SAY WHAT?! British Slang I STILL Don’t Understand!
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2022
- It's time to delve into some more strange British sayings. From bodge job to the bee's knees, it's all gone pear shaped for Julie when she tries to guess the meaning of spending time 'at Her Majesty's pleasure'.
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The derivation of Brass Monkey is from the saying, "It's cold enough to freeze the ball off a Brass Monkey." A Brass Monkey was a bras triangle frame used on a ship to hold cannon balls. If it got too cold the brass frame would shrink too much to hold the cannon balls and then would fall out of the frame and roll across the deck, hence Freezing the ball off a brass monkey.
Uh, no
@@tome4285 uh, yes...
Perfect description.
Fascinating historical insight.
My husband, who grew up in the Northeastern USA 🇺🇸and his male family and friends, say “It’s cold 🥶 as balls” which is similar 🤷🏼♀️.
I am from Virginia which, parts are considered the Southern USA, had never heard it before.
A lot of these British slang phrases are familiar to me 😊
Most of the UK say, "a sandwich short of a picnic"
The full phrase is, "it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". People also say, "it's colder than a witch's t*t"
The dog's dangly bits is a more family friendly version of the dog's b*ll*cks.
Some older Brits still refer to left-handed people as being "cack handed". Cack comes from the Old English verb for defecating
Brits can turn any word into a euphemism or dysphemism for being drunk lol
I had heard the saying a sandwich short of a picnic as well. Perhaps our young friend had that one backward.
Not playing with a full deck
A brass monkey was a gun On a ship…a cannon type with cannon balls.
@Lorna Miles-Baum sorry to disappoint, but that's a myth. It's been disproven by etymologists & historians for a number of years
@@Ater_Draco OK… What is it then?
"Kick the bucket" "Bees knees" and "lost the plot" are used often in the mid west United States. Really enjoyed learning more phrases!
Agreed:) I’m in Minneapolis and use quite a few of these:) love it though;) oh also “Brass Monkey” is a Beastie boys song👍🏼
Yes, Jack black says bees knees in school of rock ☺
We have a great restaurant downtown called the Bees Knees. It was an expression used a lot in the twenties meaning the latest thing or cool.
I’ve heard “a few sandwiches short of a picnic” but not the other way around.
They got it wrong.
Julie, when you were singing brass monkey, you were singing and old Beastie Boys song. Hearing you repeat it brought back old high school concert days. 😅👍🏻
Have you ever heard one of my favorites, "that's the cat's pajamas!"? It means the same as the "bee's knees." I love cats!
"Bugger" is considered rude because the archaic variant of the word (buggery) was the term for homosexual intercourse.
Therefore, 'bugger off' is a substitute for 'f*** off'.
so fun to watch! I'm from Washington State and yes we use Hunky Dory and it's raining Cats and Dogs
Oopsy Daisy
I just love these vlogs . Had so much fun. It’s like playing a game with you lovely people around the world and getting to know a little more about England too. Love it . Thank you Julie and Steven and Claire🇺🇸
I'm of Pa Dutch ancestry. I heard a few of these sayings from my parents. Some are just old, and not exclusively British.
Kick the Bucket is used in the U.S.
Starvin’ Marvin use to be a convenience store chain in the southern part of the USA. Interesting to think it’s derived from cockney for hungry. Well done, as always.
Yes in America we do say "Things are hunky dory" although more recently I've heard people say it in a sarcastic way. Bee's Knees is also an old American term from the 20s. As for the term "At Her Majesty's Pleasure" I've always thought that this meant any kind of situation (such as the military) where someone's actions are subject to what the government or the Queen needs.
I'm 54 and an American but spent time in Australia in the80's. My friends there used I was serving at her or his majesty's pleasure as a joke for oral sex.
A few of those are old American sayings too. I’m 62 and I’ve used a few and heard my parents as I was growing up use some of them. The bees knees, very old.
My husband is from Dublin and says, or at least knows, most of these. A few seemed American, like "kick the bucket" "bees knees" and "lost the plot." Also, at least here the term "brass monkey" also means cold but is short for "the cold would freeze the balls off a brass monkey." My husband would say, "it's brass monkey weather."
Cats and dogs, spitting, hunky dory, kicked the bucket, botched job (hear a lot in medicine) are all common in America
I always thought it was a sandwich short of a picnic.
Agreed!
@@karenrobinson2071 It is of course! This young smart arse has a head full of sweetie papers.
As much of the American Southern accent is actually directly derived from the Queen’s English, many of these terms are familiar to this southern girl!
@MelanieKai Gregory- Yes 🙌🏻! That’s exactly what I was thinking!
