babying: handling the ball in soccer
Source: GTH
Babylon: faintly derisive reference (American in origin) to whites by
blacks.
Source: LS4?
Babycham: small bottle of a sweet sparkling perry, often accompanied by brandy.
A powerful pair.
Source: SL
Bacalhao: salt fish(Irish). The Portuguese word for the codfish route
for centuries has been "Rota do Bacalhau."
Source: SL
back bin: garbage disposal unit in the back wall of a property facing
an alley; the garbage could be collected through a metal opening on the
other side. Or back pocket in trousers ( keks ) or jeans
Source: SL
Back crack: a back alley
Source: LS2
Back Bog: back yard privy
Source: SL
Back-door job: buggery
Source: LS4
back-entry dribblers: derisory name for an inept football (soccer) team
Source: LS2
Backbencher, a: someone very reserved in conversation
Source: LS3
back-hander, a: a sum passed to someone under the table to guarantee
a certain deal
Source: MV
back hand, to receive a: this usually refers to disciplinary cuffs
given to a child
Source: SL
backing out (obsolete): a seaman's term for jumping ship or deserting
Source: LCS
Backstop: wicket keeper in cricket.
Source:LS1
backshee ( buckshee ): free, at no cost. The origins of the term are Near Eastern
and Anglo-Indian. Buckshee, a later form has come to mean something extra
and unexpected.
Sources: SL, DS
bad breath: saucy name for a spicy fruit-loaf known elsewhere by its
Welsh name, "bara brith."
Source: LS2
bad, to become (obsolete): to get pregnant
Sources: UF, DBOC
Bad sailor, to be a: to be vomiting
Source: ANS
badger piss: cheap, inferior liquor, probably watered down as well
Source: L8
badgy: a male homosexual partner who is under the protection of another
partner. The term seems to have come from Army usage.
Source: TMD
barracking: protesting, abusive complaining, jeering
Sources: MV, SCHUR
bag: a prostitute, but more often used as a general term of teasing
or abuse
Source: LS2
Bag off: go off, exit . "Bog off" also occurs regularly. The phrase
"to bag off" can also mean to meet someone of the opposite sex, the usual
result being a sexual encounter.
Sources: Shaw ML, SL
bag, to(Lancashire, now obsolete): to fire, or sack someone
Source: GLD
bagga yeast, a(rhyming): a priest
Source: LS3
bagging the bobbies(obsolete): eluding police
Source: LLMI
baggsey: a claim
Source: SL
Bagoff, a: a trip to the local brothel
Source: LS3
bags: a child's utterance, usually to preface some claim to perk or
privilege, as in "bags, I sit next to me mam. Bags can also mean lots of,
plenty. E.g., Bags of scoff: plenty of food.
Sources: LS2, SL
Bailiff: any person who presses for payment of a debt.
Source: LS2
Bairst, to: to strike someone very hard. A person who is "bairstin"
is anxious to urinate.
Source: LS4
Bakewell Tart: a pastry with jam at the bottom of a custard filling.
It is still made in the village of Bakewell in Derbyshire
Source: OED, SL
Ball and chalk(rhyming): walk
Source: Shaw II
balleyan: the day of the week in a household when there is no money
until the next paycheck arrives. It usually refers to the day before
payday. Other spellings: ballayand, bally hand. In Lancashire
"benny-ann" was a "use up" or makeshift meal, which is the kind of things
which happens the day or two before payday.
"Ask agen and I'll clobber yer. It's ballyand day."
Source: SL
ballooning the ball: hitting or kicking it into an unusually high arch.
This is also called "spooning" the ball
Source: GTH
balm(obsolete) yeasty residue left over from ale making, which the poor
would collect and use to make bread rise
Source: UF
banana kick: kicking the ball off center so that the spin will result
in a curved trajectory, in order to skirt an obstacle or opposing players
Source: GTH
Banged up: locked in a prison cell
Source: LS4
Banger: a sausage, or an old fashioned, second-hand car
It can also refer to a piece of fireworks, usually the kind which makes
a loud noise but not a spectacular sight
Sources: LS3, DS
Bangeroo: a pig. Cf. "bangers," meaning sausages
Source: LS2
Bangolite: penny sparkler. The name comes from Bengal Light.
