Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (90 page)

jungly, jungli
adj South Asian

uncultured, uncouth, unsophisticated. An old expression (from ‘jungle') in Indian English which is now used by Asians in the UK as part of so-called ‘Hinglish' (a variety combining English with words from Hindi and other languages).

junk
n

narcotics, hard drugs. The word (originally a Middle English term for nautical paraphernalia and detritus) was applied to
opium in American underworld argot in the late 19th century. It was used to designate heroin by the first decade of the 20th century and has remained one of the most widespread synonyms for this and other addictive drugs.

‘Fuzz against junk.'
(Title of book by the pseudonymous Akbar del Piombo, 1965)

junker
n American

1.
a dilapidated car,
banger

2.
an alternative (and rarer) version of
junkie

junkie, junky
n

a drug addict, a habitual user of ‘hard' drugs such as heroin or morphine. The term, derived from the word
junk
, became popular in the USA in the 1920s and spread to Britain and Australia in the 1950s.

‘When we think of a junkie we picture the reckless youth, squatting in the rubble of his life, a hypodermic in his hand.'
(
Independent
, 17 July 1989)

jupe, juped
adj British

shamed, humiliated. One of many terms in the lexicon of teenage gangs which refers to respect or the lack/loss of it. The origin of the term is obscure, but it may be a deformation of the standard ‘dupe', ‘duped'. It can also be used as an exclamation of triumph or derision. The term was recorded in use among North London schoolboys from the early 1990s.

You're juped!

K
n

1.
one thousand. This abbreviation existed in limited slang usage in the 1970s (based on the k of kilo), but it was its use in computer jargon (to mean a storage capacity of 1,024 bytes) which was first transposed to express sums of money when discussing fees or salaries. It then entered general colloquial use in the 1980s.

He's on 60K a year.

2.
British
a knighthood, from the initial letter, or that of KBE, KCMG, etc.

‘Brenda has now let it be known to Downing Street that Milne should be given a “K” in the birthday honours list. Surprisingly enough Thatcher seems to approve.'
(
Private Eye
magazine, April 1989)

kaffir
n

a black person. A racist term used initially (and still) in South Africa to refer to indigenous blacks. (Kaffir was one 19th-century name for Bantu-speaking South African tribespeople, originating in the Arabic
kafir
: infidel.) The word is sometimes used, mainly by middle-aged or elderly speakers, in other English-speaking areas.

kahsi
n British

an alternative spelling of
khazi

kaifa
n British

an alternative spelling of
kife

kalied
adj British

drunk. A fairly popular word in the north of England (usually pronounced ‘kay-lide') which has been used in the long-running TV soap opera
Coronation Street
. Some authorities claim that kay is a dialect prefix meaning askew or awry; Paul Beale, in Partridge's
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
, derived kalied from ‘kali', a children's sherbet dip.

and all he could do was go out and get kalied

kanga
n British

a prison officer. The rhyming-slang term is a shortening of kangaroo,
screw
. A synonym is
scooby
.

kangaroo (it)
vb Australian

to squat, particularly in order to defecate; from the kangaroo's habit of sitting back on its rear legs, supported by its tail

‘Not wanting to contract any trendy venereal fauna, I kangaroo-ed it.'
(Kathy Lette,
Girls' Night Out
, 1989)

kangaroos in the top paddock
adj Australian

crazy, eccentric or deranged. A picturesque coinage, probably based on the colloquial ‘bats in the belfry'.

kark
adj British

suffering a ‘hangover' after smoking marihuana. It is not clear whether the word as used by teenagers from the mid-1990s is related to the Australian
cark
recorded in the previous decade.

kark (it)
vb Australian

an alternative spelling of
cark it

karma
n

a.
one's personal destiny, fate

b.
an aura, impression or influence,
vibes
Both senses of the word are inaccurate borrowings, dating from the
hippy
era, from Hindu and Buddhist writings in which the Sanskrit word denotes actions determining one's future state of incarnation.

karzi
n British

an alternative spelling of
khazi

Kate Moss
n British

since around 2000 the name of the UK supermodel has been borrowed as a rhyme for ‘toss' in the vulgar expression
give a toss

kayf, kafe
n British

an alternative rendering of
caff
(café), imitating the jocular or unwitting mispronunciation of the original French

kaylied
adj British

an alternative spelling of
kalied

kazi
n British

an alternative spelling of
khazi

kazoo
n American

the backside, buttocks. A word of unknown origin (it is probably unconnected with the musical instrument, the name of which imitates its sound). Other jocular terms using the same median sounds include
mazoomas, gazungas
, etc. (all synonyms for female breasts).

k.b.
vb, n British

(to receive) a rejection. An abbreviation of
knockback
, in use in the Liverpool area in 2003.

I was k.b.'ed
.

She gave me the k.b
.

k-cup
adj

high
on drugs or alcohol. The term is a brand name of a coffee container.

