British & UK Slang
British and UK slang — from cockney to everyday Britishisms. What the words mean and how they’re actually used. (British slang / UK slang.)
1484 words
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Driving into a rival area looking for trouble — or, in production, the signature gliding 808 bass.
Cockney for neck — 'Gregory Peck' rhymes with neck, clipped to a 'Gregory'.
The street. Literally the 'horse road' — the bit where the traffic goes.
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A wheeler-dealer profiteer; the village loan shark archetype.
Rhyming slang for word; 'not a dicky bird' = not a word.
One's local area
Cockney rhyming slang for jewellery.
Welsh and West Country word for plimsolls or trainers.
Cockney for the Flying Squad — 'Sweeney Todd' rhymes with Squad, clipped to 'the Sweeney'.
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Polari for to smarten, fluff or style up — the word that gave us modern 'zhuzh'.
Brilliant, class, or great — Irish for something seriously good.
To cry or weep.
Rhyming slang for lies, clipped to 'porkies'.
Rhyming slang for table.
Cold
A haircut — and the slap on the head you got after one.
Polari for a dull or unavailable man — 'naff' here meaning ordinary, possibly 'not available for...'.
'Sort yourself out' / get organised.
Mate (clipped from 'china plate').
London filler tagged onto the end of sentences for emphasis — 'still,' but stretched.
No bother — it's all good.
To look or stare; to squint.
To steal — the cant verb that gave us 'shoplifting' centuries on.
None
Money; cash.
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You lot — the plural 'you' in MLE.
Money (Northern English).
Lodger.
Go your own way
Rhyming slang for boozer (pub), clipped to 'battle'.
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Broken, ruined, or knackered — works for machines and humans alike.
Drunk — 'a bit elephants'.
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Something went wrong but you keep pushing forward without dwelling on it — no complaints, we move.
To thrash, beat, or give someone a proper hiding.