British Idioms 1

British Idioms 1

I was well into adulthood before I learned the meaning of idiom. Looking through a list of definitions, I found this one from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole.”

Having hosted international people, I saw how difficult idioms are to learn from one language to another. Even in the same language, they present challenging fun. Here’s a list of ten that I’ve heard in the last three months.

  1. Bonnet is the hood of an automobile.
  2. Boot is the trunk of said auto.
  3. Butty a sandwich, a shortened form of saying “bread and butter.”
  4. Chemist is a pharmacist.
  5. Faf is to spend your time doing a lot of things that are not important instead of the thing that you should be doing
  6. Jab is an injection of medicine.
  7. Lorry is a synonym for “truck.” Lorry is no longer in popular usage but truck is.
  8. Pants means very poor in quality.
  9. Punnet is a kitchen storage container.
  10. Tea is not only a beverage but refers to the evening meal. A synonym for supper.

Now, which of these idioms did you not know before reading this post? I would like to know your answer to this question.

Then find them in the wordsearch below. There are no diagonal words and only one backward word.

A             Z             C            D            T             U            V             X             Y             ☺️

B             Y             C            H            E             M            I              S             T             ❤️       

G            X             O            P             N            Y             Q            U            E             🐶

H            X             P             U            N            N            E             T             A             🙂

I              F             A             F             O            Z             R             P             U            🌺

K             M            N            R             B             Q            E             L             N            😉

L             J              T             L             O            R             R             Y             E             🐱

M            A             S             W           O            D            E             N            A             😀

Z             B             U            T             T             Y             M            J              S             🐼

Linda Highman

6 Responses

    1. The idioms that you listed as new were also new to me and another reader. Thanks for responding; you’re good at doing that. It causes me to 😉.

  2. I spend a fair amount of my idle time watching the famous chef, Gordon Ramsey, and through my time spent listening to him speak I have picked up on a few of these but not all. I was not aware of: Booty, Faf, Jab, Pants, or Punnet. You must be chuckling daily hearing these new terms! Love from here, Nancy

    1. Isn’t it interesting that two of you plus me found those particular idioms “new?” I was aware of boot but not butty. Yes, sometimes there is a daily chuckle. Speaking of Gordon Ramsey, have you followed any of his recipes to a successful conclusion? Mmmm==I bet it was tasty.

  3. Likewise, these idioms were new to me: boot, butty, faf, pants and punnet. However, tea in England, Germany, India (plus some other English colonies) were daily at 4:00pm with tea & biscuits or fruit tart when I visited.
    By the way, did your great grandmothers ask you to get a ‘tumbler’ from the cupboard?
    Fun assignment, Linda!

    1. I appreciate your comments, Sheri, I believe that a “tumbler” is a drinking glass. Right? I haven’t heard the word used here yet. I don’t remember my mother ever using it, but it seems that I’ve known its idiomatic meaning forever. I suspect dept. store ads gave me this bit of education.
      Glad to hear from you, Friend. ☺️