Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, Third Edition; Tony Thorne (A & C Black, 2005)

b.large or excessive

A righteous mess.

Both senses are originally black adaptations of the standard English term, influenced by religious jargon. The terms are now also used, sometimes ironically, by white speakers.

right-on1 adj American

admirable, thoroughgoing, authentic. A term of approval from the late 1970s which derives from ‘right on!’, the 1960s exclamation of enthusiasm, support, agreement or solidarity (itself originally from black American speech). The phrase is increasingly used ironically to mean gung-ho or self-righteous.

a right-on guy She was right-on.

right-on2 n British

an endorser of radical, liberal or leftist opinion. The invariably pejorative usage is based on ‘right on!’, the catchphrase supposedly characteristic of fashionable leftists of the 1960s.

She comes across as a bit of a right-on, unfortunately.

rigid adj

drunk. The term often (but not necessarily) refers to someone helplessly drunk.

rim vb

a.to lick the anus as part of sexual stimulation

b.to sodomise

rimmer n British

a despicable and/or obnoxious person. An all-purpose playground insult, probably from the more specific senses of rim. This usage was reinforced by the fact that an un-likeable character in the cult TV comedy Red Dwarf was given the name.

ring n

the anus. A common vulgarism in all English-speaking communities. The word has also occasionally been used for the vagina.

ringburner n British

a hot curry, or the condition following its digestion and excretion. An expression used typically among males for whom a hot curry is a test of machismo and/or a natural adjunct to drinking. (The ring in question is the anus and the word is a pun on a designation of a stove or cooking hob.)

ringer n

1a. something such as a stolen or defective car, a racehorse or greyhound, which has been tampered with or doctored in order to deceive

1b. a person who alters the appearance of a car, racehorse, antique, etc., in order to deceive

2. American a substitute introduced by subterfuge into a game or race in order to gain an unfair advantage

ringing adj British

excellent, exciting. A contemporary synonym of banging, kicking, etc.

ring-piece n British

the anus. An elaboration of ring popularised by its constant appearance in Viz comic.

ring someone’s bell vb

to bring to a sexual climax. A euphemistic phrase which appears in the lyrics of several soul and disco records of the 1970s, also sometimes meaning simply to ‘catch someone’s eye’ or ‘strike a chord’.

ring-sting n British

a painful act of defecation or the resultant feeling. The term was defined on the Student World website in 2001 as ‘the result of bad food and cheap toilet paper’.

rinky-dink adj

1.British cute, neat, smart. This fairly rare sense of the phrase may be based on a misunderstanding of the American usage, or a separate coinage influenced by dinky.

2.American shoddy, makeshift, meretricious. The phrase probably originated as an imitation of the sound of fairground music, evoking gaudiness and kitsch.

rinse vb

to perform, play or use to excess. A vogue term since 2000 among DJs and club aficionados.

‘That Destiny’s Child song has been rinsed on the radio.’

(Recorded, London student, March 2002)

rinsin’ adj

exciting. A vogue term, especially in dancefloor culture, from black speech heard since the late 1990s. It probably derives from DJ jargon in which ‘rinsin’ out the plates’ denotes spinning the records.

a rinsin’ tune

ripe adj American

physically attractive. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

rip off vb

to cheat, steal (from) or take advantage (of). A raffish black street euphemism for steal or rob, in the mid-1960s rip off passed quickly via hippy jargon into popular currency all over the English-speak- ing world.

‘Well, just about everyone in the music business has been ripped off, financially speaking. That’s Entertainment!’

(Ms London magazine, 4 September 1989)

rip-off1 n

an instance of theft, deception or unfair appropriation. It is now used in fairly mundane contexts, such as overcharging or plagiarism. The noun, like the verb, is from 1960s black argot in which it meant a robbery or a fraud.

rip-off2 adj

(of goods) overpriced; (of people) grasping; and (of financial arrangements) crooked

ripoff artist n

a practitioner of rip-offs, fraudster or thief. The late 1960s -artist suffix does not denote expertise, but merely habitual involvement.

ripped adj

1. stoned on marihuana or a similar drug. The word is occasionally also used to mean drunk and is often elaborated into ‘ripped to the gills’ or ‘ripped to the tits’.

