Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (8 page)

arsehole to breakfast time
adj
,
adv British

1.
completely disorganised, ‘at sixes and sevens'. A picturesque, if fundamentally meaningless expression sometimes heard in Britain, especially in the north of England.

It's no good, it's all arsehole to breakfast time in that office at the moment.

2.
thoroughly, constantly, or the full distance as, for instance, in the expression ‘he kicked him from arsehole to breakfast time'. This may be an allusion to the complete digestive process (breakfast time referring to the mouth), but the origins of the phrase are obscure.

arselick
vb British

to flatter, curry favour. The verb, which may be transitive or, more often, intransitive, is a more recent back-formation from the noun form.

arse-licker
n

a flatterer or toady, someone who is nauseatingly sycophantic. This ancient image and phrase is paralleled in many European languages (
Arschlecker
in German,
lèchecul
in French).

arse-man
n

a man whose favourite part of a woman's anatomy is the buttocks as opposed to a
leg-man
or
tit-man

arse-on
n British

a fit of bad temper, sulk. The term has been heard since 2000.

feeling a bit of an arse-on
He's got the arse-on
.

arse over tip/tit
adv

head over heels, upside down. The expression is typically cockney, but widespread in Britain and Australia. The American version is
ass over tincups/teacups
.

‘She tripped and fell arse over tit down the stairs.'
(Recorded, plumber, London, 1987)

arse up
vb British

to make a mess of, mix up or spoil. A less common variation of
balls up
and the verb form of
cock-up
.

He managed to completely arse up the whole job
.

arse-up
n British

a synonym for
cock-up
and
fuck-up
, which became popular from the mid-1990s, in
common with most compounds based on
arse

‘It [a student union function] was quite well planned this year – unlike the last one, which was a complete arse-up.'
(Recorded, London University student, October 1996)

arse-wipe
n

a British version of
ass-wipe

arsey
adj British

truculent, aggressive, bumptious. A vogue term among young people since the late 1990s, also heard on US campuses since 2000.

arsy
adj Australian

lucky. Usually said grudgingly or enviously about someone who has managed to get away with something. (
Arse
in Australian slang may signify luck as well as brazenness.)

artillery
n

needles, hypodermic syringes and other paraphernalia used by heroin addicts. The image of an arsenal of deadly equipment is typical of addicts' own self-dramatising slang (as in
shooting gallery
,
harpoon
, etc.).

Have you got the artillery ready, man?

artist, -artist
n
,
suffix

an expert in, or devotee of, a particular activity. The word can be added to many others, but the most popular are bull(shit)-artist, burn-artist, con-artist,
piss-artist
,
ripoff artist
and
sack artist
.

This pattern entered modern British slang via the armed forces in the 1950s and 1960s, and separately via American
hippy
terminology of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The ultimate geographical origin of the usage is obscure; it may have come into use spontaneously in several English-speaking areas, perhaps prompted by the Edwardian habit of pompously applying ‘artist' or ‘artiste' to performers in various fields of expertise.

arty-farty, artsy-fartsy
adj

pretentious, affected, more decorative than useful. A more vulgar parallel of the innocuous ‘arty-crafty', which is Edwardian in origin and was usually applied to the pseudo-rustic, as in the Arts and Crafts design movement of the late 19th century.

arvo
n Australian

afternoon. An example of the Australian tendency to abbreviate even the most mundane everyday words. The tendency is shared by nursery slang in general and, in Britain, especially the slang of Liverpool. (Arvo is, however, uniquely Australian.).

‘There's no excuse for being in that state in the middle of the arvo!'
(Recorded, Australian tourist, London, 1989)

asap, assap
adv

immediately, as soon as possible. The spoken form of the commonly used initials a.s.a.p. (sometimes also used in speech, pronounced letter by letter or as one word).

Asian massive, the Asian invasion
n British

a group, clique or gang of young (South) Asians. The phrase has been used e.g. as an ethnic or social categorisation by university students since 2000.
The innit-crowd
is a synonymous phrase. ‘It's a collective term for Asian gangsters with mobile phones who hang out in the student common room'.

askhole
n American

someone who asks a lot of stupid questions. The term was recorded on campus in 2010.

That askhole always comes up with the most embarrassing questions.

ass
n American

1.
the backside, buttocks, anus. The American spelling of the British
arse
.

2.
sexual gratification. Usually used by men referring to women as anonymous sex objects.

I'm going to grab me some ass.

3.
oneself, especially when thought of as an item to be manipulated

You gonna get yo' ass killed!

4. Your ass is mine!
‘You are in my power!' A phrase used triumphantly, typically by representatives of authority to their victims

5. Your ass is grass.
‘You are in very serious trouble'. Usually said seriously as part of a threat or ruefully by a victim.

Get it right or your ass is grass!

6. have one's ass in a sling/ass on the line
to be in trouble, held responsible.

