bloody cheek

It is BrE slang and means damned impudence. Don't use the phrase in polite society or directly to a large male Brit.

It is usually muttered under the breath as you walk away from someone who has annoyed you - or when relating a tale about an incident. You don't normally use it directly at people unless you are messing around with a friend or family member.

I don't know how other BrE speakers feel; but it seems to me that "******" is dying out. It has begun to seem almost quaint.

MrP

'******" is dying out.

****** ****, I left you people with these words, to take care of them, can't you even do that? Clive

And I'm afraid "bleeding" is now more or less extinct...

I hesitate to ask what the 'in' words are now. Clive

Now I'm curious, MrP: does this mean that the words ****** and bleeding are no longer offensive, that they can now be used freely, if informally, in mixed company without concern?

I'm curious too, MrP! The word "******" is used as often as a comma among teenagers where I am, so it surely isn't dying out as far as usage goes!

However, it is certainly true that "******" no longer counts as a swearword to be avoided at all costs. It simply serves as the "prelude to a deluge", if you know what I mean

My own unauthorized theory is that "Alf Garnett", the main character in the 60s tv series Till Death Us Do Part, pushed "bleeder" and "bleeding" into the realm of the quaintly humorous.

"******" meanwhile seems to have become much more acceptable in the last 25 years, esp. in the forms "silly ******" and "oh ******!". Again, it seems to have humorous overtones. I can't help feeling ther

An example for you Martin:

"She tried to charge me DOUBLE what they were worth. ****** Cheek."

Like people have said, it sounds a bit quaint in the UK now, something you expect to hear in films from the 60s or 70s.