sketchy

en-adj

sketchy (comparative sketchier, superlative sketchiest)

sketchier (comparative)
sketchiest (superlative)

The sketchy repair job did not look like it would hold.

(Canada, US, slang) Of questionable or doubtful quality.

Because he is so sketchy, I always think that he is up to something.

The downside of working with sketchy dudes on building sites and in greasy spoons was that they were sketchy, but they also knew shady things.

2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 201:

(Canada, US, slang, of a person) Suspected of taking part in illicit or dishonorable dealings.

съмнителен

Jack is so sketchy. I think he's stalking me.

(Canada, US, slang, of a person) Disturbing or unnerving, often in such a way that others may suspect them of intending physical or sexual harm or harassment.


rubber

en-noun

rubber (usually uncountable, plural rubbers)

desc

→ Kashubian: roberk (Canada, United State)

→ Sikaiana: lapa

From rub + -er.
The sense of the substance comes from its ability to function as an eraser, displacing earlier caoutchouc. The senses not having to do with rubbing or erasing are secondarily derived from the name of the substance.

And the rubbers you hide / In your top left pocket

1979, “At Home He's A Tourist”, in Entertainment!, performed by Gang of Four:

My daddy said "Treat young girls like your mother" / My momma said "Trust no hoe, use a rubber"

2019, “Ricky”, performed by Denzel Curry:

(countable, Canada, US, slang) A condom.

Johnny, don't forget your rubbers today.

He set aside his aunt’s counsel in regard to a better regimen, as well as her more specific hints, made in view of the near approach of rough weather, that he provide himself with rubbers and an umbrella, even if he would not hear of a rain-coat.

1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope Goes A-Sailing”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 154:

(Canada, US, in the plural) Water-resistant shoe covers, galoshes, overshoes.


rubber

(sports, Canada, US) A rubber match; a game or match played to break a tie.


anglo

(Canada, informal) An English-speaking Quebecer.


yard

yards (plural)
yaird (alternative)
yeard (alternative)
yerd (alternative)
yod (alternative)

From Middle English yerd, yard, ȝerd, ȝeard, from Old English ġeard (“yard, garden, fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *gard, from Proto-Germanic *gardaz (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰórdʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to enclose”).
See also Dutch gaard, obsolete German Gart, German Garten, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål gård, Norwegian Nynorsk gard, Lithuanian gardas (“pen, enclosure”), Russian го́род (górod, “town”), Serbo-Croatian and Slovene grad ("town"), Albanian gardh (“fence”), Romanian gard, Avestan 𐬔𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛𐬵𐬀 (gərədha, “dev's cave”), Sanskrit गृह (gṛha)), Medieval Latin gardinus, jardinus. Doublet of garden, garth, and gord.

der

(US, Canada, Australia) The property surrounding one's house, typically dominated by one's lawn.


torch

The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figurative) sunbeam”), from Old French torche, torque (“torch; bundle of (twisted) straw”) (modern French torche); further etymology uncertain, probably from Vulgar Latin *torca (“coiled object”) (referring to a torch made from twisted plant fibres dipped in a flammable substance such as pitch), from Latin torqua, a variant of torquis (“collar of twisted metal, torque; wreath”), from torqueō (“to twist, wind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
Sense 2.3 (Verbascum thapsus) is either due to the plant’s spike of yellow flowers, or because its leaves and stalks were used to make torches (noun sense 1). Sense 3.2 (“precious cause, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others”) is derived from Latin lampada trādere, from Ancient Greek λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι (lămpắdă părădidónai, “to hand over the torch”), a reference to the torch race held at various festivals such as the Panathenaic Games in Ancient Greece, which involved a relay where a torch was passed from one runner to another.
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι

sueo'

stick of wood, etc., with one end soaked in a flammable substance and set on fire; similarly shaped implement with a replaceable supply of flammable material

(chiefly Canada, US) Short for blowtorch (“a tool which projects a controlled stream of a highly flammable gas over a spark in order to produce a controlled flame”).


apartment

apartments (plural)
APT (alternative)
apt. (alternative)

→ Japanese: アパートメント (apātomento), アパート (apāto)

→ Hokkien: a-phá-tò

→ Korean: 아파트 (apateu)

→ Malay: اڤرتمن (apartmen)

desc

→ Thai: อพาร์ทเมนท์ (à-páat-mén)

→ Thai: อพาร์ทเมนท์ (à-páat-mén)

From French appartement, from Italian appartamento, from Spanish apartamiento (“separation, seclusion”). See apart.

der

apartment dwellers

I am Jonathan. I am in apartment B4. — I am in apartment C2.
Audio (US): (file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia, Philippines) A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent; a flat.

雅柏文

ngaa⁵ paak³ man⁴, aa⁶ paat¹ man⁴, aa⁶ paat¹ man⁴⁻²

condominium

domicile occupying part of a building; compare with


infanticide

en-noun

infanticide (countable and uncountable, plural infanticides)

(law, Canada) The criminal offence of killing of a newborn, committed by its mother while psychologically disturbed by the effects of childbirth or lactation, not regarded as murder.


plenty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: plenty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: plenty

From Middle English plentie, plentee, plente, from Anglo-Norman plenté, from Old French plenté, from Latin plenitatem, accusative of plenitas (“fullness”), from plenus (“complete, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”), from which English full also comes, via Proto-Germanic. Related to the Latin derivatives complete, deplete, replete.

This office is plenty big enough for our needs.

For the likes of her, the down-at-heels support of Hoboken pier was plenty good enough.

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:

She was plenty mad at him.

Seeing clichés mimicked this skillfully is plenty hilarious.

2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-12-07:

(Canada, US, colloquial) Used as an intensifier, very.


drain

drains (plural)
drein (alternative)
dreen (alternative)

→ French: drain

→ Irish: draein

→ Welsh: draen

From Middle English dreinen, from Old English drēahnian (“to drain, strain, filter”), from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną (“to strain, sieve”), from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (“dry, parched”). Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.

der

The drain in the kitchen sink is clogged.

An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.

2013 March 27, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 114:

(chiefly US, Canada) A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)


Based on the telephone number used in North America to obtain telephone numbers of listed subscribers.

(Canada, US, telephony) The telephonic information service.


elastic

en-noun

elastic (countable and uncountable, plural elastics)

elastics (plural)
elastick (alternative)

From French élastique, from New Latin elasticus (“elastic”), from Ancient Greek ἐλαστός (elastós), alternative form of ἐλατός (elatós, “ductile”) (cf. ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “a driver, hurler”)), from ἐλαύνω (elaúnō, “to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out”).


hotel

→ Amharic: ሆቴል (hotel)

→ Assamese: হোটেল (hütel)

→ Bengali: হোটেল (hōṭel)

→ Burmese: ဟိုတယ် (huitai)

→ Hindi: होटल (hoṭal)

→ Japanese: ホテル (hoteru)

→ Khmer: ហោតិល (haotəl)

→ Korean: 호텔 (hotel)

→ Malay: hotel

→ Maori: hōtēra

→ Nepali: होटल (hoṭal)

→ Oromo: hoteela

→ Persian: هوتَل (hôtal) (Dari)

→ Swahili: hoteli

desc

→ Tamil: ஓட்டல் (ōṭṭal)

→ Tamil: ஓட்டல் (ōṭṭal)

→ Thai: โฮเต็ล (hoo-dtel)

→ Tigrinya: ሆቴል (hotel)

→ Tok Pisin: hotel

→ Ukrainian: готе́ль (hotélʹ)

→ Urdu: ہوٹل (hoṭal)

Borrowed from French hôtel, from Middle French hostel, from Old French ostel, from Late Latin hospitālis (“hospice, shelter, guesthouse”), from Latin hospitālis (“hospitable”). Doublet of hostel and hospital.


lieutenant

lieutenants (plural)
leftenant (alternative)
leftenaunt (alternative)
lieftenant (alternative)
lieftenaunt (alternative)
lieutenaunt (alternative)

→ Irish: leifteanant

→ Malay: leftenan

→ Swahili: luteni

From Middle English lieutenant, lieftenaunt, from Anglo-Norman lieutenant, lyutenaunt, leu tenant, leu tenaunt (“deputy, lieutenant”), from Old French lieu (“place”) + tenant (“holder”). Doublet of locum tenens.

