Rule Britannia, Britannia rules it.
Hi.
Welcome. I'm James from engVid.
Today I'm going to do a lesson on British slang.
We have students from both parts of the world that are in England, and students that are in America learning English.
We have them all over the place.
I specifically said England and America because the other day I had a student walk up to me, and I forgot their name, and I'm so sorry.
And they were saying, "I was watching British television, and it was like learning English all over, I didn't understand.
There was so much English slang. Could you do a lesson on English slang?"
So this is for those people who enjoy learning English and want to branch out, because, to be honest,
if you've learned American English and you watch British English, it's going to actually help you with American English.
What?
British English is very different in its slang and whatnot, so you're going to have to learn to pay attention,
and that attention or concentration will help you when you can use it learning American.
And the same works in the reverse.
If you learn British English and you start hearing Americans talk, sorry, like, "I'm from Texas",
You'll learn to pay attention and you will be able to expand your English, because although they're on different parts of the world,
they share the same language, most of it, but the slang is unique and different,
and this lesson should start helping you learn how to learn words that are in movies and television, British shows,
and you'll be able to understand them so you can actually get more out of the show.
You ready? Let's go to the board.
So the first thing I want to show you... Okay.
So here's the British slang, and on this side we have the American translation.
Okay?
"Guy" and "dude" is like a slang in American, anyway, American English.
But I will tell you what the word means in English, and then we'll go over there and see what the translation would be.
The first one we have is "bloke".
In America, we would say "guy" or "dude".
So in England, you might say, "Who's that bloke over there?"
And in America, you'd say, "Who's that guy?"
"Dude", I mean, "Who's that dude, man?"
But you can think closer to "guy", but "dude" is an equivalent to it.
"Mate".
"He's me mate. He's me flatmate."
In this case, we mean "friend".
Now, here we don't use it that way, but, you know, "mate" here means to a male and a female,
or what have you, come together and have relations.
But in England, your mate's your friend.
Now, this is an old word, so don't shoot me and go to England and go,
"There's a pretty bird. I love that bird."
Okay? It's an older use of the word for female, "bird".
Sometimes they say "lass" or "lassie", but that's more Scottish and Irish.
Now, interesting fact about "bird".
If you hear someone in England goes, "That's for birds" or "That's for the birds",
they may be saying that's for women or girls.
In Canada, for instance, you say, "That's for the birds", it means it's not important.
It's for a child or it's for a less intelligent person.
So just learning this alone, you're like, "What? Be careful."
Because what they mean in one country, "That's for the birds", just it means it's for women.
Doesn't mean they're saying stupid.
Okay? This is why we want to learn this.
Okay?
"Fit".
If you've watched any American television, you've got guys like Tom Cruise or Chris Ellsworth
or The Rock, and they're all fit.
But in England, "fit" has another meaning.
It's an adjective, and it means good-looking.
"That bird's rather fit, right? Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah."
Now, they might mean also she is athletic, she's in good shape.
But they will commonly say, "That's a fit-looking jacket."
Now, here's one you don't have.
In the US right now, people are talking about their fits.
Cool. How cool is that, right?
So they go, "My fit looks pretty good today."
In the US, they're saying, "My outfit looks good."
So you'd better watch and listen carefully to who is speaking.
In England, "fit" means good-looking, and it also can mean athletic.
In America, "fit" can be just your outfit.
They shorten the word, and being athletic.
Cool?
See, that's why you come here for the good stuff.
"Chuffed".
You know, Josh looks rather chuffed when he got that goal.
Right? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
It means pleased, or when you're happy with yourself.
"You got the promotion? Don't he look rather chuffed, that guy there, right?
He's happy with himself, so you're chuffed.
Now, "pissed", this is where it gets rather interesting again.
And "pissed off".
In England, they will use both, being pissed and pissed off.
But "pissed" in England by itself means drunk.
"Look at that bloke, he's rather pissed.
Look at him falling down all over the place, there, right?"
In America, "pissed" means angry.
"I heard Jeff's really pissed about what happened in the company."
"Yeah, he's really angry about that."
Now, both will use "pissed off" to be angry, but in the UK, "pissed" will be drunk,
and American, "pissed" will be angry.
Similar, not the same when we use the "pissed off" version they both used.
Hey, you want to go out this Friday and get pissed?
I'm not asking you to get angry, but let's get drunk.
Now, along with being pissed, being "miffed".
"Charlotte was rather miffed that the horse didn't come home."
Hmm. Look at the word "miffed".
You can see a little British person shaking when they say it.
You know, the constraint and control they have.
Okay, "miffed", it means to be upset.
It's an adjective, and it means very tired or...
Oh, "exhausted", which I must have been when I added the extra "e" here.
We don't need an extra "e" for "exhausted" because I was very tired when I did this lesson.
Interesting fact about "knackered".
In the old days, a knackery was a place that you took a horse that died, and they would make glue out of it.
Sorry, vegans, vegetarians, or anyone who's triggered by that.
So, you can imagine that if you're knackered, it means you are dead tired.
Ouch.
Okay?
So, we're very tired in the United States, we're exhausted, and that's "knackered".
So, the next one after we add "knackered", being dead tired, we have "bullocks".
Now, that's interesting because "bullocks" can be a noun or an exclamation.
Noun, it's testicles, the things between men's legs, the testes.
But as an exclamation, if you want to say something's not true, Jones...
I'm trying to think of something, like...
"Bullocks!"
Or defensive, if someone says something to you, you're like, "Bullocks, I'm not doing it.
