Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (15 page)

1.
a complaint or grudge. This use of the word has occurred in American English since the early years of the 20th century, originating in the speech of criminals, pugilists and marginals, etc. Since the 1940s British speakers have also employed it and it has become a vogue term in youth slang since 2000. The relationship between this sense of the word and its literal meaning is not clear; the colloquial notion of ‘brawn' may be involved.

‘I just wanna tell you, I got no beef about last night.'
(
Miami Vice
, US TV series, 1987)

2.
British
a fight. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003, based on the older colloquial sense of beef as a grudge or complaint.

There was beef.

beef
²
vb

1.
to complain. In the 19th-century language of street sellers, and later in the theatre, beef was associated with shouting, yelling and hence complaining. By the early 20th century the word was in use in the USA in the sense of a grudge or complaint, but it is unclear whether the usages are related.

2.
American
to
fart
. The usage may be inspired by the rhyme or pun on ‘beef-heart' (a meat product).

beef (someone)
vb

to have sex with. A vulgarism in use all over the English-speaking world. Beef has had sexual connotations, deriving from its use as a synonym for flesh, for hundreds of years. Since the 1980s, the verb to
pork
is more common.

beef bayonet
n

the penis. A humorous euphemism on the lines of
mutton dagger
, etc. The phrase was first popularised in Britain by Barry Humphries'
Barry McKenzie
comic strip in the satirical magazine
Private Eye
in the 1960s.

beef curtains
n pl

the female genitals. A late 1980s vogue term among some male teenagers, particularly those affecting ‘street credibility'.

‘Man, look at the beef curtains. Yeah, the blonde one, know what I mean.'
(Recorded, youth, Baker Street station, London, 1985)

beer goggle(s)
n

impaired judgment and/or vision due to intake of alcohol. A term popular among students and other drinkers since the mid-1990s.

I copped off with a right munter – I was wearing the beer goggles
.

beer-tokens
n pl British

one-pound coins or money in general, in the argot of students and other adolescents since the late 1980s. ‘Beer-vouchers' is an alternative form.

bees 'n' honey
n British

money
. A piece of London rhyming slang which, while never being a popular term, is still heard occasionally.

bee-stings
n pl

small female breasts. A jocular term employed by both sexes.

beetin'
adj

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

beetle
vb British

to hurry. A dated colloquialism revived by
Sloane Rangers
in the early 1980s. It is inspired of course by the scuttling of the insects.

I had to beetle along to Jonty's before lunch
.

beevo(s)
n American

beer. A college students' term probably distantly related, via ‘beverage', to the British
bevvy
. The fact that the Czech word for beer is
pivo
may be coincidental.

beezy
n American

bitch
. The term was in use on campus in 2010.

be geese
vb American

to leave, hurry away, disappear. From the argot of
rappers
and
hip hop
enthusiasts, the phrase may be an alteration of
ghost
.

Yo, we be geese.

beggar
vb
,
n

a euphemism for (to)
bugger
(except in the ‘respectable' idioms ‘beggar the imagination' or ‘beggar description' when the meaning is to render impoverished or surpass)

beggar's velvet
n American

another term for
dust bunny

begging
n British

‘talking rubbish'. Used in street-gang code and its imitations since around 2010.

begiggidy
adj American

excited, ‘giddy'. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

Is she getting all begiggidy over that stud?

begonias
n pl American

female breasts. The term is coined by analogy with other multi-syllable synonyms beginning with the letter ‘b', such as
bazumas
and
bazungas
.

behind with the rent
adj

homosexual (of a male). The phrase, which is rhyming slang for sense
2
of
bent
, has been heard in London since at least 2000.

beige
¹
adj American

dull, boring, insipid. A vogue term in the affected slang of West Coast adolescents, heard since the 1980s. It may have originated as a
gay
disparagement of
straight
taste in decor, clothing, etc.

beige
²
n British

a boring, unstylish person. An insult by younger speakers, defined in comedian Alex Horne's Wordwatching project as ‘a nothing person'.

bell
vb
,
n British

(to make) a telephone call (to someone). A working-class usage which has become almost universal since the 1970s in the form ‘give someone a bell' or, more racily, ‘bell someone'. It is also in Australian use.

‘I got a bell from old Milward yesterday.'
(Recorded, businessman, London, 1988)

bell-end
¹
n British

the (tip of the) penis. A vulgarism popularised by
Viz
comic.
Helmet
is a synonym.

‘He's scared to get his bell-end out!'
(
Away The Lads
, BBC 2 TV documentary, February 1993)

bell-end
²
, bell-ender
n British

a stupid and/or obnoxious person. The terms refer to the tip of the penis.

belligerent
adj American

drunk. An item of campus slang recorded in 2011.

bells and whistles
n pl

embellishments to a product service or performance, especially when eye-catching but superfluous. A long-standing item of business slang.

bellyflop
n

a.
a shallow dive, landing stomach-first on water

b.
an ignominious or total failure

belter
n

something wonderful, excellent or exciting. An expression of enthusiasm, heard predominantly in the north of England, which can be applied equally to a girlfriend, a car, party, etc. This noun derives from the colloquial senses of the verb ‘to belt', denoting thrashing, speeding, etc.