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

lieutenant commander
lieutenant commander

(military) The lowest junior commissioned officer rank(s) in many military forces, often Army and Marines.

(military, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A naval Commissioned Officer who holds the rank above sub-lieutenant and below lieutenant commander.


period

frequency

antonym(s) of “length of time of recurrence of a periodic phenomenon”

/ˈpɪə.ɹɪ.əd/

From Middle English periode, from Middle French periode, from Medieval Latin periodus, from Ancient Greek περίοδος (períodos, “circuit, an interval of time, path around”), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”). Displaced native Middle English tide (“interval, period, season”), from Old English tīd (“time, period, season”), as well as Middle English elde (“age, period”), from Old English ieldu (“age, period of time”).

periodike

length of time during which something repeats

‘You know, a period? The black spot at the end of a sentence — what do you call them over there?’

2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 299:

(now chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) The punctuation mark “.” (indicating the ending of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).


period

/ˈpɪə.ɹɪ.əd/

I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but your teeth need to be checked, period!

(chiefly Canada, US) That's final; that's the end of the matter (analogous to a period ending a sentence); end of story.


George

→ Arabic: جورج (jorj)

→ Cebuano: George

→ Cantonese: 佐治 (zo2 zi6)

→ Chinese: 喬治 /乔治 (Qiáozhì)

→ Hawaiian: Keoki

→ Japanese: ジョージ (Jōji)

→ Korean: 조지 (Joji)

→ Maori: Hōri
→ English: hori

→ Persian: جورج (jorj)

→ Swedish: George

Name of an early saint, from Middle English George, from Latin Geōrgius, from Ancient Greek Γεώργῐος (Geṓrgĭos), from γεωργός (geōrgós, “farmer, earth worker”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) (combining form γεω- (geō-)) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”) Doublet of Jorge and Geevarghese.
The aircraft autopilot sense is probably from George DeBeeson, who patented an early (1931) autopilot system, and/or a reference to the expression let George do it. The Pullman porter sense derives from George Pullman, who hired Black people to staff his sleeping cars, and the patrons of the service seeing the Black people as servants of George Porter, much like how an enslaved person was named after the enslaver.

(Canada, US, slang, dated) Generic name for a Pullman porter.


ish

en-adj

ish (comparative more ish, superlative most ish)

more ish (comparative)
most ish (superlative)

(informal, Canada, US, regional) ick, yuck


cheer

Alex participated in cheer all four years of college.

I'm going to wear my new cheer shoes at cheer today.

...[P]erspective [sic] gym cheer programs must address how to support a cheer program while maintaining appropriate and safe skill progressions.

1999, Jim Lord, Chris Calvert., Cheerleading: Where Does Your Gym Fit In?:

2000, Linda Villarosa. Cheerleading Changes, and Injuries Increase in The New York Times.
Last year, more than 75,000 high school participants took part in cheerleading competitions, and the National Federation of State High School Associations says that "competitive cheer" is the fastest growing sport for girls.

2018, Chad Thompson. Iowa Central cheer team is tops at national competition in The Messenger.
The Iowa Central Community College cheer team has achieved something no other college in Iowa has before.

(chiefly Canada, US) Cheerleading, especially when practiced as a competitive sport.


hobo

Unknown. Possibly a contraction of ho, boy or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”).

(Canada, US) A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum.

(Canada, US) Any migratory laborer, whether homeless or not.


kick ass

en-verb

kick ass (third-person singular simple present kicks ass, present participle kicking ass, simple past and past participle kicked ass)

kicks ass (present singular third-person)
kicking ass (participle present)
kicked ass (participle past)
kicked ass (past)
kick arse (alternative)

Did you win? We didn't just win, we kicked ass.

(idiomatic, US, Canada, colloquial, vulgar) To win decisively.

The soundtrack to this film really kicks ass!

(stative, idiomatic, US, Canada, colloquial, vulgar) To be very impressive.

показа́ть, на что ты спосо́бен/спосо́бна


tablespoon

tablespoons (plural)
table spoon (alternative)
table-spoon (alternative)

Their eggs were deposited on a few bits of straw, and great caution was necessary in attempting to procure them, as the slightest touch crumbled their frail tenement into dust. By means of a tablespoon, I was enabled to procure many of them.

1840, John James Audubon, The Birds of America, volume 1, page 178:

(Canada, US) A large spoon, used for eating food from a bowl.


stage

→ Japanese: ステージ (sutēji)

From Middle English stage, from Old French estage (“dwelling, residence; position, situation, condition”), from Old French ester (“to be standing, be located”). Cognate with Old English stæþþan (“to make staid, stay”), Old Norse steðja (“to place, provide, confirm, allow”), Old English stede (“state, status, standing, place, station, site”). More at stead. Doublet of étage.


stage

en-verb

stage (third-person singular simple present stages, present participle staging, simple past and past participle staged)

stages (present singular third-person)
staging (participle present)
staged (participle past)
staged (past)

(intransitive, Canada, US) To work an internship, usually as a chef or waiter.


runner

From Middle English rennere, rynner, urnare, equivalent to run + -er. Cognate with Old Norse rennari (“runner; messenger”). Displaced earlier Middle English runel (“runner”), from Old English rynel (“runner”; also “messenger, courier”).

махови́к

mechanical part intended to guide or aid something else to move

(Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland) A type of soft-soled shoe originally intended for runners.


Yankee

Yankee (third-person singular simple present Yankees, present participle Yankeeing, simple past and past participle Yankeed)

Yankees (present singular third-person)
Yankeeing (participle present)
Yankeed (participle past)
Yankeed (past)
Yanky (alternative)
Yengee (alternative)

First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "coward" and was applied to the New Englanders by the Virginians because they refused to aid them in a war against the Cherokees; that it derives from Yengees, a Native American corruption of English; and that it comes from Janke, a pet form of the common Dutch forename Jan. The OED regards the last of these as "perhaps the most plausible".

Kentuckians reportedly regarded a Yankee “as a sort of Jesuit” because of his religious zeal, while in Illinois the term yankeed was synonymous with cheated.

2011, Colin Woodard, chapter 17, in American nations, New York: Penguin, →ISBN:

(dated, slang, US, Canada, sometimes offensive) to cheat, trick or swindle somebody; to misrepresent something


whisky

en-noun

whisky (countable and uncountable, plural whiskies)

Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh (compare obsolete whiskybae), from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (“water of life”), calque of Medieval Latin aqua vitae. Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source.

der

That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(Scotland, Canada, Australia) Alternative form of whiskey, an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain, usually aged in oak barrels, (particularly) Scotch; a drink of this liquor.


fry

From Middle English fryen, borrowed from Old French frire, from Latin frīgō (“to roast, fry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-. Cognate with Ancient Greek φρύγω (phrúgō, “I roast, bake”), Sanskrit भृज्जति (bhṛjjati, “to roast, grill, fry”), भृग् (bhṛg, “the crackling of fire”). Replaced native Middle English hirsten, from Old English hierstan (“to fry”).

cog

(usually in the plural, fries, chiefly Canada and US, cooking) A fried piece of cut potato.


rutabaga

en-noun

rutabaga (usually uncountable, plural rutabagas)

rutabagas (plural)
ruta-baga (alternative)

/ˈɹutəˌbeɪɡə/

1799, borrowed from Swedish rotabagge, a dialectal word from Västergötland, from rot (“root”) + bagge (“lump, bunch”).

They were both too hungry to wait for the yams and rutabagas to bake, so tonight they would have the frozen White Castle minicheeseburgers that Mr. Van Buren had won a year's supply of just before he passed away.

Brassica napus
Brassica napus#Translingual

(now Canada, US) The swede, or Swedish turnip; the European plant Brassica napus var. napobrassica

Sometimes your royal dogs tear down our thatch,
And then we seek the shelter of a ditch;
Hog-wash or grains, or ruta-baga, none
Has yet been ours since your reign begun.

1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

Chipper […] understood how his entire dinner might be scarfabl' in no time, his duties discharged and his freedom regained, and he actually picked up his fork and made a pass at the craggy wad of rutabaga […]

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

(now Canada, US) The edible root of this plant


outhouse

outhouses (plural)
out-house (alternative)

From Middle English outhous, equivalent to out- + house. Compare Old Norse úthús (“outhouse”).

