Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

elephant

152

elephant n British

an unattractive female (not necessarily heavily built). In playground usage since 2000.

Compare nellie

elephants, elephant’s trunk adj British drunk. A piece of 100-year-old London rhyming slang which is still heard, although usually used facetiously.

I seen him down our local again – completely elephants.

elf n British

an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. In playground usage since 2000.

el ----o n

a Spanish pattern applied jocularly to English words mainly by American speakers. The meaning is ‘the supreme

----’, ‘the quintessential ----’ or just ‘the

----’. It appears in ‘el creepo’, ‘el sleazo’, ‘el cheapo’, etc. This tendency (in imitation of Hispanic ‘low life’ speech) has been in evidence since the early 1970s.

See also the entries following

el primo n American

the very best, top quality. From Spanish in which it means the first (quality). The expression is used by Anglos, blacks, etc. in imitation of Hispanic speech.

el ropo n American

a cigar or joint, especially a large and noxious one, from the idea of low-grade tobacco resembling rope

elven adj British

a less common version of elvish

elvish, elfish adj British

bad, unpleasant, of poor quality. The term, of uncertain derivation, has been in playground usage since the late 1990s. It is probably unrelated to the Elvish language invented by J. R. R. Tolkien.

embalmed adj

drunk. A now fairly rare, predominantly middle-class euphemism, it is an old usage, probably coined in the 19th century and inspired by ‘balm’ (as a euphemism for comforting liquor), ‘balmy’ and the early 20th-century Americanism ‘embalming fluid’, meaning whisky.

embrocation n British

alcoholic drink. A humorous borrowing of the word for rub-on liniment, said mainly by the middle aged.

I think a spot of embrocation might be in order.

Emma Freuds n pl British haemorrhoids. An item of rhyming slang popularised by the comic Viz in its feature ‘Nobby’s Piles’. The name is that of a female TV presenter.

emmet n British

a tourist, an unwelcome stranger. A dialect word (meaning ‘ant’) used in Cornwall since the 1950s to refer disparagingly to swarms of holidaymakers. Grockle is another regional term with a similar meaning.

enchilada n American See big enchilada

ends n pl American

money. The term, probably originating in black street argot in the 1950s, was later adopted by college students. It may have begun as ‘N’s’, referring to (bank)notes, or possibly derived from the cliché ‘to make ends meet’. It is also said to be a shortening of ‘dividends’ or from ‘ends and means’.

endsville n, adj American

the ultimate; the best or the worst. From the language of hipsters and beatniks in the late 1950s, already sounding dated by the 1960s.

eppy n British

an instance of uncontrolled behaviour, fury, tantrum. The shortening of ‘epileptic fit’ has been part of playground parlance since at least the 1980s.

He threw an absolute eppy when he found out.

Epsom salts n British

the drug ecstasy. A vogue term on the acid-house scene in 1989. The expression was borrowed from the name of the old-fashioned purgative medicine (hydrated magnesium sulphate).

ept adj British

skilled, competent. A jocular back-for- mation from ‘inept’, heard in middleclass speech since the 1990s.

‘I’ve got to say she’s not very ept, is she?’

(Recorded, office manager, London, 1996)

Compare ert

equipment n

a.the male sex organs. An unromantic euphemism used by males and females alike.

b.a woman’s breasts. A rarer vulgarism, usually indicating unromantic appraisal.

153

extra

’erb n See herb

’erbert n British

a foolish person, a cheeky, unwashed child. For many years, in London work- ing-class slang, Herbert or ’Erbert was used to refer to any otherwise unnamed man or boy. Gradually, probably by being used in phrases such as ‘silly ’erbert’, it came to have the more pejorative sense. There probably never was an eponymous Herbert; it was merely a common working-class name from the Edwardian era.

erdie n British

a tedious, orthodox, straight individual. The origin of the term is mysterious: Eric Partridge’s dictionary derives it somewhat unconvincingly from the German Erde, meaning ‘Earth’, as in earth-bound.

‘Most managers were erdies; agents ditto.’

(Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Oldham in 1965, quoted in Christopher Sandford’s Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool, 1993)

eric n British

1.an erection. A schoolboy term.

2.a foolish, gauche or unpopular male. This sense of the word also occurs in school argot and may be a corruption of erk or oik.

erk n British

a vulgar, inferior or tedious person. A piece of armed-service and public-school slang which some authorities derive from aircraft. It may in origin be a version of oik.

erp, earp vb American

to vomit. The word is echoic and has been recorded among teenagers of both sexes.