I'm a southern American girl living in England and I haven't noticed that.
That was fun! I've heard someone could "talk the ears off a billy goat."
My late grandmother who was Cresswell by birth used a lot of these terms when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s thank you for bringing back wonderful memories I've heard these through the family different terms and I just don't hear them much as I live in the United States thank you so great content
Instead of "kick the bucket" I say "pop your clogs". "Pop your clogs" is possibly northern as it was more common for mill workers in the north to wear clogs to work. If you "pop" (a London expression) something, it means that you have visited "uncle", ie been to the pawn shop. If you "pop your clogs" it means that you no longer need them, so have pawned them (maybe to raise money for your approaching funeral).
The word "pop" also appears in the nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel", which uses rhyming slang. If you "pop" your "weasel", you pawned your "weasel and stoat", ie your coat.
Love the topic today,. Where I grew up in Lincolnshire cack handed meant doing something left handed and I can see how some people would find that it looked clumsy. The differences in the English language between the UK and the USA is certainly a good topic. Best wishes Madeline ( left handed )
yes you are right about left-handed I am, and used to get it all the time.
Haaaah! "Don't lose your blob" is another British slang expression we use in Canada, to tell someone to "relax, it was just a joke."
“It’s one of them ain’t it” is said a lot of the time around my town for a situation which has no solution.
Hey Julie! North Carolina here! This was such a fun video!
As far as the phrases I’ve heard or said here are “hunky dory”, but used in a more sarcastic way - example: when having a bad day and someone asks how you are - “oh, just hunky dory!”
The knickers in a twist phrase is used (sort of) in the states, but “knickers” is usually switched out with “panties” or “pants,” and “twist” is usually switched out with “wad.”
The phrase “bees knees” was popular in the states in the 20s or 50s?
When someone says “she could talk the hind legs off a donkey” it’s not far off from what we say here, except it’s usually “mule” instead of “donkey.” I always thought it meant that a person is really good at convincing someone of something or selling anything to anyone.
“Kick the bucket” is used here too.
All the other ones are so very British, lol!
Thank you for sharing parts of your life and estate with us all! Thoroughly enjoy your videos!
its a sandwich short of a picnic you got it the wrong way round!
That's the way we say it. 🇺🇸
Bees knees and hunky dory are terms from the roaring 20's in the U.S. The slang in Blighty during the same period included the word "topping".
being from the Southwest USA in stead of "a sandwich short of a picnic" we would say "a Taco short of a combo meal". I have also heard "their elevator (lift) does not got to the top floor".
I have heard the full Brass Monkey phrase some have mentioned in the comments. I have also heard "Kick the Bucket" as well as "don't get you pantties (instead of knickers) in a bunch or wad".
Not the brightest light on the Christmas Tree or not the sharpest tack in the box are ones I use when in polite company.
Can't recall who I stole this from, but I've used "a couple fries short of a Happy Meal."
My favorite of these is "has a leak in the think tank."
Is “a sandwich short of a picnic” a separate phrase or did you guys mix things up?! I think “a picnic short of a sandwich” sounds extra crazy…I like it. Fun video!
Also, I recognize most of these but not all of them…in America, we say “don’t get your panties in a bunch/twist” instead of knickers.
in Southern USA we say "Don't get your panties in a wad" 😂
Yep that’s the truth!
Hunky dory is something I’ve heard and used since childhood in America.
Bees Knees: That one goes back at least to the 1920s. It phrase associated with the Roaring 1920s.
Cats Pajamas
@@ladysparkymartin 😉
It actually began in the 18th century to describe something small or insignificant. It was in the 1920s when it took on its current meaning, some say because of Bee Jackson, a champion at dancing the Charleston.
This is very funny particularly Julie’s response to some of the sayings, such as At her majesty’s pleasure.
I think it’s a sandwich short of a picnic not the other way round!!
I thought so also 👍🏻
Yes we use hunky dory in the United States. We also use it's raining cats and dogs as well as using the term spitting to refer to a light mist. We also use don't get your panties in a twist. We also say things have gone pear-shaped. In the US we don't use the term spanner we use the term thrown a wrench in the works or a monkey wrench in the works. Yes we use kick the bucket it means you've died. We say you've botched something up. My mom and grandmother always said I'll give you a ring. They were definitely from the Midwest.
I’m from Tennessee and have heard a few of these. Definitely heard Don’t get your knickers (although we would say either drawers/breeches) in a twist. Heard Raining Cats and dogs…we also say “it’s a frog strangler out there”. For the cream crackers knackered saying I would either say I’m worn slap out or I’m plumb tired.
