Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see separate entry.

appalling, unpleasant, distasteful.

2001

S. King Dreamcatcher 10: For a moment everything is all right again; as right as it can be in such a piss-ache world.

nothing at all.

1978

S. King Stand (1990) 1177: ‘The Great Western Desert!’ he cried. ‘The Big Piss-All!’.

(orig. US prison) bread and water.

1947		J.L. Riordan ‘Some ‘G.I. Alphabet Soup’’ in AS XXII:2 Apr. 111: A bread-and-water diet may be called B. and W., though in the Navy and Marine Corps the more usual signification is the alliterative piss and punk.
1958		L.F. Cooley Run For Home (1959) 65: Maybe you done something wrong and they’re gonna give you piss and punk for thirty days!
1960		(con. WWII) R. Leckie Marines! 59: I was in the bread-and-water cell starting to do my five days of piss-and-punk.
1970		D. Ponicsan Last Detail 18: It’s not like the brig. They take it easier on long termers. Christ, I was on piss ’n punk for three of the eight days.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 11: Piss ’n’ Punk Rations of bread and water which are served in the hole or lockdown situations. This practice is not widespread today.

1. a regular drunk.

1962		F. Norman Guntz 17: Some of the less hardened piss artists started to fall a-kip on the floor.
1975		J. Ryan Remembering How We Stood 142: ‘Sports-king’ was an echo of Dublin small talk, nineteen-thirty vintage – the nearest contemporary expression would be ‘piss-artist’.
1983		(con. 1950s) D. Nobbs Second From Last in the Sack Race 266: They’re all piss-artists.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 2: The old man was like me, a piss-artist.
1998		Guardian 15 Oct. 25: Many, to my knowledge, the media’s thirstiest piss artists.
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 23: It’s not the greatest ever time I’ve had in there. Too many piss artists.
2010		K. Richards Life 435: My dad turned out to be a great piss artist.

2. a general term of abuse.

1999

C. Logue Prince Charming 205: A bunch of Anglo-French geriatric piss-artists.

see pissy-ass under pissy adj.¹

a despicable person.

1985

Viz Comic: The Big Hard No. 2 81: Ya fuckin’ piss-bag!!!

see separate entry.

see pisspot n.

(US) an unpleasant individual.

2018

‘Aidan Truhen’ Price You Pay 8: [U]p comes this walking pissboil and shoves a knife in his face [and Mike] took the knife and threw it away and then unfortunately went ahead and amputated the pissboil’s patella with a .38.

(US black) a general term of abuse.

1969

‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 156: Shet up yu stoopid piss britches.

(US) a contemptible person.

2000

F. Kellerman Stalker (2001) 208: She thought he was a piss bucket, excuse my French.

discoloured, esp. of a grey wig which has turned yellow.

1686		Behn Lucky Chance II i: A cloak to skulk in a-night, and a pair of piss-burned shammy breeches.
1691		N. Ward ‘The Authors Lamentation’ Writings (1704) 23: My coat it is turn’d, with the Lappets Piss-Burn’d.
1725		M. Davys ‘The Modern Poet’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng. in 18C Ireland (1998) 135: On wooden Peg hung piss-burnt Perriwig.
1742		Fielding Joseph Andrews (1954) III 274: A long piss-burnt beard served to retain the liquor of the stone-pot.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Piss-burned, commonly applied to a Discoloured Grey Wig.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.:
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

1. a break – during work or on a journey – for urination.

1957

Kerouac On The Road (1972) 26: Every now and then you have to yell for pisscall.

2. a wake-up call.

1961		G.L. Coon Meanwhile, Back at the Front (1962) 70: Lola you want us to give you a piss ca-- Shall we call you in the morning?
1984		W.J. Caunitz One Police Plaza 296: See that I get a piss call at six a.m.

(US prison) a prison.

1950

Goldin et al. DAUL 158/1: Piss-can. The station-house, or local jail. Any place where suspects or accused are held while awaiting hearing.

(US) a club for devotees of urolagnia.

1987

interview in Murray & Murrell Lang. Sadomasochism (1989) 106: Piss clubs are getting more and more common .

1. a generally obnoxious person.

1953

L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 144: Ain’t he a pisscutter?

