Vice Slang

217 Pages·2007·1.78 MB·English

Vice Slang
‘Vice,for the purposes of this dictionary,encompasses only those guilty
pleasures that the morally stringent disdain,and that don’t fit neatly into
the sex or crime drawers of our personal closets. Drinks,drugs and
gambling – it’s a journey of discovery from A to Zulu,and you really
should know better.’
From the preface by Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor

Vice Slang
Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor

CONTENTS
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
A – Z entries 1
Themed boxes
heroin 9
class A 18
cocaine 27
crack 36
marijuana and hashish – as it comes 48
marijuana – ready for consumption 57
ecstasy 67
GHB 75
ketamine 82
amphetamines and methamphetamines 89
tranquillisers 97
LSD 106
drug cocktails and blends 113
drinks 123
intoxicated 134
users 144
poker 153
playing cards and card players 165
gamblers 174
horse racing 183
betting 191
dice 199

PREFACE
Vice,forthepurposesofthisdictionary,encompassesonlythoseguiltypleasuresthatthe
morallystringentdisdain,andthatdon’tfitneatlyintothesexorcrimedrawersofourpersonal
closets.Drinks,drugsandgambling–it’sajourneyofdiscoveryfromAtoZulu,andyoureally
shouldknowbetter.
ButforthoseofuswhoareintriguedbyunconventionalEnglish,theslangthatoozesfrom
thesedissolutepastimesisjustificationenoughforthemostself-servingofsins.Yes,youcan
takethemoralhighgroundandpretendtobeappalledbythisslang,or,morelikely,the
practicesdescribed,butifyouweren’tamusedwiththewitandcreativityofourunconventional
vocabularyyouwouldn’tbeholdingthisbookinyourhandsinthefirstplace.
Wearehard-wiredwithalinguisticresourcefulnessthatcandisguiseorbetrayourhopesand
fears.Considerhowoftenanuncomfortablejokeisusedtodefendusfromtragedyordespair
andthereyouwilldiscoverthegenesisofviceslang;thisvocabularyisaseriesofpunchlines
tosomeoflife’sdarkestjokes.Nomatterhowfaryouventurebeyondthepalethere’salwaysa
wordforitinthesepages.
Theneedforslangasanintimatelanguageanddefenderofmoraltransgressionisreadily
apparent.Thenextgeneration–perhapsthatshouldbedegeneration–isalwaysreinventing
andrefiningthepracticesofdrinking,druguseandgambling;theexcitementofdiscoveryand
danger,ofoutrageandrebellionagainstthemainstreamisevidentinthissmalldictionaryof
viceslang.
Thisvolumeconsistsofapproximately3,000headwordentriesdrawninlargepartfromourNew
PartridgeDictionaryofSlangandUnconventionalEnglish,inwhichwerecordedslangand
unconventionalEnglishheardanywhereintheEnglish-speakingworldanytimesince1945.In
thatworkandhereweincludedpidgin,CreolizedEnglishandborrowedforeigntermsusedby
EnglishspeakersinprimarilyEnglish-languageconversation.Weexcludednotermonthe
groundthatitmightbeconsideredoffensiveasaracial,ethnic,religious,sexualorotherslur.
Thisdictionarycontainsmanyentriesandcitationsthatwill,andshould,offend.
WeusedUKspellingfordefinitionsandourcommentarybutusedindigenousspellingfor
headwordsandcitations.ThisisespeciallyrelevantinthecaseoftheUKarseandUSass.For
Yiddishwords,weusedLeoRosten’sspelling,whichfavourssh-oversch-.Aninitialismis
showninuppercasewithoutfullstops(forexample,ABC).Phrasesare,asarule,placedunder
theirfirstsignificantword.Forexample,thephrasegetyourwingsislistedasaphraseunder
theheadwordwings.Bythisplacementscheme,wesoughttoavoidtheendlesspagesof
