Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (29 page)

bull
²
adj

bad. In this sense the word, probably a shortening of
bullshit
, has been used in several English-speaking areas since 2000.

some bull weed
That band is bull
.

bull and cow
n British

a noisy argument, a fight or brawl. Still thriving London rhyming slang for
row
.

There was a right bull and cow in the pub last night
.

bulldyke
n

a masculine, dominant or aggressive lesbian. An offensive term which was commonly heard until the late 1960s (by which time
gay
women's styles had largely moved away from imitation of male roles).
Bulldyke was almost invariably used by men and was invariably pejorative; it was sometimes extended to apply to any lesbian.

See also
dyke

bulling
n Irish

behaving aggressively, obstreperously

bullong
n British

a large penis. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003.
Wullong
denotes an even larger member.

I gave her the bullong/ma bullong.

bull session
n

a period of earnest or bombastic but shallow conversation; talking
bull
. The expression usually refers to energetic group discussions between friends (usually males).

bullsh
n

an abbreviated, euphemistic version of
bullshit
, which seems to have originated in Australian usage

bullshit
¹
n

nonsense or falsehood, especially when blatant or offensive; empty, insincere or bombastic speech or behaviour; tedious attention to detail. The term has become particularly widespread since the late 1960s, before which it was more often heard in American speech than British (where it was, however, a well-known part of armed-service language).

‘I'm not allowed to talk about it … [Roald] Dahl grumbled from his Buckinghamshire home. It has something to do with security or some such bullshit.'
(
Evening Standard
, 8 September 1989)

bullshit
²
vb

to try to impress, persuade, bamboozle or deceive with empty, boastful or portentous talk. Whereas the noun form is sometimes shortened to the less offensive
bull
, the verb form, especially in American speech, is shortened to
shit(ting)
, as in ‘come on, you're shittin' me'.

Don't try to bullshit me, I know the score.

bullshitter
n

a bombastic, verbose or insincere person; a habitual source of
bullshit

‘“Mi-Lords! Laydees! and Gentlemen!!!” A VOICE FROM THE DARK SHOUTS, “Go home you Welsh bull-shitter!”'
(Spike Milligan,
Adolf Hitler, My Part in his Downfall
, 1971)

bully-van
n British

a police van, in the argot of street-gang members, recorded during the urban riots of 2011

bum
¹
n

1.
British
the bottom, backside, buttocks. From the Middle English period to the end of the 18th century it was possible to use this word in English without offending respectable persons. By the 19th century it was considered rude, perhaps unsurprisingly, in that its suggested origin was in ‘bom' or ‘boom', an imitation of the sound of flatulence.

2.
a tramp, down-and-out, wastrel. This sense of the word is probably unrelated to the previous one. It is a 19th-century shortening of ‘bummer', meaning an idler or loafer, from the German
Bummler
, meaning a ‘layabout' (derived from
bummeln
, meaning ‘to dangle, hang about').

‘It kind of upsets me that they talk about him as if he's a hopeless bum.'
(Recorded, Canadian teenage girl, London, April 1996)

See also
on the bum

3a.
sodomy or the opportunity thereof. A vulgarism used mainly by heterosexuals, referring to homosexual activity.

3b.
an act of sexual intercourse. A heterosexual synonym for
tail
.

bum
²
adj

a.
worthless, inferior, bad

a bum cheque/trip

b.
incapacitated, out of order

a bum ankle

These usages are inspired by the American noun sense of tramp, meaning an idler.

bum
³
vb

1.
to cadge or scrounge. From the noun form
bum
meaning a down-and-out or beggar. This use of the word is predominantly British.

Can I bum a cigarette from you, man?

2a.
British
to sodomise

2b.
British
to have sex with. A childish usage, popularised by the
wigga
comic Ali G and still in vogue in 2006.

The postman's been bummin' your mum!

3.
to practise enthusiastically, enjoy. This usage, fashionable among adolescents in 2006 is probably inspired by the earlier sexual senses of the word.

She really bums that band.

bumbass, bum-ass
n British

an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. In playground usage since 2000, the second ‘b' is sometimes sounded, sometimes silent.

bumblefuck
n American

a less widespread synonym for
Bumfuck Egypt

bumboy
n British

1.
a homosexual or a youth (not necessarily homosexual) who consents to buggery. A term of contempt, originating several hundred years ago and widespread since the 1950s, especially among schoolchildren.

2.
a sycophant, an
arse-licker
. The term is rather archaic, having been supplanted by stronger alternatives.

bum chum
n

a male homosexual partner. A schoolchildren's term, usually used jokingly to jeer at close friends.

‘Those two are supposed to be definite bum chums.'
(Recorded, female care worker, London 1993)

bumf, bumpf, bumph
n British

information on paper; forms, instructions, brochures, etc., especially those considered unnecessary, annoying or in excessive quantity. This term is now an acceptable middle-class colloquialism although its origin is more vulgar. It derives from ‘bum fodder', a pre-World War II public-school and armed-forces term for toilet paper. This was applied scornfully in wartime to excessive bureaucratic paperwork. In Australia the usage is sometimes extended to mean unnecessary or verbose speech. The phrase ‘bum fodder' in full is now obsolete, but was used from the 17th century to refer to waste paper.

