Read Dictionary of Contemporary Slang Online
Authors: Tony Thorne
dike
n
a variant spelling of
dyke
dilbert
n British
a foolish person. A teenage term of mild abuse from the late 1980s, it is probably a blend of
dill
and the (supposedly comical) Christian names âGilbert' or âHerbert'.
âNo I'm not â and definitely not with a dilbert like you.'
(Recorded, schoolgirl, London, 1989)
dildo
n
1.
an artificial penis. The word is approximately 200 years old and probably originates in
diletto
, Italian for (a) delight or darling. Alternatively the term may simply be an invention.
2.
a fool, an offensively stupid person. This sense of the word, popular among teenagers since the mid-1970s, may be an embellishment of
dill
as much as a derivative of
dildo 1
.
âOh, come on, he's such a dildo!'
(Recorded, schoolboy, London, 1988)
dilemma
n British
a fight. An item of black street-talk used especially by males, recorded in 2003. It often occurs in the form
mad dilemma
.
dill
n
a fool, idiot, silly person. A word which has been recorded in Australia and the USA since at least the early 1950s, and in Britain since the mid-1970s when it was popular among schoolchildren. The word may be a shortening of âdill pickle' (gherkins may also be the source of
wally
, used to describe a fool), or of âdilly'.
dillberries, dilberries
n pl
a variant of
dingleberries
DILLIGAF
exclamation
an expression of indifference. The initials, used online and sometimes spoken as a word, stand for the rhetorical question: âDo I look like I give a fuck?'
dimbo, dimmo
n
an unintelligent or dull-witted person. These embellishments of âdim' (also influenced by âdumb',
dumbo
and
bimbo
) have been favourite words with British schoolchildren since the late 1970s.
âHe [Bruce Springsteen] is just dead popular with a lot of dimmos because of the unchallenging nature of what he does.'
(Alexei Sayle,
Great Bus Journeys of the World
, 1988)
dim bulb
n American
a dimwit or dullard. The phrase evokes a low-wattage light bulb.
dime
n American
an attractive female. Dime is the nickname for a ten-cent coin: the female in question is considered to rate âten out of ten'.
âIf your girl is fine, she's a dime'
(Lyrics to
Ebonics
by Big L, 1998)
dime (someone)
vb American
to inform on someone, betray to the police. A back-formation from
dime dropper
, used especially by prison inmates.
dime dropper
n American
an informer. An underworld phrase derived from the âdime' (ten cents) dropped into a payphone when calling the police.
dimlow, dinlow
n British
a dim-witted, foolish person: a variant form of
dinlo dimmock
n British
a dull-witted person. The use of the term, which is based on
dim(mo)
and terms such as
lummock
and
pillock
, predates the television fame of the busty female gardener Charlie Dimmock.
dimp
n
,
vb British
a cigarette end which can be retrieved, typically from the street, and relit. The word, now part of the language of tramps, is also heard as a verb meaning to extinguish (for later smoking). The term seems to be an invention, possibly influenced by âcrimp' and âdamp'.
dimstick
n British
a stupid person. The word, used by younger teenagers in the 1990s, is a blend of
dimbo
and
dip-
or
bam-stick
.
din-dins
n
dinner or another meal, food. A nursery word which, like many others (âchoo-choo',
gee-gee
,
wee-wee
, etc.), is used facetiously by teenagers and adults. The conversion of dinner into din-dins is by a familiar process known as reduplication.
ding
1
adj British
execrable, inferior, unpleasant. The word was recorded in provincial English usage in 2004.
ding
2
vb
1.
to cancel a date (with someone). A variant form of
dingo
heard in 2005.
2.
British
to telephone. An item of youth slang recorded in 2010.
Ding me tomorrow when you get up
.
dingaling, ding-a-ling
n
1.
an eccentric, crazy or foolish person. A word which originated in the USA and was enthusiastically adopted by schoolchildren in Britain in the late 1960s.
2.
the penis. This obscure nursery word was popularised by Chuck Berry's hit song of 1972, âMy Ding-a-Ling'.
dingbat
n
1.
an eccentric, crazy or foolish person. Originally this was an Australian word, probably derived from âdingbats' as an adjective (an embellishment of the colloquial âbats'). The word is now popular in Britain and the USA.
âIn fact, editing and voice-over combine to ensure that the man never looks a real dingbat.'
(
Independent
, 23 December 1988)
2.
Australian
a Chinese person
3a.
any unnamed or unnameable thing. This mainly American sense is influenced by the Dutch and German
ding
, meaning âthing'.
3b.
a typographical symbol, a printers' device. A specialised use of sense
1
.
dingleberry
n
1.
a piece of dung or excrement clinging to hair or wool around the anus. This originally rural notion (applied to sheep and, by extension, to humans) has curiously given rise to a very large number of colourful terms throughout the English-speaking world. Others are
dangleberries, dillberries, clinkers, winnets
and
wittens, bum tags, chuff-nuts
, etc.
