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So, British people take delight in insulting other people then, do they? Well, here's a name we use in Australia and New Zealand for British people "WHINGING BLOODY POMS!"
the best insult i ever heard was in the Army, the Sergent stormed up to a recruit and said somewhere out there is a tree producing oxygen for you, go and find it and appologise
I’ve heard of all of these but my favourite was a term used by a work colleague many years ago who called anyone who made a mistake a “Doughnut”. I also use nitwit, flea bag and Dunderhead.
I’m old enough to have heard all of those and forgotten a few more. Thanks for reminding me. 😂👍 'Muppet' was a slang insult my son used to use a lot. When someone was being clueless or stupid.
@@phaasch It works with the right emphasis: “You’re an absolute _shower,_ ya know that?!” They won’t know what it means, but they’ll know they’re being insulted. 👌🏼
@@llamasugar5478 Oh I quite agree. I think the put-downs of that generation had a withering quality that we have lost, with our ubiquitous profanities.
@@phaasch I used to get after my kids for that. It’s not only rude, but it’s boring and reveals a sad lack of imagination. Obscenities do not make a good impression.
Scally is short for scallywag. When I was growing up in the 60s on Merseyside my Nan (a Scouser) used the longer version all the time, often about naughty children.
You put them together and say them in your best Yorkshire accent for extra effect and then string them out 'Tha gorm-less waz-zock!' For those who have done something silly 'Tha daft clarthead ! Or tha daft bat!
UK English has probably the worlds greatest capacity for the truly creative unsworn insult. One which sticks in my mind from schooldays, because I was on the recieving end of it from my art master, is "You great cockeyed twittering lump of cheese!" I've used it a few times myself;)
You missed out all the Scottish ones! Scunner, eejit, bampot, aff yer heid, oot the game, mingin', heid banger, and many more. And we have more words for 'drunk' than eskimos have for snow. Stotious, steamin', fu', oot the game are just a few. You haven't been insulted properly till you've been insulted by a Scot!
Chavs = antisocial ones dressed in baseball cap, hooded top and tracksuit bottom (or what they call "designer jeans"), wearing eyesore trainers or just slippers with woolie socks in any season, also covered in cheap-looking colourful tattoos, not to mention the lack of personal and dental hygiene. They also tend to drive modified cars, use/sell drugs and live off the dole. Their female versions are "single mums" out of teenage pregnancies, the kids never knew daddy or he's in the nick.
Another one : Naff. If I remember rightly, this was the one invented by the writers of a sitcom set on the bin lorry where the men would have sworn more than the BBC were happy with. Naff all = nothing Naff off It's a bit Naff .......
"naff" or "naffball" meant a weakling, one who complains a lot, is fearful, excessively precautionary, risk-averse and uncompetitive. A synonym is "fart" and the US equivalent would probably be "chicken".
During the school holidays in the 60s I travelled the country top to bottom with my dad who at the time was a lorry driver, regularly I heard him use the phrases "Tha Stupid Git", Tha Stupid Sod, Pillock, Warthog, Yer Gormless Git, or Clarthead, and if he was really annoyed "THA DOZY WAZZOCK", my dad had a way with words when some other road user did something idiotic. I'm 65 now and I still use these phrases today.
Others that have been used are: Burke, drip, Einstein (used as a sarcastic/derogatory term at someone when they suggest an idea or slow to work someth'g out/pick up on a sound idea/suggestion made by others). Dope, Prawn, Is Bell/Knob end acceptable? 😂😂
The writers of "Only Fools and Horses" very famously tried (and managed) to slip in several rude slang words that they thought they could get past the higher-ups at the BBC. Several of the insults used in the show are quite rude if you know what they mean. An interview with David Jason and other people involved with the show confirmed as much several years ago. The word "plonker" has several meanings, but one is definitely "the male appendage". Even the OED gives the example: "to pull one's plonker." Dipstick - another insult used on the show - can also be taken to mean that, and don't even think about looking up what berk means (yet another insult used on the show). So, "plonker" might not be as safe as the video suggests. 😆 As for "chav", that one doesn't get used much north of the border. The Scottish equivalent is "ned".
