Slang

[TheEarl]

Personally, being an american, and an american who doesn't know much slang from other countries, it excites the shit outta me (watches half of the hangout cringe) to read new phrases like that. Who the fuck cares if we [Americans] don't use that in every day speech?

After asking for the American equivalent of a phrase, I got some superb overseas slang (including 'Go all wahoonie shaped' which is great). Slang differs all across England, let alone across the world and my speech and slang is highly atypical for my area.

I thought we should start a thread on weird slang from our areas. And then I'll watch it crash and burn as no-one else is interested.

My two pennies:

Chuck a mental - Get really annoyed, usually over something minor.
Throw the toys out the pram/Spit the dummy - Throw a very childish tantrum
Get bollocked - Get shouted at or told off
Donalded - Donald Duck: Fuck
Lose the place/Lose the head - Lose your temper
You nonce - Literally: child abuser, so be careful with this one, but where I live it's a gentle insult for a mate if he's done something stupid.
Bollocks - As one word it's the same as bullshit, but to describe something as bollocks, means that it's bad.

Will add more when I think of them. Anyone else like to share?

The Earl

 

[pointless]

can anyone explain fucking a to me? i love that "phrase", but i have no clue what the "a" stands for. it's always been a mystery to me. a silly, unimportant mystery, but a mystery just the same.

is it a or eh or something else? i'm not even sure about that.

 

[MathGirl]

After asking for the American equivalent of a phrase, I got some superb overseas slang (including 'Go all wahoonie shaped' which is great).

"Go all wahoonie shaped" is not an Americanism. It's the invention of a Brit (Terry Pratchett) in his books about a fantasy world. The wahoonie is a mythical root vegetable which grows to about twenty feet in length. It assumes various shapes, most of which are humorous and obscene.

MG

 

[Otus de la Nuit]

Uffda!= Oy! (No direct non-yiddish equivalent..) An exclamation of exhasperation; can also serve as a filler, same as "Sheeeit."

I grew up thinking this one was as common as anything, but it turns out that hardly anyone besides the ol' Norwegian families of the upper-midwest, toward Canada, have even heard of it.

You betcha = Yet another Norwegianism.

Not used that much...stereotypical Minnesota/North Dakota phrase.

Whatever blows your hair back = If it makes you happy...

This one makes me laugh every time i hear it. Hmm, I think that's all for now.

 

[TheEarl]

Uffda!= Oy! (No direct non-yiddish equivalent..) An exclamation of exhasperation; can also serve as a filler, same as "Sheeeit."

I grew up thinking this one was as common as anything, but it turns out that hardly anyone besides the ol' Norwegian families of the upper-midwest, toward Canada, have even heard of it.

You betcha = Yet another Norwegianism.

Not used that much...stereotypical Minnesota/North Dakota phrase.

Whatever blows your hair back = If it makes you happy...

This one makes me laugh every time i hear it. Hmm, I think that's all for now.

Uffda probably translates to 'Fuckinell' in my part of England. This is usually delivered under the breath and shouldn't be distinguishable as two separate words.

Whatever blows your hair back = Whatever floats your boat

'Fucking A' stands for 'Fucking Awesome.'

The Earl

 

[pointless]

'Fucking A' stands for 'Fucking Awesome.'

The Earl

i never would have guessed that, but it does make sense so i'll accept it. thank you.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I don't know that the "A" in "fucking-A" stands for "awesome".

Where I grew up "doo-ay!" was a general greaserism for "All right!" or "You're damn right!" or just a general greeting:
"Doo-Ay, man!" (or even "Fuckin' doo-Ay!" when it was an especially propitious meeting.)

I tend to be very suspicious of attempts to make sense out of all slang. For instance, the theory that says that "Okay" comes from a comic mispronunciation/misspelling of "All Correct" sounds like pure academic bullshit to me.

For while in High School, all the guys would slouch around saying "Cha". This seemed to be a truncation of the quaintly antique "Hotcha!" but it was remarkable the nuance of feeling you could get by pronouncing this syllable with varying inflections and tones of voice. Everything from "wow" to "get fucked" could be "cha'd" by a master.

In college, feeling "curly" meant generally anxious or in need of some relief. (You needed to get straightened out)

We don't want to start with slang for vomiting again, do we?


--dr.M.

