Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (135 page)

‘What about you Charlie; why don't you try to come up with some scratch for a change.'
(
The Late Show
, US film, 1977)

scratchy
adj

irritable or bad-tempered and over-sensitive. Predominantly American with rustic overtones, the word is a synonym for ‘prickly' or ‘tetchy'.

scratter
n British

a synonym for
chav
recorded in 2004

screamer
n

a flagrant homosexual. A derogatory term used typically by flagrant heterosexuals, derived from ‘screaming queen/nancy', etc. The word is heard in Britain and Australia.

screaming (h)abdabs
n pl British

a state of mental agitation bordering on hysteria. Usually heard in the phrase ‘It gives me (a case of) the screaming abdabs': it makes me extremely irritated, agitated.

screw
¹
vb

1.
to have sex (with). This use of the word was recorded in Grose's
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
in 1785. It may be a direct metaphor or may be influenced by the archaic use of screw to mean a key (turning in a lock). Since the late 1960s the verb can refer to the sexual act from the woman's point of view as well as the man's. The word owed much of its popularity to the fact that it is a synonym for
fuck
which is nevertheless acceptable in the media and what used to be referred to as ‘mixed company'.

2a.
to take advantage of, defraud, cheat or treat unfairly

2b.
to ruin or spoil. An extension of the previous sense paralleled by
fuck
,
bugger
, etc.

3.
British
to stare (at). In working-class London speech, especially among
skinheads
of the late 1960s, the question ‘Who're you screwin'?' was often the prelude to violence. It has been suggested that this use of the word is in origin a shortening of scrutinise, but this seems hard to credit. Screwing up one's eyes or metaphorically boring a hole into someone are other possibilities.

‘Villains call it clocking in Leeds, eyeballing in Manchester and screwing in London's East End… It came as a shock: juries can be intimidated by a stare.'
(
Sunday Times
, 5 June 1988)

4.
British
to rob, in the argot of the underworld

screw
²
n

1a.
an act of sexual intercourse

1b.
a sexual partner Both usages derive from the verb form.

2.
British
a prison guard. This is the standard term applied to prison officers by inmates since the 19th century. It derives from the archaic use of the same word to mean key. Thus ‘turnscrew', later shortened to screw, was a synonym for ‘turnkey'.

‘A banner was draped from the cell windows reading: Support the screws – Old Bill out.'
(
Guardian
, 31 January 1989)

3.
an income, wage or salary. In this sense, first recorded in the mid-19th century, the word almost invariably occurs as part of the common phrase ‘(on) a good screw'.

screw around
vb

1.
to ‘mess about', behave clumsily, irresponsibly or irresolutely. The phrase, which is particularly popular in the USA, is a milder form of
fuck around/about
.

2.
to behave in a sexually promiscuous way. A more brusque version of ‘sleep around'.

‘Even pre-teens are screwing around these days.'
(Recorded, London student, March 2002)

screw-face
vb
,
n British

(to make) an aggressive grimace (at someone), glare angrily. The expression, probably from black speech, has featured in youth slang from the noughties decade.

Quit screw-facin' me!
I don't like her screw-face.

screwing
n

to be annoyed, angry. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

screw up
vb

a.
to make a mess or mistake, perform ineptly, fail, ruin. This phrase was in predominantly American currency until the late 1960s.

b.
to traumatise, render maladjusted

She claims she's been screwed up by her upbringing.

scrilla
n American

1.
money, cash. A key item of street slang from the early 2000s favoured by hip hop
aficionados and subsequently used by teenagers and on campus, it was popularised by US rapper E-40 and may derive from the word scroll for a length of paper. The following senses are elaborations on the theme of wealth and excellence.

We made mad scrilla on that deal.

2.
skill, power, charisma

They got their scrilla back.

3.
(high-quality) marihuana

scrinchy
adj British

grumpy, bad tempered, angry. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

scripaloids, scripoids, scrippers
n pl British

underpants. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

script
n

a drug prescription. The word has been used since the 1950s by drug users and by the police and some doctors.

I got him to give me a script for methadone.
They were trying to sell some stolen blank scripts.

scrog
vb

to grope. The word can refer to a mock-sexual attack or to consensual petting. It has been recorded among UK armed forces personnel and US adolescents.

‘Did you see them scrogging outside the dorm last night?'
(Recorded, student, North Carolina, 2000)

scrote
n British

a.
a nonspecific term of abuse used, and perhaps invented by Clement and la Frenais in their 1970s TV comedy
Porridge
(set in a prison). It is presumably inspired by scrotum.

‘One man in the West Belfast area said they (British paratroopers) had a nickname for us – it was scrotes… they were young guys and aggressive.'
(
Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995)

b.
a synonym for
crustie
or
smellie
, in use among the homeless, travellers, etc.

scrub
n

defined in 2000 as ‘a useless and worthless male who has huge misconceptions of his own brilliance', the word is part of the hip hop and
rap
lexicon.
Busta
is a synonym.

