British Phrases: In this lesson, you will be learning 20 very British expressions. Now, these British expressions are going to help you because if you watch British TV or things like that, you’re going to hear these expressions all the time. They are things that we use here in Britain on a regular basis.
20 British Phrases & Expressions
- I am stuffed
- I am gutted
- To be in a Pickle
- It’s mental / That’s mental
- Give me a bell
- To be in a mood
- Crikey / Blimey
- To pull someone’s leg
- To faff around
- Lost the plot
- Rubbish / Crap
- To nick something
- To have had your chips
- The bee’s knees
- To take the biscuit
- Shattered / Knackered
- I am not being funny but
- A spanner in the works
- To head somewhere
- Mint / That’s mint
1. I am stuffed
Meaning: To be stuffed means to be very full, to have eaten lots of food, perhaps too much food.
Example:
- If you say “I’m stuffed,” it means you’re really full.
2. I am gutted
Meaning: To be very disappointed or upset. The literal meaning of “to gut” is to remove the insides from something, usually, an animal or a fish, to gut it, to remove their guts, their insides. So if we say we feel gutted, we feel like somebody’s removed our guts. Obviously not that extreme, but we feel very disappointed.
Example:
- I’m gutted that that boy or girl never rang me.
- I’m gutted I didn’t get that job.
3. To be in a Pickle
Meaning: To be in a difficult or tricky situation.
Pickle is a very British food, made by putting fruit or vegetables in a jar with sugar, vinegar, and other ingredients to ferment over time. When we say we are in a pickle, it means that we are in a tricky situation, like the vegetables covered in sugar and vinegar. [British Phrases]
Example:
- I’ve been going through our finances, I’m not sure, but it seems that we may be in a little bit of a pickle.
4. It’s mental / That’s mental
Meaning: When something is crazy or surprising.
We often say this as a replacement for “crazy.” If we think something’s really crazy, we can say, “Ah, that’s mental,” or “It’s such a mental situation,” meaning it’s really crazy, it’s a mixed-up situation.
Example:
- Mental, that one, I’m telling you.
5. Give me a bell
Meaning: Get in touch with me, call me, or give me a ring.
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6. To be in a mood
Meaning: To be in a bad mood. The word mood can mean a good mood or a bad mood, but if we say somebody is in a mood, this means they are in a bad mood.
Example:
- Maria’s in such a mood, I really don’t want to speak to her at the moment (which means she’s really in a bad mood).
7. Crikey / Blimey
Meaning: These are two very British words that we use all the time when we’re surprised about something.
Example:
- Crikey, I can’t believe the weather.
- Crikey, can you believe the bad news again about Brexit?
- Oh, blimey, I just can’t believe what a long day I’ve had.
- Blimey, have you heard the news about our colleague? She’s run off with the boss.
8. To pull someone’s leg
Meaning: To make a joke about someone or to tease someone. This can be in a harmless way or a mean way, depending on the context.
Example:
- If I said to my boyfriend, “Can’t see you tonight, I’m meeting my new young lover,” and he said, “What? What’s your new young lover? What’s happening?” and then I said, “Oh, don’t be silly, I’m just pulling your leg,” meaning I’m just joking, I’m not serious.
9. To faff around
Meaning: To waste time doing unimportant tasks. To procrastinate, to waste time doing silly things before you do the things that you have to do.
Explanation:
- So if you are a person who faffs around before you go to work, you might go on your phone for a while, you might start to tidy up, you might worry that you need to check things like check if all the windows are shut. You don’t quickly do things; you faff around. You spend your time doing perhaps not-that-useful tasks before doing the things that you really need to do.
10. Lost the plot
Meaning: To become confused or to do something crazy. If we lose the plot, we lose track of reality. Maybe we do something a little bit crazy or a little bit silly, but we can use this expression just to tease somebody.
Example:
- We could say, “What? Why are you saying that? [British Phrases] You’ve lost the plot,” and it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have lost the plot.
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11. Rubbish / Crap
Meaning: These words mean that something is not good or of low quality. They are slang.
Examples:
- It was a crap day
- Crap weather!
- What a rubbish day!
- Rubbish movie!
12. To nick something
Meaning: To steal something. This is a very British verb.
Example:
- We might say, “I nicked my sister’s pen.“
- We can say, “Huh, did you nick my notepad?” (It means to steal)
13. To have had your chips
Meaning: To fail at something or lose an opportunity, last chance.
Example:
- You’re trying to get a job, you don’t get the job, you can say, “Ahh, you’ve had your chips. I think that the other person’s going to get it.
14. The bee’s knees
Meaning: Something or someone that is excellent or of a high standard. If we say somebody or something “thinks they are the bee’s knees,” this means that they have a very high opinion of themselves. They think they are the best if they think they are the bee’s knees.
Examples:
- You might say, “Oh, she thinks she’s the bee’s knees just because she went to Oxford.”
- We can say, “Oh, she’s just the bee’s knees, isn’t she? She’s just fantastic at what she does.” (We can use this in a positive way as well).
- You’re the bee’s knees. You’re gonna be the most popular guy in school, trust me.
15. To take the biscuit
Meaning: To be rude or offensive, particularly bad.
If somebody has done something that you consider to be a bad thing and they’ve gone too far in their behavior, you can say, “This just takes the biscuit,” meaning they’ve gone too far with this.
Example:
- When games were played and a cake was given as the prize. If somebody who didn’t deserve the prize took the cake, you could say, “Believe it, they took the biscuit, they took the cake.”
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16. Shattered / Knackered
Meaning: To be very tired.
Example:
- I’m knackered.
- They are shattered.
17. I am not being funny but
Meaning: I don’t mean to be rude but… If somebody is being a bit rude to you or a bit offensive, and so you can say, “I’m not being funny but,” before we want to say something negative.
Example:
- I’m not being funny but could you just move your stuff off my desk? I really just need a clean, clean desk. [British Phrases] (You are saying something negative, but the other person is saying, “I don’t need to be rude)
18. A spanner in the works
Meaning: Something unexpected that can disturb or confuse a situation. This means that something unexpected or surprising has come into the situation.
Explanation:
- Imagine you’re looking for a new job and you go for lots of interviews and you think that the job you really wanted, you didn’t get it. But then you go for another job and you think, “This is almost as good,” and you’re about to accept it, and then the other job that you didn’t think you’d got comes back to you and says, “Actually, we want you.” This is throwing a spanner in the works. It is unexpected, but in this sense, it’s unexpected for good.
19. To head somewhere
Meaning: To go somewhere.
Examples:
- I’m heading to work now.
- I’m heading off (meaning I’m leaving).
- I’m heading out (meaning I’m going out).
20. Mint / That’s mint
Meaning: Something that is excellent and in perfect condition.
Examples:
- My new car is mint (meaning it’s in perfect condition even though it’s second-hand).
- We can say that experiences are mint.
- Oh, that’s mint. I can’t believe that you won some money.
Conclusion
These were 20 very common but amazing British Phrases and Expressions. I do hope this lesson will be useful and that you can start to use or at least understand some of these British expressions.
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