"C" Slang

cargar el payaso

General

Expresses that something went badly wrong; 'ya me cargó el payaso' means 'I'm screwed'.

cariad

General

Love, sweetheart, darling. The Welsh equivalent of 'love' or 'pet' — used by nans, partners, and anyone behind a counter who's old enough to remember decimalisation. Said with warmth, never irony.

cark

General

To die, or of a machine to stop working; usually in 'cark it'.

cark it

General

To die; of a machine, to break down or fail.

carked it

General

Died, or (of a device) broke down completely.

carnal

Street

Brother. Used for an actual sibling or for a friend so close he's family. Heavier than 'homie' — this is the ride-or-die.

carrd

Internet

A minimalist single-page website fans create to host their profile, ships, DNIs, or fan-project info.

carriage

General

The wheeled basket you push around a grocery store — called a 'carriage' in much of New England.

carrilla

General

Playful teasing or mockery; 'traer carrilla' means to give someone a hard time in fun.

carry

Gaming

In MOBAs specifically, a character that scales into a game-winning powerhouse late.

carry (someone somewhere)

General

In Southern usage, to give someone a ride, as in "carry me to town."

carry a torch

General

To nurse a lingering, often hopeless devotion to a person who has moved on.

carrying on like a pork chop

General

Behaving in an agitated, silly or attention-seeking way.

carsey

General

It survives in mainstream British slang as 'khazi', the everyday word for a toilet.

cart

Street

A disposable cartridge of cannabis oil that screws onto a vape battery.

carve

General

To ride in long, flowing turns by leaning the board from edge to edge, creating a surfing-like motion often used to build speed on transition.

cas

General

'Close Air Support' — air action by aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces, requiring detailed coordination with those forces.

cascade

General

To relay a message or decision level by level through the org, from leadership to teams.

case

Street

To case a place (or 'case the joint') is to survey and study a target, noting security, layout, and routines, in preparation for a robbery.

caseoh

Gaming

An exclaimed reaction, roughly 'in case oh!' or 'case oh,' shouted at a wild or impressive moment, mostly in gaming content.

casevac

General

'Casualty Evacuation' — moving wounded personnel to medical care using any available transport (a Humvee, boat, or non-medical helicopter), without the dedicated medical crew or care of a MEDEVAC.

cash

General

A cleanly made jump shot; 'cash' implies it's automatic, like money.

cash a bowl

Street

To finish a bowl of cannabis so that only ash is left, with no green flower remaining.

cash or check

General

A playful framing of romance in the money metaphors flappers loved.

cashed

Street

Describes a bowl of cannabis that has been completely smoked, leaving only ash.

casper

General

A freestyle trick in which the board is flipped upside down and balanced with the front foot on the underside and back foot hooked under the tail, then flipped back over.

caspering

Internet

Ending things by being upfront and kind first, giving a soft explanation or a polite 'this isn't working' before disappearing, rather than vanishing cold like a normal ghost.

cat

Street

A 'cat' is a regular buyer of hard drugs — most often crack — who haunts the trap line. The image is the desperate, prowling user. To 'cat' something can also mean to fiend for it.

catabolic

General

Describes the body breaking down tissue, including muscle, for energy; the state lifters fear during under-eating or long fasts.

catalyst

Internet

A specific upcoming event — earnings, a product launch, an FDA decision — expected to trigger a big price move, and the reason a trader times a bet.

catawampus

General

An early meaning of the word: fierce, destructive, or savage, before its "askew" sense dominated.

catch a body

General

To dunk over an opponent in an especially aggressive, humiliating way, as if 'catching' a victim.

catch a falling knife

General

To buy a stock or other asset while its price is still tumbling, gambling that you've called the bottom. The metaphor is exactly what it sounds like: grab the handle and you're a hero, grab the blade and you bleed. Usually said as a warning, not a recommendation.

catch a fire

General

To catch fire — to blow up in popularity, or to flare up in anger. Title of Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1973 album.

catch a ride

Street

To share in another inmate's narcotics, getting high on their supply without your own.

catch and release

Internet

Catch and release is chasing a person hard, then abruptly cooling off once you've secured their interest, treating the pursuit as the goal.

catch feelings

Internet

To start feeling genuine emotional attachment to someone, especially in a situation that was supposed to stay casual. The classic complication of a hookup or situationship.

catch flights, not feelings

Internet

A motto for prioritising your own freedom, adventures, and independence over emotional attachment in dating, refusing to catch feelings for anyone.

catch yerself on

General

An admonition to wise up, be sensible or stop talking rubbish. Northern Irish.

catch you on the flip side

Music

A casual farewell meaning 'I'll see you later.'

catch-and-shoot

General

A shot taken right after receiving a pass, without dribbling, in rhythm.

catching a falling knife

Internet

To 'catch a falling knife' is to buy an asset during a steep, ongoing decline in hopes of a bottom, risking further losses. The warning is to wait until the price appears to have stabilized.

catching a ride

Street

Getting intoxicated on drugs supplied by another prisoner, often in exchange for protection or favours later.

category

General

A category is one of the themed competitions you can walk at a ball — each with its own rules, look and judging criteria. Face judges beauty, Realness judges how convincingly you pass, Vogue judges the dance, Sex Siren judges seduction. The MC calls a category, the walkers come out, the judges score. Balls are basically a night of category after category.

category is

Pop

Borrowed online as a setup line to introduce a theme, outfit, or mood you're presenting.

catenaccio

General

A tactical approach emphasising a strongly organised, effective backline and stifling defence, famously associated with Italian football.

catfish

Internet

In sport, most associated with the ice-hockey tradition where fans hurl a catfish onto the ice, echoing the Detroit Red Wings' octopus custom.

catfishing

Internet

Catfishing is creating a false persona, often with stolen photos and invented details, to lure someone into an online relationship under false pretenses.