geekosystem

Earlier this week, I confessed to watching much too much British television. So much so that I lobbied for 10 pieces of British slang to be adopted here in America, but just because I like some of it doesn’t mean I like it all. Some British slang is confusing, distasteful, or forever marred for me by weirdly personal reasons. There were a few I liked that didn’t make that list, but instead of adding more I think my time is better served by sharing 10 British slang terms I’d like to see stay on the other side of the Atlantic.

The words I picked for my list of slang terms I wanted to see adopted in the States were ones that I not only liked, but genuinely thought were better than what we have here in American English. Many people left suggestions in the comments for some that I just missed, and a few I was on the fence about, but there were also many I just don’t want to see make their way across the pond.

1. No. 1 | Chips

   

   "Chips" was a frequent suggestion in the comments on my list of good British slang. In fact, a lot of food-related words were suggested, but I left them out for a reason. Sorry, British folks, but your "chips" are "fries" and your "crisps" are "chips." Your whole system for naming food is bananas. Everything can't be "pudding." I'm not going to be the one to say you have to change it, and if I visit you I'll order "chips" when I want "fries" and keep my mouth shut about it, but let's keep that nonsense on your side of the ocean. (Image via camknows)

2. No. 2 | Pissed

   

   "Pissed" didn't make my list because I don't like it. I think it's a better term for describing being drunk than a lot of ones we have here in America, but we already use "pissed" to mean angry or annoyed, and I'm more of a happy drunk so I don't want to get the two confused. (Image via paukrus)

3. No. 3 | Snog

   

   This word is gross. Just the way it sounds is off-putting. It doesn't sound even remotely like something I would want to do, even though it is. To fix this, let's hold an international game of spin the bottle summit where we hash out a new term for French kissing. (Image via doyoubleedlikeme)

4. No. 4 | Ruck

   

   This is one I wasn't all that familiar with, but in a show I was watching someone used the word "ruck," and I had to look it up. It had a few definitions, but in the context it was being used I think they were talking about a fight. It just makes me think of actor Alan Ruck, and he's great. Who would want to fight Alan Ruck? You can't fight Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (Image via jimrenaud)

5. No. 5 | Arse

   

   Meaning a butt, "arse" fits well coming from someone with a British accent, but the way it sounds coming from Americans just sounds like we're mispronouncing some other word. (Image via Adult Swim)

6. No. 6 | Chuffed

   

   No matter how many times I hear it, I still think "chuffed" means the opposite of what it means. It means to be happy or pleased, but maybe because it's a similar sounding word to "chafed" I always think it's something unpleasant. (Image via pindeck)

7. No. 7 | Any Cockney Rhyming Slang

   

   I do not understand Cockney Rhyming Slang, where a phrase or word that rhymes with another phrase or word is supposed to mean that phrase at word. "Apples and pears" is supposed to mean "stairs?" Why not "chairs?" As much as I love learning new things, I'm fine with leaving this one in the category of things I know nothing about. (Image via Squirmelia)

8. No. 8 | Posh

   

   This one's your own fault, Britain. I can't hear the word "Posh" without immediately jumping to the Spice Girls, and if "Posh" caught on in the U.S. to describe rich people, then I'd be thinking about the Spice Girls a lot more, and I'm not really up for that. You can have this one. (Image via Wikipedia)

9. No. 9 | Knackered

   

   As I was picking out this adorable picture of a sleepy kitty, my friend Emma was looking over my shoulder. She also watches a lot of British television, and she was surprised "knackered" made my list of bad slang, and not good. To tell you the truth, this one probably only made this list because a friend of a friend here in the states overuses "knackered" and he's a bit of a prat, so he ruined the word for me forever. (Image via Thowra_uk)

10. No. 10 | The C Word

    

    You know which "C word." I understand it's used more casually in the U.K. and doesn't carry the same weight as it does here, but I don't want to have to live through the process of getting Americans to be comfortable with it, given how easily it makes a lot of people squirm. That said, if I'm ever in the U.K., I'll try to throw this word around almost constantly. That's how it works, right? (Image via Katie Spence)

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(image via Katie Spence)

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