uckfay

"Uckfay offyay," Woodward seethed.

1974, B. Clarence Hall, The Burning Season, page 238:

The good kids said, "Honk you, Larry," and the medium kids said, "Uckfay ooyay," but the bad kids said "Fuck" loud and clear.

1976, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Dick Kleiner, The Two of Us, page 18:

"Listen," I said to Rock,"ixnay on the uckfay."

2001, Elizabeth McCracken, Niagara Falls All Over Again, page 83:

"Yeah, Dorothy, but you don't have to uck-fay him no more. I still do."

2001, Stephen Hunter, Hot Springs, page 255:

Uttway the uckfay are you talking about?

2007, David Ives, Polish Joke and Other Plays:

That mean I don't get so much as another uckfay from you and the unexpected baloney pony?

2014, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Red Delicious: A Siobhan Quinn Novel:

(euphemistic, vulgar, slang) A slightly less offensive variation of fuck.


fuddle-duddle

There is an example of the phrase's use in the early 1940s, in "Mother Finds a Body", by Gypsy Rose Lee: "...when [he] asks me where I was on the night of so-and-so, I'll tell him to go fuddle his duddle".
However the expression fuddle-duddle is attributed to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former prime minister of Canada, who according to some sources said it in parliament on 16 February 1971 and repeated it when pressed by television reporters about using profanity in respect to members of Parliament (Canadian House of Commons).

What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say “fuddle duddle” or something like that?

1971, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(euphemistic, originally Canada) Fuck! Fuck off!


how do you do

how do you dos (plural)
how-do-you-do (alternative)
how-d'ye-do (alternative)
how-de-do (alternative)

Well, this is a fine how do you do isn't it, Gromit?

1993, Nick Park, Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers:

On the winding road to Petropolis, they did not speak, not about modernism or the construction of houses or antique bird jails or fine how-do-you-dos.

2010, Michael Sledge, The More I Owe You: A Novel, Counterpoint Press, →ISBN, page 78:

"Vienna!" Mr. B. went on. "This is a bit of a how-do-you-do, is it not?"

2013, Chris Raschka, Seriously, Norman!, Scholastic Inc., →ISBN, page 115:


beat one's meat

en-verb

beat one's meat (third-person singular simple present beats one's meat, present participle beating one's meat, simple past beat one's meat, past participle beaten one's meat or beat one's meat)

beats one's meat (present singular third-person)
beating one's meat (participle present)
beat one's meat (past)
beaten one's meat (participle past)
beat one's meat (participle past)
beat the meat (alternative)

I beat my meat instead of having intercourse.

1948, Psychiatric quarterly (New York State Dept. of Mental Hygiene), volume 22, page 243:

7. Is masturbation harmful? Does it cause acne, etc.?
8. How does a girl beat her meat?

1967, American Academy of Psychotherapists, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, page 41:

You get in a heat, you get in a sulk
But you still keep a-beating your meat to pulp
And you're an orgasm addict,

After that greatest Peeper since Tom, Duck Prick-puller Allsop, had made watching bowers where he could lie in comfort and see the sex-active grubs and molls at it, beat his own meat and pleasure himself with some smooth thick stick.

1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 143:

(euphemistic, slang) To masturbate manually by stroking or rubbing one's penis.


bog off

bog off (third-person singular simple present bogs off, present participle bogging off, simple past and past participle bogged off)

bogs off (present singular third-person)
bogging off (participle present)
bogged off (participle past)
bogged off (past)

Shortening and euphemistic alteration from bugger off.

(idiomatic, euphemistic, slang) To leave, to go away.


jiggered

en-adj

jiggered (comparative more jiggered, superlative most jiggered)

more jiggered (comparative)
most jiggered (superlative)

"Well then," said he, "I'm jiggered if I don't see you home!"

1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC:

"Well, I'm—I'm jiggered," said Peter, and his voice also sounded queer.

1951, C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:


liquidation

en-noun

liquidation (countable and uncountable, plural liquidations)

Near-synonyms: devitalization, fatality; see also Thesaurus:death, Thesaurus:killing

(euphemistic) Murder of dehumanized victims.


nice guy

1999, The 'Nice Guy' Syndrome, Self-Help Informational Resources, The Counseling Center for Human Development, The University of South Florida https://web.archive.org/web/19991013184527/http://usfweb.usf.edu/counsel/self-hlp/niceguy.htm
The nice guy, they say, finishes last. But in romantic relationships, the nice guy often isn't even in the running. […] The nice guy may have expressed an interest in dating you…. The nice guy is the person who you trust and feel comfortable with, but don't see as "fun" or "challenging" or really all that "interesting," other than as a friend, of course.

"My frustrations were pretty typical Nice Guy relationship issues," he says. "Not feeling appreciated, not feeling sexually desired by my wife. I didn't feel like...I received as much as I gave."

2002 May 3, Cecelia Goodnow, “What's wrong with being a nice guy? Plenty, according to a local therapist”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

2005 September 18, "Dirty D.", Lost Romanticism and the Manwhore, DiaryLand, at uberfrau.diaryland.com
Nice guys are historically the grail of dating. […] As both Nora and I reminisced and compared how we were treated by the manwhore and by the nice guy, the manwhore always won out.

(idiomatic, euphemistic) An inoffensive adult male who desires romantic companionship but who is too bland and uninspiring to be attractive.


family jewels

The whole crowd cringed as he got hit right in the family jewels.

But what do three testicles mean? A mystical trinity illuminating some absurd need to procreate? A symbol suggesting a metaphysic of pawnbroking? Likely as not, it is simply an animation of the familiar euphemism, "the family jewels."

1971 July 5, R. Z. Sheppard, “Three's a Crowd”, in Time:


down under

Refers to the fact that the Australian continent lies south of, colloquially thought of as 'below' or 'under', the equator.


buns

Wow, that's a pain in the buns.

Here I am freezing my buns off at 9 in the morning, about to jump into ice water and drown.

1986 July 22, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

(Canada, US, euphemistic, childish) The buttocks.


blazes

Where the blazes were you?

Yes, we all know that McLuhan was a rock star[…] but what in blazes was he talking about?

2011 January 6, David Carr, “Marshall McLuhan: Media Savant”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


alternative lifestyle

alternative lifestyle (plural alternative lifestyles)

Since getting divorced, I’ve been going to bathhouses because I’m interested in exploring an alternative lifestyle.

(euphemistic, dated) Homosexuality, or other LGBT identity or behavior.


blanked

(euphemistic, dated) damned; accursed (from the euphemistic printed form d—d)


enhanced

en-adj

enhanced (comparative more enhanced, superlative most enhanced)

more enhanced (comparative)
most enhanced (superlative)

Big, enhanced mass monsters that tremble the ground they walk on, lift tons (literally), and get winded going up a flight of stairs.
 Of course, there are other areas of the sport such as natural bodybuilders, physique competitors, and pro and amateur levels of contests.

2020 September 3, Brad Borland, “Bodybuilding 101: Sculpting a Powerful Physique”, in Breaking Muscles:

(bodybuilding, euphemistic) Having suffered the use of anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.


previously disadvantaged

2006, “She said the biggest challenge facing them was how to provide access to information to previously disadvantaged people”, in Weekend Argus June 10 2006, p.6.:

a. 2005, https://web.archive.org/web/20051124000427/http://ings.rucus.net/satnacV7.pdf
This project aims to modelInternet connectivity to previously disadvantaged schools in theEastern Cape by investigating known networking technologies in the context of such schools.

(South Africa, euphemistic) Belonging or relating to the previously disenfranchised population groups in South Africa, i.e. blacks, coloureds, and Indians.


go down the tubes

en-verb

go down the tubes (third-person singular simple present goes down the tubes, present participle going down the tubes, simple past went down the tubes, past participle gone down the tubes)

goes down the tubes (present singular third-person)
going down the tubes (participle present)
went down the tubes (past)
gone down the tubes (participle past)
go down the tube (alternative)

The entire plan went down the tubes when they found they couldn't get strawberries in December.

Meanwhile, Susan's own workplace shut down, and she found herself "on the street with no job and a two-year-old kid. I was trying my damndest and I was going right down the tubes."

1990 February 4, Pam Mitchell, quoting Susan Moir, “Pro-Union And Queer”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 17:

go down the toilet
go down the toilet#English

(euphemistic, idiomatic, US) Synonym of go down the toilet: to fail; to degenerate rapidly.


go down the pan

go down the pan (third-person singular simple present goes down the pan, present participle going down the pan, simple past went down the pan, past participle gone down the pan)

goes down the pan (present singular third-person)
going down the pan (participle present)
went down the pan (past)
gone down the pan (participle past)

The project would seriously go down the pan if Mrs. Foster weren't here to keep it on the straight and narrow.

(euphemistic, idiomatic, British) Synonym of go down the toilet: to fail; to degenerate rapidly.


early bath

From the belief that players bathe together after a match, so if a player gets sent off, he or she can get into the bath before the other players.

That was a horrible tackle, he can expect an early bath for that.

(idiomatic, euphemistic) Being shown a red card in soccer.


minerals

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

He wouldn't mess with me. He hasn't got the minerals.

(euphemistic, slang, dated) Testicles, balls, especially in the figurative sense of nerve or courage.


on the down-low

on the down low (alternative)
on the DL (alternative)
on the low (alternative)
on the downlow (alternative)

I'll tell you, but keep it on the down-low.

en:in secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis

(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis.

And keep it on the down low
Nobody has to know

1995 December 11, “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)”performed by R. Kelly:

(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner.


briefs

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government man

Whatever it was that had happened to him in the old times when he was a Government man he didn′t talk about.

1888, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms, Gutenberg eBook #1198:

(Australia, euphemistic, obsolete or historical) A convict.


sugar honey ice tea

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sugar honey ice tea.wav

Derived from the words chosen so that their initials, in sequential order, spell out shit.


powder room

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

In reference to lavatories, an indirection developed under the influence of powder one's nose (“euphemism for use a toilet”). Compare boudoir.

If you'll excuse me, I need to visit the powder room to see a man about a dog.

They are the authors of the small powder room in the Hofbrau House at Broadway and Fifty-third Street, New York, a very modern creation.

1927, E.A. Park, chapter IX, in New Backgrounds for a New Age, page 173:

Whispers in the powder room / She cries on every tune

(originally US, euphemistic) Synonym of ladies' room: a lavatory intended for use by women.