A few more... Berk - short for Berkshire Hunt - Cockney rhyming slang for the C-word, but means a foolish person. Mardy - from Yorkshire/Lancashire meaning sulky Muppet - a foolish, ineffectual person. Twazzock - for when wazzock isn't enough. Grockle - a West Country term for a tourist.
My favourite is "Pillock", I often add "uttter" before "nutter", another is dip-stick and "tosser or toss-pot". Is that rude ? How about "apeth" added to daft?
Very rude . A tosser is an exponent of the " hand shandy " or " five knuckle shuffle " and a " toss pot " is a receptacle for the result , similar to a spittoon..... Often one would call a tosser in very simple terms and in polite company , a " W " . Apeth is short for one eighth of a penny , a totally useless sum of money .
Actually toss-pot is from the 16th century, and means drunkard or heavy drinker. Ale was served in pots, and if you drank it quickly you tossed it down your throat.
@@JudithAtyeo-xn6tm Yes the archaic meaning from Middle English, but for many decades now a tosser has become associated with a wanker and both have been linked with the performing arts although relating to an obnoxious individual. The Great Bard himself and other playwrights of the period like Beaumont and Fletcher are a great source of comical English insults .
I use wazzack all the time. I'm from Manchester, but my kids grew up down south, and they think it's a Manc word. I'm glad to see it's not and I'm right 😊
Poultice. Used to describe a right idiot as in "What a poultice". Especially good when seeing a driver carry out a dangerous manoeuvre. It's often prefixed by an expletive as in "Did you see that? What an effing poultice". I use it a lot.
Bonkers, daft, and twit are three that I use quite often. Daft I must of picked up from my time in England as a child, but bonkers and twit I picked up from my grampa who spent his whole life in the Appalachia mountains. Lot of English and Scottish influence. We don’t say scally but we do say scallywag usually about a young boy who can’t help but get into trouble without even trying. Nothing illegal but maybe saying something at the wrong time or getting stuck in a fence or going for a hike up the hillside and getting lost.
From the antipodes the following are used: dropkick, as in dropped and kicked; spaz, a short form of spastic; and, no hoper, as in has no hope and never will - and may lead to an all in brawl if one is not careful.
Several of these have been past down in my family and we still use most of them😂😂😂 ....and Im a third generation transplated across the Pond...here in the States😂😂😂
The thing I notice is these are so many different ways to call someone an idiot or a stupid idiot or a crazy idiot. What other language has so many words to call someone an idiot?
I like swear words best... Of those you described, I prefer 'daft' or 'twit', and 'prat' I don't like any of the others, I think they are silly, childish, inane, and can be compared to the prudish Americans. And...nope, you won't see me on your next video, especially if they are all like this one. Sincerely, a 71 yo English woman from SE.London* (*speaking _mainly_ with an RP accent).
I am 70. Neither prudish nor American and I used to be an English teacher. I was born in the North West, did my teacher training in Wales and now live in the Midlands. However, apart from the word scally I have used and still use,most of the words Roy mentions here. Stop being such a language snob. Language is forever changing and developing and we need to keep an open mind. If language stayed the same we'd still be talking like Chaucer.😂
Remember Plonker has a double meaning... Scally - could that be Scallywag too? I had to explain 'chav' to my mum. "Its basically what nan would call 'common'! I love 'eejit' and ... I've forgotten
I tend to use "chav" to describe someone who isn't well off but is wearing labeled/designer clothes and expensive garish jewellery to try to look rich and fail miserably
This may be disputed but I think 'wazzock' is an Anglicisation of the Welsh insult 'was hwch'. This is the term for the 'gwas' or servant of the 'hwch' or sow. So a pig-man or swine-herd.
