What are the American English equivalents for these British English words?

Last time I checked, “bloody” was fairly offensive in UK English—almost as bad as the f-word, and used similarly as an all-purpose pejorative.
wanker = jerk-off

@submariner : so… it would be like, “that thieving masturbator stole my apple”?

Wanker – asshole, jerk, fuckhead, pretty much any generic derogatory term
Bloody – Slang term in the UK, Australia and some other Commonwealth countries. Very, very common. Is NOT the alternative to “fucking” because it is more in the range of offense to “damn”. Used before a word to make it more angry, appealing, exaggerative, etc.

You don’t necessarily want to use the exact equivalent of one language’s (or dialect’s) word to stand in for another.

For example, a common enough pejorative in American English is to call someone “a dick” or “a prick”. And the words mean “penis”. But you wouldn’t then assume that we’re calling someone literally “a penis”. You dig?

I thought a wanker was someone who routinely masturbated—you know, like most of the human race. Bloody, bleeder and bleeding all mean a person or thing that is objectionable, do they not? Americans might use the f-word before the name or bastard for a person, and something like damned or f-ing blankety-blank for a thing.

@ETpro It is literally someone who masturbates, but you use it more as a general insult. Like, your boyfriend is supposed to help you with a dinner party, but gives guests the wrong time and burns several dishes, and you finally snap and say “Get out of the kitchen, you wanker!” You aren’t saying that he screwed up because he was masturbating, it’s just a general insult.

Bleeder – A troublesome fellow, a drain on society who spoils things for the rest of us. There isn’t really a straight US equivalent, but comments about how someone’s white trash or a welfare mom are in the same realm (although not used in a sentence the same way).

@CyanoticWasp yeah, but I think because those do mean penis, they are not to be used like jerk or idiot would be. Like when Palin used cajones on tv, I thought WTF? Would she say balls on tv? Just because it is Spanish, or maybe we can call it even American slang it is acceptible? Like how everyone throws around schmuck and putz. None of them know what they are saying; what the words really mean.

Also, I think dick might come from the police/detective reference? Maybe?

Well, ‘dick’ does also mean ‘detective’, yes, but it’s not a pejorative in that usage. If you were talking about “one of the homicide dicks” then it means something completely different from “the dicks in the head office”. People do talk about “balls” on television, in the sense of gonads, testicles, and cojones. (In fact, Mexicans often think of euphemisms for huevos, since that Spanish word for ‘eggs’ is also another euphemism for… cojones.)

And I disagree that people ‘in general’ don’t know the meanings of schmuck, putz and other Yiddish terms. They’ve been around and in general use long enough that they’re pretty well understood by ‘a significant percentage’ of American users. Some people seem not to know what any of the words they use mean, so we can discount them, nu?

@CyanoticWasp You think the majority of Americans know schmuck means penis? I completely disagree, but I have no data to back it up. :)

Politicians talk about people having balls?

Having a bad night, tonight, @JLeslie?

I said “significant percentage”, not “majority”. And yes, politicians (some of them, anyway, and in some contexts, not all) talk about “balls”.

@CyanoticWasp :) was I harsh? Sorry. You know I think you are awesome. I was not trying to argue if it came across that way. Just banter.

I gave everyone who used the word masturbate in their answer a GA.

I had no idea schmuck meant penis. That is all.

@DrasticDreamer it is the discarded foreskin isn’t it.

other uniquely british profanities include, tosser, twat and slag,

A wanker, literally, is someone who wanks (i.e. masturbates), but generally means someone who is thoughtless, inconsiderate and self-centered. It’s very often used in driving situations, shouted at drivers who have just cut you up, tailgated, etc.

A bleeder is both archaic and fairly upper class – I haven’t heard anyone use this for years.

Bloody is a corruption of “By Our Lady” and as such, is technically blaspheming. It is rapidly becoming inoffensive, and is far closer to damn than to fuck. It is often used for emphasis – “The bloody neighbours were partying until 5am last night”, “Don’t be so bloody stupid” or as an exclamation – “Bloody hell” (if you see something dangerous/stupid etc)

fucker
fucking
jerk-off, asshole

@CyanoticWasp : Then what is a putz?
And good answers, by the way. I guess they aren’t really equivalents, but you know what I’m saying.

@mammal : What do those mean?

@troubleinharlem Tosser – Wanker
Twat – Cunt (read some porn; you’ll find the two words interchangeable)
Slag – Slut

@papayalily : Gotcha. ^^

@troubleinharlem Putz means penis too, but is used kind of like idiot asshole combined, but I associate it with someone who is weaker or wimpier then say a schmuck. A subtle difference. Here is a list of Yiddish words and their definitions, which have been adopted by English.