British Phrases - Letters A to C

Have you ever visited Britain and wondered what Brits are talking about. Maybe you need to brush up on British language for your future visit. Or maybe you just want to impress people with your knowledge of the British language, how hard can it be, after all it's only English right?

This week we are covering British phrases beginning from A to C:

Ace means If something is ace then it would mean it is very good.

Aggro is a shortened word for aggravation. Means something or someone is giving your trouble.

All right? is used around London and the south of England. It means "Hello, how are you"? You could say it to a stranger or a friend. The normal response would be for them to say "All right"? back to you. It is said as a question. Sometimes it might get expanded to "all right mate"?

Any road is used in the North of England, instead of saying "anyway", they say "any road".

Arse means the same as ass or bum. It is used in phrases like "pain in the arse" (a nuisance) or "I can't be arsed" (I can't be bothered) or you might hear something was "a half arsed attempt" meaning that it was not done properly.
The expression was over used by a character called Jed Thomas in a British sketch show called 'The Fast Show'. It was about West England farmers (Cornwall/Devon) that like to use the word more than once in any sentence:



Arse about face means you are doing something the wrong way round.

Arseholed is someone that is totally drunk on alcohol.

Baccy is another slang word shortening the word Tobacco. Normally used for rolling tobacco. You may ask a friend "got any baccy"?.

Barmy is calling someone this would mean that are a bit crazy or having an extreme personality. "She's a bit barmy".

Bees Knees is a phrase that would be best used when describing how good somthing is. You could say "you look the bees knees in that new suit" or "this hotel is the bees knees".

Belt up is used by parents may tell there kids to "belt up"! if their kids are misbehaving.

Bender could mean a gay man. But mostly used to describe going out on a heavy drinking session "going on a bender", which also may sound gay but is not. Confused?

Bite your arm off is describing someone thats desperate to act on something. You could say a hungry homeless person would bite my arm off for some of my chips.

Bladdered is someone who is really drunk. Probaly comes from filling your bladder full of beer.

Blatant means something is really obvious. Or someone did an action on purpose and did not hide the fact, as in Blatantly Obvious.

Bleeding is an alternative to the word bloody or bloody hell.

Blimey or Gawd Blimey and Cor Blimey. An exclamation of surprise. Altered from the phrase God Blind Me.

Blinding is something that was really great like "we had a blinding time at the fair".

Bloody is named after Queen Mary, for anyone who disagreed during her reign, she had them killed.

Blooming is another alternative to the word bloody. You might hear someone say "not blooming likely" so that they don't have to swear.

Blow me is an expression used if one is shocked by an action or event. Finding out you have won some money you might say "well blow me, I was not expecting that".

Blow off means who farted? Constant source of amusement to us Brits when you guys talk about blowing people off. Conjours up all sort of bizarre images!

Blunt is a saw or a knife is not sharp we say it is blunt. It is also the way most of us speak! In America the knife would be dull.

Boat is cockney rhyming slang for Face. Boat Race = Face. If someon is ugly, you could say to a friend "Look at the boat on that". - see Mugging Me Off video for use.

Bob's your uncle is a well used phrase. It is added to the end of sentences a bit like and that's it!

Bodge making a bodge job means to do a quick job of something and not a quality job. For example, getting abuilder to build a wall that looks great for 2 weeks and then will fall down.

Bollocks is a great English word with many excellent uses. It means testicles but is typically used to describe something that is not great "that bollocks" or if someone is talking on a subject but it not very smart, then you could say to them "you are talking bollox".

Bomb is something that costs a bomb to buy, means that it is really expensive. You could say "Do you like my new jacket, it cost a bomb".

Bonk means having sex. "I met a girl the other night, took her to my flat and bonked her".

Bottle means overcoming fear as in "That guy had a lot of bottle to fight all three guys at once". or "You had a lot of bottle to stand in from of 500 people and make that speech".

Box your ears meant kids heard their dads threaten to box their ears if they mis-behaved. The action would be to slap you round the side of the head, probably for bad manners.

Brassed off means if you are brassed off with something or someone, you are fed up with them or anything.

Brill is a shortened word for Brilliant!

Bubble or 'having a bubble' is a cockney rhyming slang for 'laugh'. Bubble bath rhymes with laugh.

Budge up could be heard if you was on a train and there is still room on the seat for you to squeeze into. "There is room here, can you budge up".

Bugger is similar to bloody. But could mean to be lucky to someone who might dislike. "I wanted to win that prize, you lucky bugger". But it could also mean as piss off "why dont you just bugger off"!. Or if you have broken something by mistake you could say "oh bugger it".

Bugger all means that you have nothing. Normally expressed when you cannot pay for something i.e. "Sorry, I have bugger all".

Bung means to throw. "Can you bung my car keys over". But also has been used to describe people taking a bribe. Soccer players have been accused of taking a bung to throw or fix a game.

Bunged Up means if you have a cold or flu and you cant breathe through your nose "I'm all bunged up".

Butchers means to have a look at anything . This really is derived from Cockney Rhyming Slang, found in the East End of London. Butchers Hook rhymes to Look. "Lets have a butchers at your new car mate".

Chat up means to talk to a guy or girl with intentions to form relations with them. You could say to your friend in the pub "go and chat up that guy, he's good looking".

Cheeky means to be outspoken and rude (but a nice rude) or to have the last word or flippant. But could also be used if your dog stole a sausage from your dinner plate "hey fido you cheeky little monkey".

Cheerio basically means to say goodbye, but more informal. Soccer fans sing this to opposing losing fans that are leaving the stadium early, normally to the tune of ere we go...but replaced by cheerio.

Cheers is to say thank you, but more informal. Also can be used to when clinking drinks together in celebration.

Cheesed off means to be unhappy with the way things are going.

Chin Wag describes you mouth moving, which mean talking. "I met an old friend and we had a good chin wag".

Chuffed means to be happy with something. "I made that cake and am well chuffed with it".

Clear off! would be used to tell someone to go away.

Cock up is making a mistake. "You cocked that up".

Codswallop is talking rubbish or lying about something.

Cor is less used now but was very popular with the Carry On films. It used to express how you might feel about someone who is sexy. Instead of making the noise "Mmmmm" you might go "Cor!" or really make it longer "Cooooorrrrr"!. Best use of this is found by Jim Dale (of Harry Potter Audio book fame) in Carry On Doctor:

 

Cracking is something that means it fantastic. This was used in a UK commerical to replace the brand beer called Carling. The ending is very fitting:

 

Crikey is a old school upper class word to express like "oh dear" when shocked "oh crikey".


If we missed any from A to C then please your comment below. Next Week letters D to F.