Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (166 page)

wark
adj

an alternative spelling of
wayk

warm fuzzies
n American

affection, comfort, friendliness, compliments. A light-hearted phrase from the 1970s, adopted by the business community to denote praise applied deliberately as a motivator. The notion is that of something warm, and perhaps furry, to be nuzzled as a reward or consolation.

warm the bed
vb British

to mobilise personal contacts to ensure a deal. The phrase occurred in the slang of City of London financial traders in the 1990s.

war-paint
n

make-up, female (earlier theatrical) cosmetics. A humorous usage heard all over the English-speaking world since the mid-19th century.

She's next door putting on her war-paint.

wart
n

an irritating, bumptious or unpleasant person. A term often applied by school-children to younger pupils.

wash
n British

crack
. Washing refers to the chemical purifying of cocaine (with ether for instance) for
freebasing
or in order to produce the more potent
crack
.

washed
adj British

foolish, disappointing, incapable, inferior. In its allpurpose derogatory sense the word is heard among teenagers. It probably derives from an earlier usage which described the exhausted, debilitated state following excessive smoking of marihuana.

‘Can't believe Dan did that, man, he's so washed.'
(“Yoofspeak”, Times Educational Supplement, 4 February 2010)

WASP
n

a ‘white Anglo-Saxon Protestant', a member of the traditionally dominant ethnic group in the US establishment. This was probably the first of many acronyms, first denoting ethnic subgroups (such as
JAP
), and later social subcultures (
yuppie
, etc.). The term WASP originated in the 1960s.

waste (someone)
vb

to kill (someone). A euphemism inspired by ‘lay waste'. In the 1950s US street gangs used the word to mean defeat, while criminals used it to mean kill. In the Vietnam War era the term first signified to devastate and then to annihilate and kill someone.

wasted
adj

a.
exhausted, drained of energy

b.
intoxicated by drugs (or, occasionally, alcohol),
stoned
. This is an extension of the sense of to devastate or annihilate (arising in the late 1960s), on the pattern of synonymous terms such as
wrecked
,
smashed
,
blitzed
, etc.

c.
American
penniless, broke. A now obsolescent sense of the term, heard in the 1950s.

wasteman, waste
n British

a worthless, despicable person

water fairies
n pl British

firefighters. The derogatory nickname, suggesting effete and/or pretentious individuals, was bestowed in 2013 by members of other emergency services.
Daffodils
and
drip-stands
are contemporary synonyms.

water sports
n pl

urination as part of sex play. A euphemism from the repertoire of pornographers and prostitutes.

wavy, wavey
adj British

1. cool

2.
‘drunk or high'. The term, recorded in 2010, is used in both senses in street-gang code and by teenagers.

wax (out/up)
vb Australian

to share. The verb, heard in the early 1990s, probably derives from the notion of
whack
, meaning a portion or share. A synonym is
whack-up
.

waxa
n
,
adj See
wackser

wax the dolphin
vb American

(of a male) to masturbate. A humorous euphemism employed by adolescent males since the 1990s.

way!
exclamation

a contradiction of ‘no way!', popularised by the cult US film
Wayne's World
in 1992

way-
combining form

this intensifier, signifying ‘extremely', was fashionable in youth subcultures in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the catchphrase
way-cool

way-cool
adj

admirable, fashionable. A catchphrase whose usage followed the usual course in moving from street subcultures in the early 1980s to pubescent schoolchildren in the mid-1990s.

wayk, wake, wark
adj British

abbreviated forms of the catchphrase term of approbation
way-cool
, in use among teenagers in the later 1990s, often in the form of an exclamation

Wayne
n British

an alternative personification to
Kevin
. Wayne and his female counterpart, usually
Sharon
, supposedly embody crassness, bad taste, etc. Generic epithets deriving from the late 1970s and popular in the 1980s, the names were generally thought to epitomise working-class adolescents or young adults and were used derisively by those who considered themselves socially superior or more sophisticated.
Trev
and
Darren
are more recent versions.

way-out
adj

extreme, excessive, exotic, eccentric. A vogue term first among pre-World War II jazz aficionados, later among
beatniks
. The phrase was picked up by more conventional speakers to refer to unorthodox behaviour and has become a fairly common, if dated expression.

wazoo
n American

the anus. This humorous euphemism, usually used figuratively rather than literally, is most often heard in the phrase ‘up the wazoo'.

I wasn't expecting it but I got it right up the wazoo.

wazz
¹
n British

an act of urination. A variant form of the more common
wizz
.