Someone’s erped in the parking lot.

-ers n, suffix British

a termination added to all or part of a standard word. In public-school, armedforces’ or middle-class speech it confers familiarity or affection. The core-word is sometimes preceded by harry-, as in harry-starkers for stark naked. This speech-pattern, found risible by many since the 1960s, arose at Oxford and in public schools in the late 19th century.

See also preggers; honkers; starkers

ert adj British

alert, lively, aware. A humorous backformation from the standard term inert,

heard in middle-class adult speech since the 1990s.

You’ve got to try to be a bit more ert!

Compare ept

Ethiopia! exclamation British

a jocular farewell, coined by analogy with

Abyssinia!

Eurotrash n

the European ‘jet-set’ and their hangerson. A version of ‘international white trash’, heard in ‘society’ and journalistic circles.

‘I enjoyed it, famous bits of Eurotrash enjoy it, but Miss Mouse might not feel altogether comfortable.’

(Rupert Christiansen, Harpers and Queen, November 1989)

eve n British

the drug MDEA, a stimulant related to ecstasy which is known as adam (from MDMA)

evil adj American

impressive, admirable. This use of the word originated in the jargon of black musicians; a rarer variant of bad or wicked. It is now used by teenagers of all ethnic origins, in Britain and Australia as well as the USA.

evil(s) n See give someone evil(s)

eviling n

adopting a menacing attitude, glaring, frowning. The word, used intransitively and transitively, is part of the post-2000 lexicon of teenagers and younger schoolchildren in the UK. Giving someone evil(s) is an alternative form.

ex n See X

excrement exclamation, adj British excellent. A jocular usage among students since 2000.

exercise the ferret vb Australian

to have sex. An unromantic male expression equating the penis with the aggressive, hyperactive animal and its well-known proclivity for wriggling into crevices and tunnels.

exes n pl British

expenses. A variant form of eckies.

extra adj British

intrusive, nosy. In this sense the word was recorded in West London in 1998. Contemporary synonyms were eggs-up and inna.

extract the Michael

154

extract the Michael vb British

to take the mickey; to mock. A humorously pedantic version of the well-known colloquialism.

extract the urine vb British

to take the piss; to mock. A mock-pedan- tic version of the common, more vulgar expression.

eyeball1 vb

to look at, stare at or inspect. The expression probably originated in the USA in black usage in the late 1940s. By the 1970s it was heard in Britain and Australia, especially among teenagers and the police. In the form ‘eyeballing’ the term can have the specific meaning of staring threateningly or provocatively.

‘Villains call it clocking in Leeds, eyeballing in Manchester and screwing in London’s East End…It came as a shock: juries can be intimidated by a stare.’

(Sunday Times, 5 June 1988)

eyeball2 n British

a. a surveillance operation, in the jargon of the CID and the Flying Squad in partic-

ular

We’ve been on eyeball for a week now. b. ‘visual contact’, a sighting. Another police term, employed, e.g., during a stakeout or surveillance operation.

Do you have an eyeball on suspect one?

eye candy n American

a. something decorative, visually attractive, often with the implication that it is not to be taken seriously

‘The panoramic shots of the scenery is [sic] basically just eye candy for the audience.’

(Recorded, film maker, London, 2004) b. an attractive person (typically of the opposite sex). The term can be either appreciative or mocking in the case of someone who is considered merely decorative and lacking other qualities.

Compare arm candy

eyetie n, adj

(an) Italian. A rather unimaginative and dated soubriquet, but fairly inoffensive, as opposed to spaghetti-eater or wop. The term arose at about the time of World War I.

F

F.A., Fanny Adams, sweet F.A./Fanny Adams n British

a.nothing at all. Fanny Adams is a widespread euphemism for fuck-all.

b.a pitifully small amount. In 19th-cen- tury naval slang, Fanny Adams was tinned or cooked meat, a sardonic reference to a girl of the same name who was murdered and dismembered in 1867. The name was later matched with the initials of fuck-all and used euphemistically in its place.

‘He says Eve behaved like a complete bitch over the kids’ custody…and he’ll get sweet F.A. out of the sale of the house.’