(Canada, US) An outbuilding, typically permanent, containing a toilet or seat over a cesspit.


corn

corn (usually uncountable, plural corns)

Kashubian: kòrné (Canada)

Tok Pisin: kon

→ Maori: kānga

Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). The sense "maize" is a clipping of Indian corn. Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish korn, Norwegian Bokmål korn, Norwegian Nynorsk korn and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao.

doublet

what does that have to do with the price of corn

The planting or sowing of maize, exclusively called corn, was just accomplished on the Town Hill, when I reached it.

1809, Edward Augustus Kendall, Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States:

Corn was the staff of life for many Indian people before contact, and it became the staff of life for many European colonists. Corn was higher in nutrition than most other grain crops. John Lawson, who travelled in South Carolina and into the interior Indian country in 1701, was one of the many colonists who sang the praises of corn.

1998 February 18, Colin G. Calloway, New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America, JHU Press, →ISBN, pages 51–52:

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, uncountable) Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.


corn

en-verb

corn (third-person singular simple present corns, present participle corning, simple past and past participle corned)

corns (present singular third-person)
corning (participle present)
corned (participle past)
corned (past)

to corn gunpowder

(US, Canada) To granulate; to form (a substance) into grains.

(US, Canada) To preserve using coarse salt, e.g. corned beef.

Corn the horses.

(US, Canada) To provide (an animal) with corn (typically maize; or, in Scotland, oats) for feed.


corn

He had a sharp wit, true enough, but also a good, healthy mountaineer's love of pure corn, the slapstick stuff, the in-jokes that get funnier with every repetition and never amuse anybody who wasn't there.

There were lots of jokes on the show and they were pure corn, but the audience didn't mind.

1986, Linda Martin, Kerry Segrave, Women in Comedy:

The bulk of this humor was pure corn, but as hillbilly material it was meant to be that way.

2007, Bob L. Cox, Fiddlin' Charlie Bowman: an East Tennessee old-time music pioneer and his musical family:

Cambridge University Press
w:Cambridge University Press

(US, Canada) Something (e.g., acting, humour, music, or writing) which is deemed old-fashioned or intended to induce emotion.


beef

en-noun

beef (countable and uncountable, plural beef or beefs or beeves)

beef (plural)
beefs (plural)
beeves (plural)

→ Portuguese: bife

→ Spanish: bife

From Middle English beef, bef, beof, borrowed from Anglo-Norman beof, Old French buef, boef (“ox”) (modern French bœuf); from Latin bōs (“ox”), from Proto-Italic *gʷōs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Doublet of cow.
Beef in the sense of “a grudge, argument” was originally an American slang expression:
* attested as a verb “to complain” in 1888: “He'll beef an' kick like a steer an' let on he won't never wear 'em.”— New York World, 13 May;
* attested as a noun “complaint, protest, grievance, sim.” in 1899: “He made a Horrible Beef because he couldn't get Loaf Sugar for his Coffee.”—Fables in Slang (1900) by George Ade, page 80.
As to the possible origin of this American usage, it has been suggested that it can be traced back to a British expression for “alarm”, first recorded in 1725: "BEEF 'to alarm, as To cry beef upon us; they have discover'd us, and are in Pursuit of us". The term "beef" in this context would be a Cockney rhyming slang of thief. The continuous use of a similar expression, including its assumed semantic shift to 'complaint' in the United States from the 1880s onwards, needs further clarification though.

Do you want to raise beeves?

Howbeit, that country bringeth forth certain kinds of goodly great wild bœufes: to wit, the Biſontes, mained with a collar, like Lions: and the Vri, a mightie ſtrong beaſt, and a ſwift: which the ignorant people call Buffles, whereas indeed the Buffle is bred in Affrica, and carieth ſome reſemblance of a calfe rather, or a ſtag.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VIII.] Of Scythian beasts, and those that are bred in the North parts.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, pages 199–200:

As when two lions in the ſtill dark night / An herd of beeves ſcatter or num'rous flock / Suddenly, in the abſence of the guard, / So fled the heartleſs Greeks, […]

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XV.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 394, lines 398–401:

263. If he [one to whom a beef or sheep is loaned] ruins the beef or sheep that was loaned him, he is to return to the owner a beef for a beef and a sheep for a sheep.

1903 March, Henry Mason Baum, Frederick Bennett Wright, George Frederick Wright, Records of the Past, volume II, part III, page 87, translating the laws of Hammurabi

Cutting out a Beef for branding

1920–1930, Photo in the North Dakota State Museum

I remember I killed a beef one time by myself.

2012, Bart Reilly, quotee, “Beef”, in Ontario Dialects Project, Toronto: University of Toronto, retrieved 2022-07-05:

(now chiefly Canada, US, countable, now uncommon, plural beeves) A bovine (cow or bull) being raised for its meat.


cubic centimetre

cubic centimetre (plural cubic centimetres)

cubic centimetres (plural)
cubic centimeter (alternative)

A unit of volume equal to that of a cube having sides each one centimetre in length, equal to 10⁻⁶ cubic metres and 1 millilitre. Commonly used in fluid measure and for engine sizes.


batty boy

batty boys (plural)
batty bwoy (alternative)
bawty boy (alternative)

From Caribbean slang batty (“buttocks”) + boy (“person”).

(Jamaica, Caribbean, UK, Canada derogatory slang) A homosexual man.


sprog

sprog (countable and uncountable, plural sprogs)

1940s, originally service slang. Perhaps from obsolete sprag (“lively young man”), of unknown origin.

To test this hypothesis further, he and his mate Fifer persuaded 16 women, heavy with child, to read a story called The Cat in the Hat to their unborn sprogs, twice a day, during the last few weeks of their pregnancies.

1984 September 13, Donald Gould, Forum: Suck it and see, page 54:

Any guardianship or trusts that you set up when your children were little sprogs may no longer be needed.

2008, Julian Knight, Wills, Probate, & Inheritance Tax For Dummies, UK, unnumbered page:

Kids will love the climbing wall and NZ′s highest vertical slide. If the sprogs get bored with reality, movie make-believe (p232) is right next door.

2010, Brett Atkinson, Sarah Bennett, Scott Kennedy, New Zealand′s South Island, Lonely Planet, page 220:

(UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, informal, humorous) A child.


mart

From Middle Dutch mart, markt (“market”) (Modern Dutch markt), from Old Dutch *markat, from Late Latin marcātus, an alternative form of Classical Latin mercātus. See market.

FedMart, Walmart, Kmart, Kwik-E-Mart

(Canada, US, Philippines, usually only in combination) A shop, a store, a market.


roast

From Middle English rosten, a borrowing from Old French rostir (“to roast, to torture with fire”), from Frankish *rōstijan (“to roast, broil”), from Proto-Germanic *raustijaną (“to roast”), from Proto-Indo-European *rews- (“to crackle; roast”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian rosterje (“to roast”), Dutch roosten, roosteren (“to roast”), German rösten (“to roast”).
Displaced native Middle English breden, bræden (“to roast”), from Old English brǣdan, related to German braten (“to roast, grill”).

der

On Memorial Day we hosted a wiener roast in the backyard.

(Canada, US) A social event at which food is roasted and eaten.


duplex

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
Borrowed from Latin duplex (“double, two-fold”), from duo (“two”) + plico (“fold together”); compare the roots of διπλόος (diplóos, “double”); compare also πλέκω (plékō, “twist, braid”). By surface analysis, duo- + -plex.

The house had been renovated into a duplex and he’d put in a phone line.

2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 53:

(US, Canada, Australia) A house made up of two dwelling units.


bun

From Middle English bunne (“wheat cake, bun”), from Anglo-Norman bugne (“bump on the head; fritter”), from Old French bugne (hence French beignet), from Frankish *bungjo (“little clump”), diminutive of *bungu (“lump, clump”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“clump, lump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Dutch bonk (“clump, clot, cluster of fruits”). More at bunch.

bolletjie

a small bread roll, often sweetened or spiced

couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery

nice buns;   tight buns

(Canada, US, slang, chiefly in the plural) A buttock.


zucchini

zucchinis (plural)
zucchini (plural)
zucchina (alternative)
zucchino (alternative)

→ Japanese: ズッキーニ

Borrowed from Italian zucchini, plural of zucchino, diminutive of zucca (“squash”). Ultimately related to courgette through the original Latin cucurbita. Compare Sicilian cucuzza.

