Last August, my friend Elizabeth from Detroit wrote me that she needed help. Here's what she said:
"On Sunday, the Maccabi Games will begin here. Something like 4,000 kids are participating and they're coming from all over the world. We've got a big group already here from England, and I want you to give me some cool phrase, some British slang or something, to amaze these people."
My daughter Katie raced to the rescue with these phrases. Try them out on your friends and see if they aren't impressed. :)
"I'm knackered" means "I'm tired"
"Allow it" - The simplest explanation of this is "Don't allow it" - an example - "I want ice cream" "Nah, allow it" <-- this is London slang and hasn't really made it out of London yet. Another way of saying it is "I don't agree with that suggestion".
"lush" - "great" - this is really a Welsh term and if you tried using it on the Londonders, they would rightly laugh at you.
"innit" - affixed to the ends of sentences in a complex pattern that appears seemingly at random. An example may be "You're stupid, innit"
"Bollocks" - Can mean completely untrue - alternatively can be used as an interjection to replace "Dammit"
"Bloody" is still an acceptable term to use. However, usage of "I say", "rather" and "Hello" as a means to attract attention is, these days, considered obsolete.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
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7 comments:
I like the use of "what" to elicit further comment, as in, "Nice day, what".
Probably archaic, what.
It sounds like Dr Watson talking to Sherlock Holmes, doesn't it?
Definitely archaic.
Not even used by my grandparents' generation, innit.
Easy = Hello
Blud = Friend
Watagwan = Hows it going?
Off tha hook! = Wow!
So can you say this as a complete sentence then? Easy Blud
Watagwan ??
Sam, this sounds like Martian, not English. Are you sure you aren't making it up?
Tragically I did not get to use my hip slang on the British Maccabi delegation. Thousands of teens were here, and the place was crazy.
I did meet the head of the British group, but it wasn't exactly the moment to say, "Nice day, what." He asked me to take him to the administrative offices as a child was having an asthma attack.
Meanwhile, though, you Brits should be proud. We had kids from all over the world. A colleague of mine, who worked extensively with all the teens, said, "The delegation from England was BY FAR the most polite and best behaved."
But don't think I've given up on my slang. For our Book Fair, I just e-interviewed two Londoners, authors of a new kosher cookbook. I was a bit late with something, so told them that I was pretty knackered because of all the Jewish holidays. They're extremely nice so I'm sure they'll respond with an amused laugh even if they are thinking, and rightly so, "Americans. Could they be any worse?"
That's hysterical! You're knackered bexause of Yom Kippur! What a wit. Did they laff or maybe they didn't realize that you'd used slang just for them?
I didn't wish you a 'happy' Yom Kippur because, as with every year, I never know what to say. You tell me every year then I forget by the next time, sorry.
did you have a fun Rosh Hashana though?
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