Meaning & use
telly
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Meanings
nouncountableinformalBritish
A television set; a device that receives and shows broadcast programs.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a telly, the telly, or tellies. It is informal and mostly British.
Patterns
- a new telly
- on the telly
- watch the telly
We bought a new telly for the living room.
The telly is broken, so we can't watch the match tonight.
He spends all evening in front of the telly.
noununcountableinformalBritish
Television as a medium or activity; the programs that are broadcast.
Grammar: Uncountable when talking about the medium or activity: on telly, watch telly. No article.
Patterns
- on telly
- watch telly
- be on telly
There's nothing good on telly tonight.
She wants to work in telly when she finishes college.
I saw him on telly last week.
Word forms
| plural | tellies |
|---|
Common combinations
- on the telly
- The game is on the telly at eight.
- watch the telly
- We watched the telly after dinner.
- a new telly
- They got a new telly for Christmas.
- turn on the telly
- Can you turn on the telly? The news is starting.
- on telly
- She was on telly last night.
Synonyms and how they differ
- TV
- The usual neutral word in both British and American English; use it in formal writing.
- television
- The formal or full form; 'telly' is too casual for official documents.
- the box
- An older British informal term for a television; now sounds dated.
Word family
- television noun
- The formal word for the device or the medium.
Commonly confused: telly or telly?
telly vs telly
Not to be confused with 'tally', which means a record or count.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'telly' correctly in British informal English.
Choose one answer.
'On telly' is the natural pattern for something being broadcast. 'A telly' means a set, so 'watched a telly' is wrong; 'She is a telly' makes no sense; and 'bought telly' needs an article: 'bought a telly'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.