British what does x mean

Not true in Britain, where language serves as a polite circumlocution around actual sentiment. And that is if language is used at all. I once saw a man get on a crowded Victoria line train, lie down on the floor in front of the doors, spread out his newspaper, and proceed to read it all the way from Oxford Circus until Finsbury Park while commuters gingerly stepped over him. He received a fair number of disapproving glances, but nobody said a word. I told my sister who lives in Brooklyn about his performance.

Some large woman would rally the subway car with her thick Brooklyn accent. I began to realise that virtual kisses make sense in Britain because they say what a message, or a person, often does not: this is who I am, I am glad we are friends, I have a crush, I like you a lot, I am in love. It can go the other way too. My boyfriend, for instance, has a habit of withholding xs when he is angry at me.

If he puts no kisses — like the time I forgot he was making dinner, and while he cooked Thai Green Curry with real coconut I went out drinking with friends — there will be an argument over cold basmati rice. Virtual kisses give us a sense of where we stand without the fuss of actually saying it; they are the maritime signal flags of the heart.

And the British method is starting to appeal. Why start a fight on the tube when social alienation will do? Why be open about your feelings when you can hint at them with a little symbol? Five years on, earnestness seems embarrassing and crass, interaction something to be avoided unless necessary. Perhaps I have finally arrived. To comment on an article in The Junket, please write to comment thejunket.

Stitched together, they would stretch into weeks, perhaps months. Into the human harmony Windows are points of connection between interio… Read article. Miffed — is another way of saying you are confused or annoyed. Not my cup of tea — is a saying used when something is not to your liking. Naff — is used to describe something that is of poor or inferior taste. Nosh — is slang for food. One off — an expression used to describe something unique. It means someone thinks you are lying.

Put a sock in it — If you have had enough of someone talking you can tell them to put a sock in it. It is totally fine to use amongst friends but even you think your lecturer is going on a bit we advise you keep the thought to yourself! Quack — is slang for a doctor that is suspected of not have the correct qualifications. Reem — is English slang for something being nice, good or cool and originates from Essex.

Rank — is slang for something that is horrible, in bad taste or actually smells unpleasant. Rinsed — can be used in a couple of ways. The first is if you defeat someone in an argument, fight or other competition.

The second context is when someone pays over the odds for something. Finish off whatever you are doing fast! The implication is you are taking too long or you are not doing it efficiently. Stitched up — is when someone has taken advantage of you. Shagged — This can mean a number of things some ruder than others. But the most common use is when someone is expressing how tired they are. Taking the piss — If you hear this being used it means one person is shocked at what another person is doing or saying.

Throw a spanner in the works — you are likely to hear this saying when something goes wrong or someone makes a mistake. Tickety-boo — means OK and may have originated from a Hindi word meaning everything is fine.

The offie — The off-licence is the equivalent to an American convenience store, licenced to sell alcohol. Umpteen — means a relatively large, but unspecified amount, of something and is generally used when someone is annoyed. Up the spout — when you have wasted something such as money. Under the cosh — is used when you feel under pressures or restricted. Veg-out — is slang for relaxing. To veg-out properly you have to order pizza and find a really naff movie to watch in your jim-jams.

Vibe — is slang for feelings, atmosphere, mood. Wonky — is another word for shaky or unstable. You can use it to refer to a person or an object. For example, you might say a chair has a wonky leg. Wangle — means to get or do something that is a bit devious. Wee — is a Scottish word for small. If a Scottish person says they want a wee drink they want a whiskey. If an English person says they want a wee direct them to the nearest toilet! Xtra — is used to describe something that is very good.

Your round — if you go to a pub with a group of friends it is most likely that one person will buy the whole group a drink. This will continue until everyone in the group has bought a drink.

On some ocasions it might be used when someone disagrees with you. Zonked — is used when someone is sleeping or by someone who is expressing they are super tired. A "geezer" is a man that could be described as "suave" or "dapper," and is often suited and booted. Men from east London are also commonly referred to as "geezers. Sailors would blow down a pipe to their recipient, where a whistle at the end of the pipe would sound to spark attention. Not to be confused with literally being disembowelled, someone that says they're "gutted" is devastated or extremely upset.

