"p" or PEE
A PENNY, which is one hundredth of a pound. Prices are displayed as £25, £7.50 or 50p for example. The latter would be pronounced “fifty pee”. Prior to decimalization there were 240 old pennies to the pound. Now, of course, there are 100 new pennies to the pound. (See PENCE)
PACK (Playing cards)
DECK.
PADDLE (Verb)
WADE. Britons “paddle in the sea” rather than “wade in the ocean”.
PANCAKES
CRÊPES. British pancakes are not a breakfast food but a dessert. They are served with lemon juice and sugar on them, typically on SHROVE TUESDAY. The nearest equivalent to American pancakes would be SCOTCH PANCAKES or perhaps GRIDDLE CAKES.
PANTECHNICON
A large van for transporting furniture, etc.
PANTOMIME OR PANTO
Traditional British Christmas-time family entertainment, usually based on a fairy story such as Puss-in-Boots, or Aladdin. The hero or “principal boy” is played by a woman, and the “dame”, a comic middle-aged woman, is usually played by a man.
PANTS
UNDERPANTS. In Britain, a man wears his pants under his trousers. The female equivalent is usually “panties”, but watch out for “knickers”.
PARACETAMOL
ACETAMINOPHEN. Proprietary brand of the non-aspirin-based analgesic.
PARAFFIN
KEROSENE.
PARSON’S NOSE (Turkey, etc)
POPE’S NOSE.
PARTING (Hair)
PART. In the UK you PART your hair to form a PARTING.
PATIENCE (Game)
SOLITAIRE.
PAVEMENT
SIDEWALK.
PAY IN (Bank)
DEPOSIT. You use a PAYING-IN SLIP, not a deposit slip. (See also GIRO)
PE
PHYSICAL EDUCATION, or PHYS. ED.
PEAK (On cap)
BILL (On beanie).
PECKER (Slang)
Strictly, I suppose, BILL or BEAK. In human terms, however, it’s your NOSE. It’s used in the sentence “Keep your pecker up!” ie keep your head up high.
PECKISH
HUNGRY, but not ravenously so.
[CLOTHES] PEG
CLOTHES PIN.
PELMET
VALENCE.
PENCE
Although the plural of penny is pennies, when quoting the value of a number of pennies the term PENCE is used. For example, if I have a 50 pence piece, a 10 pence piece and four pennies in my pocket, I have a total of 64 PENCE.
PENCIL
PENCIL. But the various grades of hardness or softness are different. H is hard, B is soft and HB is medium. 2H is very hard and 2B is very soft.
PENCHANT
PENCHANT. But in the UK the French pronunciation is used -- “pon-shon”.
PERSONAL CALL (Phone)
PERSON-TO-PERSON CALL.
PERSPEX
PLEXIGLAS. Another example of different proprietary names.
PETROL
GASOLINE. Petrol comes in various grades indicated by “stars” and related to octane rating. If your car has an engine designed to run on low octane fuel you may get by with “Two Star”. Most cars need “Four Star”.
Petrol is sold by the litre (note the spelling). To put one gallon (US) in the tank you will need to pump about four litres. This will cost about four times as much as it would in the States!
PHYSIOTHERAPIST
PHYSICAL THERAPIST.
PICCALILLI
See PICKLE.
PICKLE
Usually a chutney type of condiment, sometimes in a brown base, sometimes yellow. The latter may be MUSTARD PICKLE or PICCALILLI. The nearest equivalent to an American dill pickle would be a pickled gherkin or a pickled cucumber. (See WALLY)
PICTURES
MOVIE THEATER. As in “Let’s see what’s on at the pictures”.
PILLAR BOX
See POST.
PINK or PINKING
PING or PINGING. As in an automobile engine when a low grade fuel is used in a high compression engine.
PINNY
PINAFORE or APRON.
PINT
PINT -- but beware!. In the UK the “Imperial Pint” is twenty fluid ounces, not sixteen as the American pint is.