‘A glimpse of the unpestered life you lead at Cap Ferrat, deluged with fan mail, besieged by the press, inundated with bumpf of one sort or another.'
(Ian Fleming in a letter to Somerset Maugham, quoted in John Pearson's biography, 1966)

bumfluff
n British

light facial hair on a pubescent boy. Usually a term of mild derision, especially referring to a youth's first attempts to grow a moustache or beard.

Bumfuck Egypt, bumfuck
n American

a very remote and/or backward place. The phrase apparently originated among British military personnel serving overseas as an imaginary address or location evoking squalor, ignominy and obscurity. It is now popular in US speech, on campus, e.g. and is sometimes abbreviated to
BFE
.

They're sending you away to Cow College? Man, that's Bumfuck Egypt.
I had to park in bumfuck because all the good spots were taken.

bummage
n British

1.
sex

2.
enjoyment, enthusiasm. The word, derived from the verb
bum
, was in vogue among adolescents in 2006.

bummed out
adj American

disappointed, dejected, having suffered a
bummer

bummer
n

1.
a bad experience, a disappointment. An American expression (said to have originated in the jargon of the racetrack where it meant a loss which reduced one to the status of a
bum
) which spread to Britain and Australia in the
hippy
era of the late 1960s. It is still heard, although by the late 1980s it was dated. The meaning of the term was reinforced by the expression ‘a bum trip', referring to an unpleasant experience with LSD.

‘So okay, it looks like a bummer. But maybe… maybe you can still get something out of it.'
(
The Switch
, Elmore Leonard, 1978)

2.
British
a male homosexual, in playground usage

bump
¹
vb

1a.
to remove someone surreptitiously from a waiting list, in order to substitute a more favoured client. A piece of jargon from the world of air travel which entered the public consciousness in the late 1980s due to the prevalence of the practice.

We were bumped at the last moment.
They offered to bump someone to get us on.

1b.
British
to cheat, swindle. This sense of the word, popular among London school-children since the mid-1990s, may derive from the earlier jargon sense.

Yeah! He's trying to bump you. We got bumped.

2.
American
to kill. An item of street slang, abbreviating the now dated colloquialism
bump off
.

3.
a shortening of
bump 'n' grind
used by adolescents and
rappers
in the mid-1990s

bump
²
n

a
snort
of cocaine or another drug in powder or crystal form

I took a bump of that gak.

bumper
n Australian

a cigarette end

bumpers
n pl

1.
female breasts

2.
tennis shoes or baseball boots, especially those (in the style of the 1960s) with extra-thick rubber round the toe-caps, resembling the bumpers of American automobiles

bumph
n British

an alternative spelling of
bumf

bumpin'
adj

exciting. A vogue term, especially in dancefloor culture, from black speech heard since the late 1990s. Synonyms are
banging, rinsin'
.

bump 'n' grind
vb, n

(to make) pelvic motions in simulation of sexual thrusting, usually as part of dancing or of ‘heavy petting'. The term is North American in origin.

bump off
vb

to kill. A ‘tough-talking' euphemism now largely replaced by more sinister locutions such as
blow away, waste
, etc.

bump one's gums
vb American

to talk, speak or converse. An item of black street-talk which was included in so-called
Ebonics
, recognised as a legitimate language variety by school officials in Oakland, California, in late 1996. A variant of the earlier
flap/snap one's gums
.

bumps
n pl

female breasts. A mock-childish term.

bump tummies
vb

to have sex (with). A humorous euphemism invented by adults in imitation of nursery language. Usually said by middle-class speakers.

bum's rush, the
n

an unceremonious ejection. This is North American saloon terminology of the early 20th century, referring to barmen or doormen grabbing undesirable customers (such as
bums
) by the collar and the seat of the pants and bodily hustling them out into the street. The phrase is almost always used in the expressions ‘give someone the bum's rush' or ‘get the bum's rush'.

‘Personally I think Ange should have given Den the bum's rush.'
(
Biff
cartoon, 1986)

bum tags
n pl British

another term for
dingleberries

bumwad
n

toilet paper. A vulgarism heard in Britain and Australia.

bunce
n British

money or profit. A word dating from the 19th century and almost obsolete by the 1960s, except among street traders and the London underworld. In the late 1980s the word was revived by middle-class users such as alternative comedians in search of colourful synonyms in a climate of financial excesses. Bunce may originally have been a corruption of ‘bonus'.

buncey, buncy
adj British

profitable, lucrative. The adjectival use postdates the noun
bunce
.

bunch of fives
n British

a fist. A 19th-century pun on a hand of cards (or, later, a handful of banknotes), typically used in describing threatening or violent behaviour.

bunco
n American