Since my son met and married a girl from London, his language has become peppered with UK SPK™, which I define as words and phrases he’s appropriated from his wife, her family, and friends. Because I like to be as trendy and hip as he is, if only to annoy him, I have incorporated quite a few into my daily life.
The first day he said jumper instead of sweater, I had to remind him that he holds an American passport and he was born and raised on the beach in SoCal. And the day he told me he’d ring me on his mobile I was gobsmacked (amazed). My DIL says things all the time that I need her to translate for me. When we go shopping, she’ll look at an outfit or whatever, and say it’s naff which means tacky and def something I shouldn’t be caught dead in. Mutton dressed like lamb is a veiled way to communicate to me that the hoochie momma spandex-covered-in-rhinestones dress I picked out for myself is too young looking for my advanced years. I always say totes adorbs because Stacy from What Not To Wear says it, but it was born in the UK. Of course, that’s totally adorable, right? Everyone knows they say boot and mean trunk, and flatmate is roommate, but did you know that knackered means tired? Pissed isn’t angry, it’s drinking too much alcohol, and to whinge is to whine. The one that really confused me for the longest time was biscuit, which to me is flour and shortening, baked in the oven and slathered in butter, but to Brits it’s a cookie, of all things! Oh, and DIL says, “I reckon” a lot, which I thought was funny ‘cos it’s kind of a Southern thang, but apparently it’s a well-used phrase they’ve appropriated from us and are now giving back!
The day my child picks up a British accent, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Prob wave an American flag back and forth in front of him until he once again sounds like the California boy he is!
Here’s a few more I hear on a regular basis:
bin=trash can
ginger= red hair
gobsmacked= amazed, gob is mouth
sorted=figured out
splash out=spend a lot
suss it out= figure it out
I know there are many more -isms, but I’m saving some for Part 2 one day. Unless everyone stops speaking to me.
Related articles
- 30 of your Britishisms used by Americans (bbc.co.uk)
- Cool or naff? (quieterelephant.wordpress.com)
Cor Blimey! Toats loving your Brit chat as I’m sitting here dunking my biscuits in a cuppa char.
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Did you say blow me? BTW, what’s char?
PS Howya doin?
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Oh it’s brit for tea. A nice warm cuppa char is just heaven when it’s wet and windy outside.
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I’ll be needing that cuppa char to work on that proofing!
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I’m amazed by your adaptability. I’m from Canada, which is part of the commonwealth, and nowhere near your level of understanding!!! Well done….
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I’ll pass on your kind comment to my son/DIL and thank you so much.
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This post made me smile. I am currently reading a book where a American goes to London. She was asked do you like ginger males. She was confused until they explained that it means Redheads.
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Oh, that’s good! I love British books and my DIL is a great help with things like that!
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enligtening
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Gotta love ’em, right?
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I love the terms! Love the British accent too! Too cute!
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Thank you! If DIL came from France or Spain, we’d all be throwing those words around too! Au revoir!
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Gobsmacked? Congratulations you just had a new word to my vocabulary. I hadn’t run across this one in all of the dialect books.
“Prob wave an American flag back and forth in front of him”
Please do that to me too when I’m practicing a Scottish accent 😉
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“had” is a typo. I meant “added”
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got it!
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Well, I’m gobsmacked that a worldly writer such as yourself didn’t know that one, but glad I could help! Crikey, a Scottish accent? Those are tough to do!
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fag is a cigarette…lift is the elevator…I’m sure you have these on your 2nd list…I can’t wait to read that post and giggle too! Great post today! 🙂
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Thank you for these additions, I need to talk with my DIL and see what other gems she’ll let me use! Sometimes we all need a giggle, thanks for your comment!
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I have, (somewhere; I have been looking for it this week) , an Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable that helps a lot,(got it at Barnes and Noble). I guess growing up with a sister who was a teenager when the Beatles came out helps;I was always translating Harry Potter-isms to the family.You might be interested to know that you are right about the Southern-Speech being British. I heard some years ago that if you wanted to hear how English was spoken in the 17th Century and before, go deep into Appalachia where they ‘reckon’ and ‘commence’ etc. SInce their ancestors settled there and they had been fairly isolated, the speech never changed.I dare to guess that better transportation, satellite TV and the internet has changed that now.
This post was a bit of alright! Smashing!
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You’re brilliant! I had no idea about the Southern connection, I was just speculating. Crikey! You are very funny. I really enjoyed your input!
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I am British at heart and embarrassed a gentlemen when I asked him what a prat was? I heard it all the time on “A Touch of Frost” on the BBC.
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I never heard that one, what is it????
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Pingback: UK SPK™- Part Two | Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugboat Captain's Wife
After reading Part 2, had to return to here … and glad to discover gobsmacked! Cheers!
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Thanks for clicking on part one! The brits are really so clever, but don’t let my DIL know I said that, ha ha!
On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 11:50 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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What a fun post. 🙂
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Cheers, mate!
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