Several of Our Patrons sent us this video, so we had to do it! We pride ourselves on learning and guessing British phrases and slang. These were interesting! See how we did! We wonder if you use all or just some of these? This was a super fun video and it really had us laughing LOTS!! We hope you enjoy it too. Thank you SO much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!
Gordon Bennett. That's a term used in Britain. It means your surprised by something or someone. You should look him up. He was editor of the New York Herald.
Great video ladies (as always). Just to clarify one point about the word ‘Bagsy’ though. It’s more a northern term rather than specifically Yorkshire. I’m in the northwest and it’s always been used and it’s also a popular term in Scotland.
No one outside newcastle uses the word mortal... when I was a child we use to say bagsy for saying that's mine.. a northern thing was to say put wood in hole or where I live we said those.. was you born in a barn and il go to the foot of our stairs 😅
So am I - I've used or heard all of these terms - except for "dench" which seems to be some kind of tedious modern 'Rap' term used exclusively by young oafs
@jjdecani I use "par" quite often as it is used as something being equal. When someone says something which is funny, i often say "that's on a par with..."
When I use the phrase "cack-handed" I usually mean they are left-handed, but it's probably as a result of the person being clumsy whilst attempting to use right-handed tools
Loved the "tinkle on the blower" reaction both from yourselves and from the video you're reacting to. "The Blower" is old slang for a telephone, and a " tinkle" (in this context) is the ringing of small bells, from the tinkling sound, so is ringing someone's phone. Old slang, but still 100% usable and legit today.
"Give me a tinkle" is all you need to say. "On the blower" is a separate phrase, which means, "I'm on the phone". "I'm on the blower", is usually used to stop someone speaking to you when they haven't noticed that you are talking on the phone & they interrupt your conversation. It may be preceded with "Shush!" which means, be quiet.
YES express was for the very OLD telephones that you had to whing up and talk to a megaphone called a blower, and tinkle is for ring the bell on the telephone.
The 'blower' was the communication tube used on ships to speak between decks. They had a whistle plugged in at each end. One would remove the whistle from the calling end and blow into the pipe, sounding the whistle at the receiving end. The person receiving would remove their whistle and they would talk through the tube. Yet another old military term that refuses to go away, like 'hang fire', 'flash in the pan', and many others.
Born and brought up in London, in an area where cockney rhyming slang was actually in common use, and as an adult have travelled all over the UK, lived in many towns and regions... I have never heard 'par' as derived from 'faux pas', anywhere, ever. If it was used by someone trying to make it a thing, I assure you most Brits would be as perplexed as anyone else.
I have! It's used pretty frequently, as far as I know, meaning 'standard' for a situation or object. Comes from the golfing term 'par for the course'. Means neither good nor bad.
@David Ashton he says in the video that it's not used in that context but to mean a mistake, taken from faux pas . I've never heard it used in that way. Only the golfing term 🙂
@@mattfeest5809 exactly that, as per my comment using the words "never heard 'par' as derived from 'faux pas', anywhere, ever". We all know the word 'par' in the context of average, 'normal', etc.
@@mattfeest5809 Faux pas is french for 'misstep' or mistake, either in etiquette or a sentence. Par, as I have already said, means to a usual standard and comes from par for the course in golfing terms.
The difference between "zonked" and tired, exhausted, knackered, is that it is usually used in the phrase "zonked out" meaning asleep or unconscious, out of it, "zonked". Someone who is zonked is too exhausted to say it themselves, and it is always applied to someone else - "John's zonked out on the sofa"
I was told Anorak was a Nordic word for a waterproof hooded coat or jacket The word became synonymous with the people who stood out in all weathers noting the railway engine numbers
Yes that was essentially it, sadly as a child I had one. A horrible military green on the outside, and bright orange lining with a fur hood. If you had one of those coats, you were not cool like at all. So probably didn't have friends, so would find other hobbies now considered geeky. Which is where the other meaning for Anorak came from, essentially a nerd or geeky I would imagine one of those coats would be quite valuable now, they were very well made and did their job extremely well. But the colour choices were not fashionable lol.
A American friend loves the term "higgledy-piggledy" and loves to says it when he goes home alot, it means when somethings are all mixed up in confusion or disorder.
I love it too. It's a bit like I always wanted to live on Oliver Plunkett Street, wherever that is. I heard it on the radio years ago, and just love saying it😂
@@no-oneinparticular7264 Oliver Plunkett was a Catholic martyr. There are quite a few things named in his memory. Probably, if there was an Oliver Plunkett Street, there would be an Edmund Campion Street nearby, as he was also a Catholic martyr.
As a true Brit with more on the the clock than both of put together I knew all of these. Just so you know, skiving comes from harness making or leather working. It comes from the slope on the end of a strap that is folded back when a buckle is fitted. Apprentices used the job of cutting them as an excuse to sit outside in the sun and laze. Thus they were skiving.
I hear skiving being used in Wales now too. When I was a kid though we would always say mitching. Oh he's mitching off school, but I hardly hear it anymore.
Come to that - botch and bodge are basically the same word*, and "botch job" and "bodge job" seem interchangeable. And whilst the underlying word is older, a bodger is an old name for an itinerant carpenter msotly making chair leg spindles using a bow lathe. I've even met people with the surname Bodger. *Albeit with differences of degree. I might deliberately bodge up a temporary fix to something until I could do it properly. I'd definitely not want to botch one up, though.
59 yr old Londoner here. I’ve also never heard of “dench”. And also have never heard of”par” used in the ways described. “Sod’s Law” to me is not the same thing as Murphey’s Law. Instead, Sod’s Law is the phenomenon or (fatalistic) expectation of the one thing that could screw the situation up - no matter how unlikely - will be the very thing that happens. This is kind of a complement to Murphey’s Law. Example: it’s Sod’s Law that the one time I didn’t bring an umbrella, it (of course) rains. Sod’s Law isn’t just about things that can go wrong going wrong. It’s about Fate selecting the precise thing to screw the situation up.
Anorak was definitely British slang in the 80s, but pretty much never used after that. It is literally named after the Anorak coats (very similar to a Parka) that train-spotters would wear in all weathers, and thus applying the term to a person who was obsessively geeky about something very mundane (often boring to anyone else) became a thing.
Anorak is a genuine item of clothing!!!!!!! Also a geek. “ tickety boo?”😂😂😂😂 guys watched to many British 1940s films!!!!!!😂 I enjoyed this! Mortal ( drunk”) only used in Newcastle! Didn’t know “Dench- heard teenagers say it on tv. Definitely going to watch these two women again!!!!!
Only one that left me clueless was DENCH. The phrase Chock-a-Block comes from the days of sail ships and refers to having hauled a set of tackle as far as possible, so that the the two pulley blocks that you are using, have been pulled together and cannot be moved any closer together and need a wedge of wood inserting between the blocks in order to separate them from each other. Simply put it means that there is no room for movement in either direction.
Hank Brian Marvin is STILL a musician, singer, songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the backing band for Cliff Richard.
@@Isleofskyecliff Richard and the shadows started as cliff Richard and the drifters in 1958 with move it. 1961 was when the shadows first starred in a movie (but they did feature on the soundtrack of the previous 2 movies, serious charge and espresso bongo) with cliff which was the young ones.
Hank Marvin is cockney riming slang for starving. E.g I’m Hank Ruby Murray (Curry) E.g We’re off out for a Ruby Knackered from a knackers yard, where donkeys are put down. Peeping Tom was the guy that took a look at Lady Godiva. It’s a doddle Done up like a dog’s dinner is like mutton dressed as lamb. Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. (Cannon balls were stored on a brass monkey and expanded at different rates). There are so many sayings in England that you could easily have several series of this type. Bender is no longer accepted as it used to refer to a gay guy.
You did very well. Interesting fact, Did you know Hank Marvin was a famous British Guitarist in the 50`s and 60`s from the band The Shaddows. He influenced many great British guitarists including Brian May.
Yes use Hank Marvin all the time. Or Lee Marvin, either works and says it far better than "hungry". Also "ave a butch" or "let's take a butchers". The delight of rhyming slang is that often it's the rhyming bit that gets dropped so the link becomes obscured for those not in the know. Other good ones are your "Barnet" for hair (Barnet fair); 'ees got a nice new whistle (suit from "whistle and flute"). There's been some new ones recently too like "Britney's" for ears (Britney Spears).
If you want to know what waffle means in that context just look at our former London mayor and then Prime minister Boris Johnson. He has an astounding ability to waffle that has surpassed anyone I can think of in my many years on this earth.
This has to be one of my favourite videos you've done ladies. So funny 😁 I've never heard Par used in that way though. Par for the course yes, you got parred? Never! You both did very well, about the same as the guy presenting, and he's lived here for 10 years! P.s never pronounce it Minge - ING. It's definitely Ming- ING. A minge is something else entirely!!!!🤭
It's a word that originated in Scotland and means something dirty and smelly. "That wifie's minging" meaning that woman stinks/urgently needs a bath. Can be used to describe other nasty stuff.
