What it means
To lamp someone means to smack them properly, usually with one clean punch rather than a little shove or a bit of playfighting. It’s classic rough British talk you hear in stories about scraps, like he lamped him outside the pub. It’s the moment the mouthy chat dies and it turns properly physical.
Usage examples
"He got lamped outside the chippy for chatting rubbish about the queue. His mate was yelling leave it out while chips hit the pavement."
"The bloke at the chippy in Bradford lamped a customer who had jumped the queue and started shouting at the staff about the wait, the police arrived in eight minutes and everyone left with a story to tell for the next twenty years at the family weddings."
"My uncle lamped a guy at the Saturday match in nineteen ninety-six for a comment about his sister, the stadium stewards escorted them both out the gates without a charge filed, and the two men still ignore each other across the same pub today."
"Keep mouthing off like that and someone's gonna lamp you outside the bookies."
"He lamped him after last orders and the whole street went dead quiet for a second."
Where it comes from
It comes from older British slang where lamp meant the eye or face. In boxing and street talk, to lamp someone was to hit them there hard enough to leave a mark, especially around the eye. That sense carried out of the ring and settled into everyday British slang for decking someone.