I really thought spent time at her majesty’s pleasure was a way to say I need to go to the toilet 🚽 😂 because I often say I need to have a meeting in the Oval Office. NGL kinda bummed that it means prison.
Love it she has been there for 20 years and it like she just crossed the pond. Love the channel and the 3 of you together. Maybe because I am Canadian from the east coast I know all of the sayings. Well done and all the best
It's "one sandwich short of a picnic." Sandwich, as in Earl of.
I’ve heard my grandparents say Bees Knees but I think it’s from 1920 or 30s. My mother still says Hunky Dory. So fun! Most of these I’ve never heard of. PS. I live in Nevada (it rarely rains here, like seriously - months without anything) but parents are from the Midwest
Sometimes with the honky dory. And I love the “Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” And I do love the swearing ones so much, that it’s not common to hear it too often.
Actually knew a lot of these (Midwest US). Yes, we use kick the bucket. And spanner is wrench in US, so “throw a wrench in the works.” Pinch Punch/Rabbit, rabbit. I like the English “Chuffed” if I’m spelling it correctly. Ya’ll also use homely (again spelling) on design shows which means something different to us. And bespoke FREQUENTLY. So much so that my sister has made it a drinking game. “Bespoke” table … take a shot. Oh, … reading someone below, yes also specifically knew, “kick the bucket,” “bees knees,” and “lost the plot.” All have been used around here, but not frequently.
I'm "right chuffed" you like chuffed, I'm English and it's a word I use a lot. Do you know its antonym "miffed"?
I could say "I'm chuffed that you remembered my birthday, but I'm miffed that you spelt my name wrong on the card." 🙂
@@PLuMUK54 I did not, but I know and have used “miffed” before. 🤓
I love these! They're so much fun to listen to!!!! Thank you!
Glad you like them!
Love your content . Thank you from Los Angeles
When I start watching you, I get stacked because you have such a variety of subjects!
The bees knees was used in the States during the 1920's not used now at all. That was fun, although odd for sure!
A popular American actor George Seagal from the past said ain't that the The Bees Knees in a 70s film & as I'm from the UK I thought that's a strange one the first time I heard it.When U get a chance watch The Duchess & the Dirt water Fox with George S & Goldie Hawn, it's a comedy/drama western. He doesn't say it in this film, but I thought I would introduce u to him if youv'e never heard of him depending what age group u are in.All the best.
Here in Massachusetts both raining cats and dogs and spitting are often used.
Hunky dory is used in the USA.
The cold in brass monkey sounds to me more like saying someone is frigid.
In the USA the knickers phrase is "Don't get your panties in a bunch."
The bees knees was a 1920's American phrase.
A** over teakettle is used in USA instead of over t***.
USA uses monkey wrench instead of spanner in this phrase.
Kick the bucket is an American phrase.
Bugger off is kinder than the American F*** off.
A brass monkey is the piece of metal used to keep cannon balls piled up, a sort of trivet. In cold weather, the brass trivet shrinks faster than the iron cannon balls (or maybe the other way round). As result the pile of cannon balls is no longer supported, so they roll off. The full phrase is "to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".
@@PLuMUK54 Thank you for the info. I wasn't familiar with either the phrase or its origin.
Whooo hooo! I never get online early enough to see these within an hour! Excited to watch this vlog!
I loved this fun episode!
We have crisps in Ireland called Hunky Dory. And we use most of these phrases too. We also have our version of Cockney rhyming slang.
I first became familiar with the phrase "could talk the hind leg off a donkey" by reading the Chronicles of Narnia as a child. I'm pretty sure the phrase was used to refer to Eustace Scrubb.
I've heard most of these here in the midwest. A few not so much but only a couple I hadn't heard before. This was fun, lol
I’m from Texas, and we use hunky dory. We also have spitting rain and kick the bucket. We have similar expressions to “a sandwich short of a picnic,” but ours are “not the sharpest tool in the shed,” or “a few beads off plumb,” or “a few fries short of a Happy Meal.” We don’t use bugger at all, but I was aware of what it meant.. If we screw up, we’ve “screwed the pooch.” Bees knees is still used, but it goes back a century in the U.S. …I think to the flapper era. The whole cockney rhyming thing just flies right over my head. The UK phrases were a wash with me. Some I knew, some I knew in slightly different forms, and for some I had no clue.
Such a great fun! Thank you
Yes we use Hunky Dory and Kick the Bucket in the US. I actually have used about half of these. Maybe it's because my great great grandparents were from the UK and it's carried over from family convos.
