My New Vocabulary

There are a few things that I usually like to do when I travel and one is trying to learn bits of the language of where I am. Apparently England is no different even though everyone here is speaking the same language as me. :-) But honestly, sometimes I swear they aren't.

We were on the train from Birmingham to London and the announcer came over the speakers and at the end I turned to Alex and asked if that was English. I didn't understand a word.

A few sayings are similar and they're ones you can figure out on your own. Others are words I've never heard before.

Steady On : "Steady on, mate." Used after a sneeze or coughing fit. 'Calm down' is the common translation. This makes no sense to me because a sneeze isn't something that a person gets worked up over, it just happens. So to say 'calm down' afterwards doesn't compute in my head. Although it is like when we would say 'bless you'd and not really mean to bless someone.

Natter : "Let's go down the pub and have a natter." Pronounced with more of an a sound at the end than er. 'Nattar.' One of new favourite words. We were walking around in London and kept seeing these groups of people outside pubs, chatting away and having a good time. I really wanted to part of these excellent conversations and then Alex told me they were all having a natter. *bing!* I want a natter! Natter natter natter. So much fun.

Youalright? : A greeting said when first seeing someone. "Y'alrigh?" I'd say it would be interchangeable with our 'how you doing' in that we don't really expect a full blown response and it is used more as a hello.

Yam Yam : "They're Yam Yams." A description of people from the Black Country. Instead of 'are you' they say 'you-am' and it's squished together so it sounds like "yam yam." For example, "Youam having laugh?"

Yao : "Yao talks funny." Means 'you.' I've never heard this but it would probably come from a Yam Yam.

Ring road : "Take the ring road." It is a main road circling a town.

Queue : "You have to queue up." Means line, or line up.

Pull a pint : "Pull me a pint, Dave." To pour a beer from a manual pump-flow tap instead of an automatic gas-flow tap. We were at an old pub and Kate knew the owners so she asked if Bruce could pull a pint. The 'real ale' pubs have the old pumps where you have to pull the beer lever up and down to literally pump the beer from the cask to your glass. They say that the new world-y gas pressure pumps make the beer taste funny, so ale enthusiasts prefer hand-pumped beer.

Takin the Mick : "He's takin' the mick." Translated as someone is making fun of someone or something, but usually refers to a person. Like 'he's poking fun of you.'

Nicked or Pinched : "I nicked a tart from your mum." Stole or thieved. We're on our way to the airport now and I grabbed a bunch of mini muffins and stuffed them in my purse. I told her I nicked them and was well chuffed.