Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Barm: bread roll
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Bob: money
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Clock: punch
Cock up: mess up, make a mistake
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
DI: detective inspector
Done up to the nines: dressed up
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Early dart: to leave work early
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Fag: cigarette
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Hard nut: tough person
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Jolly: As in “on a jolly,” partying
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lorry: a truck
Mither: pester
Mobile phone: cell phone
Multistorey: Car park with several storeys
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
Naff: lame, not good
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Northern: from Northern England
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
Owt: anything
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Petrol: gasoline
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Premier League: top English soccer division
Querent: person for whom the tarot card reading is done
Rag: newspaper
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
Rock: boiled candy in cylinders, popular at seaside
Scroat: low life
Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Shedload: a large amount
Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way
Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.
SIO: senior investigating officer
Skip: a large open container used for building waste
Slapper: slag
Sod: an annoying person
Sort: to do or make
Solicitor: lawyer
Stunner: beautiful woman
Super: superintendent (police rank)
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tabloid: newspaper
Tea: Dinner (Northern English)
Till: cash register
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Torch: flashlight
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Upmarket: affluent or fancy
VAT: Value added tax, sales tax
Wash: the washing machine
Water board: company supplying water to an area
White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck
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