POLARI–ENGLISH DICTIONARY
(U–W)
Past and present participles and adverbs (as well as comparative and superlative forms of adjectives) are listed under the relevant rootword when expanding upon the English or when the English equivalent is irregularly formed. Proposed Polari words or markers are indicated by an asterisk, while special usage is indicated by a degree sign (°). Note that “filler” words or English vocabulary spelled according to Polari orthography are not specially marked. Very occasionally I have had to bowdlerise the English text so that it would pass most Internet filters in public libraries, for otherwise the availability of my endeavors here would be limited.
u1 n. (pl. -ze). letter U. — doubel u. letter W (double U). [Eng.]
u2 n. (pl. -ze). 1 eye (of needle, potato, etc.: u a dha foof, jube or wilet, nipple)°; see ogel. 2 ball-point (skreeving cheet with a u, ball-point [pen]). u a dha lavz. vowel. [Pola.]
u3 pron. you. A hyphen is used to link u in interrogative sentences (Palari-u Parliv’u? Do you speak French? Pelarved-u chaumeni? Did you say something?. Pauso-u strila dha baush? Can you play the violin?). U appears in capital letters at the beginning of a sentence only; see in wouni, yor (2). [Eng.]
u-fay/k* n. (pl. -x). [= u-fayk fa dha foof, jube or wilet] nipple ring. [Patterned on Pola. “nelli-fayk”, earring.]
Ulo* n. July. [Mock It.]
’una num. one. ’unito. first. ’unitomentay. firstly. — ’una a dha/dhee. one of the. ’una laung lepta. eleven. ’una laung leptito. eleventh. [Parly., from It. “una”, the feminine form of “uno”.]
’una-sayma* n. pair (of a single item: an ’una-sayma a kachiz)
uneeto* adj. united. [Mock It.]
unioni* n. union (all senses: unioni bilaung fayking omiz a dha b’ute, workers’ union). [Mock It.]
’unito see in ’una
’uvr/a* intr./tr. v. (pp./p. t. -ed; -ering gerund/pres. part.). to open (ouvra dha geiga). [Anglicised pronunciation of Fr. “ouvrir” in the imperative mood (“ouvre”).]
uzari* 1 n. use. 2 tr. v. (pp./p. t. -d; -ing gerund/pres. part.). to use
Vaf! voc. Hello! (said upon seeing an attractive person). — O vaf! Goodness [gracious (me)]!/My goodness! Good Lord! Good grief! [Pola acronym., supposedly from “Varda, Absolutely Fantabulosa”, but why not “Very Available for F…ing”, à la “naf”? I treat acronyms of uncertain origin with suspicion. “Chav”, not recognised as Roma., is often explained as an acronym meaning “Council House and Violent/Vulgar” (take your pick). Even “Allemo!”, if it were really from “Lick Me Out!”, would be more accurately rendered “*ellemmo”.]
vajeri variant of vaygeri
vakarya n. (a) [= vakarya fa dha dishiz] record player, gramophone; (b) jukebox; (c) by extension, [any] appliance, machine or [piece of] equipment° (fayk-bagajering vakarya, vibrator; lellibelay pelarvering vakarya, mobile phone°, cell phone° (US). vakarya fa dhee eekaf. camera. [Pola.]
vali* part. yes. — Vali ta/tu …! Yes to …! (slogans). Note that questions asked in the negative are answered in the same way as Eng; see [in] nish, nix, no. [Roma. “ávali”, “owli”; cf., Pers. “balí”.]
vali-dragz see lali-dragz
var* n. (always in sing.). flour (fayking omi a dha var, miller). [Roma. “var”, “waro”.]