 

[MathGirl]

A reasonable question

We don't want to start with slang for vomiting again, do we?

Dear Dr M,
Slang for vomiting? Surely not.
Innocently,
MG

 

[Guest]

'A'

As one who grew up in the 50's in Detroit, I knew greasers, beats and bobby-soxers. The 'A' can't stand for "awesome"; that term came in slang-use in the 70's. I buy Dr. M's idea. "Allllllll-right!" was a common expression with the greasers and beats, so I can buy that "fuckin-A" came out of that. Definitely not "awesome" though.

I want to know, badly, if Brits really say "Cheerio"? I had a friend, a senior lady from Hong Kong who used it naturally. But none of my Brit friends do, not even my Cockney ex-husband.

ta, Perdita

 

[Madame Manga]

I grew up in a surfing part of the world, so I heard "gnarly" and "tubular" a lot in high school. I think these are specific surfing terms, but don't quote me--I was not a surfer chick. As far as I recall, "gnarly" means interesting in a challenging way, and "tubular" means something really cool, as in "shooting the tube" while riding a big wave.

MM

 

[Wantonica]

Hmmmm.

*Pulling out my slang dictionary... opening it at random...* gnarly= treacherous, dangerous, hairy

*here I go again* nickel deck=heroin (really??)

*and once more* grinding= jumping up onto a curb and sliding across it on your skates

*gotta go again* plant=hiding place for drugs

*one more time* thunderbolt thinker=person with suddon insights that create new business and profits

*this is fun* TIA=thanks in advance... wow, that is my real name

Happy night,
Lascivious Wanton

 

[Wantonica]

I grew up in a surfing part of the world, so I heard "gnarly" and "tubular" a lot in high school. I think these are specific surfing terms, but don't quote me--I was not a surfer chick. As far as I recall, "gnarly" means interesting in a challenging way, and "tubular" means something really cool, as in "shooting the tube" while riding a big wave.

MM

Darn girl, I was looking up gnarly at random while you were writing about it. No chit.

Me

 

[TheEarl]

I definitely don't say cheerio. Never have and probably never will. I'll take other people's word for it that the 'A' doesn't stand for awesome. It was just what I'd heard.

Some more words which I thought of.

Cheers - Thanks
Crap - shit
Tosh - bad or incorrect (as in That's tosh)
Pony - bad or dodgy
Steg - Absolute crap
Banjoed - Broken. No idea where this one comes from.

The Earl

 

[snooper]

Re: 'A'

I want to know, badly, if Brits really say "Cheerio"?

I think you will find it is largely out of use now. It was a regional thing anyway, and stood along side "ta ra ra bit" and "so long" as a parting salutation in certain geographical areas. It was in use in the South Nottinghamshire Coalfield in the 1950's.
Do not confuse it with the alcohol related "cheers" for which it was not, as far as I know (and in the last 50 years), a synonym.

 

[the_bragis]

Hello Pointless,

Can anyone explain fucking a to me?

I think 'fucking a', well here in Australia anyway, it's just short for 'all'. We say it means fucking a or fuck a, it means to mean nothing or is nothing. Like we might say that makes 'a' /fucking a sense.

Alex (fem)

 

[English Lady]

I thought a pony was slang for £100 ?

ok so heres some i can think of....

"put my two penneth worth in.." is to make your opinion on something known

"spend a penny" to go to the toilet

"ta ra" goodbye

"chuck" used as a pet name,usually uttered by market stall holders along with words like "darlin'" "petal" "flower" "sweetheart"


"Cock" nope its not just what you think, in greater manchester "Cock" is a pet name as is "cocker" ie

"ey'up cock! How are you doing?" or "Alright cocker,how are you?"

hmm i'll have to think of some more...

 

[oggbashan]

Sweet F.A.

My understanding of English Slang is that there are two versions of F.A.

1. From the troops on the Western Front in World War 1.

"San Fairy Ann" was their way of saying the French "Ca ne fait rein" which is the polite response to a Thank You. "It doesn't matter" or "Think nothing of it". Literally the French means "That makes nothing.".

The soldiers started using it sarcastically to thank for a service they didn't want. "It is bully beef for dinner again" - San Fairy Ann meaning "Thank you for nothing, mate" or in modern terminology "Up yours!"

