UK to US English Dictionary
Someone once said that Brits and Americans are similar people seperated by a common language. This is a truism that ranks right up there with anything Murphy and Newton ever said. Some folks think the hardest part of communicating with the British is understanding the accent. For me, it's trying to decipher some of their language. Part of the problem is the different words they use; for instance, the bonnet of a car is known to us Americans as the hood. However, this is just a simple matter of one for one translation. The biggest trouble comes in the form of trying to decipher their slang. The Brits have a fascination with shortening proper words into something more "cozy" and familiar. So football becomes footie and brother becomes bruv.
Below is a list (growing) of the more common words I have come across that have different meanings to us Americans along with clarifications as needed. Warning, some words may be considered PG-13.
Banger - Sausage. Most commonly served with Mash.
Banker's Draft - A cashier's check.
Beeb - The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), the government sponsored television network. "Did you watch the documentary about concrete on the Beeb last night?"
Bird - A woman (slang).
Biscuit - A cookie. FYI - KFC does not serve biscuits in either American or British form.
Bloke - A man (slang).
Bonnet - The hood of a car.
Book - Reserve. "I'd like to book a table for two."
Boot - The trunk of a car.
Boot Sale - A sort of flea market where folks gather in a field, open the boots (trunks) of their cars and sell the flotsam and jetsam they no longer need.
Brellie - Short form for umbrella.
Brown Sauce - Steak sauce.
Bruv - Slang for one's brother. "Me bruv got happy slapped by a bunch of yobs this mornin'."
Candy Floss - Cotton candy. Hmmm, candy floss. Flossing with candy. Something not orthidontically right with that image.
Car Park - A parking lot or a parking garage. Regardless, almost all cost you to park in.
Caravan - A camper. Sometimes referred to as a camper van.
Carriageway - Two lane road. See also Dual Carriageway.
Cash Point - An ATM. This is being replaced in the lexicon by ATM.
Chav - A young person who doesn't have much in the way of initiative, uses words like "bruv", hangs out at shopping malls and spends all his/her money on bling, beer and dope. Guy chavs favor wearing track suits and ball caps while the girls cultivate the short skirt, hoop earring and stilleto look.
Cheeky - Mischievious or slightly naughty. "Bob was feeling a bit cheeky yesterday and bought me pair of lacy knickers."
Cheers - Friendly slang for thanks or goodbye. They don't find it funny when you reply with "Seinfeld".
Cheesed Off - Slang for very upset.
Chips - French fries. See also Crisps.
Chuffed - Slang for ecstatic. "Sue finally found a job. She's well chuffed!" Note that there is no verb form of this word, i.e. - chuff. So saying, "What I'm about to say will chuff you" will only get you a quizzical look.
Cinema - A movie theater (or theatre as it is spelled here). If you say to a Brit you are going to the theater, he will ask you what play you are going to see. Or make some comment about you being an artsy ponce.
Cooker - A stove.
Council Housing - Public housing. May be a regular house bought by the occupant with subsidized payments from the government or it may be large buildings with apartments rented out to low income people (like "the projects" in the US).
Crikey - Analagous to the American exclamation "Geez!"
Crisps - Potato chips. See also Chips.
Diversion - A detour. Usually caused by road construction or an over-turned lorry.
Drink Driving - Driving under the influence of alcohol.
Dual Carriageway - A four-lane road. See also Carriageway.
Dummy - Among other things, a baby's pacifier.
Earth - The planet we live on. Also, what you use to ground electical circuits. "Connect the earth lead first." or "Be sure to properly earth the connection."
Estate - Property when dealing with houses or a station wagon when dealing with cars.
Estate Agent - Real estate agent.
Fancy - To want. "Fancy a pint, Nigel?"
Fanny - A female's genitalia. An American telling his daughter that he'll "spank her fanny" will most likely get reported to the cops.
Fit - Install.
Fiver - A five-pound note. See also tenner. Although there is a 20-pound note, there is no such word as a twentyer.
Flat - A tiny apartment. May or may not have a seperate bedroom.
Fly Posting - Posting flyers without permission.
Fly Tipping - Dumping your rubbish "on-the-fly" where you're not supposed to.
Football - Known to Americans as soccer, this is a passionate pastime for the Brits (and pretty much anyone else outside of the US). Footie is the slang word; "Can't make it to footie tonight. The wife is sick."
Free Phone - A toll free phone number. These start as 0800 or 0808 in the UK.
Free Post - Postage free; no stamp needed.
Garden - The back yard. Yards are quite a bit smaller than the US conterparts. The British yards can range from plain green grass to elaborate mazes of paths, fountains, trees and flowers.
Ginger - Red hair.
Half One (or two, three, etc) - Half past the hour. "Meet you at half nine for a pint."
