Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (9 page)

awesome
adj

wonderful, excellent, very impressive. A popular teenage word, first used in the USA in the late 1970s and 1980s as part of the vocabulary of
Valley Girls, preppies
and
hip hop
music enthusiasts, among others. This use of the adjective was imported into Britain in the 1980s, especially by teenage skateboarders and
rap
music enthusiasts.

awesomesauce
n
,
adj
,
exclamation American

an elaborated form of
awesome
in its colloquial sense, popular in 2012. Some attribute the usage to ‘Strong Bad', a character in the Flash web cartoon series
Homestar Runner
. It was nominated as number eight in the ‘Top 10 Words That Need To Die, Immediately' in an online column by Rob W. Hart in February 2012.

awkward turtle
n American

an acknowledgment of an uncomfortable social situation, usually accompanied by a hand gesture with one hand on top of the other, palms down, with the thumbs moving in a circular motion. The term was recorded on campus in 2010.

‘A.J. Clemente, a new co-anchor for NBC station KFYR in North Dakota, had a major slip-up on air Sunday evening as he made his station debut, saying “f****** s***” into a live microphone… Before going on air, the nervous newsman had tweeted: “Seeing if I am ready for anchoring… awkward turtle”.'
(Daily Mail, 22 April 2013)

awkweird
adj American

discomfiting. A teenage and campus term, blending awkward and weird, recorded in 2010.

‘…find it quite amusing when someone doesn't know my father is dead and they feel awkweird when they find out. Sometimes I like to make them feel super-awkweird by making inappropriate jokes on the subject.'
(Posting on Tumblr website, April 2013)

awol, A.W.O.L.
adj

missing, not present when needed. The expression has been extended, especially by British middle-class speakers, from its original meaning in army jargon of ‘absent without leave' to inexplicably absent, either with the implication of fleeing to avoid responsibilities, or wandering uncontrolled or running amok.

‘Ollie's gone awol again; he disappeared with a bottle and no one's seen him for days.'
(Recorded, upper-class youth, London, 1985)

awright!
exclamation American

an alternative spelling of
all right
. With drawn-out pronunciation, this forms an exclamatory expression of appreciation, agreement or solidarity in American English.

aws
adj American

an abbreviated form of the fashionable slang sense of
awesome
, popular with college students, particularly females, since the 1990s

axe
n

a guitar. The word in this sense was enthusiastically adopted by white rock musicians in the late 1960s. Black blues and jazz musicians had originally applied it to
any instrument (such as a saxophone) that was held in both hands and ‘wielded'. By the early 1970s the white use of the word, which had always had an element of self-consciousness, was mainly confined to rock music journalists or fans.

aye-aye shepherd's pie!, aye-aye Popeye!
exclamation British

these joky expressions of agreement or compliance originated among primary and junior schoolchildren, but during the early 1990s were adopted as catchphrases by adults, particularly those working in advertising, the media and finance in London.
Compare
okey-dokey, artichokey!; oy-oy, saveloy!

Ayrton (Senna)
n British

a
tenner
, a £10 note. The rhyming-slang term, borrowing the name of the late Brazilian Formula One racing driver, was still in use among London students in 2004.

I've only got an Ayrton left to last me the month!

ay yo trip!
exclamation

an exhortation or cry of solidarity used in
hip hop
and
rap
milieus

Aztec two-step, the Aztec two-step
n

an attack of diarrhoea, particularly one suffered while travelling abroad. The image is of the agitation caused by impending diarrhoea or, more specifically, the frantic and undignified clenched shuffle to the nearest toilet or bush. This parody of a dance title was coined by Americans who tend to suffer while on holiday in Mexico, and is a late 1970s alternative to
Montezuma's revenge
or the British
gyppy tummy
and
Delhi belly
.

B
n American

friend. A term of greeting or endearment among male teenagers.

Hey B, wassup?
‘In fact, so many terms of endearment begin with the letter B (“brother”, “bro”, “boy”, “bruv”, “breh”) that it is now used in their place, as a kind of slang shortcut. After all, nothing says “you're one of my bestest friends” more than spending as little time as possible on greeting them.'
(“Yoofspeak”, Times Educational Supplement, 11 May 2011)

Compare
G

B.A.
n American

a troublesome, violent or antisocial person. An abbreviation of
badass
or ‘bad attitude'. The letters were used as the initials of the surly black hero ‘B.A. Baracas' played by Mr T in the US television series
The A-Team
in the 1980s.

bab
n British

a (doner or shish) kebab. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

We're going to pick up a bab and then back to watch the match.

babber
n British

a.
a baby or infant

b.
a friend, companion, ‘mate'

The term was in use in 2003 and 2004, especially in the Bristol area and South Wales.

babe, babes, baby
n

a.
a sweetheart, lover. A usage imported from the USA into Britain via films, pop songs, etc. The word had begun to be used unselfconsciously in Britain in the late 1970s, particularly in the form
babes
and mainly by working-class speakers. It is used by both sexes, but when used by men to women it can be considered patronising or offensive.

b.
in the form a ‘babe', an attractive female. The word became a key term in male adolescent speech, first in the USA and, later, elsewhere from the late 1980s.