Love this 🤣 My husband and I race every 1st of the month to pinch and punch each other (all in good fun!) and i like to annoy him with a whole rhyme that I've been saying since i was a child: pinch and a punch first of the month, punch in the eye for being so sly, punch and a kick for being so quick, white rabbits white rabbits white rabbits! No idea what it means!! 😂
Cream-crackered may be cockney rhyming slang for knackered, but knackered is also a slang term for tired and worn out. It's a shortened version of the phrase, "I'm fit for the knackers yard", meaning either "i'm tired", "i'm old and worn out". Before cars and trucks, people and businesses used horses, much like they did in the US. When a horse got old and worn out, it was normal to just get rid of the animal and would be taken to the knackers' yard for disposal. The Knackerman would then render the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow (yellow grease), glue, gelatin, bone meal, bone char, sal ammoniac, soap, bleach and animal feed. The Knackers is also slang for testicles, coming from one of the jobs of the knackers yard, to castrate young work animals.
Never heard of Dench, or hear of Par used in the context outlined here. As you discovered, quite a few were not unique to the UK, but we do have our fair share that are, even if some are not so commonly used now. If used at all, "give me a tinkle on the blower" is usually shortened to "give me a tinkle." It's a reference to the tinkling bell of a ringing phone. Quids in doesn't necessarily involve investing money. It can also refer to someone who has lucked in to something extremely fortunate financially. Murphy's Law and Sod's law are both used here pretty inter-changeably, but Sod's Law adds that if something goes wrong, it will do so in the worst way possible.
Huge fan of yours ! I’m a South African living in England, most were familiar to me because of the British influence . I’m in Sussex & notice that most people when mentioning time especially on the half hour say “half ten” instead of half past 10! Also if they say someone is minted they mean the person is very wealthy!
Been in E. Sussex all my life, heard an unusual one years ago - from a Forester ( Ashdown ) something that was "below par" was described as "'T aint a mucher " never heard or used it since . Hope you like Sussex as much as L do.
You will also know then that whereas Brits will refer to "half past ten" as "half-ten". The same term to an Afrikaner means 9:30 (half TO ten). Confused the heck out of me ;-)
Before text or Whatsapp, your family ( Mum ) would say give us 3 rings to let us know you got home safely. So you would give her a bell, let it ring 3 times and hang up. Ah the good old days :)
The telephone companies cottoned on to that wheeze, so the number of times you hear a ring when calling isn't how many times it rings at the other end.
We used to use that technique in my family in the '80s to get picked up. My sister or I would have caught a coach at the railway station to travel to an athletics (track&field) event with the local club. When we got back, 3 rings from the payphone was the sign that we needed picking up.
My son fell off his chair laughing when someone on an American show said he was going to wear "cacky pants" It has a whole different meaning in the UK.
Digital watches and clocks, have changed a lot. Results, youngsters have difficulty using analogue watches and clocks. Then you've got the 24 hour system.👍
Great video! I’m English and in my late 50s. I knew them all except ‘Dench’ and ‘Par’. ‘Faux Pas’ yes but not Par. ‘Under par’ can mean you’re not feeling or performing as well as normal. “Im feeling a bit under par today”
I'm in my early 60s, and have lived in the South/South East of England my entire life. Dench is absolutely NOT a thing. These rappers like to make words up - same us a lot of the slang that teens and young adults say these days. A lot of those come from pure laziness, eg in the early days of texting and auto-correct, kids couldn't be bothered to change the suggested word of 'book' to 'good', so they just said that something was 'book' when they meant good. Regarding 'par for the course', we have always known that to mean something expected; eg X turning up late to Y's birthday and being drunk is par for the course. Oh, and I wouldn't use wangle as a verb (ie wangler). Someone would say 'Oh, I got tickets to see Take That in concert for next month.' And you would reply, 'You jammy dodger! How'd you wangle that?' ie, get or make something lucky happen.
I've always seen Sod's law as a more extreme form of Murphy's law. While Murphy's law is "if something can go wrong, it eventually will", Sod's law would be more "If you've prepared for things to go wrong, it'll go wrong in the 1 way you've not prepared for"
Murphy's Law - teenage boy plans to ask the girl he likes out on a date. He spills ketchup over his shirt and she says no. Sod's Law - the same happens but at the end the girl leaves with the boy's sworn enemy.
It's close. But from all I understand (given I have a keen interest in the English language and Etymology) "Sod's Law" was the original, and "Murphy's Law" was the translation for those unwilling to use the word "Sod" which was absolutely a 'foul language' word of the times as in "Sod it", "Sod that", etc. "Sod" was literally an alternative for the F word, but where it was magnified into using the other hole... You see why people wanted a more polite version.
As an Aussie I identified all of these! Mind you, I am of “a certain age” and had more British influence as a kid on the 70s and 80s than younger ones do now. Especially the rhyming slang. We have a lot of that over here.
Scunnered. A Scottish word for being annoyed at someone or something. He Scunnered me. I'm scunnered at the Weather. Or even, What a wee Scunner he is. Don't Scunner me. So many reasons we can get scunnered. It is a very old Scottish word that may be dying out with generations. I hope not. I think it describes the feeling of being pissed off. 😂🏴 Thanks for this fun podcast 😍
my family are from the the east end - my parents were married under the bow bells - they were true cockneys and the accent and rhyming slang was a way of life - when london was bombed my mother was sent to the country and the school put her in special lessons to learn how to speak properly - her siblings went to other schools where their accent and way of speaking was accepted - at family gatherings it was so funny listening to them speaking cockney and using rhyming slang and my mother speaking proper english - as a child i could remember listening in aw to them speaking
I'm English (and old) and have never heard of 'par' (no doubt that's because I'm old though.) I was crying with laughter at times. Such a great video, thanks Natasha and Debbie.
Just for your information, the term 'Bog Standard' was originally used within the manufacturing industry and in particular in the Ceramic Toilet Bowl Industry as the basic plain white toilet bowls were classed as being your 'Bog Standard' ones as a 'Bog' to us Brits is the Toilet! Hence the use of the saying 'Bog Standard' coming from the toilet manufacturing industry originally, before over the decades it started to be used elsewhere too where it was used to mean the basic or base model of something, anything from 'Toilet Rolls' to a 'New Car' but the most basic of versions or models. I hope this clarifies the reason for its usage both today and the original derivation of the term too!
One way of looking at 'blinder' is to think of something so brilliant as in a light so brilliantly bright that it blinds. SO, in a good way, blindingly brilliant - or the best - a blinder.
What a way to start the day, fantastic video ladies, great chat all…I’ll be back Monday after I’ve been mortal all weekend, hopefully I haven’t popped my clog’s by then
I'm 52 and born and bred in East London. Cockney Rhyming Slang is part of my vocabulary, I use it everyday. I have also worked on London Underground for over 30 years and speak to people of all ages and Nationalities but I have never heard anyone say Par or Dench. An Anorak is the nickname given to Train/Plane/etc Spotters because they wear hooded waterproof rain jackets. We actually get Anoraks on Tube Stations standing at the end of platforms with their cameras and note books; they are a pain in the arse because train drivers think they are Jumpers (suicidal) and stop their trains. 🙄
58 years old, Dorset born and bred here with a cockney mother. Dench is just some made-up BS by a second-rate no-mark rapper. Par however is something I've heard and used since childhood. As for traditional cockney, it seems to be dying out now that multiculturalism has taken over. My Cockney relatives now describe the accent used by kids in London as Packney! 😆
'Peeping Tom' is also an English phrase, it comes from the legend of Lady Godiva. Tom was supposed to be the only person that watched Godiva ride through the streets of Coventry when the rest of the town turned their backs out of respect.
Wally comes from the hindi word for sales woman (a male is a wallah). Give a tinkle on the blower comes from 2 factors: before the telephone (& after) ships communicated between decks via a tube which you needed to blow down to set off a whistle to alert the deck of a message from the bridge: hence 'blower'. The 'tinkle' bit comes from the 1st telephones which had tinkling bells when ringing.
The Full Monty means everything, in the context of the movie it's basically saying they take everything off as opposed to leaving something on to cover their modesty.
My dad is the only only person I've heard use 'shirty'. When I moody as teenager my dad used to say 'don't be shirty Gurty' and it always made me more angry 😂
We still use this word almost daily. We have birds of prey and the ones that are less calm and less reliable are often referred to as being ‘a bit shirty’😊
I think it's a term that dates back to when beans were a staple diet for when other food would go off. Beans, being high protein and carbs gave you energy.
Great show Natasha and Debbie. Happy Easter from a little village in England. I think older people say Half past or quarter past/to , is b cause we grew up with actual clocks with hands, so if the big hand points down to 6 it's half past the hour. Younger ones (I'm a great grandma so apologies to anyone under 70) grew up with digital clocks that show numbers. So 8.30 shows as numbers on a digital clock face, but on a clock, the big hand is half way round pointing down, and the shorter hour hand would be between 8 & 9. ;-)
This was great fun, yours and Evan’s reactions were really entertaining, my husband and I gave each other quizzical looks about the word dench, even my teenager doesn’t know it
Nice bit of fun listening to our every day phrases by someone else😂. A few from Lancashire; put wood inthe hoyl - close the door, byeck - wow and there are loads more keep the videos going
I subscribed. You guys are hilarious, it was great watching you two trying to guess our slang/sayings and even i didnt know what some of these mean and im from england😂❤
Funny vid ladies. I was waiting for “dogs bollocks” which of course means the best,top of the range,gold standard. ie: I bought a pair of shoes in Harrods today,they’re the dogs bollocks. But we have shortened it to ‘they’re the dogs’ OR, ‘they’re the bollocks’ I met up with an old mate of mine from London when he came down here to Cornwall,and there was an American couple in the pub we were in right next to us at the bar. Me and my old mate were in full flow using slang most of the time,eventually the American guy leans over and says “we haven’t understood anything you’ve been saying,it’s kinda English but not any English we’ve heard before’ Explained that that was the original idea for slang,to confuse the old bill (police) or anyone listening. He was fascinated and said is there slang for Americans,of course said I. Yank is the obvious one but when using rhyming slang,the rather insulting word of “septic” is used…..septic tank = yank. It’s all good fun and they took it that way. We even taught them a few for when they go to London.