We use Scalliwag down south (uk). We also use ‘div’ ‘divvy’ ‘div-dar’ meaning they have done something silly or said something a bit thick. ‘Dinlow’ to mean stupid maybe uneducated. ‘Twonk’ meaning the same as twit or twat. Down south, twat doesn’t mean genitalia as it does up north. Or so I’m told. ‘He ain’t got a scooby’ to mean he is clueless and again uneducated in life
Hello, everyone! I hope you're well! Every Thursday (starting on Thursday, 3rd October 2024), I'll be teaching a FREE live class. I've set up a FREE WhatsApp page where you can suggest class ideas and vote on any future topics. You can join the group here: chat.whatsapp.com/EFRDXlYEdqo8WxRYApS4iN
So, British people take delight in insulting other people then, do they?
Well, here's a name we use in Australia and New Zealand for British people "WHINGING BLOODY POMS!"
the best insult i ever heard was in the Army, the Sergent stormed up to a recruit and said somewhere out there is a tree producing oxygen for you, go and find it and appologise
My favourite was "Am I hurting you? I should be.....I'm standing on your hair". 😂
I’ve heard of all of these but my favourite was a term used by a work colleague many years ago who called anyone who made a mistake a “Doughnut”. I also use nitwit, flea bag and Dunderhead.
Berk is a good one. My father used it all the time. He's a proper berk etc. It sounds quite tame until you discover that it is rhyming slang.
Berkshire Hunt.😂
I’m old enough to have heard all of those and forgotten a few more. Thanks for reminding me. 😂👍
'Muppet' was a slang insult my son used to use a lot. When someone was being clueless or stupid.
Ohhhh... My favourite subject. British English Insults... "Spanner" and "Dipstick" absolutely top of my list.
dimebar
😆
Isn’t Dipstick another Del Boy saying from Only Fools And Horses?
@@jennyaldridge4186 possible. English is not my first language, but my colleagues are making sure I'm well versed in insulting 🤣🤣🤣
Or...dipshit!!!
Jenny, yes it is used in only fools and horses
42 seconds 'Some of them are rude and could offend people', surely when insulting someone being offensive is an element of the process.
Anything can be an insult if one puts “absolute” in front of it.
“You’re an absolute turnip, ya know that?”
"Absolute shower!"
@@phaasch It works with the right emphasis: “You’re an absolute _shower,_ ya know that?!”
They won’t know what it means, but they’ll know they’re being insulted. 👌🏼
@@llamasugar5478 Oh I quite agree. I think the put-downs of that generation had a withering quality that we have lost, with our ubiquitous profanities.
@@phaasch I used to get after my kids for that. It’s not only rude, but it’s boring and reveals a sad lack of imagination. Obscenities do not make a good impression.
Scally is short for scallywag. When I was growing up in the 60s on Merseyside my Nan (a Scouser) used the longer version all the time, often about naughty children.
I use the word scallywag, never scally on its own.
Or Dodgy 😅
A word of warning. Never call a nutter a nutter if you don't want a black eye.
Love British banter, there's nothing like it. You forgot plank. My favourite is muppet. lol
You put them together and say them in your best Yorkshire accent for extra effect and then string them out 'Tha gorm-less waz-zock!'
For those who have done something silly 'Tha daft clarthead ! Or tha daft bat!
Tone of voice means everything when speaking English
Scally is just a contraction of scallywag.
And from the Black Country, comes one of the best imo, YAMPY.
I grew up with "bonkers", "off your rocker", "twit", and "daft". I grew up in Oregon, but my mother was raised in Vermont.
In Scotland we say “you’re not as green as you’re cabbage-lookin”.
A favourite saying of my mum
And 'bampot'. LOVE that one!
You missed barmpot you barmpot!
Or Bampot.
Gormless 'apeth....got that off the old man a fair bit
UK English has probably the worlds greatest capacity for the truly creative unsworn insult.
One which sticks in my mind from schooldays, because I was on the recieving end of it from my art master, is "You great cockeyed twittering lump of cheese!"
I've used it a few times myself;)
You missed out all the Scottish ones! Scunner, eejit, bampot, aff yer heid, oot the game, mingin', heid banger, and many more. And we have more words for 'drunk' than eskimos have for snow. Stotious, steamin', fu', oot the game are just a few. You haven't been insulted properly till you've been insulted by a Scot!
