Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Welcome to my brand new mini-series all about British English expressions. We're going to

  • look at the words and phrases that are commonly used in British English. So if you want to

  • sound more British, these are the words for you.

  • Today I'm going to show you twelve British words that are shortened to sound really informal.

  • Now I know so many of you guys are living in Britain so this is going to be super useful

  • for you guys. And anyone else who wants to visit Britain this is going to be fantastic

  • stuff for you because it's really natural English. This is the English that we actually

  • use on the streets in our every day conversations. I'm excited to teach you this guys, so let's

  • get going.

  • Alright, so instead of saying a cup of tea because we Brits love tea, we just say a cuppa.

  • So if you want a cup of tea you could say 'I'd love a cuppa, please.' And that means

  • a cup of tea. Now remember all these phrases are very informal so a cuppa is really informal,

  • it just means a cup of tea.

  • For any of you that have ever been to Britain you know that it rains quite a lot here so

  • we need an umbrella. It's one of the most important things that we can have and instead

  • of just saying umbrella we can shorten it to brolly. So, let's put that into a practice

  • sentence 'oh no, I forgot my brolly.' This happens way too much with me. Ok, so one more

  • time brolly.

  • The main broadcaster in Britain is the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation. Now

  • we affectionately term it the beeb. So if you hear someone saying 'I love the beeb'

  • that means I love the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation.

  • A classically British term uni, this is short for university. I use uni all the time. 'Where

  • did you go to uni?' or 'I'm just going to go and see my uni mates.' My mates, my friends

  • from university. So uni is a really common shortening of university.

  • Another really classically British term telly. This is short for television, telly. 'There's

  • nothing on the telly' there's nothing on the television. This is a fun one, so obviously

  • in Britain we celebrate Christmas but we've shortened it to Chrimbo. That's right Chrimbo.

  • 'Are you going away for Chrimbo?' And that means are you going away for Christmas. Interesting

  • one that one, Christmas shortens down to Chrimbo. Now obviously our national sport is football

  • and we shorten that word down to footy. So for example 'Did you see the footy last night?'

  • Did you see the football last night?

  • Alright we're going to get really British now. So we have something called an off-licence

  • and that's a shop that sells alcohol. Now instead of saying I'm going to the off-licence

  • we shorten that down to I'm going to the offie. I know, it's a strange one, right? 'I'm going

  • to the offie.' So if you want to go and buy a bottle of wine you could say 'I'm just going

  • to get some wine from the offie.' Alright now this is a fun one and one that perhaps

  • isn't that widespread. I don't know if that many people use this. I have used it before

  • but I'm going to teach it to you anyway because I think it's a fun one. Instead of saying

  • tomato ketchup, of course you could say ketchup but you could also Tommy K, tomato ketchup.

  • I've seen it used, I've said it myself again I don't know how widespread it's used but

  • anyway worth knowing. Tommy K. It's a bit like with mayonnaise we shorten that down

  • to mayo. That's not a specifically British thing but it's definitely a really useful

  • way to shorten a word so from mayonnaise to mayo from tomato ketchup you could have ketchup

  • or Tommy K. Or you could have red sauce, some people like to call it red sauce, hey you

  • choose what you want. People get very opinionated about what's the right word for tomato ketchup.

  • Use the one you want, I don't know. Tommy K, ketchup, red sauce, tomato ketchup it's

  • up to you.

  • Here's an example of how we are making English easier for ourselves. Take the word vegetables

  • shorten that down and you've got veg. Now it looks like veg but because it's part of

  • vegetables it's the /j/ sound so veg. So an example sentence 'I need to buy some fruit

  • and veg.' It's a need to buy some fruit and vegetables. Ok, take the word biscuit shorten

  • that down, you've got bicky. Example 'Would you like a bicky?' That means would you like

  • a biscuit? So yeah absolutely, I'll have to bickies. It sounds kind of similar but breakfast

  • you can shorten down to brekky. So 'where shall we go for brekky?'

  • Alright, those were all our words. Now remember guys these are all very informal words because

  • they are shortenings of longer words. So think about when you are going to use them. I would

  • say that if you are living in Britain and you've got British friends then that's the

  • perfect opportunity to use these words and you've definitely hear them. I wouldn't use

  • them in a formal work context, ok? That would be very silly but yeah in informal situations

  • but with friends in Britain absolutely I would use them. And of course if you are not living

  • in Britain but you are watching a lot of British TV or you are following British Instagrammers

  • or YouTubers like Zoella for example these are the kinds of words that you are going

  • to hear. So really useful for you to know. Guys did you find this first in the mini-series

  • of British English expressions useful? If you did, please let me know in the comments

  • below give me a big thumbs up and share this with anyone you know that's trying to learn

  • English, especially British English., ok? Because I'm from London, I teach British English

  • and I want to help anyone that would love to learn British English. So yeah let me know

  • in the comments if you've enjoyed this video and I'll bring out my next one in the mini-series

  • very soon. But until then guys, thanks so much for hanging out with me. Remember I've

  • got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the next

  • level. This is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.

