How Many UK Slang Words Do You Know?

"Geezer" in the UK is used the same way Americans use the word "dude." It's a general term for a man (e.g., a bloke).

The word "chuff" has had multiple meanings over the centuries, including as a euphemism for a stronger curse word and to fart. But if someone is pleased or very happy, they're usually "chuffed to bits" or "chuffed to ribbons."

American English has words that mean the inscrutable--thingamajig, thingamabob, doohickey ... and then, for the UK, there's doofer. This seems to be derived from the words "do for" as in "that'll do for the job." So it really could be anything, you could be not sure or you need to see what the person is actually pointing at to be sure--it's just some thing.

"Corker" typically means a really great thing or person. But sometimes, it can also means a comment that shuts down a conversation (puts a cork in it), i.e., there's an argument about who has the most goals in a football (soccer) match. Someone else finds the exact stats, and the argument is over.

In the UK, a "knees-up" is a party, usually an informal get-together. It's also usually a lively party where there will be singing, dancing and drinking.

We all can't be happy all the time. Sometimes we're not in the best moods, and "narky" would be one UK way to describe being in a bad mood.

We have plenty of words for someone who believe is stupid or highly ignorant. "Muppet" is an insulting, derogatory word, similar to calling someone a moron or idiot.

Collywobbles could be a portmanteau of the words colic and wobbles. All the same, these are gut feelings of intestinal discomfort or feeling nervous (e.g., having butterflies in your stomach).

The movie and the musical have made "the full monty" be related to complete nakedness, especially from a man. But it really means going all the way or the whole thing.

Her Majesty's Pleasure is a euphemism and a play on the acronym HMP, which means Her Majesty's Prisons. The acronym is in front of all UK prisons.

You probably know "rubbish" and "bollocks" from the UK, but tosh is another way that something is not only trash but that it's utter nonsense, too. Primarily now, it means balderdash and baloney.

"Allow it" (pronounced more like 'llow it) is slang for saying that whatever the problem or conflict is, it's just not worth it. Just let it go, walk away and move on.

"Faffing" as a verb means to waste your time doing some useless activity. It's similar to "goofing off" in American vernacular.

Budging in American English is usually about not moving on something (e.g., I'm not going to budge on this rule). But in UK slang, it means you should move and make room, especially if you're sitting.

When you're "on the pull," you're going out--whether to a bar or a club or a party--in the hopes of attracting someone. It may mean that you want to have sex with them. It's similar to being "on the prowl".

The British are known for their impeccable manners and decorum, but that doesn't mean they can't tell someone to shut up. "Belt up" is their way of doing that.

If you were really looking forward to something, and then it turns out less excitingly than you had hope, you'd say it was a damp squib. A squib is type of firework, so if it's damp, then it can't be lit -- thus, no excitement. It's another way of saying that something is anticlimactic.

As we all know, there are different stages of being drunk or inebriated. The "legless" stage means the person feels so drunk they can't even walk.

"Minted" is a slang term that you can probably understand the meaning of from the word mint, which is a place that creates money. Minted is slang for rich or wealthy.

"Brill" is slang for the word brilliant. In the UK, brilliant usually means wonderful, amazing, great, etc. It can also be used sarcastically in response to something such as an unwanted or undesired outcome.

The full rhyme here is "apples and pears." And the missing word would be stairs. Used in a sentence: "After work, I ran up the apples and went straight to bed."

Do you know the rhyming phrase here? It's "plates of meat," which would make the only possible answer be "feet".

Now this word from a Cockney rhyming phrase is very much from the 19th century because part of the phrase is "boracic (pronounced brassic) lint." Boracic lint is a special type of medical dressing used to treat leg ulcers. So the phrase is "boracic lint--skint"--and "brassic" would be another way to say "skint" or "broke."

So this rhyming phrase is "bubble bath--laugh." And you may think, bath and laugh don't really rhyme, but there's this linguistic phenomenon in some dialects of British English (including Cockney) called th-fronting, where th's turn into v's or f's. So bubble bath is pronounced "bubble baf."

So here is the rhyming phrase for this slang word: mince pies--eyes. But you wouldn't say mince as the slang word from the phrase--you'd say mincers.

So here's the complete rhyming slang phrase--dog and bone: telephone. So the slang word here is dog, which won't make much sense outside the rhyming slang phrase.

So here's the whole rhyming phrase: hank marvin--starvin'. But this has a bit of a spin--it doesn't seem like you'd say just hank or some derivative of that. You'd say "Hank Marvin."

In the UK, a trolley is a shopping cart. So if you're "trollied," then you're so intoxicated, you'd need to be moved around in a trolley.

So one slang term that's come up in the is "Cheeky Nandos," which usually happens when you've been out late, probably drinking. Nandos is a chicken restaurant chain, and it'd be "cheeky" to go to get food late---spicy (because of the chicken), great--and maybe a little wrong but funny. It's become a phrase all on its own.

When you need to "neck" a drink, you need to drink it. It most likely has to do with, essentially, pouring a drink down your neck.

In the U.S., one phrase we have for intentionally getting drunk is "tying one on." But for folks in the UK -- specifically younger folks -- going out on the lash is the slang phrase used.

"Sherbet" as beer is not an obvious slang word for those outside the UK or Australia. It's actually a fizzy powdered candy that you'd dip a finger or lollipop in. So the fizzy part is a connection to beer also being effervescent or bubbly.

This is more of a younger person's term. It's similar to the American phrases, "nailed it!" or "killed it!" If you smash something, you did it with excellence (and usually with enthusiasm).

"Bants" is short for "banter" and it's mainly joking around with friends. If you had "mad bants" then you had a lot of fun joking with your friends.

"Ledge" is short for legend or legendary. So if someone says that you're a ledge or that you're ledge--it's a high compliment. And we think that you're absolute ledge for taking this quiz!