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

loquially to mean disreputable. In addition there is a historical record of a lawyer named Scheuster who was officially reprimanded in New York courtrooms for obstructive and unprofessional behaviour.

shysty adj British

good. Of uncertain derivation, the word was used by adolescents in the southeast of England in 2002.

sianara exclamation

goodbye and/or ‘good riddance’. The Japanese word (more properly sayonara) was popularised by its use in the catchphrase ‘sianara, sushi boy!’ in the 2001 film Tomb Raider.

‘I am so out of here! Sianara, suckers!’

(Posting at www.livejournal.com, March 2004)

sick adj

1. American amusing, funny. An item of black street-talk which was included in so-called Ebonics, recognised as a legitimate language variety by school officials in Oakland, California, in late 1996.

He’s such a sick dude when he’s tellin’ all those stories!

That’s so sick!

2. excellent. Used as a vogue expression of enthusiasm by e.g. skateboarders, and usually self-consciously or ironically by students since the 1990s.

sicko n

a pervert or mentally disturbed person. The word generally denotes a sexual deviant and is now heard in Britain as well as the USA, where it originated.

siff, the siff n

an alternative spelling of (the) syph

sighted! exclamation British

an all-purpose exclamation of solidarity which ranges in meaning from ‘thank you’ to ‘beware’. Synonyms from the same period are seen and safe. The term, which probably originated as a warning or shout of recognition by a gang lookout, was recorded in use among North London schoolboys in 1993 and 1994.

simoleons n American

coins, cash, dollars, money. This archaic term (a blend of ‘Simon’: obsolete slang for dollar. and ‘Napoleon’: a 20 franc gold coin) is occasionally revived in the same way as similar British words such as rhino or pelf.

simp n

a dim-witted individual. The word, originating in the USA early in the 20th century, was a shortening of ‘simpleton’. More recently it has sometimes acquired connotations suggested by ‘simper’ and wimp.

‘Some guest and some employer – the simp and the blimp.’

(Honeymooners, US TV comedy series, 1951)

simpatico adj

agreeable, pleasant, friendly. The Spanish and Italian word has been adopted by certain English speakers.

sin bin n British

a place to which difficult or ‘hopeless’ cases are consigned. The term is applied particularly to schools or other educational or correctional institutions. It is derived from ice hockey, where the sin bin is the rinkside area where transgressing players serve out time penalties.

sing vb

to inform, confess, give information to the authorities. This underworld term, originating in the USA before World War II, is often embellished as ‘sing like a bird’ or ‘sing like a canary’.

‘Last month the alleged cocaine importer from America was driven north to a secure house where he is said by detectives to be “singing like a bird”.’

(Observer, 16 August 1987)

sink vb

to drink, down (alcohol). This drinkers’ euphemism usually occurs in such phrases as the invitation to ‘sink a few (jars)’.

sink the sausage vb Australian a version of hide the sausage

siphon/syphon the python vb

to urinate. A humorous vulgarism introduced to a British audience via the Australian character Barry McKenzie in Barry Humphries’ and Nicholas Garland’s cartoon strip in Private Eye magazine in the late 1960s. Drain the lizard/dragon/snake are alternatives.

‘Hang on a jiff, though, will you? I’ve just got to nip into the dunnee to syphon the python.’

(Bazza Pulls It Off, cartoon strip by Barry Humphries and Nicholas Garland, 1988)

sitch n American

a situation. An abbreviated form of the word in use in adolescent speech.

So what’s the latest sitch?

sit down vb

to acquiesce, submit or suffer in silence. The opposite to ‘standing up for oneself’, sit down is a synonym for the probably more widespread lie down. The phrase has become a vogue term and a busi- ness-jargon expression rather than a mere metaphor.

There’s no way I’m going to sit down for this one. We’ve taken enough!

sit off vb British

a.to relax

b.to act in a lazy, disinterested way

The term was in use among adolescents, especially in the Liverpool area, in 2003. The noun ‘sit-off’ denotes a party or gathering at which participants are inert, e.g. after drug use.

six-pack n

a. the male abdomen showing the stomach muscles

He’s got a great six-pack.

b.a powerful and/or attractive male

The beach was covered with six-packs.

