Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (174 page)

1.
nothing. Originally often used for a score of zero, the sound of zip evokes brusque dismissal. It has become a fashionable term in racy speech, as have its synonyms, such as
zilch
and
zippo
. Originating in the USA, zip is now heard in the UK.

2.
also
zippy
an insignificant or worthless individual. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000. From the previous sense.

zip it
vb

to shut up, keep quiet. A shortening of

zip one's lip
.

‘Zip it, Fred!'
(
All of Me
, US film, 1984)

zip one's lip
vb

to shut up, keep quiet. A racier update of
button one's lip
, typically used as a brusque instruction.

zippo
n

nothing. An embellished form of
zip
in the sense of zero. Zippo, originally an Americanism, is now heard elsewhere (albeit less often than
zip
).

‘I checked and re-checked and got zippo.'
(
Hooperman
, US TV series, 1986)

zit
n

a spot or skin blemish. This Americanism has become well established in British usage since the later 1980s, featuring for instance in a TV commercial for anti-acne cream using the slogan ‘blitz those zits!'. The etymology of the word is obscure.

zizz
vb
,
n

(to) sleep or rest, nap. A British coinage dating from the 1920s. The word echoes the sound of light snoring or susurration associated with sleep.

zlub
n American

an alternative form of
slob

zod
n American

a dullard, fool, nonentity. A 1980s teenage term of unknown provenance.

zoftig, zophtic, zaftig
adj American

pleasing, luxuriant, voluptuous, succulent. The words are Yiddish forms of zaftig, originally meaning ‘juicy', from the German
saft
, meaning juice. The expression was extended to refer admiringly or lasciviously to women, before acquiring the general sense of pleasurable or satisfactory.

zoid
n

a foolish, clumsy or despised person. This teenage expression is an invention, probably influenced by such terms as
zomboid
and ‘bozoid'. It originated in the USA, but by the late 1980s was heard in British schools, usually denoting a misfit.

zombie
n

1.
a dull, vacuous or inert person

2.
a UFO or a rogue or unidentified object or signal

Both senses derive from the voodoo walking-dead of Haitian folklore.

zombified
adj

a.
tired

b.
uncoordinated, incoherent

In both senses the word is common among adolescents in all English-speaking areas.

zomboid
adj

dull, stupid, inert or intoxicated. A coinage from
zombie
using the ‘pathological' suffix
-oid
.

‘I mean any man who more-or-less turns the American genocide squad into a bunch of nodding, scratching hepatitic zomboids can't be all bad.'
(Hashish dealer quoted in
IT
magazine, July 1972)

zoned, zoned out
adj

stoned, spaced out
, semi-conscious. Originally a piece of US drug-users' jargon, the word may now be employed in a non-narcotic context to mean worn out.

zone out
vb

to lose consciousness or concentration, to become intoxicated. A drug users' expression related to the notion of
spaced out
and perhaps influenced by the mythical ‘twilight zone'. The term has become generalised for use in more innocuous contexts.

‘I didn't really notice – I guess I must have been zoning out.'
(Recorded, American subeditor, London, 1989)

zonked, zonko
adj

intoxicated, overwhelmed, stunned. Zonked began as a term evoking the result of a blow to the head (a ‘zonk', similar to a
bonk
), referring to the effects of drink or drugs. The word is now in widespread use and may refer to more innocent sensations such as surprise or exhaustion.

‘I was zonked on enormous quantities of drug cocktails. Once you're on those things it's almost impossible to get off them.'
(Former patient in a psychiatric hospital referring to his treatment,
Time Out
, February 1988)

zoob, zoobrick, zubrick
n

the penis. The several forms of the word are all derived from the Arabic slang (in which there are variant forms, usually rendered as
zob
or
zip
).

zooley
n British

a promiscuous female. Used by young adults and teenagers at Redbridge College, Essex, in 2010.

zoom
n

an amphetamine (
speed
) or cocaine. A drug abuser's nickname. The term refers to the exhilarating
rush
experienced by those using these stimulants.

zoot
n

a.
marihuana

b.
a marihuana cigarette,
spliff

It is not clear whether the word as used since 2000 is a back-formation from
zooted
or an archaic usage revived for a new generation. The term was posted on the b3ta website in 2004.

zooted
adj American

intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. The coinage, probably influenced by
toot
and perhaps
zonked
or
zoned (out)
, appeared in the 1980s, originally seemingly referring specifically to the effects of cocaine.

zophtic
adj American

an alternative spelling of
zoftig

‘A pill and a cup of coffee and Im [sic] being already zophtic so who's complaining.'
(
Requiem for a Dream
, Hubert Selby Jr, 1979)

zos
n South African

food. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995.

zotz
¹
n American

nothing. A synonym for
zip
and
zilch
, used in the
Prizzi
novels by Richard Condon.

zotz
²
vb American

to destroy, kill. ‘Zot' was an earlier word for a short, sharp blow.

‘Are we just going to wait until one more hooker gets zotzed?'
(
I Love A Man In Uniform
, Canadian film, 1994)

zow
n South African

a yokel or an oaf. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995.

z's
n American

sleep. From the use of ‘z' to indicate the rasping sound of snores, hence sleep, in cartoons. The word, when pronounced in the American way, is usually part of phrases such as ‘grab/cop some z's'.

zucchini
n American

the penis. This Italian term for courgettes is also used throughout North America to refer to the vegetable in its singular form. In addition to its culinary usage, it is also a fairly widespread jocularism for the male member.

zulu
n
,
adj British

(a person who is) black. A term of abuse current, for instance, in the army in the 1980s.

'zup?
question form
,
exclamation American

an abbreviated form of ‘what's up?'. This greeting or question was fashionable in teenage speech of the 1990s.

aaarrrggghhh

bally

Big L

bovvered

braap

bredder

campet

cant

CBA

chenzed

creps

devo'd

dinlo

fake slang

family slang

fan fiction

feen

froggle

gimbo

glicther

granny slang

hamstered

Hinglish

hip hop

hollage

jinelz

ledge

like

luka

meg

Mephedrone

MLE

moist

…, much?

nang

neek

out of pocket

prison slang

SOZ

steroids

teek

trek

wallad

wasteman

WFIO

WFIO

First published in Great Britain 1990
Paperback published 1991
Second edition published 1997
Paperback published 1999
Third edition published 2005
(Paperback edition published 2007; reprinted 2009)
Fourth edition published 2014

This electronic edition published 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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© Tony Thorne 1990, 1997, 2005, 2014

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Electronic ISBN: 978-1-4081-8180-5

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