'Bender' was also, at least in the 60s and 70s, offensive slang referring to a gay man. No one has had a 'tinkle on the blower' since the 50s, but most brits over 40 would recognise the phrase - not too sure about the youngsters though. You'd more often see them used eperately, with 'blower' meaning phone, and 'give me a tinkle' being a playful way of asking to be called.
Tinkle is the sound made by a small bell. Blower comes from speaking tube . A long pipe used as a primitive sort of intercom. Most famously on ships so the bridge could give instructions to the engine room. They'd blow in to it to initiate a message, so it's a bit of a mixed metaphor.
Yeah, I’d say bender is used more often as a homophobic slur than as a piss up, but both are used and context tells you which it is. Conversely f*gs are still cigarettes to me and f*ggots are a delicious kind of meatball, but I’m aware of what the American meaning is and I’m sad that nasty usage is creeping into British English.
@AJD09FB I had someone say it to me yesterday and bender is most definitely used for a blowout on alcohol or other stuff that you may regret in the morning but isn't used as a slur much if at all where I have lived
Loved this! Thought you would be interested to know that in medieval times, it was accepted that you used your left hand to wipe your butt after a poop. Another word for poop in UK is cack… which is why the left hand is called your cack hand. Saying something looked cack handed means it looks like it has been done using the left hand, a big faux pas. This is why we always use our right hand to shake hands. Using the left is a big no-no.
Another version, right or wrong, of the right had to shake hands thing is that it shows a willingness for peace. When using a sword, most people being right-handed would have the sword in the right hand. Discarding the sword and offering a shake of the right hand could be seen as wanting to make peace rather than fight.
Oh loved this 😂 born in south London now in Kent we still use rhyming slang on the daily, not only have you made me realise how crazy we must sound but really enjoyed your interpretations 😂🙌🏻
The creative way brits play fast and loose with language is a defining cultural identifier. Since Shakespeare who invented many word words still used today. Like bandit, critic, dauntless, lacklustre green eyed, and many more.He is said to have had the largest vocabulary of any writer in English some 30,000 words. We all study Shakespeare in school and slurs like these " thine face is not worth sun burning". "Were thou clean enough to spit upon". "An eater of broken meat", give a taste of his creative expression. 😮
You guys are great. Saved up a couple of weeks of content to catch up on today . The sun is shining so I am just going to faff around my gaff and finish off an art project that needs sorting as I over egged the pudding and it's too fussy.
I found out that bangs for a fringe comes from a hairpiece fixed in front with curls/ringlets hanging down over the forehead. It was in an old British movie where two girls got dressed up in a theatre to go for a night out. One girl gave the other bangs to make her look better. The film was 'Fanny by Gasslight', made in 40s but set in Victorian/Edwardian times. Seems US has adopted this for any forehead hair, while this has not happened in U K. Strange twists in English language uses.
Hahaha!!!!! Your reactions to our sayings is brilliant!!! ‘Tinkle on the blower’ … This actually originates from old ships that had tubes that you spoke down instead of telephones, certain tubes would run from the bridge to say the engine room etc and you would communicate through them by speaking into it then putting it upto your ear to hear the replies .. You would alert the person at the other end by ‘blowing’ down it, they would hear it and commence with the conversation … the tinkle bit I’m not too sure of but I think someone commented that this could refer to the phone ‘ringing’ as old phones used bells to alert us that there is a call coming in. We still use this saying today!! It can just be cut down to ‘Just give me a tinkle’ just give me a call on the phone … Anyway your reactions are priceless!! Actually hearing Debbie say it in her American accent made me really laugh!!! Oh I do love you 2!!! ❤❤❤
I actually grew up with some Old English terms from living in a Geordie regiment (15/19 Kings Royal Hussars). Terms I grew up with was "..gan leik..." which is old English and heralds from Old Nordic I believe which means "...go play...", "...baitbox..." though probably spelt differently was "food box/lunch box". Some other terms used like "mind yer pash", mind pronounced as in and not eye and yer as in yur which means to "curb your enthusiasm". Some phrases were more Proto Indo Germanic. Yes, the North East of England still uses Old English at times, some do anyways and it's great. It's why some Scandinavians will actually understand some words from the North east of England and vice versa. Tyek is take and myek is make (Geordie) mack and tack is Mackem which are literally only a couple of miles apart. Hyem or hem is Old English for home. Dee for do. Thon for that. Some words many still use though that is now much smaller than the North East use them. Ket (no not short for ketamine) is old English from Old Nordic and I believe meant meat, but, means sweet and in kids sweets so when someone in the North east says then need to get some ket you know they means sweets. Bullet (no not something you fire from a gun) means a hard boiled sweet. Chok-a-block think = choked, a blockage. The town I live and have ancestry from, Sunderland which was world famous for Ship Building and the Captial of Ship Building at one time, used some Old English but also dropped consonants. Like the saying me grandda telt me, "oy yer ammer ower ere", which was "'oy yer 'ammer ower 'ere" where the ' is a dropped consonant and this meaning Hoy yer hammer ower here, being throw your hammer over here, it also had speed so become difficult for most to understand. I still use 'ere as in air. It gets confusing for most for the Old English and pronunciation. Hoy is Old English though most won't know that, but it is. (Since you're into military things) Geordie means George and comes from "King George's Men" being a military thing, they wear a sort of red colour trousers from Prince Albert. My family was in the army from 1761 to 1991 in an unbroken chain making us the oldest serving family in that regiment, without surname found on a Roman tablet dated circa 2,000 years ago and also someone with our surname as one of the 20 kings royal archers at the Battle of Agincourt. Also with Naval history potentially and unconfirmed is Richard Pickersgill (some places named after him) who was captain Cook's Cartographer who became a captain of his own ship himself, died while drunk boarding his ship and falling into the river Thames and drowning last I heard. How true is that about Richard Piskersgill? being related? well. we are related to the Pickersgills who also had, I think the largest ship building site on the River Wear. Not forgetting George Stephenson and his brother from Sunderland area who, when last found out, a very distant cousin of mine, obviously distant as he is dead. And yes, we are related to the Stephensons. My mother's maiden name is Rankin and her uncle, my great Uncle was one of the 2 engineers who could work on the water pipes, who went to the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, unfortunately the liberation was 2 months too late for Anne Frank who died of Typhus. They cleaned up the water from Typhus that was lurking there by making the water pipes flow again etc. He would never talk about it. (Just general history of the place) Sunderland, contrary to what most believe and especially Americans, is where the safety lamp was invented and also the electric light bulb by one Joseph Swan who got his patent 18 months before Edison and they teamed up, after Edison lost his law suit, to form Ediswan or Edison and Swan Electric Light Company and Edison was GIFTED the North American Patent by Joseph Swan. Court records in England prove this as this is where the law suit was done and lost to Joseph Swan. (Significance of George Washington and this area) By the way, Sunderland is near Washington, why do I mention that? because it has Washington Hall which is the Ancestral home to George Washington, yes, that's right, the man who become President George Washington. This, as stated was the Ancestral home. Washington next to Sunderland is where George Washington's family gets their name. A 13th century Manor House. William de Hertburne (originally William Bayard), an ancestor of George Washington, assumed tenancy of the Wessyngtonlands from the Bishop of Durham in the late 12th century. Soon after, he changed his name to William de Wessyngton (later Washington) So Sunderland and Newcastle still use Old English though many do not realise it. It is getting watered down now though unfortunately.
first of all i want to thank you two for making me smile after an awful day at work,the only word i would refute is Dench! unless you are in the rapping circles dont think its ever been used. and secondly,yes Natasha,you are full of beans 🙂 pelase keep up the good work of cheering this brit up ✌
The first time I visited the United States, I was in Disney world in Florida, late July, sweating like a badger, and what do I see but a room called a restroom! How civilised thinks I, a place to get out of the heat and freshen up a bit. Imagine how my aunt laughed when I suggested we go for a rest! It's not only the Irish who have polite euphemisms, I've never understood why the Americans call them restrooms!
Sod's law is a situation where you're looking for something you need, i.e document, Passport etc, for a transaction, proof/evidence etc, which you think you think you've put somewhere, but then can't find it. You then complete your business/transaction using alternative means. You get home, look for something else, & then find what it was you were looking for, was placed elsewhere. Not where you thought you'd put it. It's Sod's law you'll find it/something when you don't need it. Murphy's law is "If anything can go wrong, it will".
As a 70 plus yr old I have never heard of some of these. Especially par. Some of them are derived from advertisements which tried to make it popular like Hank Marvin for starving, which never really caught on.or from comedy shows which used the sayings as funny alternatives. Cockney rhyming slang is responsible for a lot of sayings like butchers hook meaning take a look shortened to butchers. Or apples and pairs meaning stairs. ❤️❤️❤️
I'm a brit and I've never heard of 'hank marvin' meaning starving, but it makes sense. Hank Marvin is the lead guitarist of the 60s band The Shadows with Cliff Richard as the lead singer. He's a tall skinny guy who looks half starved and his name works well in cockney rhyming slang. If somebody had said that to me I would have instantly known what they were saying, even if I hadn't heard it before.😄
A lot of these idioms and terms are quite regional and I assume the same in the States. For instance, a lot of the UK say pants for underwear, but here in my region pants are trousers. At the end of the day, the meaning of a lot of terms are explained by the context of the rest of the sentence. For instance, if somebody was trying to squeeze in next to you and said "can you budge up, or budge over a bit?" you would have understood.
