This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2474, Classic and Common British Slang with Anna Tyree.
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Today, our guest Anna shares four British slang phrases that will help you in your next English conversation.
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Hello, Anna.
Welcome to All Ears English.
How are you today?
Welcome back to All Ears English.
I think you've been on the show a few times in the past.
How are you?
I'm good.
It's a pleasure to be back with you, Lindsay.
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely.
We always have fun collaborating together.
And I think a lot of our listeners already know you and some listeners will be excited to learn about you.
So I'm going to take just a minute to read your bio for our audience.
So listeners, today I have Anna Tyree.
Is that the correct pronunciation?
Tyree?
Tyree, like diary, but with a T. I remembered when you told me last time, the diary.
So Anna here is here on the show.
Anna is a British pronunciation coach, an English teacher, and the founder of English Like a Native.
Through her courses, YouTube channel and popular podcast, she guides adult learners to achieve English fluency and to speak with confidence.
One more time.
Glad you're here, Anna.
Thank you.
Glad to be here.
Yeah.
So today we're getting into a very important topic which I think still eludes a lot of our listeners at the B1, B2 level, which is slang.
And more specifically today, we're going to look at some classic and common British slang.
Anna, where are you from?
Where are you based in the world?
Okay I'm from England.
I was born in the north of England but slowly over my life I've moved further and further south and now I am just outside of London, which I'm sure many people listening will know where London is.
So that's where I am.
I'm in the south of England.
Yeah, I was just in London last, well, two months ago in May for the podcast conference.
So I really enjoyed getting to know the city.
And do you enjoy living in the city of London or just outside the city?
It's a double edged sword, Lindsay.
I love the convenience and the opportunity and the energy that the city brings.
But then it also comes with a high price tag.
It comes with pollution and just having to queue for everything, having to deal with people everywhere all the time.
And sometimes I feel the need to escape.
I go out to the country and get some fresh air, you know?
Yeah, that's totally understandable.
And that leads to a question that maybe we'll have to have you on another time to talk about specific slang, just in London.
I mean, I'm sure there are words that are just used in the city of London, but we'll talk about that another day.
Let's get into today's topic, which is, like I said, the classic and common British slang.
So today you are going to show us, I believe, four different pieces of British slang that that our listeners should know.
But first, Anna, why should we care about slang?
Why should we try to learn slang and use slang?
Well, it's a really good question, Lindsay.
Slang is kind of the language that's used in the day-to-day.
It's what many native speakers will use in general chit, chat and conversation, and it's not completely informal either.
Although you think about slang as being quite an informal language that you would only use with your close friends, when in fact slang can be used when talking to tradesmen, when in a conversation with someone at work.
You know it's not perhaps what you'd put in an official email as a business to a customer, but it's definitely used more often than maybe people think.
So it's quite important for that kind of natural flow to feel authentic and for also for learners not to feel completely lost when they have learned the textbook English and then they are faced with a native throwing slang phrases at them.
Yes.
They might feel lost if they don't know what's being said, you know?
Absolutely.
And very demotivating to have spent a lot of time learning English.
And then all these other words come at us and we just were not able to connect.
So it sounds like what you're saying is it is the root of connection, right?
It is the way, whether that's in the business-spoken business world or informal at parties, socializing.
Okay.
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Let's get into the ones that you've chosen to present to our audience today.
What would be the first one that we can teach our audience today on the show?
Okay, so I'm going to start with quite a long phrase, and there's a few things in this phrase that I want to highlight, and it is to pop the kettle on and have a brew.
To pop the kettle on and have a brew.
So I might say to you, hey, Lindsay, come on in.
I'm just going to pop the kettle on and have a brew.
Would you like one?
Absolutely.
How should I respond to that in very typical British slang?
Just yes, right?
I will come.
Oh, I love a brew.
I'm spitting feathers.
There's an idiom that you might use.
I'm spitting feathers, which means I'm very thirsty.
So funny.
