British Words – British Sayings – British Slang
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Spiffing
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Spiffing – This is old British slang for splendid or wonderful. It’s not used much nowadays but one of readers suggested it for this online dictionary. And who are we not to oblige?
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Queen’s English
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Queen’s English – Perfectly Proper English Language Pronunciation. Usually spoken by the Upper Crust of British Society.
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Up The Duff
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Up the Duff – This is a British Euphemism for being pregnant or “preggers” as a Brit might also say. It can pertain to an unplanned pregnancy but in recent times it usually just means “preggers”.
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Red Rag to a Bull
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Red Rag to a Bull – To purposely provoke someone into an adverse reaction. Say for example you “borrow” your sister’s best frock and then flaunt it in front of her down your local on a Friday night. Now you’d be asking for it – that’s like a “red rag to a bull” and certain to end quite nastily!
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Mad as a Hatter
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Mad as a Hatter – This wonderful British saying means completely crazy and is rather macabre in its origin. Hat makers (hatters) would commonly use mercury in the making of hats. The prolonged excessive exposure to this toxic chemical damaged the nervous system and caused them to shake uncontrollably. Thus making them appear to be completely insane or bonkers as we Brits would say.
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Englishman’s Home is His Castle
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An Englishman’s Home is His Castle – This English dictum means that a man’s home is his world to do as he pleases with no rules – in general. It dates back to the 17th Century when Sir Edward Coke, declared in the “Institutes of the Laws of England,1628 that: -
“For a man’s house is his castle, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium (and each man’s home is his safest refuge”
In modern times, the majority of Brits still believe in this to an extent. It’s common for a man to look upon his place of domain as his kingdom or “castle”, over which he reigns supreme.
Cream Crackered
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Cream Crackered – This is another bit of rhyming slang, which is very common in the cockney dialect. It rhymes with another bit of British slang called – “knackered”. All of this simply means very tired or exhausted. Whether your knackered or cream crackered, this little British saying is a perfect retort when your friends want to drag you out on the town after a long day at work!