(euphemistic) Synonym of half bath: a small room with a toilet and sink but no bathtub or shower.


lady of the night

en-noun

lady of the night (plural ladies of the night)

They call her the lady of the night
She's a woman of the world
And easy-living girl with love for sale
That's what they call her, the lady of the night.

1976, Donna Summer, Lady of the Night (song)


you know

y'know (alternative pronunciation-spelling slang)
yunno (alternative pronunciation-spelling slang)

First attested as a filled pause in the early 18th century, as a euphemism in the mid-19th century.

I don’t usually get nervous in games and, you know, taking free kicks and penalties but that’s the first time I’ve been that nervous in, in a game, where I have to, I’m in a situation where I’m, you know […]

2002 December 15, “Interview with David Beckham”, in Breakfast with Frost, spoken by David Beckham, via BBC:

Once, I remember, I was watching the twins on a trampoline, you know, and they looked so beautiful, and I was happy because they were happy, you know.

2013, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight (motion picture), spoken by Jesse (Ethan Hawke):

(informal) Expression signifying a pause or hesitation.

يَعْنِي

expression signifying a pause or hesitation

A: I heard you want to... do something with me.
B: Do what?
A: You know... umm...
B: Sex?
A: Yeah.

(informal) Expression used to imply meaning, rather than say it, such as when a person is embarrassed.

But I guess that's life, you know?

I just wasn't into it, you know?

This was already a fresh departure for me. I was not used to get things that way, you know.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198:

"I heard Winnie the Pooh was like garlic to a vampire to the Chinese commies," he said. "Popular arts and music, poetry, dancing and singing is a threat to those in power, and I'm really trying to bring back that rock-and-roll rebellious spirit into music, you know."

2024 January 29 [2024 January 26], Tim Lee, Ray Chung, quoting Brendan Kavanagh, “London YouTuber hid in van, received death threats after piano face-off”, in Luisetta Mudie, transl., Radio Free Asia, archived from the original on 2024-01-29:

rhetorical question
rhetorical question#English

(informal) Used as a rhetorical question to confirm agreement, knowing or understanding at the end of a statement.

you see

confirming attention, understanding, and/or agreement


self-abuse

self-abuse (countable and uncountable, plural self-abuses)

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

From self- + abuse. Compare self-abusing (adj.).

For which reaſon it is that a Gleet is always more or leſs difficult to Cure, as it is of greater or leſs Continuance, or is occaſioned by more or leſs Frequent ſelf Abuſes, or a more or leſs virulent Humor which gave the preceeding Infect∣ion; by every one of which cauſes the Glands are always more or leſs ſtretched, weakned and debilitated

1718, A Rational Account of the Cause, Nature, and Cure of Gleets, London, retrieved 2022-02-28, page 32:

Self-abuse is undoubtedly an evil in itself, because it is incomplete and unnatural, and sad is his state who has bound himself with the chains this vice can so deftly forge; but its chief danger is that it so quickly and easily becomes a habit, and then it is indulged beyond the power of the body to recuperate.

1887, Henry G. Hanchett, Sexual Health: A Companion to “Modern Domestic Medicine”, New York: Charles T. Hurlburt, retrieved 2022-02-28, page 17:

(dated, euphemistic, now frequently ironic or humorous) Masturbation, regarded as sinful or harmful.


self-abuse

en-verb

self-abuse (third-person singular simple present self-abuses, present participle self-abusing, simple past and past participle self-abused)

self-abuses (present singular third-person)
self-abusing (participle present)
self-abused (participle past)
self-abused (past)

(dated, euphemistic, now frequently ironic or humorous) To masturbate.


netty

en-adj

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

nettier (comparative)
nettiest (superlative)
nettie (alternative)
neddy (alternative)

From net (“elegant, neat”) + -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”).

af

How prettie, how fine and how nettie,
Good huswife should yettie.

1573, Thomas Tusser, “Points of Huswifrie”, in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:

(obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.


netty

From net (“openwork fabric mesh”) + -y (“forming adjectives”).

Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth.

1587, Leonard Mascall, The Booke of Cattell: Sheep, page 214:


netty

netties (plural)
nettie (alternative)
neddy (alternative)

Uncertain. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, a euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabinetto (“toilet”).

Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.

1903, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, page 255:

(Geordie) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.


stage fright

stagefright (alternative)
stage-fright (alternative)


loved one

Whereas once the main option was a traditional black hearse service, these days a "green funeral" with a cardboard coffin is just one of the alternative ways to send off a loved one.

2003 March 29, Jessica Watson, “Laying to rest the days of his and hearse”, in Guardian (UK), retrieved 2008-06-23:

(euphemistic) A recently deceased close friend or family member.

läheinen

recently deceased friend or family member


stem the rose

en-verb

stem the rose (third-person singular simple present stems the rose, present participle stemming the rose, simple past and past participle stemmed the rose)

stems the rose (present singular third-person)
stemming the rose (participle present)
stemmed the rose (participle past)
stemmed the rose (past)

You guys wasn't gettin’ paid to leave the dogs to babysit the sheep while you stemmed the rose. Now get the hell out of my trailer.

2005, 46:12 from the start, in Brokeback Mountain:

Are you stupid? You of course have stemmed the rose. Palate cleanser, indeed.

2006 April 20, Otto Bahn, “Re: Astounding new book takes publishng world”, in rec.arts.books (Usenet):

Stemming the rose by any other name would still gross me out.

2009 April 29, Edward M. Kennedy, “I donut understand the excitement over Specter”, in rec.sport.football.college (Usenet):

Bruckheimer wasn't paying Gyllenhaal to let the anonymous henchmen babysit Persia so he could stem the rose.

2010 May 27, “Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (comments)”, in A.V. Club Chicago:

Love who you want but y'all know stemming the rose ain't right and you'll have to answer for dat sheeet!

2011 February 23, mjandrews8, “Defense of Marriage Act decision adds to list of gay rights victories (comments)”, in Washington Post:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) To have anal sex; to insert one's penis (stem) into another's anus (rose).


effable

en-adj

effable (comparative more effable, superlative most effable)

more effable (comparative)
most effable (superlative)

(slang, euphemistic) Fuckable; sexually attractive.


vitamin P

(slang, euphemistic) Prozac, an antidepressant.

(Israel, euphemistic) nepotism, cronyism, blat


dormition

en-noun

dormition (countable and uncountable, plural dormitions)

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Borrowed from Middle French dormition, from Latin dormītiōnem.

(euphemistic) The process of death or the actual death itself.


tarnation

en-adj

tarnation (comparative more tarnation, superlative most tarnation)

more tarnation (comparative)
most tarnation (superlative)

/tɑɹˈneɪʃən/

From darnation, influenced by tarnal (from eternal); see darn.

Now you go 'long back to the house, Marm Winthrop, and if riding 'longside of a popish priest don't speerit me into the bottomless pit, I'll be blamed if I don't go some day into his church and find out what all that tarnation lingo means.

1876, The Catholic Record - Volume 11, page 78:

It started over nothing, and would have come to nothing but for that tarnation liquor.

1894, Macmillan's Magazine - Volume 70, page 343:

Hello stranger, this is a fine fix you got into, getting a tarnation fever out in the Rockies, but my wife is the best hand at sick folks you ever see.

1921, Gilbert Guest, A Bridal Trip in a Prairie Schooner, page 128:


HE-double-hockey-sticks

en-noun

HE-double-hockey-sticks pl (plural only)

The word hell spelled out, referring to the fact that capital "L" resembles a hockey stick.

His voice rose about an octave, actually just short of a scream, and he said something to the effect that "it's an HE-double-hockey-sticks-week at work."

2002, Eric G. Stephan, R. Wayne Pace, Powerful Leadership: How to Unleash the Potential in Others and Simplify Your Own Life:

He's made the mother's life a living HE-double-hockey-sticks, my daughter says.

2003, Susan Neville, Iconography: A Writer's Meditation:

She knew Kate didn't have a snowball's chance in HE-Double hockey-sticks, with Angelina's Zee-Zee and Bud's Mister Dobson winning everything.

2005, Mike Joens, Blood Reins: A Detective Sandra Cameron Mystery:

(idiomatic, euphemistic, usually childish) Hell.


internment camp

internment camp (plural internment camps)

Historical references describe the camps as internment camps, although others favor the name relocation camps. Others, more critical of this action, refer to them as detention camps or concentration camps.

People assigned to the factories appear to be subject to a less stringent regime than those in the main internment camps, as they are allowed to receive monitored monthly visits and short calls from family members.

2018, Emily Feng, “Forced labour being used in China’s ‘re-education’ camps”, in Financial Times:

(euphemistic) a concentration camp, especially a non-Nazi one from before or during WWII; a detention center; a relocation camp.


drive the porcelain bus

en-verb

drive the porcelain bus (third-person singular simple present drives the porcelain bus, present participle driving the porcelain bus, simple past drove the porcelain bus, past participle driven the porcelain bus)

drives the porcelain bus (present singular third-person)
driving the porcelain bus (participle present)
drove the porcelain bus (past)
driven the porcelain bus (participle past)

/ˈdɹaɪv ðə ˈpɔːsəlɪn ˈbʌs/

/ˈdɹaɪv ðə ˈpɔɹsəlɪn ˈbʌs/

/ˈdɹaɪv ðə ˈpɔɹslɪn ˈbʌs/

Humorous euphemism associating the position of the hands on a toilet seat while vomiting with holding the steering wheel of a bus.

worship the porcelain god
worship the porcelain god#English

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone

worship the porcelain god

(idiomatic, euphemistic, humorous) Synonym of worship the porcelain god (“to vomit into a toilet bowl, especially while drunk or hungover”).


drop a bomb

drop a bomb (third-person singular simple present drops a bomb, present participle dropping a bomb, simple past and past participle dropped a bomb)

drops a bomb (present singular third-person)
dropping a bomb (participle present)
dropped a bomb (participle past)
dropped a bomb (past)

Let's say you're at school and you accidentally drop a bomb in class. Try coughing or dropping a book to cover up the sound.

2004, Bart King, Chris Sabatino, The Big Book of Boy Stuff, page 129:

(UK, euphemistic, slang) To release noxious gas from the bowels: to fart.

To drop a bomb in the public toilet.

1989, Brian King, The Conceptual Structure of Emotional Experience in Chinese, Lulu.com, page 66:

I had to drop a bomb! What the hell was I going to do? So I pulled down my bathing suit, lying on my back, with my ass in the water, and shat.

