British Term
|
American Translation
Courtesy of BBC 'The Office' DVD pack* |
| Alton Towers |
A theme park situated in the Midlands which includes such attractions as Ribena Berry Bish Bash, Ugland and Ye Olde Merrie England. Is reportedly a big disappointment. |
| Arse-Cleavage |
The crack of someone's arse. |
| ASDA |
An enormous British supermarket and discount clothing store bought out by Walmart, a little mom and pop shop from the United States of Value. |
| Basque |
A woman's tightly-wrapped bodice or leather corset. |
| Biscuit |
A sweet cookie - not to be confused with Cookie's Fortune, the sweet and cleverly named Glenn Close motion picture. |
| Blimey |
Cockney slang for the curse "God, blind me!" An expression of surprise, as in Cor Blimey! |
| Bollocks |
Slang term for testicles. Never Mind the Bollocks was the title of The Sex Pistols' seminal punk album. |
| Booyakasha |
Catchphrase of eloquent urban comedian Ali G. |
| Bread bin |
A box used to store bread which is, contrary to the popular joke, probably bigger than a black man's cock. |
| Bricking |
Another term for pooping ones' pants, usually in fear. E.g. I was bricking it. |
| BSE |
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, aka Mad Cow Disease first appeared in England in 1986. True to form, little sister Canada waitied a few years to follow England's cool new trend and then in December 2003 gave the United States its very own mad cow. |
| Buckaroo |
Popular kids' game in the '80s involving a donkey. Akin to Operation, but instead of removing body parts, one added various and sundry loads until the dockey explorded. In fact it sounds much better than Operation. |
| Bum-bag |
Fanny pack. |
| Bunce |
Short for Bunson burner, which is cockney slang for "nice little earner." |
| Chaucer |
Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned medieval author of Canterbury Tales, who was recently portrayed by an oft-nude Paul Bettany in the anachonistic A Knights Tale. Martin Lawrence reprised the prestigious role in 2001's Black Knight. |
| Courage |
Courage Best, a popular British ale brewed in Reading, Berkshire. |
| Daft |
Silly, stupid. |
| Div |
An idiot. The div kid at school was always on the last caboose, and usually collected the milk money. See Daft. |
| Dole Office |
The unemployment office. |
| DSS |
Department for Social Security, also referred to as the DWP or Department for Work and Pensions. It helps people in the UK to get off their lazy ass and get a job, or alternatively to sit on their lazy ass and get paid for doing nothing. |
| Duncan Goodhew |
British Olympic swimmer from the late '70s and early '80s known for being bald. Is now a motivational speaker. |
| Fanny |
Slany term for vagina. See Bum-bag. |
| Flan |
A British pie-like dessert - has been described as "savory" and akin to a quiche. Well you don't spell it son, you eat it. |
| Give it a go |
Have a try, stupid. |
| Harry Enfield |
Brit comic and star, with Paul Whitehouse, of Smashie and Nicey. One of his character's irritating catchphrases: "Loadsomoney" was quite popular in some circles in the late '80s. |
| Have a go |
Poke fun at, tease. |
| Het |
Worked up, agitated. Het is shortened form of heated. |
| Hob Nobs |
Sweet oat-based cookies akin to Li'l Debbie oatmeal pies. Someone who "hob-nobs" in the US is a social butterfly, someone with "nob-rot" in the UK is a social pariah. |
| Ian Botham |
A cricket player known as "Beefy" near the end of his career for his largish frame who did a walk for charity from Land's End to John O'Groats. He famously saved England's in a competition against Australia in 1981. We famously saved England's arse in the war. |
| Jeremy Beadle |
UK TV personality who presented such memorable shows as It's Beadler, Beadle's About and Beadle's Box of Tricks. He does have a wanking claw. |
| John O'Groats |
The northernmost point of the British mainland. Is a common destination for bikers and charity-seekers departing from Land's End - The southernmost point. |
| Kettle |
An electrical device to boil water for tea, a leafy subsatnce most Americans prefer in Boston harbor. |
| Knackered |
Exhausted. Not to be confused with Knackers which is slang for testicles or Knacker - a term for poor Irish trash. |
| Milkers |
Bazompas. Janet Jackson famously bared her star-spangling milker during the Big Game, which earned her the nickname: Breasty McBoobahay. |
