Glossary of British terms not widely used in the United States


This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States. In Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Australia, some of the British terms listed are used, although another usage is often preferred.
; 999 : Pronounced "nine nine nine", the UK Emergency phone number

A

; abseil : a German loanword for descending on a rope
;Action Man : the action figure toy sold in the US as G.I. Joe.
; agony aunt or uncle : the author of an agony column
; agony column : a newspaper or magazine column providing advice to readers' personal problems
; air marshal : the RAF's three-star officer
; "all change" : the public-transportation announcement for the last stop
; amongst: a synonym of among acceptable in British English while seeming old fashioned or pretentious in American English
; anorak: a hooded coat ; a socially impaired obsessive, particularly trainspotters
; answerphone : an automated telephone-answering machine, from the trademark Ansafone
; anti-clockwise, anticlockwise : the direction opposite to clockwise.
; approved school : a reform school for juvenile delinquents, from their pre-1969 designation; juvenile detention centres, whether Secure Training Centres for 15- to 18-year-olds or Young Offender Institutions for 18- to 21-year-olds
; argy-bargy : a noisy disagreement ranging from a verbal dispute to pushing-and-shoving or outright fighting.
; arse : buttocks, backside or anus
; arse over tit : to fall head over heels
; arsed : to be made to get off one's arse, usually as a negative or conditional
; artic : an abbreviation of "articulated lorry"
; aubergine: US eggplant
; Auntie or Auntie Beeb: the BBC
; autocue : an automated system for providing scripts to actors and orators, from a genericised trademark

B

; balls-up : error, mistake, SNAFU. See also cock-up.
; bap: soft bread roll or a sandwich made from it ; in plural, breasts ; a person's head.
; barmaid *, barman : a woman or man who serves drinks in a bar. Barman and the originally American bartender appeared within a year of each other ; barmaid is almost two centuries older.
; barmy : crazy, unbalanced
; barney : a noisy quarrel, trouble; origin unknown.
; barrister * : In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, this used to be the only type of lawyer qualified to argue a case in both higher and lower law courts; contrasts with solicitor. For Scotland, see advocate. Occasionally used in the U.S., but not to define any particular type of lawyer.
; bedsit : one-room flat that serves as a living room, kitchen and bedroom and with shared bathroom facilities
; Beeb, the Beeb : the BBC. See also 'Auntie'. The British band Queen released an album called At the Beeb in the UK and it had to be called "At the BBC" for US release.
; Belisha beacon : orange ball, containing a flashing light or now sometimes surrounded by a flashing disc of LEDs, mounted on a post at each end of a zebra crossing ; named after the UK Minister of Transport Leslie Hore-Belisha who introduced them in 1934.
; bell-end : the glans penis, a term of abuse.
;, burk or burke : a mildly derogatory term for a fool or stupid person. An abbreviation of either 'Berkshire Hunt' or 'Berkeley Hunt', rhyming slang for cunt.
; bespoke *: custom-made to a buyer's specification
; bevvy : an alcoholic beverage
; biccie, bicky, bikky : a biscuit
; big girl's blouse : a man or a boy who behaves in a way which other men think is how a woman would behave, especially if they show they are frightened of something
; bint : a condescending and sometimes derogatory term for a woman. Usage varies with a range of harshness from 'bitch', referring to a disagreeable and domineering woman, to only a slightly derogatory term for a young woman.
; biro : a ballpoint pen. Named after its Hungarian inventor László Bíró and the eponymous company which first marketed them.
; bits and bobs : sundry items to purchase, pick up, etc. ; Britain and US: odds and ends
; black pudding :
; blag : to obtain or achieve by deception and/or ill preparation, to bluff, to scrounge, to rob, to wing it. A scam, tall story or deception. Derived from the French word blague.
; bleeder : derogatory term used in place of bloke ; use has declined in recent years.
; blimey : an exclamation of surprise.
; bloke : man, fellow. e.g. Terry is a top bloke. Also common in Australia and New Zealand..
; blower : telephone
; blues and twos : emergency vehicle with lights and sirens
; bobby : police officer, named after Sir Robert Peel, the instigator of the world's first organised police force. The word "peeler" of similar origin, is used in Northern Ireland.
; Bob's your uncle : "there you go", "it's that simple".
; bodge :a cheap or poor job, can range from inelegant but effective to outright failure. e.g. You properly bodged that up. See Bodger.
; boffin : an expert, such as a scientist or engineer
; bog roll: toilet paper.
; bog-standard *: completely ordinary, run-of-the-mill, unadulterated, unmodified..
; boiled sweet: type of confection
; bollocks : testicles; verbal rubbish . The somewhat similar bollix is found in American English, but without the anatomical connotations or vulgar sense meaning 'mess up'. The twin pulley blocks at the top of a ship's mast are also known as bollocks, and in the 18th century priests' sermons were colloquially referred to as bollocks; it was by claiming this last usage that the Sex Pistols prevented their album Never Mind the Bollocks from being banned under British obscenity laws. Related phrases include bollocksed, which means either tired or broken beyond repair; bollocks up, meaning to mess up ; and bollocking, meaning a stern telling off. Compare dog's bollocks, below
; bonce  : head
; bone-idle * : lazy
; botty, bot : a person's bottom
; brass monkeys : cold – from "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". According to a popular folk etymology, this phrase derives from cannonballs stowed on a brass triangle named after a "powder monkey" spilling owing to the frame's contraction in cold weather. The phrase is a 20th-century variant of earlier expressions referring to other body parts, especially the nose and tail, indicating that the brass monkey took the form of a real monkey.
; brekkie, brekky : synonym of breakfast
; breve : a note of two bars' length in 4/4 time
; bristols : breasts; from football team Bristol City = titty
; brolly : umbrella
; brown bread : dead; "You're brown bread, mate!"
; browned off : Fed up, annoyed or out of patience.
; bubble and squeak : dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and other vegetables. Often made from the remains of the Sunday roast trimmings.
; budgerigar or budgie : a small Australian parrot
; buggered : worn out; broken; thwarted, undermined, in a predicament, e.g. 'If we miss the last bus home, we're buggered'. Also used to indicated lack of motivation as in "I can't be buggered".
; bugger all : little or nothing at all; "I asked for a pay rise and they gave me bugger all"; "I know bugger all about plants"; damn all. US: zip, jack or jack shit. Usage is rare in the US.
; building society : an institution, owned by its depositors rather than shareholders, that provides mortgage loans and other financial services
; bum bag : a bag worn on a strap around the waist
; bumble : to wander aimlessly or stroll/walk without urgency to a destination; usually synonymous with amble when used in the US.
; bumf, bumph : useless paperwork or documentation
; bunce : a windfall; profit; bonus
; bureau de change : an office where money can be exchanged
; burgle *: to commit burglary.
; butty : a sandwich .
; by-election :

