Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (101 page)

lunching at the Lazy Y
n, phrase

engaging in oral sex, particularly cunnilingus. A humorous expression playing on the shape of a reclining person with their legs spread and a famous cattle brand from the American Wild West. (A ‘lazy' letter in a brand was one lying on its side.) An alternative form is ‘dining at the Y'.

lunch out
vb British

to back out of an appointment or arrangement

‘I think I'm going to have to lunch out this afternoon; I've got an essay to write.'
(Recorded, student, Devon, 2002)

lunchy, lunchie
adj

a.
crazy, eccentric, deviant. From the colloquialism ‘out to lunch', this became a vogue term of the 1990s, originating among American adolescents.

‘I knew the kid was lunchie, but not this fuckin' lunchie!'
(
Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead
, US film, 1996)

b.
inferior, unacceptable, unpleasant. This generalisation of the original sense of the term was adopted by British adolescents as a vogue term in the mid-1990s.

lunk, lunkhead
n American

a slow-witted person, dullard. The term originated in the USA in the 19th century. It usually evokes a large, clumsy, ungainly person of low intelligence and/or slow reactions. It is a blend of lump and hunk.

lurgi, lurghi
n

alternative spellings of
lerg(h)i

lurk
n Australian

a dodge, shady scheme, clever and/or disreputable trick. The word is now used in these senses mainly by middle-aged and elderly speakers.

lurker
n

1a.
British
a disreputable, suspicious, unwholesome person. A word often used by disaffected youth ironically of themselves, it was adopted as a name by a suburban London
punk
rock group in 1977.

1b.
British
a fly-by-night or unlicensed street trader

1c.
Australian
a petty criminal, fraudster or cardsharp

All these senses are variations on the standard English meaning of lurk which comes from the Middle English
lurken
, meaning to lie in wait.

2.
a market stallholder who simply waits for customers without attempting to attract them.

Compare
rorter; pitcher

3.
an internet user who observes communications without participating, in the patois of
cyberpunks
and
net-heads

‘[Lurkers] are invisible unless you run a roll call command and see how many voyeuristic weazels [sic] there actually are.'
(
Surfing on the Internet
by J. C. Herz, 1994)

lurk off
vb British

to leave, go away. The verb often, but not invariably, suggests slinking away. It can also be employed as a euphemism for the imperative
fuck off
as in the 1995 BBC 2 TV comedy
Game On
.

lush
¹
n

an alcoholic, habitual drunkard or heavy drinker. This is an American term, adopted by British speakers in the 1960s, which derived from an earlier British usage which had fallen into desuetude; from at least the 18th century until the early 20th century lush had been used to mean alcoholic drink.

lush
²
adj British

a.
very attractive and/or desirable

A lush bird
.

‘I love your ski pants, Tray
.

Nice aren't they! £12.99. You want to get some. You'll look lush.'
(
The Fat Slags
, cartoon in
Viz
comic, 1989)

b.
delicious

Well, how was it?
Lush
.

This British colloquialism, heard especially in the 1960s among schoolchildren, young people and unsophisticated adults, is a short form of ‘luscious' rather than the standard adjective (as in ‘lush vegetation', for example). It has enjoyed a revival since the late 1980s and is still popular, especially among pre-teens.

lushed
adj

drunk. This is probably a recent coinage inspired by
lush
meaning a heavy drinker. In fact lush as a verb, and lushed as a past participle, had existed in English slang and dialect since the early 19th century, but had fallen out of use in most areas before World War II. The renewed use of the term is mainly confined to teenagers and students.

lye
n

an alternative spelling of
lie

M
n

morphine. A drug users' abbreviation.

mac
n

1.
American
a term of address to a male stranger. The word often conveys a hint of provocation rather than straightforward friendliness.

2.
British
a mackintosh, raincoat

macho up
vb

an alternative form of
butch up
(to behave more assertively, courageously or to show more masculine characteristics).
Macho
is Spanish for male in the assertive or dominant sense of the word.

mack
n British

the penis. The word, of uncertain origin, was reported in
Loaded
magazine in October 1994.

macker
n British

a black person. An item of racist rhyming slang based on ‘macaroon':
coon
, heard in London working-class circles in the early 1990s and reported in the London
Evening Standard
, 9 September 1991.

mackin' out
n British

relaxing,
chilling
. The term was in use among London teenagers in 2012.

mack on (someone)
vb

to flirt with, try to impress. The term probably originated in the USA but by 2004 was in use among UK teenagers.

mad
adj American

a large amount or great number of. In this sense the word is a key item of black American speech. Since 2000 it has been in use also among younger speakers from other ethnic backgrounds.

