- Uni - Short for
university, we would say we went to uni like you would say you went to school.
School here is just for kids.
- Wacky backy - This is the
stuff in a joint, otherwise known as pot or marijuana!
- Waffle - To waffle
means to talk on and on about nothing. It is not something you eat. Americans
often think that Brits waffle on about the weather. The truth of course is that
our news reports last 60-120 seconds and the weather man is not hyped up to be
some kind of superstar as he is on the TV in the US. If you want to see an
example of real waffle watch the weather channel in Texas where there is
nothing to talk about other than it is hot and will remain so for the next 6
months. Another example is the ladies who waffle on about anything on the Home
Shopping Network. They would probably be classed as professional wafflers!
- Wangle - Some people
have all the luck. I know some people that can wangle anything; upgrades on
planes, better rooms in hotels. You know what I mean.
- Wank - This is the
verb to describe the action a wanker participates in.
- Wanker - This is a
derogatory term used to describe someone who is a bit of a jerk. It actually
means someone who masturbates and also has a hand signal that can be done with
one hand at people that cannot see you shouting "wanker" at them.
This is particularly useful when driving.
- Toodle pip - This is an
old expression meaning goodbye. However, I only hear it when Americans are
doing impressions of Brits as it has fallen into disuse, along with steam
trains and gas lights.
- Tosser - This is
another word for wanker and has exactly the same meaning and shares the
same hand signal. Unfortunately my house in Texas was in Tossa Lane, which was
a problem when telling older members of the family where to write to me!
- Totty - If a chap is
out looking for totty, he is looking for a nice girl to chat up. There is an
Italian football player called Totti - which is pronounced the same. It's
really funny hearing the commentators when he gets the ball saying "it's
Totty for Italy". It sounds like some beautiful Italian girlies have
invaded the pitch.
- TTFN - Short for
"ta ta for now". Which in turn means goodbye! Said by older folks and
one Radio Two DJ in particular.
- Twat - Another word
used to insult someone who has upset you. Also means the same as fanny
but is less acceptable in front of your grandmother, as this refers to parts of
the female anatomy.
- Twee - Twee is a
word you would generally hear older people say. It means dainty or quaint. A
bit like the way you chaps think of England I suppose.
- U - A letter used
far more in British. It is in words like colour, favour, labour etc. I think
this is why UK keyboards have 102 characters on them instead of your 101, or is
it because they have a pound sign on them?
- Taking the
mickey - See taking the piss. Variations include "taking the
mick" and "taking the Michael".
- Taking the piss - One of the
things Americans find hardest about the Brits is our sense of humour. It is
obviously different and is mainly based on irony, sarcasm and an in-built
desire to "take the piss". This has nothing to do with urine, but
simply means making fun of someone.
- Talent - Talent is the
same as totty. Checking out the talent means looking for the sexy young
girls (or boys I suppose).
- Tara - Pronounced
"churar", this is another word for cheerio or goodbye. Cilla
Black, a scouse TV presenter has probably done most to promote the use
of this word as she says it all the time on her programmes.
- Throw a spanner
in the works - This is an expression that means to wreck something.
- Tickety-boo - If something
is going well with no problems we would say it is tickety-boo.
- Tidy - Apart from
the obvious meaning of neat, tidy also means that a woman is a looker,
attractive or sexy.
- To - We go to
school from ages 5 to 18. You might go to school from ages 5 thru 18. We don't
say thru in that context at all. If we did though, we would say
"through"!
- Todger - As if we
don't have enough of them already, this is yet another word for your willy,
or penis.
- Tool - Yet another
word for your willy or penis. You'd think we were obsessed.
- Strop - If someone is
sulking or being particularly miserable you would say they are being stroppy or
that they have a strop on. I heard an old man on the train tell his wife to stop
being a stroppy cow
- Stuff - A recent
headline in the New Statesman read "stuff the millennium". Using
stuff in this context is a polite way of saying "f*** the
millennium". Who cares! Stuff it! You can also say "stuff him"
or "stuff her" meaning they can sod off.
- Suss - If you heard
someone saying they had you sussed they would mean that they had you figured
out! If you were going to suss out something it would mean the same thing.
- Sweet fanny
adams - This means nothing or sod all. It is a substitute for "sweet
f*** all". It is also shortened further to "sweet F A".
- Swotting - Swotting
means to study hard, the same as cram does. Before exams we used to
swot, not that it made any difference to some of us. If you swotted all the
time, you would be called a swot - which is not a term of endearment!
- Ta - We said
"ta" as kids in Liverpool for years before we even knew it was short
for thanks.
- Table - We use this
word in exactly the opposite way. To us a motion is tabled when it is brought
to the table, or suggested for consideration. You table a motion when it is
left for a later date.
- Taking the
biscuit - If something really takes the biscuit, it means it out-does everything
else and cannot be bettered. Some places in America they said takes the cake.
- ™Speciality - This is
another one where you chaps drop your "I". when I first saw specialty
written down in the US I thought it was a mistake. But no! We love our I's!
- Spend a penny - To spend a
penny is to go to the bathroom. It is a very old fashioned expression that
still exists today. It comes from the fact that in ladies loos you used
to operate the door by inserting an old penny.
- Splash out - If you splash
out on something - it means you throw your senses out the window, get out your
credit card and spend far too much money. You might splash out on a new car or
even on a good meal.
- Squidgey - A chocolate
cream cake would be squidgey. It means to be soft and, well, squidgey!
- Squiffy - This means
you are feeling a little drunk. Some people also use it to mean that something
has gone wrong.
- Starkers - Avoid being
seen starkers when visiting England. It means stark naked.
- Stiffy - Yet another
word for erection.
- Stone the crows - This is an
old expression with the same meaning as "cor blimey".
- Stonker - This means
something is huge. Looking at the burger you might say "blimey what
a stonker". It is also used to refer to an erection! Clearly English
modesty is a myth!
- Stonking - This weird
word means huge. You might say "what a stonking great burger" if you
were in an American burger joint.