C

; cack : faeces ; nonsense or rubbish: "what a load of cack" could equally be used to describe someone talking nonsense or as a criticism of something of poor quality. Also spelt "kak" as used in Afrikaans and Dutch. Derived from an ancient Indo-European word, kakkos, cognate with German word :de:Kacke|Kacke, Welsh word "cach" and the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word "cac" which all mean 'shit'.
; cack-handed : clumsy * ; left-handed. Derived from cack, meaning "fæces ", with reference to the tradition that only the left hand should be used for cleaning the 'unclean' part of the human body.
; cafetière : device for making coffee
; caff : abbreviation for a cafe; now used mainly for the old-fashioned establishment to distinguish from coffeeshops.
; cagoule : type of lightweight hooded waterproof clothing
; call minder : telephone message recorder
; candidature : synonymous with candidacy
; candy floss : spun sugar confection ; "candyfloss culture" was also used around the late 1950s / early 1960s as a derisory term for the emerging American pop culture, similar to "McCulture" or "Coca-Cola culture" in more recent times
; caravan park : area where caravans are parked
; car boot : storage area of car. Can also mean car boot sale.
; car hire : car rental
; car park : area where cars are parked.
; carer : a person who cares for another, such as a child, elderly, or disabled person.
; carriageway : the part of a road that carries the traffic; see also dual carriageway
; cash machine : automated teller machine.
; cashpoint : automated teller machine. Originally a brand name for Lloyds TSB ATMs, now genericized.
; caster sugar : Finely granulated white or pale golden sugar.
; cat's eyes : reflectors used to mark lane divisions and edges of roads, also written cats-eye, genericised from the trademark Catseye
; central heating boiler :
; central reservation : physical barrier separating the two carriageways
; chancer : an opportunist
; char, cha: tea. From Mandarin 茶.
; char : see charwoman
; charlady : see charwoman
; Chartered Accountant : one authorised to certify financial statements; the equivalent of an American CPA
; charwoman : a woman employed as a cleaner
; chat up : talk flirtatiously with. Similar to American "come on to ".
; chav : typically a nouveau riche or working class person, often of lowish intelligence, who wears designer label copies, fake gold bling, and is a trouble-maker. "Chav" is used nationally, though "charv" or "charva" was originally used in the northeast of England, deriving from the Roma word charva, meaning a disreputable youth. The closest US equivalents to the chav stereotype are arguably wiggers, although the cultural differences are existent.
; cheeky * : impertinent; noun form, cheek, impertinence; a child answering back to an adult might be told "don't give me any of your cheek".
; cheerio! : exclamation of farewell. No connection to the breakfast cereal Cheerios.
; Chesterfield sofa : a deep buttoned sofa, with arms and back of the same height. It is usually made from leather and the term Chesterfield in British English is only applied to this type of sofa.
; child-minder : a person who looks after babies and young children while the parents are working. Child-minders are a more professional type of babysitter, and in England are required to be registered with Ofsted, the government-sanctioned education regulation body. They must also have at least a Level 2 qualification in childcare. A babysitter does not require these qualifications. Babysitter is more common in the UK.
; chimney pot : smoke-stack above a house. "Pot" refers to the cylindrical topmost part that is usually earthenware. The part below is the chimney or chimney stack.
; chinagraph pencil : pencil designed to write on china, glass etc.
; chip shop : fish-and-chip shop, also chippy
; chinwag : chat
; chuffed : proud, satisfied, pleased. Sometimes intensified as well chuffed; cf. made up
; chunder : vomit
; chunter : to mutter, to grumble, to talk continuously; "What's he chuntering on about?"
; clanger : a big mistake, blunder, bad joke or faux pas
; clapped out : worn out
; cleg : horse fly
; clingfilm : thin plastic film for wrapping food
; cobblers *: shoe repairers ; a weaker version of bollocks, meaning 'nonsense', from rhyming slang 'cobbler's awls' = balls
; cock-up, cockup * : error, mistake.
; codswallop *, codd's wallop : "You're talking codswallop". Sometimes said to be named after Hiram Codd, the inventor of the Codd bottle, which was commonly used in the late 19th century for fizzy drinks, though this derivation is thought to be false etymology.
; communication cord : near-obsolete term for the emergency brake on a train. It is nowadays an alarm handle connected to a PA system which alerts the driver.
; community payback : court-mandated sentence of community service either in addition to or as a substitute for incarceration
; compère : master of ceremonies, MC
; compulsory purchase : the power of the governmental authority to take private property for public use
; conservatoire : music school
; cooker : kitchen stove
; cool box : box for keeping food and liquids cool
; cop off with : to successfully engage the company of a potential sexual partner, to "pull"; to copulate with.
; coriander * : when referring to the leaves, often called "cilantro" in the US
; cornflour : Finely ground flour made from corn, used as a thickener in cooking
; Cor Blimey : see Gor Blimey
; coster, costermonger : a seller of fruit and vegetables
; cotton bud : wad of cotton wool fixed to a small stick, used for cleaning
; council house/flat, also council housing or estate : public housing. In Scotland the term housing scheme, or simply scheme is more commonly used.
; counterfoil *: stub of a cheque, ticket etc.
; counterpane : a decorative cloth used to cover a bed when it is not in use
; courgette : the plant Cucurbita pepo.
; crack on : whereas "crack on" may be used in a generalised sense as " get on with ", to "crack on to " indicates one was, or planned to, engage in flirtation, to varying degrees
; crikey : exclamation of surprise
; crimble, crimbo, chrimbo : Christmas, especially with regard to its more secular and commercial aspects.
; crisps : very thinly sliced fried potatoes, often flavoured, eaten cold as a snack
; crotchet : a musical note with a duration of one count in a time signature of 4/4
; cuddly toy : soft toy. Occurs as the title of the Monkees' song "Cuddly Toy", written by Nilsson.
;cuppa : tea
; current account : personal bank account used for everyday transactions

