Although I brought my kids up to know their British heritage, and apparently we did a lot of things that weren’t typically American, I never once chided them for using Americanisms. OK, (just in case they’re reading), I did go a bit full-on making sure they said “Please”, which quite a few Americans seem to omit. (Calm down, I’m not saying anyone’s necessarily rude, but I’ve done unscientific surveys on it and the actual word is often absent.)
Anyway, I’ve never understood Brits in the USA who insist on using their British English vocabulary and worse, get annoyed or sneer when Americans don’t understand them. As Rob Lowe illustrates here, some British words are so different from American English that no one would stand a chance if they were trying to guess the meaning.
Trainers – I suppose an educated guess here might yield results since these shoes were originally designed for exercise, but I knew never to use it in the US anyway. Interestingly, despite the plethora of American words that cross the Pond every year, I’m not noticing Brits saying “sneakers” much.
How familiar are you with the famous London dialect of Cockney rhyming slang?
By Tommy Wathen
Do you like a nice cup of ‘Rosie Lee’ at night before you head up the ‘apples and pears’ to your ‘Uncle Ted’?
Apologies – for those aged under 25, you may not understand the statement above or be familiar with the famous London dialect of Cockney rhyming slang.
For many years, Londoners have been using catchy words and phrases in sentences that rhyme with the actual words they mean to say.
Quite often, this trend can be heard around Essex too.
As an example, the sentence above means ‘Do you like a nice cup of tea at night before you head up the stairs to your bed’.
Cockney rhyming slang was also popularised around the country when it was used during the classic British sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses’.
Here is a list of 50 Cockney terms that you’ve probably never heard – along with their translation and an example of use in a sentence:
1. Able and Willing
Translation: Shilling
Use: “I’m so skint until payday, could you lend us an Able?”
2. Alan Minter
Translation: printer or splinter
Use: “The Alan’s jammed with paper again.”
3. Alex Nash
Translation: slash (urinate)
Use: “Where’s your loo? I’m desperate for an Alex.”
4. Apple pip
Translation: dip
Use: “Let’s all go down to Brighton for an apple pip.”
5. Arthur Conan Doyle
Translation: boil
Use: “Oi mate, would you put that kettle on the Arthur?”
6. Atilla the Hun
Translation: 2:1 degree
Use: “I graduated last year with an Atilla in Business Studies.”
7. Baa lamb
Translation: tram
Use: “I’m on the lamb over from Ikea.”
8. Basil Brush
Translation: thrush
Use: “I’ve got a bad case of the old Basil.”
9. Betty Boo/ Eartha Kitt
Translation: poo
Use: “Where’s the lav, I need a Betty!”
10. Bill Oddie
Translation: voddie (vodka)
Use: “Get us a Bill and cola.”
11. Billie Piper
Translation: windscreen wiper
Use: “Someone’s gone and ripped off my Billies.”
12. Billy Ray Cyrus
Translation: virus
Use: “I had to take my laptop to the shop because I opened an email with a nasty Billy Ray attached.”
13. Boracic lint
Translation: broke, skint
Use: “I can’t come out tonight, I’m completely Boracic.”
14. Brad Pitt
Translation: fit
Use: “Mate, that girl is proper Brad Pitt.”
15. Britney Spears
Translation: ears, tears, or beers
Use: “Dry those Britneys.”
16. Charlie Drake
Translation: steak
Use: “I’ll have chips with me Charlie.”
17. Cheese and kisses
Translation: Mrs
Use: “I got some flowers to surprise me cheese, she loved it.”
18. Cheesy Quaver
Translation: favour
Use: “Do us a cheesy Quaver, pal.”
19. Coat hanger
Translation: clanger, mistake
Use: “I’ve only gone and sent it to print with a huge coat hanger in the headline!”
20. Cuff link
Translation: drink (alcoholic)
Use: “Let’s go down the rubber dub for a cuff link.”
21. Cuppa, sausage and a slice
Translation: nice
Use: “He’s a cuppa lad.”
22. Daisy dancers
Translation: stairs
Use: “I’m off up the Daisys to bed.”
23. Damien Hirst
Translation: first class degree
Use: “My cousin only went and got a Damien from Oxford!”
24. Diet Coke
Translation: joke
Use: “These train strikes are a Diet Coke!”
25. Donald Trump
Translation: hump
Use: “What’s given you the Donald, then?”
26. French egg
Translation: enough (un ouef)
Use: “That’s it, I’ve had a French egg now.”
27. Gamma ray
Translation: stray
Use: “This cat keeps hanging about my garden, I reckon it’s a gamma.”
28. German beer/ ginger beer
Translation: engineer
Use: “If you need some work done on your car my cousin’s a great ginger beer.”
29. Godforsaken
Translation: bacon
Use: “I’m craving a godforsaken sarnie.”
30. Gordon Brown
Translation: clown
Use: “My dad’s a bit of a Gordon.”
31. Harry Hill
Translation: pill, birth control
Use: “I can’t be pregnant, I’m on the Harry.”
