Your Favorite Slang

I'm sure this topic has been touched on many times before...BUT...here goes...

What are some of your favorite British/American slangs or sayings?  Not the common things like "bird" or "love" or "bloke"...but the things that kinda stick out in your mind as interesting, unusual, or just fun.  Please include what it actually means for us daft people who may not know.    

I'll start...these are some of the things my hubby and my Brit friends say (this could be general "British sayings" or it could just be "native" to the area we live in - local slang):

"It's a good job"...which Americans usually say "It's a good thing."
Ex:  "It's a good job your daughter wasn't at the pub because things got rowdy."

"What are ya like?"...basically meaning "I can't believe you're so stupid."
Ex:  "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I ran right into the wall"
Friend:  "What ya like? HAHAHA!" 
To bring it back old school, Americans might have said "What a dork!"

I've also noticed a lot of my Brit friends say "Are you ok?", meaning "How are you?".  Whereas in America, "Are you ok?" is usually said out of concern when you think something is wrong with someone. 

"Going out on the piss"...meaning "Going to get drunk" (I have heard 100 different words for drunk in the UK!  Wonder why?)

"Taking the piss"...meaning "picking on someone"
Ex:  "We were taking the piss with Dave because his mum brought his lunch to work."

Also noticed that most Brits tend to say "two seconds" whereas Americans tend to say "one minute"...when asking someone to hold on.

I've also noticed that (with my personal friends), Brits seem to use less words to say the same things...I guess this kinda feeds into that stereotype that "Americans love to talk just to hear their own voices."  So if I were to say a sentence, it might come out like this, "Honey can you hang on a minute?  The dog is scratching at the door and I think he needs to go outside so he can use the bathroom."  My hubby might say something like this, "Two seconds...dog needs out."

"Taking the piss"...meaning "picking on someone"
Ex:  "We were taking the piss with Dave because his mum brought his lunch to work."
I am sure no one would use these words and if they did they maybe deemed offensive.

"no one" is a little broad. Very few people. A little low class.

What do you mean no one would say those words, Jim?  Many Brits (English to be specific) that I know use this phrase all the time and its not offensive or lower class. Its common slang.

Smith - I never thought of it until you mentioned it, but I have heard "two second" very frequently.. and it always seems to take longer than two seconds

'Very low class'?

No.  Jim, you haven't lived in the UK for sometime, these phrases are in common usage. Not when speakign to the priest, but certainly in conversation in the pub.  It is not deemed offensive.

To tell someone to 'pi$$ off'...now that is offensive.
One correction....you wouldn't 'take the piss with Dave', you would 'take the piss out of him'.

Vicky

Why not say "taking the urine out of him"?

One of my very favorite British expressions is to 'wind someone up'. It's perfect!

Jim's caught me out several times on the forum.  I've grown wise.     He enjoys taking the piss to unsuspecting readers.     (Answer me this Jim: are you a closet Scorpio?)

I love British insults!  I was just thinking this the other day and did a mental list of comparisson for colourful insults between the US & UK and I just think that British insults are more imaginative.

Words to describe idiots: 
Muppet
Duck Egg (I think this one's Yorkshire)
Numpty

Have you seen this British to American Translator? 

Just thought of this one: Glasgow Kiss.     (Basically a really hard head-butt: most likely will knock you out.)

Why not say "taking the urine out of him"?

some people do say 'extracting the urine'.

my favorites in NI:

"Get it in ya"-- used when I'm not drinking as fast as I should be

"That's bang out of order!"-- used when someone has done something....well....bang out of order.

"dead on"-- used when someone is fairly cool/easy to get along with ex: "he's dead on, like"

also, the use of the word "like" at the end of the sentences as opposed to before an adjective like Americans would do. Makes me laugh every time.

"That's bang out of order!"-- used when someone has done something....well....bang out of order.

That is a London thing as well, so I'd guess country wide.  The others are I think exclusive to NI...along with 'so it is' at the end of every sentence.  It's grand, so it is!

 

Vicky

It's not universal (I don't think it's really used outside of Derbyshire, is it?), but I love duck.

Example sentence:
You all right, duck?

Or, the classic:
Ey up, mi duck!

I had to wait months for someone to finally call me duck.  I was very excited the first time it happened, and it hasn't gotten old yet!

I wouldn't call "bird" common where I live, though, at least not in the sense where it means "woman."  I'd be surprised to hear someone say it.

"It's pissing it down"....it's raining really hard

My hubby says "Too right" a lot...as in, yes I agree with what you're saying
"It's really cold outside"
"Too right"

Also my hubby says "I'll ring you later" instead of "I'll call you later"

Using "proper" where Americans would usually say "really"
"It's proper cold outside"

Saying "Half twelve" instead of "Half past twelve"

"Can't be asked"...as in "can't be bothered"
"My boss wanted me to work late but I coudn't be asked to."
(Took me FOREVER to figure that one out!)

"Knackered"...tired

"Fit" as in "attractive"...in America means usually means someone who is in excellent physical condition

Also using "fetch" instead of "bring"
"I'm going to fetch some chocolates to work with me."
In America, it's mostly used as the game you play with dogs

My MIL says "tarah" when hanging up the phone...I dunno what that means except "goodbye" (any input?)

I wouldn't call "bird" common where I live, though, at least not in the sense where it means "woman."  I'd be surprised to hear someone say it.

I hear this all the time, but mostly when someone is talking ABOUT a woman...not really said TO the woman.

More insulting words (I dunno how common these are Britain-wide or if more local) - ***don't read if you're going to be offended***:
Git
Sod
Pillock
Wanker
Knob Jockey
Prat

My hubby says "Too right" a lot...as in, yes I agree with what you're saying
"It's really cold outside"
"Too right"

Also my hubby says "I'll ring you later" instead of "I'll call you later"

Saying "Half twelve" instead of "Half past twelve"

Not sure I'd call these ones slang - they are just phrases used in the UK that aren't used in the US. We usually say 'ring' not 'call' - that's just how it is. I'd say we also use 'half past twelve' as much 'half twelve' - I guess it's like the fact that you say 'quarter of/after 12' while we say 'quarter to/past 12', so I wouldn't really class it as slang.

"Can't be asked"...as in "can't be bothered"
"My boss wanted me to work late but I coudn't be asked to."
(Took me FOREVER to figure that one out!)

Actually, it's 'can't be arsed', not 'asked' (ars* = ass).

My MIL says "tarah" when hanging up the phone...I dunno what that means except "goodbye" (any input?)

Yep, it means goodbye (ta ra).

I hear this all the time, but mostly when someone is talking ABOUT a woman...not really said TO the woman.

Well, 'bird' is basically the UK equivalent to saying 'chick' or 'babe' - so you're most likely to hear men saying it when talking about an attractive woman (can be considered derogatory, just as some women don't like being called a chick) - it's not something a woman would say about another woman.

Actually, it's 'can't be arsed', not 'asked' (ars* = ass).

THANK YOU for pointing that out. 'Can't be asked' is one of my pet peeves, and I see it typed that way far too much. ARSED!!! ARSED!!! ARSED!!!! 

THANK YOU for pointing that out. 'Can't be asked' is one of my pet peeves, and I see it typed that way far too much. ARSED!!! ARSED!!! ARSED!!!! 

Maybe people just can't be arsed to say arsed.  You ever think about that?