Essential English phrases

Hello. The East Midlands greeting, used in Leicester exactly as in Nottingham and Derby. 'Duck' is not gendered, not condescending and not flirtatious — a bus driver, a consultant and a market trader will all use it.

The narrow passage between two rows of houses. This is the Leicester word: Nottingham twenty-five miles north says twitchell, Sheffield says gennel, Leeds says ginnel. Every terraced street in Highfields, Clarendon Park and Belgrave has one, and no listing ever explains it.

Belgrave Road and Melton Road, north-east of the centre — a continuous run of South Asian jewellers, sari shops, sweet centres and vegetarian restaurants. At Diwali the street lights go up and the crowds are among the largest anywhere outside India.

The long shopping street running south-west from the centre, identified in a widely cited 2015 study as the most ethnically diverse high street in Britain by the number of nationalities running businesses on it. Locals use it as shorthand for the city's whole character.

The scheme requiring a landlord to hold a licence to let a property in parts of five Leicester areas — Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, Fosse, Westcotes, Stoneygate and Saffron. Check the address before you pay anything.

The local property tax, paid by the occupier and billed separately from rent. Leicester's Band D charge is £2,528.75 for 2026/27, among the higher figures in England — and Oadby, Wigston, Glenfield and Birstall are billed by different councils at different rates.

Since 1 May 2026 every private tenancy in England rolls month to month with no fixed term. You can leave on two months' notice and there is no end date for a landlord to evict you at. English law only — it does not apply in Belfast, Cardiff or Edinburgh.

Leicester's own label, and it is earned: the National Space Centre, Space Park Leicester and the university's space research group between them make this the largest concentration of space science in the UK outside Harwell.

A bread roll — and a genuine dialect border. Leicester says cob; Coventry, twenty-four miles down the M69, says batch. Getting this wrong is the fastest possible way to announce which city you came from.

The affectionate nickname for a Leicester person, from the local run-together of 'how much is it' — 'ow much chisit'. Mostly used by Leicester people about themselves, and by everyone else in the county.

Sulky, moody, in a strop. Applied to children, colleagues, weather and football teams. Not aggressive — it implies someone is being a bit much rather than genuinely angry.

Leicester City FC, at the King Power Stadium, who won the Premier League in 2015-16 from 5000-1. It is still the fact the city leads with, and it is still, statistically, the least likely thing to have happened in English sport.

999 for a genuine emergency. NHS 111 for urgent medical help that is not life-threatening. Both free from any phone, including a locked one.