It's so funny how many unique British slang terms I mean as a native English speaker from the US.
I've never heard of them.
Right.
And that's one of them.
So to pop the kettle on and have a brew.
Yeah.
So so does this what does this point to this slang?
Is it the importance of tea?
Is it socializing?
What is the value in British culture that this slang points to?
Well, brew is a really common term in the UK because we are a nation of tea lovers.
And the way we drink our tea is quite specific, I believe.
We have English breakfast tea with milk, sometimes sugar, not really with lemon.
I know in different countries tea is taken in different ways, but we tend to have milk, sometimes sugar not me, because I'm very careful with my sugar intake.
But brew is very specifically for tea, not for any other hot drink as well.
So that's a really important point to take on board that if someone offers you a brew, would you like a brew?
I'm just boiling the kettle, then you know they're not offering you coffee, they're offering you tea.
So if you're not a tea drinker, you might say, Oh, do you have any coffee?
Actually, and they might have some in the cupboard.
Is that is that acceptable to ask for that to ask for coffee when you're invited for tea?
Now we're really getting into culture here.
Absolutely.
I think as long as you approach everything with an air of kindness and you know your polite phrases not being expectant or too blunt, then everything is acceptable.
Got it.
And when during the day is the most common?
So this would be said in the morning, the afternoon, the evening.
When are we most likely?
Is it afternoon tea typically that people are invited to?
It really depends.
The morning brew is quite important for many people, although I know that as a culture where we are shifting more towards coffee in the morning.
Oh, really?
Like we've normally been a tea drinking nation from morning till night.
But we tend to follow you guys in the States slowly about five or 10 years later, whatever kind of is trending in America tends to slowly come over here.
And I've definitely seen a shift in the last decade away from tea in the morning to having coffee in the morning.
Interesting.
Yeah, we drink tea all day long.
I mean, afternoon tea is quite a specific thing as well.
Then that comes with if you go for a traditional afternoon tea that comes with cake and sandwiches.
It's a whole thing.
Yes, I've heard of that.
They call it high tea, right?
Or is that just high tea?
Yeah, that's that's one way of referring to it.
But afternoon tea, if you booked an afternoon tea, then you can do that in many different places.
But can I point to something else in this phrase?
It's the word pop, to pop.
Now we use this all the time.
So pop often replaces the verbs go and put.
So if it's replacing go, for example, I'd say, I'm just popping to the shops.
Do you need anything?
Yes, I'm so glad you highlighted that, Anna.
That is a very uniquely British verb and way of using that verb.
I hear that a lot when I watch British sitcoms or on movies.
It's really interesting.
So the other ways we use it, you said, are to go somewhere.
Yeah, for going somewhere or replacing put.
So I might say...
Pop this jacket on and see if it fits, or I just need to pop the cakes into the oven and then I can relax.
So put on or put in.
Yeah.
Go.
Yeah.
And it just means to do it quickly.
That's the idea to pop.
If I'm popping to the shops, then I would expect to be back within a few minutes.
Like if it's the corner shop, I would expect to be home in 10 minutes.
If my partner were to say to me, hey, I'm just popping out.
I'll be back soon.
Or I'm just popping to the shop.
Then if he's not home in 10 minutes, I'm going to be phoning him going, where on earth are you?
I thought you said you were popping to the shop.
Okay.
So it's a very specific verb.
It means something very specific.
You'll be right back or this thing is going to happen quickly and easily.
Interesting.
That's very uniquely British.
We do not use that.
I mean, we know the verb in American English, but we definitely don't use it in that way.
So I love it.
All right.
Excellent.
Let's move on to the next one, Anna.
What's the next one you'd like to share today?
Okay.
This is a fun one.
I like this one a lot and it is to faff.
Now, to faff, F-A-F-F, can also be a phrasal verb, faff about or faff around or simply faff.
Now faff on its own means to do well, either way, as a phrasal verb or simply as a verb, it means to do lots of things, to be busy with something.
Okay.
But that's ineffective.
