
FA: abbreviation for Football Association
Source: GTH
Fades: damaged, and therefore cheap, apples.
Source: LS1
fag ash Lil: the stereotypical waitress in her underclass aura,
one more item in the give and take about waitresses.
Source: BLH
Fagger out: a fielder at cricket
Source: LS1
faggin': fielding at rounders
Source: MLS
faggot: when applied to a woman, it is the equivalent of "baggage" or
"piece of works." It can be uttered teasingly or with contempt.
Source: SL
Faggots: spiceballs, meatballs, savoury ducks
Source: LS1
fair dinkum (Australian): fair share of work
Source: GHTL
fairy cake: a cupcake
Source: SCHUR
fairy-cycle: child's bike
Source: DBOC
Fake cakes: cakes made out of cardboard for weddings during the Second
World War
Source: SL
fairy floss: cotton candy
Source: SL
fairy lights: christmas tree lights and such
Source: SL
Fallies: bananas
Source: LS2
Fally: a popular mixture of beer and stout, served in pubs
Source: Shaw II
family planning: kicking an opposing player in the testicles
Source: GTH
fancy Dan muzzy, a: a narrow, close-clipped moustache
Source: LS2
Fang farrier: a dentist
Source: LS2
Fangs: teeth, especially false teeth
Source: LS2
fanny: nonsense
Source: GYW
Fanny Adams: the term originally referred to tinned mutton and was a
gruesome allusion to an eight-year old girl by that name who was murdered
and dismembered in 1867. For the later history of these works, see
"Sweet Fanny Adams.'
Source: DS
Farder Christmas: a reluctant husband or lover(since Christmas comes
but once a year)
Source: LS2
Farder Bunloaf. A Catholic Priest. A bunloaf is called a Christmas Cake
in the South. Shaw suggests that something in its solidity led the Billy
Boys (Orangemen) to call a priest by that name.
Source: ML, LS1
Farder Flat 'at: phrase used to refer to a Catholic priest whose name
is not known.
Source: LS2
farmer in the dell, the: children's game
Source: LWAS
Father Fleck (sometimes Feck or Fech): a generic reference to a Catholic
priest whose name the speaker does not happen to know
Source: SL
Faves: favorites
Source: SL
favours: item worn because it carries the colors of a certain team
Source: GTH
feather up one's arse, to have: to be in a very jovial mood
Source: LS3
Feckless keckless judy: a girl who distributes her favours with splendid
impartiality
kecks: pants. It is often said of the marginalized here that they are
"reckless, feckless, and keckless."
Source: LS2, Moloney
Feelin' ther strain: constipated
Source: LS2
Feller: husband. Me feller: my husband.
Source: LS1
Fellers. colleagues, comrades.
Source: LS1
Fender Ale: beer drunk at home, i.e., by the fire guard.
Source: LS1, Moloney
Fents, or feints: left-over oddments of the textile industry, often
used for making cheap dresses.
Source: LS2
few scoops, a: a few rounds of drink
Source: BLH
fiddle: a cash payoff. To be "on the fiddle" is to be on the take.
Source: BLH
fielder, a: a racing pigeon which stays around the cornfields, making
its way back at leisure
Source: NYM
fill yer boots, wack: Good Health, my friend, and drink up.
Source: LS1
filmy: children's game which involves guessing the names of stars
Source: DYKMAN
Filth: underworld (and in the minority areas) name for law enforcement.
Source: LS4
finger butty: another word for a punch in the nose
Source: SL
Finger pie: digital foreplay. Cf. The Beatles' "Penny Lane."
Source: LS3
Finnyaddy: Finnan haddock, which is smoked haddock from the eastern
coast of Scotland..
Source: LS1, SL
Firebobby. De firebobby. Spiegl notes the analogy with the Liverpool
Fire Police, founded 1834. Ickey the fire-bobby was a children's bogeyman.
Cf. "Da Ba" on this list.
Source: LS1, Moloney
Firkin: anything not specifically named
Source: DS
first footer: first person over the house threshhold at the beginning
of the New Year. One tradition is that at midnight the head of the
family goes outside and knocks and brings in the New Year. The first
footer should have dark hair and may be carrying a piece of coal and a
sweet or a piece of bread. The images stood for heat, food, and love.
Then the first footer would kiss every member of the household, sleeping
or awake.
Source: SL
fish and chip boat, the: the ferryboat Royal Iris
Source: LS1
Fist-fulla fives: a punch
Source: LS2
fit: good looking, as in a "fit bird" (girl) or a "fit lad." It can
apply to a man or a woman.
Source: LS4
Five nicker. Five pounds; five pound note.
Source: LS1
five stones: a girl's games played with five cubes of stone
five-to-two (rhyming): a Jew. Also: dickey-die-doo.
Source: Shaw II
fiver, a: five pounds
Source: LS1
Flags: paving stones
On a hot day, the sun is said to be cracking the flags
Source: LS2
Flaming argie-bargie: a fight or argument
Source: ANS
Flaming: a hostile message, send e-mail
Source: DS
flanker, to pull a: to trick or swindle someone
Source: SL
flannel: empty talk.
Source: GYW, OED
Flappers: the ears
Source: LS3
flea in the ear: a wallop to a child from a parent or adult, for being
too cheeky or inquisitive
Source: SL
Flea Pit, the(obsolete): the Lytton movie theater
Source: SL
flick a V, to: to give in contempt the equivalent of a one digit salute
Source: SL
Flies' symmetry (flies's cemetery): Eccles cake. The reference to flies
comes from the currant filling.