While Americans are more likely to say "seven thirty" or "five fifty," Brits will more often than not refer to times in "minutes past" the hour. Eg, "half past seven," and "ten to six. It's unclear why Brits appear to favour analogue time-telling while Americans go for the digital format. Hank Marvin is a British musician from the s and s, and is a pretty obscure reference nowadays.

Marvin played guitar in Cliff Richard's backing band in the s. Something that takes a lot of effort and probably isn't going to be worth all of the effort, either, could be described as "long. Brits are known for favouring a drink or two, so much so that almost any noun can be used as a substitute for "drunk.

In his stand-up show , British comedian Michael MacIntyre said: "You can actually use any word in the English language and substitute it to mean drunk.

It works. Derived from "mint condition," which refers to something pre-owned that retains its pristine condition, although something that's just "mint" doesn't have to be pre-owned.

Derived from the Newcastle sociolect, "mortal" was made widely known across the country in by reality TV show "Geordie Shore. The origins of the phrase are largely debated online , however, it's believed that "to nick" as in to steal influenced the slang term for prison, as being imprisoned is similar to being "stolen" away. Someone that's "on the pull" has gone out, usually on a night out, with the intention of attracting a sexual partner.

Although this sounds like an analogy about the chemistry of baking, or putting too many eggs in a cake batter, "egg" actually comes from the Anglo Saxon "eggian," meaning to "excite. In "over-egging the pudding" analogy, someone is over-exciting, or over-mixing, the batter too much before it bakes — resulting in a tough or dense cake.

A "par" breaches social and common courtesy, eg, a disrespectful comment could be seen as a "par. This slang term could be a British abbreviation of the French "faux pas," meaning an embarrassing or tactless remark in a social situation. A situation which has quickly evolved into an accident waiting to happen might be described as "gone pear-shaped. The phrase is reportedly old slang from the Royal Air Force and was used to described awry expeditions and flights.

The idiom was first used to describe the thick, choking smogs that settled over London, caused by lots of people burning fossil fuels in a close vicinity, as early as The smogs were compared to pea soup due to their colour and density. No returns of any kind" is a school playground rhyme often exchanged between friends on the first day of a new calendar month, accompanied by a pinch and a punch to the recipient.

If the joker forgets to say "no returns of any kind," the recipient can say "a slap and a kick for being so quick," accompanied by a slap and a kick. According to the Metro , the playground ritual originates from the medieval times, when a "pinch" of salt was believing to make witches weak, and the "punch" resembled banishing the witches entirely.

As a result, "pinch punch, first of the month" was a way of warding off witches and bad luck for the near future. However, in the UK, someone that's "pissed" is most probably drunk. This cheery phrase is widely believed to originate from Northern factory workers around the time of the industrial revolution. When they were working on the factory floor, employees had to wear hard clogs to protect their feet. This quintessentially British idiom derives from the Dutch "pap" and "kak," which translate as "soft" and "dung.

Someone who's "quids in" has invested in an opportunity which is probably going to benefit them massively. You might buy a "round" of drinks for your friends at the pub, in the understanding that they will each buy you a drink as part of their "rounds" later on. The meaning of this slang has been debated at length.

The word "shirt" is derived from the Norse for "short," hence short-tempered. However, other people believe that "shirty" has connotations of being dishevelled. Although the adjective's origins remain largely unknown , early documented uses seem to use the word as synonymous with "smear," further suggesting that someone who is "smarmy" is also "slick" or "slippery.

A British axiom that boils down to the idea that: "If anything can go wrong, then it definitely will go wrong. This is more commonly known in the US as "Murphy's law. An event that disrupts the natural, pre-planned order of events could be described as a "spanner in the works. The phrase describes the mayhem caused when something is recklessly thrown into the intricate gears and workings of a machine.

The phrase goes back to Victorian public toilets, which required users to insert a single penny in order to operate the lock. Although it sounds crude, the phrase is actually considered a polite way of announcing that you are going to visit the bathroom.