Read Dictionary of Contemporary Slang Online
Authors: Tony Thorne
the expressions are used for agreement, as a threat, a greeting, an exclamation of triumph, to show approval or just to end a sentence
There's something rather unsettling about 13-year-old schoolgirls imitating the rapid fire of an AK47, Uzi or Glock 9mm gun instead of just squealing
kewl
as an allpurpose mark of approval. But that's what's happening when you hear them gleefully yelling
braap
! The word, or rather, noise, first cropped up in the 1990s conversations of
hip hop gangstas
and their
wigga
imitators, who often accompanied it with a âgun-hand', cocking a pistol with the fingers and pointing it, usually, but not always, in fun. In those days
pow pow
! or
bullet
! were alternative cries, but these seem to have disappeared. By the mid-noughties the b-word was identified with
chavs
, but now seems to have established itself in the school playground, where some of the denizens have converted it to the softer-sounding
blaap
! âThat Kayleigh, she's well fit.' âBraap!' âWhassup, girlf?' âBlaap!'
brace
vb American
to accost,
shake down
. A rather old-fashioned underworld term.
brackers
adj British
broke, penniless. A word heard in the 1980s which is an invention based on
boracic
or a deformation of âbroke'.
Brad (Pitt)
vb
,
n
(to)
shit
. â(An attack of) the Brad Pitts' denotes a case of diarrhoea. An item of student slang borrowing the name of the Hollywood movie star, in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.
Brahms (and Liszt)
adj British
drunk. Rhyming slang for
pissed
. A fairly popular cockney term since the 1930s which was given wider currency by its use in television comedies of the early 1970s.
bran
n British
a.
cannabis
b.
heroin for smoking
The term is an alteration of
brown
.
brandy
n British
the backside, buttocks. Used in this sense the term has been heard among the London
gay
community since the 1960s and may have originated from the rhyming-slang expression âbrandy and rum':
bum
.
brasco
n Australian
a toilet
brass
1
n British
1.
money. Brass has been an obvious metaphor or euphemism as long as the metal has been used in coins. The word is currently more widespread in northern England.
2.
a prostitute. Originally in the form âbrass nail', this working-class usage is rhyming slang for
tail
, in its sexual sense.
3.
a shorter form of
brass neck brass
2
adj British
1.
broke, penniless. Pronounced to rhyme with âgas', never the southern English âclass', this is a short form of
boracic
or
brassick
heard among teenagers in the 1990s.
2.
a shorter form of
brass-monkeys
3.
bad. In this sense the word was recorded in West London schools in 2008.
brass eye
n British
the anus. This obscure vulgarism, used by schoolboys, was adopted as the name of a controversial satirical TV comedy in 1997.
brassick
adj British
broke, penniless. An alternative spelling of
boracic
.
brass-monkeys
adj British
extremely cold. A shortening of âbrass-monkey time' or âbrass-monkey weather', this phrase refers to the widely known vulgar saying âcold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!'. A rather farfetched explanation of the catchphrase is that a âbrass monkey' was a rack of cannonballs on board a warship.
brass neck
n British
an intensive form of
neck
in the sense of âcheek' or ânerve'
BRB
phrase American
1.
âbe right back'. Used to signal the interruption of a conversation. From online conversation but now used orally.
âI'm going to get a soda. BRB'.
2.
leave temporarily. From text messaging and online conversations.
âNick's BRB'ed right now, but maybe I can help you.'
(Student slang)
breachen
n Jamaican
friend(s), brother(s). A term from reggae music culture synonymous with
bredren, hidren, idren
.
bread
n
money. In the 1960s this usage supplanted the earlier
dough
in
hip
parlance; by the late 1970s the word was dated and in the 1980s had largely been replaced by a variety of colourful alternatives (in Britain, words like
dosh
,
rhino
, etc.).
âThis year two chicks and I got enough bread together and flew to Eilat (Israel) to see what was happening out there.'
(Reader's letter in
Oz
magazine, February 1970)
breadbasket
n
the abdomen. A pugilists' euphemism, first recorded in 1753.
breadhead
n
someone who is motivated by money, a mercenary person. A term of disapproval from the
hippy
era, applied to those professing loyalty to the counterculture but who openly or covertly sold out to commercialism or profit.
âBob Geldof, then an impoverished photographer's assistant, sold him photos of Jagger and Pete Townshend which are still reproduced. Goldsmith, always an unrepentant “breadhead”, parted with ten quid.'
(
Sunday Times
magazine, June 1989)
break
vb American
to leave, depart. A synonym for
boot, jam, jet, bail
, heard since 2000. It may be influenced by the phrase âmake a break for it' or possibly âbreak for the border'.
breakers
adj British
excellent, exciting. A vogue term among clubbers,
hip hop
aficionados, etc., since the later 1990s.
breakfast
n
1.
