Read Online Dictionary of Contemporary Slang by Tony Thorne - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tony Thorne
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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 âat it againâ, referring to any repeated and troublesome activity.
âJoey Ganguli is at it all the time. He⦠earns his rolls of cash in the middle of the Asian gang warsâ¦in the East End of London.â
(
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 âanâ or âtheâ probably derives from the black American prisonersâ shortening of the white authority figuresâ phrases âbad/negative/antisocial attitudeâ or their accusation, âYouâve got an attitude problemâ. 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 âIâm out of hereâ, punning on the brand of German luxury car coveted by young males. It almost certainly originated in black street slang where the variant forms âAudi 5000!â or simply 5000! are also heard. By the mid-1990s, the termwas 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 âdown underâ, 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.
âave 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 âblonde hair, black box â.
âavinâ it large, âavinâ 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.
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 âStrong Badâ, a character in the Flash web cartoon series
Homestar Runner
. It was nominated as number eight in the âTop 10 Words That Need To Die, Immediatelyâ in an online column by Rob W. Hart in February
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 âat it againâ, referring to any repeated and troublesome activity.
âJoey Ganguli is at it all the time. He⦠earns his rolls of cash in the middle of the Asian gang warsâ¦in the East End of London.â
(
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 âanâ or âtheâ probably derives from the black American prisonersâ shortening of the white authority figuresâ phrases âbad/negative/antisocial attitudeâ or their accusation, âYouâve got an attitude problemâ. 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 âIâm out of hereâ, punning on the brand of German luxury car coveted by young males. It almost certainly originated in black street slang where the variant forms âAudi 5000!â or simply 5000! are also heard. By the mid-1990s, the termwas 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 âdown underâ, 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.
âave 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 âblonde hair, black box â.
âavinâ it large, âavinâ 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.
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 âStrong Badâ, a character in the Flash web cartoon series
Homestar Runner
. It was nominated as number eight in the âTop 10 Words That Need To Die, Immediatelyâ in an online column by Rob W. Hart in February
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