NAVIGATION OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
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DIRECTORY OF SAUCY SLANG
Where Did That Expression Really Come From?
Know Your Onions! A Jumble of Random Slang
THE QUEEN’S ENGLISH
View Slang and Curses WordMap
A cheeky collection of all slang, insults, curses and idioms available from all categories
Where Did That Expression Really Come From?
Know Your Onions! A Jumble of Random Slang
THE QUEEN’S ENGLISH
- The British Greatest Hits List
- The British Love their Bits N’ Bobs
- Chockablock of Quirky British Slang
- The Cockney Bits About Rhyming Slang
- Raggabrash Runaway to the Middle Ages
- The Victorian Play of Bricky Old Bags
- The Victorian Replay of Bags of Mystery
- Is That Victorian Gibberish or Slang?
- V is for Vulgar Victorian Vagabonds
- Insulted by a Clanging Church Bell
- Two Whoops & A Cowboy Holler
- Penny for Your Thoughts - l Money Talks
- Making a Portmanteau Love Connection
- The Name of the Game in Sports Idioms
- Stealing the Cliff Notes for Millennials
- Pirates Plundering With Curses and Slang
- Walkabout of Aussie Slang - (Home)
- Stirring the Possum - (People)
- Happy Little Vegemite - (Feelings)
- True Blue Values - (Country & Government)
- Sozzled Didgeridoo Solo - (Entertainment)
- Scratching Your Arse - (Curses & Insults)
- Short the Stack - (Abbreviations)
- Froth and Bubbles - (Rhyming Slang)
View Slang and Curses WordMap
A cheeky collection of all slang, insults, curses and idioms available from all categories
CHOCKABLOCK OF QUIRKY BRITISH SLANG
This list may contain some expressions new to you. Quirky and unusual!
BAGSY
Shouting bagsy is the equivalent of calling shotgun on the front seat or dibs on the last cupcake. Nobody violates the rules of bagsy.
BOG ROLL
Head to the loo and you'll hopefully find a bog roll, a.k.a. toilet paper. If you've got to go, you can also ask for the bog, lavatory, or just plain old lave.
BOG-STANDARD
Something that is bog-standard is completely ordinary with no frills, embellishments, or add-ons. Its origins are somewhat unclear, but a bog is another word for a toilet in British slang, adding to the connotations that something bog-standard is unglamorous and unspecial.
BUTCHERS
Butcher's hook is Cockney rhyming slang for look. Therefore, if you're having a butchers, you're having a look at something.
CHIN WAG
It means a friendly conversation.
CHOCKABLOCK
Americans know it as chock full
CREAM CRACKERED
Cockney rhyming slang for knackered, if you're cream crackered then you're incredibly tired.
A knacker was the person that slaughtered worn-out horses in the 19th and 20th centuries for their meat, hoofs, and hide. So, if you're ready for the knacker's yard, you're exhausted beyond relief.
CURTAIN TWITCHER
A nosy neighbor, often caught peering out on their street's activities from a curtained window, might be referred to as a curtain twitcher.
FAFF
To faff is to waste time doing very little.Faff comes from the 17th century word faffle, which means to flap about in the wind.
GAFF
Gaff is an informal word for home. Although the origins of this phrase are largely unknown, a gaff in the 18th-century was a music hall or theatre, and so it's believed to derive from this.
GIVE ME A TINKLE ON THE BLOWER
Give me a call or ring me. The phrase is sometimes shortened to give me a tinkle.
Tinkle refers to a phone's ring, while blower is slang or telephone and refers to the device that predated phones on Naval ships. Sailors would blow down a pipe to their recipient, where a whistle at the end of the pipe would sound to spark attention.
GORMLESS
You don't want to be the gormless American when you're traveling to the UK — it means foolish or lacking intelligence.
HANK MARVIN
Hank Marvin is Cockney rhyming slang for starving. “I'm Hank Marvin” means you are starving or ravenous.
HER MAJESTY'S PLEASURE
It seems like it'd be an honor to serve at Her Majesty's pleasure, but it's not; it means to serve time in prison, the way Americans say go up the river.
LEGLESS
Down a few too many pints at the pub and you'll stumble on home looking a bit legless. No, you still have both of your legs; you're just drunk.
MINTED
We often refer to things as being newly minted when they're brand new, but in the U.K., if you're minted it just means you're rich.
OVER-EGG THE PUDDING
Over-egging the pudding means embellishing or over-doing something to the extent that it's detrimental to the finished product. Although this sounds like an analogy about the chemistry of baking, or putting too many eggs in a cake batter, egg actually comes from the Anglo Saxon eggian, meaning to excite. This is still used in English in the phrase egging someone on to do something. In over-egging the pudding analogy, someone is over-exciting, or over-mixing, the batter too much before it bakes -- resulting in a tough or dense cake.
POP YOUR CLOGS
To pop your clogs means to die. This cheery phrase is widely believed to originate from Northern factory workers around the time of the industrial revolution. When they were working on the factory floor, employees had to wear hard clogs to protect their feet.
SKINT
Shopping like a princess without a royal clothing budget will undoubtedly leave you skint, i.e., broke. A closet full of designer dresses and shoes doesn't come cheap!
