Slang.

[Dream]

So, if you were from where I'm from, you might refer to a person who's had a few too many drinks (like I have right now...) as being locked. Now, if a person happened to be locked enough, they might try to attack a nearby, doubtless intolerably offensive person by means of striking that persons cranial area with their own forehead. Did they headbutt them? God no. They stitched them a loaf. I have no clue what connects cranial assault to needlework, but I don't question the slang. Loafs are stitched. Not given, hit, struck nor whacked. Stitched, and stitched only.

ANYWAY.

What are some really indigenous, really unique slang terms from where you're from, or where you're living?

[poxic]

Skookum. As in, "That's a skookum rig you got there, dude." Sort of means great, good, impressive, or similar vague sentiments -- originally meant big. It comes from Chinook jargon (usually just called Chinook), a sort of trading language common around here some 100 years ago.

[Dream]

Is that like one of those words where you can rely on it to convey something positive, but is vague enough that you don't have to be held to that feeling of positivity if someone were to call you out on it?

[PhoenixEnigma]

Bunnyhug. Like a hoody, but without a zipper, and one big pocket/pouch. Pretty sure they're still called hoodies everywhere else.

"It's a little chilly out, you'll probably want your bunnyhug"

[poxic]

Not really. It's like "great" or "big". It's not very specific, but it's hard to say "that's a skookum rig" and then backtrack by saying you were only referring to the size of the dude's bass amp.

It can also have negative connotations, at least according to the Wiki, as in "skookum house" = prison. I haven't heard that usage myself, but I'm too young to have heard more than a few words of Chinook used commonly. Hey, I got to call myself too young for something.

[ahammel]

Bunnyhug. Like a hoody, but without a zipper, and one big pocket/pouch. Pretty sure they're still called hoodies everywhere else.

"It's a little chilly out, you'll probably want your bunnyhug"

I've also heard Saskatchewinians* use "kangaroo jacket" to refer to that article of clothing. Not sure how common that is.

_{*Saskatchewaners? Saskatchewoons?}

[poxic]

I remember "kangaroo jacket"! Wow, long time no think of that.

[PhoenixEnigma]

Bunnyhug. Like a hoody, but without a zipper, and one big pocket/pouch. Pretty sure they're still called hoodies everywhere else.

"It's a little chilly out, you'll probably want your bunnyhug"

I've also heard Saskatchewinians* use "kangaroo jacket" to refer to that article of clothing. Not sure how common that is.

_{*Saskwatchewaners? Saskatchewoons?}

Not at all common, at least not in Toon Town here.

Also, it tends to end up as Saskatchewananianaians when I say it

[Dream]

Bunnyhug. Like a hoody, but without a zipper, and one big pocket/pouch.

That is a good word. The very reason I started this thread! Awesome.

[OBrien]

I have a friend who was doing her Erasmus year in England last year (she's French) who absolutely loved the phrase "fair enough". It generally means "huh" or "OK then", but can sometimes mean "Oh man, I know what you mean" or "I can understand that". Since she started to use it and constantly tell us how great a phrase it is I can honestly say me and my friendship group have started to like it more. As she said: It doesn't really mean anything but, if you use the right intonation, it just works as punctuation that gives the general impression that you're adding to the conversation.

[Dream]

who absolutely loved the phrase "fair enough".

Everyone here says fair enough. Such a good phrase. Here it mostly means "I can accept that point of view", which could obviously mean anything....

[Black Dynamite]

Bunnyhug. Like a hoody, but without a zipper, and one big pocket/pouch. Pretty sure they're still called hoodies everywhere else.

"It's a little chilly out, you'll probably want your bunnyhug"

This is so awesome. I wear these all the time. This makes me happy.

I have a friend who was doing her Erasmus year in England last year (she's French) who absolutely loved the phrase "fair enough". It generally means "huh" or "OK then", but can sometimes mean "Oh man, I know what you mean" or "I can understand that". Since she started to use it and constantly tell us how great a phrase it is I can honestly say me and my friendship group have started to like it more. As she said: It doesn't really mean anything but, if you use the right intonation, it just works as punctuation that gives the general impression that you're adding to the conversation.