vard/a 1 adj. pertaining to seeing, viewing or watching. 2 intr./tr. v. (pp./p. t. -ed; -ering gerund/pres. part.). (a) to look, to see; (b) to take a look at: look at [= varda at], view, watch (varda bona, take a good look at). vardering vakarya. television [set] (varda dha vardering vakarya, watch television). — varda alay. look down (varda alay wouniz vaunka att, look down [one’s nose] at: be scornful or contemptuous of). varda oup. look over. vardereeni. [take a] peep. [Pola., from It. “vedere”.]
varda-hev* n. window
varda-oup* n. oversight, supervision
varda-oup-kove* n. overseer, supervisor
varda-vijhen n. (always in sing.). television (= proposed vardering vakarya, which see in varda). [Hybrid word: Pola. “varda” & Eng. “vision”.]
vardo* n. (a) cart; (b) carriage. vardoleeni. barrow. vardo a dha boura troundeling cheet[z]. [railway] carriage (vardo a dha boura troundeling cheet[z] fa lettiing, sleeper). [Roma. “vardo”, “wardo”. Baker inexplicably confuses this word with Pola. “varda”.]
vauchi n. 1 voice. 2 singer. [Pola., from It “voce”.]
vaudketeeni n. vodka and martini: “vodkatini”. [Eng. slang listed in Baker; properly, not Pola.]
vaunk/a n. (pl. -ez). see aunk. [Pola.; perhaps a variant of aunk; Baker speculates that it may be from some Yidd. word.]
vaygeri 1 n. (a) travel°; (b) journey°, trip°, voyageº. 2 intr. v. (pp./p. t. -d; -ing gerund/pres. part.). (a) to go, to travel; (b) to leave (for another country). — vaygeriing for. bound for. [Pola., from It. corruption of “viaggiare” (cf., variant vajeri), to travel; cf., Baker’s plausible suggestion of “vagare”, to wander, ramble or rove. Note, too, the camp penchant for the word “vague”, as in “vague Vera”, echoed in vaygeri.]
vee n. letter V (vee). [Eng.]
veerr/a1 n. (pl. -ez). gin (veerra an fizi akwa, gin and tonic). [Cockney rhyming slang “Vera Lynn”; i.e., gin, listed in Baker.]
veerr/a2 1 n. (always in sing.). vomit (esp. from drinking too much alcohol). 2 intr./tr. v. (pp./p. t. -ed; -ering gerund/pres. part.). to vomit, to spew. [Gayle.]
veerra-cheet* n. vomit
vello* n. (pl. -ze). bicycle, bike (prig a vello). [Fr. “vélo”; cf., Eng. “velodrome”, from Lat. “velox”, swift.]
velve/t n. (pl. -rtz). 1 vulva. 2 anus (esp. of a man). — tip dha velvet. 1 to perform cunnilingus. 2 to perform anilingus: to rim. tiping dha velvet. 1 cunnilingus. 2 anilingus, rimming. [Gay slang listed in Baker, with echoic “l” & two “v”’s; properly, not Pola.]
ven* n. bowel (wouniz venz, one’s insides or bowels). [Roma. “ven(n)or”, “wendror”, bowels.]
Vennedi* n. Friday. [Anglicised pronunciation of It. “venerdì”.]
v’u* pron. you [joc.], used in “shay v’u” (which see, in shay) or mock Fr. phrases. [Anglicised pronunciation of Fr. “vous”.]
vineeshe/n* n. (pl. -rnz). sequin. [A.-Ind. “venetian”.]
virdi* 1 adj. green. 2 n. green. [Anglicised pronunciation of It. “verde”.]
virdiarjhio* n. (always in sing.). greenness
virs* n. (pl. -iz. poetry). poem, verse. [Eng.]
virsiz-omi* n. (fem.: virsiz-dona/-pelone). poet. [Patterned on Pola. “strilez-omi”.]
vitemin* n. vitamin. [Eng.]
vog/e 1 n. (pl. -ze). cigarette, smoke. vogeeni. small or thin cigarette or cigar (mounj vogeeni, cigarillo). vogoni. cigar. 2 intr. v. (pp./p. t. -de; -ing gerund/pres. part.). to light a cigarette: to light up (voge dha voge, smoke a cigarette). — voge enni wouni oup. light someone’s cigarette. [Pola.]