Loved your reactions! UK slang terms can be tricky, especially when so many of them are regional colloquialisms. I'm from South Wales, so we have most of the usual sayings plus a whole set of "Wenglish" terms.
A few not mentioned on the video but pretty common are "The cats whiskers" meaning an excellent person or thing. "Pukka" meaning something really good.
I always assumed that full of beans would come from horses being fed bean meal, which is a high energy and high protein foodstuff , making the horse skeich as we'd say in Scotland ie energised.
Anorak is quite a common name for a waterproof coat, although it mostly older generations who use it. Use of the term in a disparaging manner likely derives from Train Spotters (and similar) who would spend hours in all weathers dressed in a waterproof.
"Anorak" & incidentally "Parka" are inuit words for hooded garments worn over other clothes. "Anorak" from the Nenets Inuit people of Northern Russia, and "Parka" from the Caribou Inuit people in Canada
Happy Easter girls. You did very well in the quiz, Natasha you were outstanding on the Yorkshire words and as a Yorkshire woman I am proud of you. I knew all but one of these, but it could be a regional thing. Natasha now you need to go to your English supermarket and wangle an easter egg for Debbie.
I went into the tourist office at Howarth and was met by a Japanese (not Chinese) lady. "Oh lord", thinks I, "Will I understand her?" "Ullo! Can ah 'elp thee luv?" . Jaw hits floor!
I laughed so much, i'm chuffed to bitz you guys are interested in the British way's, keep em coming 🤣 Ok, so I have to edit this reply after the Give me a tinkle on the blower phrase. Girl!!!!!! I was in stitches with your guess and reaction, wow!!
I just have to say. Don't feel so bad about not recognising the meanings of these phrases. I am English born in the north east of England but moved to the Midlands when I was 18. It still took me five years to stop hearing words I didn't understand. My friends took great delight in explaining them to me. Some slang and dialects can be very regional.
Inuits, in fact, invented the anorak for hunting and fishing, from seal and caribou skin coated with fish oil. The Kalaallisut language, from Greenland, used the word anoraq, which became anorak in the 1930s.
Loved seeing your reactions to this one , l knew you would know some , guess some , work out some and think some were just plain dirty. There were a couple l didn’t know . I had a good laugh on good Friday morning so thank you and l learned about where Pop your clogs came from 👍💖
My grandma would always say to me before I left her to go home “give me a tinkle when you get home” (translated = give me a phone call when you get home) 😂
I surmise that very few people under 25 would know what you meant by that; a lot of people don't even have a proper telephone/landline in their homes anymore, so it's a totally alien concept to most kids.
"The dreaded lurgi" (pronounced with a hard "g", not a "j" sound) was a fictitious disease popularised by comedy legend Spike Milligan in his 1950s radio series "The Goon Show". It quickly became common slang for just about any illness: "Sorry, I can't come into work today, I've got the lurgi".
"Gaff" can also mean "mistake", as in " I went to my in-laws and complimented my mother in law's new wig. Turns out it was her hair. So that was a bit of a gaff on my part..." Also, Dench is not a thing I have EVER heard, that was bollocks. As is "par"...never heard that outside of saying something is "on par" or "par for the course".
"Like your Barnets girls!" = Barnet Fair, or just Barnet = hair/ hair-do (Barnet Fair was a big horse fair, in what was then the countryside, now North London) "Going to be a big cabbage tonight" Cabbage = farty = party "Up the apples" = Up the apples and pears = stairs And not Cockney, but I've always liked saying: "Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire" = Going upstairs to bed
Several of Our Patrons sent us this video, so we had to do it! We pride ourselves on learning and guessing British phrases and slang. These were interesting! See how we did! We wonder if you use all or just some of these? This was a super fun video and it really had us laughing LOTS!! We hope you enjoy it too. Thank you SO much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!
@TheNatashaDebbieShow You can equate 'blinder' with 'stunned' 'transfixed' 'spellbound'.
Gordon Bennett. That's a term used in Britain. It means your surprised by something or someone. You should look him up. He was editor of the New York Herald.
Great video ladies (as always). Just to clarify one point about the word ‘Bagsy’ though. It’s more a northern term rather than specifically Yorkshire. I’m in the northwest and it’s always been used and it’s also a popular term in Scotland.
@ the Natasha and Debbie show happy Easter ladies,
Great video 👍
No one outside newcastle uses the word mortal... when I was a child we use to say bagsy for saying that's mine.. a northern thing was to say put wood in hole or where I live we said those.. was you born in a barn and il go to the foot of our stairs 😅
Holy shit I nearly choked to death on a piece of fudge when you mispronounced minging 🤣🤣🤣
Oops...we now know 😳
hence why I nearly popped my clogs 😉
😂😂
Proper brown bread lol
I laughed more than is reasonable at both that moment and your comment 😂
I am a 64-year-old Englishman & have never heard “Dench” or “Par” used as he suggested!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s never heard of them. Par for the course, yes, but parred? No way
The same here although I'm a little younger than you.
No, me neither.
So am I - I've used or heard all of these terms - except for "dench" which seems to be some kind of tedious modern 'Rap' term used exclusively by young oafs
Me neither...
"Chuffed" does not mean "full of pride". The man here was right: it just means pleased, happy. "I was well chuffed when I won the lottery!"
Only "chuffed" if won the lottery - I would be over the moon - lol !!!!
@jjdecani
I use "par" quite often as it is used as something being equal. When someone says something which is funny, i often say "that's on a par with..."
If you make a good job of something you are chuffed. So full of pride is also correct in that context.
@@patryan1375It sounds like a Golf Term.
@phoenixrising5088 it is...in the same way we say " par for the course"...often misquoted as " part of the course" by the ignorant
"Swot" is specifically "studious." It's not just being a nerd, it's having your head in a book. One might be "swotting up" ahead of an exam.
correct
When I use the phrase "cack-handed" I usually mean they are left-handed, but it's probably as a result of the person being clumsy whilst attempting to use right-handed tools
Great explanation!
It's one of a number of dialect terms that are used to mean both.
The bees knees is the dogs bollocks. 😁
TRUE!
And the mutt's nuts.
Loved the "tinkle on the blower" reaction both from yourselves and from the video you're reacting to. "The Blower" is old slang for a telephone, and a " tinkle" (in this context) is the ringing of small bells, from the tinkling sound, so is ringing someone's phone. Old slang, but still 100% usable and legit today.
"Give me a tinkle" is all you need to say. "On the blower" is a separate phrase, which means, "I'm on the phone". "I'm on the blower", is usually used to stop someone speaking to you when they haven't noticed that you are talking on the phone & they interrupt your conversation. It may be preceded with "Shush!" which means, be quiet.
@@Christographer_UKI'm English and 74 and have never heard this expression!
YES express was for the very OLD telephones that you had to whing up and talk to a megaphone called a blower, and tinkle is for ring the bell on the telephone.
The 'blower' was the communication tube used on ships to speak between decks. They had a whistle plugged in at each end. One would remove the whistle from the calling end and blow into the pipe, sounding the whistle at the receiving end. The person receiving would remove their whistle and they would talk through the tube. Yet another old military term that refuses to go away, like 'hang fire', 'flash in the pan', and many others.
"He's gone off half-cocked" is a good one.
Lots of old Naval terms ,like letting the cat out of the bag.
That's a good one! Never knew that but it's obvious now you've said it
I guess I knew that but hadn't realised it
Loose cannon....
Born and brought up in London, in an area where cockney rhyming slang was actually in common use, and as an adult have travelled all over the UK, lived in many towns and regions... I have never heard 'par' as derived from 'faux pas', anywhere, ever. If it was used by someone trying to make it a thing, I assure you most Brits would be as perplexed as anyone else.
Same here. 53 and born and bred in Brighton. Have heard Dench but never par in the context here
I have! It's used pretty frequently, as far as I know, meaning 'standard' for a situation or object. Comes from the golfing term 'par for the course'.
Means neither good nor bad.
@David Ashton he says in the video that it's not used in that context but to mean a mistake, taken from faux pas . I've never heard it used in that way. Only the golfing term 🙂
@@mattfeest5809 exactly that, as per my comment using the words "never heard 'par' as derived from 'faux pas', anywhere, ever". We all know the word 'par' in the context of average, 'normal', etc.
@@mattfeest5809 Faux pas is french for 'misstep' or mistake, either in etiquette or a sentence.
Par, as I have already said, means to a usual standard and comes from par for the course in golfing terms.
The difference between "zonked" and tired, exhausted, knackered, is that it is usually used in the phrase "zonked out" meaning asleep or unconscious, out of it, "zonked". Someone who is zonked is too exhausted to say it themselves, and it is always applied to someone else - "John's zonked out on the sofa"
I was told Anorak was a Nordic word for a waterproof hooded coat or jacket The word became synonymous with the people who stood out in all weathers noting the railway engine numbers
I always thought anorak may or may not be waterproof but a cagoule is always waterproof.
