English Word Combos


So after living in London for a while I have discovered that there are some interesting&funny combinations of words that are commonly used - both within the spoken language but the also accrue in print and within other forms of media.

Being a Swede myself I find it a bit of a novelty. If one would try to combine two words together to produce a love child of them, in Sweden it would be perceived as something odd and definitely being classed as slang - thus not being as accepted and readily used as it is within the UK media. Comparing to US - the only word combos I can think of (from of the top of my head) are those describing a celebrity couple with one name (too many and too dull to go into any examples)

Onto the British examples...

Oxbridge - (Oxford+Cambridge)
A term combining the two universities in Oxford and Cambridge, an ivy league of the UK if you will. Commonly used within sentences such as: "Those kind of people that had an oxbridge education..."

Yobs - (Youth+Mob)
A word used to describe a group of urban teenagers, often used in a 'looking down my nose at you because you are clearly up to no good' way. Commonly used within sentences such as: "The yobs stormed the neighbourhood during the riots and set fire to multiple cars"

Chugger - (Charity+Mugger)
The people standing in the street, jumping at you to sign up to a charity with too much persuasion and freezing fingers from the cold London wind. The term is mostly used by far too cynical Londoners, who have seen many rainy winters pass. Commonly used within such as: "The chugger attacked me and begged me for money to charity xyz"

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