Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (69 page)

gimme five!
exclamation

an invitation to slap palms as a ritualised greeting or sign of solidarity

gimmer, gim
n British

a foolish, clumsy or unfortunate person. The words originated as Scottish and northern English dialect terms for a helpless young ewe or old sheep. They are still used primarily as contemptuous descriptions of females.

gimp
n

1a.
a crippled or lame person, especially an old one. The term is thought to derive from a blend of grandfather and limp. The adjective ‘gimpy' is applied, often derisively, to anything or anyone clumsy or crippled.

1b.
an awkward, ineffectual or clumsy person. By extension from the first sense above. The word is popular among school-children.

2.
a sexually promiscuous male

gimpiny
n British

a version of
gimp 1b
in use among students in 2005

ginger
¹
n
,
adj British

(a person who is) homosexual. Rhyming slang from ‘ginger beer':
queer
. A piece of pre-World War II London working-class argot which is very much alive in spite of the decline in ginger-beer drinking.

ginger
²
, ginge, ginger-minger
n British

a red-haired person. These and other nicknames are rarely used affectionately, given the current prevalence of victimisation of red-haired coevals by younger people.
Duracell
,
Jaffa Cake
and
ranga
are synonyms.

gink
n

1.
an awkward, ugly, foolish or clumsy person. The word is at least 100 years old in Britain and America, but its origin is obscure; it may be an invention, or derive from either Scottish dialect or Turkish or Arabic via Romany. Before the 1950s the word also meant simply a person, without the pejorative overtones.

Who's the shortsighted gink in the corner?

2.
British
a bad smell, stink. The word, which is probably lowland Scottish in origin, also occurs in the form of the verb ‘to gink'.

ginuls, ginulz
See
jinelz

Giorgio Armani
n British

a sandwich. A rhyming-slang phrase heard since the late 1990s. The rhyme is with
sarnie
and the name of the Italian fashion designer.

gippo
n See
gyppo

girlfriend
n American

a female companion, member of one's circle or gang. This use of the word arose among black adolescents in the late 1970s and by the 1990s had become a common term of address among younger females across the USA. The word is sometimes abbreviated to ‘girlf'.

girlie
n British

a weak or effeminate person, a sissy. A schoolboy expression of derision adopted facetiously by some adult males.

girl's blouse
n British See
big girl's blouse

gism
n

an alternative spelling of
jissom

gismo, gizmo
n

a gadget, unnamed object. An American armed-forces' term adopted in Britain since the 1960s.

git
n British

an unpleasant or worthless person. Many saloon-bar lexicologists have claimed that this word is an Arabic term of abuse, meaning ‘pregnant camel', which was imported by servicemen who had been stationed in Egypt. The Arabic word does exist, but was probably noticed by British soldiers because the word git, a southern pronunciation of
get
(bastard or fool), was already part of their stock of vulgarisms.

‘A frightfully clever chap called Stephen Fry, sending up all those smug gits who present kids' TV. (Hmmm… comes across as a bit of a smug git himself.)'
(
News of the World
, 15 May 1988)

gitch
¹
, gotch, ginch, gonch
n Canadian
underwear

gitch
²
n

1.
the perineum

2.
also
the gitch
discomfort in the genital and/or anal region

3.
an unpleasant person. Said to derive from ‘gay bitch', but the person referred to may be male or female and not necessarily homosexual.

4.
something excellent, impressive

gitch(y)
adj American

1.
excellent,
cool

2.
flirtatious

3.
cute, appealing

4.
awful

5.
‘bitchy'

gitchies
n American

underwear. The expression, of uncertain origin, is related to Canadian
gitch
and
gotchies
.

gite
n British

an unpleasant and/or stupid person. A synonym for
git
,
geet
or
goit
.

git ghost
vb American

to behave discreetly, ‘keep a low profile'. An item of black street-talk that was included in so-called
Ebonics
, recognised as a legitimate language variety by school
officials in Oakland, California, in late 1996.

git-go
n American

the outset, beginning. The term is usually heard in the phrase ‘from the git-go'.

give (someone) a portion
vb British

to have sex. The vulgarism describes the sex act from the male point of view and has been popularised in the broadcast media, e.g., by the TV comedy series
Hale and Pace
in 1996.

give a toss/fuck/flying fuck
vb British

to concern oneself, care. Almost invariably used negatively, these phrases, recorded since the early 1970s, but perhaps slightly older, are successors to the old dismissive or insouciant expressions ‘(don't) give a damn/fig'.