British
ketamine. The drug is also nicknamed âSpecial K' after a breakfast cereal, hence this play on words.
ââ¦you got any breakfast? â¦Man, you look like you already had yoursâ¦'
(Recorded, art student, UK, 2002)
2.
See
dingo's breakfast; dog's breakfast; Mexican breakfast
break it down
vb British
to enjoy oneself, act boisterously. A vogue term among teenagers and devotees of dancefloor and
acid house
culture from the end of the 1980s. The term, perhaps American in origin, was also recorded in
use among North London schoolboys in 1993 and 1994, sometimes as an exclamation.
break north
vb American
to depart, leave. A vogue term in black street slang of the 1990s, the origin of the term is obscure but may evoke the escape of a slave from the southern states. A variety of euphemisms (like its contemporaries
bail, book, jam
and
jet
) for ârun away' are essential to the argot of gang members and their playground imitators.
breathing out of one's arse/hoop/ring
adj
tired, exhausted. The phrase, evoking a desperate need for extra oxygen, is in army and Officer Training Corps usage.
bred
vb British
to behave in a sycophantic manner, curry favour, âsuck up'. A term in use among schoolchildren and students from around 2002.
Stop bredding Mr Green.
bredder
n British
1.
a âcopycat', imitator, cheat
2.
a sycophant
     Â
top bredder
Although it's now an allpurpose term for someone who copies, including the fellow-pupil (male or female) who's peering over your shoulder in class, pen in hand, there are several more layers of meaning to this fashionable insult. The bredder â the word was popularised by
grime
star Dizzee Rascal in 2007 â can also be a hanger-on, a
mini-me
who imitates your mannerisms, takes credit for your fashion statements. Breddin' can consist not just of cheating by copying but of stealing ideas,
bigging oneself up
, making false claims and letting down friends. Spelling is usually optional in teen milieux, but in this case there's a fine distinction that must be observed between âbredda(h)', Caribbean for brother, a genuine friend, someone you can rely on, and our new and ironic version of the same word.
That sneaky bredder's always suckin' up, you don' need him.
breddin'
n British
copying, imitating, stealing (from) (someone). The less common gerund form comes from the noun
bredder
.
Don't be breddin' my style, bruv!
bredgie
n British
a friend. The word is an alteration of
bredren
. A term from Caribbean speech, also heard in the UK since 2000, especially among younger speakers.
bredren
n British
a good friend, welcome stranger. A term from Caribbean speech, also heard in the UK since 2000, especially among younger speakers.
Hidren
and
idren
are alternative forms.
breed
vb American
to make (a woman) pregnant. An item of black speech probably originating in the Caribbean. It occurs in the cult novel
Yardie
(1993) by Victor Headley.
breeder
n
a heterosexual. A pejorative term in use among
gay
speakers, quoted by the San Francisco writer Armistead Maupin.
breeze
vb
to move quickly, rush, run. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.
breeze!
exclamation American
an exhortation to relax, calm down. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.
No need to get so aerated â just breeze.
breezy
adj
,
exclamation
a.
American
excellent. The term was fashionable among adolescents in the early 1990s, often used as an allpurpose exclamation of approval.
b.
British
(of a place) smart, fashionable,
cool
. Used in street-gang code and its imitations since around 2005.
Brendon, Brendan
n British
a misfit, outsider, unattractive person. A synonym for
Billy no-mates
recorded in 2002. The original reference is unclear.
brer
n
a friend. The term of address originated in southern US and black speech as a dialect pronunciation of brother. It is now widely used in the UK by
chavs
.
brew
n
1.
beer or a drink of beer. A word used by northern British drinkers (usually without the indefinite article) and by American college students (usually in the form âa brew').
2.
British
tea. A term popular in institutions, especially in the 1950s.
brewer's droop, brewer's
n
,
phrase
impotence, usually temporary, caused by drinking alcohol. The term is common in Britain, where it is now sometimes shortened to brewer's, and in Australia. (Brewers featured in many comic or ribald expressions from the 16th to the 19th centuries.)
brewin'
adj British
annoyed, infuriated. A term from black speech adopted by white and Asian speakers since 2000.
brewski
n American
a beer. An elaboration of
brew
popular with students.
Brian
n British
a boring, vacuous person. Supposedly a typical name for an earnest and tedious working-class or lower-middle-class male. The term was given humorous currency in the late 1970s and 1980s by joky references to the TV sports commentator Brian Johnson and a well-known sketch in the TV series
Monty Python's Flying Circus
concerning footballers. However, it was already heard among schoolboys in London in the late 1960s.
âEducating Brian.'
(Title of an article on “academic” footballers,
You
magazine, March 1988)
brick
1
n British
a mobile phone
brick
2
adj American
chilly, cold, freezing
Turn up the heat, it's brick in here.
brick it
vb British
to be extremely nervous, overcome with fear. A recent usage derived from the vulgarism
shitting bricks
.