These uses of the term, based on a comparison with a row of beer cans, arose in the US in the early 1990s and by the end of the decade were also heard (especially in the second sense) in the UK.

sixteen-valve n South African

an attractive female. The designation is that as applied to a powerful car. Spoilers and hatchback are other automotive images that were used in the same context in the late 1990s.

sixty-nine n

simultaneous and mutual oral sex. The term, originating in the French soixanteneuf (suggested by the shape of bodies engaged in cunnilingus and fellatio), is from the jargon of pornography and prostitution. The expression also occurs as a verb.

size queen n

a male homosexual who favours sexual partners according to the size of their genitals. The expression is part of the post-1960s gay lexicon and is generally used to indicate disapproval. The term is occasionally applied to women adopting the same criterion.

skag n

an alternative spelling of scag

skagger n British

a handicapped or slow-witted person. The term has been in playground usage since 2000.

skanger n British

a synonym of chav, in vogue in 2004. It is probably related to skagger and/or skank.

skangey adj American

an alternative spelling of scangey

skank1 n

a trick, neat manoeuvre. An item of jargon originating in Nintendo Game Boy usage.

skank2 n, adj American

(something or someone) unpleasant or disgusting. The word seems to have arisen in black speech, but its etymology is uncertain. Skank is sometimes used specifically to denote an immoral woman or a prostitute.

skank3 vb

a.to abandon, betray

Skank your mates to go out with your girl.

b.to cheat or rob

skanker n

1.British a synonym for chav, recorded in 2005

2.an unpleasant, untrustworthy individual. A variant form of skank recorded in 2004.

skanking n

a swinging and jerking style of dancing characteristic of reggae and the ‘twotone’ music of 1977 to 1980. The word originally means stealing, and hence behaving disreputably or moving stealthily, in Jamaican patois.

skanky adj

a. unpleasant, disreputable, dishonest, repellent

That was a skanky trick to pull.

b.inelegant, unfashionable, vulgar

Did you clock those skanky shorts she was half-wearing?

A vogue term in hip hop and R ’n’ B milieus since the 1990s, the word originated in Jamaican speech in the 1970s or earlier.

skat adj

fashionable. A vogue word from 1985 and 1986, of unknown origin. The word was used by adolescents in the fashion, music and club milieus of New York and London.

skate n American

a pushover, an easy task, a ‘smooth ride’. A 1980s usage, from the image of skating across a surface or between obstacles.

Relax, it’s going to be a skate.

skate it vb British

to succeed easily or effortlessly. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England.

skattie n

a.South African a girlfriend

b.British a promiscuous woman or prostitute. The term, of obscure origin, was in use among young adult and teenage black males in the late 1990s.

skeen exclamation, adj British

an all-purpose term of approval, agreement, solidarity, etc. This version of the earlier seen was described on the Internet in 2003 as ‘used by junior wannabe gangstas’ and ‘the proper hardcore way to say seen’

skeet vb American

to achieve male orgasm, come. This item of black slang is of uncertain provenance but is presumably related to skeeze.

skeeze vb American

to have sex. The word has been common in black speech since the late 1980s, but its exact etymology is unknown.

skeezer, skeeze n American

a.a promiscuous and/or disreputable person. The term is almost invariably pejorative.

b.a groupie or ardent fan of hip hop or rap performers

The words appeared in the 1980s.

skeezy adj American

dissolute, disreputable. The term of disapproval is typically used of a promiscuous person.

‘I’m a crack-whore who should have made my skeezy boyfriend wear a condom.’

