British English A to Z - past 6

A jam sandwich in Britain can mean what it does in America, but it is also a term used to mean the kind of layer cake that has preserves between the layers.. Jelly is used in Britain as

jack, v.t Inf steal

Abbr of ‘highjack.’

A man who is independent and sly, and who looks out for himself There might

be an implication of impropriety, but rarely enough to call for outright moral

con-demnation Operator is an approximate American equivalent

Jag, n Inf Jaguar car

Slang Archaic word for outhouse, toilet.

jam, n treat

Slang A real jam is British slang for a real treat A jam sandwich in Britain can mean

what it does in America, but it is also a term used to mean the kind of layer cake

that has preserves between the layers See also jam sandwich.

jam, money for See money for jam.

jam on it See have jam on it.

Slang So named because the vehicles have been white with a red stripe along the

middle, suggesting jam between two slices of white bread Cf panda car; Z-car.

Easy enough to promise jam, harder to provide it

Sometimes spelled Janite Not an American word, since Jane Austen is not a

national craze

Slang In the special sense of military jail Jankers has other meanings in military

slang: ‘defaulters’; their ‘penalty’ or ‘punishment’; the ‘cells’ themselves To get

ten days’ jankers is to be confined to the stockade for that period.

jaunty, n master-at-arms

Naut Slang Head policeman on a naval vessel The official title in both the Royal

Navy and the United States Navy is master-at-arms, often abbreviated to M.A.A.

J

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jaw, n talking to

Slang A contemptuous term A pi-jaw (pi- is short for pious) is one of those lectures

or sermons delivered by a schoolteacher or a scout leader on a man-to-man basis

to prepare the nervous youngster for life’s pitfalls More generally, a conversation

or a meeting

jaw-bacon See chaw-bacon.

2 drone on and on

Slang See also jaw.

A traditional Cockney dish, pieces of eel simmered till soft and served cold with

their cooking liquid (liquor) The liquor sets to a jelly, hence the name Less

popu-lar now than it once was

Jelly is used in Britain as in America, but in a British restaurant if you wanted

Jell-O or its equivalent for dessert, you would ask for jelly.

Inf Jelly-bags are used for straining jelly and are made of the kind of stretchable

material associated with what Americans call stocking caps.

jemmy, n jimmy

British burglars use jemmies; their American colleagues use jimmies Jemmy is also

used as the British name for a dish made from sheep’s head

Inf Everybody knows (or should know) that Jeremiah was a doleful prophet.

Slang Also called jerrycan or jerrican, a 5-gallon chamber pot With a capital J it is

British slang for a German, or Germans collectively.

See also jumper; woolly.

Inf Normally applied to balking horses and in Britain, informally, to cars as well

or even to stubborn persons

2 Slang up the creek

3 Slang damned!

1 Slang After a long day’s work, you’re jiggered.

2 Slang In a tough situation, like running out of gas in the middle of the night,

you’d feel jiggered.

3 Slang The exclamation I’m jiggered means ‘I’ll be damned’ as in Well, I’m

jig-gered—fancy meeting you here!

188 jaw

jiggery-pokery, n., Inf Inf hanky-panky

A fit of nervousness or depression

Jimmy, dismal See dismal Jimmy.

jink, v.t., v.i dodge

To dodge about jerkily, to avoid being hit Said of game birds and extended to

sense, described an arrangement for a specified period of time, and the supplier

was called a jobmaster.

2 Also meaning stab, though this is little used.

On the London Stock Exchange, there are a dozen firms that act as wholesalers and are analogous to oddlot firms on the New York Stock Exchange, in that they are principals, acting for their own account, rather than brokers acting only as agents for buyer or seller

A government-run employment agency

Inf In the sense of work to be done.

A payment made to someone who is looking for work It may be income-based (depending on income and savings) or contribution-based (depending on National Insurance contributions made while working)

jobsworth, n Inf see comment

A particularly bureaucratic person who would never break the rules Derives

from the saying, It’s more than my job’s worth to do that for you.

Mr What’s-his-name; anybody who isn’t anybody; Tom, Dick, or Harry; the man

in the street Sometimes given as Fred Bloggs

John Dory

See Appendix II.H.