D

; daft * : odd, mad, eccentric, daffy, crazy – often with the implication of it being amusingly so. "Don't be daft" and "don't be silly" are approximately synonymous.
; dekko : a look, reconnoître "I'll take a dekko at it later." – British military slang derived from the Hindustani dhek/dekho meaning "to see". Also less commonly decco, deccie, deek, deeks.
; dene : wooded valley or seaside dune
; doddle : something accomplished easily – "It's a doddle", meaning "it's easy".
; dodgems * : funfair or fairground bumper cars
; dodgy * : unsound, unstable, and unreliable. 'That bloke over there looks a bit dodgy'
; dogsbody : someone who carries out menial tasks on another's behalf; a drudge
; the dog's bollocks : something excellent or top quality, the "bee's knees", the "cat's whiskers". Sometimes just "the bollocks.". In polite company this phrase may be toned down to "The mutt's nuts", or the phrase "The bee's knees" may be used as a polite substitute.
; dole * : welfare, specifically unemployment benefit. Sometimes used in the US, esp. older generation
; door furniture :
; donkey's years : a very long time..
; dosh : money "how much dosh you got on ya?"
; doss : to be lazy, "I've been dossing all day", also can mean to truant, "dossing off". Additionally it can informally take the form of a noun. Also "dosser", a lazy person, or a tramp ; "to doss down", to find a place to sleep, to sleep on some substitute for a bed such as a sofa, the floor, or a park bench; "doss-house", temporary accommodation for tramps or homeless people, cheap dilapidated rented accommodation with low standards of cleanliness
; double first : an undergraduate degree where the candidate has gained First-Class Honours in two separate subjects, or alternatively in the same subject in subsequent examinations
; draper : a dealer in drapery
; draughts : the board game
; drawing pin * : pin with a large, flat head, used for fixing notices to noticeboards etc.
; dress circle : the seats in the first balcony of a theatre
; drink-driving: operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol
; driving licence : document authorising the holder to drive a vehicle
; dual carriageway: road, usually a major one, with the two directions of travel separated by a traffic-free, and usually slightly raised, central reservation. Each direction of travel comprises two or more 'lanes'.
; dustbin : receptacle for rubbish, very often shortened to 'bin'.
; dustbin man or dustman: rubbish collector
; dustcart/dustbin lorry: rubbish/refuse collecting vehicle

E

; economy class *: the cheapest class of passenger airline travel
; earth, earthed : connected to an electric common return,
; Elastoplast : an adhesive bandage placed on a minor cut or scrape
; electric fire : domestic electric heater
; engaged tone: tone indicating a telephone line in use,
; estate agent * : a person who sells property for others
; estate car : a station wagon
; ex-directory : unlisted; also informally of a person "he's ex-directory", meaning his telephone number is unlisted
; extension lead : Extension cable typically refers to mains power but may refer to other cables like telephones,

F

; faff : to dither, futz, waste time, be ineffectual, "I spent the day faffing about in my room". Also related noun.
; fag end : cigarette butt; also used as in "the fag end of the day", i.e. the last part of the working day
; fairing : a gift, particularly one given or bought at a fair ; type of cookie made in Cornwall
; fairy cake : a small sponge cake
; fairy lights : Christmas lights
; fan-assisted oven : an oven that has fans to circulate air around food
; feck : mild expletive employed as an attenuated alternative to fuck .
; fiddly * : requiring dexterity to operate
; fire brigade: fire department
; fiscal: short for procurator fiscal, name of the public prosecutor in Scotland
; fish fingers :
; fiver : five pound note
; fizzy drink * : carbonated soft drink
; flex : electrical lead ; electrical cord
; flight lieutenant : an Air Force officer rank
; flypast : ceremonial flight of aircraft
; flyover : a road crossing over another road
; footie : football
; fortnight *: a period of 14 days or two weeks
; freephone : a telephone number where the caller is not charged for the call
; French letter : condom
; funfair : a travelling fair with amusements, stalls, rides etc.
; full stop :

G

; gaff : house, home. Also any other place: cheap music hall, theatre, pub, club, shop, hangout
; gaffer * : old man; boss; football manager ; Also in US: chief electrician on a theatrical or film set.
; gangway * : a path between the rows of seats in a theatre or elsewhere
; gaol : A prison, mostly historical
; G clamp : A metal screw clamp.
; gearbox : system of gears in a vehicle or other machinery
; gear-lever / gearstick : handle for changing gears in a vehicle or other machinery
; gen : information, info
; get off with someone * : to begin a sexual relationship
; Geordie : a person from Newcastle upon Tyne, or used as an adjective to describe the accent or culture of the surrounding Tyne and Wear region of England.
; get on tits: annoy or irritate.
; gherkin : a pickled cucumber
; git * : scumbag, idiot, annoying person
; giro:, social security benefit payment, is derived from the largely obsolete Girobank payment system that was once used in Britain for benefit and state pension payments.
; glandular fever : mononucleosis
; gob : 1. mouth, e.g. "Shut your gob"
; gobby : loudmouthed and offensive
; gob-shite : slang term for a person who is being mouthy about something or someone
; gobsmacked : utterly astonished, open-mouthed
; gods : the highest level of seating in a theatre or auditorium, usually the "Upper Circle", as in "we have a seat up in the gods"
; go pear-shaped : see pear-shaped
; golden syrup : Syrup of a golden-yellow colour.
; goolies :, The testicles, from goli Hindi for ball.
; gor blimey : exclamation of surprise, also cor blimey
; Gordon Bennett! : expression of surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, frustration.
; gormless : stupid or clumsy
; go-slow : a protest in which workers deliberately work slowly
; green fingers : talent for growing plants
; greengrocer * : a retail trader in fruit and vegetables
; gritter : a truck that spreads sand or salt on roads when they are covered with ice
; grotty : disgusting, dirty, poor quality. In a scene from the 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, George Harrison has to explain the meaning and origin of the word; the impression is given that it was then considered modern slang, known only to trendy youngsters. George Harrison would have been familiar with the word as well-established Liverpool slang.
; group captain : an Air Force officer rank
; guard's van: the leading or trailing carriage on a train nowadays used for luggage storage
; gumption * : initiative, common sense, or courage
; gutties : running shoes, tennis shoes, maybe from "gutta percha" old source of natural rubber
; guv'nor/guv: A contraction of "governor", used to describe a person in a managerial position e.g. "Sorry mate, can't come to the pub, my guv'nor's got me working late tonight". Heard mostly in London.