Yes that was essentially it, sadly as a child I had one. A horrible military green on the outside, and bright orange lining with a fur hood. If you had one of those coats, you were not cool like at all. So probably didn't have friends, so would find other hobbies now considered geeky. Which is where the other meaning for Anorak came from, essentially a nerd or geeky I would imagine one of those coats would be quite valuable now, they were very well made and did their job extremely well. But the colour choices were not fashionable lol.
It's a Greenlandic word "annoraaq"
An anorak is a coat correct, but we also used to say it when someone was a bit nerdy, “he’s a right anorak” 😂
I'm from the UK and I've never heard it meant that way it's always meant rain coat or a geeky person where I'm from
A American friend loves the term "higgledy-piggledy" and loves to says it when he goes home alot, it means when somethings are all mixed up in confusion or disorder.
I love it too. It's a bit like I always wanted to live on Oliver Plunkett Street, wherever that is. I heard it on the radio years ago, and just love saying it😂
@no-one in particular funny enough I know a tattoo artist that goes by Duck plunkett tattoo
@@no-oneinparticular7264 Oliver Plunkett was a Catholic martyr. There are quite a few things named in his memory. Probably, if there was an Oliver Plunkett Street, there would be an Edmund Campion Street nearby, as he was also a Catholic martyr.
As a true Brit with more on the the clock than both of put together I knew all of these. Just so you know, skiving comes from harness making or leather working. It comes from the slope on the end of a strap that is folded back when a buckle is fitted. Apprentices used the job of cutting them as an excuse to sit outside in the sun and laze. Thus they were skiving.
As a 🏴 Brit with roughly your mileage and a long association with that word,
I had no idea.
Thank you.
I hear skiving being used in Wales now too. When I was a kid though we would always say mitching. Oh he's mitching off school, but I hardly hear it anymore.
I wonder where mitching comes from ?
Come to that - botch and bodge are basically the same word*, and "botch job" and "bodge job" seem interchangeable. And whilst the underlying word is older, a bodger is an old name for an itinerant carpenter msotly making chair leg spindles using a bow lathe. I've even met people with the surname Bodger.
*Albeit with differences of degree. I might deliberately bodge up a temporary fix to something until I could do it properly. I'd definitely not want to botch one up, though.
59 yr old Londoner here. I’ve also never heard of “dench”. And also have never heard of”par” used in the ways described. “Sod’s Law” to me is not the same thing as Murphey’s Law. Instead, Sod’s Law is the phenomenon or (fatalistic) expectation of the one thing that could screw the situation up - no matter how unlikely - will be the very thing that happens. This is kind of a complement to Murphey’s Law. Example: it’s Sod’s Law that the one time I didn’t bring an umbrella, it (of course) rains. Sod’s Law isn’t just about things that can go wrong going wrong. It’s about Fate selecting the precise thing to screw the situation up.
Anorak was definitely British slang in the 80s, but pretty much never used after that. It is literally named after the Anorak coats (very similar to a Parka) that train-spotters would wear in all weathers, and thus applying the term to a person who was obsessively geeky about something very mundane (often boring to anyone else) became a thing.
A Neil Sedaka (Parka)
Anorak is a genuine item of clothing!!!!!!! Also a geek. “ tickety boo?”😂😂😂😂 guys watched to many British 1940s films!!!!!!😂 I enjoyed this! Mortal ( drunk”) only
used in Newcastle! Didn’t know “Dench- heard teenagers say it on tv. Definitely going to watch these two women again!!!!!
The " anorakaphobia" album would have restored the word for a while.
I hear it these days. My daughter called the guy in her pub quiz team one 😂
Yep loved that.. the album cover. Remixed some of that from the old Acid site.
Only one that left me clueless was DENCH. The phrase Chock-a-Block comes from the days of sail ships and refers to having hauled a set of tackle as far as possible, so that the the two pulley blocks that you are using, have been pulled together and cannot be moved any closer together and need a wedge of wood inserting between the blocks in order to separate them from each other. Simply put it means that there is no room for movement in either direction.
Me too, never heard that being used. 🇬🇧
I concur about Dench, but he said it was originally coined by a rapper so it's new and obscure.
@@unclegreybeard3969 l knew everyone, except Dench, never heard of that before.
Dench is a modern one, popular a couple of years ago.
Yup, Dench, never heard anyone use that.
Hank Brian Marvin is STILL a musician, singer, songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the backing band for Cliff Richard.
Virtually the FIRST British Group from around 1961:)
@@Isleofskyecliff Richard and the shadows started as cliff Richard and the drifters in 1958 with move it. 1961 was when the shadows first starred in a movie (but they did feature on the soundtrack of the previous 2 movies, serious charge and espresso bongo) with cliff which was the young ones.
@@sarahrosestanfordrististed311 I remember those days too. Thank you for reminding me. I went of Clif when he became overtly religious.
Hank Marvin is cockney riming slang for starving.
E.g I’m Hank
Ruby Murray (Curry)
E.g We’re off out for a Ruby
Knackered from a knackers yard, where donkeys are put down.
Peeping Tom was the guy that took a look at Lady Godiva.
It’s a doddle
Done up like a dog’s dinner is like mutton dressed as lamb.
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
(Cannon balls were stored on a brass monkey and expanded at different rates).
There are so many sayings in England that you could easily have several series of this type.
Bender is no longer accepted as it used to refer to a gay guy.
@@MartinOckenden Bender can also be used as " going on a bender" = Going on a heavy drinking session
You did very well. Interesting fact, Did you know Hank Marvin was a famous British Guitarist in the 50`s and 60`s from the band The Shaddows. He influenced many great British guitarists including Brian May.
Never heard anyone use it as slang for hungry though... not before it was used in the Fridge Raiders TV ad?
Yes use Hank Marvin all the time. Or Lee Marvin, either works and says it far better than "hungry". Also "ave a butch" or "let's take a butchers". The delight of rhyming slang is that often it's the rhyming bit that gets dropped so the link becomes obscured for those not in the know. Other good ones are your "Barnet" for hair (Barnet fair); 'ees got a nice new whistle (suit from "whistle and flute"). There's been some new ones recently too like "Britney's" for ears (Britney Spears).
Yes my dad says he’s Hank Marvin when he’s starving.
@@philburkin9651Hank was from Newcastle upon Tyne so it is used a lot by us up here
If you want to know what waffle means in that context just look at our former London mayor and then Prime minister Boris Johnson. He has an astounding ability to waffle that has surpassed anyone I can think of in my many years on this earth.
There was a poster at Live Aid saying "Ethiopia, Bob's your uncle" Genius
👏👏
I remember a work colleague from the Philippines innocently ask me out of the blue what a minge was. I explained after my sides stopped splitting 😂
😂😂😂❤
what a minge😂, did you tell him its a gash
@@leviking4891😂
It's actually a surname so it seems that there more Minges in Norfolk than anywhere else!
@@andrewaajohnson7584 ha i concur im from Norfolk ,, its all minge here ,stinks of it
This has to be one of my favourite videos you've done ladies. So funny 😁 I've never heard Par used in that way though. Par for the course yes, you got parred? Never!
You both did very well, about the same as the guy presenting, and he's lived here for 10 years!
P.s never pronounce it Minge - ING. It's definitely Ming- ING. A minge is something else entirely!!!!🤭
Thanks again for recommending it along with Mandy! P.S. check your Patreon messages! Happy Easter!! ❤❤
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow Minge is a woman's pubic hair!
@@karenblackadder1183 Or a ladies garden.
😮😂😂
"you got parred" is a modern MLE dialect way of saying you've been mugged off, loads of people say it
😂😂😂 Bless your innocence, mingeing means something a little bit different. Love the video ladies 👍
We know now...😬
I was in tears Minge Inn
I agree with all meanings but wangled, we would say blagged as he stated xxx❤😊
It's a word that originated in Scotland and means something dirty and smelly. "That wifie's minging" meaning that woman stinks/urgently needs a bath. Can be used to describe other nasty stuff.
I'm English, 54 years old, and I have to say that "dench" and "par" (in that context) are new ones on me. All the others are fair game.
Love this 🤣 My husband and I race every 1st of the month to pinch and punch each other (all in good fun!) and i like to annoy him with a whole rhyme that I've been saying since i was a child: pinch and a punch first of the month, punch in the eye for being so sly, punch and a kick for being so quick, white rabbits white rabbits white rabbits! No idea what it means!! 😂
And always say no returns/white rabbit after. Lol
Cream-crackered may be cockney rhyming slang for knackered, but knackered is also a slang term for tired and worn out.
It's a shortened version of the phrase, "I'm fit for the knackers yard", meaning either "i'm tired", "i'm old and worn out".
Before cars and trucks, people and businesses used horses, much like they did in the US.
When a horse got old and worn out, it was normal to just get rid of the animal and would be taken to the knackers' yard for disposal. The Knackerman would then render the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow (yellow grease), glue, gelatin, bone meal, bone char, sal ammoniac, soap, bleach and animal feed.
The Knackers is also slang for testicles, coming from one of the jobs of the knackers yard, to castrate young work animals.
Jacobs
When I (a Brit) was a kid I was told 'knackered' was a rude word.
Someone who could rhythmically click two bones together was playing the knackers. Similar to playing the spoons, but with bones.
"Cream crackered" also describes an MG motor car painted in brown over cream.
When a horse is too old to be useful it is sent to the knackers yard - to be put down.
Knackered means tired to death.
