"M" Slang

m & ms

General

Standard hospital shorthand for the Mortality and Morbidity conference — the regular meeting where a department reviews deaths, complications and near-misses. Officially educational, often brutal. The candy-bar nickname softens what is, for the doctor presenting, one of the worst hours of the month.

ma heid's mince

General

An expression meaning one is confused or muddled.

maaate

General

An elongated 'mate' used to convey surprise, disappointment or disapproval depending on tone.

maartal

General

Drunk; a Geordie spelling variant of 'mortal'.

maas

General

A respectful address for an older man (like 'Mister/Mas'), e.g. 'Maas Joe'; as a verb, to cool out / chill.

mac

Street

Shorthand for the Mac-10 or Mac-11 machine pistol — the compact, high-rate-of-fire weapon that drill rappers name-drop as the apex of street artillery. In UK drill bars it's the trump card: bigger, louder and more cinematic than a regular handgun. Often paired with talk of spinning or sliding on opps.

macafouchette

General

Food left over from a previous meal, warmed up or eaten later. Also maccafouchette.

macajuel

General

The boa constrictor, a large non-venomous snake found in Trinidad.

macaroni

Street

Cockney rhyming slang; can mean a pony (£25) or, via 'baloney', nonsense.

maccas

General

The McDonald's fast-food chain. So embedded that McDonald's Australia has used the name officially.

maccas run

General

A quick outing to purchase McDonald's, often late at night.

maccomere

General

A trusted female friend, godmother figure or gossip buddy. Also maco-mere, macomeh.

machine hog

General

A gym-goer who occupies a machine or station for far too long, keeping others from using it.

mack

General

To flirt aggressively or charmingly, trying to win someone over romantically.

mackem

General

Someone born in Sunderland. Comes from the old Wearside shipbuilding phrase mak'em and tak'em — we make them (the ships) and they take them. Geordies use it to mark the line between Tyne and Wear; Mackems wear it as a badge.

macker

General

A very large wave; something that is 'macking'. Refers to seriously big surf.

macking

General

Describes surf that is very big and powerful; the waves are 'macking'.

maco

General

Someone overly curious about other people's private affairs; also used as a verb meaning to peep at or pry. Spelt maco or macco.

macoing

General

The act of nosily watching, peeping at, or prying into other people's private affairs.

macros

General

Short for macronutrients — the protein, carbohydrates and fats tracked in a diet to build muscle or lose fat.

mad

Street

Used as an intensifier meaning 'very' or 'a lot'.

madam

General

The female manager of a brothel. She books the clients, vets the punters, sets the house rates, takes a cut, and keeps the workers in line. Often a retired sex worker herself, which is where the institutional knowledge comes from.

madder

Music

An intensified form of 'mad' (meaning amazing/wild), used to hype a tune, moment, or skill. 'That's madder' = that's seriously impressive.

madder than a wet hen

General

Furious. Hens doused with water to break their broodiness get notably irate.

made in the shade

General

Used as an enthusiastic confirmation that everything is handled and turning out great.

made man

Street

A made man is a formally initiated member of a Cosa Nostra family who has taken the oath of omertà. Being 'made' confers status and protection within the organization.

made up

General

To be 'made up' is to be thrilled about something. Often used to share joy at someone else's good news.

madferit

General

Wildly enthusiastic, buzzing, fully committed. Going out 'madferit' means you're not coming home till the sun's up. It carries the full Hacienda-era spirit of yes-to-everything hedonism.

madisons

General

Thin metal straps — also called battleships or F-straps — slid into a drywall cutout to clamp an old-work switch or outlet box from behind. You push them in past the rock, then bend the wings forward against the box ears. Standard fix when there's no stud to screw into.

madlad

Internet

A term of affectionate awe for someone who actually went and did the unhinged thing. Wore shorts to a wedding. Replied-all to the entire company. Bought a house at 22 with a credit card. r/madlads is the museum, and the comments are always some variation of 'absolute madlad.' British-flavoured in origin, fully internationalised now.

madonna

General

A vert trick invented by Tony Hawk in which the rider does a frontside air, grabs the board, and kicks the front foot off toward the nose before returning it to land.

mae west

General

The standard RAF inflatable life-jacket worn by aircrew over the North Sea and Channel. Once inflated by CO2 cartridge, it pushed the chest out into a shape that no airman who'd seen a Mae West film could fail to recognise.

mafo

Street

From 'má fọ́' (don't break/don't be broken); used to tell someone not to fear, panic, or be discouraged by a person or situation. Popularised nationwide by artist Naira Marley.

mag

General

A Newcastle United supporter, from the club nickname 'the Magpies'.

mag7

General

The seven trillion-dollar US tech names traders treat as one trade: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla. When the Mag7 sneezes, the S&P catches it, because they're carrying half the index on their backs.

maga

General

Very thin or skinny. 'Maga dog' = a scrawny mongrel.

magga

General

Describing a person or animal that is meagre and bony. Also spelt maga, meager.

magic 4

Gaming

A speedy standing kick (the '4' button) that, when it lands as a counter-hit, freezes the opponent long enough for a guaranteed combo. Great for interrupting pressure.

magic sponge

General

A jokey term for the physio's wet sponge that seemingly heals any knock the moment it's applied.

magical girl

Internet

A genre (mahou shoujo) in which young girls gain magical powers and transform to battle evil, from Sailor Moon to Madoka Magica.

magicka

Gaming

Elder Scrolls' word for mana. Spend it to sling spells, regen it to keep slinging. Build mag and your whole kit runs off it instead of stamina.

magnificent seven

General

Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla. The group that drove most of the S&P 500's returns from 2023 onward thanks to the AI trade. If you stripped them out, the rest of the index looked flat for long stretches.

mahalo

General

The Hawaiian word for thank you, widely used in surf culture as a gesture of gratitude.

mahi

General

Work or the effort put into a task; increasingly used in general Kiwi speech, as in 'do the mahi'.

mahjong

Internet

The tile game that anchors a whole subgenre of tense strategy anime; fans use it as a byword for high-stakes brain battles.

mahou shoujo

Internet

A genre in which ordinary girls gain magical powers and transform to fight evil, often with elaborate costumes and companion mascots. Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica define the genre.

mai

General

An affectionate clip of 'mamá' used for one's mother; can also address a girl warmly.

maigad

Street

Maigad (also anglicized as 'megad') refers to a security guard, doorman, or gatekeeper at a home, office, or estate in Nigeria. It's one of the most common Hausa-origin words in everyday Nigerian English.