Just look at her. She's a right belter isn't she
?

belting, beltin'
adj British

excellent, exciting. A synonym for the more common
blindin'
popular among
chavs
in 2005.

ben, benner
n British

a £10 note or the sum of ten pounds

bender
n

1.
a bout of heavy drinking, a riotous spree. The term may have originated in North America in the mid-19th century when ‘hell-bender' meant any event or spectacle which was outrageous, aggressive or exciting. An alternative derivation is from
bend the elbow
. In its narrower sense of an unrestrained spree, the word was introduced in Britain at the end of the 19th century.

‘When his marriage collapsed, Dick went on a four-day bender.'
(Recorded, business executive, London, 1986)

2.
British
a homosexual. A term of contempt, originally for a passive male homosexual who supposedly
bends over
. The term is now probably heard less frequently than in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

‘It's not every day that a man wakes up to find he's a screaming bender!'
(
Blackadder II
, BBC TV comedy, 1988)

3.
British
a makeshift shelter. The word derives from the ‘bender tents' used by gypsies or other travellers and made by stretching cloth or tarpaulin over bent-over saplings. It was brought into common currency by the women peace protesters camped outside the US base at Greenham Common in the mid-1980s.

bendered
adj British

drunk. A back-formation from the older noun
bender
, used by students since 2000.

bend one
vb

to have sex. A vulgarism used typically by and about males since around 2000.

I was bending one and she just lost interest
.

bend over, bend down
vb

a.
to invite or submit to
buggery
. A euphemism popular among all social classes in Britain in the 1960s and early 1970s.

‘He'd bend over on Blackfriars Bridge for ten bob.'
(Recorded, public schoolboy, London, 1970)

b.
to yield or submit to abuse or attack, by extension from the first sense. A term popular among businessmen in the 1980s. This may be a shortening of the phrase ‘bend over backwards' and is a more brusque version of ‘take it lying down'.

‘I'm certainly not going to bend over for them.'
(Recorded, company director responding to takeover attempt, London, 1988)

See also
BOHICA

bend the elbow
vb

to drink alcohol. A hearty euphemism used by habitués of bars all over the English-speaking world since the 19th century.

Benjamin
n American

a.
a one hundred dollar note, from the image of Benjamin Franklin thereon

b. Benjamins
money in general

Man he's really rakin' in the Benjamins. ‘When I'm rollin' in the Benjamins I will throw you and your dog a bone.'
(
School of Rock
, US film, 2003)

bennie
n

a tablet of Benzedrine, a trademark for a variety of amphetamine used and abused from the 1940s to the 1960s

bennin
adj British

in a state of helpless laughter. A synonym for
creasing
, used in street-gang code and its imitations since around 2010.

When he told us how much he made on the deal we woz bennin.

Benny, Bennie
n British

a foolish, clumsy person, misfit. The name of a slow-witted male character (played by Paul Henry) in the long-running TV soap opera
Crossroads
was adopted as a nickname for unfortunate males and lasted into the late 1990s. The word became notorious when it was applied by British servicemen to inhabitants of the Falkland Islands in 1983.

See also
throw a Bennie

bent
adj

1a.
criminal, crooked, dishonest. This usage has been widespread in Britain at least since the beginning of the 20th century. It is still used by the police to refer to anyone who is not
straight
, and by criminals and others to refer to corrupt police officers (often by the cliché phrase ‘a bent copper' – ‘bent coppers' were damaged coins that could not be used in public lavatories in the 1950s and 1960s). A more colourful embroidery sometimes heard in Britain is ‘bent as a butcher's hook'.

‘Remember, this happened in the 1960s when many detectives were bent.'
(Former detective quoted in
Inside the Brotherhood
, Martin Short, 1989)

1b.
stolen, forged

a bent motor

2.
sexually deviant, homosexual. A common term in Britain, mainly in working-class usage, since the 1940s. A London variant popular in the 1960s was ‘as bent as a nine bob note' (a nonexistent, obviously forged denomination).

3.
American
drunk or under the influence of drugs. This usage is rather archaic, but the longer ‘bent out of shape' is still heard among college students and
preppies
.

4.
American
angry, furious. This seems to be an armed-forces term in origin. It is also more usual in the form ‘bent out of shape'.

beresk
adj

berserk, out of control. A humorous corruption perhaps inspired by a genuinely mistaken pronunciation, or possibly by the influence of ‘bereft'. An alternative is ‘besrek'. Both forms have been heard, mainly among middle-class speakers in Britain and Australia – students and rugby players are typical users – since the early 1970s.

berifta
n
,
adj

(something) disappointing, depressing. The word may be a deformation of, or influenced by ‘bereft'. It seems to have operated as an antonym of the equally mysterious
bifta
in the speech of middle-class adults since 2000.