The “Imperial Gallon”, like its US equivalent, is eight pints, or four quarts, but since the Imperial Pint is 25 percent larger than the US Pint, the gallon is also 25 percent bigger than its transatlantic cousin. Note that “A pint” can also mean “A beer”.
PINTA
PINT OF MILK. Pronounced “pine’-tuh”, this term is derived from a Milk Marketing Board slogan of a few years ago -- DRINKA PINTA MILKA DAY. (See also CUPPA)
PIPS (Fruit)
SEEDS.
PISSED (Slang)
The literal meaning is the same in the two countries. In the coloquial sense however, whereas an American who is pissed is upset or angry, a Briton who is pissed is DRUNK. A Briton who is upset or angry is said to be PISSED OFF. (See also TAKE THE PISS)
PISS-UP (Slang)
A party centered around booze.
PLAICE (Fish)
FLOUNDER. Or a close relative.
PLAITS (Hair)
BRAIDS.
[STICKING] PLASTER
Adhesive BANDAGE. (See ELASTOPLAST)
PLASTER BOARD
WALL BOARD or DRY WALL.
PLASTICINE
Proprietary brand of modeling clay.
PLIMSOLLS
TENNIS SHOES. This word seems to vary regionally more than any other. You hear tennis shoes called PLIMSOLLS, TENNIS SHOES, GYM SHOES, DAPS, TRAINERS, and more recently SNEAKERS.
PLONK
CHEAP WINE.
PLOUGH (Astronomical)
BIG DIPPER. This constellation, formally called URSA MAJOR, is also known to Britons as the GREAT BEAR.
PLOUGH (Farm implement)
PLOW. Pronounced the same.
PLOUGHMAN’S [LUNCH]
A favorite pub lunch, consisting of a chunk of cheese, or maybe a variety of cheeses, and some hearty slices of bread with butter. The more usual cheeses are Cheddar, Stilton or Brie, but there are many regional variations. The combination if often served with PICKLE. Sometimes paté is offered instead of cheese. (See PICKLE)
PNEUMATIC DRILL
Worthy of a mention since I’ve never heard the term JACK-HAMMER used in the UK.
POCKET MONEY (Children)
ALLOWANCE.
[POWER] POINT (Electrical)
OUTLET.
POINTS (Railway)
SWITCH.
POLO NECK [JUMPER]
TURTLE NECK [SWEATER]. (See also TURTLE NECK [JUMPER])
POLYFILLA
Proprietary name for SPACKLING .
POLYTHENE
POLYETHYLENE. Polythene is a proprietary name.
PONCE (Slang)
Derogatory term for a man. The strict meanings are twofold; a PIMP or a HOMOSEXUAL. Neither is meant as a compliment.
PONG (Slang)
NASTY SMELL.
PONTOON (Card game)
BLACKJACK.
POOF or POOFTER (Slang)
Effeminate man.
[FOOTBALL] POOLS
Contests with high prize money, based on correctly forecasting the outcome of the weekly professional soccer games. It used to be the dream of the man in the street to “win the pools”, but this has been rather overshadowed by the National Lottery. (See also PREMIUM BONDS)
PORAGE or PORRIDGE
Cooked OATMEAL. This traditional Scottish dish is typically served in that country with salt rather than sugar, and without milk. Rumors that it can be used as spackling are probably well founded! (See POLYFILLA)
POST
MAIL. The post is usually delivered to your door -- not to a mailbox at the bottom of your drive -- by a POSTMAN, who puts it in your LETTER BOX. This is typically a slot in your front door. To POST a letter, go to your nearest POST BOX or PILLAR BOX.
POSTAL ORDER
MONEY ORDER. So called since it is usually obtained from a Post Office.
POSTMAN’S KNOCK (Game)
POST OFFICE.
POUF or POUFFÉ
OTTOMAN. The word is pronounced “poof”, “poof’-ee ” or “poof-ay’ ” .
