The Brits have incorporated some French words, mostly about food, in their daily usage. Some British and American colloquialisms and slang terms in popular use are included in the tables below and they can be found in use on either side of the Atlantic.
BRITISH | AMERICAN |
Bent Copper | Crooked Cop |
Tip (Heap) | Garbage Dump |
Send to Coventry | Banish, Ostracize |
Cheerio, Pip-pip | Good-bye |
One up the Spout, Bun in the Oven | Pregnant, Knocked Up |
Homely | Pleasant Looking |
Raver | Party Person |
Skiver | Cheater, Slacker |
Chuffed | Pleased with Oneself |
Knuckle Duster | Brass Knuckles |
Wonky | Unstable, Faulty |
Donkey's Years | A Long Time |
Flog | Sell, Pawn Off |
Dodgy | Unreliable, Suspect |
Sideboards | Sideburns |
Sideboard | Buffet Stand |
Number Plate | License Plate |
Off License, Offie | Liquor Store |
Fortnight | Two Weeks |
Over the Top | Too Much, Overdone |
Budgerigar, Budgie | Parakeet |
Pay Rise | Pay Raise |
Row (rhymes w/ How) | Argument, Quarrel |
Queue | Waiting Line |
Quid (money) | One Pound ($1.65 approx.) |
Stone (weight) | Fourteen Pounds |
Trousers | Pants |
Wellingtons, Wellies | Rubber Boots (Knee-high) |
Frock | Dress |
Whisky Neat | Scotch No Ice |
Plonk | Table / Cheap Wine |
All Beer & Skittles | All Drink & Play |
Bubble & Squeak | Potatoes & Cabbage |
Mange Tout | Snow Peas |
Blanc-mange | Milk Pudding & Cornstarch |
Shandy | Beer or Ale Mixed w/Lemonade or Ginger Beer or Ginger Ale |
Lemon Squash | Lemonade |
Lemonade | Carbonated Citrus Drink |
Baby Cham | Low Alcohol Sprarkling Wine |
Bone Idle | Dead Lazy |
Mod Cons | Household Appliances |
He's Off the Latch | He's Unhinged |
Plaster | Band-Aid |
Holiday Makers | Vacationers |
Naturist | Nudist |
Chockablock | Chock Full |
Cash & Carry | Bulk Discount Store |
Posh | Swanky, Upper Class |
Shove Up | Shove Over |
Grass | Snitch, Rat |
Pillock, Twit | Jerk, Idiot |
Shag, Bonk | Fornicate, Screw |
A Bit on the Side | Extra-marital Affair |
Sticky Fingers | Petty Thief |
Tart | Hooker, Slut |
Gone to Ground | Gone into Hiding |
Put the Frighteners On | Threaten to Harm |
Blast! | Damn! |
Bloody ... | God Damn ... |
Pitch | Ball Field |
Football | Soccer |
Plimsolls, Pumps, Trainers, Daps | Canvass Shoes, Sneakers |
Punter | Better |
Turf Accountant | Bookie, Bookmaker |
Betting Shop/Parlour | Off-track Betting |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | Secretary of the Treasury |
Inland Revenue Service | Internal Revenue Service |
Commissionier | Uniformed Doorman |
Managing Director | Chief Excutive Officer |
Farthing (old coin) | ¼ Pence (¼d) |
Halfpence / Halfpenny (pronounced hay-pence/ hay-penny) (old coin) | ½ Pence (½d) |
Penny, Pence (old coin) | One Cent (1¢ - U .S.) |
Threepence (pronounced truppence) (old coin) | Three Cents (3¢ - U.S.) |
Truppenny Bit | Threepence Coin (3d) |
Sixpence (old coin) | Six Cents (6¢ - U.S.) (6d) |
Shilling (old coin) | Twelve Pence (1s) |
Bob | Shilling |
Florin (old coin) | Two Shillings (2s) |
Crown (old coin) | Five Shillings (5s) |
Half Crown (old coin) | Two Shillings and Sixpence (2s-6d or 2/6) |
Half Sovereign (old gold coin), Dollar | Ten Shillings (10s) |
Guinea (old gold coin) | Twenty-one Shillings or One Pound and One Shilling (£1-1s-0d) |
Sovereign (old gold coin) | One Pound |
Pound (£1) | 240 Pence or 20 Shillings (used to be worth $2.40) |
Fiver (£5) | Five Pound Note |
Tenner (£10) | Ten Pound Note |