[SkydivnShooter]

Sure, I coulda done this in a PM but someone else may benefit also

I am reading my "favourite" sp? Christmas present book, Sniper One - On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq, by SGT. Dan Mills - 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment - which is a fantastic read, by the way.

But the book is peppered with British slang that I have some questions about. Here is what I have encounted so far - and my best guess at the southern translation. How did I do?

Snatch Land Rover– British Hummer?
Warrior tracked vehicle - British Bradley?
Mate – buddy?
Wankers – stoopids?
Blokes – dudes?
Bollocks – is this crap or balls?
Sods – unfavorable or unlucky dudes?
Twisters in our trousers – pants legs tucked in boots?
Kit – stuff?
Arses – behinds?
Lorry – bus or truck?
Chuffed to bits – tickled to death?
Chips and curries – fish and fries?
Fresh cool glass of orange squash – orange juice?
Smack seven bells – open a can of whoop ass?
Scoff – supper?
Chubby bloke – fat dude?
Rancid pong – poo smell?
Swede – head?

Let me know how I did. I'll add more as I run across them :wink:

 

[Guest]

But the book is peppered with British slang that I have some questions about. Here is what I have encounted so far - and my best guess at the southern translation. How did I do?

Snatch Land Rover- British Hummer?
Like a Hummer, but older and meant for low threat areas. Not comfortable in back I am told.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNATCH_Land_Rover

Warrior tracked vehicle - British Bradley?
Yep. http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0036.html

Mate - buddy?
Yep. Can also be used to indicate impending hostility, much the same way buddy can be.

Wankers - stoopids?
Wank means masturbate. It's a general term, used much the same way you'd use jackass etc, with both friends and others. Tosser means the same thing.

Blokes - dudes?
Yep.

Bollocks - is this crap or balls?
Both. As a noun it refers to testicles, but it also means bull*hit

Sods - unfavorable or unlucky dudes?
Same sort of deal as wankers. Literally it's the short form of ********. Also see shirtlifter, poof, uphill gardener.

Twisters in our trousers - pants legs tucked in boots?
No bloody idea.

Kit - stuff?
Yep.

Arses - behinds?
Yep.

Lorry - bus or truck?
Truck, everything from a little Hiachi short-bed up to an 18 wheeler.

Chuffed to bits - tickled to death?
Chuff is slang for farting and anus, but yeah it means very happy.

Chips and curries - fish and fries?
Curry is the food of the Gods. When a Brit talks about curry they mean Indian food, rather than Thai, Vietnamese Laotian food etc. Chips is what y'all would call steak fries, typically cooked so they are floppy rather than crisp and then doused with malt vinegar and salt. I miss chips with curry sauce. We really need to do a CSF curry night, there's some good places in Raleigh, although curry requires much good lager, especially the good Indian lagers.

Fresh cool glass of orange squash - orange juice?
Almost. Squash is concentrated flavouring (usually fruit) mixed with water. It comes as a thin syrup in a bottle and you mix it with water to taste. The epitome of the squash arts is Robinson's Barley Water, a commercial version of an old English drink from way back (I know it was drunk in the 1800's, possibly before). Sheer heaven, like a sweeter lemonade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley_water

Smack seven bells - open a can of whoop ass?
Yeah. It's Cockney slang, I think it has something to do with hitting someone so hard they travel over seven of the original London boroughs, passing their churches and therefore seven bells.

Scoff - supper?
Scoff means to eat, usually in a less than delicate fashion.

Chubby bloke - fat dude?
I represent that remark!

Rancid pong - poo smell?
Any sort of nasty stink.

Swede - head?
No idea.

Let me know how I did. I'll add more as I run across them :wink:

You did a lot better than I did my first year here

 

[Just4Fun]

Interesting stuff. Now I'm going to have to refer to someone as an uphill gardener just to see how they react.

 

[Guest]

Interesting stuff. Now I'm going to have to refer to someone as an uphill gardener just to see how they react.

They may introduce you to the English national pastime (on Saturday nights anyway): Glassing.

 

[tonytigerhk45]

Is Glassing bustin a beer glass upside someone's head. :?
Or is it gettin glassey eyed.

