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rorty

(British, informal) Boisterous, rowdy, saucy, dissipated, or risqué.

ˈɹɔː(ɹ)tiDocumented since 1900s1900sSilenthistoricalCurrent172 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
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Born ~1903 · 1 year of recorded use
1903Born2026: 2 citationsToday, 2026

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UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK

(British, informal) Boisterous, rowdy, saucy, dissipated, or risqué.

"Tell us a good story, Rodney — one of your rorty ones." / Mr. Rodney shrivelled. / "I fear," he murmured — "I fear I am scarcely in the — er — rorty vein to-night."
Origin: 19th century UK. . Farmer (1903) categorises the term as costermongers' slang. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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  • “I never saw Rawls speak and never met him. But Habermas gave a talk once at UVa at Rorty’s invitation, and I went to hear him. As the kids say, hold my beer.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Question for you about the langue / ecriture thing, though: I don't think Rorty would say that there is such a thing as "langue" aside from the specific utterances that make it up. I.e. the space of language isn't anything other than what is said. What do you think?”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang

UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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