Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (57 page)

‘The Lib Dems… a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tory party. End of.'
(Facebook posting, 26 February 2013)

ends
¹
n pl American

money. The term, probably originating in black street argot in the 1950s, was later adopted by college students. It may have begun as ‘N's', referring to (bank)notes, or possibly derived from the cliché ‘to make ends meet'. It is also said to be a shortening of ‘dividends' or from ‘ends and means'.

ends
²
, endz
n British

neighbourhood, urban area, estate. The term has been a staple of gang and teenage slang since around 2000.

my endz
What ends you from?

See also
from ends

endsville
n
,
adj American

the ultimate; the best or the worst. From the language of
hipsters
and
beatniks
in the late 1950s, already sounding dated by the 1960s.

epic
adj

very impressive, admirable, excellent. A vogue term among Anglophone teenagers from the early noughties, described by one contributor to
Urban Dictionary
in 2008 as ‘the most overused word ever'. Its popular usage was perhaps inspired by clichés such as ‘of epic proportions'.

‘Gilgamesh was epic. The Odyssey was epic. Beowulf was epic. Making an ass out of yourself at the bar the other night was not epic. Not even close.'
(Online posting by Christopher Provost, February 2012)

epic fail
n

a spectacular blunder, abysmal failure. A vogue term, often in the form of a derisive exclamation, among Anglophone teenagers from around 2006.

eppy
n British

an instance of uncontrolled behaviour, fury, tantrum. The shortening of ‘epileptic
fit' has been part of playground parlance since at least the 1980s.

He threw an absolute eppy when he found out.

ept
adj British

skilled, competent. A jocular back-formation from ‘inept', heard in middle-class speech since the 1990s.

‘I've got to say she's not very ept, is she?'
(Recorded, office manager, London, 1996)

Compare
ert

equipment
n

a.
the male sex organs. An unromantic euphemism used by males and females alike.

b.
a woman's breasts. A rarer vulgarism, usually indicating unromantic appraisal.

'erb
n See
herb

'erbert
n British

a foolish person, a cheeky, unwashed child. For many years, in London working-class slang, Herbert or 'Erbert was used to refer to any otherwise unnamed man or boy. Gradually, probably by being used in phrases such as ‘silly 'erbert', it came to have the more pejorative sense. There probably never was an eponymous Herbert; it was merely a common working-class name from the Edwardian era.

erdie
n British

a tedious, orthodox,
straight
individual. The origin of the term is mysterious: Eric Partridge's dictionary derives it somewhat unconvincingly from the German
Erde
, meaning ‘Earth', as in earth-bound.

‘Most managers were erdies; agents ditto.'
(Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham in 1965, quoted in Christopher Sandford's
Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool
, 1993)

eric
n British

1.
an erection. A schoolboy term.

2.
a foolish, gauche or unpopular male. This sense of the word also occurs in school argot and may be a corruption of
erk
or
oik
.

erk
n British

a vulgar, inferior or tedious person. A piece of armed-service and public-school slang which some authorities derive from aircraft. It may in origin be a version of
oik
.

ernie
n British

a stupid person. Among teenagers this is a contemporary synonym for
elm
or
panwit
, but, according to the online Dictionary of Playground Slang, describes someone ‘not as stupid as a
fudge
'.

erp, earp
vb American

to vomit. The word is echoic and has been recorded among teenagers of both sexes.

Someone's erped in the parking lot.

-ers
n
,
suffix British

a termination added to all or part of a standard word. In public-school, armed-forces' or middle-class speech it confers familiarity or affection. The core-word is sometimes preceded by
harry-
, as in
harry-starkers
for stark naked. This speech-pattern, found risible by many since the 1960s, arose at Oxford and in public schools in the late 19th century.

See also
preggers
;
honkers
;
starkers

ert
adj British

alert, lively, aware. A humorous back-formation from the standard term inert, heard in middle-class adult speech since the 1990s.

You've got to try to be a bit more ert! Compare
ept

Ethiopia!
exclamation British

a jocular farewell, coined by analogy with
Abyssinia!

eve
n British

the drug MDEA, a stimulant related to
ecstasy
which is known as
adam
(from MDMA)

evil
adj American

impressive, admirable. This use of the word originated in the jargon of black musicians; a rarer variant of
bad
or
wicked
. It is now used by teenagers of all ethnic origins, in Britain and Australia as well as the USA.

evil(s)
n See
give someone evil(s)

eviling
n

adopting a menacing attitude, glaring, frowning. The word, used intransitively and transitively, is part of the post-2000 lexicon of teenagers and younger schoolchildren in the UK.
Giving someone evil(s)
is an alternative form.

ex
n See

X excrement
exclamation
,
adj British
excellent. A jocular usage among students since 2000.

exercise the ferret
vb Australian
to have sex. An unromantic male expression equating the penis with the aggressive, hyperactive animal and its well-known proclivity for wriggling into crevices and tunnels.

