Slangs

habdabs   Noun. Terror, the frights, nerves. A variation on the more commonly used 'abdabs'. Also occasionally screaming habdabs.
hack (it)   Verb. To manage, cope. E.g."I'm giving up my job next week, I can't hack the stress."
hacked off    Adj. Annoyed, depressed.
hacky    Adj. Dirty, scummy. [N.E./Tyneside use]
ha ha!    Exclam. A sarcastic verbally represented laugh exclaimed at a persons attempt at wit.
hair of the dog   Noun. An alcoholic chaser which will help relieve the symptoms of a hangover, usually needed on the morning after a drinking binge. {Informal}
hair pie   Noun. 1. The vagina. [Orig. U.S.] *
2. Cunnilingus. [Orig. U.S.] *
* Also hairy pie
hairy    Adj. Frightening, alarming.
hairy-arsed    Adj. Rough, primitive, unrefined, coarse. E.g."I can't imagine going out for a night at the opera with that hairy-arsed idiot."
hairy axe wound   Noun. The vagina. Cf. 'axe wound'.
hairy clam   Noun. The vagina. Cf. 'bearded clam'.
hairy muff!   Exclam. O.K., that's reasonable! A pun on fair enough. Cf 'furry muff', 'fairy snuff'.
half-arsed    Adj. Unenthusiastic, feeble, incomplete.
half-cut    Adj. Tipsy, drunk but not incapacitated. [1860s]
half-inch    Verb. To steal. Rhyming slang for 'pinch'. E.g."Yeah, I didn't have enough money so I half-inched it from my mum's purse." [1920s]
half-pissed   Adj. Drunk, but not incapacitated by alcohol.
half-sharp   Adj. Stupid, dimwitted.
half soaked
Adj. Slow witted or slow in movement, laid back. [South Wales/W. Midlands use]
hames   Noun. A mess, a shambles. E.g."She made a complete hames of that meal, by overcooking the beef and making lumpy gravy." [Irish use]
ham-fisted    Adj. Clumsy.
Hamilton Accie   Noun. Pakistani. Rhyming slang for 'paki'. Hamilton Accies, an abbreviation of Hamilton Academicals, a Scottish football team from Hamilton, S.E. of Glasgow. Offens. [Scottish use]
hammer    Verb. To take or do something to excess. E.g."I spent all yesterday hammering the booze and all last night throwing up."
hammered    Adj. 1. Totally intoxicated. [Orig. U.S.]
2. Exhausted, used to excess.
hammy    Adj. Over-theatrical. Usually applied to an actor. {Informal}
Hampsteads    Noun. Teeth. From the Cockney rhyming slang Hampstead Heath, a suburb of London. Usually heard pronounced 'ampsteads. [Mainly London use]
Hampton (wick)   Noun. The penis. Rhyming slang on 'prick'. See 'prick'.
ham shank   Noun. An act of masturbation. Rhyming slang for 'wank'. See 'wank'.
Hamsterdam   Noun. An intentionally jocular mispronunciation of Amsterdam.
handbag    Noun. Style of 'house' music which has a more poppy and accessible quality, often 'crowd-pleasing'. [1990s]
handbags   Noun. A harmless altercation. Abb. of handbags at dawn, which in itself is a pun on pistols at dawn, a reference to duelling. E.g."When they discover we've spent the holiday money it's going to be handbags."
hand-job    Noun. An act of masturbation. The expression usually represents the activity given by another person. E.g."She wouldn't go all the way so she gave me a quick hand-job instead."
handle    Noun. A name, a nickname, a pseudonym, an alias. {Informal}
hand-me-downs    Noun. Items, usually clothes, passed on to younger members of a family when they are outgrown.
hand-shandy    Noun. An act of masturbation.
hang about!    Exclam. Wait a moment! Hold on!
hang a left / right    Vrb phrs. Turn left / right.
hangin'    Adj. Unattractive, nasty, unsavoury. Usually pronounced 'angin'. [N.W. England use]
hang out    Verb. To reside, to loiter, to pass the time.
hangout    Noun. A place for passing time.
hang tough    Verb. To act tough and arrogant.
hang-up    Noun. An emotional problem, a psychological disturbance. E.g."He needs counselling to sort out his hang-ups."
