The Language of England

Being the klutzy person I am, I just about managed to bump into everyone on the streets of London. The expressions they gave me were just about as weird as what they said. On Tuesday as I was just getting off the bus, a relatively elderly woman stepped in my way. Of course at that time I had chosen to check Facebook and update my Status. Gravity seemed to be against me as the poor woman and I collided, falling onto the zebra crossing (crosswalk). With anger in her eyes the woman shouted, “Oi! Are you arsehold?” Just to make the woman angrier, because it wasn't my fault that we just so happened to bump into each other, I looked up the word on my phone. I’m not ashamed to admit that I laughed in the ladies face. Of course I wasn't a drunk, I’m only 15.

The following day Katie and I went to the London Eye. It was the biggest Ferris wheel that I've ever seen in my life!

The London Eye at twilight

Besides the pretty lights and beautiful scenery, some of the people behind us weren't as kind or pretty. The long line just to get on the Eye took forever and Katie and I weren't the only ones getting antsy.  We heard numerous amount of shouting behind us like, “Oi I’m so cheesed off!” or “ I've got to Jimmy Riddle!” We didn't understand most of it, but after some research we found out what they meant.

Top 10 Favorite British Slang Phrases/Words

10. Quid -Idiot

9. Pants- Blows, as in “that blows”.

8. Prat- A stupid or foolish person
7. Pukka- Genuine, authentic; first-class

6. Boffin- Scientific expert

5. Gormless- Lacking intelligence,

4. Chunter- To mutter

3. Jiggery- pokery- Dishonest or suspicious

2. Wanker- Idiot

1. Twee- Dainty, delicate, cute

Even though we were only in London for two days I found myself talking with a British accent and using their unusual slang. I did some research on their dialect and found out that it’s the most obsessed dialect in the world. Their pronunciation is the closest to a “standard accent” that has ever existed in the UK. It emerged from the 18th and 19th century and has stayed the same since then. That may not be a long time, but with English our generation has twisted it into our own language and I’m surprised the teens in their country haven’t done the same.

Stay tuned because next week I’ll be flying to Japan. And they speak a WHOLE different language there!