You might guess that bimbos arrived with the first glimpse of Pamela Anderson's Bristol cities.

You certainly could be forgiven for supposing totty came along with Elizabeth Hurley's first gob-smacking appearance with boyfriend Hugh Grant.

But you'd be wrong - bimbos and totty are as old as the hills, when it comes to slang. And the same is true of foxy chicks, judies or red hot mommas.

For it doesn't much matter whether we are talking wimps or fancy men, nookie or bits of fluff, slang goes back a long, long way.

If you don't believe us, 'ave a butchers at the new Oxford Dictionary of Slang, published today by the Oxford University Press.

It's a veritable "unofficial history" of the English language, containing some 10,000 words, including 100 abusive terms for an unpleasant person and 124 words meaning drunk.

As for sex, it attracts a mighty 500 entries including nookie (dating from 1928), knee trembler (1896) and rogering going all the way back to 1711. Editor John Ayto, 49, who has worked on the book for four years, said: "If we included slang for genitalia the total would exceed 600.

"A lot of people are amazed that "modern" slang like bimbo actually dates from 1920. But you wouldn't be surprised if you were American."

There are plenty of other surprises. "What the Dickens!" turns out to have been around 400 years before Charles the author was heard of. People have shelling out since 1801, coining it in since 1863 and "necking" drinks since 1514, while "booze" goes all the way back to 1325.

But at least we have not been too mealy-mouthed in recent times. Mr Ayto assures us on page six of this 450-page tome that lunchbox has only existed since 1992, with Linford Christie given full credit for its use. Slaphead, too, has not been around much longer than Grant Mitchell.

Mr Ayto, a lexicographer, was able to use the huge word data base at the OUP but he also unearthed slang watching films and soaps.

His own favourites is humongous (large), one of the many slang words originating from the film Wayne's World. "I also like Dog's B*******. It seems a most striking way of saying that something is good." WHERE THE DICKENS DOES THIS SLANG COME FROM?

*Brass monkey: (1857). Very cold weather. Mainly used in the phrase" cold enough to freeze the b**** off a brass monkey." Possibly taken from the brass monkey plate on an old man-of-war ship

*Bazookas (1963): Large breasts, taken from portable rocket launcher

*Babelicious (1992): Sexually attractive person. From the film Wayne's World

*What the Dickens! (1598) Used in oaths. Dickens used as a substitute for the devil

*Ganja (1800): Cannabis. From Hindi word ganjha

*Claire Rayners (1997): British rhyming slang for trainers, from the name of the famous agony aunt.

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