#uk slang

[mekanikaltrifle]

also I love the duality here

dog's bollocks: good, fantastic. dog balls = excellent

dog's dinner: fuck me how did you cock that up so badly??

[suckitblue]

Need Americans to stop changing our slang, it's pissing me OFF.

Bird is a term of endearment for someone's girlfriend.

Don't even GET me started on tart being used as a positive thing.

I'll tell you what, if you're ever called a tart and you think it's a compliment you might as well chin yourself there and then.

[marzipanandminutiae]

re - ur feelings on the hp slang: i think living in the uk could possibly kill you.

Yes and no, based on my experience of it

somehow it's not as cringey when like...the Captain on Ghosts says "bagsy her room," or Terry Pratchett's characters drop all manner of alien-to-me slang in their conversation. or it'll be something I grew up reading in other Brit Lit, so it doesn't sound strange to me anymore

I considered that angle on it when I was writing the post, but somehow HP slang is just worse to me. I can't put my finger on it. maybe it's that UK slang actually evolved the way slang does IRL, from an originating descriptor or something, and weren't just invented because Haha Funney Wizard Slang(TM)? so it sounds like it has logic, or something?

I can't account for it. but while some British slang terms do sound weird to me, they never make my spine crawl the way HP slang always has

(I mean 99% of current Trendy American slang is just stolen from Black people, who've been using it for decades. so hearing my fellow white people do that already kills me a bit.)

(unless it's something that used to be non-racialized slang, stuck around only in AAE, and has now expanded back to white people, because that's weirdly a thing that's happening now? examples include "extra" in the modern sense, "on god," and "sends me.")

[stonebutchooze]

as a trans person in the uk every day i go through normal mis/gendering with typical gender words like man and woman. but i ALSO play the obscure love/mate game, where sometimes youll be called love and sometimes youll be called mate. and most people say "love" when they think you're a woman and "mate" when they're talking to you man to man. and you are constantly wondering whether or not you got misgendered

anyway i got called mate this morning i look like a man from the back I WIN

[neon-junkie]

because you're british, could you tell us some british slang?

 oh lawd, yes ofc!! Most of this stuff is normal british slang, but there’s a few that are specifically used by chavs, which are basically the UK equivalent of rednecks. They’re everywhere and they’re scary. Google them if you want a better image of what they’re like. Just warning y’all that we swear A LOT. Every other word is a swear word, but we only speak like that to people we know. So we won’t approach a randomer on the street and start swearing, not unless you’re scummy. Also, please don’t approach a Brit and start using our slang. It sounds so weird... we’ll take the piss sooooo bad as well. Just leave British slang to the Brits. ------

Greetings

You alright?  -  Hello, how are you? (most people just say ‘alright?’)  Wagwarn  -  Hey mate, how’re you doing?  (a Jamaican term that Chavs stole and made their own version of.)  You alright, cunt?  -  Hey friend, how are you? (yes, we call our friends cunts.)  Right, what’s all this then?  -  Hey, what’s going on here?  Iya love  -  Hey girl. Sup mate?  -  Hey friend, how’s it going?

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Manners

Ways of saying thank you: Cheers, nice one mate, thanks love, good stuff mate, ta. Ways of saying no thank you: oi nah, no thanks mate, thanks but no thanks.  Ways of calling someone your friend: mate, cunt, wanker, good lad, she’s a darlin’. (we do call our friends insulting words, but it’s always about context, yanno?)  Oh, go on then  -  Yes, please (usually said when someone offers us a cuppa.) Do you wanna go pub?  -  I love you. (we love the pub.)

