Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (126 page)

quiff
n

1.
British
a pompadour hairstyle, kiss-curl or backcombed fringe. The quiff was fashionable with
teddy boys
and
rockers
among others.

2.
British
a male homosexual or effeminate male. The usage is probably influenced by the words
queer
and
poof
.

3.
a
fart

4a.
American
a prostitute or promiscuous woman

4b.
American
a woman or women as (a) sex object(s). A term used invariably by males.

I'm going to get me some quiff.

quim
n British

the female sex organs. A taboo term featuring in 19th-century pornography and the 20th-century lexicon of obscenity. The word has probably lost popularity since the 1950s, although it remains in use, invariably among males, particularly outside the southeast of the country. The exact origin of quim is unclear. It may be related to the Chaucerian
queynte
(the vagina) or the Welsh
cwm
(a valley or crevice).

quince
n Australian

a male homosexual or effeminate male. The word is probably a blend of
queen
and ‘mince'. It may also be derived from the Asian fruit of the same name.

quoit
n Australian

the anus. A coinage inspired by the earlier
ring
.

raar
adj British

good. The word, recorded among teenagers in Kent in 2003, may be a form of
rare
, which in black speech can mean both good and bad. The word often occurs in the combination ‘bare raar', meaning very good.

raas
n Jamaican

an allpurpose term of abuse or exclamation of anger or contempt. A version of (up) (your)
arse
or a short form of
raasclat
.
Compare
yass

raasclat, rassclaat
n Jamaican

a term of strong abuse used as an insult or as an exclamation. The word literally means a rag for wiping the backside, the equivalent of the later American insult
ass-wipe
,
raas
being a patois version of (your)
arse
and ‘clat', a cloth.

rabbit
vb
,
n

(to) talk, gossip, (have a) conversation. The term is cockney rhyming slang, from ‘rabbit and pork':
talk
. The word gained widespread currency through TV comedies of the 1970s and the soundtrack to a 1980s advertisement for Courage Best beer. Rabbit (or ‘rabbit on') is now often used by middle-class speakers unaware of its rhyming provenance. Genuine cock-neys often prefer the derivation
bunny
.

race off, race
vb American

to seduce. A common term in the 1960s. The original image evoked is that of sweeping a victim off her feet and away.

rack
n American

1.
a bed. This use of the word is probably of armed-service origin.

2.
female breasts

‘She's attractive – great rack, nipples like pencil erasers…'
(
Disclosure
, US film, 1995)

rack (out)
vb American

to lie down and/or go to sleep. An expression now used principally by teenagers and college students, but which originates in the armed-service slang noun
rack
, meaning bed.

rack attack
n American

a bout of extreme laziness, a period spent in bed. A campus witticism (other rhyming compounds are
snack attack
and
tack attack
) based on the use of
rack
to mean bed.

racked
adj American

1.
ruined, defeated, disabled. The term referred originally to being kicked or struck in the
rack
or male genital area.

2.
intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. The adolescent usage is probably a borrowing of the standard term as it occurs in phrases such as ‘racked with pain', although it may be based on the preceding sense or be an alteration of
wrecked
.

I was racked by 9 p.m.

racked-off
adj Australian

irritated, disgruntled. An expression ranking in vehemence somewhere between ‘cheesed-off' and
pissed-off
.

racked-up
adj American

tense, stressed,
strung up
. An expression heard occasionally since the 1970s.

‘I remember my first shoot. You know I was really racked-up but the lieutenant was there for me.'
(
Miami Vice
, US TV series, 1988)

rack off
vb Australian

to go away, leave. A brusque, but less offensive alternative to
piss off
,
fuck off
, etc. The phrase, usually in the form of an admonition, has been introduced to a British audience via Australian soap operas of the late 1980s, such as
Neigh-bours
.

rack up
vb

to prepare a line of cocaine for
snort
ing

‘Rack up the line and get her face in it.'
(Former pop star Brian Harvey quoted in
News of the World
, 15 June 2003)

rad
adj American

excellent, outstanding, admirable. A shortening of
radical
, used as a term of great
approbation by school and college children in the late 1970s. It is also heard in the UK and Australia since the 1980s where it has become a vogue term, especially among the subcultures of surfers and skateboarders.

‘But the really rad word is still to be had from the skater/authors themselves…'
(
Mail on Sunday
,
“Biz”
magazine, June 1987)

radical
adj

excellent. In the 1980s the word moved from its political sense, via ‘radical chic', to a generalised meaning of admirable in adolescent speech. It is now usually shortened to
rad
.

‘That radio station is well radical.'
(Recorded, teenage male, London, May 2003)

radio
n
,
adj

(a person or thing that is) old fashioned and/or dysfunctional. The derogatory term, used by younger speakers in the USA and later in the UK, may derive from the character played by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie
Radio
, or from the idea that radio is an outdated electronic medium.

radio rentals
adj British

crazy, deranged,
mental
. A humorous expression recorded in 1988, employing an approximate rhyme using the name of a television hire chain.

