History Main / StockBritishPhrases

* Chavs are youth (usually) who generally causes discomfort amongst the middle class. Stereotypically clad in a hooded sweatshirt and Abercrombie tracksuit (benefits permitting) and clutching a can of cheap lager. Not usually a threat to the public, but is seen as such due to a large amount of robbery undertaken in the early 2000s by people in such clothing. Disputed sources claim the term Chav is an acronym for 'Council Housed And Violent' (in reality, it has its roots in the Romani and Polari languages), but it has been expanded to include anyone of working class and little use to the nation, probably from London. The precise meaning of the phrase is the source of much debate and changes much with background, region, etc.

* Chavs are youth (usually) who generally causes discomfort amongst the middle class. Stereotypically clad in a hooded sweatshirt and Abercrombie tracksuit (benefits permitting) and clutching a can of cheap lager. Not usually a threat to the public, but is seen as such due to a large amount of robbery undertaken in the early 2000s by people in such clothing. Disputed sources claim the term Chav is an acronym for 'Council Housed And Violent' (in reality, it likely has its roots in the Romani and Polari languages), but it has been expanded to include anyone of working class and little use to the nation, probably from London. The precise meaning of the phrase is the source of much debate and changes much with background, region, etc.

* Chavs are youth (usually) who generally causes discomfort amongst the middle class. Stereotypically clad in a hooded sweatshirt and Abercrombie tracksuit (benefits permitting) and clutching a can of cheap lager. Not usually a threat to the public, but is seen as such due to a large amount of robbery undertaken in the early 2000s by people in such clothing. The term Chav, according to some (disputed) sources is an acronym for 'Council Housed And Violent', but has been expanded to include anyone of working class and little use to the nation, probably from London. The precise meaning of the phrase is the source of much debate and changes much with background, region, etc.

** Of Irish provenance, this is still used in certain parts of the US which had a strong Irish influence (i.e. most of the US).

** Still used almost exclusively within Her Majesty's Prisons, as a form of address used by inmates addressing uniformed staff.

** And now there's a kerfuffle over "Spastic", a toy character who has been criticized for sharing a name with an English term for "retarded". Creator/{{Hasbro}} has decided to rectify the situation by renaming him Over-Run. Initially, they were just not going to release it outside the US, but Hasbro changed their minds when they realized it was fairly common to import American figures for retail.

* Wank(er): "To wank" (verb) is "[[ADateWithRosiePalms to masturbate]]". The meaning of "wanker" and its comparison to American "jerkoff" are left as an exercise for the reader. Given that this is a reasonably strong swear word in the UK (not being used before the watershed as a rule), it is particularly entertaining to hear it used casually in US shows, with a similar level of severity as say "sillyhead" or "twit". Example - ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Trash of the Titans" features two uses of the word and was broadcast at its usual 6pm slot in the UK, causing a rash of complaints and also much falling about with laughter.
** As a noun, "Wank" refers to a certain masculine fluid. Not to be confused with "''a'' wank" (also a noun), which means a session wherein a person has ADateWithRosiePalms

* The page image for QuintessentialBritishGentleman is the titular character of ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure''. The dialogue is text based and strewn with this, but it's notable in that the voices, which are SpeakingSimlish, have StockBritishPhrases as the only audible parts, though mostly with the protagonist. His use of "Good Show!" is rather iconic, and is used on the title screen and right before he transforms into a HumongousMecha (which, for some reason, has him [[BritsLoveTea drinking Tea with nobles]].

* Since [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Ferelden]] is [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Fantasy!England]] some of these do tend to show up, frequently 'sod' and 'blighter' (though due to [[TheCorruption the Blight]] that last one has a different meaning in Thedas).

* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Strong Bad has a tenuous enough grasp of ''American'' English at times, and his knowledge of British English seems to begin and end with "cheers", "cheerio", and [[Music/Never MindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols "nevermind the bullocks"]] (sic). His attempt to pass himself off as "Constable Anybody" from "the Royal Society for Total Dorks" has him sign off with "Cheers! 'Cause I'm so British!"

