British English A to Z - past 11

This term means exactly the opposite of what it means in America, where to table an item is to shelve it or to postpone discussion of it, perhaps hoping it will never come up again.. T

ta thanks!

Inf Heard increasingly Americans have no corresponding informal term See

also ta-ta.

This term means exactly the opposite of what it means in America, where to table

an item is to shelve it or to postpone discussion of it, perhaps hoping it will never

come up again In Britain lay on the table means postpone indefinitely.

Expense money issued to officials who must entertain clients

Good tack is good eating Synonymous with tuck.

Taffy, n Welshman

One of those objectionable nicknames (e.g., Paddy, Paki).

tail See top and tail

Follow closely

tailcoat, n cutaway

Also, begin to dislike.

Inf It takes me all my time to pay for the food means It’s all I can do to pay for the food

Thus, He’s so fat it takes him all his time to get up the stairs.

take a scunner at (against), Slang take a dislike to

2 Slang take (cheat)

Inf A term taken from cricket; synonymous with bat first.

t

h

take in charge arrest

See under charge-sheet.

When a child is taken from its parents who are deemed unfit, in America the

authorities are said to take custody of the child In Britain, the child is taken into

care.

The British form is followed by the infinitive of the verb, the American form by a

gerund Thus in Britain two good friends of a sick man would take it in turns to sit

by his bedside, while in America they would take turns sitting there.

Inf Catch on is used in Britain as well.

I take your point rather than the American I see your point or I get your point.

Become a Q.C., Queen’s Counsel, or K.C., King’s Counsel, both specially recognized

barristers The title depends upon the sex of the sovereign The word silk, by

itself in this context, denotes such a counsel, thus: John Jones, a silk, accepted the

brief (i.e., took the case) The silk is the robe worn to replace the ordinary robe

worn by other than a Q.C or K.C

Slang As in That takes the biscuit! To surpass all others, especially in stupidity,

cheek, impudence, effrontery, and the like

take the mickey out of Inf act disrespectfully toward

Aggressively undermine someone’s self-confidence Also, take the mick out of; take

the piss out of.

take the piss out of See take the mickey out of.

Inf From the days when the Recruiting Sergeant gave the new recruit a shilling,

known as the King’s (or Queen’s) shilling.

take (make) up the running take the lead; set the pace

A racing term, often used figuratively of, e.g., participants in a conversation who

seem to compete with one another in their exchange

Inf To be in a taking is to be upset, to be having a fit of anger or nerves An

old-fashioned idiom

takings, n pl revenue

takings 361

The term is applied mostly to small businesses, e.g shops and market stalls, and

most often to the money taken in a single day’s business

Both terms used in both countries

talk the hind leg off a donkey Inf talk a blue streak

Inf Or off an iron pot.

talk through (out of) the back of one’s neck Inf Inf talk through one’s hat

With never an end in sight

A tally plan or tally system was the method by which a tally shop, owned or

ser-viced by a tallyman or tallywoman, operated a retail business accommodating

needy customers who could not pay cash, the accounts being recorded in a pair

of matching books, one for each party, and usually paid weekly without billing

In depressed areas, the practice has given way to regular installment buying,

called hire-purchase, or more popularly the never-never, in Britain.

Inf A proprietary name gone generic.

tap, n faucet

Tap (as a noun) is heard in America, faucet is also heard in Britain But Americans

speak of tap-water, never faucet-water.

Slang One who has it all taped has thought of everything, and provided for all

contingencies; he’s got it all worked out, and buttoned down.

taplets See shares.

tap stocks See shares.

tardy adj sluggish

Also has the American meaning of ‘late.’

1 In America tarmac refers to the bituminous binder used in the making of tar

roads Tarmac started out as a trademark for a binder for road surfaces, but now

generally refers to any bituminous road surface binder It is a shortening of tar

macadam, which in America describes a pavement built by pressing a tar binder

over crushed stone, and in Britain a ‘prepared tar concrete poured and shaped on

362 talent-spotter

a roadway to construct a hard surface.’ As a transitive verb, tarmac means to tar a

road See also macadam.

2 Tarmac has now acquired the specialized meaning of ‘air-field,’ especially the

part made of this material

2 loose woman

1 What Americans think of when they recall Mom’s apple pie or cherry pie

would often be an apple tart or cherry tart in Britain For the meanings of British

pie see pie.

