Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (71 page)

2.
South African
a Chinese person. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995.

gongol
n British

an idiot, an unfortunate simpleton or buffoon. The word is a blend of
goon
and ‘mongol' and was briefly a vogue term among London schoolchildren from 1979.

gonk
n British

a dull-witted, buffoonish or grotesque person. Gonk was services' slang in the 1950s for sleep (probably from ‘conk out'), but the word was used as a trademark name for troll-like dolls in the late 1960s. It is from this source that the word as a term of abuse or contempt arose, just as
muppet
did in the late 1970s. Gonk was applied by schoolchildren to unfortunate fellow-pupils and by hospital staff and police to the mentally retarded.

gonof
n American

an alternative spelling of

ganef gonzagas
n pl American

female breasts. Gonzaga is a Spanish proper name, but is used in this sense by analogy with earlier humorous synonyms
garbonzas
and
gazungas
.

gonzo
adj

unrestrained, hedonistic, extremist as a style, particularly a journalistic style popularised by the late Hunter S. Thompson in his articles for
Rolling Stone
magazine in the early 1970s. Gonzo is said to be an earlier
hipster
term made up of
gone
and the ‘-o' ending (with a median s or z to aid pronunciation), but is more likely to be a straightforward borrowing of the Italian
gonzo
, meaning foolish.

‘He was responsible for pioneering the style of modern journalism known as “Gonzo”: the freewheeling and often self-indulgent method which has been copied by countless writers.'
(
I-D
magazine, November 1987)

goobatron
n

a foolish person, a
nerd
. An adolescent elaboration of
goober
heard in the late 1980s.

goober
n American

a.
a spot or pimple

b.
a foolish person, especially one small in stature

c.
a gob of spit

All senses of the word are derived from a southern American term for a peanut which is an Americanisation of the Kongo word
nguba
.

gooch, guch
n American

1.
the perineum

2.
an unpleasant and/or stupid person

good afternoons
n pl South African

prominent buttocks. The term is used appreciatively and jocularly, invariably by males, of a female's posterior. It was recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the
Cape Sunday Times
, 29 January 1995.

good oil, the
n Australian

the truth, an utterly accurate and/or admirable statement

goods, the
n

1.
the real thing, first rate merchandise

2.
incriminating information, evidence

goody-goody, goody-two-shoes
n

an offensively virtuous or diligent person. The second phrase is more often heard in the USA; it derives from the heroine of a children's story and implies a dislikable prissiness.

‘Superman's naïve, a goody-two-shoes. Batman busts heads.'
(Joe Lihach of Village Comics,
Observer
, July 1989)

gooey
n American

a girlfriend. A fashionable, but probably ephemeral term among teenagers in late 1987 and 1988. It was probably influenced by ‘gooey-eyes' (romantic looks).

How's your gooey?

gooey nectar
n American

an attractive girl, a particularly good-looking girlfriend. A teenagers' vogue word from late 1987 combining
gooey
(a girlfriend) with ‘nectar' (a pretty girl).

goof
¹
n

a gormless, awkward or foolish person. Originally a rural British dialect word, goof became widely used between the two world wars all over the English-speaking world, particularly in the USA.

goof
²
vb American

1.
to blunder, make a mistake, fail. The verb postdates the noun form of the word.

2.
to stare or look vacuous. A teenage term from
goofy
.

3.
to indulge in wordplay, improvise poetry. A word and an activity popular with the more literary
beats
in the 1950s.

goofball
n American

1.
a slow-witted and/or clumsy person. A mildly derogatory term derived from
goof
and
goofy
.

2.
an illicit drug, typically a tranquilliser or barbiturate which renders the user slow or inert

go off
vb

1.
American
to express enthusiasm and/or excitement, give vent to strong feelings. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

2a.
to be lively, exciting. Usually referring to a party or dance, the phrase can also denote, e.g., exciting surfing conditions.

It was going off down the boathouse bar last night.

2b.
British
to erupt into violence

‘Then Jimmy spilled Bob's beer and it all went off.'
(Recorded, Southampton, 2000)

go off on (someone)
vb American

to criticise, denigrate,
diss
. An item of black slang of the 1990s, also adopted by younger white speakers.

goof off
vb American

to avoid responsibility, refuse to take things seriously. An Americanism since the 1940s, the word was briefly adopted by British
beatniks
in the early 1960s but did not establish itself.

goof up
vb American

to make a mistake, blunder. An elaboration of
goof
.

goo-gobs
n American

a large quantity of money, used in the phrase ‘to make goo-gobs'. An item of black street slang that was reported by US linguists to be obsolete by the end of the 1960s, but which was revived in 1990s usage.

googy-egg, googie, goog
n Australian

an egg. A piece of ‘baby talk' transferred from the nursery to facetious adult usage.

gook
n

1.
American
a North Vietnamese or any Oriental person. A derogatory term widely used by American soldiers in the Vietnam War, but originating much earlier, probably in the Filipino uprising of 1899 in which US troops referred to Filipinos as ‘gugus', from a native word meaning tutelary spirit.