Source: Shaw III
Banner socket: a navel. Probably from the walks and marches of rival
Catholic and Protestant groups and the banners carried.
Source: LS2
Banny-mug: pieces of broken pottery used by children as currency in
games and for making chalk marks on pavements.
Source: LS2
bap ossie, a: an empty house
Source: LS1
bar, a: a one pound note
Source: LS1
Barley, in: a safe place in children's games, a safe house in underworld
parlance
In children's games, the speaker who declares that he or she is "in
barley" is temporarily out of a given game or competition, and is therefore
temporarily immune. Cf. "I'm barley. I had me fingers crossed."
The usage is rooted in the practice of medieval knights taking a break
from the tournament to feed their horse barley. The term came to
stand for a temporary truce.
Sources: SL, LLS, LS4
Barm Pot: a slightly deranged person. The term is probably a blend of
barmy and potty.
Source: SL
Barm Cake: a foolish person
Source: Shaw II
Barm Cake: yeast cake
Source: Shaw I
Barmy: stupid
Shaw suggests some association with the effects of barm or yeast in
bread and this stupidity
Source: Shaw I
barnet: head
Source: LS3
Barney: a dispute; a heated argument
Source: LS2
Barrer: A street trader's handcart
Source: LS2
bash: an effort or attempt, as in "have a bash," i.e., have a go at
something. To be "on ther bash" is to be on a sexual spree.
Source: LS2
Basil: another word for the police, frequently used by children
Source: Shaw III
Basil belly. A fat man.
Source:LS1
batties: a large number of
Source: PM
Battle taxi: police jeep.
Source:LS1
bayoes: the Public Baths. The eighteenth century English "bagnio" probably
comes from the Italian "bagno."
Source: LS1,2
Bayonet practice: sexual intercourse
Source: LS2
beady-eyed bastard: an inquisitive male, a nosey-parker.
Source: LS2
Beak, the: the judge
Source: Shaw ML
Beast: sex-offender
Source: LS4
beating (turning) on a sixpence: changing direction in very limited
field space. Cf. "turning on a dime."
Source: GTH
Bedfordshire Clanger: A Cornish pastie with fruit in one end for
dessert.
Source: SL
Bed-mates: fleas
Source: LS2
Bed-wetter: an early riser
Source: LS2
Bee's knees: excellent, perfect
Source: SL
bee-bo(Lancashire, now obsolete): children's sleep. The word used to
mean cradle in Lancashire.
Cf. Liverpool "bo-bos" on this list, which now can also refer to a
General Anesthesia.
Sources: GLD, SL
Beef to the heel( as in "Beef to the heels like a Mullingar heifer"):
a woman having hefty legs
Source: SL
beer for dogs: an almost unlimited supply of beer at a certain gathering
Sources: LS1, Shaw II
Beer Belly and Tattoos league: local pick up football, strictly for
amateurs. The suggestion is that they are working class amateurs, not
posh "hooray landed types."
Source: GTH
Beer money: unemployment allowance
Source: LS2
Beetlecrushers. Purra beetlecrushers: pair of boots.
Source: LS1
bell bottom legs: thick legs
Source: SL
bellers to mend: short of breath. It may allude to an old street cry,
"bellows to mend."
Source: LS2
Bells of Shannon, the, to be giving it: letting a party atmosphere and
the drinking which goes with it prevail totally. In America, a total blowout.
Source: LWAS, SL
Bellydingle: vagina
Source: LS3
Belt : an effort, a blow. It also means sexual intercourse.
Source: LS2
belt man(obsolete): the "enforcer" in a coin toss gambling game, or
a "toss school."
