One of the most entertaining parts of being in Liverpool is listening to all of the unusual expressions that people use. When I return home to the U.S., I doubt I will suddenly have an English accent, but it is a possibility some of these excellent terms will find their way into my vocabulary. Below are just a few of my favorites which I have explained as well as I can with American equivalents.
You alright?
Being asked this question over and over confused me for about a week. Mistaking their casual greeting for worried concern, I would think to myself, Of course I’m all right. Do I look sick or something? Actually, people here use it in the same way we would ask,
Person 1: “Hey, how are you?”
Person 2: “Fine. And you?”
Love/Lovey/Babe/Mate
These are common terms of endearment, like calling someone “dear” or “honey.” There is a bus driver at school who always greets me with, “Good morning, Lovey,” followed by a wink. It never fails to make my day.
Fab
Person 1: “How are you doing today?”
Person 2: “Oh, just fab.”
Yous Guys
This one is exactly what it seems like, just a slightly different way of saying “You guys.” It only makes me smile because I think of the New York accents in old gangster movies.
Cheers!
You say this when someone hands you a receipt at the store or holds open a door for you. It’s a polite term, similar to saying thanks. This is one expression I find very hard to say in an American accent and still take myself seriously. I can never make it sounds quite right.
Queue
A queue (pronounced cue) is a line. English people are famous for their love of getting in line for things, and I can attest they really do queue up for everything. Checking out at the grocery store, riding an escalator, getting on a bus. All of these things require the formation of a nice, orderly line. It’s a quintessential part of English society.
Toilet
British English takes everything very literally. Bathrooms aren’t called restrooms. They are referred to as toilets because they are where the toilets are. In America, using the term “toilet” feels impolite and people will certainly give you a funny look. Not in England. You literally say, “I’ll be right back, I’m going to the toilet.”
Like any slang, the terms people use change by region and time period. Phrases go in and out of fashion, and what you hear someone say in London might not be the same as how a Liverpool native (called a Liverpudlian) would convey it to you.
Languages are as much a part of the culture as food, monuments, and everything else. I still have moments of confusion even though we all speak languages that fall under the blanket term "English." That does not guarantee I will always know what the people here are trying to tell me, but that is also part of the fun.
