Many thanks are owed to Rodrigo from Salt Lake City, Utah, who not only put together the piece below but also contributed the Get Real article. Thanks Rodrigo!
These are the terms that I found to be different while reviewing the movie Get Real on DVD with the captioning on so that I could read the dialogue. I am by no means an authority on British or American slang, but I hope that this will prove enlightening.
My thanks to the following websites for helping to clear up the meaning of some of the more ambiguous terms:
Dictionary of English slang and colloquialisms of the UK
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/
www.LondonSlang.com
http://www.londonslang.com/db/introduction/
| British Slang | Definition | American Slang |
| Arsenal supporter | A supporter of London football club, Arsenal, although in context used more likely to mean thug | bully |
| ball | school dance | dance, prom |
| blagging | to lie, use clever talk | lying, two-faced |
| Blimey! | an exclamation of surprise | Hey! Well, well! Wow! |
| bloke | unknown man | guy, dude |
| bloody | an intensifier for an exclamation as in, bloody fool | damned |
| Bloody hell! | an exclamation of surprise or frustration | Good god! |
| bollocks | testicles | balls, nads (gonads) |
| Bollocks! | an exclamation of frustration. | Oh, no! |
| Cheers! | an exclamation of gratitude or goodbye | Thanks! or goodbye |
| cinema | movie theatre | movies |
| cox (short for coxswain) From the line, “I hear the rowing team at Oxford has their best cox.” |
one who steers a small boat, directs the crew | obvious homonym for cocks (penises) |
| dodgy | suspicious, strange, different | queer, odd |
| fag | cigarette or homosexual (faggot) | smoke |
| fancy | to like, want | like |
| git | disliked male, idiot, contemptible | dink, dork, geezer |
| head boy | senior student leader | senior class president |
| head (short for headmaster) | a person heading the staff of a school | principal |
| I’ll nip home | to go quickly, often implying a return | dash, run |
| If you don’t pull at the ball. | to seduce | score |
| lads | young boys | boys |
| loo | lavatory | bathroom |
| mate | a friend. also a means of addressing an unknown person | buddy, pal |
| Mum | Mother | Mom |
| notice board | a board for posting notices or bulletins | bulletin board |
| Oh, bugger! | an exclamation of annoyance, frustration | Christ! Oh, crap! |
| pervs (short for perverts) | a person given to perversions | perverts |
| pillock | idiot, fool. formerly meant penis but is now considered inoffensive | silly, stupid |
| pissed | intoxication by excessive alcohol consumption | drunk |
| PMT – Pre-Menstrual Tension | a woman’s period | PMS – Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, on the rag |
| poof (short for poofter or puff) | a homosexual, usually an effeminate male | twink |
| porn mag | pornographic magazine | girlie mag |
| prat | fool, idiot | sucker |
| pratting around | to act foolishly, annoyingly | goofing around, fooling around |
| public bog | toilet | public restroom |
| put the door on the latch | Normally referring to Yale locks, where the latch holds the spring open | leave the door unlocked |
| queer-bashed | an assault of a gay person | gay-bashed |
| randy | lewd, lustful | horny |
| row | to fight or argue | falling out |
| shagging | fornicating, more polite than fucking | screwing |
| Sod this! | an intolerant exclamation | Screw this! |
| taking the piss | to ridicule or cruelly joke at someone’s expense | yanking your chain, teasing |
| tart | promiscuous – usually a female of loose moral character, but now typically includes males | easy, ‘ho (whore), slut |
| tosser | idiot, unpleasant, contemptible person. also could refer to one who masturbates (to toss off, jerk off) | jerk-off |
| wanker | idiot, unpleasant, contemptible person | jerk, dickhead |
| willy | penis – usually an affectionate or humorous reference | weenie, peepee |