Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude), can also mean annoy.
   Pissing down: raining
   Playing field: sports field
   Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
   Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
   Post: mail
   Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
   PNC: police national computer
   PSNI: Police Service of Northern Ireland
   Prat: silly idiot
   Premier League: top English soccer division
   Proms: annual concerts held at the Albert Hall
   Public analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
   RAF: Royal Air Force
   Rag: newspaper
   Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
   Randy: horny
   Recce: reconnaissance
   Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
   Resus: resuscitation room
   Right state: messy
   Ring: telephone (verb)
   Roadworks: repairs done to roads
   Rozzers: police
   RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
   RTC: road traffic collision
   RV: rendezvous point
   Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.
   Rugger: rugby (posh American football)
   Sarge: sergeant
   SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command
   Scrote: low life
   Section: to have someone committed to a mental hospital under UK mental health laws
   Semi: semi-detached house, a house with another house joined to it on one side only
   Shedload: a large amount
   Shop: store
   Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way
   Sickie: day off work pretending to be ill
   Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years
   SIO: senior investigating officer
   Skell: tramp or homeless person
   Skip: a large open container used for building waste
   Slapper: slag
   Smackhead: heroin addict
   Snout: police informer
   SOCO: scene-of-crime officer
   Sod: an annoying person
   Sort: to do or make
   Solicitor: lawyer
   Sparky: electrician
   Spook: spy
   Spuds: potatoes
   Squaddie: a soldier of low rank
   Stunner: beautiful woman
   Super: superintendent (police rank)
   Surveyor: someone who examines land and buildings professionally
   Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
   Tabloid: newspaper
   Tea: dinner (Northern English)
   Tea towel: drying cloth
   Till: cash register
   Tip: a mess
   Tipsy: a bit drunk
   Top himself: commit suicide
   Torch: flashlight
   Tutor: university teacher
   Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
   Twoc: steal a car, often just for joyriding
   Upmarket: affluent or fancy
   Wacky baccy: cannabis
   Wally: silly person
   War Cry: Salvation Army magazine
   Wash: the washing machine
   Water board: company supplying water to an area
   White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck
   WI: Women’s Institute, organisation of women in UK for social/cultural activity
   Widow’s weeds: black clothes worn by a widow in mourning
   Wilco: will comply, i.e. ‘yes’
   Wrinklies: old people
   Yellowbelly: native of Lincolnshire
   Yob: a rude or aggressive youth or person
   Yorkie bar: type of chocolate bar
   
   
   
 
 DYING EMBERS an unputdownable psychological thriller full of breathtaking twists Page 33