(10 Things I Hate About You, US film, 1999)

skeg n

an unfashionable, badly-dressed and/or irritating person. The term, heard in the UK and Australia, is typically used disapprovingly of members of skateboarding subcultures.

skell n American

a homeless person. The origin of the term, heard in the 1990s, is uncertain.

sket(s) n British

a promiscuous and/or disreputable female. A term used by young streetgang members in London since around 2000. It may also designate a chav of either gender.

sketch, sketchy adj American

of dubious quality, potentially dangerous. A synonym of shady and dodgy in widespread use among younger speakers since around 2000. The terms were defined by one user as ‘shady, illicit, weird’.

sketchmaster, sketchmeister n American a male who is socially inept, off-putting. An elaboration from the adjective sketch(y).

skettle n

an alternative spelling of skittel

-ski, -sky suffix American

a humorous ending added, usually to slang terms, by teenagers and students. Examples are finski and buttinsky. The termination indicates friendship, respect, acceptance into the group when attached to a proper name, e.g. ‘Normski’ (a black UK TV presenter). When terminating the name of an object, e.g. brewski, it denotes affectionate familiarity. The suffix occurs in Slavonic languages and in many Yiddish surnames.

skid1 vb

1.to leave, go away. A usage which was fashionable among adolescents in Britain in the late 1980s.

2.British to ‘slum’, make do with little money, secondhand clothes, etc. This student term of the 1980s is probably inspired by ‘skid row’

skid2 n American

a scruffy, disreputable individual. The term, used in the USA and Canada since the 1990s, is probably based on ‘skid row’.

skid-lid n British a crash helmet

skid-marks n pl

traces of excrement on underwear

‘Hand-me downs – me first nappy had your skid-marks on it!’

(Birds of a Feather, British TV comedy series, October 1989)

skidoo, skiddoo vb

a version of skedaddle

skids n pl Australian

the fortunes of fate, hard luck, the ‘breaks’. An encapsulation of the philosophy of the young and callously indifferent, most often heard in the shrug-off sentence ‘them’s the skids’: ‘that’s the breaks’.

‘“Them’s the skids”, as the young fry say.’

(Peter Corris, The Greenwich Apartments, 1986)

skill n British

a younger schoolchildren’s exclamation of admiration, appreciation or approval, heard in the late 1980s. The word has been extended from its original literal sense to become an all purpose vogue word, sometimes in the phrase ‘skill and brill’.

skimming n

taking money illegally (e.g. before declaring it for tax purposes, or to defraud the eventual recipients) from income or profits, especially in casinos. The word is part of underworld jargon as used by organised crime in the USA. ‘Skim’ was used to mean money or profit in both Britain and the USA in the 19th century, the image evoked being that of taking the cream off the top of the milk.

skimpies n pl

underwear. The term has been recorded in the UK, US and Australasia.

skin1 n

1.British a skinhead

2.British a cigarette rolling paper, as part of the makings of a joint. A word from the lexicon of drug users since the 1960s, now occasionally heard to describe cigarette papers put to more legitimate use.

See also skin up

3. American a dollar bill

skin2 vb

to rob or defraud, rip off or ‘fleece’ someone. The word implies comprehensive and efficient removal of wealth.

He thought he was pretty smart but those guys skinned him.

We got skinned in that deal.

skinflick n

a pornographic or semi-pornographic film. The skin element of the phrase refers to nudity; flick has been a slang term for film since the days of the silent movie. Skinflick is an Americanism which

has been understood, albeit not widely used, in other English-speaking areas since the early 1970s.

skinful n

an excess of alcohol. The word dates from the 18th century and evokes a distended belly or bladder.

We’d better get him home, he’s had a skinful.

skinhead n

1.a bald person or someone with closecropped hair. (Chrome-dome is a more recent synonym.)

2.a member of a working-class youth cult originating in the late 1960s. The skinheads (the term was applied scornfully by longer-haired contemporaries, particularly hippies) mutated from the mods and ‘tickets’ of the mid-1960s. They dressed in a functional uniform of American shirts, jeans and, often, bovver-boots and espoused soul music and gang violence.

skin it vb

to shake or slap hands as a greeting and gesture of solidarity. The term, like the action itself (which is sometimes accompanied by the cry ‘give me some skin!’ or ‘skin me!’), was part of 1990s youth culture throughout the Englishspeaking world.

skinny n American

news, information, gossip. A vogue term among adolescents in the 1980s. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on ‘the naked truth’.