 

[canes7]

My guesses would have been totall different..

Snatch Land Rover– A travelling hooker.
Warrior tracked vehicle - A hooker with no legs.
Mate – A hooker you don't have to pay for.
Wankers – Those who use hookers w/o the "love glove".
Blokes – Those who use a hookers services and welch on payment.
Bollocks – Disease you get from hookers. See "Wankers"
Sods – Those who seek hookers of same gender.
Twisters in our trousers – Same as Bollocks.

 

[Just4Fun]

So can you translate what Mullet is saying in Snatch?

All I can understand is effing this and effing that.

 

[Guest]

Is Glassing bustin a beer glass upside someone's head. :?
Or is it gettin glassey eyed.

It's using a beer glass to try and get to the inside of someones face, usually thin-walled end first. Very messy, very common.

 

[Guest]

So can you translate what Mullet is saying in Snatch?

All I can understand is effing this and effing that.

He's Scottish, I don't do Scottish

 

[Seamore2001]

He's Scottish, I don't do Scottish

Whadda ya mean? British - Scottish - it's the same thing, right?

 

[Just4Fun]

So can you translate what Mullet is saying in Snatch?

All I can understand is effing this and effing that.

He's Scottish, I don't do Scottish

Where's NCLivingScot when you need him?

 

[Woody]

Whadda ya mean? British - Scottish - it's the same thing, right?

:shock:

 

[nutcase]

This is an excelent translation. Nice to have an English speaker among us. :lol:

For another fantastic read from an outstanding Brit; 'Bravo Two Zero', by Andy McNabb. True story of the gulf war from an SAS operative. MSGT McNabb is one of my contemporary heroes.

 

[Guest]

He's Scottish, I don't do Scottish

Whadda ya mean? British - Scottish - it's the same thing, right?

Oh. No. You. Didn'.



And no, it really isn't. I'm from just north of London, Scotland is a whole other country in a union of nations where the accent changes every 50 miles in some places.

 

[Lafayette Gregory]

Swede - head?
No idea.

In Cornwall a swede was what we call a rutabaga? Or a large Beet that you derive sugar from. Sweet beets.

 

[Guest]

Swede - head?
No idea.

In Cornwall a swede was what we call a rutabaga? Or a large Beet that you derive sugar from. Sweet beets.

Yeah, a swede is a bland root vegetable, but I really couldn't figure a context where that would apply. Maybe if we get an excerpt from the book in question?

 

[Seamore2001]

Jaysus! Ya canna even Google?

Here's another bit of new slang: to swede. Sweding is a particularly interesting word from a new movie called Be Kind, Rewind. Created by French filmmaker Michael Gondry, the plot revolves around two men who work at a video rental store in which all of the videotapes of movies are accidentally erased.

So the two men decide to swede the movies themselves, meaning to re-make all of the movies with a home video camera and the barest of props and plots. In use outside of the movie, Gondry and the website for Be Kind, Rewind say that to swede a movie is to insert yourself into it, to make yourself a part of the action.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/3/5/lifefocus/20519877&sec=lifefocus

 

[Guest]

Jaysus! Ya canna even Google?

Here's another bit of new slang: to swede. Sweding is a particularly interesting word from a new movie called Be Kind, Rewind. Created by French filmmaker Michael Gondry, the plot revolves around two men who work at a video rental store in which all of the videotapes of movies are accidentally erased.

So the two men decide to swede the movies themselves, meaning to re-make all of the movies with a home video camera and the barest of props and plots. In use outside of the movie, Gondry and the website for Be Kind, Rewind say that to swede a movie is to insert yourself into it, to make yourself a part of the action.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/3/5/lifefocus/20519877&sec=lifefocus

Yeah, I got that too. How would that fit into the context of a book about active duty snipers?

 

[Threejs]

Wanna have fun with an Englishman, give him a "I won a shagging contest @ the outer banks" t - shirt, and send him home. Least that is what we did when I worked at Royal & Sun Alliance.

 

[Guest]

Wanna have fun with an Englishman, give him a "I won a shagging contest @ the outer banks" t - shirt, and send him home. Least that is what we did when I worked at Royal & Sun Alliance.

Nice.