Sally/Chav/Billy no-mates.- They are new ones for me. I appreciate it dear Roy.
Chavs usually wear a baseball cap and a tracksuit. They are really common people. Also they very often wear gold necklaces as well.
Chavs = antisocial ones dressed in baseball cap, hooded top and tracksuit bottom (or what they call "designer jeans"), wearing eyesore trainers or just slippers with woolie socks in any season, also covered in cheap-looking colourful tattoos, not to mention the lack of personal and dental hygiene.
They also tend to drive modified cars, use/sell drugs and live off the dole.
Their female versions are "single mums" out of teenage pregnancies, the kids never knew daddy or he's in the nick.
You can put such feeling into the word pillock.
A Scally (abv. Scallywag) means Scamp. A mischievous young person. A child misbehaving. Not just in Liverpool, but was once widely used.
In Soth Africa we have the wird " skollie "... meams the same as scally.
I've heard lots of them before. I wish people stopped calling me that
To describe a complete numpty......"as much use as an ashtray on a motorcycle".
To describe a complete nutter....."as mad as a box of frogs".
"Rotter", from the Billy Bunter books (if you are old enough to have read them). "Wet", from MaggieThatcher.
I think you just described the new Labour government....
Fair enough - save the swear words for the Tories 😂
Another one : Naff.
If I remember rightly, this was the one invented by the writers of a sitcom set on the bin lorry where the men would have sworn more than the BBC were happy with.
Naff all = nothing
Naff off
It's a bit Naff
.......
I thought it was from Porridge written by Clement and La Frenais?
@@andyrushfan You're right. I knew it was invented for the purpose, there must have been another invented for the one about the bin men.
"naff" or "naffball" meant a weakling, one who complains a lot, is fearful, excessively precautionary, risk-averse and uncompetitive. A synonym is "fart" and the US equivalent would probably be "chicken".
even better when you combine them, eg . 'ee, ya daft wazzock' .. ' yer off yer rocker, ya manky chav' 😁
😂😂😂
An insult local to Portsmouth is squiny, meaning someone who moans and complains all the time.
In the army we called it "Ticking" which got elongated to "Ticking like a time bomb" or "More ticking than skippy"
During the school holidays in the 60s I travelled the country top to bottom with my dad who at the time was a lorry driver, regularly I heard him use the phrases "Tha Stupid Git", Tha Stupid Sod, Pillock, Warthog, Yer Gormless Git, or Clarthead, and if he was really annoyed "THA DOZY WAZZOCK", my dad had a way with words when some other road user did something idiotic. I'm 65 now and I still use these phrases today.
"Space Cadet" was used by a couple of folks I knew
I explained to my wife that "twit" is a term of endearment. Only when you use the adjective "f••••••" with it does the meaning change to an insult 😁
Others that have been used are: Burke, drip, Einstein (used as a sarcastic/derogatory term at someone when they suggest an idea or slow to work someth'g out/pick up on a sound idea/suggestion made by others). Dope, Prawn,
Is Bell/Knob end acceptable?
😂😂
I use "Muppet" or "you tealeaf" as well as "numpty". Not to mention "sandwich short of a picnic"
When I was a kid, we use "pranny" and I hadn't heard it for years until the late Paul Ritter used it on Friday Night Dinner to insult his kids.
I was surprised not to hear Git.
Hey Roy.
You forgot to add my favourite one ^ Mug *
It's one of mine too!
Very sweet video! We call this 'Granny swearing'! Personally I prefer more 'anglo-saxon' language myself! 😂😉
'Twit' is my favourite, followed by its saltier version! I also like 'pleb' lol
The writers of "Only Fools and Horses" very famously tried (and managed) to slip in several rude slang words that they thought they could get past the higher-ups at the BBC. Several of the insults used in the show are quite rude if you know what they mean. An interview with David Jason and other people involved with the show confirmed as much several years ago.
The word "plonker" has several meanings, but one is definitely "the male appendage". Even the OED gives the example: "to pull one's plonker." Dipstick - another insult used on the show - can also be taken to mean that, and don't even think about looking up what berk means (yet another insult used on the show).