Slang Usually pejorative For the British meaning of guy, see guy.

johnny 189

John O’Groats see comment

A small town on the northeasternmost tip of Scotland Though a tourist

destina-tion of some note, its most famous feature is the expression From Land’s End to

John O’Groats, a short way of saying: From one end of the British Isles to the other.

join, v.t board

To join a train, ship, plane, etc is to board it.

joiner, n carpenter

Technically speaking, joiners in both countries, as distinct from carpenters, engage

especially in interior light carpentry (doors, shelves, etc.) and cabinet making

The British appear often to use the terms interchangeably, but joiner is rarely

heard in ordinary American speech

joint, n roast

In Britain that tasty leg of lamb or roast of beef or loin of pork is known as a joint

Popular for Sunday lunch, hence the Sunday joint.

jokes, adj Slang funny

Slang Any witches’ brew you take for whatever ails you, like patent medicines

and home remedies

Slang A Royal Marine Synonymous with guffy and bullock.

joskin, n bumpkin

Slang Sailors use this term to describe any lubberly hand The exact meaning of joskin

is a man from the Norfolk area who works as a farmhand during the summer and on

trawlers in wintertime, and is therefore, presumably, a green hand on board

2 notebook

2 Also exercise book.

judder, v.i shake

Violently and noisily A bit of onomatopoeia, also influenced by shudder It can

apply to anything from a jalopy to an opera singer, and is also used as a noun to

denote the phenomenon

Slang An uncomplimentary word for woman, suggesting that she’s no beauty.

jug, n pitcher

In Britain it is the milk jug or water jug which is placed on the table Jug is also a

slang word for ‘poison’ in both countries

Inf Very large; short for juggernaut lorry (See lorry.) Usually refers to an

enor-mous trailer truck (see articulated lorry) The word is related to Jagannath, an

190 John O’Groats

idol of the Hindu god Krishna that was drawn in processions on vast carts and

under whose wheels fanatics threw themselves in their ecstasy, to be crushed

to death

Slang Synonymous with muggins See also git.

Goods sold at a jumble sale or unwanted things in the house allocated to the local

jumble sale Can also be used loosely to mean ‘junk.’

jumper, n pullover

This term is used to describe a woman’s pullover sweater See also jersey; woolly.

junction box See box.

Old, worthless stuff, rubbish, which is called junk in America, is generally

referred to as rubbish or lumber in Britain, where junk, though now extended

to mean ‘rubbish’ generally, was long more especially a nautical term meaning

‘worn-out hawsers’ or ‘cables’ which are either discarded or picked apart for use

as caulking material or in making swabs

Where an American would say, “I can’t find it now, but it was right over there,”

i.e., no farther than that, a Briton would say “ just over there.” Were the Briton

to say, “ right over there,” he would mean ‘ way over there,’ i.e., no nearer

than that If he said, “Drink it right up,” he would mean ‘drink it all,’ whereas an

American would mean “drink it at once, right now.”

Inf See also hold on!

Used in expressions of time of day: it’s just going twelve means it’s just about twelve,

or, practically twelve The expressions just on and going on for are used by the

Brit-ish in the same way: it’s just on nine o’clock, or it’s going on for nine, i.e., it’s not quite

or it’s just about nine See also gone.

just on See just going.

just on 191

K., n see comment

Inf To get one’s K is to be knighted (see Birthday Honours).

K.C See under take silk.

(Accent on the first or third syllable.) Composed of fish, usually smoked haddock,

cooked with rice and eggs, and other variable ingredients The word is derived from

the Hindi word khichri It is normally a breakfast dish, and not very common.

2 21 tons 4 cwt.

1 Type of boat used, usually to carry coal, on the Rivers Tyne, Humber, etc Still

seen, but going out of use

2 Weight of coal that can be carried on a keel, and still used as a wholesale coal

measure Since a British ton is 2240 lbs and a British cwt (hundredweight) is 112

lbs., a keel is, in American terms, 47,488 lbs., or a sliver under 233/4 tons See also

Appendix II.C.1.

