Thursday, September 12, 2013

Why I love the Brits, the Aussies, and the Canucks

There are lots of reasons actually.  Not the least of which includes my being able to travel to their countries and understand what they're saying.  Well....MOST of what they're saying.

I've been a bit of a news whore the last week or so and while reading an article about the G20 summit, I came across this statement by Henry Smith the Member of Parliament for Crawley:  "Putin really is a tosser."

Doesn't matter if you agree with him or not but you gotta love the Brits and their slang.  I'm sure it's because I'm American (and southern at that) but there's something about hearing them curse that's always just a little bit....cute. 
Photo attribution

But it's not just the curse words.  It's things like "trainers" and the other "rubbers" that make me smile.  So, without further ado, a few of my favorites (attributed to their countries where possible, of course): 

(If you are British, Canadian, or Australian I hope you won't take offense to the terms Aussies, Canucks, and Brits.  It's all in good fun...jolly good.  tee hee)

A over T - Aussies (Ass over tits, head over heels)
Barbie - Aussies

Bathers - Aussies (swimming gear)
Beastly - Brits
Bees knees - Brits
Bikies - Aussies (motorcyclists)
Bikkies - Aussies (not to be confused with Bikies.  Bikkies are biscuits. Um...adorable.)
Bloody - British
Blooming - Aussie/Brits
Bollocks - Brits
Boomer - Aussies (very large; an exceptionally large male kangaroo.  Stone Cold Steve Austin is probably a boomer.)
Brekkie - Aussie (breakfast.  and btw, i'm starting to think zach would really fit in down under since he calls a sandwich a "sandwy".)
Bugger - Brits
Cheeky - Brits
Choke a darkie - Aussie (take a poop.  ahahahahahahaha hahahahaha hahahahaha!)
Dishy - Brits (it means good looking.  how cute is that?)
Chuck a sickie - Aussie (calling off work when you're not really sick)
Doodle - Aussie (penis)
Dog's bollocks - as opposed to bollocks, this is apparently a good thing

Fanny - British (be careful in Britain though - it's actually referencing a woman's FRONT BITS.  who knew?!?!)
Footy - Aussie (Australia rules football) 
Get Stuffed - Canucks (Go eff yourself)
Giv'n her - Canucks (means to complete an act to its full potential.  short for given her hell)
Gobsmacked - Brits
Gorp - Canucks (trail mix)
Hoser - Canucks (loser)
Housecoat - Canucks (bathrobe)
Hydro - Canucks (electricity)
Kerfuffle - Canucks (stressful situation or commotion)
Knapsack - Canucks (backpack)
Lollies - Aussie (candies or sweets)
Mutt's Nuts - Brits (obviously another way to say dog's bollocks - LOVE it!)
What are you on about? - Brits (aka shut the eff up!) 
Rainbow sneeze - Aussie (vomit)
Rubbish - Brits
Run a message - Canucks (run an errand)
Scrumping - Brits but totally not what you're thinking.  It means to go stealing (apples from someone else's tree, for instance)
Shag - British (duh)
Sod, Sod's law, Sod it - Brits (sod's law is like Murphy's law....if anything can go wrong it will. )
Tosser - Brits (a jerk, someone who masturbates all the time.  and, bonus points if you guess what hand gesture goes along with this insult....)
Wanker - Brits (see tosser)
Weatherin' - Canucks (term to describe bad weather.  "It's weatherin' here so be careful." 

So there you have it!  A not-so-exhaustive list of slang-isms from our allies.  Please feel free to share some of your favorites that I've left off.  I know there are LOTS more out there!

Happy Friday!  (Thursday night if you're in Amurrica)

No comments: