British slang

British slang is English language slang used in Great Britain. While some slang words and phrases are used throughout all of Britain (e.g. knackered, meaning "exhausted"), others are restricted to smaller regions, even to small geographical groups.^[1] London has its own varieties of slang, one of the most well-known of which is Cockney rhyming slang.^[2].

Lexicographer Eric Partridge has published many works about British slang, most notably A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, currently revised and edited by Paul Beale.^[3]

Varieties of slang

Rhyming slang

Rhyming slang, chiefly associated with cockney speech spoken in the East End of London, replaces a word with a phrase which rhymes with the word, for example, plates of meat for "feet", or twist and twirl for "girl". Often only the first word is used, so plates and twist by themselves become the colloquialisms for "feet" and "girl".^[4]

Polari

Polari is a variety of slang used by gay men and lesbians in Britain and the United Kingdom, which has a history going back at least a hundred years.^[5]

Phrases

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Some well known British Slang words and phrases include:

arse bandit, bender, bent, botter, bum bandit, fairy, marmite miner, pillow biter, poof/poofter, ring raider, shirtlifter, shit stabber, turd burglar, uphill gardener, woofter,  

homosexual (offensive, derogatory)

barney 

trouble (from Barney Rubble, Cockney rhyming slang for trouble - or from 19th century 'barney' meaning an ineffective fight or unconcluded argument)

Bally

Balaclava/ Also used to describe the types of wearer, said villains may be referred to as "them bally *****s"

Bare 

lots of (eg. "there's bare police!")

berk 

idiot, irritating person (from Berkeley Hunt, Cockney rhyming slang for cunt)

Billy 

amphetamines (from Billy Whizz, a British comic strip character.); friendless (Billy No-Mates)

bird 

girl, woman (usually fit); Also a term for jail time, e.g. "He's doin a bit of bird at the minute"

bobby, Old Bill, plod, rozzers, bizzie (Scouse), Dibbles (as in Officer Dibble from Top Cat), pigs, The Scum, The Filth, Tit Head (referring to the traditional police helmet, as it looks like a woman's breast)

police, police officer

Bonce 

head, crown of the head.

blagger 

liar or robber. Also 'blag' is 'lie to' or 'rob' someone. Also somebody who boasts a lot or gets away with things.

Cor Blimey 

said to be an abbreviation of 'God Blind Me'. An interjection that has changed meaning over time. In early novels it was used in the same way as 'damn' to express exasperation or frustration. In recent years it is regarded as a mild expression of surprise or shock. Sometimes used to comic effect ('Blimey! It's the Rozzers!' = 'Goodness me! The police!'), in a deliberate reference to it being archaic usage.

bloke, chap 

man

blooming, blummin' 

euphemism for bloody

bog 

toilet

bog off 

go away

bog roll 

toilet paper

bollocks 

Vulgar term used for testicles. Also used to describe something as "useless" or having "poor quality". Ex. "That's a load of bollocks" or "Bollocks to this!". Perversely, it can also be used to describe something that is admired by the speaker as in "This kebab's the dog's bollocks!". 'Top bollocks' are a deliberately rude way of referring to women's breasts - e.g. "Look at the top bollocks on that".

boozer 

a pub or bar

Boracic

Without money. From rhyming slang 'Boracic Lint' = Skint.

Broke 

Without money, usually temporarily such as between pay days. Similarly 'Stoney broke', or just 'Stoney' - without any money and with no immediate prospect of getting any.

brown bread 

dead

Buff 

Sexually attractive; Also a word for nude, sometimes used loosely to describe the act of sex e.g. "We was buffin' for hours"

bugger 

anal sex, an exclamation of dissatisfaction ("Oh bugger!"), in a dire situation ("Well, we're buggered now"), acute surprise ("Well bugger me!"), dismissal ("bugger that")

bum  

buttocks, anus or both. Not particularly rude - more acceptable in polite circles than 'arse' anyway. A 'Builders' bum' describes the situation when an overweight working man in ill-fitting clothing bends over and reveals the crack between his buttocks.

chav, charver, ned, bam, scally, townie 

person who dresses in a certain style, typically badly or in sports clothing. Often used as a form of derogation.