entriesstartingwithprepositionsorcommonverbssuchasget.
Indealingwithslangfromallsevencontinents,weencounteredmorethanafewculture-
specificterms.Forsuchterms,weidentifiedthedomainorgeographiclocationoftheterm’s
usage.WeusedconventionalEnglishinthedefinitions,turningtoslangonlywhenitisboth
substantiallymoreeconomicalthantheuseofconventionalEnglishandreadilyunderstoodby
theaveragereader.
Werecognizethattheaccuratedatingofslangisfarmoredifficultthandatingconventional
language.Virtuallyeverywordinourlexiconisspokenbeforeitiswritten,andthisisespecially
trueofunconventionalterms.Wedatedatermtoindicatetheearliestcitationthatwe
discovered.
Foreachentry,weincludedaquotation,acitationoraglossexplainingwherethetermwas
collected.Sheerjoy–orintoxication–isoftenfoundexpressedinthesequotations,whilethe
citationsandglossesgiveasenseofwhenandwherethetermwasfound.
Preface viii
Ifyou’relookingforahigholdtimeyoucanbetyourbonesyou’vecometotherightplace.The
signonthedoorsays‘LiquorinFront,PokerinBack’.BythetimeyouhavejourneyedfromAto
Zuluyoureallywillknowbetter,andcan’taskformorethanthat.
TomDalzell,Berkeley,California
TerryVictor,Caerwent,Wales
LateSpring2007
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OurdebttoSophieOliverdefiesdescription.Withgoodhumourandasaintlytoleranceforour
so-calledwitandattemptstocorrupt,sheherdedthisprojectthroughfromaglimmerinthe
eyetoprintonthepage.
Webowtoandthankthefollowingwhohelpedalongtheway:MaryAnnKernan,whowas
chargedwithputtingthisprojecttogetherin1999and2000;JohnWilliams,whomustbe
creditedforallthatisrightaboutourlexicographyandexcusedforanythingthatisnot;our
contributorstotheNewPartridge,RichardAllsopp,DianeBardsley,JamesLambert,JohnLoftus,
LewisPoteet;andourSexandVicetask-mistressSonjavanLeeuwen.
TomDalzellandTerryVictor
Thisdictionarywouldneverhaveseenthelightofdaywithoutthetimeandsupportgivenme
bymyfamily:Cathy,Jake,Julia,Rosalie,andCharlotte.InthewordsofLennyBruce,Ididn’tdo
allthis,Ionlywroteit.
Ithank:myslangmentorsPaulDicksonandMadelineKripke(andbettermentorsyoucouldnot
hopefor);ArchieGreen,whosavedPeterTamony’sworkforposterityandencouragedme
throughoutthisproject;ReinoldAman,JesseSheidlower,JonathanGreenandSusanFord,slang
lexicographers,friendsandcomradesinwords;TomMiller,BillStolz,JohnKonzalandPatricia
Walker,archivistsattheWesternHistoricalManuscriptCollection,UniversityofMissouriat
Columbia,fortheirhelpandinsightsduringmyworkwiththePeterTamonyarchives;and
RichardPerlmanforhispatienttechnologicalhelp.
Lastly,IacknowledgeTerryVictor.Withhisjoyoflifeandfirmappreciationofthebenefitsof
vice,hehasmadeaconsiderablemarkonthelasteightyears.
TomDalzell
Liz,forherpatience,toleranceandunderstanding;thatwedon’tshareanyofthevices
collectedinthisbookisherachievementnotmine.Thankyou,Liz.
Myinspirationscannotgounacknowledged;theseductiveswirloftheirslangledayoungman
astray,especiallyallthosesongsthatweren’taboutdrugs,honest:‘LucyintheSkywith
Diamonds’,‘SweetJane’,‘AnotherGirl,AnotherPlanet’,‘GoldenBrown’,‘HereComestheNice’,
‘Motorhead’andmore.Itwascooltobeinonthesecret.Theygotmestarted,longbeforeI
hadeverheardofEbeneezerGoodeorEricPartridge.
But,aboveall,TomDalzellmustbenamedandshamedastheViceroyofVice,forhisslang
scholarshipandgenerosity–wearedancinginthedarkplacesandheisleadingtheway.
TerryVictor