Source: GU
belter, a: a ferocious person
Source: SI
Beltup: the order to shut up
Source: SCHUR
Bender: a suspended sentence. The usage may come from the idea
of being given an opportunity to "go on a bender," or lengthy drinking
spree. Bender: an objectionable term for a male homosexual.
Sources: SL, LS4, Moloney
bent ball: like the banana kick, an off center kick which is to produce
a spin and a curving pattern, one which may avoid an obstacle or opposing
players.
Source: GTH
bent lawyer, a: a dishonest lawyer, needed to facilitate some sort of
scam
Source: SL
Bent: broken, smashed, completely destroyed.Bent can also mean stolen,
or corrupted. One phrase for a homosexual was "bent copper," i.e.,
not straight..
Sources: LS2, LS4, SL
Berd: a young female. Berd-cage can also mean: a girls' school; a nunnery;
any room or hall holding an assembly of females. Nuns were referred to
as "birds of prey."
Berd-watcher: man who ogles the opposite sex
Sources: LS2, Moloney, SL
Berk: a fool or a dope, someone who is pretentious and snotty.
Sources: SL, ANS
Berky types or Berky bums: uncomplimentary terms for the youths living
in Birkenhead
Source: LS2
berry: a beret or any out of shape hat
Source: LS2
Berst, a: urination
Source: LS4
bessie mate(obsolete): best friend
Source: GU
best butter: new butter, which cost more than older butter, which was
sold at a discount. The best butter would show up on the table. The inferior
butter might be used for cooking.
Source: SL
Bevvied: drunk
Source:LS1
Bevvy: drink. Yerl get no bevvy here: This establishment is not licensed
for the sale of intoxicating liquor.
Source:LS1
Bevvy ken: alehouse
Source: LS1
Bezzies. Dese are me bezzies. These are my best clothes.
Source: LS1
Bickie: cracker. Ultimately from biscuit, it is regarded as archaic,
even a bit simpering today.
Source: Schur
bicycle kick: a backward, over the head kick in soccer, also called
a "scissors kick."
Source: GTH
Biddies: lice. See also "woggies" on this list.
Source: LS2
biddy rake: a comb
Source: SL
Biddy: an elderly woman of scruffy appearance. Red biddy was a mixture
of port and meths--a very powerful drink.
Sources: LS2, Moloney
biffed: thrown away, disposed of
Source: SL
Bifter: hand-rolled cigarette, which may contain more than tobacco
Source: LS4
Big House, the: The Vines Pub, on Lime Street by the Adelphi Hotel
Source: SL
Big Penny: another name for a tiddler, threepenny joey or threepenny
bit
Source: SL
Big Smoke, the: the City of London
Source: SL
Big girl's blouse (as in "bloody big girl's blouse"): an essentially
useless person who pretends to be formidable
Source: SL
Big blow: a braggart or a bombastic person
Source: LS2
Bike: spectacles
Eez gorra bike onniz nose
Source: LS3
bill, the: the police
Source: LS4
billowing the rigging(obsolete): the description of the ball's impact
on the net, when a goal is scored
Source: GTH
Billy cart: makeshift board and wheels for careening down hills
in one's neighborhood
Source: SL, Partridge
binbag: black plastic garbage bag. To be binbagged is to have a spouse
or significant other pack your things in that kind of bag and be told to
leave the dwelling.
Sources: LS4, SL
Binhead: a dim-witted person
Source: SL
Binnie. De binnie. The binman( trash collector).
Source: LS1
bins: spectacles
Source: SL
Bint: a girl or a young woman. Spiegl says it comes directly from the
Arabic for "girl." Schurr defines a bint as a moll; he says British troops
brought it back from the Middle East during World War One, and that it
can have the less sinister meaning of "floozy." In any event the
phrase "cuchy bint" did mean a loose woman.
Source: LS2, Moloney, SCHUR
Bird: prison, or a prison sentence
Sources: LS4, GS
Bird and the Baby, the: local name for a Liverpool pub called The Eagle
and Child
Source: NYM
Bismarck, to go: slang corruption of "to go berserk."