(Party gossip in cartoon by Posy Simmonds, Guardian, 1979)

fab adj

brilliant, wonderful. This abbreviation of fabulous was adopted as an all-purpose term of approbation by teenagers in the 1960s from camp adult parlance and a local usage in Liverpool. The word has become popular again since the late 1980s, often ironically, but is also used in its original sense.

‘No need to phone me, a text would be fab.’

(Recorded, female executive, London, May 20005.)

fabe, fabe-o adj British

variant forms of fab, occurring in London parlyaree in the 1960s and recorded in the TV documentary Out in July 1992

face n British

1. an outstanding person, someone who is more sophisticated, better dressed, etc. than the rest. A vogue word among mods in 1963 and 1964, probably originating from the idea of a well-known or recognisable face in the crowd, or possibly from a ‘face card’, an expression

occasionally heard in the USA, indicating an extraordinary, important or famous person.

2. a synonym for ‘cheek’ or front 1. This use of the word was popular in raffish speech from the late 1980s.

‘“A really good beggar makes maybe £50”, Brian says. “I haven’t got the face to do it”.’

(Homeless youth, Independent, 22 December 1989)

3.See give (someone) face

4.See jump in (someone’s) face

faceache n

a.an ugly person. A term of mild derision or abuse, now mainly confined to children’s badinage.

b.an indicated but unnamed person, a ‘whatsisname’

Old faceache’s back again.

face-case n American

a teenage synonym for faceache, heard from the late 1980s

faced adj American

1. drunk. A preppie term which is a milder shortening of shitfaced.

‘Get a six-pack of tall-boys, get faced and hit on the girls.’

(3rd Rock from the Sun, US TV comedy, 1996)

2. humiliated, snubbed. This teenage term of the late 1950s describes the result of having been put down: it derives from ‘losing face’.

face man n American

a male, especially an attractive male, considered to have a bland, insipid personality

fade vb

1. American to leave (a place), go away. A piece of hipster and beatnik language

faded

156

from the 1950s which has been revived by teenagers since the 1980s.

Come on guys, let’s fade.

2. American to meet or cover a bet. From the language of the dice game craps.

Ten bucks says he doesn’t make it. Who’ll fade me?

3. to kill, eliminate. A term from the argot of street gangs and other criminals.

‘I feel like I can’t be faded…just the hardest nigger around!’

(Gang War, Channel 4 TV documentary, August 1995)

faded adj American

inferior, unpleasant, tedious. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.

fadge n

the vagina. A vulgarism in use among adolescents in the 1990s and listed in Viz comic in 1994. Vadge is an alternative reading.

faff, faff about vb British

to behave in a confused, disorganised or indecisive way. The expression usually indicates exasperation at another’s incompetence.

‘Stop faffing about and play the bloody thing forwards!’

(Recorded, football spectator, North London, 1988)

fag n

1. British a cigarette. In Middle English fagge meant, as a verb, to droop or, as a noun, a flap or remnant. These notions gave rise to ‘fag-end’ and subsequently, in the 19th century, to fag as a stubbedout or limp, low-quality cigarette. In the 20th century the word was generalised to refer to any cigarette.

‘“Come on darling give us a fag”, says a brass to an elderly tom. “Have pity on a destitute prostitute!”’

(Sunday Times colour supplement feature on the East End of London, 2 June 1968)

2. American a male homosexual. This is generally taken to be a shortened version of faggot, but may pre-date it. (There is no discernible connection with the British public-school term meaning a junior boy performing servant duties.)

‘I’m led into a room where a short fag doctor and a big bull-dyke nurse are waiting for me.’

(Bill Levy’s journal in Oz magazine, February 1970)

faggot n

1.British an unattractive or disreputable woman. This now outdated term, some three hundred years old, is still heard in the phrase ‘old faggot’.

2.American a homosexual man. It is not certain whether this term is an embellished version of fag, derives from the old British sense of the word (above), or is a native American invention. The second alternative appears the most likely.

‘You know I’m a faggot? Well, congratulations.’

(Kiss of the Spider Woman, film by Hector Babenco, 1985)

faggy adj American

camp, effeminate. The adjective is formed from the earlier noun.

‘Just a faggy little leather boy with a smaller piece of stick.’

(‘Memo from Turner’, song recorded by Mick Jagger, 1969)

fag-hag n

a woman who prefers the company of homosexual men. The expression became popular in the late 1960s with increased awareness of the gay community among straights. The phrase quickly spread from the USA to Britain and Australia. Although originally and usually used pejoratively, it can now be used neutrally, or by a woman of herself.

