British slang
While some slang words and phrases are used throughout Britain, others are restricted to smaller regions, even to small geographical areas. The nations of the United Kingdom, which are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all have their own slang words, as does London. Cockney slang has many varieties, the best known of which is rhyming slang.
British slang has been the subject of many books, including a seven volume dictionary published in 1889. Lexicographer Eric Partridge published several works about British slang, most notably A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, revised and edited by Paul Beale.
Many of the words and phrases listed in this article are no longer in current use.
Definitions of slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo. It is often used to identify with one's peers and, although it may be common among young people, it is used by people of all ages and social groups.Collins English Dictionary defines slang as "Vocabulary, idiom etc that is not appropriate to the standard form of a language or to formal contexts, may be restricted as to social status or distribution, and is characteristically more metaphorical and transitory than standard language".
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar defines it as "Words, phrases, and uses that are regarded as informal and are often restricted to special contexts or are peculiar to specific profession, classes etc".
Jonathon Green, in his 1999 book The Cassell Dictionary of Slang, defines slang as "A counter language, the language of the rebel, the outlaw, the despised and the marginal". Recognising that there are many definitions, he goes on to say, "Among the many descriptions of slang, one thing is common, it is a long way from mainstream English".
History and dating of British slang
The dating of slang words and phrases is difficult due to the nature of slang. Slang, more than any other language, remains spoken and resists being recorded on paper. By the time slang has been written down, it has been in use some time and has, in some cases, become almost mainstream.The first recorded uses of slang in Britain occurred in the 16th century in the plays of Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton and William Shakespeare. The first books containing slang also appeared around that time: Robert Copland's The hye way to the Spytlell hous was a dialogue in verse between Copland and the porter of St Bartholomew's Hospital, which included thieves' cant; and in 1566, Thomas Harman's A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called vagabonds was published. The Caveat contained stories of vagabond life, a description of their society and techniques, a taxonomy of rogues, and a short canting dictionary which was later reproduced in other works.
In 1698 the New Dictionary of the Canting Crew by B. E. Gent was published, which additionally included some 'civilian' slang terms. It remained the predominant work of its kind for much of the 18th century, until the arrival in 1785 of The Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Captain Francis Grose, which ran to more than five expanded editions. Grose's book was eventually superseded by John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary in 1859. In 1889 two multi-volumed slang dictionaries went on sale: A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant by Albert Barrere and Charles Leland, and Slang and its Analogues by John Farmer and W. E. Henley; the latter being published in seven volumes. It was later abridged to a single volume and released in 1905 as A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English. This book provided the major part of Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. It was not until the 1950s that slang began to make regular appearances in books and in the relatively new media of motion pictures and television.
Varieties and purpose of slang
There are a number of different varieties of British slang, arguably the best known of which is rhyming slang. Chiefly associated with cockney speech spoken in the East End of London, words are replaced with a phrase which rhymes. 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".Thieves' cant or Rogues' cant was a secret language which was formerly used by thieves, beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries. It is commonly believed that cant was developed from Romany but the Winchester Confessions, a pamphlet published in 1616, clearly distinguishes between Gypsy and Cant words.
Now mostly obsolete, it is largely relegated to the realm of literature.
Some slang was developed because of a need for secrecy, such as prison slang, derived from thieves cant and Polari, a variety used by homosexuals in Britain and the United Kingdom. Homosexuality was a crime until 1967 and Polari has a history going back at least a century. Sometimes the purpose of slang is to cause offence, insults such as wanker or gobshite for example; and sometimes the purpose is to prevent it by substituting a slang word for the offensive one, berk 'berkshire hunt' for example. Sometimes a Spoonerism, is employed to make taboo speech more acceptable. For example: Cupid stunt and Betty Swallocks.
Slang is also used to create an identity or sense of belonging and a number of occupations have their own slang; most notably the armed forces, referred to as Forces or Service slang; and the construction industry. A dictionary of service slang by J. L. Hunt and A. G. Pringle was published in 1943. It was reprinted in 2008. The introduction acknowledges that slang is an ever-changing language with new slang terms emerging all the time. It also recognises that some service slang has made its way into civilian use. Examples of this include the old naval terms, "Talking bilge" and "A loose cannon".
Phrases
A
; all to cock : Unsatisfactory, mixed up.; all mouth and trousers : All talk and no action, a braggart, sexual bravado.
; all piss and wind : All talk and no action. Originally the phrase was, "all wind and piss".
; all tits and teeth :a derogatory description for a woman who succeeds by using her physical attributes rather than her brain; an attractive but shallow, cynically manipulative, or even stupid woman.
; anchors : motor car brakes; "slam on the anchors" to brake really hard.
; argy-bargy : An argument or confrontation.
; arse : 1. The buttocks. 2. Someone who acts in a manner which is incompetent or otherwise disapproved of.
; arse about face : Back to front.
; arse around : Mess around or waste time.
; arsehole : General derogatory term.
; arse bandit : homosexual.
; arse over tit : Head over heels, to fall over or take a tumble.
