Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (94 page)

kotch
vb British

in the words of one user, to ‘hang out, chill or sleep'. An alternative spelling of
cotch
.

kraut
n

a German. The word, which originated in the USA, has supplanted ‘hun' and, later,
Jerry
in British slang usage. It is a shortening of
sauerkraut
, a popular German food consisting of thin-cut cabbage pickled in brine.

kray
adj American See
cray

kris
adj British

good-looking, excellent. An alternative spelling of
cris 1
.

krite, kriter, krita
n, adj

(something or someone considered) worthless, defective, unpleasant. Defined by one user in 2006 as ‘something
shit
', the term is popular among online gamers and UK schoolchildren. Some have claimed that it derives from a ‘Southeastern European language', but this is unproven. It did feature in the third edition of the
Warcraft
video game.

kron(z)
n American

an alternative spelling of
cron(z)

kronik
adj British

in the words of one teenager, the term is used for ‘something really bad'

ku
n

inside knowledge, the latest news, ‘score'. In Jamaican patois
ku
means ‘look', while in Mandarin Chinese slang it is a rendering of the English
cool
.

They know the ku
.

kugel
n South African

a spoilt young female. The term, which is derived from Yiddish, has a male counterpart, which is
baigel
. Kugel has been defined by users of the word as ‘a superficial and indulged young adult girl from a Jewish family'.

kuri, koorie
n

a.
New Zealand
a Maori

b.
New Zealand
an unpleasant or unpopular person

c.
Australian
an Aborigine
This racist epithet is the Maori word for mongrel.

kushti
adj British

an alternative spelling of
cushdy

kvetch
¹
vb

to complain, whine,
whinge
. An Americanism that has been adopted by fashionable and literary sectors of British and Australian society. It is a Yiddish verb meaning to squeeze or press.

kvetch
²
n

a person who complains constantly, a whiner or
whinger
. The word comes via the USA from the Yiddish verb meaning to squeeze or press.

kweef
n American

a vaginal
fart

kybosh
n See
put the kybosh/kibosh on

kyf
n British

an alternative spelling of
kife

kyfer
vb British

1.
an alternative spelling of
kife

2.
an alternative spelling of
kifer

L7
n, adj American

(a person who is) conformist, (a dull) reactionary. The term is a synonym for
square
and is based on the square made by the two symbols. It was adopted as the name of a
rriot-grrrl
band of the early 1990s.

labonza
n American

a.
the belly or paunch

a punch in the labonza

b.
the backside, buttocks

A word used particularly by pugilists, criminals and working-class speakers. It is mock-Italian or Spanish, probably based on
la pancia
or
la panza
, both related to the English ‘paunch'. The second sense referring to the posterior is rarer.

lace curtain
n

a foreskin. A term from the homosexual lexicon, punning on a symbol of coy respectability which pre-dates
gay
emancipation.

laced
adj

1.
American
intoxicated by drugs or drink. The term usually refers to a mild intoxication by, e.g., marihuana.

It's OK to get laced at a party but not to get fried all on your own
.

2.
physically attractive. An item of youth slang heard in the USA and UK since around 2000.

laced up
adj British

a.
(of a person) fully occupied, obligated, embroiled

b.
(of a thing) completed, accomplished, ‘in the bag'

Both senses are variant forms of standard metaphorical meanings of tied up.

c.
repressed, inhibited. In this sense the phrase is influenced by strait-laced.

She's a bit laced up isn't she?

Compare
laced

laddish
adj British

boisterous, uncouth and
macho
. The word, which appeared in the late 1970s, refers to the typical behaviour of adolescent males in groups. It is inspired by ‘male-bonding' expressions such as ‘one of the lads' and the
Geordie
battle cry ‘howay the lads!', but is more often used disparagingly or dismissively by women or more mature males. The term took on greater significance when it was applied to a social tendency among young adult males in the second half of the 1990s which involved celebrating, rather than disguising hedonistic excess, love of sport/cars/hardware, socialising in male groups, etc. The new ‘laddishness' was celebrated in publications such as
Loaded
magazine and TV comedies such as
Men Behaving Badly
.

ladette
n British

a female who behaves laddishly. The term became popular at the end of the 1990s and was the title of a reality TV ‘makeover' series,
Ladette to Lady
, in 2005, in which ladettes were taught to be ladylike.

ladies who lunch
n pl

self-indulgent and/or pampered females. The expression originated in the late 1980s as a New York characterisation of wealthy, leisured wives of rich (working) husbands. Since 2000 it has been generalised to refer jocularly to any females thought to be indulging themselves.

Lady (Godiva)
n British

a.
a £5 note, a sum of £5. London rhyming slang for
fiver
. The phrase is still heard, although alternatives such as
deep sea diver
are now probably more popular.