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Taunts

Ya’ dad sells Avon  -  Your father sells womens beauty products. (really funny insult.) Look, it’s your best friend  -  Look, it’s someone you hate. Feisty one you are - You’re a bit spicy/angry (very iconic in the uk. If you haven’t seen the show ‘the inbetweeners’ then you wont get the joke.)  You havin’ a strop?  -  Are you sulking?  Don’t get your knickers in a twist  -   Don’t get upset/worked up. (knickers also means womens underwear.) Wanker  -  Probably the most british way of calling someone an idiot. Used a lot over here.  You bell-end  -  You dickhead (also means the tip of a penis.)  Lazy sod  -   Useless idiot. Sod off  -  Go away. That’s mingin’  -  That’s gross. Billy no mates  -  A guy with no friends :(  Bloody  -  A very british word that means ‘very’ (a bloody british word.)  You’ve cocked up  -  You’ve made a mistake. You what?  -  What did you just say to me?  Scummy  -  Disgusting. Ways of saying idiot: Spanner, plonker, tosser, mug, prat, pillock, twat, muppet.

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Compliemts

You look well fit/peng -  You look hot (a lot of women don’t like this but men use it anyway.)  Piff-ting  -  An attractive woman (used by chavs.)  That’s well cheeky  -  That’s really naughty (used playfully.)  She’s lush  -  She’s very attractive. Fancy   -  Our way of saying ‘crush’ (I fancy you.)  I’m tryna chat you up  -  I’m trying to hit on you.  Smashing  -  Fantastic. I’m up for it  -  I’m down to fuck. 

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Items

Cuppa  -  cup of tea. Bagsy  -  dibs, calling shotgun, claiming something as your own. Arse  -  Ass. Baccy  -  Tobacco (usually loose tobacco for when you roll your own cigarettes.) Fag  -  A cigarette (it is also a slur for a gay person here but we use it for a cigarette name instead.) Bog roll  -  toilet paper. Shag  -  sex. Quid  -  A british pound £ 

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Other

We talk about the weather a lot. It’s usually dark and gloomy here, so whenever we get a bit of sun we go mental. We mention the weather at least once per conversation: ‘cold/hot today, ain’t it?’  ‘it’s baltic (freezing.)’   Touch wood  -  I really hope this doesn’t happen. (yes, you have to touch the closest wooden thing near you to seal this promise.)  We ready to rock ‘n’ roll then?  -  Everybodys dad say this. It’s his way of saying ‘are we ready to leave?’  Right  -  We say this word at the start of everything. ‘right, lets get going.’  ‘right, i’ll have a ___’  ‘right, whats the plan?’  WAHAYYYYYY   -  Whenever somebody smashes a glass in a pub, the whole pub will cheer. This happens a lot cause we’re all really clumsy. Cheering is a tradition. Choc-a-block  -   This area is super busy.  Let’s have a gander  -  let’s have a look.  I’m pissed/plastered/bladdered  -  I’m drunk (pissed can also mean angry.) I’m going to spend a penny  -  I’m going to use the restroom.  Blimey!  -  Oh my gosh.  I’m knackered  -  I’m tired. I’m just having one drink  -  I’m going to get blind drunk and it’s all your fault. 

[the-amateur-illustrator]

I was thinking about that post about how it's easier to be honest about your feelings in a foreign language coz it feels less exposing, and ya know I think the same goes for register and dialect?

Like idk about anyone else but I never use internet slang as much as I do when explaining to someone how they hurt me or pissed me off, uno? It just feels easier and safer to hide behind colloquialisms than it does to say what i gotta say outright

[memeulousfan]

“It’s just british culture at this point to call each other a nonce”

-George Memeulous

[heywriters]

Hi, I don't know if you can help much but I'll ask anyway. I have a question regarding mom/mum. As an Australian we use "mum" and that leaks into my writing so even if I am working with characters from America I write them saying "mum" but I have had people from America tell me that they say "mom" and my American characters should be saying "mom" but I don't see how that makes any sense. They are both the exact same word with the same meaning? Do I need to switch to mom for American characters?

Yes, yes, yes. I am one of those readers. “Mum” is never, ever used in America unless we’re jokingly pretending to be British or using the expression “Mum’s the word” or “keep mum about it” which means “Don’t tell anbody.” Even then, most people just say “don’t tell anybody.” 

Terms for mother in U.S.: 

mom

mommy

ma (primarily Midwest and Southern dialects)

mama

Your American characters will NOT use mum, I give you my 100% guarantee. My other pet peeve is having American characters say “telly” or “mate.” It’s never going to happen and will drive your readers insane.