Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (114 page)

2.
a person with ‘one income and kids'. An acronym in
yuppie
use in the late 1980s. Similar coinages are
dinky
and
oink
.

oiler
n

1.
British
a sycophant. The
Sunday Times
, 16 October 1994, reported that Princess Diana had used the term in reference to Prince Charles's entourage.

2.
American
a synonym for
greaser
in the sense of a Hispanic person

oily rag
n British

1.
a disparaging term applied to inexperienced or incompetent motor mechanics who are assigned menial jobs such as wiping away grease

2.
a cigarette. This piece of rhyming slang, from
fag
, was common in the 1950s but is now rarely heard.

oink
n

a person with ‘one income and no kids'. An acronym characterising one type of worker in the
yuppie
milieu from the late 1980s. Similar coinages are
dinky
and
oik
.

oinker
n American

a vulgar, obnoxious or greedy person. A young person's euphemism for
pig
. The term was, and is, predictably, applied to police officers.

okey-dokey, artichokey!
exclamation

a joky expression of agreement on the lines of
aye-aye, shepherd's pie
. Apparently the okey-dokey version was a favourite of First Lady Hillary Clinton.

-ola
suffix

this word ending has been appropriated from Spanish where it signifies large and negative. It is added to standard terms and slang terms (as in
payola
and
boffola
) to convey the notion of outrageous, excessive or ‘super-'. The usage arose in the USA in the 1950s.

Old Bill, the Old Bill
n British See
Bill

old cheese
n Australian

a mother or matriarch. An affectionate epithet used principally by males.

old Dutch, my old Dutch
n British See
Dutch
¹
1

old fellow
n

the penis. An affectionate euphemism used by hearty males.

old lady
n

one's mother, wife or sweetheart. The term was notably adopted by
hippies
in Britain in the late 1960s, not from local working-class usage, but in imitation of American
bikers
, etc.

old lag
n British

a recidivist, habitual offender or former prisoner.
Lag
is an elastic term which, since the early 19th century, has encompassed imprisonment, sentencing, a notion of transportation or simply a convict.

old man
n

one's father, husband or sweetheart.
See also
old lady

old moody
n British See
moody
¹
b

old-skool
adj

belonging to or imitating a previous style, ‘retro'

old trout
n British

a middle-aged or elderly woman, especially one who is frumpish or short-tempered. This expression has been used as a mild pejorative (very occasionally even affectionately) since the 19th century.

‘Here's what's coming up for you; two old trouts and a man who should be in the army.'
(Victoria Wood,
As Seen on TV
, BBC comedy series, April 1988)

See also
out trouting

Oliver (Twist)
adj British

drunk. An item of rhyming slang for
pissed
. Unlike many similar multi-word examples, it invariably occurs in its full form, rather than being abbreviated to ‘Oliver'.

ollie
n British

a marble, in the literal sense of the children's plaything (which is probably a variant form of
allie
), and in the figurative sense, as in the expression to
lose one's marbles

‘Another few days with those dozy gobshites and I'd have lost me ollies.'
(Alexei Sayle,
Great Bus Journeys of the World
, 1988)

Olympic torch
n British

an idle, inert colleague, in UK police slang, because he or she ‘never goes out'. A synonym is
BONGO
.

OMG
exclamation

an expression of surprise and/or disbelief. The initials of ‘Oh my God!' may be spoken as well as written.

omi, omee
n British

a man. A
parlyaree
word which survived into the modern era, omi is a corruption of the Italian
uomo
, meaning man. The term featured in the language of the theatre and among street traders and vagrants among others.

omipolone, omipoloni
n British

a male homosexual. This now-dated form has survived in theatrical and film usage from more widespread earlier currency in the argot of the underworld, tramps, tinkers, etc. It is a portmanteau comprising
omi
(man) and
polone
(woman). The word was used as a euphemism in the radio comedy series
Round the Horne
during the 1960s.

on a mish
vb See
mish

on blocks
adj
,
adv See
up on blocks

on canvas
adj
,
adv British

in solitary confinement, in prison. The phrase derives from the fact that prisoners in solitary confinement are issued with canvas mattresses and nightshirts.

oncer
n British

an alternative spelling of
oneser

on crack
adj American

behaving in an eccentric, crazy way. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

one-er
n British

a £100 note or sum of one hundred pounds. In the parlance of street gangs, recorded in London in 2002.

one-eyed trouser snake
n

the penis. A colourful metaphor which probably originated in Australia in the 1950s. The word has spread to Britain and the United States and is nowadays generally truncated to
trouser snake
, which has developed further connotations.

oneser
n British

a one-pound note or pound coin

All I got on me is a oneser.

one time
n

the police (referred to as such because you have one time or one chance to get out of the situation alive). An expression from the lexicon of
rap
.