‘We’re just sitting around getting ripped and listening to records.’

(IT magazine, July 1972)

2. American killed. A ‘tough guy’ euphemism of the 1970s and 1980s.

He just got ripped.

3.American unhappy, disappointed

4.American muscular, physically attractive

ripper1 adj Australian

excellent, first-rate. A word which goes in and out of vogue, ripper was a British term of admiration, probably originating in the sports world (it has denoted a well-bowled cricket ball or a devastating punch in boxing) in the mid-19th century.

ripper2 n British

a promiscuous female, slag. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

rippy adj British

excellent, thrilling. A late 1980s version of the archaic ‘ripping’ (equivalent to the Australian term ripper), heard among middle-class teenagers, for instance.

ripshit adj American angry, enraged, frenzied

rivets n American

money, dollars. The term was recorded in British speech from the early 1800s but is now rare.

rizzer n British

a candidate for student office whose chances are ‘risible’. A probably ephemeral term employed by Oxford University students in 1988.

roach n

1a. the butt of a joint (a marihuana cigarette). An American term adopted elsewhere in the late 1960s; this use of the word arose before World War II and is probably simply a borrowing of ‘cockroach’. (Some authorities have suggested a connection with ‘to roach’, i.e. to clip a horse’s mane.)

1b. a marihuana cigarette, joint. A US teenage usage, probably derived from the first, more widespread sense of the word.

2a. American a despicable or contemptible person

2b. American an unattached girl

road apple n

a piece of horse manure on the highway. In the USA, where the term probably originated, the synonym alley apple also exists.

road brew, road sauce n American beer. A college-students’ term. The significance of the ‘road’ component is unclear; brew and sauce are both slang terms for alcohol in their own rights.

roadie n

1.a rock group’s assistant, responsible for handling equipment and general tasks. The word is a short form of the portentous official title ‘road manager’.

2.American beer. A shortened version of road brew or road sauce in preppie jargon. It is usually in the plural form.

Let’s grab some roadies.

3. American an unattractive female. An expression used on campus in the USA

since around 2000. It may be a shortened form of ‘road-kill’.

road pizza n American

any small creature that has been run over and flattened by a car. A sardonic witticism of the late 1980s.

Compare pavement pizza

roarer n British

a male homosexual, especially one who is actually or supposedly flagrant. This alternative form of ‘roaring pouff/queen’, etc. is a heterosexual term of abuse of the 1970s and 1980s.

roasting1 n British

a (usually consensual) sexual practice in which a female is penetrated by two or more males simultaneously. The term, which is a contraction of the earlier metaphorical spit-roasting, was popularised by media reporting of the activities of the former UK TV presenter John Leslie in 2003.

roasting2 adj

feeling sexually frustrated. Usually referring to males, the term has been in use in the UK since 2000.

rob-dog n British

a dishonest and/or despicable individual. The epithet, often expressing strong dislike, was first widely heard in the north of England in 2003 and 2004.

robobabe n American

an overwhelmingly attractive female. An item of invented slang from the cult 1992 US film, Wayne’s World. The prefix is adopted from the earlier cult film,

Robocop.

Compare babia-majora

robot n South African a set of traffic lights rock1 n

1.a gem, diamond

2.crack, cocaine. The term has been used for many years by dealers and users to denote any crystalline preparation of a narcotic. In the USA in the late 1980s, rock is the most widespread generic term for crack among law-enforcers and breakers.

‘A $15 “rock” – costing about the same as two cinema tickets – contains six “hits”, enough to keep two people high for 90 minutes.’

