"B" Slang

buttery

General

Describes a trick or combination performed so smoothly and effortlessly that it looks flawless. The word evokes the smoothness of butter.

button man

Street

A button man is a soldier in a Mafia family, especially one used as a hit man. 'Getting your button' means becoming a made member.

buttonhook

General

A pass route in which the receiver runs downfield, then abruptly stops and hooks back toward the quarterback to receive the ball.

butty

General

Sandwich. From 'buttered bread'. Liverpool and the north live on them — chip butty, bacon butty, jam butty if times are hard. Universal northern noun, but Scousers say it with full conviction.

buy high, sell low

Internet

A self-aware inversion of investing's golden rule, used ironically to mock the community's habit of buying at tops and panic-selling at bottoms.

buy station

Gaming

An interactable terminal scattered round the Warzone map where you spend cash earned in-match. Plates, killstreaks, self-revives, loadout drops, even buying back dead teammates — it all happens at the buy station.

buy the dip

Internet

A strategy and rallying cry to purchase during a price pullback on the belief the decline is temporary. The vulgar emphatic form is BTFD.

buy-in

General

The support or commitment of others—especially decision-makers—for an idea or plan.

buyback

Gaming

Die at the wrong moment and you can dump a chunk of gold to teleport back to life immediately rather than sitting dead for 60-plus seconds. Wins games when you buy back to defend the throne — loses them when you waste it early.

buzz

Street

The gentle, enjoyable lift felt from consuming marijuana.

buzzed

General

In British slang, also means delighted or thrilled.

buzzer beater

General

A made field goal released just before, and counted at, the sound of the buzzer.

buzzing

General

Thrilled, elated or full of excitement. A Mancunian favourite.

bvm

General

A self-inflating bag with a one-way valve and face mask used to deliver positive-pressure breaths to a patient who is not breathing adequately.

bwoy

General

A boy or young man; extremely common in Patois and dancehall, forming compounds like 'rude bwoy' and 'sound bwoy'.

bx

General

Flexible armoured cable — insulated conductors wrapped inside a spiralled steel or aluminium jacket that doubles as physical protection and (with the bonding strip) the equipment ground. Old urban housing — especially pre-war New York apartments — is full of it. The trade still calls modern Type AC by the old BX name.

by here

General

Welsh English for 'right here, in this spot.' Pairs with 'by there' for 'over there.' Comes from a direct lift of Welsh syntax ('fan hyn' / 'fan yna' — the place here / the place there). Sounds redundant to outsiders, sounds completely normal in Cardiff, Swansea, or anywhere west of the Severn.

by my house

Street

In New Orleans, 'by' takes the place of 'at' when talking about somebody's home — 'come by my house,' 'we ate by my mama's.' It's a direct translation from the French 'chez,' baked into local English by generations of bilingual NOLA families. Outside Louisiana it sounds wrong; inside, it's the only way.

by there

General

South Wales way of saying 'over there' or 'in that place'. Pairs with 'by here' for 'right here'. Direct calque from Welsh fan hyn / fan 'na ('place here' / 'place there'). Sounds redundant in standard English but does precise locating work in Wenglish.

byo

General

Bring Your Own; especially of a restaurant where you supply your own alcohol, or a party.

byob

Internet

Stands for "bring your own bottle/booze," instructing guests to bring their own drinks.