# What is your favourite slang expression? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978 "2020-09-19T04:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/41 "2020-09-26T15:32:24Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” My variation: “Not my pig. Not my farm. Not my problem”. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/42 "2020-09-26T19:24:18Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > My version is “slicker’n snake shit.” > > Mine is “Slicker than snot on a doorknob.” Slicker’n whale snot. When cutting things to fit and it needs to be a little shorter, “take off an RCH.” That would be a red c\*nt hair. At this point, with the regular crew I work with, it’s just “just take off a red one.” I’m not sure why red ones are thinner than any other color… We’ll burn that bridge when we get there. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/43 "2020-09-30T20:37:11Z")
I’ve always liked the Australian expression “I’m not here to fuck spiders” (meaning one is ready to get down to business). It’s just so delightfully pungent. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/44 "2020-10-02T10:25:06Z")
From the wacky world of engineering tolerances: _it fits like a prick in a top hat._ (I suspect that, in American English, that should be “dick”.) j ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/45 "2020-10-02T13:13:35Z")
I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/46 "2020-10-02T13:29:39Z")
I’m pleased - so do I. An expression I learned from an actual engineer, back in the days when I worked in labs. j ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/47 "2020-10-02T13:44:08Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > Since watching Derry Girls it’s “catch yourself on.” Fascinating. Apparently it means, ‘wise up’ or ‘stop acting ridiculous’. Anyone familiar with Irish slang out there want to explain the idea? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/48 "2020-10-02T14:09:51Z")
Not especially familiar with Irish or any other slang, but it seems analogous to ‘cop yourself on’ ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/49 "2020-10-02T14:57:53Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > Since watching Derry Girls it’s “catch yourself on.” I think it is probably just the equivalent of “oh, get a grip (of yourself)” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/50 "2020-10-02T15:49:24Z")
Back to more slang, I liked the line, “Come and get one in the yarbles, if any yarbles thou hast, thou eunuch jelly thou.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/51 "2020-10-02T21:31:52Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > From the wacky world of engineering tolerances: _it fits like a prick in a top hat._ > > (I suspect that, in American English, that should be “dick”.) > > j I as an engineer have never heard it, but like it very much! Here’s my contribution from a German engineer’s perspective: “Passt wie Arsch auf Eimer”, “Fits like an ass on a bucket”. (of course the correct idiomatic expression is “Fits like a glove”) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/52 "2020-10-03T21:13:41Z")
When things are going well: “We’re in high cotton”. When things are not going well: “We’re in deep weeds”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/53 "2020-10-03T21:30:36Z")
Whatever the hell Python’s talking about, here: “Top-hole. Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right in the how’s-your-father; hairy blighter, dicky-birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harpers and caught his can in the Bertie.” ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/54 "2020-10-04T13:23:21Z")
Currently trending in my team, “Put lipstick on a pig.” Very short, to the point, and doesn’t have to be explained. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/55 "2020-10-07T20:01:50Z")
More like “don’t be ridiculous.” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/56 "2020-10-07T20:21:30Z")
Well…yes, I mean that’s the very basic level meaning of _both_ expressions, I was just giving a more common slang expression that uses some of the same imagery. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/57 "2020-10-07T21:24:52Z")
“Gonna have to the lick the calf all over again”, meaning having to start something over from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/58 "2020-10-10T14:12:43Z")
Some trigger somewhere started me thinking about slang expressions for the humble cigarette. I don’t know if these are British or universal (apart from the first, obviously): Oily (= oily rag = fag. Rhyming slang, of course, but of the best variety - that is, with a second meaning. When burned, an oily rag produces smoke). Coffin nail Cancer stick It was only when I was posting this that I started to wonder - is there also a second meaning to coffin (“coughing”) nail? j ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/59 "2020-10-10T18:28:48Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Spent a year abroad in England when I was in college, these were my favorites. > > ‘Well chuffed’ and ‘cheeky’ don’t really have American equivalents so I like them for that reason, though I can’t use them then. ‘Excited’ and ‘childish smartass’ are the closest I can think of, but not quite the same. You know it when you see it. I think of them as more closely hewing to “exhilarated” and “impertinent.” But I’m Californian, born and bred, so what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978/60 "2020-10-10T18:40:06Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > It was only when I was posting this that I started to wonder - is there also a second meaning to coffin (“coughing”) nail? > > j Apparently so, and it’s a play on the word “coughing.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-slang-expression/920978.md?page=4)