Friday

75, 76.5. British Slang

For my final entry, I thought I would discuss some popular British slang-- in honor of the Royal Wedding, of course.

One slang term that I did not realize was British was ace. I use this term all the time (but come to think of it, I never hear any of my family or friends say ace, they just just cool or awesome).

We Americans would say that Prince William and Kate Middleton are "head over heels" for each other; however, across the pond they might say that they are "arse over elbow." I think this is a much more fun term to use when describing falling in love, for falling in love is never as dainty as falling head over heels-- it is a much sloppier, much less attractive affair, oftentimes leaving you toppled over on your ass (or arse, rather).

A popular British slang term is blimey. Variations of this term are "Gawd blimey" or "gor blimey." No matter the variation, however, these are all corruptions of the phrase "God blind me," which is itself a shortened version "May God blind me if it is not so." Blimey is a more innocent, mild expletive (equivalent to "my goodness").

And of course, there's bugger, a slightly more friendly way of telling someone to "f*** off." This word is also used as an insult and is like calling someone a 'git.'

Apparently Wendy's isn't very big in England. This would be because of their sizes-- in the UK, a biggie is what a child would call his "poo." Why would anyone order a "biggie" fry?! This just goes to show that in one country, a seemingly harmless, cute word can have an entirely different and more disgusting meaning across the pond.



Sources:
http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

http://septicscompanion.com/showletter.php?letter=b

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