I learned some "Brit" living in Asia (!), and still prefer "knickers in a twist" to "panties in a wad," and "spanner in the works" to "monkeywrench in the machinery." Much more descriptive. Hunky dory, bee's knees, cat's pajamas or cat's whiskers or cat's meow were slang from the 20s & 30s, so I learned those from my aunt (moreso than from my parents!), but they're all still around, used.
Love these vlogs
Amazing how m many phrases I've grown up with that are used on both sides of "The Pond". Love from Vermont
In the US (from Oregon) I said, growing up, "Don't get your panties in a bundle." Also, the Bees Knees - is trendy to say still ( several friends have bees tattooed on knees).
...Bloomers in a bunch (California)
Honky dory is an old phrase that was used in the USA and Canada. Yet, I have only seen or heard it within a lot of 1920s and 1930s films, radio, books and other resources. It was also used prior to the 1920s in novels. Haven't really viewed or listened to it after WW2. If you ever watch watch Selfridges TV series it was the used alot in the first season which was set in 1909 or so.
Nice vlog. I am dutch, love those English phrases.
Some of these are old (20s,30s, slang from America, too) Knew a lot of them from Midwest. Nebraska/ Iowa
Nice,
Learned some new phrases 🤗😅
Hank Marvin 😂😂😂
At 'Her Majesty's Pleasure' derives from the fact that the reigning monarch is the formal/nominal head of crime prosecution in the UK, hence 'The Crown Prosecution Service' ~ the criminal is punished on behalf of the monarch (whose laws have been breached). I like the phrase: 'three sheets to the wind' (being drunk) ~ be interesting to find out the origin of that one...maybe sailors having too much rum, and losing control of the sails?
Love these ! I was married to an Englishman and knew these words.
I just love these! Ok. So I thought of one I had to look up (it was on doc Martin) we are like chalk and cheese…that was interesting.. shouldn’t it be a sandwich short of a picnic though? Here we say, the light is on but nobody is home, or not the sharpest tool in the shed. We used hunky dory in the late 80s. Is it back? Panties in a bunch…throwing a monkey wrench into it, I don’t give a monkey’s butt, kick the bucket, therefore a bucket list. Plastic surgery may be a botched job, also we may give ‘em a jingle. Lol. Love it. Ps. I did get the HM prison wrong. I thought it was a reference to having spent too much time in the bathroom (on the throne) 🙊
Thanks! This was fun! I'm originally from the Northeast (Boston area). We say Starvin' Marvin in the US. Others that we use: Raining Cats and Dogs, Bees Knees, Hunky Dory, Don't Get Your Knickers in a Twist, Kick the Bucket.
Just love this. As an older Brit I knew them all, but they still make me smile 😊♥️
Here in the south (Georgia), we use a few of the weather ones. Maybe it's come down through the generations!
Fun video!!
Didn’t understand most of them except Hunky Dory!! I grew up in the Midwest (of the US) and we used it all the time. I live in Southern California now and no one uses it here.
Love love love both your channels! I am in North Carolina, and we often say, " I'm slap wore out ". Another is, " He's one brick shy a load".
We also say It's pouring down rain. (to which my husband replies, we'd be in trouble if it was pouring up.) Being drunk is Three sheets to the wind.
Hunky dory is used sarcastically, as another reader noted, and we also say Peachy, sarcastically. Also, we say, Don't get your panties in a wad.
For falling over, we say he went head fo-most. We use wrench instead of spanner. If you don't care, some say Don't give a rat's ass.
Clumsy is All thumbs. For on it like a car bonnet, some will say on it like stink on sh*t. Bugger off can be piss off. Please forgive
all inappropriate language. Keep those videos coming!
Going to use some of these phrases today!
No - you'll get arrested,lol!
"Bees knees," was popular in my grandfather's era , Edwardian.
My grandfather, born 1892, also used the phrase, " the cat's pajamas!"
We use most of those in Australia. Brass monkey weather comes from “it’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey”
Never heard the Marvin one though.
The phrase, “Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey,” helped me guess “brass monkey”.😂. I use Hunky Dory on occasion and our version of Hank Marvin is Starvin’ Marvin.😁 But I thought “her majesty’s pleasure,” referred to going to the toilet/throne.”😂
When the phrase HM pleasure is used it generals means an undefined length of prison term generally life without parole
As a legal term of art, it means an indefinite prison term. However, as an idiom the public use it to simply mean in prison
You did your "porridge" at Her Majesty's Pleasure. 🙂
Sometimes I say sandwich short of a picnic here in the USA
We do have the same phrase in Australia, but we are more likely to say ‘he has a roo (kangaroo) loose in the top paddock’ 😂
My Great Grandmother, who was Irish, would say "It's raining cats and dogs, don't step in a poodle". A lot of these sayings are things we say in PA. Maybe we kept a lot of the English slang.... LOL
I think you’re right. I’m of Irish decent but all my great grandparents were born here. But I’ll tell you when I realized how influenced I was by them. Watching Deadwood! So many of the old saying were ones I grew up with.
