Thursday, December 17, 2009

Quids, brollies, and the full Monty: My intro to British vocab

In the last 2 days, I've gone through an entire guidebook and a half to learn about the UK. It was rather overwhelming at first, but I think I'm starting to get more familiar with British culture, the lay of the land, and other such things one should know about before traveling to a foreign country for the first time.

In the back of Rick Steve's Great Britain 2009, I found a fascinating appendix on British-Yankee Vocabulary that quite amused me, so I thought I would share some of my favorites. One uncertainty I have not yet been able to figure out, is how often these words are actually used in everyday talk, or if these are just "novelty" expressions. This may just be something I have to figure out for myself once I get there.

Regardless, without further ado, here are my top 20 faves:
  • Aubergine = Eggplant
  • Crisps = Chips (as opposed to the "chips" that are actually french fries)
  • Fringe = hair bangs
  • Quid = British Pounds (£)
  • Brolly = Umbrella
  • Telly = TV
  • Twitcher = Bird watcher :)
  • Full Monty = "Everything," or "the whole shebang"
  • Bob's your Uncle = "There ya go!" or "naturally"
  • Twee = Cute or quaint
  • Pillar box = mailbox
  • Zebra crossing = Crosswalk (tee hee!)
  • Pudding = dessert
  • Noughts & crosses = tic-tac-toe 
  • Candy floss = cotton candy
  • First floor = second floor (seriously..?)
  • Jacket potato = Baked potato
  • Subway = an underground walkway (as opposed to the Tube or Underground)
  • Ice lolly = popsicle
  • Sleeping policeman =  Speed bumps (my personal favorite)
Cheers!

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