"P" Slang

pele

General

A fortified stone tower in the Borders, built as defence against Reivers.

pelotero

General

A baseball player — a big deal in baseball-mad Puerto Rico and the DR.

pelt

General

To throw an object, often forcefully. 'Pelt a stone' = throw a stone.

pelt waist

General

To dance by vigorously swinging and gyrating the waist. Also 'throw waist'.

pen and ink

General

Figuratively, for a situation or deal that 'stinks' — feels dodgy.

pen pal

Internet

A person on a dating app with whom you exchange lots of messages but who never converts the chat into a real-life date. All correspondence, no meeting.

penalty shootout

General

A tie-breaker where teams take turns to shoot penalties until a winner emerges.

pencil-neck geek

General

Mocking term for a very skinny person who does high-rep sets with light weights.

pend

General

A covered, arched passage leading through a tenement to a courtyard behind.

pendiente

General

A reminder to stay alert or keep tabs on something; also a warm sign-off ('take care / stay tuned').

peng

British Mle

Attractive or very high quality. Used of people ("she's peng") and of things, especially food ("peng food").

peng ting

British Mle

An attractive person — combining "peng" (attractive) with "ting" (thing/person).

penguin

Street

A prison officer, so called after the black-and-white uniforms once worn by staff.

penjamin

Street

A playful personified name for a discreet vape pen.

penny-weighter

Street

A penny-weighter is a thief who specializes in stealing jewelry and precious stones, often by swapping fakes for real gems at counters.

pepe

Internet

Matt Furie's green anthropomorphic frog character, used as a reaction image to telegraph an emotion — smug, sad, angry, comfy, you name it. The base template spawned thousands of variants (Sad Pepe, Smug Pepe, Apu, Pepega, Monka) that function as a full emote dialect on Twitch and Discord.

peped

Gaming

When the streamer drops a banger, chat fills with PepeD. It's the 'this slaps' dance.

pepega

Gaming

Sometimes typed as a standalone reaction meaning 'that was idiotic.'

pepehands

Gaming

Used as a word to express deep emotional pain or being moved to tears.

pepelaugh

Gaming

A Twitch emote of Pepe pointing and laughing, used when chat sees an impending fail before the streamer does.

pepog

Gaming

Sometimes ironic, mock-classy about an obvious 'discovery.'

peppered

General

Broke. Properly broke — not 'a bit short' but the kind of skint where you're checking down the back of the sofa. Manc-specific; in other parts of the country 'peppered' means something else entirely.

perc

Street

A clipped term for percolator; the bubbling filtration chamber in a bong that cools and smooths the smoke.

percolator

Street

A device or chamber inside a bong that splits smoke into many small bubbles through slits or holes, giving extra filtration and cooling. Often shortened to 'perc'.

percussive maintenance

General

Jokey slang for getting a balky monitor or pump to work by giving it a firm tap or thump.

perfect all-kill

Internet

The strongest form of an all-kill, where a song tops all major charts including every real-time ranking simultaneously. Rarer and more prestigious than a regular all-kill.

performance improvement plan

General

A formal HR document outlining an underperforming employee's shortfalls and goals for improvement over a set period. It is widely seen by workers as a prelude to termination.

peri-arrest

General

Describes the critical window in which a patient's vital signs are so unstable that full cardiac arrest is imminent or has just been reversed.

periodt

Aave

An emphatic full stop added to a statement to mean "and that's final". The extra "t" strengthens the ordinary "period".

perp

General

Cop shorthand for perpetrator — the person who did the crime, or at least the one being collared for it. Loved by US police procedurals; 'perp walk' is when they parade a cuffed suspect past the cameras on purpose.

perrla

General

A shorthand describing a normal pupillary exam, used in neurological assessment.

persuader

General

On a jobsite, the hammer (or mallet, crowbar, or whatever's heavy and nearby) you reach for when a part won't seat, a board won't line up, or a stuck bolt won't budge. The tool that ends the argument. Bigger problem, bigger persuader.

pesos

Street

Money or cash, used loosely regardless of actual currency.

pet

General

A term of endearment used for almost anyone, regardless of gender or age.

pete

General

A Peterbilt tractor. The brand drivers either swear by or save up for — long hoods, big chrome, and the rumble that turns heads at the truck stop. Calling your rig a Pete is half identification, half flex.

pete tong

General

Wrong — but specifically in the phrase 'it's all gone Pete Tong', meaning the whole thing has fallen apart spectacularly. Modern Cockney, coined after BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong, whose name happened to rhyme too perfectly to ignore. There's a 2004 film of the same name about a deaf DJ.

peter

General

Old-school British prison and underworld slang for a cell. Cockney lags have been calling the cell a peter for over a century — 'back in the peter' means back on the bunk, door shut behind you.

peterman

Street

A peterman is a criminal who specializes in opening safes, whether by explosives or tools. 'Peter' is old cant for a safe or strongbox.

petty

Internet

Reacting to minor slights with over-the-top revenge or attitude.

pfo

General

British A&E shorthand meaning 'Pissed, Fell Over'. Goes in the notes when someone rolls in on a Friday night reeking of lager with a split eyebrow and no memory of how it happened. Sister term to PAFO ('Pissed And Fell Over') — same diagnosis, slightly different abbreviation depending on which department you trained in. Officially frowned on, unofficially scribbled in every triage bay in the country.

pfp

Internet

The little circle picture on someone's account. Used as a quick way to clock taste ('the pfp is sending me') or to compliment/drag a vibe without naming it.

pharm party

General

Slang (originally media-driven) for a party where attendees combine and consume assorted prescription drugs.

phat

Music

Excellent, attractive, or first-rate. Hip-hop praise meaning something is great.

phear

Gaming

Ironically, to dramatize something mildly inconvenient.

philly

General

A streetball dribble move (a hesitation crossover) named for the Philadelphia playground style.

pholourie

General

Small savoury fritters of seasoned split-pea and turmeric batter, fried and dipped in tamarind or mango chutney. Also pholourie.

photocard

Pop

A unit of fandom currency in the buying, selling, and trading economy around K-pop merch.

phreak

Internet

Short for 'phone phreak': someone who explores or exploits the telephone network, historically using tones to make free calls.