A-Z of Advanced British English Slang | 59 Words, Phrases, Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

How many of these slang words, expressions, idioms and phrases do you know? We hope this lesson helps you learn some British Slang you haven't heard before!

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[manuelbelled]

These are excellent! I've been speaking English for more than 30 years, but I didn't know many of these. Very clearly explained, too, with good example sentences.

[fabrice]

Part 1 -
1- Airy-fairy: not practical, fanciful and unrealistic

Ex: I thought of creating a fanciful, airy-fairy character. His name? : Harry Fairy!
Syn.: tree-hugging / hippyish
Fr: farfelu / excentrique /fantaisiste / illuminé

2- (fall/go) Arse over tits: lose balance and fall over without control
Ex: Going down too fast the steep slope to Caspiu beach, I fell from my bike arse over tits and my face violently hit the road. My face was injured and badly bleeding but I managed to join the beach where I was taken in charge; except of that, I wasn't seriously injured and it didn't compromise the rest of my holiday.
Fr: (tomber) cul par-dessus tête

3- Artsy-fartsy: trying too hard to make other people admire your artistic knowledge or ability.
Syn.: eccentric / pompous / smug / pretentious / conceited / presumptuous / quirky / arrogant
Fr: Pompeux / intello / bobo branché (chébran)

4- 4- Barmy: behaving strangely or very silly
Ex: lying down after having read a little, he closes his book. He takes his gun, next to a dozen of light bulbs in his bedside table, aims at and explodes the light in his room before trying to fall asleep; Mister bean is totally barmy! haha 😂
Syn.: crackpot / crazy, daft / dippy, doolally / foolish, gonzo / goofy / idiotic, insane, loony / loopy / nuts, nutty / odd, off one's rocker / off one's / out of one's mind, out to lunch / round the twist / silly, stupid, up the pole / wacko, whacko
Fr: cinglé / dingue / maboul / timbré / toqué / fou / farfelu / fêlé / déjanté / loufoque / dingo / marteau / extravagant etc.

5- Barney: a loud argument
Ex: Last week, my neighbours had another barney and she threatened to get the hell off.
Syn.: row / tiff / brawl / fight / squabble / argument / bickering etc.
Fr: prise de bec / dispute / querelle / altercation / chamaillerie / rixe / accrochage etc.

6- Bickie: biscuit
Ex: Leila reached for the chocolate bar and the biscuit tin so that she could munch on a couple of bickies while she drank her cuppa before Netflixing. ;-)
Syn.: biscuit / cookie (u.s.)
Fr: biscuit / petit gâteau

7- Bollocking: a reprimand to tell someone off (=Rollocking (softer))
Ex: Our German teacher who was quite harsh would give us a real bollocking when, by misfortune, we wouldn't know our text.
Syn.: dressing-down / scolding / row / reprimand / earful / riot act / telling-off
Fr: engueulade / se prendre un cigare / se prendre une fumante / se faire enguirlander / se faire passer un savon /réprimande / admonestation etc.

8- brassic: without money, very poor
Ex: I would have gladly bought that David Gilmour signature customshop Fender guitar, but I'm brassic at the moment!
Syn.: be broke / be skint
Fr: être fauché ; ne pas avoir un radis / un rond / une thune ; être sans le sou

9- buggered: broken or very tired
Ex: I'm sick and tired of that handling, mate; I'm buggered and it's beer o'clock, let's call it a day!
Syn: knackered / zonked / ruined / bushed / worn out / tired out / dead tired etc.
Fr: crevé / lessivé / usé / éreinté / exténué / à bout de force / claqué / fourbu etc.

10- can't be arsed with: lacking motivation to do anything/something
can't be doing with (softer)
Ex: I can't be arsed with going further with that comment; I'll resume later on, my darlings!
fr: je n'ai pas le force (de/d') ... je n'ai pas le courage (de/d') ... ça me gave (de/d') ...

to be followed ...

