Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (36 page)

chilled
adj

excellent, admirable. A teenage vogue word of the later 1980s. The term is a synonym for
cool
, influenced by the verb form to
chill out
(relax, unwind). British fans of
rap
and
acid house
music and skateboarding introduced the word to schoolchildren's slang.

chilled article, the
n Australian

a cold beer. A mock-pompous euphemism used by drinkers.

chillin', chilling
adj American

1.
relaxing. Chillin(g) is a teenagers' shortening recorded in the late 1980s.

2.
excellent. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

chill one's bills
vb British See
bills

chill out
vb American

to relax, take it easy. A popular phrase since the 1980s, first among teenagers but later among adults too, it comes from black street talk and is a later variation of

cool out
.

chilly
adj British

excellent, fashionable. A British teenagers' term of allpurpose approval based upon
chill (out)
and
chilling out
, recorded in 1991.

chimney-wok
n British

a satellite dish affixed to the exterior of a house. The joky nickname was heard from the early 1990s, sometimes abbreviated to

wok
.

chin
vb British

to hit someone (by implication on the face or head, although not necessarily on the chin). An old working-class term still heard in or around bar brawls, playground fights, etc.

‘He called me a poof, so I chinned the bastard.'
(Recorded, pub habitué, London, 1988)

china
n British

a friend,
mate
. Rhyming slang from ‘china plate'. An example of London rhyming slang which has survived from the 19th century and is still in working-class use today, albeit often ironically or self-consciously. It is usually part of the phrase ‘me old china'.

ching
n British

a five-pound note or an amount of £5. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003.

chink
n

1.
a Chinese person. The word (possibly inspired by Chinese words for their own country and people, actually pronounced ‘Joong-') has been used in American and Australian speech since the turn of the 20th century; in Britain it is slightly more recent.

2.
money, change. From the sound of coins.

chink-chink
phrase British

a notification or summons by and to police officers. It imitates the sound that teacups make when knocked together and is called over the radio to indicate that a brew's up. In the words of those convened, ‘If more than one station shares the same channel, to avoid disappointing thirsty officers chink-chink may be followed by the individual station's call sign at which the brew is ready and waiting.'

chinkie, chinky
n British

a.
a Chinese restaurant or takeaway food service

b.
a Chinese meal

I don't feel like cooking. Let's grab a chinky on the way home.

c.
a Chinese person. A more patronising or dismissive version of
chink
.

chinless wonder
n British

an effete or gormless youth, particularly a vacuous upper-class male. The pejorative expression is applied to those literally weak-chinned, but more often to young men, usually in a privileged position, who are irresolute, offensively presumptuous or absurd.
Debs' delight
and
pedigree chum
have similar overtones.

chip
vb British

to leave, run away. Like its synonym
duss
, a vogue term among teenage gang members since the 1990s.

‘Let's chip, it's the beast.'
(Recorded London schoolboy, 1994)

chippie, chippy
n

1.
British
a fish and chip shop. A nickname which appeared to spread from Liverpool in the early 1960s.

2.
British
a carpenter

3.
American and Australian
a prostitute or promiscuous woman. The etymology of this sense of the word is unclear.

chipping
n American

a.
the occasional use of illicit drugs (as opposed to regular use by addicts)

chippy
adj

aggressive and hypersensitive, irritatingly resentful. The word is based on either the 19th-century ‘chip in', meaning to interfere, or the later notion of having ‘a chip on one's shoulder'.

‘He's chippy. I find that small people are often chippy.'
(Recorded, Sloane Ranger, London, 1984)
‘Mr Kinnock appears to be sinking under a barrage of criticism to the effect that he is an ill-educated Welsh windbag carried high by chippy class hatred.'
(
Evening Standard
, 25 July 1988)

chips
n pl British

money. Rather than referring to the tokens used for gambling, this is probably derived from the earlier and synonymous use of
potatoes
. Like that term it occurred several times in the telephone conversations between Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and her psychic advisor, Madame Vasso, published in Vasso's memoirs and in the UK press in 1996.

chirps
vb British

to flirt, ‘chat up', attempt to seduce. The term, usually describing male behaviour, has been popular among students and others since the 1990s. Its derivation is unclear but some users claim that it is inspired by the ‘charming' chirping of birds.

He's been chirpsing her all night but I bet he's not going to score.

