D
- daft *
- odd, mad, eccentric, daffy, crazy – often with the implication of it being amusingly so. "Don't be daft" and "don't be silly" are approximately synonymous.
- dekko
- (informal) a look, reconnoître "I'll take a dekko at it later." – British military slang derived from the Hindustani dhek/dekho meaning "to see". Also less commonly decco, deccie,deek, deeks.
- dene
- wooded valley or seaside dune (mainly S W England)
- dibs
- Cash.
- dibble (or The Dibble)
- Police. From 'Officer Dibble' in the early-1960s Hanna-Barbera animated television programme Top Cat. Most commonly used in Manchester.
- div, divvy
- (slang) a fool or idiot; adjective form, divvy, foolish or idiotic. Also abbreviation of diviner, a person with the ability to sniff out antiques at a distance (made popular by Jonathan Gash's character Lovejoy)
- doddle
- something accomplished easily - "It's a doddle", meaning "it's easy".
- dodgems *
- fun-fair or fairground bumper cars
- dodgy *
- unsound, unstable, and unreliable (US: sketchy). 'That bloke over there looks a bit dodgy'
- dogsbody
- someone who carries out menial tasks on another's behalf; a drudge (US: grunt)
- the dog's bollocks
- (vulgar) something excellent or top quality, the "bee's knees" (the business), the "cat's whiskers". Sometimes just "the bollocks." (US: the shit). In polite company this phrase may be toned down to "The mutt's nuts", or the phrase "The bee's knees" (the business) may be used as a polite substitute. The etymology of this expression is said by some to derive from printers' slang for the punctuation symbol ':-' when printing involved the use of carved metal blocks to form typesetting.
- dole *
- (informal) welfare, specifically unemployment benefit. Sometimes used in the US, esp. older generation
- dosh
- (slang) money (US: dough) "how much dosh you got on ya?"
- doss
- (from docile) to be lazy, "I've been dossing all day", also can mean to truant, "dossing off" (similar to bunking off). Additionally it can informally take the form of a noun (i.e. "that lesson was a doss", meaning that lesson was easy, or good (primarily central Scotland). Also "dosser", a lazy person, or a tramp (US bum); "to doss down", to find a place to sleep, to sleep on some substitute for a bed such as a sofa, the floor, or a park bench; "doss-house", temporary accommodation for tramps or homeless people, cheap dilapidated rented accommodation with low standards of cleanliness (US: flophouse)
- double first
- an undergraduate degree where the candidate has gained First-Class Honours in two separate subjects, or alternatively in the same subject in subsequent examinations (see British undergraduate degree classification)
- double parked *
- (slang) having two drinks in your hand (or on the table) at once (US: double fisting). Could also mean, or even originate, from the term 'double park'; which involves parking a vehicle to the side of another parked vehicle, or being parked on double yellow lines/being parked illegally.
- draper
- a dealer in drapery (i.e. clothing, textiles, etc.) (US: dry goods )
- draughts
- the board game (US: checkers)
- drawing pin *
- pin with a large, flat head, used for fixing notices to noticeboards etc. (US: thumbtack)
- dress circle
- the seats in the first balcony of a theatre (US: balcony or loge although dress circle is used in a few very large opera houses that have many levels of balconies)
- drink-driving
- operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol (US: drunk driving; DUI ; DWI ; OWI )
- driving licence
- document authorising the holder to drive a vehicle (US: driver's license, driver license)
- dual carriageway
- road, usually a major one, with each direction of travel separated from the opposing one by a traffic-free, and usually slightly raised, central reservation. Each direction of travel (carriageway) can comprise one or more 'lane'. (US: divided highway)
- dustbin
- (sometimes used in the US) receptacle for rubbish, very often shortened to simply 'bin'. (US: trash can; wastebasket)
- dustbin man or dustman
- rubbish collector (US: garbage man; trash man; sanitation engineer)
- dustcart
- rubbish/refuse collecting vehicle (US: garbage truck; trash truck)
Read more about this topic: List Of British Words Not Widely Used In The United States