2. an admirable or exceptional person.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 158/1: Piss-cutter [...] Any extraordinary person or thing; anything affording extreme satisfaction or dissatisfaction; an unusual occurrence or predicament. ‘That guy Solly is sure a pisser on the cannon’ (picking pockets).
1973		S. Ace Stand On It (1979) 94: He knew right away you’d grow up to be a regular piss-cutter.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 302: pisscutter, a term of admiration for someone or something of excellence.
1993		B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 270: piss cutter a general term of praise or avowal of enthusiasm.

3. an outstanding or excellent thing.

1935		J. Conroy World to Win 296: He kept himself busy figuring [...] the dimensions of a boat he planned, and it would surely be a jimdandy, a pisscutter.
1935		C. Odets Awake and Sing! II ii: myron: Now isn’t that funny, Big Boy?’ moe: It’s a pisscutter!

4. a drunken spree, a binge.

1953

L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 191: Burnside and McQuade had gone on a real pisscutter the night before.

5. a major confrontation.

1953

L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 471: The Japs are staging for a pisscutter.

see separate entries.

a public house.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.

(N.Z.) an insignificant person.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

1. the labia [flap n.¹ (6)].

1970		J. Goodall ‘Massive Probl. Re-entry’ in Free Poetry Apr. n.p.: Cocks of coke squeezed like viscid buckshot and hate-crumbs from the piss-flaps of the Klan [OED].
1976		D. Ireland Glass Canoe (1982) 188: Watch it, boy, I’ve got very big piss flaps.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 91: I’d come from a country where the blokes called a vagina a ‘muckhole’ and the labia majora ‘piss flaps’.
1997–2002		Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 piss flappers (compound noun, count) women’s labia. Very rude expression.
2002		(con. 1991) W. Self Dorian 115: He’s like some hideous old maid, who’s terrified a roach is going to crawl into her piss flaps.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 150: A twsited dark canopy [...] like a vagina wi open piss flaps.

2. a term of abuse.

2006

D. Mitchell Black Swan Green 91: I says, ‘You’re gonna fuckin’ regret that, Piss Flaps.’.

a person who derives sexual satisfaction from being urinated on.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 piss freak Definition: a person who derives sexual satisfaction from the act of another person urinating on them. Example: Jermaine be a piss freak, he thank he a toilet stool!

the erection with which a man awakes, due to the need to urinate as much as the desire for sex.

1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 289: You know how if a guy wakes up in the morning, and he’s a young guy, he usually has a piss hard-on.
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1976		D. Ireland Glass Canoe (1982) 183: He hadn’t gone down yet, especially with half of him being a piss-horn.
1980		H. Stevens Incest daughter cap. 2: I just have to piss. That’s all. All I’ve got is a piss hard-on.
2015		S. King Finders Keepers (2016) 3: ‘Old fella’s got a woody. Must have been having one hell of a dream.’ ‘Just a piss hard on‘.

see separate entry.

see separate entries.

1. a lavatory.

1665		Narr. Case John Porter, Jun. in Shurtleff Rec. Governor & Company of Mass. Bay in New Eng. (1853-54) IV 216: He called his mother Rambeggur, Gammar Shithouse, Gammar Pissehouse [...] & these abusive names he vsed frequently.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1947		N. Cassady letter in Charters (1993) 191: Edith (her sister) and Patricia (my love) walked out of the pisshouse hand in hand.
1962		A. La Guma Walk in the Night (1968) 4: Every time a man goes to the piss-house he starts moaning. [...] Well, he picked on me for going for a leak and I told him to go to hell.
1963		C. Wood ‘Prisoner and Escort’ in Cockade (1965) I iii: Everywhere – the slash house even.
1972		C. Bukowski Erections, Ejaculations etc. 410: Nobody wants to lay on the floor of a pisshouse.
1982		M. Seide Common Wilderness 656: Just brand it on your pecker with a glowing butt the next time you sneak off to the pisshouse to do your little thing.
1984		(con. WW2) T. Jones Heart of Oak [ebook] The old cunt — he ought to be shot / And tied to the wall of a piss-house, a piss-house / And left there to fuckingwell rot!
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] Danny come in, full of dough, drinking Jim Beam, in and out of the pisshouse.
2001		A. Sillitoe Birthday 66: Better not, or I’ll be looking for a piss-house every five minutes.

2. (US Und.) a police station.