2004, Michael Ryan, The Dirtiest Toilet Humor Book Ever, iUniverse, page 7:

1998, ʻĀrīyā Chumsāi, ʻĀrīyā Sirisōphā, Mūat Po̜p =: Boot Camp - English title: Basic training (Military education), Fiučhœ̄ Phaplitching, page 79,
...prepare your backpack and MAYBE spare a minute to drop a bomb in the toilet?

(US, euphemistic, slang) To release feces into a toilet; to defecate.


ye gods

Seventeenth-century British variant of oh my God, probably intended to avoid blasphemy. Compare Danish I guder.

Ye Gods, what Havock does Ambition make
Among your Works!

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 2”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(idiomatic, dated, euphemistic) Used to express surprise or incredulity.


indisposed

en-adj

indisposed (comparative more indisposed, superlative most indisposed)

more indisposed (comparative)
most indisposed (superlative)

Not yet ready (especially with regard to receiving a visitor) because not yet arranged into a state of readiness (i.e., not disposed); (especially, more specifically):

(euphemistic) Undressed; not yet dressed enough to be seen by visitors.


buy it

en-verb

buy it (third-person singular simple present buys it, present participle buying it, simple past and past participle bought it)

buys it (present singular third-person)
buying it (participle present)
bought it (participle past)
bought it (past)

* In the die sense, apparently attested since the 1820s, thus earlier than the variant buy the farm, which may be an extension of it.
* In the have it sense, an elliptical allusion to believing a sales pitch.

He bought it in a shootout.


big C

You can always count on John Wayne, 57; he never steps out of character. "I kicked the Big C," growled the movie toughie, admitting that it was lung cancer that put him in Los Angeles' Good Samaritan Hospital for surgery last September.


faith-based

en-adj

faith-based (comparative more faith-based, superlative most faith-based)

more faith-based (comparative)
most faith-based (superlative)

From faith + based. The political sense emerged from the 1970s to the 1980s. The term "faith-based organization" dates from 1971.http://books.google.com/books?id=yXLwAAAAMAAJ&q=%22faith-based+organizations%22&dq=%22faith-based+organizations%22&hl=en&ei=zaFrTPbWLcuMOOKMja0B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg

You are requesting a $2,100,000 increase for a "Faith Based and Community Initiatives," for a total of $37,432,000 …. What distinguishes these projects from faith-based initiatives of the Employment and Training Administration? (1988)http://books.google.com/books?id=_Wq2LX6RhWYC&pg=PA104&dq=%22faith-based%22+-%22faith+based+on%22&hl=en&ei=y35qTILzNIWAON3O_eYB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22faith-based%22%20-%22faith%20based%20on%22&f=false

(chiefly US, euphemistic) of civic associations connected with religious groups, specifically of such organizations sponsored by government funds


friend with benefits

en-noun

friend with benefits (plural friends with benefits)

desc

→ Canadian French: ami avec bénéfices (calque)

Possibly first used by Alanis Morissette for her 1995 song “Head over Feet”, although in the original context it seems to refer to a committed rather than a casual relationship.

“I’m just saying that usually when you have a friend who’s a girl, it’s not just that she’s your friend. Either you’ve known her a long time, or she’s a friend with benefits.”

Gender norms influence how young men orient themselves to sexual partners and girlfriends, and men’s procreative consciousness is sometimes affected by how they define a potential or actual sex partner (e.g., casual or serious girlfriend, “friend with benefits”, hookup).

2003, William Marsiglio, “Making Males Mindful of Their Sexual and Procreative Identities: Using Self-Narratives in Field Settings”, in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, volume 35, number 5:

“Can I be so bold as to ask if I can be a friend with benefits?”

2004, Cynthia Henry, Discovering Normal:

The College Relationship is the hook up that turns into a “a person to hang out with,” more or less, a friend with benefits. This is a person whose company you sincerely enjoy, and you choose to spend extra time both hanging out and hooking up with, but there is no spoken commitment involved.

2005, Jennifer Klein, University of Pennsylvania:

(idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) A friend with whom one has a casual sexual relationship.


unorthodox entrepreneur

en-noun

unorthodox entrepreneur (plural unorthodox entrepreneurs)

(euphemistic) Anyone who carries on an illegal business, such as a drug dealer or a prostitute.


take care of

en-verb

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

takes care of (present singular third-person)
taking care of (participle present)
took care of (past)
taken care of (participle past)

In the motion picture ‘The Godfather’, gangster Virgil Sollozzo took care of Luca Brasi by having him strangled.

(transitive, slang, euphemistic) To kill.


maypole

maypoles (plural)
may-pole (alternative)

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

and now, disengag'd from the shirt, I saw, with wonder and surprise, what? not the play-thing of a boy, not the weapon of a man, but a maypole of so enormous a standard, that had proportions been observ'd, it must have belong'd to a young giant.

1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

(euphemistic) A penis, especially a large one.


get stuffed

Get stuffed! I don't want to talk to you again!

Eventually, she heard him say something in his deliberate, gruff voice: just two words:
“Get stuffed!”

1992, Émile Zola, translated by Douglas Parmée, Nana, published 1998, page 243:

“You could wear them at fancy dress parties,” I suggested.
“Get stuffed!” he growled.

2007, James Hosier, “Getting Stuffed”, in John Patrick, editor, Dreamboys: A New Collection of Erotic Tales, page 130:

“And what, pray tell, is that? Money? Well, you can get stuffed!” he said sitting down in the chair.

2010, Jeff Wright, Sage, Dead Gorgeous, page 593:

don't let the door hit you on the way out

Entries in :Category:English dismissals.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, dismissal, euphemistic) Used to tell somebody to go away or to leave one alone.


violator

violators (plural)
violater (alternative)

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

From Middle English violator, from Latin violātor. By surface analysis, violate + -or.

One who violates (a rule, a boundary, another person's body, etc.); offender

(literary, euphemistic) One who violates another person's body as through forced sexual activity


fsck

At some point in your Linux career you should ask yourself:
"If there are 3.4 million successful, happy Mandrake users...what the fsck is wrong with me?"

2002, David D. Huff Jr., “Re: Mandrake 8.2 Musings”, in alt.os.linux.mandrake (Usenet):

What the fsck are you on?

2002, Lev Lafayette, “Re: "We are all Africans under the Skin"”, in alt.politics.nationalism.white (Usenet):

2003, Agelmar, Re: SSH problem, alt.roundtable, http://groups.google.com/group/alt.roundtable/msg/789b5801baee1417?dmode=source
At least I know what the fsck is going on with Slack...

(computing, Internet slang, text messaging, vulgar, euphemistic) Fuck.


acopia

(euphemistic, medicine) Inability to cope (function psychologically and socially) in one's home environment.


GDI

(euphemistic, slang, rare) Abbreviation of goddamn it.


little green man

en-noun

little green man (plural little green men)

/ˌlɪtəl ˌɡɹiːn ˈmæn/

կանաչ մարդուկ

humorous: space alien, Martian — see also alien

These infamous little green men appeared during the decisive seizures or buildings and facilities, only to disappear when associated militias and local troops arrived to consolidate the gains. In this way they provided a measure of deniability—however superficial or implausible—for Moscow.⁴⁰

2014, “Little Green Men”: A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014, Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United States Army Special Operations Command, page 43:

The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶

2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, volume 91, number 361, Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, page 393:

The little green men were clearly professional soldiers by their bearing, carried Russian weapons, and wore Russian combat fatigues, but they had no identifying insignia. Vladimir Putin originally denied they were Russian soldiers; that April, he confirmed they were.

2019 March 18, Steven Pifer, Five years after Crimea’s illegal annexation, the issue is no closer to resolution, The Center for International Security and Cooperation:

(geopolitics, euphemistic, usually in the plural) A soldier (wearing green military fatigues) without identification in order to create an air of uncertainty around their allegiance.


darned

en-adj

darned (comparative (rare) darneder or (rare) darnder, superlative darnedest or darndest)

darneder (comparative rare)
darnder (comparative rare)
darnedest (superlative)
darndest (superlative)
darn'd (alternative)

Those darned kids were round here again this morning.

The darned rope has got tangled up.

(euphemistic) A minced oath for damned, used to express contempt, exasperation, consternation, etc. towards someone or something.


party favor

In my amber world, candy kills.[…] A dose of reality I share with those who think prescription painkillers are a party favor.

(informal, euphemistic) A narcotic, particularly an amphetamine, to be shared at a gathering.


no longer with us

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-no longer with us.wav

(euphemistic) No longer employed at a company, of someone who resigned or was terminated.


Quincy

en-noun

Quincy (usually uncountable, plural Quincies)

A Norman surname of Old French origin, from a place name Quincy or Quincey in France, ultimately from Latin Quintus (“fifth [born]”).
Use in reference to toilets derives from President John Quincy Adams, who was the first to have one installed at the White House.

I'll be right back. I need to go visit Quincy.

(US, euphemistic slang, obsolete) A toilet: a fixture for urination and defecation, particularly (humorous) as a personification of the device.


how's your father

how's your father (countable and uncountable, plural how's your fathers)

A popular catchphrase of the 1910s popularised by music-hall entertainer Harry Tate, who used it for comic effect to change the subject away from one about which his character was ignorant (hence sense 1) or a taboo subject (hence sense 2).

I popped round Mary's for a bit of how's your father.

I mean what a buzz, man, me four fans, an’ I'm on the fookin’ telly! They love it! So suddenly it's knickers off and ’ow's your father.

2002, Ben Elton, High Society, Random House, published 2012, →ISBN, page 226:

(uncountable, slang, British, euphemistic) Sexual intercourse.


the other place

According to Christianity, when someone dies, they go to either Heaven or the other place.


antipersonnel

(military, euphemistic) Designed to kill soldiers.


handyman's special

handyman's special (plural handyman's specials)

handyman's specials (plural)
handyman special (alternative)

(real estate, advertising, euphemistic) A house that is sold at a reduced price because it requires extensive repairs or renovations.


Empty Quiver

(US, euphemistic, military) The seizure, theft, or loss of a nuclear weapon.


Faded Giant

(US, euphemistic, military) A reporting term to identify an event involving a nuclear reactor or radiological accident.


TOM

time of the month
time of the month#English

(euphemistic) Acronym of time of the month.


eye-opener

eye-openers (plural)
eye opener (alternative)
eyeopener (alternative)

As soon as I got on the plane I asked the flight attendant for an eye-opener, but all he had to offer was orange juice.