"San Fairy Ann" was banned by Army orders so the troops changed to "Sweet Fanny Adams" or "Sweet F.A." meaning "Fuck All" which still meant "Thanks for nothing". F.A became the usual term for "Nothing". "Fuck All" was what the troops got from their government, their general officers and the commisariat.

2. The opposite of "Fuck All" was "Fucking Ada". Ada is supposed to have been a whore of remarkable talents. One session with Ada was enough for any soldier. So "Fucking Ada" was a term of approval for something fantastically good.


Please do not confuse "Sweet F.A." and "Fucking A". They are antonyms.

Og

 

[pointless]

there a lot of different interpretations of fucking a here. that's good i guess. just another set of reasons to keep it as my favorite meaningless phrase.

fuck'n a man, fuck'n a.

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Sweet F.A.

1. From the troops on the Western Front in World War 1.
"San Fairy Ann" was banned by Army orders so the troops changed to "Sweet Fanny Adams" or "Sweet F.A." meaning "Fuck All" which still meant "Thanks for nothing". F.A became the usual term for "Nothing". "Fuck All" was what the troops got from their government, their general officers and the commisariat.

Dear Og,
Thank you for that. I've finally gotten a definitive answer about "Sweet Fanny Adams."

Terry Pratchett uses the expression on occasion, and I've often wondered about it. From the context, I had a good idea of what he meant, but now I know for sure.
MG

 

[Antinomy]

Re: Sweet F.A.

"Sweet F.A." meaning "Fuck All"

So that is what the title of that old Sweet song means.

 

[Wantonica]

On the subject of slang phrases, this morning on my way to work I hit a vulture. That will probably never happen again in my lifetime. In any case, I found myself calling my b/f and saying "I really knocked him for a loop". Does anyone know where that came from?

Happy day,
Lascivious Wanton

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

Bristolians seem to have a habit of making up new slang words on a yearly basis. I personally have more than a talent for it.

For the past few months, I have been fond of the word burn:

"I'm off, gotta go burn up me dinner"

And also, marmolised. An innocent-sounding word, perhaps not spelt correctly, but seems to roll off the tongue in that way. Currently it means "mangled" as in wrecked. Last week my father "marmolised" the jockey wheel on his trailer, and a friend on mine "marmolised" one of his "alloys" (meaning 'expensive and pointless but nonetheless very desirable oversized aftermarket roadwheel made from a lightweight alloy fitted in order to improve the exterior appearance of a vehicle and give a performance image at the cost of acceleration and grip') on a curbstone.

'bollocks' is currently used to describe a collection of objects currently not referenced by the current context. Such as "what's all this bollocks doing on my desk?" or "what's that bollocks for? Take it away" In my area it is rarely used to describe a false truth (this is Bullshit)

TBH I can't think of any other slang words I use regularly. Generally, us West Country folk use real words but we pronounce them all wrong and we put them in the wrong sequence. This seems to be perfect for confusing strangers and identifying people from out of town.

ax

 

[TheEarl]

You ain't from around here.

Broken - injured. As in, I've broken myself playing kevball.
Kevball - Disparaging name for football used by rugby players
Football - That's soccer to you Yanks
Garyboy - The kind of person who owns a very shit car, yet insists on fitting it with a sound system that costs more than the car itself. Then they go and race each other around the town centre with their mates and pretend they look really good.
Kev - London equivalent of garyboy. Hence kevball.
Pegging it - running, often running from.
Fuck off - in response to statement of dubious veracity. Basically translates to I don't believe you.
Would you? - The meeting call of the single male, discussing whether they would or wouldn't with the female in question. They're all too scared to actually go up and talk to her, so they don't give her an opinion in the matter.

SMUK: You don't use bollocks in the sense of 'That's a load of bollocks' ?

The Earl

 

[Wantonica]

All I Know About Slang In America:

My cousin was sent here from Germany by our grandmother to spend te summer with me. The goal was to improve her English scores. She came here and was quickly bewildered... no one in the USA speaks anywhere near proper English. She left us with some darn good slang under her belt though. I couldn't tell you if it helped her scores at school, but we had fun.

Giggles,
Lascivious Wanton

 

[MathGirl]

Education

We had a Norwegian exchange student stay with us when I was in junior high.

After six months in the same house with my father, she went back home fluently foul mouthed in English.

MG