Sheila

As well as being a female name, Sheila is a slang term for a woman, it's generally used in Australia as the word "bird" is in the UK.

Here's a completely unrelated but great English tune:

Johnny

Johnny is not only a shortened verison of the name Jonathan but also slang for a condom. This slang term has quite an interesting history, it comes from "Johnny Frenchman" a term used to speak about French people.

A condom was at one point known as a French letter, the reason for this is that the condom gets its name from Colonel Condom one of Britain's Royal Guards who improved it to protect his forced from the saucy French. It was known as a French letter (the French called it an English letter), later a Frenchie and finally a Johnny from Johnny Frenchman!

As you can see in Allo! Allo!, our point of view hasn't really changed!

Adam and Eve

"Would you Adam it?" Adam and Eve are not only the biblical characters, the creators of the human race but also cockney rhyming slang for the word believe, so by saying "Would you Adam it?" someone means "Would you believe it?"

Ayrton

If someone says "Can you lend me an Ayrton?" then you may be a little bemused but it's a 90s development on cockney rhyming slang with F1 legend Ayrton Senna meaning tenner which in turn means £10.

Here's a Youtube montage of the man himself:

Barbie

Barbie is of course not only the infamous blonde doll but is also the short version of the name Barbara. However, it means something completely different in the following sentence: "We're having a barbie tonight. Perhaps you'd like to come round?"

Barbie is short for barbecue which is also often called a BBQ, considering the lack of sunny days in the UK, it's more commonly used in Australia and New Zealand. For some more Aussie words, you might enjoy the following video!

Betty Swollox

Betty Swollox is what is known as a spoonerism (in which the beginnings of two words are swapped), this means Sweaty Bollocks. A popular phrase in the summer, obviously!

Billy No Mates

A Billy No Mates is someone with no friends, during the 90s it was common to give names in the vein of Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse (two famous comedians) characters such as Unlucky Alf and Tim Nice But Dim!

Here's a bit of Unlucky Alf!

Britneys

"Do you fancy going for a few Britneys?" In a question like this Britneys refers to beers. Britney = Britney Spears = beers.

Dear John

A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man to end a relationship usually because the sender has found someone else. John is also generally used as an annonymous name for example: John Smith

Letters beginning like this were common during the war, as the soldier's girlfriend or wife found a new partner and servicemen called them Dear Johns.

Doris

"Doris Day" is cockney rhyming slang for gay.
A Doris is also a term supposedly created by city traders in the 80s to refer to women derogatorily, e.g I was going out with some Doris at the time. She's a bit of a Doris on the other hand means that the woman in question is ordinary.

Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett is often used as a mild expletive phrase in Britain, inter changeable with words like crikey or Jesus! Just who is Gordon Bennett though I often wondered? Gordon Bennett was in fact the wealthy son of a Scottish immigrant to the US of the same name who set up the New York Herald.

His outlandish behaviour (such as urinating into the fireplace at an extremely posh party)often led to scandals and it was most likely for this reason his name was chosen as a play on words of "Gor Blimey!" itself a variation of the phrase "God! Blind Me!"

Peter Out

To peter out is an idiom that means to finish weakly. "The film seemed quite good at the beginning but just seemed to peter out"

The good news is that anyone called Peter have not done anything wrong, the phrase is likely to come from a mineral called saltpetre which was used in gun powder used to blow up things and the usage is said to have started in the US mining times of the 1840s

Benjamins

100 bucks are often called "Benjamins" because of Benjamin Franklin's famous chubby face that graces them. If all that matters is money then it's "all about the Benjamins"

Jack-of-all-trades

A Jack-of-all-trades is someone who can perform many different jobs, although I'm unsure where the term was coined, these days it could easily be used to describe the cookie character Jack Stiles in "Jack of All Trades"

Eggs Benedict

What's on the menu today? Actually it's Egg Benedict!

This oddly named breakfast is said to have been invented by a visitor to the Waldorf Hotel in 1894 who needed something to ease a hangover and asked for an English muffin topped with ham/bacon, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. There are many variations on it, if you're pockets are as rich as your vocabulary then take a look at this recipe:

Eggs Benedict with King Crab

Going to the John

The John is often used as an alternative term for toilet,e.g "I'm going to the John, see you in a bit" it's not quite clear where it derived from and rumours are abound, the most likely one being that it came from the man who invented the flushing toilet Sir John Harington!

Going for a Jimmy Riddle

If someone says they are "going for a Jimmy Riddle" or "had a Jimmy Riddle" it means that going for or having a wee. This cockney rhyming slang phrase has been used since the late 19th century and is still common place today. Jimmy Riddle = Piddle = Urinate

by George

A phrase used to express surprise in the same way as someone might say "blimey" or "crikey"

Jerry the German

Germans are occasionally referred to as "Jerry", this is a slightly offensive term with war time connotations - during WW1 and WW2 the word was more commonplace and even left its mark in the jerrycan, a popular piece of wartime equipment used sold the Germans.

The word is said to either be used simply because it sounds like German or perhaps has something to do with them having worn helmets that resembled chamber pots (also known as a jerry), during WW1. Some chamber pots had images of the Kaiser on the inside, so that the person going to the toilet could get added satisfaction, today are they extremely collectable.

Taking the Mickey/Mick/Michael

Taking the Mick/Mickey or Michael is a slang term in the UK used for teasing or joking.

e.g. John's just won the lottery! Are you taking the Mick?

Extracting the Mick/Mickey or Michael is also a common combination.

The story of its origin is said to have started in the 1930s when the phrase "Taking the piss" came about, this means to tease, some years later people began saying "Taking the Mickey" which originates from the cockney rhyming slang "Taking the Mickey Bliss".

It gets even better though because the Mick also stands for "to micturate" which means to urinate.