(informal, euphemistic) A strong alcoholic beverage, especially one consumed in the morning.


restorative

/ɹɪˈstɒɹətɪv/

From Middle English restoratif, restoratyve, from Old French restoratif, restauratif and Medieval Latin restaurātīvus.

“Well, let's hope you're right, darling. In the meantime,” said Kipper, “if I don't get that whisky-and-soda soon, I shall disintegrate. Would you mind if I went in search of it, Mrs Travers?” “It's the very thing I was about to suggest myself. Dash along and drink your fill, my unhappy young stag at eve.” “I'm feeling rather like a restorative, too,” said Bobbie. “Me also,” I said, swept along on the tide of the popular movement. “Though I would advise,” I said, when we were outside, “making it port. More authority.”

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(euphemistic) An alcoholic drink, especially with tonic.


bleeping

Are you bleeping kidding me? That's the amount of rent we agreed!

(UK, euphemistic, slang) A generic intensifier which can be substituted for any profane intensifier.


nicka

(euphemistic, vulgar, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) nigga.


reduction in force

reduction in force (plural reductions in force)


beast with two backs

beast with two backs (plural beasts with two backs)

First attested in English by William Shakespeare, see quotations.
Supposedly a calque of French la beste à deux doz (in modern French, la bête à deux dos) from Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1534, by François Rabelais.

I am one ſir, that come to tell you, your daughter, and the Moore, are now making the Beaſt with two backs.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 4:

[H]e remained one of the few boys of his year with whom Adrian had never made the beast with two backs, or rather with whom he had never made the beast with one back and an interestingly shaped middle, […]

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 15:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) Two people united in sexual intercourse in the missionary position.

François Rabelais
Gargantua and Pantagruel
William Shakespeare


rollick

en-verb

rollick (third-person singular simple present rollicks, present participle rollicking, simple past and past participle rollicked)

rollicks (present singular third-person)
rollicking (participle present)
rollicked (participle past)
rollicked (past)
rollock (alternative)


career-limiting move

en-noun

career-limiting move (plural career-limiting moves)

career-limiting moves (plural)
career limiting move (alternative)

1991 Oct 08: dan herrick, Re: IV&V as a tool for dealing with "mistakes" and uncertainty, sci.space, http://groups.google.com/group/sci.space/msg/87a7ffb1d5a872df?dmode=source&hl=en
However, such a career limiting move is only worth while if it can be reasonably expected to succeed in changing the wrong-headed policy.

1995 Jan 11: Kay Hammer as cited in Neil Raden, Re: Data Warehousing, comp.databases, http://groups.google.com/group/comp.databases/msg/7176488e9967cceb?dmode=source&hl=en
Consequently, it can be a career-limiting move not to consider carefully all these issues during the design phase.

... you would make it clear to any luser that did have access that filling up your root dbspace is a career limiting move? :-)

1999 August 2, Obnoxio The Clown, “Re: "Create Database" Security Hole?”, in comp.databases.informix (Usenet):

2006 Feb 28: Xocyll, Re: WoW teaches the wrong things, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg/msg/ef8d37ae7f01cbb3?dmode=source&hl=en
Kind of a career limiting move to leave the game running where management might find it.

(euphemistic, humorous) An act that is likely to result in the actor's demotion or loss of employment.


pass water

en-verb

pass water (third-person singular simple present passes water, present participle passing water, simple past and past participle passed water)

passes water (present singular third-person)
passing water (participle present)
passed water (participle past)
passed water (past)

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

From medical use of pass to refer to removing a substance from the body through natural processes.

My bladder has also been affected by nerve damage: sometimes I cannot pass water, sometimes I have to have a catheter.

1996 July 16, Daine Mahood, “Caught in a web of spinal pain”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2015-07-27:

[P]atients arrived at hospitals complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, joint pain and difficulty passing water.

2015 January 18, Associated Press, “Mystery Kidney Disease Killing Sri Lankan Farmer”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-07-27:


darnedest

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

darndest (alternative)
darnest (alternative)
durnedest (alternative)
durndest (alternative)

The darnedest thing happened to me today – I saw a man who I know died ten years ago.

(euphemistic) Damnedest; most amazing, consternating, etc.


Jesum Crow

Jesum Crow, why's the statie so upset? We're only drinking tonics out here.

(bowdlerization, euphemistic, US) Synonym of Jesus Christ (“exclamation of anger, surprise, etc.”).


P U

Possibly from Spanish fu, an interjection indicating disgust, or from French puer (“to stink”)

P.U. (alternative)
P. U. (alternative)
PU (alternative)
peeyoo (alternative)
pee-ew (alternative)
pee-yew (alternative)
peeyew (alternative)

What is that awful smell? P U!

(euphemistic) An interjection in response to smelling an unpleasant scent.


bullocks

Traffic is very light and there I am, sweating my bullocks off and it seem, bike starting to seriously overheat, and rider bike combo isn't bloody heavy enough to set off the bloody trip wires.

2000 February 4, Dr Evil, “Traffic light road sensons Vic”, in aus.motorcycles (Usenet):

Robbie Keane should come up with something more suitable to his person, like scratching his bullocks after every goal.

2001 February 20, Bert Kwouk, “Re: Stupid Goal Celebtrations”, in uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool (Usenet):

I think this summer's IJA, with its line-up of guests, is going to be quite good as well. I know I'm working my bullocks off to make the workshops line-up sparkle and shine.

2009 June 8, Matt Hall, “Re: Throwing higher, tiff bjc workshop”, in rec.juggling (Usenet):


bullocks

“Oh, bullocks!” she exclaimed. “Well, no real harm done. I remember the numbers.”

2001, Sanford H. Margalith, edited by Gail M. Hayden, Captains, Jona Books, →ISBN, page 122:

It looks as thoguh you’re in store for a live threed Chairman Olin, I should wan you that the following presentation has been deemed doublepluscrimethink by our Supreme Revolutionary Oceanic Ministry of Truth, and possession of this material in any form is...oh, bullocks, I gave myself away...

2003, Paul Lucian, Nineteeneightyfive; an Unnovel, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 191:

“Oh bullocks!” he shook his head in disgust. “You haven't heard a word I said!”

2008, Valjeanne JEffers, editor, Immortal, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 42:

(slang, euphemistic) Expression of frustration.


fudging

That film was fudging cool!

It's too fudging cold outside.

(euphemistic) An intensifier similar to fucking.


big D

Though "Bother it" I may
Occasionally say,
I never use a big, big D!

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “act i”, in H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC:

(euphemistic) An instance of the word "damn" or "damnation", regarded as profane.


big sleep

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

Apparently coined by novelist Raymond Chandler, author of The Big Sleep (1939).

What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 250:

Before I sink into the big sleep / I want to hear / The scream of the butterfly

1967, “When the Music’s Over”, in Strange Days, performed by The Doors:

(idiomatic, euphemistic, almost always preceded by the) Death.

ikiuni

type of sleep used as euphemism for death


full-throated

en-adj

full-throated (comparative more full-throated, superlative most full-throated)

more full-throated (comparative)
most full-throated (superlative)

/ˌfʊlˈθɹəʊtɪd/

/ˌfʊlˈθɹoʊtəd/

There she sits, at the very opposite corner, just as far off as accident could put her from this handsome fellow, by whose side she ought, of course, to be sitting. [...] Tawny-haired, amber-eyed, full-throated, skin as white as a blanched almond.

1859 January–December, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], chapter III, in The Professor at the Breakfast-Table; […], Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1860, →OCLC, page 67:

And this was Miggles! this bright-eyed, full-throated young woman, whose wet gown of coarse blue stuff could not hide the beauty of the feminine curves to which it clung; [...]

1869, Bret Harte, “[Sketches.] Miggles.”, in The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches (The Riverside Library), Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, page 43:

(euphemistic, dated) Of a woman: having ample breasts.


eat for two

en-verb

eat for two (third-person singular simple present eats for two, present participle eating for two, simple past ate for two, past participle eaten for two)

eats for two (present singular third-person)
eating for two (participle present)
ate for two (past)
eaten for two (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-eat for two.wav


tired and emotional

en-adj

tired and emotional (comparative more tired and emotional, superlative most tired and emotional)

more tired and emotional (comparative)
most tired and emotional (superlative)

First used by the British satirical magazine Private Eye in 1967, in a spoof diplomatic memo to describe the state of cabinet minister George Brown. It is now used as a stock phrase and euphemism to avoid litigation for libel, and the phrase has spread well beyond the magazine.

In 2008, after what you imagine was a tired and emotional dinner, the novelist Michel Houellebecq and the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy determined to start writing to each other about the things that kept them awake at nights.

2011 December 8, Tim Adams, “Public Enemies by Michel Houellebecq and Bernard-Henri Lévy – review”, in The Guardian:

There's nothing like a singalong with tired and emotional Lib Dems [headline]

2017 September 22, John Crace, “There's nothing like a singalong with tired and emotional Lib Dems”, in The Guardian:

(British, humorous, idiomatic, euphemistic) Drunk.


see you next Tuesday

en-noun

see you next Tuesday (plural see you next Tuesdays)

see you next Tuesdays (plural)
see you next Thursday (alternative)
see-you-next-Tuesday (alternative)

Derived from the fact that see and you are homophones for C and U, while the first letters of next and Tuesday are N and T—thus altogether euphemistically signifying cunt.

See you next Tuesday — it's a dirty insult. The initials make a dirty insult.

1980, David Guy Compton, The Unsleeping Eye, page 130:

In the Guardian for 2 November 1989, Katie Campbell mentioned the disparaging See You Next Tuesday as a description for an unreliable young man (= cunt), and commented: 'Imagine a word so powerful that it has to be disguised, even when used as a term of abuse.'

1997, Philip Thody, Don't Do It!: A Dictionary of the Forbidden, page 143:

"See you next Tuesday," she said crisply, the camera holding her in close-up an extra beat for emphasis. You could almost hear the thud of knowing viewers falling off their chairs. In decades-old high-school vernacular, "See you next Tuesday" is code for the word that starts with the letters "c-u," means female genitalia and is used to insult a woman when "bitch" just isn't strong enough.

2005, Kevin Weisman, Alias Assumed: Sex, Lies and SD-6, page 13:

'See you next Tuesday.' I learnt that at my convent school (My mother was Catholic). We would say it to the nuns who didn't have a clue what it meant...

"That diva may be gorgeous, but she's a real, well, you know, a see-you-next-Tuesday." "A what?" asked Jen. I cocked my head. Curious, myself. "She's—pardon the expression—a cunt."

