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British Natives - I need help with an expression
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Anita
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Nov 23, 2014 09:34AM
Using British expressions what is a subtle way of saying, "What an arrogant, upper class, jerk."
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It depends on what class and part of the county your speaker is from.
^^ Yep. And by subtle, do you mean an expression not obviously an insult or just clean?
Anita wrote: "Using British expressions what is a subtle way of saying, "What an arrogant, upper class, jerk.""The conversation takes place in California. It doesn't matter where the English guy who makes the comment is from.
Emma wrote: "It depends on what class and part of the county your speaker is from."Clean - at least for an American ear e.g. we think bloody is clean.
I'd like the comment to be dry e.g. if he was American he'd say "what a pretentious dick-head" - which is obvious and rude.
The speaker is middle class and highly educated.
Toffee-nosed git. That's the cleanest I can think of. Actual real-life conversations on the subject would not be clean...
Take a hint from the British people, it matters a great deal. Someone from London, and someone from Yorkshire would use a very different words.pillock
numpty
plonker
chav
fuckwit
prat
wanker
eejit
tosser
all mean stupid, but you wouldn't hear a londoner saying numpty, or a scotsman saying eejit.
A simple 'twat' is always a winner.(And 'chav' certainly ain't upper class!)
How would that be said in a sentence?"What a pillock, he acts like a numpty chav, prat."
For "arrogant, upper class, jerk", some people just use the noun "Cameron". This is a colloquial reference that can be offensive to some, and should be used with discretion.
Nope. Best to stick to one slang word for jerk- take your pick from all those that've been mentioned, some ruder than others, but chav isn't the right word.Just keep: 'arrogant, upper class' and find your favoured work for jerk- I reckon. ('Wanker' is a rude but commonly used word.)
Mike wrote: "For "arrogant, upper class, jerk", some people just use the noun "Cameron". This is a colloquial reference that can be offensive to some, and should be used with discretion."Now that's the Brit sense of humour right there...
I'd suggest something along the lines of "What a pompous prick." - but background can make a big difference as mentioned. Also the historical period would have a big influence - current vs. 1920sm 1950s, 1970s etc.Dave
The time period is current, the location is silicon valley. The situations is a dinner party. A guy at the dinner is a pompous prick. But everyone is behaving like he's the second coming. The guy sitting next to my protagonist is British. He leans over and says...I want it to sound appropriate for someone who's British. He cuts through all the BS and in a completely understated way states the obvious.
'He's a triple F - double U!' said out allowed.(fully fledged f...whit), all one word at the end.
Said loud enough the other guests might turn to ask what a triple F - double U is . . I've seen this happen in real life, which allows the speaker to maximise (note the 's'not z) the attention on himself, before he complete the put-down by translating. A long silence, followed by laughter, from the other guests.
Depending on the company is can work well.
Geoff wrote: "'He's a triple F - double U!' said out allowed.(fully fledged f...whit), all one word at the end.
Said loud enough the other guests might turn to ask what a triple F - double U is . . I've seen..."
That's understated?
If said quietly and not as a threat, until he is asked what it means.Ok try this one
The guy is an oxygen thief. . .
or - Is he for real?
or Does his mother know that he's out on his own?
It depends on how rude you wish the comment to be, and the relationship of the characters.
Stuart wrote: "bloody toff is common enough."Yes, thats a good one
Some good ones there. A couple of others-"What a tosser/complete tosser."
or
"What a wanker/complete wanker."
Though with the decline of the middle classes and wholesale adoption of American culture, the character is just as likely to use standard US vernacular ;-)
'Pedigree tosser/ tosspot.''Fancies himself a bit, don't he?'
'Posh prat.'
'Smarmy sod.'
'The toff proper thinks he's the dogs bollocks.'
'Plonker.'
Not sure if it is still used, but I remember 'poseur' being very popular. "He's a real poseur".
toffee-nosed.You want to decide when this conversation takes place; slang always dates you.
Brenda wrote: "toffee-nosed.You want to decide when this conversation takes place; slang always dates you."
It also dates the book.
I think you Britts are having too much fun with this!Thank you for all your help.
Not a Britt, but 'pompous prig' sounds good to me (though it's a bit of a tautology).pompous: affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important
prig: a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others
I'm also not a Brit, but I like "bloody pompous git." Or almost anything said by John Cleese.