(Independent, 24 July 1989)

3. the Rock

3a. Gibraltar

3b. Alcatraz, the escape-proof island prison (now closed) in San Francisco Bay, USA

rock2 vb

to be exciting, cool. The usage began as an Americanism but is now heard in all English-speaking areas. In the USA it sometimes occurs in the form ‘rock out’.

Their new single rocks.

rocker n British

a member of a youth cult of the early 1960s, characterised by the wearing of black leather jackets and enthusiasm for motorcycles and 1950s rock ’n’ roll music. These mainly working-class teenagers and young adults were the successors to the ton-up boys and coevals of the self-consciously ‘progressive’ mods, who despised them for their adherence to 1950s American fashions and music. Mods and rockers fought each other sporadically until the late 1960s, when each group metamorphosed; rockers into greasers and subsequent anonymity, or into bikers.

‘Rockers’ hard-wearing clothes were of the type worn out of doors. Mods on the other hand were recruited in the main from the forum of office juniors and shop assistants.’

(Johnny Stuart, Rockers, 1987)

rockets n pl

female breasts, particularly when prominent or ‘jutting’

rock-head n American

a stupid person. Like its later derivative rubblehead, rock-head is based on the uniquely North American notion of having rocks in one’s head instead of brains.

rock house n American

premises where crack (also known as rock) is processed and/or sold

‘In the depressed inner-city areas of Los Angeles or New York, crack is frequently consumed in “crack houses” or “rock houses” – derelict buildings, often occupied by squatters, where addicts can buy and consume the drug.’

(Sunday Times, 10 September 1989)

rocking adj

excellent, exciting, cool

rock ’n’ roll, the n British

the dole or a dole office (the term is extended to cover Social Security payments and offices). A piece of recent rhyming slang.

on the rock ’n’ roll again

I’m going down the rock ’n’ roll.

rocks n pl

the testicles. An American version of the archaic British ‘stones’, rocks is now in limited use elsewhere in the English-speaking world.

See also get one’s rocks off rod n

1.American a gun, particularly a pistol or revolver

2.the penis

3.a short form of hot rod

roddy, rodder n British

a.a male masturbator

b.a foolish or obnoxious individual

This playground term, usually used by males of males, probably derives from the earlier rod-walloper, a rarer synonym of wanker.

Rodney n British

a foolish or stupid person. This use of the name (by schoolchildren since the 1980s) is inspired by the character of Rodney in the long-running British TV comedy Only Fools and Horses.

rod-walloper n

a male masturbator. Rod is an occasional slang synonym for the penis.

rogan (josh) n British

money. An item of rhyming slang heard since the 1990s, borrowing the name of a popular curry dish to rhyme with dosh.

‘By the look of them they’re not short of a bit of the old rogan josh.’

(Recorded, musician, London, August 1994)

roger vb British

to copulate with (a woman). First recorded in 1711, the term is probably older. Roger, like dick, peter, willie, etc., has been used in the past as a nickname for the penis. It was also frequently given as a name to bulls and rams. In modern British middle-class use it is often employed as an ‘acceptable’ alternative to taboo synonyms. Roger has also been employed to denote buggery (in a homosexual context).

‘Should not a Half-pay Officer roger for sixpence?’

(James Boswell, writing in his London Journal, 1762)

roll1 vb

1. to rob or mug (someone). Originally the term referred to robbing someone who was dead drunk or asleep, hence lit-

erally rolling over an inert body in order to rifle pockets.

2.to have sex with. The verb form is much rarer than the noun in this sense.

3.American to leave. The word was used in this sense in the 1960s and has again become fashionable since the mid1990s.

roll2 n

1.an act of sexual intercourse. Usually heard in a fairly light-hearted context, particularly in the cliché ‘a roll in the hay’.

2.a wad of banknotes, a bankroll

3.an act of mugging or robbing, particularly of an already unconscious person. A rare noun form of the verb sense.

rolling adj British

rich. A middle-class colloquial shortening of ‘rolling in it’, which is itself based on the image of a pig, horse or other animal rolling in manure.