In a separate anecdote, Kaplan detailed the end of the deposition when she was set to leave, saying that Trump told her: “See you next Tuesday” – a phrase that is often used as a derogatory euphemism directed at women.
“We come in the room and I say, ‘I’m done asking questions’ and immediately I hear from the other side, ‘Off the record. Off the record. Off the record.’ So they must have planned it. And he looks at me from across the table and he says, ‘See you next Tuesday,’” she recounted.

2024 February 1, Kaanita Iyer, Jamie Gangel, “Roberta Kaplan says Trump threw papers across table at Mar-a-Lago deposition because his legal team agreed to feed her lunch”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2024-02-02:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) A cunt. (an objectionable person)


sleep around

en-verb

sleep around (third-person singular simple present sleeps around, present participle sleeping around, simple past and past participle slept around)

sleeps around (present singular third-person)
sleeping around (participle present)
slept around (participle past)
slept around (past)

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

Sleeping around sleeping around / What will the neighbors say / Sleeping around all over town / What will the neighbors say

2006, “Sleepin' Around”, in Rather Ripped, performed by Sonic Youth:

(informal, euphemistic) Synonym of fuck around: to sleep with numerous partners.


business girl

For quotations using this term, see Citations:business girl.

(idiomatic, euphemistic) A female prostitute.


esthetically challenged

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

An ironic imitation of the perceived oversensitivity of language like mentally challenged.

(humorous, euphemistic, of a person) Ugly.


curvy

en-adj

curvy (comparative curvier, superlative curviest)

curvier (comparative)
curviest (superlative)
curvey (alternative rare)

(see title)

2016, Carmen Reeves, Yoga: For Curvy Girls Guide - Easy Beginner's Poses for Women with Curves:


facetiae

Originated 1520–30 from Latin facētiae, plural of facētia (jest); see facete+-ia and facetious.


pee off

en-verb

pee off (third-person singular simple present pees off, present participle peeing off, simple past and past participle peed off)

pees off (present singular third-person)
peeing off (participle present)
peed off (participle past)
peed off (past)

From piss off, pee being the first letter of (and a euphemism for) piss.

1973, Leo Simpson, The Peacock Papers, Macmillan,
page 9 (dialogue): He pees me off on TV. Have we anything of his I could read?
page 37 (dialogue): Pee off, this is a private conversation, hey?

1984, William Goldman, The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, Limelight Editions, →ISBN, page 131,
I think, subconsciously, this is every performer's nightmare: that you're going to pee them off so much they're going to come up on stage and kill you.

2005, "BC–The Cycling Geek", quoted in Graham Pond, London by London, The Friday Project Ltd (2005), →ISBN, page 150,
Anyway, back to the red light point – it's knackering cycling around, and if one thing pees me off it's getting some good momentum up and then having to stop at a pedestrian crossing because someone's pressed the button then crossed anyway […]

(euphemistic, sometimes humorous) Synonym of piss off (all senses)


itshay

Unfortunately I typed the key sequence to put all my scrolls IN my BoH. I went through this too fast, didn't catch it, and because I didn't have any scrolls in my inventory, the game starts putting everything I own into the BoH. When it hits the wand of cancellation... BOOM! *itshay itshay itshay!!!* Say goodbye to 3 magic markers, gems galore, spellbooks, 15 potions of holy water, 15 scrolls of enchant stuff and identify, another 10 blank scrolls destined to be enchant armor. *WAH!*

1996, Greg Rogers, “Help! My Bag of Holding keeps exploding on me! *Damn*”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet):

Itshay, dude, I thought you were over her.

2003 August 25, Patrick Null, “(story)Eamdray Irlgay-1959 wrds-Inspired by Andrea”, in alt.fiction.original (Usenet):

Wake up Saturday morning, and look at a map. The gig's halfway down to Brighton. Itshay. But I've given my word, so I leave early, make the gig, they love me.

2005 March 1, Max Leggett, “Re: TURN $6.00 INTO $60,000...READ THIS TO FIND OUT HOW!!!”, in rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz (Usenet):

(euphemistic, vulgar, slang) Alternative form of shit.


itshay

My physics teacher is the sysop for this system (Bob Shayler), so he excitingly encourgages^([sic]) us to do this itshay.

1992, Brady R. Ferguson, “Life”, in k12.chat.senior (Usenet):

Well, can you BELIEVE that itshay?

1998, "Jerome L. Nelson" (username), "Surely not me!, in alt.recovery.aa, Usenet

I generally never wait more than about 15 seconds - all this fancy itshay that web developers stick in just because they can: I fail to see how it advances the content. In fact it's downright detrimental, 'cause I won't wait around for it.

2003, Max Leggett, “Re: HELP- What's your download time?”, in rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz (Usenet):


bonne bouche

bonnes bouches (plural)
bonne-bouche (alternative)

Coined in English from French bonne bouche (“agreeable taste”, literally “good mouth(ful)”).

bor

I rub her bush with my cheek and my chin, tickle her bonne-bouche with my tongue.

1941, Henry Miller, Under the Roofs of Paris (Opus Pistorum), New York: Grove Press, published 1983, page 27:


HE-double-toothpicks

The word "hell" spelled out, referring to the fact that a lowercase "l" resembles a toothpick.

Yet you try it out and the gimpy ones will scream H-E double toothpicks about Social Security in their golden years, which I want to tell them I need some security right now or I'm not going to have any golden years.

Rural Mormons like my friend do not use the "H word" lightly. They say "HE double toothpicks" rather than pronounce the word out loud.

1999, Chip Ward, Canaries on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West:

When they do, all kinds of h-e-double-toothpicks can ensue—including a mac that freezes during the startup process.


in the altogether

Hearing that his wife was posing in the altogether for the great Spanish satirist, the Duke of Alba swore that he would paint Goya's picture in Goya's blood.

Last week, a Cleveland news anchor, Sharon Reed, was caught on camera stripping nude and joining a gaggle of other people in the altogether.

2004 November 25, David Carr, “When a TV Talking Head Becomes a Talking Body”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-09-16:


facts on the ground

Back-formation from put facts on the ground

back-formation

The author referred to "continued evictions and relentless purchases of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, the process of the right of return granted to Jews but not to Arabs, the so-called facts on the ground of hardening concrete over the future, over future generations of Palestinian and Israeli children who will inherit the conflict and find it even more difficult to resolve than it is today."

2011 February 20, Harriet Sherwood, quoting Ian McEwan, “Ian McEwan attacks 'great injustice' in Israel”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) The presence of military forces in a territory, rendering moot any debate over ownership.


eff off

en-verb

eff off (third-person singular simple present effs off, present participle effing off, simple past and past participle effed off)

effs off (present singular third-person)
effing off (participle present)
effed off (participle past)
effed off (past)


peed off

en-adj

peed off (comparative more peed off, superlative most peed off)

more peed off (comparative)
most peed off (superlative)

Either from the verb sense (above), or directly from pissed off (pee being a euphemism for piss).

1962, John Charles Wahlke, The Legislative System: Explorations in Legislative Behavior, Wiley (1962), page 109,
I was in business then. Some guy named Isidore Lubin sent forms all the time wanting to know what I was doing. I was peed off.

1973, George Plimpton et al., Mad Ducks and Bears, Random House (1973), →ISBN, page 311,
Sandusky said, "Even if the team wins, Curtis will get peed off because we didn't win big; we just won."

(idiomatic, colloquial, euphemistic) Annoyed, irritated, angry.


firetruck

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little boy's room

en-noun

little boy's room (plural little boy's rooms)

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little boys' room
little boys' room#English

(euphemistic, informal, nonstandard) Alternative form of little boys' room: a men's room, a public lavatory intended for men.


little girl's room

little girl's room (plural little girl's rooms or little girls' rooms)

little girl's rooms (plural)
little girls' rooms (plural)

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"I'm okay. I think I'm going to break for lunch soon, too. Have to use the little girl's room."
"There's a John on the second floor. Just get the key from Lorna. Tell her I said it was okay."

1994, Janet Evanovich, One for the Money, page 225:

He says she went to the little girl's room during the show and never came back.

2006, Ted Bell, Spy: A Thriller, page 42:

But before we get back to business, I've got to go to the little girl's room. Nothing like sweet tea to go right through you.

2007, Linda Francis Lee, The Devil in the Junior League, page 21:

little girls' room
little girls' room#English

(euphemistic, informal, nonstandard) Alternative form of little girls' room: a ladies' room, a public lavatory intended for women.


wet job

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Like the Navy SEALs (who often work in conjunction with the Delta Force), Delta Force can go anywhere, anytime; they just leave the wet jobs to SEAL Team 6-the navy's version of Delta Force.

2003, Robert Young Pelton, Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition (Robert Young Pelton the World's Most Dangerous Places), Collins, →ISBN, page 112:

Being a shocked witness in Lisbon to the Carnivore's last bloody wet job

2004, Gayle Lynds, The Coil: A Novel, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 53:

But as soon as the janitor saw Tice, he would have known he had the wrong man and should have and should have withdrawn or attempted a live capture to find out where Theosopholis was. Instead, everything about his style announced wet job. He was assigned to liquidate Tice, and maybe only Tice.

2006, Gayle Lynds, The Last Spymaster, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 30:

(espionage, euphemistic) A covert assassination performed by government operatives.


primrose path

Coined by William Shakespeare in 1609 in "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," act 1, scene 3:
: Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads

1902, George Bernard Shaw, The Author's Apology, in (1902 edition of) Mrs Warren's Profession, 2006 Gutenberg eBook edition,
Even if these purely official catastrophes carried any conviction, the majority of English girls remain so poor, so dependent, so well aware that the drudgeries of such honest work as is within their reach are likely enough to lead them eventually to lung disease, premature death, and domestic desertion or brutality, that they would still see reason to prefer the primrose path to the strait path of virtue, since both, vice at worst and virtue at best, lead to the same end in poverty and overwork.

She is now, at the age of 17, faced with turning from the straight and narrow path she has so far trod to the primrose path of her mother and grandmother.

1940 March 25, “Movie of the Week: Primrose Path”, in Life, page 48:

There is one thing that male citizens must note. They must not give countenance to prostitution ; they must not demand the commodity and thus increase the supply; they must not tread the primrose path and contract venereal disease and then spread it. Men too must show a conscience in the matter.

2002, Bernhard A. Baur, editor, Encyclopaedic Study of Woman and Love, page 381:


what the hey

Hold the phone, folks! What the hey's going on? What happened to the Great Gonzales?!?