There are lots of people that use this phrase where I am. Personally, I really hate it, for the exact reason that it doesn't make sense and doesn't add to the conversation. But I guess I'm glad for the way it seems to mark the end of a conversation.

[SecondTalon]

I use it as a "I have heard what you said, and comprehend it to where I have no questions to ask, and have reached a point where I myself find I have nothing to add to the conversation/argument at this point, and while I may not agree with your view either fully or in part, I see no reason to fault you for having that view and.. as I already said, I really have nothing left to say but - let's be honest - were I to say "Alright.. well, conversation over now." I'd be a dick. Because that's a dickish thing to do. So, anyway, let's change topics now/end this so I can go back to doing what I was doing/move on to a new thing."

See? Aren't two words way the hell faster than all that?



Anyway, as far as Slang goes - my first encounter with this word was in a subset of Louisville, and it's basically only really used by people from that section, making it goddamn weird and also a marker that the speaker is from %area%.

Upon looking it up, it's apparently used elsewhere which is simultaneously a relief that it's not just a section of Louisville that's just goddamn insane, and depressing as seriously, why the hell is this a word to mean that because what the fuck?

And that word is... Tump. Used as the word Tip, Knock, or even Dump may be used, but oddly enough almost always used in connection with either small, unsecured swing sets or beverages, and is seldom distant from the word Over. It even seems to specifically refer to the act of knocking an object off-balance by applying force to the top of the object, and not the center or base. So if you moved your arm and grazed the top of a glass and knocked it over, you tumped it, but if you moved your arm and swept the bottom of it, knocking it over.. you did not. Other usage being "Sally wasn't paying attention, and tumped the bucket of water over" or even "I think Johnny's too big for that swingset, that's the second time he's tumped it over today"

*coke, of course, being a generic term for a carbonated and flavored beverage. Not to be confused with a Coke, which is a shortened form of the name Coca-Cola, a cola beverage. Because pretty much from Kentucky South and the Mississippi River East, the generic term for carbonated and flavored soft drink is coke. Whereas in other places it may be Soda, Pop, the bizarre hybrid Soda-Pop, the incredibly quaint Sody-Pop, and probably some I'm missing. Also, I'm unsure of it's prevalence in the Virginias or Carolinas, so someone feel free to correct me if it's more properly the Mason-Dixon line or not.

[dubsola]

English urban slang:
"long": adj "Work was long today" - tiresome, painful, drawn-out
"safe": adj "That guy is safe" - trustworthy or generally good.

Loads more where that came from. A lot of it comes from the Caribbean influence, as the kids want people to call them a yardie.

Spoiler:

Yardie (or Yawdie) is a term stemming from the slang name originally given to occupants of "government yards", social housing projects with very basic amenities, in Trenchtown, a neighborhood in West Kingston, Jamaica. Trenchtown was originally built as a housing project following devastation caused by Hurricane Charlie. Each development was built around a central courtyard with communal cooking facilities. Poverty, crime, and gang violence became endemic in the neighborhood, leading the occupants of Trenchtown to be in part stigmatized by the term "Yardie".

[roband]

English urban slang:
"long": adj "Work was long today" - tiresome, painful, drawn-out
"safe": adj "That guy is safe" - trustworthy or generally good.

Loads more where that came from. A lot of it comes from the Caribbean influence, as the kids want people to call them a yardie.

Spoiler:

Yardie (or Yawdie) is a term stemming from the slang name originally given to occupants of "government yards", social housing projects with very basic amenities, in Trenchtown, a neighborhood in West Kingston, Jamaica. Trenchtown was originally built as a housing project following devastation caused by Hurricane Charlie. Each development was built around a central courtyard with communal cooking facilities. Poverty, crime, and gang violence became endemic in the neighborhood, leading the occupants of Trenchtown to be in part stigmatized by the term "Yardie".

"bare": adverb "Work was bare long today" - very

I probably fucked up the notation of that, but I was trying to mimic dubsola.

I have recently experienced people using the phrase "parred" or "parred off". I think it means ignored or dismissed, but I'm not too sure.

