
Kangol: brand name for the flat caps of workingmen in the North of Britain
Source: SL
Kavley: a sing-song or musical get-together. Cf.Irish "ceilidh"
Source: LS2
Kay-fisted: left-handed
Source: LS2
kaylied: drunk. The word probably refers to a straight-sided wine
bottle known as a kali bottle.
Source: LS2, SL
keckin'(Lancashire): spying
Source: SL
Kecks: Trousers. Dis pur a kecks is too tight. These trousers are too
tight. Spiegl notes that "kicks" is eighteenth century thieves' slang for
trousers. But I notice that in Lancashire "kecks" referred to the hollow
stems of the common hemlock. It was used by lads to shoot peas with,
and also to make flute like instruments. Since "drainies" referred in the
sixties and seventies to the way narrow and closely fitting young
men's pants resembled drain pipes, I would not rule out a connection between
hemlock stems and trousers. Kecks can also mean underpants, usually female.
Sources: ANS, LS1, GLD
keepers(obsolete): a common name for the police who patrolled the various
town markets
Source: GU
Keepin it in the family: incest
Sources: LS2,LS4
Keepin' douse: keeping watch.
Source:LS1
Keeping dixie: keeping watch in a criminal venture. The person who does
this is the "specky man."
Source: LS4
Kekka: to shut, as in "kekka mush": shut your mouth.
Source: LS3
Kelly's Barn: St. George's Hall
Source: SL
Ken: one's house
Source: LS3
Kenny: the Kensington area of Liverpool
Source: SL
Kent, Der Duke of (rhyming): the rent
Source: LS3
Kerb crawler: person who drives slowly up and down streets looking for
prostitutes
Source: SL
Kettle scraped, to have one's: to go to confession
Source: ML
Kettle: watch
This probably comes from the French "Quelle heure est-il?" Peter Moloney
says that the connection might be with the proverb about the watched kettle
never boiling.
Sources: LS3, Moloney
Kewins. Kewins ate wid a pin: Small shellfish (cockles,mussels,
winkles, periwinkles)
Shaw says that the name comes from an old fish-dealer named McKewan.
Sources: ML,LS1,LS2, SL
Kick-de-can: tin can baseball variant
Source: LS1
Kid: Are kid. My brother (possibly senior to the speaker, and of any
age). Cf. "are kid" on this list.
Source: LS1
kid soup: a bath with carbolic in it
Source: SL
kidda: affectionate form of address between men or brothers.
Source: LS4
kidden (obsolete): a place which fronts as a lodging , but actually is
a place where children are sexually abused
Sources: A, IHBY
King Edwards: an oval variety of potato with a white skin mottled with
red.
Source: OED
king o' ther midden: a conceited person; one who puts on airs
Source: LS2
King Kong: derisory name for a weedy, undersized individual
Source: LS2
kipper: sad face, e.g., "he came 'ome each night wid a kipper like a
fiddle." Kipper can also mean the tie someone is wearing.
Sources: GYW, LS3, Moloney
kipper: cured herring
Sources: SL, OED
kipper season: lean times, probably from "kipper time," the period (May
3 to January 6) when salmon fishing was forbidden in the Thames, by act
of Parliament.
Sources: OED, SL
Kipper: Cockney slang for female genitalia
Source: DS
kipwack: baby food
Source: LS3
Kirkby Kiss: head-butting the face, also known as "a mouthful of dandruff."
Source: LS4
Kithogue(Irish): lefthanded, clumsy
Source: ML
kiting (or kiter): check book and bank card frauds, also called "grafting."
Source: LS4
kitted up: equipped for theft. Similar to "tooled up" and "GEFT,", meaning
going equipped for theft.
Source: LS4
knacker, to: to wear something out
Source: DS
Knacker's yard: said of a place that looks a complete mess. It can also
refer to a slaughter yard for aging livestock, i.e., the "glue factory."
Sources: LS2, SCHUR
Knackered: fatigued, tuckered out. In modern Dublin, a knacker
is a member of the blue collar work force.
Source: SL, TAI
Knackers: testicles. The earlier meaning was castanets, from"knack."
meaning to make a sharp crackling noise.
Sources: SL, ODS
knee-bender: a pious person
Source: LS2
Knee-trembler: sexual intercourse while standing
Source: LS1
knees up, Mother Brown: sometimes shouted at a drunken elderly woman
Source: LS2
Knees up, to have a: to have a lively social evening, usually with a
great deal of dancing
Source: DS
Knife 'n' fork tea: substantial early-evening meal, or a meal in which
the host has included some kind of meat.
Source: LS2
knit!: be quiet, i.e., attend to your knitting, sewing, etc.
Source: LS3
knob, a: a small lump of something, for instance a knob of butter or
sugar.
Source: SL
Knock and Run: children's game
Source: LWAT
Knock off: stolen property, as in "selling knock off."
Source: LTB
Knock back, to: to turn down a sexual proposition. To be knocked back
means to be turned down, rejected.
Sources: LS3, SL
knockers-up(obsolete): people with poles used to knock on windows, particularly
those of dockers, so that they could get to their shifts on time.
Source: MV
knocked rotten: to be knocked silly or to be beaten into a stupor
Source: LS2
Knocker: door to door salesman
Source: ANS
Knocking shop: a brothel; derived from knock, meaning to have sex with.
Sources: LS2,ODS
Knocking to order: providing specific stolen goods on demand from a
customer. Knock-off refers to stolen goods.
Sources: DS, SL
knotted, get: a kiss off remark to an individual or a group, usually
intended in bantering good humor. The work "knotted" is usually applied
to a person with problems or suffering from a hangup.
Sources: SL, DS
Knotty Ash: district in Liverpool often alluded to get a humorous response.
The comedian Ken Dodd is often called the "Squire of Knotty Ash."
Sources: GS, Moloney
knuckle buttie: a punch in the face
Source: Y
knucks: a brass knuckleduster or anything used in lieu, such as a piece
of chain wrapped around the fist.
Source: LS2
Kocker it off, to: to get along
Source: ST
kokum: seasoning, experience
Source: SI
Kop. De Kop: A favorite point of vantage at Liverpool Football Ground.
Spion Kop is Afrikaans for a steep sided hill with trees and exposed rocks
on top. In Afrikaans, Spion Kop meant "vantage point hill." It was
the site of either a bloody defeat or a Phyrric victory for the British
(including a Liverpool regiment) in the Boer War, depending on which commentator
you read.
Sources: LS1, SL, OED
Kosher Nostra, the : whimsical notion about an Israeli Mafia. Cf. the
equally whimsical Welsh equivalent, The Taffia, more recently refined to
the "Viet Taff.".
Source: LS4
Kru(or Kroo): now an obsolete term, it referred to early non-European
settlers in Liverpool who came from the Liberian coast It came to mean
any black African seaman.
Source: LCS