Uttered by U.K. blogger Katyboo, whom my pal Bonnie and I met up with today in London for fun and food and wine: drunked out.
Used in a sentence: "Yeah, my mate went to college for a while, but then she drunked out."
(word of the day/phrase of the day: I highlight a word or phrase, especially new coinages or clever usages, that tickles me)
Seen on all the best London menus: afters.
As in "puddings," "sweets," or -- as we Americans say -- "desserts."
(word of the day/phrase of the day: I highlight a word or phrase, especially new coinages or clever usages, that tickles me)
Seen all over London on ads, and heard in all the best corner convenience stores: top-up.
Pay-as-you-go mobile phones are far more popular here than they are in the States -- where almost everyone pays monthly, and has a contract with penalties for trying to get out of it in less than two years. So when you need to do what Americans might call "refilling" your balance, the Brits pop into a grocery store -- or almost any kind of store that sells basics like candy, newspapers, food, cigarettes, etc. -- to "top-up": You pay the clerk your £10 or whatever and you get a receipt with a serial number you use to call into your account and add the amount to your balance.
You can also top-up your Oyster card (your pay-as-you-go mass transit travel card), and I've seen the term used in a playful way to sell food: One KFC ad suggest that you "Top yourself up for £1.49."
I love the word for the bouncy, cheery way it pops off your tongue. It's actually kinda fun to walk up to a Sainbury's till (or register, for mono-English) and ask for an "Orange top-up." (Orange is my mobile provider.)
(word of the day/phrase of the day: I highlight a word or phrase, especially new coinages or clever usages, that tickles me)
Heard all around London, even in polite conversation: loo.
As in, the W.C., the toilet, the restroom, the john, the head, the necessary, etc.
Most amusingly, loo appears to be the best word to ask an etymologist about if you want to really piss him off, for there are many fanciful and amusing theories about the derivation of the word, but no one knows for sure whence it sprang.
(word of the day/phrase of the day: I highlight a word or phrase, especially new coinages or clever usages, that tickles me)
Coined by my friend Bonnie-Ann Black: bi-English.
As in, fluent in both American English and British English.
The Brits in London -- where Bonnie and I are traveling at the moment -- seem to find it amusing when we explain that they don't need to adjust their slang, because we're "bi-English."
(word of the day/phrase of the day: I highlight a word or phrase, especially new coinages or clever usages, that tickles me)
