"C" Slang

clammin

General

Very hungry — the kind of hungry where you'd eat the leg off the table. From the older northern English clem, meaning to be pinched with hunger. Geordies drop the g and stretch it out: clammin'.

clamps

Gaming

A defender known for that kind of suffocating coverage.

clams

Internet

Slang for dollars, drawing on the historical use of shells as currency.

clanker

Internet

Used affectionately or ironically toward a glitchy gadget or device.

clap

Gaming

Used as a word for mock applause aimed at a fail or obvious statement.

clapback

Aave

A sharp, effective retort to an insult or criticism — a comeback delivered with force.

clarnet

General

An idiot — but a mild one. Black Country insult, said to have come out of Tipton, and used the way another region might say 'wally' or 'plonker'. Lands as exasperated rather than nasty; you'd call your mate a clarnet for locking his keys in the car, not for anything serious.

clart

General

A word for dirt or gunk, used across Wales and the North of England for anything gooey and filthy.

clarts

General

Mud, dirt, sticky filth. Specifically the thick, clinging kind that ruins your boots after a Tyneside winter walk. Used as a plural noun — 'covered in clarts' — and the root of the adjective 'clarty'.

clarty

General

Dirty, muddy, smeared with sticky muck. Geordie's go-to word when 'dirty' doesn't do justice to the state of something — kids after the park, a van after a farm run, a kitchen floor after the dog.

class

General

Excellent, cool or great. Applied to people, places or things.

classy chassis

General

Figuratively, a well-built and good-looking thing, sometimes an actual car.

clean

Pop

Of a single item, in pristine, fresh condition with no scuffs or wear.

clean bulk

General

A bulking approach that maximizes muscle gain using primarily whole, nutrient-dense foods to limit fat gain.

clean girl

Pop

The makeup look itself: dewy base, cream blush, brushed brows, and a glossy nude lip.

clean sheet

General

When a goalkeeper or team gets through a game without letting in a single goal.

clean-up set

General

A set of waves much bigger than the rest that breaks farther out and 'cleans up' the lineup, catching everyone inside.

cleancore

Pop

Used adjectivally for anything immaculate, organized, and visually pristine.

cleanfit

Pop

A simple but immaculate outfit, usually neutral tones and clean lines, that looks effortless and high-quality.

cleanskin

General

A bottle of wine sold without a brand label; also a person with no criminal record, or unbranded cattle.

clear

Street

To pull the bowl (or lift the carb) and inhale the entire volume of collected smoke from a bong so the chamber empties.

clearance

General

A defensive action where a player boots or heads the ball clear of the danger area.

cleared hot

General

A brevity code by which a JTAC or forward air controller grants an aircraft clearance to release weapons during terminal attack control in close air support.

cleared to engage

General

A command granting authorization to open fire on a specified target, consistent with the rules of engagement.

clem

General

To be starving hungry. Historic Lancashire and wider North West — if you're clemmed, you haven't eaten and you're suffering for it. Most often heard in the past participle.

clemmed

General

Starved — proper hungry, not just peckish. Old word with roots in Middle English 'clemmen' (to pinch or squeeze, as the stomach does when empty). Shared with Lancashire and parts of the North, but very much alive in the Black Country.

clemmy

General

A stone or pebble, almost always implied to be one of throwing size. If a Geordie says 'lob us a clemmy', they want ammunition, not a paperweight.

clicker

General

The TV remote. Regional staple across Michigan, the wider Midwest, and New England — boomers and Gen-Xers especially. Named after the old mechanical remotes from the 50s/60s that literally clicked when you pressed them, and the name stuck even after infrared went silent.

cliff

Internet

A period at the start of a vesting schedule during which no tokens unlock; at the end of the cliff a first tranche releases, after which vesting continues.

clika

General

One's crew, clique, or gang set in Chicano slang.

climb the corporate ladder

General

To progress through successively higher positions and titles within a company or profession, gaining seniority, pay, and authority along the way.

clink

Street

A prison; a generic term for being locked up.

clip

Gaming

To pass through level geometry that should be solid. Usually done by abusing collision jank — wedging into a corner, or moving fast enough that the game checks your position on the wrong side of a wall. Bread and butter for skipping chunks of a level.

cloaking

Internet

Cloaking is not showing up for a planned date and simultaneously blocking the person on all apps and messaging platforms, so they vanish entirely.

clobber

General

Clothes — particularly the outfit you've put on for going out. Heavily used in Scouse but common across British English. Often implies decent, fashionable gear rather than any old rags. Liverpool's casuals scene basically ran on the word.

clock

General

To clock someone is to catch the detail that betrays the illusion — the thing they hoped you'd miss. Spotting that a queen isn't cis, that the bag is a fake, that the story doesn't add up. You clocked it. In the scene it's about cracking realness; out in the wild it's loosened to just 'I noticed.'

clock in

Internet

Used humorously for starting any task or drama.

clocked

Internet

To be read as trans when you'd rather not be, or to spot that someone else is trans. Getting clocked is the moment the blend breaks: a stranger, a cashier, a stare. For a lot of trans people it lands as a gut-punch and, depending where you are, a genuine safety risk. Spawns 'clockable' and 'clocky' for someone easily read.

cloot

General

A rag or cloth, usually a dishcloth or something for wiping down. Kitchen-sink word.

clopening

General

Being scheduled to work the closing shift one night and the opening shift the next morning, leaving very little time to rest. It is common and criticized in retail and hospitality.

close

General

The common entrance passage and stairwell of a tenement building.

close-out

General

A wave that breaks simultaneously along its whole length, leaving no shoulder to ride and making it essentially unrideable.

closeout

General

A defensive move where a player sprints toward a shooter, often with a hand up, to disrupt the attempt.

closet cosplay

Internet

A low-budget cosplay put together from clothing you already own or can buy off the rack, chosen to evoke a character without sewing or crafting.

closie

General

The shared close — that tiled stairwell and entry passage running through a tenement. Where weans played, neighbours gossiped, and you took your turn mopping the stairs.

clothie

Gaming

A class that can only wear cloth — mages, priests, warlocks. Big spell damage, but they fold the second something gets in melee range.

clout

Internet

Social influence or status, particularly the kind that comes from being well-known online. Having clout means people pay attention to you and what you do carries weight.

cloutlationship

Internet

A cloutlationship is a coupling kept up primarily for the online image, followers, or attention it generates rather than genuine connection.