I'm familiar with most, but I worked (and drank) with quite a few Brit expats back in the day. Some of those terms I use now. New for me are sussed, numpty, muppet, chav.
+1Just a difference in outlook. I've always thought it was offal good.
My favorite offal is heart (beef or chicken), but chicken gizzards is also a favorite snack around my house. Liver and onions or bacon has also always been a treat. Kidneys are very good as well. Does tongue count? That's a delicacy in my book.
Bullocks? Or?Never Mind the Bullocks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z2M_hpoPwk&feature=player_embedded
I spent a lot of time in the UK for work and picked up some of their expressions but I use very few that are on the list.
My favourites are "sort out" and "keen". It seems much more polite to say I am "not keen" on something vs "that's bullsh*t".
Actually 'Cardigan"...named after the guy who 'led' the Charge of The Light Brigade.wooly cartigan = sweater
Actually 'Cardigan"...named after the guy who 'led' the Charge of The Light Brigade.
I lived in England for a while I always liked
put some wood in the hole = close the door I'm a 51 year old Brit, and I've never heard that one - I suspect it may be regional. Speaking it in my head, it sounds like it could be from further North than where I grew up.
plimsoles = sneakers Not sure about this - to me, plimsolls are more like thin gym/ballet slippers. Sneakers are "trainers" in the UK.
wancker = fool, stupid, silly, and may other things Spelt "wanker". Not acceptable on TV before 9pm; calling someone a wanker to their face in any context other than banter is fighting talk. Brits wet themselves laughing when they get to Pennsylvania and see Wanker beer on sale, and they (and the Irish, in the case of this image) will make substantial detours on trips of Bavaria to get a picture at the Wank city limits sign. "To get wankered" is also occasionally "to get drunk".
wellies = rubber boots Yes, they were allegedly invented by the Duke of Wellington, of beating-Napoleon-at-Waterloo fame. Green wellies are considered upper-middle class; wear black ones to avoid social commentary. "The green welly brigade" was a popular way to refer to well-to-do Range Rover drivers 20 or so years ago, although this is now going out of fashion.
We had a high school girl from England stay with us for a week or so about 15 years ago and she described some chocolate chip cookies as "gorgeous." Which makes sense in terms of something one would gorge on and not a compliment to their appearance, as I would use that term (now we like to use it as she did when we see cookies, or biscuits as she called them).
I have heard Texans use the word "gorgeous" in the second sense, although it's more used to describe physical things. The most common use would be "a gorgeous girl", a phrase that can be used equally by a man or a woman, followed by food - typically food that one would expect to find gorgeous anyway (that is, it met high expectations; you can't really say "surprisingly gorgeous", but you can say "surprisingly nice", which is of course not quite the same as "nice, surprisingly").That's true - - some meanings of the word are falling out of favor in the US. The dictionary.com definition is
"gor·geous [gawr-juhs]adjective
1. splendid or sumptuous in appearance, coloring, etc.; magnificent: a gorgeous gown; a gorgeous sunset.
2. Informal . extremely good, enjoyable, or pleasant: I had a gorgeous time."
So, I guess that second definition is the one she used, and that is falling out of favor.
See also:Quite nice = I like, it's good
Quite nice, really = meh, nothing special
Quite nice, really, if you like that sort of thing = don't bother me again with this
I lived in England for a while I always liked
put some wood in the hole = close the door
Lung. To me it is not British, my Scots-American grandmaother used it 60 years ago. ANd she hadnt ever seen the old country, nor likely had her grandparents.Can any British people help on a word meaning? "Lights." I have a Maltese recipe for rabbit that mentions sauteing the rabbit along with its liver and "lights." Kidneys?