Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (20 page)

‘“Does that mean you're blocked out of your mind on stage?”
“It means we're blocked out of our minds all the time”.'
(Pete Townshend of The Who, interviewed on the television programme
A Whole Scene Going
, 1966)

bloke
n

a man. The most widespread slang term in Britain and Australia from the 1950s, when it superseded ‘chap' and ‘fellow', to the 1970s, when ‘guy' began to rival it in popularity amongst younger speakers. The exact origin of the word is mysterious. It seems to have entered working-class slang from vagrants' jargon; either from Shelta, the Irish travellers' secret language, or from Romany. Romany has a word,
loke
, which is derived from the Hindustani for a man; in Dutch
blok
means a fool. Whatever its ultimate origin, bloke entered British usage early in the 19th century and is still thriving in colloquial speech.

‘I went into the boozer the other day and there was this bloke I hadn't seen for 25 years.'
(William Donaldson,
Independent
, 26 August 1989)

blonde
adj

slow-witted, vapid, scatterbrained. The pejorative use followed the rash of jokes which circulated internationally from around 1999, based on the supposed vacuity of blonde females and reinforced by Hollywood comedies such as
Legally Blonde
. ‘Blondespeak', recorded in 2004, denotes simplified language as supposedly used by or to blondes.

Don't be so blonde!
That was real blonde
.

blonks
n

a heavily-built person, typically referring, e.g., to club bouncers. Used in street-gang code and its imitations since around 2010.

blood
n American

a term of endearment or address used by black men to fellow males, it is a shortening of ‘blood brother', or a version of ‘young blood' as applied to tribal warriors. By 2005 it was a common greeting among youths in East London, usually pronounced ‘blad'.

blood-house
n Australian

a squalid, disreputable establishment, usually a bar, pub, café or hotel. The term probably arose in the 19th century. An East London theatre specialising in gory melodramas was nicknamed ‘The Blood-hole' in the late 1800s.

blood in the elevator
n

evidence of a struggle for professional supremacy. An item of corporate and political slang.

blood on the floor
n

evidence that a serious conflict has taken place. An item of corporate and political slang.

blood on the stairs
n

evidence of a struggle for professional supremacy. An item of corporate and political slang.

blood on the walls
n

evidence that a savage conflict has taken place. An item of corporate and political slang.

bloody
adj British

an intensifying adjective which is now considered fairly mild, but which was held to be taboo in many circles until the later 1960s. The standard folk etymology is from the oath ‘by our lady', but the word is more probably a simple extension of the literal meaning.

blooper
n American

a mistake, blunder. A coinage influenced by ‘bloomer'.

‘TV Censored Bloopers.'
(US TV programme featuring humorous out-takes from films and TV series, 1988)

blooter
n British

a failure, mess, an instance of excessive behaviour. The origin of the word is unclear, but it is presumably related to ‘bloomer' and
blooper
.

blootered
adj British

drunk. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England, and is perhaps influenced by the noun
blooter
or by
blotto
.

blot
n Australian

the anus. One of many Australian vulgarisms for this.

blotto
adj

drunk. The word appeared around 1905. It implies that the person in question has soaked up alcohol in the manner of blotting paper.

blow
¹
vb American

1.
to leave, go suddenly. A shortening of ‘blow away'.

I better blow town before the cops come looking for me.

2.
to perform fellatio (upon someone). In this sense the term may either derive from
blow job
or may be the source of that expression.

‘Who blew and were blown by those human seraphim, the sailors, caresses of Atlantic and Caribbean love.'
(
Howl
, poem by Allen Ginsberg, 1956)

3a.
to smoke. In this sense the verb is typically used by devotees of cannabis.

Let's get together and blow a couple of numbers
.

3b.
to sniff,
snort
. A cocaine (and occasionally amphetamine) users' term for inhalation.

4.
to be repellent. A rarer synonym of to
suck
, heard among school and college students.

‘“Nice party, Dorothy.”
“It blows.”'
(Valentine, US film, 2001)

5.
to play a musical instrument (not necessarily a wind instrument) in
hip
talk

blow
²
n

1a.
cannabis for smoking (hashish or marihuana). A drug users' term.

1b.
tobacco. A usage encountered especially in the speech of prison inmates. Both instances are based on the use of the verb to
blow
to mean smoke.

2.
cocaine. The use of blow to mean cocaine spread from the USA to Britain in the later 1970s.

From the slang use of the verb to
blow
to mean both inhale and consume.

blow (someone) away
vb

to kill someone, especially by shooting them. A widespread euphemism originally in American underworld and military usage.

blower, the
n British

a telephone. A slang term which was common by the 1940s and is still heard. It may originate in ‘blow' as an archaic term meaning ‘to talk', or from the habit of blowing into an old telephone mouthpiece before speaking.

