Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (167 page)

I need some weight.

weighted off
adj British

imprisoned. This synonym for
sent down
has been recorded in this form since at least the 1980s. In the form ‘weighed off' it is much older, referring to the assessing of the criminal and subsequent passing of the sentence carried out by the judge or prison governor.

weirdie, weirdo
n

a nonconformist, eccentric, a
beatnik
or
hippy
. The terms have been used, typically by disapproving adults, since the end of the 1950s; weirdie was the standard British version (‘bearded weirdie' was an elaboration) until about 1966 when the American equivalent weirdo became more prevalent. The standard English word ‘weird' (from the Old English
wyrd
, meaning fate) not only describes the appearance and behaviour of ‘deviants' but was a vogue word among beatniks themselves, meaning impressive and acceptable as well as bizarre.

weirding
n British

a more recent version of the American
weird
(ing)
out

weird out
vb American

to behave eccentrically, undergo a disturbing change of mood. An extension of the use of ‘weird' in
hipster
,
beatnik
,
hippy
and later teenage parlance, originally frequently used in a drug context, the phrase currently more often refers to unpredictable or temperamental displays by children, parents, etc. To ‘weird someone out' is to disorientate or confuse them.

weisenheimer
n American

a know-all, ‘wise-guy',
wiseacre
or
wiseass
. The word, dating from the first decade of the 20th century, is an elaboration of the standard term ‘wise' into a quasi-German or Yiddish surname (on the lines of Oppenheimer, etc.).

welch, welsh
vb

to fail to repay a loan or wager or to evade another obligation. Now virtually standard English, this term originated as 19th-century racecourse slang inspired by the archaic belief concerning the dishonesty or meanness of the inhabitants of Wales.

I knew he'd welch on the deal.

well
adv British

very. A vogue usage among adolescents and younger schoolchildren since about 1987, from the slang of the streets (used by black
youth
and some white working-class adults) of the earlier 1980s. Typical instances of the word as an intensifier are ‘well good' and ‘well hard'.

well-hung
adj

having large genitals. A vulgarism applied to males (only very rarely used of large female breasts) for at least two hundred years.

‘No male streakers are naff, least of all stupendously well-hung men who invade the pitch at a Test Match and upset Richie Benaud.'
(
The Complete Naff Guide
, Bryson
et al
., 1983)

See also
hung

The pun ‘well-hanged' appeared in Shakespeare in 1610.

wellie
¹
, welly
n British

1a.
force, impetus, power. The word often occurs in the phrase ‘give it some wellie'.

1b.
brute strength, brawn as opposed to brain

‘It was just welly, welly, welly. The ball must have been screaming for mercy.'
(Ron Yates characterising Wimbledon FC's style,
Independent
, May 1989)

2.
a dismissal, the sack, as in ‘get the wellie/the order of the wellie'

3.
a condom. A term from the late 1980s using the name of one piece of protective rubberwear for another. Also known as a
willie-wellie
.

4.
a
green welly

Wellie, as a diminutive of ‘wellington (boot)', became a household word in the 1970s. It was quickly applied to figurative or metaphorical uses of the word or notion of ‘boot', both as a noun and, later, a verb. The first instances of the use of the word have not been definitively identified, although the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly popularised the term, closely followed by several radio disc-jockeys.

wellie
²
vb British

1.
to kick out, dismiss, sack

2.
to defeat, bully or attack

These are back-formations from the noun form of the word, heard since the end of the 1970s.

well-oiled
adj

drunk. A colloquial synonym for
lubricated
.

well on
adj

a.
drunk

b.
intoxicated by drugs

In both senses the euphemism was fashionable in the late 1990s.

welsh
vb British

an alternative spelling of
welch

wenching
n

(of a male) having sexual relations with females. A term typically employed in the UK by adult males but adopted for ironic or jocular use by adolescents.

wenchy, wench
adj American

obnoxious, condescending. Used particularly of and by women, the term is based on a specifically American colloquial sense of ‘wench' as a forward, shameless or troublesome female. (In archaic dialect usage in Britain, the word, deriving from an Old English word for a child, had for several centuries signified a promiscuous or immoral woman.) By 2004 the words were being used in the UK as a generalised term of disapproval.