1931		D. Maurer ‘Argot of the Und.’ AS VII:2 112: Piss-house, n., The police station.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

3. an unpleasant place.

1969

Budd Schulberg Sanctuary V 249: [...] my seven months in this ambassadorial pisshouse.

4. (N.Z. prison) that room in which urine tests are conducted.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 141/2: piss house n. = pub.

a kitchen maid.

1751

Smollett Peregrine Pickle (1964) 20: He [...] did not scruple to damn her for a squinting, block-faced, chattering piss-kitchen; and immediately after drank despair to all old maids.

a heavy drinker.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue .
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

(N.Z. prison) a urine tester.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 141/2: piss squad n. (also piss test crew) n the prison officers who obtain inmates’ urine samples for testing for evidence of drug use.

the male urinary tract.

1993–2003		ghost on Urban Dict. 🌐 piss pipe The penis. Back in a minute. I have to drain the piss pipe.
2014		M. MacBride ‘Sounding’ in ThugLit Mar. [ebook] [H]e’d hidden that wire inside his piss pipe.

see separate entries.

a physician who makes all their diagnoses on the basis of inspecting the patient’s urine.

1691		‘A medicine for the Quartan Ague’ in Ebsworth Merry Drollery Compleat (1875) 277: The Aphorisms of Galen I count but as straws, / Profound Pispot-peepers be you all mure.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Piss Prophet, a Physician who judges by the Urine.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

of a man, having an erection on waking.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Piss-Proud. Having a false erection of the Penis. That old fellow thought he had an erection, but his — was only piss-proud.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: Piss-proud. Having a false erection. That old fellow thought he had an erection, but his — was only piss-proud; said of any old fellow who marries a young wife.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 302: piss proud. A priapism, esp. upon awakening.
1999		Roger’s Profanisaurus 3 in Viz 98 Oct. 22: piss-proud adj. To be the owner of a dawn horn; morning glory.

a visit to the lavatory, esp. during a drive or drinking session.

1992		M. Coleman Fatty 239: ‘What’s going on, Alex?’ he asked, ‘piss stop?’‘No lud,’ came the reply, ‘lunch’.
2002		‘Shitter’ ‘Drinking Tales’ Happydrunk.com 🌐 Before making the trek up to the field we decided to make a piss stop in the school. The closest bathroom to the entrance we went in had 2 urinals and 1 toilet.

see separate entries.

a drunkard.

1977		(con. 1941) R. Beilby Gunner 17: Get stuffed, Piss-tank!
1986		T. Winton That Eye, The Sky 39: Ya mum’s a pisstank.

see separate entries.

(US) something remarkable, impressive.

1968

(con. c.1900) J. Thompson King Blood (1989) 79: A real piss-walloper, ain’t she? A rip-roarin’ son-of-a-bitch!

(US) a weak drink.

2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 121: Johnson had been drinking something other than this pisswater.
2019		P. Temple ‘High Art’ in The Red Hand 44: ‘Got any non-craft beer? Perhaps Scandi pisswater?’.

general term of abuse.

2016

Twitter 5 July 🌐 You and your dirty mates fucked it up, you Pob-faced pissweasel .

(US) a coward, an insignificant person; also attrib.

1975		T. Berger Sneaky People (1980) 161: She took to going about in her kimono, bare-ass underneath [...] and also sparkled the eyes of the little piss-willie who delivered groceries.
1986		P. Slabolepszy ‘Boo to the Moon’ in Mooi Street (1994) 133: You know when Napoleon sent a piss-willy little telegram to Bismarck, but I bet you know stuff-all about what happened.

(US) weak beer.

1985		(con. 1968) D.A. Dye Citadel (1989) 25: I wisht I could [...] see some of that shit instead of serving buffalo piss to these guys at the club. [Ibid.] 181: You fuckers [...] wouldn’t know fine champagne from water buffalo piss.
2002		(con. 1973) Ted’s Trip Through the Ether 🌐 Anyway to come to a conclusion we decided that the Brit Rep did not want his boys ‘drinking our buffalo piss and barking at the moon’.
2002		Kai’s Komic Kaptions 🌐 Gah! This tastes like buffalo piss! Psst, hey buddy! Would you go get me a REAL drink?

(US) very low quality, cheap liquor.