She’s absolutely rolling.

rollocking n British

a severe dressing-down, an angry and pointed tirade. The word is a euphemism for bollocking.

‘Though Dad gave me a real rollocking, in the end I won. I just fluttered my eyelids at him and promised I wouldn’t be seeing Josh again.’

(Jade Jagger, quoted in the News of the World, 29 March 1989)

ronk vb British

to stink. An invented word probably combining ‘stink’ and ‘rotten’. Honk is a synonym. Ronk is a popular word in Liverpool and elsewhere in the north of England, though its use is not restricted to this area.

God, it doesn’t half ronk in here.

roof-rack n British

a Pakistani. A partially rhyming phrase in use among working class adults since 2000. Jim Raki is a contemporary synonym.

rookie n

a learner, neophyte or newcomer, particularly to a job or a sports team. The term originated in Britain in the armed forces of the late 19th century, but more recently rookie has been in more widespread use in the USA. The word is said to be a deformation of ‘recruit’, perhaps influenced by the noisy chattering of rooks.

‘Are you crazy? You’re just a rookie. I’ve been on night patrol for years.’

(Night Patrol, US film, 1984)

rooms n pl American

mushrooms. This abbreviation refers to innocuous mushrooms as eaten on pizzas rather than magic mushrooms, which are known as shrooms.

rooster n

a male homosexual, particularly a predatory prison inmate who dominates or victimises younger fellow prisoners. In gay and prison jargon, roosters or chickenhawks prey upon chickens. Rooster is American for ‘cock’ in the sense of a male chicken.

root1 vb

to have sex (with). A vulgar euphemism which occurs in working-class English speech and which is common in Australia. It derives from the archaic use of root to mean the penis and from ‘root/rootle around’ in the sense of searching in crevices. The term, first recorded in the 19th century but probably older, is hardly ever used in a homosexual context or by women.

root2 n

1a. an act of sexual intercourse

1b. a sexual partner or available ‘sex object’

The noun senses postdate the verb and are widespread in British and Australian usage.

2.American a cigarette or joint. A rare term which may originate in ‘cheroot’.

3.British the penis, in playground parlance

rooted adj Australian

a. ruined, destroyed, broken. Used in the same way as the more offensive fucked and buggered, this expression derives from the verb to root.

Christ, now the engine’s rooted! b. exhausted

root-faced adj Australian humourless-looking, having a morose expression. A phrase known in Britain mainly through the writing and performances of the Melbourne satirist, Barry Humphries, it is inspired by the wooden, knotted appearance of an old root.

roots! exclamation

goodbye. In use among UK adolescents since 2000.

rope n

1a. American a cigar

1b. tobacco

1c. marihuana

The connection and resemblance between tobacco, hemp and rope has given rise to these usages.

2. American a decorative metal chain, especially a heavy golden chain as worn by males. This item of hip hop regalia dates from the early 1980s. A synonym is cable.

ropeable adj Australian

furious or berserk. A slang interpretation of the notion contained in the colloquial expression ‘fit to be tied’.

Well when we broke the news to her – I tell you, she was ropeable.

rort1 n Australian

1.a swindle, a small-time confidence trick. This term of uncertain origin, until recently used mainly by people over 40 years of age, is undergoing something of a revival in media circles.

2.a noisy, riotous and wild party or celebration. In this sense the noun is probably a back-formation from the adjective rorty.

See also rorter

rort2 vb Australian

to cheat, manipulate or bamboozle

‘The Federal Government is to crack down on abuse of English language courses to rort the migrant selection system following examination of an interdepartmental submission to Cabinet.’ (LAW [London Australasian Weekly] magazine, 4 September 1989)

rorter n

1.Australian a swindler, a small-time confidence trickster or cheat. The origin of the Australian terms based on the word rort is unclear; one suggestion is that they are in fact based on ‘wrought(er)’, an archaic British term for trick(ster).

