Quote:
Originally Posted by plsureking
does "slag" mean skank in the UK?
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Correct
Slag/Slapper is a slang term, used in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, to describe an individual who engages in casual sex and promiscuous behaviour. It originally derives from the same term for piles of impurities skimmed off during the smelting of metals.
Its meaning is broadly similar to the terms "slut" and "skank", and other words used in the same manner include "slapper", "ho" and "scrubber". In Australia, the word "slurry" is also used, in this case the meaning derives from the stone slurry discharged as waste from the mining of metals.
In the 1970s television series The Sweeney, the term 'slag' is often used in both the 'promiscuous woman' sense and also to mean a petty criminal.
Today, usage increasingly finds the word used in the additional context of referring to persons of any gender considered contemptible. It has also been used to mean "insult in jest" or "tease playfully" in Ireland in particular, but also in some parts of Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. To "slag someone off", is to insult or criticise them, not necessarily in a serious way.