[fabrice]

Answers to 'The Sun' and those who trash talked the French Team:

"C'est plus Harry Kane, les gars, c'est Harry When, WHEN? ..."
"C'est plus Hurri cane, c'est 'on rit de Kane' !"
"C'est Harry-kend, t'es en week-end, Harry!"
"Harry kane, il a fait une passe à la reine d'Angleterre qui est au ciel les amis! ..."
"Kane, il a tiré au ciel et il a crashé l'avion qui rentrait au Portugal !"
"Souvenez vous de Waterloo, c'est plus Waterloo, c'est Walker l'eau, Walker prend l'eau !.."
"Les anglais avaient un plan anti-Mbappé, on leur a fait un plan cul, on les a baisé !..."
"Le seul plan qui leur reste maintenant, c'est un plan de vol pour rentrer en Angleterre !..." Harry Plane ...
"The only remaining plan they have now, it's a flight plan to go back to England !"
"C'est plus Rashford, c'est Rashcorde, y va rentrer en Ford ...
"C'est plus Bellingham, c'est Bellingame... OVER !"
"C'est plus le roi Charles, c'est le King chiale ! Pleurez les anglais, Keep crying! .."
"It's no more 'the Sun', it is 'La SEUM !'
...
😂🐔
Après le Rosbif (un peu coriace) on va se faire un bon p'tit Couscous; et pour conclure, un p'tit Strukli croate au fromage ! 😋😜 Allez les Bleus! Allez les champions 💙🤍❤ ⚽🏆 ✨✨✨
Ok, this is no more poetry; but what do you expect, football makes you a bit of an idiot sometimes... And not only the English who invented the game (but not the victory!... 😂 ;-)

[kissa]

You are gorgeous! Thank you for the awesome lesson. You are an amazing source of English slang and not only. Examples in the presentation are marvellous.

[ogaminiratnayake]

Oh wow.... Well done England, the champions of the cricketing world!!!
So proud of you and Sabrah of this achievement by the great England cricketing team... 👍👆✌️🙏❤️
Hugs.xoxoxo
"Gams... 😘😇😘

[knvattitude]

"either come on you had I see this explain this meaning

[sanamunir]

Work. Was. Saying. Tobl as ck. Dolike. Tisdoingdontdoky

[ogaminiratnayake]

Hey Leila... Who else, it is always "Ben stokes" who scores the winning run... 🏃😘😘❤️🙏👍😁💯🥇✌️👊🏿👊🏿👊🏿

[robertabray-enhus]

We do use many of these here in the US. But, I’m in Massachusetts, so maybe that’s why we use them….
I thought bollocks meant bullshi* ?
I’ve heard bugger off, to fu*k off..?
We use dim here, as dumb
I use effing all the time.
Fluke means the same here in the US.
Gutted is being used more lately here
Half assed the same here.
Hunky dory the same here
In the buff same here.
Peckish I’ve heard it more often now.
Piss off or to be pissed off. Same here in the US.
Tight, tight wad, or tight ass here too.
I use twit a lot here!
Are you up for, and to
veg out….the same.
Whoops same here.
To get all wound up, or upset.
Zonked out, really tired here too.
Zoned out here too!

[fabrice]

November

Bare maples shiver; Of wilted yellow scraps,
Each path is covered; cluttered, each threshold
The gust through branches has some sighs and cries
Plaintive as the knell that sobs in the shadows.

Large and sombre clouds blur the horizon;
The sun barely throws glances to the earth;
Withered bistre leaves roll over the lawn
And the swollen stream, like thunder, rumbles

Farewell serene eve! Farewell clear morning!
Farewell, the fresh shade! Farewell, mad runnings!
Goodbye, birds' voices that would cross the wind!
Farewell to chirpings of the bushes and springs!

No more glad reapers gathered in wheat fields!
No more dreamy lovers sat under the arbors!
No more night concert beneath the starry vault!
In meadows and woods, no more scents, no more wings!

Deafening noises grow under the great woods
Restless and twisted like a dark swell of storm
The construction men are gone for two months whole,
And the great pine, rough, under the axes falls.

A sepulchral breath passes on the valleys,
Over hillsides, ponds and forests and stubbles;
And sometimes, at night, we suddenly tremble
Thinking we see pass a white ghost wandering.