See also
robobabe

babe-magnet
n

an attractive or supposedly irresistible male. A common characterisation from the 1990s.
Fanny-magnet
is a more vulgar British variant.

babes, the babes
n
,
adj

(something) excellent, superlative. The usage, based on ‘babes' as a term of endearment and by analogy with the colloquial expression ‘the tops', has been recorded in Scotland and is sometimes heard elsewhere.

I tell you, it's the babes!
The do round Kirsty's last night was babes!

babia-majora
n American

an extremely attractive woman or women. A jocular item of ersatz slang invented for the cult US TV comedy sketches and movie
Wayne's World
, by alteration of the Latin designation of the outer female genitals
labia majora
.

baby blues
n pl

the eyes. A humorous adult phrase from the clichéd, twee or amorous description, ‘baby-blue eyes'.

baby giraffe
n British

half
a pint of beer. A piece of rhyming slang in vogue among pub habitués since 2000.

Babylon
n British

a.
racist white society, Britain. The term originates in the biblical imagery of the
rastas
, but has spread, largely via the medium of reggae music, to other black youth and disaffected whites.

b. the Babylon
the police force when viewed as tokens of oppression or white racist authority. A specific usage of the more general term for society, now widely heard among white youth.

baccy billup
n British

a cigarette. In playground parlance since 2000.
Baccy
is an old abbreviation of tobacco; billup may be an alteration of build (up) in the slang sense of construct, e.g. a hand rolled cigarette or
joint
.

bachelorette
n British

a single woman. A humorous categorisation used by students since 2000.

back
n American

a.
the backside, buttocks, especially if large or prominent. This term from black American usage became popularised via the
rap
lyrics to
Baby Got Back
by Sir Mix-A-Lot (1991).

b.
a female or females seen as potential or actual sexual partners. As in the case of
ass
, the preceding sense quickly became generalised in this way.

back-assed
adj American

a.
backwards, reversed

You got it all back-assed.

b.
perverse or clumsy

a back-assed way of doing things

backatcha!
exclamation American

the shortening of ‘(right) back at you!' is used typically in reciprocation of a compliment

“Your outfit rocks.” “Backatcha!”

backdoor
vb

a.
to commit adultery (with)

‘In Australia, you'd never get away with some of the things I've seen here because you'd get a punch in the mouth. We don't go in for backdooring someone else's woman.'
(Jamie Addicoat, fitness instructor,
Observer
, 30 April 1989)

b.
to act illicitly, covertly or deviously; to deceive or betray

backdoor man
n

a.
a secret lover, especially a married woman's lover. The term is originally black American slang dating from at least the 1950s.

‘I'm your backdoor man… the men don't know, but the little girls understand.'
(
Back Door Man
, recorded by The Doors, 1968)

b.
a man who sodomises. This usage is mainly applied to and by heterosexuals. The Australian ‘backdoor merchant' means a homosexual.

backfire
vb

to fart. A term which is in use in Australia and has been heard occasionally in Britain, especially among schoolchildren, since the 1950s.

back garden, back way, backdoor
n

the anus. Predictable euphemisms which are invariably used in a sexual context, usually by heterosexuals.

back in the day
adv
,
adj

‘when I was younger' or ‘in the past'. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003. The phrase is from Caribbean usage.

back of Bourke, the
n Australian

the ‘back of beyond'. Bourke is a remote town in northern New South Wales.

backsiding
n British

chastising, denigrating, punishing. Heard in black British usage, this term probably originated in Caribbean patois.

‘She give him a real good backsiding.'
(Recorded, black female student, London, January 1997)

backslang
n

backslang, in which a word or alteration of a word is reversed, enjoyed some popularity in Britain, chiefly among members of the underworld, the sub-proletariat and certain trades such as meat portering. It is also sometimes used by schoolchildren to disguise taboo conversations. Forms of backslang exist in other European languages, notably in the Parisian
verlan
which is still thriving. The only well-known ‘mainstream' example of backslang is
yob
from boy.

Compare
pig Latin

backsnurging
n British

sniffing female underwear for sexual pleasure

‘We've discovered how the EastEnders actor, who plays Dirty Den, is a secret backsnurger.'
(
Sunday Sport
, 9 May 2004)

back-up
n
,
adj

(someone who is) prepared to use force on behalf of or otherwise show solidarity with (a friend). The term, deriving from the colloquial verb phrase ‘back (someone) up', was first part of the vocabulary of gangs, and since around 2000 extended to other speakers.

back way
n See
back garden

backy
n British

a ride on the back of someone's bicycle.
Compare
croggie

bacon
¹
n American

a police officer or the police in general. One of several terms in underworld and student usage inspired by the 1960s epithet
pig
. It can occur in the form of
‘(the) bacon' for the police in general or ‘a bacon', denoting an individual officer.

If you ask me he's bacon.
It's the bacon, let's book!

bacon
²
, bacon head
n British