See also the entries following and
badass; candyass; chew (someone) out; kick ass

-ass
combining form

the term is used in American slang and, more recently, in Caribbean and, occasionally, British speech as an allpurpose affix denoting an individual or example, combining with a noun or adjective as in
big-ass
, ‘old-ass',
lame-ass

assap
adv See
asap

ass-bandit
n American

a North American and Caribbean version of
arse bandit

asshat
n American

an ignorant, stubborn, or dull person. The term was recorded on campus in 2010.

asshole
n American

1.
the anus. The American version of the British and Australian
arsehole
.

2.
a very stupid person, someone who is pathetically or offensively foolish. This American word always implies contempt, but can also convey pity, unlike
arsehole
, which has overtones of real dislike. Since the 1960s, British and Australian speakers have adopted the American term in this sense, with its different spelling and pronunciation, for their own use. The word has become very widespread since the late 1970s and has simultaneously become a vulgarism rather than a taboo term.

‘It didn't take very long to realise that he wasn't a threat, just a total asshole.'
(Recorded, US executive, London, 1988)

3.
a very unpleasant place

‘On top of a bleak, snow-swept hillside in Hermon, Maine, which, if not the asshole of the universe, is at least within farting distance of it.'
(Stephen King,
Sunday Times
magazine, 15 October 1989)

asshole buddy
n American

a very close friend or ally, a ‘bosom pal'. A term that is used in both jocular and unfriendly contexts. It was coined by, and is usually about, heterosexual men.

ass-kicker
n American

an aggressive person, a disciplinarian; someone who
kicks ass
. An armed-forces term which has been adopted by students and school pupils, among others.

ass-kisser
n American

a sycophant, flatterer or toady. The expression is based on
kiss ass
.

ass-licker
n American

the American version of
arse-licker

ass-load(s)
n American

a large amount.
Butt-load(s)
is a synonym.

an ass-load of trouble
ass-loads of money

See also
shitload

ass-out
adj
,
adv American

a synonym of
balls-out
heard in the 1990s

We've got to go ass-out to win this thing. ‘It was a whole ass-out crazy attempt to just finish the job on time.'
(Recorded, art dealer, Chicago, May 1996)

ass over tincups/teacups
adv American

head over heels. A folksy American version of the British
arse over tip/tit
.

ass-wipe
n American

1.
toilet paper. A working-class, blue-collar or armed-forces term.

2.
a worthless, contemptible person. A term popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

at it
phrase British

1.
having sex. A coy euphemism typically used by schoolchildren or the middle-aged.

2.
committing a crime or crimes, or engaged in a confidence trick. A mild euphemism typically used by police officers or criminals themselves, from the common colloquialism ‘at it again', referring to any repeated and troublesome activity.

‘Joey Ganguli is at it all the time. He… earns his rolls of cash in the middle of the Asian gang wars…in the East End of London.'
(
Guardian
, 15 April 2004)

a touch of the tarbrush
n

(having) a skin colour which suggests a trace of black or coloured ancestry. This euphemism, often heard in a discriminatory context, originated in the mid-19th century, when it was also used to refer to sailors (the tarbrush being used on board ship).

attitude
n American

a bad attitude, antisocial behaviour, sullen hostility. This use of the word without ‘an' or ‘the' probably derives from the black American prisoners' shortening of the white authority figures' phrases ‘bad/negative/antisocial attitude' or their accusation, ‘You've got an attitude problem'. By the 2000s the word in this sense was in use beyond the USA.

Audi!
exclamation American

goodbye. This announcement that one is leaving is probably a playful deformation of the phrase ‘I'm out of here', punning on the brand of German luxury car coveted by young males. It almost certainly originated in black street slang where the variant forms ‘Audi 5000!' or simply
5000!
are also heard. By the mid-1990s, the term
was also in use on campuses and among high-school students.

auntie-man
n See
antiman

Aussie kiss
n

cunnilingus. By analogy with
French kiss
and the notion of ‘down under', the phrase was in use among males in the UK and Ireland in 2003.

autograph
n

a signature. Autograph is underworld argot, typically denoting a signature on a cheque or document, whether forged or genuine.

'ave it!
exclamation British

a cry of encouragement or triumph popularised by the media during the 2004 European Football Championship

aviation blonde
n British

a female with blonde hair that is dyed rather than natural. The male witticism refers to the combination of ‘blonde hair, black
box
'.

'avin' it large, 'avin' it
phrase British

enjoying oneself, behaving boisterously. Synonyms for
largeing it
associated especially with club culture since the later 1990s.

away-day
n British

a single dose of LSD or another hallucinogenic drug. A pun on the notion of a
trip
and the name of a cheap excursion ticket on British Rail.

away with the fairies/pixies
adj
,
adv

distracted, absent-minded, in a reverie. The first version of the phrase is common in Scottish usage, the second is more often heard in Australia. Both derive ultimately from the folk belief that forces from the fairy world can abduct, enchant or derange human victims.