British Culture and Society: Key Terms and Concepts
To Carouse (in the ballroom)
To behave drunkenly (ir de juerga).
Juddering Halt
A situation you cannot foresee or plan.
Self-Indulgence
Doing or tending to do exactly what one wants, especially when this involves pleasure.
To Unshackle Business
To liberate business.
To Slash Taxes
To reduce taxes.
Power Dressing
A style of dressing in severely tailored suits, adopted by some women executives to project an image of efficiency.
Thrift
Economical management of one’s property / saving, careful spending.
Bolshie
Political radical.
To Riot
To take part in a violent public disturbance.
Cocky
Arrogant, conceited.
Square Mile
An informal name for the City of London. It represents the financial part of London.
Yuppie
A fashionable young middle-class person with a well-paid job. Used with negative connotations. The figure of yuppies disappeared because they are already in their 40s, married and settled, and because of the Stock Market Crash in the late eighties.
Parish
A district served by a church.
Workhouse
A 19th-century poorhouse. It depended on different parishes.
Indenture
A service contract.
To Whop
To hit or strike someone.
To Flog
To sell or promote vigorously.
To Fork Out
To pay money or goods with reluctance.
To Stump
To baffle or cause somebody to be at a loss.
On Your Pins
De pie (his legs are so thick). Pin: alfiler.
Dodger
Someone who evades paying a fee.
To Slop
To spill or splash out of a container.
Prig
A person who displays pointless conformity, fussiness about trivialities, especially in a self-righteous manner.
Wadding
Any soft material used for filling a space, especially in order to protect something.
Staunch
To be always loyal in supporting a person, organization, or belief.
Hardship
Difficult or unpleasant conditions of life.
Bleak Reality
A sad and inevitable fact which it would rather be changed.
To Do Homage
To show respect or honors towards someone.
Off-Color Jokes
Humor that deals with topics considered overly vulgar.
To Tend to the Machinery
To take care of the machinery.
Menial Job
A boring job, people who do it have a low status and are usually badly paid.
To Scavenge
To search through something for useful items.
Cotton Fluff
Light downy cotton particles.
Grim Reality
The harsh truth of a situation.
Sewer
A large pipe that is used for carrying water and human waste away from buildings to a place where they can be safely got rid of.
Rally
A public meeting of a large group of people, especially supporters of a particular opinion.
MP
Member of Parliament.
Lodging
A temporary place to stay.
Matron
A female nurse in a school.
MD
Doctor of Medicine or its degree to work as it.
Hasty
In a hurry, without necessary care or thought.
Cloister
A covered stone passage around the four sides of a courtyard, especially in churches.
Harsh Truth
Grim reality.
Hail
To call someone in order to attract their attention.
Landslide Victory
An electoral victory when a party received an overwhelming majority of the votes.
Outcast
A person who is rejected or excluded from a social group.
Underclass Albion
The Romans called Albion to Great Britain. It refers to poor people in Great Britain.
Latchkey
A key for releasing a spring lock.
Suffrage
The right to vote.
Promissory Note
A written promise to pay a specific amount of money at a fixed time.
Cabinet
A group of people who officially advises a sovereign or a chief executive.
Fur Trade
The industry and activities related to the acquisition and the sale of animal furs.
Quaker
Member of the Christian movement led by George Fox circa 1650 (Quakerism). Quakers joined the ‘evangelical revival’, which was a return to a simple faith based on the Bible. They also developed the beer industry.
Spa
A place or resort with a mineral spring.
Tartan
A woolen woven with stripes of different colors, related to a specific Scottish clan.
Kilt
A garment that looks like a knee-length skirt of tartan, traditionally worn by men as part of Scottish Highland dress.
Parish Workhouse
A place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment.
Spinning Machine
A machine that could do the work of several hand spinners.
Stage Coach
A horse-drawn vehicle used to carry passengers and often mail along a regular route.
Yeomen
A man that holds and cultivates a small landed state.
Appeasement
The action or process of pacifying someone by acceding to their demands.
Toil
Exhausting physical labor.
Dockland
The area that contains the dock in a port.
Poll Tax
The poll tax is a tax imposed on every adult without taking into account their income or resources.
Ginger Group
The most active group within a political party.
ERM
Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Luvvies
Those people who are involved in the acting profession or the theater, particularly one with a tendency to affectation.
Spin Doctor
A person who provides a favorable opinion to an unpopular policy on behalf of a political party.
CND
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Ethos
The character or spirit of a community or culture.
RBS
Royal Bank of Scotland.
Equipoise
An equal distribution of weight.
Cradle-to-Grave
Throughout life.
Deputy Prime Minister
A minister who can take the position of acting Prime Minister when the Prime Minister is temporarily absent.
Debacle
A complete disaster.
Hung Parliament
A state of a Parliament when no party has an absolute majority of seats in it.
Boom and Bust Period
A period in which economic expansion and contraction occur repeatedly.