ted45 Loc: Delaware

The few Brits I have encountered over the years have always been polite and more than willing to offer help or good conversation. I did not want to make this a public discussion but I have been unable to get a response from sending private messages.

Here is my problem: One of my favorite authors is Stephen Leather. He is from London and a former detective. He is also, in my humble opinion, a great writer. I have asked several folks if they would help me understand some of the uniquely British phrases he uses in his books.

For instance: What is a punter? What exactly is a bacon sandwich? What does the phrase "Robert's your cousins brother" mean? (I'm not sure I got the last one correct.)

I think I have some of them figured out but it would be nice to find one of you folks willing to give me exact explanations. Anyone willing to help?

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Punter a person who takes a gamble, bacon sandwich, come on two slices of bread with bacon inside or (Bacon Sandwich

Person (usually male) who, though cool in most other respects, has the motor nerve control of cooked pork, i.e., none whatsoever. ), or a jam sandwich is a police car


The punter took a dive when he laid a pony on the 3:15 and it went ass over tea kettle

jam sandwich

PrinceRegent

Given that the last reply was incomprehensible, try this.

Punter: any customer of a business, but especially one who hopes to gain an advantage, such as a gambler.
Bacon Sandwich: What you would expect - cooked bacon on bread of a bread roll of some sort.

Robert's your . . . : Bob's your uncle!!

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Punter = http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/punter_2

Bacon Sandwich = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon_sandwich

Bob's Your Uncle = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob's_your_uncle

Remoman Loc: Someplace Remote Near LA

Try this: Google "British slang phrases"
To make it easy, here is the link: http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=4&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=CYdasMVXAlpnki3huej8ZA&cp=21&gs_id=m&xhr=t&q=british+slang+phrases&es_nrs=true&pf=p&newwindow=1&sclient=psy-ab&oq=british+slang+phrases&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42768644,d.cGE&fp=53ae6be42ff22c9e&ion=1&biw=1120&bih=635

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Well it was not incomprehensible to people in the UK

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Person (usually male) who, though cool in most other respects, has the motor nerve control of cooked pork, i.e., none whatsoever

In other words

someone who is usually or acts "cool", but is really a bland person

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

I had to chuckle Ted when you said " robert's your cousins brother"...of course its " bobs your uncle" which roughly translates as "done and dusted" (that's not brit slang as well is it?). But a some of the brit "slang" that the author uses is from the London (Cockney)area and not said or said in a different way in other parts of britain.

ted45 Loc: Delaware

Thank you all. I apologize for the late response there was a family issue in the real world that I had to deal with.

JR's response was not incomprehensible to me. I have read most of Stephen Leathers books and I've gotten fairly used to the slang.


My problem with the bacon sandwich is that in the USA we have a dozen different types of bacon. I cannot go into a restaurant and find any of them featured in a sandwich that consists of only bacon and bread. We have regular bacon, thick bacon, Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, vegetable bacon, pork bacon, beef bacon, etc. You get the point. One of his characters, Spider Shephard, seems to eat nothing but bacon sandwiches. I thought there must be something more to it than face value.

In the books he refers to a punter as the customer of a prostitute, a gambler or in the scenario I read last night: the scene was between a TV actress and her director. The punter seemed to be anyone not in the TV business.

I appreciate all of your replies. Would it be Ok if I contact one of you through PM when I find the other terms I am not familiar with? The before mentioned family issue has me a bit out of sorts at the moment and I can’t remember the other terms I was puzzled over.

ted45 Loc: Delaware

I am not sure I quoted the term properly but "done and dusted" would seem to fit the flow of the dialog. Thanks.

ted45 Loc: Delaware

NIce photo. I'll have to try to get a photo of one of our local cop cars. They are a bit different than yours. The State Highway uses a Dodge Charger that is totally flat black. When it comes up behind you it is very frightening even if you are doing nothing wrong.

davids999 Loc: Edinburgh, UK

ted45

The bacon will most closely resemble what you would call Canadian Bacon. Fried quite crispy and served between two slices of buttered white bread. And yes, there are people who eat almost nothing else.

I take it you would recommend the author? I have not read him but will give him a try.

ted45 Loc: Delaware

That makes some sense. I've eaten Canadian bacon with egg sandwiches. However, I would not make a diet of it.

I have reviewed a couple of his books on Amazon. My reviews refer to Stephen Leather as the best unknown author in America. The Spider Shephard series is fantastic starting with "Hard Landing". There are 9 books in the series and it is best to read from book one. The stories are tight, edge of the seat adventure. Since I am not a Londoner I think I am getting a good feel for life on your side of the pond and it is made extremely interesting by Mr. Leather. It would be useful to hear a Brit confirm or dispute the observations about life in Britian given by Mr. Leather.

One of his books, I forget which one, deals with the killing of Bin Laden. Lets just say Stephen Leather is not a big fan of Seal Team 6.

davids999 Loc: Edinburgh, UK

As you say it's not a recommended diet although not as bad as some that are consumed over here. I speak as a native of the home of the deep fried battered Mars (chocolate) Bar! :)

I will give Hard Landing a read when I finish my current book. Thanks

PrinceRegent

The OP was not in the UK which was the entire point of the post - or had you missed that part?