Never heard of Dench, or hear of Par used in the context outlined here. As you discovered, quite a few were not unique to the UK, but we do have our fair share that are, even if some are not so commonly used now. If used at all, "give me a tinkle on the blower" is usually shortened to "give me a tinkle." It's a reference to the tinkling bell of a ringing phone. Quids in doesn't necessarily involve investing money. It can also refer to someone who has lucked in to something extremely fortunate financially. Murphy's Law and Sod's law are both used here pretty inter-changeably, but Sod's Law adds that if something goes wrong, it will do so in the worst way possible.
Heard of Dench but nor par? Agree re: "quids in". Often nothing to do with money, more any favourable outcome leaves ome "quids in".
Lioke you never heard Dench and always used Par as not up to par (scratch) I suppose scratch would have confused them too
Huge fan of yours ! I’m a South African living in England, most were familiar to me because of the British influence . I’m in Sussex & notice that most people when mentioning time especially on the half hour say “half ten” instead of half past 10! Also if they say someone is minted they mean the person is very wealthy!
as opposed to mint (new)
Been in E. Sussex all my life, heard an unusual one years ago - from a Forester ( Ashdown ) something that was "below par" was described as "'T aint a mucher " never heard or used it since . Hope you like Sussex as much as L do.
You will also know then that whereas Brits will refer to "half past ten" as "half-ten". The same term to an Afrikaner means 9:30 (half TO ten). Confused the heck out of me ;-)
I've not heard of Dench or Par, but would use all of the other expressions almost daily.
Lurgy comes from the 60s comedy show The Goon Show, give that a try.
Before text or Whatsapp, your family ( Mum ) would say give us 3 rings to let us know you got home safely. So you would give her a bell, let it ring 3 times and hang up. Ah the good old days :)
The telephone companies cottoned on to that wheeze, so the number of times you hear a ring when calling isn't how many times it rings at the other end.
We used to use that technique in my family in the '80s to get picked up. My sister or I would have caught a coach at the railway station to travel to an athletics (track&field) event with the local club. When we got back, 3 rings from the payphone was the sign that we needed picking up.
Choc a block means really full. We use it here in NZ too
Your show is the dog's bollocks! Happy Easter! James from Wimborne xx
Thank you! Happy Easter!
I’m absolutely dead at 5:34 the man in the videos shirt says do it for the bender 😂😂😂
My son fell off his chair laughing when someone on an American show said he was going to wear "cacky pants" It has a whole different meaning in the UK.
🤣
Merkins say cacky instead of khaki. It does sound rather strange though.
Khaki, is how its spelled.
@@garycamara9955 I know, but not how Americans say it. We (in the UK) would pronounce it car key, but they say Cacky.
That was really fun, I had a blast trying to guess some of them. Was great to see everyone on live chat trying to guess too! Have a wonderful Easter ❤
Thanks for coming! Happy Easter ❤
') Bleeding I would associate with Cockneys. It's almost a swear word in the Midlands
A tinkle on the blower, we obviously have cleaner minds.
Digital watches and clocks, have changed a lot. Results, youngsters have difficulty using analogue watches and clocks. Then you've got the 24 hour system.👍
@@iriscollins7583 which we call military time in the US
Great video! I’m English and in my late 50s. I knew them all except ‘Dench’ and ‘Par’. ‘Faux Pas’ yes but not Par. ‘Under par’ can mean you’re not feeling or performing as well as normal. “Im feeling a bit under par today”
Exactly. Never heard of par used like that. And parred? Have we been living under a rock? Never heard of it
Dench and Par seemed to be the ones attracting attention Dench i have nver heard. I was thinking Drench as on the Australian " McLweods Daughters"
I'm in my early 60s, and have lived in the South/South East of England my entire life.
Dench is absolutely NOT a thing. These rappers like to make words up - same us a lot of the slang that teens and young adults say these days. A lot of those come from pure laziness, eg in the early days of texting and auto-correct, kids couldn't be bothered to change the suggested word of 'book' to 'good', so they just said that something was 'book' when they meant good.
Regarding 'par for the course', we have always known that to mean something expected; eg X turning up late to Y's birthday and being drunk is par for the course.
Oh, and I wouldn't use wangle as a verb (ie wangler). Someone would say 'Oh, I got tickets to see Take That in concert for next month.' And you would reply, 'You jammy dodger! How'd you wangle that?' ie, get or make something lucky happen.
@@leoniemarks4594 …I 100% agree with all you’ve mentioned. 👍
I am a 64-year-old Brit and I have never heard anyone here say "Dench" in my entire life.
'Has full of beans' Oh my days Debbie
Good good Friday ladies hope you both have a great Easter love this video 😊
Thanks so much, you as well! ❤
I've always seen Sod's law as a more extreme form of Murphy's law.
While Murphy's law is "if something can go wrong, it eventually will", Sod's law would be more "If you've prepared for things to go wrong, it'll go wrong in the 1 way you've not prepared for"
Murphy's Law - teenage boy plans to ask the girl he likes out on a date. He spills ketchup over his shirt and she says no.
Sod's Law - the same happens but at the end the girl leaves with the boy's sworn enemy.
It's close. But from all I understand (given I have a keen interest in the English language and Etymology) "Sod's Law" was the original, and "Murphy's Law" was the translation for those unwilling to use the word "Sod" which was absolutely a 'foul language' word of the times as in "Sod it", "Sod that", etc. "Sod" was literally an alternative for the F word, but where it was magnified into using the other hole... You see why people wanted a more polite version.
@@britishknightakaminininja1123 yes, sod was a short form of the word sodomite, so it was vert rude.
My brother says that Sod's Law states that Murphy was an optimist - ie even more definite that if something can go wrong it absolutely WILL
I'd buy that!
As an Aussie I identified all of these! Mind you, I am of “a certain age” and had more British influence as a kid on the 70s and 80s than younger ones do now. Especially the rhyming slang. We have a lot of that over here.
Learned most of these from older English Irish welsh and Scottish grandparents.
I'm in my 30s with English parents and I know them all too.
Even those with Yorkshire accent lol
yes i'm Australian and knew most of them but there were a few i didn't know like Dench and Par.
You Aussies would know " rattle your daggs " then.
Get bitten by a " Joe blake".
Scunnered. A Scottish word for being annoyed at someone or something. He Scunnered me. I'm scunnered at the Weather. Or even, What a wee Scunner he is. Don't Scunner me. So many reasons we can get scunnered. It is a very old Scottish word that may be dying out with generations. I hope not. I think it describes the feeling of being pissed off. 😂🏴 Thanks for this fun podcast 😍
Loved it. Yep we do use most of them, but rhyming slang has survived as a result of TV programmes like ‘Only Fools and Horses’ (or ‘Orses)
my family are from the the east end - my parents were married under the bow bells - they were true cockneys and the accent and rhyming slang was a way of life - when london was bombed my mother was sent to the country and the school put her in special lessons to learn how to speak properly - her siblings went to other schools where their accent and way of speaking was accepted - at family gatherings it was so funny listening to them speaking cockney and using rhyming slang and my mother speaking proper english - as a child i could remember listening in aw to them speaking
I'm English (and old) and have never heard of 'par' (no doubt that's because I'm old though.) I was crying with laughter at times. Such a great video, thanks Natasha and Debbie.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Up to par = good enough or the expected score at golf.
Have you not heard " that's par for the course" ? In other words, about what you would have expected.
Brilliant video ladies and so much fun looking forward to seeing the next video on Monday x have a great weekend x
Thank you! You too Kelly!
"Debbie likes toilet humour" - Debbie needs to watch Carry On Up The Khyber/Screaming, etc, etc...
Carry on at your convenience, for the win.
There were lots of Carry On films on today on ITV3 - my favourites are Carry On Camping and Carry On Loving
A Robert Calvert fan?
@@quarkwrok So "Debbie likes toilet humour" has become "Debbie likes Hawkwind"? (don't have to answer that, just answered my own question!) 😉😁
@@robertwilloughby8050 Honk wind? 🧎♀💨🤧
Just for your information, the term 'Bog Standard' was originally used within the manufacturing industry and in particular in the Ceramic Toilet Bowl Industry as the basic plain white toilet bowls were classed as being your 'Bog Standard' ones as a 'Bog' to us Brits is the Toilet! Hence the use of the saying 'Bog Standard' coming from the toilet manufacturing industry originally, before over the decades it started to be used elsewhere too where it was used to mean the basic or base model of something, anything from 'Toilet Rolls' to a 'New Car' but the most basic of versions or models. I hope this clarifies the reason for its usage both today and the original derivation of the term too!
Minge is a word for a ladys parts.. im dying laughing 😂😂❤
I've never heard of 'Pulling a blinder' but you can say 'he's having a blinder' or 'he's playing a blinder' - Meaning he's playing really well.
I have : He pulled a real blinder there. May be its different in different parts of the country.
Pulling a blinder is quite a common expression. I have heard commentators use it when someone scores a great goal or exceeds expectations .
One way of looking at 'blinder' is to think of something so brilliant as in a light so brilliantly bright that it blinds. SO, in a good way, blindingly brilliant - or the best - a blinder.
Another great video. Gotta say, other than the name of the great Dame Judi I have never in my life heard the word Dench.
