"S" Slang

spliff

General

A big, cone-shaped joint of marijuana, sometimes mixed with tobacco.

split

General

The way a training program divides workouts among muscle groups or movement patterns across the week.

split push

Gaming

One player pushes a sidelane hard, forcing the enemy to send people to stop them. That either gives your team a numbers advantage elsewhere, or lets the splitpusher crack a tower. Death by map pressure.

splits

Gaming

The time stamped at the end of each section of a run. Tracked in a splits tool like LiveSplit so you can see exactly where you are gaining or losing.

sploit

Gaming

Short for 'exploit': a piece of code or a flaw used to make software behave in an unintended way.

spondulicks

Internet

An archaic, humorous term for money, still used for comic effect. Also spelled spondulix or spondoolies.

sponger

General

A bodyboarder, so called because of the soft foam ('sponge') board they ride lying down. Often used teasingly by stand-up surfers.

spoon

Street

A common one-piece handheld pipe with a bowl at one end, a carb on the side and a mouthpiece, named for its spoon-like shape.

spot

Internet

Helping and closely watching a lifter on a heavy set so they can complete or safely bail on their reps.

spot me

General

A request asking another person to stand by and assist during a heavy set for safety.

spotrep

General

'Spot Report' — a brief, timely report used to send immediate information about an enemy sighting or significant event, often in the SALUTE format.

spotter

General

A person who assists with a lift and stands ready to help if the lifter can't complete a rep, ensuring safety.

spray

Gaming

To fire a weapon continuously rather than tapping or bursting. Controlling the recoil while spraying is a whole skill in itself, the 'spray pattern'.

spray transfer

Gaming

In shooters, smoothly moving a sustained spray of bullets from one downed enemy to another mid-burst.

spread

Gaming

A boss mechanic that drops damage on each player individually, so you have to scatter. Stand too close and the overlapping hits wipe the group.

spread offense

General

An offensive scheme that lines the quarterback in shotgun with three or more receivers spread across the field to stretch the defense.

sprout

Gaming

A new FFXIV player. The game tags newbies with a green sprout icon next to their name so veterans go easy on them.

spuckie

General

Old-school Boston term for a submarine sandwich, taken from 'spuccadella' (sometimes spelled spukadella), the Italian-style roll it was originally built on. Mostly heard from older East Boston and North End types now; younger Bostonians have largely shifted to 'sub'.

spuggie

General

A sparrow. The little brown bird hopping round your beer garden. Pure Geordie, baffles southerners on sight.

sq

General

Indicates a medication delivered just under the skin into subcutaneous tissue, such as insulin or heparin.

squad

Aave

A tight-knit group of friends — your regular crew for hanging out or supporting each other.

squaddie

General

A British Army rank-and-file soldier — the generic word for a serving squaddie, whatever cap badge. Used by squaddies about themselves and by the British public in general. Carries the whole bundle: lads on the piss in garrison towns, professionalism on tour, dark humor about all of it.

square

General

A conventional, old-fashioned person who follows the rules and rejects countercultural ideas.

square go

General

A fair fight with no weapons or interference; often a challenge, 'd'ye want a square go?'.

square john

General

A prisoner who keeps his head down, follows the rules, and steers clear of gangs, hustles, and trouble. Often a first-timer doing white-collar or one-off time who isn't part of the convict subculture. Not necessarily an insult, but it marks you as an outsider to the lifers.

squared away

General

Cleaned up, organized, and in proper military shape; by extension, a competent and reliable person.

squash

Street

To resolve a beef and call off any planned violence between inmates.

squeeze

Internet

Clipped form of 'short squeeze,' the self-reinforcing rally that forces short sellers to buy back shares. The word retail traders chant while trying to trigger one.

squeezed or sliced

General

The question the guy behind the counter asks when you order chili-cheese fries at a Detroit coney. 'Squeezed' = Cheez Whiz from the squeeze bottle. 'Sliced' = cold American singles laid on top so they melt under the chili. There are loyalists for both. There is no third answer.

squib kick

General

A short, low kickoff that bounces erratically along the ground, used to keep the ball away from a dangerous returner.

squick

General

That gut-level recoil you feel at a particular kink or act, used precisely because it carries no moral verdict. Saying something squicks you means 'not my thing, makes me wince' not 'this is wrong.' The whole reason the word exists is to flag your own discomfort without yucking someone else's yum. Likely a blend of 'squirm' and 'icky.'

squid

General

A US Navy sailor, often used with light derogatory intent by members of other services.

squirt

Street

To attack someone by spraying corrosive liquid — acid, bleach, ammonia — usually from a sports bottle. Drill rappers reference it as a low-cost, devastating alternative to a stabbing. London's acid-attack epidemic put this verb on the map.

srd

Internet

Shorthand for r/SubredditDrama, the sub built around linking to ongoing fights elsewhere on Reddit and chewing them over. Strict no-participation rule — turn up to gawk, not pile on, or you get bonked as a popcorn pisser.

srsly

Internet

An abbreviation of "seriously," used for emphasis or to question something in disbelief.

ssc

General

SSC stands for Safe, Sane and Consensual — the classic three-word standard for ethical BDSM: keep it physically safe, play sane and sober (not impaired or reckless), and make sure everyone fully consents. Coined by David Stein in 1983 for the Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA) in New York, partly inspired by being wished a 'safe and sane' Fourth of July, and meant to mark the community off from genuinely predatory, abusive behaviour. It became a rallying slogan and the default ethics shorthand for decades. Its successor RACK (Risk-Aware Consensual Kink, Gary Switch, 1999) pushed back on the word 'sane' and on the idea that anything is ever truly 'safe' — but SSC is still the phrase most people learn first.

stablecoin

Internet

A cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value by pegging to an asset like the US dollar, used for trading, saving, and moving value without volatility. Examples include USDC and USDT.

stack

Gaming

Multiple defenders grouping at a single site or chokepoint, anticipating the enemy hits there. A heavy stack shuts a push down hard, but it leaves the rest of the map naked.

stack marker

Gaming

A targeted marker that drops shared damage. Enough players have to stack on top of it so the hit gets divided between them instead of one-shotting a single target.

stack sats

General

To regularly buy and accumulate satoshis (fractions of Bitcoin), a mantra for patient, dollar-cost-average Bitcoin saving.

stacked

General

Describes someone carrying a lot of well-developed muscle; a compliment on overall build.

stacking

Gaming

Aggro a neutral camp and walk it out of its spawn box right before the spawn timer ticks. The game spawns a brand new camp on top, so now you've got two stacked together to clear at once. Free value if you time it.

stacking sats

Internet

The practice of steadily accumulating Bitcoin in small increments (satoshis) over time, often via recurring buys.

stacks

Street

"Stacking" means saving up or accumulating money.

staff nco

General

A staff non-commissioned officer — an enlisted Marine of pay grade E-6 or higher (staff sergeant through sergeant major).

stag

General

A spell of guard duty or sentry watch. You're 'on stag' when it's your turn to stand watch — usually two hours on, four off, freezing your nuts off in a sangar at three in the morning. 'Stag on' is also a verb meaning to crack on with a tedious task.

stage set

General

Your slot in the rotation. The DJ calls your name, you do two or three songs on the main stage, then you're off hustling the floor again. The set is the advertisement, the real money comes after, when guys who watched you book private dances.

staggered board

General

Instead of the whole board standing for re-election every year, directors are split into classes — usually three — and only one class is up at a time. A raider winning a proxy fight needs two annual meetings to flip control, which is exactly the point.