Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (51 page)

done up
adj British

an alternative form of
fitted up
or
stitched up

dong
¹
, donger
n

1.
the penis. This word is common in current Australian English but is also heard in Britain and North America. Its origin is unclear but it resembles synonyms such as
whang
,
schlong
, etc. Unlike most similar terms its use has not been extended to mean a ‘fool'. This hearty, brusque word is usually used by males.

2.
a blow, strike. From the verb form.

dong
²
vb American

to have sex (with). The term can be used transitively or intransitively, like many of its synonyms it is also based on the notion of striking. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

donging
n British

living outside society in makeshift shelters, teepees, trees, etc. The term was a back-formation from the ‘Dongas Tribe' of environmental protesters who came to prominence in the summer of 1994

donk
¹
n

1.
Australian
a car engine. This is probably a shortening of ‘donkey', which the late Eric Partridge recorded as being in use in British navy jargon for a ship's engine. The term ‘donkey engine' is often used for small, portable or auxiliary engines such as an outboard motor or miniature shunting locomotive.

2.
Australian
a foolish person

3a.
American
excrement,
shit

3b.
American
a prominent or well-shaped backside

4.
American
a synonym for
badonkadonk

donk
²
vb American

to have sex (with). An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

donkey-botherer
n British

a person of repellent habits, brutish individual. The expression caused consternation when used in a Facebook posting by
Blackpool Councillor Simon Blackburn referring to the town's football team in 2011. (Seaside resort Blackpool is famous for donkey-rides offered on its beach.)

Oh my actual God…the donkey-botherers are 2–0 up thanks to two of the worst refereeing decisions ever!

donnybrook
n

a brawl, free-for-all. Donnybrook Fair, held near Dublin, was often the scene of uproarious behaviour.

doobie, dooby
n

1.
American
a marihuana cigarette, a
joint

2.
British
a stupid or foolish person. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England.

doobry
n British

1.
an unspecified thing, thingummy, or a person whose name is forgotten or unknown. This invented word has existed at least since the 1950s.

2.
an amphetamine tablet or other pill. This is probably a narrowing of the preceding sense and was popular among the
mods
of the 1960s, although the plural
doobs
was the more common alternative. ‘Doobry', in this drug-related sense, has also been derived from ‘double-blues', a particular type of
pep pill
.

doodad
n

an unspecified thing, thingummy. The word is American, dating from before World War II. ‘Doodads' are bits and pieces, odds and ends.

doodle
n

1.
the penis. A nursery word.

2a.
excrement

2b.
nonsense, rubbish

doodly squat
n American

a.
excrement

b.
nonsense, nothing at all. The expression is a common variant form of
diddly (squat)
.

‘Shoot – I wouldn't tell you doodly squat after the way you've behaved.'
(
Night Game
, US film, 1988)

doody, doo-doo, do-do
n American

excrement. A nursery word used facetiously by adults, this is one of many similar words, perhaps inspired by the older usage
do
or
dos
.

doofer, doofa
n

1.
also
doover
an unspecified thing, thingummy

Hand me that doofer.

2.
a partly smoked cigarette; a pun on ‘(it will) do for later'. A wartime term that remained in use in the 1960s and may still survive.

doofus
n

an alternative spelling of

dufus doofy
adj American

foolish, clumsy. The term is probably derived from the earlier term
doofus
.

‘He looked pretty doofy to me.'
(New York paparazzo talking of actor Michael J. Fox in
True Stories
, Channel 4 TV, April 1993)

dook
n

1.
a hand, fist. A variation of the better-known
duke(s)
. In rustic and working-class Australian speech this form survives from archaic British usage.

2.
See
dukes
;
duke it
;
duke on it

doolally
adj British

deranged, crazy. A very popular term derived from the location of a colonial army sanatorium and rest camp at Deolali, Bombay, where soldiers exhibiting signs of fatigue, heat exhaustion, etc. were sent. An early form which is still heard occasionally was ‘do(o)lally-tap', the ‘tap' meaning ‘fever' in Hindi.

dooley, doolie
n British

a stupid or contemptible person. This term of abuse, probably originating in Scottish usage, was featured in the ITV drama
Your Cheating Heart
, written by Johnny Byrne in 1990. The term is now heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England.

do one
vb British

to depart, run away. In the slang of street gangs, homeless persons, etc. since 2000. The expression probably originated in northern usage, sometimes used as an imperative, as in ‘OK, you've had your fun so go on – now do one!'.

do one's nut/block/crust/pieces/taters
vb

to lose control, to become furious. Originally working-class alternatives for to ‘lose one's head' or to ‘blow one's top', all in use in Britain and Australia; the more colourful second, third, fourth and fifth variants are currently in vogue among young people.