These guys’ve got the skinny on what’s going on after hours.

skin-pop vb

to inject (an illicit drug) intramuscularly or into flesh, rather than into a vein. An addicts’ term.

skins n pl

1.drums, in the jargon of jazz and rock musicians

2.car or motorcycle tyres in the jargon of racers, bikers, etc.

3.British skinheads

skin up vb

to roll a joint. From skin; a cigarette rolling paper.

skip n

1. British an escape or an instance of jumping bail. This specialised use of the

common colloquialism for ‘avoid’ is part of underworld jargon.

2.American a person who fails to answer a bail bond, an escapee

3.British a boss, guvnor. A shortening of skipper, used typically by police officers in familiar address to a superior or, in sports, by team-members to their captain.

4.British a place to sleep or shelter. A shortened form of the tramps’ term skipper.

5.British a dilapidated, old or cheap vehicle, particularly a car. The name of the common large metal refuse containers has been appropriated as a vogue term among schoolchildren since around 1988.

skipper1 n British

1.a captain of a ship or a team. Skipper in this sense is not, strictly speaking, slang, although it is considered to be so by some. The word has been in use since it was anglicised from the Middle Dutch schipper (from schip: a ship).

2.a rough shelter, place to sleep for the night, typically in a derelict building. The word, which may describe no more than a patch of rough ground, is now a nearsynonym for doss house or derry. It is part of the vocabulary of tramps, dossers and other down-and-outs, and originated in Celtic words for barn (rendered as ysgubor in Welsh, sciber in Old Cornish).

‘When you’re drunk and face-down in some skipper you just don’t think there’s much future in it.’

(Recorded, vagrant, Waterloo, London, 1987)

3. a friend, ‘mate’. A friendly term of address between males, now rarely used except by vagrants.

skipper2 vb British

to sleep rough, be homeless. From the noun.

‘I tell you, I was forced to skipper. I never had any choice.’

(Recorded, vagrant, Waterloo, London, 1987)

skippering n British

sleeping rough, living in derelict buildings or improvised or makeshift shelters. From the second sense of the noun skipper.

skippy n

1. American a male homosexual, particularly an effeminate or affected one. the word was previously used to refer to

female prostitutes by the US army in the Pacific. ‘Skibby’ was an earlier form of the word, the derivation of which is obscure: some relation to ‘skivvy’ looks possible, but there is no proof of this.

2. British a chav. The term was posted on the b3ta website in 2004.

skirt n

a woman or girl, or females in general. A depersonalising term as used by males in the 20th century. The usage is much older, probably originating in the 1500s.

skite1 vb Australian

to boast. The word is a shortened form of blatherskite.

skite2 n, adj

a.(something or someone that is) disgusting, worthless, inferior. A dialect or disguised form of shit or shite.

b.(a male who is) fashionable, admirable, cool. A term used by young streetgang members in London since around 2000.

skit out vb

to behave in an erratic, unpredictable, excessive fashion. The phrase, recorded in London in 2001, may be based on the earlier schizzed-out, or on skittish.

Every time things get a bit heavy she just skits out.

skittel, skittle, skettle n

a promiscuous and/or disreputable female

skive, skive off vb British

to avoid work or duty, malinger. Skive is either from the obscure verb in standard English meaning to shave off (pieces of leather), from the Old Norse skifa, meaning to slice, or from another unrecorded dialect term. It has been heard in the sense of shirk since the early 20th century.

skivvies n pl American

male underwear. The origin of the word is not known.

‘Ordell looked over at Louis Gara having his morning coffee in his skivvies, his bare feet up on the coffee table.’

(The Switch, Elmore Leonard, 1978)

skrag vb

a variant spelling of scrag.

skull1 n American

1. a synonym for ‘head’ in racy speech or hip talk. The word most usually occurs in the phrase out of one’s skull (intoxicated

or crazy) or in the following extended specialised sense.

