Read Dictionary of Contemporary Slang Online
Authors: Tony Thorne
cannon
n See
loose cannon
cant
n Irish and British
a secret language, slang
In the summer of 2009 press reports suggested that UK prisoners were using Elizabethan slang as a secret language to pass illicit messages. They based this on the fact that the term âcant', mentioned by the convicts in question, was and is employed by specialists to categorise the words in lists of thieves', tricksters' and beggars' argot
collected from the 16th to the 19th centuries as well as, in standard English, to denote hypocritical rhetoric. But the cant the prisoners were using was a modern version specifically traded among mainly Irish Travellers. Examples collected at the prison in Rochdale included:
Bure â girlfriend
Chat/Onick â heroin
Cawbe â crack cocaine
Fein â man
Gop â kiss
Grade â money
Inick â phone/SIM card
Lakeen â woman
Kenya â house/flat
Shades â prison officers
Soolbick â mate, friend
Warbs â police
Wid â talk
Travellers operating in the Republic of Ireland and across the UK are an originally ânomadic' or itinerant minority population which some writers see as a distinct ethnic subgroup within Ireland, although their early history is unrecorded. As well as standard English they speak a mixed language based on Irish English with Irish Gaelic elements and influences, a language often called by commentators Shelta (the label, first appearing in 1882, is probably an anglicisation of Irish Gaelic siul(toir) âwalk(er)'). Members of this community may refer to their own speech patterns as â(the) cant', or as â(the) gammon', the latter a word used since at least the 18th century (the OED has a first citation from 1781) to mean âtalk, chatter', sometimes narrowed to âdeceitful, deceptive talk'. Travellers are distinct from the Roma or Romany-speaking gypsies with whom they have often been confused but as well as sharing many aspects of lifestyle these two groups sometimes intermingle vocabulary, so that Irish-based Shelta terms appear in Romany glossaries and Romany words, many ultimately deriving from Indian dialects, are often included in Shelta lists. The words listed here are all Shelta or Irish slang and are indeed mostly a century or more old, though only
wid
and
kenya
can be dated back with confidence to Elizabethan times.
cantaloupes
n pl American
female breasts. (The cantaloupe is a type of melon.)
can't be arsed/bolloxed/fucked/shagged
exclamation
,
phrase British
slang equivalents of the informally dismissive phrase âcan't be bothered'
âI'm an incompetent fuckwit who can't be arsed to find decent solutions to problems.'
(Message posted on b3ta website, February 2004)
Canuck
n
a Canadian. The only widespread slang term for Canadians, whether French or English-speaking, it is rarely used by the British. The word has usually been used in a derogatory sense. (The -uck ending is probably an imitation of an Amerindian form, as in Chinook, the name of a North American Indian tribal group and jargon.)
Compare
Canadian
canvas
n See
on canvas
cap
1
n
a capsule of an illicit drug. The word appeared in the 1960s and was sometimes applied to a dose of LSD, even when this did not come, strictly speaking, in capsule form.
She scored a few caps of acid.
cap
2
vb American
1.
to insult, humiliate,
put (someone) down
. A teenage vogue term of the late 1980s. It presumably originates in the idea of capping someone's best stories or achievements, i.e. going one better.
2.
to kill someone. An item of underworld and street-gang parlance.
Tag
and
clip
are contemporary synonyms.
capeesh?, capeeshee?
question form American
do you understand? The words are anglicisations of the Italian
capisci
?
âYou dig? Capeesh? Understand? Dig? Didn't they teach you that in Kiev?'
(
Red Heat
, US film, 1988)
cappella
n British
a hat. Part of the
parlyaree
lexicon used, e.g., by London
gays
, in the 1960s; it is from the Italian
cappello
.
She's swishing about in her bona cappella.
Captain Cook
n British and Australian
a
look
. An old piece of rhyming slang, still in use in 2004. It is typically used in expressions such as âtake/have a Captain Cook (at this)'.
car, cah
conjunction British
because. The formal French word for âbecause' is unaccountably popular in teenage slang, used by many who are unaware of its provenance. It seems to have come to the UK via colloquial Caribbean usage.
cark, cark it
vb Australian
to die. The origin of the word is obscure; it may be a deformation of
croak
or of
cack
. Like other items of current Australian slang, the word has been introduced to Britain via TV soap operas.
âThey break down in the middle of nowhere and before you know it they've carked it.'
(Recorded, Australian visitor, London, 1988)
carked
adj
1.
(of a situation) ruined or destroyed
2.
(of a person) exhausted,
pooped
This word may simply be an invention, or may be derived from
croak
,
cocked (up)
or, more plausibly,
cack
(excrement,
shit
, by analogy with
poop
). It is heard in Britain and Australia, but not in the USA.
carn
n British
cash, money. A distorted pronunciation of coin, probably taken from, or in imitation of, black speech. The word was heard in teenage circles from at least 1990.
