20 British Slang Phrases and Expressions - English Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, my name’s Olivier.

Welcome to Oxford Online English.

In this lesson, you can learn about British slang.

If I told you I was feeling knackered today, would you know I meant?

If I asked you to buy some bog roll on your way home, would you know what I wanted?

Confused?

These are example of British slang, and they can be difficult for non-native speakers to

understand and use correctly.

But don’t worry, we’re going to help.

Well, you’re going to help.

I’m from the US, and we don’t understand some British slang.

Anyway, what is slang?

Slang phrases can cover any topic, and are mostly used in informal contexts.

In this lesson, you’ll see dialogues with slang words and phrases connected to four

different topics.

Our first topic?

Food.

At the start of the next section.

You’ll see a dialogue with four slang words and phrases.

Try to hear them and write them down as you listen!

Hey, wanna get lunch?

Yeah, I was starting to feel a little peckish.

Did you have anywhere in mind?

I still don’t know what there is around here.

Well, there’s a cafe around the corner, or we could splash out and go to that new

gastro pub.

It’s a bit pricier, but they do have really nice food.

Shall we do the pub?

Yeah, why not?

I skipped breakfast, and I’m absolutely starving.

I could murder a burger.

They do this burger with mint and feta cheese.

It’s amazing!

It’s so good, I almost have to slow myself down and enjoy it, otherwise I just wolf it

down!

Sounds like you need to get there fast.

Ready to go now?

Did you hear the slang words and phrases?

The first two you heard were ‘peckish’ and ‘splash out’.

What do you think they mean?

If you are ‘peckish’ you’re a little hungry, but not very hungry.

Maybe you’re not hungry enough to eat a full meal, but you want a snack.

‘Splash out’ means to spend more on something than you usually would.

In the dialogue, we were choosing between a cheap cafe or a more expensive pub.

In the end, we decided to splash out on a pub lunch.

But, remember that this is not normal spending.

You can’t splash out if you always spend that amount of money.

The second two slang phrases were, ‘I could murder a …’ and ‘wolf it down’.

The full phrase in the dialogue was ‘I could murder a burger.’

What do these mean?

If you say ‘I could murder a burger’, it means you really, really want a burger

right now.

You can use it with other food and drink.

For example, you can say ‘I could murder a pint’, or ‘I could murder some chips

right now.’

What about ‘wolf it down’?

If you wolf something down, you eat it very fast.

Imagine how a wolf might eat a hamburger; it’s not going to eat slowly and politely!

Next, let’s look at some slang phrases you can use to describe people and how they act.

Hey, how was the party last week?

Did you have fun?

It was OK for a while, but then things went downhill.

Oh, what happened?

You know John?

He brought this really smarmy guy with him.

He was trying to hit on all the women, starting arguments, and generally being annoying.

Anyway, I got stuck talking to him for ages.

I think I heard about this from Paula.

Yes, what a horrible guy!

Then finally Paula told him to leave and he threw a huge wobbly!

He was shouting at everyone and being totally obnoxious.

It ruined the atmosphere.

I think I’d gone home by that point.

He completely lost the plot.

Paula was pretty pissed off at John for bringing him.

Did you manage to talk to Paula at all?

She’s such a nice person.

I wanted you two to meet ‘cos I’m sure you’ll get along.

I did a little, but only after everything had happened.

She was upset, so I guess she didn’t feel like talking much.

That’s a shame.

She’s normally so chatty!

I can imagine.

She seemed full of beans earlier in the evening.

I like her; she’s one of those people who, if you’re in a bad mood, you talk to her

and you feel better.

Yeah…

Hopefully next time I meet her it’ll be in better circumstances.

Again, there were four slang words and phrases in the dialogue.

Did you hear them?

Can you remember them now?

These were the words and phrases you heard.

What do they mean?

Remember that you can always go back and repeat parts of the lesson.

If you want, go back and listen to the dialogue again, and try to understand the words in

context.

‘Smarmy’ refers to somebody who is unpleasantly polite.

You can use it for someone who is polite and friendly, but in a fake, insincere way.

You can also use the word ‘slimy’ which has a similar meaning.

‘Lose the plot’ means to go crazy.

You might use it if somebody who is really stressed starts behaving strangely, or starts

making some strange decisions.

For example, you could say: ‘Steve has absolutely lost the plot.

He’s been driving around the same three streets for twenty minutes!’

‘Throw a wobbly’ means to become very angry or agitated very quickly.

A more neutral phrase with the same meaning is ‘throw a tantrum’, which we often use

to describe children who lose control of themselves and get very angry.

‘Full of beans’ describes a person who is full of life and energetic.

For example: ‘Mark is full of beans today; he got great results in his exams and he can’t

stop smiling!’

In our next section, you'll see some slang phrases to talk about situations

which went especially well or especially badly. Let's look.

You look a bit stressed.

Everything OK?

Yeah, it’ll be fine.

There was a bit of a cock up with our invoicing.

Nothing too serious, I hope?

Not too bad.

We just sent things to the wrong people.

It’s a bit embarrassing, but I’ll write a couple of apologetic emails and everything

will be hunky dory.

What about you?

How was the big sales presentation?

A disaster!

Jerry was completely unprepared, as usual.

It was almost funny, but mostly embarrassing.

