Disused slang

There's a bar in Prague called "The Dogs Bollocks" (I can recommend it by the way) It makes me laugh, as I asked how come the name came about..I was told "This man, he tells me "Dogs Bollocks" is to describe something really good, so is good name for bar, no?" "Oh yes, indeed" I smiled. Can't see it getting past the council planners in Lincolnshire mind :o)

How odd. Knocked up means precisely that in England - to become pregnant. I'm amazed anyone would make this mistake. Can I bum a fag - now that's a potential transatlantic faux pas.

Mmm l know that one. Witches Tit is nice too....

For some reason, when I was ten, adding "Nora" to the end of a swear word increased its strength. So bloody Nora or F***ing Nora ! Also, bloody was much more serious as a swear word when we were kids than it actually is as an adult. It is hardly swearing at all. Bloody hell is really just, oh, where's that bit of paper or the phone is ringing, just a mild cry of irritation. And Stephen, I'm sure ming is a bad thing - if someone mings it means that they are ugly, unclean or unpleasant - if a shirt is minging it usually means Versace designed it (ooh, get Mr Pack the fashion critic!) Of course "Chin" "Chinny Reck-on" "Jimmy Hill" and "King Tut" were the scale of liars. I have never heard, in my life, anyone who wasn't a radio DJ or a yoof tv presenter describe anything as "phat" - it seems an entirely imaginary word.

Oooh, Andrew! That's naughty! For shame...

NE1 interested in Australian slang?

My old grandfather had a wonderful way with words that's not around any more- possibly because we all talk a kind of transatlantic "Friends/Seinfeld" which is great for global communication but not half as interesting. My grandfather's parents came out to Australia from England, and I think this was the origin of his rhyming slang. So a "bag 'o fruit" was a suit. This became more complex for the novice when he dropped the rhyming word. Consequently, a "john" was a copper, since it rhymed with "Johnny Hopper." (Christ knows who Johnny Hopper was, but it rhymed..) He told me once he was going to put a coupla quid (pounds in pre-decimal currency) on a racehorse. He bet a "Lady". When I asked for clarification. he explained that "Lady Godiva" was slang for a fiver. This appealed to me, so I continued this cryptic Oz tradition in my teens. "No worries" became "No Davids" or "No rivers"- being short for "David Murrays" ( a retail store) and "River Murray's" (about our states only significant river.) I still occasionally hear this today- "standin' there in his Reg Grundy's totally Mozart,," (Mozart & Liszt.. starting to get it?) Perhaps we should revive this tradition!! rob walker

Andrew, Really? I had no idea "knocking up" had the same meaning here. Does it also mean getting a wake up call in a hotel? There's another one that has cause me confusion, though it seems to be situational. In American English if I say something is "screwed up," that is always a negative comment in all cases. It is a slightly sanitized way to say "f***d up" or "messed up." Now I've had various experiences in London with this. Several times, people have said things like: we'll screw it up for you, or yeah it's broken now, but we'll screw it up, etc , meaning: they will fix the thing that is wrong. Of course, the first time I heard this, I very excitedly said: I HOP NOT! IT'S ALREADY SCREWED UP. I WANT YOU TO FIX IT, NOT SCREW IT UP. Then they told me that "screw up" means to fix it, not make it worse. OK, but when discussing this later with some other people, I was told that "screw up" normally means the same thing here as in American English: make it worse. but it can also be used in the sense of "to fix it."| Which is it? Or is it both?

It's rather unfortunate, but rolling tobacco here is called 'shag', as in 'milde shag' - mild shag, half-zware shag - er...half a shag and zware shag, a...um...heavy shag. Caused me quite a few problems when I was in Ireland and the UK, I can tell you, plonking meself down, gasping for me well-deserved Guinness and reaching for the packet of 'heavy shag' that I'd thoughtlessly laid (face up - Murphy's law) on the table... All the shags above are referring to baccy strengths, natch...

Just give us a shag for gods sake

I suspect the England team were on Heavy Shag all Friday night, the way they played yesterday.

Never heard of 'screw it up' as in 'to fix it', but have heard, many times and mostly directed at my incompetence 'you screwed it up again...' , as in, ' What a bloody balls up you made of that, then, dear...' Wouldn't put up with it now, I hasten to add. Too old and screwed up...

'Crashed out' - passed out, asleep, as in "Cyril's crashed out on the floor again , man" 'Bogart' - hogging (is that another one?) for oneself, as in 'Don't bogart that *****, my friend" (pass it over to me...) 'Pad' - dwelling, home, flea-ridden mattress, as in (to Sir Paul, for instance) - 'Nice lil' pad you've got there, mate' 'Stash' - secret...er...stash, as in 'Where you stashed the booze, dude?' 'Skins', rolling papers, as in 'Pass the skins for the next one, will ya?' 'Chick' - acceptable female, as in 'Cool chick you've got there, Cedric'. 'Cool' - everything that's ok, as in 'Hey man, what a cool chick/pad/gaff/old lady you got (man). Got loads more...

