"S" Slang

servo sausage roll

General

A pastry-wrapped sausage-meat roll bought at a service station; a staple of the servo pie warmer.

servo servo

General

In remote areas, the service station that doubles as the town's only general store.

servo snag

General

A barbecued sausage on bread sold at community fundraisers, iconically outside Bunnings hardware stores.

servo snags

General

Sausages cooked at a fundraising 'sausage sizzle', often outside a hardware store or shop.

servo van

General

A work van used for servicing or trade jobs.

sesh

General

Casual abbreviation of 'session,' meaning a single workout.

sesh weed

Street

Cannabis considered good enough for a regular group session, not saved for special occasions.

session

General

A period of skating, whether alone or with friends, at a park or spot. Often shortened to 'sesh.'

set

Music

A cluster of consecutive repetitions performed without resting in between.

set me

General

Hand me / give me / pass me. The MLE way to ask for something to be passed your way — a cig, a drink, the aux, anything.

set trippin'

Street

Acting on, or starting, conflict driven by which gang set you claim — disrespecting another set, jumping someone over colours, getting in your feelings about turf. N.W.A made the phrase national with 'Set Trippin'' but it's been street vocabulary in LA since the 80s.

set wave

General

An individual wave belonging to a set, generally larger and better-formed than the smaller waves in between.

severance

General

Compensation, often based on tenure, and sometimes continued benefits, provided to an employee upon involuntary separation, typically in a layoff. It cushions the transition to a new job.

sewin

General

Sea trout — a migratory brown trout that runs up Welsh rivers in summer. Prized by anglers on the Teifi, Tywi and Towy. The proper Welsh word for what English fishermen just call sea trout, and any chef worth their salt on the West Wales coast will have it on the specials board.

sex siren

General

Sex Siren is the ballroom category all about seduction — walkers compete on raw sensual magnetism, working the floor and the crowd with overt sex appeal. It's a performance of desire: who can be the most irresistible, the most magnetic, the most impossible to look away from. Added to the ball roster in the mid-90s, it's one of the most charged categories on any program.

sexton blake

General

Fake. Cockney rhyming slang where Sexton Blake — the Victorian detective hero — rhymes with fake. Used of dodgy goods, knock-off gear, or anything pulled off a Romford Road market stall with the label still wonky. Often clipped to 'sexton'.

sfw

Internet

Tag for content you can open in public — no nudity, no gore, no slurs. Used on Discord channels, art commissions, and links you're flagging as boss-friendly.

sglods

General

Chips. Anglicised from the Welsh 'sglodion'. What you order from the chippy after a session, smothered in salt and vinegar, eaten out the paper while you walk.

sha

Street

Added to a sentence for emphasis, resignation, or to soften a statement — the closest single-word English equivalent shifts depending on context, from "anyway" to "though" to "still."

shablam

General

An older name for the dip, picked up especially on the West Coast where dancers folded the move into choreography. Here's the twist the heads will tell you: it was never really a move name at all. It's the onomatopoeic sound shouted by the MC or the crowd when someone hits a dip, the audio punctuation. Ballroom icon Jack Mizrahi, who originated the usage, says it was 'shawham' anyway, not shablam.

shacked

General

To be shacked is to be inside the barrel, fully covered by the curling wave. A synonym for getting tubed or pitted.

shade

Aave

Subtle, pointed disrespect or a sly insult. To "throw shade" is to put someone down without saying anything openly hostile.

shadow gazer

General

Slang for a radiologist, who spends the day interpreting shadowy images.

shadowban

Internet

When a platform silently restricts how many people see your posts — your replies don't surface, your hashtags don't show, your follower count stalls — without ever telling you it's happening. Officially denied, constantly alleged.

shadowbanned

Internet

When a platform quietly tanks your reach — your posts still go up, your followers might see them, but the FYP/explore stops surfacing you to new eyes. No email, no warning, just numbers cratering overnight. Causes range from real (flagged audio, hashtag bans, community-guideline strikes) to imagined (the patron saint of underperforming creators).

shady

General

Describes an obstacle, spot, or situation that feels unsafe, unsettling, or intimidating to ride. Close in meaning to 'sketchy'.

shaka

General

A hand sign made with the thumb and little finger extended and the middle fingers curled, signaling 'hang loose', thanks, or all-around good vibes.

shakara

Street

Describes exaggerated posturing to impress or maintain distance — from flashy dressing to romantic coyness. 'Do shakara' means to act pretentious or aloof.

shake

Street

The small broken-off pieces of cannabis that collect at the bottom of a bag or container.

shake your groove thing

Music

A celebratory call to enjoy yourself through dance.

shakedown

Street

A thorough search of a cell, dorm, or person for prohibited items. Also called a search party.

shaku shaku

Street

A street dance combining leg-shuffling and shoulder movement, born in Lagos's Agege area; exact origin details are disputed but it reached international fame via Mr Real's street anthem 'Legbegbe.'

sham

General

A friend, mate or lad; a form of address. Regional (Waterford, Connacht).

sham shield

General

A nickname for the US Army Specialist rank device, joking that a Specialist can now get privates to do the work while dodging real accountability.

shamus

Street

A shamus is a private eye or detective, a staple of hardboiled crime fiction.

shan

General

A Scots word (especially the North East and Traveller cant) meaning a pity, unfair, or of poor quality.

shank

General

A knife, particularly a blade carried as a weapon. Core MLE street vocab — used across UK drill, road rap and everyday London slang. Originally prison slang for an improvised blade, it migrated into the ends decades ago and stuck.

shank (verb)

Street

To shank is to stab a person with a knife or improvised blade, in both prison and street slang.

shantay, you stay

General

The reprieve. After a lip sync for your life, RuPaul tells the queen who survives 'shantay, you stay', the verdict that she lives to compete another week. 'Shantay' is borrowed flair (a nod to 'enchanté' / French chic) that softens the blade. The relief half of the show's most famous coin-flip.

shaper

General

A show-off; someone who swaggers or struts to impress. 'Throwing shapes' is showing off.

shark hunter

Street

A shark hunter is a thief who seeks out intoxicated men in order to rob them while they are vulnerable.

sharp

General

Called when you're walking through the line with a knife in your hand. Same family as 'behind' and 'hot' — a one-word heads-up that stops anyone from turning into the blade.

sharp sharp

Street

A reduplicated Pidgin intensifier meaning something is done immediately or very quickly.

sharps

General

The shout you give before moving through BOH with a knife, mandoline blade, or anything else that'll open someone up if they pivot the wrong way. Pairs with 'behind' or 'atras' — the location warning plus the threat warning, in two syllables.

sharra

General

A coach. Specifically the old-school works-outing kind — what a charabanc became when Brummie tongues got hold of it. Still heard from older speakers booking a 'sharra' to Blackpool.

shatter

Street

A translucent, amber, glass-like cannabis extract that snaps and shatters into dab-sized pieces.

shavetail

General

An inexperienced second lieutenant in the Army.

shawty

Street

Anyone you're addressing — friend, stranger, the guy at the counter. In Atlanta it's a comma, not a description. No actual shortness required.