Find out what your vocabulary says about you in this table of U (upper class) and Non-U (middle class) words and phrases:
| U | Non-U |
|---|---|
| Ale | Beer |
| Assist | Help |
| Bike or bicycle | Cycle |
| Breakfast / luncheon / dinner | Meal |
| Chimneypiece | Mantelpiece |
| Daily | Cleaner (as in the person) |
| Decent | Civil (behaviour) |
| Die | Pass on |
| Dinner | Tea (for evening meal) |
| Dinner jacket | Dress suit |
| Drawing-room or sitting-room | Lounge |
| False teeth | Dentures |
| Good health | Cheers |
| Granny | Nanna |
| Graveyard | Cemetery |
| He’s working for an exam | He’s studying for an exam |
| House | Mansion |
| How d’you do? | Please to meet you |
| How d’you do? | Good, thank you! (in reply) |
| I was sick on the boat | I was ill on the boat |
| Ice | Ice cream |
| Ill (in bed) | Sick (in bed) |
| It was jolly nice | It was very nice |
| Jam | Preserve |
| Knave | Jack (cards) |
| Lavatory or loo | Toilet |
| Looking-glass | Mirror |
| Lunch or luncheon | Dinner (for the midday meal) |
| Mad | Mental |
| May I have | Can I get |
| Napkin | Serviette |
| Pregnant | Expecting |
| Pudding | Sweet or dessert |
| Racing | Horse-racing |
| Rich | Wealthy |
| Riding | Horse-riding |
| Saturday and / or Sunday | Weekend |
| Scent | Perfume |
| Smart | Posh |
| Sofa | Settee or couch |
| Spectacles | Glasses |
| Step this way | Come this way |
| Telephone | Phone |
| Terrace | Patio |
| They’ve a very nice house | They have (got) a lovely home |
| To have one’s bath | To take a bath |
| Vegetables | Greens |
| What? | Pardon? |
| Wireless | Radio |
| Writing-paper | Note-paper |
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