British Vocabulary Lesson (Household Items)

In our next British Vocabulary lesson, I thought I'd share various household items. How many had you heard before?

• Bin - receptacle for holding garbage (rubbish) or recyclables. Can also be used as a verb as in, "That sweater is so old, just bin it."
• Cooker - what you use to bake food (aka oven). I'm still not sure if cooker refers to the stove and burners (see Hob below) or just the oven part. More research needed clearly.
• Hob - the burners of the stove (err, cooker). You can have a gas or electric hob just like back home.
• Loo - bathroom, toilet, water closet. Actually usually refers to the toilet as in many of the older houses, the bathroom is truly a room with the bathtub as the toilet and washbasin were in a separate room. We even saw one house with a sink cabinet in one of the bedrooms! Old city with old houses.
• Garden - refers to the back yard in general. In the garden, you might find a vegetable plot, lawn, flowers, potting shed, etc.
• Hoover - the vaccuum. Can also be a verb as in, "I need to hoover every other day to stay ahead of all this cat hair!"
• Airing Cupboard - closet that houses the hot water boiler. Often, the closet is fitted with storage and you keep your linens in as they will stay dry due to the heat from the boiler. We have one in our new place and I'm sure it's going to be a favourite spot for the cats on cold winter days.
• Telly - television. I'm sure you've heard this one before, right?
• Cuppa - refers to a cup of tea. A common phrase between friends as in, "Come on in for a cuppa. OR What a day! I could use a cuppa." I'll probably refrain from using this one as it just doesn't sound right with an American accent.
• Kettle - what you use to brew that cuppa. Almost every home has an electric kettle to boil water quickly for that cup of tea. Our landlord left one with the property so we're all set for the neighbours to stop by for a cuppa.
• Washing - laundry. As in, "The weather is so nice today, I can hang my washing outside."
• Washing Up - doing the dishes. And the supermarkets carry 'washing up liquid'.
• Brolly - when the weather isn't so nice, you might need your brolly (umbrella). I suppose in an area of the world where you need it so often, you've got to find a shortcut word for it!

 Hope you've enjoyed today's lesson. Stay tuned for 'areas around town' in our next installment.