Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

zhooshed, zhush’d adj British elaborately dressed and/or made up. The term has been used in parlyaree since the 1960s, e.g. to describe the teasing and primping of hair and eyelashes before emerging for a social occasion. The word’s origin is unclear; it may simply be an imitation of the sound of appreciative smacking of the lips or an intake of breath.

zilch1 n

1a. nothing. The word became common in US speech in the later 1960s, spreading to Britain in the 1980s. It is either an invented alteration of ‘zero’ or from subsense b.

1b. a nonentity. Zilsch or Zilch is a Yiddish/German family name borrowed for a comic character featuring in Ballyhoo magazine in the USA in the 1930s.

2. the name of a dice game zilch2 vb American

a.to defeat utterly

b.to fail utterly

Both usages, found in adolescent speech, are based on the earlier noun form.

zillion n

a very large number; a humorous coinage by analogy with ‘million’, ‘billion’ and ‘trillion’. (Squillion is a similar mythical number.)

zine n

a magazine, particularly a post punk-era ‘fanzine’. The clipped form of the word is typical of the tendency for shortening words among American adolescents from the 1980s (as in za, rents, the burbs, etc.)

zing vb American

to deliver a sudden attack, retort, etc. This use of the word is derived from the colloquial sense of to fly, spin, hum or perform zestfully

‘“Did you hear him zing my lawyer?” Mr. Gotti asked reporters. “Bruce should hit him on the chin”.’

(Mafia trial report, the Times, 7 February 1990)

zinger n

something or someone extremely impressive, spectacular, energising, exciting, etc. The word comes from the use of ‘zing’ to mean a shrill, highpitched sound and a lively, zestful quality

zip n

1.nothing. Originally often used for a score of zero, the sound of zip evokes brusque dismissal. It has become a fashionable term in racy speech, as have its synonyms, such as zilch and zippo. Originating in the USA, zip is now heard in the UK.

2.also zippy an insignificant or worthless individual. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000. From the previous sense.

zip it vb

to shut up, keep quiet. A shortening of zip one’s lip.

‘Zip it, Fred!’

(All of Me, US film, 1984)

zip one’s lip vb

to shut up, keep quiet. A racier update of button one’s lip, typically used as a brusque instruction.

zippo n

nothing. An embellished form of zip in the sense of zero. Zippo, originally an Americanism, is now heard elsewhere (albeit less often than zip).

‘I checked and re-checked and got zippo.’

(Hooperman, US TV series, 1986)

zit n

a spot or skin blemish. This Americanism has become well established in British usage since the later 1980s, featuring for instance in a TV commercial for anti-acne cream using the slogan ‘blitz those zits!’. The etymology of the word is obscure.

zizz vb, n

(to) sleep or rest, nap. A British coinage dating from the 1920s. The word echoes the sound of light snoring or susurration associated with sleep.

zlub n American

an alternative form of slob

zod n American

a dullard, fool, nonentity. A 1980s teenage term of unknown provenance.

zoftig, zophtic, zaftig adj American pleasing, luxuriant, voluptuous, succulent. The words are Yiddish forms of zaftig, originally meaning ‘juicy’, from the German saft, meaning juice. The expression was extended to refer admiringly or lasciviously to women, before acquiring the general sense of pleasurable or satisfactory.

zoid n

a foolish, clumsy or despised person. This teenage expression is an invention, probably influenced by such terms as zomboid and ‘bozoid’. It originated in the USA, but by the late 1980s was heard in British schools, usually denoting a misfit.

zombie n

1.a dull, vacuous or inert person

2.a UFO or a rogue or unidentified object or signal

Both senses derive from the voodoo walk- ing-dead of Haitian folklore.

zombified adj

a.tired

b.uncoordinated, incoherent

In both senses the word is common among adolescents in all English-speaking areas.

zomboid adj

dull, stupid, inert or intoxicated. A coinage from zombie using the ‘pathological’ suffix -oid.

‘I mean any man who more-or-less turns the American genocide squad into a bunch of nodding, scratching hepatitic zomboids can’t be all bad.’

(Hashish dealer quoted in IT magazine, July 1972)

zoned, zoned out adj

stoned, spaced out, semi-conscious. Originally a piece of US drug-users’ jargon, the word may now be employed in a non-narcotic context to mean worn out.

zone out vb

to lose consciousness or concentration, to become intoxicated. A drug users’ expression related to the notion of spaced out and perhaps influenced by the mythical ‘twilight zone’. The term has become generalised for use in more innocuous contexts.

‘I didn’t really notice – I guess I must have been zoning out.’

(Recorded, American sub-editor, London, 1989)

zonked, zonko adj

intoxicated, overwhelmed, stunned. Zonked began as a term evoking the result of a blow to the head (a ‘zonk’, similar to a bonk), referring to the effects of drink or drugs. The word is now in widespread use and may refer to more innocent sensations such as surprise or exhaustion.

‘I was zonked on enormous quantities of drug cocktails. Once you’re on those things it’s almost impossible to get off them.’

(Former patient in a psychiatric hospital referring to his treatment, Time Out, February 1988)

zoob, zoobrick, zubrick n

the penis. The several forms of the word are all derived from the Arabic slang (in which there are variant forms, usually rendered as zob or zip).

zoo daddy n American

a divorced father who rarely sees his child or children. An item of family slang which refers to the supposed practice of accompanying offspring to the zoo when visiting rights are being exercised.

zoom n

an amphetamine (speed) or cocaine. A drug abuser’s nickname. The term refers to the exhilarating rush experienced by those using these stimulants.

zoot n

a.marihuana

b.a marihuana cigarette, spliff

It is not clear whether the word as used since 2000 is a back-formation from zooted or an archaic usage revived for a new generation. The term was posted on the b3ta website in 2004.

zooted adj American

intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. The coinage, probably influenced by toot and perhaps zonked or zoned (out), appeared in the 1980s, originally seemingly referring specifically to the effects of cocaine.

zophtic adj American

an alternative spelling of zoftig

‘A pill and a cup of coffee and Im [sic] being already zophtic so who’s complaining.’

(Requiem for a Dream, Hubert Selby Jr, 1979)

zos n South African

food. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the Cape Sunday Times, 29 January 1995.

zotz1 n American

nothing. A synonym for zip and zilch, used in the Prizzi novels by Richard Condon.

zotz2 vb American

to destroy, kill. ‘Zot’ was an earlier word for a short, sharp blow.

‘Are we just going to wait until one more hooker gets zotzed?’

(I Love A Man In Uniform, Canadian film, 1994)

zow n South African

a yokel or an oaf. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the Cape Sunday Times, 29 January 1995.

z’s n American

sleep. From the use of ‘z’ to indicate the rasping sound of snores, hence sleep, in cartoons. The word, when pronounced in the American way, is usually part of phrases such as ‘grab/cop some z’s’.

zucchini n American

the penis. This Italian term for cour-

gettes is also used throughout North America to refer to the vegetable in its singular form. In addition to its culinary usage, it is also a fairly widespread jocularism for the male member.

zulu n, adj British

(a person who is) black. A term of abuse current, for instance, in the army in the 1980s.

’zup? question form, exclamation American

an abbreviated form of ‘what’s up?’ This greeting or question was fashionable in teenage speech of the 1990s.