‘She [Edith Olivier] became the supreme fag-hag of the 1920s and 1930s, the older woman who acts as motherconfessor and salonnière to a group of young homosexual men.’

(Bevis Hillier writing in the Sunday Times, 26 November 1989)

fagmonkey n British

an unpleasant and/or obnoxious person. In playground usage since 2000.

fag-stag n American

a heterosexual male who enjoys the company of gay males. The coinage is by analogy with the earlier fag-hag.

fains!, fainites!, faynits! exclamation British

a cry demanding a truce or exemption from something (such as being caught or penalised in a playground game). The various forms of the word are a survival of the archaic ‘fains’ or ‘fains I’ which means forbid and is related to the standard English fend.

157

fanny rat

‘The air echoed with cries of pax, unpax, fains, roter, shutup.’

(Back in the Jug Agane, Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, 1959)

fair dinkum adj Australian

just, honest, equable, worthy of approval. This well-known Australianism originated in a Victorian British dialect version of ‘fair play’ or ‘fair share’. (The exact origin of the ‘dinkum’ component is not clear.)

fair go/goes phrase Australian

an interjection demanding fair or reasonable behaviour

Come on, fair goes, give us a break.

fair suck of the pineapple/sauce stick phrase Australian

elaborations of the colloquial ‘fair crack of the whip’

fairy n

a male homosexual. The word in this sense probably originated in the American West around the turn of the 20th century. It was commonly heard in Britain by the 1920s.

fairy money n British

vouchers or coupons. The derisive phrase appeared in the mid-1990s, often referring to the redeemable but almost worthless tokens given out with petrol sales in garages.

fall n See take a dive/tumble/fall

fall guy n American

a dupe, victim or scapegoat. A pre-war Americanism deriving from the phrase ‘to take a fall’ (to be caught, arrested or imprisoned).

‘I’m the fall guy: I’m the one who’ll take the fall if it all blows up.’

(Recorded, security guard, Detroit, December 2004)

falsies n pl British

a padded brassiere or other padding worn to make a woman’s breasts appear larger

family jewels n pl

the male genitals, more specifically the testicles. A jocular expression which may be Victorian in origin. Now sometimes shortened to ‘jewels’.

fan n

1.an aircraft propeller

2.American the backside, buttocks. A shortening of fanny 2.

She fell on her fan.

fang-farrier n Australian

a dentist. A humorous coinage: a farrier is a blacksmith.

fang it vb Australian

to drive fast, accelerate fanny n

1.British the female genitals. This old and relatively inoffensive euphemism is possibly derived from the well-known erotic novel, The Memoirs of Fanny Hill, by John Cleland, published in 1749, or is perhaps simply an affectionate personification of the sex organs, using the short form of Frances. The word is used by women as well as men.

2.American the backside, buttocks. The American sense of the word probably derives from the earlier British sense. Fanny is sometimes confusingly used with this meaning by middle-class speakers in Britain too.

fanny about vb British

to faff about, dither. The fanny element may be present merely for its sound, its proximity to fuss or faff, or as a suggestion of femininity, rather than as a direct reference to the buttocks or genitals.

Fanny Adams n British See F.A.

fanny-fit n British

a bout of consternation or agitation. This term, based on fussing as described in the phrase fanny about, became popular amongst all age groups in the 1990s. His- sie-fit is a similar usage from the same period.

fanny-magnet n British

an attractive young male. This racier version of the widespread phrase babe-mag- net was posted on the Internet by Bodge World in 1997.

fanny merchant n British

someone who behaves in an indecisive, weak or supposedly effeminate way

‘Stop pratting about, Hoddle, and get stuck in. You’re nothing but a fanny merchant.’

(Recorded, football supporter, North London, 1985)

fanny rat n British

a womaniser or seducer. A term used with either contempt or admiration by other men.

‘A policeman accused of drowning his wife in a holiday villa’s Jacuzzi bath was branded “King Fanny Rat” by his colleagues because of his womanizing.’

(Daily Mirror, 15 April 1989)

fanny-toots

158

fanny-toots n British

an unnamed or unnameable person, so- and-so. The term, recorded in Edinburgh in 2001, is a synonym for colloquialisms such as ‘thingummybob’ and ‘oojamaflip’.

fantabuloso adj British

exceptionally good and/or spectacular. An item of parlyaree recorded in the TV documentary Out in July 1992.

farley, farly n American

a man or boy, a gay male, a ridiculous or unattractive person. A Valley Girl term used in the early 1970s.