Hank Marvin   Adj. Starving. From the Cockney rhyming slang as starvin'.
hanky-panky    Noun. Sexual misbehaviour. [1900s]
happen    Adv. Perhaps, maybe. E.g."Happen it's going to rain this afternoon." [Northern use. Dialect]
happy as Larry    Phrs. Very happy.
happy as pig in shit    Phrs. Very contented.
happy bunny    Noun. A contented person. Usually heard used in a negative context when referring to depressed or miserable person. E.g."He's not a happy bunny, since losing his job."
happy clappy brigade   Noun. Collectively those with a very strong religious faith, who might be seen as been particularly public in their unity and preaching, such as a sect.
happy hardcore    Noun. A type of uplifting 'hardcore' (noun 2.) containing zany 'samples'. [1990s]
happy sack   Noun. The scrotum/testicles.
happy slapping   Noun. An adolescent, violent prank that involves smacking a person in the face, usually strangers, and filming the victems shocked reaction on mobile video phones. Not surprisingly in a quest for more extreme victem reactions happy slapping is increasingly becoming so aggressive that it is now viewed as physical assault. [Orig. London. 2004]
hard    Adj. Tough and unyielding, when applied to a person.
hard as fuck    Phrs. 1. Exceptionally tough and unyielding. More emphatic than 'hard', see above.
2. Very difficult. E.g."That English exam paper was hard as fuck."
hard as nails    Noun. See 'hard as fuck'.
hard-ass    Noun. A particularly aggressive person.
hardbag    Noun. In a further attempt to categorize 'house' music, this name was applied to 'handbag' tunes which had the hard quality of European 'hardhouse'. [1990s]
hard cheese!    Exclam. Hard luck! Often said cynically or sarcastically.
hardcore    Noun. 1. Explicit pornography.
2. A fast 'techno'/'rave' hybrid music, usually not having the subtleties of 'house' music.
3. A variety of 'punk' rock, characterized by its extremes.
Adj. Something that is of an extreme, committed nature, such as any of the above descriptions for the noun. An obsessive follower of a band, for example, may be called a hardcore fan.
hardhead    Noun. An obstinate person.
hardhouse    Noun. A heavier variety of 'house' music which errs towards 'techno' in its intensity and speed. [1990s]
hard-lines!   Exclam. Bad luck! See 'hard cheese!'.
hard-nut    Noun. An aggressive and tough person.
hard-on    Noun. An erect penis.
hard-shit!    Adj. Bad luck, how unfortunate. Expressed with irony or sarcasm.
hardstuff    Noun. General name for strong alcoholic drink such as spirits (whiskey, vodka, brandy etc).
harry hoofter   Noun. A homosexual male. Rhyming slang on 'poofter'. See 'poofter'. [Glasgow use?]
harry (monk)   Noun. Semen. Rhyming slang on 'spunk'.
harvest festivals   Noun. Of women's underwear, large, roomy bloomers, not briefs. A pun on the action of large underwear making sure everything is gathered in, such as is done at harvest festivals.
hash    Noun. Abb. of hashish, the drug. {Informal}
hashcake    Noun. Cake made with the added ingredients of cannabis or marijuana.
hash-head    Noun. A person who frequently or habitually uses hashish or marijuana.
hate someone's guts    Vrb phrs. To utterly detest someone, to hate the very essence of someone. {Informal}
hatstand   Adj. Crazy, insane. Cf. 'totally hatstand' and 'completely hatstand'.
have    Verb. 1. To have sexual intercourse with. E.g."Did you have him last night or not ?"
2. To get the better of. E.g."I'll have him for doing that to your sister", or "Your new car has had a respray, it's all rusted underneath; I reckon you've been had."
have a bag on   Vrb phrs. In a bad mood, angry. [E. Midlands use]
have a bat in the cave   Vrb phrs. To have visible nasal mucus visible up a nostril. Used euphemistically.
have a bog on   Vrb phrs. To be in a bad mood. [E. Midlands use?]
have a bun in the oven    Vrb phrs. To be pregnant. E.g. "Her mother's got another bun in the oven; she's six months gone and with 7 kids already."
have a cow   Vrb phrs. To have fit of anger, emotionally lose control. Often heard in don't have a cow. [Orig U.S.]
have a dab at something   Vrb phrs. To attempt something. E.g."I had a dab at the army when I was young, but hated the discipline." [Mainly North-west use]
have a dab on    Vrb phrs. To be hot and perspiring, consequently needing to mop or dab at the excessive sweat.
have an eppy    Vrb phrs. Have a fit of fury. See 'eppy'.
