butt

en-verb

butt (third-person singular simple present butts, present participle butting, simple past and past participle butted)

butts (present singular third-person)
butting (participle present)
butted (participle past)
butted (past)

From Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman buter, boter (“to push, butt, strike”), from Frankish *bautan (“to hit, beat”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to beat, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push, strike”). Cognate with Old English bēatan (“to beat”). More at beat.

һөҙөшөү

(intransitive) to strike bluntly with the head

Teacher! He just butted me!

Additionally, kids are pinched, fondled, propositioned, and hit; and it all goes unseen amid the general confusion and nonspecific orders from the cafeteria supervisors who are yelling things like, "Keep it down, you people!" "No butting!" "Wait your turn, boys!" All of which sound as though there is law and order, just no actual justice to the victim.

2016, Chandler, Dan, Bullying in Plain Sight: How Inattentive Adults Encourage the School Bullies, Mustang, O.K.: Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC, →ISBN, page 45:

(transitive, intransitive, eastern Canada, parts of the northeastern US) To cut in line (in front of someone).


hundredweight

en-noun

hundredweight (plural hundredweight or hundredweights)

hundredweight (plural)
hundredweights (plural)
cwt. (alternative abbreviation)

→ Middle Bengali: *হন্দর্দ (*hondord)

Bengali: হন্দর (hondor)

A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as

(Canada, US) A unit of measurement containing 100 avoirdupois pounds (about 45.4 kg).


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

I want to get there early; let's roll.

(chiefly US, Canada, colloquial, intransitive) To leave or begin a journey; sometimes with out.

OK guys, we're only down by two points. Let's roll!

(chiefly US, Canada, colloquial, intransitive) To compete, especially with vigor.


cider

en-noun

cider (countable and uncountable, plural ciders)

→ Bulgarian: са́йдер (sájder)

→ Finnish: siideri

→ Jersey Dutch: sâiter

→ Japanese: サイダー (saidā)

→ Korean: 사이다 (saida)

[ˈsʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)]

From Middle English sider, cidre, sidre, from Old French cisdre, sidre (“beverage made from fermented apples”), from Medieval Latin sīcera, from Ancient Greek σίκερα (síkera, “fermented liquor, strong drink”), from Hebrew שֵׁכָר (šēḵār, “liquor”). Doublet of cyser. Displaced native English apple wine.

der

Apfelsaft (may be specified as trüber Apfelsaft)

са́йдер

non-alcoholic sparkling beverage (apple)

サイダー

non-alcoholic sparkling beverage (lemon-lime)

The procedures for cyser are identical to cider with a notable exception: honey is a much more complex sugar than cane or corn sugars, meaning honey takes a long time to clear and an even longer time (at least six months) to ferment out[…]

1995, Paul Correnty, The Art of Cidermaking, Brewers Publications:

(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) An alcoholic, often sparkling (carbonated) beverage made from fermented apples; hard cider; apple cider.

She liked an aged cider. He liked a harder cider.

(US, Canada) A non-alcoholic still beverage consisting of the juice of early-harvest apples, usually unfiltered and still containing pulp; apple cider; sweet cider (without pulp such a beverage is called apple juice).


vest

From French veste (“a vest, jacket”), from Latin vestis (“a garment, gown, robe, vestment, clothing, vesture”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis, from *wes- (“to be dressed”) (English wear). Cognate with Sanskrit वस्त्र (vastra) and Spanish vestir.

The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

(Canada, US) A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.

chalequillo m (Southern Spain, especially Seville - in this city, "chaleco" means "sweater" or "jumper")


EI

en-noun

EI (countable and uncountable, plural EIs)

(Canada) Initialism of employment insurance.


military

en-adj

military (not generally comparable, comparative more military, superlative most military)

more military (comparative)
most military (superlative)
milertary (alternative archaic pronunciation-spelling)

From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militaire.

If you join a military force, you may end up killing people.

(Canada, US) Relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force (often as distinguished from civilians or police forces).

զինվորական

(North America) relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force


transfer

en-noun

transfer (countable and uncountable, plural transfers)

/tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/

From Latin trānsferō (“I bear across”). Distant doublet of translate. See also collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.

transfer student
transfer student#English

(US, Canada, varsity sports) Ellipsis of transfer student.


res

(Canada, US, informal) Clipping of reservation or reserve.

(Canada, South Africa) Clipping of residence.


lush

en-adj

lush (comparative lusher, superlative lushest)

lusher (comparative)
lushest (superlative)

From Middle English lusch (“slack, relaxed, limp, loose”), from Old English *lysċ, lesċ (“slack; limp”), from Proto-West Germanic *laskw, from Proto-Germanic *laskwaz (“weak, false, feeble”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēy- (“to let; leave behind”).
Akin to Old English lysu, lesu (“false, evil, base”), Middle Low German lasch (“slack”), Middle High German er-leswen (“to become weak”), Old Norse lǫskr (“weak, feeble”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍃𐌹𐍅𐍃 (lasiws, “weak, feeble”), Middle Low German las, lasich (“slack, languid, idle”), Low German lusch (“loose”). Doublet of lusk. More at lishey, lazy.

cog

Your voice is lush, Lucy! I could listen to it all day!

(British, Canada, slang) Amazing, cool, fantastic, wicked.


palaver

en-noun

palaver (countable and uncountable, plural palavers)

→ Danish: palaver

→ Finnish: palaveri

→ German: Palaver

→ Hungarian: paláver

→ Swedish: palaver

Originally nautical slang, from Portuguese palavra (“word”), from Late Latin parabola (“parable, speech”). The term's use (especially in Africa) mimics the evolution of the word moot. As such, for sense development, see moot. Doublet of parable, parole, and parabola.

doublet

Frances pulled his hair heartily, and then went and seated herself on her husband’s knee, and there they were, like two babies, kissing and talking nonsense by the hour—foolish palaver that we should be ashamed of.

1847, Emily Brontë, chapter III, in Wuthering Heights:

These remarks were received with a differing demonstration: some of the company declaring that if the Dutchman cared to come round and smoke a pipe they would be glad to see him—perhaps he'd show where the thumbscrews had been put on; others being strongly of the opinion that they didn't want any more advice—they had already had advice enough to turn a donkey's stomach. What they wanted was to put forth their might without any more palaver; to do something, or for some one; to go out somewhere and smash something, on the spot—why not?—that very night.

1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima, London: Macmillan and Co.:

Knowing full well the right time and the wrong time for a palaver of regret and disavowal, this battalion struggled in the desperation of despair.

Some of the palavers could take half a day.

1979, V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River:

(Canada, US, archaic in Britain) Talk, especially unnecessary talk; chatter. [from 18th c.]


tchotchke

tchotchkes (plural)
chachka (alternative)
chatchka (alternative)
chatchke (alternative)
chotchke (alternative)
tsatske (alternative)
tshatshke (alternative)
tsotchke (alternative)

/ˈt͡ʃɒt͡ʃkə/

/ˈt͡ʃɑt͡ʃkə/

Borrowed from Yiddish טשאַטשקע (tshatshke, “ornament; trinket; toy; (figurative) attractive girl or woman”), from a Slavic language and probably ultimately imitative of a baby’s utterances.
Slavic cognates
* Polish cacko (“toy; knick-knack, trinket; pretty thing”), from caca (“nice thing”), and czaczko (“(obsolete) toy; trinket; pretty thing”)
* Russian ца́цка (cácka, “(informal) knick-knack, trinket; (dated) toy”), from ца́ца (cáca, “toy; trinket; well-behaved child; nice person; conceited person”)
* Ukrainian ца́цка (cácka, “(dated) toy; ornament, trinket; conceited person; well-dressed person”), from ца́ца (cáca, “toy; well-behaved child; conceited person; attractive woman”)

cog

We're stuck with: 14 Provincial & Modern Kitchen chairs— […] 23 assorted Lamps and miscellaneous "Tchotchkes"! Help us unload.

1957 September 18, “You’re often sorry later when you don’t—plan ahead [Affiliated Home Distributors advertisement]”, in Citizen-News, Valley edition, volume 53, number 147, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: Harlan G. Palmer, →OCLC, page 6C, columns 3–4:

Barbra Streisand's ambition: to open a knick-knack shop called "Tchotchkes" (Yiddish for "knick-knacks") …

[1969 November 10, Earl Wilson, “Names make news items”, in J. Ray Hunt, editor, Philadelphia Daily News, volume XLV, number 190, Philadelphia, Pa.: Triangle Publications, →OCLC, page 45, column 1:

The idea of a discount operation, of course, is that it shouldn't look like a boutique. Presumably the price tags are decoration enough. "Décor doesn't add to the glamour of a suit," an owner pointed out. "You're not buying the rugs or the lamps or the tsatskes."

1974 July 12, Georgia Dullea, “Inflation-weary men turn to discount stores”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-04-06, page 31:

I am a child of modernism – […] As such I have inherited a distrust of the tchotchke, which I have still – even as the house I was raised in of course had its share of (modernist) tchotchkes: the Asian art, the Danish designware, the Indian pottery, the MoMA catalogues.

1998 April, Mark Rakatansky, “A/Partments”, in Assemblage, number 35, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, paragraph 45, page 58:

With limited cash and a thirst for uncommon sights, backpackers have pushed into challenging territory well before the big-money resorts or tchotchke merchants.

1999 August 8, Jesse McKinley, “The avant-garde: Follow that backpack”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-09-17, page 5.16:

The awsome dissonance of Psycho works independently even as it instantly evokes Norman Bates's stabbing knife and Marion Crane's helpless scream. Once again [Alfred] Hitchcock overturned the convention that music must remain subliminally in the background of a film: […] in its quiet moments, it roams grimly wherever it pleases, investing the most banal images—a toy, a car on an empty highway, a suitcase on a bed, a tchotchke of folding hands—with dread.

2006, Jack Sullivan, “Psycho”, in Hitchcock’s Music, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 244:

“The night market is a bit like the famous Italian street fairs of Little Italy. Very diverse. Lots of different cultures represented. Sticky shit all over the ground. And a good place to pillage or barter tchotchkes.”