Bullocks."
Not true, or you can use it as a defensive way of "I'm being defensive, I'm not going
to do what you asked me to do", and that is "bullocks".
As an adjective for "expensive", you know, some of you are young enough or old enough
to know this, and some of you don't know it, but there were the Spice Girls and there was
"posh spice", and if you wondered what it was because it was sporty spice, I think it
was flamingo spice, I'm just joking, salty spice, she was rather salty.
In England means "fancy" or "expensive".
"That's a rather posh jacket you're wearing there, mate. Right."
And you could be saying it looks fancy or expensive.
"I went to a posh party the other day."
Of course that's not going to be expensive if you're saying a fancy party.
And the opposite of "posh" we got is "naff", and that's also an adjective, and this is
So in this case it's like, ugh, when someone wears, I don't know, you know, big gold chain...
Uh-oh, I don't want the rap community coming after me.
But big gold chains and diamond earrings are dripping down, and, you know, like, velvet
suits, and they're like, "Hey, look, I'm styling with their gold teeth", and you're like,
Now, not saying that about the rap community, I love you guys, right?
I'm not going to say Jay-Z or anyone, I don't even know what to say.
Eleven British slangs and the American translation, so the next time you're watching a British
When you hear someone go "Bollocks", you'll know why he's saying it, you'll be like, "Yeah,
All right, so we're going to do what we usually do right now, we're going to take a break,
quick break, and we're going to go to our quiz, our homework, and that extra magic.
So, we're back and it's testing time.
Now, I may give you a few options because you might say, "Hey, I could also say..."
And I'm going to say to you, you're a smart person, you're a smart chap, bloke.
So let's look at a story first, and what I want you to do is take that British slang
we learned before and put it in the story, here.
Okay?
Then we're going to go to the extra, where I'll teach you a couple words that I know
you want to know, but I didn't write down, but those are the words you really wanted
to know and that's what you came for.
And of course, we'll go through the quote.
So, "I went to a party with my best..."
What's another word for "friend"?
"Mate".
Something that had been drinking a lot, and they were proper something."
I know you would have an option, here, but what I wanted was this, and they were a proper
what?
If they were drinking a lot, what would they be?
Right, they were proper pissed.
And remember, be careful, in America that would be angry, but in England that would
Now, you could have put "birds", but you know, we're thinking the ladies are nice and respectful,
but the boys got drunk, 21st century, who knows, but let's go with this one.
Next.
This is a tough one because there's two words that could go here, right?
Because she's in a nice dress, so what do you...
What would you think it would be?
Well you know she's in a dress, so she's probably...
The noun would be "bird", which would be girl or woman, and what are your two options, here?
Well, I looked at this and said "nice dress", and I would say she's posh, suspensive, nice
But you could also say, remember, she's attractive, so she could be fit.
She could be a fit bird in a nice dress, attractive woman in a nice dress, or a classy woman in
Cool.
"Tommy asked the girl if she wanted to dance, but she said no because she was what?"
Oh, she didn't say she didn't, but I would say this.
She seemed like a nice girl, right?
Now, some of you bad people would say she was pissed, she was too drunk to dance, and
you could say that, but let's make it a nice, clean story, shall we?
"She gave Tommy her number and asked him to call her."
Okay?
But now for the pièce de résistance, the three words you were waiting for.
All right, so when we talk about "snog", this word here, in America you might be confused
with "smog", like the urine's dirty.
No.
A "snog" is non-romantic kissing, so, you know, you might use a little bit of tongue,
Yes.
Yes.
You know, in the movies they're like...
You know, the nasty stuff, when you're drunk and you drink a lot.
"Shag".
It was a Canadian who acted like a British man, Austin Powers.
In this case we're talking about intercourse, sexual relations.
As Clinton would say, "I did not have sexual relations with that lady.
Okay?
Now, here's a good one, "Sod off, mate.
It's not a nice way, it's actually a rude way of saying "get lost".
It's sort of like saying "eff off".
Now, you could say it in a nice way, which is like, "Sod off, you're joking, right?"
Now, "get lost, you're joking", that's not real.
Or you can tell someone, "Hey, it's me girl, there.
"You and your mate, sod off, leave here."
And that means "get lost", and it's a very, we would say, vulgar or not nice way of saying
it.
So now you've got three really cool ways of speaking British and sounding cool.
Next time you go to the pub or you're in America, "Hello, Patricia, would you like to snog,
eh?"
And she tells you to "sod off", just leave.
Now, to have some fun, to practice, because if you're learning, you know, you know American
English, you want to practice British English, best way to do it if you don't have a British
friend is watch a British movie.
I'm going to name some of these ones that you might like.
This one's really new, but it's Notting Hill, Love Actually, some of my favourites, actually,
and The Gentleman's pretty good.
Watch those and come back and write in the comments below what you think or what you
You can put other words to it.
Like, "chips and crisps", not what you think they are.
You want some chips in England?
It's not the same as what you're going to get in America, and I'm going to be happy
Okay?
Anyway, we have a couple of people on engVid, like Jade, Benjamin, and I'm probably forgetting
one.
Don't kill me, but you can always leave a comment going "Don't forget me!"
Jill, I think it's Jill or Gil, yeah.
Check out their videos, they're British.
So on engVid, you can... like, you come here, you come to the home of English, man.
We got Americans, we got Canadians, we got Brits.
Check out their channels on our station and you can learn.
So yeah, that's what I mean to say.
Support the channel, hit like, hit that notification bell.
Go watch those guys on engVid and come see me again.