History BritishEnglish / EnglishSlangAToF

* '''Cack''': Faeces, sometimes used as a milder version of "crap" ("What a load of cack"). As a verb it can also mean the act of soiling oneself ("He just went and cacked himself!"). A rare example of a welsh word going the other way into commmon English usage - from Welsh ''cachu''[[note]] pron "cacky" [[/note]], "shit".

* '''''Flat''''': A one-story apartment. As in, "Hey, babe, want to come up to my flat and ''snog''?" For the purposes of Estate Agents (or, for Americans, Realtors), a flat has a front door that opens onto a shared area; if your front door opens onto the world at large, then it might be a ''maisonette'', ''bedsit'', or ''studio'', but it is not technically described as a flat. [[AcceptableTargets Given that Estate Agents are nigh-universally considered the spawn of Satan]], even by those who don't ''believe'' in Satan, this technical distinction is often overlooked in normal conversation, where it means any small residence that can't be described as a 'house'.

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* [[BritishEnglish/EnglishSlangGToL G to L]]
* [[BritishEnglish/EnglishSlangMToR M to R]]
* [[BritishEnglish/EnglishSlangSToZ S to Z]]
* BritishEnglish/CockneyRhymingSlang

* '''''Colour''''': This is spelt with a U in UK English, as are several other similar words such as "armour", "honour" and "neighbour", plus derivatives like "colourful" and "neighbourhood". But beware - "humour" still declines to "humorous", and honour to "honorary".[[note]]The rule is that the U is dropped before a prefix that starts with a vowel: ''colourful'', but ''coloration''[[/note]] As "Technicolor" is a trademark, credits of British movies don't alter its spelling. The same goes for English spelling in most other other Commonwealth nations.

* '''''Batty''''': informal MLE slang referring to someone's ass. Usually an attractivr girl's Ass.

* '''''Akhi/Akh''''': loaned from the Arabic word for Brother. Basically used as an alternative for bro/bruv when refering to male friends. Usullay used by British South Asians, West Asians, North Africans and some East and West Africans due to making up most of the UK Muslim population.

* '''''Flat''''': A one-story apartment. As in, "Hey, babe, want to come up to my flat and ''snog''?" For the purposes of Estate Agents (or, for Americans, Realtors), a flat has a front door that opens onto a shared area; if your front door opens onto the world at large, then it might be a ''maisonette'', ''bedsit'', or ''studio'', but it is not technically described as a flat. Given that Estate Agents are nigh-universally considered the spawn of Satan, even by those who don't ''believe'' in Satan, this technical distinction is often overlooked in normal conversation, where it means any small residence that can't be described as a 'house'.

* '''''Cheers''''': As well as a salute to other drinkers of alcohol, means "thank you" in informal usage. It's worth noting that we Brits don't tend to use it as a toast the way Hollywood does (e.g. a character proposing a toast by saying 'Cheers to you guys' from The Proposal)

* '''''The Beeb''''': The [=BBC=]. Primarily Northern slang.

* '''''Colour''''': This is spelt with a U in UK English, as are several other similar words such as "Armour", "Honour" and "Neighbour" plus derivatives like "Colourful" and "Neighbourhood". But beware - words like "humour" still decline to "humorous", and honour to "honorary". As "Technicolor" is a trademark, credits of British movies don't alter its spelling. The same goes for English spelling in most other other Commonwealth nations.

* '''''Fit''''': Attractive, in describing a person. Equivalent, in that sense, of the US 'hot', though the latter would also be easily understood in Britain. Can lead to puns really easily. A '''Fitty''' is an attractive person. Sometimes substituted with '''Bonny''' in UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}, though this is generally restricted to females describing males or as an affectionate description of a young girl - "she's a bonny wee lass!"

*** Well there ''is'' Soccer city, in Trafford, a brand name of an indoor training facility. Probably American, too.
*** "Soccer" also seems to be permitted in video game titles, even British-developed ones such as ''Sensible Soccer'' and ''Actua Soccer''.

** The ''ash'' (æ) and ''ethel'' (œ) are pronounced ''very similarly'' to an 'e', but are not the same sound. [=Æ=] and œ are ''not'' e, they make a different sound that generally only those who can make it can recognise. The nearest American sound to it would be an 'ee', though, so [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Ted was wrong]].

* '''''Budgie-smugglers''''': Men's swimwear... but very much not ''all'' men's swimwear. Budgie-smugglers are, traditionally, a pair of swimming briefs (traditionally in an eye-searing colour scheme) that are ''far'' too small for the person wearing them, resulting in unsightly bulges in places you would rather not have your eye drawn to, thank you very much. The resemblance to a pair of regular briefs in which the wearer is attempting to smuggle a live bird is the presumed origin of the phrase.

* '''''Asian''''' usually refers to someone from South Asia (typically India, Pakistan or Bangladesh), as opposed to the American usage which tends to refer to East Asians (from Japan, China, Korea, etc.). "Oriental" has lesser negative connotations when used to refer to East Asians, but is becoming much less fashionable; you're better off using specific nationalities, or just saying "East Asian".

If you want to learn more, Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales has an article about it]].

* '''''Bog''''': Slang for the toilet. Derived phrases include "bog roll", "gone straight down the bog", etc. Or an actual bog, like a more concentrated marsh, where the toilet definition is presumed to originate.

* '''''Afro-Caribbean''''': A polite way to say "black" (as a race), similar to the phrase "African American". The difference in terminology is due to the fact that most of Britain's black population can trace their lineage to slaves brought to work the sugar plantations on British holdings in the West Indies, rather than tobacco and cotton plantations in the US. Relatedly, "black" itself is officially ''not'' considered offensive, and is the term used on documents where relevant. "Afro-Caribbean" has largely fallen out of use as a result, often being viewed as PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad.

* '''''Chips''''': Used to describe what would be called "French Fries" in the U.S.; as in "Fish and chips". "Fries" in the UK refers specifically to the thin-cut variety they sell at [=McDonald's=], although these are also referred to as chips to add to the confusion. Do not call chips as bought from a fish and chip shop fries, this is a matter of deep importance to some and will not hesitate to correct you. "Chips" refers specifically to the thick-cut variety known as "steak fries" in the U.S. Here's where it starts to get weird: fish and chips has the same name in the US as it does in the UK, but the "chips" are usually the smaller style of fries stateside. See "crisps" for what Americans call "chips" (confusingly, "corn chips" or "tortilla chips" refer to the same thing as they do in the States).

* '''''Cuppa''''': i.e. ''cup of''. Short for '[[SpotOfTea cuppa tea]]'. A ''Cup a Soup'' or ''Cuppasoup'' is a packet of powdered soup sized for a single cup - the first spelling is a trademark of Batchelors, the latter a closer approximation of how it tends to be said.

* '''Bob's your uncle:''' "You're all set", "piece of cake." Usually used after giving instructions. It is believed to refer to Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, who appointed his nephew Chief Secretary of Ireland in an infamous act of nepotism. (So Bob being his uncle was all the nephew needed to succeed at life.)