Cucurbita pepo
Cucurbita pepo#Translingual

(Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US, Philippines) A courgette; a variety of squash, Cucurbita pepo, which bears edible fruit.

(Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US, Philippines) The edible fruit of this variety of squash.


zee

tlb

(chiefly US, Newfoundland, Philippines, increasingly Canada)

→ Tagalog: zi

1670s US variant of zed (which see for more), by analogy with other letters such as bee, dee, tee and vee, and standardized by Noah Webster.

zee-bar.

Time to get some zees.

(colloquial, usually in the plural) Sleep.


zee

en-verb

zee (third-person singular simple present zees, present participle zeeing, simple past and past participle zeed)

zees (present singular third-person)
zeeing (participle present)
zeed (participle past)
zeed (past)

(intransitive, informal) To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)

(intransitive, rare) To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.


dime

From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime.

(US, Canada) A coin worth one-tenth of a dollar.

ten-cent piece

Used in other countries with dollar-and-cent currencies

She didn't spend a dime.


protest

protest (third-person singular simple present protests, present participle protesting, simple past and past participle protested)

protests (present singular third-person)
protesting (participle present)
protested (participle past)
protested (past)

PIE word
 *tréyes
From the Middle English verb protesten, from Old French protester, from Latin prōtestārī, from prō + testor, from testis (“witness”).

They protested the demolition of the school.

(transitive, chiefly Canada, US) To object to; to protest against.


dude

dudes (plural)
dood (alternative)
dewd (alternative)

American Speech
James Caldwall
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Wellcome Library
dude

Uncertain, though likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton, mindless person”), perhaps with reference to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” in the 18th-century lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle”; the word is first attested in 1883 as a New York City slang term of contempt for a “fastidious man, fop”. If so, then related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”), Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”).
It has also been suggested that the word is derived from dudes (“old rags”; compare duds) and dudesman (“scarecrow”), or possibly related to dawdle; It has also been suggested the word derives from the Irish dúid.
The common claim that the term derives from (or is) a word for a camel's foreskin (or some other vulgar thing, like a hair on a cow, horse, donkey, or elephant's bottom) is false.

clipping

So we were at the mall and these two dudes just walk up to us and say "hi".

A very pretty little dudine of Fifth Avenue is much admired by the dudes in her neighborhood, and it has been observed on several occasions that she appeared to be able to discriminate between them, and not only shows a preference for one dude over another; but is able to recognize the dudes she likes after an interval of separation. It is said, also, that in accepting the attentions of her dude wooers, she shows a peculiar mimicry of the coquettish manners of human girls.

1883 March 7, “Animal Intelligence: Facts Tending to Throw Light on the Question: ‘Do Dudes Reason?’”, in Puck, volume XIII, number 313, New York, N.Y.: Keppler & Schwarzmann, →OCLC, page 299:

At first sight it may seem odd that the character-reader should in any case declare himself incapable of distinguishing sex in writing. […] The most prevalent reason for this probably lies in the so-called "emancipation of women," who, on aping the masculine pursuits and propensities, really acquire the virile tone of character. In a similar way the "dude" of the day becomes androgynous; and the result in one case is a masculine soul in a woman's shape, and in the other a feminine soul in the degraded form of the so-called "dude".

1896, J. Harington Keene, “Directions for Reading Character from Handwriting”, in The Mystery of Handwriting: A Handbook of Graphology, Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard Publishers, 10 Milk Street, →OCLC, page 19:

At first Europeans didn't realize what chocolate could be—poor guys! [Christopher] Columbus saw cacao beans in 1503, but he didn't have a clue. (No surprise—dude thought he was in India!)

2014, Tim J. Myers, “Choc Rocks”, in Rude Dude's Book of Food: Stories behind Some of the Crazy-Cool Stuff We Eat, [Sanger, Calif.]: Familius, →ISBN:

Though the term "dude" originated as a term to describe a certain type of male, and then later to refer to men in general, today it is often used to refer to both genders, at least in certain parts of the United States. Dudeism doesn't recognize "dude" as a gender-specific word. We consider both women and men who exhibit dude-like qualities to be "dudes," and assert that the word "dude" can mean many different things depending on the context.

2016, Oliver Benjamin, “Additional Notes from the Author”, in The Dude De Ching, new annotated edition, [s.l.]: Abide University Press; Dudeism, LLC:

(chiefly US, Canada, colloquial) A man, generally a younger man.


goof

Perhaps from dialectal English goff (“foolish clown”), from earlier goffe, in which case further etymology is uncertain.
Perhaps from Middle English goffen (“to speak in a frivolous manner”), possibly from Old English gaf, ġegaf (“base; wanton; lewd”, adj), ġegaf (“buffoonery; scurrility”, noun), gaffetung, golfettung (“buffoonery; mockery”). Compare English dialectal gauffin (“lightheaded; foolish; giddy”), Scots gaff, gawf (“to talk loudly; babble”), Scots gaffaw (“a loud laugh”).
Alternatively, perhaps from Middle French goffe (“awkward; stupid”). Compare also Spanish gofo, Italian goffo.

inh

Your little brother is a total goof.

(US, Canada, MTE, informal) A foolish and/or silly person; a goofball.


coupe

Borrowed from French coupe. Doublet of cup, hive, and keeve.

(US, Canada, automotive) A car with two doors (variant of coupé).


moot

en-adj

moot (comparative more moot, superlative most moot)

more moot (comparative)
most moot (superlative)

From Middle English mōt, ȝemōt, from Old English *mōt, ġemōt (“meeting”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtą, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to encounter, come”). Cognate with Scots mut, mote (“meeting, assembly”), Low German Mööt (“meeting”), Moot (“meeting”), archaic Dutch (ge)moet (“meeting”), Danish møde (“meeting”), Swedish möte (“meeting”), Norwegian møte (“meeting”), Icelandic mót (“meeting, tournament, meet”). Related to meet.

cog

(Canada, US, chiefly law) Being an exercise of thought; academic.

That point may make for a good discussion, but it is moot.

The question [whether certain poetry was present in the original Hebrew Psalms] in our own time is moot, since various considerations have made it certain that, of all the hazards presented by biblical translation, a dangerous excess of beauty is not one of them.

2007, Paul Mankowski, “The Languages of Biblical Translation”, in Adoremus Bulletin, volume 13, number 4:

(Canada, US) Having no practical consequence or relevance.

por gusto & por las puras & por las [puras] huevas & por las puras brevas


mac

(UK, US, Canada, Australia, slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Scottish descent, used in driving culture to denigrate someone for poor/slow/amateurish driving responses, a reference to the frugality of Scottish people.


mac

Is there any mac and cheese left?

Who wrote "kick me" on my back?
Who put a spider in my mac?

1998, Dennis Doyle, edited by Alison Sage, Treasury of Children's Poetry, Shirley Said, page 177:

Nothing tastes better to me than a big ol' bowl of super creamy, cheesy mac!

2019, Gail Green, Marci Peschke, Lunch Recipe Queen (Kylie Jean), North Mankato, Minn.: Picture Window Books, Capstone, →ISBN, page 6:

(Canada, US, slang) Clipping of macaroni.


beater

From Middle English beter, betere, bettere, from Old English bēatere (“a beater; boxer, fighter; champion”), equivalent to beat + -er. Related to beetle (“a type of mallet”).

inh

(Canada) A harp seal pup after its first moult and before its second moult.


greenshirt

Bahuvrihi compound of green + shirt. Compare Brownshirt in Nazi sense.

(Canada, historical, derogatory) A member of Canada's Social Credit Party, which was thought by its opponents to resemble a fascist movement, at least in its style and presentation.


fetus

en-noun

fetus (plural fetuses or fetus or (hypercorrect) feti or (misconstructed) fetii)

tlb

(American spelling, also Canada, Australia)

fetuses (plural)
fetus (plural)
feti (hypercorrect plural)
fetii (misconstruction plural)
foetus (alternative)
fœtus (alternative)
phoetus (alternative)
phœtus (alternative)
faetus (alternative)
fætus (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin fētus (“offspring”). Doublet of fawn.

lbor

The real essence of that or any other sort of substances, it is evident, we know not; and therefore are so undetermined in our nominal essences, which we make ourselves, that, if several men were to be asked concerning some oddly-shaped fœtus, as soon as born, whether it were a man or no, it is past doubt one should meet with different answers.