Welcome to my brand new mini-series all about British English expressions. We're going to

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

A2 british shorten ketchup britain british english uni

12 Britishisms YOU NEED TO KNOW | British English Expressions

  • 10 0
    Summer posted on 2020/06/08
Video vocabulary

Keywords

stuff

US /stʌf/

UK /stʌf/

  • noun
  • Generic description for things, materials, objects
  • verb
  • To push material inside something, with force
absolutely

US /ˈæbsəˌlutli, ˌæbsəˈlutli/

UK /ˈæbsəlu:tli/

  • adverb
  • Completely; totally; very
  • Completely and without any doubt
  • Used to express complete agreement or certainty.
  • Yes; certainly; definitely.
  • Used to express strong agreement or affirmation.
  • Used to emphasize the agreement with a statement.
  • Completely; totally.
  • Used to add force to a statement or command.
  • Considered independently and without relation to other things; viewed abstractly; as, quantity absolutely considered.
  • Used for emphasis; very.
  • Used to emphasize a statement or opinion.
  • Without any doubt; completely.
  • Used to express complete agreement or affirmation.
context

US /ˈkɑnˌtɛkst/

UK /ˈkɒntekst/

  • noun
  • Set of facts surrounding a person or event
  • The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.
  • The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
opportunity

US /ˌɑpɚˈtunɪti, -ˈtju-/

UK /ˌɒpə'tju:nətɪ/

  • noun
  • Time, situation when a thing might be done; chance
  • A favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances.
  • A chance to do or achieve something in business.
  • A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.
  • A favorable time or occasion for doing something.
  • A favorable juncture of circumstances.
  • A situation or condition that provides a job prospect.
  • A possibility of employment or promotion.
  • A situation or occasion affording some advantage.
  • Scope for exercising a talent or skill.
  • A time or situation in which something can be done.
practice

US /ˈpræktɪs/

UK /'præktɪs/

  • other
  • To carry out or perform (a particular activity, method, or custom) habitually or regularly.
  • To carry out or perform (a particular activity, method, or custom) habitually or regularly.
  • To perform an activity or exercise a skill repeatedly in order to improve or maintain proficiency.
  • To perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency.
  • To do something repeatedly so as to become skilled at it.
  • noun
  • A customary way of doing something.
  • A usual or customary action or proceeding.
  • A doctor's or lawyer's business.
  • Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.
  • The customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing of something.
  • The office and place for legal or medical work
  • Doing something many times to become better at it
  • other
  • A customary way of doing something.
  • The business or work of a professional person, such as a doctor or lawyer.
  • other
  • The customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing something.
  • Repeated exercise of an activity or skill in order to improve or maintain proficiency.
  • Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.
  • Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.
  • other
  • Work at or be engaged in (a profession).
  • verb
  • To perform an activity or exercise a skill repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency.
  • To work as a doctor or lawyer
  • To live according to the teachings of a religion
  • To do something many times to improve a skill
term

US /tɚm/

UK /tɜ:m/

  • noun
  • A condition under which an agreement is made.
  • Conditions applying to an agreement, contract
  • A fixed period for which something lasts, especially a period of study at a school or college.
  • Each of the quantities in a ratio, series, or mathematical expression.
  • A limited period of time during which someone holds an office or position.
  • Length of time something is expected to happen
  • The normal period of gestation.
  • A way in which a person or thing is related to another.
  • Fixed period of weeks for learning at school
  • The (precise) name given to something
  • A word or phrase used to describe a thing or express a concept, especially in a particular kind of language or subject.
  • other
  • Give a specified name or description to.
  • verb
  • To call; give a name to
common

US /ˈkɑmən/

UK /'kɒmən/

  • noun
  • Area in a city or town that is open to everyone
  • A piece of open land for public use.
  • A piece of open land for public use.
  • Field near a village owned by the local community
  • adjective
  • Lacking refinement; vulgar.
  • Occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
  • (of a noun) denoting a class of objects or a concept as opposed to a particular individual.
  • Without special rank or position; ordinary.
  • Shared; Belonging to or used by everyone
  • Typical, normal; not unusual
  • Lacking refinement; vulgar.
  • Found all over the place.
specifically

US /spəˈsɪfɪkli/

UK /spəˈsɪfɪkli/

  • adverb
  • As regards a particular thing; closely related to
  • In a definite and clear manner.
silly

US /ˈsɪli/

UK /'sɪlɪ/

  • adjective
  • Careless
  • Acting funny or playfully
  • Not being serious or important
sentence

US /ˈsɛntəns/

UK /'sentəns/

  • noun
  • Official punishment given by a court of law
  • Set of words that make a whole statement
  • verb
  • (Of a judge) to decide the punishment of