2022 July 26, William Meny & Paul Simms, “The Night Market” (5:01 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 4, episode 4, spoken by Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak):

A small ornament of minor value; a knick-knack, a trinket.

My mother is still convinced that her little boy doesn't eat enough (I've gained 15 pounds the last six months), and that he doesn't get enough sleep (I average a good nine hours a night), […] She is always giving me advice, chiding me for the error of my ways, warning me not to drive too fast, and in general behaving as if her tsatske hasn't got enough sense to get in out of the rain.

[1947 December 15, Sydney J[ustin] Harris, “Strictly Personal: Harris says offspring always children to mom”, in Waterloo Daily Courier, volume 89, number 298, Waterloo, Iowa: W. H. Hartman Company, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:

He looked Elinor over appraisingly as she seated herself on the banquette between him and Jake. "A real tsatskeh," he said with approval.

1970, Stanley Ellin, chapter 19, in The Bind, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC, page 94:

The Business Section of the admirable New York Times once published advertisements that showed a full-bosomed tchotchke in a very skimpy bra and panties leaning forward invitingly. The caption under this photograph read: / hi—i'm evelyn / and I'm Available / for / Trade Shows / Conventions / Business Meetings

1978, Leo [Calvin] Rosten, “The Glories of the Press”, in Passions & Prejudices: Or, Some of My Best Friends are People, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Book Company, →ISBN, page 41:

(figurative, dated, chiefly in Jewish contexts) An attractive girl or woman.


pump

The etymology of the term is unclear and disputed. One possibility is that it comes from pomp (“ornamentation”). Another is that it refers to the sound made by the foot moving inside the shoe when dancing. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that it appeared in the 16th century, and lists its origin as "obscure". It has also been linked to the Dutch pampoesje, possibly borrowed from Javanese pampus, ultimately from Persian پاپوش (pâpuš), borrowed from Arabic بَابُوش (bābūš).

unk

obscure

der

Arabic بَابُوش (bābūš)

She was wearing a lovely new pair of pumps.

(chiefly Canada, US) A type of women's shoe which leaves the instep uncovered and has a relatively high heel, especially a stiletto (with a very high and thin heel)


ass over teacups

ass over teakettle
ass over teakettle#English

(Canada, US) Synonym of ass over teakettle.


CN

Canadian National
Canadian National#English

(Canada) Initialism of Canadian National: a national trans-continental railway of Canada.


LC

en-noun

LC (countable and uncountable, plural LCs)

liquor commission
liquor commission#English

(Canada) Initialism of liquor commission.


fibre

fibre (countable and uncountable, plural fibres)

tlb

(British, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa spellings)

From French fibre, from Old French, from Latin fibra.

The microscope showed several different fibres stuck to the sole of the shoe.

(countable) A single piece of a given material, elongated and roughly round in cross-section, often twisted with other fibres to form thread.

Under this map, any two values in the fibre of a given point on the circle differ by 2π.

(mathematics) The preimage of a given point in the range of a map.

säie

mathematics: preimage of a given point in the range of a map

(category theory) Said to be of a morphism over a global element: The pullback of the said morphism along the said global element.

It is the deeper parts of such cells which give rise to delicate muscular fibres or networks of fibres, while the superficially placed body of the cell myoblast), the part which produces the above, performs other functions, and usually bears a cilium.

1892, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Claus, edited by F. G. Heathcote, Elementary Text-book of Zoology:

(cytology) A long tubular cell found in bodily tissue.


babe magnet

Donald Rumsfeld had become a sex symbol. She observed that he was called a “virtual rock star” on CNN, a “babe magnet” on Fox, and “Rumstud” by the president.

Those of you who were in diapers during this time may not understand this, but Drakkar Noir was considered a serious babe magnet back in the day.

2011 November 3, Ta-Nehisi Coates, quoting shamu1 (Il Mondo di Odore), “Marketing to the Maxim Set, Cont.”, in The Atlantic:

(chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic, slang) Synonym of chick magnet


principal

en-noun

principal (countable and uncountable, plural principals)

principals (plural)
principall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English principal, from Old French principal, from Latin prīncipālis.

Principal (education)
Principal value
principal

The important administrative figure to the teacher is the school principal.

1971, Louis Kaplan, Education and Mental Health, page 413:

The problem was neatly summed up by one principal in Australia who said recently: ‘There is no incentive for me to develop my best teachers to become my successor.[…]’

2008, Brian Dive, The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability, page 212:

Now renamed Teaching Australia, its officers are undertaking exploratory steps in developing professional standards for school leaders. A National Standards Drafting Group of volunteer principals is currently drafting principal standards (Teaching Australia, 2007).

2009, Colin J. Marsh, Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum, page 132:

2011, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2011-2012, page 45,
Principals are now being held more accountable for the performance of students and teachers, while at the same time they are required to adhere to a growing number of government regulations.

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The chief administrator of a school.

1967, University of Edinburgh Graduates′ Association, University of Edinburgh Journal, Volumes 23-24, page 314,
Unlike the students, Principal Robertson, who now resided almost alone in the College, continued to use the accustomed route on his visits to the Old Town; and it “became the joke of the day that from being the principal gate it had become only a gate for the Principal.”⁵

Coordinate term: bursar

(UK, Canada) The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

মুহতামিম

(Canada, US) A partner or owner of a business.


boot camp

From boot in the US military slang sense of “new recruit” + camp.

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) Initial, basic indoctrination, physical fitness training and basic instruction in service-related subjects for new recruits in the armed forces (army, Air Force, navy and Marine Corps).

(chiefly Canada, US) A short, intensive, quasi-military program generally aimed at young offenders as an alternative to a jail term.

puni whakaara

a short, intensive, quasi-military program generally aimed at young offenders as an alternative to a jail term

We will institute a boot camp for training the sales force in these new products.

(chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic) Any short, often intensive course of training.


prior

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin prior (“earlier, former, previous, prior; in front; (figurative) better, superior”), from Proto-Italic *priōs (“earlier, previous”, literally “more before”), ultimately from *pri (“before”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pró (“leading to, toward”) and its etymon *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-jōs (suffix forming comparative adjectives). Doublet of before, fore, and former.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

der

априорное распределение вероятностей

And a little later we get the routine report on his prints from Washington, and he's got a prior back in Indiana, attempted hold-up six years ago.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1966, →OCLC, page 47:

(Canada, US, law enforcement, chiefly in the plural) A previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone's criminal record.

досие

previous arrest or criminal conviction on someone’s criminal record


flounder

From Middle English flowndre, from Anglo-Norman floundre, from Old Northern French flondre, from Old Norse flyðra, from Proto-Germanic *flunþrijǭ. Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

Blackfishing from the beach. I've done my research. Hundreds of shipwrecks line the Jersey coast, and many of them are close enough to reach with a long cast on a dead-low tide. These wrecks hold tautog, porgies, sea bass, flounder.

2014, Nick Honachefsky, The Jersey Surf Diaries:

(Canada, US) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.


honcho

en-verb

honcho (third-person singular simple present honchos, present participle honchoing, simple past and past participle honchoed)

honchos (present singular third-person)
honchoing (participle present)
honchoed (participle past)
honchoed (past)

From Japanese 班(はん)長(ちょう) (hanchō, “squad leader”), from 19th c. Mandarin 班長 /班长 (bānzhǎng, “team leader”). Probably entered English during World War II: many apocryphal stories describe American soldiers hearing Japanese prisoners-of-war refer to their lieutenants as hanchō.

der

I had never honchoed that many people so even something as simple as ordering them to knead dough or fondant became an important decision.

2010, Buddy Valastro, Cake Boss, Simon and Schuster, published 2020, →ISBN, page 142:

The task of choosing the clips that comprised the allotted 10 minutes in the bake-off was left to the supervising sound editor, as it was he or she who honchoed the preparation of the soundtrack for the rerecording mixing stage in the first place.

2012, David Lewis Yewdall, Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN:

(transitive, informal, Canada, US) To lead or manage.


tyke

From Middle English tike, tyke, from Old Norse tík (“female dog”), from Proto-Germanic *tīkō. Compare Icelandic tík, Faroese tík, and Swedish tik, all meaning “bitch”.
Sense 5 (“Roman Catholic”) is an alteration of taig, and was first used in writing in the early 20ᵗʰ century.

(colloquial) A small child, especially a cheeky or mischievous one.

(Canada) Designating an initiation level of sports competition for young children.


anyways

From any + adverbial genitive of way (compare always).

"Anyways," said the damsel, "I am glad punishment followed, and I say so."

1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “book 2, chapter 12”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

(conjunctive, informal, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Anyway, anyhow, in any case.


lodge

→ Dutch: lodge

From Middle English logge, from Old French loge (“arbour, covered walk-way”), from Frankish *laubijā (“shelter; arbour”), from Proto-West Germanic *laub (“leaf; folliage”) (whence English leaf).
See also (compare cognate Medieval Latin lobia, laubia; also Old High German louba (“porch, gallery”) (German Laube (“bower, arbor”)), Old High German loub (“leaf, foliage”), Old English lēaf (“leaf, foliage”). Doublet of loggia and lobby.

cog

[H]e walked across Hawthorn Tree Court on his way to the porter's lodge. […] At the lodge he cleared his pigeon-hole.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 39:

Ellipsis of porter's lodge: a building or room near the entrance of an estate or building, especially (UK, Canada) as a college mailroom.


chopper

Pomatomus saltatrix
Pomatomus saltatrix#Translingual

(Canada, US) The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).


sally

(slang, drugs, Canada, US) The crystalline or powdered form of MDA.


mommy

→ Hebrew: מָאמִי (mámi)

The only bad-karma-reducing sposie on the market is a new line of biodegradable (meaning here "useless") sposie that won't last through the lightest of baby pees and will force you to change baby approximately once every thirty seconds, thereby completely undoing any so-called karma reduction. Only bad mommies use sposies.

2012, Willow Yamahchi, Bad Mommy, Insomniac Press, →ISBN, page 91:

They will never part even though in mommy's heart she wishes daddy would leave forever. One grief-some January 25 mommy rested never to return for her and daddy went on a walk. “Where is mommy”, said baby but daddy couldn't talk.

