Customer Reviews

Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fans of Bernstein's Guardian column in the UK will be well-acquainted with his trenchant wit - on brilliant display here, too, as he tackles a potentially unwieldy subject. Where most dictionaries of this type are poorly written and dry as dust, "Knickers" handles both the well-known (e.g. the title) and the obscure (too many examples to list) linguistic peculiarities of the Queen's English with style. A must for Anglophiles and a rare treat for the casual reader and/or traveler.

A very well compiled and concise collection of British slang and colloquial expressions that seemingly date back two hundred years. However a good fifty percent are more common to the last forty years and probably another thirty percent are the last fifteen to a close ten. While this tome might be devoid of the more obscure statements like: "Jimmy Hill", no one's going to notice or fault the compilers for it.

This is a good writers reference for anyone on the island or across the pond. Anyone interested in seeking other quality slang reference books can look here:

1. The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

2. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

3. Urban Dictionary: Street Slang Defined

4. Depraved and Insulting English

5. The Highly Selective Dictionary For The Extraordinarily Literate

6. The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions

7. How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms


Got that, Gaffer? Cheers, me old son!

I am completely, and utterly in love with England, every single aspect of it is lovely. I was surprised that a book on British Slang was out, I went out and bought it the very next day. As soon as I got home I stuffed it into my bag for school the next day. During one class when I had finished my work earlier I decided to open this book up, what a horrible decision! This book was absolutely hilarious! Which was bad since the rest of the class was finishing a test, and I had to leave the room to get rid of my laughter.

Now I use these terms all over the school that leaves other students stare at me with bewilderment. It's great to know terms that others are not familiar with.

Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang

Although some of the phrases mentioned in the book are widely used in the USA, it still is a very interesting and educational book for the about-to- be tourist, or just English movie fan. I know I found out what "bobby dazzler" means.

I actually bought this book as a gift for a friend who, like myself, loved their time in Great Britian with the slang being a particular favorite. Of course I couldn't help but go through this book before wrapping and giggled through out. Trust me if you ever go to the UK you can wear that fanny pack but don't say "fanny pack" unless you want some snickers coming your way. It's devided up into catagories with defintions easy to understand. Great for that person who loves language, England, or reference books. Well worth the purchase.

I bought this for my wife so she can understand a bit of my jib, which she claims I make up on a daily basis!! Ha, I was not!! : ) Missing a few of the key words from my neck of the woods (London), and does not cover cuss words which to make it for an all age audience is understandable and a few of the terminologies have actually made it accross the pond as reqular speak. All in all a great buy!!

Bought this for my wife, she loves the UK comedy. Now she gets the jokes. Transaction was perfect AAAA++++++

I am originally from England and have been living in Mexico for 5 years. I am in contact with Americans and Canadians all day every day and had reformed my speach to be understood....After reading this book I realized how many words I have lost in my vocabulary and have since started using them again whether people understand me or not! Chuckled my way through the book. Great book very accurate and not outdated! Makes a change from the books that think all English people are living in cockney London in the 18 hundreds!

I enjoy watching British comedies and my wife spent some time in Scotland, so I was looking for a treasure trove of slang that was not such common knowledge. On this point I was disappointed. If you have watched enough episodes of BBCAmerica you will have heard most of it.

Similarly, I was expecting a bit more depth to the list; perhaps some back story, history or examples from popular culture. Instead, it has a few pages for each section; sections revolve around food, sex, travel and the like. There is no background on the subject; it is a list of terms and their meaning. The author tries to be light and funny, but after the tenth "definition" it gets stale.

So, the lack of anything new word-wise combined with the lack of anything knew about those words makes for a dull book.

Good for those who know little about the language or don't watch British shows.

This dictionary wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped. Dividing the word lists by category made it difficult to look up a word while watching BBCA. There was quite a bit of crude and foul language as well, not just in the word lists but in the author's definitions and examples. Many words and phrases heard on tv weren't included. Disappointing. I'm looking for another dictionary.