Customer Reviews

NTC's Super-Mini British Slang Dictionary

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This book was funny but not quite what I was looking for. I wanted a book that was more of an American English/British English translation book. Although we both speak English, many terms are used differently in our respective nations. For example, a British tank top is a vest and a British sweater is a jumper. I was looking for these "translations". This book was not that. This book was true old time British slang and phrases that you rarely hear spoken at all in London. I didn't even bring this book with me.

I got this book because I was a bit of an Anglophile in college. It really helped me understand what was going on in all my favorite Brit TV shows, and it helped some in the literature I read for school. Very nice book! I will take this with me if I ever end up in England for more than a Heathrow layover.

I did a semester of study in London, then had a British roommate for one year while also working at a British organization, and then a British boyfriend for two years after that, and I got this book to be able to look up exact definitions of terms they used-- not to mention things I heard on tv or read in magazines and Brit chick lit.

Here are some of the terms I was curious about and found in this book:

to faff about
stroppy
naff
to suss
to skive off
to whinge
and more...

The book had a lot of rhyming slang which I rarely heard in real life (can't say "never" though, it is out there), but since you may encounter it in tv shows, films, and books it is useful to have it in here. It's true it is not as jam-packed as a larger book might be, so does not have all the transations US-UK of clothing terms, etc.; it is what the title says, slang, not a complete guide to daily life British English.

This book is small like any other pocket phrasebook, which is what I wanted. While it may not contain all the slang out there, you can always go online for whatever is missing. Educational, useful, and discreet! Go for it!

I bought this book to translate the slang in the British fiction I read, but so far, I've not found even one of the words I've looked up. It is full of rhyming slang which, while amusing, lives for about five minutes.