- Hey there.
So this week, I've got Tom from
eat, sleep, dream English.
To tell you about some words and phrases to know,
before you come to London.
So, you can feel a little bit more like a Londoner.
Tom is a complete pro with this stuff.
Not only does he teach hundreds of thousands of people,
English over on his own YouTube channel.
He also talks about different types of English accents,
and he's even written a book.
Okay.
I'll let Tom take it away.
- Hey guys, what's going on?
I have 20 words that you need to know.
If you are coming to London to visit for any reason.
These are the words that you're going to hear.
You don't necessarily need to say them,
but you will hear them
and you do need to understand them.
And the first one, it's more of a sound than word,
"oy".
So, if you are in the way
queuing on the underground, you'll here
someone say "oy",
excuse me.
They're getting your attention.
If you are shouting across the bar,
oy Dave,
Dave oy,
mate.
Dave, Dave, Dave.
He can't . . .
He can't hear me.
Oy Dave,
Nah, he can't hear me.
So, it's very much the sound that we use
all the time in the city
to get people's attention.
Number two is one of my favorite words.
and one that you will hear all over the city,
"Innit",
"innit".
Now this is a contraction of isn't it.
And we usually use it in question tag for,
so for example, if I said to you,
"you like chocolate, don't you?"
When I said it don't you, I can use "innit".
So you like chocolate,
innit?
And we use it all the time.
You from New York, innit?
Yeah.
I can tell that.
I can tell by your accent.
Yeah.
Wicked.
Yeah. Nice.
I love America stuff.
It's brilliant there.
Now generally it's used by younger members of society
but it's spread so widely across the city.
I use it.
My friends use it.
It's a good way.
At least tonight.
Number three "boozer",
"boozer".
In Britain we love drinking.
Pub culture is so important.
So integral to who we are
and a "Boozer" is another word for a pub.
So, it comes from the word "booze".
"Booze" means, meaning alcohol.
A boozer is the place that you can get alcohol.
In London we've got boozers on every corner of the street.
They are fantastic.
Amazing places to go.
In fact, if you come to London
you have to go to a traditional Boozer.
You're looking for a Boozer.
Yeah, of course mate.
Is a great one in walking, right?
The prospect of Whitby, go check it out.
It's been there 500 years.
It's my favorite Boozer in London.
Alright.
And it would be remiss of me
not to talk about all the words
we have four very drunk.
Because, there are so many synonyms of drunk.
Some of our favorites include pest, hammered,
plastered, legless,
sloshed.
I could go on, there are so many.
And to continue the theme of alcohol
we also have something called an "off license".
This is a shop that sells alcohol
but you're not allowed to drink the alcohol on the premises.
So you buy the there,
and then you take it home or wherever you're going.
So it's an off license
but we shorten it down to an "offy",
an "offy".
So, because alcohol is so important in British society
you're more than likely to hear this word.
So it talks about puffs.
Now we're going to move on to toilets.
The first one of course is "Loo".
You're going to hear that all the time.
Also the "gents" or the "ladies",
okay?
So you're going to ask for the gents to go
to the male bathroom
or the male toilet.
And the ladies to go to the female toilets.
Other ways we say this are "the little boys room"
or "the little girl's room".
She can see him, which is culture.
We love using euphemisms to avoid saying certain words.
Toilet, being one of them.
And a very nice little phrase,
that perhaps is a little bit old fashioned
I still use it to "spend a penny".
So, it's a nice way to say the ongoing to the loo.
Of course, this comes from back in the day
when you literally used to have to spend one penny
to go to a public bathroom.
So, we still use that phrase now.
Alright guys, just to pop the little boy's room,
spend a penny,
and then we'll go.
Yeah?
Alright, sweet.
In fact, related to these words
the verb "pop".
I've noticed that we say this all the time here
in Britain,
here in London particularly.
I'm going to pop somewhere.
It just means I'm going to go somewhere quickly,
and then I'll come back.
So I'm going to pop to the loo.
I'm going to go to the loo quickly.
Could that be a more British English phrase than that?
I'm going to pop to the loo.
Ooh, I'm going to pop to the loop.