[DSenette]

<a bunch of stuff about tumping>

*coke, of course, being a generic term for a carbonated and flavored beverage. Not to be confused with a Coke, which is a shortened form of the name Coca-Cola, a cola beverage. Because pretty much from Kentucky South and the Mississippi River East, the generic term for carbonated and flavored soft drink is coke. Whereas in other places it may be Soda, Pop, the bizarre hybrid Soda-Pop, the incredibly quaint Sody-Pop, and probably some I'm missing. Also, I'm unsure of it's prevalence in the Virginias or Carolinas, so someone feel free to correct me if it's more properly the Mason-Dixon line or not.

in the smokies and other appalachian mountains the older folk are also known to refer to all carbonated beverages as "dope(s)".
in southern louisiana, it's common in african american circles to refer to most (if not all) carbonated beverages as "soda water <insert color of flavor>". like "soda water brown" for some kind of cola, "soda water clear" usually for sprite/7up type drinks, "soda water grape" or orange, etc... though, even these seem to be used most frequently when ordering a drink from a snowball stand.

[ahammel]

in the smokies and other appalachian mountains the older folk are also known to refer to all carbonated beverages as "dope(s)".

I imagine that leads to some comical misunderstandings. "Oh, so when you said you wanted some dope...never mind."

My mum's family is from the extreme east end of Canada. They have some amusing slang there:

some: very or truly. As in "it's some hot out today, b'yes."
fill your boots: suit yourself, go ahead. "Can I park my car here?" "Sure, fill yer boots."

[Angua]

Caribbeanisms
'to lime' = to hang out
'walk with' = bring (eg 'Make sure you walk with your textbook'
'carry' = can be used for if you're driving someone somwhere 'Can you carry me to town?'
'just now' = eg 'I'm going to do it just now' or 'It happened just now!'. (apparently one of my bf's friends from scotland said it once though)

I'm ignoring things which would probably count as dialect differents.

My dad (from South Carolina) used the word 'drug' instead of 'dragged' - I don't know how common that is in the rest of the US though.

[Dream]

Here in Ireland people, particularly old people call soft drinks "minerals". Mineral water generalised and contracted, I think.

When I was younger, we often referred to a person's underwear as their cacks. I'm not actually sure how that's spelled, but anyway. This led to overly excited people regularly being instructed to relax your cacks. Cacks that were either too tight, had ridden up or perhaps been deliberately placed between the buttocks by a third party were said to be yakked up one's arse. Things that are said to be yakked that aren't cacks are so described because they have been wedged very uncomfortably somewhere that comfort is ordinarily desired.

"Sure, fill yer boots."

Good one.

[roband]

Here in Ireland people, particularly old people call soft drinks "minerals". Mineral water generalised and contracted, I think.

When I was younger, we often referred to a person's underwear as their cacks. I'm not actually sure how that's spelled, but anyway. This led to overly excited people regularly being instructed to relax your cacks. Cacks that were either too tight, had ridden up or perhaps been deliberately placed between the buttocks by a third party were said to be yakked up one's arse. Things that are said to be yakked that aren't cacks are so described because they have been wedged very uncomfortably somewhere that comfort is ordinarily desired.

Related at all to 'kecks'? Similar sounding words, certainly.

[SecondTalon]

My dad (from South Carolina) used the word 'drug' instead of 'dragged' - I don't know how common that is in the rest of the US though.

Very common.

Also, I didn't realize until.. uh.. right now.. that drug wasn't a proper past-tense of drag.

[Dream]

Related at all to 'kecks'? Similar sounding words, certainly.

Sound like it is, yeah. But cacks is definitely a hard "a" sound. I was thinking about spelling it kaks, actually.

[dubsola]

"bare": adverb "Work was bare long today" - very

I thought bare was more like "many" - as in, "There were bare chicks at this party".

Caribbeanisms
'to lime' = to hang out
'walk with' = bring (eg 'Make sure you walk with your textbook'
'carry' = can be used for if you're driving someone somwhere 'Can you carry me to town?'
'just now' = eg 'I'm going to do it just now' or 'It happened just now!'. (apparently one of my bf's friends from scotland said it once though)

I've not heard these ones before. I always thought 'just now' was often heard from South Africans. Most of my Caribbean slang knowledge comes from reggae and dancehall and what not, so I guess that's somewhat limiting. More Caribbeanisms:

'wine' - a dance move involving sexy hip movements.
'mash' - you can mash up a place, or mash down Babylon, but either way you're destroying things.