See also
Kate Moss

give (someone) face
vb American

to affront, provoke, deride. An item of black street slang heard in the 1990s.

‘Are you giving me face?
What the hell does that mean?'
(
Made in America
, US film, 1993)

give head
vb American

(to be willing) to perform fellatio. A male term from the 1950s and 1960s, used typically by college students or servicemen during the
hippy
period of sexual experimentation. The phrase, and indeed the practice, seemed to assume a real and symbolic importance in male sexuality in the USA, far greater than in Britain and Australia. The term has occasionally been applied to cunnilingus. (Since the 1980s the words
skull
or ‘some skull' have occasionally been substituted for head.)

‘But she never lost her head, even when she was giving head.'
(
Walk on the Wild Side
, written and recorded by Lou Reed, 1972)

give it a burl
vb See
burl

give it beans
vb British

to perform energetically, as in dancing or sex. The term was recorded on the Student World website in 2001.

give it large
vb British

an alternative form of
large it

give it one, give her one
vb British

to have sex (with a woman). A male vulgarism which has been commonly heard from the 1980s, both in boastful or assertive male conversation and in parodies thereof. A common elaboration is ‘give her one for the boys'.

give it some cog
vb British

to accelerate, increase power and speed. A motorcyclist's term since the 1980s.
Cog
is jargon for gear.

give it some wellie
vb See
wellie
¹
1a

give it the berries
vb British

to act energetically, increase power and/or speed. The phrase was used by presenters on the TV car programme
Top Gear
in 2005.

give it toes
vb British

to run away, escape. Recorded from the mid-1980s and heard particularly in the Merseyside area, this is a synonym for the London criminal slang
have it away on one's toes
.

give it up
vb

to accede to a request for sex

That slapper gives it up easily.

give it up!
exclamation

a.
a demand by a mugger to give up one's money, possessions, etc.

b.
an exclamation of joy or solidarity In the second sense the phrase became a fashionable cry uttered by aficionados of dancefloor culture since the mid-1990s.

give someone evil(s)
vb British

to look menacingly or angrily at. An item of playground slang.
Eviling
is an alternative form.

give (someone) the arse/boot/heave-ho/elbow
vb Australian

to get rid of, jilt or dismiss someone; variations of
give someone the wellie give (someone/something) the wellie
vb British

a.
to dismiss (someone) from work

b.
to reject (a partner)

c.
to discard (an object).

Compare
wellie

In all senses the expression is a variant form of the colloquial
give someone the boot
.

give (someone) togg outs
vb British

to attack, beat up. An item of teenage playground slang of the 1990s, recorded among schoolboys in North London. The origin of the phrase is obscure: tog(g)s might logically mean ‘blows/punches' but the word has not been recorded in that sense previously; it may have arisen in black British street slang.

giving air
n British

(an act of) ignoring or snubbing someone. A vogue term among teenagers from around 2005.

glar, glah
n British

paint. A term used by house painters and artists in London which has not apparently been previously recorded in writing.

‘Go on, slop on some more of the old glar.'
(Recorded, mural artist, Vauxhall, London, 1974)

glare
vb British

to intimidate. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

He was glaring her.

Glasgow kiss
n British

a head-butt. The term, sometimes also expressed as ‘Glasgow handshake', dates from the 1960s.
Gorbals kiss
is a synonym.

glass
n

diamonds or other gems in underworld argot

glasshouse
n British

an army prison. The military detention centre at Aldershot barracks had a glass roof in the early years of the 20th century and was notorious for the severity of its regime. Known as the ‘Glass House' to inmates, it gave its name to other similar establishments.

glicther
n British

someone who cheats