1959 [1689], John Locke, chapter 6, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, vol. 2, New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, Inc., page 77:


manoeuvre

From Middle French manœuvre (“manipulation, manoeuvre”) and manouvrer (“to manoeuvre”), from Old French manovre (“handwork, manual labour”), from Medieval Latin manopera, manuopera (“work done by hand, handwork”), from manu (“by hand”) + operari (“to work”). First recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne (800 AD) to mean "chore, manual task", probably as a calque of the Frankish *handwerc (“hand-work”). Compare Old English handweorc, Old English handġeweorc, German Handwerk.

der

The system also reacts to unexpected traffic situations and handles them independently by employing evasive manoeuvres within the lane or by braking manoeuvres

2021, “Mercedes-Benz self-driving car technology approved for use”, in Fleet news:

UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand spelling of maneuver.


manoeuvre

en-verb

manoeuvre (third-person singular simple present manoeuvres, present participle manoeuvring, simple past and past participle manoeuvred)

manoeuvres (present singular third-person)
manoeuvring (participle present)
manoeuvred (participle past)
manoeuvred (past)

Three pairs of double doors are provided on each side, wide enough to take pallet trucks, and strengthened floors to allow the trucks to manoeuvre inside the vehicle.

1959 November, “Talking of Trains: S.R. Motor Luggage Vans”, in Trains Illustrated, page 523:

(transitive) UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand spelling of maneuver.


bachelor

bachelors (plural)
bachelour (alternative)
batcheler (alternative)
batchelor (alternative)

From Middle English bacheler, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bacheler (modern French bachelier), from Medieval Latin baccalārius, baccalāris (compare Tuscan baccalare (“squire”)).


bachelor party

en-noun

bachelor party (plural bachelor parties)

(US, Canada, South Africa) A party held for a man who is about to be married, normally attended only by male friends and relatives.


stag party

(British, Canada) A bachelor party; a party held for a man who is about to be married.


bachelorette party

bachelorette party (plural bachelorette parties)

(US, Canada) A party held for a woman who is about to be married.


duvet

From French duvet, from Middle French duvet, from Old French duvet (“down, the feathers of young birds”), alteration of dumet, dumect, which in turn derives from dum, dun (“down, feathers”), from Old Norse dúnn (“down, down feather”), from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, fume, raise dust”).
Cognate with Icelandic dúnn (“down”), Danish dun (“down”), German Daune (“down”), Dutch dons (“down”). More at down.

der

(British, New Zealand, Canada) A quilt or usually flat cloth bag with a filling (traditionally down) and usually an additional washable cover, used instead of blankets; often called a comforter or quilt, especially in US English.


haem

en-noun

haem (countable and uncountable, plural haems)

Haem is ubiquitous, abundant and necessary for energy metabolism. Most bacteria have a haem biosynthesis pathway, but nevertheless, since haem is a major source of iron (an essential metal), microbes take up exogenous haem to retrieve iron.

2010, Pierre Cornelis, Simon Andrews (editors), Iron Uptake and Homeostasis in Microorganisms, page 17:

Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and UK standard spelling of heme.


conservative

From Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.

A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.

(US, Canada, politics) A person who favors decentralization of political power and disfavors interventionist foreign policy.

(US, Canada, economics) A fiscal conservative.

(US, Canada, social sciences) A social conservative.


conservative

en-adj

conservative (comparative more conservative, superlative most conservative)

more conservative (comparative)
most conservative (superlative)

(US, Canada, economics, politics, social sciences) Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.

مُحَافِظ

supporting fiscal, political or social conservatism


pothead

From pot (“marijuana”) + -head. First sense appears c. 1957 in the writings of Jack Gelber. Third sense appears c. 1639.

(chiefly Canada) An electric motor's terminal connection or wiring box.


page

From Old French page, possibly via Italian paggio, from Late Latin pagius (“servant”), probably from Ancient Greek παιδίον (paidíon, “boy, lad”), from παῖς (paîs, “child”); some sources consider this unlikely and suggest instead Latin pagus (“countryside”), in sense of "boy from the rural regions". Used in English from the 13th century onwards.

der

(US, Canada) A boy or girl employed to wait upon the members of a legislative body.

pajo

US: boy employed to wait on legislatives


drier

From Middle English driere, dreyere (“one who dries”), equivalent to dry + -er (agent noun suffix).

(chiefly British, Canada) Alternative spelling of dryer


awful

From Middle English agheful, awfull, auful, aȝefull, equivalent to awe + -ful. Compare Old English eġeful, eġefull (“terrifying; awful”).
The "very bad" sense is an pejorative semantic shift from the original sense of "awe-inspiring".

awfull (alternative)
aweful (alternative)
awefull (alternative)

That's an awful big house.

She seemed awful nice when I met her yesterday.

He was blubbering away something awful.


faggot

From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). Perhaps from a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Latin fascis (“bundle of wood”). Compare also Old High German fazza (“bundle, load, burden”). Doublet of fagotto. See also: fag.
The senses relating to persons, though possibly originating as an extension of the sense "bundle of sticks", may have been reinforced by faygele, from Yiddish פֿייגעלע (feygele, “homosexual”, literally “little bird”), related to English fowl.

der

(chiefly US, Canada, derogatory, offensive, vulgar) A man considered weak, effeminate, timid, pathetic, emotional, non-heteronormative in some way.

(US, Canada, derogatory, offensive, vulgar) An annoying or inconsiderate person.


math

en-noun

math (countable and uncountable, plural maths)

Clarke stumbled into music by way of a high school course he took to raise his grades. "Music was a bird course. I had more interest in math, science, and women", he divulged.

2002 October 26, Nathalie Younglai, “Conducting without boundaries”, in Guelph Mercury, page C3:

(informal, uncountable, Canada, US, Philippines) Clipping of mathematics.

If you do the math, you'll see that it’s not such a bargain.

$170 a month? That doesn’t sound right. Let me check your math.

(informal, uncountable, Canada, US, Philippines) Arithmetic calculations; (see do the math).

They needed to take two more maths in order to graduate.

Did you take math today? / What did you do in math today?

Then, I further worked myself into an A+ panic attack with the realization that on top of the algebra, I would have to take three more maths, from a choice of calculus, finite math, statistics, logic, or differential equation.

2010, Claude Regis Vargo, Beyond My Horizon, →ISBN, page 108:

(informal, countable, Canada, US, Philippines) A math course or class.


bannock

bannock (usually uncountable, plural bannocks)

From Middle English bannoke, from Old English bannuc, from Old Irish bannach, based on Latin pānicum (“millet”). Doublet of bonnag.

dog bread

US terms for specific breads which would all be called bannock in Canada

“The boats are coming!” The cry rang through the village. Women left their bannock-baking, their basketweaving and hurried to the shore.

1941, Emily Carr, chapter 8, in Klee Wyck:

My father’s bannock was nothing but lard, flour, salt, and baking powder patted into big rounds and cooked on sticks over a campfire.

2007, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Turtle Valley, Vintage Canada, →ISBN, page 54:

(Canada) A biscuit bread made of wheat flour or cornmeal, fat, and sometimes baking powder, typically baked over a fire, wrapped around a stick or in a pan.

Bannock (Indigenous American food)
w:Bannock (Indigenous American food)

(specifically) This or any similar traditional bread when made by indigenous Americans, originally from native sources such as maize or pseudocereals and plants with starchy roots


Paki

Either a clipping of Pakistani or a back-formation of Pakistan. Doublet of Pak.

Their byword is Aggro (Aggravation) and their crucial enemies are hippies, homosexuals and Pakis (Pakistanis or Indians).

1970 March 29, Nik Cohn, “England's New Teen Style Is Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Paragraph 2, DPP v Collins ([2006] 1 WLR 2223)
In these telephone calls and recorded messages the respondent, who held strong views on immigration and asylum policy and the provision of public support to immigrants and applicants for asylum, ranted and shouted and made reference to "Wogs", "Pakis", "Black bastards" and […] "Niggers".

(UK, Canada, by extension) Anyone whose origins are perceived to be from South Asia or the Indian subcontinent.


Paki

(British, Canada, derogatory, ethnic slur) Pakistani, or perceived to be Pakistani.


sub-lieutenant

acting sub-lieutenant
acting sub-lieutenant

(military, navy) A commissioned officer of the navy whose rank is immediately below that of a lieutenant.