2. oral sex, especially fellatio. This term, popular among college students since the late 1970s, is either derived from, or an imitation of black street slang; a racier version of head in its sexual context. It is usually used as part of the parodic exhortation ‘whip some skull on me baby!’.

skull2 vb Australian to drink (alcohol)

skulled adj

drunk or stoned on drugs. The term is a shorter form of out of one’s skull

(although when used by Australian speakers the verb skull meaning to drink may also come into play).

skull-fuck vb, n American

(to perform) an act of fellatio

skunk n British

marihuana, cannabis. Originally referring to ‘skunk-weed’, a hydroponically grown and extra-strong strain of grass, the term became generalised to refer to other marihuana in the 1990s.

sky pilot n

a priest, particularly a naval or military chaplain. The phrase dates from the later 19th century.

slack1 n See cut (someone) a little slack

slack2 adj Caribbean

immoral, particularly in a sexual context. This use of the word is archaic in Britain (although it was probably the origin of slag) but survives in ‘Jamaica talk’.

‘The spurned wife of Tessa Sanderson’s lover called the Olympic athlete “slack” – Jamaican slang for promiscuous.’

(Guardian, February 1990)

slackass adj

lazy, incompetent. An Americanism also heard in the Caribbean.

slacker n American

a disaffected, apathetic middle-class young person; a member of Generation X. ‘Slacker-culture’ was promoted as a significant youth movement (supposedly a reaction against yuppie materialism and ambition) for a brief period in the early to mid-1990s on the USA’s West Coast.

slackness n Jamaican

immoral behaviour, speech, etc.; obscenity. The term was picked up by devotees of hip hop and rap culture in the US during the 1990s.

‘… not all black women take slackness lying down … Rasheda Ashanti … says; we don’t want to continually hear explicit details about our anatomy …’

(Sunday Times, 2 May 1993)

slag1 n British

a. a (supposedly) promiscuous woman. A derogatory word used mainly by workingclass men and women which often carries overtones of slovenliness and coarseness.

‘Self-conscious and self-adoring parodists of slagdom, such as Madonna and Samantha Fox, understand this; that a man who calls a woman a slag isn’t saying anything about her, but a lot about his condom size.’

(Julie Burchill, Elle magazine, December 1987)

b. a despicable male. The word conveys real contempt and distaste; it is now generally heard in London working-class or criminal usage. Slag has been used since the 18th century to convey notions of moral laxity and worthlessness. The ultimate source of the word is probably in ‘slack’ rather than ‘slag’, meaning mining or smelting residue.

slag2 vb See slag off

slagging n British

a bout of criticism, denigration or abuse, a serious dressing-down. The noun comes from the verb to slag or slag off.

‘Jo Brand gives Chris Moyles a slagging.’

(Headline on Grassroots Media website, June 2005)

slag it vb British

(especially of females) to behave promiscuously or in a dissolute manner, to ‘sleep around’. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

slag off, slag vb British

to denigrate, criticise bitterly or insult. This working-class term probably derives from the dialect ‘slag’, meaning to smear, or from the standard English noun ‘slag’, meaning refuse or waste material. In the form ‘slag’ the modern expression occurs in American speech. US authorities cite the German verb schlagen (to beat or lash), but this is an unlikely source for the British usage.

‘We get slagged off something chronic by a lot of people.’

(Recorded, telephone engineer, London, May 1989)

slam vb British

to have sex with, penetrate. The term, like its synonyms lam and lamp, invariably refers to male sexual activity. It can be used both transitively and intransitively. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2001.

Drew’s been hoping to slam her for weeks.

I slammed her.

slammed adj British

drunk. A mainly middleand upperclass term of the 1980s. (Certain cocktails are known as ‘slammers’; both words evoke the sudden and stunning effect of strong alcohol.)

slammer n

a prison. An Americanism used in Britain and Australia since the early 1960s, it was originally a 1930s slang word for door, hence cell door and, since World War II, now denotes a jail.

‘You’re consortin’ with a criminal, so when he goes to the slammer, you go, too!’

