English slang vocabulary.doc

A

abdabs

Noun. Terror, the frights, nerves. Often heard as the screaming abdabs. [1940s]

absobloodylutely

Adv. Absolutely.

Abysinnia!

Exclam. A jocular and intentional mispronunciation of "I'll be seeing you!"

accidentally-on-purpose

Phrs. Seemingly accidental but with veiled malice or harm.

AC/DC

Adj. Bisexual.

ace (!)

Adj. Excellent, wonderful.
Exclam. Excellent!

acid

Noun. The drug LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. [Orig. U.S. 1960s]

acid house

Noun. The dance music scene that pre-empted 'rave' in Britain, and began the long association of 'house' music and 'ecstasy'.

ackers

Noun. Money. From the Egyptian akka.

action man

Noun. A man who participates in macho activities.

Adam and Eve

Verb. Believe. Cockney rhyming slang. E.g."I don't Adam and Eve it, it's not true!"

aerated

Adj. Over-excited. Becoming obsolete, although still heard used by older generations. Often mispronounced as aeriated.

afty

Noun. Afternoon. E.g."Are you going to watch the game this afty?" [North-west use]

agony aunt

Noun. A woman who provides answers to readers letters in a publication's agony column. {Informal}

aggro

Noun. Aggressive troublemaking, violence, aggression. Abb. of aggravation.

airhead

Noun. A stupid person. [Orig. U.S.]

airlocked

Adj. Drunk, intoxicated. [N. Ireland use]

airy-fairy

Adj. Lacking in strength, insubstantial. {Informal}

air guitar

Noun. An imaginary guitar played by rock music fans whilst listening to their favourite tunes.

aks

Verb. To ask. E.g."I aksed him to move his car from the driveway." [dialect]

Alan Whickers

Noun. Knickers, underwear. Rhyming slang, often shortened to Alans.

alcopop

Noun. Sweet, ready-mixed fruit drinks containing alcohol. Cf. 'tart fuel'. {Informal}

aled (up)

Adj. Drunk, intoxicated by alcohol, usually beer (ale).

alkie

Noun. An alcoholic. Also spelt alky.

all mod cons

Noun. All the fixtures and fittings necessary and expected - an abb. of all modern conveniences. {Informal}

all mouth and (no) trousers

Phrs. Boastful and without just reason. E.g."You shouldn't pay any attention to him, he's all mouth and no trousers."

all-nighter

Noun. A club night or event that goes on all night.

all over the shop

Phrs. 1. In a mess, out of order, disorganized.
2. Everywhere. E.g."I've been all over the shop this morning and I can't find her anywhere."

allow (it)

Verb. Forget it, don't bother. [London use]

all time loser

Noun. A public house, a bar. Rhyming slang on 'boozer'. See 'boozer'.

all to cock

Phrs. Messed up, useless, wrong.

all to pot

Phrs. Wrong, messed up. E.g."Our whole holiday went all to pot when Dad got arrested for being drunk."

almond rocks

Noun. Socks. Cockney rhyming slang, often shortened to almonds.

alright!

Exclam. Hello. A greeting. No answer is expected to what is inherently a question. Northern dialect has created the phonetic corruption awreet.

amber nectar

Noun. Lager. [Orig. Aust.]

anchors

Noun. Brakes. E.g."I slammed the anchors on and hit my head on the steering wheel."

ane

Noun. Abb. of anus.

ankle-biters

Noun. Children, particularly crawling babies. [Orig. Aust.]

anorak

Noun. An often socially inept person, having an obsessive interest in a hobby or subject. Usually has little or no fashion sense, and errs towards eccentricity. Originates from the 'trainspotter' look, of wearing anoraks; spending so much time at the end of station platforms in all weathersnecessitates the wearing of such attire. Cf. 'trainspotter'. Derog.

antwacky

Adj. Old fashioned. Possibly from antique(y). E.g."Oh no way! I'm not wearing those shoes, they're so antwacky." [Merseyside/West Lancashire use]

any cop

Phrs. Of value, of any worth. E.g."Have you heard their new CD? I heard it was rubbish but do you think it's any cop?" See 'cop' (adj). Cf. 'no cop'.

any road

Adv. Anyway. Also spelt anyroad. [Northern use]

apeshit

See 'go apeshit'.

apeth

Noun. A pet name for a silly person. A shortening of daft apeth. Apeth, derived from haypneeworth (half a penny's worth) but pronounced ha'p'orth.

apples and pears

Noun. Stairs. Possibly the most commonly expressed piece of Cockney rhyming slang that is used as an example of such, or used in jocular mimicry. The term is infrequently heard used in genuine daily use.

April

Noun. Bottom, buttocks, 'arse'. Rhyming slang from April in Paris rhyming with arris - see 'arris'.

Archer

Noun. £2000. From the amount of money given by Jeffrey Archer to a prostitute (Monica Coughlan) to enable her to leave the country, and in order to buy her silence over services rendered. Jeffrey Archer, ex-member of Parliament and best selling author, served a prison sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

argue the toss

Vrb phrs. To argue or dispute loudly and at length.

argy-bargy

Noun. Trouble, noisy quarrelling, arguing. {Informal}.

arris

Noun. Buttocks, 'arse'. Convoluted Cockney rhyming slang for 'arse'; Arris, an abbreviation of Aristotle, rhyming with bottle, and thereafter leading to bottle and glass rhyming with 'arse'. Also aris.

arrows

Noun. Darts, the equipment and the game itself.

arse

Noun. 1. The buttocks. The similar 'ass' isn't used as frequently, remaining more of an Americanism. S.e. from 1600s until mid 1800s.
2. An objectionable person.
3. A mistake, a poor job. E.g."He made such an arse of that plastering that we will need to redo it."
Exclam. Expressing anger or frustration.

arse about /around

Verb. To mess around, to waste time.

arse about face

Phrs. Back to front.

arse about tit

Phrs. Back to front.

arse-bandit

Noun. A homosexual male. Derog.

arsed

Adj. Concerned, bothered. Usually heard in the negative sense of can't be arsed. E.g."I can't be arsed with work today, it's too damned hot."

arseface

Noun. 1. An ugly person.
2. A contemptible person.

arse-hole

Noun. 1. An idiot, contemptible person.
2. The anus.
* Also spelt arsehole.

arseholed

Adj. Very drunk.

arse-lick

Verb. To grovel, ingratiate oneself.

arse-licker

Noun. A sycophant.

arse-licking

Adj. Sycophantic behaviour.

arse load

Noun. In large quantities, a lot of, a great amount. E.g." She's given me arse loads of paperwork to complete before lunch."