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand) A commissioned officer of the navy ranking above an acting sub-lieutenant and below a lieutenant.


gas station

(Canada, US, New Zealand, Philippines) filling station / petrol station; an establishment which sells gasoline (petrol) and often also diesel

pompstasie

an establishment which sells gasoline to pump directly into a car


elevator

→ Hawaiian: ʻeleweka

→ Japanese: エレベーター

→ Korean: 엘리베이터 (ellibeiteo)

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

(Canada, US, Australia, Philippines) A permanent construction with a built-in platform or cab that can be raised and lowered, used to transport people and goods, as between different floors of a building.


utilize

en-verb

utilize (third-person singular simple present utilizes, present participle utilizing, simple past and past participle utilized)

utilizes (present singular third-person)
utilizing (participle present)
utilized (participle past)
utilized (past)
utilise (alternative)

[ˈjʉː.ɾə.lɑɪz]

From French utiliser, from Italian utilizzare, from utile (“useful”), from Latin ūtilis, from ūtī (“use”).

(US, Canada, Oxford British English) Alternative spelling of utilise.


crappy

en-adj

crappy (comparative crappier, superlative crappiest)

crappier (comparative)
crappiest (superlative)
crap (alternative)

That is such a crappy car.

The referee just made a really crappy call.

The food there used to be good but now it's crappy.

Think of the content mill as a modern-day literary sweatshop—writers hunkering down at hot keyboards, plowing away at 3,000 word articles for, literally, pennies. Content mills were born because someone figured out that by targeting popular search result terms, they could commission an army of crappy posts catering to these terms and dominate Google's results.

2015, Zachary Petit, The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing, Penguin, →ISBN:

She took a leap in 2019 and bought an investment property, a duplex in Missoula, Mont., intending to live in one unit and rent the other. “It was the crappiest house on the block,” she said.

2022 July 29, Jennifer Miller, “Investing in Real Estate as Self-Care”, in The New York Times:

“Many scientists and historians think we’re entering into a new epoch — one where things are simply … well, crappier,” declares the opening voice-over in a thick northern English accent (regularly used in Britain to indicate no-nonsense, tongue-in-cheek pragmatism).

2024 February 5, Elizabeth Paton, “Will Shoppers Ever Care About the Destruction of the Planet?”, in The New York Times:

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, mildly vulgar) Of very poor quality; unpleasant; distasteful.

I'm feeling really crappy - I think I need some fresh air.

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, mildly vulgar, especially with "feel") Bad, sick, or depressed.

Put the crappy diapers in the brown pail and the wet ones in the yellow pail.

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, mildly vulgar) Covered in crap (faeces/feces).


faeces

en-noun

faeces pl (normally plural, singular faex)

This paper reports on ingestion of soil by dairy cows using titanium analysis of faeces by the X-ray fluorescence technique, and gives the range of soil intakes of a year on both an individual and a herd basis.

1968 May, W. B. Healy, “Ingestion of Soil by Dairy Cows”, in New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, page 487:

The fact that dogs have a well developed sense of smell suggests that they might be able to use the odour of faeces as a means of communicating.

1984 April 19, David F. Chantrey, James B. Reid, C. E. Davie, “Dog Business”, in New Scientist, page 48:

Urine and faeces are complete fertilizers of high quality with low levels of contaminants such as heavy metals. Urine is rich in nitrogen, while faeces are rich in phosphorous, potassium and organic matter.

2004, Håkan Jönsson, Håkan Jönsson, Anna Richert Stintzing, Björn Vinnerås, Eva Salomon, Guidelines on the Use of Urine and Faeces in Crop Production, page 1:

UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand standard spelling of feces.


diaper

diaper (countable and uncountable, plural diapers)

From Middle English dyaper, from Old French dyapre, diaspre, from Medieval Latin diaspra, diasprum from Byzantine Greek δίασπρος (díaspros, adj), from δια- (dia-, “across”) + ἄσπρος (áspros, “white”).

der

(Canada, US, Philippines, India) An absorbent garment worn by a baby, by a young child not yet toilet trained, or by an adult who is incontinent; a nappy.

popok

absorbent garment worn by a baby, or by someone who is incontinent


batty

From bottom, possibly influenced by botty or butt.

For example, recent Jamaican 'raga' lyrics by Buju Banton and Brand Nubian attach the affirmation of black identity to crude animosity towards homosexuality and contain offensive language against the 'batties' as icons of non-blackness.

1996, Rudi Bleys, The geography of perversion:

(Jamaica, UK, Canada, derogatory) A homosexual man.


gallon

→ Cebuano: galon

→ Czech: galon

→ Portuguese: galão

→ Serbo-Croatian: galon

→ Swahili: galoni

→ Turkish: galon

From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (“liquid measure”) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (“measure of wine”), from Vulgar Latin *galla (“vessel”), possibly from Gaulish [Term?], ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“goblet”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”), Sanskrit कलश (kalaśa, “jar, pitcher; measure of liquid”). Related to Old French gille (“wine measure”) (from Medieval Latin gillō (“earthenware jar”)), Old French jale (“bowl”), Old French jaloie (“measure of capacity”).

cog

(British, Canada) exactly 4.54609 liters; an imperial gallon


take up

en-verb

take up (third-person singular simple present takes up, present participle taking up, simple past took up, past participle taken up)

takes up (present singular third-person)
taking up (participle present)
took up (past)
taken up (participle past)
take one up (alternative)

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

elfogad

to accept (a proposal, offer, request, etc.) from

You have 30 minutes for the quiz. We’ll take up the answers at 1 o'clock.

Also, the grade 12’s in the class were also called down to the cafeteria from 9:30 am to about 9:50 am, so they missed class when I took up some of the worksheets.

2015, Mr. Bawa, Mr. Bawa's Semester 1 Classes at St. Mary's:

Can someone in CSCC37 (mustafa's tutorial!) email me the solution to the midterm? (the tutorial right after the midterm where he took up the solutions)

2018, /u/CharmingHistorian3, Mustafa's C37 midterm solution?:

(transitive) To set about doing or dealing with (something).

(transitive, Canada) To review the solutions to a test or other assessment with a class.


liquor

en-noun

liquor (countable and uncountable, plural liquors)

From Middle English licour, from Anglo-Norman licour, from Latin liquor (“fluidity, liquidness, a fluid, a liquid”), from liquere (“to be fluid or liquid”); see liquid. Doublet of liqueur.

der

Here the proprietor has had the good sense of holding on to the good old fashion of giving his customers their moneyworth of good wines and liquors.

1879, Chas. McArmor, The New Handbook of Vienna […] , 2nd edition, Otto Maass, page 106:

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) Strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation; more broadly, any alcoholic drink.

كُحُول

strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation


nutria

en-noun

nutria (countable and uncountable, plural nutrias)

→ Danish: nutria

→ Japanese: ヌートリア (nūtoria)

→ Korean: 뉴트리아 (nyuteuria)

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

From Spanish nutria (“otter”), from Latin lutra.

1986, Identifying and Managing Aquatic Rodents in Texas, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, page 13,
Nutria are native to South America and were successfully established in North America in the early 1930s as a new furbearing species.

Furthermore, nutria engage in the outright destruction of muskrat lodges to create nesting habitat for themselves.

2000, National Wetlands Newsletter, Volumes 22-23, Environmental Law Institute, page 8:

Myocastor coypus
Myocastor coypus#Translingual

(chiefly Canada, US) The coypu, Myocastor coypus.


puck

→ Danish: puck

→ German: Puck

→ Swedish: puck

From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).

He reaches into the urinal and picks up the puck. He then walk over to the sink and replaces a bar of soap with the urinal puck.

2004, Art Directors Annual, volume 83, Rotovision, page 142:

(chiefly Canada) An object shaped like a puck.


favor

favor (countable and uncountable, plural favors)

tlb

(American spelling, alternative in Canada)

From Middle English favour, favor, faver, from Anglo-Norman favour, from mainland Old French favor, from Latin favor (“good will; kindness; partiality”), from faveō (“to be kind to”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂weh₁yeti (“to be favourable to”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, glow light”). Respelled in American English to more closely match its Latin etymon. Compare also Danish favør (“favor”), Irish fabhar (“favor”), from the same Romance source.

der

She enjoyed the queen's favor.

to fall out of favor

Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Samara: She confuses her victims, twists their feelings. They will do anything for her favor.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:


za

en-noun

za (countable and uncountable, plural zas)

In fact, not ordering a SUB or ZA (pizza) is almost impossible since places to eat in Sackville include Subway (subs), Ed's (subs), Joey's (subs and za), Pizza Delight (mostly za), The Snack Shop (subs and za) and One Plus One (subs and za).