2 Favorite epithet of jealous wives on the way home from a party at which their

husbands have looked longingly at another female

Slang Often applied to interior decoration, and almost invariably pejorative,

indicating that the décor was gaudy, and possibly tawdry as well He had his digs

tarted up by a Knightsbridge designer Also used in reference to writing style: She

writes a dreadfully tarted up prose Overdone is the adjective that comes to mind, but

perhaps it is stronger than that

Inf (First a as in hat, second as in hah, stress more or less equal) Such baby-talk

is heard among adult cockneys, as is ta.

Slang The lowly potato, always welcome at the dinner table.

2 v.i fritter away one’s time

1 n., Slang The décor of the apartment was lovely and without tatt.

2 v.i., Slang Do more or less useless jobs just to pass the time.

Especially in Scotland

tatty, adj., Inf shabby

See grotty.

taws, n lash

A thong, cut into narrow strips at the end, used for chastising children Also

tawse A Scottish word.

taxman, n Inf the Inland Revenue

Or any of its employees, especially those whose job it is to deal directly with

taxpayers

An example of this tax usage: V.A.T (value added tax) on certain items went up

from 8 percent to 25 percent May 1, 1975 An order for such an item is given April

25 for delivery May 2 You pay 25 percent, says the tax office: the tax point is the

delivery date, not the date of the order

In Britain, one drinks afternoon tea at about 4:00 p.m., taken with biscuits, bread

and jam, scones, and the like But tea also covers an evening meal consisting of

tea 363

a light supper Tea in this sense is heard primarily among the working class and

children, and is really short for high tea.

teach someone’s grandmother to suck eggs instruct an expert

Slang To attempt to instruct or advise someone more experienced than oneself,

or to try to educate an expert on a matter within his field—like telling Albert

Ein-stein how to approach the matter of relativity

The member of the staff at the office or shop who makes and brings around the

tea at 11:00 a.m., and 4:00 p.m There will be a biscuit or two as part of the

offer-ing It is considered good practice to suspend business discussion during the

cer-emony Occasionally tea gives way to coffee, but the functionary in question will

never be called the coffee lady This job, like the relaxed style of office life in which

it plays a role, is increasingly rare

Slang The strip is a noncommissioned officer’s stripe The expression, in military

circles, suggests demotion for a misdemeanor

Inf The term does not necessarily imply a bad character A tearaway is a wild

youngster, a cut-up, who is probably going to straighten out in time

Inf “It was quite a tease,” said the Mr Fixit, explaining why it took so long and

cost so much for what had at first seemed the simple job of repairing the lawn

mower

1 On a baby bottle

2 The rubber bulb of a medicine dropper.

Mostly designed for drying dishes Also referred to as a washing-up cloth.

teetotalist See TT.

Both functions are served in both countries, which somehow assign different

pri-orities to the respective wires

telephone box See call-box; kiosk.

(Accent on the second syllable.)

Also, goggle-box See also have square eyes.

Hotel term

364 teach someone’s grandmother to suck eggs

ten See under twenty.

tenner, n sawbuck

Inf A ten-pound note (bill).

term, n trimester

Term, in the British system, and semester and trimester in the American, are the

respective designations for fixed parts of the school year To complicate matters

still further, terms often have quite different names in different British

institu-tions As only one example, the three eight-week terms at Oxford are called

Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity At Cambridge they are Michaelmas, Lent, and

Easter Half-term is a brief vacation occurring about midway through the term in

most British schools.

terminus, n terminal

A railroad or bus term The British, however, use terminal to refer to the city

cen-ter where one picks up the bus to the airport

A specialized British use of the word A terrace house is known as a row house in

America See semi-detached.

Used only of a sports arena Sometimes terracing.

Test See Test Match.

test bed, n proving-ground

Literally, an iron framework for resting machinery being tested

This is principally a cricket term, now also applied to rugger A Test Match, e.g.,

between England and Australia, has about the same importance in England as

the World Series in America The English team is always referred to as the England

side, never the English side; but the Australians are always referred to as the

Aus-tralian side, the West Indians as the West Indian side, etc Test Match is often

short-ened to Test: thus, What happshort-ened in the Melbourne Test? See also cricket.

