50

BRITISH
SLANG
PHRASES

by Tom Re s
Eat Sle p Dream English
 A
alright! (exclamation) /ɔːlraɪt/ 
a common greeting
‘Alright Jack, how's it going?’
aye up (phrase) /eɪ ʌp/
a greeting used mostly in the North
and East Midlands of England to
replace hello or hi. 
‘Aye up love, how’s your day going?

B
bairn (noun) /beən/ 
a Scottish term for baby 
‘Your wee bairn is cute.
How old is she?’
brolly (noun) /brɒli/ 
short for umbrella
‘Damn! I forgot my brolly and it’s
pouring with rain outside.’

C
chunder (verb) /tʃʌndə/
slang word for vomit 
‘Last night was the first time I’ve
chundered in years.’
Corrie (noun) /kɒri/
affectionate name for the popular
soap opera Coronation Street
‘My Mum loves watching Corrie.’
 D
dab hand (noun) /dæb hænd/ -
someone that has a high level of
skill in a certain activity. 
‘My dad is a dab hand at fixing cars.'
do (noun) /duː/
slang word for party 
‘Are you coming to Chinami’s hen
do?’

E
earbashing (noun) /ɪəbæʃɪŋ/
angry criticism said to someone 
‘My boss gave me an earbashing for
sending out the report without her 
permission.'
easy peasy (phrase) /iːzi piːzi/
a playful/childlike way to say
something is easy
‘That driving theory test was easy
peasy.’

F
fluff (verb) /flʌf/
to fail to do something successfully
‘I hope I don’t fluff my lines in the
play tonight.’
 full of beans (phrase) /fʊl əv biːnz/
energetic/enthusiastic 
‘I woke up feeling full of beans today!’

G
gaff (noun) /ɡæf/
slang word for house
‘We’re about to drive past
Dave’s new gaff.’

get one's kit off (phrase) /ɡet jɔːr kɪt ɒf/

humorous phrase meaning
‘take your clothes off’
‘Come on lads, get your kit off!’

H
hacked-off (adjective) /hækt ɒf/ -
annoyed/pissed off
‘I am so hacked-off I didn’t get
invited to Marlon and Emily’s
wedding.’

have a go at someone (phrase) /

ˌhævə ɡəʊ æt/ 
if you have a go at someone you
criticise them (sometimes unfairly)
'Dad had a go at me
for forgetting Mum's birthday.'
 I
innit (contraction) /ɪnɪt/ 
a contraction of ‘isn't it’
‘Netflix is cool, innit?'
in the buff (phrase) /ɪn ðə bʌf/ -
slang for nude
‘Next week I’m posing for an art
class completely in the buff.’

J
jammy (adjective)  /dʒæmi/
very lucky often without doing
anything to deserve it
‘I can’t believe that jammy little
brother of mine got an interview at
Google.’
jolly (adverb) /dʒɒli/
an old-fashioned way to say ‘very’
‘Samantha that’s a jolly nice coat you
are wearing. Where did you get it
from?’
K
keep your hair on! (phase)
/kiːp jɔːr heər ɒn/
a phrase used to tell someone to
calm down and not get so angry
‘Keep your hair on! I’ll do it
tomorrow morning.’
get your knickers in a twist (phrase)
humorous phrase meaning to get
upset/annoyed about something
‘Steve, don’t get your knickers in a
twist. We’ll get to the airport in
time!’
L lairy (adjective) /leəri/
noisy and aggressive in an
unpleasant way
‘There were these two guys in the
pub getting quite lairy so we
decided to leave.’
lippy (adjective) /lɪpi/
if you are lippy, you speak to
someone in a disrespectful way 
‘The kids in my class are so lippy to
the teacher, I’m shocked!’

M
Mancunian (noun) /mæŋkjuːniən/
someone from Manchester
(also Manc)
‘My ex-boyfriend was a Mancunian
and supported Manchester City.’
minted (adjective) /mɪntɪd/
very wealthy
‘I didn’t realise just how minted
Alison’s parents are!’
 N
nae (adverb) /neɪ/
Scottish English for no
‘I’ll give you a lift to the station, it’s
nae bother.’
nick (verb) /nɪk/
informal way to say steal 
‘When I was 12 I nicked a packet of
sweets from my local corner shop.’

O
Oi (interjection) /ɔɪ/
used to get someone’s attention 
‘Oi kids, come down here and finish
your dinner.’
old bill (noun) /əʊld bɪl/
slang term for the Police
‘I’ve called the old bill so they should
be here soon.’

P
go pear-shaped (phrase) /peəʃeɪpt/
if a plan or activity goes pear-
shaped it goes wrong.
‘My plans to go travelling over the
summer went pear-shaped when I
broke my leg’
 piss down (with rain) /pɪs daʊn/ 
slang term for heavy rain
‘We’ll need to take an umbrella, it’s
pissing it down out there.’

