dash

en-verb

dash (third-person singular simple present dashes, present participle dashing, simple past and past participle dashed)

dashes (present singular third-person)
dashing (participle present)
dashed (participle past)
dashed (past)

Dash his impudence! Who is that scoundrel?

(transitive, dated, euphemistic) Damn (in forming oaths).


dash

From Middle English daschen, dassen, from Danish daske (“to slap, strike”), related to Swedish daska (“to smack, slap, spank”), of obscure origin. Compare German tatschen (“to grope, paw”), Old English dwǣsċan (“to quell, put out, destroy, extinguish”). See also dush.


consumption

en-noun

consumption (usually uncountable, plural consumptions)

From Middle English consumpcioun, from Old French consumpcion, from Latin cōnsūmptiō, from cōnsūmō + -tiō, from con- (“with, together”) + sūmō (“take; consume”). Equivalent to consume + -tion.

af

(euphemistic, dated) Alcoholism as it precipitates a person's death (especially of natural causes).


multicultural

en-adj

multicultural (comparative more multicultural, superlative most multicultural)

more multicultural (comparative)
most multicultural (superlative)

Bedgood, whose father is African American and mother is Caucasian, says he's struggling to deal with such hatred. He grew up in Santa Clarita and says he could not have imagined something like this happening in a quiet community with many multicultural families.

(euphemistic) Relating or pertaining to groups, households or families involving persons with different or mixed ethnicities or races.


Christmas

Short for Jiminy Christmas, probably a variant of Jiminy Cricket or Jiminy Crickets, a euphemism for Jesus Christ.

"Christmas! I didn't know it," said Harvey, turning round. "I'll give you a dollar for it when I—get my wages. Say, I'll give you two dollars."

1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:

"I've been tottering on the edge … Christmas!" His eyes brightened with a sudden thought. "How stupid I've been!" he cried at once.

1930, Ellery Queen [pseudonym; Frederic Dannay, Manfred Bennington Lee], “‘The Time has Come …’”, in The French Powder Mystery: A Problem in Deduction, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 269:

She said, "All right with you, Bertie?" / "Oh Christmas! he said. "I suppose so."

1959, Ngaio Marsh, “On the Scent”, in False Scent, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, published November 1981, →ISBN, section 3, page 158:

(euphemistic) An expression of annoyance or surprise: Christ, Jesus Christ, Jiminy Cricket, Jiminy Crickets.


union

en-noun

union (countable and uncountable, plural unions)

→ Bengali: ইউনিয়ন (iuniẏon) (learned)

From Middle English unyoun, from Old French union, from Late Latin ūniō, ūniōnem (“oneness, unity”), from Latin ūnus (“one”). Doublet of unio.

der

Sexual intercourse
sexual intercourse#English

(uncountable, archaic, euphemistic) Sexual intercourse.


SNAFU

The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view.

(military, slang, euphemistic) Acronym of situation normal, all fucked up /situation normal, all fouled up.


payroll

payrolls (plural)
pay roll (alternative)

/ˈpæɪ̯ˌɹəʉl/

/ˈpæɪ̯ˌɹɐʉl/

I know that the deal started with the boys in Santiago, because they’ve been on the d’Anconia pay roll for centuries — well, no, ‘pay roll’ is an honorable word, it would be more exact to say that d’Anconia Copper has been paying them protection money for centuries — isn't that what your gangsters call it?

We can spread a rumor this cop was dirty. Look, Tom, we have newspaper people on the payroll, don't we?

1972, The Godfather, spoken by Michael Corleone:


silence

en-verb

silence (third-person singular simple present silences, present participle silencing, simple past and past participle silenced)

silences (present singular third-person)
silencing (participle present)
silenced (participle past)
silenced (past)

From Middle English silence, from Old French silence, from Latin silentium (“silence”), from silēns (“quiet, silent”, present participle of silēre) + -ium. Displaced native Old English swīġe and sālnes.

af

present participle of <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">silēre</i>

They, and others through the years, believed Ruby must have acted on his own since there was no logic to the supposition that anyone could trust an uncontrollable, unreliable loudmouth like Ruby to silence Oswald.