If you ask me, she's completely radio rentals.

rads
n British

the police. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

raf
vb Caribbean

to steal or borrow without permission. The term was recorded in Trinidad and Tobago in 2003. Synonyms are
bandit
and
sprang
.

rag, rag on (someone)
vb

1.
to nag, harass

‘Last October, HMV overhauled their staff policy. Afraid it was their workers' body art and sandals that were driving customers away, bosses demanded that all extreme tattoos, piercings and toes be covered up. What good did ragging on the staff do them? None.'
(Popbitch online gossip newsletter, 17 January 2013)

2.
American
to criticise, denigrate, nag. This usage dates back to the 19th century when ‘ragging' was also employed in British slang to mean teasing or provoking. In black American slang from the 1990s rag was often used synonymously with
diss
.

3.
to inform on, ‘tell on'

rage
n Australian

a wild party or celebration. A 1960s expression which is the equivalent of the British
rave-up
and, like that term, underwent a revival in the late 1980s.

ragged out, ragged up
adj American

1.
dressed or dressed up. Since the 19th century this term has been used colloqui-ally like ‘dolled up' or ‘in one's glad rags'.

2.
distasteful, unpleasant. A teenage and
Valley Girl
expression of the late 1970s.
raggedy-ass, ragged-ass
adj American
unkempt, uncouth, disorganised. An elaboration of ragged.

rag-head
n

an Arab. A pejorative term inspired by the headdress worn particularly by Gulf Arab males. The term is occasionally applied to turban-wearers too. An alternative is
towel-head
.

raging
n British
a
first
(first-class honours degree). Students' rhyming slang (on ‘raging thirst') of the late 1980s.
James
and
Pattie
are alternative versions.

He was tipped for a raging, but he ended up with a Desmond.

Compare
Douglas
;
made-in
;
Richard
;
Taiwan

rag it
vb

to have sex

‘Listen man, you rag it…if you want.'
(Former pop star Brian Harvey quoted in
News of the World
, 15 June 2003)

rago, raggo
adj

a.
berserk, uncontrolled or uncontrollable. Possibly originating in black speech and probably derived from
lose one's rag
, this is a term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

b.
unconcerned, freewheeling, impulsive, improvised. The generally admiring term probably derives from Jamaican ‘raga-muffin', referring to a gangster (attitude).

ragoflex
vb British

to show off by pretending to be sporty, fashionable etc when really a
nerd
. According to the website, Urban Dictionary, this is said to originate in the Tolworth area of London.

rags
n pl American

clothes. Heard in the speech of black Americans since the 1960s (
threads
and
vines
were contemporary synonyms) and later elsewhere, the word has more
recently been supplanted to some extent by
garms
.

Where d'you get them cool rags?

rag-top
n

a convertible car. The Americanism has also occasionally been heard in Britain as an alternative for soft-top or the earlier drop-head.

rah
n
,
adj British

(someone who is) ‘posh', a synonym is
yah
: both terms imitate the drawling or braying speech supposedly characteristic of such individuals

rail
n American

a line of a drug in powder form

I did a rail of his flake.
‘I smoked my first joint at 12, did my first rail at 13…'
(Corey Taylor of US rock band
Slipknot
, speaking in 2002)

rain on someone's parade
vb American
to spoil someone's enjoyment, frustrate someone's efforts, etc. A colloquial phrase which gave rise to many more vulgar synonyms such as
piss in someone's pool
or
on someone's chips

rally
vb American

to behave outrageously, indulge in wild activity. A
preppie
term, used invariably by and about males.

Come on, let's rally!
They were really rallying.

ralph
¹
vb

1.
to vomit. One of many echoic terms for the activity, ralph is typically heard among students in all English-speaking areas. ‘Call (for) Ralph' is an alternative version.

2.
American
to take a right turn

ralph
²
n

a right turn. The word is usually part of the phrase
hang a ralph
(as opposed to
hang a louie
).

rambunctious
adj

lively, troublesome, loud. A facetious invention elaborated from rumbustious. The term has been in use since the early 19th century and is probably Irish or American in origin, although the invention of such jocularities (as in the 19th-century ‘obstrepalous' and the recent ‘spondicious') was paralleled in Britain.

‘This is a lullaby my mother used to play when I'd get rambunctious. It always seemed to calm me down.'
(
Kindred
, US film, 1987)

rammed
adj British

very crowded, full

‘Coming back on Eurostar, it was rammed.'
(Recorded, female traveller, London, June 2003)

rammy
adj British

unpleasant, repellent. The word, of uncertain etymology, is in circulation in the north of England.