vogoniz-dadi n. cigar daddy
waule/p 1 n. (pl. -s). dance. 2 intr./tr. v. (pp./p. t. -rpt; -ing gerund/pres. part.; -s 3rd pers.). to dance. wauleping. dancing. wauleping dona. professional female dancer. wauleping omi. (fem.: wauleping pelone) dancer. [Pola., from Eng. “wallop”, from It. “galoppare”; cf., “gallop”.]
waulep/a (pl. -ez). = (proposed) wauleping omi or dona/pelone; see in waulep. [Pola., from waulep.]
wauleppibelay* adj. danceable. — narda wauleppibelay. undanceable
waut see so2
waut-evva adj./adv./pron. whatever. — chaumeni dives, waut-evva! any day! (Tip ya moudha Morrissey chaumeni dives, waut-evva! Give me Morrissey any day!). [Eng.]
wauz see in bee1
wayvi see in kays
web 1 n. web. 2 intr. v. (pp./p. t. -d; -ing gerund/pres. part.). to web. [Eng.]
web-pisha* n. spider
wed intr. v. (pp./p. t. -did; -ding gerund/pres. part.). wed, marry (used mainly in the following: wedding neit, the first time two men have sex together); see in houzben. [Gay slang “wedding night” listed in Baker; properly, not Pola.]
wee see in May wee!
weelz see in lati, troundel
wei n. letter Y (wye). [Eng.]
weil conj. while (Nanti palari weil u mounjari! Don’t speak with your mouth full!). [Eng.]
wen[-cheim], dha* n. winter[time]. — a dha wen[-cheim]. winter (romarjhioze a dha wen, winter fashions). [Roma. “wen”.]
wen-leik* adj. wintry
wennosa* adj. wintry
werz unstressed variant of wauz (which see, in bee)
wesh* n. (always in sing.). wood. weshoni. timber. wesh fa dha hach. firewood. — fraum dha wesh. wooden. fraum dha weshoni. timber. [Roma. “wesh”, forest.]
wil see in bee1
wile/t n. (pl. -rtz). breast (esp. non-sexual, as in breast-feeding). [Pola.]
winke/l n. (pl. -rlz). (a) child’s (boy’s) penis; (b) by extension, small penis. [Pola.]
wir see in bee1
wirsta irreg. adj./adv. worse, as in nanti wirsta. — shee koodev been wirsta. it could have been worse; see in nanti. [Eng. slang.]
wish 1 n. wish. 2 intr. v. (pp./p. t. -t; -ing gerund/pres. part.). wish; see orguri. — Ann u wish! You wish! Not on your life or nelly! [Eng.; cf., Fr. “ouiche!”, not on your life!]
with prep. with. [Eng.]
wood modal. would. wooda = unstressed form of woodev. would have (would’ve). [Eng.]
wort/a* 1 n. 1 (pl. -ez). [bodily] fluid. 2 (always in sing.). (a) the sea: water[s]; (b) water, liquid. 2 intr./tr. v. (pp./p. t. -ed; -ering gerund/pres. part.). to water (worta att dha gor, bleed). Note that worta is not meant to be drunk; see akwa. [Eng. “water”.]
worta-blu* adj. sea-blue, ultramarine
worta-leik* adj. watery
wouni 1 num. one (Parly. alternative to ’una). 2 pron. one, (loosely) you. wouni self. oneself, (loosely) yourself. wounid. one would. wouniz. one’s. — enni wouni. (a) anybody or anyone; (b) somebody or someone. enni wouniz. (a) anybody’s or anyone’s; (b) somebody’s or someone’s. evri wouni. everyone (pir evri wouni, by everyone [contracted to peroni in Lucas 97]). [Parly., from Eng. “one”.]