2.British a market trader who shouts his or her wares. This category, like the lurker and the pitcher, was defined in a Channel 4 TV documentary, 28 July 1994.

rory adj

flat broke. The word is from the rhyming slang for ‘(on) the floor’: ‘Rory O’Moore’. ‘On the floor’ is itself rhyming slang for poor. The Rory O’Moore in question is probably a fictional Scots/Irish personification from the 19th century.

rosie, Rosie Lee n British

tea. A genuine example of cockney rhyming slang which has been adopted

for light-hearted use by non-cockneys. The term seems to have originated at the turn of the 20th century, from a common proper name, and was reinforced by the later fame of the American striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee.

A nice cup of rosie should do the trick.

rot-gut adj, n

low quality alcoholic drink. A four-hun- dred-year-old term which was applied formerly to weak beer, but which more recently has usually denoted inferior spirits or wine.

rotten adj

very drunk. A euphemism in British and Australian usage.

rough adj British

1. unpleasant, distasteful, disgusting. The standard term became an all-pur- pose pejorative in working-class speech and then a vogue word among adolescents and then younger schoolchildren from the mid-1990s.

That girlfriend of his is well rough if you ask me.

2. excellent. The process whereby negative becomes positive operated particularly rapidly in the case of rough, which by the late 1990s was being used appreciatively.

‘…“wicked” (for good) has vanished, replaced by the new term of high praise, “rough”, invariably accompanied by a jerky wave of the right hand at shoulder level.’

(Guardian, 19 October 1996)

rough end of the pineapple, the n Australian

a disadvantageous position, the worst of a deal. A colourful alternative to such phrases as ‘the sharp end of the stick’ or ‘the shitty end of the stick’.

roughneck, ruff-neck n British

a youth, especially a tough, admirable male. A 1990s synonym for rude boy or bad-boy first used by black gang members before being adopted by other schoolchildren and teenagers. Like those terms, it is typical of the tendency by transgressive subcultures to adopt, for the purpose of irony and bravado, the pejorative language of their critics (as in bad, wicked, etc.)

rough trade n British

a. a homosexual lover (usually a casual pick-up) considered to be lower class, uncouth and/or violent. From the homosexual underground slang of the 1950s,

used for instance by male prostitutes about their customers. The phrase was later used to characterise a stereotypical homosexual icon, i.e. the muscular, aggressively masculine ‘working man’. b. an uncouth or violent client of a heterosexual prostitute

‘Behind the throat-level peep-holes eyes took in the body swathed in Ralph Lauren finery trailing after her piece of rough trade.’

(Platinum Logic, Tony Parsons, 1981) roundeye n

1.a white person. The term, used originally by Orientals as an opposite of ‘sliteyed’, is also used by blacks.

2.American the anus, especially as a focus of sexual attention

roundhead n British

(a male with) a circumcised penis. A schoolboy counterpart to cavalier.

round the houses adv British

a.on a (long and) futile mission

b.all over the body. The phrase is prostitutes’ and pornographers’ code for allover sexual stimulation.

round the twist adj, adv British

crazy, deranged. A racier version of the colloquial ‘round the bend’, this phrase moved from limited working-class usage to general currency in the 1960s.

roust vb American

to disturb, harass and/or arrest. The word is usually used to describe the actions of police against suspects. Roust was first used by criminals or street-frequenters in the early 20th century, later by the law-enforcers themselves; it is from the noun ‘rouster’, a version of ‘roustabout’, employing a strong form of ‘rouse’.

rozzer n British

a police officer. This word originated in the 19th century and is still in limited use. The standard derivations offered by reference sources (Romany roozlo, meaning strong, or ‘roosher’, a supposed corruption of ‘rusher’) are not entirely convincing.

