Slang & Idioms Starting with "C"

203 entries

• Cabbie A taxi driver.
• Call it a day To stop working and finish for the day
• Call of nature Polite euphemism for needing to use the toilet.
• Camp Exaggerated, theatrical, ironic aesthetics; so bad/over-the-top it's good.
• Can Do Yes, I can do that; affirmative
• Cancel (someone) To publicly boycott someone for problematic behavior.
• Cancelled Publicly rejected and boycotted for problematic behaviour.
• Cannae Can't (Scottish).
• Canny Nice, good, or pleasant (Geordie); clever or shrewd (Scottish/standard).
• Cap To lie; a lie.
• Captain Team leader who wears the armband.
• Car park A parking lot or parking garage.
• Caravan A trailer/camper towed behind a car for holidays (British).
• carry a torch for love someone unrequitedly
• Carving knife Wife.
• Cash cow A reliable source of income; a profitable product or investment.
• Cash in Hand Untaxed cash payment
• Casualty A&E department; emergency room.
• Casualty Person killed, wounded, or missing in action
• Cat got your tongue Why aren't you speaking? Said when someone is unusually quiet.
• Catch Up A meeting to exchange news; to meet and share updates
• Catch Ya Later See you later (casual).
• Catch you later A casual farewell meaning 'I'll see you again soon'
• Catch-up A conversation to share news after not seeing someone for a while
• Catfish Someone who creates a fake online identity to deceive others.
• Catfishing Using fake identity/photos online to deceive (online dating).
• Caught in 4K Caught red-handed with undeniable evidence.
• Caught red-handed Caught in the act of doing something wrong.
• Chalk Farms Arms.
• Chalk it up To record a debt or score; to put drinks on a tab.
• Chamber pot A portable container used as a toilet
• Champion Excellent person (British/Irish)
• Champions League UEFA's premier club competition.
• Chancer Someone who takes risks or tries their luck.
• Changeable Weather that keeps changing.
• Chap Man, fellow (somewhat old-fashioned)
• Charlie British slang for a fool; 'a proper Charlie.'
• Charming Delightfully pleasant.
• Chaser A smaller drink taken after a larger one; typically spirits after beer.
• Chat up To flirt with someone (British)
• Chav British derogatory term for lower-class person with flashy taste.
• Chavtastic Sarcastically celebrating chav culture
• Cheap as Chips Very inexpensive, a great bargain
• Cheapskate A stingy or miserly person.
• Check-up Routine medical examination.
• checkmate defeat with no escape possible
• Cheeky Impudent in an endearing way; playfully rude
• cheeky Nando's casual meal at Nando's restaurant
• Cheeky Sod A cheeky or impudent person.
• Cheel Child (Cornwall/Devon).
• Cheerio A British farewell meaning 'Goodbye'
• Cheers Thank you; goodbye; a toast
• Cheers A British multipurpose word meaning 'thanks,' 'goodbye,' or a toast
• Cheers drive Thank you driver (Bristol bus farewell).
• Cheesed Off Annoyed or fed up
• Chemist Pharmacy, drugstore (British).
• Chest of Drawers Dresser/bureau
• Cheugy Outdated, uncool, or trying too hard to be trendy in a passé way.
• Chickens come home to roost Past misdeeds eventually have consequences; karma.
• Chill To relax; calm and easygoing
• Chilling Relaxing, taking it easy
• Chin Wag A chat or gossip session
• Chin-strapped Extremely exhausted (military slang)
• China Mate (friend).
• Chinless wonder A weak, ineffectual upper-class person
• Chinwag Chat, conversation
• Chip Delicate lob over goalkeeper or defender.
• Chip In Contribute money to a shared cost
• Chip on One's Shoulder Harboring a grudge or feeling of resentment
• Chippy A fish and chip shop (British)
• Chips French fries (British)
• Chirpse Flirt with, chat up (British urban slang).
• Choked Very disappointed or upset
• Chores Routine household tasks
• Chronic Terrible, awful, very bad
• Chronically online Spending too much time on the internet; having views shaped by online discourse.
• Chucking It Down Raining heavily.
• Chuffed Very pleased or delighted about something
• Chum Close friend
• chunder to vomit
• Ciao A borrowed Italian word used as a casual hello or goodbye
• Cider An alcoholic drink made from fermented apple juice.
• Civvies Civilian clothes (non-uniform)
• Civvy Street Civilian life after leaving the military
• Clamming Starving, very hungry (Geordie).
• Clarts Mud, dirt, mess (Geordie/Northern).
• Class Excellent, top quality
• Class act Someone of high quality or great skill
• Classless society Society without class divisions
• Classy Stylish and sophisticated
• Clean as a whistle Completely innocent; free from guilt or wrongdoing.
• clean bill of health official confirmation of good health
• Clean getaway A successful escape without being caught or leaving evidence.
• Clean sheet A game where the goalkeeper concedes no goals.
• Clean sheet bonus Extra pay for keeping a clean sheet.
• clean sweep winning everything in a competition
• Clearing up Weather improving, clouds moving away
• Clever Clogs A know-it-all; someone too clever for their own good.
• Click To instantly get along or understand each other
• Clickbait Sensationalized content designed to attract clicks.