Wendy
n British

a feeble, ineffectual or contemptible person; a
weed
,
swot
or misfit among schoolchildren. The word was typically applied to schoolboys by their contemporaries in the 1980s. The name is supposed to epitomise ‘girlishness' and, like Tinkerbelle, probably owes its resonance to a character in
Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie.

wet
¹
adj British

1a.
ineffectual, irresolute, feeble or foolish. A characterisation common in service and public-school usage since the early 20th century.

1b.
(of a Tory) having liberal views as opposed to being resolutely ‘Thatcherite'. The schoolboy term began to be applied in 1980 as a term of disapproval to MPs with reservations about the style and substance of the current cabinet policies.

2.
(of a woman) sexually aroused. Also expressed as
damp
.

wet
²
n British

1a.
a weak, irresolute or foolish person

Oh Nigel, you're such a wet!

1b.
a Tory who was not a wholehearted supporter of the policies of Margaret Thatcher. The word was used by the Prime Minister herself in 1980.

2.
an alcoholic drink

get us a wet, will ya

wetback
n American

an illegal immigrant from Latin America. The term refers specifically to those swimming the Rio Grande, the river which forms the Mexican–US border. It dates from the 1940s.

wet scene
n American

a gory killing. An item of police and secret-service jargon of the 1970s.

‘hellacious wet scene'
(Jonathon Kellerman,
Over the Edge
, 1987)

wetter
n British

a knife when carried or used as a weapon. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003, so called because the blood wets the blade.

wettin'
n British

running. Used in street-gang code and its imitations since around 2010.

whablow
exclamation British

a vogue greeting originating among black youth around 2000, but recently more widespread

whack
¹
n

1.
British
a quantity or portion. The word is imitative of a slapping or smacking (down); here used in the sense of dumping or depositing spoils onto a table or other surface.

He insisted on his full whack.

2.
American
a contract killing. A variant of
hit
.

3.
heroin. A later variant form of
smack
.

4.
American
a
whacky
person.

See also
wack
¹

whack
²
vb American

to kill. A racier and more recent coinage based on the well-established use of
hit
in this sense.

whacked
adj

a.
abnormal, deviant, crazy

b.
unpleasant, unacceptable A more recent version of
whacky
and
wack
.

whacker
n

1.
a
whacky
person, an irresponsible or eccentric individual

2.
an alternative spelling of
wack
or
wacker

whacko, wacko
n, adj

(someone who is) crazed, eccentric, insane. This racier version of the colloquial
whacky
has been heard since the mid-1970s. It was popularised by press references to the singer Michael Jackson as ‘Wacko Jacko'.

We got enough to handle without her going whacko on us.

whack off
vb

to masturbate. A vulgarism heard all over the anglophone world. Like many synonymous terms it employs the notion of striking or slapping.

whack-up
vb

to share, apportion. The phrase is heard particularly in Australian speech.

whacky, wacky
adj

crazed, eccentric, insane. This now widespread colloquialism seems to have originated in northern English dialect meaning a fool (either by analogy with ‘slap-happy' or as an imitation of ‘quacking' speech). The word was particularly popular in the 1980s.

‘The Wacky Patent of the Month is devoted to recognising selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional inventions.'
(
www.colitz.com
, June 2005)

whacky baccy
n

marihuana. A humorous nickname from
whacky
(eccentric or crazy) and
baccy
(tobacco).

whagwan?, whatagwan?, wha's gwanin?
exclamation British

a vogue greeting (a dialectal version of the bonding catchphrase ‘what's going on?') originating among black youth around 2000, but recently more widespread

whale
n See
play the whale

whale-tail
n

a thong visible above the rear waistline of clothing worn by a female

wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am
n

a catchphrase used to characterise a brusque, cursory sexual act. The expression was heard among American servicemen in World War II (probably adopted from cowboy parlance). Currently the phrase is most often employed disapprovingly by feminists and others to describe a selfish or boorish male attitude to sex.

I was hoping for something interesting or exciting, but it was just wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am.

whammers, wammers
n pl British

female breasts. An adolescent vulgarism heard in the late 1980s.

whammy, the whammie
n American

a supernatural power, spirit or curse, responsible for punishment or retribution. A fanciful evocation, adapting the colloquial term ‘wham', imitative of a heavy blow. The word is sometimes part of the phrase ‘to put the whammy on (someone or something)'.

‘Sarge, you got the whammy on me!'
(
Bilko
, US TV series, 1957)

whang, whanger
n

the penis. These are earlier (and still current) spellings of
wang
and
wanger
.

whap
vb American See
whop