Q
queue-jumping (noun)
/kjuː dʒʌmpɪŋ/
the act of someone unfairly moving
ahead in a queue.
‘If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people
queue-jumping!’
quid (noun) /kwɪd/
slang for one pound sterling
‘Can I borrow a quid so I can get a
cup of tea?’

R
reckon (verb) /rekən/
synonym of think 
‘My girlfriend reckons I should
get a haircut’
ropey (adjective) /rəʊpi/
not feeling very well or
not good quality
‘Are you ok Marina? You look a bit
ropey?’
 S
shattered (adjective) /ʃætəd/
slang for very tired 
‘The kids are shattered, let’s put
them straight to bed.’
skew-whiff (adjective) /skjuː wɪf/
not straight
‘That painting is hanging a little
skew-whiff, don’t you think?’

T
take the piss (out of someone)
(phrase) /teɪk ðə pɪs/
tease or mock someone 
‘My mates used to take the piss out
of me because I listened to metal
music.’
tight-arse (noun) /taɪt ɑːs/ 
someone who is stingy and not
willing to spend money.
‘My old boss was such a tight-arse
who refused to give his staff
bonuses.’
U undies (noun) /ʌndiz
short for underwear
‘Marco you left your undies in the
bathroom. Can you go and pick
them up?’
 uni (noun) /juːni/
a short form of university
‘I’m seeing my uni mates this
weekend.’
up for something (phrase) /ʌp fɔː/ 
enthusiastic to do something
‘Are you up for going to Brighton
next weekend?’

V
veg (noun) /vedʒ/
short form for vegetables 
‘My diet growing up was meat and
two veg every night.’

W
wee (adjective) /wiː/
a mostly Scottish term for small 
‘Can I have wee bit more wine
please, if you have any?’

well (adverb) /wel/

used before adjectives to add
emphasis. 
‘That new Mission Impossible film is
well good.’
 whip-round (noun) /wɪp raʊnd/ 
when a group of people all put
money into a collection in order to
buy a gift for someone e.g. when
someone leaves a job, a birthday
present etc. 
‘Let’s have whip round and buy
Joyce a goodbye gift.’
Y
yea big (phrase) /jeɪ bɪɡ/
a term used when using your hands
to show the size of an object
‘Her old TV is about yay big.'
yob (noun) /jɒb/
a young person who behaves in an
aggressive rude way
‘There are always a group of yobs
hanging outside the arcade at night.’

Z
zero-hour contract
(noun) /zɪərəʊ aʊər kɒntrækt/
a fairly modern concept in which the
employer isn’t obliged to offer the
employee a minimum number of
working hours. 
‘I’m sick and tired of working in
places that only offer zero-hour
contracts.’
 2 GAMES TO HELP YOU
REMEMBER THESE WORDS
Game One - The Memory Game
1. cut up paper into 20 small squares.
2. on 10 pieces of paper write down 10 British slang
phrases. On the other 10 bits of paper write down the
meaning for each phrase.

uni short for

university quid slang for
one pound

3. lay them on a table and turn them over so you can't see
any writing (make sure they are mixed up)
4. player one turns over one card and then a second one. If
they match (word with correct meaning) they keep the pair
and continue. If the cards don't match (word with wrong
meaning) turn the card back over and then player 2 has a
turn.
5. keep playing until all the cards are turned over.
6. the winner is the player with the most correct pairs.
Game Two - Kim's Game
1. cut up paper into 20 small squares.
2. write one British slang phrase on each piece of paper.
3. lay them down face up
4. give yourself 1 minute to look at them then cover them
and then on a separate piece of paper try to write down
as many as you can remember
5. after two minutes you can check how many you got!
 PRACTICE SENTENCES
put the correct word or phrase from the box into the correct sentence

whip round earbashing uni

gaf have a go at
nick brol y shat ered
1. Don't forget to take your ______ today. It's forecast to rain
later on.

2. Do you want to come round to my ____ to watch the

footy tonight?

3. We're doing a ___________ for John's birthday present.

4. What did you study at _______?

5. Don't _______________ me! You were the one that

wanted to see this boring film.

6. I can't find my phone, I think someone might have

__________ it.

7. Our rugby coach gave us a terrible _________ after we

lost the game yesterday.

8. I'm absolutely __________ after that long run we did.

 ANSWERS:PRACTICE SENTENCES
put the correct word or phrase from the box into the correct sentence

whip round earbashing uni

gaf have a go at
nick brol y shat ered
1. Don't forget to take your brolly today. It's forecast to rain
later on.

2. Do you want to come round to my gaff to watch the

footy tonight?

3. We're doing a whip-round for John's birthday present.

4. What did you study at uni?

5. Don't have a go at me! You were the one that wanted to

see this boring film.

6. I can't find my phone, I think someone might have

nicked it.

7. Our rugby coach gave us a terrible earbashing after we

lost the game yesterday.

8. I'm absolutely shattered after that long run we did.

 FOR MORE EAT SLEEP DREAM ENGLISH
RESOURCES CLICK ON THE ICONS

o much
anks s
th
Tom