Sack/Sack something off (v.): to stop, bring to an end; leave, reject. ‘It wouldn't be the end of the world if they had to sack it’ (Sampson 1999: 442). ‘Tempted to sack the whole friggin thing off’ (Griffiths 2003: 95). Recorded from l.20c.; an extension of m.20c. ‘sack’, ‘reject a suitor, partner’; from e.19c. ‘sack’, ‘dismiss from a job’.

Saddy (adj.): cruel. ‘Saddy: Cruel’ (Lane 1966: 92). *NR; from ‘sadistic’.

Sag (v.): to play truant. ‘In defiance of the Education Act and Liverpool Education Committee, I “sagged” (played truant)’ (Whittaker 1934: 149–50). ‘If a lad should sag school (i.e., play truant …)’ (Shaw 1950b: 4). ‘Sagging. This is definitely the prevailing term [for playing truant] amongst delinquents in all parts of Liverpool’ (Opie and Opie 1959: 372). ‘Sagging is playing truant’ (Armstrong 1966: 6). ‘We often go up there when we're sagging school’ (Bleasdale 1975: 43). ‘Bunk off (i.e. school) Playing truant, i.e. Sagg off’ (Spiegl 1989: 19). ‘Lerrim go cos we sagged a few classes together?’ (Griffiths 2003: 50). ‘Sagging – Playing truant’ (Callaghan 2011 [1910s–30s]: viii). Recorded from e.20c.; all sources specify ‘sag’ as local to Liverpool; possibly an extension of 16c. nautical sense of ‘movement or tendency to leeward’, hence drifting or being carried out of the intended course.

Sage a mint a parsley (phr.): herb-sellers’ cry. ‘Sage-ermint-er-parsley!: A very old street cry shouted by female vendors, mostly outside St. John's Market’ (Lane 1966: 92). ‘Mary Ellens cried their wares of “sage-a-mint-a-parsley”’ (Unwin 1984 [1920s–30s]: 76). *NR; this was a familiar call in Liverpool city centre until the 1960s.

Sailortown (n.): area of Liverpool dominated by seamen. ‘Sailortown was the main district, lying close to the river’ (Hall 2004 [1939]: 10).