Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (93 page)

‘Lugged their possessions from one digs to another in a cardboard suitcase, and, by way of recreation, enjoyed a quick “knee-trembler” up against a tree in a twilit local park.'
(
Sunday Times
book review, 18 March 1990)

knickers!
exclamation British

a cry of dismissal, defiance or contempt. This primary and junior schoolchildren's rude word has been adopted for humorous use by adults since the early 1970s. Some authorities claim that it was originally a euphemism for the more offensive
knackers
, but this seems unlikely in that underwear in itself is a favourite subject of prurient interest in pre-pubescent children. (Knickers is in origin a shortening of ‘knickerbockers', meaning baggy kneelength trousers as worn in 19th-century Holland.)

knob
¹
vb British

to have sex (with). This is a variant of
nob
, and is said by users of the word to be the incorrect spelling, in spite of the derivation.

‘If you were in with the Royal Family and you were a girl, you'd definitely want to knob Prince Andrew or someone.'
(Boy George,
NME
, 4 June 1988)

knob
²
n

1.
the penis. The word has been in use with this sense since the 19th century and was the most common vulgar synonym in Britain and Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, since when such words as
dick
and
prick
have increased in popularity.

2.
British
a
knob-head

‘Once again @frankieboyle you show what a complete knob you have turned into. You were once the funniest comedian around, now you are just sad.'
(Twitter tweet, 7 March 2013)

knobbo
n British

a fool, contemptible person. The expression, probably based on
knob-head
, was heard in the 1990s and quoted in the
NME
, a music paper.

knob-end
n British

a stupid, unfortunate or unpleasant person. A fashionable term of adolescent abuse since the late 1980s. (There are no sexual connotations, in spite of the word's provenance.)

knob-head
n British

a stupid and/or contemptible person. A common insult or term of disapproval recorded since the 1970s.

knob job
n

an act of (male) masturbation or fellatio. A vulgarism in use since the 1960s,
knob
being one of the commonest terms for the penis in Britain and Australia. Although knob alone is rare in this sense in the USA, ‘knob job' is commonly heard there.

knob-jockey
n British

a male masturbator. The phrase itself is invariably used by male speakers.

knobrash
n British

a foolish, irritating and/or unpleasant (male) individual

knob-rot
adj See
nob-rot

knock
vb British

1.
to kill. A recent, racier variant of
knock off
or
hit
.

‘I've never spoken to anyone I'm going to knock.'
(Hit-man quoted in the
Observer
, 31 May 1987)

2.
to have sex (with). A 300-year-old usage which has been rare since the early 1960s. It now survives mainly in variations such as
knock off, knocked up
or
knocking shop
.

3.
to criticise, disparage. The use of knock to mean deprecate is no longer, strictly speaking, slang; it has been employed in this sense since the 19th century.

4.
to cheat. An item of underworld slang.

They tried to convince her it was a fair deal, but she definitely got knocked
.

5.
to steal. The term is heard particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and the north of England.

Willie and Andy knocked a couple of videos from out the flats.

knock, the
n British

1.
stolen goods, criminal booty. A police and underworld term derived from
knock off
in the sense of to steal.

2a.
credit, hire purchase. This meaning is usually expressed by the phrase to buy something ‘on the knock'.

2b.
a loss or bad debt (a
knocker
is a debtor or
welcher
). The phrase usually forms part of a longer expression such as ‘take the knock' or ‘get the knock'. Knock here may originally refer to ‘financial damage' or to the rapping of the table by a player who cannot take his or her turn in cards or dominoes.

3.
the arrival of the police at one's home, or of a summons to appear in court. From the ominous knock at the door.

Charlie got the knock last night.

See also
knocker
;
on the knock

knock (someone) back
vb

to rebuff, reject, disappoint

‘Maybe you could give her some coaching?'
‘I offered: she knocked me back.'
(
Blackjack
, Australian TV crime drama, 2004)

knockback
n British

a.
a rejection of an application for parole

Jacky's hopeful but if you ask me he's going to get a knockback
.

b.
a rejection of sexual advances

Don't worry about it Jane. I was expecting a knockback anyway.

These terms are specific instances of the more general colloquial sense of knockback as any type of disappointment or rebuff.

knock boots
vb American

to have sex (with). An expression (also rendered as
get boots
) which was popular among black street gangs from the early 1990s.

knocked
adj British

rebuffed, rejected, disappointed. In this sense the term is a shortening of the colloquial ‘knocked back'. It was in use among teenagers from the late 1990s.
Bumped
is a synonym.

knocked out
adj

bowled over, very impressed. Now a fairly widespread colloquial expression, this was considered both an Americanism and slang until the late 1970s.

See also
knockout

knocked up
adj, vb

1.
American
(to be) made pregnant. Amateur lexicologists never tire of pointing out the possibility of confusion between the American sense and the innocently colloquial British sense of waken (someone) up.

