Manchester is not only a great place to study English at the Manchester English Centre, but also a fantastic city filled with clubs, music, food festivals and just about every form of entertainment imaginable. Freshers week will be here soon, which means that there will be thousands of new students joining us in Salford, Man Met and Manchester University from all over the country and overseas. We know that living in a new city can be a stressful and confusing experience, so to make things a little easier here’s freshers veteran Elliot Garlick’s introduction to Manchester…
USEFUL PHRASES
To start us off, here’s a list of the more common phrases you may encounter during your stay.
‘Going to town’– visiting the city centre.
‘Ave it’– a celebratory remark. ‘Get in’ or ‘belter’ are also acceptable.
‘Dibble’– the police. From Officer Dibble of 60s cartoon ‘Top Cat’ fame.
‘Mint’– great, as in ‘That film was mint!’ or ‘That mint was mint!’
‘anging’– terrible, as in ‘That drink was ‘anging, mate.’
‘Dead’– very, as in ‘My mate is dead stupid.’ Not to be confused with ‘My mate is dead, stupid”
‘Hard’– tough or dangerous. Warning; if someone asks if you’re hard (or ‘well ‘ard’), they probably want to fight you.
‘Mither’ – pester, bother, trouble.
‘Dinner’ – a meal eaten at lunchtime.
‘Tea’ – a meal eaten at dinner time.
‘Brew’ – tea (beverage).
‘Rank’ – awful, foul-tasting.
‘Deck’ – nothing to do with DIY. It means to hit or punch, as in ‘I’m gonna deck you, mate’.
‘Mate/Pal/Cock/Love/Flower/Mucker’– terms of endearment. Not as insulting as they sound.
‘Gaggin’ – dying for. For example, ‘I’m gaggin’ for a brew, mate’ means ‘I’d really love a cup of tea, please’.
‘Snide’– counterfeit or mean. For example, ‘Mate, she looks like Shrek after a house fire’ ‘Don’t be snide!’
‘Minging’– unpleasant or distasteful.
‘Kecks’– trousers.
‘Buzzin’– excited
‘Mardy, Mard Arse’ – a sore loser. Someone who sulks.
‘Gob’ – mouth.
‘Scran’ – food.
‘Pants’ –bad, rubbish, as in ‘The X-Factor was pants this year’. ‘It was pants last year, too.’
‘Sound’ –good, as in ‘Are we off to ‘spoons later?’ ‘Sound, mate!’
RAIN. LOTS AND LOTS OF RAIN.
Manchester has its own unique forecast. Rain. It may not be the wettest place in the country (apparently it comes in eighth), but it often feels like it is.
TOPLESS MEN
The moment that thermometers hit double figures (probably sometime in May or June), off come men’s shirts. If the sun is visible, be prepared for beer guts, backward caps and hairy man nipples, particularly in the Piccadilly Gardens area.
CUSTOMS
Bus etiquette – Always thank the bus driver as you leave the bus even if thirty other people in front of you have done the same.
Queueing – No one cares how busy or late you are. Get to the back of the line and wait like everyone else.
Holding the door – This is not about chivalry. If there is someone behind you, it’s polite to avoid hitting them in the face with the door
Tea – Mancunians like a brew and the kettle is constantly on in our homes, so always make sure you have plenty of teabags and milk ready for your guests.
Read the next article to find out more about Manchester customs!