British Expressions

I watch a lot of Brit TV and read a lot of Brit books. Now, I’ve got a cheat sheet for those expressions I thought I knew, but wasn’t quite sure. As a writer, I really LOVE this one, “Lost the Plot”!! Which one is your favorite? Do you know any more? Leave a comment if you do and tell me about it.

 

British Expressions

One Response to British Expressions

  1. Julie Staines November 23, 2014 at 5:20 pm #

    Hi Diane – why don’t you ask your ‘mate’ Lee Child if you aren’t completely sure of a British expression? He’s made a pretty good job of mastering his Americanisms, (never heard him make a mistake), so I am sure that he’d be ‘chuffed’ to help.

    There are so many more…not just expressions but pure vocabulary…do you know your chips from your crisps from your fries, for example?! And pavement, path, sidewalk, or bonnet, hood, trunk and boot? And what’s the difference between a handbag and a purse? The list goes on…

    And your pants, pants/panties and trousers? A common expression among young people these days is, ‘it’s pants’, meaning it’s dreadful, awful, bad etc.But i would never use that of course!

    I am a teacher of English, have lived in the US and Canada, as well as in dear old Blightly, so I have a good all-round knowledge of our relevant linguistic oddities.

    If you ever have a language question, don’t hesitate to get in touch. If you can’t get hold of Lee that is!

    I’ll leave you to decipher ‘gobsmacked’! Maybe you know this one…?

    ‘Cheers’ for now, I’m ‘knackered’ so I’m off to ‘Bedfordshire’! – Julie Staines

    PS Some of your translations are a little ‘polite’!

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