a lawyer who is a member of the Bar (law). Barristers usually appear in higher courts and argue matters fundamental to law (as opposed to routine aplications of law); (distinction in English law) NOT a barista (coffee preparer), which is a near homophone. Both barrister and barista mean person who works at a bar.
beck
small watercourse; stream; creek. Used especially in the Lake District
bed-sitter (or bedsit)
studio apartment, one-room apartment that serves as a bedroom and a living room
to beg for money by entertaining the public (American English doesn't have an exact equivalent for the verb, but busker might be "street musician" or "street performer".)
sketchy (Mid-Atlantic and Northeast), fake (e.g. "dodgy money"), possibly (but not definitely) illegal, of dubious origin, acting suspiciously (e.g. "he looks a bit dodgy"), poorly done or in poor condition (e.g. "a dodgy car", which could also mean it was possibly stolen)
the dog's bollocks
the bee's knees (something excellent or top quality)
a type of steamed pudding e.g plum-duff; or adjective describing something that isn't working properly or a poor choice e.g. "Don't use that bike, one of the pedals is duff.".
a group that serves as an galvanizing force within a larger body
git (mildly derogatory)
scumbag, idiot
go (noun)
try (e.g. "let me have a go"), turn in a game (e.g. "whose go is it?")
to go pear-shaped
to go South; i.e, for a process to suddenly go wrong
[to] gob
mouth, [to] spit
gogglebox
television set
green fingers
green thumb
greengrocer
seller of fresh fruits and vegetable
hash (#)
pound (#)(note - confusion is also possible with the £ sign - commonly referred to as a pound sign in Commonweath english)
helter-skelter
a helical slide found in fairgrounds
high street
main street
hols
days taken off for vacation (from holidays)
[to] hoover
vacuum [cleaner], to vacuum (In the US, Hoover is a brand name only.)
hosepipe
garden hose
inverted commas
quotation marks (Although the punctuation is different, the concept of quotation is analogous, especially since British English speakers sometimes refer to things formally (or ironically) by using the phrase "in inverted commas" in conversation.)
invigilator
proctor
jam
jelly
jam sandwich
police cruiser. So called as most UK police vehicles were once white with a horizontal orange fluorescent stripe along the entire length of their sides, giving a certain resemblance to a white bread sandwich with a coloured jam filling.
drinking heavily; going out for the purpose of drinking heavily
to orientate
to orient (most often seen in its noun form, "orientation"; While an American in a new city would try to "orient" himself, a British English speaker would need to "orientate" himself.)
panda car
police cruiser (analagous to US term "black & white")
two cents woth (tuppenn'orth is literally "two pennies worth" (or "two pence worth", depending on usage))
verger
someone who carries the verge or other emblem of authority before a scholastic, legal, or religious dignitary in a procession; someone who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies
waistcoat
vest
wally
buffoon, fool -milder form of idiot. 1980s slang that may now bestow more ridicule on the user than the accused