2013, Mark Shaw, The Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK, →ISBN, page 150:


beach

→ Japanese: ビーチ

→ Punjabi: ਬੀਚ (bīc)

→ Zulu: ibhishi

From Middle English bache, bæcche (“bank, sandbank”), from Old English beċe (“beck, brook, stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *baki, from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“flowing water”).
Cognate with Dutch beek (“brook, stream”), German Bach (“brook, stream”), Swedish bäck (“stream, brook, creek”). More at batch, beck.

der

(motor racing, euphemistic) Synonym of gravel trap.


Ugandan

Back-formation from Ugandan discussions.

Margaret, Duchess of Argyll...depicts this charming old gentleman, who often kisses young girls outside Annabel's, as a narrow-minded, boring Ugandan expert.

1975, Private Eye, numbers 340–366, page 161:

Eight ladies with Ugandan associations had ascended the fire escape and were making their way through his room.

1975, Private Eye, numbers 340–366, page 198:

They have a bit of a 'how was it for you' session referring to the night and/or evening before, and we are left not knowing whether they enjoyed Ugandan Relations between the sheets or not.

1998 August 19, Peter Dewhirst, “Dewey's Monday update for 3rd August.”, in rec.arts.tv.uk.coronation-st (Usenet):

I'm in serious need of some ugandan activities. Any of you birds out there at a loose end and want to get the dirty water off your chest?

2000 January 25, Baz, “Any birds want a good seeing to?”, in uk.local.birmingham (Usenet):

Serif's question: where is Mister? The Eagle's answer: engaged in Ugandan practices.

2001, Gerald Seymour, The Untouchables, →ISBN, page 345:

I recall her once snatching a copy of the hated Private Eye, in which I'd been reading about the Ugandan activities of a prominent member of her party.

2013 April 8, Lord Powell, “The Margaret Thatcher I knew”, in The Guardian:

Jones denied last week that he was in a Ugandan situation with Morris, but did say "I am very fond of anyone who helps me lose six and a half stone..."

2015, Rotten Boroughs, “Going for the Burn”, in Private Eye, number 1407:

(UK, informal, euphemistic) Sexual, highlights a double entendre.


asleep

From Middle English aslepe, equivalent to a- (“in, on”) + sleep.


front

en-noun

front (countable and uncountable, plural fronts)

Tok Pisin: fran

→ Japanese: フロント (furonto)

→ Korean: 프런트 (peureonteu)

From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

[…] there was one bare breast sticking out, the tip of it disappearing into Enid's father's mouth. She had told her mother about this in perfect certainty that she had seen it. She said, "One of her fronts was stuck in Daddy's mouth."

1998, Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman, page 74:

She thought—imagined, really—that her, well, that her fronts were too big. She grew up, you see, in the flapper era, when it was fashionable for women to have very flat fronts.

2015, Stephen Birmingham, The Wrong Kind of Money:

Turning their Backs... ON FRONTS.
CONVIVIAL WAITRESS: D... Don't you want to ogle me?
SICKO MILLENNIAL: No... I hate breasts!

2019 October 15, Ward Sutton as Stan Kelly, “Wings And A Pair”, in The Onion:

(dated, euphemistic, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.


course

→ Gulf Arabic: كورس (kōrs)

From Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of cursus and cour.

polku

path that something or someone moves along

the course of true love never did run smooth

The bleeding body signifies as a shameful token of uncontrol, as a failure of physical self-mastery particularly associated with woman in her monthly "courses".

2018, Gail Kern Paster, The Body Embarrassed, Cornell University, page 92:

(in the plural, courses, obsolete, euphemistic) Menses.


service

en-verb

service (third-person singular simple present services, present participle servicing, simple past and past participle serviced)

services (present singular third-person)
servicing (participle present)
serviced (participle past)
serviced (past)
seruice (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English servise, from Old English serfise, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Displaced native Old English þeġnung.

(transitive, agriculture, euphemistic) To inseminate through sexual intercourse.

to service a target; target servicing

(transitive, military, euphemistic) To attack.


