Not The Queen's English

This week we're talking about British newspapers and the slightly odd variety of English you'll find in them.

You can get our new guide, British English and UK Culture in 100 Words, from our Ko-fi shop here or over on Patreon.

The 'Spycops' documentary Holly recommended can be found here.

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This week we're chatting about the hit BBC show The Traitors, as well as diving into a recent Book Club read, Bridget Jones's Diary, and what it can teach us about British English and culture.

Sign up here to get our free advanced vocabulary emails and find out more about the NTQE Book Club, and check out our shop, where you can find PDF guides to UK accents, swearing in British English, and much more. If you want to get in touch with us, we're at [email protected] or you can find us on Instagram @notthequeensenglish.

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This week we're concluding our chat about the Harry Potter books with some handy phrases, as well as some podcast and book recommendations.

Support us on Patreon and get daily emails teaching you key advanced phrases (free membership available). Find out more here.

The podcasts we recommend in this episode are Dick and Angel's Chat...eau and The Rest is Entertainment. You can find Marina Hyde's columns for The Guardian here.

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We're back! This week we're talking about the Harry Potter books and sharing our top January comfort viewing recommendation.

If you want to receive regular emails teaching you key advanced English phrases, sign up for free to the Not the Queen's English Book Club over at Patreon (there are also paid membership options - the best way to support the podcast). Find out more here.

The TV show we mention in this episode is The Great Pottery Throw Down.

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This week we're talking about politics in the UK. Don't worry though, we're not talking about anything serious or miserable; instead, we're focusing on some of the famous moments of madness that are a frequent feature of politics here and have become a big part of popular culture, even for people who don't follow politics. We've picked out a few key bits of British English to frame our discussion: 'to lose one's rag', 'to take the p*ss', 'brass neck', and 'sick to the back teeth'. In the episode you'll find out what these mean, how to use them, and how they relate to British politics.

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Remember our course 'British English through TV Shows' is now live on Patreon - check it out at the link below!

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

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This week we're talking about television in the UK, looking at some of the most-watched shows in recent decades and how they fit into wider UK culture. We discuss some iconic TV moments that everyone in the UK knows about (even if they weren't even born when they first aired!) and explain a bit about the different cultural connotations attached to various UK TV channels and broadcasters (you're not gonna want to miss the Cheat Sheet for this episode - it's a veritable treasure trove of clips!)

We're also making a very exciting announcement about the launch of our course, British English through TV Shows. You can find out more and try the first lesson for free (no sign up required) here.

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking about the British Royal Family and their place in popular culture: commemorative plates, scandalous remarks, linguistic quirks... the lot!

As usual, we're also looking in depth at some key bits of British English. This week it's the verb 'to flog' and the phrases 'posh totty', 'the done thing', 'to drop a clanger' and 'to raise a few eyebrows'.

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of the new series we're talking all things Eurovision ahead of the grand final in Liverpool this weekend. We discuss how Eurovision is seen in the UK and how this has changed radically in the past couple of years, as well as looking back on some of the many famous cringey moments that define the UK's recent history in the competition. As usual, we've also picked out a few key bits of British English we wanted to teach in the context of Eurovision. These are 'to play a blinder', 'to be in with a shout', 'to (not) touch something with a barge pole', and 'it'll be alright on the night'.

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode we're talking about swearing in the UK; how people feel about it, how it's dealt with on TV, and why sometimes mentioning a brand name feels like swearing to British people.

In 'current affairs' this week we're chatting about the new Great British Bake Off presenter and why she might actually persuade us to start watching the show again (as well as a certain infamous incident involving her, a weather map, and a model in a sailor costume...)

We've picked swearing to coincide with the launch of our 40-page PDF guide to swearing in British English. If you're a Culture Club tier member on Patreon then you'll already have access to it; if not, you can join that tier or head over to our Ko-fi shop and buy it with a 50% discount - just enter the code BLOODYGOODDEAL at checkout (offer ends midnight 2nd April 2023).

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re talking about what it’s like to go to university in the UK and how that experience fits into UK culture as a whole. We cover the trauma of UCAS applications, Freshers Week and getting a Desmond, and share a little bit of our experience of attending one of the UK’s poshest universities.

In what we’ll loosely call our ‘current affairs’ segment, we discuss the recent announcement of the UK’s entry for this year’s Eurovision song contest, which we use as an excuse to briefly revisit the UK’s dubious record in the contest (don’t worry; we’ll go into all that in much, much more detail on the podcast nearer the time of the final).

The phrases we’re looking at in detail this week are: the be all and end all, Billy No Mates, piss money up the wall* and take the biscuit.

*Actually, we don't make the meaning of 'pissing money up the wall' totally clear (we got too distracted talking about Desmonds!); it's basically just a somewhat vulgar way of saying 'waste money'.

For all the things we mention but don’t fully explain, check out the Cheat Sheet for this episode, which you can download from our Patreon page. Patreon supporters also get access to our 35-page PDF accent guide. Cultural guides, including the accent guide, are also available to buy individually from our Ko-fi shop.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/notthequeensenglish

Website: https://notthequeensenglish.wixsite.com/notthequeensenglish/podcast

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/notthequeensenglish/shop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.