20 Incredibly British Words & Phrases (with examples and pronunciation) (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

- Hello, everyone, and welcome back to "English with Lucy."

Today, I have a pronunciation video for you.

We are going to go through 20 very British slang words.

I'm going to show you how to pronounce them

and also how to use them, as well as what they mean.

Before we get started, I would like to remind you

that I have just launched

my British English pronunciation course

based on my accent, modern received pronunciation.

I will teach you to sound natural when speaking English.

You will learn to speak clearly

and you will feel more fluent and more confident.

We'll go through every sound

in modern received pronunciation in detail,

looking at mouth shape and tongue position.

Lift your tongue so that the tip makes gentle contact

with the underneath of your upper front teeth.

I will be right there with you, leaving you time to copy

and analyse my movements and my sounds.

All of the vowel sounds, all of the consonant sounds,

you will master them all.

You will leave the course with the ability

to understand any phonetic transcription

that you will find in an English dictionary.

You'll be able to look up any word

and immediately know exactly how it's pronounced.

We will also analyse connected speech, rhythm,

word stress, syllable stress, intonation.

And we will of course, take a good look

at the notoriously difficult sounds like the glottal stop,

the dark L and the linking R.

When I was writing this course,

I knew that I wanted to provide my students

with an outstanding pronunciation tool,

so I hired two lecturers in linguistics

from prestigious UK universities to go through every script

and every video and fact-check the course.

I am so excited to finally share this with you

and to welcome you through the doors

of Epiphany Language Studios.

If you are interested in taking the pronunciation course,

go to EpiphanyLanguageStudios.com

or click on the link in the description box.

I'll see you in the pronunciation course.

Don't forget that you can claim

your free PDF for this lesson.

It's got all of the slang vocabulary,

the pronunciation, the meanings, and the examples.

It's a really useful tool.

Just click on the link in the description box,

enter your email address,

and it will be sent straight to your inbox.

Right, let's get started with the lesson.

First, we have to bagsy.

To bagsy.

This is a verb that means to manage

to get something for yourself

or to succeed in getting something for yourself.

So if you bagsy something,

you claim it as yours before anyone else can get there.

It's normally used for the front seat of cars.

I know a lot of people say shotgun, "I call shotgun.

I claim the front seat of the car."

That was used to annoy me so much

'cause I never remember to say that.

So an example, "You can't sit there!

I bagsied the front seat."

We also have number two, bloke.

Bloke, this is a slang noun meaning a man.

An example, and this actually describes my first impression

of my fiance, Will.

"I thought he was going to be arrogant,

but he turned out to be such a nice bloke."

Number three, this one is slightly rude.

It is bog.

Bog. (chuckles)

Bog. It means toilet.

So if you have bog roll, it means toilet roll.

This is vulgar slang.

Be careful who you use it with.

An example, "Mum, you've forgotten to buy bog roll!"

Terrible problem.

Even worse to hear that someone up in the loo,

loo, another British slang word, toilet again,

has run out of bog roll.

Number four, our first slang phrasal verb.

It is to budge up.

To budge up.

Notice how I don't separate the words.

I push them together.

Budge up, budge up.

This means to move along in order to make space for someone.

An example, "Would you mind budging up?

There is room for all of us on this bench."

I used to hear "budge up, budge up" a lot at school

when we had to sit on benches in assembly,

and there was always someone taking up too much space.

So they were told to "budge up."

Number five, another phrasal verb is to cheese off.

Cheese off, and this means to annoy.

It is a separable phrasal verb.

An example, "He's really cheesed me off today.

Who does he think he is?

Who do you think you are?

Who does he think he is?"

That's a really common phrase.

Number six is chin wag.

Chin wag, a noun.

This means an enthusiastic,

somewhat enthusiastic conversation.

An example, "I saw them having a chin wag at the park.

Maybe there's romance in the air."

Number seven is a lovely one.

I use this a lot. It is chuffed.

Chuffed, it means very pleased, very pleased.

An example, "I'm so chuffed with my exam results.

They were way better than I expected."

You often hear people say "chuffed to bits."

Chuffed to bits, completely chuffed, very, very pleased.

Number eight, this is possibly

my favourite word on this list.

It's so fun to pronounce.

Are you ready?

Codswallop.

Codswallop, it's a term used to refer

to ideas, statements or beliefs

that you believe to be silly or untrue.

An example, "I've never heard such an old load

of codswallop in my life."

I've never heard something so silly and untrue.

You'll often hear it in the phrase,

"A load of old codswallop."

and it's got to be really emphasised on codswallop.