2015, Paul Easter, Consciousness Before Conscience:


mommy

en-verb

mommy (third-person singular simple present mommies, present participle mommying, simple past and past participle mommied)

mommies (present singular third-person)
mommying (participle present)
mommied (participle past)
mommied (past)

(US, Canada, rare, informal) To treat someone like a mother would; to mother someone.


mommy

en-adj

mommy (comparative mommier, superlative mommiest)

mommier (comparative)
mommiest (superlative)

She is the mommiest of mommies.

I am smack-dab in the middle of the mommiest years of my life. There are toys strewn across my once-pristine floors, goldfish crackers in my couch cushions, and empty juice boxes in my car.

2013, Erin MacPherson, The Christian Mama's Guide to Having a Baby:

(US, Canada, rare, informal, chiefly in the superlative) Characteristic of a mother; motherly.


bodark

It was a bo’dark sapling I had found in my travels.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 17:

(Canada, US) The Osage orange tree or its wood.


boo

From beau, from French beau. First appears c. 1988 in the Washington Post: See the cite below.

A tall, hooded young woman, clutching a newspaper article, delivered a note to the judge. “My name is Sunkist,” she wrote, “Lionel R. Harris is my boyfriend. Lewis shot my Boo and it was not self-defense . . . . Judge and jurors please listen to me I am 17 years of {age} and a good young lady and my Boo got killed for nothing.”

1988 December 22, Barton Gellman, “Judge Orders Mistrial In D.C. Slaying Case; Jury Unable to Reach Verdict After 10 Days”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page D1:

At night I think of you / I want to be your lady, maybe / If your game is on give me a call, boo / If your lovin' strong, gonna give my all to you

1996, “My Boo”, performed by Ghost Town DJ's:

No matter what I do / All I think about is you / Even when I'm with my boo

2002, “Dilemma”, in Nellyville, performed by Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland:

“Something about having to call her boo because he was getting off work and he likes to talk to her for at least half of his commute home.”

2021, Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl, Bloomsbury, page 309:

(US, Canada, African-American Vernacular, slang) A close acquaintance or significant other.


peevish

peevish (comparative more peevish, superlative most peevish)

more peevish (comparative)
most peevish (superlative)
pevish (alternative)
pievish (alternative)

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English pievish, peuysche, pevish, pevysh (“capricious, wilful; perverse, wayward”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from one of the following:
* From an unattested Old French word, from Latin perversus (“corrupted, perverted, subverted; overthrown”), the perfect passive participle of pervertō (“to corrupt, subvert; to overthrow”), from per- (prefix meaning ‘intensively, thoroughly’) + vertō (“to turn; to turn upside down, overturn, overthrow, subvert”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate; to turn”)). However, the Oxford English Dictionary says this derivation “presents some formal difficulties”.
* From Middle French *expaive + -ish (similar to; somewhat, rather). *Expaive is an unattested variant of Middle French espave, Old French espave (“(adjective) of an animal: stray; of a person: foreign; (noun) flotsam; lost property”) (referring to the behaviour of stray animals; modern French épave), from Latin expavidus (“extremely frightened or horrified”), from ex- (intensifying prefix) + pavidus (“fearful, terrified; quaking, trembling; shy, timid”) (from paveō (“to be afraid; fear; to quake or tremble with fear”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *paw- (“to hit, strike”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives)).
The adverb is derived from the adjective.

der

Serene he bears the peeviſh eaſtern blaſt, / And uninfected breaths the mortal South.

1744, John Armstrong, “Book III. Exercise.”, in The Art of Preserving Health: A Poem, […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 63, lines 30–31:

(Canada, Northern England, figurative) Of weather: blustery, windy; also, of wind: cold and strong; bitter, sharp.


athlete

From Middle English athlete, from Latin āthlēta (and probably also partly from Middle French athlete), from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”).

She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor.

Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.

2013 March 10, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 2013-05-16, page 134:

(US, Canada) A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson.


alum

alums (plural)
alumni (plural)
alumn (alternative)

From alumnus and alumna (> alumn- > alum), by the removal of the originally Latin gender-specific nominative singular case endings -us (masculine) and -a (feminine).

1961 Spring, Anchora of Delta Gamma, Volume LXXVII, No. 3, page 59,
Evanston-North Shore alums are happy to open their homes to Sigma actives for special social events.

You'll remember that we're starting with a list of slightly over 7,000 names that are alums (most of them over 50) that we'd like to whittle down to a manageable list of prospects.

2006, Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield, Pamela M. Gignac, Christopher Carnie, Major Donors: Finding Big Gifts in Your Database and Online, page 47:

All schools that last have alums, and, ancient as it was by American standards, Trinity by mid-century had thousands.

2009, Timothy C. Jacobson, Charity & Merit: Trinity School at 300, page 190:

(shortening, Canada, US) A past attendee or graduate (of any gender) of a college, university or other educational institution.

alumna

the original Latin gender-specific loanword


betony

en-noun

betony (countable and uncountable, plural betonies)

betonies (plural)
vetony (alternative)
bettony (alternative)

From Middle English betayny, betanie, from Medieval Latin betōnia (possibly through Old French), from Latin betōnica or ve(t)tōnica, from Vettones, a people in Lusitania. Compare French bétoine.

(Canada, US) Any plant of the genus Pedicularis (louseworts).


brant

From New Latin/Medieval Latin Branta, latinized form of Old Norse brandgás (“sheldrake”), literally "burnt (black) goose," from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“burning”) + *gans (“goose”).

I have given you roe and reindeer, / I have given you brant and beaver, / Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl, / Filled the rivers full of fishes; / Why then are you not contented? / Why then will you hunt each other?

1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Book I”, in The Song of Hiawatha:

Branta bernicla
Branta bernicla#Translingual

(Canada, US) Any of several wild geese, of the genus Branta, that breed in the Arctic, but especially the brent goose, Branta bernicla.


cabana

Borrowed from Spanish cabaña and Portuguese cabana, both from Late Latin capanna. Doublet of cabane and cabin.

“So what's new in the whiskey business?” one of the fat men finally says by way of welcome, and the blonde stands up, arches one foot and dips it into the pool, looking all the while at the cabana where Baby Pignatari is talking on the telephone.

1968, Joan Didion, “On Keeping a Notebook”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:

(Canada, US, Australia) A shelter on a beach or at a swimming pool.


jujube

From Middle English jujube, from Medieval Latin jujuba or Old French jujube, perhaps via Old Occitan from Classical Latin zīzyphum, zīzyphus, from Ancient Greek ζίζυφον (zízuphon)․ First attested in the 14th century.

(Canada, US) A type of candy; specific type varies by country.


junker

/ˈd͡ʒʌŋkə(ɹ)/

From junk + -er (relational noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix).

(informal, US, Canada, derogatory) A beat-up automobile.


lolly

The water was covered with what they term "lolly," of "slob" — i. e., very small pieces of ice and snow mixed together, making the surface the consistency of pea soup.

1867 November 25, “Winter mail service across the Straits of Northumberland from Prince Edward Island to the mainland of New Brunswick”, in The American Stamp Mercury, volume 1, number 2, page 9:

Accidents of course happen from time to time, and men often go through the ‘lolly’ or miss their footing and come in for a cold bath, which, considering their filthy condition, may not be altogether an unmitigated evil

1889 April, M.M., “On seals and savages”, in The Nineteenth Century, volume 25, number 146, pages 520–21:

(Canada) Snow or fine ice floating on water.


musher

From mush (“to drive dogs, usually pulling a sled, across snow”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Mush is probably derived from French marche or marchons, respectively the second-person singular and first-person plural imperative forms of marcher (“to move; to travel; to walk”), from Proto-Germanic *markōną (“to mark; to notice”), from *marką (“mark; sign; stamp”), possibly related to *markō (“border, boundary; area, region”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *merǵ- (“(noun) border, boundary, edge; (verb) to divide”).

der

One who travels over snow, chiefly by dogsled but also by foot.


From Nan, pet form of the formerly very common female given names Anne and Agnes. As a nursemaid and grandmother, a clipping of earlier nana, from nanny under the probable influence of mama, also from Nan. Compare Mary.

We had my nan over for Christmas dinner.

(British, Ireland, Australia, Canada, endearing) Synonym of grandmother.


ouzel

ouzels (plural)
ousel (alternative)
oozel (alternative)

From Middle English osel, from Old English ōsle, from Proto-West Germanic *ą̄slā, *amslā, from Proto-Germanic *amslǭ. Cognate with German Amsel.
For the spelling, compare Early Modern English bloud (“blood”).

(chiefly Canada, US) A water ouzel, an aquatic perching bird (Cinclus mexicanus).


recuse

en-verb

recuse (third-person singular simple present recuses, present participle recusing, simple past and past participle recused)

recuses (present singular third-person)
recusing (participle present)
recused (participle past)
recused (past)
recuse (infinitive)
recuse (first-person present singular)
recused (first-person past singular)
recuse (present second-person singular)
recusest (archaic present second-person singular)
recused (past second-person singular)
recusedst (archaic past second-person singular)
recuses (present singular third-person)
recuseth (archaic present singular third-person)
recused (past singular third-person)
recuse (plural present)
recused (past plural)
recuse (present subjunctive)
recused (past subjunctive)
recuse (imperative present)
recusing (participle present)
recused (participle past)

From Late Middle English recusen, from Old French recuser (modern French récuser (“to challenge; to impugn; (formal) to make an objection; (law) to recuse”), and from its etymon Latin recūsāre, the present active infinitive of recūsō (“to decline, refuse, reject; (law) to object to, protest”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’, denoting opposition or reversal) + causa (“cause, reason; (law) case, claim; etc.”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of rouse and possibly ruse.
Cognates
* Catalan recusar
* French récuser
* Italian ricusare
* Old Occitan recuzar
* Portuguese recusar
* Spanish recusar

recusar

to reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.)

recuseren

(transitive, reflexive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare (oneself) unable to participate in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartality

jääviytyä

(intransitive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare oneself disqualified from trying a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality

The ſaid [Nicholas] Fiott, likevviſe, recuſeth James Pipon, eſq; [as being a judge in the cause] ſeeing, that he knovvs that the ſaid Fiott is the perſon vvho is the cauſe that the ſaid Pipon hath been ſued by rigour of lavv, before the council, in order to oblige him to do juſtice to the poor concerning the hoſpital.