‘I can’t get behind London. There are all these crazy farleys everywhere.’

(Recorded, Californian teenage girl, 1970)

Farmer Giles n See farmers

farmers n pl British

haemorrhoids. Rhyming slang from Farmer Giles: piles. The eponymous farmer is a common personification of bucolic heartiness. The longer version, Farmer Giles, was heard, particularly among schoolchildren, until at least the late 1970s.

‘Send your farmers packing with “Preparation Ouch”.’

(There’s a Lot of it About, British TV comedy series starring Spike Milligan, 1989)

far-out, farout adj

a.extreme, eccentric, unconventional

b.wonderful, remarkable. By extension from the first sense, usually as an exclamation in the approval of anything extraordinary.

‘Marlene’s entire range of expression was pretty much limited to “far out”, “super” and “gross”.’

(The Serial, Cyra McFadden, 1976)

Both senses of the phrase, originally an Americanism, were beloved by hippies from the late 1960s, but far-out was sounding dated by about 1974.

fart1 n

1.an expulsion of intestinal gas from the anus. Not really a slang term, but often included as such because of its vulgar overtones. (For the etymology see the verb form.)

2.a term of abuse, sometimes dismissive, now sometimes almost affectionate, heard especially in the expressions ‘old fart’ and ‘boring old fart’ (B.O.F.). Fart in this sense suggests someone inconse-

quential, ineffectual or otherwise worthy of mild contempt.

fart2 vb

to ‘break wind’, expel intestinal gas through the anus. The word is a descendant of an old Germanic verb ferzan which in turn comes from an IndoEuropean root perd- or pard- (giving modern French péter among others). In English fart has never been genuine slang, but is sometimes considered to be so because it is taboo in polite company. This was not the case until the 18th century.

fart around/about vb

to mess around, waste one’s time or play the fool

Come on you guys, stop farting around and get down to business.

fart-arse, fartarse about/around vb British to waste time, behave ineffectually or indecisively. A common, mildly vulgar term in British and Australian English. It is an elaboration of fart around.

I wish they’d stop fart-arsing around and make their minds up.

fartleberries n pl

another term for dingleberries

fashionista n

a fashion expert or arbiter of taste. The term employs the Spanish ‘-ista’ suffix by analogy with ‘Sandinista’ (Nicaraguan freedom fighter of the 1970s).

fast-ass, fast-arse n, adj British

(a person who is) clever, socially adept. A term of approbation from the slang of London schoolchildren in the 1990s, often pronounced (like the similar smart-ass/arse) in the American way.

Sarah just thinks she’s such a fast-ass, but she isn’t.

fat adj

excellent, fashionable, hip. A vogue term of approval in youth subcultures of the 1980s. Fattier and fattiest are derived terms. The word is sometimes spelt phat.

fat city n American

1. a state of contentment and/or material repletion, a very satisfactory situation

Wait till you see the set-up there – he’s in fat city.

2. obesity or an obese person. A highschool and college term of the 1970s and 1980s.

Get a load of fat city, here!

fat farm n

a health farm or slimming centre

159

femme

fatso n

a fat person. This unfriendly term from the USA largely superseded the more typically British ‘fatty’ in the 1960s.

fave, fave rave n

a favourite thing or person. The expression was first used in the 1960s. Nowadays it is almost always used humorously or ironically, typically surviving in the journalese of teenage magazines.

fax (someone) vb British

to fuck. A euphemism first heard in upper-class, media, and show-business circles.

But darling I’m quite sure she’s faxing him.

faynits! exclamation British an alternative form of fains

Feargal Sharkey adj British

chilly, cold. The rhyming slang (for the colloquial parky) uses the name of the Irish punk singer.

-features suffix

‘-face’. In British and Australian English it is often added to other, usually offensive, words as an insult or mock insult as in bum-features, creature-features, cunt- features, etc.

feature with (someone) vb Australian

to have sex with, succeed in seducing someone. A favourite expression of Barry McKenzie. Popularised by the cartoon strip in Private Eye magazine in the 1960s, it was briefly current as a result among students and others. It is probably inspired by the journalese ‘featuring’ as in ‘starring’, or as in being the main protagonist of a scandal.