have a face like...    Vrb phrs. There a numerous pejorative expressions beginning with 'have a face like.., see 'face like a...'
have a face on   Vrb phrs. To appear miserable, or annoyed. E.g."I didn't speak to Wendy all morning, she had a face on and I didn't want to be shouted out."
have a pop at (someone)    Vrb phrs. To verbally or physically attack (someone). Cf 'take a pop at (someone)'.
have arms   Vrb phrs. To fight. E.g."John's still outside, having arms with that scary looking doorman who refused him entry." [London use]
have a screw loose    Vrb phrs. To be a little insane or eccentric.
have a slate loose   Vrb phrs. To be a little insane.
have a tortoise   Vrb phrs. See 'have a turtle's head'.
have a turtle's head   Vrb phrs. Have an urgent need to defecate. E.g."Hurry up! Let me in the toilet, I've got a turtle's head!"
have a weed on   Vrb phrs. Be annoyed, angry. [Merseyside use]
have a whack at   Vrb phrs. To attempt. E.g."I had a whack at plumbing in the new kitchen sink but I didn't have the tools so paid a professional to finish the job."
have egg on one's chin   Vrb phrs. To have one's trouser flies open. Often used to warn another of this potentially embarrassing situation.
have had one's chips   Vrb phrs. To have failed, been beaten or killed. {Informal}
have it    Verb. 1. To go for it, in the sense of not holding back. E.g."We were having it last night, it was fantastic, but I can't remember a bloody thing after 3am."
2. An exclamation of encouragement, to a friend or colleague, to put everything into it. E.g."Go on my friend, have it!"
have it away    Verb. To have sexual intercourse.
have it away (on one's toes)   Verb. To escape, to run away.
have it large    Verb. Total enthusiasm and committment to enjoyment and hedonism. E.g."We were having it large last night in town, like nobody's business."
have it off    Verb. To have sexual intercourse.
have one in the departure lounge   Vrb phrs. To have a urgent need to defecate.
have one off the wrist   Vrb phrs. To masturbate. E.g."You wont believe who I caught last night having one off the wrist whilst watching a porn video."
have one's guts for garters    Vrb phrs. A reprimanding threat, usually to a youngster or child. E.g."If you don't tidy your room now I'll have your guts for garters."
have the painters in   Vrb phrs. To be menstruating; a euphemism.
having a laugh (!)   Phrs./Exclam. A phrase expressed to denote incredulity at a person's statement or behaviour. Often heard pronounced in mock Cockney as 'aving a larff. E.g."You're having a laugh! There's no way I'm loaning you money with your reputation with not paying debts."
head    Noun. Oral sex. E.g."She gives good head."
head-banger    Noun. A fan of rock music, usually wearing jeans and leathers. From their habit of shaking their heads violently whilst dancing.
headcase    Noun. A lunatic, a mentally unstable person.
headfuck    Noun. Something or someone that is mentally disturbing. E.g."I'm not inviting my sister's boyfriend, he's a headfuck and he'd ruin the party."
head-honcho    Noun. Boss. The word honcho derives from the Japanese han'cho meaning group leader.
headlamps   Noun. Women's breasts.
head-the-ball    Noun. A lunatic, an idiot. [Irish/Scottish use]
headtrip    Noun. A pleasant exploration of a thought, a self-indulgent fantasy. [Orig. U.S.]
heap    Noun. A thing that is old and delapidated. Often a vehicle.
heap of shit   Noun. A disgusting or unsightly object or person. Cf. 'shit heap'
heavy   Adj. 1. OK! Cool! That's very agreeable. [Mainly London use]
2. Excellent! [Mainly London use]
heavy metal    Noun. Generally, highly amplified rock music and its associated long hair and fashions.
heavy mob    Noun. A group of muscular or tough people gathered together to utilize their collective strengths.
heebie-jeebies    Noun. An uneasy or very nervous feeling.
heifer *   Noun. 1. A woman. Derog.
2. A fat woman. Derog.
* From the s.e. heifer, being a young cow who hasn't had a calf.
hellhole    Noun. A thoroughly unpleasant place.
hells bells!   Exclam. An exclamation of surprise.
helmet    Noun. The head of the penis, being similar in shape.
hen    Noun. A form of address or a term of endearment such as sweetheart. [Mainly Scottish use]
hen-pecked    Adj. Under the control of a domineering female. A derogatory comment usually said of a husband.