2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Glitzville:


fluffing

Are you fluffing serious? That was a fluffing good sandwich!

Fluffing great. I'm behind on rent again.

(colloquial, euphemistic) Substitute for fucking.


send away

en-verb

send away (third-person singular simple present sends away, present participle sending away, simple past and past participle sent away)

sends away (present singular third-person)
sending away (participle present)
sent away (participle past)
sent away (past)

the judge sent him away

They sent him away for that one.

(idiomatic, transitive) To send (someone) to a particular place for a long time, as a family member, an employee, etc.

(idiomatic, euphemistic, transitive) To imprison (someone).


for heaven's sake

Don't ever use the hood on your anorak; and, if you do, for heaven's sake don't pull the string tight so that you peep out like a little baby in a siren suit.

1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 61:

Labour frontbencher Louise Haigh (Shadow Transport Secretary for heaven's sake!) initially lambasted TOCs before the handful of specialist rail commentators fell on her tweets and she changed her tune, refocusing her fire on Government.

2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) Expresses frustration, exasperation, annoyance, or the urgency of an instruction.

Well, for heaven's sake! Look who's here! Good to see you again!

(idiomatic, euphemistic) Expresses surprise, sometimes pleasant.


love handle

love handles (plural)
lovehandle (alternative)

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

First appears c. 1970 in the publication Current Slang. So called because it is supposed to be grabbed by a partner during sexual intercourse.

The good news. Three weeks into the programme I am rediscovering bits of my body I had forgotten existed; biceps, triceps, hamstrings and those funny muscles on the sides of the abdomen called obliques, the toning of which is supposed to eliminate the love handle.

2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:

(colloquial, euphemistic, chiefly in the plural) A protruding area of fat on the side of the body, above the hips.

腰間贅肉 /腰间赘肉

жо́пкины у́шки n pl (žópkiny úški, literally “ears of arse”)


comfort woman

Calque from Japanese 慰(い)安(あん)婦(ふ) (ianfu).

She carefully watches the efforts of Koreans who are suing Japan to get reparations for the comfort women. It was only in 1993 that Japan formally recognized its involvement in the forced prostitution.

1995 September 10, Jane H. Lii, “The Memories of a Comfort Woman”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(idiomatic, historical, euphemistic) A woman forced, or supposedly recruited, into brothels by the Japanese occupation forces before or during World War II.

일본군 성노예(日本軍性奴隸) (ilbon'gun seongnoye, literally “sex slave to Japanese troops”)


comfort girl

(idiomatic, euphemistic) A female sex slave; prostitute.


do the nasty

do the nasty (third-person singular simple present does the nasty, present participle doing the nasty, simple past did the nasty, past participle done the nasty)

does the nasty (present singular third-person)
doing the nasty (participle present)
did the nasty (past)
done the nasty (participle past)
do the nasties (alternative)

HILDA. But do you remember what you wanted me to do? The nasty—thing I thought was nasty? […] BERT. No, Hilda. Go like you came. Leave this place with your various virginities intact.

1968, Gus Weill, To Bury a Cousin: A Two Act Play, →ISBN, page 59:

"Right now she's doing the nasty with an ex-bartender who thinks he's this generation's answer to James."

1995, Jackie Collins, Hollywood Kids, →ISBN, page 61:

A bunch of Puritan girls saying the town biddies were witches, just so that one of them could do the nasty with a married man and not have to worry about his loser of a wife finding out.

2001, Jodi Picoult, Salem Falls, →ISBN, page 120:

They go from strip club to strip club, make a lot of money. […] Most people think they're getting a bundle to do the nasty on video.

2004, Michael Connelly, The Concrete Blonde, →ISBN, page 216:

(slang, vulgar, euphemistic) To engage in sexual intercourse.


differently able

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Illogical pedestrian crossings, inaccessible pavements and inconvenient public transport make it rather hostile for its differently abled citizens.

2022 May 24, “Is Chennai convenient for its Differently-abled citizens?”, in The Hindu:

"We are Not Disabled; We are Differently-Abled"

2021, Various, “'We are Not Disabled; We are Differently-Abled': A Study on The Lived Experiences of Person with Disability in the Workplace”, in Dangal Research Journal, volume 3, number 1:

(euphemistic, often humorous or pejoratively so except India and Philippines) Disabled or handicapped.


go to the toilet

go to the toilet (third-person singular simple present goes to the toilet, present participle going to the toilet, simple past went to the toilet, past participle gone to the toilet)

goes to the toilet (present singular third-person)
going to the toilet (participle present)
went to the toilet (past)
gone to the toilet (participle past)

Voiceover: You wouldn't steal a handbag. You wouldn't steal a car. You wouldn't steal a baby. You wouldn't shoot a policeman and then steal his helmet. You wouldn't go to the toilet in his helmet and then send it to the policeman's grieving widow and then steal it again. Downloading films is stealing. If you do it you WILL face the consequences.
Roy: Man, these anti-piracy ads are getting really mean.

2007 September 7, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 3

(euphemistic) Synonym of use the toilet: to urinate or defecate, especially (but not exclusively) while visiting a toilet.


have one's way

have one's way (third-person singular simple present has one's way, present participle having one's way, simple past and past participle had one's way)

has one's way (present singular third-person)
having one's way (participle present)
had one's way (participle past)
had one's way (past)

(euphemistic, followed by with) To have sexual intercourse with, especially without the consent of one's partner.


meet one's maker

meet one's maker (third-person singular simple present meets one's maker, present participle meeting one's maker, simple past and past participle met one's maker)

meets one's maker (present singular third-person)
meeting one's maker (participle present)
met one's maker (participle past)
met one's maker (past)

In various religions, when a person dies, they go to a supernatural place like heaven where they may meet their creator deity.

On the gallows high he has met his Maker...Your victim waits for you to meet your Maker

1871, Unknown (Execution ballad), “Execution of Frederick Baker.”, in Curiosities of Street Literature, Comprising "cocks," Or "catch Pennies", page 205:

He didn't die for a half-hour after that; nor did he speak again—aloud; but just a few seconds before he went to meet his Maker, his lips moved in a faint whisper.

1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!

1969 December 7, Monty Python, “Full Frontal Nudity, Dead Parrot sketch”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese):

(idiomatic, euphemistic) To die or to pass into the afterlife.


go to blazes

go to blazes (third-person singular simple present goes to blazes, present participle going to blazes, simple past went to blazes, past participle gone to blazes)

goes to blazes (present singular third-person)
going to blazes (participle present)
went to blazes (past)
gone to blazes (participle past)


cornfield meet

Either from the fact that early train collisions often occurred out in the country alongside a cornfield rather than in a station or siding; or from staged events where two old steam locomotives were purposely run head on at each other, often in an open field, for public entertainment. In the latter idea, the term may jocularly echo field meet as a spectacle in the field involving opposing contestants.

Do you think it's possible for two trains to have a cornfield meet right in the middle of an automatically protected block? Of course it is, if one of the hoggers is drunk or asleep at the throttle […]

1943, Railroad Magazine, volume 34, New York, N.Y.: Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 100, column 1:

One such instance when a conductor failed to follow a prescribed timetable resulted in a head-on smashup on the Long Island Railroad at the end of the Civil War. On August 28, 1865, General Grant and General Sherman collided in a pasture at Jamaica, New York. Five passengers were killed in this cornfield meet.

1968, Robert C[arroll] Reed, “Head-on Collisions”, in Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line, New York, N.Y.: Bonanza Books, Crown Publishing Group, →OCLC, page 55:

[A] couple of passenger trains staged a cornfield meet in the deep cut on Mount Holly, which the road settled with "gratuities" amounting to $50,000. By this time the Rutland had built up enough financial stability to weather these incidents with a minimum of distress.

1997, Jim Shaughnessy, “The Hunted Traps the Hunter”, in The Rutland Road, 2nd edition, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 26:

One hundred years ago, staged railroad accidents were popular events. […] "Head-on Joe" Connolly made a business out of "cornfield meets" holding seventy-three events in thirty-six years.

1998, Ian Savage, “Preface”, in The Economics of Railroad Safety (Transportation Research, Economics and Policy; 7), New York, N.Y.: Springer Science+Business Media, →ISBN, page xi:

[An 1899 man discovering ragtime:] [N]ow they're writing music that sounds like a cornfield meet.

2007, Eddie Campbell, The Black Diamond Detective Agency: Containing Mayhem, Mystery, Romance, Mine shafts, Bullets, New York, N.Y., London: First Second Books, →ISBN, page 137:

(US, rail transport, euphemistic) An accidental head-on collision or near head-on collision of two trains.


habit-forming

en-adj

habit-forming (comparative more habit-forming, superlative most habit-forming)

more habit-forming (comparative)
most habit-forming (superlative)

Many governments prohibit the advertising of habit-forming substances to minors.

(formal, euphemistic) Addictive; likely to cause dependence or recurrence of use.


cubes

Actually, I should have just kicked him in the cubes and gotten my face out of there.

2006, Bill Lee, Richard Lally, The Wrong Stuff, →ISBN, page 168:


minced oath

A type of euphemism based on a profanity or blasphemy that has been altered to remove the objectionable characteristics of the original expression; a polite version of an expletive.


get sick

en-verb

get sick (third-person singular simple present gets sick, present participle getting sick, simple past got sick, past participle (UK) got sick or (US) gotten sick)

gets sick (present singular third-person)
getting sick (participle present)
got sick (past)
got sick (UK participle past)
gotten sick (US participle past)

"I didn't ever do that, but when I first started drinking I got sick all over this guy I was seeing," I say.

2004, Bridget Bufford, Minus One: A Twelve-Step Journey, →ISBN, page 161:


disadvantaged

en-adj

disadvantaged (comparative more disadvantaged, superlative most disadvantaged)

more disadvantaged (comparative)
most disadvantaged (superlative)

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And it gets better. If 10% of those 17,000 new jobs employ people from a disadvantaged background, the value rises to £8.3bn.

2020 December 2, Nigel Harris, “Comment: The UK's worst crisis since 1709”, in RAIL, page 3:

(euphemistic) Poor; in financial difficulties.


longhouse

longhouses (plural)
long house (alternative)
long-house (alternative)

Nordic Bronze Age
Whittington's Longhouse
longhouse

From long + house. The sense of outhouse possibly derives from Whittington's Longhouse, a public toilet in medieval London, but first attested in a translation of a similar French expression.

To make wads and wisps for those that go to the Long-house (you know what I meane).