Source: LS4
bit of a round: a domestic quarrel
Source: LLMI
Bit of porridge: a prison sentence
Source: LS3
bitey dog butty(rare): corned beef sandwich with plenty of mustard
Source: LS2
bits and bobs: bits and pieces, or male genitalia. It is as likely
to have the non-sexual meaning of odds and ends, or a miscelleneous
gathering of things
Sources: SL, DS, GHTL
bizzies: the police, especially police who are looking after prisoners.
As the prisoners tell it, these police are always "busy" whenever the prisoners
ring for help.
Source: LS4
black bombers: amphetamine or other narcotic, in capsule form
Source: LS4
black and tan, a: pint of Guinness and mild ale, mixed
Source: LS1
Black Tapioca: caviar "Tapieygo" usually referred to the
generic school dessert and was not a particularly popular "afters."
Source: LS3
Black: short for Moroccan Black block Cannabis
Source: LS4
black a cargo, to(dockers): to refuse to unload it
Source: NYM
Black Economy: work and services for pay which are not part of the record
and therefore not taxed, usually because they are done on a cash only basis.
Source: LS4
Black Sambo: a liquorice candy remembered by senior scousers, but no
longer available in England. I have seen it for sale in Iceland
Source: SL
black(h)eads: nickname for car keys, because of their black rubber tops.
Source: LS4
Blackie: a police van. Derived from "Black Maria."
Source: LS4
Blad: newspaper
Source: LS3
Bladdered: drunk
Source: LS4
blagger(obsolete): snatcher, thief. Blagger, to: to tell a fib or to
exaggerate
Sources: A, LS4
Blammo. A negro.
Source: LS1
Blash boggart: Lancashire will of the wisp.
Blendellsands: a residential area north of Liverpool. "She talks Blendellsahnds"
means she has an affected accent. Other similar phrases: "she talks cut
glass," "she talks like a shillun in the Co-op," " she talks like she got
nine outer ten at skule," "she talks like Lady Muck of Muck Hall."
Source: LS2
Blighty wound, a(obsolete): a war wound which will send the recipient
homeward, or at least away from the front lines. Schurr says the word once
referred to "God's country," i.e., England, and that soldiers used the
word to mean "back home," which a certain kind of wound would have been
a ticket to. Cf. the music hall song, "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty."
Source: ALS
Blimp: to peek, often to have a sexual peek Minard thinks this may come
from Colonel Blimp, a soldier who was constantly adjusting his monocle
to get a better look at things. Schurr identifies Colonel Blimp as a pompous,
elderly reactionary, from the David Low cartoon character of a retired
officer. The neighborhood blimper is the peeping Tom
Sources: SL, LS3, SCHUR
Blind: a word used for emphasis. Nobody could get a blind bit er sense
outer 'im. (H)e never took a blind bit of notice. I don know a blind
word e says.
Sources: LS1, LS2
Blind scouse: meatless stew. Some informants recall that blind
scouse was usually eaten on Fridays, with pickled cabbage or beetroot.
Eh! Dis is blind scouse! Waiter! There is no meat in my stew.
Source: LS1
Blind butty: a piece of bread with nothing on it, or two pieces
of bread with nothing in between.
Source: SL
Blind man, blinder, or blindy: A person addicted to the drinking of
wood alcohol, surgical or metholated spirits, which often cause blindness.
Source: LS2
blinder, to be playing a: to be playing football with tremendous energy
and effect
Source: GTH
Blister, the(docker's slang): the one who only shows up when the work
is over.
Source: BLH
block, to do one's: to lose one's temper
Source: LS2
Block:(as a noun) means head, and also "precinct." Block can also mean
cannabis resin
or to have sexual intercourse.
Sources: LS2, LS4, SL
Blocked: stoned on drugs
Source: ANS
Blocker: a bowler or derby hat. Also called a funeral or burial hat
and less frequently a plug-hat.
Blockerman: foreman, especially on the docks. Spiegl notes that foremen
traditionally wore bowler-hats, or "blockers."
