[HPFGU-OTChatter] Brit Slang Question

[Neil Ward]

Rita asked:

> Okay, it is a cliche that 'knock up' has quite different meanings
> in US and UK. In US usage, we can say that a girl is knocked up,
> meaning that she's pregnant, and we can also say that So-and-so is
> the man who knocked her up. In "Rumpole of the Bailey", the slang
> for being pregnant was 'up the spout', but what is the transitive
> verb form? Suppose (back in March of 1999) someone was speaking
> of the contest for first baby of the Millennium and someone tried to
> translate his remarks for someone of the intelligence level of
> Crabbe: "He said, go home and [impregnate] your wife."

You want a polite answer, I imagine?

First of all, I think 'he knocked her up/got her knocked up' can have that
meaning in the UK, but has probably been borrowed from the US.

Not to downplay the importance of "Rumpole of The Bailey" as a yardstick of
British behaviour ("up the spout" is certainly a possibility), there are a
number of less than flattering ways to express this: "up the duff", "in the
club" [from in the pudding club...duff also being a word for pudding], "a
bun in the oven", "in the family way", "preggers".  As it usually applies to
getting unmarried girls pregnant, there is also the euphemism "he's got her
into trouble".

When it comes to a verb form, I can't think of a direct example that
suggests impregnate.  You'd have to say "he put her in the club" or "he got
her up the duff".   That is, if you wanted to be loutishly insensitive about
it...

Neil

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