Ah, the British! Our friends across the pond love nothing more than spending their days using alternative word combinations rather than saying exactly what they mean. Oh, and drinking tea and dressing up in their best clothes for dinner each evening... Okay, perhaps I've been watching too much Downton Abbey.
Anyway, once again, it’s time to baffle your friends and family with 22 more “oh so very British” idioms.
1. All mouth and no trousers
Someone who boasts about doing something but never delivers on their word is “all mouth and no trousers.” Alternatively, you might say they haven't got the balls! I’ll let your imagination work that one out.
2. As the actress said to the bishop
When a sexual reference is dropped into a conversation, either accidentally or deliberately, a person may follow it up with this idiom. The wording is often changed slightly to “as an actress said to a bishop.”
3. Champagne tastes, beer wages
This idiom describes a person who has expensive tastes but a low salary. Historically, beer has been considered a cheap alcoholic drink, largely consumed by workers on low salaries. Champagne, on the other hand, is generally associated with the upper echelons of society.
4. That was a banana skin
The banana skin idiom describes a situation that causes embarrassment or problems. This idiom is derived from the old slippery banana skin on the floor joke, with the implication being that a person has slipped up.
5. You've been in the wars!
A person who looks physically hurt or worn out has been in the wars. Should your son come back from football, all muddy and with a bruised leg, you might say, “You've been in the wars, haven’t you?”
6. Getting it in the neck
Like getting stick (see part 1), getting it in the neck means being criticised or scolded for your actions. A man who is late home from the pub is likely to “get it in the neck” from his wife.
7. Down like a lead balloon
A joke or comment that “goes down like a lead balloon” has been badly received, or has failed to affect the audience in the way it was intended to.
8. Life isn't all beer and skittles
Drinking beer and playing skittles is fun, right? Well, it is for the British, anyway. But, unfortunately, life can’t be one big party (another idiom). Shame.
9. A fair crack of the whip
If someone has had a fair crack of the whip, they have been given an equal or fair opportunity to accomplish something.
10. Belt and braces
This idiom describes a cautious person who treads carefully through life. “He’s all belt and braces, that boy.”
11. Box clever
If you box clever, you are doing what it takes to win, even if it means bending the rules a little.
12. Break your duck
This idiom means to do something for the first time. A similar version is used in the very British sport of cricket; to be out for a duck means to be bowled out for a score of zero.
13. Come up smelling of roses
A person who has come up smelling of roses has emerged from a situation with their reputation intact, even though their actions may have suggested they would be in considerable trouble.
14. Get out of your pram
A person getting out of their pram responds aggressively to another person in a situation that doesn't ultimately concern them. The recipient of the aggression is surprised, as someone might be by a naughty baby climbing out of a pram.
15. Chinese whispers
Not considered entirely politically correct in the modern era, this idiom refers to gossip that is distorted or exaggerated as it is passed from one person to another.
16. Death warmed up
A person who looks like death warmed up looks very sick. This idiom is common in the winter months, when people are suffering from colds yet still struggling on with work and daily tasks.
17. Keen as mustard
If someone is enthusiastic about taking on a task or new challenge, they are considered to be “keen as mustard.”
18. Flogging a dead horse
No one wants to buy a dead horse, and trying to flog one means acting without any hope of succeeding. This idiom is used when a person is trying to raise an issue despite a lack of interest or support.
19. Full Monty
“The full Monty” refers to something being complete, undiluted, or not reduced in any way.
20. Gone pear-shaped
Something that has gone pear-shaped has gone wrong, or produced unexpected and generally unwanted results.
21. Pardon my French
When British people swear in conversation, either accidentally or intentionally to highlight the seriousness of an issue, they often say, “Pardon my French.”
22. As broad as it is long
When it’s impossible to decide between two options, the choice is as broad as it is long, which basically means the options are equally balanced.
If you haven’t read part one, you can do that here, and if you love these “oh so very British” idioms, show some love by sharing this with your friends.
Toodle-pip.
…That’s an old, informal British way of saying goodbye.
