28 British Slang Terms You Should Know

Welcome to Britain, where the food is heavy and the slang is almost completely impenetrable. It should be easy—Britain exported the English language, after all—but there are so many regional quirks that never made it beyond the borders that things can get quite tricky for the non-locals.

If you want to know what's going on when you re-watch Harry Potter, or when you see Drake on Insta pretending to be a north London roadman, this list of words should help.

1. Bollocks: literally, testicles. Colloquially, a general expression of annoyance or distaste.

1. Cob: a bread roll.

1. Bap: a bread roll.

1. Barm: a bread roll.

1. Kecks: a bread rol—hang on, no, trousers. It's trousers.

1. Knackered: tired, but very. It can also mean worn-out or damaged.

1. Bladdered: drunk. Insert any noun, add ed on the end of it, and it means "drunk" if you give it the right emphasis. The British have a lot of words for being drunk.

1. Punter: This one has a few meanings and it's fairly important not to mix them up. It can be used to describe paying customers, usually as part of a crowd or audience, or it can be someone who's gambling (i.e. someone who's having a punt, or bet). The third meaning? A sex worker's client. Seriously, don't get them mixed up.

1. Owt: something.

1. Nowt: nothing.

1. Gutted: incredibly disappointed.

1. Bird: A woman, usually in the 18-40 age range. Except don't actually use it, because you'll sound a) like a dad and b) sexist.

1. Peas: money.

1. Bare: lots of, as in "man's making bare peas."

1. Hench: muscular.

1. Tory: a member of the British Conservative Party, used casually in a slightly demeaning way to denote a posh person.

1. Offie: short for off-license; a shop that can sell alcohol for consumption off the premises. Similar to a liquor store, but usually has a greater variety of non-alcohol products.

1. Tosser: a casual insult, equivalent to jerk-off.

1. Pillock: a stupid person. Originally meant "penis," but barely anyone remembers that.

1. Cwtch: an incredibly Welsh term for a hug (pronounced "kutch," as if it rhymes with "butch.") Specifically, a nice, cozy hug that makes you feel all warm inside, like from your nan or something.

1. Pants: underwear, not trousers.

1. Fiver: a five-pound note. See also: tenner, but not twentier. That would be silly.

1. Skint: broke, no money. A distinct lack of fivers and tenners.

1. Chuffed: very happy, for example at not being skint after a windfall of fivers and tenners.

1. Peng: good, or (of a person) attractive. "She's a peng ting [thing]." Other British slang words for attractive include fit, lush, a sort, piff, buff, leng.

1. Pissed: drunk. Again—a lot of words for drunk.

1. Fancy Dress: not "dressing fancy." Kind of the opposite—if you're being invited to a fancy dress party, you're being invited to a costume party.

1. Roadman: Generally someone from London, characterized by heavy use of London-centric slang (modern, not cockney), full matching tracksuits, expensive trainers (sneakers, in American), and hanging around outside shops on street corners.