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British Slang

Trick

Auror
I'm incorprating some British slang into my WIP for a certain feel and I'm in need of help. Anything old-timey is great. Modern words are also appreciated. If the words, though perhaps not offensive in the US, are offensive to others you can send them to me in a private message. The last thing I want is to have anyone be hurt or offended by this post.

I'm looking specifically for adjectives other than Bl**dy but that can be used similarly.

Thanks all
 

Trick

Auror
Right, now then... It's pretty difficult to find a Brit slang dictionary without all those naughty words.

When you say naughty, what exactly do you mean? I need all kinds. There is classism, racism, and just plain meanism (JK) in my book so I'm willing to look through any words. That, of course, doesn't mean I'll use those still very offensive today but I don't want to miss the forest for the trees.

I actually looked through that British Slang Dictionary last night but thank you anyway.
 

Butterfly

Auror
Naughty = unfettered swear words that crop up and are most often bleeped over when aired before the watershed.
 
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CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Just about every part of the UK has its own slang and regional words and they are very specific [Liverpool and Manchester slang and language use are very different and the cities are about 30 miles apart...]
If it London based then I'd avoid using cockney rhyming slang as most people in the city don't really use it, at least not in the bits I lived in...
 

Trick

Auror
Actually, I'd like some London slang and some cockney because I'll also be using this to imply accents without misspellings and I want some characters to sound like they are London-esque and others not so much.

What is cockney rhyming slang? It sounds interesting. I'm pretty familiar with Irish slang but British slang is only familiar via tv shows and you definitely don't get the full experience.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I can believe my Minces! You'd never Adam that this Heap don't understand the Queen's own lingo!*
Cockney Rhyming Slang - Wikipedia
If you ever get to watch "Only Fools and Horses" - that is about the best examples of rhyming slang in use on recent TV.
If you want London lingo then there is Polari! The gay/theatrical slang that was in use up to 1980s and still hold on here and there.
* Mince pies [eyes], Adam and Eve [believe], Heap of Coke [Bloke]
Modern London slang is as likely to include American, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Jamaican, Polish and even Somali phrases as it does Cockney rhyming slang...
 

Trick

Auror
Thanks, I'll check out those shows and Rhyming slang is hysterical! I never realized that it's even used in America in some small ways (put up your dukes, etc.) What an odd and unique way for slang to be born.

One particular question, if you couldn't say bl**dy nor use the F-word how might you say something like, "It's a bl**dy joke!" I really need another curse/adjective for that kind of situation.
 

Butterfly

Auror
A bleeding joke, a frigging joke, s/he's gotta be cowing joking. - Usually the g is left off to be bleedin', friggin', cowin'.
 
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Trick

Auror
Since the character using the sentence just said bl**dy a moment before would it seem odd to switch to bleeding right afterward? I honestly don't know how commonly the words are mixed so I appreciate the help. And, if I typed "bleeding joke" would it imply bleedin'? I'm trying to avoid misspellings for accents but an in' instead of ing is really not too bad.
 

Butterfly

Auror
It all gets mixed up all the time.

With the -ing and -in' it depends really on who your audience is/are and whether it would register with them.

(not sure if it's an is or an are).
 

Trick

Auror
Okay, great, thanks! It's 'is' btw. Audience, though referring to a possible multitude, is a singular noun. (just my bit of snarky grammar help.)
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
sodding... "It's a bit of a sodding joke."
naffing... is another good word that sort means what you want it to mean as in "Naff off!", "Naffing hell!", "Not naffing likely..."
it might be Polari or just made up for TV because they couldn't use real swear words, but to me it feels so right... very Anglo-Saxon!
Thinking about it, just about the best "English" spoken/written by Americans is Spike in BtVS and Angel.
Spike didn't always sound true to me [but there again I'm not a vampire stuck in the late 1970s] but it didn't sound like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins either [that's how NOT to write or speak "English":p]

[Butterfly - I haven't heard of "cowing" before, where does it come from?]
 

Trick

Auror
Thanks, I'll add them to my arsenal.

Thinking about it, just about the best "English" spoken/written by Americans is Spike in BtVS and Angel.

Until you typed that, I thought he was British (not that I knew anything about him except that he was on those shows) which just goes to show you how fooled we can be by accents that are not our own. It's funny, some British and also Australian actors do well with the "American" accent (this overall accent doesn't exist really because there are so many different American accents that I couldn't possible count them) and basically they imitate the Northwest American or the New York or Philadelphia accent - all very different. But we've had a few Dick Van Dyke-esque horrors. He really was terrible at it though wasn't he? Even we Americans think he sounded awful.
 