(Smokey and the Bandit III, US film, 1983)

slammered adj British

drunk. The term does not necessarily refer to the result of ingesting Tequila slammers (neat shots). An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

slamming1 n American

injecting heroin, shooting up. An item of police and underworld slang which is interchangeable in addicts’ parlance with geezing.

slamming2 adj British

excellent, exciting. Like its synonyms banging and kicking, it is a vogue term of approbation in use among adolescents since the early 1990s.

slanging n American

selling illicit drugs, usually on the street. This usage, from black American street argot in the 1990s, is found in the phrase ‘slangin’ and bangin’’ (banging here is gang banging) to describe the typical behaviour of gang members and devotees of drug subcultures. The word is almost certainly a deformation of slinging, which has also been used with the same meaning.

slant n

an Oriental person. A shortening of ‘slant-eyed’, used in the United States

and Australia since the 1960s and now heard among young Londoners, e.g. young city businessmen referring disparagingly to the Japanese.

slap1 n British

1. make-up, face-paint. A piece of theatrical slang which Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English dates to 1860 and claims to be obsolete by 1930. In fact the term was still in common currency in the theatre in the late 1980s.

We’re going to need some more slap on here.

2. a meal, feast. Derived from ‘slap-up (meal)’, the term was recorded among bohemians and students in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

a good slap

slap2 vb, n British

(to have) sex. In Jamaican slang the word is a contemporary synonym for slam. The word has also been used in this sense in the UK since around 2000.

slap-and-tickle n British

petting, kissing and caressing. A joky and innocuous euphemism for love-play of various degrees of intensity. The phrase dates from the Edwardian era but was most popular in the late 1950s, usually in the form ‘a bit of slap-and- tickle’.

slaphead n British

a bald person. A vogue term among adolescents from the early 1990s. The phrase may have been inspired by the comedian Benny Hill slapping the bald head of his diminutive assistant in his TV comedy shows of the 1980s.

slapper n British

a prostitute or slut. This working-class term from East London and Essex is probably a corruption of shlepper, a word of Yiddish origin, one of whose meanings is a slovenly or immoral woman.

‘…it was either Posh’s fault for being too thin and failing to follow her husband when he moved to Madrid; or it was Rebecca Loos’s fault for being a slapper.’

(Guardian, 13 April 2004)

slash1 n British

an act of urination. A vulgar term, used generally by males. The word came into use in this sense sometime before the 1950s, but was not recorded in writing until recently. The word usually occurs in phrases such as ‘have a slash’ or ‘take a slash’. Slash may be echoic (as

‘slosh’ or ‘slush’) or may be inspired by the standard use of the word to refer to rain driving obliquely.

slash2 vb British

to urinate. The verb form is less common than the noun.

slate vb

to insult, denigrate. As used by adolescents since 2000, the standard colloquialism (originally a northern English dialect word meaning to harass or hurt) has stronger, more personal overtones.

slaughter n British

a place where stolen goods are hidden and/or shared out. This example of the jargon of cat burglars was recorded in FHM magazine in April 1996. It probably originated in underworld argot as ‘slaughterhouse’ or ‘slaughter-yard’, but the exact significance is unclear.

slaughtered adj British

extremely drunk. A fashionable item from the adolescent drinkers’ lexicon of the 1990s.

‘They [a convention of “nerds”] crammed the hotel to get slaughtered on non-alcoholic wines and beers.’

(Sunday Express, 27 February 1994)

sleazeball, sleaze-bag, sleaze-bucket n American

a very unpleasant person. A socially acceptable alternative to terms such as shitbag, etc., popular in the late 1970s and 1980s.

sleazo, sleazoid n

a ‘sleazy’ person; a disreputable, immoral or otherwise repellent individual. These Americanisms are now heard elsewhere.

‘There were a bunch of sleazo bars on or near the Sunset Strip.’ (www.badmags.com, June 2005)

sledgied adj British

intoxicated by drugs or drink. A vogue term among devotees of rave culture since the early 1990s and subsequently among students, it is probably based on the notion of being suddenly struck as with a sledgehammer.

sleighride n American

1.a smooth or easy passage, the easy achievement of a task

2.a bout of cocaine intoxication. A witticism inspired by the exhilaration resulting from ingestion of snow.

slewed adj

drunk. The word (formerly sometimes spelled ‘slued’) has been used in this sense since the mid-19th century.

slice vb American

to harass, oppress, criticise. A piece of adolescent and teenage slang of the early 1990s, almost always referring to parents or teachers.

