effect=knock-on effect
cigarettes=fags
steal=pinch, nick, cadge
fashionable=smart
smart=clever
dumb=thick
illegal street vendor=spiv
urinate=have a wee, have a slash, spend a penny
steal a cigarette=pinch a fag
leave briefly=nip out
go to the bar=go down the pub
juvenile delinquent= ASBO (from "anti-social behavior order")
Get lost!= Naff off! Bugger off! Pi$s off!
I'm very thirsty!=I'm positively gaspin'!
I don't care=don't give a toss, don't give a monkey's
hot water heater=the geyser
trunk of a car=the boot
windshield=windscreen
automobile=motorcar
hooker=prossie
desire sth. (vt)=fancy sth.
highway=motorway
effeminate=camp
hot tea with lemon instead of milk=Russian-style
stubborn=bloody-minded
snobbish=toffee-nosed (here, 'toffee'=feces.... Get it?)
upper-class person=toff (pej. slang)
idiot=git
stupid person= twit, tit, muppet
pastor=vicar
nothing at all= bugger-all, Sweet Fanny Adams
tease someone meanspiritedly=take the mickey out of, take the pi$s
tourists=holiday-makers
on vacation=on holiday
popsicle=ice lolly
swimsuit=bathing costume, cozzie
fireplace grate=fender
argument=row
mess around=fanny about, muck about
get busy=pull your finger out
risqué=saucy
jelly=jam
JELL-O=jelly
A1 sauce=HP sauce
peppermint LifeSavers=POLO's
malted milk ball$=MALTESERS
M&M's=SMARTIES
GOOD 'N' PLENTY=LIQUORICE ALLSORTS
mixed soft candies=DOLLY MIXTURE
carbonated apple juice=APPLE TIZER
lager with ROSE'S lime or 7UP=rock shandigaff
to graduate (v)=matriculate
graduates (n.pl)=leavers
alumni=old boys, old girls
school principal=headmaster, headmistress
freshman at a boy's school=fag
small child, baby=nipper
private school=public school
public school=private school
OIL OF OLAY=OIL OF ULAY
yard, lawn=garden
booger=greenie
pimples=spots
senior citizen=old age pensioner, O.A.P.
dinner=tea
apartments=bloc of flats, mews
slaughterhouse=abbatoir
goosedown comforter=duvet
sleep in=have a lie-in
drunk=pis$ed
pis$ed=cross
very tired=knackered
try something=have a go
provoke somebody=have a go
beat someone up=put the boot in
lawyer=solicitor
candy=sweets
soccer=football
drugstore=chemist's
come by=pop 'round
taken aback=gobsmacked
yes=aye
boy and girl= lad and lass
best friend=mate
juvenile delinquent=chav
shopping cart=trolley
P.A. system=Tannoy
Main street=high street
baby stroller=perambulator, pram
baby pacifier=dummy
diaper=nappy
hungry=peckish
dig in (to food)=tuck in
refreshment stand=tuck shop
uniform=kit
get one's clothes off=get one's kit off
naked=in the naddy, starkers, bollock-naked
restroom=W.C., lav
attractive girl=dolly bird, crumpet
gay man=poofter, poof
hard work=graft
study (vt)=swot (v), swot up
nerd, teacher's pet=swot (n)
young single on the make, bar patron, store customer=punter
green chemical dye=distemper
fail miserably=go all pear-shaped
classy=posh
gross=grotty
horse show=gymkhana
everything's just fine= 'Bob's yer uncle'
baby nursery=crèche
bad-tempered=stroppy
horny=randy
crazy=mad, mental, potty, barking
foolish=daft
go cruising (for sex)=on the razzle
outdoor toilet facility=cottage
cantaloupe=melon
bacon=streaky bacon
Canadian bacon=back, gammon
zucchini=courgette
eggplant=aubergine
call somebody on the phone=ring somebody
knocked up=up the duff
wake someone up=knock them up
fanny=bum
genitals, female=fanny
sex=roger, rumpy-pumpy, shag, have it off, how's yer favver
genitals, male= meat and two-veg, twig 'n' berries, wedding tackle
merry-go-round=roundabout
slide=helter-skelter
buttered bread with jelly=jam buttie
mess something up=bollix it up
a total mess= the dog's breakfast, a ballzup
cash register=till
toilet=loo
difficult, risky=dodgy, dicey
baloney!=rubbish!
trash can=rubbish bin
liquor store=off-licence
mailbox=postbox
run away=leg it
man=bloke, chap, geezer
I'll believe THAT when I see it!=Chance would be a fine thing!
welfare=dole
welfare application=the UB40

How can I forget:


elevator=lift
vacuum (vt)=Hoover
ticked off=faffed
quarter note (in music)=crotchet
half note=minim
eighth note=quaver
whole note=semibreve
juvie=Borstal
reflect on something=have a think
convent=priory
in the hospital=in hospital
jail=gaol