rriot-grrrl n American

a member or devotee of a neo-punk movement organised by various all-girl rock bands, including Bratmobile and L7 in 1992 and 1993

rub-a-dub, rubbidy n

a public house. These rhyming-slang phrases (with pub) are heard in both

Britain and Australia. Rub-a-dub(-dub) has also been used in Britain, especially in underworld circles, as rhyming slang for club.

rubber, rubber johnny n

a condom. The first version is international English, the second British. Johnnie, johnny and ‘johnnie bag’ are synonyms.

rubbish vb

to deride, condemn, tease. Originally Australian, the expression has established itself in British English since the early 1970s.

rubblehead n American

an idiot. A term, like rock-head, which evokes the notion of having rocks rather than brains in one’s head. This version was popular among teenagers and college students in the late 1980s.

rube n American

a yokel or rustic simpleton. A short form of the male Christian name Reuben.

rub off vb

(of a female) to masturbate

rub out vb

to kill, murder. A euphemism from the language of the American underworld of the 1920s and 1930s, enthusiastically adopted by crime novelists. In modern street parlance the phrase is often shortened to ‘rub’.

Ruby (Murray) n British

a curry. This item of rhyming slang comes from the name of an Irish-born popular singer of the 1950s. The word or phrase is perpetuated by some speakers too young to be familiar with its inspiration.

ruck n British

an undisciplined brawl, a gang fight. A characteristic London working-class use of a mild-sounding term (from ‘ruckus’) to denote something often involving extreme violence. (Bother and aggro are examples of the same tendency.) The word is an important element in the football hooligan and skinhead vocabulary.

‘He [a hooligan] brags about his “rucks” with Millwall’s notorious F troop.’

(News of the World, 17 July 1988)

rucking, ruck-up n British

a brawl, row or dressing-down. These are variant forms of ruck.

ruddy adj British

an inoffensive intensifying adjective, now dated but used extensively from the turn

of the 20th century until the mid-1960s as a milder euphemism for bloody

rude adj

1.excellent. In this sense the term, probably adapted from or imitating black speech, was used by Californian adolescents in the mid-1990s, often in the form ‘totally rude’.

2.shockingly bad, horrible. In this generalised sense a vogue term among younger British teenagers since 2000. It probably represents an ironic borrowing of an older generation’s term of prissy disapproval.

3.belonging to someone who thinks they’re hard

a rude car rude clothes

rude bits n pl British

the breasts and/or genitals. A coy quasinursery term in middle-class use.

rude boy, rudie n

a.Jamaican a gangster, gang member

‘Interestingly, there is a theory that the word “reggae” was originally derived from its Kingston rude boy exponents being derided as “ragamuffin men”.’

(Independent, 1 September 1989)

b.British a would-be tough and/or fashionable youth

ruff adj See rough

rug n

1a. a toupee, wig. A predictable preWorld War II jocularism which probably originated in theatrical slang.

1b. the female pubic hair

2. See cut a rug

rug bug n

an alternative form of rug rat rugged adj

1.Australian suffering from bad luck

2.British excellent, powerful. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

rugger bugger n British

a hearty (usually boorish) sportsman. The expression became popular from the 1960s primarily to denote the stereotypical rugby-club mentality.

rug-muncher n American

a lesbian. Carpet-muncher is an alternative version of the pejorative term as used by males.

rug rat n

a child. A phrase which, like the synonymous ankle-biter, has become popular, especially in young middle-class families,

since the 1980s. Rug bug and ‘carpet rat’ are alternative forms. The phrase was popularised by its adoption as the title of a US TV cartoon in the mid-1990s.

ruined adj American

drunk, often pronounced ‘ruint’. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

ruler, the n British

an impressive, admirable individual. A key term in the adolescent language of status since the late 1980s. ‘The boss’ and ‘the man’ were earlier colloquial synonyms.

‘Chris Evans is the ruler, seriously he is so rad, totally funny, he knows what’s up (nice shirts) and when he is not presenting the show, it sucks.’

