Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (44 page)

to spoil, frustrate, defeat. This use of the word often occurs in the phrase ‘to cruel it' meaning to ruin or jeopardise an enterprise.

cruise
vb

a.
(used intransitively) to move around in search of a sexual partner. The word was first used by prostitutes seeking clients then, in the 1960s, by
gays
, and subsequently in the 1970s by heterosexuals, especially those frequenting singles bars.

b.
(used transitively) to actively try to attract a particular potential sexual partner. The overtones of cruising a person are a discreet display of oneself with some unmistakable hints or ‘comeons'.

crumb (it)
vb American

to ruin, mess up. From ‘crumble' in its standard sense, reinforced by the notion of acting like a ‘crumb' (the obsolescent noun form denoting a worthless person) and by
crummy
.

‘You crumbed the play.'
(
House of Games
, US film, David Mamet, 1987)

crumble
n British

a generic term for old or senile people. Used since the 1980s in the expression ‘a bit of crumble' for instance, or by nursing staff to refer contemptuously to their elderly patients.

crumbly, crumblie
n British

a.
an old person. In spite of the suggestion of crumbling or falling apart, the term is only mildly contemptuous and may even be used affectionately. Coincidentally, the 1960s French slang term for old or ‘past it' was
croulant
, meaning crumbling.

‘Senior citizens, inevitably, watch 37 hours a week. “Audiences are getting crumbly,” says Street-Porter in media-speak.'
(
Independent
, 23 March 1988)

b.
a parent or adult. Used by children and teenagers since the mid-1970s. A fairly inoffensive middle- and upper-class word favoured by
Sloane Rangers
among others.
See also
wrinkly
;
crinkly
;
dusty

crumb-snatcher
n

a baby or small child. Like
ankle-biter, rug rat
, etc., the phrase can be used affectionately and/or ruefully.

crummy, crumby
adj

dilapidated, dirty, worthless. By the mid-19th century this word was in use in Britain as a literal and figurative synonym for ‘lousy', apparently due to the resemblance of body lice to crumbs. The word (usually spelled with double ‘m') has remained in widespread use in Britain and the USA.

crump
British

1.
n
,
adj
(something) unpleasant, of poor quality, disappointing. A vogue term
among teenagers in 2005, it may be a variant of
crumby
or ironically of
cronk
.

2.
n
sex, a sex act. In use among UK teenagers since 2000, the word might derive from the slang sense of
crumpet
, imitate the sound of pounding, or be an arbitrary formation.

crumpet
n British

a woman, or women viewed collectively as sex objects. ‘Crumpet' or ‘a bit of crumpet' date from the last decade of the 19th century and conform to a much older pattern of likening women to cakes (e.g.
tart
), delicacies (e.g.
crackling
), etc.

‘I don't think we should condemn a doctor simply because he made a wrong diagnosis of what is, or is not, crumpet.'
(
Carry on Again, Doctor
, British comedy film, 1969)

crunchie
n American

a lesbian, particularly a lesbian with austere habits and ‘utopian' views. ‘Crunchies' were one faction of lesbians at Yale University in the late 1980s, the other being so-called
lipsticks
.

crunk
adj American

1a.
enjoyable, fun, spirited

‘…we the type of people make the club get crunk…'
(From
Rosa Parks
, single by US band Outkast, 1998)

1b.
popular

1c.
a variant spelling of
cronk

2.
intoxicated by drink or drugs The term, in all its senses, has been in vogue since the late 1990s. It may originate as a blend of crazy and drunk.

crush
vb

1.
American
to eat

Man, she crushed that whole pizza in, like, 30 seconds.

2.
American
to have sex (with)

3.
British
to disturb, annoy

Quit crushing me, bro'.

All usages date from around 2000.

crusher
n British

a boring, tedious person; a ‘crushing' bore. An alternative to
crasher
, typically used by middle- and upper-class speakers since the 1980s.

crust
n British

(one's) head. This London working-class usage is almost always heard in the forms
off one's crust
or
do one's crust
.

crustie
n British

a homeless person and/or beggar, especially a member of a militant subculture of importunate vagrants of the early 1990s, centred on the English West Country, who practised deliberate self-degradation and embraced personal filthiness (hence the name, from the encrustations on bodies and clothing). Other names for members of the same subculture were
fraggles, hedgers, scrotes, smellies, soap-dodgers
and
cider-punks
.

‘The Crusties of Bath are, with their counterparts at the other end of the social spectrum, the smooth lawyers and medics, considerably more redolent of the city Jane Austen knew than anything else the tourist is likely to see.'
(Reader's letter to the
Independent
, November 1991)

crut
n

dirt, distasteful material or unpleasantness in general. A version of
crud
(normally felt to be less offensive than that word).

crutching, crotching (it)
n British

smuggling illicit substances (tobacco, drugs, etc.) in bodily crevices. An item of prison slang recorded in the 1990s.

crutterz
adj

mashed up, worn out. Used in multiethnic youth slang.