1994, Sara Borins, The Real Guide to Canadian Universities, →ISBN, page 130:

But Chris, using some of his dated terminology, insisted that he wanted "za" for dinner. Back when Chris was a youngster in college, "za" was short for pizza--as if pizza were a lengthy word needing abbreviating.

2006, Lee Simon, The restaurant dream?: an inside look at restaurant development, from concept to reality, →ISBN, page 44:

They call me the Za-Lord.


section

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

разрэ́з

surgery: incision or the act of making an incision

(US, Canada, law and land surveying) Synonym of square mile, a unit of land area, especially in the contexts of Canadian surveys and American land grants and legal property descriptions.

acre (1

square mile when described as a 'section'


asshat

From ass + hat, from the slang expression have one's head up one's ass, thus, wearing the ass as a hat. The term is extended to people who are clueless or bumbling, who don't understand what is going on.

the same connotations as "FUCKWITS." for less extreme cases i suggest ASSHATS

1998 July 23, T..., “Re: GREEN RIVER NARROWS, NC: ALL PUTINS CLOSED!!”, in rec.boats.paddle (Usenet), retrieved 2018-10-04, message-ID <6p7j7t$r21$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>:

1977 CHiPs 3 3/4" action figures (5 different: Ponch, Jon, Sarge,Jimmy Squeaks, Stupid Fucking Asshat Erik Mouse, and Wheels Willie) $10-15 each

1999 July 23, madge, “California Hustle,”, in alt.fan.erik (Usenet), retrieved 2018-10-04, message-ID <m-2307991051020001@ppp204184.asahi-net.or.jp>:

While I wait, the air is abuzz with tales of other marathons while many set of eyes cut in my direction. Eventually an asshat in a JUST DO IT T-shirt asks me, “How's your training going?”

2006, Jen Lancaster, Bitter is the New Black […] , Penguin, →ISBN, page 224:

Anyone who would make a claim like this on national TV is a real asshat.

2007, John Hargrave, Prank the Monkey: The Zug Book of Pranks, Citadel Press, →ISBN, page 188:

(Canada, US, derogatory, slang, sometimes considered, vulgar, often humorous) An obnoxiously ignorant person; a fool.


zombie

zombies (plural)
zombi (alternative)
zomby (alternative)
zumbi (alternative)

First attested in 1871.
From a Bantu language. Compare Kongo nzambi (“god”), zumbi (“fetish”), and Kimbundu nzumbi (“ghost”) (see Portuguese zumbi), and Caribbean folklore's jumbee (“a spirit or demon”).
Origin from Spanish sombra (“shadow, phantom”) has also been suggested.
May have come through Louisiana Creole [Term?]. See also French zombi (1832).

1944, "Time for Decision," Time (US edition), 6 Nov.,
Had the time come to order Canada's home defense draftees—some 70,000 zombies idling at home—to battle overseas?

(Canada, historical, derogatory) A conscripted member of the Canadian military during World War II who was assigned to home defence rather than to combat in Europe.


doughnut

doughnuts (plural)
donut (alternative)
dough-nut (alternative)

→ Afrikaans: donut, doughnut

→ Albanian: donut

→ Arabic: دُونَات (dūnāt)

Hijazi Arabic: دونت (dōnat)

→ Bengali: ডোনাট (ḍōnaṭ)

→ Bulgarian: донът (donǎt)

→ Burmese: ဒိုးနပ် (dui:nap)

→ Catalan: dònut

→ Cebuano: donut

→ Chinese:

desc

Cantonese: 多甩 (do¹ lat¹), 冬甩 (dung¹ lat¹)

Mandarin: 多拿滋 (duōnázī)

→ Danish: donut

→ Dutch: donut

→ French: donut

→ German: Donut, Doughnut

→ Hindi: डोनट (ḍonaṭ)

→ Indonesian: donat

→ Irish: taoschnó (calque)

→ Japanese: ドーナツ (dōnatsu), ドーナッツ (dōnattsu)

→ Korean: 도넛 (doneot)

→ Malay: donat

→ Maori: tōnati

→ Marshallese: tonaaj (via plural); to̧nōt

→ Persian: دونات (donât)

→ Portuguese: dónute, dônute (Brazil), donut (unadapted spelling)

→ Spanish: dona; dónat, dónut, donut

→ Swedish: donut

→ Tagalog: donat

→ Tausug: dunat

→ Thai: โดนัต (doo-nát), โดนัท (doo-nát) — popular spelling

→ Turkish: donut

→ Urdu: ڈونٹ (ḍonaṭ)

→ Yiddish: דאָנאַט (donat)

From dough + nut, 1809 because originally small, nut-sized balls of fried dough, or, more likely, from nut in the earlier sense of "small rounded cake or cookie", with the toroidal shape becoming common in the twentieth century. First attested in Knickerbocker’s History of New York, by Washington Irving, 1809.

take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut

(figuratively) Any object in the shape of a torus.

(Australia, Canada, US) A peel-out or skid mark in the shape of a circle; a 360-degree skid.

mandazi

peel-out or skid-mark in the shape of a doughnut


swish

en-noun

swish (countable and uncountable, plural swishes)

(uncountable, Canada, prison slang) An improvised alcoholic drink made by fermenting whatever ingredients are available.


garbage

From late Middle English garbage (“the offal of a fowl, giblets, kitchen waste”, originally “refuse, what is purged away”), from Anglo-Norman, from Old French garber (“to refine, make neat or clean”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *garwijan (“to make ready”).
Akin to Old High German garawan (“to prepare, make ready”), Old English ġearwian (“to make ready, adorn”). More at garb, yare, gear

cog

Yet, even without the three second rule, where your big man could camp underneath and take those delightful “garbage” shots, there was little or no pivot offense, no cutting off the bucket.

[…] the aging pro, in a much-heralded "boys against the girls" tennis match, annihilated Margaret Court with an array of "garbage shots and cotton balls."

1981, Update 1981: The Great Contemporary Issues, New York Times Company, page 78:

(sports, slang, Canada, US, attributive) An easy shot.


garbage

en-verb

garbage (third-person singular simple present garbages, present participle garbaging, simple past and past participle garbaged)

garbages (present singular third-person)
garbaging (participle present)
garbaged (participle past)
garbaged (past)
garbidge (alternative)

I have bought at Boston a dozen Pidgeons ready pulled and garbidged for three pence.

1674, John Josselyn, Two Voyages to New England, Made During the Years 1638-63 (quoted in William Butts Mershon, The Passenger Pigeon, 1907, The Outing Publishing Company)

(transitive, chiefly US, Canada, obsolete) to eviscerate


porpoise

desc

→ Thai: พอร์พอยส์ (pɔɔ-pɔ́is)

→ Thai: พอร์พอยส์ (pɔɔ-pɔ́is)

From Middle English porpeys, purpeys, borrowed from Anglo-Norman porpeis, purpeis, Old French pourpois, porpois, pourpais, porpeis (“porpoise”), from Vulgar Latin *porcopiscis (“porpoise”, literally “pig-fish”), from Latin porcus (“pig”) + piscis (“fish”). Compare (in transposed order) obsolete Italian pesce porco and Portuguese peixe porco; also Latin porcus marinus (“sea hog”), akin in formation to German Meerschwein, English mereswine. More at mereswine.

der

(Canada, US, imprecisely) Any small dolphin.


nipper

(Canada, slang, Newfoundland) A mosquito.


bogan

Uncertain. Perhaps a contraction of pokelogan influenced by bog (or bogue), or a blend of logan (from pokelogan) + bog.

blend

from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">pokelogan</i>

All around the shores of the narrow bogan crowded the beasts, watching with wide, fascinated eyes the flight and fall of these disastrous missiles.

2001, Charles G. D. Roberts, Seán Virgo, Kindred of the Wild, page 130:

(Canada, Maine) Any narrow water or creek, particularly a tranquil backwater.

