Read Dictionary of Contemporary Slang Online
Authors: Tony Thorne
âHe'd been having the trade back and finally his landlady said “You've been bringing people back, haven't you?”. She looked disapproving.'
(Kenneth Williams, quoted in Joe Orton's Diary, 25 April 1967)
tradesmen's entrance
n British
the anus. A vulgar euphemism often used jocularly, dating from the 1940s when even middle-class houses might have a rear or side entrance for hawkers, deliveries, etc.
tragic
adj
1.
disappointing, unattractive
2.
embarrassingly and/or reassuringly unfortunate
Peter Andre's chart career? Tragic.
In its slang sense the word is an intensified successor to
sad
.
trailer-trash
n American
(a member of) the white underclass. The phrase became fashionable in the later 1990s, both to denigrate poor whites of the sort who are characteristically forced to live in trailer-parks and to describe a fashion for cheap, garish and kitsch accessories. A synonym for poor
white trash
.
train
n
an act of serial sexual intercourse. The word is usually used as part of a phrase such as âdo a train (on someone)'.
trainspotter
n British
an unfashionable, excessively earnest, unattractive individual. The phrase, originally referring to hobbyists who collect train numbers, became a vogue term as a synonym for
anorak
and
nerd
in the mid-1990s, before being used as the title of Irvine Welsh's cult novel,
Trainspotting
.
train surfing
n
joy-riding on the top or outside of mainline or underground trains. A lethal teenage prank of the 1980s in the USA and, more recently, Britain.
tramp
adj British
inferior, inadequate, shabby. An allpurpose pejorative, formed from the noun, in use particularly amongst younger schoolchildren since the later 1990s.
â⦠this is a tramp school anyway.'
(Truanting schoolboy interviewed in the
Sunday Times
, 27 October 1996)
trampling
n
dancing, especially energetically. The term was used by clubbers and salsa aficionados in the UK in 2004.
tramp stamp
n
a tattoo at the base of a female's lower back. The phrase was used in reference to the TV celebrity
Cheryl Cole
by the
Daily Mail
newspaper on 26 November 2010.
Slag tag
is a less common equivalent in British usage.
tranks, tranqs, trancs, tranx
n pl
tranquillisers. The abbreviations are employed by drug abusers rather than the estimated three million people in Britain suffering from dependency on prescribed drugs.
tranny, trannie
n British
1.
a transistor radio. An abbreviated form which has survived beyond the dated full phrase from the 1960s.
âRecords were less affordable in those days (a “trannie” and Radio Caroline being the nearest thing to free music).'
(Maureen Nolan and Roma Singleton,
Very Heaven
, 1988)
2a.
a transsexual
2b.
a transvestite
Both shortenings were part of the
gay
lexicon of the 1980s.
3.
a (photographic) transparency. This is particularly popular in the parlance of designers and publishers.
4.
a transport café
5.
a Ford Transit van. Formerly the means of transport for many (humbler) pop groups.
trashed
adj American
drunk. A teenage and
preppie
term on the familiar lines of
destroyed, smashed
, etc.
âI'm getting trashed, man. Isn't that what you're supposed to do at a party?'
(
10 Things I Hate About You
, US film, 1999)
trashed out
adj American
exhausted. A popular phrase among teenagers and students since the 1970s. The term recalls synonyms such as âshattered' or
wrecked
.
travel agent
n British
a street drug dealer, in the argot of criminals and prisoners: recorded in 2010
tray
adv See
très tray-bits, the
n Australian
an attack of diarrhoea. A âtray-bit' is a British term for a threepenny piece from the turn of the 20th century (from
parlyaree
; â-tray' is from the Italian for three,
tre
). The phrase was adopted in Australia as rhyming slang for
the shits
. Widespread in the 1950s, the expression is now obsolescent.
TR; DL
phrase
a dismissal of a verbal or broadcast sequence considered too long and/or boring or incoherent. The letters, which are sometimes spoken, stand for âtoo rambley; didn't listen', coined by analogy with the pre-existing
TL; DR
. (A colon is sometimes preferred to the semi-colon.).
treach
adj
a
hip hop
term of approbation. Its origins are uncertain, but it is probably a shortening of âtreacherous', by analogy with
wicked
and
bad
.
âThis month's music selections are frightfully def, totally treach and all those other hip hop clichés.'
(
I-D
magazine, November 1987)
treads
n pl British
shoes, trainers. The term was posted on the b3ta website in 2004.
treat
vb American
to seduce. An item of black street slang of the 1990s.
tree
n American
cannabis, marihuana. A predictable borrowing of the word by college students and others, perhaps influenced by the earlier use of
bush
.
tree-hugger
n American
an environmentalist or green activist. A derogatory term which featured in the 1992 Montana State Election debate. Synonyms are
prairie-fairy, eagle freak
, etc.
trek
vb
,
n British
(to go on) a long and tedious journey. See box on next page.
Researchers into youth slang will know that in nearly every batch of new expressions offered up as the latest teen lingo, there are one or two which are not really slang at all. This is because most of the younger generation are not familiar with them and don't realise that they are standard English: also, to be fair, because they sound and look exotic, possibly subversive, to the uninitiated.