| Minge |
Another of the countless British slang terms for vagina. Not to be confused with Madge, the British term of affection for Madonna. See Fanny. |
| Monkey |
The monkey puppet refers to a UK commercial for Satellite TV with an animated monkey voiced by Brit comedian Johnny Vegas - starring in The Sex Lives of the Potato Men alongside Mackenzie Crook (Gareth), with an appearance by Lucy Davis (Dawn). Brent imitates Vegas' voice when saying "monkey". |
| Mullered |
Drunk, absolutely pissed. |
| Noel's House Party |
BBC game show hosted from 1991-1999 by the prolific Noel Edmonds, not to be confused with Kid 'N Play. Broadcasted live from a fictional town called "Crinkley Bottom," it included such segments as "The Big Pork Pie" and "Beat Your Neighbour" - wonderful! |
| Oggy, oggy, oggy |
A British rubgy change, famously shouted by Welsh-born actress Catherine Zeta Jones as she accepted her 2003 BAFTA (British Academy Award) for The Mask of Zorro. Literal translation: Whassup? |
| Orienteering |
Cross-country trekking with maps, really only safe for somebody with Territorial Army experience. |
| Pot my pink |
Sexual innuendo based on a snooker term. To 'pot the pink' would be to sink the pink ball. |
| Reading |
A suburban London town, not unlike Slough. It's the hometown of Ricky Gervais, star of hit show The Office, as well as Titanical lovebirds Kate Winsley and Sam Mendes. See Courage. |
| Rob Brydon |
Radio DJ and impressionist-cum-television star of popular BBC comedy Marion and Geoff. |
| Rod Hull |
British puppeteer who came to great fame in the '70s in England for his puppet Emu, an exteremely ugly, ill-tempered bird that attacked people's crotches. Rod and Emu had limited success in the U.S. with a few appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Emo Philips went on to greater success with his crotch-assaulting bits. |
| Ronnie Barker |
Star, along with Ronnie Corbett, of The Two Ronnies. He most recently appeared as Churchill's wise-cracking butler in 2002's The Gathering Storm and previous to that in the beloved and multitundinous 1960s series: Faces of Jim. |
| Ronnie Corbett |
Popular comedian best rememberede for the monologues he delivered and his comic partnership in the '70s and '80s with Ronnie Barker. He also appeared in The Ben Elton show and the 1973 No Sex Please, We're British. |
| Rory Bremmer |
British impressionist and comedian. |
| Sergio Georgini |
Piss take of Sergio Tacchini, an inexpensive sportswear label popular in British estates in the '80s. Living in "estate" housing in England has a connotation not unlike that of living in the housing projects in America. "Estate" sale is just a fancy term for rummage sale. |
| Shtum |
The Yiddish term for "mute," not to be confused with the British term for "quiet," commonly heard in East London, ie. Keep shtum. |
| Slappers |
Tarts, whores, etc. |
| Snooker |
Wildly popular Brit billiards game consisting of 15 red balls and 6 of other colors - is constantly aired on BBC. The Mah-Jong Network tends to get better ratings. |
| Stitch up |
A wind-up or practical joke. Can also signify "dropping someone in it" or tattling, ie. Snitch |
| Telly Addicts |
Cheesy BBC television trivia game show hosted by Noel Edmonds. Ironically, Drug addicts like to watch Teletubbies on the Telly. See Noel's House Party. |
| Top Trumps |
An updated version of the card game War involving different themes and categories such as Star Wars and Monster Trucks (Gareth's specialty). |
| Torquay |
Town where Basil Fawlty's hotel is located. A 1971 visit by John Cleese and other Monty Python members to Torquay, Devon was the inspiration for Fawlty Towers when they stayed in the Gleneagles Hotel, managed by an extremely ill-tempered man. |
| Trousers |
The pants. When the Brits say something is "Pants" that means it's crap. Not to be confused with "Underpants," which is dirty. |
| Twat |
Twat is UK slang for, literally: vagina, figuratively: dipshit. See Minge. |
| Two Ronnies |
A classic BBC comedy duo from the '70s and '80s - Brent borrows from them liberally. See Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. |
| Uni |
University, ie. College |
| Upstairs Downstairs |
A prospective new quiz show devised and to be hosted by David Brent. Can best be described as a cross between Telly Addicts and Noel's House Party. |
| Wind Up |
Make fun of or take the mickey. |
Conflict
Resolution
