The games speak Portsmouth. Keep lines short. Don't dump every slang word into every line — sprinkle it so it still reads.
The words
| Phrase | Meaning / use |
|---|---|
| Pompey | Portsmouth. Locals say this; outsiders may still say Portsmouth / portsmuth. |
| mush | A man / bloke. Caring (“Alright mush.”), threatening (“Oi mush.”), or having a laugh. Default friendly address on the street. |
| dinlo | Idiot. Use rarely. |
| dense | Thick / not intelligent. A dense lad talks slow, boasts, and misses the point (Steve). Direction for voice, not a word they say about themselves. |
| squinny | Someone who complains about an “injustice” that's trivial to everyone else. You can be a squinny or squinny about something. |
| scummer | Someone from Southampton. |
| ease up mush | Calm down. Good after a fight or when someone's winding up. |
| copped | Lost temper, annoyed, had enough. Can stretch to copped the needle. “He's copped.” “She's copped the needle.” Ongoing: copping. “Alright you don't need to cop about it.” “I'm not copping, you're copping.” Can also mean took a hit of something. |
| bang out | Knock out with a punch (“I'd bang him out if he said that to me.”). |
| bang out of order | Really not fair (“That's bang out of order.”). Different from bang out. |
| decked | Knocked out. “He proper decked him mush.” Same fight slot as bang out; mix them. |
| batter | Beat up (“I will batter you.”). Challenge energy. |
| lay out | Threaten to flatten someone (“I'll lay 'im out, mush.”). Same fight slot as bang out / decked; this one's the threat. |
| geezer | A man. Can shorten to geez (“Oi geez.”). Same slot as mush; mix them. |
| lakes | Good / crazy. Only people who were young in the 80s — obscure now; younger voices should not know it. |
| cushty | Something's good. Rough speakers only (drunks, denser lads). |
| sweet as nut | OK; also that something is very good. |
| beard | You don't believe someone. Can stretch to beard on tash (“Beard. Beard on tash.”). |
| chore | Steal. “You going down town on the chore?” = are you going into town to nick stuff. |
| shant | Get on the booze. “I love a shant.” “He can ever have a shant.” “I got shanted last night.” “You were shanted mush.” |
| shant on | Cheers — let's go and drink. Said once the drinking's been settled on (“Shant on! Cheers mush.”). Also does as a shrug when something goes wrong and there's always the pub: “Oh well. Shant on.” |
| hanging | Badly hung over. |
| chuffed | Happy / proud (“I'm well chuffed with that.”). If they're too pleased: “Alright mush, what do you want, a chuffdy badge?” |
| dosh | Money (“Aint got the dosh.”). |
| init | Isn't it. Tag on the end of a line (“Cushty init.”). |
| dane tane | Down town. How it sounds when spoken (“I've been dane tane on the shant mush.”). Pairs with chore / shant. |
| grub | Food. |
| slash | Urinate. |
| burn | Cigarette (“Let's have a burn on that then, mush.”). |
| clued up | Knowledgeable. |