Get Nelson on the blower, will you
.

blowfurt, blowfoot, blue foot
n British

a white person who affects black mannerisms, clothing, etc. A highly pejorative term of uncertain derivation used by black teenagers in the early 1990s; it may originate in Caribbean patois. Mild disapproval is indicated by the more widespread
wigga
.

blowhard
n

a pompous and/or aggressive person, a blusterer. The term seems to have arisen in American speech but is now heard in all English-speaking regions.
Puff-bucket
is a near synonym.

blowin'
adj

angry or annoyed. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003.

blow-in
n Australian

a newcomer and/or interloper. The noun, usually referring to an unwelcome visitor, is based on the colloquial verb ‘to blow in' meaning to arrive unexpectedly.

I've got enough to do without having to deal with bloody blow-ins
.

blow job
n

an act of fellatio. This term, now widespread in English-speaking countries, spread from the USA in the 1960s. A puzzling misnomer to many, to
blow
in this context is probably a euphemism for ejaculate, a usage occasionally recorded in the 1950s. This may itself be influenced by the ‘there (s)he blows' of whaling cliché. An alternative and equally plausible derivation of blow job is from the black jazz musicians'
hip
talk expression
blow
, meaning to play (an instrument). This term probably caught on in Britain and Australia simply because there was no well-known alternative in existence.

blown away
adj

1.
killed. A cold-blooded euphemism on the same lines as
dusted
.

2.
(pleasurably) surprised, ‘transported',
gobsmacked

blown out
adj

1.
American
tired, exhausted or hung over. A high-school and
preppie
term probably adapted from the following sense.

2.
American
intoxicated or euphoric after taking drugs,
high
. This use is still heard, but less commonly than during the
hippy
era.

3.
American
ruined, failed. Used typically of an event or an opportunity.

4.
full of food, gorged. From the verb to
blow out
.

5.
rejected, cast aside, expelled. From the verb to
blow out
.

Her past is littered with the corpses of blown out lovers.

blown-up
adj American

a.
excessive, impressive. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

That party sure was blown-up; there must've been two hundred people there.

b.
strong, powerful

Man that spliff was blown-up.

blow off
vb

1.
British
to
fart
. A children's term of the 1950s which was revived in the 1980s.

‘We were right in the middle of the restaurant and Kitty blew off in front of them all.'
(Recorded, father, London, 1986)

2.
American
to reject, get rid of someone or something. A less common variant of
blow out
.

3.
American
to absent oneself, avoid, waste time. The verb, popular in campus usage, can be employed transitively or intransitively.

We decided to blow off the class and hit the beach.
Don't go to the office today; blow off instead.

blow one's cookies/doughnuts/groceries/lunch/grits
vb American

to vomit. Colourful euphemisms from the lexicon of high-school and college students.

blow one's mind
vb

to be transported beyond a normal state of mental equilibrium, experience sudden euphoria or disorientation. A key term from the lexicon of drug users of the 1960s, this phrase was rapidly generalised to cover less momentous instances of surprise, awe, admiration, etc. Now dated, the expression is still in many people's passive vocabulary, allowing it to be used, e.g., in advertising copy as late as 1989.

‘Happiness is hard to find – we just want peace to blow our minds.'
(Lyrics to
Revolution
by Tomorrow, 1967)
‘She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.'
(
Honky Tonk Woman
, Rolling Stones, 1971)
‘The way she came on to me – it completely blew my mind.'
(Recorded, student, London, 1976)

blow out
vb

1a.
to reject someone (especially a lover) or something. From the image of violently expelling something.

1b.
to cancel, especially unexpectedly. In this sense the phrase applies typically to a pop group cancelling a tour or concert.

2.
to overeat as a matter of sensual indulgence. From the image of the stomach being blown out like a balloon.

blow-out
n

an occasion of over-indulgence, particularly excessive eating and drinking

‘Have a blow-out at Les Trois Marches.'
(
Mail on Sunday
,
“You”
magazine, March 1988)

blow someone's mind
vb

a.
to give someone a hallucinogenic drug

b.
to astound, transport, bamboozle or overwhelm someone, or in some other way to radically and rapidly alter their mood or consciousness. An extension of the first sense.

‘We're not out to blow people's minds however. We're out to get through to them.'
(Pete Townshend,
Oz
magazine, June 1969)

Both senses of the phrase were part of the
hippy
lexicon of the 1960s and are now dated. (The Beatles were castigated for their ambiguous use of ‘I want to blow your mind' in the lyrics of
A Day in the Life
in 1967.)

blow the gaff
vb

to give away information, reveal a secret, inform on someone. This picturesque phrase was derived from the archaic term ‘gaff' meaning a trickster's strategy or paraphernalia. Although it dates from the early 19th century and often evokes the world of
spivs
or gangsters, the expression is still used. Confusingly, blow the gaff could conceivably also now mean ‘leave (
blow
) the premises (
gaff
)'.

blub
vb British

to cry, weep. A middle-class children's and public-school term, typically used derisively. It is a shortening of the colloquial ‘blubber'.

‘But the boiled egg made his gorge rise, and it was as much as he could do to stop himself blubbing over the toast and marmalade.'
(
Scandal
, A. N. Wilson, 1983)