H

; half- : meaning thirty minutes past the hour.
; handbrake * : Parking brake operated by a hand control, usually a lever ; handbrake turn, a stunt where the handbrake is used to lock the rear wheels and the resulting oversteer enables the car to be turned rapidly in a small space
; ha'penny : half a penny; a coin of this denomination belonging to the predecimal coinage which is no longer in circulation. There was also a half penny in the decimal coinage introduced in 1971 which was 1/200 of a pound; these stopped being legal tender in 1985 and were removed from circulation.
; ha'porth : halfpennyworth.
; hash sign : the symbol "#"
; headmaster, headmistress, headteacher, head *: the person in charge of a school
; Heath Robinson : absurdly complex.
; high street : primary business and shopping street
; hire purchase: a credit system by which purchased articles are paid for in installments
; hoarding : a panel used to display outdoor advertisements, such as on the sides of buildings, or alongside highways
; hob : the hot surface on a stove
; hold-all : a bag
; holidaymaker : person on holiday
; hols : short for holidays
; hoover : vacuum , to vacuum ; a genericised trademark, from The Hoover Company, the first main manufacturer of vacuum cleaners
; hot up : to become more exciting.
; hundreds-and-thousands: coloured sugar sprinkles used for dessert decoration

I

; ice lolly : frozen fruit juice on a stick;,
; icing sugar :
; industrial action :
; inverted commas : quotation marks
; invigilator : person who monitors an examination
; ironmongery : ironware, hardware; hardware store
; identity parade : police lineup

J

; jacket potato : baked potato
; jam sandwich : police car. So called as, in the past, most UK police vehicles were white with a horizontal yellow-edged red fluorescent stripe along the entire length of their sides, giving a certain resemblance to a white bread sandwich with a coloured jam filling. The majority of marked vehicle operated by the Metropolitan Police Service retain this livery, albeit the cars are now silver. Some older vehicles are still in white, while the Diplomatic Protection Group use red vehicles.
; jammy : lucky
; JCB : generic name for a mechanical excavator or backhoe loader, based on the eponymously named company which manufactures such devices.
; jemmy : To break into a lock, from the tool that is used in such an occasion as burglary
; jerry : pejorative term for a German or Germans
; jerrybuilt or jerry-built : An improvised or unsafe building or piece of infrastructure, probably in contravention of safety legislation;.
; jiggery-pokery : Trickery or dishonest behaviour.
; jimmy : urinate, as in jimmy riddle – piddle
; jobsworth : Originally a minor clerical/government worker who refuses to be flexible in the application of rules to help clients or customers. Also used more broadly to apply to anyone who uses their job description in a deliberately obstructive way.
; johnny : a condom
; John Thomas : Better known as slang for penis or "dick" From the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover
; Joey : Term of abuse used of someone perceived to be foolish, stupid, incompetent, clumsy, uncoordinated, ridiculous, idiotic. Originated with the appearances of cerebral palsy sufferer Joey Deacon on children's TV programme Blue Peter; still a popular insult among adults who saw the programmes as children.
; jumble sale :
; jumper : a pullover *, sweater
; jump leads : booster cables used to jump-start a car

K

; Karno's Army: a chaotic, ineffective team
; kecks : trousers or underpants
; kerfuffle * : a disorderly outburst, disturbance or tumult; from Scots carfuffle
; kazi : lavatory
; kip : sleep.
; kirby grip : hair grip.
; kitchen roll : paper towels
; knackered : exhausted, broken; the term may derive from either of two meanings of the noun knacker, thus to slaugher or castrate
; knacker's yard : premises where superannuated livestock are sent for rendering, etc. by a knacker. Sometimes refers to the same for vehicles, a scrapyard
; knackers : testicles
; knickers : girls' and women's underpants : hence, "Don't get your knickers in a twist"

L

; ladybird : red and black flying insect
; landslip : A collapse of a mass of earth or rock from a mountain or cliff
; launderette : self-service laundry
; lav : lavatory, toilet; also, lavvy
; lead : electrical cord
; learnt : past tense of "learn" ; occasionally used in African American Vernacular English
; legacy accounts : funds left in a budget
; legless : extremely drunk
; lessons : classes
; let-out : a means of evading or avoiding something
; letter box : 1. a slot in a wall or door through which incoming post is delivered
; life assurance: also described as life insurance regardless of coverage
; lock-in * : illegal gathering in a pub at night to drink after the pub is supposed to have stopped serving alcohol, where the landlord "locks in" his guests to avoid being caught by police. Unless the landlord charges for the drinks at the time, the people in the pub are considered his personal guests; if money is exchanged beforehand or afterwards then it is considered a gift from the guest to the landlord for the hospitality. Since the introduction of the smoking ban in England and Wales in 2007, a "lock in" can now mean a landlord locking the pub doors and allowing smoking inside the premises. Also called a stay-back or stoppy-back in Northern England.
; lodger * : tenant renting a room rather than an entire property; typically lives with the renter and his/her family
; lollipop man / woman / lady : a school crossing guard who uses a circular stop sign
; lolly * : 1. lollipop /ice lolly ;
; [|loo] : toilet
; lorry : a large goods-carrying motor vehicle
; loudhailer : megaphone
; lower ground : In houses, a floor below ground level but not fully underground, typically under a raised ground floor which has steps up from ground level to the main entrance. In offices and shops, a basement.
; lurgy : 1. An imaginary illness allegedly passed on by touch—used as an excuse to avoid someone. From an episode of the Goon Show. 2. A fictitious, yet highly infectious disease; often used in the phrase "the dreaded lurgy", sometimes as a reference to flu-like symptoms. Can also be used when informing someone you are unwell but you either do not know or do not want to say what the illness is.