What a way to start the day, fantastic video ladies, great chat all…I’ll be back Monday after I’ve been mortal all weekend, hopefully I haven’t popped my clog’s by then
😂😂
I'm 52 and born and bred in East London. Cockney Rhyming Slang is part of my vocabulary, I use it everyday. I have also worked on London Underground for over 30 years and speak to people of all ages and Nationalities but I have never heard anyone say Par or Dench. An Anorak is the nickname given to Train/Plane/etc Spotters because they wear hooded waterproof rain jackets. We actually get Anoraks on Tube Stations standing at the end of platforms with their cameras and note books; they are a pain in the arse because train drivers think they are Jumpers (suicidal) and stop their trains. 🙄
58 years old, Dorset born and bred here with a cockney mother. Dench is just some made-up BS by a second-rate no-mark rapper. Par however is something I've heard and used since childhood.
As for traditional cockney, it seems to be dying out now that multiculturalism has taken over. My Cockney relatives now describe the accent used by kids in London as Packney! 😆
It's just changing to reflect its current use👍 that's why it's still relevant, cos its not limited to what old people say it should be
'Peeping Tom' is also an English phrase, it comes from the legend of Lady Godiva. Tom was supposed to be the only person that watched Godiva ride through the streets of Coventry when the rest of the town turned their backs out of respect.
Wally comes from the hindi word for sales woman (a male is a wallah). Give a tinkle on the blower comes from 2 factors: before the telephone (& after) ships communicated between decks via a tube which you needed to blow down to set off a whistle to alert the deck of a message from the bridge: hence 'blower'. The 'tinkle' bit comes from the 1st telephones which had tinkling bells when ringing.
The Full Monty means everything, in the context of the movie it's basically saying they take everything off as opposed to leaving something on to cover their modesty.
My dad is the only only person I've heard use 'shirty'. When I moody as teenager my dad used to say 'don't be shirty Gurty' and it always made me more angry 😂
We still use this word almost daily. We have birds of prey and the ones that are less calm and less reliable are often referred to as being ‘a bit shirty’😊
Jack and the beanstalk…. Full of beans, magic beans that give you extra life
I think it's a term that dates back to when beans were a staple diet for when other food would go off. Beans, being high protein and carbs gave you energy.
Great show Natasha and Debbie. Happy Easter from a little village in England. I think older people say Half past or quarter past/to , is b cause we grew up with actual clocks with hands, so if the big hand points down to 6 it's half past the hour. Younger ones (I'm a great grandma so apologies to anyone under 70) grew up with digital clocks that show numbers.
So 8.30 shows as numbers on a digital clock face, but on a clock, the big hand is half way round pointing down, and the shorter hour hand would be between 8 & 9. ;-)
This was great fun, yours and Evan’s reactions were really entertaining, my husband and I gave each other quizzical looks about the word dench, even my teenager doesn’t know it
Glad you enjoyed it!❤
Oh Judy Dench...bench...
@@no-oneinparticular7264 dench in this video means hot, attractive, sick, etc, it comes from the urban music scene,
It's a London thing.
Nice bit of fun listening to our every day phrases by someone else😂.
A few from Lancashire; put wood inthe hoyl - close the door, byeck - wow and there are loads more keep the videos going
Wor than born in a field 😂
I subscribed. You guys are hilarious, it was great watching you two trying to guess our slang/sayings and even i didnt know what some of these mean and im from england😂❤
A bender is something else too! 😂
Funny vid ladies.
I was waiting for “dogs bollocks” which of course means the best,top of the range,gold standard.
ie: I bought a pair of shoes in Harrods today,they’re the dogs bollocks.
But we have shortened it to ‘they’re the dogs’ OR, ‘they’re the bollocks’
I met up with an old mate of mine from London when he came down here to Cornwall,and there was an American couple in the pub we were in right next to us at the bar.
Me and my old mate were in full flow using slang most of the time,eventually the American guy leans over and says “we haven’t understood anything you’ve been saying,it’s kinda English but not any English we’ve heard before’
Explained that that was the original idea for slang,to confuse the old bill (police) or anyone listening.
He was fascinated and said is there slang for Americans,of course said I.
Yank is the obvious one but when using rhyming slang,the rather insulting word of “septic” is used…..septic tank = yank.
It’s all good fun and they took it that way.
We even taught them a few for when they go to London.
'Bender' was also, at least in the 60s and 70s, offensive slang referring to a gay man. No one has had a 'tinkle on the blower' since the 50s, but most brits over 40 would recognise the phrase - not too sure about the youngsters though. You'd more often see them used eperately, with 'blower' meaning phone, and 'give me a tinkle' being a playful way of asking to be called.
At school, many moons ago, we used B&Q - benders and queers.
Tinkle is the sound made by a small bell. Blower comes from speaking tube . A long pipe used as a primitive sort of intercom. Most famously on ships so the bridge could give instructions to the engine room.
They'd blow in to it to initiate a message, so it's a bit of a mixed metaphor.
Tinkle meant something different when I was small.
Yeah, I’d say bender is used more often as a homophobic slur than as a piss up, but both are used and context tells you which it is. Conversely f*gs are still cigarettes to me and f*ggots are a delicious kind of meatball, but I’m aware of what the American meaning is and I’m sad that nasty usage is creeping into British English.
@AJD09FB I had someone say it to me yesterday and bender is most definitely used for a blowout on alcohol or other stuff that you may regret in the morning but isn't used as a slur much if at all where I have lived
Loved this! Thought you would be interested to know that in medieval times, it was accepted that you used your left hand to wipe your butt after a poop. Another word for poop in UK is cack… which is why the left hand is called your cack hand. Saying something looked cack handed means it looks like it has been done using the left hand, a big faux pas. This is why we always use our right hand to shake hands. Using the left is a big no-no.
We also use cack in S. Africa for poop but spelt kak. It is the Afrikaan's word for it.
Another version, right or wrong, of the right had to shake hands thing is that it shows a willingness for peace. When using a sword, most people being right-handed would have the sword in the right hand. Discarding the sword and offering a shake of the right hand could be seen as wanting to make peace rather than fight.
Oh loved this 😂 born in south London now in Kent we still use rhyming slang on the daily, not only have you made me realise how crazy we must sound but really enjoyed your interpretations 😂🙌🏻
I have used & most of these, but I have never used Dench, & I would use Par in the phrase “On Par with XYZ”
The creative way brits play fast and loose with language is a defining cultural identifier. Since Shakespeare who invented many word words still used today. Like bandit, critic, dauntless, lacklustre green eyed, and many more.He is said to have had the largest vocabulary of any writer in English some 30,000 words. We all study Shakespeare in school and slurs like these " thine face is not worth sun burning". "Were thou clean enough to spit upon". "An eater of broken meat", give a taste of his creative expression.
😮
You guys are great. Saved up a couple of weeks of content to catch up on today . The sun is shining so I am just going to faff around my gaff and finish off an art project that needs sorting as I over egged the pudding and it's too fussy.
I found out that bangs for a fringe comes from a hairpiece fixed in front with curls/ringlets hanging down over the forehead. It was in an old British movie where two girls got dressed up in a theatre to go for a night out. One girl gave the other bangs to make her look better. The film was 'Fanny by Gasslight', made in 40s but set in Victorian/Edwardian times. Seems US has adopted this for any forehead hair, while this has not happened in U K. Strange twists in English language uses.
Hahaha!!!!! Your reactions to our sayings is brilliant!!! ‘Tinkle on the blower’ … This actually originates from old ships that had tubes that you spoke down instead of telephones, certain tubes would run from the bridge to say the engine room etc and you would communicate through them by speaking into it then putting it upto your ear to hear the replies .. You would alert the person at the other end by ‘blowing’ down it, they would hear it and commence with the conversation … the tinkle bit I’m not too sure of but I think someone commented that this could refer to the phone ‘ringing’ as old phones used bells to alert us that there is a call coming in. We still use this saying today!! It can just be cut down to ‘Just give me a tinkle’ just give me a call on the phone … Anyway your reactions are priceless!! Actually hearing Debbie say it in her American accent made me really laugh!!! Oh I do love you 2!!! ❤❤❤
I actually grew up with some Old English terms from living in a Geordie regiment (15/19 Kings Royal Hussars). Terms I grew up with was "..gan leik..." which is old English and heralds from Old Nordic I believe which means "...go play...", "...baitbox..." though probably spelt differently was "food box/lunch box". Some other terms used like "mind yer pash", mind pronounced as in and not eye and yer as in yur which means to "curb your enthusiasm". Some phrases were more Proto Indo Germanic. Yes, the North East of England still uses Old English at times, some do anyways and it's great. It's why some Scandinavians will actually understand some words from the North east of England and vice versa. Tyek is take and myek is make (Geordie) mack and tack is Mackem which are literally only a couple of miles apart. Hyem or hem is Old English for home. Dee for do. Thon for that. Some words many still use though that is now much smaller than the North East use them.
Ket (no not short for ketamine) is old English from Old Nordic and I believe meant meat, but, means sweet and in kids sweets so when someone in the North east says then need to get some ket you know they means sweets. Bullet (no not something you fire from a gun) means a hard boiled sweet. Chok-a-block think = choked, a blockage.
The town I live and have ancestry from, Sunderland which was world famous for Ship Building and the Captial of Ship Building at one time, used some Old English but also dropped consonants. Like the saying me grandda telt me, "oy yer ammer ower ere", which was "'oy yer 'ammer ower 'ere" where the ' is a dropped consonant and this meaning Hoy yer hammer ower here, being throw your hammer over here, it also had speed so become difficult for most to understand. I still use 'ere as in air. It gets confusing for most for the Old English and pronunciation. Hoy is Old English though most won't know that, but it is.
