cupboard - any closet in the house
en-suite - bathroom is attached to the room and not shared
fell - hill, mountain or high plain (Lake District and Pennine Dales)
first floor - second floor (our first floor is the ground floor in England)
flat - apartment
gallery - balcony
gangway - aisle in the theatre
gaol - jail – pronounced the same
garden - the entire yard, not just the flower or veg beds!
heath - open land with low growing plants and vegetation
High Street - the main street or road in a town
licenced restaurant - restaurant with a license to sell alcohol
lift - elevator
listed - protected historic building
loft - attic
London School of Economics/LSE - well-known university in London
lounge - living room
mews - stables built behind 17th-18th century London houses, now converted into modern dwellings
newsagent - similar to our convenience store
off-licence - liquor store
pitch - playing field
public footpath - right of way path on private land that gives walkers the legal right to travel, also known as public rights of way
public school - private school, i.e. Eton
stalls - the best seats in the theatre, close to the stage
state school - public school
theatre - live theatre
to let - to rent
towpath - trail or road along the river, originally used to tow boats
Transport
bonnet - the car hood
boot - the car trunk
call - as in call at the station, rather than stopping
caravan - a trailer - and the cause of many a tailback
car park - the parking lot
cat’s eyes - road reflectors
clearway - section of road where it is illegal to stop
coach - a long distance bus
diversion - a detour
dual carriageway - divided highway with a minimum of 2 lanes in each direction
flyover - the overpass
ford - low water crossing
gearstick - the stick shift
give way - yield
hand brake - the parking brake
lorry - a truck
motorway - the freeway
petrol - gas
return ticket - a round trip ticket
roundabout - a traffic circle
service areas - freeway rest areas (also called motorway rest areas or MSAs)
single ticket - a one way ticket
sleeping policeman - a speed bump
slip road - an entry or exit ramp
subway - an underground walkway
tailback - what we refer to fondly as a traffic jam
taxi rank - a taxi stand
Tube/Underground - the subway
verge - grassy edge of the road
way out - the exit
zebra crossing - (rhymes with Debra) the crosswalk
English slang, or what did he just say?
bloody - less offensive expletive - not bloody likely!
Bob’s your uncle - there you go, that’s it!
brilliant - magnificent, excellent
cheap as chips - inexpensive
chuffed - delighted, pleased
codswallup/codswallop - nonsense (I’ve seen several spelling variations of this one - they all mean the same thing, a load of nonsense)
dicey - risky
donkey’s years - ages, a long time
full Monty - the whole thing, going all the way
gander - to take a closer look at something - take a gander at that!
give over - stop, give me a break
gobsmacked - shocked, amazed, speechless
hen night/hen party - bachelorette party
homely - homey, cozy
hump - to carry something heavy
just a tick - just a second
loads - lots – as in I use this word loads of times!
mean - tight fisted, stingy
natter - to talk incessantly, go on and on
nick - to steal, take without permission
knackered - exhausted
knock up - to be woken up - please knock me up at 7 am (I had a B&B proprietor ask when I would like to be knocked up in the morning - fortunately I knew what she meant!)
over the moon - ecstatic - he’s over the moon about it!
pear-shaped - gone wrong, become a disaster
pissed - drunk (not something you want to say to someone of new acquaintance!)
put a sock in it - shut up
rubbish - nonsense
skive - to avoid responsibility, as in skiving off work
snog/snogging - kiss, kissing, making out
sod off - piss off, get lost
sorted - fixed the problem, worked things out
spend a penny - go to the bathroom/loo
splash out - spend far too much money!
stag night - bachelor party
suss out - figure out
taking the mickey - making fun of someone
whinge - (rhymes with hinge) to whine or complain in an exceedingly annoying fashion
wonky - unstable, crooked
Yank - American
Spirit of the Season
Maggie Mulgrew Mysteries Book 3
Cate Dean
Copyright, 2017
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except for use in any review. This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, locales, and events are either pure invention or used fictitiously, and all incidents come from the author’s imagination alone.
About The Author
Cate Dean has been writing since she could hold a pen in her hand and put more than two words together on paper.
She grew up losing herself in the wilds of fantasy worlds, and has had some of her own adventures while tromping through the UK, and a few other parts of the world.
A lover of all things supernatural, she infuses that love into her stories, giving them a unique edge.
When she's not writing, she loves cooking, scaring herself silly in the local cemeteries, and reading pretty much anything she can get her hands on.
There - I got the official biography out of the way. I love to write, and yes, I have been doing it most of my life. I've made up stories in my head for as long as I can remember, and I am thrilled to be able to write them down and share them with you.
I love writing different types of stories, and jump from fantasy, to mystery and paranormal, then over to romance and YA. So many genres, so little time...
If you want to be the first to know when the next book is released, or be in on some fun, exclusive contests and giveaways, join my list here: http://catedeanwrites.com/join-my-list.
You can learn more about me and my books at my website: http://catedeanwrites.com
I look forward to meeting you. :)