British English has many phrases for taking a joke and returning it.
To rib someone: To tease someone in a friendly way.
To give as good as one gets: To answer teasing with teasing of the same strength.
To rise to the bait: To react angrily to teasing, which usually brings more of it.
Can dish it out but can’t take it: Said of someone who teases others but is hurt when teased.
Thin-skinned: Too easily offended.
Only joking: Said after a remark that went a little too far.
In 2024, Ian Durrant of Canterbury Christ Church University published a study of banter in The Police Journal. He spoke with three groups of police officers and staff. When a colleague complained about being the target of jokes and tricks, each group described the jokes as banter. In Durrant’s words: “For them, banter was a signifier of in-group acceptance.”
Durrant also argues that banter is often used to maintain an exclusionary culture and can amount to bullying.
James May was given the nickname “Captain Slow” in 2003, when he joined Jeremy Clarkson on the revived BBC show Top Gear. Clarkson thought that bickering between the two would work on the program.
In January 2024, May said that the presenters are “creatively fuelled by a mutual loathing.” Clarkson replied that they had spent more time with each other than with their families, and that it would not have lasted “if we’d hated each other as much as James likes to think.”
Taskmaster began on the channel Dave on 28 July 2015 and moved to Channel 4 in 2020. Greg Davies plays the Taskmaster, and Alex Horne plays his assistant. Of the actor Richard Ayoade, a contestant, he said: “But he is also the least cool person we’ve ever had as well.”
Another contestant, Nina Conti, described Davies and Horne: “Greg says the most awful things about him and he rides it so buoyantly.”
Acas, the public body that advises employers and workers on workplace relations, publishes guidance on sexual harassment. It states: “What some people might consider as joking, ‘banter’ or part of their workplace culture can still be sexual harassment.”
The test is the effect on the person. Unwanted behavior counts when it creates “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” for someone.
In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick and Beatrice trade insults whenever they meet. Their wit and banter provide much of the play’s humor. Early on, Beatrice’s uncle Leonato explains: “There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signor Benedick and her.”
By the end of the play, the two publicly confess their love for each other.
Would I Lie to You?, a BBC One panel show, was first broadcast on 16 June 2007. Its team captains throughout have been David Mitchell and Lee Mack, and part of the humor is the playful rivalry between them. A 2008 review noted that pitting Mitchell against Mack brought “a certain class and north vs south element” into the show, which Mack was always happy to exploit.
English cricketers give each other nicknames, often by adding “-ers” or “-y” to a surname. The voices of the radio program Test Match Special include “Aggers,” “Blowers,” “Johnners” and “Tuffers.”
Some nicknames tease. According to Wisden, David Steele was “such a frugal and unforthcoming teammate” that he was called “Crime,” as in “doesn’t pay.” Robin Smith was “The Judge,” for “the magisterial crinkle of his hair.”
A newcomer in the building trades may be sent to fetch a “left-handed screwdriver,” a “glass hammer” or “striped or tartan paint.” Another errand is to ask at a shop for a “long weight” or a “long stand.” The shopkeeper keeps the newcomer waiting, and the newcomer gets a long wait.
In a 2024 podcast by SECTT, a training body for electricians, one speaker recalled: “I know someone who go sent to look for a left-handed screwdriver – they were away for ages.”
At British weddings, the best man gives a speech at the reception. The Yorkshire Evening Post describes it as one of the most entertaining moments of the day, “a chance for a close friend or relative to roast the groom one last time.”
Wedding guides advise that the jokes should tease the groom without truly embarrassing him in front of his new family.