26 Beautifully British Insults | English Idioms, Expressions and Vocabulary

Welcome back to love english I'm Leila and  today i think i've got a rather controversial   lesson today we are looking at around about  i think 27 or 26 British insults creative   and unusual ways to insult people whether  that's saying that someone is well stupid crazy   unattractive I feel very bad I'm a terrible  teacher or indeed a little bit mean with money   these are some really useful expressions that  you definitely will come across in english   particularly when you're speaking  with native speakers and of course   they might be a few that you'd actually  need to use if you ever came to the uk   so let's be careful how we use these  expressions i have been very careful not   to include anything that is racist classes  sexist or homophobic because that's just   going too low and not correct at all  these are fun witty entertaining insults   that you could use in a joking way and certainly  avoid doing to people's faces so i do not want   to get anyone commenting on here anyone's mom or  dad saying what are you teaching my children um   please don't do that please don't go and use  any of these expressions with your parents   but use them in the right way you know in your  own language you wouldn't just go up to somebody   and call them stupid so without further ado one of  the most controversial lessons i have ever created   let's see what you think right now if there  is someone in your life or perhaps a colleague   maybe even your boss and you get so frustrated you  want to say that they are stupid they're an idiot   they're foolish even you could use some of these  rather creative words instead number one muppet   muppet no i'm not talking about our friend kermit  over here but i am actually referring to this uh   in the sense of saying that someone is being a  bit stupid now i will say that this is quite a   gentle not polite certainly but a gentle humorous  way to say someone is a bit stupid or not been   very clever so you might say oh you mop it you've  walked in a puddle look at all your clothes   so definitely you can use it with kids don't  be a muppet of course i can lend you 10 pounds   again you can use it with a colleague a friend  it doesn't mean that you're telling them they're   stupid you're saying don't be silly which is  a bit more gentle and i'm happy to help you so   muppet doesn't have to be rude at all nice gentle  expression to be used with the correct intonation   remember intonation is key if you tell someone  you are a muppet then clearly you're angry you're   rude you're agitated oh you muppet then you can  hear that we're being much more gentle and we're   trying to encourage them to maybe ask for help  or think a little bit more carefully next time   number two and i think this is rather creative  but probably less commonly used nincompoop   nincompoop the more old-fashioned version of this  would be ninny ninny so very british very unusual   again because it is old-fashioned and slightly  weird in its pronunciation it's not going to be   too strong and too insulting she was a bit of a  nincompoop last night and forgot to lock the door   oh what an income poop of course you can ask  me for help you minnie so again how you say the   word what context you are using it makes all the  difference but generally speaking not too strong   not too harsh number three i would actually  use this quite a lot and i would say now we're   starting to go into the realm of the slightly more  rude and offensive tweet tweet if someone is a   twit they are stupid they're an idiot what a twit  i can't believe you spilt that drink all down you   number four numpty numpty a little bit like  muppet actually and i would say a little   bit more uncommon um i think maybe older people  might use this expression but certainly i don't   use it i would potentially use it with children  oh you numpty come here what have you done now   um but i wouldn't necessarily use it with adults  very much but very very similar to muppet numpty   numpty he looked like a right numpty  after making that mistake in the meeting   right five six and seven definitely verging on  rude and insulting number five pillock pillock   ruder than twit possibly so if you call someone  a pillock you're saying they are stupid and an   idiot what a pillock did you see how he was  driving number six particularly insulting   and insulting someone's intelligence if you  say that someone is a bit gormless you're not   only saying that they're really quite stupid but  you're also kind of imagining an expression of   someone that looks like they're just not all there  they're not particularly awake so i might say   sometimes not always i've got a few gormless  students in the class they don't seem to be   paying attention now number seven this is a bit of  a add-on actually because it doesn't necessarily   mean idiot or stupid in fact it doesn't it's  referring to somebody that doesn't have any   friends who's lonely something that someone  might use in a playground a horrible child maybe   calling someone a billy no mates a billy no mate  so this is someone that's a loner that doesn't   have friends uh it's sad really but you could also  use it in a very joking way really no mates what   are you doing sat by yourself come and sit with  us come on so it's not too strong but obviously   depending on the context it's