MarqueeCrew's Guide to London Lingo

[MarqueeCrew]

@LeahK,

Inspire Europe is only 54 days away.  I'm studying for my visit to London and wanted to share my guide with the community:

American term	British term	Definition
mom	mum	mother
shopping cart/buggy	trolley	a wheeled cart to push around in stores
calendar	diary	a planning chart of days and months
pal	mate	friend
nap	kip	short snooze
diaper	nappy	absorbant material wrapped around infant's bottom to retain waste
baby stroller	pram	a small wheeled-vehicle to push baby around in
liquor store	off-license	store that sells alcohol
bar	pub	an establishment that serves beer
wasted	pissed	intoxicated
barfing	honking	vomiting
the john	the loo	the bathroom
fanny or butt	bum	bottom part of body you sit on
hot	dishy	good-looking
fall	autumn	one of the four seasons
call	ring	make a phone call
mail	post	letters delivered by postal system
vacation	holiday	a trip or time away from work/school
candy	sweets	sweet confections
cookie	biscuit	small sweet cake
french fries	chips	fried potatoes, stick-shaped
potato chips	potato crisps	round thinly-sliced potatoes, fried and crunchy

Here's a test to see if you'll be able to hold a conversation with @jdunkerley79:

1. Cracking = ?
2. Dummy = ?
3. Cheerio = ?
4. Doddle = ?
5. Biggie = ?
6. Bung = ?
7. Whinge = ?
8. Potty = ?
9. Stonking = ?
10. Dicky = ?

The answers are:  Goodbye, Sick, Crazy Awesome, Huge, Whine, Throw, A child's poop, Easy Task, A child's pacifier (of course these are not in the correct order).

Cheers,

Mark

[LeahK]

This is great @MarqueeCrew!  We might need to have @jdunkerley79 cross-check for accuracy :)

On a recent visit to Kent (South East of London), I noticed my family members were particularly fond of the phrase bits and bobs, which I love.  I suppose the "American" translation would be -- Sundry little items, tasks, or chores. I never thought it would take me this long to pack, but I have so many bits and bobs scattered around the house...

---

What about cracking?!

"Cracking Toast, Gromit!"

For the longest time, I thought Wallace (in the film, The Wrong Trousers) was saying "Crackling toast Gromit!"

[jdunkerley79]

I'll be chuffed to see @MarqueeCrew and @Ned and all the other again and am sure it will be a spiffing good show...

toodle-pip

(I hate to imagine how many weird and wonderful expressions I inflict on my American friends...)

[ChiaraP]

Luving it!

We should ask ACE @chris_love and our customer speaker and advocate @bobpeers share some out of London lingo too!

@Joe_Lipski Fancy to join the fun?

[bobpeers]

'Ey up there! Been a while since I lived up North (bit too parky for me) but ere's a few from Gods Own County (otherwise known as Yorkshire)

Cheers
Bob

‘Ey up: Hello
Addle: Earn
Aye: Yes
Back end: Autumn
B’aht: Without
Bait: Snack
Bog: Toilet
Britches: Trousers/Knickers
Chuddy: Chewing gum
Courtin’: Going out with
Eeh by gum: Oh my God
Fettle: Make
Flaggin’: Getting tired
Flippin’ ‘eck: Bloody hell
Flummox: Confuse
Gander: Look
Gennel/Ginnel: Alleyway
Lug ‘oil: Ear hole
Mardy: Moody
Mashin’: Making tea
Mi’sen: Myself
Mithering: Bothering
Nowt: Nothing
‘Ow do? How do you do?
Owt: Anything
Parky: Cold
Put wood i’th’oil: Close the door
Shuft up: Make more room
Silin’: Raining heavily
Wittler: A worrier

[MarqueeCrew]

Aye & Flummox.  Those were the only two that I would have gotten right on Jeopardy.

Bob's your Uncle and your friend on Community :)

Mark

[lminors]

Love the guide @MarqueeCrew - looks like you're getting the hang of it!

As someone who grew up in and around London and potentially one of the younger members of the community, I thought I would share some of the more modern slang, or 'street' terms, that you all may need if you run into any 'yutes' (youths) on the streets!

Word/Phrase	Meaning	Example use
Allow	stop, forget, ignore	"Allow that, I've got to eat"
Bangin’	excellent or delicious	"That lunch was bangin'"
Bare	a lot of, very	"There are bare tools in that workflow"
Beef	a hostile argument or disagreement	"I've got some beef with the geospatial tools"
Blud/Cuz/Fam	friend, pal, acquaintance	"Hey fam, how did you enjoy that talk?"
Ends	area/neighbourhood	"Shoreditch is Alteryx's ends in London"
Innit	short for “isn’t it?”; often put at the end of sentences for effect	"That presentation was bangin', innit?"
Jokes	funny or enjoyable	"Alteryx Inspire is jokes this year"
Long	tedious/arduous	"Getting the tube at rush hour is long"
Safe	cool, good; often used as a greeting	"Safe @LeahK, how's it going?"
Sick	interesting, cool	"The new Formula tool layout is sick"
Wagwan	short for “what’s going on?”; also often used as a greeting	"Wagwan at Alteryx Inspire 2017?"
Wicked	cool	"The location at Tabacco Dock is wicked!"

Good luck!

Luke

Alteryx Certified Partner at Keyrus UK

[MarqueeCrew]

That was ace mate!

Cheers,

Mark

[SophiaF]

Even though I've only been living in London for a couple months (US expat and loving it so far!) I can say that some of these have already seamlessly integrated into my vocabulary. I unfortunately may never pick up the accent, but here are the 5 words I find myself using the most:

1. Bin - trash can

2. Trainers* - sneakers

3. Flat - apartment

4. Lift - elevator

5. Queue - line

*Side note - Nike will always be 'Ni-key' as in spiky, not 'Ni-ke' as in bike. Just do accept it.  :)

[SeanAdams]

and let's not forget something unique to London - the cockney rhyming slang.

Some very common ones: 

- 'ave a butchers at this luv.  

Butchers = butchers hook - look.    So this translates to "have a look at this my love"

- 'time to hit the frog and toad'

frog and toad = road.   So this translates to "time to hit the road" or more clearly "no thank you - I don't want another pint - I need to go now"

- 'kids - shut your cake holes, I'm on the dog and bone' or 'hold on kids - me dog's ringin'

dog and bone = phone.   So this translates to "children - please could you be quiet, I'm on the telephone"

- 'its all gone Pete Tong'

Pete tong = wrong.   So this translate to 'its all gone wrong'

- 'I'm here all on me jack jones'

Jack Jones = alone.   So this translates to "I'm here all alone" or "I'm here on my own"

Can be confusing when you first hear it, but it really does add colour if you're chewing the fat with a friend.