1771, [John Shebbeare], An Authentic Narrative of the Oppressions of the Islanders of Jersey. […], volume II, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 238–239:

To reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.).

(chiefly Canada, US, law) To object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

vastustaa jääviyden nojalla

to object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality


rube

"Same time," said Babbitt, "no sense excusing these rube burgs too easy. Fellow's own fault if he doesn't show the initiative to up and beat it to the city, like we done—did. […]"

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 8, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste.

1991, Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs (motion picture), spoken by Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins):

(US, Canada, informal) A person of rural heritage; a yokel.


rumpus

Unknown. First use appears c. 1745. The OED indicates: "perhaps an arbitrary formation". Possibly an alteration of rumbustical or rumbustious (“boisterous, noisy”) + Latin -us (“nominative suffix”). The use of the verbal form first appears c. 1839.

(New Zealand, Australia, Canada) A rumpus room.


sault

In the sense "jump (made by a horse)", from Middle French sault, saut (and in the sense "waterfall", from that word's Colonial-era descendant, 17th-century French sault, corresponding to modern French saut (“jump”)), from Latin saltus.


wapiti

From Shawnee waapiti (“elk; white rump”).

Of deer there are in North America perhaps eight species : the black-tailed deer of the Pacific coast ; the mule-deer, and the white-tailed deer, of the Upper Missouri region and westward; the common deer of the United States east of the Missouri ; the wapiti of the northern and northwestern portions of the United States; one or two species of reindeer ; and the moose of the northern portion of the continent. […] Next to the moose, the wapiti or American elk (Cervus Canadensis) is the largest deer in North America.

1877 April, Sanborn Tenney, “The Plant-Eaters of North America”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 10:

In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountains and on our great plains, and now tending toward extinction.

1904 December 6, Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth State of the Union Address:

You see, if we could keep giraffes or reindeer or some other species of browsing animal there we could explain the general absence of vegetation by a reference to the fauna of the garden: ‘You can’t have wapiti and Darwin tulips, you know, so we didn’t put down any bulbs last year.’ As it is, we haven’t got the wapiti, and the Darwin tulips haven’t survived the fact that most of the cats of the neighbourhood hold a parliament in the centre of the tulip bed; […].

1919, Saki, “The Occasional Garden”, in The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers:

Cervus canadensis
Cervus canadensis#Translingual

(US, Canada) The American elk (Cervus canadensis). It was formerly considered to be in the same species as the European red deer, which it somewhat exceeds in size.


laker

From lake (“body of water”) + -er (“inhabitant”) or + -er (relational suffix).

suffix

(nautical, Canada, US) A ship used on the Great Lakes.


calibre

en-noun

calibre (countable and uncountable, plural calibres)

(UK, Canada, etc.) Alternative form of caliber.


chirp

en-verb

chirp (third-person singular simple present chirps, present participle chirping, simple past and past participle chirped)

chirps (present singular third-person)
chirping (participle present)
chirped (participle past)
chirped (past)

From Middle English *chirpen (attested only in the derivative Middle English chirpinge, cyrpynge, chyrypynge (“chirping”). Compare Middle English chirken and chirmen. More at chirk, chirm. Compare also Middle English chirten (“to smack, chirrup”).

noncog

(Canada) To speak rapid insulting comical banter back and forth; to bicker or argue.


creek

creeks (plural)
crick (alternative North-American dialectal)
crik (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin: kriki

Sranan Tongo: kriki

From Middle English creke, kreke, creake, of unclear origin.
Additional etymological information
It existed alongside a second variant in Middle English cryke, krike, cricke, from Old Norse kriki. The first form possibly continues Old English *creca (attested in the diminutive crecca (“creek, bay, wharf”) also found in Anglo-Latin as creca, crecca), from Proto-West Germanic *krekō, from Proto-Germanic *krekô, *krekuz (“corner, hook, angle, bend, bight”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, to wind”).
See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Old Norse kriki, krikr (“angle, corner, nook, bight”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). Modern cognates include West Frisian kreek (“creek”), Dutch kreek (“creek, cove, inlet, bight”), and French crique (“cove”) (borrowed from Germanic).
Early British colonists of Australia and the Americas used the term in the usual British way, to name inlets; as settlements followed the inlets upstream and inland, the names were retained and creek came to be used to refer to any small waterway. A similar semantic development occurred in Dutch and French, where the word originally meant "bay" but came to mean "stream" especially in the French and Dutch colonies (French Guiana, Dutch Guiana and Indonesia).

unk

unclear origin

cog

We all feel it Looming, even when we're awake, out there ahead someplace, the way you come to feel a River or Creek ahead, before anything else,— sound, sky, vegetation,— may have announced it.

1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 67, in Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part Two: America, page 650:

(Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US) A stream of water, typically a stream of freshwater smaller than a river; in Australia, also used of river-sized bodies of water.


crisp

The adjective is derived partly from the following:
* Sense 1: Middle English crisp (“curly; having curly hair or wool; of fabric: crinkly, wrinkled; of water: rippled”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kris-, from *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”).
* Sense 2: from the above, and probably also onomatopoeic, representing a crinkling or crunching sound.
Doublet of crape and crepe.
Adjective sense 2.2.3 (“of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry”) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy.
The noun is derived partly from the following:
* Middle English crisp (“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”), from crisp (adjective) (see above).
* Modern English crisp (adjective) (“having a consistency which is hard yet brittle”).

inh

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-crisp.wav

(chiefly Canada, US) A type of baked dessert consisting of fruit topped with a crumbly mixture made with fat, flour, and sugar; a crumble.


fellow

From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; money”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)) + lag (“something laid down; right position; arrangement; companionship, fellowship; partnership”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”)).
Cognates
* Old Norse filaga, felaka (“partner”, accusative singular), from which the other terms are derived:
* Danish fælle (“companion”)
* Faroese felagi (“member; partner”)
* Icelandic félagi (“companion, comrade, fellow; member; partner”)
* Norwegian felle (“companion”)
* Old Swedish fälaghi (modern Swedish felaga, felaha (“partner”, accusative singular))
* Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, companion, comrade”)

toveri

person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing

compagnon

(senior) member of a learned or professional society

Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.

(Canada, US) A physician undergoing a fellowship (supervised subspecialty medical training) after having completed a residency (specialty training program).


couple

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

Put any couple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas […]" He trailed off.

2005, Deirdre Savoy, Body of Truth, page 179:

Since we were now living so close, at least those couple hours of talking together helped boost our spirits.

2005, Elaine Bonzelaar, Those First Two Years, page 47:

Apparently, Ann in particular liked these couple pages of the character thing.

2006, Eric Nolen-Weathington, George A. Khoury, Arthur Adams, Modern Masters: Arthur Adams, volume six, page 22:

(informal, US, Canada) Two or (a) small number of.


couple

A couple fewer people show up every week.

I'll be there in a couple minutes.

Q. (Mr. Feldman, atty) You say you lived upstairs? A. (Emma Moore) I lived upstairs. Q. Until when? A. About couple months we lived upstairs. Q. Up until couple months ago? A. No, couple months after we moved in there because the down stairs was not finished.

1922, “Lewis J. Bennett et al vs. Sebastien L. Petrino”, in State of New York Supreme Court Appellate Division - Fourth Department:

Couple boys from way downcountry come for a summer in the woods. Isaac Cole talked to em.

2007, Jeffrey Lent, Lost Nation, page 182:

[At a pizza parlor] "Couple slices would be great. […]

2011, Elizabeth Eulberg, Prom and Prejudice:

(colloquial, US, Canada) Two or a few, a small number of.


ledge

Known to Edmontonians as "the Ledge", the Alberta Legislature Building is a marvel of marble pillars, carved oak, beautiful Beaux-Arts architecture and stunning grounds.

"Alberta Legislature," Explore Edmonton https://exploreedmonton.com/attractions-and-experiences/alberta-legislature

(Canada, slang) A provincial or territorial legislature building.

legislative assembly
legislative assembly

(Canada, slang) A provincial or territorial legislative assembly.


mall

en-noun

mall (countable and uncountable, plural malls)

→ Russian: молл (moll)

Probably from The Mall, a major street in London, England, which was originally a pall mall alley.

The preliminary plans provide for one million square feet of selling space in three main buildings and a double row of shops along a central shopping mall.

1950 August 15, Philip Hampson, “Field's Plans 15 to 20 Million Shopping Center for Skokie”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, page 1:

America′s first pedestrianized shopping mall opened in 1959 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Like most later pedestrian malls, it was intended to revive what everybody thought was a decaying downtown.

2002, Alexander Garvin, The American City: What Works, What Doesn′t, page 179:

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.


marge

marge (usually uncountable, plural marges)

Or probably all meals coalesced with him in an orgy of thick bread-and-marge and an array of sauce-bottles.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 246:

(informal, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada) Margarine.


neat

en-adj

neat (comparative neater, superlative neatest)

neater (comparative)
neatest (superlative)

on the rocks

antonym(s) of “undiluted liquor or cocktail”

From Middle English nete, net, nette, from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desirable, clean”), a variant of Old French net, nette (“clean, clear, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”), derived from nitēre (“to shine”). Doublet of net and nitid. Cognate with German nett (“nice, kind”). Compare also nait.

der

Hey, neat convertible, man.

"You can tell that Rory has had this type of talent in him for some time now, and to see him putting it together is pretty neat to see."

2011 June 20, Phil Mickelson (being quoted), “US Open: Jack Nicklaus tips Rory McIlroy for greatness”, in BBC News:

(Canada, US, colloquial) Good, excellent, desirable; interesting; cool.


pave

en-verb

pave (third-person singular simple present paves, present participle paving, simple past and past participle paved)

paves (present singular third-person)
paving (participle present)
paved (participle past)
paved (past)

From Old French paver (“to pave, to cover”), from Vulgar Latin *pavāre (“to beat down, to smash”), from Latin pavīre (“to beat, strike, ram, tread down”).

der

They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.