So, "plonker" might not be as safe as the video suggests. 😆
As for "chav", that one doesn't get used much north of the border. The Scottish equivalent is "ned".
Saved me a bit of typing .
Scally is a shortened form of scallywag - a mischief maker, from the Oxford English Dictionary
Scally is contraction of scallywag. Scallywag is not confined to Merseyside.
I remember wazzock from childhood t v such as Last of the Summer Wine. Also "gert wazzock"
Scally is just a shortened version of scallywag ya dunderheid.
Gordon Bennett!
And Bloody Nora. Two of my favorites 😂😂
A few more...
Berk - short for Berkshire Hunt - Cockney rhyming slang for the C-word, but means a foolish person.
Mardy - from Yorkshire/Lancashire meaning sulky
Muppet - a foolish, ineffectual person.
Twazzock - for when wazzock isn't enough.
Grockle - a West Country term for a tourist.
In Cornwall a grockle is an emmet (ant).
My favourite is "Pillock", I often add "uttter" before "nutter", another is dip-stick and "tosser or toss-pot". Is that rude ? How about "apeth" added to daft?
Very rude . A tosser is an exponent of the " hand shandy " or " five knuckle shuffle " and a " toss pot " is a receptacle for the result , similar to a spittoon..... Often one would call a tosser in very simple terms and in polite company , a " W " .
Apeth is short for one eighth of a penny , a totally useless sum of money .
Actually toss-pot is from the 16th century, and means drunkard or heavy drinker. Ale was served in pots, and if you drank it quickly you tossed it down your throat.
@@JudithAtyeo-xn6tm Yes the archaic meaning from Middle English, but for many decades now a tosser has become associated with a wanker and both have been linked with the performing arts although relating to an obnoxious individual. The Great Bard himself and other playwrights of the period like Beaumont and Fletcher are a great source of comical English insults .
@@georgerobartes2008 True, but “Toss-Pot” itself has nothing to do with a receptacle for collecting semen as the previous comment suggested.
"You great useless spawny-eyed parrot-faced wazzock"
He had a way with words, me father
He'd been to college, you know
Silly Billy😂
Wooly back was used in the 80s mostly in Liverpool, referring to people who wore unfashionable clothes and from outside of the area .
My favorite is numpty 🧚♀️
I actually used the word 'numpty' in a UA-cam comment I posted earlier today!!!
I use wazzack all the time. I'm from Manchester, but my kids grew up down south, and they think it's a Manc word.
I'm glad to see it's not and I'm right 😊
Benny hills Chinese character saying "siree pirrock" used to crack me up😮😮. Ps what about twerp
I do agree. I love Wazzock.
Poultice. Used to describe a right idiot as in "What a poultice". Especially good when seeing a driver carry out a dangerous manoeuvre. It's often prefixed by an expletive as in "Did you see that? What an effing poultice". I use it a lot.
Oh.. div. I use that quite a bit too.
This to me is a Liverpudlian word. I taught in Liverpool in the 70s and the kids used div or divvi a lot.
Love themall and would hate see some of the old expressions lost!
Definately a favourite of mine is Berk. The are so many synonyms for idiot, there must be a reason way there are so many or am i just being a cretin.
Bonkers, daft, and twit are three that I use quite often. Daft I must of picked up from my time in England as a child, but bonkers and twit I picked up from my grampa who spent his whole life in the Appalachia mountains. Lot of English and Scottish influence. We don’t say scally but we do say scallywag usually about a young boy who can’t help but get into trouble without even trying. Nothing illegal but maybe saying something at the wrong time or getting stuck in a fence or going for a hike up the hillside and getting lost.
Yes I have heard a number of your expressions, and I live in Australia, but we did get a lot of British TV program's, back in the day...!!
Heard all these ,use all,of these and I’m all of them 😂
My grandad used to say ''cute''.. ''He's a cute un'' .meaning someone not to be trusted or slightley dogey or a lier .
From the antipodes the following are used: dropkick, as in dropped and kicked; spaz, a short form of spastic; and, no hoper, as in has no hope and never will - and may lead to an all in brawl if one is not careful.