Describing the extreme free-marketeering policies of Margaret Thatcher, prime

minister from 1979 to 1990, and of those who have followed her beliefs The

closest comparison in recent American politics would be Reaganite, and Lady

Thatcher and President Reagan were close ideological allies

that cock won’t fight that excuse (plea, plan) won’t work

Slang Often that’s just the job!

that’s the job! 365

that’s torn it! Slang that does it!

Slang Said in exasperation when things have gone wrong.

Short for operating-theatre; a theatre sister is an operating-room nurse; a confinement

theatre is a labor room See comments under lint and sister.

A bit of friendly jocularity Then? at the end of a sentence is little more than

punc-tuation “Been doing a bit of work, then?” says the gardener to the boss as he

notes a weeding job done in his absence “Off on a holiday, then?” says your rustic

neighbor, as he strolls by and catches sight of you lugging a valise to your car

As in, There’s a good boy.

Inf Once he’s made up his mind, there’s no shifting it Seems to be used only in the

negative

Rarely heard nowadays

thick, adj Inf dull and stupid

And someone who is dull and stupid could be called a thicko or a thicky As thick

as two short planks is a standard insult.

Inf Often used to mean ‘short of help,’ ‘understaffed.’

The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) broadcasts four different radio

pro-grams, Radio 1, 2, 3, and 4, in addition to two television propro-grams, BBC 1 and BBC

2 In the early days, there were only three radio programs, known as the First,

Sec-ond and Third Programmes The last-named maintained a higher intellectual and

artistic level than the other two, so that to be Third Programme was to be something

of an intellectual, or to have leanings in that direction, and to be interested and

more or less versed in the arts Now it’s Radio 3 for the highbrows.

2 v.t scold

Heard in Scotland and the North of England

three-star See four-star.

366 that’s torn it!

Throgmorton Street approx Inf Wall Street; the market

Inf A street in the City of London whose name is used as a nickname for the

Lon-don Stock Exchange, and the securities fraternity and their activities generally, just

as nearby Mincing Lane is used for the wholesale tea business The British often

use the term the City to denote the financial community as a whole See City.

throstle, n song-thrush

2 still in contention

1 This meaning is restricted to telephone operator usage Thus, You’re through!

means ‘Your party is on the line!’ or ‘You’re connected!’ When a British telephone

operator says You’re through! it sounds about as grim to an American as Your time

is up! must sound to a Briton In Britain the operator does not tell you when your

time is up; instead there are three short beeps on a long distance call or a series of

rapid pips on a local call from a pay station No pips when you dial directly from

a private telephone

2 This meaning relates to elimination competitions in sports, called knock-outs

in Britain Thus (in cricket): In the North, Yorkshire and Lancashire are through That

means that they are ‘still alive’ in American sports parlance Through, in

Ameri-can English, would more likely be taken to mean the exact opposite: ‘finished,’

‘eliminated.’

To throw a wobbly is to express anger or uncertainty about something It is akin to

having a temper tantrum: He threw a wobbly when he heard about the escalating

build-ing costs But it may also connote anxiety about somethbuild-ing: When he learned that he

would have to ride bareback, he threw a wobbly.

throw one’s bonnet (cap) over the windmill throw caution to the winds

Evokes the Victorian atmosphere of a young lady involved in an impetuous

elopement; but this expression is current usage

Referring to adding an extension to a structure: to throw out a wing, thus

enlarg-ing a buildenlarg-ing or a room The British also talk of throwenlarg-ing out a pier, i.e., buildenlarg-ing

one out into the water

In both cases, it’s the sponge or the towel that is thrown up signaling defeat.

Inf Rarely used by itself to mean ‘enormous,’ as in a thumping lie; usually in

com-bination with great or big; a thumping great feast Thumping good means the same

thing: a thumping good victory is an overwhelming one.

The Thunderer Inf The Times

The London newspaper, that is

Inf In the sense of ‘extremely’—a thundering good actor; a thundering good piece

of mutton An old-fashioned word

thundering 367

thunder-mug, n chamber pot

Slang The commode that may contain it used to be referred to as a thunder-box

Like the commodities in question, the terms are not common but are heard now

and then

A nautical term for a meteorological phenomenon to give one pause

tick, v.t., v.i check

Please tick where appropriate, seen in instructions for filling out a form or on an

advertisement coupon A tick list is a check list But see on tick; tick off.

tick, half a See half a tick.

tick, on See on tick.

ticket-of-leave, n parole

A ticket-of-leave man is a prisoner who has served part of his sentence.