Slang A Scottish term, derived from the Keelie Gang, a band of hoodlums that

terrorized the streets of Edinburgh in the early 19th century It is applied

particu-larly to street ruffians from Glasgow and environs

Inf Often seen in advertisements: For keenest prices shop at So-and-So’s.

The object of the enthusiasm is most likely to be sexual in nature (I’m really keen

on him), but it may be a composer, a hair style, an article of clothing, etc Dead keen

on and mad keen on indicate mounting degrees of enthusiasm.

keep, v.t raise

A Briton who keeps pigs is not simply having them as pets; he is in business and

in America would be said to be raising them.

Inf One of many expressions borrowed from cricket, which is itself synonymous

with fair play in the mind and idiom of a Briton.

keep cave See cave.

Keeper is the usual British term for a museum guard or zoo employee To a Briton,

guard would normally invoke the image of a railroad conductor or a sentry.

K

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keep obbo on Inf keep an eye on

Slang An obbo was an observation balloon in World War I Keeping obbo is

police-men’s slang for surveillance.

keep one’s terms See eat one’s terms; Inns of Court.

keep shtoom, v Inf keep quiet

Also spelled shtum From the Yiddish word meaning silent or dumb Direct

bor-rowings from Yiddish are rarer in the UK than in the United States, but this is one

that has found its way into common speech

keep the ring See hold the ring.

keep your eyes skinned Inf Inf keep your eyes peeled

Inf In this expression, pecker means ‘spirits’ or ‘courage.’ This connotation of

pecker is probably derived from its original meaning of a ‘bird that pecks’ (e.g.,

woodpecker), and by extension that with which it pecks, i.e., its beak, which

became slang for ‘nose.’

Coarse in texture Takes its name from Kendal, a town in England where the cloth

was originally made

Prolonged rhythmic applause to express disapproval The expression is

attrib-uted to anti-Catholic demonstrations in Kent in the early 1800s

Native of the County of Kent, England, born west of the River Medway If born

east of it, he is a man of Kent.

Slang Crawl is used by the British the way Americans use cruise to indicate the

slow driving of a car Kerb-crawl describes the nasty conduct of a motorist on the

prowl for women foolish enough to accept an invitation to hop in Gutter-crawl

is synonymous (Kerb is spelled curb in America.)

Slang Found also in the spellings cufuffle and gefuffle, and probably in others as

well It is sometimes used as synonymous with shemozzle.

Formerly, boy employed on a construction site to keep the tea kettle going all day

long

kettle-holder, n pot-holder

keyless watch 193

kibble, n., v.t 1 n., mine bucket

2 v.t., grind

Kibbled wheat is cracked wheat.

kick-up See dust-up.

Inf Based on an old Irish legend about two cats who fought each other so long

and so murderously that finally there was nothing left but their tails The

figura-tive meaning of the phrase retains reference to the audible squabbling of the cats,

rather than to their gruesome end

In Britain, the accused cooperates with the prosecution by turning King’s or

Queen’s evidence, the phrase being determined by the sex of the sovereign at the

time In America, the phrase is state’s evidence.

2 twisted; odd

3 sophisticatedly off-beat

4 Inf cool

1 Slang Or appealing to such tastes.

2 Slang Peculiar; kooky.

3 Slang As of clothes, for instance.

4 Teenage slang Synonymous with gear and fab.

Slang The house, the room in the house, the bed in the room, the sleep in the bed;

sometimes seen in the expressions go to kip, have a kip, take a kip, or kip down,

mean-ing to ‘turn in for a night’s sleep or a nap.’

Slang Synonymous with a like-sounding British slang word—nipper.

Also known in Britain as hair-slide and hair grip.

Kissing gates found in rural Britain are gates hung with the side away from the

hinge swinging within a V-shaped or U-shaped enclosure in such a way that

people can get through but cattle can’t You push the gate away from the nearside

of the V or U, step into the latter, slide over to the other side, and push the gate

back This quaint device may have acquired its romantic name because it was

the place where a swain said goodnight to his lady love, and a certain amount of

lingering was in order

194 kibble

kiss of life 1 mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

2 boost

1 The life-saving procedure

2 Inf Probably modeled on the phrase kiss of death, it has acquired the meaning

of something that revitalizes or provides new hope for an ailing project, situation,

etc

kiss your hand See as easy as kiss your hand.

kit, n., v.t outfit

As a noun, outfit in the sense of special dress, like skiing kit, camping kit, etc As a

verb, outfit in the sense of equip Sometimes lengthened to kit up.

