#1: Prat
Definition: a stupid or foolish person
Example:
"Everyone's feeling a bit summery this morning, with a few rays breaking out over Britain and some of you lot daring to break the 'anyone who wears sunglasses in April is a prat' rule that we just made up." – 3am.co.uk, April 6, 2011
About the word:
Prat probably comes from the 16th century slang prat meaning "buttocks." The original pratfall was a fall on the buttocks.
#2: Whinge
Definition: to complain fretfully: whine
Example:
"I shall have one pint of beer less every time I'm in the pub, and I might occasionally whinge about the rises in the cost of living outstripping my wages." – blog post on A Dull Day at Work, April 2, 2011
About the word:
Whinge (short "i" and terminal "j" sound) predates the long "i" whine. The Old English ancestor of whinge meant "to moan."
#3: Knackered
Definition: tired, exhausted
Example:
"Went for a 4 miler and then when I got back from work we took the kids swimming. Nice and knackered now." – blog post at SoreLimbs.co.uk, January 18, 2011
About the word:
The slang knacker means "to kill or tire. "Etymologists can't be sure if there's a link between the adjective knackered and the knacker that means "horse-slaughterer."
#4: Jiggery-pokery
Definition: dishonest or suspicious activity; nonsense
Example:
"[Greece] flouted European Union rules on the limits to budget deficits; its national accounts were a moussaka of minced statistics, topped with a cheesy sauce of jiggery-pokery." – Jeff Randall, The Telegraph, May 20, 2010
About the word:
Jiggery-pokery is an alteration of joukery-pawkery. Both joukery and pawkery are English regionalisms for "trickery."
#5: Plonk
Definition: cheap or inferior wine
Example:
"Fine diners are drinking premier cru wines at plonk prices as a bring-your-own booze revolution gathers pace in Britain's best restaurants." – Robert Booth, The Guardian, June 20, 2010
About the word:
Plonk is a shortening of the earlier plink-plonk, and it may be a modification of vin blanc, which means "white wine" in French.
#6: Chunter
Definition: to talk in a low inarticulate way: mutter
Example:
"Tell me about it. I was chuntering on last night about *padded* training bras." – michlan on Twitter, April 13, 2011
About the word:
Chunter is sometimes used as a synonym of "complain." The word is probably imitative in origin: when people are chuntering, it sounds a bit like they're saying "chunter chunter." (Mutter is also imitative.)
#7: Twee
Definition: affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint
Example:
"Micmacs [is a] ramshackle and unbearably twee French comedy." – Chris Tookey, Daily Mail Online, February 26, 2010
About the word:
Twee is a baby-talk alteration of sweet. It first appeared in print in a 1905 issue of the British magazine Punch.
#8: Gormless
Definition: lacking intelligence: stupid
Example:
"Gormless, unhelpful and poorly trained shop staff create merry hell for customers who are simply exercising their legal rights to a repair, refund or replacement." – Sam Dunn, Two Pennies Worth blog, March 22, 2011
About the word:
The word gaum exists in some English dialects and means "attention or understanding." Someone without gaum (or gorm) lacks understanding.
#9: Boffin
Definition: a scientific expert and especially one involved in technological research
Example:
"Brain boffins at University College London have made a major breakthrough in the ongoing effort to bridge the gap between man and machine." – Rik Myslewski, The Register, April 11, 2011
About the word:
Boffin dates to 1945. Although its origin remains a mystery, it may have originated as a slang term for scientists engaged in wartime efforts.
#10: Pukka
Definition: genuine, authentic; first-class
Example:
"... the record-breaking Sri Lankan [cricket player] has always shown himself a pukka gent...." – William Langley, The Telegraph, July 24, 2010
About the word:
Chef Jamie Oliver rejuvenated pukka with his BBC series Pukka Tukka. That's fitting, since pukka comes from the Hindi and Urdu words for "cooked," "ripe," and "solid."