M

; mains power, the mains : 230 V AC electric current, provided by the electricity grid to homes and businesses; also attrib.
; manky : feeling ill, rough, out of sorts; filthy, dirty, rotten.
; mardy : describes someone who is in a bad mood, or more generally a crybaby or whiner or "grumpy, difficult, unpredictable". Used, for example, by children in the rhyme "Mardy, mardy mustard...", and in the title of the Arctic Monkeys song "Mardy Bum". The verb to throw a mardy means to display an outburst of anger.
; maths : mathematics
; MD : equivalent of US CEO , also used in the UK
; Mexican wave : simply called The Wave in the US
; mentioned in dispatches : a commendation through being identified positively in a military report
; milliard : one thousand million, or 1,000,000,000 Has for a long time been superseded by the short scale usage of billion and was never as commonly used in the UK as it still is in mainland Europe ; when the long scale was used in Britain, "a thousand million" was more commonplace.
; minge : female genitals or pubic hair
; : someone who is unattractive.
; : disgusting, dirty; unattractive.
; minim : a musical note with the duration of two counts in a time signature of 4/4
; mobile phone :
; moggie, moggy : non-pedigree cat; alley cat; any cat regardless of pedigree; Morris Minor car; Morgan car
; Mole grips : trade name for.
; mong : stupid person or one with learning difficulties; from Mongol in its sense as an obsolete term for someone with Down's syndrome
; monged : being incapable of constructive activity due to drug use, alcohol consumption or extreme tiredness
; MOT, MOT test : mandatory annual safety and roadworthiness test for motor vehicles over 3 years old
; motorway : A controlled-access highway, the largest class of road on the British road network, designed for fast, high volume traffic. Abbreviated to M, as in M25 or M1.
; mouthing off : shouting, ranting or swearing a lot about something or someone. e.g.: "that guy was just mouthing off about something"
; move house, move flat, etc. : to move out of one's house or other residence into a new residence
; multi-storey : used as a noun, to refer to a multi-level parking structure.
; munter : an ugly woman ; similar to minger
; muppet : an incompetent or foolish person

N

; naff : lame, tacky, cheap, low quality, also gay slang for a straight man
; naff off : shove it, get lost, go away – a much less offensive alternative to "fuck off"
; nail varnish : a varnish applied to nails to enhance strength and glossiness.
; nark * : 1. irritate; also narked, the adjective.
; nappy : absorbent undergarment for babies
; National Insurance: compulsory payments made to the Government from earnings to pay for welfare benefits, the National Health Service and the state pension fund.
; never-never : hire purchase. Often used in the media as a derogatory term to describe credit or debt.
; newsagent : strictly a shop owner or shop that sells newspapers, usu. refers to a small shop, e.g. corner shop, convenience store, newsstand, or similar
; newsreader : someone who reads the news on TV or radio. See news presenter for a description of the different roles of a newscaster, a British newsreader and an American news anchor.
; nice one * : a way of thanking someone, or congratulating them.
; nick : 1. to steal
; nicked : arrested – related to "the nick", above
; nicker : 1 pound, maintains singular form when used in a plural context, rarely used in the singular
; niff : an unpleasant smell
; Nissen hut : hemicylindrical building of corrugated metal. Named for the designer.
; NHS : the National Health Service, the state run healthcare system within the United Kingdom
; nob : 1. head
; nobble : to sabotage, attempt to hinder in some way. E.g. "Danny nobbled my chances at the pub quiz by getting Gary to defect to his team."
; nonce : A slang term for paedophile, pimp, child molester, or idiot.
; nosy parker * : a busybody
; nous : Good sense; shrewdness: "Hillela had the nous to take up with the General when he was on the up-and-up again". Rhymes with "mouse".
;nought: the number zero, chiefly British spelling of naught
;noughts and crosses:game played by marking Xs and Os in a 3x3 grid
;nowt : nothing; not anything. "I've got nowt to do later." Northern English.
; number plate : vehicle registration plate
; numpty : a stupid person
; nutter: a crazy or insane person, often violent; also used as a more light-hearted term of reproach

O

; OAP : Old Age Pensioner
; off-licence / offie: a store for alcoholic beverages which must be imbibed elsewhere
; off-the-peg : of clothes etc., ready-made rather than made to order
; off you/we go * : a command to begin something or to start moving
; offal * : the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal.
; oi : coarse exclamation to gain attention, roughly equivalent to "hey"
; oik, oick : an obnoxious or unpleasant person; can also mean someone who is working class
; the Old Bill : The police – specifically the Metropolitan Police in London, but use of the term has spread elsewhere in England
; one-off * : something that happens only once; limited to one occasion
; on the back foot : outclassed; outmanoeuvred by a competitor or opponent
; on the piss : drinking heavily; going out for the purpose of drinking heavily; at a slight angle, said of an object that should be vertical
; orientate * : less common alternative to orient, deprecated by some as an unnecessary back-formation from orientation
; other ranks : members of the military who are not commissioned officers.
; oughtn't : A contraction of ought not
; overdraft * : money spent on a bank account that results in a debit balance; the amount of the debit balance, an "overdraft facility", is permission from a bank to draw to a certain debit balance. In US English, overdraft and overdraft limit are used, respectively.
; overleaf * : on the other side of the page
; owt : anything. Northern English. "Why aren't you saying owt?" See also 'nowt' – as in the phrase "can't get owt for nowt" meaning "can't get anything for nothing."
; oy: See "oi".