32. Holy Grail
Translation: email
Use: “Send us the details in a holy.”
33. Hovis
Translation: dead (from brown bread)
Use: “He’s been Hovis for years now.”
34. Ian Beale
Translation: real
Use: “I’m keeping it Ian Beale.”
35. Itchy ring
Translation: Burger King
Use: “I’m Hank Marvin mate, wanna go get an itchy?”
36. Jabba the Hutt
Translation: shut
Use: “I just went down the tin tank for some cash but it was Jabba.”
37. Jet fighter
Translation: all-nighter
Use: “I had to pull a jet fighter to catch up with my work.”
38. KY Jelly
Translation: telly
Use: “Get in here quick, your trouble’s on the KY.”
39. Kangaroo pouch
Translation: couch
Use: “Help us move my kangaroo.”
40. Lager and lime
Translation: spine
Use: “I’ve got a terrible pain in me lager.”
41. Lisa Tarbucks
Translation: Starbucks
Use: “I’ve not got enough wonga to get coffee from Lisa.”
42. Lump of lead
Translation: head
Use: “Use your lump!”
43. Malcom X
Translation: text
Use: “Send us a Malcom.”
44. Merlyn Rees
Translation: piece, lunch
Use: “I’m off to the caff for some Merlyn, are you coming?”
45. Noddy holders
Translation: shoulders
Use: “I’ve got a terrible pain in me Noddys.”
46. Obi Wan Kenobi
Translation: mobile phone
Use: “Send us a Malcom on me Obi Wan.”
47. Perpetual loser
Translation: boozer
Use: “Me local perpetual has been no cop since it got taken over.”
48. Pineapple chunk
Translation: bunk bed
Use: “You and your sister will have to share the pineapple.”
49. Ricky Gervais
Translation: face
Use: “You should’ve seen the look on her Ricky when I told her the news.”
50. Rock of Ages
Translation: wages
Use: “With rent like this they better give us higher Rock of Ages.”
“Heather Cox Richardson, a history professor, has been a breakout star of the newsletter platform Substack” – New York Times • Read today’s Letters From an American
Britain is known as a rainy country, despite the fact that it doesn’t get any more rain than say, Seattle. But it’s true that Britain is very wet. Their soggy maritime climate has shaped their history and culture, and it’s no surprise that like the Inuit with multiple words to describe snow, the British also […]
Britain is known as a rainy country, despite the fact that it doesn’t get any more rain than say, Seattle. But it’s true that Britain is very wet. Their soggy maritime climate has shaped their history and culture, and it’s no surprise that like the Inuit with multiple words to describe snow, the British also have many different phrases to describe the different kinds of rain. Here are our favorites.
Pissing down – In America, variations of the word ‘piss’ are considered quite coarse language, it’s not so in Britain, it’s a much softer connotation. Pissing down is torrential rain.
Bucketing down – A nice way of saying ‘pissing down’ – raining very hard.
Tipping Down – Raining heavily.
Mizzly – A common Cornish phrase for rain – it’s a misty rain that seems to settle on the landscape. It’s doesn’t feel like it’s actively raining, but everything is wet.
Spitting – Very light rain – with only a few drops at a time.
Plothering – A phrase often used in the Midlands or Northeast that describes is heavy rain that, well, plothers (the sound it makes hitting the ground).
Lovely weather for ducks! – A jovial phrase that the terrible weather must be good for something at least – like Ducks.
It’s chucking it down – Heavy and constant rain.
It’s siling/syling down (N. England) – A heavy rain.
Sea Fret – A wet mist or haze that comes inland from the sea (see Mizzly)
Smirr – A Scottish term for an extremely fine and misty rain that comes from a poem by George Campbell Hay.
Scotch mist – A thick mist and drizzling rain.
Letty – A West Country term that says that there is just enough rain to make outdoor work impossible (coming from a word that once meant disallow).
Cow-quaker – A sudden massive rainstorm characteristic during the month of May when the cows are traditionally let back on the fields.
Snell – A Scottish phrase for a very, very cold rain.
Smizzle – A Scottish phrase for a light rain.
Duke of Spain – Cockney Ryhming Slang for rain.
Raining forks’tiyunsdown’ards – A colorful Lincolnshire phrase meaning heavy rain like it’s raining pitchforks.
Confused by the traditional lingo in our city – well here’s some ‘lump of ice’
Whether you have lived in London all of your life, or are new to the city, you’ve probably have heard people speaking Cockney.
There’s literally hundreds of Cockney phrases, which means the native East End language can get pretty confusing.
For those Only Fools and Horses fans you would have heard Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter use rhyming slang including: “would you Adam and Eve it”, which is slang for you won’t believe it.
We’re also used to Danny Dyer tell Queen Vic punters he’s “done some bird” as he plays Mick Carter in EastEnders , or hearing acting legend Michael Caine naturally use the lingo during television interviews.
So to help you navigate your way around the London dialect we’ve comprised a list of of 33 popular Cockney rhyming slang terms and what they mean.