Don't want to be someone who's faffing around.
Um, if you want to get things done for example, if you are in an emergency situation and you phone the emergency operator and they're faffing around on the other end trying to find their pen to record your emergency or faffing around doing something else while taking your call that's not going to be ideal, because you need them to be focused and they're not going to achieve anything and they're wasting time.
Right, so to faff.
Do you faff lindsey, ever?
Oh yes, i was going to ask you this.
When it comes to running a business and having a big email inbox, i feel like i'm often faffing around.
Right, it's one thing i need to do, i start that thing and then ding, here comes another thing i need to do and i start that thing and i'm faffing around quite a bit, quite a bit easily distracted, Easily distracted.
Yes.
What about you?
Is there any aspect of your life where you find yourself faffing?
Is it faffing about or faffing around?
You can use both.
And there's no, as far as I understand, there's no real difference.
They're completely interchangeable.
If you, well, for me, I'm very busy all the time.
I struggle to sit still.
I like to feel like I'm being productive.
So sometimes I'll find myself with 10 minutes to spare.
And maybe in those 10 minutes before I have to do the next thing, maybe picking up the children from school and maybe at work I can't achieve anything in 10 minutes.
So I start, Here's another phrasal verb.
I start pottering about.
Oh, that's another unique one.
That's a good one.
Moving around the house, looking for some faff.
That's not the right way to use it, but looking to faff about.
And I might start moving a few things around, maybe doing a little dusting, but not a full job.
And just looking through some paperwork, just faffing about.
Yeah.
My partner often gives me a hard time when we're trying to leave the house.
Now he says that what I'm doing is faffing around while he's waiting outside saying come on, we need to go.
Yes.
But what are you doing?
You're preparing, getting ready.
I think what I'm doing is very important.
I'm going through the checklist.
Do we have the sun cream, the hats, the coats?
Do we have snacks?
Very important when you've got kids.
Have we filled up the water bottles?
Sure.
Or do I need a spare set of clothes just in case?
Like for me, that's not faffing, but he says I'm faffing.
Isn't that interesting how two people could see the world so differently, right?
That he would see that as faffing.
Fascinating.
I love that.
It reminds me of my parents when I was growing up.
It was the same thing.
My mom would take ages to leave the house.
And my dad was always in the car ready to go.
And we were in the car with him and we're all like, what is she doing?
But it's often the mom who is really there making sure all that.
You know.
The T's are dotted, T's are crossed and the I's are dotted right.
Yeah, she is the oil in the machine, keeps everything running smoothly.
I love it.
I love it.
So faff about there's that is very uniquely a British phrase.
All right.
What would be the next one, Anna?
Let's move on.
OK, so if this is again, this is an adjective and it is to call something a bit naff.
So like faff, but with an N, a bit naff.
Have you heard this phrase before?
Yes, this one I've heard, but I wouldn't know what it means or how to use it.
So it means that something is basically poor quality or not very good.
So I might describe a film as being a bit naff or a party could be naff.
Or perhaps if you buy a remote control car for your nephew for a birthday and you say, was it okay?
It was on offer.
I'm not sure I didn't spend much money, was it okay?
And they might respond with I'm sorry, it was a good idea, but it was actually a bit naff.
It broke quite quickly or it doesn't run for very long before the batteries run out.
It's a bit naff.
I see so something that's kind of low quality, either physically low quality or just not not good, not good enough.
Doesn't meet your expectations.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like I really enjoyed the time traveler's wife, the story of the time traveler's wife.
I read the book and I don't know if it's because I read the book first, but once I read the book and loved it, when I saw the film I was disappointed.
I thought the film was a bit naff.
It didn't tell the story in the way I had hoped it would.
I think there's very few movies that are as good as their counterpart, as their books.
I can't think of very many at all.
Usually it's a disappointment.
The Lord of the Rings, I felt, did a good job.
But there was a lot cut out, of course, because the books were so long.
But the films were epic.
