some Brit expressions found in HP

[Doreen]

These and many more, would have been quite useful while reading HP ... and I will have it handy when I get my British editions.

All right? - This is used a lot around London and the south to mean, "Hello, how are you"? You would say it to a complete stranger or someone you knew. The normal response would be for them to say "All right"? back to you. It is said as a question. Sometimes it might get expanded to "all right mate"? Mostly used by blue collar workers but also common among younger people. 

Hagrid is always saying, "All right, Harry?"

Bung - To bung something means to throw it. For example a street trader might bung something in for free if you pay cash right now! Or you could say "bung my car keys over, mate". 

Filch - To filch is to steal or pilfer. The origin is apparently unknown (wow.. right there, obvious as heck and I never gave it any thought... I guess I enjoyed his character too much to attach any meaning to his name)

Gobsmacked - Amazed. Your gob is your mouth and if you smack your gob, it would be out of amazement. 

There are just way too many of these at: http://www.effingpot.com/index.html

I do have to include this one, though.. (When I read it, I thought of, "Be quiet so as not to knock up the cat." ... in USA they frown on that)

Knock up - This means to wake someone up. Although it seems to have an altogether different meaning in the USA! At one time, in England, a chap was employed to go round the streets to wake the workers up in time to get to work. He knew where everyone lived and tapped on the bedroom windows with a long stick, and was known as a "knocker up". He also turned off the gas street lights on his rounds. Another meaning of this phrase, that is more common these days, is to make something out of odds and ends. For example my Dad knocked up a tree house for us from some planks of wood he had in the garage, or you might knock up a meal from whatever you have hanging around in the fridge. 

Doreen, who loves British expressions ... does that make me an Anglophile?

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