You got nuff carn, guy?
carnaged
adj British
a.
drunk
b.
hungover
An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.
carp
vb British
to hit and/or injure someone. The term is used by street-gang members, their imitators and prisoners in the UK.
carpet
n British
1.
a period of three months' imprisonment. This term, dating from the early years of the 20th century, is based on the supposition that it would take three months for an inmate to weave a carpet.
2.
the sum of £3. In use among gamblers, market traders, etc. This sense of the word may be inspired by the preceding one.
carpet-muncher
n
someone who performs cunnilingus. The term is usually used by males referring to
gay
women.
Rug-muncher
is a synonym.
carpy
n British
incarceration. This item of prisoners' jargon refers to the period of the day in which prisoners are locked in their cells. It has been derived from the Latin injunction
carpe diem
(âseize the day') but may alternatively be a form of
carpet
.
âI just need a scratcher for a burn, before carpy.'
(
Evening Standard
, September 1995)
carrot-top
n
a red-haired person. The expression is used all over the English-speaking world; in Britain the earlier âcarrot-nob', like
copper-nob
, is now almost obsolete.
carrying
adj
1.
in possession of illicit drugs or firearms. An international English usage.
2.
British
solvent, âflush', having plenty of cash on one's person. A London working-class term.
car surfing
n
riding on the roof of a moving car. A dangerous teenage fad of the late 1980s, influenced by the US film
Teenwolf
.
See also
train surfing
carsy, carzie
n British
alternative spellings of
khazi
cart
adj British
high
on drugs or alcohol.
Buzzin'
,
blazed (up)
,
mashed(-up)
are synonyms. The term may be an alteration of
cat 5
. It has been in vogue since around 2000.
carve-up
n British
1.
a swindle or conspiracy that ruins one's chances. A rueful London working-class term probably inspired by a greedy carving up of a chicken or joint of meat and the use of
carve
to mean slash (someone) with a knife. The word was especially popular in the 1950s.
âWot A Carve-Up!'
(Title of British comedy film, 1962)
2.
a sharing-out of loot or booty. A term used by criminals and police officers, especially in London.
cas, caj, caz
adj
1.
American
relaxed, nonchalant
2.
American
good, acceptable
Both senses of the word, which is a shortening of casual and pronounced âcazz' or, more frequently, âcazh' or âcaj', are teenage terms of approbation from the late 1980s.
3a.
British
a shortening of âcasual' in the sense of a relationship which is not yet serious. The term was part of the teenage dating lexicon of the later 1990s.
Is this a cas thing you've got?
Are you two just caj?
3b.
British
a shortening of âcasual' in the sense of informal as applied to clothing or appearance. The word is usually used mockingly between adolescents.
A caj jacket/outfit.
She's trying to look très caz tonight.
case
1
n See
get on someone's case
case
2
vb
to reconnoitre (premises) in preparation for subsequent robbery. The well-known phrase âcase the joint' has existed in underworld slang since before World War
II. It originated in American usage, first being used with a generalised meaning of to assess.
cashed
adj
empty, depleted. The term originates in American usage where it can typically refer to, e.g., money or marihuana.
cassava
n American
a.
the female genitals. A euphemism used by men and heard in the 1980s. It may come from the Caribbean, where the cassava root is eaten as a staple.
b.
a woman, especially an available one. By extension from the more specific first meaning.
casual
n British
a member of a working-class subgroup of the early 1980s who were to some extent successors to
skinheads
and âsuede-heads'. The characteristic of a casual was that he or she wore fairly expensive designer sports clothes in imitation of Italian or US
preppie
looks. The musical accompaniment to this style was generally home-produced soul or disco music. Casuals were a more materialistic and conformist manifestation from the skin-head and
mod
milieus. Optional elements of the lifestyle included football hooliganism and shoplifting for clothes or profit. Casuals were personified by the 1988 comic character Eddie Loadsamoney, created by Harry Enfield.
cat
n
1.
a person. In the parlance of
beatniks
,
hipsters
, etc. Deriving from black musicians' argot, cat was an approving form for a fellow (almost always male â females were
chicks
). The word is still in use, unselfconsciously among American blacks and jazz aficionados, and self-consciously in
hip
circles in Britain and Australia.
âAll the cats and chicks/gonna get their kicks/at the hop.'
(Lyrics to
At the Hop
, recorded by Danny and the Juniors, 1959)
2.
American
the female genitals. A rarer alternative to
pussy
.
3.
Australian
a passive male homosexual. This sense of the word probably, although not certainly, originated as an abbreviation of catamite.
4a.
British
a person under the influence of drugs, particularly when rendered agitated or erratic. In this sense the term is said to be a contracted form of
paracat
.
4b.
British
someone craving a drug or drugs. A synonym of
cretin
.
A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.
5.
British
a convict, in inmates' slang. Recorded by the English Project at Winchester Prison in October 2010.
catbird seat, the
n American
a very advantageous or privileged position. The catbird is a black and grey songbird which characteristically sings from a high perch.