Henry    Noun. Drug parlance for an eighth of an ounce of cannabis/marijuana. An abbreviation of Henry VIII (Henry the Eighth), a British monarch of the 1500s.
Herbert    Noun. An dull objectionable person. E.g."He's a real herbert, he watches the news and weather on TV all day."
here's looking at you!   Exclam. A drinking toast.
here's mud in your eye!   Exclam. A toast expressed before a drink. {Informal}
her indoors   Noun. One's wife.
hick    Noun. A rustic, rural dweller. Derog. [Orig. U.S.]
hickey   Noun. A love bite. Also hickie. [Orig. U.S.]
hide the salami   Vrb phrs. To have sexual intercourse. Often heard in the phrase play hide the salami. [Orig. U.S.]
hide the sausage   Vrb phrs. To have sexual intercourse. Often heard in the phrase play hide the sausage.
high    Noun. A pleasantly intoxicated state. Usually these days with regard to drug taking. {Informal}
high as a kite    Phrs. Very intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.
hinny   Noun. An affectionate form of address. 'Geordie' pronunciation of honey. [Newcastle use]
hip-hop    Noun. Dance music genre with rapping, originating from black American street culture.
hippyish    Adj. Of or like a hippy. E.g."I don't like all those beads, they're a bit hippyish."
hippy    Noun. A person who adopts the characteristic style of 1960s look with long hair, worn jeans, etc., whose rejection of conventional values is often embellished with drug taking. Often derogatory use.
Adj. See 'hippyish'.
his nibs    Noun. A jocular and mocking title given to a self-important person. {Informal}.
hissy fit   Noun. A tantrum. E.g."She had a hissy fit when I told her I'd spent all my wages on lap dancers."
hit    Noun. 1. An injection of a drug.
2. A murder or violent crime. [Orig. U.S.]
Verb. To murder or rob. [Orig. U.S.]
hit for six   Vrb phrs. To deal a severe blow, to vanquish, to affect someone severely. From the game of cricket and imagery associated with it. {Informal} Cf. 'knock for six'.
hit list    Noun. A list of prospective victims.
hit the hay   Vrb phrs. Go to bed. [1900s]
hit the road    Vrb phrs. To depart.
hit the sack   Vrb phrs. Go to bed. [Orig. U.S.]
ho    Noun. 1. A whore, a prostitute. [Orig U.S./ Black.]
2. A contemptible woman. Used by extension of version 1., that prostitution is generally thought of as disreputable.
hock    Verb. To pawn. {Informal}.
hog    Noun. A powerful high handlebarred motorbike. Usually ridden by 'bikers' and 'hells-angels'.
hoick   Verb. To lift, or move, something bulky or heavy, often with a sudden movement. Also hoik. E.g."You cant hoick that piano up the stairs, you need some rope and pulleys." [Informal]
holding the folding    Vrb phrs. Having adequate cash on one's person. The folding refers to monetary notes.
hole   Noun. A despicable or undesirable place. E.g."You're welcome to come over to mine, but it's a bit of a hole."
hole in the wall   Noun. A bank's externally accessible cash dispenser.
hols    Noun. Abb. of holidays.
homeboy   Noun. A male friend or acquaintance. [Orig. U.S.]
homie   Noun. A friend. Also homey. [Orig. U.S.]
honeypot   Noun. The vagina.
honk    Noun. A bad smell. E.g."It honks like shit in here, can I open a window?"
honk up    Verb. An onomatopoeia for to vomit. Occasionally shortened to honk.
honky   Noun. A white person. Generally obsolete in use, but when heard, usually jocular. Can be derog/offens. [Orig US/Black]
hooey (!)    Noun. Nonsense.
Exclam. Nonsense!
hoof    Verb. To kick. E.g."At every opportunity I hoofed the ball up the pitch and away from our goal."
hoo-ha    Noun. A commotion, trouble, a row. E.g."There was a right hoo-ha at work yesterday when the boss was caught kissing the office cleaner."
hooky   Adj. Illegal, not legitimate.
hoolivan    Noun. A police vehicle, a van, with protective windscreen grills for use during riots and civil disobedience, against hooligans.
Hooray (Henry)    Noun. A young male of the upper classes. Often abbreviated to Hooray. E.g."I'm not going in that bar again, it was full of Hoorays drinking champagne and talking about how rich they are." Derog.
hooter    Noun. 1. A nose.
2. A woman's breast. Usually in the plural. E.g."Cor! Look at the hooters on her."
hop the wag   Vrb phrs. To play truant. E.g."You see far too many school kids hopping the wag."
