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!