1622, M. Alemán, chapter II, in J. Mabbe, transl., Rogue, page 355:

(obsolete, euphemistic) An outhouse, an outbuilding used for urination and defecation.


sleep with

en-verb

sleep with (third-person singular simple present sleeps with, present participle sleeping with, simple past and past participle slept with)

sleeps with (present singular third-person)
sleeping with (participle present)
slept with (participle past)
slept with (past)

K.T. Oslin once made a living as a Broadway chorus girl, and when she turned to country in her mid-40s, it was to sing about such nonbucolic topics such as older women sleeping with younger men.

Roy: You remember the woman from last night? She seemed lovely, right?
Moss: She was a delight.
Roy: Yeah. We get outside, there's a group of tramps, two of whom she knows by name. She starts screaming at them, "You owe me money! You owe me money!" She thinks that the tramps owe her money. Next thing I know, it all kicks off. I'm running for my life. It was a horrible evening, a really horrible evening, and she's a really horrible woman.
Moss: Right. But you slept with her?
Roy: Yeah.

2007 September 28, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 6

(idiomatic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with.


self-love

On the question of masturbation, or self-love, once again the tantric principle applies

2004, Diana Richardson, Tantric Orgasm for Women, Page 195


trainable

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Toilet accidents for new children in the school are generally at least two or three times as frequent for trainables as they are for educables.

1971, Harriet Eleanor Blodgett, Mentally Retarded Children: What Parents and Others Should Know:

(euphemistic, dated) A mentally retarded person who can be trained or taught.


pre-owned

Admiral Koris: Our people have, during difficult periods, purchased pre-owned vessels from other cultures!

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


the dickens

She can go to the dickens for what she said.

“Four weeks ago, I was sitting down for breakfast with my beautiful wife, Evie. Evie and I were sitting down with our two beautiful little boys, Connor and C-C-- Cah-- ristopher, and Christopher looks up to me-- he's six years old and full of the dickens--”

2023 July 27, Max Brockman & Shana Gohd, “The Campaign” (8:49 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 4, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch):

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see the, dickens; (euphemistic) the devil.


the heck

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

What the heck are you doing?

(euphemistic) Used for emphasis after an interrogative word.

Elevators make me throw the heck up.

(euphemistic) Intensifies a phrasal verb; goes between the base verb and its modifier.


isht

God, don't you guys have anything else better to do than get excited over MKIII? I mean, it's not even out yet, and you're writing faq's^([sic]) about all the info that's currently out, and isht like that.

1995 January 18, KNU-Flo, “What's this isht bout MKIII faqs”, in rec.games.video.arcade (Usenet):

I'm faster than you're^([sic]) girlfriend on a Saturday night / Making all the lonely boys say man that isht is tight

1999 July 4, Tlalocelotl Tlatoani, “"Get Down" - Ocelot verse”, in alt.rap (Usenet):

I hate isht like this. I mean it's bad enough people don't trust the news and it's bad enough we have to continuously struggle for equality in the workplace, but when isht like this happens... it gives others alot^([sic]) of ammunition. Against media, against minorities, etc.

2003 May 20, Steve S. Jackson, “F*** a handout”, in rec.music.hip-hop (Usenet):


rightsize

rightsize (third-person singular simple present rightsizes, present participle rightsizing, simple past and past participle rightsized)

rightsizes (present singular third-person)
rightsizing (participle present)
rightsized (participle past)
rightsized (past)
right-size (alternative)

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

In summary, there are significant costs to a medical practice if it has too few or too many support staff. It is critical to rightsize staff with the appropriate methodology and tools to perform this analysis correctly on the first attempt.

2003, Deborah L. Walker, David N. Gans, Rightsizing: Appropriate Staffing for Your Medical Practice, Medical Group Management Association, →ISBN, page 9:

Now is not the time to kid yourself—face the brutal facts and get on with your rightsizing decision. A rightsizing decision checklist follows this chapter.

2011, Bill Welter, Rightsizing Your Business: Breakthrough Strategies to Create a Flexible and Profitable Business in Any Economy, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:


change of life

But of course she's coming near her change of life, for she's years older than he is.

1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 17, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Gutenberg edition, [Florence, Italy]: [ […] Tipografia Giuntina, […]], →OCLC; republished as Lady Chatterley’s Lover (eBook no. 0100181h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, August 2011, archived from the original on 2020-11-11:

(idiomatic, dated, euphemistic) Menopause.


rightsizing

en-noun

rightsizing (countable and uncountable, plural rightsizings)


male member

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The sense “penis” is a calque of Latin membrum virīle.


powder one's nose

en-verb

powder one's nose (third-person singular simple present powders one's nose, present participle powdering one's nose, simple past and past participle powdered one's nose)

powders one's nose (present singular third-person)
powdering one's nose (participle present)
powdered one's nose (participle past)
powdered one's nose (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-powder one's nose.wav

From the use of a lavatory as a place to apply makeup.

I'll be right back. I just have to powder my nose.

C'mon girls; let's go powder our noses.

"...Where's the ladies' in this joint? I've to powder me nose."

1996, Deirdre Purcell, Roses After Rain, page 335:

(euphemistic, typically of women) To visit a lavatory to use a toilet, reapply makeup, (when used of a group of women) engage in private conversation, etc.


whatever it takes

"I'll do whatever it takes to win."

1997 January 31, Mike Wise, “Intense and Erratic, John Starks Can Still Jump-Start the Knicks”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-07-29:

[T]he security forces have exhibited few qualms about doing whatever it takes to quiet the streets, including the imprisoning of an estimated 2,000 opposition supporters.

2009 August 5, Tony Karon, “A Weakened Ahmadinejad Sworn in for a Second Term”, in Time:

(idiomatic, sometimes euphemistic for improper behavior) Anything, including measures which may be extreme or wrongful, that is required to achieve an objective.

nəyin bahasına olursa olsun

anything required to achieve an objective


first time

Do you remember your first time?

(euphemistic) An individual's first instance of sexual intercourse.


whiskey tango foxtrot

From the NATO phonetic alphabet names for the letters W, T, and F.

(euphemistic) What the fuck; an expression of shock.


barking spider

(euphemistic, humorous) An instance of audible flatulence; a fart.


give it up

give it up (third-person singular simple present gives it up, present participle giving it up, simple past gave it up, past participle given it up)

gives it up (present singular third-person)
giving it up (participle present)
gave it up (past)
given it up (participle past)

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

My husband thinks it's 'cause they're all raised Catholic and their girls don't give it up easily, except for the prostitutes.

(euphemistic) To agree to sexual intercourse, especially if reluctantly.


enhanced interrogation

en-noun

enhanced interrogation (countable and uncountable, plural enhanced interrogations)

/ɪnˈhænst ɪnˌtɛɹəˌɡeɪʃən/

/ɪnˈhɑːnst ɪnˌtɛɹ.əˌɡeɪʃən/

In 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines on enhanced interrogation written in 2003 and 2004 by the CIA Office of Medical Services. ^((OMS).1-3(appendix F)) The OMS guidelines, even in redacted form, and opinions from the US Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel show that CIA physicians, psychologists, and other health care personnel had important roles in enhanced interrogation.

2010 August 4, Leonard S. Rubenstein, JD, Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, “The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument”, in JAMA, volume 304, number 5, American Medical Association, →DOI, pages 569–570:

If Cheney calls it enhanced interrogation, he argues, this still doesn’t change the meaning of the word torture, which Cheney and the public know perfectly well. But cognitive linguists like Lakoff (1996) remind us that the public can be manipulated into believing that torture is “merely” an enhanced interrogation technique and thus does not protest.

2014 January 10, Claire Kramsch, “Language and Culture”, in AILA Review, volume 27, number 5, John Benjamins, →DOI, →ISSN, page 35:

Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).

2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12:

(US, politics, euphemistic) The practice of using techniques normally considered torture that are claimed not to be torture according to a carefully parsed interpretation of legal language.


ladies and gentlemen

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ladies and gentlemen.wav

There are quays there and lamps and some squares of grass; a ladies and gentlemen, and a cinema.

1941, Joyce Cary, chapter XLIV, in Herself Surprised, page 108:

(rare and euphemistic) Public toilets: a ladies' room and a gentlemen's room.


Bent Spear

(US, euphemistic, military) A significant incident with a nuclear weapon, nuclear components, or nuclear-bearing vehicle.


Broken Arrow

In the US, the code name for a serious nuclear weapons incident is "Broken Arrow". It is US policy neither to confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons at any specific location; this also applies to Broken Arrow incidents.

2004, Roland Everett Langford, Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction: Radiological, Chemical, and Biological, page 97:

(US, euphemistic, military) An accidental event that involves nuclear weapons or nuclear components but does not create the risk of nuclear war.


potty mouth

potty mouths (plural)
pottymouth (alternative)

Enough of my bathroom humour, my potty mouth.

2007 November 16, Janet Stewart, “Feral cats need someone to lend a hand”, in Winnipeg Free Press:

(idiomatic, euphemistic) The characteristic of regularly using vulgar language, especially strong profanities.


marital duties

(euphemistic) The duty to be available to one's spouse for sexual intercourse.


see a man about a horse

en-verb

see a man about a horse (third-person singular simple present sees a man about a horse, present participle seeing a man about a horse, simple past saw a man about a horse, past participle seen a man about a horse)

sees a man about a horse (present singular third-person)
seeing a man about a horse (participle present)
saw a man about a horse (past)
seen a man about a horse (participle past)

A variant of see a man about a dog, from the implied context of seeing someone about a bet on a horse race.

I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. I've just got to visit the ladies' room to see a man about a horse.

(idiomatic, euphemistic) Used in place of a real explanation when excusing oneself for a short period of time, particularly to use a toilet.


old time used to be

en-noun

old time used to be (plural old time used to be's)

I thought I spied my old time used to be[…]Roberta done quit me, I can't see no peace

1940, Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, “Roberta”:

Somebody loan me a dime, I need to call my old time used to be.

1969, Fenton Robinson, “Loan Me a Dime”, in Boz Scaggs, performed by Boz Scaggs:

(informal, euphemistic) Ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend. Often used in songs.


well-endowed

en-adj

well-endowed (comparative more well-endowed, superlative most well-endowed)

more well-endowed (comparative)
most well-endowed (superlative)

From: Morlan
"I am sorry, my mate, I leave you for a krogan because you are not endowed as good for your species!"
Do you fear those words? Morlan's famous shop sells many enhancements online that are not restricted by Citadel trading regulations! Whether you require hormone augmentation, cybernetic enhancement, or genebiotic xenografting, Morlan has many things you will be pleased with!
All species and gender order online from Morlan's famous extranet site, hotlinked from this message!

