British Expression: It’s not my cup of tea
British people say “It’s not my cup of tea,” to mean that something is not to their taste, be it food, music, films… anything really. For Example: “I went to the theatre last night but it wasn’t my cup of …
Category: British Expressions
Expression: I’d give my right arm for…
There is a popular expression “I’d give my right arm for…” meaning “I’d really love to have…”. It means that it (whatever it is) is so important to me that I would gladly lose something as important as my right …
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce poured hot over almost any meal, especially on ‘meat and two veg’ and roast dinners. It is the standard British accompaniment to dinner. As Christmas is coming soon, a LOT of gravy is being sold in …
Harlow Pub Quiz
This is an example of British irony humour. It is an excerpt from a comedy parody dictionary. It lists new names for things that have no name, always in a comical and sarcastic way. Harlow pub quiz: (noun) Entertainment regularly …
Cockney Rhyming Slang
In the East End of London there is an area known unofficially as Cockney. The local people developed their own slang based around rhyming words to replace regular words. For example, “Apples” is Cockney slang for the English word “stairs”. …
Expression: Gordon Bennett!
When British people want to express disbelief or real surprise, they use a large variety of expressions – some being very offensive to many people. I won’t list those ones here, but below you can see some of the non-offensive …
Expression: Not on your Nellie!
“Not on your Nellie!” is used in Britain like “No way!” in the US. It means “absolutely not.” Below is an example used twice in Only Fools And Horses, starring the very popular David Jason, as 0:35 and 1:20. Other …