[eSOANEM]

I have recently experienced people using the phrase "parred" or "parred off". I think it means ignored or dismissed, but I'm not too sure.

I don't know, in my experience (which is almost certainly not very representative of its original use), "par" has been used more as "quip" or some sort of non-verbal equivalent such as being dissed.

[roband]

"bare": adverb "Work was bare long today" - very

I thought bare was more like "many" - as in, "There were bare chicks at this party".

Hmm, maybe it's just a general "increaser". There's gotta be a word for that.
I mean, it takes the sentence without the word 'bare' and increases the relevance of the thing which is being talked about - so if it's time, it's longer; if it's number of 'chicks' it's more...

Is there a word for that? I truly can't think straight right now.

edit: "Extremifier"?

[Alder]

'just now' = eg 'I'm going to do it just now' or 'It happened just now!'. (apparently one of my bf's friends from scotland said it once though)

I've not heard these ones before. I always thought 'just now' was often heard from South Africans. Most of my Caribbean slang knowledge comes from reggae and dancehall and what not, so I guess that's somewhat limiting.

"Just now" is sufficiently common in Scotland that I wouldn't have specified it as slang! You mean folk don't say it elsewhere?

[poxic]

I hear "just now" quite often. Also "fill yer boots", and "fair enough".

Granted, Vancouver is at least 50% new(ish) arrivals these days -- from other countries, provinces, and towns. I've been trying to remember slang from my childhood when it was more likely to be a regionalism. It's tough...

[Angua]

"bare": adverb "Work was bare long today" - very

I thought bare was more like "many" - as in, "There were bare chicks at this party".

Caribbeanisms
'to lime' = to hang out
'walk with' = bring (eg 'Make sure you walk with your textbook'
'carry' = can be used for if you're driving someone somwhere 'Can you carry me to town?'
'just now' = eg 'I'm going to do it just now' or 'It happened just now!'. (apparently one of my bf's friends from scotland said it once though)

I've not heard these ones before. I always thought 'just now' was often heard from South Africans. Most of my Caribbean slang knowledge comes from reggae and dancehall and what not, so I guess that's somewhat limiting. More Caribbeanisms:

'wine' - a dance move involving sexy hip movements.
'mash' - you can mash up a place, or mash down Babylon, but either way you're destroying things.

Do other people not use the term 'mash up' for smash something? Huh

Not heard the wine one - on my island (and also Dominica as I know someone from there) we say 'wok up(maybe wuk - not sure about spelling)

[roband]

So apparently "all over the shop" is an English thing. It means, "everywhere".

As in, "there is blood all over the shop".

[Wiskie]

Drinking fountains are known as "bubblers" around here.

Is that slang? Or is it vernacular? I could never tell the difference between all those words (slang, vernacular, jargon, lingo etc.)

[pyronius]

I feel like im not much good here because despite living in Louisiana my whole life i never developed much of a cultural dialect. not even an accent.

I guess there's the obvious "y'all" for you all, but that's not so much slang as just a word nobody else uses.

Instead of sub, hoagie, or hero we say "poboy" which is supposedly a shortened (read lazy) version of poor boy. along the same lines our version of a fried donut is the "beignet" pronounced benyay.

if i think of anything better ill post it, but most of the interesting words from around here aren't so much slang as much as they refer to things that don't exist elsewhere or are just taken straight out of french.

[PatrickRsGhost]

Not so much slang, but we do have pet names for certain landmarks or locations here in Georgia.

For example:

"Big Chicken" - a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise restaurant located in Marietta, GA. So named due to its iconic large chicken head at the entrance. Whenever a business located in or near Marietta is advertised, they always reference "the Big Chicken": "Just a half-mile north of the Big Chicken!"

"Spaghetti Junction" - this term is more ubiquitous cross-country, referring to where two or more interstates merge, but here in Georgia, we only have one Spaghetti Junction: Where I-285 and I-85 merge, along with a couple of other major roads.