Under dying suns all is cold, dark, bitter,
All flees in weeping air, on the wave which steams;
And the last guyed sails, seeing dawn of winter,
Leave our icy ports and plunge into the mist.

No winged bard remains in the numbed pasture;
And, at eve, on skies, which a vague ray flashes,
One sees profiling, towards the South turned,
The triangular flight of migratory geese.

At home, all are dull, everyone is alone.
The pallid sky aspect has grieved and saddened
Coming soon the snow its shroud will unfold
As onto a corpse, on the tree overturned

It's the month of pain, of regrets, of goodbyes.
The hearts feel the cold of marble gravities;
And grey mourning crowds, with tears in their eyes,
Will bow 'fore crosses of the cemeteries.

But sometimes the sun, shattering the haze,
Pours golden glimmers on thatches and waters
And we believe we hear the chattering birds,
We breathe everywhere savage aromas.

Nude trees seem to us be dressed again in green:
The lukewarmed wind plays with their supple branches;
In the vale's hollow, whole covered with leaves,
It seems we still see joyful couples roaming.

As the season of blooms and loves and chipmunks
My youthful dreams have vanished, faded away
A cloud suddenly has passed over my days,
Robbed me of a sun that used to make me drunk.

However sometimes throughout my black sky
A radiant glint slides on my gloomy brow...
Then in the bright past, I believe I perceive
Of my fled delights, floating, the pink image.

And then 'fore my eyes radiates 'l'avenir';
And hope is reborn in my delighted mind...
And the ray that shines for a while on my life,
It's the one that the heart calls: 'le souvenir'.


F.D. November 14 th, 2022.
To Sabrah and Leila.
Winner of 🥇on A.P.
🥰🌹💗
Did you like it? Tell me in the comment below.
Don't hesitate for any suggestions or corrections, t.y. :-)

[Klopcyna]

Cor blimey! You're one fit bird and you don't lack personality! I wish I was based in the UK! If I was, I'd be already dating you

[joelmasamba]

I've been learning more about English but I'dont know many of these so keep it up 🙏🙏🙏

[y.y]

What your origin laila ? I'm very proud of you .your way of teaching is very intresting and very useful .

[gabymeofefet]

Be careful with Yob - it's a very rude Russian word. Meaning is the same.

[fabrice]

Welcome back to L.E.W.L.& S., Leila! Je ne te raconte pas comment ça m'a mis la banane de te revoir! obviously I'm speaking about 'smile' here, don't get me wrong ;-) ( j'ai la banane = je souris/je suis content 😊🍌) I'm positively and utterly impressed by your amazing performance here. There are a bunch of them I already knew but also many I discovered! Going through the entire alphabet with fabulous slang expressions, all in just hardly 25 minutes, wow!
This was perhaps a bit at the expense of the flow, which might be considered a bit fast and impressive for beginners, but still natural and desirable to listen to for the more advanced among us; I personally enjoyed and appreciated a lot!
It makes me want to make a text using all of them or maybe, as you suggested, create one with my own British slang list 🙂
So I'll probably be back for some more ...
Thank you so much Leila! Great to have you back with us in the pleasant and peaceful intimacy of your kitchen and with a cuppa;
That was a fantastic, brilliant journey with all this amazing 'slang'; a lot of precision, clarity, natural, and the all thing sprinkled with a lot of humour, I loved it!
Merci Leila!, bravo! 👏 bisous bisous! 🙏🥰🌹💗

[joelmasamba]

Oh my gosh!!! These words are helpful for us to keep improving our English skills so do not give up keep up the good work may gosh bless you

[charlesstaudt]

EXCELLENT 👏👏👏 CHARLES STAUDT FROM BRAZIL 🇧🇷

[juanbarragan]

Do you have online English classes from the UK?

[anandshenolikar]

Dear i was spaced out through whole video, was scoping out you, tell me ehst should i do to fpcus on matetisl rsther than u

[srdjansww]

Hey Leila... It is delightful to see your new video 🙂👍...A huge salute to you and Sabrah...I hope you have remembered me as among your first subscribers and supporters...