Negative Stereotypes: Indians, natives, bogans, nates, […]

2013, Feathers of Hope: A First Nations Youth Action Plan, archived from the original on 2016-04-24, page 68:

Greg Quachegan, a teacher at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, was walking with his young daughters when someone yelled, “Bogans,” at them. He has no idea what it means, but it’s a slur aboriginal people hear often.

2015 December 8, Tanya Talaga, “One rape. A hate crime. Thunder Bay's simmering divides come to light”, in Toronto Star:

"There's young men, on the weekends, they will throw beer bottles at you and yell out 'bogan' or 'squaw' or 'whore,'" said Deanne Hupfield, who grew up in Thunder Bay.

2017 February 7, Lenard Monkman, “Indigenous people say racism-tainted drive-by violence all too common”, in CBC News:

Is that the same blue truck that is throwing rocks out the passenger window and screaming at natives calling them bogans walking on the street?

2017 June 1, “Evidence from First Nation student who survived Thunder Bay river attack resurfaces following eye-witness claim”, in National News:

(Canada, North Western Ontario, slang, derogatory, offensive) An indigenous person.


sign

en-noun

sign (countable and uncountable, plural signs)

From Middle English signe, sygne, syng, seine, sine, syne, from Old English seġn (“sign; mark; token”) and Old French signe, seing (“sign; mark; signature”); both from Latin signum (“a mark; sign; token”); root uncertain. Doublet of signum. Partially displaced native token.

teken

a fact that shows that something exists or may happen

նշան

any of several specialized non-alphabetic symbols

The hunters found deer sign at the end of the trail.

Animal sign is the key to eliminating guesswork when setting your traps. Only trap where there is sign. Sign is anything the animal leaves as a trace that indicates it may have passed through the area.

2015, Dave Canterbury, Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival, page 127:

(Canada, US, Australia, uncountable) Physical evidence left by an animal.


rye

rye (countable and uncountable, plural ryes)

From Middle English rie, reighe, from Old English ryġe, from Proto-West Germanic *rugi, from Proto-Germanic *rugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *Hrugʰís.
Germanic cognates include Dutch and West Frisian rogge, Low German Rogg, German Roggen, Rocken, Old Norse rugr (Danish rug, Swedish råg); non-Germanic cognates include Russian рожь (rožʹ) and Latvian rudzi.

“Gimme a shot of rye.” The whiskey stung his throat hot and fragrant.

1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 2nd section, page 146:

I bought a pint of rye at the liquor counter and carried it over to the stools and set it down on the cracked marble counter.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 159:

Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ’n rye/Singin’, "This’ll be the day that I die."

1971, “American Pie”, in American Pie, performed by Don McLean:

It concerns the gnomelike quality of the average American at a party. I have been to many parties where staid American business men have been transformed by a few ryes or bourbons into unpredictable gremlins out for adventure.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 17:


through

From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognate with Scots throch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), German durch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.

thoo (alternative)
thorough (alternative)
thorow (alternative)
thorugh (alternative)
thro' (alternative)
throughe (alternative)
thru (alternative)
thrue (alternative)

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

from 1945 through 1991;  the numbers 1 through 9;  your membership is active through March 15, 2013

It includes patent requests in machine learning through 2016, the last year for which details are available.
Audio (US): (file)

2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 2019-02-07

(Canada, US) To (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values.


bud

bud (countable and uncountable, plural buds)

From Middle English budde (“bud, seed pod”), from Proto-Germanic *buddǭ (compare Dutch bot (“bud”), German Hagebutte (“hip, rosehip”), regional German Butzen (“seed pod”), Swedish dialect bodd (“head”)), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”).

You got any buds?

(usually uncountable, slang) Potent cannabis taken from the flowering part of the plant (the "bud"), or marijuana generally.

(US, Canada, Australia, slang, usually in the plural) Cannabis that has been taken from the flowering part of the plant intended to be smoked.

Hey bro, want to smoke some bud?

(US, Canada, Australia, slang, uncountable) Marijuana.


bud

I like to hang out with my buds on Saturday night.

Anna's best bud, John (Malcolm Cumming), harbors a secret crush on her, which is indicative of the lazier, more derivative portions of the story that simply repeat tropes rather than comment on them.

2018 November 27, April Wolfe, “Anna And The Apocalypse is a Holiday-horror Cocktail of Singing, Maiming, and Clichés”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-04:

[T]hen he shrugged his shoulders and said, with admirable philosophy: "Well, that's life, ain't it, bud?"

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 87:

(informal, chiefly Canada) Synonym of guy, term of address for a man or person.


deffo

en-adj

deffo (comparative more deffo, superlative most deffo)

more deffo (comparative)
most deffo (superlative)

From definitely or definite + -o (diminutive suffix).

I know for certain they′re not speaking to each other, that′s for deffo, not that I′ve even seen them in the same room over the last week to confirm their silence.

2003, Grace Dent, LBD: it′s a girl thing, page 45:

‘An infection. Nothing serious. They′ll have some colour in them soon, for deffo.’

2009, Joe Stretch, Wildlife, unnumbered page:

“Couldn′t say for deffo, probably at least fifteen years old, but I know they don′t make them like these any more for exactly the reason you′ve just seen. The security systems shite.”

2009, Stephen Leonard Lancashire, Immaculate Deception, page 271:

Needles wilted under the force of Pegg′s demand, his eyes widened and he seemed to shrink in size, and I can′t say for deffo but I think he probably wet himself.

2010, Simon Pegg, Nerd Do Well, page 25:

(colloquial, Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada, usually with for) Definite.


deffo

He told me that he's deffo going to be there tonight.

And I deffo don′t believe in me, cos I′m a proper knobhead, aren′t I, and always have been.

2009, Nick Leather, Billy Wonderful, page 12:

It′s weird, but even though Dosser was only grounded for like two weeks, I was actually starting to kind of miss him, and I deffo would′ve loved to have gone for a good old-fashioned crow-hunt that Saturday afternoon,[…].

2011, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Strictly Legal, page 128:

‘[…]And no giving in at the slightest whimper. Agreed?’
‘Deffo!’ He couldn′t see my fingers crossed behind my back.

2011, Maggie Graham, Me and My Animals, page 142:

(colloquial, Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada) Definitely.


butt

From Middle English but, butte (“goal, mark, butt of land”), from Old English byt, bytt (“small piece of land”) and *butt (attested in diminutive Old English buttuc (“end, small piece of land”) > English buttock), from Proto-West Germanic *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰnós (“bottom”), later thematic variant of Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ~ *bʰudʰn-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”). Cognate with Norwegian butt (“stump, block”), Icelandic bútur (“piece, fragment”), Low German butt (“blunt, clumsy”). Influenced by Old French but, butte (“but, mark”), ultimately from the same Germanic source. Compare also Albanian bythë (“buttocks”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of vessel”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) and Sanskrit बुध्न (budhná, “bottom”), from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to bottom, boot.
 PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn.

приклад

larger or thicker end of anything; blunt end

perä

end of something, often distinguished from other end

I can see your butt.

(countable) The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end

(Canada, US, Philippines, slang) The buttocks or anus (used as a minced oath in idiomatic expressions; less objectionable than arse/ass).

(slang) The whole buttocks and pelvic region that includes one's private parts.

Get your butt to the car.

We can't chat today. I have to get my butt to work before I'm late.

Get up off your butt and get to work.


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)

→ 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 cause something to revolve by turning over and over

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)

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/

transfer student
transfer student#English

(US, Canada, varsity sports) Short for 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.


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

(initialism, 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.

Fresh vegetables are a good source of fibre.

He was gentlemanly, steady, tractable, with a thorough knowledge of his duties; and in time, when yet very young, he became chief mate of a fine ship, without ever having been tested by those events of the sea that show in the light of day the inner worth of a man, the edge of his temper, and the fibre of his stuff; that reveal the quality of his resistance and the secret truth of his pretences, not only to others but also to himself.

1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 2, in Lord Jim:

The ordeal was a test of everyone’s fibre.

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

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.

(chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic, slang) A person, especially a man, to whom women are attracted.


principal

en-noun

principal (countable and uncountable, plural principals)

principals (plural)
principall (alternative)

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 (“bitch”), from Proto-Germanic *tīkō (“female dog”). Compare modern Icelandic tík (“bitch, female dog”), Faroese tík (“bitch, female dog”), Swedish tik (“bitch, female dog”). For sense 5, early 20th century: alteration of Taig.

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

(Canada) 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:

Short for 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.