* [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]] has a tenuous enough grasp of ''American'' English at times, and his knowledge of British English seems to begin and end with "cheers", "cheerio", and [[Music/TheSexPistols "nevermind the bullocks"]] (sic). His attempt to pass himself off as "Constable Anybody" from "the Royal Society for Total Dorks" has him sign off with "Cheers! 'Cause I'm so British!"

* Bint: Slightly contemptuous term for woman or girl, mainly used in London. Said to come from when Cockney troops were stationed in Iraq between the World Wars, as it's the Arabic word for girl. Basically a milder version of Bitch.

* Muppet: Idiot. Often used in tandem with ''Shut it, you slag!'', when parodying Cockneys. The OED traces the colloquial usage to 1989, with no mention before the introduction of [[Series/TheMuppetShow the proper Muppets]] around 1957.

** Considering in the actual 4Kids dub "proper", he once broke out into an "Pip-pip cheerio!" in one episode when the voice actor had previously only been nominally British.

* "Slag" is one of [[Series/TheMightyBoosh the Hitcher's]] favorite insults.
** He also said "me China" a lot.
* Jamie Hyneman on Series/MythBusters used "Bob's your uncle" as coda to his description of the function of a pneumatic cannon in the Killer Soda Cup myth. Narrator Robert Lee followed with "So Robert's your mother's brother" in the narration.

---->'''Angel:''' Wait a minute, I wasn't in UsefulNotes/{{Italy}} during TheFifties.//

* Aggro: Aggression, trouble, etc. Used in e.g.: ''It seems there's some aggro going on!'' This one is definitely more used in Australia and South Africa. Also means aggravation in the UK, at least in England. Used as "She's giving me aggro about...".

-->Angel: "Wait a minute, I wasn't in Italy during the 50's."
-->Spike: "Oh, right, guess you weren't. Really missed out."

*** Also because, while James Marsters can more or less do a British accent, David Boreanaz really can't pull off Irish and it's a complete embarrassment when he tries.

* When it comes to the swear words, Spike from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Spike.'' As British magazine SFX put it:

* When it comes to the swear words, [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Spike.]] As British magazine SFX put it:

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' includes an episode where an acquaintance (Jennifer Coolidge) insists on speaking with a fake British accent. Not only is her speech a bizarre mix of every accent in the UK, but she also uses every stock phrase in the book.

* Tally-ho!: "Let's get this show on the road", especially if this show is a hunt of some sort. Also stereotypically used by more upper-class fighter pilots in the second world war. This is because "Tally-ho" is an actual hunting-with-dogs term, meaning the quarry has been sighted. The aviation usage is that an enemy plane has been sighted and the pilot is moving to engage.

** Dick and Fanny having "a gay old time" in ''TheMagicFarawayTree''. Recent reprints of TheMagicFarawayTree have replaced Jo, Bessie and Fanny with Joe, Beth and Frannie, and Cousin Dick with Cousin Rick.

--> And hope that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space\\
[[spoiler:'Cos there's '''bugger all''' down here on Earth!]]

* "Sod a dog," indicating an admission of a mistake, is used by Creator/HughGrant in the film ''Film/Notting Hill''; censored in the American television version. It might be just a bit of silly faux English just for that film.

* "Sod a dog," indicating an admission of a mistake, is used by Hugh Grant in the film ''Notting Hill''; censored in the American television version. It might be just a bit of silly faux English just for that film.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1577 SCP-1577-2]] is a mysterious entity which uses these incessantly, apparently in an attempt to pretend it's a human Englishman. Pip pip, jolly right.

** A variation is a police officer saying "Hello, hello, hello!", when catching somebody in the act.

'''Tristan:''' [[StopBeingStereotypical Stop being so British!]]