Chitty Chitty (Bang Bang)
n British

slang, rhyming slang.
Lemon meringue
is a synonym.

chiv
n
,
vb

(to) knife (someone). A word originating in Romany (gypsy) speech, used particularly in criminal argot of the 1950s. The word, also written and pronounced
shiv
, often referred to a homemade knife or razor blade used for instance by prisoners or street gangs.

choad
¹
, chode
n Canadian

a.
the penis

b.
a stupid and/or obnoxious person. The origin of this term is unclear, but (particularly in the second, figurative sense) it has become popular among college students and internet users since the late 1990s, also in combinations such as ‘dick-chode' and ‘chode-lick/wad'.

choad
²
, chode
adj Canadian

unpleasant, worthless, inferior. The adjectival form derives from the noun. It was defined on the internet by
Play Time
in March 1997 as ‘so bad it's good'.

chob
¹
n

1.
British
the penis. The term was in use among university students in 2009.

2.
British and Canadian
an idiot, typically a male. The term was recorded in 2006.

chob
²
vb British

to throw or pass.
Peg
and
dash
are contemporary synonyms.

Chob us that can of Bull, will you.

chocaholic
n

a person with an inordinate fondness for chocolate in all its forms. A jocular term punning on alcoholic. Colloquial and slang terms relating to food and indulgence (
foodie, couch potato
, etc.) were a feature of the 1980s.

chocka, chokka, chocker
adj British

very crowded. The term, used by old and young, is a shortening of the colloquial ‘chock-a-block'.
Rammed
and
jammed
are contemporary synonyms.

chocky
adj British

excellent, delicious. A childish version of ‘chocolate', the word's literal sense has been expanded by teens and pre-teens to provide an allpurpose term of approval.

chocolate bandit
n British

a male homosexual. Like
brownie-hound
,
turd burglar
, etc., this unaffectionately jocular term portrays the sodomist as a covert thief of excrement.

chocolate cha-cha
n American

anal intercourse. One of many vulgarisms in use among heterosexuals and based on the faecal aspects of (not necessarily homosexual) sodomy.

If you ask me, they've been doing the chocolate cha-cha.

chocolate-dipper
n

a male homosexual. One of many supposedly humorous but pejorative phrases, invariably used by heterosexual males and based on the faecal aspects of sodomy.

(
Brownie-hound
and
chutney-ferret
are others.)

chocolate drop
n

a black or coloured person. A usually unaffectionate term used mainly by schoolchildren.

chocolate frog
n Australian

1.
a foreigner, immigrant, not necessarily someone non-white. A piece of purely Australian rhyming slang for
wog
.

2.
an informer,
stool pigeon
. In this sense the word is probably rhyming slang for
dog
, as in ‘dirty dog', ‘low dog', etc.

chocolate soldier
n

a weak, ineffectual or cowardly person. The phrase was at the centre of a court case in February 2002 when the black model Naomi Campbell alleged unsuccessfully that the
Daily Mirror
had used it in a racist slur against her. In fact the expression probably dates back to the late 19th century and originally referred to a purely decorative or excessively fragile soldier. ‘Chocolate fireguard' and ‘chocolate teapot' were used in the 1950s to describe useless items.

chocolate starfish
n British

the anus

chode
n
,
adj Canadian See
choad
²

choked, choked-off
adj British

overcome with indignation, fury, rancour or another strong emotion. Choked is a very widespread working-class usage, especially in London speech. Choked-off is a less common and more recent variant.

I tell you I was choked, really bloody choked, when she told me they'd given the contract to someone else.

choke (someone) off
vb

a.
British
to discourage, repudiate or reject someone. This term is used in a fairly specific sense in the context of prisons, where it usually means to frustrate someone who is attempting an official complaint or application.

b.
to aggress, castigate

‘She [his wife] choked me off yet again.'
(Recorded, London taxi driver, June 2005)

choke the/one's chicken
vb

(of a man) to masturbate. A teenagers' and students' variant of
jerkin' the gherkin flogging the lizard
, etc.

choking
adj British

desperate for relief, typically in the form of alcohol or sex. The widespread term, popular, e.g., among university students since the late 1990s, is a shortening of the colloquial phrase ‘choking for (the specified item)'. The phrase ‘choking for it' invariably refers to sex.
Gagging
is a contemporary synonym.

chokka
See

chocka choky, chokey
n British

prison or a cell. A word which was still in use in the late 1980s, although sounding rather dated. The term comes from the Hindi
chauki
, meaning a shed or police compound, and was imported from India in the mid-19th century by members of the armed forces.

chomp
¹
vb

to fellate. This usage is a specialisation of the colloquial sense of to eat.

chomp
²
n British

food. From the colloquial verb which imitates the sound of eating.

chompers
n pl

the teeth. A jocular term inspired by the verb to
chomp
and the earlier
choppers
.

chones
n pl American

the testicles. A corruption of the Spanish
cojones
.

chong
adj British

a variant form of
chung

chonged
adj

a.
stoned

b.
tired

The term, still in use in 2005, may derive from
Cheech and Chong
, the names of two marihuana-loving comedians of the 1960s.

choo-choo
n

a train. Like
chuffer
or
chuff-chuff
this is a nursery phrase often used facetiously by adults.

chook
n Australian