‘If I don’t feature with this tart tonight the Pope’s a flamin’ Jew.’

(Barry McKenzie)

feck! exclamation Irish

an alteration of fuck which pre-dates its popularisation by the TV comedy Father Ted

Fed n See Club Fed

Feds, the n pl American

law enforcers, FBI agents. The word, used especially by lawbreakers in the USA, was briefly and inappropriately picked up in Britain as a euphemism for police in the early 1970s.

feeb n American

a feeble-minded person, a twerp. A teenagers’ term. This is one of a series of expressions for social misfits or peer-

group outcasts coined by American school and college pupils. Earlier words such as wimp and nerd have entered world English, others like dweeb, which immediately pre-dated feeb, are rarely heard outside North America.

feek adj Irish

attractive, ‘enchanting’. The word may be a variant form of fake used to mean magic(al).

feel n

a sexual contact, a grope or caress. In American teen jargon the word is often heard in the phrase cop a feel.

feel froggy vb American

to want to fight. An item of black streettalk which was included in so-called Ebonics, recognised as a legitimate language variety by school officials in Oakland, California, in late 1996. It comes from the catchphrase used as a challenge to fight: ‘If you feel froggy, leap!’.

feel someone’s collar vb

to arrest or take someone into custody. An item of police jargon, now more often expressed by the noun collar.

feenin’ n

a variant form of fiendin’, recorded in the USA in 2004

feisty adj

spirited, tough and assertive, quarrelsome. The word looks like Yiddish, but is in fact from a southern American English dialect word for a small, fierce dog (a ‘feist’ or ‘fice’), the name of which is distantly derived from ‘fist’, a variant of fart.

‘It was this feisty creature [Pamella Bordes] who ended a relationship with Andrew Neil by redecorating the walls of his Kensington flat with obscene graffiti.’

(Private Eye, February 1989)

felching n

the insertion of a live animal into the anus as a form of sexual stimulation. The practice was reported from California in 1993 and the word briefly became a vogue source of humour among UK adolescents.

The term may also be applied to other practices involving digital or anal contact with the anus.

femme, fem n, adj

a.a lesbian accustomed to playing a passive, female role in relationships; the opposite role to butch

b.an effeminate or passive male homosexual

fence

160

Both terms are from the French for woman or wife (femme), and have been in fairly widespread use since the turn of the 20th century. Femme (or fem) was a slang term meaning woman in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.

fence vb, n

(to act as) a receiver of or dealer in stolen goods. The word was generally considered slang until the 1960s; there being no equivalent shorter than the definition above. Fence is now a universally understood term. It is at least 350 years old, apparently originating as a shortening of ‘defence’, although the precise relationship to that word is unclear.

fender-bender n American

a.someone who poses as a road-acci- dent victim or stages an accident in order to claim compensation. A law enforcers’ and lawbreakers’ term.

b.a minor traffic accident or ‘shunt’ in which a car or its wing or bumper is slightly dented

ferret n See exercise the ferret

fess up vb American to confess, own up

‘We want the truth!’ ‘What time is it?’ ‘Time for you to fess up!’

(Out of the Dark, US film, 1988)

fidget n British

a secret, ‘wrinkle’, edge or angle. A mainly working-class term used, among others, by fraudsters and petty criminals.

He’s got a few fidgets worked out.

fiendin’ n

craving. The vogue term from club culture was defined by the Observer in 2002 as ‘…hungry, thirsty but not for a sandwich or cup of tea’. It probably originated among drug users in the USA.

fierce adj

excellent, stylish. A term used by young street-gang members in London since around 2000.

fifi1 n American

sex, sexual gratification. A humorous euphemism heard among middle-aged speakers, often in the phrase ‘getting some fifi’. It was featured in the US film

Extreme Prejudice, 1987.

fifi2 adj

‘prissy’, conceited. This usage is probably inspired by the earlier use of the

word as a nickname for a female or a lapdog.

fifth wheel n

a superfluous or intrusive extra person, an unnecessary thing. The phrase is American in origin.

filleted adj British

a late 1980s version of gutted. A fashionable way of conveying intense (or exaggerated) disappointment, bitterness, etc.