P

; P45 : a form issued upon severance of employment stating an employee's tax code. The idiom to get your P45 is often used in Britain as a metonym for being fired or RIF'd. The alternate phrases to get your cards, or get your books are often used – dependent on region.
; package holiday : a holiday in which transport, accommodation, itinerary etc. are organised by a travel company. Cf holiday
; Page Three : a feature found in some tabloid newspapers consisting of a large photograph of a topless female glamour model
; Paki : a Pakistani person; often loosely applied to anyone from South Asia, or of perceived South Asian origin. Now considered racist.
; Paki shop : a newsagent or general corner shop run by a person of Pakistani or other South Asian origin. No longer considered an acceptable term; edited out of repeat showings of an episode of Only Fools and Horses. Not to be confused with "packie", used in some areas of the US such as New England, short for "package store", meaning "liquor store". As with some other terms, this is a case where innocent US use of a term may be unintentionally offensive in the UK.
; panda car : police car. Small police car used for transport, as opposed to a patrol or area car Derives from a period in the 1970s when UK police cars resembled those of their US counterparts, only with blue replacing black.
; paper round : a regular series of newspaper deliveries
; paraffin : kerosene
; paracetamol : a common and widely available drug for the treatment of headaches, fever and other minor aches and pains
; parkie : park-keeper
; parky : cold, usually used in reference to the weather
; pasty, Cornish pasty : hard pastry case filled with meat and vegetables served as a main course, particularly in Cornwall and in the north of England
; pear-shaped : usually in the phrase "to go pear-shaped", meaning to go drastically or dramatically wrong. cf tits-up
; peckish * : moderately hungry
; peeler : in Northern Ireland, colloquial word for "policeman". Similar to "bobby", q.v.
; pelican crossing : pedestrian crossing with traffic lights operated by pedestrians
; people mover or people carrier : a minivan or other passenger van
; pernickety : fastidious, precise or over-precise
; Perspex * : Trade name for Poly, a transparent thermoplastic sometimes called "acrylic glass"
; petrol : refined mixture of hydrocarbons, used esp. to fuel motor vehicles . Also variously known as motor spirit, motor gasoline, mogas, aviation gasoline and avgas
; petrol-head, petrolhead : someone with a strong interest in cars and motor racing.
; phone box : payphone, public phone. See also "telephone kiosk"
; : a pejorative slang term, used originally to refer to Irish Travellers. Now refers to anyone whose lifestyle is characterised by itinerancy, theft, illicit land occupancy with destruction of amenities, and disregard for authority, without reference to ethnic or national origin.
; pillar box : box in the street for receiving outgoing mail, in Britain traditionally in the form of a free-standing red pillar; also called postbox or, less commonly, letter box
; pillar-box red : the traditional bright red colour of a British pillar box
; pillock : foolish person, used esp. in northern England but also common elsewhere. Derived from the Northern English term pillicock, a dialect term for penis, although the connection is rarely made in general use.
; pinch * : to steal.
; pisshead : someone who regularly gets heavily drunk.
; pissing it down : raining hard Also "pissing it down the drain" or "pissing it away" * meaning to waste something.
; pitch : playing field
; plain flour : Flour that does not contain a raising agent.
; plait * : braid, as in hair
; plaster : Band-Aid
; plasterboard : Drywall
; pleb *: person of lower class, from plebeian; similar to townie. Also commonly used to mean idiot.
; plectrum :
; plimsoll : a type of shoe with a canvas upper and rubber sole, formerly the typical gym shoe used in schools. Now superseded by "trainer".
; plod : policeman – from PC Plod in Enid Blyton's Noddy books.
; plonk : a disparaging term for cheap wine, especially cheap red wine, is now widely known in the UK and also to a lesser extent in the USA. Derives from French vin blanc and came into English use on the western front in World War I.
; plonker *: fool. Used esp. in the south-east of England, although not unknown elsewhere. Derived from a slang term for penis, and sometimes used in this fashion, e.g. "Are you pulling my plonker?"
; points : ' mechanical crossover on a railway,, hence the term "points failure" is a very common cause of delays on railways, such as the London Underground.
; ponce : ' someone with overly affected airs and graces; an effeminate posturing man; a pimp. Originates from Maltese slang.
; ponce about/around : ' to act like a fop, to wander about aimlessly without achieving anything
; ponce off : ' to mooch, to hit up, to leave in a pompous manner
; pong: ' a strong unpleasant smell; ' to give off a strong unpleasant smell; ' pongy
; poof, poofter : a male homosexual
; pouffe, poof, poove : A small drum-shaped soft furnishing used as a foot rest
; porky : slang for a lie or lying, from rhyming slang "pork pies" = "lies"
; postage and packing, P&P : charge for said services
; postal order : a money order designed to be sent through the post, issued by the UK Post Office
; postbox, post box : box in the street for receiving outgoing mail ; see also letter box, pillar box
; postcode : alphanumeric code used to identify an address, part of a UK-wide scheme.
; poste restante : service whereby mail is retained at a post office for collection by the recipient
; postie : postman
; pound shop :
; power point : electrical outlet
; poxy : something that is unsatisfactory or in generally bad condition.
; prang : to crash a motor vehicle with generally minor damage
; pram, perambulator : wheeled conveyance for babies
; prat * : an incompetent or ineffectual person, a fool, an idiot
; press-up : a conditioning exercise in which one lies prone and then pushes oneself up by the arms
; pritt-stick: glue stick, from the trademark of a common brand.
; proper * : Real or very much something. "He's a proper hero"
; provisional licence, provisional driving licence : a licence for a learner driver, who has not yet passed a driving test
; pub : short for public house
; publican : the landlord of a public house.
; pud : short for "pudding", which may mean dessert or occasionally a savoury item such as Yorkshire pudding or black pudding; a fool. pulling his pud, means male masturbation by a "pudknocker".
; pukka : legitimate, the real thing, of good quality. From Hindi-Urdu.
; punch-up : a fistfight
; puncture : ' A flat tire on a vehicle, as in "I had a puncture on my bicycle".
; punnet : small basket for fruit, usually strawberries
; punter : customer or user of services. Often refers to a naive speculator, bettor, or gambler, or a customer of a prostitute or confidence trickster.
; pushbike : bicycle
; pushchair : forward-facing baby carriage

Q

; quango : quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation. A semi-public advisory or administrative body funded by the taxpayer, often having most of its members appointed by the government, and carrying out government policy.
; quaver : a musical note with the duration of one half-count in a time signature of 4/4. Also compound nouns semiquaver, demisemiquaver, hemidemisemiquaver ; see note value. Also a variety of snack food potato crisp/chip.
; quid : the pound sterling monetary unit; remains quid in plural form
; quids in : a financially positive end to a transaction or venture "After all that, we'll be quids in!"
; quieten : used in the phrase "quieten down"
; queue : Another word for "line".

R

; randy : having sexual desire,
; ranker : an enlisted soldier or airman or a commissioned officer who has been promoted from enlisted status
; rashers *: cuts of bacon
; rat-arsed : extremely drunk
; recce : reconnoître, reconnaissance
; recorded delivery : certified mail
; Red top : sensational tabloid newspaper
; reel of cotton : in the US is spool of thread
; Register Office, Registry Office : government office where births, marriages, civil partnerships, and deaths are recorded; usually refers to local Register Office. General Register Office is the relevant government department. In England and Wales until 2001, almost all civil marriages took place in the local Register Office; different laws apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland. "Register Office" is the correct legal term, but "registry office" is in common informal use.
;Release on Licence : a term for parole in England and Wales
; retail park : an out-of-town shopping complex populated mainly by large format stores, one of which is typically a supermarket.
; return : A ticket that is valid for travel to a destination and back. A round-trip ticket.
; roadworks : upgrade or repairs of roads
; rocket : leafy, green vegetable used in salads and sandwiches,
; rock : hard candy in cylindrical form often sold at holiday locations and made so that the location's name appears on the end even when broken.
; rodgering : to engage in a sexual act, or suggest it. e.g.: "I'd give her a good rodgering!"
; ropey : chancy; of poor quality; uncertain. Can also mean unwell when used in the form to feel ropey
; row * : a heated noisy argument
; reverse charge call : a telephone call for which the recipient pays ; also v. to reverse charge *, to make such a call
; rota : a roll call or roster of names, or round or rotation of duties
; rozzers : Police – possibly from Robert Peel, who also gave his name to two other slang terms for the police: peelers and bobbies.
; rubbish * : worthless, unwanted material that is rejected or thrown out; debris; litter; metaphorically: bad human output, such as a weak argument or a poorly written novel
; rucksack *: a backpack.
; rug muncher *: lesbian.
; rumpy pumpy : sexual intercourse, used jokingly.