1970, Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi”, in Ladies of the Canyon:

(Canada, US) To cover with stone, concrete, blacktop or other solid covering, especially to aid travel.

настилам

(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc


planchette

Some general security features to look for in both Canadian and American currency are . . .small green dots or "planchettes" randomly embedded throughout the paper that glow under ultraviolet light.

2009 November 26, “Warning issued about fake cash”, in CBCNews, Canada:

(chiefly Canada) One of the round colored dots pressed into paper money, used to distinguish authentic currency from counterfeit currency.


reeve

reeves (plural)
reve (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English reve, from Old English rēfa, an aphetism of ġerēfa (also groefa), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō (“officer, official”). Compare Danish greve, Swedish greve, Dutch graaf, German Graf.
The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.

inh

(Canada) The president of a township or municipal district council.


reserve

en-noun

reserve (countable and uncountable, plural reserves)

From Old French reserver, from Latin reservō (“to reserve, retain”).

اِحْتِيَاط

that which is reserved or kept back, as for future use

рэзерва́цыя

tract of land reserved for Aboriginal people

That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.

(Canada) A tract of land set apart for the use of an Aboriginal group; Indian reserve (compare US reservation.)


sag

en-verb

sag (third-person singular simple present sags, present participle sagging, simple past and past participle sagged)

sags (present singular third-person)
sagging (participle present)
sagged (participle past)
sagged (past)

From late Middle English saggen, probably of North Germanic/Scandinavian/Old Norse origin, akin to Old Norse sokkva (“to sink”), from a denasalized derivative of Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną (“to sink”).
Compare Norwegian Nynorsk sagga (“move slowly”)); probably akin to Danish and Norwegian sakke, Swedish sacka, Icelandic sakka. Compare also Dutch zakken and German sacken (from Low German).

(informal, Canada) To pull down someone else's pants as a prank.


serviette

From Middle English serviotis pl, from Middle French serviette.

1887, “A Member of the Aristocracy”, Manners and Rules of Good Society; Or Solecisms to Be Avoided, 1999 facsimile edition, Angus&Robertson, page 116,
She should unfold her serviette and place it on her lap. It is immaterial whether she places the bread on the right or left-hand side of the cover when taking it from the serviette.
A gentleman should do the same with his serviette and bread, placing the one across his knees, and the other at his right or left hand.

1914, Arnold Bennett, The Price of Love, 2005, Echo Library, page 40,
And then, when the meal finally did begin Mrs. Maldon′s serviette and silver serviette-ring had vanished.

Nature of goods.—Toilet paper, paper handkerchiefs, paper towels, paper serviettes and paper covers for lavatory seats, none being medicated.

1955 October 25, The Official Gazette of the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, page 1145:

• To provide the guest with a means of wiping his/her hands and mouth, and
• To make the restaurant look attractive.

2004, Tracey Dalton, The Food and Beverage Handbook, Orchard Publishing, South Africa, page 36, There is a wide variety of serviette folds, but serviettes themselves have two basic functions

2006, K.E. Silva, A Simple Distance, Akashic Books, US, page 90,
I told them to put the paper serviettes out on the table, and look, they′ve put out the cloth napkins! Here, take these back to the kitchen and bring me the stack of paper serviettes.

Avoid the temptation to lick your fingers – a finger bowl filled with warm water is usually placed on the table to wash your fingers at the end of the meal and serviettes should be on hand to dry them.

2007, Sarina Singh, South India, Lonely Planet, page 83:

(UK, Ireland, Canada) A table napkin, now especially a paper one.


sled

From Middle English sledde, from Middle Dutch sledde or Middle Low German sledde (compare Dutch slee, slede, Low German Sleden), from Proto-Germanic *slidô (compare Saterland Frisian sliede, German Schlitten, Norwegian slede). Doublet of sleigh; also related to slide.

"Mush!" he yelled at the dogs pulling the sled.

en:vehicle with runners, often with draft animals

(chiefly Canada, US) A vehicle on runners, used for conveying loads over the snow or ice, and often pulled by sled dogs.

We saw them go by on their sleds this afternoon, headed toward their grandfather's quarter section.

(slang, chiefly Canada, US) A snowmobile.

He was a bit reckless and frankly we were nervous about riding with him in that big old sled of his, a Cadillac with a V-8.

That sled had manual drum brakes on all four corners.

(slang, chiefly Canada, US, figuratively) A car (automobile) or truck, usually called so with the implication of sledlike traits: heavy, low-slung, and prone to going fast but not braking or cornering particularly well.


sliver

From Middle English slivere, sliver from Middle English sliven (“to cut, cleave, split”), from Old English slīfan (as in tōslīfan (“to split, split up”)).

треска

A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment.

(Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Upper Midwestern US, Canada) Specifically, a splinter caught under the skin.

Sussex; Upper Midwestern US; Sussex; Upper Midwestern US


snap

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

gloss

”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">snapa</i> (“to get; scrounge”)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

cog

I just ran over your phone with my car. —Oh, snap!

(Canada, US) Used in place of an expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously.

a manóba

used in place of expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously


span

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spannō (“span, handbreadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”).
Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ġespan, ġespann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

der

(US, Canada) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.


spare

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-.
Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

cog

I also remember watching David Letterman's short-lived morning show on TV when I had a spare during my school schedule.

2010, Sandra Rinomato, Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers:

(Canada) A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class.


stuffy

(US, Canada, colloquial, often childish) Synonym of stuffed toy.


laundromat

/ˈlɔːndɹəʊˌmæt/

Blend of laundry + automatic. From Laundromat, (former) trademark (1940s) of Westinghouse Electric Corporation for its washing machines, coined by Westinghouse publicist George Edward Pendray.

In Virginia, gone are the weekly outings to Walmart to stock up on provisions; to El Ranchito, the Mexican convenience store, to buy shell-shaped concha pastries; and to the laundromat to machine wash heavily soiled garments.

2020 October 19, Miriam Jordan, “Migrant Workers Restricted to Farms Under One Grower’s Virus Lockdown”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2020-10-19:

(US, Canada, Australia) A self-service laundry facility with (traditionally) coin-operated (which now may use other per-load payment methods) washing machines, dryers, and sometimes ironing or pressing machines, open to the public for washing clothing and household cloth items.


commute

en-verb

commute (third-person singular simple present commutes, present participle commuting, simple past and past participle commuted)

commutes (present singular third-person)
commuting (participle present)
commuted (participle past)
commuted (past)

From commutation ticket, a pass on a railroad, streetcar line, etc. that permitted multiple rides over a period of time, eg, a month, for a single, commuted payment.

通勤

to regularly travel to and from work, school etc.

I commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan by bicycle.

My convention diary is unusually disjointed, since I was mingily commuting from Berkshire rather than pay £65 per night for a single room.

2005, David Langford, The Sex Column and Other Misprints, page 66:

MRS. PATERSON, a runner and semilapsed vegetarian — she eats meat once a week to fend off anemia — spends weekdays in Manhattan with her son and commutes to Albany most weekends; she and her husband rented out their house in Guilderland, an Albany suburb, and have moved into the Executive Mansion, where she is continuing Ms. Wall Spitzer’s “greening” initiative.

2008 June 6, Robin Finn, “No Bed of Roses for a Sudden First Lady”, in The New York Times:

(intransitive, US, UK, Canada) To regularly travel from one's home to one's workplace or school, or vice versa.


candy

en-noun

candy (countable and uncountable, plural candies)

→ Cebuano: kendi

→ Hindi: कैंडी (kaiṇḍī)

→ Hopi: kyenti

→ Japanese: キャンディ (kyandi)

→ Kashubian: kindus (United States)

→ Korean: 캔디 (kaendi)

→ Tagalog: kendi

From Middle English sugre candy, from Old French sucre candi (literally “candied sugar”), from Arabic سُكَّر قَنْدِي (sukkar qandī), from Arabic قَنْد (qand, “rock candy”), from Persian کند (kand) from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa, “piece, fragment, candied sugar, dried molasses”), root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”), or from Proto-Dravidian *kaṇṭu; compare Tamil கண்டு (kaṇṭu, “hard candy”).

der

سُكَّر قَنْدِي

They came down to buy sugar, flour, saltfish or candy from Nana, to collect letters and exchange gossip.

artificial sweetener
artificial sweetener

(uncountable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.

Unwholesome pink and yellow candies were sold from trays.

(countable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) A piece of confectionery of this kind.


booger

Alteration of the English dialectal words buggard (bug + -ard), boggart or boggard. Compare bogey. Compare also Alemannic German Naaseböög (“booger”).

Mama says you mustn't pick boogers out of your nose with your fingers; you must use your handkerchief.

1948, Publication of the American Dialect Society, page 16:

Now in the halls of the necro lord / Flash of fear when he sees my sword / Raped his woman, smoked his bone / Leave a booger underneath his throne!

2006, Strapping Young Lad, “Far Beyond Metal”, in The New Black:

(US, Canada, Philippines, slang) A piece of solid or semisolid mucus in or removed from a nostril.


jerk off

en-verb

jerk off (third-person singular simple present jerks off, present participle jerking off, simple past and past participle jerked off)

tlb

(idiomatic, chiefly Canada, US, Australia)

jerks off (present singular third-person)
jerking off (participle present)
jerked off (participle past)
jerked off (past)
J-O (alternative abbreviation)
J/O (alternative abbreviation)

Stop jerking off. We've got a deadline.

(intransitive, vulgar) To do nothing; to waste time.


bruv

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
Clipping of bruvver.

The lads in the Nags 'Ead were just talking about your bit of managerial bovver and I said to Rodney, 'Bruv, this could be my big chance.'

(UK, Canada, chiefly Cockney, MLE, MTE, Australia, slang) Brother, mate, friend.


agrology

/əˈɡɹɒlədʒi/

/əˈɡɹɑləd͡ʒi/

Natural Resources Conservation Service
United States Department of Agriculture

From agro- + -logy, modelled after French agrologie.

