Read Dictionary of Contemporary Slang Online
Authors: Tony Thorne
See also
blazed a
;
mash
1
2b
leary
adj
an alternative spelling of
leery
or
lairy
leather
n British
1.
a middle-aged male jet-setter, an ageing sun-tanned playboy. This term was coined by the upper-class young and their imitators in the late 1970s to refer disparagingly to the more prominent members of the international
white trash
frequenting ski resorts, yacht basins, etc. The word could occasionally be extended to apply to women too. Leather refers to the skin texture of the subgroup in question (perhaps compounded by their characteristic wearing of expensive leather clothes in the period in question).
2.
a wallet or purse. A long established item from the underworld lexicon.
leatherboy
n
a.
a motorcycle enthusiast,
rocker
or
biker
. A word popular with parents and journalists in the early 1960s.
âThe mean and moody leatherboy on a thundering bike is the strongest image of pop culture.'
(Johnny Stuart,
Rockers
, 1987)
b.
a young male homosexual, male prostitute or androgynous youth wearing leather
âA faggy little leatherboy with a smaller piece of stick.'
(Lyrics to “Memo from Turner”, by Mick Jagger, 1969)
leathered
adj British
drunk. An item of student slang in use in London and elsewhere since around 2000.
lech, letch
n British
a.
a carnal desire, brief sexual infatuation. This word, often used by women, was particularly popular in the 1960s and early 1970s in upper- or middle-class speech. It was often (and sometimes is still) used in the form âletch, letch!' as a jocular or coyly prurient exclamation (although this more probably refers to the verb form to
lech after
or
lech for
).
âLeched over by managers, stitched up by agents, girls in the music biz have traditionally paid a high price for succumbing to the lure of lurex.'
(
Ms London
magazine, 4 September 1989)
b.
a lecherous person, usually male. A word expressing attitudes ranging from light mockery to angry rejection.
He's nothing but a boring old lech
.
lech/letch after/for/over/on
vb British
to nurse or exhibit a carnal desire for, to behave lecherously towards (someone). A back-formation from the adjective âlecherous'.
He's always letching after young girls
.
lecker
See
lekker
ledge
n British
a person of note and/or outstanding qualities. The abbreviation of âlegend' is used ironically and scathingly about a conceited person, usually male.
âHe thinks he's a bit of a ledge.'
(Recorded, secondary school pupil, London, October 2004)
It seems very typically British somehow for one of the very few terms in circulation among teenagers and young adults that expresses open admiration to double up as a sarcastic putdown. The shortened form of legend or legendary started out as a straightforward endorsement for someone who shows outstanding skill (as in skater slang where it may have originated) or just an unexpected kindness, replacing âYou're a hero/star!' (or
star-spa
as North London kids used to say). When it's meant sincerely like this it's sometimes accompanied by a brandished L- shape made with finger and thumb. Peer envy is even stronger than peer admiration, though: no one likes an over-achiever or a show-off, so these days
ledge
(sometimes elaborated into
ledgemeister
,
ledgebag
or
ledgepants
) is just as likely to take the form of a sneer. This generation may have picked this up from older siblings familiar with the phrases popular more than a decade ago, âa legend in his own lifetime/lunchtime/in her own mind'. Australians and Americans are known to use the same abbreviation, too, but tend to say it without irony.
You took the blame for me â you're a ledge!
leech off (someone)
vb
to behave as a parasite. An extension of the colloquial use of the noun form.
leery, leary
adj
a.
wary, suspicious, shy, cautious. This sense of the word is standard in all English-speaking areas.
b.
British
alert, clever, cheeky. This sense
of leery is related to
lairy
, meaning both flashy and conceited.
c.
British
bad-tempered, sour
d.
British
untrustworthy, devious, cunning These nuances of meaning within the same term are difficult to disentangle, given that modern usage is probably derived from two originally separate words: the archaic
leer
, from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning âface' or âcheek', and the obsolete dialect term
lere
, related to âlearn' and âlore' and similar in meaning to âknowhow'.
left field
n, adj
(something) unorthodox, bizarre, unexpected. An American usage which was picked up by British journalists, musicians, etc. in the mid-1970s. The term arises from an earlier colloquial expression âout of left field', used to describe something startling or totally unexpected coming from an improbable source. The field in question is the baseball field and the left field, the area to the batter's left and beyond third base, is an area of the park which sees little action and from which the ball rarely arrives. The same thing can be said of the right field, however, and the choice of left perhaps has something to do with the overtones of unorthodoxy and radicalism inherent in âleft' in its political context, or simply by analogy with left-handed.
left-footer
n
1.
a Catholic
2.
a homosexual
Both uses of the term have been heard since the 1960s and are derived from the notion of abnormality associated with left-handed/footedness.
leg-biter
n
a small child, a toddler or baby. A less common alternative to
ankle-biter
, heard since the 1980s.
legged over
adj British
a phrase from the jargon of City of London financial traders which is a euphemism for
shagged
or
fucked
in the sense of having lost money (and perhaps been humiliated) in a failed transaction. It is based on the verb to
get one's leg over
.
leg it
vb British
to run away, escape or leave. A working-class expression, formerly popular with police and criminals, which became fashionable in middle-class circles in the later 1980s in keeping with a tendency among
yuppies
, students and those in the media, among others, to affect cockney styles of speech.