‘Garp? My daughter got knocked up by a goddam fish?'
(
The World According to Garp
, US film, 1982)

2.
Australian
(to be) exhausted

knocker
n British

1a.
a door-to-door salesperson

1b.
a door-to-door tout for an antiques dealer, hoping either to trick the gullible into parting with valuables or, occasionally, to identify items for later theft.

See also
on the knocker

2.
a breast. A rarely heard singular form of
knockers
.

knockers
n pl

1.
female breasts. A widespread usage which seems to have arisen as recently as the 1940s. It has been suggested, but not convincingly demonstrated, that the word comes from
norks
and was first coined in Australia, whence it spread to the USA and Britain.

2.
the testicles. This usage is rare.
Knackers
is the usual term.

knockie, knockie-knockie
n British

an act of sexual intercourse. A humorous euphemism heard since the early 1980s.
It derives from the sexual connotations of the verb to
knock
and is probably also influenced by
nookie
. The expression is sometimes in the form ‘play knockie(-knockie)'.

knocking shop
n British

a brothel. A popular light-hearted term now used to refer to a seducer's lair or any scene of promiscuity, as well as to a genuine bordello. The euphemism was recorded with the latter meaning in the mid-19th century.

‘Life here was hell with that girl. We thought she was running a knocking shop and it drove us all mad.'
(Resident of block of flats,
News of the World
, 19 February 1989)

knock off
vb British

1.
to kill

2.
to steal or rob

They knocked off a lorry load of antiques.
The boys tried to knock off a bank.

See also
knock over

3.
to have sex with, succeed in seducing. In American English to ‘knock off a piece' is a depersonalising description of a sexual conquest.

‘the 18-year-old he had been knocking off since she was 14'
(
Daily Mirror
, 11 May 1989)

All these uses of the phrase are variations of the underlying meaning of ‘to account for' or ‘accomplish hurriedly'.

knockoff
n

an illicit copy of an item such as a fashion garment, counterfeit

knock one out
vb British

to masturbate. The term is used by and of males in the slang of prison or hospital inmates.

knock out
vb British

to sell or distribute. In this sense the phrase probably originates in illegal auctions where the apportioning of the (usually stolen) goods was accompanied by the rap of a gavel. The term is now typically used by or of street traders.

We've been knocking out over a hundred of those every week.

knockout
adj

wonderful, impressive, first-rate. Originally an Americanism, deriving from the noun form meaning something stunning, the word was introduced to Britain and Australia in the
hippy
era and by the mid-1970s sounded somewhat dated. It was often used in the form of an exclamation of (over)enthusiasm.

I met this knockout chick.

knock over
vb

to rob. A racier euphemism than
knock off
, this American underworld expression was picked up by British speakers in the early 1980s.

Willis is suspected of knocking over a bank in Oregon
.

knuckle
¹
vb

to hit, beat someone up. A word used in Britain by street gangs and other ‘toughs'.

He knuckled the geezer.

knuckle
²
, knuckle-up
n British

a brawl, fistfight

knucklehead
n

an idiot. A variation of the older
bonehead
, the term originated as a folksy Americanism, entering world English in the 1950s.

‘The most startling language occurs on a thing called “Bob George”, which features a monologue from some knuckle-head having it out with his lady.'
(
Independent
, 26 February 1988)

knuckle sandwich
n

a blow from a fist, punch in the mouth or face. A humorous phrase which is often used in unfunny situations in all English-speaking countries. The expression dates from before World War II when it probably originated in a euphemism such as ‘feed someone a knuckle sandwich'.

kode
n

the complex system of language and signals used by
gays
in order to secretly communicate with one another, particularly about their sexual proclivities or preferences. This includes the wearing of key rings, chains and specific colours of handkerchiefs in specific pockets, etc.

kong
n American

a.
strong alcoholic drink

b.
a strong narcotic
Both senses derive from the celebrated fictional giant gorilla ‘King Kong' as a symbol of potency.

konk
n

an alternative spelling of
conk
(in its sense of a hairstyle)

kook
n American

an eccentric, quirky or crazy person. This word is an alteration of ‘cuckoo' which has been popular in the USA since the 1950s. It has spread to Australia but, although understood in Britain, is rarely used there.

kooky
adj American

eccentric, quirky, crazy. This adjective probably postdates the noun
kook
.

kopacetic
adj American

an alternative spelling of
copacetic

kosher
adj

correct, proper, above-board. This Yiddish term (usually referring to food prepared according to Talmudic law) is originally from the Hebrew
kasher
, meaning fitting or proper. The word was adopted in the late 19th century by non-Jewish speakers, particularly in the underworld, market trading or other raffish contexts. By the 1970s kosher was generally understood and used by speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Don't worry, it's quite kosher.
Let's check out his so-called company and see if it's a kosher set-up
.