The word is Australian slang, said to derive from the naval warning cry “Watch under!” It was introduced to the UK c.1963 by Aussie comedian Barry Humphries in the “Barry McKenzie”, comic strip which he wrote for Private Eye magazine.17) Durst thou deem “fortnight” slang, ifaith? The phrase comes from the expression, ‘it’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’.For example, ‘You need to wear a coat today, it’s brass monkeys outside.’In British slang terms, ‘dodgy’ refers to something wrong, illegal, or just plain ‘off’, in one way or another.For example, it can be used to mean illegal – ‘He got my dad a dodgy watch for Christmas’; it can be used to mean something food-related that is nauseous or nauseating – ‘I had a dodgy kebab last night and I don’t feel right. To ‘take the piss’ means to mock something, parody something, or generally be sarcastic and derisive towards something.For example, ‘The guys on TV last night were taking the piss out of the government again.’Perhaps one of the most internationally famous British slang terms, ‘bollocks’ has a multitude of uses, although its top ones including being a curse word used to indicate dismay, e.g. Meaning ‘to vomit’ or ‘to be sick’, ‘chunder’ is almost always used in correlation with drunken nights, or being hugely ill and sick.For example, ‘I ate a bad pizza last night after too many drinks and chundered in the street.’Given the British tendency to mock and satirise anything and everything possible, ‘taking the piss’ is in fact one of the most popular and widely-used British slang terms. ‘Oh bollocks’; it can also be used to express derision and mocking disbelief, e.g.
He based it on the already current “cat’s meow”. ‘Wanker’ fits the closest fit by ‘jerk’ or ‘asshole’, but to a slightly higher value.For example, ‘That guy just cut me up in traffic – what a wanker.’‘Hunky-dory’ – a neat little piece of British slang that means that a situation is okay, cool, or normal.For example, ‘Yeah, everything’s hunky-dory at the office.’The last, but most certainly not least, term on this list, ‘brilliant’ is not a word exclusively in the British lexicon, but has a very British usage.
Oh, mate, that’s brilliant.’Wonderful British words. Nice one, really.’A more obscure British term, ‘brass monkeys’ is used to refer to extremely cold weather. )13) “Bee’s knees” is American. The original expression was “freeze the TAIL off a brass monkey” which became coarsened to “balls” in the mid-20th century. 11. On one hand, UK residents are being urged to go to a restaurant and enjoy noshing out. whaps: fellatio. To be ‘gutted’ about a situation means to be devastated and saddened.For example, ‘His girlfriend broke up with him. To ‘lose the plot’ can mean either to become angry and/or exasperated to a fault, or in a derogatory – if slightly outdated sense – to mean someone who has become irrational and/or acting ridiculously.For example, ‘When my girlfriend saw the mess I’d made, she lost the plot.’‘Cheers’ doesn’t quite have the same meaning that it does in other counties – of course, it still means ‘celebrations’ when toasting a drink with some friends, but in British slang, it also means ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’.For example, ‘Cheers for getting me that drink, Steve’.‘Ace’ – a British slang term that means something that is brilliant or excellent. Many other terms were constructed with the same schema – a phenomenon linguists call a “snowclone”. Slightly more of an outdated version, this British slang term is still used, and its meaning remains relevant today. ‘Mate’ – one of the commonly used terms of endearment and affection in British slang terms. Is, of course, derived from scrumptious, so is not really slang at all.#28 Wanker. It was coined by US cartoonist Tad Dorgan in the 1920s. All the latest wordy news, linguistic insights, offers and competitions every month.
Thanks for your time and knowledgeBrilliant is also often used sarcastically to respond to unwelcome news or a when something goes wrong. Most commonly used with schoolchildren trying to get out of school, or dissatisfied office workers trying to pull a sick day.For example, ‘He tried to skive off work but got caught by his manager.’One of the most commonly-used British phrases, ‘rubbish’ is used to mean both general waste and trash, and to also express disbelief in something to the point of ridicule (in this sense it is a much-more PG-friendly version of ‘bollocks’.