Mad love to all my peeps.

made-in
n British

a ‘two-one' honours degree. A students' jocularism based on ‘made-in-Taiwan'. An alternative form is a
draw
: ‘two won'.

made-up
adj British

content, satisfied. This regional term from the Merseyside area became widespread in the 1990s, following its use in TV soap operas such as
Brookside
and
Coronation Street
and reports such as that of the London
Evening Standard
, 25 November 1993, regarding the James Bulger murder case.

mad for it
adj British

enthusiastic, unrestrained. The phrase was popular in Manchester during the mid-to-late 1990s and was a favourite expression of Liam Gallagher of the Britpop band Oasis.

‘Everyone's going, oh you're splitting up, but we're not splitting up. 'Cos we're mad for it.'
(Liam Gallagher quoted in the
NME
, 30 September 1995)

madhead
n British

a crazy, unrestrained person

‘The majority of the press we've had makes us out to be these madheads who only appeal to dickheads who'd stick a bottle over your head.'
(Liam Gallagher of Oasis quoted in the
NME
, 30 September 1995)

mad money
n American

a.
money set aside by a girl or woman in case she is abandoned or offended by her date. In this sense of the word mad signifies anger (on the part of the girl or her escort).

b.
money set aside for frivolous, impulsive or self-indulgent purposes. In this version the sense of mad is the British ‘crazy'. Both uses of the phrase date from before World War II. They are now dated but not quite obsolete.

mad props
n American

congratulations, respect. A catchphrase since 2000, originating in
hip hop
parlance.

mad-up
adj British

annoyed. An item of black British slang.

mady
n South African

a sweetheart or wife. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995.

mag
n Australian

a conversation, chat. Usually heard in the phrase to ‘have a mag with someone'. This sense of the word was first recorded in England in the 18th century and is said to be derived from ‘magpie' as a synonym for or an evocation of chatter.

maga
adj

an alternative spelling of
margar

ma-gent, amagent
n South African

a young male, particularly one considered dapper, alert, aware, etc. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995

maggot
n

1.
a despicable, dirty and/or insignificant person. In British use, the predominant idea is usually ‘beneath contempt', whereas in Australia maggot is a generalised term of abuse.

2.
British
money. A rare usage, heard among petty criminals or their imitators among others. Like many obscure synonyms for money, it has been rehabilitated since the late 1980s.

I've got to get hold of some maggot in a hurry.

maggoted
adj Australian

drunk. One of many synonyms evoking low, despicable behaviour and/or impaired movement.

magic
¹
adj British

superlative, excellent. An over-used colloquialism since the late 1970s which is characteristic of garrulous or over-enthusiastic lower-middle-class and working-class speech. It is often heard in the context of sports such as football or darts.

‘Belfast is “magic” – local demotic for “super” or “marvellous” or whatever high superlative leaps instinctively off the tongue.'
(
The Crack: a Belfast Year
, Sally Belfrage, 1987)

magic
²
, magic dust, magic mist
n American
the drug
PCP
(also known as
angel dust
)

magic mushrooms
n pl

any hallucinogenic mushrooms such as psilocybin or the native British ‘liberty caps'. In the later 1980s users began to refer to them as
shrooms
.

Compare
rooms

Mahatma (Gandhi)
adj British

randy
. The rhyming-slang term, borrowing the name and title of the late Indian spiritual and political leader, was first recorded in 1998 but may be older.

feeling a bit Mahatma tonight

mahoodally
adj British

ugly. The term, probably (and unusually) an arbitrary formation, i.e. unrelated to any pre-existing word, was in use among some London university students in 2010.

maiden
n

an unattractive woman. This pejorative use of the word has been recorded among US college students and London teenagers since 2000.

main drag
n

the main or central street. An American phrase from the early years of the 20th century, heard elsewhere since the 1970s. (
Drag
was also used to mean street in Victorian cockney speech.)

mainline
vb

to inject (an illicit drug) directly into a vein. The term is one of the most persistent pieces of addicts' jargon, contrasted with
skin-popping
(injecting subcutaneously or intramuscularly). The meaning is sometimes extended to denote the regular ingestion of anything in large quantities.

main man
n American

a.
a boss, leader

He's the main man around here.

b.
(a woman's) partner, boyfriend, husband or protector

He's my main man.

c.
one's best friend,
buddy
, bosom pal

Yo, Billy, my main man! How're they hanging?

main squeeze
n American

a.
(one's) boyfriend or girlfriend, sweetheart

b.
the most important person, a boss, leader

majestik
adj British

excellent. In the words of one London teenager, recorded in 2008, ‘really wicked, extremely
nang
'.

major
adj

excellent, exceptional, admirable. A vogue adjective in adolescent usage in the 1990s. The appropriation of the standard term probably occurred first in American speech. Like
mega
and
totally
it was initially used to qualify another word before being allowed to stand alone.

‘… the sixties were mega, the seventies were major, and what you are going to see now is going to be totally massive!'
(
Scratchy & Co
., children's TV show, 8 March 1997)

make
¹
n