"A load of old codswallop."

Oh, this is exhausting.

Number nine, an adjective.

Dodgy.

Dodgy.

Sometimes shortened to dodge.

Dodge, "That's so dodge."

But that's really slang.

This means seeming untrustworthy.

We can use it for people.

We can also use it for things.

Maybe something is fake or is a knockoff,

that's a fake product.

"I bought this iPhone from a market,

but it seems a bit dodgy.

It doesn't seem real."

And example for people, "Don't speak to that old woman.

She seems really dodgy." Very untrustworthy.

Number 10, we have dosh.

Dosh, and this means money.

If you've got loads of dosh, you've got loads of money.

An example, "How much dosh have you got on you?"

And if you have something on you,

it means you are carrying it with you.

How much have you got on you?

How much money are you carrying with you?

Number 11, this is a word that you may know

but you may not know our slang use for it.

It is fit.

Fit.

So yes, it can mean in shape,

but it also means, for us, attractive, really attractive.

He is fit. He is attractive.

She is fit. She is attractive.

I remember hearing this at school for the first time

when it became popular,

and I couldn't quite understand it

'cause people were calling people fit.

And I was thinking, "Oh, I haven't seen their body.

I don't know if they've got a six pack,"

but no, it just means attractive.

Number 12, we have gutted.

Gutted.

If you are gutted, then you are devastated

or sad or disappointed.

"I was completely gutted when we had to cancel our wedding,

but I feel okay now."

True story, I was gutted. I was sad and disappointed.

Actually, I'm not. I'm not really.

Number 13, we have knackered.

Knackered, and this means very tired or exhausted.

An example, "I was so knackered after work yesterday

that I fell asleep on the train."

When I used to work in London

and commute back to the countryside,

I used to fall asleep on the train

and go all the way to the end of the line,

and then I'd have to wait another hour

to get the train all the way back into the countryside.

And I still run the risk of falling asleep again

and going all the way to the other end.

I'm not made for trains.

Number 14, another word you may know already

but we have another use for it.

It is legend.

Legend.

And this means a great person or a person we really like.

It doesn't mean they've done anything legendary.

It just means they're really cool.

Ah, he's such a legend.

He's such a great guy. I really like him.

I love you. You're such a legend.

It can be shortened down to leg, "what a leg!"

Number 15 is miffed.

Miffed.

If you need help with your ED pronunciation,

then please check out my ED pronunciation video.

It will cure you, I promise.

Miffed means annoyed.

Annoyed.

An example, "I'm a bit miffed that I didn't get the job.

I was the best candidate by far."

Number 16 is minted.

Minted.

If you are minted, then you are very rich.

An example, "My uncle lives in a castle.

He is absolutely minted."

This is not true.

Well, he might be minted.

We don't discuss finances. (chuckles)

Number 17 is skint.

Skint.

And this means the exact opposite of minted.

It means that you don't have any money.

Normally it implies a more temporary situation.

For example, "I can't go out tonight. I am absolutely skint.

I haven't got any money left."

This was a word I used a lot at university.

Number 18 is to skive.

To skive.

This means to avoid work or school

by staying away completely or by leaving early.

An example, "I always skive off work

the day after a bank holiday."

This is naughty. You shouldn't do it.

But I think that sick days go up massively

the day after a bank holiday, a public holiday.

Number 19, we have starkers.

Starkers, and this is short for stark naked.

If you are starkers, then you are naked.

It's very slang.

An example, "The last time I saw you,

you were starkers in Ibiza."

And the last one, number 20 is to take the mickey

or shortened down to, to take the mic, mickey or mick.

Are you taking the mick?

Are you mocking me? Are you making fun of me?

An example, "Are you taking the mick?

I'm not gonna drive you to the airport."

I always feel people are a little too willing

to ask me to drive them to airports.

It's a very long way,

and it's a lot of pressure, time pressure.

I don't like it. Don't take the mick.

Right, that is it for today's lesson.

I absolutely love teaching slang.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Don't forget to download the PDF.

It's got all of the vocabulary,

all of the pronunciation transcriptions,

the definitions, and the explanations.

And if you are interested in improving your pronunciation,

then we have my brand new

British English pronunciation course

where I teach modern received pronunciation.

I think you will absolutely love it.

I'm very, very proud of it.

You can go to EpiphanyLanguageStudios.com,

my language platform,

or click on the link in the description box.

Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media.

I've got my Facebook, my Instagram and my mailing list.

We also have the Epiphany pages as well;

lots of pronunciation tips there.

I will see you soon for another lesson.

Mwah!