Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (56 page)

1.
to eavesdrop or listen out for news, danger, etc. A working-class word used by the underworld and, more innocuously, by or about neighbourhood gossips, etc.

‘You cunning git! You was earwiggin' my conversation.'
(
Only Fools and Horses
, British TV comedy series, 1989)

2.
to understand, realise. A less common sense of the word in this rhyming-slang expression (from
twig
).

ear-wigging
n British

a synonym for ‘ear-bashing', punning on the earwig insect and the 19th-century colloquial use of ‘wig' to mean scold

‘That didn't stop [David] Puttnam giving [Christopher] Patten a severe ear-wigging from the green pulpit last week.'
(
Sunday Times
, 26 November 1989)

ease down!
exclamation

calm down, relax

easy
adj British

good, acceptable, pleasant. An allpurpose term of appreciation, used especially in provincial England since 2000, this adjectival usage is inspired by the earlier usage as an exclamation.

an easy night out
She's easy, man.

easy!
exclamation

1.
British
a generalised cry of derision, triumph, joy, etc. The word is usually lengthened to ‘eezee!' It originated on football terraces in the 1960s, and is often heard in repetitious crowd chants at sporting events

2.
an allpurpose greeting or farewell which probably originated in gang usage whence it was adopted by adolescents in the 1990s

easy meat
n

a.
a person who is easy to seduce or take advantage of

b.
something easy to achieve or acquire. The phrase has been in currency since the 1920s.

easy-peasy
adj British

very easy indeed, posing no problem. A popular phrase with younger schoolchildren since the early 1980s, although common in Scotland and northern England for decades.

eat, eat out, eat someone out
vb

to perform cunnilingus. These Americanisms of the 1960s are heard in Australia and, to a lesser extent, in Britain.

eat dirt
vb See
eat shit

eat it!
vb
,
exclamation American

a euphemism for
eat shit!

eat my shorts!
exclamation American

an exclamation of defiance or contempt, popular among male high-school and college students from the 1980s. The shorts in question are of course (unsavoury) male underwear.

eat shit
vb

a.
to submit to humiliation, to abase oneself. Until recently the phrase had more currency in the USA and Australia than in Britain.

b. eat shit!
an American exclamation of defiance or contempt

Ebonics
n

a.
American
a variety of English consisting of ethnic usages and street slang and in use among some Afroamericans in the late 1990s. The word is constructed from ‘ebony' and ‘phonics'. The school board in Oakland, California, was the first to recognise Ebonics, also known as ‘black-speak' or
jive talk
, as a legitimate language variety.

b.
See
Big L

ecaf
n British

the face. An item of
backslang
which became part of the
parlyaree
in use among London
gays
from the 1950s.

Slap some make-up on your old ecaf.

ecstasy
n

the drug MDMA (3,4 methylene dioxy methamphetamine). A preparation which was synthesised and patented in 1914 and rediscovered for recreational use in 1975 in the USA. The drug, related to
speed
, remained a minority taste until the early 1980s; it was used by Californian therapists among others and was legal until 1985. It is also known as
E
,
Epsom salts
,
X
and
adam
.

‘Every generation finds the drug it needs… the cold, selfish children of 1985 think ecstasy will make them loved and loving.'
(
Republican Party Reptile
, P. J. O'Rourke, 1987)

edge city
n

a sensation or situation in which one experiences tension, dread or anticipation. A dramatising of ‘edgy' heard among drug users and progressive music fans.

edged
adj American

nervous, anxious, irritated. This adaptation of the colloquial ‘edgy' and the slang
edge city
was heard in black speech and campus slang from the early 1990s.

Edwardian
n British

a
teddy boy
. A variant form of the name used seriously on occasions by journalists and facetiously by teddy boys themselves.

eek, eke
n British

a.
the face. A word heard in London theatrical and
camp
slang from the late 1950s. The etymology is obscure. One suggestion, unfortunately rather far-fetched, is that it is from the scream of fright occasioned by glimpsing the said visage leering through the limelight.

b.
face-paint, make-up. Also a theatrical term, presumably derived from the first sense.
Slap
is a more common alternative.

eff
vb

a euphemism for
fuck
heard in America and Australia but more popular in Britain. It is most often encountered in the phrase ‘eff off' and ‘effing and blinding' (cursing, using bad language).

‘Mr… put his arms around my waist and tried to kiss my neck. I told him to eff off.'
(Victim of sexual harassment,
Daily Mirror
, 31 March 1989)

effect
n See
in effect

effort
n British

a.
something or someone considered worthless, disappointing

b.
an exclamation of derision or schadenfreude

Both senses of the word form part of playground slang: the first probably originating in adult speech, where it was an allpurpose term for any unnamed object or person.

egg and spoon
n British

a black person. Rhyming slang for
coon
; this picturesque working-class expression, its origin in children's egg-and-spoon races, usually implies contempt and dislike.

eggplant
n American

an Afro-Caribbean person. The racist term refers to the shiny, dark skin colour of the aubergine vegetable.

eggs-up
adj British

intrusive, nosy. The term was recorded in West London in 1998.
Extra
and
inna
were contemporary synonyms.

eggy
adj British

1.
moody and/or agitated

He got really eggy when I said his new single was crap.