cheers 

"Thank you", or a drinking toast

clunge 

vagina (can also be used in place of "sex" eg. "I'm looking for some clunge tonight!")

clock 

spot, notice ("he didnt even clock his TV in my flat yesterday")

cock 

a penis, an idiot

crack 

(or craic in Ireland) good times, the happenings etc.

dim 

stupid (eg. "he's a bit dim aint he?")

div 

idiot

dog's bollocks

Something especially good is 'The dog's bollocks' (see "bollocks"). Said to be printer's slang for the characters :-

duff 

doesn't work "these batteries are duff" or beat "let's duff him up"

end away 

to have sex (male reference), e.g. "I finally got me end away with my new bird"

end piece 

another way of saying "bell-end"

eric 

on the sniff for a bit of skirt. "i'm on the eric tonight".

fag 

cigarette.

fag end

the used stub of a cigarette, and by extension the unpleasant and worthless loose end of any situation. "It was the Fag End of me shift, and I was knackered".

fanny 

female external genitalia, a woman's vagina.

fit 

sexually attractive

fiver 

five pounds

gaff 

house

gaffer 

boss

gash 

derogatory term used for females or the female genitalia

gay 

bad e.g. "It was 'gay' being mugged"

git, bell-end, knob-end 

incompetent, stupid, annoying, or childish person

geezer 

man (informal)

Giraffe 

mocking humour, often with a touch of cruelty (Rhyming slang for 'laugh'). e.g. "'ere, your're aving a giraffe, ain't yer?" by someone disbelieving of what he has been asked to pay or do.

gimp 

loser

gob 

mouth; to spit, spittle

gobsmacked 

flabbergasted, dumbfounded, astounded, speechless

grand 

used in place of thousand (eg. "this house is worth 140 grand")

gunt 

flap of fat above vagina on overweight women (formed from cunt)

half-inch 

to steal (rhyming slang for 'pinch')

helmet 

glans of the penis or 'fool'

handbags 

a harmless fight (from "handbags at dawn" an allusion to duelling)

I('ll) say 

expression of surprise, amazement (quaint)

init 

shortened from "aint it"

jammy 

lucky. (also 'spawny')

jism, jizz 

semen

jimp 

literally the initials for "Jizz In My Pants"

kip 

sleep, nap

knackered 

exhausted, tired, also 'broken' e.g. 'Me motor's knackered, I'll 'ave to blag a lift'

knackers 

vulgar name for testicles. For some reason widely used in descriptions of assault e.g. 'She kicked me right in the knackers'

knob head 

a stupid, irritating person

knob jockey 

homosexual (to ride the penis like a jockey rides a horse)

knob-end 

an idiot, or tip of penis (see bell-end)

loo 

lavatory. There is a complex explanation for this involving a french pun, that all sounds very contrived (100 = centier == smelly)

Manc 

someone from Manchester

manky 

dirty, filthy

mashed 

Particularly high from smoking cannabis

meat and two veg 

male external genitalia

minge 

vagina

minger 

ugly or filthy-minded person. There is usually an implication of poor hygiene or body odour in the usage.

minted 

wealthy

mong 

spastic

monged (out) 

severely drunk/high

munter  

ugly person

nick 

steal, or Police Station

nicked 

arrested or stolen i.e. "He got 'nicked' after he'd 'nicked' that car"

nonce 

sex offender, paedophile

nowt 

nothing (northern England dialect)

numpty 

idiot, reckless/unwise person (eg. "he rolled his car? what a numpty")

nutter 

insane person

owt 

anything, something (back formation from 'nowt')

pikey 

pejorative term used, mainly in England to refer to travellers, gypsies or people of low social class

pillock 

someone who is stupid

pinch  

steal

pissed, pissed up 

drunk

on the piss 

getting drunk, drinking alcohol

taking the piss

mocking, taking advantage of, someone (e.g. to a traffic warden "£45? are you taking the piss or what?")

plastered 

extremely drunk

ponce 

homosexual, to scam (eg. "he just tried to ponce £5 off me!)