I sure wish the rents would quit slicing me.

slick up vb

to make oneself look attractive, elegant, prepare oneself to impress. From the earlier colloquial sense of slick as smart or glib.

slide vb American

to leave, depart. A vogue term, like jam, jet, bail, etc., probably originating among street gangs and subsequently in use among adolescents on high-school and college campuses.

It’s time to slide.

slider n British

a shirker, idler. Probably a clipped form of the word ‘backslider’, this late-1990s usage was defined on the Internet by Bodge World in February 1997 as ‘someone who manages to get out of doing work’.

slime1 vb

1.to behave in a devious, sycophantic or ingratiating way. A usage popular among adolescents and young adults from the 1980s.

2.Australian to ejaculate

slime2, slimeball, slimebucket, slimebag n

a despicable person; popular terms of abuse or distaste in the 1980s

sling vb, n

(to pay) a bribe. The Australasian term is the equivalent of the British bung.

slinging n See slanging

sling off vb Australian to denigrate, criticise

sling one’s hook vb British

to leave, go away. This term, which originated and largely survives in workingclass speech, is either of nautical or mining origin. It dates from the second half of the 19th century. Hook it is a racier alternative.

We don’t want you here. Go on, sling your ’ook!

slip it to someone vb British

to have sex with someone. A version of the more common vulgar euphemism, slip someone a length. The phrase is generally employed by men and usually implies a casual and surreptitious coupling.

slip someone a length vb

to have sex with someone (from the male point of view). A euphemism originating in the 19th century.

slit n

a.the vagina

‘A vagina indeed! Admittedly, some people did call it a slit sometimes.’

(Nice Work by David Lodge, 1988)

b.a female. The word in the plural was adopted as the name of a British all-girl punk group in 1977.

Sloane Ranger, Sloane n British

a young upper-middle or upper-class person, educated at a public school and affecting certain well defined modes of dress and behaviour. The phrase was applied to a recognisable sub-category of British youth displaying characteristics of what used to be known as the ‘county set’. The equivalent of the American preppies and the French B.C.B.G.s (for ‘bon chic, bon genre’), Sloane Rangers were defined and described by the journalists Peter York and later Ann Barr in articles in Harpers and Queen magazine and publications such as The Official Sloane Ranger’s Handbook (1982). The first time the words appeared in print was in October 1975, but Peter York was not the originator of the expression. It was used by bar-room wits of the early 1970s to refer to would-be ‘men about town’ frequenting Chelsea pubs, only some of whom were the upper-class youths (then known solely as Hooray Henrys) later so described. The source of the pun, the Lone Ranger, was the dashing cowboy hero of a 1950s TV series; Sloane Square is in Chelsea.

‘The appalling Sloane Ranger look. Worn by strapping, horsey girls aged 20 going on 53. Other components: striped shirts, a tame string of pearls, impenetrable pleated skirt, blue tights and prissy shoes. Printed headscarves optional. Thick ankles mandatory.’

(Description of female Sloane Ranger, Judy Rumbold, Guardian, 11 December 1989)

slob n

a coarse, slovenly and/or lazy individual. This word had existed for many years in Anglo-Irish speech where it denoted a fat, slow child (probably from slab, Irish Gaelic for mud). Coincidentally a similar word, apparently of Slavonic origin and rendered as zhlub or shlub, exists in Yiddish. It means an uncouth person, but is probably derived from a root form related to the Czech zlobit, meaning to get angry.

slob out vb

to relax, behave in a lazy or disinterested way. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

slope n

an Oriental person, especially a Vietnamese. This derogatory term, deriving from ‘slope-eyed’, moved from the US to Australia in the 1970s.

