British and American slang

Since I've seen a fair number of British CCers I thought it might be fun to post what each other's slang means. I know that...

birds=girls

crisps=chips

telly=t.v.

snog=kiss

What are other common words and what do they mean? Is there any American slang you've heard and you have wondered what it means? :)

EDIT: If you're Irish, German, Canadian, etc. please feel free to join the thread with your jargon too!

I was watching Nigella Lawson (UK cooking show host) last night and she said "gherkin" for something that looked like a plain old pickle to me.  I'm not sure if I just don't know what a gherkin is, but I was perplexed to say the least.

Snog is not a kiss!... 'Snogging' is 'petting'... tongues down the throat and fumbling with bra-straps!

 "The Full Monty"...... means 'the whole nine yards' or 'going the whole hog'.  The movie gave the impression that it means 'naked'.

"Bladdered, arseholed, wellied, pissed, hammered, rat-arsed, sozzled (and there are about hundred more of those because we do it a lot)".... drunk

"Pissed off"  = 'pissed'

 

Most of the American slang I've heard you can guess it from the context but the one I can never get and which appears on the Simpsons is 'cooties' (sp?)  What is that?

 

 

Original Post by kbella24:

I was watching Nigella Lawson (UK cooking show host) last night and she said "gherkin" for something that looked like a plain old pickle to me.  I'm not sure if I just don't know what a gherkin is, but I was perplexed to say the least.

gherkin isn't english slang. A gherkin is a kind of pickle.. the small cocktail-sized pickles.

A gherkin is a small pickled cucumber-like thing.... Sold in chip shops.  Bloody awful

Original Post by gi-jane:

Most of the American slang I've heard you can guess it from the context but the one I can never get and which appears on the Simpsons is 'cooties' (sp?)  What is that?

Cooties is something that all young girls have no boy wants. And the only way to get it is to touch one of the icky, gross girls.

You see I'm none the wiser.... It's clear from the expression on Bart's face that it is something deeply unpleasant but I didn't know if it was a venereal disease, a love-bite or some kind of parasite.

Original Post by gi-jane:

.... the one I can never get and which appears on the Simpsons is 'cooties' (sp?)  What is that?

Germs.  Typically only used by grade school kids but still prevelant in US pop culture, usually to highlight or make fun of the juvenile tendencies of others.

on edit:  I've always thought using "lift" for "elevator" is kind of charming, for some reason.

And, as chance would have it, the same British doctor delivered both of my boys.  He called me "love" throughout both deliveries - it was sweet.

Original Post by gi-jane:

Snog is not a kiss!... 'Snogging' is 'petting'... tongues down the throat and fumbling with bra-straps!

 "The Full Monty"...... means 'the whole nine yards' or 'going the whole hog'.  The movie gave the impression that it means 'naked'.

"Bladdered, arseholed, wellied, pissed, hammered, rat-arsed, sozzled (and there are about hundred more of those because we do it a lot)".... drunk

"Pissed off"  = 'pissed'

 

Most of the American slang I've heard you can guess it from the context but the one I can never get and which appears on the Simpsons is 'cooties' (sp?)  What is that?

 

 

Thanks for clearing that up gi-jane!

Essentially, cooties are an imaginary disease that kids say other kids have so they can't touch them or go near them.

I love the Simpsons...although people have overused Homer's catchphrase..."D'oh!"

Edit: So many people rushing to give the definition of cooties! haha!

"Cackhanded"... left-hander or clumsy

"Pie Hole or Cake Hole".... mouth

And if you go down the route of Cockney rhyming slang you can just make 'em up as you go along.

"Chevy".... face....    (Chevy Chase)

"Ruby"..... curry....  (Ruby Murray)

"Trouble and strife"... wife

"Pony" (as in 'talking a load of old pony').... crap   (pony & trap)

 

 

When "cooties" first appeared in the mid 19th century the word meant lice.  But today it can mean vague germs, or even "love bugs", as in she has love bugs and if she touches you, you will like her.  (elementary school only)

Circle circle dot dot now you have the cootie shot.

I'm on a roll....  Money's a good one.

• "Quid" = £1
• "Fiver" = £5
• "Tenner" = £10
• "Pony" = £25
• "Monkey"  = £500
• "Grand" = £1000
• "A bob" = an old shilling or £0.05
• "Ten bob" = ten shillings or £0.50

Just so you're all up to speed when you spend anything

 

 

Original Post by gi-jane:

I'm on a roll....  Money's a good one.

• "Quid" = £1
• "Fiver" = £5
• "Tenner" = £10
• "Pony" = £25
• "Monkey"  = £500
• "Grand" = £1000
• "A bob" = an old shilling or £0.05
• "Ten bob" = ten shillings or £0.50

Just so you're all up to speed when you spend anything

In the US, we use Grand for $1000 too.

$1 = buck
$5 = fin
$10 = sawbuck

People will often also refer to bills by the name of the president (or non-president) on the bill.

Original Post by gi-jane:

I'm on a roll....  Money's a good one.

• "Quid" = £1
• "Fiver" = £5
• "Tenner" = £10
• "Pony" = £25
• "Monkey"  = £500
• "Grand" = £1000
• "A bob" = an old shilling or £0.05
• "Ten bob" = ten shillings or £0.50

Just so you're all up to speed when you spend anything

 

 

Lol, when I first went on the bravissimo website the prices were in pounds and I was trying to figure out what everything I wanted would be in dollars, then realized there was a converter for that, duh

Does wanker mean a guy that's stupid or an a**hole?

I've heard bugger too...???

I just want to say

 

I would never "Snog" a guy..it sounds so dirty and derogatory.

Thinking about it, we seem to have more slang words for male genitalia, breasts, sexual orientation, stupidity and being drunk than anything else!!!  Like the people of the north have fifty different words for snow.... says a lot about a culture if you know where the slang lies.....

We get bombarded with so much US culture in the form of TV shows and movies that, if anything, we take on your slang and lovingly incorporate it into our own....

 

Original Post by hotrebeccainmesa:

Does wanker mean a guy that's stupid or an a**hole?

I've heard bugger too...???

 Both really....  Technically it means a 'masturbator'.  And the other one is the word for sodomy... but oddly used in quite affectionate terms as in 'you daft old bugger Grandad'

 

Original Post by se1289:

I just want to say

 

I would never "Snog" a guy..it sounds so dirty and derogatory.

Absolutely it's dirty!!!!  Snogging done properly is the most marvellous activity in the world and the principal goal in life of every boy from about the age of 12..... to about 94..... 

Original Post by gi-jane:

Thinking about it, we seem to have more slang words for male genitalia, breasts, sexual orientation, stupidity and being drunk than anything else!!!  Like the people of the north have fifty different words for snow.... says a lot about a culture if you know where the slang lies.....

We get bombarded with so much US culture in the form of TV shows and movies that, if anything, we take on your slang and lovingly incorporate it into our own....

 

That's hilarious :D

What are some of the words for breasts?