Trek, used more or less in its original sense is a popular feature of playground complaints â the moaners probably don't know much Afrikaans (from which we got the word), and even
Star Trek the Prequel
is a distant memory. Other examples of the same phenomenon are
luka
or
lookah
, used by some London kids to mean money, which seems like multiethnic dialect but is really the picturesque old phrase âfilthy lucre' after a makeover.
Burly
, which one user explained as a blend of beautiful and
gnarly
, expresses admiration for a tough-looking male, and
reek
, used in its literal sense, as in âBen's room really reeks', is also considered a really cool novelty.
Man we been trekkin' for hours!
From her endz to ours is a trek.
trembler
n British
a burglar alarm. This example of the jargon of cat burglars was recorded in
FHM
magazine in April 1996.
très
adv
very. The French word is used for comic effect, e.g. âtrès cool'.
Trev
n British
an unfashionable, crass male. Defined by one user as âa loser boy'. Like
Darren
, a more recent synonym for
Kevin
and
Wayne
.
trews
n pl See
troos
trey-bits, the
n Australian
an alternative spelling of
the trays, the tray-bits
tribal chieftain
n British
an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. An elaboration of the earlier
chief
, in playground usage since 2000.
trick
1
n
1a.
a prostitute's client
âSandy had invited two girlfriends to live with them who gave Ordell “rent money”, twenty per cent of what they made entertaining tricks, so it wasn't like Ordell was pimping.'
(Elmore Leonard,
The Switch
, 1978)
1b.
a session or transaction between a prostitute and client
These senses of the word have been current in the USA since the first decade of the 20th century. They derive from the notion of an entertainer's âturn' or stratagem. Trick has appeared in British English since World War II, often in the phrases âon a trick' or
turn a trick
.
2.
American
a promiscuous female. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.
Mary slept with the whole team; she's
such a trick.
trick
2
vb American
to sell sexual favours for money. This derivation from the noun form has not crossed the Atlantic.
Whenever she runs out of dope she goes out tricking.
trick
3
adj
a.
fancy, attractive and sophisticated. A 1980s term used by enthusiasts in fields where high technology is admired.
âA legendary homemade speed machine dominated the bike park last summer: a Kawasaki-powered, Harris-framed, turbo-charged, nitrous oxide-assisted rocket. To bikers, this bike is “trick”, very trick.'
(
Independent
, 6 April 1988)
b.
attractive, fashionable. From the mid-1990s the term was adopted by adolescents as a synonym for
cool
. The phrase âtotally trick' was used in a TV advertisement for plastic toy effigies of the âButt-ugly Martian' cartoon characters in April 2001.
trick (out)
vb American
to decorate, embellish, customise. The term has been in vogue in
hip hop
culture and among car and motorcycle enthusiasts since the 1990s.
trick cyclist
n
a psychiatrist. A humorous alteration of the standard word, evoking, like
shrink
, a suspicious contempt for the profession. The phrase was first heard in the 1930s.
âThey are suspicious of the “trick cyclist” (nearly every policeman I have met uses the phrase to describe psychiatrists).'
(
Town
magazine, March 1964)
trickified
adj Caribbean
cunning, crafty
tricksy, trixie
adj
,
n
(behaving like) an ostentatious, pretentious or otherwise obnoxious female,
flossie
. The term is used by females of those they disapprove of.
triff
adj British
terrific, wonderful, exciting. This shortening, like the more widespread
brill
, became a vogue term among teenagers in the 1980s.
trill, trilla
adj American
worthy of respect, tough,
cool
. A key word in the repertoire of
hip hop
aficionados, it is a blend of true and real. The term has featured in lyrics by rappers Bun B, A$AP Rocky and Paul Wall.
trill is when you keep it real
keep it trilla
trim
vb American
to kill. The term was employed in the US film,
Plain Clothes
, in 1988.
trimmed
adj
cheated, swindled. In the parlance of gamblers the word implies the neat removal of a dupe's (excess) money or winnings.
trip
n
1a.
an experience of a âpsychedelic' drug such as LSD. A typical LSD trip would last around 6â8 hours, during which time the user would undergo profound sensory and psychological changes. The image evoked is that of an âinward journey'.
âLeary himself has been on over 300 trips although he has abstained for nearly a year.'
(
Sunday Times
colour supplement, 1 January 1967)
1b.
a single dose, tablet or capsule of LSD
2.
a state of mind, state of affairs or personal experience. The original 1960s counterculture sense of an LSD experience was soon broadened to encompass these meanings. The word was used in a variety of subsenses, in expressions such as âa guilt trip' (a bout of remorse), âlay a trip on someone' (subject someone to one's own preoccupation, obsession or problem), âa heavy trip' (a devastating or oppressive experience) or âon one's own trip' (preoccupied with oneself or introverted).
trip (out)
vb
to experience the effects of LSD or a similar hallucinogenic drug. The term was coined in California in the early 1960s to describe the period (often around 8 hours) under the influence of the drug wherein one is âtransported on an inner voyage'.