Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm currently watching a BBC show called Time, about men's prison in the UK. Irish accents are so heavy I actually had to turn subtitles on! (I'm American)
Had to look up a couple slang terms, had never heard them before:
Nonce is a child molester
Grass is a snitch/narc
Grass is a universal term for a snitch, and the term Supergrass is sometimes used for a grass who gives up numerous names in organised crime criminal cases and other such serious criminal cases.
As for Nonce, it comes from the boards outside cells in British Prisons where the acronym N.O.N.C.E would be displayed outside of sex offenders and other such criminals prison cells. The boards outside of the prison cells would generally have name, prison number, length of sentence, special requirements and other such information written on them along with various other information.
N.O.N.C.E stands for 'Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise' meaning that this prisoner was not to go out for exercise on to the yard with other prisoners from the general population, and this was obviously for their own safety.
The acronym N.O.N.C.E was quickly adopted by prisoners and then society as a whole, and the term Nonce is now popular general slang for sex offenders and other such deviants.
Last edited by Brave New World; 03-01-2024 at 04:33 PM..
I'm currently watching a BBC show called Time, about men's prison in the UK. Irish accents are so heavy I actually had to turn subtitles on! (I'm American)
Had to look up a couple slang terms, had never heard them before:
Nonce is a child molester
Grass is a snitch/narc
Both very common. Do they use the term screws in USA for prison warders? Old Bill or simply The Bill another term used for police in UK. Guv or Guvnor is the boss man .
Both very common. Do they use the term screws in USA for prison warders? Old Bill or simply The Bill another term used for police in UK. Guv or Guvnor is the boss man .
One British TV show from the seventies that used a lot of English/London slang weas The Sweeny. Probably hard for a number of Americans to understand in parts.
One British TV show from the seventies that used a lot of English/London slang weas The Sweeny. Probably hard for a number of Americans to understand in parts.
I bet any British member of C-D can type a sentence with slang that will confound an American reader.
I bet any British member of C-D can type a sentence with slang that will confound an American reader.
Quite so. Interesting how Aussies and Kiwi's get most British slang while Americans are baffled. It may be of course a result of growing up with British TV, going to school with British kids, plus a lot more travel to UK by Australians.
In return I think UK people as a rule generally understand Aussie slang in return.
Here's some more I'm hearing from this show Time, a BBC production with lots of heavy Irish accents. Have never heard these in American English and love these varied dialects of the same language.
skint: broke, having little money or few possessions
"in the nick": in prison/caught/busted (it's pronounced with a guttural sound, not a hard 'k')
scran: to eat, food
brown: either heroin or whiskey?
to keep schtum: to not say anything about something
sparko: dead asleep
Another difference isn't language, but involving a traffic stop. In one scene a character sees flashing police lights behind him while driving, pulls over, and the police car moves up and pulls over in front of him. In the US police always pull up and park behind you.
kanga: prison slang for Prison Officer, derived from 'kangaroo', which is rhyming slang for 'screw'. (Screw was mentioned upthread, meaning a guard or prison warden)
clobber: personal belongings/clothes (in the US this is a verb meaning to beat up or defeat)
Both very common. Do they use the term screws in USA for prison warders? Old Bill or simply The Bill another term used for police in UK. Guv or Guvnor is the boss man .
Yes. Came from Britain originally. Had something to do with treadmills which were used as a form of punishment
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