I’ve lived in both suburban and rural PA but haven’t heard the poodle bit, just “raining cats and dogs”.
It's also kind of interesting that you guys also use drunk as a skunk I always thought that was an American thing
I remember some of these from my Irish grandmother
At Her Majesty’s Pleasure isn’t the garden party invite I was thinking 🤔 lol
So funny. I got nervous when ends and bells got close. ☺ I'm tickled pink.
Yes, I do use hunky dory quite a bit along with oki doki. 🤣😂😉
A lot of the sayings are things that I heard around the country like the Bees Knees. But I am a little bit older than the people in the video.
This was delightful. We lived in Suffolk for 10 years. One that got me was "Oh, nevermind." Which was shorthand for "change the subject, we aren't going to talk about that." One that my boys love, but have shortened was "Easy Peasy, Japanese, Lemon Squeezy." Now the just say Easy Peasy or Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.
Omg that's who Julie reminds me of - Catherine o'hara! Love these vids guys, esp Julie's passion 😀
Hilarious videos!!! Pear Shaped is used in the south of the USA. Hunky Dory we definitely use in USA. We do use Don't get your "panties" in a twist in the southern USA states. We also use bees knees. Monkeys and kick the bucket is used here.
It’s all gone Pete Tong for it’s gone wrong used to be common in the UK. Pete Tong was a radio DJ
Sandwich short of a picnic! Hunky dory! many are same here!
Yes, we use 'kick the bucket'. My grandfather who was born in England used 'bees knees' and 'top drawer'.
Brass Monkey...Oh the 90s...!! No longer available in the United States, which leaves me to wonder if Brass Monkey is a US/GenX thing. I mean, clearly, the millennial film crew missed the fact that you were singing a GenX classic by the Beasty Boys. Loved this episode.
This is a cute... It would be fun if you guys could do a version of this showing differences in US/British social habits/behaviors. Like in a US/Paris comparison, the French like to do two kisses upon meeting someone, and Americans hug... the French think that hugging is too intimate for most early relationships. Some of my girlfriends would be surprised, if you or I, walked up and hugged their boyfriend when first meeting. Americans think the opposite - we like to hug, and not kiss at first. What are some differences in British versus American social behaviors, that caught you off guard, or made you embarrassed?
Ooooo! I like this suggestion! I enjoy learning about cultural differences between 2 countries. Please do this!
@@heatherriley3963 Yes, she did a version for dinner etiquette, but doing another with broader social faux pas - and behaviors that can cause raised eyebrows - would be awesome!
@@suzannes5888 🤩
I knew more than I thought I would. So fun🙂
Yes, we still use hunky dory in U.S .
I love your video! Terrific!!!!
Fun! We do use Bees Knees in US. My Pap always said your better than sliced bread!
The Bees Knees and the Cats Pajamas was used in the USA in the 20's or 30's weren't they? All the best from Missouri.
In the deep south of USA .
we say-->peachy keen !!
Instead of hunky dory..
Bees knees is also used.
Or when someone passes
On, we say she went over
The mountain.or kicked the bucket. ...
This blog was so cute.really funny...
HAPPY MARDI GRAS Y'ALL..❤
Yes, hunky dory is an American expression, as is talk the hind legs off a donkey, throw a spanner in the works, kick the bucket, and a few more. We are from USA and lived here all our lives and have always heard a lot of the same expressions.
That's funny. Hank Marvin..... We have a pizza chain in Maryland (and I think other places too) called starvin' Marvin's
Another derivation of Brass Monkey came from the use of hitching posts which were sometimes ornamental and painted cast iron or brass in the shape of a jockey, in a red coat and breeches--often a black man or a monkey. As many of these hitching posts were seamed castings sometimes water would get inside the hollow post and travel to the lower portions. During freezing weather the water would become ice and thereby splitting the post i.e., "freezing the balls off a brass monkey."
Having grown up in the good ole U.S.A., in the state of Montana, I was surprised how many of these phrases I already knew--the majority of them in fact. Thanks for your videos.
We do use a couple of those in the Midwest in America
With an Irish mom and a Dutch dad I have plenty of idioms under my belt. Add to that teaching French and being a Francophile I’m au courant as we say. Love it language, never mind which , is interesting!