"P" Slang

pattern

General

To sort, arrange or organise something. The all-purpose MLE verb for getting things in order — a plan, a meet-up, your life.

pause buffering

Gaming

Opening and closing the pause menu rapidly so the game only advances a single frame each time. It buys human reaction time on inputs that would otherwise be impossible to nail live, turning frame-perfect tricks into something a real person can pull off.

pausechamp

Gaming

Marks the held-breath beat right before a clutch or punchline.

pav

General

A pavlova, a meringue-based dessert topped with cream and fruit.

pav-off

General

The long-running friendly dispute between New Zealand and Australia over which country invented the pavlova dessert.

pay transparency

General

The practice of openly disclosing pay ranges and compensation information, whether by employers in job postings or among coworkers, to promote fairness and reduce pay gaps.

payola

Internet

Money paid, often covertly, to promote something — classically to get songs played on radio.

payroll

Internet

The money paid to workers; slang 'on the payroll' means being paid, sometimes illicitly.

pb

General

Personal Best: your best-ever result on a given lift or exercise, used interchangeably with PR (more common in the UK).

pbi

General

British/Commonwealth infantry's self-deprecating label. Stems from the bone-deep knowledge that whatever the plan is, the infantry walks it, digs it, holds it, and bleeds for it while everyone else gets a vehicle.

pcs

General

'Permanent Change of Station' — an official relocation of a service member (and often family) from one duty station to another for an extended assignment.

pe

General

A blockage of a pulmonary artery, usually by a blood clot that traveled from the legs, causing sudden shortness of breath and chest pain.

peace bond

Internet

A conspicuous zip tie, ribbon, or tamper-evident tag applied after a props check to show a replica weapon has been cleared by security and must stay secured. Also used as a verb, 'to peace-bond.'

peacocking

Internet

Deliberately standing out with bold clothing, accessories, or behavior to draw the eye of potential partners, much like a peacock displaying its feathers.

peak

British Mle

Unfortunate or a real shame — describing a bad situation. Despite sounding positive, "that's peak" means "that's rough".

peak fiction

Internet

A phrase praising a work as the pinnacle of writing and storytelling, used both sincerely for beloved series and ironically for trashy favourites.

peak week

General

The last week before a bodybuilding competition, when athletes manipulate water, carbs and sodium to look their best on stage.

peaking

General

The process of timing training, diet and recovery so that condition or strength hits its highest point at the right moment, e.g. show day or meet day.

pear-shaped

General

Used in 'go pear-shaped' to mean a plan went badly wrong.

pearl

General

To accidentally drive the nose of the board underwater on takeoff, usually pitching the surfer over the front.

pearly king

Street

One of London's Pearly Kings (and Queens), working-class charity fundraisers famed for suits sewn with mother-of-pearl buttons.

peching

General

Breathing heavily, panting after exertion. 'Pech' is a gasp.

peckerhead

General

The terminal box on the side of an electric motor — the little cast housing where the motor's pigtails meet the incoming supply conductors. Every electrician calls it this; nobody calls it the terminal box on a jobsite. The shape (a small protruding head on the motor body) presumably named it.

peckerwood

General

Inside, a white inmate — particularly one tied to the white-power prison subculture. Originally a Southern Black slur for poor rural whites (pecker + wood, an inversion of woodpecker), it got flipped and worn as a badge by white prison gangs from the 1940s onward. Shortened to 'wood' in everyday yard talk.

peckham rye

General

A necktie. Named after Peckham Rye, the south London park and common. Usually kept in full because 'put a Peckham on' would mean nothing to anyone, but real heads will drop the 'Rye' when the context is obvious.

pecs

General

Slang for the pectoral muscles of the chest, responsible for pushing movements.

ped

Street

Short for moped — the small-engined scooter that's become synonymous with drill-era street violence in London. Two-up on a ped, helmets down, in and out before anyone clocks the plate.

peda

General

A drinking session or booze-fuelled party; 'estar peda/pedo' is to be drunk.

pedlar's french

General

The cant itself — the secret argot of thieves, beggars and vagabonds, so called because it sounded as foreign and unintelligible to honest ears as French.

peek

Gaming

In 'jiggle peek' or 'shoulder peek,' a quick bait to draw fire and gather info.

peek and shriek

General

Slang for a laparotomy in which the surgeon opens the abdomen, discovers incurable disease, and closes without proceeding.

peeker's advantage

Gaming

Because of network latency, the player swinging the corner sees the holder before the holder sees them move. You get killed by someone who, on their screen, is already standing still and aiming at you.

peel

Gaming

Disengaging from your own fight to peel attackers off a teammate under pressure, usually your squishy backline. Selfless play that wins teamfights.

peeled

General

Extremely low body fat with visible muscle striations and peak conditioning, as if the skin were peeled tight over the muscle.

peeler

General

An archaic word for a cop — same Robert Peel root as 'bobby', but older. Largely faded in England, but still kicking in Northern Ireland and parts of Ireland as everyday slang for the police.

peeling

General

When a wave breaks in an orderly, progressive way along its face, offering a long, makeable ride rather than closing out.

peels

Street

The orange uniform issued during booking or intake, evoking orange peel.

peely-wally

General

Looking pale, wan or off-colour, as if unwell.

peenywally

General

A firefly or luminous flying beetle. Also 'peeny-wally'.

peep

General

To observe or take note of something; 'peep this' invites someone to look.

peepo

Gaming

Not one emote but a whole cast. Any soft, round, simply drawn Pepe doing an emotion is a Peepo, and there's one for basically every feeling.

peerie

General

Small or little, the Northern Isles equivalent of 'wee'. Also a spinning top.

peg

General

A short tube of steel or alloy fitted over the axle nuts, projecting from the wheel so the rider can grind, stall, or stand on it. Riders run one to four pegs depending on their style.

peg it

General

To run away at full pelt, usually from trouble — police, a bouncer, an angry shopkeeper, your mate's mum. Mancunian cousin of 'leg it'. Same energy, same panic, slightly more northern.

peg out

General

To hang out laundry with pegs; colloquially also to be exhausted or (bluntly) to die. Northern/Midlands.

peh

General

A pie, in the unmistakable Dundee accent. Almost always the mutton-filled Scotch pie you'd get from a baker. The vowel is so flat it's become a city signature.

pela'o

General

A young person or kid, sometimes implying inexperience or naivety.

pelau

General

A beloved caramel-browned rice dish cooked with pigeon peas, meat and coconut milk. A Trini comfort-food staple.