Copy of `Effing Pot - London slang glossary`

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Effing Pot - London slang glossary Category: History and Culture Date & country: 22/09/2013, UK Words: 234

Brassed off
If you are brassed off with something or someone, you are fed up. Pissed perhaps.

Budge up
If you want to sit down and someone is taking up too much space, you'd ask them to budge up

Bugger all
If something costs bugger all, it means that it costs nothing. Meaning it is cheap. If you have bugger all, it means you have nothing.

Botch
There are two expressions here

Bottle
Something you have after twenty pints of lager and a curry. A lotta bottle! This means courage. If you have a lotta bottle you have no fear.

Bomb
If something goes like a bomb it means it is going really well or really fast. Or you could say an event went down like a bomb and it would mean that the people really enjoyed it. In the US the meaning would be almost exactly the reverse.

Bodge
We bodge things all the time here. I'm sure you do too! To do a bodge job means to do a quick and dirty. Make it look good for the next day or two and if it falls down after that

Bogey
Booger. Any variety, crusty dragons included!

Bomb
If something costs a bomb it means that it is really expensive. We say it when we see the price of insurance in the US, you could try saying it when you see how much jeans or petrol cost over here!

Bob's your uncle
This is a well used phrase. It is added to the end of sentences a bit like and that's it! For example if you are telling someone how to make that fabulous banoffee pie you just served them, you would tell them to boil the condensed milk for three hours, spread it onto a basic cheesecake base, slice bananas on top, add some whipped double cream, another layer of banana and Bob's your uncle!

Blatant
We use this word a lot to mean something is really obvious.

Blinding
If something is a blinding success

Blinkered
Someone who is blinkered is narrow minded or narrow sighted

Blow off
Who blew off? Means who farted? Constant source of amusement to us Brits when you guys talk about blowing people off. Conjours up all sort of bizarre images!

Blunt
If a saw or a knife is not sharp we say it is blunt. It is also the way most of us speak! In America the knife would be dull.

Bite your arm off
This is not aggressive behaviour that a football fan might engage in. In fact it just means that someone is over excited to get something. For instance you might say that kids would bite your arm off for an ice cream on a sunny day.

Bladdered
This rather ugly expression is another way of saying you are drunk. The link is fairly apparent I feel!

Bespoke
We say something is bespoke if it has been created especially for someone, in the same way that you say custom. For example a computer program might be bespoken for a client, or you may order a bespoke holiday, where the travel agent creates an itinerary around your exact requirements.

Biggie
This is unusual. A biggie is what a child calls his poo! Hence the reason Wendy's Hamburgers has never really taken off in England

Bender
I used to go out on a bender quite frequently when I was at university. Luckily bender doesn't only mean a gay man, it also means a pub crawl or a heavy drinking session.

Belt up
For some reason I heard this quite a lot as a kid. It's the British for shut up.

Bees Knees
This is the polite version of the dog's bollocks. So if you are in polite company and want to say that something was fabulous, this phrase might come in handy.

Baccy
Tobacco. The sort you use to roll your own.

Bang
Nothing to do with your hair

Barmy
If someone tells you that you're barmy they mean you have gone mad or crazy. For example you'd have to be barmy to visit England without trying black pudding!

Beastly
You would call something or somebody beastly if they were really nasty or unpleasant. Most people would consider you a snob or an upper class git if you used this word. People like Fergie can get away with it though.

Arse over elbow
This is another way of saying head over heels but is a little more descriptive. Usually happens after 11pm on a Saturday night and too many lagers! Some Americans say ass over teakettle apparently!

Arse over tit
Another version of arse over elbow, but a bit more graphic!

Arsehole
Asshole to you. Not a nice word in either language.

Au fait
Another one of those French expressions that have slipped into the English language. This one means to be familiar with something. I'd say at the end of reading all this you'd be au fait with the differences between American and English!

Aggro
Short for aggravation, it's the sort of thing you might expect at a football match. In other words

Anti-clockwise
The first time I said that something had gone anti-clockwise to someone in Texas I got this very funny look. It simply means counter-clockwise but must sound really strange to you chaps! I think he thought I had something against clocks!

Arse about face
This means you are doing something back to front.

Ace
If something is ace it is awesome. I used to hear it a lot in Liverpool. Kids thought all cool stuff was ace, or brill.