S

; sandwich cake or sandwich:
; sarky : sarcastic "Why are you being so sarky?"
; sarnie, sarny, sannie : sandwich
; sat nav : GPS, from satellite navigation
; scouser : a person from Liverpool, or the adjective scouse to describe anything or anyone from either Liverpool or Merseyside.
; scrubber : a lower class, woman of low morals
; scrumpy : cloudy cider, often high in alcoholic content
; scrumping : action of stealing apples from an orchard; also v. to scrump
; self-raising flour : self-rising flour
; secateurs : gardening tool for pruning plants
; secondment : the temporary assignment of a person from his or her regular place of work to work elsewhere. From v. second
; selling-out shop : A North English form of off-licence
; Sellotape : transparent adhesive tape
; semibreve : a musical note with the duration of four counts in a time signature of 4/4
; send to Coventry: ostracize, shun
; serviette : table napkin . Regarded as a non-U word, but widely used by non-U people. Frequently encountered in Canada.
; shafted : broken beyond repair – can also be used to describe extreme exhaustion. Also cheated, ripped off: he got shafted
; shag : To have sexual intercourse
; shambolic : chaotic, disorganized
; shandy * : a drink consisting of lager or beer mixed with a soft drink, originally ginger beer but now more usually lemonade, in near-equal parts.
; shanks's pony : on foot, walking – as in "The car's broken down, so it's shanks's pony I'm afraid".
; shan't : A contraction of shall not, considered archaic in American English. Rarely used in Scotland.
; shirtlifter : homosexual.
; shite : variant of shit
; shopping trolley : A cart supplied by a business for use by customers for transport of merchandise to the checkout counter during shopping.
; sixes and sevens : crazy, muddled. From the London Livery Company order of precedence, in which position 6 is claimed by both the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors and the Worshipful Company of Skinners.
; skew-whiff : skewed, uneven, not straight
; skint : out of money
; skip : industrial rubbish bin
; skirting board : a wooden board covering the lowest part of an interior wall
; skive : to sneak off, avoid work; to play truant
; slag * : a promiscuous woman; US: slut, skank
; slag off * : to badmouth; speak badly of someone, usually behind their back
; slaphead : bald man
; slapper : a promiscuous woman
; sleeping partner : a partner in business, often an investor, who is not visibly involved in running the enterprise
; sleeping policeman : mound built into a road to slow down vehicles
; slip road :
; slippy : smooth, wet, with no friction or traction to grip something
; slowcoach : a slow person
; smalls : underclothing, underwear, particularly underpants
; smart dress: formal attire
; smeghead : idiot; a general term of abuse, from Red Dwarf.
; snog : a 'French kiss' or to kiss with tongues
; soap dodger : one who is thought to lack personal hygiene
; sod off : go away; get lost
; solicitor : lawyer, legal representative
; spacker, spacky, spazmo : idiot, general term of abuse: from "Spastic", referring in England almost exclusively to a person suffering from cerebral palsy. See also Joey.
; spanner :
; spawny : lucky
; spiffing : very good
; spiv : a dealer in black market goods. The term wide boy is also often used in the same sense
; spliff * : a hand-rolled cigarette containing a mixture of marijuana and tobacco, also joint.
; spotted dick : an English steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit, commonly served with custard.
; squaddie : a non-commissioned soldier
; square go : unarmed brawl
; squadron leader : an Air Force officer rank
; squidgy : soft and soggy
; squiffy : intoxicated. The word can also be synonymous with skew-whiff.
; squiz : look, most often used in the form to have a squiz at...
; stamp : National Insurance payments
; star jump : a form of exercise
; sticky-backed plastic : large sheet of thin, soft, coloured plastic that is sticky on one side; generic term popularised by craft segments on the children's TV show Blue Peter
; sticky wicket : facing a difficult situation. From cricket: a sticky wicket is one that has a damp surface on top of a dry base, typically after rain. It causes the ball to bounce unpredicatably and possibly dangerously for the batsman
; stockist : a seller that stocks merchandise of a particular type, usually a specified brand or model
; stone the crows : exclamation of surprise
; straight away : immediately
; strong flour : flour made from wheat varieties which are high in gluten. Used for making bread.
; stroke : to move your hand slowly and gently over something e.g. stroke a dog.
; strop : bad mood or temper
; stroppy, to have a strop on : recalcitrant, in a bad mood or temper
; sun cream : sunscreen
; suck it and see : to undertake a course of action without knowing its full consequences
; suss  * : to figure out
; suspender belt: a ladies' undergarment to hold up stockings
; swot : 1. v. to study for an exam
; sweets : the same term for candy in US
; sweet FA : nothing, "I know sweet FA about cars!"
; swimming costume: swimsuit or bathing suit; also cozzy for short.