2.
excellent, in playground parlance In both senses the word has been fashionable among schoolchildren since the late 1990s.

ego-trip
n

an exhibition of self-aggrandisement, self-indulgence or other selfishness. The term dates from the late 1960s and derives from the notion that under the influence of LSD (on a
trip
) enlightened persons will lose their ego, while the unenlightened may experience a concentration of selfish impulses.
Trip
later took on the generalised idea of behaviour or idée fixe, and ego, simply egomaniacal or egotistic.

Eiffel (Tower)
n British

a
shower
. The rhyming slang, typically referring to ablutions rather than rainfall, has been used by students and older speakers.

I'm going to take a quick Eiffel.

elbow
vb

a.
British
to dismiss (someone), to dispose of or reject (something). A more modern version of ‘give it/them the elbow'. It is often in the passive form ‘get elbowed'.

‘OK, elbow the buskers, we haven't got time.'
(TV studio crew,
One Day in the Life of Television
, 1 November 1989)

b.
See
Spanish archer, the

elbow bender
n British

a habitual imbiber of alcoholic liquor; a drunk. From the phrase to
bend the elbow
(in lifting a drink to the lips).

‘Sam Brown admits she became a big-time boozer when she was a schoolgirl and is still a solid elbow-bender.'
(Photo caption,
People
, 23 April 1989)

electric soup
n

alcoholic drink, a strong alcoholic punch. The phrase is predominantly heard in middle-class circles. It belongs to a set of synonymous phrases including
lunatic soup
and
giggle water
.

elephant
n British

an unattractive female (not necessarily heavily built). In playground usage since 2000.

Compare
nellie

elephants, elephant's trunk
adj British drunk
. A piece of 100-year-old London rhyming slang which is still heard, although usually used facetiously.

I seen him down our local again – completely elephants.

elf
n British

an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. In playground usage since 2000.

ELFs
n pl British

‘evil little fuckers'. The medical slang term refers to irritating children. It was posted online by one David Mills on 21 December 2007.

elm
n British

a stupid person. The online
Dictionary of Playground Slang
suggests that the usage dates from around 1977 when Dutch Elm disease in the UK resulted in many trees dying and being cut down.

He got 1% in his mocks – what an elm!

el ----o
n

a Spanish pattern applied jocularly to English words mainly by American speakers. The meaning is ‘the supreme ----', ‘the quintessential ----' or just ‘the ----'. It appears in ‘el creepo', ‘el sleazo', ‘el cheapo', etc. This tendency (in imitation of Hispanic ‘low life' speech) has been in evidence since the early 1970s.

Elton
n British

a toilet. The term is based on the long-established slang sense of
the john 2
and the name of the well-known pop star.

I'm just popping to the Elton

elven
adj British

a less common version of
elvish

elvish, elfish
adj British

bad, unpleasant, of poor quality. The term, of uncertain derivation, has been in playground usage since the late 1990s. It is probably unrelated to the Elvish language invented by J. R. R. Tolkien.

embalmed
adj

drunk. A now fairly rare, predominantly middle-class euphemism, it is an old usage, probably coined in the 19th century and inspired by ‘balm' (as a euphemism for comforting liquor), ‘balmy' and the early 20th-century Americanism ‘embalming fluid', meaning whisky.

embrocation
n British

alcoholic drink. A humorous borrowing of the word for rub-on liniment, said mainly by the middle aged.

I think a spot of embrocation might be in order.

Emma Freuds
n pl British

haemorrhoids
. An item of rhyming slang popularised by the comic
Viz
in its feature ‘Nobby's Piles'. The name is that of a female TV presenter.

emmet
n British

a tourist, an unwelcome stranger. A dialect word (meaning ‘ant') used in Cornwall since the 1950s to refer disparagingly to swarms of holidaymakers.
Grockle
is another regional term with a similar meaning.

emo
adj American

overly emotional, melodramatic, depressing. The abbreviation for ‘emotional' may be applied, e.g. to music, fashion accessories or to individuals.

goin' emo on me
at the far end of emo

EMO, Emo
n American

(a member of) a youth subculture whose adherents favour dark clothing, depressing music and ‘gothic', macabre and retro imagery

emosh, emoche
adj American

overcome by emotion. The abbreviations, probably originating in the conversations of teenagers but by the end of the nough-ties decade in use among some adults too, are typically used in writing online but are sometimes spoken.

enchilada
n American See
big enchilada

end of.
phrase British

the abbreviation of the colloquial cliché ‘…end of story' is used abruptly or aggressively to terminate or abort a discussion

‘Natalie Terry…was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court today…When she was arrested at the sparsely furnished flat, that was extremely cold and had no carpets, Terry said to police “I neglected my daughter. End of”.'
(
The Sun
, 18 January 2012)