Sources: LS1, LS2
blocks: compressed cubes of coal-dust, sawdust and cement for keeping
household fires going.
Source: LS2
Blodger(Australian and New Zealand): a parasite or hanger-on, a loafer
Source:ODMS
Blood-olly: an olley or marble made of red streaked stone
Source: LS2
Bloods: ship passengers, as referred to by the crew. Bloods(now obsolete)
once referred to the perks, or "hoodles" enjoyed by senior stewards in
return for cash to specific members of the crew. This way, for instance,
the people the steward was responsible for seeing served could expect high
quality meals, etc.
Sources: LS3, SL
Bloody bucket: term of mock-abuse, possibly from the bucket used to
fetch blood from the slaughterhouse for blood puddings
Source:A
bloody-mindedness: perversity, or an appetite for confrontation
Source: LS4
Blouse, a big girl's: someone effeminate, fraudulent, or insubstantial
Source: SL
Blow: rest period, but also "relief." Cf. "Gis a blow,"
meaning spell me.
Source: LS3
Blow: cannabis
Source: LS4
Blow-through: sexual intercourse
Cuppa coffee an a blow-through refers to a one night stand
Source: LS2
blowed: damned, confounded, as in "I'm blowed if I'm gonna pay for you."
Source: SL
Blower: a telephone
Source: LS2
blowing for tugs, to be: to be short of breath
Source: LS1
blue mixed, a: Blue label and mild , mixed
Source: LS1
blue vein flute player: insulting reference to male homosexuality
Source: SL
blue paper with a duck on: a summons(the duck is actually the Liver
Bird). Cf. "duck" on this list.
Sources: LS1, Shaw, ML
blue nose: Everton football fan
Source: SL
Blue Brick (rhyming): prison
Also known as the Nick, which makes for the other rhyming component
Source: LS3
Bluey: a five pound note
Source: LS4 and LTB
blushing bunny: a poor person's Welsh Rarebit. Scouser Jenny Florence
gives the following recipe. Toast one side of the bread, butter the
untoasted side, arrange sliced tomato on top, sprinkle with cracked pepper
and a little salt. Cover with cheese and grill until it is golden
and bubbly and ther tomato is just showing through. Serve with Worcestershire
Sauce.
Source: SL
Bo Bo's, to be put to: to be put under a general anesthesia. One
probable source is "bo-peep," which is rhyming slang for sleep. One "goes
bo-bos" when one goes to sleep. I note that there was a Lancashire term,
now archaic, for children's sleep: "bee-bo." Michael Ormsby
writes that in Indonesia, among children, "bobo siang" refers to an afternoon
nap, which would trace the phrase to Empire contacts.
Source: SL
bo-kip: going to sleep "had 'is head down, fast a bo-kip goodnight."
Source: GYW
Boat Race(rhyming) : the face
Source: LS3
Boats: feet, perhaps from gunboats, as a humorous reference to size
Source: LS3
Bob 'Ope (rhyming): the soap
Source: LS3
Bob Apple Night: All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween. Cf. Duck Apple
Night, and also Lancashire "hanch-apple" on this list. In the game of Bob
Apple, the children are usually blindfolded and told to keep their hands
behind their backs while they attempt to snare by mouth apples hung before
them on strings
Sources: SL, GHTL
bobbing(also known as "welting" or "ghosting"): one docker works while
two or three others watch him, using the break to recover from the strain
of heavy work.
Source: LS4
bobby-dazzler: something attractive, usually a girl; also the name for
a favorite marble
Source: LS2
Boffin: a research scientist. The term has referred to RAF inventors
since World War II; it may have been borrowed from the name of a character
in Dickens's Our Mutual Friend.
Source: DS
Bog: toilet
Source: LS3
Bog off: often a command to leave, to beat it. Probably from "bugger
off," the term may come from RAF slang meaning to take off or to depart.
Sources: DS, SL
Bog-trotter (or bog-hopper): an Irishman, usually not from Cork or Dublin.