We don't want no scrubs hittin' on us!
He ain't nothing but a scrub.

scrubber
n British

a coarse, vulgar and/or promiscuous female. This now common term was first heard in the 1920s. ‘Scrub' had been used to mean a shabby or seedy person or a prostitute since the 18th century. Scrubber, like ‘scrub', derives from the notion of having to scrape and forage for food or money, rather than to scrub floors, etc.

scrud
n British

an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. In playground usage since 2000.

scruff
n British

pornography. The term is typically used by males.

scrumming
n British

eating. The word (as a transitive verb ‘scrum' is rare), which is typically used by middle- or upper-class speakers, often denotes voracious or exuberant feeding and is probably inspired by ‘scrumptious'.

As far as I can tell, he's been scrumming nonstop all day.

scrummy
adj British

attractive, delectable, excellent. A blend of ‘scrumptious' and ‘yummy', used particularly by middle-class speakers.

‘Actually, I thought he was rather scrummy really.'
(Recorded, female public relations consultant, London, 1994)

scrump
vb American

to have sex. The verb, which in slang is usually intransitive or in the form ‘scrumping', is inspired by the old term for stealing apples (itself British dialect related to ‘scrounge' and ‘scrimp'), and is perhaps also influenced by other words such as
screw
and ‘rump'.

scrut
n

an ugly or unattractive female. Defined on the Student World website in 2001 as ‘a dirty fat girl'.

scuds
n pl British

underpants. The term has been recorded in use among younger speakers since 2000, and used in cartoons in
Viz
comic.

scuff
vb British

to attack, beat up. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

They scuffed him.
She got scuffed.

scuffer
n British

a police officer. This word (more often heard in the plural) originated in the Liverpool area. It derives from dialect terms
associated with ‘shuffle', ‘scuff' and ‘cuff' (in the sense of a blow).

scumbag
n American

a despicable person. This term of abuse is now widespread and is permitted in the broadcast media, in spite of the fact that its origin, unknown to many of its users, is as an obscene euphemism for condom; ‘scum' being an obsolescent American term for semen. The word was adopted by British speakers around 1985.

‘Even scumbags have rights here in the USA.'
(
Red Heat
, US film, 1988)

scummer
n British

a synonym for
chav
. The term was posted on the b3ta website in 2004.

scummy-mummy
n British

a sluttish and/or negligent and/or unattractive young mother. The facetious coinage is by analogy with the journalese cliché
yummy-mummy
.

scum-sucker
n American

a despicable, contemptible or degenerate person. This word, originally synonymous with
cocksucker
in that ‘scum' is an obsolescent American slang term for semen, is now often used as if it were a milder, euphemistic epithet.

scum-sucking
adj American

disgusting, contemptible. The word is usually employed as a meaningless intensifier in longer terms of abuse. (For the original sense see
scum-sucker
.)

This scum-sucking low-life deserves to die!

scunner
n British

a despicable, traitorous or devious person. This unusual word has spread beyond its origins in Scottish dialect and is occasionally heard throughout the north and Midlands of England.

scuns, scunges, scungies
n pl British

underpants. The variant forms were recorded in 2008.

scutting
n British

having sex. The term was recorded in the Midlands and north of England in 2004, usually in the noun form although occasionally as the transitive or intransitive verb
scut
. It may be an arbitrary coinage, or a dialect term perhaps related to scut meaning the short tail of a rabbit or deer.

All she thinks about is shopping and scutting.

scuttle
vb
,
n British

(to have) sex. The expression is either a euphemistic use of the standard verb meaning to move rapidly (in the 19th century it could also mean sodomise) or originally from ‘scut', a dialect term for the tail or rear of an animal, used since the 17th century for the human rear, too.

a quick scuttle

scuttlebutt
n American

gossip or rumour. The scuttlebutt was a cask or fountain of drinking water on board naval ships, around which news was exchanged.

‘I hear some scuttlebutt says he likes to kick the ladies around.'
(
Night Game
, US film, 1988)

scuzz
n

1a.
American
dirt, seediness, anything distasteful. The word has been widely used since the late 1960s and probably postdates the adjective form
scuzzy
. The word had been picked up by some British speakers by the 1980s.

‘Foul-mouthed critics and their lairs – Old Compton St, the Coach and Horses, Private Eye, The Spectator, Fleet Street Freelancer – the whole scuzz world of journalism is here in black and white (albeit seen through the bottom of a glass).'
(
I-D
magazine, November 1987)

2.
also
scuzzball
or
scuzzbag
or
scuzzo
a disreputable, unpleasant, unattractive or worthless person. A derivative of
scuzzy
which has been popular since the early 1970s.

‘Impeachment: how much of a scuzzball is Hastert?'
(Posted on
Daily Kos
website, 19 June 2005)

scuzzed out
adj

disgusted. A more recent synonym of
grossed out
, based on
scuzzy
and
scuzz
.

scuzz-hole
n

a dirty, unpleasant place

‘K- F- Hotel, Reading. What a scuzz-hole!'
(Online review, November 2004)