the Top Gear British phrases explanation thread

Seems I was close, but the words "bint" as well as "warbling" were unknown to me. Combined with JC's odd intonation of the sentence, it was impossibru for me to understand it.

Thank you very much! :)

No problem, it slang-tastic so i'm not too surprised it proved impossible to translate!
 
'Bint' is one of many words used instead of 'girl' or 'woman'. It usually implies sexual availability. It is a bit dated, it was much used by British troops during the World Wars.

Personally I'd use the term if the girl wasn't the best lookin' in the world. i.e. "I pulled some old bint last night."

The word bint probably originates from Arabic, where it means "daughter of" (and often appears in female names in Muslim countries, as bint or binti, cognate with bin "son of"). It was picked up by British soldiers derving in the Middle East, and as suggested above, is mildly derogatory, and now dated.

Warbling is a reference to singing but can also be used when somebody is talking on and on and wont shut up. so if somebody is warbling it tends to be a derogatory term
 
Indeed, and I've certainly never heard "warbling" to mean talking incessantly and since I went to school in Bolton from where scowy hails I can safely say it's not a regional variation. Waffling and rambling, yes but never warbling.

Warbling is an accurate description of operatic singing mainly because there is a great deal of vibrato used. The "sliding between notes" or glissando to use the correct term would be less well described as warbling.
 
Question.

Top Gear Season 11, episode 1. 53 minutes and 55 seconds into it.

Richard: "It does seem like quite a faff"
Jeremy: "It is a ________ to be honest"

What is the _________ that Jeremy says?
 
You rock! Thank you!

Never heard the word before, but then again it looks like the origin is portugese?
 
A palaver is a needless amount of complicated effort required to complete a task or achieve a goal that in no way merits the necessary input. Often characterised by the phrase "Life's too short to......" which I've always had a problem with since "life" is the longest thing any one of us will ever do!
 
Indeed, I prefer the term WOFT! ;)
 
You rock! Thank you!

Never heard the word before, but then again it looks like the origin is portugese?

Yes, palavra in portuguese means "word"

Anyway, don't thank me, thank this site (Russian/cyrilic)
It has subtitles for some of the last series of TG
 
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I'm translating the 458 test into spanish and I'd know what does this sentence mean. It's from Jeremy, talking about the speedometer/sat nav screen:

This is likely to make life a bit botty-clenching when you go past a speed camera.

Thanks.
 
I'm translating the 458 test into spanish and I'd know what does this sentence mean. It's from Jeremy, talking about the speedometer/sat nav screen:

This is likely to make life a bit botty-clenching when you go past a speed camera.

Thanks.

botty => bottom => buttocks

clenching => is about trying to hold everything in...
 
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Last night's episode at 59.03 Richard covers a word.

screenshotTG.jpg


It appears to be short and start with a T. The only word I can think of is twat, but surely that's not that offensive that they can't show it? Any other suggestions?
 
Technically, twat could be deemed offensive. It was originally a slang word for female genitalia, although these days it mostly just means a bit of a pillock. Hammond was obviously playing safe. The only other 'T' word I can think of is tosser. Also not that offensive
 
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