Viewed in this light, agrology possesses a three-way interest, between the member, the agricultural industry and society.

1950, AIC Review, volume 5, Ottawa, Ont.: Agricultural Institute of Canada, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 53, column 1:

It is appreciated that had these organizations not existed, comparable progress to advance the status of professional agrology would not have been made.

1966, AIC Review, Ottawa, Ont.: Agricultural Institute of Canada, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 1:

Agrologists know that the science of agrology is a key science in resource conservation, […]

1974, Technical and Scientific Papers Presented at 1974 Manitoba Agronomists’ Annual Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba: Manitoba Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 93:

Although excluded from the Ontario study group, [Chris] Cutler, [Cynthia] Scott-Dupree, and David Drexler, an agrology consultant, published an analysis of all bee-kill incidents reported in Canada from 2007–2012.

2014 February 5, Jon Entine, “Bee Deaths Reversal: As Evidence Points away from Neonics as Driver, Pressure Builds to Rethink Ban”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2014-02-08:

(chiefly Canada) The science and art of agriculture.


mandate

First attested in 1521; borrowed from Latin mandātum (“a charge, order, command, commission, injunction”), substantivized from the neuter forms of mandātus, perfect passive participle of mandō (“to commit to one's charge, order, command, commission, literally to put into one's hands”) (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from manus (“hand”) + -dere (“to put”).

bor+

Throughout his last mandate, from 1980 to 1984, Mr. Trudeau insisted that we see ourselves solely as Canadians, that we set aside the historic compromises that underlie Canada as a federation.

2000 October 6, John Richards, “Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1919-2000”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 2019-10-09:

(Canada) A period during which a government is in power.


bush

en-noun

bush (countable and uncountable, plural bushes)

→ Dutch: bush, bushbush

From older Dutch bosch (modern bos (“wood, forest”)), first appearing in the Dutch colonies to designate an uncleared district of a colony, and thence adopted in British colonies as bush. Could alternatively be interpreted as a semantic loan, as bush (etymology 1) is cognate to the aforementioned archaic Dutch bosch.

bushman

not derived from bush but separately derived from cognate Dutch

en:tracts of land with largely wild vegetation; the vegetation itself

(often with "the") Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated.

(Canada) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.


freshman

At the time I was a wide-eyed freshman, but I was soon to grow jaded and cynical.

When he was but yet a freshman in Cambridge.

1596, Thomas Nashe, Have with You to Saffron-Walden:

Sir Alexander: Then he's a graduate.
Sir Davy: Say they trust him not?
Sir Alexander: Then is he held a freshman and a sot,¶ And never shall commence, but being still barr'd¶ Be expuls'd from the master's side to th' twopenny ward,¶ Or else i' th' hole be plac'd.

1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl, act 3, scene 3:

As a country, we now enter what the seven freshmen called “unchartered waters”, with an unprecedented political and constitutional crisis looming on the horizon.

2019 September 25, Geoffrey Kabaservice, “Impeach Trump? The United States is now in uncharted waters”, in The Guardian:

Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting.

January 7 2023, Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, “McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote”, in AP News:

(US, Canada, Philippines) a person (of either sex) entering the first year of an institution, especially a high school (ninth grade for US, grade 9 for Canada, grade 7 for Philippines), a university, or legislative body

一年級新生 /一年级新生

a person of either sex entering the first year of an institution


stoop

Borrowed from Dutch stoep (“platform", "pavement”). Doublet of stoep. Cognate with step.

Nearly all the houses were built with their gables to the streets and each had heavy wooden Dutch stoops, with seats, at its door.

1856, James Fenimore Cooper, Satanstoe or The Littlepage Manuscripts: A Tale of the Colony, London, page 110:

...the entrance being at the side of the house and reached by a low front stoop with four or five risers...

1905 Carpentry and Building, vol. 27 (January 1905), NY: David Williams Company, page 2

The guard at the door coughed up blood, and died instantly. Fina was carrying an empty rifle with a sharpened bayonet, and she'd thrust it straight up through his neck, severing the spinal cord. She levered him off the front stoop and into the bushes, then stood up on the tips of her toes to peer through the window in the door.

2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-05-22:

(chiefly New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, also Canada) The staircase and landing or porch leading to the entrance of a residence.


faucet

From Middle English faucet, fawcett, from Old French fausset, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Late Latin falsāre (“to falsify”) or from a diminutive of Latin faux, faucēs (“throat”). Alternatively, from Old Norse foss, fors (“waterfall”); if so, cognate with English force, foss.

Wallace beats his palm against the reluctant handle of the faucet until it gives way, and the water comes out too hard, too fast.

2020, Brandon Taylor, Real Life, Daunt Books Originals, page 80:

(Canada, US) An exposed plumbing fitting; a tap or spigot; a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir.

rubinet

an exposed plumbing fitting; a tap or spigot; a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir


squat

From Middle English squatten, from Old French esquatir, escatir (“compress, press down, lay flat, crush”), from es- (“ex-”) + quatir (“press down, flatten”), from Vulgar Latin *coactire (“press together, force”), from Latin coāctus, perfect passive participle of cōgō (“force together, compress”).
The sense “nothing” may be the source or a derivation of diddly-squat.

uder

I know squat about nuclear physics.

We didn't ask for rent, but we assumed they'd help around the house. But they don't do squat.

2003 May 6, “Dear Dotti: America's Most Outspoken Advice Columnist”, in Weekly World News, volume 24, number 34, New York, N.Y.: American Media, →ISSN, page 23:

"Joke's on you. They're used to me mostly talking about superficial stuff. Nobody's going to notice squat."

2022 October 19, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022:

(slang, Canada, US) Clipping of diddly-squat; something of no value.


garbage collection

en-noun

garbage collection (usually uncountable, plural garbage collections)

(Canada, US) A service, generally run by local government, for transporting household garbage to the appropriate facility.

vuilnisophaling

service for transporting household garbage


garbage collector

garbage collector (plural garbage collectors)

garbage collectors (plural)
garbage-collector (alternative)

(US, Canada) A worker who removes refuse.


social conservative

social conservative (plural social conservatives)

(US, Canada) One who favors a specific set of social policies, generally including opposition to birth control, abortion rights, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and sexual permissiveness, often based on a particular reading of Christian values.


cookie

cookies (plural)
cookey (alternative uncommon)
cooky (alternative uncommon)

→ Arabic: كُوكِي (kuki)

→ Armenian: կուկի (kuki)

→ Cantonese: 曲奇 (kuk¹ kei⁴)

→ Mandarin: 曲奇 (qūqí)

→ Catalan: cookie

→ Cebuano: kokis

→ Dutch: cookie

→ French: cookie

→ Georgian: ქუქი (kuki)

→ German: Cookie

→ Gujarati: કૂકી (kūkī)

→ Hawaiian: kuki

→ Hindi: कुकी (kukī)

→ Italian: cookie

→ Japanese: クッキー (kukkī)

→ Kannada: ಕುಕಿ (kuki)

→ Khmer: ខូគី (khoukii)

→ Korean: 쿠키 (kuki)

→ Malay: kuki

→ Polish: cookie

→ Portuguese: cookie

→ Russian: ку́ки (kúki)

→ Spanish: cookie

→ Swahili: kuki

→ Swedish: cookie

→ Tagalog: kuki

→ Telugu: కుకీ (kukī)

→ Thai: คุกกี้ (kúk-gîi)

→ Tigrinya: ኩኪ (kuki)

→ Ukrainian: ку́ки (kúky)

→ Yiddish: קוקי (kuki)

→ Yoruba: kúkì

Borrowed from Dutch koekie, dialectal diminutive of koek (“cake”), from Proto-Germanic *kōkô (compare German Low German Kookje (“biscuit, cookie, cracker”), Low German Kook (“cake”), German Kuchen (“cake”)). More at cake. Not related to English cook.
The computing senses derive from magic cookie.

koekie

small, flat baked good — see also biscuit

(Canada, US, Philippines) A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.


donut

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-donut.wav

Alteration of doughnut, from dough + nut. Attested 1900.

[…]Pa said he guessed he hadn't got much appetite, and he would just drink a cup of coffee and eat a donut.

1900, George Wilbur Peck, Peck's bad boy and his pa, Stanton and Van Vliet, page 107:

The Long Lances, however, were thick in the water, and soon Portland was hit in the stern, sending her turning donuts across the ocean trying to work out which way to point her guns, popping off occasional shots at Hiei, which, by now, was heavily ablaze and a very obvious target in the night.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 20:44 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-10-17:

The court heard that at the junction of the Ballyveely Road, Leslie - who was driving a BMW - performed the 'donuts' as others looked on.

2016 December 1, “'Boy racer' fined over donut tribute to pal”, in Belfast Telegraph:

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia) Alternative spelling of doughnut.


in Dutch

Thirteen youthful nurses at the Worcester City Hospital enriched a local barber to the extent of $13 a few days ago when they had their hair bobbed and now the entire 13 are very much in dutch with the authorities at the hospital.

1923 July 27, “Hospital Puts Ban upon Bobbed Hair”, in The Day, USA, retrieved 2011-08-29, page 9:

“And for that amount of money you're willing to get yourself in Dutch with half the law enforcement of this county?”

1939, Raymond Chandler, chapter 18, in The Big Sleep:

He got in dutch with City Manager George Schrader when he made some ill-chosen remarks.

1988 April 14, Rena Pederson, “Police Turmoil Isn't News”, in Dallas Morning News, retrieved 2011-08-29:

Don Juan: Well, think how you would feel if you were made to take off this mask that you are wearing.
Jack Mickler: Oh, well, our masks really get us in dutch, don't they? How long you been wearing yours?

(idiomatic, dated, Canada, US) In trouble or in disfavor.


hang a left

en-verb

hang a left (third-person singular simple present hangs a left, present participle hanging a left, simple past and past participle hung a left)

hangs a left (present singular third-person)
hanging a left (participle present)
hung a left (participle past)
hung a left (past)

Hang a left at the next intersection.