‘The newest “new Australians”, as anyone who looks foreign is called, are the Lebanese and the Vietnamese, the “slopes”.’

(Observer magazine, 13 December 1987)

Compare slant

slope off vb

to leave, depart surreptitiously. This colloquialism derives from the 19thcentury slang use of ‘slope’ to mean decamp or sneak away. The term originated in the USA. It is either from the Dutch sloop, meaning to steal away, or from the standard verb.

sloshed adj

drunk. One of the most common and least offensive terms in British usage since the late 19th century. It is also heard in the USA.

slosher, slusher n

a promiscuous and/or disreputable female. A term used by young streetgang members in London since around 2000.

slot n

a.the anus. In gay parlance.

b.the vagina

sly adj British

an all-purpose term of disapproval fashionable in the later 1990s. It was defined on the Internet by Bodge World in March 1997.

smack n

heroin. Originally an American term, the word spread to Britain and Australia at the time of the Vietnam War. It is derived from the Yiddish shmek, meaning a sniff, whiff or taste, reinforced by the English word’s suggestion of a sudden, violent effect.

‘I don’t think Jimmy Hendrix was on smack ’cos I was with him last Saturday night and I know when a man’s on smack and he wasn’t.’

(Murray Roman, quoted in Oz magazine, June 1969)

smacked-out adj

addicted to or under the influence of heroin (smack)

‘Nathan had staked everything he had ever worked for on this loser who was too smacked out to worry about taking MOM Records into the bankruptcy court.’

(Platinum Logic, Tony Parsons, 1981)

smacker n

1.a kiss

2.British an active or potential sexual partner. In this sense, the term was used by aficionados of London dancefloor culture in the early 1990s.

smackers n pl

pounds or dollars. Like smacker in the sense of a kiss, this lighthearted term is often embellished to give ‘smackeroos’ or ‘smackeroonies’. The original word probably refers to the slapping of coins or notes onto a table or counter or into the palm of an outstretched hand.

‘Do you wanna take the thousand smackers or try for the sensational bathroom suite?’

(Biff cartoon, 1986)

smack-head n

a heroin addict, a junkie. A combining of smack with the ‘-head’ suffix meaning a habitué. (‘Smack-freak’ was a synonymous term of the late 1960s and early 1970s, subsequently yielding to smackhead in popularity.)

‘If a smack-head tries to chat you up, what’s he really after?’

(UK Government anti-heroin advertisement, 1986)

smack it, smacked it exclamation

a cry of triumph or congratulation. It may be accompanied by, or inspired by the victorious slapping of hands.

smams n pl British

female breasts. A term used by younger speakers of both sexes since 2000.

‘Jackie was being all oily, but he just wanted to touch her smams.’

(Recorded, male teenager, Richmond, UK, April 2005)

smartarse, smartass n, adj

(a person who is a) know-all, smug or insolent. The word describes someone whose display of real or supposed cleverness renders them obnoxious. ‘Smart alec’ or ‘wise-guy’ are politer synonyms.

‘If she felt like giving them a smartass answer, why didn’t she? Because she couldn’t think of a smartass answer fast enough.’

(The Switch, Elmore Leonard, 1978)

smartmouth vb American

to cheek, speak disrespectfully or insolently (of someone)

smarts n

intelligence, wits. A coinage inspired by the word wits itself and/or ‘brains’. The word is American, but is occasionally heard in Britain.

She’s got more than her share of smarts.

smash1 n British

small change, money in the form of coins. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England. Shrapnel is a southern equivalent.

smash2 vb British

to have sex with, penetrate. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003.

I smashed her.

smashed adj

drunk or intoxicated by drugs

‘Having discovered that it is possible to be smashed, keep on the stereo headphones AND read, I have managed to … get through … several books.’

(Jim Anderson in Oz magazine, February 1970)

smashed it! exclamation a cry of triumph

smashing adj British

excellent. The colloquialism of the 1950s was revived, often with ironic overtones, after 2000.

smash mouth vb American

to kiss. A humorous equivalent to the better known ‘chew face’ in use among adolescents.