‘Funny you should say that, because these days I find I do my nut very easily.'
(
Alfie
, British film, 1966)

‘Men are always saying they can count the number of times they've cried on the fingers of one hand. Well, I reckon women can count the number of times they've really done their blocks.'
(
Girls' Night Out
, Kathy Lette, 1989)

doover
n

an alternative form of
doofer 1

dooze
¹
n American

1.
something which is very easy to accomplish, an attractive proposition

2.
an alternative form of
doozer

dooze
²
vb American

to bamboozle, flatter

doozer, doozie, doozy
n

something or someone very impressive, remarkable or exceptional; a ‘humdinger'. This is probably an invented word (though some authorities derive it from a spectacular pre-World War II car, the ‘Duesenburg'). The term is certainly American in origin.

dope
¹
n

1.
an illicit drug, narcotics. The word was first applied to stupefying drugs such as opium and heroin at the turn of the 20th century, and remained limited to this context until the 1960s. In the late 1960s
hippy
drug users began to apply the then almost archaic form ironically to their preferred soft drug, cannabis (marihuana and hashish), and this remains the most common use today.

‘He said: “You know how you leave dope lying around? Well, she ate some and she went berserk. She hasn't liked it much since.”'
(
News of the World
, 29 October 1989)

2.
information, news. In this sense the word has been used at least since World War I, especially in America. The word is derived from the idea of something dense or viscous, embodied in the Dutch word
doop
, meaning dip (in the sense of a sauce in which other food may be dipped).

3.
a foolish or stupid person

dope
²
adj

excellent, fashionable, admirable. A vogue term of approbation which originated in American usage in the early 1990s and by 1995 had been adopted for fashionable speech by British and Australian adolescents.

‘He's dope – I'd go out with him.'
(
California Man
, US film, 1992)

‘Bangin' sounds and dope d.j.s.'
(Disco poster at King's College, London University, September 1995)

doped-up
adj

under the influence of a (stupefying or tranquillising) drug

dope out
vb

to work out, discover information. A phrase derived from the noun
dope 2
, it is more common in American English where it originated before World War II.

doper
n

a user of illicit drugs. The word, from
dope
, has been in vogue since the early 1970s. It is used about, rather than by drug users, and is applied indiscriminately to users of hard and soft drugs.

He's a doper from way back.

dopper
n British

1.
the penis

2.
a fool or contemptible person. The earlier sense seems to have fallen into disuse but, like many synonyms (
prick
,
plonker
, etc.), has been adopted to denote a stupid person. The word ‘dopper' itself occurred in Norfolk dialect, meaning a thick blanket or sweater, but this is unlikely to be the origin of the derogatory usage which is probably related to the archaic ‘dobber', referring to the male member.

do-re-mi
n American

money. A pun on
dough
.

Doris
n British

1.
a frumpy or unattractive older woman in the slang of City traders from the 1990s. Such women, especially if thought to be unglamorous or too serious, are typically dismissed by males as ‘a bit of a Doris'.

Nora
is a synonym.

2.
a girlfriend or wife

3.
a female

‘Doris is also used by thieves to mean women in general so a thief may say to another “Cop the doris” meaning look at the woman. The photographers who hang round the courts or outside celebrity spots have an expression “hose the doris” which means to leave your finger on the button when taking photos of a woman.'
(Recorded, South London criminal, 2012)

dork
n

1.
the penis. A term popularised first among American adults then among teenagers in the 1970s, it is probably inspired by
dick
and, perhaps,
pork
.

2.
a fool, an offensive buffoon. This is a predictable second (and now more widespread) sense of the word, on the same pattern as
dick
,
prick
, etc. It is not used affectionately (as
plonker
, for instance, is), but is only mildly offensive. Since the late 1970s this term has been in vogue in
Britain and Australia as well as in its country of origin.

‘I love your husband, but he's a real dork.'
‘Yes, but he's my dork.'
(
Someone to Watch Over Me
, US film, 1987)

dorky
adj

dull, offensively gauche, silly. From
dork 2
.

dose
n

a venereal infection. Until the 1960s the word most often referred to a bout of gonorrhoea.

‘Don't Give A Dose to the One You Love Most.'
(Song written and recorded by Shel Silverstein, 1972)

dosed (up)
adj

1.
infected with a venereal disease

2.
drugged illicitly (as in the case of, e.g., a greyhound or racehorse) or unwittingly (in the case of a person). The expression in this sense is a synonym for ‘spiked', and in the 1970s often referred to LSD.

dosh
n British

money. This is a working-class term from the early 1950s which was falling out of use in the 1960s, but which, like many similar words (
bunce
,
loot
,
lolly
, etc.), was revived in the money-conscious late 1980s. It is a favourite with alternative comedians and ‘professional cockneys'. The original would seem logically to be the old African colonial term
dash
, denoting a tip or bribe, but other authorities claim that it is influenced by
doss
, in the sense of the price of a bed (for the night).