DARK TRADE a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by Helen H. Durrant

  Glossary of English Slang for US readers

  A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital

  Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression

  A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18

  Barm: bread roll

  Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids

  Benefits: social security

  Bent: corrupt

  Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

  Bloke: guy

  Blow: cocaine

  Bob: money

  Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant

  Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

  Charity Shop: thrift store

  Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket

  Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for

  Car park: parking lot

  Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

  Chemist: pharmacy

  Chinwag: conversation

  CID: Criminal Investigation Department

  Clock: punch

  Cock up: mess up, make a mistake

  Common: an area of park land/ or lower class

  Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school

  Cop hold of: grab

  Copper: police officer

  Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit

  CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

  Childminder: someone who looks after children for money

  Council: local government

  Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

  DI: detective inspector

  Done up to the nines: dressed up

  Do a runner: disappear

  Do one: go away

  Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

  DS: detective sergeant

  ED: accident and emergency department of hospital

  Early dart: to leave work early

  Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

  Estate agent: realtor (US)

  Fag: cigarette

  Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

  GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

  Graft: hard work

  Hard nut: tough person

  HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents

  Home: care home for elderly or sick people

  Inne: isn’t he

  Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services

  Jolly: As in “on a jolly,” partying

  Lad: young man

  Lass: young woman

  Lift: elevator

  Lorry: a truck

  Mither: pester

  Mobile phone: cell phone

  Multistorey: Car park with several storeys

  MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area

  Naff: lame, not good

  Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain

  NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK

  Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)

  Northern: from Northern England

  Nowt: nothing

  Nutter: insane person

  Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

  Owt: anything

  Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance

  PC: police constable

  Petrol: gasoline

  Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

  Pissing down: raining

  Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)

  Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.

  Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

  Premier League: top English soccer division

  Querent: person for whom the tarot card reading is done

  Rag: newspaper

  Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window

  Randy: horny

  Right state: messy

  Ring: telephone (verb)

  Roadworks: repairs done to roads

  Rock: boiled candy in cylinders, popular at seaside

  Scroat: low life

  Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

  Shedload: a large amount

  Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way

  Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.

  SIO: senior investigating officer

  Skip: a large open container used for building waste

  Slapper: slag

  Sod: an annoying person

  Sort: to do or make

  Solicitor: lawyer

  Stunner: beautiful woman

  Super: superintendent (police rank)

  Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart

  Tabloid: newspaper

  Tea: Dinner (Northern English)

  Till: cash register

  Tipsy: a bit drunk

  Torch: flashlight

  Tutor: university teacher

  Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)

  Upmarket: affluent or fancy

  VAT: Value added tax, sales tax

  Wash: the washing machine

  Water board: company supplying water to an area

  White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck

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