Sia

Sage
This is more American English vs British English but still....

I remember getting some strange looks asking for a pen and a rubber when I went to holiday to America as a young' un. See, what you Americans call an eraser, we call a rubber. Useful links.

As mentioned on the video, fanny =/= bottom. It equals ... well, suffice it to say, I will be very confused if male characters have one. Pants =/= trousers either. Pants are underpants.

Ah, to America, someone who is pissed is angry. Pissed to a Brit means 'drunk.' An angry person is 'pissed off.'

And there's nothing wrong with giving someone a pot plant, either. Pot, on the other hand...

Ah, college. Here, college is what you refer to as a community or junior college. What you refer to as just 'college' is university.

This might help especially if you compare it to this.

I admit to using 'color' and 'fetus' and so on as a subtleish way to represent an American accent on the page.
 
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Trick

Auror
I remember getting some strange looks asking for a pen and a rubber when I went to holiday to America as a young' un. See, what you Americans call an eraser, we call a rubber. Useful links.

That's awesome. Are you in the UK or (as one would assume from your pic) Australia? I knew of a woman who taught kindergarten in Australia and said it was nappy time (we just call sleeping during the day a nap but nappy time is just a childish way to say it) only to have all the children whine that they didn't need nappies. Apparently nappies are diapers there... At least, that is what I heard. There are some great cross cultural things like that. In Ireland they told me to turn at the junction. I kept driving and driving looking for a train crossing. In America, they're called intersections when they're just for cars and trucks.
 

Trick

Auror
Just noticed your edit
As mentioned on the video, fanny =/= bottom. It equals ... well, suffice it to say, I will be very confused if male characters have one. Pants =/= trousers either. Pants are underpants.

Ah, to America, someone who is pissed is angry. Pissed to a Brit means 'drunk.' An angry person is 'pissed off.'

And there's nothing wrong with giving someone a pot plant, either. Pot, on the other hand...

Ah, college. Here, college is what you refer to as a community or junior college. What you refer to as just 'college' is university.

This might help especially if you compare it to this.

I admit to using 'color' and 'fetus' and so on as a subtleish way to represent an American accent on the page.

I've actually heard about a lot of those differences in my research and experience, fanny being a particularly funny miscommunication. I think it was on a TV show I saw with an American woman in England talking about how pants were hard to find because of her big fanny. That is totally PG to us and I can't imagine how people would react across the Atlantic (or Pacific for that matter.) Anything from shocked stares to laughing out loud I suppose.

I've also noticed that many of the words that the British(etc) use are also used back East (meaning Pennsylvania, New York but not the southern East Coast) My father is from Philadelphia and he always calls pants trousers.

A pot plant here would be a naughty gift. We give potted plants.

As for color and fetus, are you referring to spelling on both? color/colour, fetus/what? I didn't know there was another spelling if that's the case.
 

Gecks

Scribe
I used 'posh' when talking to some Americans a few years back and they had no clue what that was and I sort of failed to explain it. Anyway, turns out that's British Slang I guess (I seriously had no idea!).

If you want some Norfolk slang (where I am from in England) you can have these:
Skew whiff - means something is a bit... like on an angle. (It's from askew I think). We'd pronounce it like 'skoo wiff' in Norfolk. Also, I have heard this about quite a lot in other parts of the country
On the huh - means the same as above.
...
lug - ear (again, I would say this is fairly common all over, I'm not even sure it's just british either).

Oh, and bog = toilet pretty much everywhere (and if you ask for the bathroom or restroom, people will give you odd looks).

I'm trying to think of some differences that have come up at home. I have an American mother but have lived in England my whole life.

ps. I didn't realise 'bloody' was a british thing.

Also, I have this to add:
In David Crystal's "The story of English in 100 words" he notes this translation in the American version of Harry Potter (the books, not the films):
"'Bit rich coming from you' says British Harry to British Ron in The Chamber of Secrets. 'You should talk!' says American Harry to American Ron."

So apparently 'that's a bit rich' is not said much outside Britain either!

Anyway here are some more:
Keep your pecker up! / keep your chin up! = remain cheerful. Kind of old fashioned...
Gordon Bennett! = an expression of surprise. basically the same as Bloody Hell! except politer
Want a brew? = want some tea? We often say 'brew' for tea
popped their clogs = died.
 
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