"That Queen Elizabeth is a tough old bird!": First drive:

Big props to Andrew Mackinnon for being a brave hero and letting me have a go driving his car. It goes down as being the first car I've driven outside the United States of America as Mack says so poetically.

The Journeyman:

Old Woking, England
London, England
Windsor, England
Deeside, Wales
Rotherham, England
Sheffield, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Coventry, England
Doncaster, England
Southampton, England
Liverpool, England
Salisbury, England
Guildford, England
Minden, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Hannover, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Birmingham, England
Newcastle, England
Prague, Czech Republic
Zlín, Czech Republic
Vizovice, Czech Republic
Hull, England
Split, Croatia
Trogir, Croatia
Watford, England
St. Andrews, Scotland
Peterborough, England
Paris, France
Clermont-Ferrand, France
Helsinki, Finland
Tallinn, Estonia
Blackpool, England

Solihull, England

Sunderland, England

Swansea, Wales

Nottingham, England

Macclesfield, England

Guide To British English:

The following is a compiled list of words heard commonly in daily conversation across the UK. They are in no way O.E.D status, but are definitions that I have been given by friends when they've said them. I will do my best to keep the words relatively clean as much of the new words are slang "offensive" words. Thus begins your unofficial guide to British English.

A&E (n.) - Accident and Emergency.

Ace (adj.) - awesome or cool.

Ambiguous (adj.) - open to more than one interpretation, several meanings; unclear or inexact.

Barm (n.) - bread roll for sandwich.

Bannock (n.) - a Scottish flat bread.

Bonnet (n.) - hood of the car.

Boot (n.) - the trunk of a car.
"Your scarf is in the boot of my car."

Bugger [it] (intj) - darn [it], damn
"Awe bugger!"

Bunk off (v.) - to skip (school), to leave.

Buttie, Butty (n.) - another word for sandwich.
"Can you please pass me my buttie?"

Canny (adj.) - Geordie slang for a genuine and all around nice person.

Chippy (n.) - a small dine in/take away eatery to purchase chips, kebabs, ect at.
"After the match we need to find a chippy because I will be starving."

Concession [Ticket] (n.) - interchangeable with student ticket. If you don't see the student rate, it may be listed under "concession".

Confectionery, Confection (n.) - 1) a store that sells sweets ; 2) sugary food items.

Courgette (n.) - zucchini.

Chuffed (adj.) - to be very pleased, happy, or enthused.
"I was pretty chuffed to get a goal against Bayern Munich."

Cushty (adj., intj.) - nice, comfortable.

Divvy, Div (adj.) - the Liverpool word for stupid, idiot, ect.
"What wrist bruise you divvy?!"

Dosh (n.) - another word to mean money.
"Here's the dosh your parents left-- spend wisely!"

Gaff (n.) - house.

Gaffer (n.) - another name for manager.

Gherkin (n.) - similar to a cucumber.

Ginnel (n.) - a narrow alley between houses.

Groomer (n.) - coaxer.

Hire (v.) - to rent (something)
"Excuse me, do you hire out golf clubs at your course?"

Hoover (n., v.) - 1) vacuum cleaner ; 2) to vacuum the floor.
"I put the hoover in the boiler room to save space."
"I hoovered last week, its your turn this week."

Jammy (intj.) - 1) awesome, cool or 2) lucky.

Kip (v.) - sleep or nap.

Knackered (adj.) - 1) to be tired, worn out ; 2) to be broken or worn down.
"After football training I was well knackered."
"My trainers are knackered, I need to buy a new pair."

Munter (n.) - an unattractive individual.

Nee bosh (intj.) - "No bother."

NHS (n.) - abbreviation for National Health Service.

Oppo (n.) - friend, colleague, or associate.

Paddy (n., adj.) - nickname for a person named Patrick; to throw a tantrum or fit.

"I would've thrown a paddy."

Patriarch, Patriarchy (n.), Patriarchal (adj.) - of, or relating to the male head of the house or tribe; characteristic of a government or society controlled by men.

Pikey (n.) - slang/insult for caravan travellers (ie. gypsies).
"Bloody pikeys!"

Pillock (n.) - an idiot.
"You daft pillock."

Prawn (n.) - similar to a shrimp.

Pram (n.) - baby stroller.

Pong (adj.) - an unpleasant smell.

Proper Crimbo (intj.) - Have a good Christmas, Happy Christmas, Merry Christmas

Reet (adj.) - pronounced like 'rate'; to mean "right".
"He has a reet hard shot, he just can't hit the net."

Return Ticket (n.) - a round trip ticket.
"Yes, one return to London, please."

Revise, Revising (v.) - study, studying (prior to tests)
"I spent all weekend revising and I still don't understand politics."

Sick (n., v.) - puke.

Sixth Form (n.) - final two years of secondary school, equivalent to grades 11 and 12 (USA).

Skelf (n.) - Scottish word for 'splinter'.

Skint (adj.) - broke, moneyless, poor.
"I'd love to go out with you lot, but I'm completely skint at the moment."

Spanner (n.) - someone who messes things up.
"Mate, you're such a spanner."

Tod (n.) - another word for "own".
"I don't wanna sit there on my tod."

TOWIE (n.) - acronym for the TV program, 'The Only Way Is Essex.'

Wally (n., adj./intj.) - 1) Where is Wally? 2) a stupid person.
"Wally is the original 'Where is...', not Waldo!"
"What are you doing?! You wally!"

Whinging (n.) - whine or complain in an annoying manner.
"Oh stop your whinging, you've been sleeping, I've been driving for the last 4 hours!"

Zed (n.) - the last letter of the alphabet, Z.

"That Queen Elizabeth is a tough old bird!"

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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

First drive: