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Understanding English Conversation: How To Speak Like A Brit
Understanding English Conversation: How To Speak Like A Brit
https://onlineteachersuk.com
Here are several examples of common British expressions used when meeting/greeting friends and
starting conversations in the UK:
“Alright, mate!” – Common responses might be: “Alright!”, “Hiya!”, “(*Nod*) You good?”
“Hiya!” – A colloquial version of “Hi!”, perhaps more common among women than men
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“How’s it going?” – Usually followed by a short answer like: “Yeah, good thanks. You?” or “Not bad,
cheers.”
“How goes (it)?” – A shorter form of the above. There are also funny forms like: “How’s tricks?”
“What(’ve) you been up to?” – An informal way of asking what someone has been doing since you last
met. Common responses might be: “Oh, nothing much. You?” or “Had a couple (of pints) down the pub
last night.”
Brits will not expect non-natives to know colloquial expressions like these, so you may raise a few
eyebrows if you use them. If you spend time in the UK, you will hear greetings like these on a daily basis,
everywhere you go.
Cheers – This word has multiple meanings, but most non-natives will only be familiar with one – i.e.
what Brits say when they drink alcohol (simple toast). In fact, this word is used more frequently in
English conversation to mean: “thanks” or “goodbye”. E.g. When you get off the bus you can thank the
driver by saying: “Cheers, mate!”
Nice one! – Often used instead of “Well done!” to add more emphasis and emotion in conversational
English. Other alternative expressions include: “Nice work!”, “You little blinder!”, “You’re a star!”. In
American English, the equivalent would be: “Good job!”.
Knackered – Another example of a word that adds greater emphasis when used in English conversation.
This word means “very tired” or “exhausted” and can be strengthened further, as in: “Totally
knackered!” or “Completely knackered!”.
Gutted – This common UK expression means “Extremely disappointed” and is often used by Brits when
talking about football teams losing in important matches, failures at work, girlfriends going off with other
guys, etc. E.g. “We lost 5-0 to Arsenal the other day. I was absolutely gutted, mate!”
Dodgy – If something or someone is described as “dodgy”, it means it is: faulty, wrong in some way,
possibly illegal or suspicious, not “on the level”, unfair, false, etc. E.g. “Don’t trust John! He’s a bit of a
dodgy bloke.” (suspicious/criminal), “Watch yourself in that pub, mate. It can be a dodgy on a Friday
night.” (meaning that you may get into trouble – beaten up, etc.), “My phone’s gone a bit dodgy. Can I
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borrow your old one?” (faulty, not working properly, “on the blink”).
Booze – A common British English term for alcohol. “Boozer” is an alternative word for pub or a person
who drinks a lot. E.g. “Have you bought any booze for the office party yet?”
Bird/Bloke – These popular colloquial terms are used to mean “Woman/girl” and “Man/guy”
respectively. “Bird” is similar to the American word “Chick” and would not be used in the presence of
the woman being discussed. In contrast, the word “Bloke” is not perceived as rude.
“Mardy Bum” by Arctic Monkeys. An example of a track sung with a northern (Sheffield) accent with
colloquial/dialect expressions. E.g. “Now then” (Form of address), “mardy bum” (funny term for a
moody person), “right hard” (really hard), etc.
Nip/pop out – This expression means “Go out for a short time”. E.g. “I’m just nipping out for 5 minutes.
Can you take a message if anyone calls?” or “I’m popping (out) to the shop. Do you need anything?”
Turn up – Often used instead of “Arrive” or “Appear expectedly”. E.g. “We hadn’t seen Emma all
morning, but then she just turned up.” or “Don’t worry about your (lost) keys. They’ll turn up.”
Pick up – A phrasal verb meaning “Collect” (on foot/physically or in a vehicle). E.g. “Give me a shout
(call) when you want me to pick you up from work.” An alternative would be: “Give somebody a lift” (in
a car).
Run out (of) – A common expression used in English conversation to mean: not have any remaining/left,
be out of something (a product), use up. E.g. “We’ve run out of milk, so you’ll have to have your coffee
black. That ok?”
Head off (up/down) – Brits often use phrases like “I’m (going/heading) off down the pub” or “You off
up to Scotland next week?”. This can be confusing because there is not necessarily any slope or gradient
involved in the perception of whether the destination is up or down in relation to the speaker. As a rule,
Brits say “up north” and “down south”, but when going to the pub it is more usual to say “down” than
“up” (unless the pub is specifically located at the top of a hill).
from a British friend or teacher to find out what is “in” and what is “out”. Below are a couple of
examples of traditional idioms and their modern conversational English equivalents:
A piece of cake – As this now sounds like an old-fashioned cliché, most Brits would use the expression
“No probs!” (no problem) instead. Note that the “-s” on the end must be used even though “No
problem!” uses the singular form of the noun.
Cost an arm and a leg – Brits are more likely to use colloquial equivalents like: “Cost a bomb” (a lot of
money, too much) or “Rip-off” (not worth the money paid, a cheat). E.g. “That old car cost a bomb!
What a rip-off!”
Brits still love to use expressions connected with the notion of “fairness”, which is an important part of
the national mindset. E.g. “Fair’s fair”, “In all fairness (to him/her)”, “Fair enough”, “Fair play”, etc.
Comparative expressions like “Sooner or later” and “More or less” also remain popular in English
conversation.
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