Ever heard of the phrase “Catch some Z’s” or “She’s fit” ?
Do you know what “Carry the Can” means?
We have put together the best England language interpretation guide for anyone who will be traveling to England. Below are commonly used words or phrases that could easily come up when interacting with England natives. Memorize this England language guide and you will fit right in when you are communicating with the locals.
abdabs — the creeps, the willies: “That guy gives me the abdabs”.
ackers — money, cash. Derived from Egyptian “Akka”.
all mod cons — “All Modern Conveniences”.
amber nectar — beer.
anchors — brakes.
any cop — “any good?”, such as “Do you think this album is any cop or is it rubbish?
arrows — the game of darts and the darts themselves.
article — A jerk. “Get off the couch, you article!”
bag / bag of sand — 1000 British Pounds. Meant to rhyme with “grand”.
banger — a sausage. Usually used with “and mash”.
barking — crazy, off your rocker. Usually said as “barking mad”
best of British! — good luck!
bloke — guy.
boot — refers to the trunk of a car.
cabbage — (as a verb) — To do nothing (we cabbaged and watched football all day)
carry the can — take responsibility. “I’m not carrying the can for this accident. You were sloshed!”
choice — the best. “This blood sausage is choice!”
cushy / cushy number — a situation that can be done easily.
dead cert — a sure thing.
ding-dong — a fight, disagreement or commotion.
dogs are barking — “my feet are tired”.
do me a favour/ do me a lemon — “Are you kidding me?”
eating irons — silverware
expat — an expatriate.
fiddle — cheat, swindle
fit — beautiful… “She’s fit. Go ask her to dance”, also to be prepared.
flat — apartment
footy — the game of football, or the football itself.
gaffer — the boss.
giggle — a lark, a good time.
give someone their P45 — end a relationship. The P45 is a form given upon termination of employment.
go spare — become enraged.
hair of the dog — getting drunk when hung over. The idea is to cure the hangover.
heavy — agreeable, or Nice!
honk — a foul odor.
how’s tricks? — how you doing? This is considered a rhetorical question.
in bits — confused.
inside — in prison. “I’ve been inside for five years”.
jack all — nothing.
jip — bug, bother
kettle — a watch or wrist watch.
kibosh — to finish, terminate or end.
knacked/ knackered — worn out.
knock up — to awaken. “Don’t knock me up in the morning” means do not disturb.
lairy — full of oneself. Also looks flashy.
(the) life of Riley — Living high-class.
lumber — to bog down, usually considered a burden.
lump it — deal with it.
make a row — making a loud noise.
make tracks — get started on a course. “It’s 9:00. We gotta make tracks.”
Mickey taking — making fun of/ also “take the mickey”.
moreish — tasty, meaning you want more.
nick — to arrest, also to borrow.
nobble — to tamper with, to damage.
nosey parker — a person who asks a lot of questions.
not give a toss — don’t care.
odds and sods — bits and pieces.
off the hook — really good, cool, nice!
on a mission — looking for a good time.
over the top — outrageous!
panda (car) — police car. Taken from when they were black and white.
parky, also pearl harbour — cold, refers to weather.
(the) penny dropped — used to mean someone gets it.
pit — bed
poloney — a young woman.
prang — a crash involving motorcars.
punter — a customer of a business.
quid — one pound Sterling
radgie / radgey — berserk
rank — disgusting, ugly
rare — excellent! “We had a rare time at the pub”
roaring — Very, used as in “roaring loud”
rubber — eraser.
scabby — rotten, bad, not tasty.
scoops — pints of beer (20 ounces/ 570mL)
shock horror! — no surprise there.
slot — wound, shoot or injure.
snide — phony, counterfeit.
spit — a mirror image, almost like a duplicate.
square eyes — a funny remark for someone who watches the TV too often.
strike a light! — a surprise expression
ta! — thanks!
talent — anyone who’s attractive.
that’s the stuff! — it’s an approval. Like “That’s the ticket!”
tip it down/ tipping it down — raining heavily. “It’s been tipping it down for 3 weeks!”
ton — 100, either speed of 100mph (160kph) or 100 British pounds.
uni — university
up the pictures — broken, not working. “This TV is up the pictures! We’ll have to get it fixed!”
vicky-verky — vice-versa. Usually the mispronunciation is intentional.
voddy — Vodka
wally — a pickle.
wonky — unstable, misaligned. Refers to an item, like a tyre.
yam/yem — home.
yonks — a long time. “I haven’t seen that redhead in yonks!”
zapper — remote control.
Z’s — a nap. Usually used with “Catch some Z’s”, pronounced Zeds.