(intransitive, Canada, US slang) To turn left, to take a left turn.


todger

A variant of tadger, perhaps related to dialectal todge (“anything of a thick consistency”), todgey (“short and fat”).

2005, Alexis James, Into the Woods: Erotic Fairytales and Other Stories, Lulu, US, page 150,
A virgin you are and a virgin you will remain until your 18th birthday, whereupon you shall crave your first cock, taste your first todger, knuzzle your first knob and this shall be your undoing.

2008, Ashley Hames, Sin Cities: Adventures of a Sex Reporter, Tonto Books, UK, page 66,
I′ve even been in bed with a girl who, on clapping her eyes on my todger, looked up at me. ‘Your willy′s not very big is it?’ she said.

2011, Calvin Wade, Forever Is Over, AuthorHouse, UK, page 8,
As stated previously, boys think with their todgers and I had become a decent looking young girl, so I naturally understood my vagina had magnetic charms to a penis.

I showed him my todger, softened by Elizabeth Arden.

2023, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Spare, Penguin Random House, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, colloquial) A penis.


eh

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”).
The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

onomatopoeic

exclamation

ay (alternative)
ehh (alternative)
ehhh (alternative)

These hot dogs are pretty good, eh?

Well, what dost thou think then of seeing the world? Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it, eh? Can’t ye see the world where you stand?

(informal, chiefly Canada, Northern US, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Commonwealth) Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.

I went to the restaurant, eh, but my friends didn't show up.

(chiefly Canada) An interjection used to ascertain the continued attention of someone addressed by the speaker.

hè

(Canada) interjection used to ascertain continued attention


police

en-noun

police pl (normally plural, singular police)

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, Indic

From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.

The Cook County Sheriff's Department has jurisdiction across most of Chicago but focuses on the unincorporated area and tasks like prisoner transport, leaving the rest to the Chicago Police Department.

(law enforcement) A public agency charged with enforcing laws and maintaining public order, usually being granted special privileges to do so, particularly

(Canada, US and historical) A department of local (usually municipal) government responsible for general law enforcement.


flack

Edward Bernay, who was a consultant to the US Delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference which terminated the first World War (and who finally wound up as a flack for the United Fruit Company in Latin America), believed that propaganda and its covert marketing could effectively alter the will of the American public.

1998, Winston Smith, Art Crime: The Montage Art of Winston Smith, page 25:

Thought you were flack," she said.
"I'm not flack."
"All right, P.R., a reporter, a novelist."

1999, Patricia Cornwell, The Southern Cross, page 233:

In July, Nick Clegg, a former Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K. who is now a top flack at Facebook, published a piece on AdAge.com and on the company’s official blog titled “Facebook Does Not Benefit from Hate,” in which he wrote, “There is no incentive for us to do anything but remove it.”

2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker:

(Canada, US) A publicist, a publicity agent.


flack

en-verb

flack (third-person singular simple present flacks, present participle flacking, simple past and past participle flacked)

flacks (present singular third-person)
flacking (participle present)
flacked (participle past)
flacked (past)

[..] he told funny stories about his early days in the theater district, flacking shows up and down the street, but Klara wasn’t listening.


ketchup

en-noun

ketchup (countable and uncountable, plural ketchups)

ketchups (plural)
catsup (alternative)
catchup (alternative)
katjap (alternative)
katsup (alternative)
kechap (alternative)
ketsup (alternative)

→ Arabic: كَتْشَب (katšab)

→ Belarusian: кетчуп (kjetčup)

→ Bulgarian: кетчуп (ketčup)

→ Cantonese: 茄汁 (ke⁴⁻² zap¹)

→ Catalan: quètxup

→ Czech: kečup

→ Danish: ketchup

→ Dutch: ketchup

→ Finnish: ketsuppi

→ French: ketchup

desctree

→ German: Ketchup, Catchup (obsolete), Ketschup (superseded)
→ Lower Sorbian: ketšup

→ Greek: κέτσαπ (kétsap)

→ Hebrew: קֶטְשׁוֹפּ (ketshop)

→ Hokkien: 茄汁 (kiô-chap) (Singapore)

→ Hungarian: ketchup

→ Irish: citseap

→ Japanese: ケチャップ (kechappu)

→ Korean: 케첩 (kecheop)

→ Marshallese: kōjjeb

→ Persian: کچاپ (kečâp)

→ Polish: keczup, ketchup

→ Portuguese: ketchup

→ Romanian: ketchup

→ Russian: кетчуп (ketčup)
→ Armenian: կետչուպ (ketčʻup)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: кечап

Latin script: kečap

→ Spanish: ketchup, kétchup

→ Swedish: ketchup

→ Tagalog: ketsap

→ Thai: เค็ตชัป (két-chàp)

→ Turkish: ketçap

→ Ukrainian: кетчуп (ketčup)

→ Uzbek: ketchup

→ Welsh: cetsyp

→ Yiddish: קעטשאָפּ (ketshop)

Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, “fish sauce”) via Malay kicap, though the precise path is unclear – there are related words in various Chinese languages, and it may have entered English directly from Hokkien Chinese. Cognate to Indonesian kecap, ketjap (“soy sauce”). Various other theories exist – see Ketchup: Etymology for extended discussion.
First appeared in English in the late 17th century in reference to a Southeast Asian sauce encountered by British traders and sailors. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was commonly used in the 18th century to refer to a variety of similar sauces with varying ingredients—"anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters being particularly popular"—but by the late 19th century the current tomato ketchup became the most popular form.
Catsup (earlier catchup) is an alternative Anglicization, still in use in the U.S.

tomato ketchup

This diner serves ketchup in red bottles, and mustard in yellow ones.

(uncountable, chiefly US, Canada, UK) Ellipsis of tomato ketchup (“a tomato-vinegar-based sauce, sometimes containing spices, onion or garlic, and (especially in the US) sweeteners”).


challenge

en-verb

challenge (third-person singular simple present challenges, present participle challenging, simple past and past participle challenged)

challenges (present singular third-person)
challenging (participle present)
challenged (participle past)
challenged (past)

/ˈt͡ʃæl.ɪnd͡ʒ/

/ˈt͡ʃæl.ənd͡ʒ/

From Middle English chalenge, variant with palatalization of Middle English kalange (“an accusation, claim”), from Old French chalenge, chalonge, palatalized Central French variants of Old Northern French calenge, calonge (see Continental Norman calengier), from Latin calumnia (“a false accusation, calumny”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₁l-, *keh₁l- (“to beguile, deceive”). Cognate with Old English hōl (“calumny”). Doublet of calumny.

der

I mean if you go in and want to challenge an exam it cost you half of your course money. If you don't pass the exam, that money is credited toward taking the course. What have you got to lose to challenge an exam, or do a competency exam?

1996, Senate Legislative Record ... Legislature State of Maine:

The only time I went to class was to challenge an exam. My marks were good. But there was one class I never missed, “Nursing Process and the New Philosophy in Nursing.”

Although we strongly recommend that you keep practicing until your scores top the 75% mark, 80% would be a good goal, to give yourself some margin for error in a real exam situation[…]. After you hit that point, you should be ready to challenge the exam.

2006, Diana Huggins, Exam/cram 70-291: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure, page 2:

(Canada, US, transitive) To take (a final exam) in order to get credit for a course without taking it.

défier

to write a final exam to get credit for a course


carpenter

From Middle English carpenter, from Anglo-Norman carpenter (compare Old French charpentier), from Late Latin carpentārius (“a carpenter”), from Latin carpentārius (“a wagon-maker, carriage-maker”), from Latin carpentum (“a two-wheeled carriage, coach, or chariot, a cart”), from Gaulish carbantos, from Proto-Celtic *karbantos (“chariot, war chariot”), probably related to Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”). Doublet of carpintero. More at car.
Displaced native Old English trēowwyrhta (literally “tree worker”).

ncog

Eleven names in Laver’s table (just over 6%) are of the “carpenter” type, a name for woodlice also recorded in Shropshire and Warwickshire.[…] Apparently a Newfoundland word for woodlouse is “carpenter” or “cafner” (another is also “boat-builder”). These names clearly relate to the animals’ affinity to wood as will “carpenter’s flea”, “wood-pig”, “wood-bug”, “grampus wood-bug” and, of course “woodlouse”.

2015, A.D. Barber, “Vernacular names of woodlice with particular reference to Devonshire”, in Bulletin of the British Myriapod & Isopod Group, page 58:

(Canada, British, regional) A woodlouse.


factoid

From fact + -oid (“similar, but not the same”); coined by American writer Norman Mailer in 1973 in Marilyn: A Biography, defined as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority".

coin

Given a large enough storehouse of words and a fine filter, would it be possible to see cultural change at the micro level, to follow minute fluctuations in human thought processes and activities? Tiny factoids, multiplied endlessly, might assume imposing dimensions.

2013 December 24, William Grimes, “Big Data Becomes a Mirror”, in New York Times:

Don't parade in front of the audience spewing every factoid you know on your topic. Only share the right information for that exact moment with that specific audience.

2013, Nancy Duarte, Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

(originally Canada, US) An interesting item of trivia; a minor fact.


wiener

wieners (plural)
weiner (alternative uncommon)

Clipping of wienerwurst, from German Wienerwurst (“Vienna sausage”), from Wiener (“of Vienna, Viennese”) + Wurst (“sausage”), because sausages were originally made in Vienna, Austria.
In Germany today this sausage is known as Wiener Würstchen (“small sausage from Vienna”), but in Vienna and the Netherlands it is called a Frankfurter or Frankfurter Würstchen (“small sausage from Frankfurt”).

compound

(Canada, US) A type of sausage made from beef, chicken or pork.

Two figures crossing the windy park. Miss Martin taking Smith's arm over the street. And inside where wieners were being turned on a hot skillet behind the steamed glass. Always wanted to have the constitution to eat these fearlessly, perhaps with a glass of orange.

1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 104:

(Canada, US, UK) A hot dog or frankfurter.


roommate

→ Japanese: ルームメイト (rūmumeito)

→ Japanese: ルームメート (rūmumēto)

→ Korean: 룸메이트 (rummeiteu)

I live with Marsha. We’re roommates.