‘…dinks, gooks, slopes – all sorts of slang to dehumanize them.'
(Veteran of My Lai massacre, Channel 4 TV, 22 June 1988)

2.
an alternative spelling of
guck goolies, ghoulies
n pl British

the testicles. In northern Indian languages
gooli
means pellet or pill. The word was picked up by British colonial troops at the turn of the 20th century as a euphemism for testicle. This sense was reinforced by a more circuitous route; the gypsies' language, Romany, also adopted the Indian word
gooli
, from which the English and Australian schoolchildren's word ‘gully', for a marble, derived.
Marbles
itself was a common euphemism for the testicles.

‘The temperature further increased each time we dipped a deep fried fish ball into the special Oh' Boy sauce. “It's enough to take your goolies off”, gasped my sister-in-law.'
(Craig Brown,
Sunday Times
magazine, 8 October 1989)

goomba, gumba
n American

a friend or associate. The word has been widely used, mainly by males, in many social contexts. It is often assumed to have an Afro-Caribbean origin, but one authority, Robert L. Chapman, derives it from a dialect pronunciation of the Italian
compare
(a ‘comrade' or ‘relation').

goon
¹
n

a.
a foolish, clumsy or clownish person. This sense of the word was popularised in Britain by the zany radio series
The Goon Show
in the 1950s, and was earlier used in the
Popeye
cartoons for ‘Alice the Goon', a huge dull-witted character. This in turn was probably influenced by a pre-existing word in British dialect meaning vacuous or simple (and distantly related to ‘yawn'). Since 2000 the expression ‘you goon!' has
been used by British adolescents to indicate strong dislike or disdain.

b.
a thug. The word was already being used in this sense in the USA in the late 1930s, typically of hired strike-breakers. It was later applied particularly to strong-arm men of low intelligence used by gangsters to intimidate or punish.

‘Tell Simpson to get his goons to lay off – then we'll talk.'
(
Rockford Files
, US TV series, 1978)

goon
²
, goonie
n

a.
American
a friend, fellow gang member or someone from the same neighbourhood

Jason's like my goon.

b.
British
a gang or group of friends. The usage was recorded in East London schools in 2009.

go (out) on the cotton wool
vb See
on the cotton wool

goony
n American

a foolish person. A variant form of
goon
, mainly heard among children and teenagers.

gooper
n American

a gob of spit. This is probably a variant form of
goober
.

goopy
adj

foolish, clumsy or unfortunate. An uncommon adjective influenced by
goop
and
goofy
.

‘To keep goopy stills from love scenes out of circulation, his contracts stipulate that the studio can't release his photograph without his approval.'
(
Elle
magazine, May 1989)

gooseberry
n British See
play gooseberry

goosegog
n British

a gooseberry, in the literal sense. A nursery term also used by adults and teenagers.

go pear-shaped
vb British See
pear-shaped

go postal
vb See
postal

gopping
adj British

1.
dirty, disgusting

2.
drunk

A term popular (in both senses) among younger speakers since 2000. Its derivation is obscure.

gora
n See
ghora

go rago, go raggo
vb See
rago

Gorbals kiss
n British

a head-butt. The phrase, a synonym of
Glasgow kiss
, refers to the formerly notoriously violent working-class district in that city.

gorge
adj

very attractive. A shortened form of ‘gorgeous' used especially by middle-class speakers in both the UK and the USA since 2000.

gorked out, gawked out
adj American
incapable, intoxicated, disoriented. The word was featured in the 1990 US film,
Donor
.

goss
n British

gossip (in the sense of rumour, scandal and chatter, not of a person). A vogue term which appeared around 1988 and established itself in the language of teenagers and writers in teenage magazines.

‘A triff new weekly mag with all the goss on your fave TV stars.'
(BBC TV advertisement for
Fast Forward
magazine, 1989)

go through the slips
vb British

to renege on (a deal). An item of underworld slang from the 1990s. The term refers either to a cricket ball passing near the wicket or to an escape near the ‘slips' (wings) of a theatre.

go tits-up
vb American

a.
to die

b.
to be ruined, bankrupted, defeated, etc. In both senses the expression is a vulgar version of the more common
go belly-up
.

go troppo
vb Australian See
troppo

go twos
vb

to share, ‘go halves/half-and-half'

‘Lets go twos on the shopping.'
(Recorded, London student, 2003)

gouge
vb American

to intimidate, damage, do down. A business term of the 1980s.

gouged
adj British

intoxicated by drugs, the term especially denotes someone
stoned
on
ecstasy

gouger
n Irish

a
yob
, lout or thug. The word is Dublin slang, heard since the 1980s.

gouing
n British

lying. A term of uncertain origin in use among West London students in 2000.