Compare
commodore

b.
£5 million, in the slang of city traders since the 1990s. In this sense the word is usually shortened to
Lady
.

ladyboner
n

an instance of female sexual arousal. Recorded in 2012, the jocular term is formed by analogy with the male
boner
, erection.

ladybumps
n pl

female breasts. A jocular euphemism heard since 2000.

lady garden
n British

the female genitals, female pubic triangle. The comic euphemism is used by adults and teenagers.

Lady Muck
n British

a woman thought to be ‘putting on airs' or behaving high-handedly. The female equivalent of
Lord Muck
.

Who does she think she is, carrying on like Lady Muck?

laff
n

a source or occasion of amusement. A jocular, ironic or journalese form of ‘laugh'. When said by southern British speakers it is distinguished by a pronunciation rhyming with ‘chaff'.

lag
¹
n

a.
a convict or former convict or recidivist. In noncriminal circles the word is usually heard only in the phrase
old lag
.

b.
a term of imprisonment. At different times in different areas the term has denoted specific periods.
Lagging
is now the more usual form of the word.

lag
²
, lag up
vb British

a.
also
lag up
to send to prison

b.
to arrest

Both words, which are now rare, date from the beginning of the 19th century, when lag meant specifically ‘to transport to a penal colony'. (An archaic meaning of the word was ‘to carry away'.)

lag
³
, lag on
vb Australian

to inform (on someone), to tell tales. A prisoners' and schoolchildren's word, this was British slang of the 19th century with the meaning of ‘betray to the authorities'. It has survived in Australia but has not been heard in the UK since the turn of the 20th century. Its frequent use in Australian TV soap operas during the 1990s may result in the reintroduction of the term.

‘Don't worry – 'e won't go laggin' on us.'
(
Prisoner: Cell Block H
, Australian TV series, 1985)

lagged, laggered
adj British

drunk. The words may have originated as a deformation of ‘lager(ed)' or may be an invention like the synonymous
langered
.

lagging
¹
n British

a period of imprisonment. The word has sometimes had the specific sense of a term of three years or more.

lagging
²
adj British

very attractive, gorgeous. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.

lah-di
n British

a motor car. Rhyming slang from ‘la-di-dah'. An alternative cockney term to
jamjar
.

laid
n See
lay
²

lainie
adj

an alternative form for
laney

lair, lare
n Australian

a layabout, flashy young tough. This modern usage postdates an earlier sense of the word denoting an over-dressed, showy or beautiful man. Since the 1940s the term has been identified specifically with delinquent or disreputable young males. It forms the basis of many combinations such as ‘come the lair', ‘lair it up' or ‘ten-cent lair'. Lair is based on a variant form of older British words such as
leery
,
leary
, etc.

lairy
adj

a.
flashy, showy, especially in an ostentatious, provocative or vulgar way. This term is especially popular in Australia but was also in use among British youth from the late 1980s.

‘Wow, Ches's got a really lairy T-shirt.'
(Recorded, youth, Portobello Road, London, 1986)

b.
vain, presumptuous or boastful. This sense of the term was in use among working-class speakers, particularly
teddy boys
, in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Both subsenses of the word come from the earlier
leary
or
leery
.

la-la
n American

a ladies toilet. The term is used by female college students.

la-la-land
n

a state of drugged or drunken euphoria. An expression usually used disparagingly by abstainers.

‘Cameraman Gerry McGough, who snapped these shots, said “She was completely in la-la land”.'
(Caption to pictures of drunken celebrity,
Daily Mirror
, 9 February 1989)

lallies
n pl British

legs. A word used in theatrical circles and by dancers, art students, etc. in the 1960s. Lallies was given exposure in the radio comedy shows
Beyond our Ken
and
Round the Horne
in the exchanges between Kenneth Horne and the
camp
characters Julian and Sandy, played by Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick. The word, of unknown origin, is still in limited use.

lam
vb

1.
to run away or escape from prison. The verb form is probably a back-formation from the phrase ‘on the lam', although ‘lam' originates in the verb ‘lambaste', meaning to hit or beat.

2.
Australian
to have sex with. Like many of its synonyms (
boff
,
biff
,
bonk
, etc.), the term uses the notion of striking in evoking sex from the male perspective. Lam in its earlier colloquial sense derives from the Old Norse
lemja
, meaning to thrash.

lamb chop
vb British

to inject a drug (e.g. heroin). The phrase is rhyming slang for
pop
.

lame
adj

a.
poor quality, disappointing, bad. The common colloquialism was adopted as an allpurpose teenage vogue word from the late 1980s.

b.
unfortunate, unfair

Based either on the colloquial sense of lame meaning poor (as in ‘lame excuse'), or on the image of a lame person who is unable to keep pace, the term has been generalised and intensified in the fashionable speech of adolescents since the 1990s.