Source: LS1, Moloney
flim: a five pound note
Source: SL
Flinchers: childrens' game which involves throwing a ball against the
wall with the cry "flinchers for all" or "flinchers for x." No one is allowed
to move, or "flinch" from that point on until they are shied at (until
the ball is thrown at them).
Source: Shaw III, Moloney
Flock: bed
Source: LS3
flog, to: to promote or peddle and sell. Often, "flog" carries
the suggestion of selling illegally.
Source: SL, ML
Flog, to: to sell illegally
Source: Shaw ML
Flogging me goolies: straining one's testicles, so that a much desired
goal can be achieved?
Source: LTB
floor: the ground
Source: LS4
Fluff Alley: section of the ship where female members of the crew live.
Source: LS3
Fluffy: a supposedly more dignified word for "fart."
Source: SL
Flukes: Hawaiian sailors living in Liverpool, also referred to as the
brown-skinned men of Frederick Street, called that because of their flat
faces. A fluke is a flounder-like fish, related to plaice. The word is
still common in Dublin. I note that Pat O'Mara associates the term with
Hawaiians in his Autobiography of a Liverpool Slummy, but that in
his Irish Slummy in America he identifies them as Phillipinos.
Source: ALS, LMC, ISA
fluke's gob, to put on someone: to hit them in the mouth
Source: LS1
Flushin': introducing a narcotic drug by withdrawing blood, mixing it
with the drug and re-injecting.
Source: LS4
Flutter, a: a short visit or trip, and a very enjoyable one. A flutter
can also mean a gamble. In lancashire, it can mean a spree or an exciting
event.
Source: DS, Moloney
fly(dated, but still in use): adjective used to describe someone who
is very knowing, tricky., unpredictable.
Source: SL, ODS
Fly pies: derisory name for Eccles cakes
Source: LS2
Fly turn: a ladies's man
Source: ALS
flyaway, a: a plastic football, as differentiated from the more expensive
leather ones
Source: GTH
Flyblown Phyllis: a prostitute
Source: LS2
Flycatcher: vagina
Source: LS3
Foo-foo band(or fu-fu band): see Alley-Band.This is a synonym of squegee
band, which was an improvised ship's band, but landlubbers formed this
type of band, too, and some Liverpudlians think of them as the forerunners
of drum majorettes. In Lancashire, a "foo-gaud" meant a plaything.
Source: Partridge, TIM, GLD
Footee: football(i.e., soccer)
Source: LS1
footman: foot patrolman
Source: LS4
For slates: very quickly
"away for slates up the cooey" : away fast up the lane
Source: ST
For crying out loud: exclamation thought to be a substitute for a much
less acceptable word, but which the first syllable suggests.
Source: SL
for donkey's yonks: for a great deal of time
Source: SL
Fore 'n' Aft Fanny: a prostitute
Source: LS2
foreigner (or a foreign job): work done by employees for cash on the
employer's clock.
Source: LS4
foreskins and balls: fagots and dumplings
Source: A
Forks: hands
Source: LS3
form: previous convictions
Source: LS4
Formby: a comparatively posh neighborhood, where the upwardly mobile
often are often hoping to live.
Source: LS3
Four mokes an' a full belt: the peak of success, namely a ride in a
four-horse (moke) carriage after a heavy meal. 'an a full belt can also
mean "at top speed."
Source: LS2
Fourpenny one: chastising blow to a troublesome child. Another phrase
for this is " a tick ear."
Source: SHAW II
Frankenstein: comical reference to one's mother-in-law
Source: LS3
Freeman Hardy and Willis: The phrase originally referred to the three
campaign medals awarded for service in World War I, then became the name
for a well known chain of shoe shops, and then a savage kick at an opponent.
Source: Partridge
French 8: Liverpool version of hopscotch
Source: Shaw III
Frisby: a masculine lesbian
Spiegl writes that Frisby Dyke was an old Liverpool Draper's, Outfitter's
and Haberdasher's shop from about 1850(now defunct). Like Dicky Sam, Frisby
Dyke became a generic name for a Scouser. the name emerged as a character
in the popular radio program of the 40s, ITMA, but "Dyke" as used
now connotes sexual preference and is thought to be insensitive.
Source: LS4
frog: a window cleaner's ladder, the sides narrowing at the top
Source: SL
Frog march, to: to carry a drunken man face downwards, arms twisted
up behind his back, home or to the police station.
Source: DS, Moloney
Frogspawn: tapioca pudding
Source: DS
fruit skin(dockers): a fruit checker
Source LS3
fruiting(obsolete): picking fruit to earn extra money
Source: MEM
Fry-ups: a quickly made dish or meal prepared by frying, often of cold
cooked food
Source: ODS
fuddle, a good(obsolete): a drinking spree
Source: LLMI
fudge packer: insulting reference to male homosexuality. It is heard
in Liverpool and throughout Britain and the States
Source: SL
Face, a: make-up
Source: LS3
Funeral sugar: lump or cube sugar, usually displayed in a high-class
container such as a clean glass ash-tray filched from a pub. In this context,
upper class refers to a house with grapes when no one is ill and ash trays
without advertisements on them.
Source:LS2, Moloney
Fur coat and no drawers: not as financially well fixed as she or he
pretends to be. There is also the suggestion of promiscuity, despite pretensions
to the contrary.
Source: LS3, Moloney