When she said she was going and taking the kids, I tell you, I was filleted.

fill someone in vb British

to beat someone up. A phrase dating from before World War II.

filmi adj South Asian

glamorous. A word evoking the glamour, ostentation and drama of Bollywood movies, now used by South Asians in the UK.

filth, the filth n British

the police, especially those in plain clothes. A thoroughly derogatory term coined in the 1950s and enthusiastically adopted by radicals, student demonstrators and criminals alike in the 1960s.

‘I didn’t realise he [an ex-boyfriend] was filth.’

(Recorded, nurse, London, 1985)

‘They don’t call us the filth for nothing.’

(Comedian Julian Clary, in police uniform, on Friday Night Live, April 1988)

filthy adj British

1. extremely wealthy. A shortening of ‘filthy rich’.

I tell you, she’s absolutely filthy.

2. excellent. Like dirty, a vogue word in club culture since 2000. In Seattle it is always pronounced ‘filty’.

fin n American

a five-dollar bill. From the Yiddish finif, meaning five.

See also finski

finagling n

devious machination, manoeuvre or manipulation. The word, which is sometimes used as a regular verb (‘to finagle’), is well established in the USA. It is said to derive from the archaic British dialect word fainaigue (meaning to cheat).

financial adj Australian well-off, in funds, solvent

He’s fairly financial just at the moment.

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fit

finesse (someone) vb American

to outmanoeuvre, cleverly manipulate or cheat someone. From the technique in contract bridge. Originally a cardsharps’ term, now in general use.

finger1 vb

to inform on someone. From the action of pointing out a culprit.

They fingered him for the Jamaica Avenue job.

finger2, finger fuck vb

to sexually stimulate (vaginally or anally) with the finger(s)

fink n American

an informer or any untrustworthy, reprehensible person. In the late 19th century the word was used for spies, informers, policemen and strikebreakers. It is the German word for finch and was presumably imported by German or Yiddish-speaking immigrants, although the exact meaning is obscure. (It appears not to be related to ‘singing like a canary’.) Less plausibly, the name of the Pinkerton detective agency has also been suggested as a source.

See also ratfink

finski n American

a fin (five-dollar bill). An embellished form of the word used typically by highschool or college students. The -ski ending (in imitation of Slavic languages or Yiddish) is thought to add raciness to short everyday words.

‘See what a finski can do for a man’s attitude?’

(Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, US film, 1986) fired-up adj

a.angry, furious

b.sexually aroused

c.stimulated by illicit drugs

d.enthused, aroused, excited

All these senses of the word are American slang in origin, based on the ‘firing-up’ or ‘revving’ of an engine. The term is now a common colloquialism.

fireman’s hose n British

the nose. A piece of authentic rhyming slang, still heard occasionally in London.

‘He had to stick his fireman’s hose into it, didn’t he?’

(Recorded, hairdresser, Richmond, 1988)

firkin’ adj

fucking. This word is generally thought of and used as a joky euphemism, inspired

by the similarity of the taboo word with the archaic name for a cask of ale. In fact ‘firk’ existed as a verb in its own right in early modern English. It meant to strike, and also to copulate, and may even have been in origin a distortion of ‘fuck’. The word is typically used as an intensifier, as in ‘firkin’ cold’.

firm, the firm n

a.British a criminal gang or organisation. Also used by and of teams of football hooligans, such as the Inter-City Firm, a much-publicised gang of older West Ham supporters.

b.an insider’s, or would-be insider’s, euphemism for an official but clandestine organisation, such as a secret-service department or undercover police group

first base n American

kissing, necking. The first stage in the process of seduction, as described by teenagers and students (usually from the male point of view). The image is taken from baseball, where to get to first base is the first step towards scoring a run; stretching the analogy, a home run or homer is full sexual intercourse.

fish n

a woman. The term is typically used pejoratively by gay males, referring to the supposedly characteristic smell of the female genitalia.

fishing expedition n

an attempt to gather information while purporting to be doing something else. An expression used in general conversation and, recently, specifically in business jargon where, e.g., a company will advertise for personnel in order to interrogate interviewees about rivals’ plans.

fishing fleet n British

a group of females arriving en masse in search of partners or husbands. The expression is applied today mainly to visitors to the outpost of upper-class society in Hong Kong; it formerly referred to the same social phenomenon occurring in India, etc. in the colonial era.

fishwank adj British

inferior, disappointing, poor. A meaningless compound used especially by males since 2000.

fit1 adj British

excellent, fashionable. A vogue term among adolescents in the early 1990s. Synonyms are mint and top.