A description of British nightlife with colloquial expressions made by a native speaker

1. NIGHTLIFE IN THE
UK_______________
Nightlife is a big part of British culture: to go out on the town
When you are out on the town it is very common to see large groups or
gangs of people. Usually, these are big groups of men or women.
To have a stag night / to go out on a stag night
To have a hen night / to go out on a hen night
To go out on the pull
To make out with someone / To get off with someone
To revel / to be a reveller / revelry (juerga, jolgorio)
Binge drinking culture : alcohol misuse.
Big problems and issues in the UK. Governments are planning to
introduce new measures such as wardens / officers at taxi ranks and bars.
Queues at the bar and a ban from ordering two drinks at once.
Also, the government is trying to introduce prices on alcohol in
supermarkets where many people are pre buying alcohol to get wasted
before they go out.
To get out of hand (desmadrarse)
To go too far (pasarse de la raya)
To be a trouble-maker
Increased violence and disorder in the streets is becoming a huge problem
for the UK, which is statistically the worst country in the EU for binge
drinking.
Binge drinkers are committing tens of thousands of crimes in the UK
every year :
80,000 drunken fights, rapes, burglaries, car thefts in London
The drinking culture in the UK is costing the government and NHS
(National Health Service) more than ever with 560,000 drunk people
needing hospital assistance last year.
What is an off-license? It is a shop where you can find
alcohol/spirits/cheap drinks - cider, beer, wine. Children will wait outside
off licenses and ask adults to buy alcohol for them. That causes
problems for the neighbourhood as people are terrorised by drunk and
disorderly teens who are out “to get as drunk as they can”.

2. To drink for the sake of drinking
To get tipsy / drunk / wasted
To get stoned (colocarse) with pot (maría) / cocaine / hashish / any
other drugs…
To smoke a joint (porro)
Botellón - only among underage drinkers. Kids will drink cider, cheap
drinks in parks and on the street.
Pre drinking - Drinking games. Wheel of fire.
Student nights - £1 a drink, offers, promotions.
CLOTHES AND MUSIC
It is very typical for girls to dress in very revealing outfits, short skirts,
small vest tops. Tiny dresses.
Men: smart shirts, trousers and shoes. For the large dance clubs.
To dress well / smart / casual / tart (fulana) / tacky (hortera) / trendy /
fashionable / gawdy (chillón, estridente)
It’s also typical for people to see concerts (live musical performances on
a large scale), gigs (live musical performances on a small scale), or go to
a rave (a party with acid music).
For alternative music from dance such as rock, people can go to pubs and
see live gigs and performances. Entry costs can start from £4 and go up to
£20 depending on the act you wish to see.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE UK.
Less of a binge drinking culture in Spain even though there exists
Botellón.
The Botellón is much more calm than it would be in the UK - probably
because of age difference.
In the UK it is typical to start pre drinking at 6/7 and go out on the town
by 9/10 and return home by 4. -in Spain everything is much later.
British people don’t care at all about what others may think of them
when they act up (molestar, dar follón), misbehave, annoy other people
or make a full of themselves because of their state of drunkenness.
-Are young Spanish people less noisy or troublesome than young British
people?

3. -Who are more foreward (lanzados), bold-faced (descarados, que le
echan morro a la situación), cheeky (frescos), careless (descuidados),
happy-go-lucky (“viva la virgen”)?
To make a fool of oneself (ponerse en ridículo)
-Do Spanish people have a bigger sense of the ridiculous/absurd than
British people?
-Are Spanish people more self-conscious than British people?