SPEND A PENNY
To spend a penny is a polite euphemism for going to the toilet. The phrase goes back to Victorian public toilets, which required users to insert a single penny in order to operate the lock.
Historically, only women would announce they were going to spend a penny, as only women's public toilets required a penny to lock. Men's urinals were free of charge.
WAZZOCK
The Brits love their words for idiot. Besides tosser, you can also sub in wanker, pillock, twit, and git.
BAGSY
Shouting bagsy is the equivalent of calling shotgun on the front seat or dibs on the last cupcake. Nobody violates the rules of bagsy.
BOG ROLL
Head to the loo and you'll hopefully find a bog roll, a.k.a. toilet paper. If you've got to go, you can also ask for the bog, lavatory, or just plain old lave.
BOG-STANDARD
Something that is bog-standard is completely ordinary with no frills, embellishments, or add-ons. Its origins are somewhat unclear, but a bog is another word for a toilet in British slang, adding to the connotations that something bog-standard is unglamorous and unspecial.
BUTCHERS
Butcher's hook is Cockney rhyming slang for look. Therefore, if you're having a butchers, you're having a look at something.
CHIN WAG
It means a friendly conversation.
CHOCKABLOCK
Americans know it as chock full
CREAM CRACKERED
Cockney rhyming slang for knackered, if you're cream crackered then you're incredibly tired.
A knacker was the person that slaughtered worn-out horses in the 19th and 20th centuries for their meat, hoofs, and hide. So, if you're ready for the knacker's yard, you're exhausted beyond relief.
CURTAIN TWITCHER
A nosy neighbor, often caught peering out on their street's activities from a curtained window, might be referred to as a curtain twitcher.
FAFF
To faff is to waste time doing very little.Faff comes from the 17th century word faffle, which means to flap about in the wind.
GAFF
Gaff is an informal word for home. Although the origins of this phrase are largely unknown, a gaff in the 18th-century was a music hall or theatre, and so it's believed to derive from this.
GIVE ME A TINKLE ON THE BLOWER
Give me a call or ring me. The phrase is sometimes shortened to give me a tinkle.
Tinkle refers to a phone's ring, while blower is slang or telephone and refers to the device that predated phones on Naval ships. Sailors would blow down a pipe to their recipient, where a whistle at the end of the pipe would sound to spark attention.
GORMLESS
You don't want to be the gormless American when you're traveling to the UK — it means foolish or lacking intelligence.
HANK MARVIN
Hank Marvin is Cockney rhyming slang for starving. “I'm Hank Marvin” means you are starving or ravenous.
HER MAJESTY'S PLEASURE
It seems like it'd be an honor to serve at Her Majesty's pleasure, but it's not; it means to serve time in prison, the way Americans say go up the river.
LEGLESS
Down a few too many pints at the pub and you'll stumble on home looking a bit legless. No, you still have both of your legs; you're just drunk.
MINTED
We often refer to things as being newly minted when they're brand new, but in the U.K., if you're minted it just means you're rich.
OVER-EGG THE PUDDING
Over-egging the pudding means embellishing or over-doing something to the extent that it's detrimental to the finished product. Although this sounds like an analogy about the chemistry of baking, or putting too many eggs in a cake batter, egg actually comes from the Anglo Saxon eggian, meaning to excite. This is still used in English in the phrase egging someone on to do something. In over-egging the pudding analogy, someone is over-exciting, or over-mixing, the batter too much before it bakes -- resulting in a tough or dense cake.
POP YOUR CLOGS
To pop your clogs means to die. This cheery phrase is widely believed to originate from Northern factory workers around the time of the industrial revolution. When they were working on the factory floor, employees had to wear hard clogs to protect their feet.
SKINT
Shopping like a princess without a royal clothing budget will undoubtedly leave you skint, i.e., broke. A closet full of designer dresses and shoes doesn't come cheap!
SPEND A PENNY
To spend a penny is a polite euphemism for going to the toilet. The phrase goes back to Victorian public toilets, which required users to insert a single penny in order to operate the lock.
Historically, only women would announce they were going to spend a penny, as only women's public toilets required a penny to lock. Men's urinals were free of charge.
WAZZOCK
The Brits love their words for idiot. Besides tosser, you can also sub in wanker, pillock, twit, and git.
A BEAUTIFULLY OBSCURE WORD
this site for logophiles and writers & word lovers is a part of A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
Collection of Vocabulary Books, Sites and Resources
Series Homepage | View Sites | Download Books
Words are also posted on twitter under the hashtags #beautifulwords and shared on pinterest boards
HOME | ABOUT SITE | SITEMAPS | SEARCH
Content by Kairos ~ @kairosoflife
Homepage | Portfolio | Contact | Feedback
Never underestimate the strength and power of a beautiful vocabulary
Original content © 2021 Copyright, Kairos
this site for logophiles and writers & word lovers is a part of A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
Collection of Vocabulary Books, Sites and Resources
Series Homepage | View Sites | Download Books
Words are also posted on twitter under the hashtags #beautifulwords and shared on pinterest boards
HOME | ABOUT SITE | SITEMAPS | SEARCH
Content by Kairos ~ @kairosoflife
Homepage | Portfolio | Contact | Feedback
Never underestimate the strength and power of a beautiful vocabulary
Original content © 2021 Copyright, Kairos