Yeah…

That’s not a surprise, I guess.

When I heard he was in charge, I was sure it would go completely Pete Tong, like everything

he’s involved with.

What’s weird is that he seems to have no idea how bad he is at his job.

Yeah.

What’s that called?

Dunning-Kruger or something?

He’s probably in the break room right now telling everyone how he had an absolute blinder,

and how amazing he is.

Good point.

I’ll avoid the break room.

Anyway, I’ll let you get back to your work.

This time, we want you to do some work!

You’ll see sentences from the dialogue, but with the slang phrases removed.

Can you remember them?

Let’s see the first one.

Do you remember the answer?

It was ‘cock up.’

What does this mean?

This means a mistake.

You can use it as a noun or a verb.

For example: ‘He made a massive cock up with the hotel bookings.’

‘He really cocked up the hotel bookings.’

‘Cock up’ is not very rude, but it’s not polite, either, so be careful where you

use it.

Let’s look at the second sentence.

What do you have here?

‘Hunky dory’ means ‘fine’ or ‘OK’.

For example, you might say: ‘I was feeling pretty ill yesterday, but today everything’s

hunky dory.’

‘Hunky dory’ is often used with the word ‘everything’, as in ‘Everything was

hunky dory’ or ‘Is everything hunky dory now?’

Here’s the third sentence.

Can you remember this one?

‘Pete Tong?’

What on earth does that mean!?

Pete Tong is a famous radio DJ, but that’s not the point here.

This is an example of rhyming slang.

‘Tong’ rhymes with ‘wrong’; if you say that something ‘went completely Pete

Tong’, you mean it went very badly.

OK, last one.

What goes in this sentence?

What did you get?

‘Blinder’ means an excellent performance, usually in a sport event, but we can use it

in other situations.

You usually use the verb ‘have’, but you can

also say ‘play a blinder’ if you’re talking about sports.

For example, you could say ‘We had a blinder at the trivia night.

We won by nearly 50 points!’

‘Holly played a blinder in the five-a-side match yesterday.

She scored four goals!’

Let’s look at one more topic.

In this section, you will hear the same dialogue twice.

In the second dialogue, we’ll replace four words and phrases with slang with the same

meaning.

Watch the first dialogue now.

So, how’s everything?

Honestly?

Not great.

Oh no, why not?

It’s my new housemate.

He seemed perfectly normal when I met him, but he’s been acting weird recently, and

getting on my nerves.

Last Sunday, I cooked a bunch of food to take to work for lunch all week.

He ate *all* of it on Sunday night after I went to bed.

I was really surprised!

*All* your food?

Everything.

It’s such a shame because I was so happy when I finally found this place.

It seemed perfect: it’s a lovely area, and it’s very cheap for what it is.

I’d be disappointed if I had to move out and find somewhere else.

So, are you seriously thinking about moving out again?

You just got there!

I don’t know.

I guess I have to, but I’m putting off making a decision.

Partly, I just can’t face house hunting again, you know?

It’s so much work, and when I get home these days, I’m really tired and I don’t want

to think about it.

Well if you need some help, just let me know Did you understand that?

If not, it could be a good idea to go back and listen again.

Next, watch the second dialogue.

Try to find the four slang words and phrases, and write them down!

So, how's everything?

Honestly?

Not great.

Oh no, why not?

It’s my new housemate.

He seemed perfectly normal when I met him, but he’s been acting weirdly recently, and

getting on my nerves.

Last Sunday, I cooked a bunch of food to take to work for lunch all week.

He ate *all* of it on Sunday night after I went to bed.

I was gobsmacked!

*All* your food?

Everything.

It’s such a shame because I was over the moon when I finally found this place.

It seemed perfect: it’s a lovely area, and it’s very cheap for what it is.

I’d be gutted if I had to move out and find somewhere else.

So, are you seriously thinking about moving out again?

You just got there!

I don’t know.

I guess I have to, but I’m putting off making a decision.

Partly, I just can’t face house hunting again, you know?

It’s so much work, and when I get home these days, I’m zonked and I don’t want to think

about it.

Well if you need some help, just let me know Did you find the four slang words and phrases?

Can you work out what they mean?

The first slang word was ‘gobsmacked’.

Do you remember what the original word was?

This means ‘really surprised’.

It has a strong meaning, so it’s used to describe strong emotions.

For example ‘I was gobsmacked that Liverpool beat Barcelona in the last minute!’

‘He was gobsmacked when he open his tax bill!’

Next was ‘gutted.’

Do you remember what this replaced?

It replaced ‘disappointed’, and also describes strong feelings.

For example, if you miss your best friend’s wedding, or your holiday gets cancelled at

the last minute, you might feel gutted.

Next was ‘over the moon’, which means ‘very happy’.

For example, ‘I’m over the moon because I just got a new job.’

Finally, ‘zonked’.

What a strange word!

What could ‘zonked’ mean?

It means the same as ‘very tired’ or ‘exhausted’.

For example ‘I was zonked when I got home from work today.’

Oh, one more thing.

At the beginning, you used the words ‘knackered’ and ‘bog roll’.

What do those mean?

Well ‘knackered’ is another way of saying ‘very tired’, and ‘bog roll’ is toilet

paper!

Well, now we know.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!