‘I've got to go for a wazz.'
(London cab driver,
Guardian
, February 1994)

wazz
²
vb British

to urinate. The word also occurs in the phrase ‘it's wazzing (it) down', i.e. it is raining hard.

wazz
³
adj British

inferior, worthless, disappointing. Teenagers have used the term since around 2000.

The stuff they sell is, like, truly wazz.

wazzed
adj British

drunk. A more recent coinage by analogy with
pissed
.

wazzock
n British

a fool, buffoon. A term widespread outside the London area in the late 1990s.

weasel
¹
n

1.
a sly, devious, unprincipled and/or vicious person

2a.
British
a dodge, stratagem or half-truth

2b.
British
a tip, a reward achieved by trickery

The weasel is used as a by-word for deviousness in all English-speaking areas. Historically, even its name embodies this; the Old English
weosule
is related to the Latin
virus
and originally meant a slimy liquid or poison.

weasel
²
vb British

a.
to behave in a devious, sly or underhand way

b.
to carry luggage in order to earn or extract a tip

The verb subsenses are specific instances of the more prevalent notion of untrustworthiness and unscrupulousness associated with the animal.

wedding tackle
n British

the male genitals. A humorous phrase which is an elaboration of the earlier ‘tackle', heard in this context since the 18th century. Wedding tackle is a euphemism which is considered inoffensive enough to be broadcast and printed, as well as used in conversational contexts. It was popular during the 1980s but probably dates from much earlier. (Partridge dates the synonym ‘wedding kit' to 1918.)

wedge
n

money, wealth. In the 18th century wedge specifically referred to silver, which criminals melted down and reconstituted as ‘wedges' (ingots or bars). The term was used throughout the 20th century by working-class speakers, including street traders and criminals. Perhaps unconsciously influenced by
wad
and ‘edge', the word has enjoyed a renewed popularity, like most of its synonyms, in the money-conscious environment of the 1980s.

‘I've come into a bit of wedge.'
(
Budgie
, British TV series, 1971)

wedged(-up)
adj British

financially well-endowed, wealthy or ‘flush'. A racy working-class back-formation from
wedge
, meaning money. Wedged(-up) or ‘well-wedged' were adopted in the
yuppie
era by middle-class speakers.

‘… the senior partner who spends his lunch hours not at a sandwich bar but at a casino, and every so often comes back “wedged up with more than just a round of tuna mayonnaise”.'
(
Sunday Times
, 15 December 1996)

wee
¹
, wee-wee
n

urine or an act of urination. A nursery term in use for the last 90 or so years. The word is an invention, probably influenced by
pee
, ‘wet', the word ‘wee', meaning small (as opposed to
big jobs
), and the sound of urination.

wee
²
, wee-wee
vb

to urinate. An inoffensive nursery term, often used facetiously by adults.

weed, the weed
n

1.
marihuana. The plant
cannabis sativa
, which yields marihuana leaves, grows like a weed in warm dry climates and somewhat resembles nettles.

‘They get a £10 bag of weed and put it all in the spliff, then they get catatonic.'
(
Panorama
, BBC TV, 19 June 2005)

2a.
tobacco. When preceded by ‘the', the word is often used when referring to the harmful nature of the plant and its derivatives.

Back on the weed again?

2b.
a cigarette. A usage popular among American teenagers.

3.
British
a weak, ineffectual person. This usage, beloved of schoolboys in the 1950s and 1960s, is inspired by the visual comparison with a thin etiolated plant.

4. the weed
British
a system of extra, unofficial work or a scheme yielding unofficial or illicit income. This sense of the word, used by workers and fairground employees among others, is probably obsolete now.

-weed
combining form American

a disguised or milder version of
-wad
, attached to the same words, as in
dick-weed
,
puss-weed
, etc.

weedy
adj British

weak and ineffectual

weenie
n American

an alternative spelling of
wienie

weenie-wagger
n American See
wieniewagger

weep!
exclamation British

a cry of pain or (mock) despair ‘…in times of physical exertion' (London student, 2009)

weezer
n American

a weak, eccentric and/or infirm person. The word, perhaps a combination of
wimp
and
geezer
, was adopted as the name of a US rock band in the early 1990s.

weight
n

1.
British
one pound of hashish or marihuana. The drug dealers' and users'
jargon term since the early 1960s; it is a shortening of ‘pound weight'.

He sold them a weight of black.

2.
American
narcotics. The word in this context originally had the sense of a necessary or measured amount, but is often generalised to mean heroin or, more recently, marihuana, cocaine, etc.