British English words & Slang
For the most part, my characters are British, and my books are set in the UK, so I use British spelling and grammar in my stories. Below is a list of BrEng words I use and their meanings - some of it may be British slang. I don't always use these words, and we also use a lot of Americanisms here nowadays with the influence of modern pop culture, but hopefully you'll find this list useful. I add things as I think of them, in no particular order, and it may be that you are already familiar with some of them as you use them across the pond too :)
NOTE! You may find a few rude words in the list below! |
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British English |
American English Equivalent |
trainers |
sneakers |
bedsit |
efficiency apartment / studio |
smelt |
smelled ("Smelt" is not just a fish, or a way to extract metal by heating; in the UK it is commonly used in writing and every day language, as the past particular of the word smell. That's right folks - most of us say smelt, and not smelled. However, the two variations are inter-changeable for us.) |
foetus |
fetus (spelling variation) |
learnt |
learned (We say "learnt" and not learned. "Learned" more often than not, for us, is actually Old English to mean someone who is learned - pronounced learn-ed. He was a learned man.) |
burnt |
burned |
dreamt |
dreamed |
earnt |
earned (This one's controversial. We say earnt all the time, but it is seen as more correct to write it as "earned" - not sure why, when all the others (as shown above) have remained correct usage in BrEng spelling). |
jumper |
jersey |
tracksuit bottoms |
joggers |
"ise" endings (realise, materialise, polarise, idolise, etc.) |
"ize" endings ([1]"ise" is, surprisingly, from the French/Latin, and "ize" is from the Greek. Technically "ize" is correct in BrEng spelling, but it has become known as American spelling because of their adoption of it. Some British presses still prefer to use "ize" whilst others prefer to use "ise".) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#-ise.2C_-ize_.28-isation.2C_-ization.29 |
poxy (slang) |
crappy / not nice / a dump |
slacker (slang) |
lazy person |
bunking off / bunk off (slang) |
playing truant |
skiving off / skive off (slang) |
playing truant |
radiator |
general term for indoor heater |
wanker (slang) |
derogatory term for a male - i.e. dickhead. Originally, it literally meant "one who masturbates", but has since become a general insult. |
knickers |
panties (we do say panties too, but not as often) |
gobsmacked (slang) |
speechless |
bollocks |
bullshit (unless it's the dog's bollocks. If it's "the dog's bollocks" then it means it's fabulous - don't ask me why!) |
pants (slang), as in "that's pants" |
shitty / "that's shitty" (obviously, "pants" in the non-slang context, also means trousers. Some people say it to mean "underpants", but you'll rarely see it written that way.) |
waistcoat |
vest |
vest |
sleeveless undergarment |
aluminium |
aluminum (spelling variation) |
colour |
color (and you'll often see "our" instead of "or" in BrEng - harbour, honour, humour, etc.) |
grey |
gray |
car bonnet |
car hood |
car boot |
[car] trunk |
purse |
woman's wallet |
wallet |
man's wallet |
bag [handbag] |
purse |
orientated |
oriented |
pissed off (slang) |
very annoyed / angry |
pissed (slang) |
drunk (having said that, in the UK, it's just starting to become acceptable to use "pissed" to mean "angry" as with our American friends - and I occasionally use it in my books to mean angry as well, when it flows with the sentence that way - but that's still really uncommon here. "Pissed" mostly just means "drunk".) |
arse / arsehole (slang) |
ass / asshole (slang) |
ass |
a type of donkey (from Asinus, a subgenus of Equus that includes the donkey and other asses) |
gutted (slang) |
distraught |
nutter (slang) |
crazy person |
git (slang) |
derogatory term for a male (rarely used for a woman); callow / rude person |
blond [male with light hair] |
male with light hair |
blonde [female with light hair] |
female with light hair - I have seen in [mostly] American, commercially published books, "blond" used to indicate both the masculine and feminine. Certainly in the UK, it is still correct that the two different spellings be assigned to the two different genders. I actually thought this was still a worldwide rule, and personally feel it's a shame it's not implemented professionally any more. |
parcel shelf (the shelf behind the back seats in a car) |
rear dash |
More terms to come as I think of them. Feel free to email me if you'd like me to add any specific ones.