Tailor’s term

Slang Also spelled tiggerty-boo All right.

Inf A delicate situation; a tricky problem.

2 tell off

See tick.

Referring to a car or other engine Extended metaphorically, for example, to

office or business routine: When he’s away on holiday, things just tick over (activity

slows down)

Inf An arm-movement signaling system used by tic-tac men at racetracks to flash

the changing odds to resident bookies

tiddler, n minnow

Inf This word is sometimes used informally as an epithet for little creatures, like

kittens and children, and can even be stretched to cover abstractions, like clues

“We haven’t found a tiddler yet,” says the police investigator, meaning, “We

haven’t found even the most trifling clue.”

Formerly, a word meaning ‘a drink.’

368 thunder-mug

tidy, adj neat

A matter of preference Tidy is not heard much in America except, perhaps, among

genteel older ladies It is common in Britain keep kent tidy appeared on signs all

over that lovely county A sign reading please park tidily sometimes adorns the

parking lot (car park) outside a pub Tidy-minded means ‘logical,’ ‘methodical.’

This word has different meanings in Britain depending upon the noun it

modi-fies A tied cottage was one occupied by a farm worker at a nominal or no rent, as

a perquisite of his job; but he was not protected by the Rent Act covering most

ordinary tenants and making it virtually impossible for landlords to evict them

If he lost his job, he lost his cottage This semi-feudal system has been abolished,

and agricultural workers enjoy the protection of the Rent Act A tied garage is one

that serves one company exclusively A tied house is a pub affiliated with a

par-ticular brewery and serving only that brewery’s brand of beer and ale It is the

opposite of a free house.

tie-pin, n stickpin

Synonymous with breast-pin.

tiffin, n., v.i lunch

Of Anglo-Indian origin, meaning ‘light meal.’ Also used as a verb, ‘take a light

meal.’

2 tag

1 A tizzy in Britain was slang for sixpence (now no longer used; see Appendix

II.A) The British use tizzy (in the sense of ‘state of agitation’) the way Americans

do See also tizzy.

2 The children’s game, so called from its primary meaning: a light touch Tag is

used as well

tiggerty-boo See tickety-boo.

tights, n pl pantyhose

A term borrowed from the ballet world A British saleswoman (shop assistant)

would understand pantyhose but she and the customer would normally say tights.

Describing country houses, the roofs and sides of which are shingled with

red-dish-brown clay tiles, usually square or rectangular, occasionally rounded at the

bottom or top

2 cash register

1 In expressions of duration of time Till (or until) a certain hour or date, in

Brit-ain, means ‘through,’ or, in the awkward American phrase, ‘to and including.’ At

times, however, till doesn’t literally mean ‘through.’ Thus, He’ll be away till Sunday

might mean ‘He’ll return some time in the course of Sunday.’ Further questioning

is needed to clear up the ambiguity See also Appendix I.A.1.

till 369

timber, n lumber

In America timber means ‘standing trees,’ but the British use the term the way

Americans use lumber However, see lumber for British use of that word.

Inf The full phrase is: Time, gentlemen, please! See during hours Pub terminology

Closing time is at hand

Overtime expression

time-limit, n deadline

The Times see comment

The Times of London.

timetable, n schedule

In British schools the list of periods and subjects is called a timetable as is the case

with train schedules etc The Americans refer to it as the schedule.

tin, n can

A food container; and naturally the British say tin-opener, tinned food, etc.

Not much seen any more except for a mender of pots and pans In Ireland, the

word is used informally as an approximate equivalent of gypsy.

Inf The cuss is slang for curse, of which damn is only one example The British use

damn, and sometimes even curse, in this connection The thought is that tinkers

are free with their cussing

Inf As in, Give me a tinkle when you’re next in town.

Slang Heard in America in the derogatory expression ‘tinpot politician’ or ‘tinpot

gambler.’

A short, tinned iron tack

tip, n., v.t., v.i dump

The British tip their refuse into a refuse tip Americans dump their garbage into a

garbage dump A tip-truck is a dump truck An American might well be mystified at

the sight of a sign out in open country reading no tipping

tipped, adj favored

As in tipped to win the election (or the high jump); or tipped as the next Prime Minister

Applied to cigarettes, tipped would mean only ‘filter tip.’

370 timber