Happy Slapping - A violent prank popular among Yobs. Happy slapping consists of one or more yobs sneaking up on an unsuspecting victim then slapping or hitting them and running away. Other yobs often record the incident with a cell phone camera.
High Street - Main Street. The main business section of any town. Usage: "High Street retailers reported a marked decline in llama brushes this quarter."
Jacket Potato - A baked potato.
Junction - Intersection of roads. Exits on motorways are numbered as junctions, ie - Junction 12 or J12.
Kit - Can be either a set of things (like a croquet set) or something that you must build/assemble yourself (like a computer).
Knackered - Really screwed up. As in, "The whole process is knackered beyond salvation."
Knickers - A woman's panties.
Lorry - A large truck used for transporting heavy loads. There are two types of lorry. A non-articulated lorry is the same as a US delivery truck; a cab attached to a large bed or box. A articulated lorry is the same as a US tractor-trailer (big rig). Unless you need to be specific, all are referred to simply as a lorry (singular) or lorries (plural). And yes, lorries here are just as annoying as they are in the US.
Mac - Short for macintosh. This refers to a raincoat, not a computer. The verse "He never wears his mac in the pouring rain, very strange" in The Beatles' tune Penny Lane makes a bit more sense, doesn't it.
Maize - Corn. Don't know why, but they still use the Native American word. However, they don't say wampum.
Mash - Mashed potatoes.
Motorway - An interstate-like limited access highway. Some motorways are purpose built as such while others may actually be dual carriageways that have had sections of it rebuilt to motorway standards. And to further convolute matters, motorways can be hundreds of miles long or less than two miles long.
Nappy - A diaper. Therefore, Nappy Changing Stations are in public restrooms and Nappy Pales are in the baby's room at home.
OAP - Old Age Pensioner. An older person eligible for a government pension (ala Social Security). Also see wrinklies.
Off License - A liquor store.
On Holiday - On vacation. "Nigel is on holiday to Chechnya this week."
On Test - Tested and reviewed. "In the next issue of Thimble Collector Monthly, seven display cases are on test."
Pants - A man's underwear. Saying you were caught with your pants down is a bit more cheeky here. Use trousers if you want to refer to pants in the US sense.
Pint - A unit of measure (duh) that more often than not refers to a pint-sized glass of beer down at the pub.
Pissed - What happens when you drink too many pints. A.K.A. drunk.
Ponce - A homosexual.
Quid - Slang for a pound, the British equivilant to a dollar. Quid is the equivilant of the US slang buck. "I'll give you four quid for the velvet Elvis."
Rubbish - Garbage. Can also be slang for anything that you don't like. "Eh, Peugeots are rubbish."
Salad - May be a salad as Americans know it or the lettuce, tomato and onion that comes on a burger. Depends on the situation.
Saloon - A sedan.
Shag - Sex. For an example of usage, see Slag.
Skip - Dumpster.
Slag - Slang for a woman who'll shag just about any Bloke.
Sleeping Rough - What homeless folks do in alleys.
Slip Road - An on-ramp or off-ramp. Mostly found on motorways.
Snog - A passionate kiss. "We snogged in his car for a bit then went up to my flat for a shag."
Spanner - A wrench.
Subway - A pedestrian tunnel under a roadway or rail line. See also Tube.
Suspenders - A woman's garters.
Tearaway - Loud, obnoxious and rude kid who can't or won't mind adults. "I had to leave the movie because some tearaway was running about yelling and screaming the whole time." Not to be confused with a yob.
Tellie - A television. "Oh look, Nigel's on the tellie!"
Tenner - A 10-pound note. See also fiver. Although there is a 20-pound note, there is no such word as a twentyer.
Till - A cash register. I've heard this in the US, mostly from old folks.
To Let - For rent. "To Let: two bedroom house with large garden."
Torch - A flashlight.
Touch Wood - Knock on wood.
Treble - Triple. "Call 498 treble 3 for your chance to win!"
Tube - Although most identifiable with London's tube system, a tube is any subway system. The word subway has a different meaning. Strangley, the restaraunt chain Subway didn't change their name to Tubes when they branched out to the UK.
Van - A railroad freight car.
Water Closet - A bathroom. Nobody actually says water closet anymore; toilet is the preferred word. But you will see it abbreviated as WC on many signs directing you to the restrooms.
Wellingtons - Rubber boots used in rain or snow. With the UK being a fairly damp place, these are a necessity. Slang form: Wellies.
Wrinkley - Slang for an old person.
Yeah - Used to indicate either your understanding of something or check to see if the other person understands. "So you go to the next roundabout, yeah, then take the third exit." Kind of like saying "Okay" or "Right" in the US.
Yob - Rebellious youth often prone to violence. "Three yobs were charged with multiple instances of happy slapping." Yobs are not to be confused with tearaways.
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