1920		(con. WWI) Dos Passos One Man’s Initiation: 1917 (1969) 11: Everybody is soused on the strong red [i.e. French] army wine — nicknamed Pinard (bull piss).
1978		S. King Stand (1990) 824: If it came down to a choice between drinking Za-Rex and bullpiss, I’d have to sit down and think.

any form of weak drink.

2002

‘Letter from America’ 31 Oct. at OxfordStudent.com 🌐 Better than the usual American beer, though, for which I’m told the official term is ‘cat’s piss’.

any weak or diluted drink.

1996

www.lileks.com 🌐 As the watch commander put it, this dogpiss is for pussies!

see separate entry.

see separate entry.

(US) weak beer or bad wine.

1975		N. De Mille Smack Man (1991) 97: Bring us three mugs of that monkey piss you call beer.
1997		J. Birmingham Tasmanian Babes Fiasco (1998) 209: He’s brought [...] two big boxes of wine.’ ‘Monkey piss?’.

out drinking, usu. with friends; usu. in phr. go/get on the piss; thus off the piss, at the end of a drinking session.

1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 33: If any of you chaps go on the piss with Bourne, and he offers you a stirrup-cup, you can take it from me he has got you beat.
1945		P. Larkin letter 31 Oct. in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 110: Your letter found me last night when I came in off the piss: in point of fact I had spewed out of a train window and farted in the presence of ladies.
1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 28: Don’t you believe a word of it, Phil — he’s on the piss with his mates!
1976		D. Ireland Glass Canoe (1982) 48: That finished Bob. He got on the piss every day.
1976		P. Reading ‘Duologues’ in Prison Cell and Barrel Mystery 50: See, er bloke (im as ad that motorbike crack comin ome off the piss that time).
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 79: He didn’t have to go on the piss all night like the others, did he?
1998		I. Welsh Filth 171: I scored some good gum-numbing cocaine [...] Then I was back out on the piss.
2003		Bug (Aus.) Apr. 🌐 He and some other club lackeys then spent the next two minutes saying how much they enjoyed getting on the piss together.
2014		T. Black Artefacts of the Dead [ebook] [Did they] play cards on a Saturday night or go out on the pish?

see separate entry.

weak beer or other alcohol.

1936

(con. 1900s) F. Richards Old Soldier Sahib (1965) 87: Soldiers of the old John Company drank rum and not shark’s p—s.

(Aus.) beer.

1963–74

B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 48: There’s a Hun-type sheilah up here with a dirty great barrel of snakes piss!

1. a phr. describing a loudmouth, a braggart, all talk and no action; also euphs.

1915		Sat. Eve. Post 187:5 6/2: I’m [...] full o’ ginger an’ conceit, like a barber’s cat.
1921		Our Navy (USN) vol. 15 25/1: ‘We're full of wind and pep like a barber's cat’.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 314: And he took the last swig out of the pint, Moya. All wind and piss like a tanyard cat.
1947		J. Maclaren-Ross Of Love And Hunger 113: Full of piss and wind. Called on us to give three cheers for Major Drummond.
1952		(con. 1920s) ‘Harry Grey’ Hoods (1953) 211: You’re – full – of – wind – and – piss – like – a – barber’s – cat.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 202: These Mediterranean races are all wind, old thing. Just you call their bluff.
1963		(con. 1944) L. Glassop Rats in New Guinea 115: Don’t pay no attention to that mug aleck [...] He’s all — and wind like the barber’s cat. He’s a no-hoper.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 207: Wind and piss, all Bragging: ‘He’s all wind and piss’ or, more politely, ‘He’s all wind and water’.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 42: A person who shows off is described as ‘all wind and piss’.
1982		N. Keesing Lily on the Dustbin 52: They would explain that ‘he’ was ‘full as a tick (or boot)’ or came home ‘all piddle and wind like the barber’s cat’.
1987		(con. 1930s) L. Redmond Emerald Square 260: I thought Lanagan all piss and wind, like the Barber’s cat, and I was in no way afraid of him.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 125: One who is full of piss and wind is indeed void of content.
2006		Age (Melbourne) 6 Jan. 🌐 Na, don’t you boys go listening to the stock agent too much neither. He’s all piss and wind, that fella.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 360: ‘Tuppence might be full of piss and wind, but his assessment [...] looks to be on the money’.

2. empty talk.