Source: LS2
boggled: askew, confused
Source: SL
Bogies: large pottery marbles, also called "snot."
Source: LS2, Moloney
Bollick (or bollock),to: to bawl someone out, to read them the riot
act. Bollock is another word for testicle.
Source: SL, SI
bolshy, sometimes bolshie: pushy, confrontational
Source: SL
Bomb: a great deal of expense, as in " it cost us a bomb." To "bomb
along" means to speed with abandon. But to be the bomb
is to be superb or the cat's meow, as in "You're the bomb!" or "You're
it!"
Sources: LTB, Moloney
Bombay crud. I got Bombay crud. I am suffering from looseness of the
bowels.
Source: LS1
Bombdie(or bomby): a bombed out site. Children often played in these
during and after World War II and made pretend toys out of the jagged remains.
Source: SL
bombed: thoroughly inebriated. A bombard was a leather jug which held
eight pints. A full bombard would intoxicate most drinkers, and to
do one over the eight would make the world unrecognizable.
Source: SL
Bomby night: Guy Fawkes Night
Source: SL
Bommie wood: wood that a family is saving for a bonfire, or bommy
Source: SL
Bonce: head, noodle. It once referred to a large playing marble, which
may have provided the analogy.
Source: Shaw ML, Schur, LS3
boneshaker, a: a rickety bike, or any uncomfortable means of transportation
Source: ATHIA
Bonfire Night: Guy Fawkes Night
Source: Shaw III
Bonzer: very good; used less than "der gear."
Source: LS2
Boo, to have a: to take a look at. The term is a clipped form of bo-peep,
and is fairly common in New Zealand and Australia
Source: Partridge
boodle: nose
Source: LS3
Boogaroff: No. Please depart.
Source: LS1
booking: the referee records in his book the warnings he gives players
for misconduct on and off the field. As he does this, he shows a yellow
card for the first warning, a red one for the second. A red card sends
the culprit to the showers.
Source: GTH
Bootle Cow, the: fog horn at Seaforth which made a sound like a cow
Source: MV
Bootle Bucks: roughnecks from Bootle. Merseyside people often
have contrasting definitions of a Buck versus a true Scouser.
Source: SL
Booze-jerk or Booze-jerker: a bartender
Source: LS2
Booze-moke: a brewery horse
Source: LS2
Booze-up: a drinking bout
Source: LS2
Boozer: a public house
Source: LS2
boozer's gloom: alcohol-driven melancholia or "weltschmerz"
Source: TIM
Boozery: a brewery
Source: LS2
Boozin 'wit' ther bugs: solitary drinking at home
Source: LS2
Born, we didden know we was: we had no idea how young we were, or, those
were the days!
Source: ST
boss: desirable, used as the equivalent of the older "gear."
Source: SL
Bossie Britches: an officious woman, usually in charge of a herd of
children
Source: SL
bossy boots: a domineering child
Source: ATHIA
Bostno Crop: close haircut, which after the twenties was seen as affected
Source: Shaw II
borstal: a generic term for a prison, which comes from the name of a
famous one. Borstal in Kent is the town in which Britain's original
juvenile prison is located.
Source: SI, SCHUR
bottle's gone: poise, patience are gone; exasperated
Source: SL
bottle out to: to clutch or lose one's nerve in a risky play. The usage
is not limited to the football field. One meaning for "bottle of beer"
in rhyming slang is "fear," so there is likely a connection with"bottle"
here. Bottle in some contexts means simply one's nerve.
Source: GTH, ATHIA
Bottle(rhyming): fear
The rhyming phrase is bottle of beer
Source: LS4
Bottle(rhyming): arse
The rhyming phrase is bottle and glass
Sources: LTB, LS4
Bottler: the one who passes the hat or collects from the crowd after
a street performance.
Source: SL
Boxed: another word for "wrecked," i.e., totally ruined by excesses,
usually drugs and/or alcohol.