You might pop out to the shops.
I'm going to pop out to the shops.
Does anyone want anything?
I'm going to pop upstairs.
I'm going to pop downstairs.
So the preposition can change
over the place you're going can change
but pop always remains the same.
Beautiful.
Very, very British.
Next one,
"bloke",
"bloke".
Now this just means,
man.
But we use it all the time,
especially with different adjectives.
So, you might hear someone in the office saying,
Oh, Dave's a really good bloke.
Like, he's a good man.
He's a good guy.
Sliding on from "blokes".
We've got the word,
"geezer", "geezer".
Could that be a more London way than "geezer"?
"Geezer" is again like a man,
but it's
he's got a bit more attitude.
He's got a bit more swagger to him.
I's a bit of a "geezer".
He's probably quite loud.
Quite boisterous,
maybe funny.
But yeah, "geezer" has a bit of energy to it
compared to "bloke".
So again, we have lots of collocations.
You have like a top geezer, a diamond geezers
like a really good guy,
really great bloke.
A funny geezer, a dodgy geezer.
Like you can't really trust him.
Okay this one,
maybe this is the most London word we have.
"Cheeky",
"cheeky",
and it means, impromptu,
spontaneous.
So, you might go for a cheeky points.
That means you haven't planned it.
But you say to your friend,
in fact, cheeky point.
Come on, you go five minutes,
come on,
come on, let's do it.
So a "cheeky pint", or a "cheeky cigarette",
anything really?
It has a kind of feeling of naughtiness.
I always just spontaneously do it without planning.
So, it's quite a fun word
and definitely very, very London.
Alright, the next word,
"quid".
"Quid".
And this means one British pound.
So, a cup of coffee costs,
three quid.
Yeah, I know it's expensive, right?
London.
Now "quid" is uncountable.
So you never put the X.
It's not three quids or five quids,
no, just "quid".
Now, five quid, 10 quid, 20 quid,
connected to money.
We've got a hole in the wall.
A hole in the wall.,
that is an ATM.
It's an ATM.
We also say cash points or cash machine.
That's also fine.
But if someone asks you,
oh is there a hole,
hole in the wall somewhere?
They're not literally asking for a hole in the wall.
They're asking for an ATM.
I would probably more likely say cash point.
Is there a cash point,
anywhere around here?
But if you use any of those phrases,
people will understand you.
You looking for hole in the wall, right?
Yeah, cool.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's an HSBC standing?
It's about, it's over there.
There's a Highly Facts over there.
You're suited.
Yeah, yeah.
Now, I'm sure wherever you live
there are slang terms for the police.
(police siren)
And the same is the case here in London.
We call the police,
the "old bill",
the "old bill".
The etymology of that,
is confused.
There are different stories around that.
We used to have a TV show who "The Bill",
which is all about the police.
Next one,
if you come to London,
you have to have a full English breakfast.
That's bacon,
eggs,
sausages,
mushrooms,
toast.
Beans,
And so much in there.
Now fulling this breakfast is one way of saying it,
or just a fry up.
A fry up is a great way to start the day,
but maybe not every day,
maybe just once a year kind of a thing.
But it is really delicious.
Do you have fry up?
It's Saturday, right?
Yeah?
Alright, sweet.
So just, bacon?
Eggs?
(indistinct)
beans?
for works?
Yes.
Now we have a fry up in a place,
called a "greasy spoon", "a greasy spoon".
This is a local cafe or cafe as we call them.
It has quite modest deco.
It's quite a humble place.
Relatively cheap, I would say.
So these places are usually filled
with workers who are just looking
for something quick to eat, something hearty,
to keep them going through the day.
Certainly these are becoming fewer few in the city
but, if you haven't I'm sure you could find a greasy spoon
out too.
Thank you so much gents for having me on your channel.
I've really loved sharing my favorite London vocabulary
with you guys.
And if you want to learn more,
fresh,
modern British English,
about accents
or vocabulary slang,
then please check out
my YouTube channel is eat, sleep, dream English.
This is Tom, the cheap dreamer
saying goodbye.
[ambulance Sound]
Oh-oh, we're running away.
Let's get out of here.