1970

A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 328: All his rhetoric about loyalty and standing by people [...] was nothing more than wind and piss.

diarrhoea.

1997

Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: arse-piss n. Diarrhoea; rusty water (qv); the shits.

(Irish) a term of abuse.

2001

G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Can of piss (n): derogatory term i.e. ‘You’re some can of piss’.

to become infatuated with one’s own importance.

1948

N. Mailer Naked and Dead 94: Ol’ Stanley is really feelin’ his piss now that he’s in for corporal.

(Aus.) to urinate.

2005

L. Redhead Rubdown [ebook] I hung a quick piss to avoid any future funnel action.

(N.Z.) a phr. used of a dedicated drinker.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

to get drunk.

1974		D. Ireland Burn 24: They used to call him Fisho years ago when he hit the piss a lot. Drank like a fish.
1991		R.G. Barrett Between the Devlin 21: ‘[T]hey all gave you the arse as well, so you hit the piss’.

a general phr. of derision or disdain.

1823

‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.

to visit the lavatory, esp. to stop drinking in order to do so.

2002

‘Shitter’ ‘Drinking Tales’ Happydrunk.com 🌐 Before making the trek up to the field we decided to make a piss stop in the school. The closest bathroom to the entrance we went in had 2 urinals and 1 toilet.

(US) a phr. used of one who is very stupid.

1977

Maledicta 1 (Summer) 13: He is so dumb he couldn’t pour piss out of a boot–with the directions printed on the heel.

to hold in absolute contempt.

1981		(con. 1920s) P. Crosbie Your Dinner’s Poured Out! 219: He wouldn’t give you the steam off his piss.
1991		B. Quinn Smokey Hollow 142: Them nuns are mean rips [...] They wouldn’t give you the steam off their piss.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 110: Dudes who hate them with a vengeance, cos of envy or fear, who wouldn’t give ’em the steam off their piss.
2022		L. Inglis on Twitter 7 June 🌐 It's one thing to be incompetent, and it's a whole different game to not give the steam off your piss.

see piece of piss under piece n.

energy , ‘get-up-and-go’, aggressiveness.

1944		Partisan Rev. 59: Little Billie was full of piss and vinegar / And full of sap as a maple tree .
1951		C. & J. West Witch Diggers 381: Same old gism, same old piss and vinegar.
1957		H. Miller Big Sur 180: A three-year-old boy full of piss and vinegar.
1964		H. Selby Jr. Last Exit to Brooklyn 87: He [. . . .] was all fulla piss and vinegar ta go.
2004		J.A. Juarez Brotherhood of Corruption 38: ‘[T]hey get all full of piss and vinegar when they don’t get their way’.
2014		D.B. Flowers Bangs 101: Most cops would go soft on someone who was in a situation they could relate to [...] but this kind of piss and vinegar stuck in Bangs’ craw.

(Aus.) hilariously funny.

1993		Aus. Word Map 🌐 piss funny. To be exceptionally hilarious. Maybe originated from when people laugh so hard they nearly wet themselves.
2002		Tharunka (Kensington, NSW) 1 Oct. 7/1: We received more verbal responses to this article than Philthy Ruddock received at the Scientia. The most frequent comment: ‘That was piss-funny’.

a despicable person.

1978

in A. Banks First-Person America (1980) 60: Old piss-in-the-face McCann just didn’t want her back.

(N.Z.) anything considered very easy.

1980		L. Leland Kiwi-Yankee Dict.
1985		J. Sherwood Botanist at Bay 37: That padlock is a piss in the hand, princess, when you know how.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

a waste of time.

1998–2000

P. Anderson ‘A Vote for Nader is a Vote for Bush’ on Dubya Debates 🌐 I would much rather have Nader. I understand that the cards are stacked against him, and that a vote for him is a piss in the wind.

pointless, time-wasting.

1997

Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 474: The politicians and professionals are still offering up the kind of piss-in-the-wind optimism that compels any rational mind to recall another, comparable disaster.

head-over-heels.

1998

Guardian Sport 2 Oct. 16: A nice sharp right-hander on the chin, sent him piss over teakettles, spark out on the greensward.

see piss-poor under piss- pfx

a contemptible person, object or circumstance.

1952

(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 145: And I’m a puddle of piss if anyone is going to make things rough for them while I’m still breathing.