definitely something  that would have been used when i was at school but   that was a little while ago now so they might have  some newfangled slang for that but essentially it   means someone that doesn't have any friends really  no mates mate being a friend now if somebody   is a bit unattractive okay i can make some faces  for you it's one of my favourite things to do   if somebody is unattractive or at least if you  want to say that they are unattractive first of   all you're not a very nice person if you want to  say that someone is unattractive because of course   beauty comes from within and of course very often  it's in the eye of the beholder a nice phrase for   you there a nice proverb but essentially if you do  feel that you need to insult somebody's appearance   think very carefully about how you do it where  you do it and don't do it to their face but some   of these expressions are used really when  we want to say something in the heat of the   moment when we're angry when we're frustrated or  we're saying in a joking way but certainly not   to people's faces because nobody wants to be told  they are ugly and unattractive so let's have a go   number eight minga minga often referring to a  woman as many of these lovely expressions are   um basically a minga is someone that's  very unattractive and disgusting gross okay   so she is such a minger i don't think she's even  washed her hair today not very nice you're a   horrible horrible person if you use it minga  number nine a great expression for somebody   that looks actually not necessarily ugly but maybe  rather miserable okay a bit like that all right so   they're miserable they're grumpy and it shows on  their face you could say and i do like this it's   more idiomatic a face like a slapped ass she's got  a face like a slapped ass what is wrong with her   so essentially you're saying that someone  is unattractive because they are essentially   miserable they're unhappy and it comes  across in their personality now moving   on to more idiomatic expressions referring to  people being not particularly clever we have   a lot of very creative expressions for you one  of my favorite being they're not the sharpest   tool in the box they're not the sharpest tool in  the box meaning they're not particularly clever   and remember with idiomatic expressions unlike  the nouns i've previously given you idioms can   actually be much softer more gentle and not  going to say polite but perhaps a little bit more   sensitive so someone's not the  sharpest tool in the box you're saying   they're not particularly intelligent now if you  say somebody is a bit thick between the ears   all right much stronger not really polite or  sensitive at all you're saying someone is really   really stupid thick between the ears now sticking  with thick thick obviously being the opposite   of thin thin if the paper's thin it's  like that if it's thick it's like that   when we use thick it's also referring in a  slang informal way to someone being stupid   so the next expression as thick as a  plank or as thick as two short planks   very insulting very strong someone is stupid he is  as thick as two short planks he completely put the   furniture together wrong thirteen a little  bit softer a little bit like we would use   muppet daft is a brush daft as a brush daft is  a nice way to say someone is a little bit silly   stupid not too strong but if you say daft as a  brush you're saying someone has been a bit stupid   she's as daft as a brush there's no common sense  but absolutely lovely girl number 14 the light's   on but no one's home the light's on but no one's  home this essentially is an expression referring   to someone being there talking awake but clearly  the brain is not very engaged so the lights are on   but no one's home now the next half crazy okay  someone's a bit mad a bit bizarre not as normal as   the rest of us and we don't want to say crazy or  mad we have got some great idiomatic expressions   to suggest in perhaps a more creative  way that someone is a little bit um   so number 15 a few sandwiches short of a picnic a  few sandwiches short of a picnic okay so a picnic   is when we go out we have sandwiches and we go  down the park but if you're missing a few of them   apparently an expression meaning you are crazy  there we go very common definitely one that i   would use definitely one that most native speakers  would use number 16 stronger much stronger   if they're off their rocker off their rocker now  i'm not sure if this is actually referring to   a rocking chair so if you're off your rocker  like a rocking chair moving back and forward   you look a bit crazy don't you um but if someone  is off their rocker they are just they're crazy   like the old lady next door with all her cats  she's completely off her rocker that'll be me in a   few years time actually now number 17 i originally  would have thought as mad as a hatter came from   the story alice in wonderland where there was a  very mad hatter he was referred to a mad hatter   but no in fact this comes further back in english  history and apparently hatters people that made   hats men that made hats actually used a process  that included mercury in the creation of their   hats and that in itself does turn you a little  bit crazy so as mad as a hatter referring to   i guess in victorian times i'm not sure a process  in which hats were made that used mercury and