#11: Dodgy
Definition: false or dishonest; causing a lack of trust or confidence
Example:
"Sadly, I am not at Glyndebourne, surrounded by hills and rolling sheep, by women in flowing dresses and men in dodgy bowties quaffing champagne and eating salmon sandwiches." – Stephen Moss, Guardian.co.uk, June 26, 2011
About the Word:
Dodgy comes from dodge, but where does dodge come from? Fittingly, no one knows: dodge has been evading explanation since the 16th century.
#12: Shirty
Definition: angry; irritated
Example:
"Nurses getting very shirty about out-of-hours visiting. Understandable, but they could be nicer about it." – Rich Watts on Twitter, April 10, 2011
About the Word:
Shirty comes from shirt as it's used in a few expressions that may have to do with undressing in preparation for a fight. If you get someone's shirt out, you make the person lose his or her temper. And if you keep your shirt on, you manage to remain calm..
#13: Chuffed
Definition: quite pleased; delighted
Example:
"I was ecstatic and my playing partners were chuffed for me. However, my friend who lent me his clubs is claiming that half the hole in one is his!" – Tim Fox, quoted on Worldgolf.com, June 13, 2011
About the Word:
Chuffed comes from the English dialect word chuff, meaning "pleased; puffed with fat." In current usage, the fat is gone and the pleasure remains.
#14: Peckish
Definition: hungry
Example:
"Peckish seagulls are causing carnage by ripping open rubbish sacks before binmen can collect them." – Clacton Gazette, June 17, 2011
About the Word:
Peckish has its origin in hungry birds pecking at their food.
#15: Stroppy
Definition: touchy; belligerent
Example:
"So when I resist meditating for a week or so, boy do I become stroppy and out of sorts." – comment on HuffingtonPost.com, December 12, 2009
About the Word:
Stroppy may be a shortened, altered version of obstreperous (which means "difficult to control and often noisy").
#16: Dogsbody
Definition: one who is obliged to do menial work; a drudge
Example:
"From running errands to washing up, prepare to be treated like a general dogsbody. Some interns dislike being treated like serfs and quit after a few days." – Jo on GraduatesAnonymous.com, February 2, 2011
About the Word:
Sailors who were fed pease pudding – dried peas boiled in a bag – nicknamed the dish dog's body, perhaps because of its shape. Later dogsbody was a nickname applied to midshipmen, who, being junior officers, did more than their share of drudgery.
#17: Shambolic
Definition: obviously disorganized or confused
Example:
"British singer Amy Winehouse, whose career has been blighted by alcohol and drug abuse... canceled all her scheduled concerts after she was jeered by fans in Serbia recently for a shambolic performance." – Mike Collett-White, Reuters, June 21, 2011
About the Word:
Shambolic probably spun off from shambles; it first appeared in print in 1970.
#18: Wonky
Definition: awry; wrong
Example:
"Master Jedi and purveyor of wonky syntax Yoda (Star Wars) has been known to impart wisdom of the rufty tufty variety..." – Daniel Bettridge, Guardian.co.uk, June 24, 2011
About the Word:
Wonky, which dates to 1918, probably evolved from wankle, meaning "unstable" or "unsteady." (As for the charming "rufty tufty," it generally means "rough" or "coarse.")
#19: Bollocks
Definition: nonsense
Example:
"You are wrong because your analysis is bollocks. Where did you get the notion that Tunisians and Egyptians have settled and accepted for the junta or old party governments?" – comment on Guardian.co.uk, February 22, 2011
About the Word:
This word is often considered vulgar in British English, so use it with caution. Bollocks comes from the Old English word for "testicles." Oddly, dog's bollocks is a slang term meaning "the best."
#20: Hard Cheese
Definition: tough luck (often used interjectionally)
Example:
"'A bit of hard cheese, those aneurysms!' He walked away and never mentioned the case again." – Frank T. Vertosick, When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery, 2008
About the Word:
Although the origins of the phrase remain unclear, it may have originated in the disappointment of having your (otherwise soft) cheese turn hard and unpalatable.