Re-learning English in England

"If you have a hangover, what you need is the hair of the dog."

What?! What does that mean? Thus starts my introduction to British English. If you think you know English, you soon learn after coming to England that you don't really know English.  And this was the shock for me last August when I visited my sister in England for the first time.  As an English teacher, I never ever imagine that I would have any problems understanding English, here or anywhere else. Last August has proved me wrong, as I sat through conversations, struck dumb by the English slang, colloquial expressions used and the unintelligible accent.

Now that we have been in UK for about 4 months and likely to be here for a few years, I have become more aware of British English and increasingly fascinated by the local lingo. In fact, I should qualify that there is no one standard local lingo, given the diverse dialects and accents throughout the different parts of the country as well as the dynamic variations to the language due to the influx of immigrants.

As I embark on this little linguistic journey, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the new terms and expressions that I have picked up and found endearing.  Let's start off by demystifying the "hair of the dog" :)  This has to be my favourite.

The Hair of the Dog (expression)
According to my research in Wikipedia, the "hair of the dog" refers to the alcohol one drinks with the aim of combating a hangover. Whether there is any scientific basis for this belief is debatable, but certainly, this expression derives from the expression "the hair of the dog that bit you".  Apparently, the expression originates from the erroneous belief that if a rabid dog bit you, the cure is to place some hair of the said dog in the bite wound.  Well, at least, this is the popular belief in Scotland.  And the saying found itself into a parallel treatment for hangovers - that if you have had too much drink, what you need is to have a bit more of the same drink within 24 hours to cure yourself of the hangover effects.  And believe it or not, this expression and belief has been around since the time of the Bard! 


Other interesting terms in English slang

gutted (adj) - I love the sound of this word. And apparently, it means deep disappointment.  I love it when I watch reality show "New Dating in the Dark" and a participant goes, "If he turns out to be ugly/If he doesn't like my looks even though we connected so well in the dark, I would be gutted!" The strong consonant sounds really make one feel the impact of that deep deep hurt and upset - you feel like you have been hit hard by a truck and go "Ouch!" :)

muggy (adj) - The first time I heard this word, the first thing I thought of was the use of the word "muggles" in Harry Potter; Muggles are people who have no magic inclinations or powers and are in fact, not born into the magical world. Thus, they cannot appreciate magic and can only see it as something akin to witchcraft and to be fearful of.  What it really means here, as the British use it, is that the weather is humid, extremely humid, so summer is the season when this word is most often used - "The day is very muggy!"

chav (noun) - According to Wikipedia, a chav is a stereotypical rough young person in the United Kingdom. The nearest parallel I can draw for Singlish users is the concept of being ah beng or ah lian, though a chav is possibly a more extreme version and can often display antisocial behaviour.


wasted (adj) - to be wasted is to be drunk and intoxicated, and apparently more often, it also means being very woozy due to drugs.  Again, like "gutted", I love this word, because its pronunciation just completely conveys the impact of its meaning. This is especially since the English do tend to punctuate the sentence by adding to the intensity - imagine this: "I am TOTALLY wasted!" :) 

trolleyed (adj) -  My sister has told me that actually "trolleyed" is the word to just mean being drunk specifically.


knackled (adj) - to be exhausted.  Absolutely appropriate to say this at the end of a long day!


tight (adj) - to be frugal or not generous.  A stronger term would be tight-arsed (adj), which is to be mean, stingy.  And be very upset if someone says this of you - tight as a duck's arse (phrase), 'cause this means you are miserly and very mean!

skint (adj) - to have no money. In the 4th episode of "New Dating in the Dark", Steph says shyly that there may just be a New-Dating-In-The-Dark wedding coming... at which point, her guy Mikey says - yup, maybe, except that he is skint at the moment and he would have to look for some money! Sweet! :)


sweet (adj) - excellent, cool


ciggy (noun) - cigarette


blissful (adj) - I am not exactly sure if this is an established term here, but I have heard my sister and her frens use this word for almost everything they find beautiful, delightful, wonderful, happy.  It is used so extensively that it almost feels like it has become a ubiquitous term...
Examples include: It's a blissful day. The bag is blissful. She's such a blissful baby. 
After a while, you are not quite sure what "blissful" means exactly anymore...


Acronyms

Then, there are acronyms and so far, I have only picked up 2:

OTT (adj. phrase) - Over the top, which means to do more or to go further than is necessary especially due to over-enthusiasm. Or doing something ourtrageously.  I was remarking to Claire the other day that I prefer Elle in Britain's Next Top Model compared to Tyra Banks in America's Next Top Model and she said, "Yeah, Tyra can be quite OTT." and I was like,"Duh? What does that mean?!"  That was when I found out about the wonderful world of British English acronyms.

BFF (noun) - Best friends forever.  An abbreviation popular with girls in high school and part of popular culture.  E.g.: "OMG, she is so cool! We are totally BFFs now!"  The reality show that I can't stand but find entertaining anyway (which means I do watch it when I remember.. haha...) is "Paris Hilton's New BFF".

Food
And when it comes to food, there is a new list to learn.  The following is a sampling of what one may see in a local pub or restaurant menu:


Bangers and Mash - sausages and mash potatoes
Bubble and Squeak - a dish made with leftover vegetables and meat from Sunday roast. Generally consisting of potatoes and cabbages, these are shallow-fried and can be served with or without the meat from Sunday roast.
Soft-boiled Eggs with Asparagus Soldiers - The asparagus is boiled. The top of the soft boiled egg is cut off and the yolk should still be runny enough to dip the boiled asparagus in and left standing up, thus the name "asparagus soldiers".
Toad in the Hole - Sausages are placed in a batter in a baking tray and oven-baked, and this is usually served with vegetables and onion gravy.  
Pudding - a generic term for dessert and this means it can be cheesecake, chocolate mousse, lemon drizzle cake etc. The only exception is black pudding...
Black pudding - essentially a sausage made with pig's blood with a blend of onions, pork fat and flavourings, so nope, it is not dessert...
Cream tea - scones with jam and clotted cream. Yums!




Well, that's my dip so far in the intriguing world of British English and there will be more to learn. This English teacher has learned to eat a bit of humble pie and it pays to be curious.  Have fun with the English language! Cheers!


Here are some links for further enlightenment:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

http://www.world-english.org/slang_world.htm

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ott

PS:  I am no expert on British English and this entry only reflects what I have learnt from my conversations with English friends as well as some online research. Any comments, corrections, improvements or clarifications are much welcome.