10 Very British Nouns

65,968 views ・ 2018-01-26

Eat Sleep Dream English


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Today we've got ten very British nouns so that when you come to Britain you'll understand
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what people are talking about. All that is come right up after we meet another Eat Sleep Dreamer
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Number one, mate. This is simply an informal way to say friend. Mate collocates with a
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few different words. So for example best mate. So 'I haven't seen my best mate for ages.'
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I haven't seen them for a long time. We can also have uni mate which is your friend from
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university. You can have flat mate, the person that you live with or you could have work
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mate. So the person that you work with. So mate is a very versatile word that we use
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in different situations. Mate.
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Number two, do or a do because it's a noun, a do. Now we know that do is a verb, it's
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an auxiliary, we can use it in different ways. It's also, in British English, informal British
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English, it's a noun and it means a party or social event. So if I said 'I'm going to
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a work do tonight.' That is a work party or a social event related to my job. So you can
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have a work do. We also say stag do or hen do. These are the parties that a male or female
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will have before they get married. So a stag do or a hen do. So yeah do is just a generic
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word to mean party or social event. Number three, loo. Loo means toilet. It's an informal
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and slightly politer way to say toilet. So 'Sorry guys I just need to pop to the loo.'
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Means I just need to go to the toilet. Number 4, the Old Bill. Now the Old Bill means the
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police. It's a very informal slang way to say the police. Now the etymology of this,
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the origin of this phrase is disputed, people say different things. But yeah it's a very
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slang informal way to say the police. There used to be a TV programme when I was a child
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called The Bill, like the Old Bill, taking the old bit out, the Bill. And that was all
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about the police. So it was a phrase certainly used a lot. There are many different slang
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words for the police but this is one of the most commonly used ones. So an example sentence
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'I think we should call the Old Bill.' I think this is one of those phrases which is really
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good to know. You might hear it in a tv or something like that. Whether you use it or
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not, probably not. It's probably just easier to say the police but you know, if you want
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to broaden your understanding of British culture and British English then yeah it's a good
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phrase to know. Ah there is nothing more British than drinking a cuppa. A cuppa is a cup of
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tea, ok? A cuppa, a cup of tea. So for example 'Would you like a cuppa?' That means would
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you like a cup of tea?' We also use the word brew, a brew. This is usually used in the
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north of England. So 'would you like a brew?' Means would you like a cup of tea? Now a brew
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in American English, I know means beer. A pint of beer. And to be honest in Britain,
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maybe some people would also say a brew to mean a beer but generally speaking it means
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a cup of tea over here. So a cuppa or a brew. Yeah I would like a cuppa right now.
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This is pretty British, bloke. Again it's informal. Pretty much all these nouns are
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informal, this one, it means man. So a bloke is a man. For example 'My neighbour's a really
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good bloke.' So my neighbour is a really good man, a good bloke. One it comes to money,
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in British English we've got quite a few slang phrases to talk about them. So one pound is
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a quid. Now quid is uncountable, so for example you would say 'The tickets cost five quid.'
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So five pounds but we don't use the s because it's uncountable. Now if you are talking about
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a five pound note then we call it a fiver. 'Do you have change for a fiver?' Ten pounds,
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a ten pound note is a tenner. The next one is banter. Banter is playful and friendly
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remarks where you are teasing people, you are making jokes with people and about people.
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Generally it's seen as quite light and friendly. Some people don't like it but you know it
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depends on the situation. I mean the best example for me is football. So maybe you support
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one team and your friend supports another team and you make jokes or you tease the other
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person about their team. Perhaps your team has just beaten the other team so you make
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some jokes about that. You tease them. It's nothing too mean or too nasty. It's supposed
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to be friendly, it's supposed to be light. So an example sentence 'There is always a
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lot of banter in my office.' In Britain we have different words to describe where people
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are from. So for example I'm from London so I'm a Londoner. Somebody from Liverpool is
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a Scouser. A famous one is the Beatles 'John Lennon was a scouser.' If you are from Birmingham
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you are a Brummy. If yo are from Manchester you are a Mancunian. So if you know the band
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Oasis then Liam and Noel. They are Mancunians. People from Manchester. So we've got lots
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of different ways to describe where people are from. A classic one is a southerner and
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a northerner. So someone from the south of England is a southerner. Someone from the
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north of England is a northerner. If you are from Glasgow, the city in Scotland. You are
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a Glaswegian. In fact I think I should do a whole vlog about this subject because there
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are so many words we use.
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A slang word to mean a cigarette is a fag. There are lots of different slang words for
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a cigarette but a common one is a fag. So an example sentence 'I need to go and buy
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some fags.' That means I need to go and buy some cigarettes. And the final one, definitely
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my favourite British food, a Sunday roast. Now I think Sunday roasts are underrated.
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When people talk about British food they talk about fish and chips but the Sunday roast
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is a thing of beauty, it really is. So as the name suggests we traditionally have it
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on a Sunday, ok. Sunday lunch. And it's a roast meat of some kind. It could be roast
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beef or roast chicken or roast lamb or whatever. You've got roast potatoes, you've got different
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types of vegetables. It could be carrots or peas or brussel sprouts or whatever you want,
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parsnips. You might have a Yorkshire pudding. Yorkshire pudding! You guys have got to try
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a Yorkshire pudding. As you can see in the photo right here it's fluffy. It's a bit like
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a pancake but kind of fluffy and so delicious. It comes from the county of Yorkshire hence
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the name Yorkshire pudding. It's savoury, even though it has the word pudding, it is
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savoury not sweet. And then you'll pour gravy on top, I'm getting hungry just thinking about
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this. Now this was traditionally the family meal. Every Sunday the whole family would
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sit around and have a Sunday roast. Perhaps that's a little bit less common these days.
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It's not quite so traditional but you can definitely find a good Sunday roast in a lot
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of pubs in Britain so if you visit Britain and you are here on a Sunday have a look on
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Google see if you can find the best Sunday lunch near to you. Because they are worth
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trying! I'm hungry, I'm very hungry right now. Eat Sleep Dreamers I hope you enjoyed
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that little tour through ten very British nouns. Did you know all of them? Can you add
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any more so that other Eat Sleep Dreamers can learn from you? If you can put them in
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the comments below. Remember these are all slang phrases so think about the situation
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you are in and whether it's appropriate to use them. if you haven't checked it out, watch
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my ten very British adjectives. it's the same thing but with adjectives, what's not to like
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about that? Remember to check out my Instagram account where I post daily English content
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helping you improve your English. Also check out my Facebook page, we've got ten thousand
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people on there already, it's fantastic. If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe
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to this channel and give this video a big thumbs up if you have enjoyed it of course.
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I'll be back every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the next
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level. As always guys thank you so much for joining me, I've enjoyed this one. This is
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Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.
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