• Climb the ladder To advance in one's career
• Clinical Finishing chances with precision; efficient.
• clink prison
• Cloakroom A toilet (British euphemism, also room for coats)
• Clobber Clothes, outfit (Scouse/Northern).
• Clock in/out To record arrival/departure at work
• clock-watcher someone eager to finish work
• Close Humid and stuffy.
• Clotted cream Thick cream heated until it forms a crust (British)
• Clouding Over Becoming cloudy.
• Clout Influence, fame, or social media following.
• Clown A foolish or unserious person
• Clutch victory A win achieved under high pressure at a crucial moment.
• coach long-distance bus
• Cobblers Nonsense; also testicles.
• Cock and bull story An unbelievable or far-fetched tale; a lie.
• Cock and hen Ten (pounds).
• Cock-up A mistake or blunder; to make a mess of something.
• Coining it Making a lot of money quickly
• Cold snap A sudden period of cold weather
• Cold turkey Stopping an addiction abruptly without tapering off.
• collar arrest / to arrest someone
• Collared Caught or arrested; grabbed by the collar.
• Collateral damage Unintended harm to civilians or property; secondary consequences
• Come a cropper To fail badly or have an accident.
• come down with to catch an illness
• Come into money To inherit or suddenly receive money
• Come out on top To end up as the winner or in the best position.
• Come up trumps To succeed unexpectedly or produce a good result.
• Comfort break A pause in proceedings for people to use the toilet
• Comfort station A public toilet (American euphemism)
• Coming down in stair-rods Raining extremely heavily, with rain falling in thick, straight lines.
• Coming down with Starting to get ill with something.
• Common Vulgar, lower class (derogatory)
• Common as muck Extremely vulgar or lower class
• Comms Communications (military abbreviation)
• Commute The journey between home and work
• Comp Comprehensive school (informal)
• Comprehensive Non-selective state secondary school
• con trick or swindle / convict
• Consultant Senior specialist doctor (British NHS rank).
• Content Material created for social media; things to post.
• contraflow traffic using opposite lane
• Cooker Stove, oven
• Cop off Hook up with, successfully attract someone (British).
• Cop out To avoid responsibility or take the easy way out.
• Copium Imaginary drug for coping with loss or disappointment; denial.
• Copycat Someone who imitates another; a person who copies.
• Corking Excellent, splendid (old-fashioned).
• Corner Kick from corner when defence puts ball out.
• Cost a Bomb Very expensive
• Cost an Arm and a Leg Extremely expensive
• Cot Baby's crib
• Couch Potato A lazy person who watches lots of TV.
• Cough Up To reluctantly pay or hand over money
• Council estate Social housing development
• Council house Social housing provided by local government
• Coupled up In a relationship, paired romantically (British).
• Courgette Zucchini (British)
• Cow British insult for a woman; unpleasant or unkind woman.
• Crabbit Grumpy, bad-tempered (Scottish).
• Crack On To continue or proceed energetically; to flirt with
• Crackers Crazy, insane (British informal).
• Cracking Excellent, very good
• Cranky Irritable or bad-tempered
• Crap Vulgar term for faeces; also means rubbish, nonsense, or poor quality.
• Crapper Crude slang for toilet; named after Thomas Crapper.
• Crash To sleep suddenly or stay somewhere overnight.
• Crash and burn To fail completely and spectacularly.
• Cream crackered Knackered (exhausted).
• Cream tea Tea served with scones, clotted cream, and jam (British)
• Cretin An insult meaning stupid person; originally medical term.
• Crikey Exclamation of surprise; euphemism for 'Christ.'
• Cringe Embarrassing or awkward; causing secondhand embarrassment.
• Crisp Cold, fresh, and clear
• Crisps Potato chips (British)
• Crocodile tears False, insincere tears; pretending to be sad.
• Crook Sick or unwell (Australian).
• Crooked Dishonest, corrupt, or involved in crime.
• Crooked as a dog's hind leg Very dishonest; thoroughly corrupt.
• Cross Ball played from wide into penalty area.
• Crud Euphemism for 'crap' or 'curd'; something unpleasant or rubbish.
• Crumble Fruit dessert with topping
• Crunch time An intense period of hard work before a deadline
• Crushed it Did extremely well
• crushing it achieving outstanding success
• Cry over spilt milk To waste time being upset about something that cannot be undone
• Crying Shame Something that is very unfortunate or deplorable
• crypto bro aggressive cryptocurrency enthusiast
• Cup run Progression through knockout rounds of cup competition.
• Cupboard Cabinet, closet
• Cuppa A cup of tea (British)
• Cuppa char A cup of tea (British old slang)
• Curiosity killed the cat Being too inquisitive can be dangerous
• Currant bun Sun; also The Sun newspaper.
• Curtain twitcher A nosy neighbour who spies on others
• Curveball An unexpected or deceptive situation or question.
• Cushty Great, excellent, easy
• Cushy Easy and comfortable, requiring little effort
• Cushy number An easy, comfortable job or position
• Custard Sweet sauce/dessert
• Cut your losses To abandon a failing venture to prevent further loss.
• Cut-glass accent A very refined, upper-class accent