Been reading some novels that take place in London. I have a little problem with some of the slang. Maybe some of our British members can help me out. These are mostly crime dramas or psychological thrillers. Hoodie Dole Scum Wotcher Wog Bollock-naked Lorrie Filthy Bill or Billy Filth Also is it true that one can sometimes spot a fox in the street in some London neighborhoods? I think that is really cool. Ten times better than spotting a squirrel. And... 'grab a chinese.' 'He's a grass' 'Pie and mash shop' 'He hasn't got the bottle' 'blues and two's' So...help a bloke out, eh. I consider you guys swell mates. thanks
Re: Brit slang....Oi! Yep, it's a "y." Also, Mewa, it's Oi, not Yiddish. A "grass" is a snitch, a rat, a tattletale. Now, wotcher has a history. Cockney, if I'm not mistaken, from the Shakespeare-era "What cheer?" IOW, "Wassup?" From one of my favorite scenes in Lawrence of Arabia.
It's 'wotcha' - a greeting. Hasn't got the bottle = hasn't got the balls/stones/cajones. If someone pulls out of a task through fear they 'bottle it'. Blues and twos are emergency sirens. A 'wog' is an abusive term for someone from the Indian subcontinent. It's not used any more. A 'grass' is a snitch.
Some already answered and others I'm not sure of, but... Trouble-making youth wearing a hooded top. Benefit scrounger Racial term of abuse for Indians Completely naked Get some Chinase food. He's an informant. He hasn't got the guts.
Hoodie (Chav scum who wear hooded tops to help with shoplifting) Dole Scum (social security scrounger) Wotcher (hello) Wog (someone from the middle east asia, africa, west indies) Bollock-naked (no clothes) Lorrie (truck) Filthy Bill or Billy Filth (police) 'grab a chinese.' (goto a chinese takeaway) 'He's a grass' (a snitch) 'Pie and mash shop' (a shop that sells pie, and surprisingly, mash) 'He hasn't got the bottle' (coward) 'blues and two's' (lights and sirens of emergency vehicles)
Um, no. Seriously?? It's a shortening of Golly Wog. I don't think there can be much dispute over who it's meant to refer to.....
Um yes. Dig out the Major's quote from Fawlty Towers. I believe 'Wog' was also excused as' Western Oriental Gentleman' at one point.
And what about foxes in London. And how come you guys leave out 'the' in sentences sometimes. 'I've gone to hospital'
Can only speak for NYC. Never saw one. Never heard about one. If I saw a fox in NYC (Manhattan) I would think if had escaped from the zoo. I'm sure its quite possible in outer areas. But in a few British shows I have seen scenes where they show a fox strolling down a London street. Also mention in books.
You get them everywhere in the UK. Foxes use railway lines as their own highways. Im not sure how likely you are to see a fox walking down a really built up part of central London in whats termed 'the city'. El chu or Hood will have a better idea, but pretty much everywhere else in London you'l find them. I used to live 2miles from Glasgow City Centre and saw them plenty. Im now 15miles out and see them every night. Ive caught the cheeky bastards in my front garden looking up at the window of the room that the rabbit lives in. There was a weeks long series on tv last year about them.... http://foxes.channel4.com/features/fox-file
Lots of small parks. And some larger parks along the rivers. Not much wildlife in them. Always lots of people in them in spring/summer months.
Lots of types, meat, meat n potato, cheese n onion, chicken, that kinda thing. And mash is mashed potatoes.
it's like an empanada, but in the shape of a regular, round pie. Traditionally made of the parts of the cow that the cow doesn't talk about in polite company. there's usually really bad frozen ones at the grocery.
