30 British Slang Terms You Should Know. Welcome to Britain, where the food is heavy and the slang is almost completely impenetrable. It should be easy—Britain exported the English language, after all—but there are so many regional quirks that never made it beyond the borders that things can get quite tricky for the non-locals. If you want to know what’s going on when you re-watch Harry Potter, or when you see people on Insta pretending to be a north London roadman, this list of words should help. 1.
Bollocks Literally, bollocks means “testicles.” Colloquially, it can be used as a general expression of annoyance or distaste; it also means “nonsense.” 2., 3., and 4. All terms used to refer to a bread roll. 5. When someone has a cob on, that means they’re annoyed or in a bad mood. 6. Slang for “trousers,” but can also refer to knickers or underwear. 7.
In the UK, pants refers to underwear, not trousers. 8. Very tired. 9. and 10. Both bladdered and pissed mean “drunk.” 11. 13. and 14. 15. Gutted means “incredibly disappointed.” 16. As someone whose entire life revolves around books and words, it struck me that I haven’t given much thought to words about books. It’s time to remedy that particular oversight. The term was coined in 1957 by H. L. Mencken: “There are people who read too much: bibliobibuli. If you can get drunk on books, why shouldn’t you devour them as well?
“Once you had got through Pooh and Dr. Although “clerisy” seems to have an elitist connotation to it, I like Robertson Davies’s explanation of its meaning: “The clerisy are those who seek, and find, delight and enlargement of life in books. I think every reader can relate to this. “The word dates back to the very beginning of modern Japan, the Meiji era (1868-1912) and has its origins in a pun. Another one I can relate to. The first use of it probably dates to 1921, in Christopher Morley’s Haunted Bookshop: “‘All right,’ said the bookseller amiably. #Goals There are so many more words about books out there, so consider this post Part 1. Bleeding Heart.