Horlicks   Noun. A mess. Dated expression and rarely heard. E.g."I made a complete horlicks of the situation."
horn    Noun. 1. A penile erection.
2. Sexual interest or excitement. E.g."She was so sexy, I had the horn for her all day."
horny
Adj. 1. A feeling of sexual excitement. The expression originates from the similarity between the erect penis and a horn, however it is now firmly unisexual in usage.
2. Sexually desirable. E.g."Don't you think she looks so horny in that dress?"
hospital pass   Noun. A pass in the game of football (soccer), to a team mate whose close proximity to a member of the opposition is likely to lead to that player receiving an imediate hard tackle and subsequent injuries.
hot air    Noun. Empty talk, nonsense.
hot knives    Noun. A method of smoking cannabis without the aid of tobacco. A small piece of cannabis is pressed and burnt between two 'hot knives' and the resulting smoke, after being caught in a recepticle, inhaled.
hot rocks   Noun. The red hot pieces of burning cannabis that occasionally fall from a 'joint' during its smoking.
(the) hots   Noun. A sexual desire.
hottie    Noun. 1. A hot waterbottle. {Informal}
2. A sexually attractive person. [Orig. U.S. 1990s]
hot to trot
Phrs. 1. Eager for sexual intercourse.
2. Keen to move on, to leave.
hot-wire    Verb. To start up an engine without the aid of keys.
house    Noun. A contemporary dance music epitomised by its 4/4 beat and use of 'samples'. Vocals and melodies tend not follow the verse / chorus tradition, as they are just 'samples' which need to be fitted into the 4 bar repetitive base structure. It is a descendant of disco music born in North America. Sub-genres of house include tribal, deep, Italian etc.
hovis   Adj. Dead. A progression from the rhyming slang ' brown bread', meaning dead; Hovis is a manufacturer of bread, particularly renowned for its production of brown bread. E.g."He's hovis when I catch him."
how are you diddling?    Phrs. A greeting, such as How do you do?
howay   Phrs. Let's go, or come on. [North-east use]
how goes (it)?   Phrs. A greeting.
howler   Noun. A blunder, a stupid mistake. Cf. 'schoolboy howler'. {Informal}
how's it hanging?   Exclam. How are you? Mainly a male greeting.
how's tricks?    Exclam. How are you? A greeting not necessarily requiring a direct answer.
how's your father    Noun. Sexual intercourse. E.g."I wouldn't go in the front room at the moment, I suspect your brother's having a bit of how's your father with his new girlfriend."
hoy   Verb. To throw. [Cumbria/Northumbria/Tyneside use]
hubbly (bubbly)   Noun. A waterpipe used for smoking cannabis or marijuana.
huff    Noun. A bad mood.
huggins   Adj. Many, a large amount. E.g."I got huggins of presents for my birthday." [Yorkshire use]
hum   Verb. To smell unpleasant. E.g."Don't eat that cheese, it's starting to hum." {Informal}
humongous    Adj. Very large, enormous. [Orig. U.S.]
hump    Verb. 1. To copulate. The word implies a certain insensitive awkwardness, see verb 2.
2. To shift something awkwardly. E.g."We need to hump that big wardrobe up to the attic before the new lodger arrives."
Noun. 1. Sexual intercourse.
2. A bad mood. Always preceded by the. E.g."She's got the hump after being told she looks fat."
humpty   Adj. Annoyed, irritated. [Mainly Scottish use?]
hun   Noun. A protestant and more commonly a supporter of Rangers FC, as opposed to Celtic FC who have a Catholic fan base. Cf. 'hun'. [Glasgow use]
hung like a horse / donkey    Phrs. Having a large penis. E.g."Apparently all the girls are saying he's hung like a donkey."
hunk    Noun. A sexually attractive and masculine male. {Informal}
hunky    Adj. Having the qualities of a 'hunk'. {Informal}
hunky-dory    Adj. O.K., fine, erring on the side of wonderful.
hunners   Noun. Many, numerous, hundreds. [Scottish use]
hurl    Verb. To vomit. Onomatopoeic as much as very descriptive of the uncontrollable force of vomiting.
hutch up   Verb. To move up, or along, thus creating space. E.g."Michael! Will you hutch up and let me sit down?"
hyped up    Verb. Over-excited, manic.
hyper    Adj. Over-excited, nervous, agitated.