One’s own people

One who purchases animal carcasses and slaughters superannuated livestock

for rendering into various products The plant in which this is done is called a

knackery or knacker’s yard.

Slang A grim image, derived from the previous entry.

knave, n jack

In playing cards Jack is another name for this card in Britain.

Inf In America knickers would be understood as short for knickerbockers, which is

the British term for plus fours, an article of wearing apparel still seen there See

also camiknickers To get your knickers in a twist is to get all het up about

some-thing or to make a muddle of some-things.

Inf A high tea at which meat or fish is served and a knife is required See also

high tea; cream tea.

Knight See K.

Scab is now more common.

knob, n lump

Of butter, sugar, etc

knob 195

knobble See nobble.

knobs See with knobs on!

Slang Synonymous with the British sense of bomb But see bit of a knock.

Slang To knock someone in American slang is to disparage him, but in British slang

it means to impress him greatly, i.e., to knock him dead, and is probably short for

knock for six (see six).

Inf To astonish, to present with the unexpected.

She’s been a bit knocked off since her stroke.

knocker See up to the knocker.

Slang To work on the knocker is to work from door to door Synonymous with

2 Inf The term is used also in political circles, to describe a party worker charged

with the function of getting out the vote

knock for six See six.

knocking-house, n., Slang whorehouse

knocking shop, n Slang brothel

Inf To knock on for work is to turn up for work; generally applied to casual

labour-ers; an echo of the more common knock off (work), used in both countries.

The concomitant result, incidental consequence

To overdo it.

2 elimination contest

1 A tennis term, synonymous with knock-up.

2 A competition involving the elimination of losers, on the way to the finals

2 exhaust; wear out

3 Inf throw together

4 earn

196 knobble

1 Inf A respectable American male will go to great pains to avoid knocking up a

lady friend, as he understands the term, because in his country it is an indelicate

expression for getting a lady into a delicate condition In Britain, knocking people

up means waking them up by knocking on their door.

2 Inf Another common British usage to be avoided in America: I’m quite knocked

up, or He does knock me up This refers merely to exhaustion, physical or

Tennis term, synonymous with knock-out, 1.

K.O kickoff

Inf A British football abbreviation Thus, on a poster advertising a football game,

“K.O 3:00 p.m.” It also means ‘knockout,’ a boxing term, as in America.

K.O 197

label, n sticker; tag labourer See agricultural labourer; casual labourer.

In this meaning, the words are often capitalized: Labour Exchange In lower case,

the term can denote any union building which houses its headquarters, meeting

rooms, etc

Americans are familiar with this word in the sense of ‘boy’ or ‘youth,’ but do not

use it commonly as the British do Examples: ‘He’s a good lad’ (about a

depend-able, or a generous, or an honest man) ‘Good lad!’ (said to a mature man who has

come through with a good deed or a nice gesture) ‘Get your lads out’ (spoken

in a TV drama by a police captain to a subordinate as instructions to get his men

out on the street to hunt for the villain) Americans might use boy in some of these

cases The lads is the term in which British labor leaders refer to their members,

rather than ‘the men’ or ‘the members.’ Used that way, the term suggests loyalty,

solidarity, and affection The word may also have a connotation of mild moral

disapproval, especially in the sentence ‘He’s a bit of a lad.’ See also Jack the lad.

ladder, n run

This term applies to ladies’ stockings and pantyhose (tights) Ladder-proof hose,

etc., are advertised in Britain just as run-proof articles are advertised in America,

but the ladies remain skeptical on both sides of the Atlantic

The daughter of a duke, marquess, or earl (in which case Lady is used with the

forename, e.g., Lady Jane Smith); or the wife of a peer (except a duke), a baronet, or

knight (in which case Lady, without the forename, is followed by the name of the

peerage or surname as the case may be, e.g., Lady Bloomsbury, Lady Smith)

(Coin-cidentally, Lady Bloomsbury may also be a peeress in her own right.) If Lady Jane

Smith marries Mr Bloggs, she becomes Lady Jane Bloggs See also Lord; Dame; K.;

baronet; peer.

ladybird, n ladybug

Also called a golden-knop.