Surely we have not all forgotten the old favourite: "Ace" (as in really cool, great. Sadly my parents have banished the word forever being used again in this context by anyone under the age of 45. It has become one of there favourites. Cringe.....

Surely we have not all forgotten the old favourite: "Ace" (as in really cool, great. Sadly my parents have banished the word forever being used again in this context by anyone under the age of 45. It has become one of their favourites. Cringe.....

(?) Opps sorry......double clicked or something then.. D'oh!

Wizard prang, eh, chaps?

Gear: meaning "cool" Wow, that song/outfit/car is really gear, man, "oh, wow" : This may have been limited to the Yale campus circa 1969-1973, but it was impossible to get through two sentences without hearing it. It had to be said in a simple, declarative way. Not the Valley Girl "OH WOW" or the stoned "ooooh wooooowwwww," man. Just, oh wow, meaning roughly, "you don't say?" "far out" and "heavy" both meaning roughly the same thing. "fragged" This is a Viet Nam era phrase referring to the unfortunate practice of some enlisted men in the American forces in Viet Nam to kill their own commander by rolling a live grenade into his tent in the middle of the night and blaming it on "Charlie" (the enemy). It's hard to say how often this actually happened (by definition it is impossible to say, right?), but it happened enough to give rise to its own word, still in use by the way, to mean roughly the same thing but not in a military context. "round heals" I first encountered this in Agatha Christie, meaning a woman who easily "tips over backwards onto her back." "hairy at the heel" Referring to a man who behaves a bit like an ape.

PC heads use Fragged while they're playing Quake et al, to mean much the same, Justyn. And Andrea - all your slang is drug-related. Coincidence that you now live in Amsterdam ???

croggy for riding on the bag of someone's bike while they pedalled ... choddy for chewing gum ...

No it wasn't Andrew! Shame on you! 'Clean' (as a whistle), as in "Seen that, been there, done that, got the t-shirt but have learnt the error of my ways..."

Quite right Andrea, but is it true you can buy tikka masala flavoured spliffs, or did I make that up one hazy night?

Technically off-topic because this is current schoolyard argot, but it will one day soon be disused... Take it from my 10-year old, if something is good it's "wicked", "nang", "rare", "bo", "ming", "bare", "bad" or "dark". If it is not good, the options are fewer: it's either "crusty" or you use swearwords.

In response to tikka masala spiffs.... I find that adding a few sprinkles of cayenne powder while in the middle of building, adds a really hidious taste and does not go down well at dinner parties!

totally malevolent man.. kewl bangin night weren't it yeah man totally on one... e by gum all on me Jack Jones ya yo yep bloomin heck gor blimey ( this phrase I think it is derivative of a German word which means God blind me... ) bostin caned and able factory hits '99 on me tod aumnivore bloomin nora wicked and bad Jesus do you have a Job suffering? don't count all your chickens damn dork uh I've had enuf... where do some of these sayings come from I would like to know. and my friend wants to know where the saying Jack Jones comes from cause he wants to know if it was named after his Grandad who was called Jack Jones....

one thing my kids used to say which i do miss is "chin" ... this was said when they didn't believe something someone said and was accompanied by the scratching of a stuck out chin ... then it mutated into just the chin scratching ... then finally became "beard" ... they don't say it any more ...

'Getting off at Edge Hill' = Coitus interruptus (Edge Hill being the last stop before Lime Street station in Liverpool) mmm... i feel a re-posting coming on. Grotty = Grotesque Scally = scallywag (still in use but i thought some clarification might be required) Endless Belt = A night out with a sailor Puff Adder = She was in dubious company Full Fathoms Five Thy Father Lies = Yer old man's pissed again. Happy as a dog with two dicks = ecstatic

I prefer "Leave the church before singing" (Spanish term for coitus interruptus, literal translation) and "Puff Adder" - dont they say that about Jennifer Lopez?

I like 'Dog's bollocks', describing someone (usually a builder) possessing a somewhat inflated ego, as in "Gor blimey, 'e finks 'e's the dog's bollocks, don't 'e?" Oh dear, I do hope I've inserted all me commas in the right places... Re the tikka thing - dunno, Karl, we don't have it over here. Or tikka masala, either.

I don't think this is disused, but it does cause confusion. In American English, the phrase "to get knocked up" is a fairly crude way of saying that a woman became pregnant, usually from a quick shag (unknown term in the US, except as regards pipe tobacco) in the backseat of a car or on the parent's couch or behind the barn (etc etc). In the UK it means to get a wake up call at a hotel (is this still in use here?). There are lots of true stories about Brits coming to the U.S., staying in a hotel, and calling the reception desk: I'd like to get knocked up tomorrow at 7 am, please, and then not exactly understanding why odd reaction. Works the other way around too. My first trip here included the question: Sir, at what time would you like to get knocked up tomorrow morning? Fortunately, I knew what this really meant before coming here, but it was still funny. Oh, about 7am will be fine; just bang once, that should be enough (hahaha).