made   the maker the hat maker crazy so the mad hatter  as mad as a hatter have you met her boyfriend   he's as mad as a hatter lovely yeah but  definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic   number 18 a lovely expression as mad as a box of  frogs now frogs individually are probably not very   mad but imagine having a big box of frogs that's  pretty crazy isn't it so this is an idiomatic   expression if someone is as mad as a box of frogs  they're just jumping everywhere and totally crazy   number 19 you could also say someone is not the  full ticket or much older english less common   now not the full shilling right shilling is old  english money so that's why it's very dated not   the full ticket or not the full shilling  meaning they don't seem to be completely   there they might not have a lot of common sense  or when you're talking to them it might seem that   they're a little bit in their own world so they're  not the full ticket number 20 to 25 are referring   to people that are not generous with money that  want to keep the money all to themselves and don't   like sharing essentially they are mean now i've  got quite a few expressions for this and of course   there's always someone in the family whether  it's your uncle your gran or maybe even your dad   who's a little bit mean with the money so again  be careful because they're probably not going to   be any more generous with you for using this  language with them but you might want to say   he's a bit of a penny pincher to pinch is this  action okay you can pinch your skin but if a   penny pincher meaning you're really trying to keep  hold of every single penny to be careful with your   money so he's a little bit of a penny pincher  and doesn't like spending very much on presents   so number 21 if someone is a cheapskate then  you'll probably get the idea they are cheap   they don't like spending a lot on anything so you  might say oh he's such a cheapskate he's always   choosing the cheapest thing on the menu number  22 tight fisted this is a fist okay now if you   squeeze it really hard it's tight and of course  what does that imply that there's money inside the   fist so someone is tight-fisted they're holding on  very carefully to their money 23. a lovely noun to   refer to somebody as being a scrooge scrooge  now of course scrooge actually comes from the   christmas carol charles dicking's novel so if  someone is a scrooge they are someone just like   scrooge who doesn't like to share his money with  anybody 24 very creative maybe a bit more unusual   but certainly very british a skin flint a skin  flint he is such a skin flint he wouldn't even   lend me five pounds for lunch what is wrong with  him number 25 a little bit more vulgar of course   americans would say ass but in british english  we say ass and if we say someone is a tight ass   well i've already explained tight fisted so  you can kind of imagine what's going on there   yes if someone is a tight ass they're just  clenching because they don't want to spend   any money don't be a tight ass guys be generous  now i'm going to add to that you can also say   as tight as a duck's ass as tight as a duck  sauce i don't know why we're choosing ducks   in particular i haven't noticed that  they've got particularly tight asses   but there we go that's the expression that's  the idiom guys and one that you would definitely   hear commonly used so what is number 26 my  favorite expression ever and this is referring   to somebody who is completely disorganized and  has just made a mess of everything if you say   someone cannot organize a piss up in a brewery  it is slightly more vulgar slightly ruder   but essentially you're saying someone  can't even organize themselves or a group   of people to get drunk in a pub okay a brewery  is where they actually make the beer the lager   and a piss up is basically where people get  together they have a party and they get very drunk   very english expression often used very  nicely when we're referring to politicians   ah i don't think that british prime minister  could organize a piss up in a brewery if he tried   and there we have it guys controversial sometimes  verging on rather rude and definitely insulting   but some very common expressions you will  hear in english in british english spoken   commonly maybe even written and definitely  in television films uh television series   these kind of things so why not comment below  don't name any names i don't want to know who's   a tight ass in your family or if you've ever  dated a minger but you can of course comment   and use some of these expressions telling me  a little bit about some of the people you know   maybe just disguise the names change the names  or the people that you're referring to and again   be careful when you use those expressions  and how thank you very much for watching i   look forward to seeing you soon with lots more  idioms slang and crazy british expressions bye

Channel: Love English with Leila & Sabrah

Views: 24,484

Keywords: Love English with Leila & Sabrah, Love English with Leila & Sabrah YouTube, YouTube Love English with Leila & Sabrah, learn English, love English, English, English with Leila, English with Sabrah, British English, english idioms, don't say stupid, english vocabulary lesson, british idioms

Id: sIgzQoPqCq0

Length: 18min 39sec (1119 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 07 2021