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| abdabs | Noun. Terror, the frights, nerves. Often heard as the screaming abdabs. Also very occasionally 'habdabs'. [1940s] |
| absobloodylutely | Adv. Absolutely. |
| Abysinnia! | Exclam. A jocular and intentional mispronunciation of "I'll be seeing you!" |
| accidentally-on-purpose | Phrs. Seemingly accidental but with veiled malice or harm. |
| AC/DC | Adj. Bisexual. |
| ace (!) | Adj. Excellent, wonderful. Exclam. Excellent! |
| acid | Noun. The drug LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. [Orig. U.S. 1960s] |
| acid house | Noun. The dance music scene that pre-empted 'rave' in Britain, and began the long association of 'house' music and 'ecstasy'. |
| ackers | Noun. Money. From the Egyptian akka. |
| action man | Noun. A man who participates in macho activities. |
| Adam and Eve | Verb. Believe. Cockney rhyming slang. E.g."I don't Adam and Eve it, it's not true!" |
| aerated | Adj. Over-excited. Becoming obsolete, although still heard used by older generations. Often mispronounced as aeriated. |
| afto | Noun. Afternoon. [North-west use] |
| afty | Noun. Afternoon. E.g."Are you going to watch the game this afty?" [North-west use] |
| agony aunt | Noun. A woman who provides answers to readers letters in a publication's agony column. {Informal} |
| aggro | Noun. Aggressive troublemaking, violence, aggression. Abb. of aggravation. |
| air biscuit | Noun. An expulsion of air from the anus, a fart. See 'float an air biscuit'. |
| airhead | Noun. A stupid person. [Orig. U.S.] |
| airlocked | Adj. Drunk, intoxicated. [N. Ireland use] |
| airy-fairy | Adj. Lacking in strength, insubstantial. {Informal} |
| air guitar | Noun. An imaginary guitar played by rock music fans whilst listening to their favourite tunes. |
| aks | Verb. To ask. E.g."I aksed him to move his car from the driveway." [dialect] |
| Alan Whickers | Noun. Knickers, underwear. Rhyming slang, often shortened to Alans. |
| Noun. Sweet, ready-mixed fruit drinks containing alcohol. Cf. 'tart fuel'. {Informal} | |
| aled (up) | Adj. Drunk, intoxicated by alcohol, usually beer (ale). |
| alkie | Noun. An alcoholic. Also spelt alky. |
| all fur coat and no knickers | Phrs. Of a woman, all superficial appearance and no real substance beneath. Derog. |
| all mod cons | Noun. All the fixtures and fittings necessary and expected - an abb. of all modern conveniences. {Informal} |
| all mouth and (no) trousers | Phrs. Boastful and without just reason. E.g."You shouldn't pay any attention to him, he's all mouth and no trousers." |
| all-nighter | Noun. A club night or event that goes on all night. |
| all over the shop | Phrs. 1. In a mess, out of order, disorganized. 2. Everywhere. E.g."I've been all over the shop this morning and I can't find her anywhere." |
| allow (it) | Verb. Forget it, don't bother. [London use] |
| all time loser | Noun. A public house, a bar. Rhyming slang on 'boozer'. See 'boozer'. |
| all to cock | Phrs. Messed up, useless, wrong. |
| all to pot | Phrs. Wrong, messed up. E.g."Our whole holiday went all to pot when Dad got arrested for being drunk." |
| almond rocks | Noun. Socks. Cockney rhyming slang, often shortened to almonds. |
| alright! | Exclam. Hello. A greeting. No answer is expected to what is inherently a question. Northern dialect has created the phonetic corruption awreet. |
| amber nectar | Noun. Lager. [Orig. Aust.] |
| anchors | Noun. Brakes. E.g."I slammed the anchors on and hit my head on the steering wheel." |
| ane | Noun. Abb. of anus. |
| ankle-biters | Noun. Children, particularly crawling babies. [Orig. Aust.] |
| anorak | Noun. An often socially inept person, having an obsessive interest in a hobby or subject. Usually has little or no fashion sense, and errs towards eccentricity. Originates from the 'trainspotter' look, of wearing anoraks; spending so much time at the end of station platforms in all weathersnecessitates the wearing of such attire. Cf. 'trainspotter'. Derog. |
| answers on a postcard | Phrs. If anyone has any ideas, or a response, to the question/problem that has just been posed, please let me know? From when, during the 1970s and 80s, blank postcards were used by viewers to mail answers to competition questions posed on TV programmes, in the hope of winning a prize. The advent of SMS and phonelines ensured the end of the postcards as a means of entering competitions. |
| antwacky | Adj. Old fashioned. Possibly from antique(y). E.g."Oh no way! I'm not wearing those shoes, they're so antwacky." [Merseyside/West Lancashire use] |
| any cop | Phrs. Of value, of any worth. E.g."Have you heard their new CD? I heard it was rubbish but do you think it's any cop?" See 'cop' (adj). Cf. 'no cop'. |
| any road | Adv. Anyway. Also spelt anyroad. [Northern use] |
| apeshit | See 'go apeshit'. |
| apeth | Noun. A pet name for a silly person. A shortening of daft apeth. Apeth, derived from haypneeworth (half a penny's worth) but pronounced ha'p'orth. |
| apple (core) | Noun. 20. Cockney rhyming slang on 'score'. [1950s] |
| apples and pears | Noun. Stairs. Possibly the most commonly expressed piece of Cockney rhyming slang that is used as an example of such, or used in jocular mimicry. The term is infrequently heard used in genuine daily use. |
| April | Noun. Bottom, buttocks, 'arse'. Rhyming slang from April in Paris rhyming with arris - see 'arris'. |
| Archer | Noun. £2000. From the amount of money given by Jeffrey Archer to a prostitute (Monica Coughlan) to enable her to leave the country, and in order to buy her silence over services rendered. Jeffrey Archer, ex-member of Parliament and best selling author, served a prison sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice. |
| argue the toss | Vrb phrs. To argue or dispute loudly and at length. |
| argy-bargy | Noun. Trouble, noisy quarrelling, arguing. {Informal}. |
| arris | Noun. Buttocks, 'arse'. Convoluted Cockney rhyming slang for 'arse'; Arris, an abbreviation of Aristotle, rhyming with bottle, and thereafter leading to bottle and glass rhyming with 'arse'. Also aris. |
| arrows | Noun. Darts, the equipment and the game itself. |
| arse | Noun. 1. The buttocks. The similar 'ass' isn't used as frequently, remaining more of an Americanism. S.e. from 1600s until mid 1800s. 2. An objectionable person. 3. A mistake, a poor job. E.g."He's made such an arse of that plastering job that I think we'll need to redo it." Exclam. Expressing anger or frustration. |
| arse about /around | Verb. To mess around, to waste time. |
| arse about face | Phrs. Back to front. |
| arse about tit | Phrs. Back to front. |