For restroom, you forgot loo and toilet. (Edited: I just spotted it) In public places, there are big signs saying, "TOILETS," which shocked me the first time I saw it. If you asked where the restroom was, I bet few Brits would know what you were talking about. "Loo" is preferred in polite company.

underpants=pants
pants=trousers

local fair=fete( pronounced fate). Not sure how to describe it. My friends had a yearly fete in their village. People brought baked goods to sell, as well as having a jumble sale (I was in charge of that one year), like a yard sale; bouncy castle for the kids, various games like skittles and coconut shy, all to raise money for the local church.

crepe=pancake
oatmeal bar cookie=flapjack

Oh , they know exactly what we are talking about and they are laughing right into thier sleeves at our prudishness.

Quite a few of those are really dated and no longer used.

The ub40 was an 80's card and no longer around.

dumb is now numpty

having a laugh having a graffee(sp)

no one spells gaol its always jail

M & M have been on sale here for years and are different from Smarties.

Oil of Olay has been the same here for a number of years now too.

I think the Brits have tons more words for general worthless person than any other english speaking nation , pillock , git , berk ( could be archaic) , muppet.

and the marriage counselling thread reminded me of what I did not wish to be after my split , a gooseberry -third wheel.

And let us not forget how bum , fanny , tramp and scrubber mean very different things over there.

AFAIK, matriculation means the same thing on both sides of the Atlantic, and it precedes and may or may not lead to graduation. (Its standard meaning is to be admitted or entered into a college or university.)

all available here and a simple case of branding and not so much translation , smarties and M&Ms though similar are in fact distinct from each other , ditto for the A1 and HP sauces.

The Hershy equivalent to maltesers are known as whoppers here

They're Whoppers here, too - a brand. All of this is like Hellman's/BestFoods or Dreyer's/Edy's, depending which part of the US you shop in.

I suspected they might be under the same name but was not entirely certain.

I had some fun sending an English ex to the corner store to buy whole milk , using the Canuckism for it , poor guy visibly blanched.

And the Canuckism is...................????

All milk using more than 3% butter fat is labelled homogenized and we simply call this homo milk and no one bats an eye.
We have skimmmed milk , 1%, 2% and homo, if you go around here asking for whole milk we assume you want unpastuerized milk.

All Sorts and Good'n'Plenty are entirely different. I've seen All Sorts for sale at Marshall's, if someone wants to try them.

http://candy-crate.stores.yahoo.net/baslical.html

Female dogs are routinely called bitches in polite company.

Rasputin, did you getthese from a vintage book? Many are really out of date....so I hope you don't mind - here are a few corrections / suggestions:

radio=wireless (we stopped calling it the 'wireless' in the 70s, or even before!)
a nap, some sleep=kip ('kip' is sort of slang...we say nap too)
dessert=pudding (we say dessert now, most of the time), pudd (no one says this)
everything='the lot' (what??)

fashionable=smart (what?? we say 'fashionable)
illegal street vendor=spiv (This term was used in the 60's!!)
go to the bar=go down the pub (pubs and bars are two completely different things! We use the two terms seperately)
juvenile delinquent= ASBO (from "anti-social behavior order") INCORRECT and ASBO is the order, NOT the person

I'm very thirsty!=I'm positively gaspin'! (This is seriously out of date - sounds like Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins)

hot water heater=the geyser (What?? what's a geyser? never heard of that)
automobile=motorcar (we said 'motorcar' up the the 60's! Now we say 'car)
hooker=prossie (we say hooker too)

hot tea with lemon instead of milk=Russian-style (INCORRECT, i've never heard 'russian style'! we say the same as US)
snobbish=toffee-nosed (we say 'snobbish', toffee nosed is out of date)
upper-class person=toff (toff is extremely out of date, we say same as US)

nothing at all= Sweet Fanny Adams (I think this went out of fashion in the 30,s 40's! we say sweet FA, but it doesn't stand for 'Fanny', its much coarser then that)
tourists=holiday-makers (?) we say same as US
fireplace grate=fender (??) We say same as US
argument=row
mess around=fanny about (What??)

lager with ROSE'S lime or 7UP=rock shandigaff (never heard of this??)
to graduate (v)=matriculate (we say graduate)
graduates (n.pl)=leavers (we say graduates)
alumni=old boys, old girls (we say alumni)
school principal=headmaster, headmistress
freshman at a boy's school=fag (In tom browns schooldays, maybe!!)
small child, baby=nipper (up to the 60's, perhaps!)
booger=greenie (we say bogie)
dinner=tea (tea is at 4pm, before dinner, they are different meals)
apartments=block of flats (correct), mews (INCORRECT, a mews is a type of street or residential area)

yes=aye (HA! HA!...sorry, this made me laugh out loud! It's 'aye' in Scotland, and some areas of northern England, sometimes)
boy and girl= lad and lass (HA! another funny.....'lad and lass' in perhaps country areas?)