See also
lean; buzzin'; cart

kecks
n pl British

trousers. This word is the northern English version of the archaic ‘kicks', heard in other parts of the country from the 17th century until the 1940s, but now obsolete. Liverpool
mods
of the mid-1960s used to refer contemptuously to ‘half-mast kecks', that is unfashionably short trousers which flap around the lower calves or above the ankles.
Strides
was the slang synonym usually preferred further south.
Underkecks
are, of course, underpants, worn by either sex.

keek
n British

an alternative form of
cack

keen
adj

excellent, great. A teenage vogue word in North America in the late 1950s and 1960s. The enthusiastic term now sounds dated but is still heard, usually said by ingenuous and ironic adults, although there are some signs of a revival among younger speakers both as a description and exclamation (‘neato-keeno' was an elaborated version).

keeno, keener
n British

a keen, enthusiastic person. A schoolchildren's word, usually said scathingly of a
swot
or excessively hearty fellow pupil. The terms were still in use among London university students in 2013.

‘We just sat at the back and let the keenos volunteer.'
(Recorded, London schoolgirl, 1987)

keep cave
vb British

to keep quiet, be wary and/or keep a look out. A schoolboy term of the 1950s from the Latin imperative
cave
: beware. In English the word is pronounced ‘kay-vee'.

‘They asked me to keep cave in case old Goatman came along.'
(Recorded, former grammar-school boy, 1986)

keester
n American

an alternative spelling of
keister

kegged
adj

drunk. A fairly rare word used typically by college and high-school students in the USA and occasionally by their counterparts in Britain. The British usage may be a separate coinage, also from keg beer.

kegger
n

1.
American
a beer party. An adolescents' term.

2.
a snowboarder

kegs
n pl British

a variant form of
kecks

keister, keester
n American
the backside, buttocks, anus. This fairly common term is from Yiddish
kiste
, in turn deriving from Middle and Old Germanic
Kista
and from the Latin
cista
, meaning a chest. The Yiddish word denoted a portable chest and was adapted by English speakers to mean anything used as a travelling container, including a hawker's display cabinet, a satchel and a trouser pocket. The transition from these senses to a part of the human body is not completely clear; it has been suggested that it became an underworld synonym for the anus as used to smuggle contraband across borders or into prison. The term is now rather old-fashioned but was used by Ronald Reagan in the late 1980s.

Ken
n American

a male dullard, a (clean-cut) bland conformist youth or man. Ken is the name given to the male counterpart of the
Barbie Doll
.

ker-ching
exclamation

an imitation of the sound of cascading coins, or of a cash-drawer closing. The sound is made to celebrate or boast of, for instance, pleasure at a sudden windfall or triumph at profiting.

kerflumix
vb

an alternative spelling of
kerflummox

kerflummox, kerflumix
vb

to baffle, confuse, bamboozle. A humorous embellishment of the colloquial ‘flummox'. Ker- is a prefix indicating force,
effort or impulse, reminiscent of Anglo-Saxon and modern German
ge-
: ‘made'.

‘After all their explanations I've got to say
I'm totally kerflummoxed.'
(Recorded, US diplomat's wife, London, 1988)

kermit
n

1.
British
a French person. A jocular nickname used by students since the 1980s. It is inspired by the character ‘Kermit the Frog' in the 1970s US television series
The Muppet Show
.

‘Don't forget to send invitations to the kermits.'
(Recorded, London student, 1988)

2. Kermit (the Frog)
an unattractive female. Rhyming slang for
dog
, in use among male adolescents since the late 1990s.

‘We were out on the cotton wool but all we saw were Kermit the Frogs everywhere.'
(Recorded, agricultural college student, Devon, 1999)

ketch
vb British

to criticise, harass. A term used by school-children since the 1990s. The derivation is uncertain, but it may be a northern dialect version of catch.

I just got ketched for swearing again.

kettle
n British

a watch. This old term, still used particularly among police and criminals, is said to be from the rhyming slang ‘kettle and hob', meaning
fob
.

kettled
adj British

drunk. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

Kev
n British

a foolish and/or unsophisticated young male. Kev was the name of a truculent uncouth teenager played by the TV comedian Harry Enfield.

‘Blacks and Kevs do cause more fights. U r ignorant for not looking at these stats.'
(Recorded, contributor to
www.wassup.com
, November 2003)

Kevin
n British

a common, vulgar or boorish young man. This disparaging term from the 1970s and 1980s is typically used by snobs or wags to designate a working-class or lower-middle-class youth without taste or sophistication. The Christian name supposedly epitomises this social subgroup (the female equivalent of a Kevin is a
Sharon
).

Wayne
is sometimes suggested as an alternative for Kevin.

That pub's full of Kevins, we never go in there.

Compare
Kev; Brian

kewl
adj

a variant spelling and deliberately affected pronunciation of
cool
in its slang sense. In use around 2002, it can indicate irony or self-conscious enthusiasm.

Compare
rawk

kewpie doll
n

an excessively cute and/or overdressed or over made-up girl or woman. The original American Kewpie Doll (a trademark name based on Cupid) is a fairy-like baby. In Australia the name is used as rhyming slang for
moll
in the sense of a prostitute.