That car is crutterz.

cruttess
n
,
adj

(someone who is) ugly, repellent. One of a number of synonyms (including the adjectives
off-key
and
bungled
) in use among gang members,
hip hop
aficionados, etc. in the UK since 2000.

cry Ruth/Hughie/Ralph
vb

to vomit. All these humorous equivalents attempt to imitate the sound of hearty or sudden retching. They have been popular, particularly with students, all over the English-speaking world since the 1960s.

cubicle monkey
n American

a desk-bound office worker or IT specialist. A derisive term used both by the victims of workplace tedium and happily peripatetic colleagues.

cum
n
,
vb See
come
¹

cumulonimbus
n British

cunnilingus. A usage recorded by
Viz
comic's
Profanisaurus
in 2001.

cunt
n

1a.
the vagina. This taboo word has ancient origins; related words exist in other European languages (French
con
, Spanish
coño
, etc.) and it seems that, in the unwritten prehistoric Indo-European parent languages,
cu
or
koo
was a word base expressing ‘feminine' or ‘fecund' and associated notions.

1b.
a woman or women in general. An extension of the above sense which is probably most commonly heard in the USA.

2.
a very unpleasant person. As well as being the most ‘obscene' of the common set of sexually related taboo words, ‘cunt' is also used to indicate extreme distaste or dislike. This usage, which is more noticeable in British and Australian English than American, is presumably inspired by deep-seated fear and loathing of women's sexuality, although in practice the word is usually applied to men.

From Anglo-Saxon times until the 14th century the word was in standard use, but was then replaced by euphemisms in all but rural dialect speech. Most dictionaries refused to acknowledge the word until the 1960s and it is probably the only word that is still banned from most British newspapers and television.

cunt-bubble
n British

a despicable person, nonentity

‘And the self-important cunt-bubble [Bono] took the opportunity to direct audience members to his website.'
(Viz comic, July 2013)

cunted
adj British

a.
exhausted

b.
intoxicated by alcohol or drugs

‘I went to a bop last night and got totally cunted.'
(Recorded, female university student, London, 2000)

A term which, although forceful, has no sexual or taboo connotations. Used by speakers of both sexes.
Twatted
is a contemporary synonym.

cupcake
n American

1.
a cute or attractive woman. A deliberately humorous or (consciously or unconsciously) patronising male term of endearment. ‘Cupcakes' are small, usually iced, buns.

2.
an eccentric person

curling
n British

drinking alcohol, especially beer. The expression is a synonym for
bend
(ing)
the elbow
, heard in the Midlands and north of England.

currant bun
n British

1a.
the sun

1b.
a son

Both rhyming-slang uses have been in evidence in London working-class use since at least the 1940s.

2.
a
nun
. A rare item of rhyming slang heard occasionally from at least the 1950s.

curse, the curse
n

menstruation, a monthly period. This is the standard term used by schoolgirls and women; its probable origin is in Genesis, in which Eve is ‘cursed' by God who promises to ‘multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children'. The ‘curse of Eve' thus became a euphemism for the most troublesome aspect of femininity.

I've got the curse, I'm afraid.

cush
n British

a nest-egg, savings to fall back on. UK police slang from ‘cushion'.

cushdy, cushti, kushti
adj British

fine, wonderful. An allpurpose term of approbation or agreement. This working-class term (recently brought to a wider audience by the television comedy
Only Fools and Horses
) is related to ‘cushy', the colloquial term for easy or comfortable. Both words derive ultimately from an archaic Persian word
khosh
, meaning ‘pleasant', either via the Hindustani
khush
, or the Romany
kushto
, or both.

cuss (someone) off
vb

to criticise, denigrate someone. The phrase is in black usage in Britain and the USA and may have originated in Caribbean speech.

custard
n British

a very unpleasant person. The playground term of abuse, in use since 2000, is a blend of
cunt
and
bastard
.

cut
¹
vb

to dilute or adulterate (illicit drugs), usually with the intention of increasing weight and hence profit

The coke was cut with lactose.

cut
²
adj

1.
circumcised

‘Everyone knows what cut and uncut means.'
(Male prostitute, Channel 4 documentary
Hookers
,
Hustlers
,
Pimps and their Johns
, October 1994)

2.
American
having well-defined muscles,
ripped

cut a rug
vb

to dance. A lighthearted expression which was fashionable in the jitterbug era and in
the post-war language of rock and
jive
. It still survives in jocular use.

cuttin'
adj British
cold, freezing. The term was in use among South London schoolchildren in 2010.

They turned down the heating again, it's cuttin' in there.

cuz
n American

a term of address (derived from ‘cousin') for a stranger or friend. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

cuzzer
n British

a curry meal. The standard word has been modified with the suffix indicating familiarity and/or affection.

c-word, the
n British

cunt

cyberpunk
n

an enthusiast for information technology, a
net-head
. The term arose in the 1980s to describe young fans of the science-fiction writer William Gibson, who combined a fascination for computing and youth culture with a supposedly
punk
attitude. In the later 1990s the word usually referred to a nonconformist user of the internet.