POUND [STERLING]
The monetary unit of the United Kingdom. The conversion rate to dollars varies, but to obtain the equivalent dollar price of an item, add a little more than 50 percent to the price and you won’t be wrong by much. The POUND SIGN in Britain refers to the currency sign put in front of a price, etc, like the Dollar sign in the States. It looks like this -- £. It does not refer to the symbol #. (See HASH SIGN)
POWER CUT
OUTAGE.
POXY (Slang)
Literally this means “infected by pox”, but it is used as a cuss word meaning DISGUSTING or MISERABLE.
PRAM
BABY CARRIAGE. Pram is short for PERAMBULATOR, and should not be confused with TRAM. (See TRAM)
PRAWN
See SHRIMP.
PREFERENCE STOCK
PREFERRED STOCK.
PREGGERS (Slang)
PREGNANT.
PREMIUM BONDS
Savings bonds issued by the Government, on which no interest is paid. The “interest” money is used instead to provide prizes. These instruments would seem to combine the best of government bonds and a lottery: You are given a chance to win lottery-type prizes, but your principal is safe.
PRISE
PRY or JIMMY. A Briton will PRISE open a stuck door, for example.
PROMENADE
A paved public walk along the seafront, similar to the BOARDWALK.
PROOF OF THE PUDDING...
The British version of “The Proof’s in the Pudding” is “The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating”.
PROP[ELLER] SHAFT
DRIVE SHAFT.
PT
PHYSICAL TRAINING. The same as PE.
PUB[LIC HOUSE]
BAR -- but not really. A pub is typically the social center for a community. (See BAR)
PUBLIC CONVENIENCE
See LOO.
PUBLIC SCHOOL
PRIVATE SCHOOL! Smaller private schools are called “private schools”, but the most prestigious, such as ETON, HARROW or RUGBY are known as PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The type of school an American would call a public school is known in the UK as a STATE SCHOOL.
PUBLIC TELEPHONE
PAY PHONE. Although there are a few of them left in out-of-the-way places, the traditional bright red phone box has pretty well been replaced.
PUDDING
DESSERT. (See AFTERS) The term also refers to a specific dessert, but not the one that Americans call pudding. In the UK, a pudding is a steamed, cake-like dessert. In the past, puddings were made with suet and you will still hear the term SUET PUDDING. CHRISTMAS PUDDING, also known as PLUM PUDDING or PLUM DUFF, is of this type. Others include SPOTTED DICK, which contains dried fruit. Today a lighter fat is usually used. (See also YORKSHIRE PUDDING and PROOF OF THE PUDDING)
PUKKA
GENUINE or OF GOOD QUALITY. Yet another Indian import.
PULL THE CHAIN (Toilet)
FLUSH. Some old houses still have a chain.
PULLOVER
See JUMPER.
PUNCTURE
FLAT [TIRE]. (See TYRE)
PUPIL (Person)
STUDENT. This term applies only to students at school. At university or college they are called students.
PURSE
CHANGE PURSE. The word “purse” is never used for “handbag”.
PUSHCHAIR
STROLLER. (See also PRAM)
PUT THE KIBOSH ON
PUT AN END TO or PUT PAID TO.
PUT THE MOCKERS ON
BRING BAD LUCK TO.
PUT THE WIND UP
FRIGHTEN.
PUT-U-UP
SLEEP SOFA. A proprietary brand.
Q
QUAVER (Musical Note)
See CROTCHET.
QUEEN’S SCOUT (or KING’S SCOUT)
EAGLE SCOUT.
QUEER STREET (Slang)
To be in Queer Street is to be in some sort of trouble.
QUEUE
FORM A LINE. It can also refer to the line itself. The British are notorious for their ability to form and maintain an orderly queue anywhere, for anything, at any time.
QUID
Slang term for a pound, as in “Lend me a couple of quid”.
QUIFF
Curl or tuft of hair worn at the front of the head, Bill Haley or Boris Yeltsin style.
QUINS
QUINTS. A slightly different short form of QUINTUPLETS.
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