Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (86 page)

2b.
an inhalation of glue or another solvent. These invented terms are probably influenced by ‘jab',
jack, jack (oneself) up
and
jagged
, as well as the first and more widespread sense of jag itself. The first subsense dates from the early years of the 20th century, the second from the 1950s.

3.
a Jaguar car

jagged
adj

drunk. This predominantly American term (used by
preppies
among others) can be pronounced either as ‘jaggid' or, more often, as ‘jagg'd'. It derives from
jag
in the sense of a drinking bout.

jailbait
n

a sexual partner or potential sexual partner under the legal age of consent. The expression is typically used to refer to sexually attractive young girls; it is also part of the
gay
vocabulary. Jailbait (also ‘gaolbait')
has been heard in Britain since the 1950s, but has only been in widespread use since the period of sexual liberation in the late 1960s.

‘Look again, Billy, this is jailbait – could get you into a lot of trouble.'
(
Hardcore
, US film, 1979)

jake
¹
n British

meths
, methylated spirits as drunk by tramps,
dossers
, etc. It is also known as
jack

jake
²
adj

excellent, satisfactory, correct. A word of unknown origin, used since the turn of the 20th century in Canada and the USA, where it is now rare, and subsequently in Australia, where it is still heard. The word has not appeared in British usage.

jakey, jakie
n British

a tramp, homeless person, particularly one who is a user of alcohol or
jake

jalopy, jalloppy
n

an old car. A word which has passed from slang of the 1950s into widespread colloquial use. The word was first used in the USA before World War II and could also refer to an aeroplane. It is of uncertain origin.

jam
¹
vb

1a.
to play music informally, improvise. The phrase originally referred to loose aggregations of jazz musicians, typically playing ‘after hours', later to rock and blues.

1b.
to make up an improvised
rap
chant. The word and the practice arose in New York in the late 1970s. Rapping, like the original jazz improvisation, took place in informally composed groups, often competing among themselves.

2.
American
to take part in a wild celebration, ‘party'. An extension of the original musical sense of the word.

3.
American
to have sex (with). This vulgarism usually occurs in the form ‘jamming', and is heard typically among adolescents. Slang uses of the word jam as verb or noun play on its standard sense of crush(ed) or wedge(d) together. The additional sense of sweet confection also influences the use of the word in sexual euphemisms.

See also
jooky jam

4.
American
to move quickly, leave hurriedly. This sense is of uncertain origin, but may refer to jamming the foot on the accelerator.

5.
American
to sniff cocaine. This use of the word presumably refers to jamming the substance up one's nose. It may alternatively refer to jam as something sweet.

6.
British
to trick, outwit, swindle, defraud. Multiethnic youth slang recorded in London in 2010.

jam
²
n

1a.
a shortening of jam session, meaning a group improvisation or informal performance. The term was originally applied to jazz, and later to rock.

1b.
a
rap
session

2.
American
a party (usually a wild, crowded affair)

3a.
a sex act

3b.
a sexual partner (of either gender)

3c.
the vagina

The many sexual subsenses of jam are based on the two standard meanings of squeeze or wedge and something sweet.

4.
a
car
. A shortened version of
jam jar
used by younger speakers since 2000.

jamas
n pl See
jarmies
;
jammies
;
jim-jams

James
n British

a
first
(first-class honours degree). Students' rhyming slang from ‘James the First'.

‘We all expected Penny to get a James but she ended up with a Desmond.'
(
Evening Standard
, June 1988)

jam jar
n British

a
car
. A piece of rhyming slang which dates from the 1920s and is still in use in working-class London speech. An alternative is ‘la-di (dah)'.

‘He had to blag a jam jar for the getaway.'
(Recorded, petty criminal, Vauxhall, London, 1976)

jammed
adj American

intoxicated by alcohol or drugs. The standard word in its sense of incapacitated or out of order has predictably been appropriated for slang usage.

jammer
n

1.
Jamaican
the penis. The Caribbean version of the North American terms
jammy
or
jemmy
.

‘…how must women feel to hear that “the girls dem want the jammer”?'
(
Sunday Times
, 2 May 1993)

2.
British
a knife, usually homemade. A prisoner's term recorded by the English Project at Winchester Prison in October 2010.

jammies
n pl British

pyjamas. A nursery term. Alternatives are
jarmies
and
jim-jams
.

jammin'
adj American

exciting, powerful, impressive. A synonym for
kicking, slamming
, etc. heard since 2000.

jamming
n British

‘hanging around'. In use among South London schoolchildren in 2010.

jammy
¹
adj British

enviably lucky, very fortunate. This common expression, which is particularly popular among schoolchildren (typically expressed in such phrases as ‘jammy dodger', ‘jammy bugger', ‘jammy sod' or ‘jammy bastard') marvelling at a fellow pupil's luck in escaping punishment, derives from the 19th- and early 20thcentury colloquial sense of jam as reward, luxury, indulgence, etc.

jammy
²
, jemmy
n American

the penis. In its first form the word has been used by
rappers
, including Ice T. The derivation is unclear, but
jam
as verb and noun has been used to mean both ‘penetrate' and ‘semen' in earlier black street slang.

jam rag
n British

a sanitary towel. A schoolchildren's term in use since the 1950s. It may also refer to a tampon. (A variant form is
tam rag
.)

jam roll
n British parole
.

