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Learning to Speak British

06/14/18 | Expat Life, London

London Eye - British vs American Vocabulary

Today marks two months of living in London, can you believe it?  In some matters it feels like I have been here for ages and in other regards, I still feel fresh off the proverbial boat.  In September 2013 I posted a now ironic article called  Let’s Speak British which was a list of all the things that the Brits say differently but now that I have been in England for two months that list has exploded.  There are so many expressions that people use, like “good fun” or “mate” which don’t really need a translation but still make me smile every time I hear them. 

Some phrases I really like and am able to easily understand how I would say them but others I literally have to stop the person who is speaking and ask what they mean. Because it is not fair to sort them any other way than alphabetically, here they are with British on the left and the American translation on the right: 

Ambient Water – Room Temperature Water

Bob’s Your Uncle – Ta-Da / There You Go

Chalk and Cheese – Like Oil and Vinegar

Chav – Trashy / Lower Class 

Chew the Fat – A casual chat

Cloakroom – Coat Closet 

COP (Close of Play) – EOD (End of Day) 

Cracking – Excellent / Exciting 

Diary – Calendar

Dummy – Pacifier 

Gobsmacked – Amazed 

Gutted – Disappointed

Hen Do – Bachelorette Party 

Knackered – Tired / Exhausted 

Legless – Extremely Drunk 

Miffed – Upset / Offended 

Minted – Made of Money

Off-License – Liquor Store 

Peaks and Troughs – Peaks and Valleys

Piss on Your Bonfire – Burst Your Bubble

Pissed – Wasted 

Skive – Slacking Off / Playing Hookey

Stag Do – Bachelor Party 

Tea Towel – Dish Towel 

Toff – Upper Class Person 

Spectacles – Glasses

Swings and Roundabouts – You win some, you loose some

Weighing It Up – Deciding on Your Options

Wonky – Off / Not Right 

 

I feel like this is a list I will be continually updating and if you are all interested I may check in after a few months and update it again. Also, if it is interesting there are a handful of things that I say (outside of work terms /acronyms) that people blankly stare at me when I say that, if you are interested, I will share another time. Oh, and let me know if you think it would be interesting if you want me to do a post on the things that Brits say differently, exactly vitamin, aluminium, or Nicaragua – I think this might be a really funny video. 

Which of these words are the most surprising to you? 

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Comments

  1. Nadine says

    June 18, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    Ambient Water sounds classy AF haha. Dummy for pacifier is certainly an odd one to me. But I say miffed! My grandma has always said it. This was a fun list!

  2. jenn fike says

    June 15, 2018 at 11:14 am

    I’m surprised to not see boot, post, wellies, caravan, cheeky, etc

  3. Susan says

    June 15, 2018 at 10:06 am

    Never heard of a lot of these but weighing it up seems the strangest to me.

  4. Sarah says

    June 14, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    Too funny. Who would have known that you need a translator for the same language

  5. Allie says

    June 14, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    I think dummy instead of pacifier is the most surprising! I would never guess that’s the translation in a million years. xAllie
    http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com

  6. Linda Hilliard says

    June 14, 2018 at 11:27 am

    That’s a great list and fun to hear of those different expressions when you travel or live in another place. I recently head an Australian person say, “Well, my husband doesn’t spit the dummy” and I had to ask what it meant. They said he doesn’t have a tantrum like a little kid spitting out their pacifier (dummy nipple). And learned it was an English expression – so you may hear that one as well.

  7. Emily says

    June 14, 2018 at 8:47 am

    This list is so funny – most of these are foreign to me but I really like the term minted – I might have to start using that!

    xo
    emily

  8. Lucy says

    June 14, 2018 at 7:32 am

    This is hysterical, I had not heard of many of these!

Hi, I am Kelly and welcome to Sparkles and Shoes, a fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog.  I am a New York City girl at heart but I moved to London in the Spring of 2018!

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