Wazzock was the only one I had not heard before, neat word. Scally is interesting, I wonder if the Scousers just shortened scallywag.
Awesome session ..
Wouldn't Scally be an abbreviation / derivation of scallywag?
Several of these have been past down in my family and we still use most of them😂😂😂 ....and Im a third generation transplated across the Pond...here in the States😂😂😂
Git or get is one I frequently use.
My mum used to call me a duckegg, all too frequently.
Most famously used by Vera Duckworth on Coronation Street.
I've used all of them, except scally (being Yorkshire)
Scallywag is one of my favs.
Being insulting without being rude.
And in Scotland, we have glaikit, which is an extension of gormless, in that the person concerned actually looks stupid as well being it...!!
Hi, many of these are used in the land down under. We have a very English culture.
I was thinking "one insult short of a UA-cam". Sounds about right
I'm Irish, but I've heard English people use this term - 'fxckwit' (with a 'u', not 'x'). But it sounds a bit stronger than the examples in this vid !
And what was Inspector Clouseau????? Nincompoop
I KNEW 3. DAFT IS MY FAVE.
Scally is used in Chesterfield but is Scally Wag meaning dodgy person!
How about scumbag
The thing I notice is these are so many different ways to call someone an idiot or a stupid idiot or a crazy idiot.
What other language has so many words to call someone an idiot?
Hi my favourite is puppet being used in various situations. Thanks.
I like swear words best...
Of those you described, I prefer 'daft' or 'twit', and 'prat'
I don't like any of the others, I think they are silly, childish, inane, and can be compared to the prudish Americans.
And...nope, you won't see me on your next video, especially if they are all like this one.
Sincerely,
a 71 yo English woman from SE.London*
(*speaking _mainly_ with an RP accent).
I am 70. Neither prudish nor American and I used to be an English teacher. I was born in the North West, did my teacher training in Wales and now live in the Midlands. However, apart from the word scally I have used and still use,most of the words Roy mentions here. Stop being such a language snob. Language is forever changing and developing and we need to keep an open mind. If language stayed the same we'd still be talking like Chaucer.😂
Remember Plonker has a double meaning...
Scally - could that be Scallywag too?
I had to explain 'chav' to my mum. "Its basically what nan would call 'common'!
I love 'eejit' and ... I've forgotten
Chav council house and violent
Chav is small songbirds such as Robins.
I heard of scallywag, but not scally.
I am plagued with nutters on the bus.
Daft as a brush 👍🏿
I think you missed out the fact that many derogatory words are also used as terms of endearment as in “hallo you old basket case, how are you?”
"Capstick comes home"
I tend to use "chav" to describe someone who isn't well off but is wearing labeled/designer clothes and expensive garish jewellery to try to look rich and fail miserably
This may be disputed but I think 'wazzock' is an Anglicisation of the Welsh insult 'was hwch'.
This is the term for the 'gwas' or servant of the 'hwch' or sow. So a pig-man or swine-herd.
scally ain’t just used by scoucers , in london we use it but with wag added scally wag
Almost all of these are used in Maine, USA
I did not know wazzock, manky and chav ( lived in UK for 4 years).
prat is a reference to buttocks as in " prat fall "
We use Scalliwag down south (uk).
We also use ‘div’ ‘divvy’ ‘div-dar’ meaning they have done something silly or said something a bit thick.
‘Dinlow’ to mean stupid maybe uneducated.
‘Twonk’ meaning the same as twit or twat. Down south, twat doesn’t mean genitalia as it does up north. Or so I’m told.
‘He ain’t got a scooby’ to mean he is clueless and again uneducated in life
CHAV. Legend has it that this stands for: Council House And Violent
or Council House Adult Vermin. It's always sounded like a snobby middle class put down of the working classes.
@@David-mg1yj true enough
But you know one when you see one😂
It's actually Romani. Chavi or Chavo just means a child
@@eddhardy1054 Fascinating, not come across that before. Learn something every day, thanks.
Hi sometimes if things are not being run properly, quote you couldn't run a bath with a plug.