T

; ta : thank you
; Taff, Taffy : moderately offensive nickname for a Welshman
; tailback : A long line of stationary or slow-moving traffic extending back from a busy junction or similar obstruction on the road.
; takeaway : food outlet where you can order food to go . Usage: "we had a takeaway for dinner", "we went to the local takeaway". ;
; take the piss / take the mickey: to make fun of somebody or something; to act in a non-serious manner about something important. Can also mean to transgress beyond what are perceived as acceptable bounds, or to treat with perceived contempt
; takings * : receipts of money at a shop etc.
; Tannoy : loudspeaker, public address system
; tapping up : in professional team sport, attempting to persuade a player contracted to one team to transfer to another team without the knowledge or permission of the player's current team
; ta-ra! : exclamation of farewell. Originally from Merseyside
; telephone kiosk : payphone, public phone. See also "phone box"
; tea towel : a cloth which is used to dry dishes, cutlery, etc., after they have been washed.
; telerecording : a recording of a live television broadcast made directly from a cathode ray tube onto motion picture film. The equivalent US term is kinescope.
; telly : television
; tenner : ten pound note
; Territorial: a member of the Territorial Army
; tetchy * : irascible
; thick; thickie : stupid; person of low intelligence.
; throw a wobbly : to lose one's temper, throw a tantrum
; thruppennies : breasts/tits
; tinned : canned as in "tinned soup" or "a tin of tuna"
; tip : a dump or to throw something away
; Tipp-Ex : white tape or liquid used to make corrections of ink on paper
; tipping down : raining hard
; titchy : very small; tiny
; titfer : hat
; tits up : to suddenly go wrong. cf pear-shaped
; toad-in-the-hole : batter-baked sausages, sausages baked in Yorkshire Pudding
; toff : member of the upper classes
; toffee apple : a sugar-glazed apple on a stick eaten esp. on Guy Fawkes Night and Hallowe'en
; toffee-nosed : antisocial in a pretentious way, stuck up
; Tommy Atkins, Tommy : common term for a British soldier, particularly associated with World War I
; tonk : to hit hard, sometimes used in cricket to describe a substantial boundary shot: "he tonked it for six". In Southern England can also mean muscular..
; tosser * : Largely equivalent to "wanker" but less offensive; has the same literal meaning, i.e. one who masturbates..
; tosspot : a drunkard; also used in the sense of "tosser".
; totty : sexually alluring woman or women. Originally a term for a prostitute in the late 19th century.
; tout : usually in the context "ticket tout"; to re-sell tickets, usually to a live event. Verb: to tout, touting. Ticket touts can usually be seen outside a venue prior to the beginning of the event, selling tickets cash-in-hand. Known as scalping in the US.
; tower block : high rise public housing building. In recent years the US term apartment building has become fashionable to create the distinction between stigmatised public housing projects, and towers built to contain desirable private accommodation. Equally the US word condominium could also be applied to a tower block.
; Trading Standards : local government departments responsible for enforcing laws regulating the conduct of businesses.
; trainers : training shoes, athletic shoes..
; transit, transit van : generic name for a full size panel van, based on the Ford vehicle of the same name, which in Britain dominates the market for such vehicles.
; transport cafe : roadside diner on a highway used primarily by lorry drivers
; treacle : refined black sugar syrup
; truncheon * : a police officer's weapon
; tuppence : two pence, also infantile euphemism for vagina. cf twopenn'orth
; tuppenny-ha'penny : cheap, substandard
; turf accountant : bookmaker for horse races
; turn-indicator : direction-indicator light on a vehicle
; turning : A place where you can turn off a road. Not generally used where the turn would take you onto a more major road or for a crossroads.. "drive past the post office and you'll see a small turning to the right, which leads directly to our farm"
; turn-ups: an arrangement at the bottom of trouser-legs whereby a deep hem is made, and the material is doubled-back to provide a trough around the external portion of the bottom of the leg.
; twee * : excessively cute, quaint, or "precious"
; twopenn'orth, tuppenn'orth, tup'en'oth : one's opinion ;. cf tuppence

U

; uni : short for university, used much like US college
; up himself/herself : someone who is stand-offish, stuck-up, snobby. "He's a bit up himself." Euphemistic variation of up his own arse.
; up sticks :
; up the duff : pregnant; Australian in origin

V

; veg : shortened form of vegetable or vegetables.
; verger : someone who carries the verge or other emblem of authority before a scholastic, legal, or religious dignitary in a procession; someone who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies.
; verruca : a wart on one's foot.

W

; WAG : "wives and girlfriends", typically in reference to the significant others of footballers.
; wage packet : weekly employee payment, usually cash though now less commonly given as such
; wally : a mild form of idiot or fool
; wanker : a masturbator, used generally as a term of abuse in the fashion of the US jagoff or jerk.
; WC : a "water closet", a loo, a public or private toilet without a bath
; washing-up liquid: liquid detergent used for washing dishes
; wazzock : an idiot, popularised by the 1981 song "Capstick Comes Home" by Tony Capstick, originated and historically more common in Northern England
; well: extremely, very. "He's well rich"
; Wellingtons, wellies : Wellington boots, waterproof rubber boots named after the Duke of Wellington.
; welly : effort ; also the singular of "wellies", for Wellington boots
; What ho! : Hello! Now considered old-fashioned and stereotypically associated with the upper class.
; wheel brace : tool used to remove the nuts/bolts of the wheel of an automobile
; whilst : A more restricted form of "while" which cannot be used as a noun, verb, or preposition. In the US, "whilst" is old-fashioned and pretentious to the point where it is now only appropriate for creating a dated effect, as in historical fiction.
; whinge : complain, whine, especially repeated complaining about minor things ; cognate with whine, originated in Scottish and Northern English in the 12th century. Hence whinger, someone who complains a lot.
; whip-round : an impromptu collection of money.
; white coffee : coffee with milk or cream.
; white pudding : oat and fat sausage often eaten at breakfast, common in Ireland and Scotland
; wide boy : see spiv, above
; windbreaker : a series of small connected screens designed to break the wind at the beach, staked into the sand by wooden poles usually with the aid of a rubber mallet
; windscreen :
; wing commander : an Air Force officer rank
; wing mirrors : the external mirrors on a vehicle – though no longer normally attached to the 'wings' but to the doors
; winkle : childish term for a penis
; witter : to continue to talk trivially about a subject long after the audience's interest has gone. "He wittered on."
; wobbler, wobbly: tantrum
; write-off * : when cost of repair of a damaged asset is not feasible or exceeds its insurance value Is also used formally in the context of accounting, including in the US, to mean a permissible deduction applied to offset certain kinds of costs.
; wog : member of an ethnic minority, especially a brown one. The word can refer to a wide variety of non-Europeans, including Arabs, sub-Saharans Africans, Iranians, Indians and Pakistanis, and Turks.

Y

; Y-fronts: men's briefs with an inverted-Y-shaped frontal flap; originally a trademark
; yob, yobbo : lout, young troublemaker
; yomp : to move on foot across rough terrain carrying heavy amounts of equipment and supplies without mechanised support. Also used informally for any walk across rough ground.
; yonks : a long time, ages. "I've not seen her for yonks."

Z

; zed : last letter of the alphabet, pronounced "zee" in the U.S.
; zebra crossing :
; Zimmer, Zimmer frame : a trade name for a walking frame, from the American firm Zimmer Holdings.