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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.

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  • Home
  • News
  • Books
    • The Witching Pen series >
      • Companion Novel: Saving Eve
    • Eye Of The Storm series >
      • Eye of the Storm: Omnibus Edition
      • Companion Novel: Blood Shadow
      • Companion Novel: Aftershock
    • After the Storm series
    • Blood Never Lies (Duet)
    • Fathom's Deep (A Blood Shadow Novel)
    • Once Times Thrice series
    • Broken Lights
    • 'Til Death Do Us Part
    • Happy Anniversary
    • A Silver Kiss (Vampire Poetry)
    • More poems (ext. site)
    • Printable Book List / Reading Order
  • Free Reads
    • Articles
  • In The Works
  • Tarot Decks
  • Art
  • Biography
    • Contact & Social Media
  • Media / Events
    • In the Media
    • Book Signings & Events
    • Photo Gallery
    • Press Kit
  • Writing Classes
  • Signed Books
  • Resources
    • Addendums
    • What is cross-genre fiction?
    • FAQ for Readers
    • FAQ for Authors
    • British English words & slang
    • Book Trailers & Video Interviews
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions of Use of Website