"C" Slang

cou-cou

General

A firm, polenta-like dish of cornmeal cooked with okra, served with flying fish. Also coo-coo, cou cou.

couch-lock

Street

The deeply sedating, immobilizing body high from strong indica cannabis that makes it hard to get up.

could eat corn through a picket fence

General

A teasing way to describe someone with big, protruding front teeth.

couldn't carry a tune in a bucket

General

Said of someone who cannot sing on key at all.

count

Street

A formal tally of the inmate population, conducted several times a day; all movement stops during count.

counter pick

Gaming

Picking a champion whose kit hard-counters an enemy's. You wait for them to commit, then choose the answer. Why draft order and last pick matter so much.

counter-strafe

Gaming

In CS your bullets go wild while moving. Tap the opposite direction to kill your momentum instantly, and your accuracy snaps back so you can land the shot.

counter-utility

Gaming

They throw a smoke to take map control, you throw a molotov or HE to break it or deny the space behind it. Utility used to negate utility, the chess match before the gunfight.

counterstop

Gaming

The score ceiling. Every counter has a max number of digits, and a counterstop is when you score so much the display literally can't go higher and rolls over or freezes. The ultimate flex in scoring play, usually requiring relentless milking and a flawless run.

country rap tunes

Street

Pimp C's self-coined genre tag for what UGK did — slow-rolling, gospel-tinged, blues-flecked Southern rap built for hot Texas afternoons and slabs creeping down the boulevard. Not country music, not standard rap — the gumbo in between.

county lines

Street

County lines is a model of drug dealing in which gangs use a dedicated mobile 'line' to sell drugs across regions, often exploiting children and vulnerable people as couriers.

county mountie

General

A county sheriff or deputy — distinguished from state troopers ('full-grown bears') and city cops ('local yokels'). The rhyme makes it stick.

cour

Internet

A unit of anime broadcasting equal to about one quarter-year of weekly episodes (roughly 11–13). Series are described as one-cour, two-cour and so on to indicate length.

courier

Gaming

In Dota, the courier carries bought items from the base shop to a hero on the map so you never have to walk back. Lose it at the wrong moment and your team's spikes get delayed.

couthy

General

Warm-hearted, kindly and comfortable; snug and homely.

cove

General

A dupe or mark, when paired as 'cully' or 'cull' — the man to be cheated.

cover

Internet

For a short seller to buy shares back and close their bearish position. Mass covering during a squeeze is what rockets the price.

cover 2

General

A zone coverage in which two safeties split the deep part of the field, each responsible for one half.

covered wagon

General

A flatbed trailer with the freight strapped and tarped — usually lumber, steel coils, or machinery. The tarps billow and snap in the wind, giving the silhouette a hump that recalls the Conestoga wagons crossing the American plains. Tarping a load is its own miserable skill: 100lb tarps, climbing on stacked lumber, doing it in the rain at 2am.

covers

General

How many actual diners came through, not how many tables. A four-top is four covers. It's the single most important number in a restaurant — kitchens prep to it, owners judge nights by it, and managers will ask 'how many covers tonight?' before they ask anything else.

cowabunga

Pop

An exclamation of excitement or triumph, yelled before a surf run or any thrilling moment.

cowboy

General

A surgeon who deviates from protocol, swaggers past the multidisciplinary plan, and reaches for the scalpel where a watch-and-wait would do. Said with grudging respect or open contempt depending on who's talking — the patient sometimes benefits, the system pays for it.

cowk

General

To retch or gag, on the verge of being sick.

cowp

General

To tip up, overturn or knock over; a 'cowp' can also be a rubbish tip.

cozzie livs

General

The cost of living, especially in the context of financial pressure; Macquarie Dictionary's 2023 Word of the Year.

cp

Gaming

ESO's never-ending progression bar. You earn Champion Points past the level cap and pour them into passives that crank your damage, survivability and utility. The grind that never really ends.

cpr

General

An emergency procedure of chest compressions combined with ventilation to maintain blood flow and oxygenation during cardiac arrest.

cpt

Street

Compton, California, in three letters. Famously on Eazy-E's snapback throughout the NWA era, and the gang-neutral way to rep the city — neither Blood (BPT) nor Crip-coded, just Compton.

cr

Internet

Bookstagram/Goodreads shorthand for whatever you're in the middle of. Lives in captions, bios, and shelf updates. Pairs with TBR (to be read) and DNF (did not finish).

crab market

Internet

A period where price trades sideways in a range, 'crabbing' left and right rather than trending. Frustrating for both bulls and bears.

crabbit

General

Ill-tempered, grouchy and short with people.

crachach

General

The self-appointed Welsh-speaking elite — the media-arts-quango set who run things in Cardiff and Aberystwyth and think they should. Used with a curled lip. Wales's homegrown answer to the Tatler set, only with more eisteddfod tote bags.

crack

General

Talk, gossip, news or fun; 'what's the crack?' means 'what's happening?'. Also spelled 'craic'.

crack on

General

Get started, get on with it, carry on with the job. The verbal nudge a Scouse boss gives when the tea break's gone on too long. Also used solo as a green light — 'crack on' means 'go ahead, mate'.

crack onto

General

To flirt with or try to pick someone up.

crack up

General

To burst out laughing, or to describe something very funny.

cracked

Gaming

Describing a player who is exceptionally skilled, hitting shots and making plays at an absurd level. Being cracked is a top-tier compliment.

cracked armor

Gaming

The call you make the moment you break someone's shield. They're now cracked — running on health alone and one push from going down. Key info to shout to your squad.

cracket

General

A low wooden stool, once used by miners.

cracket stool

General

A low three- or four-legged wooden stool.

cracking the flags

General

Extremely hot weather. The image is the sun beating down so hard the flagstones (pavement slabs) are splitting. Reserved for genuine rare Liverpool heatwaves — not a mild May afternoon.

crackship

Internet

A pairing between characters who barely or never interact, shipped humorously and often outdone for absurdity.

craftsmanship judging

Internet

A judging round, usually a private interview separate from the stage show, where judges inspect a costume's construction, materials, and technique up close.

craic

General

Used as a greeting or question to ask what's happening or how someone is, as in 'what's the craic?'

crank

General

A sailor assigned temporarily to work in the ship's galley, akin to KP.

crankflip

General

An air trick where the rider kicks the pedals and cranks so they spin a full rotation backward before catching them again with the feet. It is essentially a tailwhip for the cranks.

cranking

General

Excessively greedy or grasping, especially for food or money. Spelled 'craven' in the classic dictionaries.

cranking 90s

Gaming

The bread-and-butter way to gain height in Fortnite. You chain ramp-wall-ramp while spinning 90 degrees each time, stacking yourself straight up. Crank them fast enough and you're above everyone before they've reloaded.