Speaking of I-285, or "The Perimeter", we call it that because it circumferences all through the metro-Atlanta area. Why they call it "the Perimeter" no one ever knows, and no one questions it. Mathematically speaking, it's not correct.

"Gold Dome" - the Georgia state capitol building. So-called because of the gold leaf-gilded dome roof. Whenever politicians are meeting to discuss new bills other legislation, our local media calls it "happening under the gold dome".

Then there's the Varsity, or "The V". A restaurant located solely in Atlanta, they serve primarily chili dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and various beverages. The Varsity has its own language, or slang:

C-dog: Chili dog
Naked dog: plain hot dog
Steak: hamburger
Red: Ketchup
Yellow: Mustard
All the way: add onions
V.O.: Varsity Orange - an orange-flavored beverage, similar to orange-flavored Hi-C or Kool-Aid
F.O.: Frosted Orange - a milkshake version of a V.O. May cause B.F. (brain freeze).
Walking: To go
Strings: french fries
Rings: Onion rings
P.C.: Chocolate Milk (stands for "Plain Chocolate")

A well-versed Varsitinian would be heard saying, "Walk me two red-and-yellow c-dogs all the way with strings and Coke!"

When you walk into the Varsity, be ready to order quickly. You will hear the people behind the counter yell, "What'll ya have? What'll ya have? What'll ya have?" They do it rather fast, so you have to be ready to order fast. It sounds more like, "Whaddayahav-Whaddayahav-Whaddayahav?!"

Here's a video.

[mayhaps]

Slang from Hawaii:
choke - many ("there are choke cars on the road" - "there's lots of traffic")
akamai - someone who's clever
da kine - refers to anything you can't remember the name for
beef - fight ("like beef?" - "you want to fight?")
lolo - idiot
shoots - okay, no problem


there's so much more...

[stevey_frac]

My favourite bit of newfie (Newfoundland, Canada) slang:

stay werr you're to ,I'll come where you"re at! (Stay where you are, and I'll arrive at your location)

[Ormurinn]

Midland english

Tod - lone

On yer tod! - You're on your own

He's toddy - he's lonely

[Gears]

Skate. To keep oneself busy enough with an easy yet important task at work in order to avoid more difficult tasks.

OFP: (Own Fuckin' Program) Doing whatever you want without giving respect to tasking from a higher authority.

[SquareRootofBlue]

Love some of the comments so far, especially bunny hug and bubbler. Allow mw to give you an insight into the wonderful, weird beguiling and bemusing world of British slang, specifically from the North West of England...

Pie eater - someone from Wigan-a town famous for it's pies. Supporters of Wigan football (soccer) club are often called pie eaters.

Boomtown rat - I hadn't heard this one before I started at my place of work and suspect that it might be specific to my workplace. After the band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boomtown_Rats who famously sang, 'I don't like Mondays'. Used to refer to a former member of staff notorious for calling in sick on Mondays.

Ground bating - related to boomtown rat, the same person would 'lay ground bait' by coming in on Fridays with a cough, weakly say 'good morning' and put a lot of cold and flu remidies on his desk.

Mard arse - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mard+arse

[Alder]

Midland english

Tod - lone

On yer tod! - You're on your own

He's toddy - he's lonely

That one must have a wider range, 'on your tod' is pretty common north of the border too. I've never seen it taken further into 'toddy' though. But then we have "toddy" in reference to a whisky drink, so maybe it just didn't catch on in the other sense.

[OBrien]

Midland english

Tod - lone

On yer tod! - You're on your own

He's toddy - he's lonely

That's a loan word (no pun intended) from Cockney rhyming slang. Todd Slone = Alone

[Coin]

Midland english

Tod - lone

On yer tod! - You're on your own

He's toddy - he's lonely

That one must have a wider range, 'on your tod' is pretty common north of the border too. I've never seen it taken further into 'toddy' though. But then we have "toddy" in reference to a whisky drink, so maybe it just didn't catch on in the other sense.

Of course, it comes from the classical rhyming slang.
Being on your Tod Sloan - Alone, or on your own in some variations. Apparently Mr. Sloan was an American jockey according to my dictionary of rhyming slang.

Edit: Ninjaed