Translating the “Queen’s English”, aka London Slang
It’s been said that the UK and the United States are
“two countries separated by a common language.”
To help you out in your travels to London, I’ve detailed some common words, terms, and phrases that you may encounter. While not exhaustive, it will hopefully help you understand common words and phrases that you’ll come across in an average day.
[Queen's English] = [North American English]
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Rubbish = Trash, Garbage
Flat = Apartment
Lift = Elevator
Queue = Line
Return (ticket) = Round-trip (ticket)
Row = Fight
Pissed = Drunk
Pull = Hook up
Snog = Kiss
Pram = Stroller
Football colours = soccer jersey
High Street = Main Street (typically you’ll find a High Street in each neighborhood)
Tube = Subway
Subway = Underground walkway
Pavement = Sidewalk
Take-away = Take-out
Kit = Clothing/equipment
Pudding = Dessert (which explains some dialogue in Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”)
Do you have any curious phrases that you’d like translated, or perhaps phrases where you need a better understanding? Do you have a favourite that I didn’t cover here? Please comment below!
16 Comments
What does the expression “dog’s bollocks” mean?
First sentence I heard on the local tv news in London:
“When I heard he took the bung, I was gobsmacked!”
Later found out this was a scandal about soccer referees who accepted a bribe.
Heywood… bollocks = testicles.
njk… it was a little hard to write this post because I’ve gotten so used to the slang! It took me a second to realise that the quote you mentioned actually does sound ridiculous!
“The dog’s bollocks” means the best of something, for example;
“This pie is the dog’s bollocks” is somewhat analogous to “This pie is the shit”. Bollocks on its own means testicles but in the above compound it means something wholly different. Also, “football strip” not “football colours”, “high streets” are not in every neighbourhood, they’re in every city, or town. If the city is large, each section may have a high street, but a village will not, and the majority of towns irrespective of the number of neighbourhoods therein will have usually one.
I grant you the dog’s bollocks….
“Football colours” is something that I see used quite a bit, generally in and around pubs near stadiums. “No football colours” or “No away colours” are common signs for visitors.
As for “High street,” I was referring to London, which has a High Street in nearly every neighborhood. But I grant you that in smaller towns, suburbs, etc. that there will generally only be one high street.
Visitors also seem to have trouble with the word quid, which is a slang term for a pound, just as a buck is a slang term for a dollar. Also water “with gas” does not reference the water’s flatulence, but is a term for sparkling water, though more of a European term, most UK waiters will ask “still or sparkling?”
South Ken… great points! I’ll make sure to include them in a second edition.
I would like to refer those here to Eddie Izzard ( English cross dressing stand up comedian maestro) of his explanation of the Dogs Bollocks in his widely available dvd Circle tour of the States, about 4 yrs ago. A bastardized version of the term is The Mutts Nuts. Also like to point out, that staff working behind bars are most certainly NOT paid enough to warrant a no tip policy! It is just traditonal to accept a drink from the punter ( customer ) and without that my hangovers would have been fewer and my degree a better class! Nice site by the way.
Ted
Boot = The “trunk” of the car
Bonnet = The “hood” of the car
Trunk = footlocker or large suitcase
Hood = what you wear on your head (hat)
Most British people do not speak ‘the Queen’s English’, we speak English. ‘The queen’s English’ is a polite form usually what is taught in posh schools and used to be the standard that the BBC used for example, it is about as far from London slang as you can get!
Many years ago our own accents were not deemed acceptable in the public arena, these days all our own colloquial versions of English are heard throughout the land. You only have to travel 50 miles down the road and the language can change dramatically, take the difference between Liverpool and Manchester for example.
Wotcha = Hello (London only)
Mate = Buddy
Nick = Steal or arrest
The term ‘Football Colours’ is only used on signs in pubs, nowhere else
umm, queen’s english isn’t the same a london slang. queen’s english is another name for standard british english.
the people who dont speak the queens english are the ones who work on our farms and factories its alot more feudal than in yank-town
What does aka mean?
Hi Guillermo. ‘aka’ means ‘also known as’. So you might meet a character known as Morris Gerald Cafferty, “aka Big Ger”.
Though if you did so, you would be in Edinburgh, not London. (He’s a gangster who appears in Ian Rankin’s excellent detective stories.)
dogs bollocks=good or great aka=also known as. if you need vany more translations just mail me
The clothing confused me a bit when I visited…I gathered that a jumper is a sweater or sweatshirt, pants (and knickers) means underwear, trousers means pants, and frock means dress. There are probably more. But the pants one threw me off the most…imagine the odd looks an American caught in a London rainstorm gets when they say, “my pants are soaked through!”