the Top Gear British phrases explanation thread

Unconnected said:
wow i cant belive some people dont know what petrol is, or tarmac or a caravan.
Americans need to realise that there are more countrys then just America.

/im from au
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I guess there's just not that much information for them to go on, they do know what these things are - they just have different words. If it wasn't for American media I wouldn't know that pavement could mean the bit of road you drive on, or what a minivan was. There isn't as much British/Aus TV on in the US as there is US TV on over here, so our exposure to American words will always be bigger than the other way around.
 
Unconnected said:
wow i cant belive some people dont know what petrol is, or tarmac or a caravan.
Americans need to realise that there are more countrys then just America.

/im from au
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And some Australians need to realise sweeping generalisations like that are woefully inaccurate. Some Australians need to learn how to spell too.
 
Mineworksfine said:
Ponce is a term from the 60's and originally implied the target was a pimp. More commonly used to describe men who take a bit more pride in their general appearance than one might expect from the situation or their social standing but little used these days in modern English. Characterised more politely by the modern term "metrosexual". See also Nonce (qv) which is a term from the same era meaning a child molester/paedophile.

Pillock is a little used term these days, but was simply a stronger way of calling someone an idiot without swearing and incurring the wrath of either teachers or parents. Would have been in common use when the TG trio were at school as are many of the insults they accord each other.
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Going back a bit in terms of this thread I know but "ponce" is still used quite a bit mostly to describe people a bit like Oz Clarke. Pillock is definitely still used round where I'm from.
 
Re Barbara Cartland. She always wore a pink dress, of which she had many of various shades, and extremely heavy makeup. Google an image of her. Hence the reference to her and Hammond's pink bike.
She was an extremely prolific romantic fiction writer and wrote several novels a year for many years. She published over 700 of them and had 160 books unpublished at the time of her death.
 
the Interceptor said:

"No, it's not a kit car, it's a Lamborghini. Philistine!"
person: James May
episode: 7x04, Italian supercars challenge
explanation: A "philistine" is a person that undervalues and/or has no clue about art, beauty, history and intellectual content in general. James is animated to call someone a philistine here because that person does not recognize the classic Lamborghini as such and thinks it's a kit car.
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I always thought he/she asked if it was the "KITT", meaning the car from Knight Rider since it looks a bit similar. :-|

btw. this thread is excellent, I've already learned several useful things and many things from the show make a bit more sense now :thumbsup:
 
Found another one: During the "3 fast cars across America" challenge in 12x02, James says about Reno: "What an appalling kackhole". Now, I have an idea what that means (rude version of "hicktown"), but I couldn't find the exact word on the net.
 
Thank you gentlemen! ;)
 
In the British/American section of the index this needs to change...

tarmac = pavement

While this is true, is will be easier for Americans to understand the following...

tarmac = asphalt

Then you can add...

pavement = sidewalk
 
ApexOversteer said:
In the British/American section of the index this needs to change...

tarmac = pavement

While this is true, is will be easier for Americans to understand the following...

tarmac = asphalt

Then you can add...

pavement = sidewalk
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Did that, thank you! :)
 
We need to add in annorak in case people don't get what it means.

Annorak: Someone knows everything about cars.

Someone can add more to it, because that's how I know what it means.
 
Richmondgal said:
We need to add in annorak in case people don't get what it means.

Annorak: Someone knows everything about cars.

Someone can add more to it, because that's how I know what it means.
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No more like Annorak: Someone knows everything about <anything> depends upon context but is also usually boring - they are trying to make James out to be an Annorak sometimes. Trouble is he is never boring he has the gift of complex communication in an informative and interesting way. You can not teach that!
 
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Usually Anorak I think.

As Cobol74 said it is someone who knows far too much about a subject, name from the stereotype of train spotters etc a) wearing unfashionable clothing like anoraks and b) needing to wear them as they spend a load of time standing on platforms in the rain noting down numbers or whatever it is they do. :p
 
I think I am also trying to say that they will tell you all they know about a subject whether you want to know or not too!
 
Hope this hasn't been mentioned yet, but sometimes they use the word "minger" which I had to look up on a British slang dictionary site.

http://septicscompanion.com/dictionary/m.html

It means someone (or some cars, I suspect) who is really ugly.

JC jokingly referred to those two female newsreaders as mingers in the SIARPC of 11x4.
They were obviously the opposite. ;)
 
Correct and correct!

Down in this part of the world they are referred to as double baggers - you would, but you'd have to put a bag over the head so as not to see the face whilst doing the deed, but in exceptional cases you'd need two bags in case one fell off!
 
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