"C" Slang

cheugy

Internet

Outdated or trying slightly too hard — describing tastes and trends (often millennial ones) that are seen as no longer cool.

cheugy energy

Internet

The aura of something cheugy — dated, basic, or over-eager to be trendy. A soft, humorous critique.

cheve

General

An affectionate informal word for beer, common in northern Mexico.

chévere

General

One of the most widespread Caribbean Spanish words, used to say something (or someone) is cool, great, or nice. Common across Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and beyond.

chévere baby

General

Not a standalone headword; consolidated into 'chévere'. Retained inadvertently.

chévere qué

General

Not a distinct headword; folded into 'chévere'. Retained inadvertently.

chf

General

A condition in which the heart cannot pump effectively, causing fluid to back up into the lungs and body.

chi-city

Street

Same city, swapped suffix. 'Chi-City' is the drill generation's go-to — Common literally has a song called Chi-City, but it's the post-2012 wave that made it a default bar filler over 'Chi-Town.'

chi-town

Street

Chicago. Predates drill by decades — Common, Twista, Kanye were all saying it — but the drill wave kept it in heavy rotation. Usually means the city's gritty side rather than the tourist Loop.

chib

General

A knife, blade, or improvised stabbing weapon. Glasgow vernacular, heavily associated with the city's old razor-gang reputation and still very much in use.

chibi

Internet

An art style that renders anime characters in a deliberately cute, deformed way — oversized head, tiny stubby body. Used for stickers, merch, and comic-relief moments.

chibi-style

Internet

Describes art or a moment drawn in exaggeratedly small, big-headed 'super-deformed' proportions for comedic or adorable effect, even when the character is normally drawn realistically.

chicago grip

General

A scissor-jaw cable grip — the harder you pull, the tighter the jaws clamp on the conductor. Linemen hook one to a come-along to tension overhead lines without crushing or kinking the wire. Standard gear on any utility crew.

chick

General

Used to refer to a girlfriend or a woman one is interested in.

chicken

Gaming

When your attack gets caught by a reversal, a chicken is the counter-input (f+1+3 for left limbs, f+2+4 for right) that breaks free and damages them instead. Almost always a hard read, rarely a reaction.

chicken blocking

Gaming

In games that let you block in the air, you jump up to block instead of standing your ground. Airborne you only block one direction, so it shuts down high/low mixups — but you're stuck committing to the jump.

chicken coop

General

A state or DOT weigh station on the interstate. Trucks pull in to get weighed, paperwork checked, and sometimes inspected for safety violations. Status is constantly traded over the CB — open or closed makes or breaks a run.

chicken hauler

General

A driver of a long-nose, chrome-everywhere, lights-everywhere tractor — the rolling beauty queens of the interstate. The name comes from the fact that southern poultry-hauling fleets historically ran some of the most decked-out rigs on the road. Used affectionately by some drivers and a touch sarcastically by others ('all chrome, no go').

chicken legs

General

Mocking term for very thin, underdeveloped legs, especially on someone with a well-built upper body.

chicken lights

General

Non-required decorative LED or incandescent marker lights drivers add to cabs, fenders, mudflap hangers, and trailers — way beyond what DMV requires. Comes from the same world as chicken haulers: southern poultry-fleet drivers who pioneered the maximalist look. A truck 'lit up like a chicken coop' is the goal.

chicken plates

General

The hard armor inserts (Small Arms Protective Inserts) that slide into a plate carrier or vest.

chicks

General

A brevity code term denoting friendly aircraft, often used by controllers or ships referring to the aircraft they support.

chido

General

A very common Mexican word meaning cool or awesome, applied to things, people, or situations. It can also work as an informal way to agree or say thanks.

chido cañón

General

Not a headword by itself; superseded by 'estar cañón'. Retained inadvertently.

chief

General

The forced honorific Australian prisoners use to address officers — equivalent to 'boss' or 'guv' elsewhere. Not respect, just compliance: address them right or wear the consequences. Heard across NSW and Victorian nicks.

chief of smoke

General

The senior NCO of an artillery battery or platoon below the First Sergeant, responsible for the guns; often shortened to 'Smoke.'

chilango

General

Someone from Mexico City; can be neutral or teasing depending on who says it.

children

General

The children of a house are its younger members — taken in, taught and repped by the mother and father. They're each other's brothers and sisters, and they carry the house name when they walk. It's not babying: 'children' is about lineage and belonging. You get adopted, you get raised, you grow into a legend yourself one day.

children / house children

General

The children are the members of a house, taken in and raised by the house mother and father. They get coached to walk balls, schooled in the scene, and folded into a chosen family — bonding as siblings under the same roof. The word carries the whole logic of ballroom: houses are alternative families built by and for Black and Latino LGBTQ people the wider world shut out.

chile

Pop

A drawled, dropped-'d' version of 'child,' used to open or punctuate a story with attitude.

chill bumps

General

The bumps that rise on the skin from cold, fear, or emotion.

chillaxing

General

A Spanglish blend of 'chilling' and 'relaxing' — kicking back in a very lazy, easy way.

chillear

General

Spanglish verb meaning to relax or hang out.

chillum

Street

A traditional straight, funnel-shaped clay or stone pipe with no carb, smoked by cupping the hands around the base. Often used as a single-hit pipe.

chilly bin

General

A portable insulated container used to keep food and drinks cold, especially at the beach or a barbecue. The Australian equivalent is 'esky'.

chimba

General

In some contexts and regions it can be vulgar or negative, so tone and place matter.

chin

General

A mild exclamation of annoyance or dismay, like 'darn' or 'shoot'.

chin check

Street

A sudden blow to the face used to see if a new or suspect inmate will defend himself.

chin music

General

A pitch deliberately thrown up and in, near the batter's head, to intimidate him and move him off the plate.

chin up

Street

An encouragement to stay cheerful and resilient in adversity.

china

Street

The shortened form of 'china plate', Cockney rhyming slang for mate/friend.

china plate

General

Clipped to 'china', a close pal or trusted companion.

chinamaxxing

Internet

Adopting everyday Chinese lifestyle habits — hot water over iced coffee, house slippers indoors, traditional skincare — as a self-improvement trend, usually more affectionate than serious.

chinese finger

General

A braided wire-mesh sleeve that slides over a cable end. Pull on the eye and the weave constricts around the cable — same principle as the finger-trap toy kids play with. Electricians use them to pull cable through conduit without damaging the jacket; riggers use them on rope.

chingu

Internet

Korean for friend, used casually among same-age peers; idols the same age are 'chingu' and can drop honorifics with each other.

chinwag

General

A catch-up between people who haven't spoken in a while.

chip

General

A slow marching shuffle done to soca while following a music truck through the streets during Carnival.

chip barm

General

A bread roll (barm) filled with chips. A Manchester/Lancashire staple.