B
; ball bag : Scrotum.; balls up : A bungled or messed up situation..
; bang to rights : Caught in the act.
; bang up : 1. To lock up in prison. 2. To inject an illegal drug.
; barking mad : completely crazy; insane.
; barmy : crazy or foolish.
; barney : a noisy quarrel or fight. Sometimes claimed to be rhyming slang but actually dates back to 19th century.
; bender : 1. a drinking binge. 2. A homosexual
; bent : 1. dishonest or corrupt, 2. homosexual.
; bent as a nine bob note : Extremely dishonest or corrupt. No nine shilling note was ever issued, so it would have to be counterfeit.
; berk : idiot, stupid person
; bezzie, bezzie mate : best friend
; Billy : 1. Amphetamines 2. Friendless
; billyo : an intensifier. Going like billyo.
; bird : 1. Girl, woman. 2. Prison sentence
; Birmingham screwdriver : A hammer.
; bizzie : Policeman.
; blag : As a noun, a robbery or as a verb, to rob or scrounge. Not to be confused with blague, talking nonsense.
; blah : worthless, boring or silly talk.
; Blighty : Britain, home. Used especially by British troops serving abroad or expatriates. A relic of British India, probably from the Hindi billayati, meaning a foreign land.
; blim : A very small piece of Hashish. Also used as slang with the word bus for the shortest British coach bodies of the 1960s to 1980s.
; : or sometimes 'cor blimey'. An abbreviation of 'God blind me' used as an interjection to express shock or surprise. Sometimes used to comic effect, in a deliberate reference to it being archaic usage.
; bloke : any man or sometimes a man in authority such as the boss.
; blooming, blummin': euphemism for bloody. Used as an intensifier e.g. 'blooming marvelous'.
; blow off : To fart.
; blue : 1. Policeman. 2. a Tory.
; bobby : Policeman. After Robert Peel.
; bod : A male person. Short for body.
; bodge : To make a mess of or to fix poorly.
; bog : Toilet
; bog off : Go away
; bog roll : Toilet paper.
; Bogtrotter : Derogatory term for an Irishman, particularly an Irish peasant.
; bollocking : A severe telling off.
; bollocks : Vulgar term used for testicles. Used to describe something as useless, nonsense or having poor quality, as in "That's a load of bollocks". Is often said as a cry of frustration or annoyance. Also see "dog's bollocks".
; bomb : A large sum of money as in 'to make a bomb'. Also 'to go like a bomb' meaning to travel at high speed.
; bonce : Head, crown of the head. Also a large playing marble.
; booze : As a noun, an alcoholic drink; as a verb, to drink alcohol, particularly to excess.
; boozer : 1. a pub or bar. 2. Someone who drinks alcohol to excess.
; Bo-Peep : Sleep.
; boracic/brassic: without money. From rhyming slang boracic lint = skint.
; bottle : 1. nerve, courage. 2. Money collected by buskers or street vendors. 3. As a verb, to attack someone with a broken bottle.
; bounce : 1. To con someone into believing or doing something. 2. To forcibly eject someone. 3. Swagger, impudence or cockiness. 4. Of a cheque, to be refused by the bank due to lack of funds.
; bouncer : Someone employed to eject troublemakers or drunks.
; bovver boy : A youth who deliberately causes or seeks out trouble.
; bovver boots : Heavy boots, sometimes with a steel toecap, worn by bovver boys and used for kicking in fights.
; brass : 1. Money. 2. Cheek, nerve. 3. a prostitute.
; Bristols : The female breasts.
; broke : Without money. Also 'stoney broke', or just 'stoney'.
; brown bread : Dead.
; brown-tongue : Sycophant, toady or someone who attempts to curry favour with another.
; buff : 1. Bare skin, naked as in 'in the buff'. 2. Having a lean, muscular physique.
; bugger : anal sex but in slang terms can be used : 1. As a term of abuse for someone or something contemptible, difficult or unpleasant. 2. Affectionately, as in 'you silly bugger'. 3. As an exclamation of dissatisfaction, annoyance or surprise. 4. To mean tired or worn out as in 'I'm absolutely buggered'. 5. To mean frustrate, complicate or ruin completely, as in 'You've buggered that up'.
; bugger about : 1. To fool around or waste time. 2. To create difficulties or complications.
; bugger all : nothing.
; bugger off : go away.
; bum : buttocks, anus or both. Not particularly rude. 'Builders' bum' is the exposure of the buttock cleavage by an overweight working man in ill-fitting trousers.
; bumf : derogatory reference to official memos or paperwork. Shortened from bum fodder. Slang term for toilet roll.
; bumsucker : a toady, creep or someone acting in an obsequious manner.
; bumfreezer : any short jacket, but in particular an Eton jacket.
; bung : 1. a gratuity or more often a bribe. 2. Throw or pass energetically; as in, "bung it over here".
; bunk : 1. To leave inappropriately as in to 'bunk off' school or work. 2. To run away in suspicious circumstances as in to 'do a bunk'.
; butcher's : Look. Rhyming slang, butcher's hook.