(Since you're into military things)
Geordie means George and comes from "King George's Men" being a military thing, they wear a sort of red colour trousers from Prince Albert. My family was in the army from 1761 to 1991 in an unbroken chain making us the oldest serving family in that regiment, without surname found on a Roman tablet dated circa 2,000 years ago and also someone with our surname as one of the 20 kings royal archers at the Battle of Agincourt. Also with Naval history potentially and unconfirmed is Richard Pickersgill (some places named after him) who was captain Cook's Cartographer who became a captain of his own ship himself, died while drunk boarding his ship and falling into the river Thames and drowning last I heard. How true is that about Richard Piskersgill? being related? well. we are related to the Pickersgills who also had, I think the largest ship building site on the River Wear. Not forgetting George Stephenson and his brother from Sunderland area who, when last found out, a very distant cousin of mine, obviously distant as he is dead. And yes, we are related to the Stephensons. My mother's maiden name is Rankin and her uncle, my great Uncle was one of the 2 engineers who could work on the water pipes, who went to the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, unfortunately the liberation was 2 months too late for Anne Frank who died of Typhus. They cleaned up the water from Typhus that was lurking there by making the water pipes flow again etc. He would never talk about it.
(Just general history of the place)
Sunderland, contrary to what most believe and especially Americans, is where the safety lamp was invented and also the electric light bulb by one Joseph Swan who got his patent 18 months before Edison and they teamed up, after Edison lost his law suit, to form Ediswan or Edison and Swan Electric Light Company and Edison was GIFTED the North American Patent by Joseph Swan. Court records in England prove this as this is where the law suit was done and lost to Joseph Swan.
(Significance of George Washington and this area)
By the way, Sunderland is near Washington, why do I mention that? because it has Washington Hall which is the Ancestral home to George Washington, yes, that's right, the man who become President George Washington. This, as stated was the Ancestral home. Washington next to Sunderland is where George Washington's family gets their name. A 13th century Manor House. William de Hertburne (originally William Bayard), an ancestor of George Washington, assumed tenancy of the Wessyngtonlands from the Bishop of Durham in the late 12th century. Soon after, he changed his name to William de Wessyngton (later Washington)
So Sunderland and Newcastle still use Old English though many do not realise it. It is getting watered down now though unfortunately.
Fascinating history! We go back to the Doomsday Book, but I've never studied the family tree.
first of all i want to thank you two for making me smile after an awful day at work,the only word i would refute is Dench! unless you are in the rapping circles dont think its ever been used.
and secondly,yes Natasha,you are full of beans 🙂
pelase keep up the good work of cheering this brit up ✌
So happy that we could make you happy!! ❤️❤️
The first time I visited the United States, I was in Disney world in Florida, late July, sweating like a badger, and what do I see but a room called a restroom! How civilised thinks I, a place to get out of the heat and freshen up a bit. Imagine how my aunt laughed when I suggested we go for a rest! It's not only the Irish who have polite euphemisms, I've never understood why the Americans call them restrooms!
😂😂
I've never understood wh they still call the toilet a bathroom when it doesn't have a bath.
@@peterwalker5677 most of ours DO have a bath/shower. It's quite simple 😉
I've figured it out, I'm a Natasha and Debbie anorak😁
Sod's law is a situation where you're looking for something you need, i.e document, Passport etc, for a transaction, proof/evidence etc, which you think you think you've put somewhere, but then can't find it. You then complete your business/transaction using alternative means. You get home, look for something else, & then find what it was you were looking for, was placed elsewhere. Not where you thought you'd put it.
It's Sod's law you'll find it/something when you don't need it.
Murphy's law is "If anything can go wrong, it will".
As a 70 plus yr old I have never heard of some of these. Especially par. Some of them are derived from advertisements which tried to make it popular like Hank Marvin for starving, which never really caught on.or from comedy shows which used the sayings as funny alternatives. Cockney rhyming slang is responsible for a lot of sayings like butchers hook meaning take a look shortened to butchers. Or apples and pairs meaning stairs. ❤️❤️❤️
I'm a brit and I've never heard of 'hank marvin' meaning starving, but it makes sense.
Hank Marvin is the lead guitarist of the 60s band The Shadows with Cliff Richard as the lead singer.
He's a tall skinny guy who looks half starved and his name works well in cockney rhyming slang.
If somebody had said that to me I would have instantly known what they were saying, even if I hadn't heard it before.😄
A lot of these idioms and terms are quite regional and I assume the same in the States. For instance, a lot of the UK say pants for underwear, but here in my region pants are trousers. At the end of the day, the meaning of a lot of terms are explained by the context of the rest of the sentence. For instance, if somebody was trying to squeeze in next to you and said "can you budge up, or budge over a bit?" you would have understood.
Yeah, in the UK 'pants' is *always* the shortened version of 'Underpants' because we use the word 'trousers' for the outer garment.
Yes, pants are undergarments, trousers are well, trousers!!
Loved your reactions! UK slang terms can be tricky, especially when so many of them are regional colloquialisms. I'm from South Wales, so we have most of the usual sayings plus a whole set of "Wenglish" terms.
A few not mentioned on the video but pretty common are "The cats whiskers" meaning an excellent person or thing. "Pukka" meaning something really good.
The word bender also has another meaning ...usually directed at alternative relationships
How about - "give it a welly"?
Or "stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea"
or "bangs like a shithouse door"
or "popping out"
I always assumed that full of beans would come from horses being fed bean meal, which is a high energy and high protein foodstuff , making the horse skeich as we'd say in Scotland ie energised.
That is pretty much correct 😊
I always thought it was a reference to the Mexican jumping bean in the cartoons ;)
Anorak is quite a common name for a waterproof coat, although it mostly older generations who use it. Use of the term in a disparaging manner likely derives from Train Spotters (and similar) who would spend hours in all weathers dressed in a waterproof.
"Anorak" & incidentally "Parka" are inuit words for hooded garments worn over other clothes. "Anorak" from the Nenets Inuit people of Northern Russia, and "Parka" from the Caribou Inuit people in Canada
@@DaveBartlett I was unaware of this, thank you.
Happy Easter girls. You did very well in the quiz, Natasha you were outstanding on the Yorkshire words and as a Yorkshire woman I am proud of you. I knew all but one of these, but it could be a regional thing. Natasha now you need to go to your English supermarket and wangle an easter egg for Debbie.
❤️❤️
I went into the tourist office at Howarth and was met by a Japanese (not Chinese) lady. "Oh lord", thinks I, "Will I understand her?" "Ullo! Can ah 'elp thee luv?" . Jaw hits floor!
I laughed so much, i'm chuffed to bitz you guys are interested in the British way's, keep em coming 🤣
Ok, so I have to edit this reply after the Give me a tinkle on the blower phrase. Girl!!!!!! I was in stitches with your guess and reaction, wow!!
I just have to say. Don't feel so bad about not recognising the meanings of these phrases. I am English born in the north east of England but moved to the Midlands when I was 18. It still took me five years to stop hearing words I didn't understand. My friends took great delight in explaining them to me. Some slang and dialects can be very regional.
Inuits, in fact, invented the anorak for hunting and fishing, from seal and caribou skin coated with fish oil. The Kalaallisut language, from Greenland, used the word anoraq, which became anorak in the 1930s.
"He's an anorak" or He's a right anorak" used mainly when referring to geeky people (train spotters, aircraft spotters etc). 🙂
Loved seeing your reactions to this one , l knew you would know some , guess some , work out some and think some were just plain dirty. There were a couple l didn’t know . I had a good laugh on good Friday morning so thank you and l learned about where Pop your clogs came from 👍💖
Thanks for recommending it!! Happy Good Friday and Easter to you & the family! ❤❤
Love these two ladies! So funny and natural
My grandma would always say to me before I left her to go home “give me a tinkle when you get home” (translated = give me a phone call when you get home) 😂
I surmise that very few people under 25 would know what you meant by that; a lot of people don't even have a proper telephone/landline in their homes anymore, so it's a totally alien concept to most kids.
"The dreaded lurgi" (pronounced with a hard "g", not a "j" sound) was a fictitious disease popularised by comedy legend Spike Milligan in his 1950s radio series "The Goon Show". It quickly became common slang for just about any illness: "Sorry, I can't come into work today, I've got the lurgi".
Epitaph on The Milligans grave. Told you I was Ill......
Love some goon show
"Gaff" can also mean "mistake", as in " I went to my in-laws and complimented my mother in law's new wig. Turns out it was her hair. So that was a bit of a gaff on my part..." Also, Dench is not a thing I have EVER heard, that was bollocks. As is "par"...never heard that outside of saying something is "on par" or "par for the course".
The mistake meaning is spelled 'gaffe' though. Of course they sound identical.
Dench is urban speak
I would say he gets 'gaff' slightly wrong though, it's not your home as in your neighbourhood, it's literally your house.
But the gaffer is the boss.
It’s chock a block. Usually used when a room or bus is full of people.
I would love for the three of you trying the Scottish slangs
"Like your Barnets girls!"
= Barnet Fair, or just Barnet = hair/ hair-do (Barnet Fair was a big horse fair, in what was then the countryside, now North London)
"Going to be a big cabbage tonight"
Cabbage = farty = party
"Up the apples"
= Up the apples and pears = stairs
And not Cockney, but I've always liked saying:
"Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire"
= Going upstairs to bed
I love how much you both got right, well done ladies, as a British, I tip my hat to you both xxx