earth: n ground. Only in the electrical context – this is the wire that zooms off into the planet somewhere and somehow stops people from electrocuting themselves in the bath.
easy peasy: adj easy. Somewhat childish – more likely to apply to little Jimmy's ability to jump over the dog than Price Waterhouse Coopers' ability to balance your accounts.
Ecosse: n what the French call Scotland. It’s in here only because The Sunday Times newspaper uses the word as a section title. The word is also known reasonably widely around the U.K. — the only Scottish motor-racing team anyone’s ever heard of was called “Ecurie Ecosse.” Also means some other thing in French but I have no idea what.
eejit: n idiot. Intended to be somewhat mocking of an Irish person pronouncing the same word, this made its way into the language in its own right after being popularised by the television programme Father Ted.
Elastoplast: n adhesive bandage, i.e. Band-Aid. Antiquated term –”Plaster” is used more commonly in modern British English.
elevenses: n mid-morning snack. Rather old-fashioned; clearly derived somehow from eleven o’clock.
engaged: adj busy, as in a telephone line. Many sit-coms have sustained plot lines built around the truly hilarious “engaged in a phone call/engaged to be married” mix-up.
enplane: v get onto an aeroplane. As out of use as its sister word, “deplane.”
entrée: n appetizer. Only in America does this not mean “appetizer.” Why, in America, a word that clearly means “enter” or “start” means “main course” is beyond me. Perhaps it’s because American appetizers are about the size of everyone else’s main courses.
estate agent: n real estate agent, realtor — the person who carefully listens to all your whims and fancies about the sort of home you’d like, and then takes you to see one that doesn’t fulfil any of those criteria but they’re having trouble selling.
estate car: n station wagon.
The Dictionary
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