A-Levels | Advanced - high school graduation examinations |
Agony Aunt | advice columnist |
Barrister | trial lawyer, attorney who argues cases in court, but doesn't do the paperwork. Cases are referred to barristers by solicitors. |
Berk | derogatory, from "Berkley hunt" rhyming slang, jerk |
Bespoke | custom tailored |
Biro | ballpoint pen, a brand name |
Carthorse | draft horse, like the Clydesdale or Belgian Grey |
Catapult | slingshot |
Chemist | pharmacist |
Chuffed | delighted, happy |
Cow Gum | rubber cement |
Cracker | a tube wrapped in colorful paper that contains small toys, a paper hat, and a joke or fortune, which pops when the ends of the wrapping paper are pulled to open it [associated with Christmas] |
Dear | expensive |
Drawing Pin | thumb tack |
Elastic Band | rubber band |
Plaster | band-aid |
Flutter | small bet |
Fruit Machine | slot machine, one-armed bandit |
Git | derogatory, similar to 'jerk' |
Ground Floor | the first floor of a building causing the numbering of floors in Britain to be one less than in the US. The US second floor is the first floor in Britain. |
Hardware | housewares |
Head Boy/Girl | the student leader[s] of a school, chosen by the faculty |
High Street | the main shopping street in a town or village |
Holidays | vacation |
Ironmonger | hardware store |
Kip | a verb meaning to sleep, especially in non-standard situations, as in camping |
Landlord | owner/manager of a Pub, sometimes referred to as a Publican |
Lift | elevator |
Loo | restroom |
Marquee | a large tent with open sides |
Mickey | "take the mickey" - ridicule |
Moggy | cat |
Naught | zero |
Off-license | liquor store |
O-Levels | Ordinary - entrance examinations for last two years of high school |
Paddock | corral, a small field normally used for pasturing livestock, especially horses, surrounded by a fence or hedge to prevent animals from wandering into neighboring fields |
Paraffin | kerosene |
Prefect | the student leader of an individual residential house at a boarding school, chosen by the faculty |
Pub | Public house - a tavern |
Public School | a private boarding school normally divided into residential houses |
Robin | a smaller red-breasted bird than the American robin and associated with Christmas rather than spring. |
Rubber | pencil eraser |
Sealed Knot | historical reenactors who stage the English Civil War |
Sellotape | transparent tape, a brand name |
Shy | verb, to throw |
Skive | play hookey, skip school |
Solicitor | attorney who handles everything but trials. Solicitors are required for all legal matters, but barristers are only involved with actual trials. |
Sticking Plaster | adhesive tape/band-aid |
Stone | unit of weight equal to 14 pounds, normally used for the weight of people |
Surgery | office of a doctor or dentist |
Tannoy | public address system, a brand name |
Tin | can |
Toe-rag | derogatory, a scrounger, tramp using rags instead of socks |
Torch | flashlight |
W.C. | water closet - restroom |
Wireless | Radio |
Zed | the letter Z |
Aubergine | egg plant |
Banger | large sausage in a casing, similar to a hot dog |
Biscuit | cookie or cracker |
Black Pudding | mixture of bread cubes, oatmeal, barley, suet¹ and pig's blood that is baked. It is cut into squares and fried before eating |
Blanc Mange | milk and gelatin mold, like vanilla Jell-O |
Blood Sausage | blood pudding [see above] that is put in a sausage casing. |
Boiled Sweet | hard candy |
Bubble and Squeak | fried potatoes and cabbage, normally leftovers |
Buffet | snack bar |
Candy Floss | cotton candy |
Chip | French fry |
Chipolata | small sausage in a casing, cocktail sausage |
Christmas Pudding | plum cake with a sauce that has a coin baked in for luck |
Clooty Dumpling² | sweetened boiled bread [Scottish] |
Clotted Cream | cream that has been briefly boiled |
Corn | any grain [wheat, rye, barley, corn] |
Courgettes | zucchini |
Crisp | potato chip |
Crumpet | small pancake made with a yeast-raised batter |
Currant | small red or black berry |
Dinner | may be the noon meal in some areas. It is the evening meal when guests are invited to eat, i.e. a dinner party |
Elevenes | tea break at 11am that usually includes scones or crumpets |
Fairy Cakes | unfrosted cupcakes |
Fish Slice | spatula |
Fizzy Drink | carbonated beverage, soda pop |
Fry-up | full English breakfast that can include fried tomatoes, baked beans, fried blood sausage, kippers [salted herring] in addition to the standard eggs, fried potatoes, bacon and sausages |
Gammon | ham |
Humbug | black and white striped hard candy flavored with peppermint oil |
Jelly | gelatin dessert, Jell-O |
Joint | pot roast |
Kedgeree | rice, chopped hard boiled egg, chopped fish and spices |
Marrow | squash |
Meals | the names of the midday and evening meals varies by region and social class. Lunch/tea, dinner/supper, lunch/dinner, and lunch/supper are all possible combinations. |
Meringue | small tart with a crust of baked meringue (egg whites and sugar) and a sweet, usually fruit, filling |
Mixed Grill | all fried together: sliced tomato and mushrooms plus several of the following: liver [calves or lamb], steak, chop [lamb or pork], sausages, bacon, kidneys [lamb's preferred] |
Ploughman's Lunch | small loaf, cheese, pickled onions, and a pint of bitters |
Porridge | oatmeal |
Prawn | shrimp |
Pudding | used generically to mean dessert |
Rock Cake | drop cookie containing white raisins and currants |
Salad Cream | salad dressing, not to be confused with mayonnaise |
Saveloy | pre-cooked, smoked sausage |
Scone | baking powder biscuit with dried fruit, usually currants |
Shepherd's Pie | meat pie with a mashed potato crust |
Sherbet | powdered, fruit flavored candy |
Slumpie | ground beef and mushroom hash [Scottish] |
Smarties | candy similar to M&Ms |
Soldier | strip of toast, generally dipped in egg yolk at breakfast |
Sorbet | sherbet |
Spotted Dick | cylindrical dumpling with currants (the 'spots'), sliced and served with custard or a sweet sauce |
Squash | soft drink usually made with citrus juice |
Steak & Kidney Pie | meat stew in a piecrust, a pot pie |
Stodge | plain dumpling |
Sultana | raisin of white grapes |
Supper | evening meal, often much later than in the US |
Swede | rutabaga turnip |
Sweet | candy |
Takeaway | a to-go/take-out order |
Tea | meal in the early evening or the afternoon tea break |
Treacle | sugar syrup, the dark type is essentially molasses |
Trifle | dessert consisting of layers of custard and rum or liqueur soaked sponge cake |
Welsh Pasty | an individual meat pie, meat stew in a crust for one |
Whiskey | rye whiskey |
Whisky | Scotch whiskey |
Yorkshire Pudding | dumplings flavored with roast beef drippings |