jack, v.t. Inf. steal
Abbr. of ‘highjack.’
jacket potato, Inf. baked potato
Jack the lad, n. Slang. see comment
A man who is independent and sly, and who looks out for himself. There might
be an implication of impropriety, but rarely enough to call for outright moral con-
demnation. Operator is an approximate American equivalent.
Jag, n. Inf. Jaguar car
jakes, n. Slang. can (privy)
Slang. Archaic word for outhouse, toilet.
jam, n. treat
Slang. A real jam is British slang for a real treat. A jam sandwich in Britain can mean
what it does in America, but it is also a term used to mean the kind of layer cake
that has preserves between the layers. See also jam sandwich.
jam, money for. See money for jam.
jam on it. See have jam on it.
jam sandwich police car
Slang. So named because the vehicles have been white with a red stripe along the
middle, suggesting jam between two slices of white bread. Cf. panda car; Z-car.
jam tomorrow, Inf. Inf. pie in the sky
Easy enough to promise jam, harder to provide it.
Janeite, n. Jane Austen fan
Sometimes spelled Janite. Not an American word, since Jane Austen is not a
national craze.
jankers, n., pl. Slang. jug
Slang. In the special sense of military jail. Jankers has other meanings in military
slang: ‘defaulters’; their ‘penalty’ or ‘punishment’; the ‘cells’ themselves. To get
ten days’ jankers is to be confined to the stockade for that period.
jaunty, n. master-at-arms
Naut. Slang. Head policeman on a naval vessel. The official title in both the Royal
Navy and the United States Navy is master-at-arms, often abbreviated to M.A.A.

jersey, n. pullover; sweater
See also jumper; woolly.
jib, v.i. hesitate, buck
Inf. Normally applied to balking horses and in Britain, informally, to cars as well
or even to stubborn persons.
jiggered, adj. 1. Slang. pooped
2. Slang. up the creek
3. Slang. damned!
1. Slang. After a long day’s work, you’re jiggered.
2. Slang. In a tough situation, like running out of gas in the middle of the night,
you’d feel jiggered.
3. Slang. The exclamation I’m jiggered means ‘I’ll be damned’ as in Well, I’m jig-
gered—fancy meeting you here!
188

jaw
jiggery-pokery, n., Inf. Inf. hanky-panky
jim-jams, n. pl. Slang. Slang. willies
A fit of nervousness or depression.
Jimmy, dismal. See dismal Jimmy.
jink, v.t., v.i. dodge
To dodge about jerkily, to avoid being hit. Said of game birds and extended to
warplanes.
job, v.t. 1. rent (horse and carriage)
2. prod
1. The British used to job horses and carriages in the old days, the verb being
applied to both supplier and user (the way Americans use rent). Jobbing, in this
sense, described an arrangement for a specified period of time, and the supplier
was called a jobmaster.
2. Also meaning stab, though this is little used.

John O’Groats, a short way of saying: From one end of the British Isles to the other.
join, v.t. board
To join a train, ship, plane, etc. is to board it.
joiner, n. carpenter
Technically speaking, joiners in both countries, as distinct from carpenters, engage
especially in interior light carpentry (doors, shelves, etc.) and cabinet making.
The British appear often to use the terms interchangeably, but joiner is rarely
heard in ordinary American speech.
joint, n. roast
In Britain that tasty leg of lamb or roast of beef or loin of pork is known as a joint.
Popular for Sunday lunch, hence the Sunday joint.
jokes, adj. Slang. funny
jollop, n. Inf. guck
Slang. Any witches’ brew you take for whatever ails you, like patent medicines
and home remedies.
jolly, n. Slang. leatherneck
Slang. A Royal Marine. Synonymous with guffy and bullock.
jolly, adv., Inf. approx. mighty (very)
joskin, n. bumpkin
Slang. Sailors use this term to describe any lubberly hand. The exact meaning of joskin
is a man from the Norfolk area who works as a farmhand during the summer and on
trawlers in wintertime, and is therefore, presumably, a green hand on board.
josser, n., Slang. Slang. geezer
jotter, n., Inf. 1. steno pad
2. notebook
2. Also exercise book.
judder, v.i. shake
Violently and noisily. A bit of onomatopoeia, also influenced by shudder. It can
apply to anything from a jalopy to an opera singer, and is also used as a noun to
denote the phenomenon.

‘worn-out hawsers’ or ‘cables’ which are either discarded or picked apart for use
as caulking material or in making swabs.
just, adv. adv. right
Where an American would say, “I can’t find it now, but it was right over there,”
i.e., no farther than that, a Briton would say “ . . . just over there.” Were the Briton
to say, “ . . . right over there,” he would mean ‘ . . . way over there,’ i.e., no nearer
than that. If he said, “Drink it right up,” he would mean ‘drink it all,’ whereas an
American would mean “drink it at once, right now.”
just a tick! Inf. right with you!
Inf. See also hold on!
just going just about
Used in expressions of time of day: it’s just going twelve means it’s just about twelve,
or, practically twelve. The expressions just on and going on for are used by the Brit-
ish in the same way: it’s just on nine o’clock, or it’s going on for nine, i.e., it’s not quite
or it’s just about nine. See also gone.
just here right here
just on. See just going.
just on