Source: LS4
botty burp: euphemism for farting
Source: SL
Boxed: boxed in one's coffin or actually buried. Boxer: a coffin-maker.
Source: LS2
bowl, to: to go, or move in a certain direction
Source: OED
boyo: usually what a parent calls a child who has crossed the line in
some way. It's a warning. The term is also used jovially to
address or to refer to an adult male. The back slang version of this
is "yobbo."
Source: SL
brainwave, to have a: to have an idea occur
Source: BLH
Bran mash (rhyming): money. The rhyme is with cash.
Source: LS3
Brass, to(obsolete): to pay. Brass also means money in Lancashire
Source: A
Brass Monkey: stand for cannon balls in the old-time warships. The balls
were stacked pyramid style on a brass tringular rack known as "the monkey."
When the temperature dropped low enough, the cannon balls would contract
and fall from the pyramid. Hence the saying, "cold enough to freeze the
balls off a brass monkey."
Source: SL
Brass: a promiscuous woman. The connection may be with the phrase "as
bold as brass."
Source: LS3
Brassic (rhyming): penniless
Originally the rhyme was between "boracic lint" and "skint," meaning
broke
Source: LS4
bread and scrape: bread with a layer of butter scraped thin
Sources: OED, SL
Bread 'n spit: bread and margarine
Source: LS1
bread butty(also called a blind sarney): for the desperately poor, this
was a sandwich with nothing in it.
Source: SL
Break eleven, to: To be caught in a nefarious act, the eleventh commandment
being not to get caught.
Source: LS2
Breaks: broken, defective, or damaged biscuits sold cheaply, usually
from a crate or barrel.
Source: LS2
Breaky(also brecky): breakfast
Source: SL
Breck: a prisoner's last meal, breakfast at eight a.m.
Source: LS4
Breeched: born
Source: ST
Brew: slope, rise, or hill. Shaw spells this "broo, i.e., brow."
Sources: LS2, Shaw II
Brickie: a brick-layer
Source: SL
bridewell: prison, police lock-up. The word comes from the London term
for the main lock-up: originally St. Bride's Well, then bridewell.
Sources: SL,OED, Shaw GS, SI
brief, a: a barrister
Source: SI
briffen(obsolete): bread and anything
Source: A
Bright: well, healthy
Source: LS2
Brill: brilliant
Source: SL
brillo `ead: a good-natured insult
Source: SL
Bristlers(rhyming): Er bristlers. Her bosom.
The rhyming components are titties and Bristol Cities
Source: LS1
broo: the incline of a hill
Brolley: umbrella
Source: DS
brothel creepers: soft soled shoes, which allow the wearer to pad around
noiselessly.
Source: SL
brown bess(obsolete): older type of breech-loading rifle
Source: LLMI
brown bread(rhyming): dead
Source: SL, ODS
Brown Job, a: a soldier (RAF, RN), called that because of the color
of the uniform.
The paratroopers referred to all the other regiments as "crap-hats."
Source: DS, Moloney
Brownie: a male prostitute. Also called a joy-boy, ship's Mary.
Brownie(obsolete): a copper coin
Sources: LS2, LLMI
Brush: broom
Source: SL
Brush. I'm livin over de brush: I am living in sin.
Source: LS1
Brutal types or Brutal scruffs: derogatory terms for youths living in
Bootle.
Source: LS2
buckess: a female yobbo, or one of the young women the police have to
deal with in groups or singly as they move through the streets.
Source: SI
Bucko: a very tough fellow. Among some speakers, the term is "buck,"
which refers to a belligerent, irresponsible local in Liverpool. The Police
frequently use the term "bucks" to refer to the young men they have to
deal with in groups on the streets. The term is sometimes used to differentiate
between anti-social malingerers and the perceived generosity and open-heartedness
of the true Scouser.
Sources: Shaw II, TMD, SI
Bucks Fizz: cocktail with champagne or sparkling white wine and
orange juice. It's close to what Americans would call a mimosa.