[2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: YOUR 2 SMALL!:

(euphemistic) Having large sexual features (of a woman, breasts or buttocks; of a man, penis).


happy ending

“I don't want sucky sucky, I just want a massage. It's okay if she doesn't know how to give a massage, but could she at least tickle my back?” “No happy ending!” she yelled, getting louder. “I don't want a happy ending, you hot mess, I just want a little back rub.[…]”

2009, Chelsea Handler, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 147:

(by extension, slang, euphemistic, vulgar) A hand job, especially one provided by a masseuse to a client at or towards the end of a massage.


haul one's ashes

en-verb

haul one's ashes (third-person singular simple present hauls one's ashes, present participle hauling one's ashes, simple past and past participle hauled one's ashes)

hauls one's ashes (present singular third-person)
hauling one's ashes (participle present)
hauled one's ashes (participle past)
hauled one's ashes (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-haul one's ashes.wav

"George Brent has got one hell of a schlong on him," Tabitha ventures.
"And how!" Lucy agrees enthusiastically. "I'd haul his ashes for him any time."

1989, Gilbert Sorrentino, Misterioso; republished in Pack of Lies, Dalkey Archive Press, 1997, →ISBN, page 349:

Just do me a favor: if you decide to haul her ashes, don't tell Victory. He's got a crush on her, and so far she won't give him any play.

2002, Stephen J. Cannell, The Viking Funeral, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 157:

I still get beautiful ladies to haul my ashes when my old balls get heavy.

2004, Iceberg Slim, Mama Black Widow, Holloway House Publishing, →ISBN, page 293:

(euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse.


ST

en-noun

ST (countable and uncountable, plural STs)

(steam): → French: ST

(euphemistic) Initialism of sanitary towel.


oh my

Which might mean shaping it, gelling it, snooting it, barn dooring it, and putting it on a stand or a clamp. Maybe taking the dome diffuser off. Perhaps zooming it. Oh my. And you thought you were just taking a picture.

(idiomatic, euphemistic, chiefly US and Canada) oh my God


see a man about a dog

en-verb

see a man about a dog (third-person singular simple present sees a man about a dog, present participle seeing a man about a dog, simple past saw a man about a dog, past participle seen a man about a dog)

sees a man about a dog (present singular third-person)
seeing a man about a dog (participle present)
saw a man about a dog (past)
seen a man about a dog (participle past)

Unknown. As a Prohibition-era reference to getting alcohol, influenced by the expression hair of the dog.

I'll be right back, but I've got to go to see a man about a dog.

(idiomatic, dated) Used in place of a real explanation when excusing oneself for a short period of time, particularly (euphemistic) to use the toilet or (historical) drink alcohol.


callboy

callboys (plural)
call boy (alternative)
call-boy (alternative)

→ Cebuano: callboy

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


touch oneself

touch oneself (third-person singular simple present touches oneself, present participle touching oneself, simple past and past participle touched oneself)

touches oneself (present singular third-person)
touching oneself (participle present)
touched oneself (participle past)
touched oneself (past)

1990, Divinyls - I Touch Myself
I don't want anybody else; when I think about you I touch myself.


l-word

"I want a lawyer right now." Landry shook his head and thought, Damn, already the dreaded L-word.

2008 December 10, Michael Whaley, Murder at 8, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 187:

(euphemistic, often humorous) Any word beginning with l that is not normally taboo but is considered to be so in the given context.


f-bomb

From f (“abbreviation of fuck”) + bomb (“(euphemism marker)”). Likely based on the term H-bomb.

com

abbreviation of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">fuck</i>

From hip-hop artists to bloggers to the vice president of the United States, everyone's dropping the F-bomb.

2006 June 25, Joel Achenbach, “Dropping the F-bomb”, in The Washington Post, page B01:

When he started out in 1981 Regan would throw in the odd F-bomb to spice up a joke, but eventually he just eliminated them from his act.

2007 May 10, Guy MacPherson, “Brian Regan’s clean comedy defuses the F-bomb”, in straight.com:

The Ontario government treaded similar territory with the rollout of its Flick Off campaign, intended to encourage young people to conserve energy by turning off lights and appliances, but obviously hinting at the f-bomb.

2007 May 18, Patrick White, “Dropping the f-bomb”, in The Globe and Mail:

One could argue, of course, that most comedies about the risqué misadventures of teenagers are actually pretty wholesome. Horny hits like American Pie and last year's Blockers are, at heart, sweet coming-of-age stories, secretly reassuring everyone that the kids are all right—that no matter how many f-bombs they drop, no matter how raunchy their MPAA-antagonizing hijinks get, they're really just fumbling their inexperienced way through normal rites of passage.

2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-03-04:


back alley

Nobody goes up my back alley without a rubber on and I don't do heroin, so what's the worry?

1991, Mack Tanner, The Stalker, page 178:

RALPH: This dress is not made for a big boy. It's going right up the back alley there.


night soil

At least notionally because such soil was removed at night by nightmen, and because chamberpots were needed especially at night (when one, in one's nightgown, might be less disposed to leave the house for the outhouse); but the general taboo around human excrement encourages euphemism, and any word in the allusive range of the night–dark–black–bad archetypes might serve as well as another for the purpose; thus, compare blackwater.

night-soil (alternative)
nightsoil (alternative)

There, the night soil along with the community refuse is filled in trenches for composting and subsequent use in agriculture.

1977, Hillel I. Shuval, Water Renovation and Reuse, →ISBN:

The flow of nitrogen from night-soil in rural China is valuable, whereas human excrement in an urban center is a pollution problem.

2006, Mario Giampietro et al., “Can Biofuels replace Fossil Energy Fuels?”, in International Journal of Transdisciplinary Research, volume 1, number 1, page 58:

Time for the local night soil man to appear. He left the inn to find the night man who serviced the place.

2017, Jennifer Taylor, Echoes of the Moon, →ISBN:


close one's eyes and think of England

en-verb

close<> one's eyes and think<,,thought> of England

close one's eyes and think of England (third-person singular simple present closes one's eyes and thinks of England, present participle closing one's eyes and thinking of England, simple past and past participle closed one's eyes and thought of England)

closes one's eyes and thinks of England (present singular third-person)
shut one's eyes and think of England (alternative)
lie back and think of England (alternative)
think of England (alternative)

en-au-close one's eyes and think of England.ogg

Supposedly derived from the journal of Alice Marion Mills in 1912, Lady Hillingdon, now lost. Later apocryphally connected to Lucy Baldwin, wife of Prime Minister Baldwin, and Queen Victoria or described as advice given to Victorian era brides-to-be. First popularized by the translation in 1955 of Pierre Daninos's Les Carnets du Major Thompson (1954), a French satire on upper class British culture.

I am happy now that Charles calls on my bedchamber less frequently than of old. As it is, I now endure but two calls a week and when I hear his steps outside my door I lie down on my bed, close my eyes, open my legs and think of England.

1912, Alice Marion Mills, Journal (attrib.)

...when the test comes, when the United Kingdom gets into trouble again, and when the King calls upon his loyal subjects all over the world, the Canadian knows at a still deeper level of his being that he will undoubtably do as he has always done before. He will close his eyes and think of England.

1940 Nov. 2, "Canadian Industrial Independence Seen as War Outcome", Windsor Daily Star, p. 10

Meltenham and her mother had prepared her for marriage in an entirely Victorian spirit. The day before she left home, Lady Plunkwell had delivered her final advice: "I know, my dear, it's disgusting. But do as I did with Edward: just close your eyes and think of England!" Like her mother and her mother's mother before her, Ursula closed her eyes. She thought of the future of England.

1955, Robert Farn tr. Pierre Daninos as The Notebooks of Major Thompson

One finds as many mentions in Edwardian literature to the chastity, the holy purity of upper class women, indeed to their active abhorrence of sex, as one does in the nineteenth century. There was the passage I quoted from Lady Hillingham at the head of this chapter—"...close my eyes, open my legs and think of England". The source for this quotation is a little suspect. The sentiment expressed is without question typical and accurate.

1972, Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy, The Rise and Fall of the British Nanny:

To accept one's duty patriotically, particularly (idiomatic, euphemistic) to endure sex (sexual activity) under a concept of sex as solely a marital and reproductive duty.

Baron Hillingdon
Frank Dicksee
Lucy Baldwin
Queen Victoria of England
Stanley Baldwin
Victorian era


motherferyer

And it was in Pontiac that I dug that Jim Crow man in person, a motherferyer that would cut your throat for looking.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 4:


developmental disability

en-noun

developmental disability (plural developmental disabilities)


chuck you Farley

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chuck you Farley.wav

I wanted to think, Chuck you, Farley, there's nothing much I need you for, if I want to I can turn around and walk right through that door […]

1998, Margaret Atwood, Bodily Harm, page 202:

"Chuck you, Farley, I'm not having anything to do with it."

2002, Richard Helms, The Valentine Profile, page 100:


rainbow bridge

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

Two of my three dogs have crossed the rainbow bridge.

I'm so sorry your little Typo is gone. Surely she knew how much she was loved and she will wait for you at the Rainbow Bridge.

2005 September 23, jacquie, kylie & gilbert, “Typo (0/1)”, in alt.pets.ferrets (Usenet):

On social media, users share their emotions, positive and negative, when, for example, cats celebrate their birthdays or adoptaversaries, or when cats are ill or ‘have crossed the rainbow bridge’.

2023, Edith Podhovnik, “Cats and Their Digital Spaces”, in “The Cativerse”, in Purrieties of Language: How We Talk about Cats Online, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 11:

(euphemistic) A metaphorical bridge crossed at death, usually in reference to pets.


sit on

en-verb

sit on (third-person singular simple present sits on, present participle sitting on, simple past and past participle sat on)

sits on (present singular third-person)
sitting on (participle present)
sat on (participle past)
sat on (past)
sit upon (alternative)

Let me sit on it.

(euphemistic) To insert (something) into one's vagina or anus from below.


wet work

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

Calque of Russian мо́крое де́ло (mókroje délo).

clq

мо́крое де́ло

2010, RED
Joe: Victoria was the best wet work operator the Agency ever had.
Woman 1: What does that mean?
Victoria: I killed people, dearie.

(espionage, euphemistic) A covert assassination performed by government operatives.