English, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

English adj.

[the national stereotype of the English as enjoying beatings]

(US) sado-masochistic.

1969		implied in English culture
1977		S. Kernochan Dry Hustle 130: English [sex, as offered by a prostitute] is pure gravy, seriously. Not only do they pay the best, [...] but they can be very useful. You order them to mop up the floors and clean the toilets and whatever have you. Then when they get hard, you just ‘command’ them to jerk themselves off.
1989		Murray & Murrell Lang. Sadomasochism (1989) 64: English 1. n. [...] Sadomasochism, especially the spanking, caning, or paddling of one’s buttocks. 2. adj. Sadomasochistic.

In compounds

English culture (n.) (also English arts) [ironic use of SE culture]

in sex advertisements, bondage and discipline.

1969		G.D. Bartell Group Sex 82: ‘English culture’ usually refers to discipline or sado-masochism [HDAS].
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words 98: English Culture. Code used in personal ads to mean sadism and/or masochism.
1987		personal ad, adult bookstore Murray & Murrell Lang. Sadomasochism (1989) 64: Master of the English and Greek arts now accepting new students.
1987		Columbus Dispatch (OH) 25 Jan. 29K: masculine-wm seeks f interested in English/French cultures.
1993		J. Green It 200: He did this show with another bloke and his slave, the three of them. [...] I'd contributed something to it, a bit of English culture, some Latin.

English guidance (n.) [the popular assumption that the English enjoy such activities]

bondage and discipline.

2000–02

Amatory Ink 🌐.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

English burgundy (n.) [the real Burgundy is a variety of French wine]

porter (a type of dark beer brewed from malt).

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1821		Flash Dict.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 265: Let’s have a pot of that fourpenny English Burgundy of yours.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.

English cane (n.)

a cudgel.

c.1698

B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.

English cold (n.) (also English winter) [tea is seen as a quintessential English pleasure]

(US) iced tea.

1979

Maledicta III:2 158: English, cold n Iced tea [...] English winter n Iced tea.

English disease (n.)

1. a propensity for industrial action and strikes.

1966		Times 25 May 18: Rapidly rising costs of factory production — first noticeable in Britain and nicknamed ‘the English disease’ — have become manifest in other countries.
1987		D. Mackey Columbia Journalism Rev. 1–2 n.p.: My honest opinion is that half this country [Australia] is coming down with the English disease: no one wants to work anymore [R].

2. erotic flagellation.

1965		Penthouse VII 23: On the other hand, the French regard homosexuality as ‘the English disease’, and sadism, particularly flagellation, as le vice Anglais.
1975		M. Brander Victorian Gentleman 42: Many more Victorians developed a neurosis about flagellation sometimes indeed known as the ‘English disease’.

English manufacture (n.) (also manufacture) [SE; all these are native drinks, as opposed to wine or brandy]

ale, beer or cider.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: English manufacture Ale, Beer, or Syder.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Manufacture, liquors prepared from materials of English growth.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1785].

English martini (n.)

(US gay) tea, particularly tea with added gin.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 54: English martini n [R, late 1960s in San Francisco] Tea, especially when spiked with gin.

English method (n.)

(US gay) intercrural homosexual intercourse, i.e. non-penetrative rubbing between closed thighs.

1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 14: english method (n.): Sexual technique involving copulation between partner’s thighs (often oiled or sweaty); so called from its common occurrence in English boarding schools.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 54: English method n [R] Homosexual intercourse against the thighs.

English muffins (n.) [the sexual image of the English + muffin n.¹ (6)]

(US gay) a boy’s buttocks.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 54: English muffins n [R] Boy’s buttocks; homosexual slang.

English sentry (n.) [it ‘stands to attention’ + ? reputation of Guardsmen for gay prostitution]

(US gay) the erect penis.

1986–7

Maledicta IX 54: English sentry n [D] Erect penis.

English shower (n.)

see Polish shower under Polish adj.

English sunbathing (n.) [the foolishness of recent immigrants from the UK]

(N.Z.) sitting fully-clothed in the sun.

1980

L. Leland Kiwi-Yankee Dict. 36: English Sunbathing. The risky and risque exposure of one’s ankles (possibly even the whole leg below the knee) to the rays of the sun while ensuring the rest of one’s body is swathed in thick layers of woollen clothing.

English winter (n.)

see English cold