The London Slang Dictionary Project
For details on this project, check out the project page.
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110s - Expensive trainers that cost £110 or more.
2s me – share with me; give me half
411 — Gossip
5-O — Police
A
Ah nam — tell on, rat on, tattle on.
Alie- synonym for innit (I agree)
Allow bredding — to allow copying, to allow cheating
Allow it — stop it
Amp - Hyping, being too much
Arms - to be really strong
B
Bad man - a big shot, a tough guy
Baggamanz (or bag) — Lots, as in “a bag of people”
Bait — Something that’s ‘bait’ or ‘so bait’ is really obvious.
Bare — a lot of, very.
Bars - a rap song, part of a song, as in “spit some bars” (to sing something)
Bayden — rich, financially stable, solvent.
Beast — an adjective to describe something that’s really cool.
Beef — a hostile disagreement that may result in violence.
Bangin - sick/good or a descpriction an attractive girl
Bennin — to be in a state of extreme laughter.
Bigging up – Complimenting
Blazing — to smoke a spliff
Blod - a mate, a friend
Blud - Meaning your brother or sister, your good friend
Boyed — Insulted (see merked)
Brap — [burrrr-AP] often used repeatedly and loudly. A sign of approval. Roughly translates as “I do approve my dear fellow”. Probably not a norfolk colloquialism, but something you might hear on a Saturday night high street.
Breddin - Copying
Bredrin - friends
Bruv - brother, friend
Breeze — Rubish
Buff — Good looking, fit.
C
Chief — An unintelligent person; “look at dat chief man, finkin hes all bad.”
Chirps — chat up; talk to “we chirps some buff gals last night.”
Criss — good, sharp, new. almost onomatoepaeic as in ‘crisp’.
Chung — extremely good looking. If someone is described as “chung”, that’s better-looking than their “buff” friend.
Chirpsing — Flirting
Clappin’ — out of date or worn out, usually to describe attire or accessories, as in “man, my tracksuit is clappin’. Gotta get down JJB Sport and buy a new one.” Also means tired out.
Cotch — to hang out, relax, chill out or sleep. Possibly derived, via patois, from the French “se coucher”, meaning to lie down. See also kotch.
Crepes — shoes or trainers: “check out deez heavy crepes.” assume its as you ‘wrap your feet’ in them.
Crump — A multi-purpose term which can be an insult, an exclamation and some other things as well. It generally means bad, but can also mean good, depending on the context: “that ain’t good man, it’s crump” or “that’s one crump message you left there”.
Crutterz — Mashed up, worn out “That car is crutterz”
D
Dash — To dash is to pass something to somebody — but it can be “pass” in the broadest possible sense, including to throw violently with the intention of causing hurt or damage.
Dred — dreadful, terrible, bad, cruel.
Drum — Home, humble abode.
Dry — dull, boring, unfunny. A bad joke might be described as “dry”.
E
Ends - Area, neighbourhood
Extra - Over the top, too much
F
Fam - Family, friends
Feds — police.
Flat roofin’ — to be overworked and stressed, as in “I was flat roofin for my GCSEs”. Probably comes from flat out.
From ends — one who is “from the streets” and so knows what’s going on.
G
Garms (Galms) - clothing.
Gas (or Raps) — extremely fast e.g dave is raps, he’s a gas man.
Ginuls/jinels — fixed up or conned by someone/something, or, used to describe something that is a con: ” dem phones 4 u deals are a jinels”. Also to “bump”.
Giving air — Ignoring someone
Grimy - Good, or may describe a practical joke or amusing act.
Gyaldem - Girls
H
Heads - People (i.e. Bare heads means lots of people)
Hoodies - Guys on the street
Hype - Too much. Hyping means acting in a way that’s over the top.
Hubz (or Hubby)- boyfriend
Hype - Over the top
Hench - Musclar
Hectic - Good
I
In-it (Innit) — Short for “isn’t it”, often put at the end of sentences for effect
Is-it — Really?
Inner - Describes someone who is too nosey
J
Jack - To take, as in “He jacked my food.”
Jakes - Police on foot
Jam - Relax
Jokes - funny or enjoyable, as in “that party was jokes”.
K
Kotch - sit and chill out. See also cotch.
L
Link - to meet someone, to hook up with them. Also link.
Lips - to kiss
Long - a task that involves more effort than the object is worth. To be complex, time consuming or arduous in nature
Lush - good-looking
M
Mans - Refers to yourself
Marvin — hungry
Merk - To insult someone
Mint - cool
Mission - To go somewhere quite far away, for example to complete a task); as in “going on a mission to the [far away] store”
Mandem - Alternative term for Boys
N
Nang - Good
Next man — Someone who isn’t involved, a random person
Not bothered — Someone who is not interested in something, or in doing something
O
On top — when a situation is out of control.
Off the hook — cool, appealing, fresh, exceeding one’s expectations. A phrase much over-used by Maxwell in Big Brother to express appreciation for his surroundings.
Older – an older kid who has your back
Owned — to be made a fool of.
P
Peng - Good looking
Po-po — Police
Pow Pow (similar to Brap Brap) — Representing oneself well, bigging it up
R
Reh teh teh — Etc, etc
Rents - parents
Rinsed - overused, used up, all gone. “That song was rinsed, I don’t like it anymore.”
Roll with — hang out with
Rude boy (or rudeboi) — a badman, a person who is hardened by the street
S
Safe — cool, good, sweet. (Also Safa can be the coolest of the cool, superlative version of safe).
Seckle - Settle down
Shabby — cool, smart, “da bomb”. As in “that’s a well shabby suit.”
Shook — nervous
Shot - to sell
Sick — interesting, cool, never seen before. The more sick something is, the better.
Slipped — Went into the wrong area, where you don’t belong
Skeen - I see
Squalay — To leave
Standard - goes without saying; of course
Swag — extreme, scary
Switch — to turn on someone.
T
Taxed - Jacked (stolen) or borrowed
Tell over (or told over) — to rat on someone, to tattle.
V
Vexed — irritated, angry. An old word, it has gained new currency, as demonstrated by Science in Big Brother to express his annoyance with some triviality or other.
W
Wag-One (wah’gwan) — short for ‘what’s goin onn’, what’s happening
Wettin - Running
Watch — Be careful; dont mess with me.
Wicked — cool
Wifey — Girlfriend
Whip– car
Y
Yard - house, garden, where one lives and hangs out.
Younger — Sibling, someone younger than you; someone you protect
If you have other words you think should be in this dictionary, please suggest them here.
NOTE: I have removed a lot of references to guns, drugs, gang activity and other potentially offensive language to ensure this site is suitable for all audiences. However if you would like the complete list (i.e. if you’re a writer or researcher) I would be happy to send it to you. Please let me know the nature of your project. For more information, read the project page.
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