porkies 

lies (shortened from the cockney rhyming slang pork pies)

prick 

someone's dick or as an adjective someone can be a prick

punter 

a customer/patron, or gambler, usually one who is being taken advantage of in a scam or by a prostitute. Punters generally come off worse from any transaction.

quid 

english pound (eg. "that car only costs 500 quid")

rate 

northern term, as in alright (e.g. that's rate that is)

ring, ring piece 

anal sphincter

safe 

good, agreed

scrubber 

someone who is dirty or perceived poor, an offensive term

see a man about a dog 

attend a secret deal or meeting or to go to the toilet.

scouser 

someone from Liverpool

scrote 

scrotum, generally as a metaphor, a pejorative description. e.g. 'That little scrote scratched my car with his keys'

shag 

have sex with

shagged 

either the past historic of shag ('I shagged both of them then went home') or extreme tiredness ('I'm shagged out'). The second usage may or may not be contingent on the first!

shank 

blade (normally a knife), to stab (eg. "I'm going to shank him if he don't shut up!")

shiner 

black eye

skint 

without money

skanked 

ripped-off, daylight robbery, expensive

skanky 

vile

slag, slapper, sket, tart, scrubber 

prostitute, loose woman

slag off 

to denigrate someone, start rumours, usually in the victim's absence.

slap head 

(usually in a cockney accent) : a bald man.

slash 

urinate, urination (eg. "I need to take a slash")

snog 

French kiss, or any prolonged physical intimacy without undressing or sexual contact.

sod 

idiot, moron, or annoying person (from sodomite)

sod off 

"Go away".

spongle 

someone who is high on drugs.

steaming 

extremely drunk, or extremely angry.

stuffed 

sexual intercourse (e.g. "get stuffed") or to have had too much to eat ("I'm stuffed")

spawny 

lucky. Often 'you spawny get' for someone who has uncharacteristically won a bet or 'pulled' a bird.

spunk 

semen, ejaculate

tad 

little "It's a tad bigger than that"

tail 

an idiot or a penis

tax 

Steal i.e. "He taxed my fags, the prick!"

take the piss (out of) 

to mock, "Are you taking the piss?"

tenner 

ten pounds

toff 

posh person

tosser 

literally someone who masturbates (to toss off), but generally means an idiot or someone who the speaker doesn't like.

tramp 

used to describe someone in poor hygiene

trampy 

disgusting

tuppence 

a woman's vagina (Victorian usage, not very common). Infrequently used as a family euphemism by parents with small children. c.f. willy )

twat 

female genitalia or an idiot

wank 

masturbation

wanker 

literally someone who masturbates, but generally means an idiot or someone who the speaker doesn't like.^[6]

wasteman 

a person who is "a waste of space" (useless)

whizz 

amphetamines (see also 'Billy'), or to urinate ("I'm off for a whizz!"). Sometimes to shoplift ('I whizzed that off from Wilko's').

willy 

penis. Usually used as a family euphemism by parents with small children. Not particularly rude, and therefore occasionally used for humorous purposes among adults.

yellow fever

a fan of orientals.

See also

• British English
• London slang

References

Further reading

• Partridge, Eric (2002). Beale, Paul. ed. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. ISBN 0415291895. 
• James, Ewart (1998). NTC's Dictionary of British Slang and Colloquial Expressions. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0844208388. 
• Baker, Paul (2002). Dictionary of Polari & gay slang. 
• Baker, Paul (2002). Polari-- the lost language of gay men. 
• Bernstein, Jonathan (2006). Knickers in a twist : a dictionary of British slang. 
• Geris, Jan (2003). American's guide to the British language : really, they talk like this every day. 
• Green, Jonathon (2000). Big book of being rude. 
• James, Ewart (1999). Contemporary British slang : an up-to-date guide to the slang of modern British English. 
• Parody, A. (Antal) (2007). Eats, shites & leaves : crap English and how to use it. 
• Soudek, Lev. (1967). Structure of substandard words in British and American English. 

External links

• The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary – an online dictionary of British slang, viewable alphabetically or by category.
• English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom
• Roger's Profanisaurus An online version of the list of vulgar definitions which occasionally appears in Viz magazine