(Phat magazine, 1993)

rumble1 n

a fight, especially a planned streetfight or brawl involving gangs. An American expression used by teenage neighbourhood gangs since the 1950s, the word has subsequently been picked up in other English-speaking areas.

rumble2 vb

1. to fight. The word, like the noun form, originated in the slang of American urban gangs of the 1950s. It has since been appropriated and generalised by other adolescents in the USA, UK and Australia.

‘If you wanna stop us then you’ll have to come and rumble us.’

(The Firm, British TV play, 1989)

2. British to uncover (a deception), to be disabused. Now a fairly widespread colloquialism, rumble, like ‘tumble’, in this sense originated in the 19th century. Rumble probably derives from the archaic ‘romboyle’, meaning to search for a wanted fugitive or suspect (a 17th-cen- tury term of unknown origin).

We better get out of here – we’ve been rumbled.

rummage1 vb British

to raid and/or search (premises). The specialised sense, deriving from the standard colloquialism, has been used by police and criminals since the 1990s.

‘It’s going to be rummaged tomorrow.’

(River Police, ITV documentary, 15 September 1995)

rummage2 n British

a sexual act. The word is pronounced with a long ‘a’, perhaps in imitation of

French. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

rummaging adj British

having sex. The word is pronounced with a long ‘a’, perhaps in imitation of French. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

rumpo n British

an act of sexual intercourse. A ‘smutty’ euphemism first popularised by the fictitious folksinger and specialist in innuendo, ‘Rambling Sid Rumpo’, played by Kenneth Williams in the Kenneth Horne radio comedies of the 1960s. In the 1980s the term was seen as an acceptable suggestive euphemism. It derives from ‘rump’ as an archaic verb meaning to copulate and from the noun as a synonym for tail, arse, etc. Rumpty-tumpty and rumpy-pumpy are elaborated forms.

‘Susannah Hoffs is writing a “steamy” romance novel. Packed with intrigue and rumpo, it will, she claims “put Jackie Collins in the shade”.’

(Smash Hits magazine, November 1989)

rump-ranger n American

a male homosexual. A pejorative term used by (invariably male) heterosexuals.

‘That old Greek rump-ranger just saw me knocking on the fuckin’ door.’

(Sketch Artist, US film, 1993)

rumpty-tumpty, rumpy-pumpy n British an act of sexual intercourse or sexually related ‘naughtiness’. Quasi-nursery elaborations of rumpo, used typically by disc jockeys, TV comedians and tabloid journalists since the 1980s.

‘And if they were to temporarily stray from marital fidelity, where would they turn for a bit of royal rumpy pumpy?’

(Viz comic, May 1989) run1 n

1.American a rally by Hell’s Angels, usually involving a lengthy mobile debauch

2.an initial euphoric sensation following the ingestion or injection of a narcotic, particularly heroin; a rush

‘When I’m rushing, on my run/And I feel just like Jesus’s son.’

(‘Heroin’, the Velvet Underground, 1967)

run2 vb British

to denigrate, humiliate. A term reflecting the ritualistic status games of adolescent gangs, it is probably an abbreviated form of the colloquial

meaning of ‘run down’. The term was recorded in use among North London schoolboys in 1993 and 1994.

run game vb British

to work as a prostitute or behave promiscuously. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003.

She runnin’ game. runner n British

a.an escapee. The word is thus used in police jargon.

b.an escape, a disappearance, unauthorised departure. A usage well known in the form do a runner.

runners n pl British

trainers, sports shoes, in playground parlance. The word is also used in this sense in the Republic of Ireland.

running adj

intoxicated by drugs. The term, coined by analogy with buzzing and rushing, particularly applied to those under the effects of amphetamines, crack or, later, ecstasy.

run off at the mouth vb American

to talk excessively, to say more than one should. Usually used in an accusatory way, for instance to someone who betrays secrets.

runs, the n British

an attack of diarrhoea. The expression is based on both the notion of runniness and running to a place of relief. A more sedate alternative is the trots.