But I think generally it's we're going off on a tangent here, but I think generally it's because your experience of the book is your own mind and imagination, whereas a film is someone else's vision. which is kind of more fun to make up your own ideas of how this person looks and what happens.
I think there's a sense of disappointment when it's put into a film and a director has decided that's what this person looks like.
That's what happens here.
Fascinating.
So a bit naff.
Good to know.
And then the last one, I also have heard it, but I'd like to know more.
OK, so the last one is to be gobsmacked, gobsmacked.
That is a big word.
It is a big word and it's a great word.
In the UK, the word gob, if you've heard that on its own, is also slang for mouth.
Interestingly, I would think that the word gob is actually quite crass, not a swear word in any way, but a bit crass.
I wouldn't say gob.
I wouldn't say, I mean, I wouldn't say shut your mouth anyway.
It's not a nice thing to say to someone, but I certainly wouldn't say shut your gob.
I might say to my children, shut your mouth while you're eating.
I don't want to see your food.
I would never use the word gob.
However, the word gobsmacked doesn't feel the same.
It doesn't feel bad or crass in any way.
Gobsmacked it's if gob is mouth.
I always think of gobsmacked being that reaction when something shocks you.
You open your mouth and you cover it with your palm and go oh right, it's almost like you're smacking yourself in the mouth.
In that reaction where you cover an open mouth, which i don't understand as a human reaction right, we open our mouth in shock and then i don't know.
Great question, So what kinds of things?
Would we say this?
What kinds of moments would we use this then?
Any time that you are like, Really shocked.
And this could be positive or negative.
So it could be shocked at winning the lottery, or shocked at being picked for the team or passing your exam.
You know, shocked when someone misses a penalty.
Got it.
And then would you say I'm gobsmacked right now?
Would you say that?
Or would you say that about someone else?
Is it more directed?
I think if someone asks you how you're feeling about something, then you could just say I'm gobsmacked.
And yeah, for me as well.
If I say to someone I'm gobsmacked, it's like I'm saying I don't have the words.
I'm I'm gobsmacked.
I don't know what to say.
I'm gobsmacked.
I'm so utterly shocked.
I have no other words because I'm gobsmacked.
I can't talk.
My mouth has been smacked.
I'm gobsmacked.
I like it.
It's very visual, it's very clear.
I think in American English we might say I'm stunned, right.
Something like that.
I'm stunned.
I'm astounded.
But we don't have, I don't think we really have an idiom to express that in such a fun way.
So I appreciate that about British English.
It's very strong.
Very strong.
Wonderful.
This has been great.
Thank you for these four idioms or expressions or pieces of slang.
Anna, do you have any final pieces of advice for our listeners on how to actually learn slang?
Any piece of wisdom you can give us here?
I think always with any kind of language learning is the more exposure you can get, the faster you'll learn and the more output you'll achieve.
Your brain is an incredible piece of kit.
And even if you don't actively sit there writing lists and looking at the language, just by exposure you can pick up a lot more than you realize.
And so with things like slang and kind of common use language, I would say make sure you're getting enough exposure, whether through dramas.
For British English, you might want to look at soap operas.
They might be a little bit.
You know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but soap operas do contain lots of slang and lots of common use language, and sitcoms as well.
If you can make an effort to add that to your general list of exposure to the language, then you're going to be on the right track.
Excellent.
A lot of content out there.
And now, with the internet, there's so much that we could consume, including Netflix and all these other ways to find great series right.
Local information, local slang.
I love it.
Anna, where can our listeners find you online?
Tell us a little bit more about your podcast.
Yeah, so with my podcast, we actually cover a lot of vocabulary.
My aim is to introduce as much vocabulary in a fun way as possible.
And we stream five days of the working week.
So, whatever platform you normally stream from, if you just look for the English Like a Native podcast, then you should find me.
I'm also on YouTube.
Excellent.
Well, thank you for being on the show today.
Hope to have you back again very soon for another collaboration together.
All right.
Thank you, Anna.
Take care.
Bye.
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