191
K., n. see comment
Inf. To get one’s K. is to be knighted (see Birthday Honours).
K.C. See under take silk.
kedgeree, n. see comment
(Accent on the first or third syllable.) Composed of fish, usually smoked haddock,
cooked with rice and eggs, and other variable ingredients. The word is derived from
the Hindi word khichri. It is normally a breakfast dish, and not very common.
keel, n. 1. barge
2. 21 tons 4 cwt.
1. Type of boat used, usually to carry coal, on the Rivers Tyne, Humber, etc. Still

192
h
keep obbo on Inf. keep an eye on
Slang. An obbo was an observation balloon in World War I. Keeping obbo is police-
men’s slang for surveillance.
keep one’s terms. See eat one’s terms; Inns of Court.
keep shtoom, v. Inf. keep quiet
Also spelled shtum. From the Yiddish word meaning silent or dumb. Direct bor-
rowings from Yiddish are rarer in the UK than in the United States, but this is one
that has found its way into common speech.
keep the ring. See hold the ring.
keep your eyes skinned. Inf. Inf. keep your eyes peeled
Keep your pecker up! Inf. Chin up!
Inf. In this expression, pecker means ‘spirits’ or ‘courage.’ This connotation of
pecker is probably derived from its original meaning of a ‘bird that pecks’ (e.g.,
woodpecker), and by extension that with which it pecks, i.e., its beak, which
became slang for ‘nose.’
Kendal green green woolen cloth
Coarse in texture. Takes its name from Kendal, a town in England where the cloth
was originally made.
Kentish-fire, n. see comment
Prolonged rhythmic applause to express disapproval. The expression is attrib-
uted to anti-Catholic demonstrations in Kent in the early 1800s.
Kentish man see comment
Native of the County of Kent, England, born west of the River Medway. If born
east of it, he is a man of Kent.
kerbside-crawl. see comment
Slang. Crawl is used by the British the way Americans use cruise to indicate the
slow driving of a car. Kerb-crawl describes the nasty conduct of a motorist on the
prowl for women foolish enough to accept an invitation to hop in. Gutter-crawl

1. Slang. Or appealing to such tastes.
2. Slang. Peculiar; kooky.
3. Slang. As of clothes, for instance.
4. Teenage slang. Synonymous with gear and fab.
kiosk, n. 1. newsstand
2. telephone booth
kip, n., v.i. 1. rooming-house
2. room in a rooming-house
3. bed
4. sleep
Slang. The house, the room in the house, the bed in the room, the sleep in the bed;
sometimes seen in the expressions go to kip, have a kip, take a kip, or kip down, mean-
ing to ‘turn in for a night’s sleep or a nap.’
kipper, n. Inf. kid; tot
Slang. Synonymous with a like-sounding British slang word—nipper.
kirby grip n. bobby pin
Also known in Britain as hair-slide and hair grip.
kissing gate Approx. cattle gate
Kissing gates found in rural Britain are gates hung with the side away from the
hinge swinging within a V-shaped or U-shaped enclosure in such a way that
people can get through but cattle can’t. You push the gate away from the nearside
of the V or U, step into the latter, slide over to the other side, and push the gate
back. This quaint device may have acquired its romantic name because it was
the place where a swain said goodnight to his lady love, and a certain amount of
lingering was in order.
194

kibble
kiss of life 1. mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
2. boost

knighthood, n. the rank of knight
knob, n., Slang. Slang. scab (strikebreaker)
Scab is now more common.
knob, n. lump
Of butter, sugar, etc.
knob

195
knobble. See nobble.
knobs. See with knobs on!
knock, n. Slang. hit (success)
Slang. Synonymous with the British sense of bomb. But see bit of a knock.
knock, v.i. Slang. wow (impress)
Slang. To knock someone in American slang is to disparage him, but in British slang
it means to impress him greatly, i.e., to knock him dead, and is probably short for
knock for six (see six).
knock acock Inf. bowl over
Inf. To astonish, to present with the unexpected.
knocked off, adj. Inf. confused, dazed
She’s been a bit knocked off since her stroke.
knocker. See up to the knocker.
knocker, n. door to door salesman
Slang. To work on the knocker is to work from door to door. Synonymous with door-
step salesman.
knocker-up, n. 1. arouser
2. see comment
1. Inf. A person whose job is to summon sleeping railroad workers or miners to
their jobs.
2. Inf. The term is used also in political circles, to describe a party worker charged
with the function of getting out the vote.

an impromptu meal. This usage was originally American, but is now exclusively
British.
4. Inf. Rare. As in, He knocks up twenty thousand quid a year, I’ll be bound.
knock-up, n. warm-up
Tennis term, synonymous with knock-out, 1.
know the form, Inf. Inf. have the inside dope
knuckle duster brass knuckles
K.O. kickoff
Inf. A British football abbreviation. Thus, on a poster advertising a football game,
“K.O. 3:00 p.m.” It also means ‘knockout,’ a boxing term, as in America.
K.O.

197