link--this

See I've always thought of the word 'Snog' as a bit terrifying. I've always thought snog should be the name for the one violent snore that wakes you up.

You gotta hand it the American contingent for really nailing the onomatopoeia. The Brits just don't seem to have the knack.

The British words I like are generally the more subtle ones... Places where they randomly add 'u' for no apparent reason. I feel it's important to add the U to the pronunciation of words like colour in their honor. I get odd looks in the paint store.

¤ ¤ credit: Morgan | 06.20.03 at 10:00 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

My favorite is "loo" for toilet. I really like potty humor.

¤ ¤ credit: Kay | 06.20.03 at 10:08 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

I like to bang ;)
I also like to get bladdered when out on a bender =)
I am proud to be an English Slapper ;)
Anyway I could go on for yonks but i'll stop now =)

¤ ¤ credit: Sonia | 06.20.03 at 10:42 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

i actually agree that it's pretentious. I think unless you're immersed in it all the time, like working for a european company, where you might "pick it up", it's just posturing. I worked for 3 years for TIGI haircare and was surrounded by brits. I still say "bollocks", but that about covers it. "mate" really irks me, as well as "loo". "Shag" seems to have crossed-over, so I don't really consider it in the same category.

But I must admit, it all sounds fab coming from someone who is actually english.

¤ ¤ credit: Joelle | 06.20.03 at 10:46 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

Back when I worked on Wall Street and spent all morning on the phone with our London office, they used a phrase to discuss a person who (a) stays out all night or (b) spends the night with a relative stranger only to make the "walk of shame" first thing in the AM. The phrase was "dirty stop-out."

Use it next time your roommate (or sister!) hits it and quits it! "That dirty stop-out came to work wearing the same clothes as he left with last night!"

¤ ¤ credit: Pad | 06.20.03 at 10:56 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

My favourite is wanker too. But I kind of like that weird rhyming thing that they do sometimes, like instead of saying "going up the stairs," somebody will say "going up the apple & pears."

¤ ¤ credit: Ermilla | 06.20.03 at 11:08 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

I'm partial to arse. I mean it just looks more regal than ass.

¤ ¤ credit: Yog Sothoth | 06.20.03 at 11:35 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

cheers. the multi purpose word. you can use it when you're ready to chug a pint, or when you bump into someone on the street you haven't see in years, or when you take your leave of someone. cheerful and happy, and often proceeded by drinking. ahhh.

¤ ¤ credit: jane | 06.20.03 at 11:52 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

I have to say that 'rat-arsed' ammused me to no end. I heard it for the first time two weeks ago at the bowling alley. A guy on our league is a Brit.

Loo...hah!

¤ ¤ credit: jen | 06.20.03 at 12:05 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I am feeling peckish right now.

¤ ¤ credit: Diane | 06.20.03 at 12:24 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Hey guys -- I didn't say I talked like that (re: pretentious). I merely like to hear them used properly. ;-)

English men could read me the Wall Street Journal each morning with that accent, and I'd die happy...

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 06.20.03 at 12:55 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

trainspotter!

¤ ¤ credit: tanya | 06.20.03 at 01:23 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I just like hearing about mingers, you know the ones with "nice personalities" with a face like a rotweiler's arse.

¤ ¤ credit: KB | 06.20.03 at 02:06 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Try out David Case reading the "Flashman Papers"

¤ ¤ credit: Aaron | 06.20.03 at 02:10 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I was immersed, I adapted to it, it became a part of me. Then I moved here, and it still hasn't left me completely. Sorry if I sound "pretentious" once in a while, but it's deeply ingrained.

It doesn't help that most of the programming I watch are British comedies ("MANUEL!" "...Que?")

One of my favorites:
Bollocks = bad. "Oh that call was bloody bollocks."

Dog's bollocks = really good. "Matrix Reloaded? That was the dog's bollocks, squire."

¤ ¤ credit: Mike | 06.20.03 at 05:03 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Damn, I thought this was Aussie slang. I use the word bugger like I take oxygen to breathe. Calling someone a little prat is one of my favourites. I actually lived in the UK for a year in the late 80's. I had a great time. They love Aussies. I actually developed an accent over there which is why to this day, I speak a little too 'proper' for some parts of this country (ie: the part I live in now) and some people find me a bit of a snooty bitch! LOL!

¤ ¤ credit: Jessica Parker | 06.20.03 at 05:54 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

gobshite

¤ ¤ credit: julie | 06.20.03 at 06:23 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Great discussion!

There's a politer version of "the dog's bollocks" gaining popularity now - the mutt's nuts.

I also like the Irish spelling - bollix!

¤ ¤ credit: Daisy | 06.20.03 at 06:58 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

the first time my girl karen (in belfast) called me the dog's bollocks, i almost cried. i just stood there with this wide-eyed, hurt look on my face til she noticed and said "that's a good thing."

¤ ¤ credit: tanya | 06.20.03 at 07:00 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Oh and "trainspotter" reminds me of the police term for planespotters (to be found in large numbers at Heathrow airport).
They're referred to as the "gang", g.a.n.g. = green anorak, no girlfriend.

:-)

¤ ¤ credit: Daisy | 06.20.03 at 07:01 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Lucky for me, I have my very own English beauty and get to hear the "Queen's English" all the time. I love it when she says she's "chuffed"...particularly when she's "chuffed to bits." LOL

She'd also tell you that it's spelled favourite (I can't understand the extra u's either). ;-)

¤ ¤ credit: Izzy | 06.20.03 at 08:03 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I use "bugger" a lot, and "bloody hell".
True story: In the back yard one day, dropped a plant on my toe and yelled "Bloody hell!" Later, overheard my neighbor's guest ask if the next door lady (me) were British. No, says neighbor, why? Guest explains he over heard me yell bloody hell. Thoughtful pause.
"Oh" says neighbor. "Well, she reads a lot."

¤ ¤ credit: LeeAnn | 06.20.03 at 09:32 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

"Buggering arsewipe bollocks". And I can say that with all impunity as I live in London.

¤ ¤ credit: The Other Robyn | 06.21.03 at 05:21 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

PS: The extra U's in UK words are actually part of the original spelling and are a result of French being mixed in with the Anglo-Saxon back in the 11th Century. The U's were removed along with other spelling modifications in an effort to make American English less complex.

Lecture over. Don'tcha just love us Transatlantics with one foot planted firmly in either camp? Ahh...

¤ ¤ credit: The Other Robyn | 06.21.03 at 05:26 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Gotta be pants. Just sums things up perfectly.

¤ ¤ credit: sian | 06.22.03 at 12:05 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Don't forget the word "fag"
Which, of course, is referring to a cigarette.
Kinda like the misuse of the word "football" by the British as well as the rest of the world.

And lets not forget what great strides in the history of cursing English sailors have made.
Phrases like "oily-mouthed gutter-whore" just can't be beat!

¤ ¤ credit: Cap'nSwanky | 06.22.03 at 03:52 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

I hate seeing colour and flavour humour etc etc without the U. I love the U. Lazy Americans.

¤ ¤ credit: LisaC | 06.22.03 at 09:22 PM | link--this ¤ ¤