2.
a crazy or eccentric person, a fool. Most commonly heard among American high-school and college students; it is inspired by the previous sense (although users may be unaware of the fact).
dingo
1
n British
a stupid person. This schoolchildren's word of the 1990s is an alteration of
dimbo
.
dingo
2
vb British
to cancel (a date). The term was recorded among teenagers and university students in 2004.
dingo's breakfast
n Australian
a
piss
and a look around. A humorous coinage on the lines of
Mexican breakfast
or âpelican's breakfast'.
dingus
n
a thing, an obscure or unnamed object. Originally a South African and American version of âthingy' or âthingummy', it derives from the Dutch and German
ding
, meaning âthing'.
dink
n
1.
a silly person, fool or eccentric. The word has been used especially by children
and young people in both Britain and America, although possibly coined separately in each.
2.
a South-East Asian person. The racist term, probably an arbitrary alteration of
chink
, has been applied in Australia to people of Chinese origin and in the USA to Japanese and Vietnamese.
3.
also
dinky
American
one of a childless
yuppie
couple; an acronym for âdouble (or dual) income, no kids', coined in New York in 1986. Dink is an example of the American use of acronyms to describe social subgroups. This tendency, which produced
WASP, JAP
and, later, yuppies in the 1970s, became a vogue among New Yorkers in the mid-1980s. In spite of enthusiastic use by some journalists and imitation by their London counterparts, this term, like
guppy
, has achieved only limited currency.
âTake Dink, for instance, which I always thought meant idiot. The other day I heard a girl refer to a yuppie couple as “dinks”.'
(
Evening Standard
, 22 January 1987)
4a.
American
the penis. A fairly rare teenage term.
4b.
American
nothing at all. In this sense the equivalent of
dick
.
dinkum
adj Australian See
fair dinkum dinky
n
a
dink 3
âI have had my year of being a dinky (double income, no kids) and I lost all my friends of any worth to it.'
(Richard Jobson,
Sunday Times
, 9 July 1989)
dinky-di
adj
a.
Australian
the real thing (pronounced âdinkee-die'). Perhaps an embellishment of
fair dinkum
.
b.
British
perfect, fine (pronounced âdinkee-dee'; the spelling is arbitrary). A pseudo-nursery term like
diddly-dum
, probably invented by students.
Don't worry, everything's dinky-di
.
dinlo, dinlow
n British
a slow-witted person, fool
Some linguists are claiming that far from dying out, regional dialects â and that includes local slang terms â are being helped by SMS texting, chatting and tweeting on social media sites, as well as old-fashioned word of mouth, to spread further across the UK. A probable example of this is yet another term for a complete dope, or dupe (in practice nearly always male), which originated in Romany as
dinilo
and has long been in use across southern England from the New Forest, via Portsmouth's âPompey-slang' to East Anglia. Dinlo(w) is the usual form, although
dinler, dindler
and
dingle
have also been recorded. Youth elsewhere have now added these to their already rich lexicon of insults, sometimes abbreviating to
dinny
or just
din
. Occasionally the word is used adjectivally to mean stupid as in âHe's so dinlow', recorded in Eastbourne, Sussex in 2010.
You can tell Callum anything and he'll believe it, he's a right dinlo.
dip
n
1.
a fool. This word, first heard in the 1970s, is either a back-formation from
dippy
or a short form of
dipstick
or
dipshit
.
âAll those people out there, they're just complete dips.'
(Recorded, American teenager, London, 1988)
2.
a pickpocket. A Victorian term, still in police and underworld use.
3.
British
an act of sex. The vulgarism usually refers to male sexual activity and was used, e.g., by the stand-up comedian Frank Skinner in stage monologues in 1992. It is derived from the phrase
dip one's/the wick
.
dip (out)
vb American
to depart, leave. A vogue term from black street slang of the 1990s. The variant form âdo the dip' has also been recorded. 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.
dip one's/the wick
vb
(of a man) to have sex. A vulgar euphemism which is about a century old. âWick' is either a shortening of the rhyming slang
Hampton Wick: prick
, or a straightforward metaphor from candle wick. Originally British, the term is now used, albeit less commonly, in the USA and Australia.
dip out
vb Australian
to fail
dipping
n
picking pockets. The term has been in use since the middle of the 19th century.
dippy
adj
eccentric, silly or slightly deranged; daft. A British term now in use throughout the English-speaking world. It seems to be an invented word rather than a derivation.
dipshit
n
a fool. This vulgarism is sometimes said to be a euphemism for a male homosexual or the male member (compare
dung-puncher
, etc.), but may simply be an elaboration of
dip
.
dipstick
n
a fool. The word is probably a euphemism for
dipshit
, but with less unpleasant overtones. It has been popularised by television series and films in both Britain and the USA since the early 1980s and is a favourite with teenagers.
dirtbag, dirtball
n American
a despicable person. These terms of abuse, being strong but not obscene, are frequently heard in films and TV programmes, such as the police series
Hill Street Blues
.