A rhyming-slang term from the vocabulary of prison inmates and the underworld.

He's up for his jam roll
.

jam sandwich
n British

a police car, in the argot of schoolchildren, tramps,
dossers
and the homeless

‘I'm not going to be moved. The jam sandwiches [police cars] will have to cart me off.'
(Homeless man,
Observer
, 16 August 1987)

jam your hype!
exclamation British

an injunction to calm down. In use among South London schoolchildren in 2010.

jangle
¹
vb British

to gossip, chat. A word which is popular in northern England, particularly in the Liverpool area where jangling describes the working-class ritual or pastime of gossiping over the back fence or front gate.

jangle
²
n British

a gossip, chat. The noun postdates the verb form.

jankers
n British

military punishment, punishment detail. An army, navy and RAF term heard particularly in the 1950s, when national service was still in force in Britain. The origin of the term is obscure, but it may be related to
jangle
, which had an archaic sense of ‘to grumble', hence jankers was either the grumbling servicemen or the punishments which caused them to complain.

janky, jank
adj

1.
unlucky

2.
unfashionable, unappealing The words are of uncertain origin but may be an alteration of ‘jinx(ed)'. They have been used in Britain by adherents of the
rave
and dancefloor cultures since the 1990s.

janner
n British

a synonym of
chav
, in vogue in 2004. The etymology of the term is obscure but it seems to have originated in the Plymouth area as a local nickname.

JAP
n American

a young Jewish girl, especially a wealthy or spoilt one. An acronym of ‘Jewish American Princess'. A member of a social subgroup supposedly characterised by behaving in a comically spoilt, acquisitive and/or self-indulgent way. Princess here recalls the indulgent term of (usually paternal) affection, and the haughtiness of the subject. Following the
Preppie Handbook
, a
JAP Handbook
was published in 1983 analysing every aspect of the phenomenon.

‘What does a JAP make for dinner? Reservations.'
(
Evening Standard
, 9 May 1988)

jar
n British

a pint of beer. A pub habitués' term which has been in widespread use since the 1950s. At the turn of the 20th century ale was served in china mugs, known as jars, as well as glasses.

‘Hey Tom I fancy a bit of lunch. Let's stop at that pub for a few jars.'
(
Roger Mellie
, cartoon in
Viz
comic, 1989)

jarmies, jarmas, jamas
n pl British

pyjamas. Alternative nursery terms to
jammies
and
jim-jams
.

jarred (up)
adj British

drunk. The term was used of the Irish writer Brendan Behan by his wife.

jarring
adj British

annoying. In use among South London schoolchildren in 2010.

J Arthur
n British

an act of masturbation. Rhyming slang from J. Arthur Rank (the British cinema magnate):
wank
. A very popular word in the 1960s, used almost invariably by and about men. (In the 1940s the same phrase was used to refer to a bank.)

He was having a J Arthur in the bathroom
.

java
n

coffee. An Americanism that spread worldwide through the influence of Hollywood and pulp-fiction writers. Coffee was imported from Java in the 19th century.

Fancy a cup of java?

jawache
vb, n British
(to) kiss

He wanted to jawache her
.

I got jawache from her
.

jaxy
n See
jacksie

jay
n

1.
a
joint
. An alternative rendering of
J
.

2.
American
a dupe, victim, in the language of criminals, gamblers and confidence tricksters. The reference is to the jay bird, popularly supposed to be garrulous and dim-witted.

jazz
¹
vb

1a.
to talk deceitfully, bamboozle,
bullshit

1b.
to tease or provoke

Both subsenses originated in black American slang and have, since the 1970s, become established in general American colloquial speech. In these meanings,
jive
is a synonym.

2.
American
to have sex with

A black slang term from the early 20th century, jazz is still used, albeit rarely, in this sense. The word jazz is said to be a New Orleans Creole patois term for sex, erotic dancing or music.

jazz
²
n

1a.
empty, pretentious or deceitful talk

1b.
provocation, obfuscation, nuisance

2a.
stuff, unspecified things. Often heard in the dismissive phrase ‘all that jazz'.

2b.
ornamentation, decoration, showiness The precise origin of the word jazz is uncertain. It was first used in New Orleans in the early years of the 20th century in the form
jass
, referring to music and dances inspired by African rhythms. The word also had sexual overtones in its Creole origin. It was later applied to improvised music and, later still, to other forms of exciting display.

jazz-funk
n British

skunk
marihuana, in rhyming slang

‘Pass the Veras, I've just scored a farmers of Jazz-Funk.'
(Facetious online posting by “Vikingbones”, 22 February 2013)