juvenile delinquent=chav (INCORRECT!!! a chav is a derogatory term for what Americans would call 'trailer trash')

baby stroller=perambulator (in victorian times), we say push chair or pram

refreshment stand=tuck shop (tuck shop is another 60's 70's term for a sweet shop in schools)
uniform=kit (incorrect, we say uniform as well)
get one's clothes off=get one's kit off

attractive girl=dolly bird, crumpet (THIS CRACKS ME UP!!!!! Both these terms are used in British 60's comedies.....and 'crumpet' is kind of insulting!)

everything's just fine= 'Bob's yer uncle' (Dick van dyke again, 60's)

go cruising (for sex)=on the razzle 9WHAT?? On the razzle, is very dated, but means to 'go out on the town', NOT cruising!)
outdoor toilet facility=cottage THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!!!!! AND GETTING FUNNIER.....out door toilets went out with the ark. 'To cottage', is what men do to each other on the odd occasion in mens toilets...I shall say no more! George Michael was arrested for it!)
cantaloupe=melon

knocked up=up the duff (60's term, we say pregnant)
wake someone up=knock them up (An out of date term for pregnant)
fanny=bum (INCORRECT, fanny is the term for ahem, ladies front bottom)

sex=roger, rumpy-pumpy, shag, have it off, how's yer favver (shag is the most common term, the others are all seriously out of date)
genitals, male= meat and two-veg, twig 'n' berries, wedding tackle (seriously out of date)
slide=helter-skelter (its a curved slide around a tall tower) a straight slide is a 'slide'

I'll believe THAT when I see it!=Chance would be a fine thing! (out of date!!)

Thats the best I could do, without going in to intricate detail, but in the majority, we are using more US terms now, there are regional and county variations - I am sure others here from the UK will contribute!
MB

Did anyone mention the phrase, "come a cropper"?

Strewth!

I am watching the Inspector Lynley Mysteries and just heard one -- bin bag is our garbage bag.
"Chuck that rubbish in the bin, mate!"

Fanny Adams was a little girl murdered and dismembered in Victorian times. People where outraged and spoke of sweet fanny adams, it later turned into a less innocence meaning. F*** All or FA.

dinner=tea (tea is at 4pm, before dinner, they are different meals)
...except in Australia! I was invited for "tea" there and it was a proper dinner!

Thanks Rasputin! I might need the list but the other way round because I was taught British English in school and my best friend is married to an Englishman. OTOH, I get used to the American way of saying things through movies, TV and books. Sometimes it is a bit hard to figure out what someone means when they talk about "pants" or "bisquits / "muffins"".

I dunno... I've had English friends (of all ages and class origins) who've used ALL these expressions!

sex=roger, rumpy-pumpy, shag, have it off, how's yer favver
genitals, male= meat and two-veg, twig 'n' berries, wedding tackle

Let me just add

- slap 'n tickle and
- family jewels

I would imagine that Chav - your equivalent to trailer trash is unique to this side of the pond as well.

Some of them are rather quaint, but they still get used.

Automobile hood = bonnet.

Gasoline = petrol.

Soccer = football.

Soccer field = football pitch.

As a sidebar to the milk discussion, I went to a McDonald's in Caracas and asked for a chocolate shake. I like to go to 'familiar' places to see how they differ from home. And I wanted to flush the toilet in the restroom to see if the water swirled in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere. Hey! I was only sixteen. The woman behind the counter looked confused about the chocolate shake and I did not see shakes listed on the menu board. I said, "Leche y chocolate muy frio, por favor," and did the international sign language for cold by shivering. She handed me a box of Ronald McDonald Chocolate Chip Cookies. I learned over coffee after supper that milk is unpasteurized in Venezuela and is served extremely hot. No frozen dairy treats.
_

It does. Saw it with me own eyes!

Actually.... no. The vortex was counterclockwise just like the toilets in my northern hemisphere home which, like the McDonald's in Venezuela, is equipped with fixtures made by The Kohler Company. I travelled thousands of miles to flush a toilet that was manufactured sixty miles from where I live. Something made of china that wasn't made in China. Fortunately that was not the highlight of my trip. I was on a cruise and that was the first southern hemisphere toilet I had an opportunity to flush. Holland America has a small warning sign in the bathroom (or head as sailors refer to it) to close the lid before flushing. The fleet is equipped with state-of-the-art, super high-velocity vacuum system toilets. One woman did not follow the instructions and suffered a prolapsed rectum. Scientific observation onboard ship was deemed too potentially nasty and gross.

Here are some toilet vortex direction resources:

http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html

And remember, when in England, skip to my loo, my darling.
_

So it's just like an airplane toilet. I just learned something new today!