March 25, so called because that is the day of the Feast of the Annunciation See

quarter-day.

L

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ladyfy (ladify), v.t see comment

To ladyfy or ladify a woman is to make a lady of her, though it can mean merely to

lend dignity to a woman by calling her a lady Ladified describes a woman

exhibit-ing the airs of a refined lady

Lady of Threadneedle Street See Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.

2 Slang send up; pinch

Slang A lag is a jailbird and the word is usually found in the expression old lag

To be lagged is to be sent up, although lagged sometimes means merely ‘pinched,’

‘arrested,’ whether or not the unfortunate is eventually sent up A lagging is a

stretch There exists an organization called the Old Lags Brigade, which consists of

hardened criminals placed on last-chance probation before they are imprisoned

lager lout, n Inf see comment

A person (usually male) who gets drunk and behaves in a rowdy, abusive, and

some-times violent manner in public The intoxicating beverage could, of course, be

any-thing; lager is specified because that was the drink supposedly favored by the young

men whose behavior gave rise to the expression in the 1980s Their fathers would

have drunk ale, and would not (so it is thought) have behaved like hooligans.

laid on See lay on.

Inf Lambs’ tails in Britain, in addition to making good soup, also refer to catkins

hanging from certain trees such as the hazel and willow, and catkins in both

countries are downy flowerings or inflorescences The word catkin is a rather cloying

diminutive of cat (formed like manikin, pannikin, etc.) and was invented because

of the resemblance of those inflorescences to cats’ tails

2 stock exchange defaulter

1 Slang A person in difficulties, unable to cope The narrow American usage,

describing an incumbent political official or body still in office after losing

an election but only because the winner has not yet been seated, is a highly

restricted application of this British meaning This narrow American usage,

how-ever, appears to have been adopted by some British political pundits The term

can also be applied to a firm in financial difficulties, or a troubled industry

2 Slang This term also describes a person unable to meet his obligations on the

London Stock Exchange Also a lossmaking company.

A traditional stew of meat, potatoes, and onions

Synonymous with estate agent.

2 Inf out of luck; lost

3 see comment

Depending on the context, this participial adjective can have two exactly

oppo-site meanings, even if used in identical sentences

landed 199

1 Inf If one were waiting for the last available table in a restaurant which was being held until 8 o’clock for someone else, one could say, If he doesn’t show up by eight, we’re landed, meaning we’re okay.

2 Inf If one’s friend who had the tickets to a show or match were alarmingly late, the same sentence could be expressed, and we’re landed would mean

‘we’re out of luck’; ‘we’ve had it.’

3 Landed gentry describes those of the gentry who own land.

In addition to its wider general meaning in both countries, landlord has the

spe-cial British meaning and flavor of ‘inn-keeper.’ Many pubs were once real inns

and a few still have rooms for rent, but even at those that no longer let rooms,

the keeper is still called landlord and is so addressed by clients not familiars of

the establishment who don’t feel privileged to address him by name Publican

is synonymous with landlord in this sense and comes from public house, a term

still in use but far less common than pub See free house for a discussion of the

landlord’s business arrangements See also pub; during hours.

Leal is a Scots form of loyal.

The southwesternmost area of Cornwall See also John O’ Groats.

landslip, n landslide

Often used in the passive form, landed with Synonymous with lumbered with,

though the latter invokes an added dimension of inconvenience

larder, n pantry

A sweet flat cake made of bread dough, sugar, lard, and dry fruit

large, adj double

As used in ordering a drink at the pub or restaurant A large whiskey (whisky in Britain for Scotch; Irish whiskey has the e), gin, vodka, etc is a double portion See

under double, 3.

Inf “It’s too hot for this lark,” says a sweating laborer doffing his jacket, using lark, specifically a sport, as a sardonic synonym for job or task—the same type of

British humor as found in “Are you happy in your work?” addressed to one who

is palpably miserable as he plugs away at an unwanted task

lasher, n pool

Particularly, one formed by water spilling over a weir.

200 landlord