extra
adj

a.
British
intrusive, nosy. In this sense the word was recorded in West London in 1998. Contemporary synonyms were
eggs-up
and
inna
.

b.
excessive, ‘over the top'

c.
pointless, redundant. Particularly as used in this last sense, the word was banned by the Harris Academy School in South London in 2013.

extract the Michael
vb British

to
take the mickey
; to mock. A humorously pedantic version of the well-known colloquialism.

extract the urine
vb British

to
take the piss
; to mock. A mock-pedantic version of the common, more vulgar expression.

eyeball
¹
vb

to look at, stare at or inspect. The expression probably originated in the USA in black usage in the late 1940s. By the 1970s it was heard in Britain and Australia, especially among teenagers and the police. In the form ‘eyeballing' the term can have the specific meaning of staring threateningly or provocatively.

‘Villains call it clocking in Leeds, eyeballing in Manchester and screwing in London's East End…It came as a shock: juries can be intimidated by a stare.'
(
Sunday Times
, 5 June 1988)

eyeball
²
n British

a.
a surveillance operation, in the jargon of the CID and the Flying Squad in particular

We've been on eyeball for a week now.

b.
‘visual contact', a sighting. Another police term, employed, e.g., during a stakeout or surveillance operation.

Do you have an eyeball on suspect one?

eye candy
n American

a.
something decorative, visually attractive, often with the implication that it is not to be taken seriously

‘The panoramic shots of the scenery is [sic] basically just eye candy for the audience.'
(Recorded, film maker, London, 2004)

b.
an attractive person (typically of the opposite sex). The term can be either appreciative or mocking in the case of someone who is considered merely decorative and lacking other qualities.
Compare
arm candy

eyetie
n
,
adj

(an) Italian. A rather unimaginative and dated soubriquet, but fairly inoffensive, as opposed to
spaghetti-eater
or
wop
. The term arose at about the time of World War I.

F.A., Fanny Adams, sweet F.A./Fanny Adams

n British

a.
nothing at all. Fanny Adams is a widespread euphemism for
fuck-all
.

b.
a pitifully small amount. In 19th-century naval slang, Fanny Adams was tinned or cooked meat, a sardonic reference to a girl of the same name who was murdered and dismembered in 1867. The name was later matched with the initials of
fuck-all
and used euphemistically in its place.

‘He says Eve behaved like a complete bitch over the kids' custody…and he'll get sweet F.A. out of the sale of the house.'
(Party gossip in cartoon by Posy Simmonds,
Guardian
, 1979)

fab
adj

brilliant, wonderful. This abbreviation of fabulous was adopted as an allpurpose term of approbation by teenagers in the 1960s from
camp
adult parlance and a local usage in Liverpool. The word has become popular again since the late 1980s, often ironically, but is also used in its original sense.

‘No need to phone me, a text would be fab.'
(Recorded, female executive, London, May 2005.)

fabe, fabe-o
adj British

variant forms of
fab
, occurring in London
parlyaree
in the 1960s and recorded in the TV documentary
Out
in July 1992

face
n British

1.
an outstanding person, someone who is more sophisticated, better dressed, etc. than the rest. A vogue word among
mods
in 1963 and 1964, probably originating from the idea of a well-known or recognisable face in the crowd, or possibly from a ‘face card', an expression occasionally heard in the USA, indicating an extraordinary, important or famous person.

2.
a synonym for ‘cheek' or
front 1
. This use of the word was popular in raffish speech from the late 1980s.

‘“A really good beggar makes maybe £50”, Brian says. “I haven't got the face to do it”.'
(Homeless youth,
Independent
, 22 December 1989)

3.
See
give (someone) face

faceache
n

a.
an ugly person. A term of mild derision or abuse, now mainly confined to children's badinage.

b.
an indicated but unnamed person, a ‘whatsisname'

Old faceache's back again.

faced
adj American

1.
drunk. A
preppie
term which is a milder shortening of
shitfaced
.

‘Get a six-pack of tall-boys, get faced and hit on the girls.'
(
3rd Rock from the Sun
, US TV comedy, 1996)

2.
humiliated, snubbed. This teenage term of the late 1950s describes the result of having been
put down
: it derives from ‘losing face'.

face man
n American

a male, especially an attractive male, considered to have a bland, insipid personality

facepalm
n
,
exclamation

an expression of despair or frustration in which the slapping of one's own forehead or face is carried out, mimed or referred to online.

Compare
headdesk

fade
vb

1.
American
to leave (a place), go away. A piece of
hipster
and
beatnik
language from the 1950s which has been revived by teenagers since the 1980s.

Come on guys, let's fade.

2.
American
to meet or cover a bet. From the language of the dice game craps.

Ten bucks says he doesn't make it. Who'll fade me?

3.
to kill, eliminate. A term from the argot of street gangs and other criminals.