Ooooh, those trendy young Brits and their funny new words.

December 14, 2000 6:50 PM

Ooooh, those trendy young Brits and their funny new words. What I can't help wondering is how many people have been sending in made up slang. (via clog).
posted by davidgentle (22 comments total)

I hardly see how "to go for a nosh" is new (or cool).
posted by rschram at 6:56 PM on December 14, 2000

furry muff
posted by starduck at 7:16 PM on December 14, 2000

Hey, I saw Billy Elliot the other day ... and there was a line to the effect of "Don't lose your blob" or something like that. Could someone tell me what "blob" is?
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 8:51 PM on December 14, 2000

Binary large object.
posted by waxpancake at 9:18 PM on December 14, 2000

can i buy a vowel? a? e?
what about all the many ways to slash and dump?
no bonking?
a good old epi of ab fab or the young ones is more informational

posted by ethylene at 10:03 PM on December 14, 2000

I've heard about 5% of those slang words in use. Some of them are regional -- "stoshied", for instance -- and others have just been made up by student hacks.

And I've never heard "don't lose your blob" before, either, but I know that it means "don't lose your [temper | head]", etc. And yeah, we do have bops.
posted by holgate at 10:04 PM on December 14, 2000

Thanks, holgate.

And y'all ought to catch Billy Elliot in a theatre near you. Highly recommended
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 10:13 PM on December 14, 2000

no no no

I believe Beavis and Butthead were using the word Schlonged before it became a Brit thing.
posted by mkn at 11:31 PM on December 14, 2000

As long as we're on made-up British slang, I think the Viz Profanisaurus is a valuable resource.
posted by mattw at 12:24 AM on December 15, 2000

They forgot box. "that girl's a box" (any ugly, loser of a girl)
posted by grank at 1:15 AM on December 15, 2000

In favour around my gaff: "No, seriously, she munts for Britain - she's an OLYMPIC munter."
posted by barbelith at 6:01 AM on December 15, 2000

Billy Elliot was tired sentimentalist garbage. [gentle sound of topic drifting]
posted by chartres at 8:10 AM on December 15, 2000

But nooooooo! It was the most inspirational film ever made about a ballet-dancing boy.
posted by dhartung at 8:43 AM on December 15, 2000

A few of those are Cockney rhyming slang, or a modification of it. They're, by definition made up, I guess.
posted by baylink at 9:03 AM on December 15, 2000

Obviously, these students don't watch the telly much, or they'd have noted the official slang word of "Junkyard Wars/Scrapheap": BODGE (overused because it fits almost everything that happens on that show - If I could put together a team for the upcoming American JW competition, I'd call it the "L.A. Bodgers")
And what about "The Naked Chef's" synonym for "delicious": PUCKER (Did anybody else think Jamie O. was saying something else the first time you heard it?)
Of course, thanks to BBC America's "Changing Rooms" (which makes the American version, "Trading Spaces", look beige in comparison), I've picked up several new phrases:
MDF: anything cheap but practical
scumble glaze: looks better than it sounds
unlid the paint can: reveal your intentions
Whore's Palace: results of a process out of control
Handy Andy Inch: error achieved when you don't recheck the numbers you were given
the doot di-doot: the home stretch (for the music the show always plays as the projects are being finished)
and of course, Lawrence Lewellen Bowles: to intimdate someone into doing what they didn't really want, in honor of British TV's most flamboyant heterosexual.
posted by wendell at 9:32 AM on December 15, 2000

oh my god, i love that show, bless bbcamerica despite the boogie bass adverts
is he hettie? i've got my suspicions
say it's so
(note the splash of topic gone off the edge)
posted by ethylene at 11:07 AM on December 15, 2000

They've made many references to LLB's wife, including one show they did a block away from the church where they got married (his tux was probably more ornate than her gown) and his comments that when he started at Changing Rooms, he didn't have an agent but his wife did.
It's almost as disapointing as watching that other BBCA show: "One Man and His Dog" and realizing it's a sheepherding competition!
posted by wendell at 11:50 AM on December 15, 2000

givin it beans!
posted by physics at 1:50 PM on December 15, 2000

wendell: it's "pukka". Originally from the Raj, imported by J. Oliver Esq. As in "Pukka Pies", the mainstay of many a fish-and-chip shop.

(And MDF is "medium density fibreboard", a cheap wood-substitute made of glued-together wood chips, available from yer nearest MFI or other ready-to-assemble furniture shops.)

There's also an ongoing skit of "Changing Rooms" on R4's "Dead Ringers, for anyone who can get it in the UK, or through the stream. "I'm Carol Smillie, and these are my teeth." Wonderful.
posted by holgate at 2:06 PM on December 15, 2000

and, for geeks: "bodge" == "kludge".
posted by holgate at 2:08 PM on December 15, 2000

I'm marveling at all of the references to TV shows and performers that I've never so much as heard of, much less seen.
posted by norm at 4:51 PM on December 15, 2000

Thanks, holgate, for the clarification on "pukka" (I blame the MeFi SpellCheck for my misspelling), But I already knew what MDF stands for, I was just trying to give it a broader meaning, as in "My entire lifestyle is made of MDF, covered with scumble glaze". BBCAmerica has become just about my favorite channel... now, how am I gonna get some other good UN-American TV?
posted by wendell at 11:07 PM on December 15, 2000