Rupert n British

an officer or officer cadet. A pejorative term in armed-forces’ usage. The proper name was chosen as supposedly being quintessentially upper-class.

rush n

1. the initial heady or euphoric sensation consequent on taking a mind-altering drug. The word is used especially, and most literally, of stimulant drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines; it generally refers to the sudden effects of a drug injected intravenously or taken through the mucous membranes rather than the more gradual onset attendant upon smoking or swallowing. The term is sometimes extended to refer to any exciting or stimulating action or situation.

‘When you inhale real hard, even before you exhale you’re starting to feel the rush. It just goes straight to your head quicker than any other drug, and a better rush than any other drug.’

(Crack smoker, Independent, 24 July 1989)

2. defined by a London schoolboy as ‘when lots of people beat up one person’

There was a rush down there.

rust-bucket n

an old dilapidated or shoddily manufactured car. The term was earlier applied to ships and aeroplanes.

rusty sheriff’s badge n British the anus

sabbing n British

an act of sabotage. A word used by ani- mal-rights activists and hunt saboteurs in the 1980s.

‘Meeting to discuss sabbing tactics.’

(Campus announcement, Essex University, 1986)

sack1 vb British

to discard or reject. Used in this sense and generalised from the colloquial meaning of dismissal from one’s job, the term was popular in adolescent slang of the 1990s, often in reference to ‘dumping’ a partner.

I think we should sack the whole idea. Tina’s planning to sack Martin, but she won’t admit it if you ask her.

sack2 n

1. a bed. The word was probably first used of hammocks in the 19th century.

See also sad sack 2. the scrotum

sack artist n

a womaniser, seducer, Lothario. In the Literary Review, June 1987, in a review of Intercourse by Andrea Dworkin, Jane Ellison attributed this to Martin Amis. She was wrong. It is North American in origin, in common with other formulations such as ‘con artist’, spreading to Britain in the 1980s. Sack artist started life with the quite different meaning of a lazy person or idler (who spent most of their time in the sack).

sack it, sack it off vb British

to forget, disregard (something or someone). As used by adolescents since 2000, the term may be inspired by the colloquial ‘sack’ as dismiss, or the image of disposal in a bag.

sackless adj

1.(of a female) flat-chested

2.incompetent, vacuous. The word is used in this sense particularly in the north east of England. It is said to derive from a Norse word meaning innocent or

naïve. An annoyingly inefficient person is often described as a ‘sackless wonder’. The term is also used in the USA.

‘R– C– is a gutless, sackless pansy who has never failed to shy away from a challenge in his life.’

(Recorded, US Internet sports chat room, 9 July 2004)

sack out vb American

to go to bed, (lie down and) sleep. A colloquialism based on the long-established use of sack to mean bed.

sack time n

a. bed time. An armed forces and prison usage, carried over into civilian colloquialism.

‘Lift that weight drag that woodbine/ lights out mate sackarooni time/ lights out sack time.’

(‘36 Hours’, poem by John Cooper Clarke, 1980)

b. time spent sleeping

sad adj British

unfortunate, unattractive, unexciting. This standard word was appropriated as an all-purpose vogue term of dismissal, disapproval, etc. among adolescents and younger children in the early 1990s, shortly afterwards crossing over into adult speech. (The bouffanted Tory minister Michael Portillo, for instance, was said to have ‘sad hair’.)

‘I hate myself when I find myself using “sad” in all its repulsively contemporary glory … basically it’s no more than the latest linguistic expression of the bullying, teasing ways of school – it refers to kids with glasses, trainspotters, slow learners …’

(Paul Stump, Guardian, 8 November 1992)

saddo n British

a pitiable, contemptible or unfortunate individual. An elaborated form of the fashionable adjective sad in adolescent usage throughout the 1990s.