See also
Babylon
;
Feds, the
;
pig

on fire
adj

stimulated and stimulating, exciting, spectacular

The band was on fire.
Her new look is on fire.

on holiday
adj British

in prison (temporarily), in the argot of tramps and the homeless

onion
n

1.
British
a police sergeant. The term is rhyming slang based on onion bhaji, a popular Indian dish, rhymed with ‘sargie'.

Watch out, the onion's coming

2.
American
(a girl with) a large rear. The term, recorded in 2011, was defined by one student as ‘buttocks so shapely it brings tears to the eyes'.

Check out the fine onion on that betty!

on me ones
adj British

alone, lonely, isolated, abandoned. The altered form of ‘on my own' is heard in teenage slang.

‘…when one loses the herd, they quickly become lonely, self-doubting and aggressive. “Ones” is the self-explanatory slang result, its throwaway chirpiness attempting to mask the ever-present fear of flying solo in a modern world where there is safety in both numbers and contempt for traditional grammar.'
(“Yoofspeak”, Times Educational Supplement, 9 September 2010)

on one
adj British

a.
under the influence of (a tablet of)
MDA
or
ecstasy
. An expression from the jargon of
acid house
club habitués.

Are you on one, matey?

b.
in the know,
au fait
or
au courant

In both senses this is an adolescent vogue phrase of the late 1980s.

on one's Jack/Jack Jones
adj

alone, on one's own. Rhyming slang from the name of the American singer.

on one's tod
adj

alone
, on one's own. The phrase is rhyming slang from ‘Tod Sloan', the name of an American jockey active at the turn of the 20th century.

on the arm
adj British

bribed, corrupted. An instance of police and criminal slang.

Don't worry, we've got a prison officer on the arm.

on the batter
vb British

engaged in prostitution and soliciting. An item of working-class slang heard throughout the UK since the 1960s, deriving from a more generalised 19th-century sense of the phrase as signifying ‘engaged in a violent debauch'.

on the blob
adj

menstruating. The expression, which seems to be used mainly by males, is heard in many English-speaking communities.
Blob
has also been used in several sexually related contexts.
On the rag
is an older synonym.

on the brew
adj
,
phrase British

on the dole, unemployed. The sense of ‘brew' in this phrase, which was heard in the 1980s, especially in the north of England, is unclear.

on the bum
adj
,
adv

1a.
on the road. Leading the life of a hobo or tramp.

‘Just about a year ago I took off on the bum.'
(Lyrics from
Lodi
, written by John Fogerty and recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968)

1b.
engaged in cadging or begging. From the verb to
bum
.

2.
malfunctioning, out of order. A less common synonym of ‘on the blink',
bum
here meaning dud or useless.

on the bung
adj Australian

out of order, broken down

on the cotton wool
adv
,
adj British

a rhyming-slang version of
on the pull
, recorded in 1999

on the creep
adj
,
adv

in search of a sexual partner. The term, heard in the Lowlands of Scotland and the north of England, usually refers to male behaviour. Contemporary synonyms include
on the sniff
and
out trouting
.

on the DL
phrase American

(in) secret, confidential, discreet. The initials stand for ‘down-low'.

Keep that on the DL: no one else knows about it.

on the drip
adv
,
adj British

on hire purchase, by instalments. One of many synonyms (including
on the knock
,
on the never-never
,
on the strap
and ‘on the lay-by') in use since the 1950s.

on the earhole/ear'ole
adj
,
adv British
cadging, trying to borrow money. An old London working-class expression which was still heard in the 1980s. For the etymology see
ear'ole
.

on the elbow
adv British

engaged in cadging, borrowing money or scrounging. A London working-class expression. The elbow reference may evoke literal nudging or figurative barging or pushing.

on the floor
adj British

rhyming slang for
poor

on the fritz
adj
,
adv American

malfunctioning, out of order. A synonym of the colloquial ‘on the blink'. Fritz here may be the German nickname, probably alluding to imported German goods, thought by Americans in the 1930s to be shoddy. It may alternatively echo the
sound of a short circuit, a buzzing in electrical equipment.

‘We're thinking about getting a doberman since the alarm system went on the fritz.'
(
Hart to Hart
, US TV series, 1981)

on the heavy bevvie
adv

engaged in heavy drinking. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England.

on the hot cross (bun)
adj
,
adv British
on the
run
. An item of rhyming slang used, and possibly coined, by the crime novelist Ruth Rendell.

on the hurry-up
adv British

at full speed. An item of London police jargon.

on the job
adj
,
adv British