"B" Slang

black eye

General

Standard drip coffee with two shots of espresso dropped in. The bigger sibling of a red eye. Built for people who decided one shot wasn't going to cut it. A third shot upgrades it to a "dead eye" in most US shops.

black maria

General

An older name for the police van — the prisoner transport with no windows. Used since the 1840s in the US and UK. Folk etymology says it's named after Maria Lee, a formidable Black boarding-house keeper in Boston who'd help haul troublemakers off to the lock-up.

black over bill's mother's

General

A Midlands weather phrase meaning dark clouds are gathering and rain is on the way.

blacklisted

Internet

When an idol or group is barred from appearing on certain music shows, networks, or events, often after a controversy.

blackpilled

Internet

The doomer escalation of redpilled. If redpilled is 'I see the truth,' blackpilled is 'I see the truth and it's hopeless, don't bother trying.' Originated in incel forums but spread to politics, climate discourse, and general online nihilism. Often a self-aware posture, sometimes a real worldview.

bladdered

General

Hammered. Smashed. So drunk your bladder's basically the only organ still filing reports. Heard all over the UK now but Liverpool wears it like a uniform — Friday night, last orders, everyone's bladdered.

blade

General

Nickname for a surgeon, from the scalpel blade they wield.

blag

Street

An armed robbery, or as a verb to rob, or to obtain something by bluff and cheek.

blagger

Street

A robber, especially an armed robber who holds up banks or security vans. To 'blag' is to rob.

blamestorming

General

A group sit-down after something's gone properly wrong, where the stated agenda is 'lessons learned' but the actual agenda is pinning the blame on someone before management does. Big in hospitals after a serious adverse event, but the term's leaked into corporate life too.

blank

General

The block of foam from which a surfboard is shaped before glassing.

blanket party

General

A form of hazing in which a blanket is thrown over a sleeping, disliked service member so a group can beat him without being identified.

blart

General

To cry — usually loudly and a bit pathetically. Classic Brummie/Black Country verb. "Pack in blartin'" is the standard-issue parental instruction for a snivelling kid.

blazed

Street

Being very intoxicated from smoking cannabis.

bleed

General

Slow constant loss rather than a single blow-up. Long-vol books bleed theta every day the market doesn't move; a fund with bad fundraising bleeds AUM month after month. Death by a thousand cuts, not a margin call.

bleeding edge

General

The very latest technology, even more advanced (and riskier) than cutting edge.

blert

General

A daft one. A soft lad. In Liverpool, calling someone a blert is the gentle-bullying version of calling them a dickhead — affectionate when it's your mate, cutting when it's not. Used for someone being silly, gullible, or just walking into a door.

bless up

General

A greeting or sign-off wishing someone blessings and wellbeing.

bless your heart

General

An expression that can convey genuine sympathy or affection, but is famously used to soften condescension, pity, or a passive-aggressive jab.

blether

General

To chat, gossip or talk on and on; as a noun, a long chat or a talkative person.

blimey

Street

An exclamation of surprise or astonishment.

blind

General

A brevity code reporting no visual contact with a friendly aircraft, ship, or ground position; the opposite of 'Visual'.

blind box

Internet

A collectible sold in sealed packaging so the buyer doesn't know which figure or variant is inside until opening it; a staple of convention merch and exclusives.

blind freddy

General

Used of something so obvious that 'even blind Freddy could see it'.

blind tiger

General

Synonymous with 'blind pig', a low, unlicensed drinking den.

blindin'

General

Describes something outstandingly good. Also 'blinding'.

bling

Music

Any ostentatious display of wealth and shine.

bling bling

Street

The cartoon sound of light hitting a diamond, turned into shorthand for flashy jewelry itself. Popularized by B.G.'s 1999 Cash Money single 'Bling Bling' featuring Hot Boys and Big Tymers. By the mid-2000s it had jumped from rap to Oxford English Dictionary to your aunt's Christmas card.

blink

Gaming

Dota's Blink Dagger. Click and you instantly teleport a short distance — the go-to tool for initiating onto an enemy or escaping a gank. Takes damage and it goes on a brief cooldown, so timing matters.

blinker fluid

General

A fictitious vehicle fluid used to send inexperienced troops on a pointless scavenger hunt.

blitz

General

A high-risk defensive play in which linebackers or defensive backs beyond the linemen charge into the backfield to sack the quarterback or disrupt the play.

blitzed

Street

Being extremely intoxicated by cannabis, to the point of being overwhelmed or zoned out.

blivet

General

A large collapsible rubber bladder for carrying fuel (POL); colloquially, an intractable mess, sometimes glossed as ten pounds of something in a five-pound bag.

blixky

Street

22Gz's Brooklyn (Flatbush) drill affiliation, branded into the scene by his 2019 Atlantic mixtape The Blixky Tape. Claim Blixky and you're claiming his set.

blizzard buddy

Internet

A short-term relationship formed specifically to avoid being alone during cold, stormy weather. Cousin to the cuffing-season partner.

blj

Gaming

Super Mario 64's most iconic glitch. You spam long jumps backwards against a wall or slope and Mario's speed stacks up with no cap, letting him blast through stairs and walls that should block him.

block string

Gaming

A sequence of moves strung together so each one keeps the opponent in blockstun. The point isn't damage, it's pressure: they can't act, so you keep your turn and look for the moment to open them up with a throw or a frame trap.

blocking and tackling

General

The fundamental, routine execution that a plan depends on.

bloke

General

A man; often connoting an ordinary, decent fellow.

blokecore

Pop

Used adjectivally for anything channeling 90s British terrace casual culture.

blood suckers

General

Affectionate-ish ward nickname for phlebotomists and lab staff, the ones who roll up with a tray of vacutainers at 6am to drain another armful. Patients use it too, usually after the third stick of the morning.

bloodsucker

General

Slang for the person who takes blood or the lab staff who process it.

bloodsuckers

General

Playful slang for the phlebotomy team or others who repeatedly come to draw blood samples.

bloody

General

A mild intensifier used for emphasis, sometimes called 'the great Australian adjective'.

bloody oath

General

Strong agreement or affirmation; 'you bet'.

blooper

General

A Vietnam-era nickname for the M79 single-shot 40mm grenade launcher, named for the distinctive hollow 'bloop' sound it makes when fired.

blorbo

Internet

An affectionate, slightly absurd term for someone's favourite character from a show or media, without specifying why they're loved.

blow a peter

Street

To 'blow a peter' is to force a safe open using explosives such as nitroglycerine. It was a signature yegg technique.