I live in the West Midlands in a region also known as the Black Country (a term coined durring the Industrial Revolution to describe the smoke and smog from all the foundries in the area). We use the greeting "Am yow alright?" or "alright mate/ chuck/ duck/ love!"
Although on a Thursday night in the pub it's not uncommon to hear the greeting "evening c***ts"... Meant affectionately obviously...
It’s interesting culturally, because here in the States, in many circles, the word “c**t” has risen far beyond “fυck,” and now has its own designation as the “C-word.” An Irish friend tells me, though, it has much less sting in the UK.
I live in the West Midlands in a region also known as the Black Country (a term coined durring the Industrial Revolution to describe the smoke and smog from all the foundries in the area). We use the greeting "Am yow alright?" or "alright mate/ chuck/ duck/ love!"
It’s interesting culturally, because here in the States, in many circles, the word “c**t” has risen far beyond “fυck,” and now has its own designation as the “C-word.” An Irish friend tells me, though, it has much less sting in the UK.
The only rhyming slang I grew up with was “apples and pears”, which makes no sense as it’s longer than just saying stairs. “Berk” was another my auntie often used when we were young. It was years before I realised what it meant.
It’s interesting culturally, because here in the States, in many circles, the word “c**t” has risen far beyond “fυck,” and now has its own designation as the “C-word.” An Irish friend tells me, though, it has much less sting in the UK.
The only rhyming slang I grew up with was “apples and pears”, which makes no sense as it’s longer than just saying stairs. “Berk” was another my auntie often used when we were young. It was years before I realised what it meant.
In Jersey ... It's:
How you doin?
But we don't want an answer. The only valid response:
How YOU doin?
I visited London in the early 1980’s, and a local and I were walking down the street. He spotted an attractive girl, and said, “Oh Bobby, what a set of Bristols, eh?”
So when I got home, I shared the fun fact that in England, they call boobs, “Bristols.” Why I never knew…
I visited London in the early 1980’s, and a local and I were walking down the street. He spotted an attractive girl, and said, “Oh Bobby, what a set of Bristols, eh?”
So when I got home, I shared the fun fact that in England, they call boobs, “Bristols.” Why I never knew…
Fast forward 40 years, and I’m treating an English patient (not “the”…), and he’s telling me all about Cockney rhyming slang, about how you find the common word pair that rhymes, and then use the first word to replace the regular word you’re referring to. So I tell him I was in England once, and I only recall the typical words like “boot,” “nappy,” “take-away,” “Bristol’s,” etc.
Then he tells me, “Well you know, Bristols is Cockney rhyming slang.”
And I say, “Really? How so.”
“Well, he said. “Bristol City rhymes with…”
To bring it full circle, my aunties favourite insult “Berk” stems from “Berkeley Hunt”.
I Most Americans would not know a British insult as many of them sound like compliments to the uninitiated.