2016, “Learning English (public domain)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2017-09-18:

(US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Canada) A person sharing the same home albeit not the same room (but generally not a family member or spouse).


faculty

From Middle English faculte (“power, property”), from Old French faculte, from Latin facultas (“capability, ability, skill, abundance, plenty, stock, goods, property; in Medieval Latin also a body of teachers”), another form of facilitas (“easiness, facility, etc.”), from facul, another form of facilis (“easy, facile”); see facile. Doublet of facility.

der

(chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) The academic staff at schools, colleges, universities or not-for-profit research institutes, as opposed to the students or support staff.

fakultato

scholarly staff at colleges or universities

профе́ссорско-преподава́тельский соста́в


Gibraltar

Gibraltars (plural)
gibraltar (alternative)

"Gibraltar" is the name of a line of tumblers made by glassware company Libbey. The drink was named in 2005, by Steve Ford at Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco, after the glass in which its version was served.

Two Gibraltars (decaf) at Kafka

2013 October 30, "The Mighty Vancouver Cafe Crawl" Little Ninja Chef [photo caption]

At a recent meeting at Mint Plaza’s Blue Bottle Coffee, Maggiotto ordered a Gibraltar, a small, milky espresso drink.

2015 February 26, Greta Kaul, “Startup that lets chefs review restaurants lands $4 million”, in SFGate:

I paid for my beans and sipped my perfectly-made Gibraltar as I walked down the street thinking about how I would now always order from his pizza company.

2016 June 29, Gretchen Fox, “How To Create A Loyal Customer In Under Five Minutes”, in Forbes:

(chiefly Canada, US); (originally) A cortado served in a small glass; (by extension) any cortado


clothesline

clotheslines (plural)
clothes line (alternative UK)

(Canada, US, informal) The act of knocking a person over by striking his or her upper body or neck with one's arm, as if he or she had run into a low clothesline.


clothesline

en-verb

clothesline (third-person singular simple present clotheslines, present participle clotheslining, simple past and past participle clotheslined)

clotheslines (present singular third-person)
clotheslining (participle present)
clotheslined (participle past)
clotheslined (past)
clothes line (alternative UK)

The referee called a personal foul, when he clotheslined the running back.

One beast jams out its arm, as if to clothesline me, jagged claws poised to take my head off at the neck. I let my feet fall from under me, throwing my legs forward, praying for some momentum, ducking and sliding, a mad limbo to freedom.

2014, Jonathan Wood, No Hero, Titan Books, →ISBN:

"I turned around and the next thing I was taken out by this big guy. I'm not sure if he punched me or clothes-lined me," he said.

2014 February 21, “Ear-bite actor Clive Mantle was like 'big monster', court told”, in BBC News:

(Canada, US, informal, transitive) To knock (a person) over by striking them across the neck or upper body with an outstretched arm, mimicking the motion of running into a low clothesline.


bluefish

en-noun

bluefish (countable and uncountable, plural bluefishes or bluefish)

(Canada) An Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus).


homely

en-adj

homely (comparative homelier or more homely, superlative homeliest or most homely)

homelier (comparative)
more homely (comparative)
homeliest (superlative)
most homely (superlative)
hamely (alternative Scotland)

From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

cog

There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.

1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

"I can't send a young, pretty girl, or for that matter even a homely one if you'd have her, on a job like this without telling her what to expect."

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 6:

You see, she sees herself as a starlet; I see her as a sturdy, healthy but decidedly homely kid.

1958, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 15, in Lolita:

(Canada, US) Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.


aborning

From a- (“in the act of”) + born + -ing.

What a shock this morning
A terror without warning
Turned out a blank
What heavens thank
 The "frie" died a borning.

1985 April 20, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 13:

No fewer than five planned “uprisings” died a-borning.

1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2004, page 765:

(chiefly Canada, US) That is in the process of being born; coming into existence; before coming to completion.


aborning

This festival is an excellent chance to see new talent aborning.

(chiefly Canada, US) While being born or produced.


butt-fucking

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) Engaging in anal sex


hood

From Middle English hood, hod, from Old English hōd, from Proto-Germanic *hōdaz (cognate with Saterland Frisian Houd, West Frisian/Dutch hoed, German Low German Hood, German Hut). Cognate with Proto-Iranian *xawdaH (“hat”) (compare Avestan 𐬑𐬂𐬛𐬀 (xåda), Old Persian 𐎧𐎢𐎭 (x-u-d /xaudā/)), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to cover”). More at hat.

kapuç

covering for the head attached to a larger garment such as a jacket or cloak

(automotive, chiefly US, Canada) The hinged cover over the engine of a motor vehicle, known as a bonnet in other countries.

enjinkap

hinged cover over the engine of a motor vehicle, known as a bonnet in other countries; ''(by extension)'' cover over the engine, driving machinery or inner workings of something


hightail

en-verb

hightail (third-person singular simple present hightails, present participle hightailing, simple past and past participle hightailed)

hightails (present singular third-person)
hightailing (participle present)
hightailed (participle past)
hightailed (past)

From high + tail; refers to the behavior of fleeing animals, such as deer, that raise their tail when running away.

He hightailed it toward town.

I want you to hightail your butt out of there before they come back.

When I saw he had scored, I just hightailed out of there, because all those people started running down on the field and that's a lot more dangerous than playing.

2008, Dave Klein, The Game of Their Lives: The 1958 NFL Championship, page 217:

(informal, chiefly Canada, US, usually transitive) To move at full speed, especially in retreat.

abrauschen

to move at full speed, especially in retreat


scalp

scalp (third-person singular simple present scalps, present participle scalping, simple past and past participle scalped)

scalps (present singular third-person)
scalping (participle present)
scalped (participle past)
scalped (past)

From Middle English scalp, skalp, scalpe (“crown of the head; skull”). Originally a northern word, and therefore probably from a North Germanic source, although the sense-development is unclear; compare Sylt North Frisian Skolp (“dandruff”), Old Norse skálpr (“sheath”), Old Swedish skalp, Dutch schelp (“shell”).

Tickets were being scalped for $300.

Tickets sold online through Craigslist, eBay, and other forums, where the purchaser cannot physically see them, run a greater risk of being counterfeit—but counterfeiters have been known to scalp tickets in person outside the venue as well, […]

2011, Linda E. Swayne, Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing, SAGE, →ISBN, page 324:

Scalped tickets were going for $3,000 and up.

2023 August 5, Ben Sisario, “How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Conquered the World”, in New York Times:

(Canada, US, slang) To resell, especially tickets, usually for an inflated price, often illegally.


plaster

en-noun

plaster (countable and uncountable, plural plasters)

plasters (plural)
plaister (alternative)
plastre (alternative)

From Middle English plaster, plastre, from Old English plaster, from late Latin plastrum, shortened from Classical Latin emplastrum (“a plaster, bandage”); later reinforced by Anglo-Norman plastre.
The verb is from Middle English plastren, from the noun.

(countable, British, New Zealand, Canada) A small adhesive bandage to cover a minor wound; a sticking plaster.


charter

en-verb

charter (third-person singular simple present charters, present participle chartering, simple past and past participle chartered)

charters (present singular third-person)
chartering (participle present)
chartered (participle past)
chartered (past)
chartre (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English charter, chartre, borrowed from Old French chartre, from Latin chartula (diminutive of charta). See chart. Doublet of chartula.

(transitive, Canada, law) (of a peace officer) To inform (an arrestee) of their constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms upon arrest.


social

en-noun

social (countable and uncountable, plural socials)

From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.


grade

→ Japanese: グレード (gurēdo)

→ Swahili: gredi

Borrowed from Middle French grade (“a grade, degree”), from Latin gradus (“a step, pace, degree”), from Proto-Italic *graðus, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰradʰ-, *gʰredʰ- (“to walk, go”). Doublet of gradus.
Cognate with Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌹𐌸𐍃 (griþs, “step, grade”), Bavarian Gritt (“step, stride”), Lithuanian gri̇̀diju (“to go, wander”).

He got a good grade on the test.

I gave him a good grade for effort.

You need a grade of at least 80% in first-year calculus to be admitted to the CS major program.

(chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Performance on a test or other evaluation(s), expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol; a score.

notë

performance expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol

Clancy is entering the fifth grade this year.

Clancy starts grade five this year.

(Canada, US, Philippines, education) A level of primary and secondary education.

The grade fives are on a field trip.

(Canada, education) A student of a particular grade (used with the grade level).


grade

en-verb

grade (third-person singular simple present grades, present participle grading, simple past and past participle graded)

grades (present singular third-person)
grading (participle present)
graded (participle past)
graded (past)

(chiefly Canada, US) To assign scores to the components of an academic test, or to overall academic performance.


poppy

en-noun

poppy (countable and uncountable, plural poppies)

→ Japanese: ポピー (popī)

Beckwithshaw
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae
Moina Michael

PIE word
 *péh₂wr̥
The noun is derived from Late Middle English poppy, Middle English popy, popi, popie (“plant of the genus Papaver; poppy seeds used as a spice”) [and other forms], from Old English popiġ (“poppy”), Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, popei [and other forms], perhaps from Late Latin *papavum, popauer, from Latin papāver (“poppy”), which may be from a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ (“bonfire”). Doublet of papaver.
Sense 3 (“artificial poppy flower to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts”) reflects the efforts of American professor and humanitarian Moina Michael (1869–1944) to popularize the wearing of artificial poppies in remembrance of those who fought and died in World War I; she was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915) by the Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae (1872–1918): see the quotation.
The adjective is derived from the noun.

nb...

pape, papie, papy, papye, popẹ̄, poppei, popye, (Early Middle English) papig, popi, popig

blue poppy

Meconopsis, especially Meconopsis betonicifolia

Troops from the garrison town formed a guard of honour for both sets of players, who emerged for the national anthem with poppies proudly stitched into their tracksuit jackets.

2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England under 21 5 Iceland under 21 0: Match report”, in Tony Gallagher, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2011-11-11:

(chiefly Australia, British, Canada) A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Day/Remembrance Sunday.