Living in England comes with an entirely different set of customs (the Brits love to queue), business decorum (it is rude if you do not start a meeting with at least five minutes of “chat”), and a whole host of new phrases. After two months of living in London I did a round up of the terms I picked up and since that post in June 2018 I have shared some of the fun words I have picked up on Instagram but it felt like I was due for a new list. This latest is full of words and phrases that mainly have come up in conversations like, “are you feeling any better?” and someone responds with “still a bit ropey 😢”. The meaning is inferred but still, odd. And without further ado, my list of new British vocabulary and the “Amreican” translation:
Bulldog Clip – Binder Clip
Canoodling – Making Out
Chockablock – Very Full / Busy
Fancy Dress – Costumes (think Halloween)
Gaffa tape – Duct Tape
Grotty – Dirty / Unpleasant / Unwell
Hundreds and Thousands – Sprinkles
Juggernaut – 18-Wheeler
Lose Sight of the Wood for the Trees – Too Involved in the Details
Manky – Grubby
Naughts and Crosses – Tic-Tac-Toe
Paracetamol – Tylenol
Pinch – Steal / Borrow
Poorly – Sick
Reverse Charge – Collect Call
Ropey – Ill/ Unwell
Snap – Go Fish
Sledging – Sledding
Polyfilla – Spackle
Spanner – Wrench
Spud Me – Fist Bump
Tippex – White Out
In addition to all of these new phrases that I have learned I have also found there are a variety of words that I use that the Brits do not understand. I am not talking about things like when I say “highway” and they know I mean “motorway”, I am saying direct blank stares of absolutely zero comprehension. Sadly I have not written them all down but two of the biggest ones are Peeps (for Easter) and Poison Ivy – who knew? And then there is the overabundance of American things we just call by their brand names even though we mean anything that will do that job; Bandaid, Kleenex, Tylonol, and Windex. I do not think I will ever stop picking up new phrases!
Which of these British vocabulary words did you not know?
Lunch at London Hotspot Bao
Exploring the Beautiful Bournemouth Beach
Navy Stripes at the Museum
My Visit to London Comic Con
Lucy says
There are so many fun new words you have learned – the sprinkles one is the weirdest!
Tori says
I am moving to London shortly and these are going to be really helpful. I also enjoyed your post with the first set interesting English words.
This will save me a lot of embarrassment between making faux pause and not getting inside jokes.
Lonnie says
One would never know that you were speaking the same language.
I would have to be constantly asking for the definitions.
Fran says
There sure are a lot of funny ones. How do you keep them all straight?