British Slang For Pajamas (12 Examples!)

Pajamas are one of those things which simply tend to attract slang terms, for one reason or another.

Among other things, with pajamas, it’s the simple linguistic elasticity of the word itself that lends it so well to so much varied slang.

In Britain, this is just as true as it is anywhere else.

There are lots of different slang terms referring to pajamas, and today we’re going to look at a wide selection of these terms.

Let’s get started.

In This Article

Jammies

First up we have a classic and perhaps one of the most common slang terms for pajamas in Britain, jammies.

Your jammies are your pyjamas, both the top and bottom part of your pajamas—though usually just the legs.

This term is used across Britain, and is understood on the cities of the south coast of England all the way to the northern reaches of Scotland.

It originates, funnily enough, in Hindi, wihere the word payjama means “leg garment”.

Pajamas are often thought of in Britain as leg garments.

Jamees

Another common variation of jammies is “jamees”.

This one is, unsurprisingly, nowhere near as common as jammies, but you may still see it written down from time to time.

It’s worth clearing that up to avoid any conclusion. It’s simply a “corruption” of the original spelling—it just naturally changed to this spelling over time in some parts of the country.

Pajamies

Next we have “pajamies”.

This one is not as common as jammies, but is still fairly widely used nonetheless.

Your pajamies are your pyjamas, again usually the legs but it can include a t-shirt or whatever you might wear on your upper half as pyjamas.

We aren’t sure when this one started being used.

Changing the ending of a word to a –y sound is a very common convention of slang, though it seems to have been sometime in the last couple of decades.

Pajamjams

Next we have pajamjams, which, though not terribly common, is still a widely used slang term in Britain for pajamas.

It simply means any pajamas, though again, more commonly refers to the bottom half of your pajamas—your trouser bottoms.

Etymologically speaking, again, we can’t say a great deal about this term.

It’s simply an alteration of pajamas, adding extra syllables.

We don’t know when it came into use.

Jim-jams

Jim-jams is probably the second most common slang term for pajamas in Britain, after jammies.

It’s again very common throughout Britain, used in England, Scotland and Wales.

It tends to be something you would use with children, rather than adults, though.

Jim-jams in itself is a fairly complex word with a long history and lots of different meanings, including a certain kind of jitters.

The history of the slang term for pyjamas unfortunately gets lost in that history, although it isn’t much older than the 20^th Century.

PJs

PJs is quite universal in the English speaking world, but it’s so ubiquitous in Britain that it definitely bears mentioning.

As you may already know, PJs just shortens the word pajamas into initialism.

PJs refers to your whole pajama set up though, once again, more commonly to the trousers.

Again, the term itself relates back to the Hindi word meaning a leg garment.

So, you can see why legs are important here.

Fudgies

Next we have fudgies, which may certainly seem out of left field from what we’ve heard so far.

Admittedly, fudgies is largely an archaic term which doesn’t get a great deal of use anymore.

That said, you may still hear it from time to time.

It usually means the whole pajama outfit, and we don’t really know where this term originated.

It seems, though, to have been a Victorian invention.

Simon Schamas

Moving further out of left field, we have “Simon Schamas”.

This is what’s called Cockney rhyming slang.

This is a slang term used for pajamas in some parts of London, where this convention of rhyming slang is prevalent.

Simon Schama is a well-known historian and TV presenter who makes documentaries.

Other than the rhyme, the man himself has no connection whatsoever to the word pajamas!

Walkers

One very common sight in Britain, and indeed across the world, is people headed out to the corner shop in their pajamas.

In Britain, when you hear someone talk about “walkers” or their own “walkers”, what they mean is the kind of pajamas you would go to the shop in.

This could, of course, be any kind of pajama depending on the person.

Pajamize

Another peripheral slang term for pajamas in Britain is “pajamize”.

This refers to the act of putting on your pajamas at night or perhaps after work, getting ready to relax.

It’s not used everywhere, and may not be understood in some regions, but it is used mostly in parts of England. “I can’t wait to get home from work and pajamize,” for example.

Again, we don’t really know when or where this term originated—though it certainly seems to be quite recent.

Jammi up

Following on from that, another slang way of referring to the act of putting on your pajamas is to say “jammi up”—meaning you’re going to get into your pajamas ready to relax or go to bed.

Again, not terribly common, but you may hear it in Britain nonetheless.

Pajangle

Finally, we have pajangle, a somewhat recent term which seems to be catching on.

It does have a different meaning in other parts of the English speaking world, so be sure to clear up any confusion!

But in Britain it just refers to your pajamas.

“I’ve just got the comfiest new pajangle,” for example.

The British definitely are not short on slang terms for pajamas, then.

They have one for just about every occasion, and one for just about every age group or regional dialect.

Slang terms for pajamas tend to arise very commonly out of the simple fact that most people wear them, and they are an inherently informal item of clothing—leading to a great deal of slang terms to describe them.

More in British Slang

Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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