âHis pals sprang him by blowing a hole in the wall. He then legged it to Amsterdam, where he changed his name.'
(Charles Catchpole,
News of the World
, 5 February 1989)
legless
adj
drunk. The word originally denoted someone who was helplessly or falling-down drunk; nowadays âgetting legless' can simply mean getting drunk. It has moved from being a raffish slang term to a common colloquialism over the last 25 years.
âSame old story really: by 7pm she was wide-eyed and legless.'
(Recorded, Financial Secretary, London, May 2005)
legover
n British
an act of sexual intercourse (usually from a male perspective). The term originates in the expression
get one's leg over
, one of many 18th- and 19th-century phrases in which leg is meant both literally and as a euphemism for the parts of the lower body (âleg-business' is one archaic example). From the 1980s the satirical magazine
Private Eye
has regularly referred to a âlegover situation', a supposed middle-class code for copulation.
lekker
adj South African
excellent, attractive,
cool
. The slang term, from the Afrikaans for delicious, is very widespread and familiar to, if not used by, many British hearers.
âListening to them on the train, they were going “lekkers this” and “that's lekkers” nonstop.'
(Recorded, London student, May 2012)
lem, lemmo
n
a variant form of
lemon 2b
lemon
n
1.
something substandard, useless or worthless. The word is used, particularly in the USA, to apply particularly to cars which are unsaleable. It may also denote any âdud', from an unattractive woman to a badly-performing share in the stock exchange. This negative sense of the name of a fairly popular fruit derives from the unavoidably sour taste.
2a.
a fool, embarrassed or discomfited person. To âfeel a lemon' is to be put in an uncomfortable or humiliating situation.
2b.
also
lem
,
lemmo
an outcast, misfit, lonely person. In playground usage, from
the earlier colloquial sense of an unfortunate person.
3.
the penis. In black American slang the word has been used in this sense which, although no longer common, is immortalised in the lyrics of many blues songs.
Squeeze my lemon, baby / 'till the juice runs down my leg
.
4.
American
a Quaalude tablet,
'lude
(a hypnotic tranquillising drug, the equivalent of the British Mandrax or
mandie
)
5.
a lesbian
6.
British
skunk
or another type of marihuana. The term was in use in black youth slang from around 2004.
7.
See
lemons
lemon meringue
n British
slang, rhyming slang. It is not clear whether the expression is authentic âcockney' or an invention by journalists who have used it in the noughties decade.
Chitty Chitty (Bang Bang)
is a synonym.
lemons
n pl
female breasts. Another image of fruitfulness and rotundity on the lines of
melons, cantaloupes, apples
, etc. The term is probably most widespread in Australian speech.
lemon-squeezer
n British
a man. This phrase, rhyming slang for
geezer
, occurs in anthologies of such expressions but is rarely actually heard in everyday speech.
Ice cream
is a synonym.
lend
n Australian See
have a lend (of someone)
leng
1
adj British
attractive, admirable. It is not clear whether the appreciative adjective, in use by younger speakers in the north of England in 2012, is related to the noun sense of the word meaning gun or knife.
leng
2
n British
1.
a weapon, firearm
2.
the police. It is unclear whether the two senses of the word, both used by street-gang members in London in 2009, are related.
lengman
n British
a male in possession of a weapon, or otherwise considered dangerous, gunman, hitman. The term was in street-gang usage in London in 2009.
length
n British
1.
a six-month prison sentence
2.
the penis. The word is almost invariably used in the phrase
slip someone a length.
lergi, lerghi
British
an unspecified disease, a mysterious infection or illness. An invented word (the âg' is hard) in imitation of exotic or tropical complaints, much used by schoolchildren in the 1950s and still heard today, often in the phrase âthe dreaded lergi'.
âHilary was supposed to come but she's gone down with the lergi.'
(Recorded, housewife, London suburbs, 1986)
les, lez, lezz, lezzie, lesbo
n
a lesbian. Shortened forms of the word in use throughout the English-speaking community.
lesbian
n British
a fruit-based alcoholic drink, such as a Bacardi Breezer or alcopop. The term has been in use since around 2000 among students and clubbers, presumably playing on the ideas of (alcoholic) strength and ideas and tastes associated with females.
Lester
n American
a supposed molester of females. An expression used on campus in the USA since around 2000.
letch
n, vb British
an alternative spelling of
lech
let it all hang out
vb, exclamation
to express oneself or otherwise behave without inhibitions, act without restraint. This euphemism became a catchphrase of the late 1960s counterculture, spreading with it from the USA to other English-speaking areas.
let off, let one off
vb British