Source: SL, OED
Budgie: parakeet
Source: LS4
buffer: a chief boatswain's mate; also a petty officer
Source: OED
Bugger-all: nothing at all, not a god-damned thing
Source: Schur
Buggerlugs: a generally friendly term of address, ultimately of nautical
origin. the term meant big-eared.
Sources: DS, SL, Moloney
Bug House, the: The Palace Cinema in Marsh Lane
Source: BLH
bugle, the: the nose
Source: LS3
Building a spliff: rolling a joint, sometimes referred to as "building
up," as in "building up a spliff."
Source: LS4, SL
Bullamacow: corned beef. Spiegl writes that this is an African importation,
seldom used, but then ironically
Source: LS2
Bullrag, to(also bully rag): to verbally harass, insult. Cf. "putting
a red rag to a bull."
Source: GS
Bulwark of Britain: sarcastic reference to a weedy, undersized individual
Source: LS2
Bum chum: homosexual friend
Source: LS4
bumbag(Australian): fanny pack; in Liverpool it sometimes called a "buttie
bag."
Source: SL
Bum-droops: a condition attributed to persons long in the trunk and
short in the legs. Also called duck's disease, because one's arse is too
near the water(or to the ground)...
Sources: LS2, Moloney
bumf: claptrap(from bumfodder, or toilet paper)
Source:A
bumfreezer: short, ill-cut jacket
Source: LS2
Bumstarver: a short, ill-cut jacket. Also called a bumfreezer
Source:LS2
Bun-oven: a top hat
Source:LS2
Bunce: extra pay(dockers). Spiegl wonders whether this might come from
"bonus," but in Lancashire "to go bunts" is to divide profits.
There, "bunts" means shares. In Liverpool, bunce is frequently used to
suggest payoff or bribe.
Source: Shaw I, LS1
buncher fives: a punch, real or threatened
Source: Y
bundle away, to: to whisk away a suspect after a sudden arrest, the
suspect sometimes partially covered with blankets.
Source: LS4
Bundook: rifle, shotgun, or air gun
Source: LS2
bung: an illegal incentive or bribe, whether in a professional sports
deal or in secular society
Sometimes it refers to what in American parlance would be "payola."
The word originally meant a stop on a keg or barrel. Bung or bungole: cheese
Sources: LS2, GTH, SL, Moloney
Bunk on: riding without paying
Source: LS4
Bunk in: to sneak into the movies without paying
Source: Shaw ML
bunk off: to go truant (from school)
Source: LS4
Bunk, to do a: to run off or to sneak off, to disappear, go off on one's
own
Source: GS
Burgoo, or burgo: Porridge, or a thick oatmeal used chiefly by seamen,
but often served in the workhouse. Some informants write that burgoo
was the same as Hasty Pudding.
Source: LS1, SL, OED
Burn: cigarettes
Source: LS3
Bush: lodging house. The term may come from the Parish or Poor
House located at Bevington Bush, which was destroyed with great loss of
life in the May Blitz of 1941.
Source: Shaw II, Moloney
Bushed: lost, bewildered. Raddled and muzzied mean the same. The word
can also mean "exhausted," or "bush-whacked."
Source: LS2, Moloney
Bushwa: Nonsense, idle talk. Spiegl believes this to be derived from
Australian "bush-wire," speculative gossip.
Source:LS1
Busies(sometimes spelled bizzies): policemen
Source: LS3
business girl: a prostitute
Source: LS4
busy Lizzie: a busybody, someone who persistently interferes in someone
else's affairs.
Source: LS2
Butt-butt, welly-welly: said of someone who is using feet and head as
well as hands in a fight
Source: SL
buttie bag: fanny pack for traveling, biking, etc. Cf. "bumbag" on this
list.
Source: SL
Buttons: children's game
Source: SHAW III
Buttons: marbles substitutes.
Source: LS1
Butty: a sandwich, i.e., buttered bread. In Lancshire, butter cake referred
to a slice of bread and butter, hence butty or butty cake.
Source: LS2,SL
Buzz Bomb: penis
Source: LS3