nasty

From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”), of obscure origin. Probably from earlier Middle English *naskty, *naskedy, from Middle English *nasked (“dirty, messy”) + -y, ultimately of North Germanic origin (comparable to Danish nasket (“dirty, foul, unpleasant”), Swedish naskot (“dirty, filthy”), Swedish naskig, naskug (“nasty, dirty, messy”)), themselves all probably related to Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“tender, soft”). Likely doublet of nesh and nosh. Cognate with Scots nastie, nestie (“dirty, filthy”).
Alternative theories have also been proposed, which include:
* From Low German nask (“nasty”) + -y.
* Middle Dutch nestich, nistich ("nasty, dirty, unpleasant" > Modern Dutch nestig (“dirty, filthy, unclean; lazy, cranky”)), perhaps ultimately connected to the Scandinavian word above, or related to *nest (“nest”).
* From Old French nastre (“lowly, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster.
* Other suggestions include Old High German naz (“wet”), hardening of English nesh(y) (“soft”), or alteration of English naughty.
* Modern use of the word is sometimes attributed to the popular and often derogatory 19th century American political cartoons of Thomas Nast, but the word predates him.

unc

obscure

gloss

"nasty, dirty, unpleasant" > Modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">nestig</i> (“dirty, filthy, unclean; lazy, cranky”)

(euphemistic, slang, preceded by "the") Sexual intercourse.


poo

Petulant and pouty, Stephanie herself says things like, ‘Oh, poo.’

1986 January 12, Chicago Tribune, page 3c:

(euphemistic) Expressing annoyance, frustration, etc.: a minced oath for 'shit'.


special

en-adj

special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)

more special (comparative)
specialer (comparative)
most special (superlative)
specialest (superlative)

common

antonym(s) of “distinguished by a unique or unusual quality”

From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin speciālis (from speciēs). In this sense displaced native Old English synderlīċ. Doublet of especial.

מיוחד \ מְיֻחָד

of or related to disabilities, especially learning or intellectual disabilities

special education, special needs

He goes to a special school.

intellectual disabilities
intellectual disability

(euphemistic) Of or related to disabilities, especially learning or intellectual disabilities.

What do you mean, you don't understand the sign? What are you, special?

(by extension, derogatory, often offensive) Stupid, lacking intelligence.

This book will help you to […] • Cook with the confidence that the neighbors won't find out your brownies are 'special' • Never again worry about getting caught growing because someone smelled your garden

2012 November 1, Klyde, How To Hide The Smell Of Weed, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 9:

Then with the rest of the money I use it to pay for the building, maintenance, utilities, up keep, and the special brownies! In addition, I have bongs that the parishioners can use if they forget to bring their own bongs for smoking.

2020 March 19, I. D. Oro, Mexico Wall 130, I. D. Oro, page 136:

“Jen, when someone offers you 'special' brownies or 'funny' brownies, they have pot in them. You're totally high right now.” Me, high? No way! No one ever offered the nerdy girl drugs. And I'd never, ever accept them.

2021 June 15, Laura Heffernan, Sweet Reality, Empress Books:

“They're special brownies,” said Rosie. Special brownies! Of course they were special! They were perfect and delicious! What a great word to describe them! Rosie caught on that Lulu had not caught on. “Special brownies. Happy brownies. […] They're the ones that have weed in them.”

2021 September 23, Gillian A. Corsiatto, Duck Light, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 5:

(euphemistic) Containing drugs, especially marijuana.


ager

When the aging person depends on another, the control of the aged one's life space is placed in the hands of another person who may or may not contribute action energy that is appropriate or acceptable from the standpoint of the ager.

1965, Richard Hays Williams, Claudine G. Wirths, Lives Through the Years: Styles of Life and Successful Aging, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 165:

Inappropriate behavior then erupts from the agers involved, disturbing everyone around, including the agers themselves, who often do not understand what is happening and struggle excessively to maintain rigid control of old perceptions and self images.

2006, Gloria Davenport, Working with Toxic Older Adults: A Guide to Coping with Difficult Elders, Springer Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 143:

This definition of success is located in society's structures and suits society, not the agers. Successful ageing is arguably therefore a socially constructed phenomenon, characterized by lack of “noise,” maintenance of youthful status until death, and a dogged engagement with social structures which appear almost as if designed to discourage the engagement of older people.

2014, Susan H. McFadden, Mark Brennan, New Directions in the Study of Late Life Religiousness and Spirituality, Routledge, →ISBN, page 62:

(euphemistic) One who is aging; an elderly person.


dress

en-verb

dress (third-person singular simple present dresses, present participle dressing, simple past dressed, past participle dressed or (obsolete) drest)

dresses (present singular third-person)
dressing (participle present)
dressed (past)
dressed (participle past)
drest (obsolete participle past)
dress (infinitive)
dress (first-person present singular)
dressed (first-person past singular)
dress (present second-person singular)
dressed (past second-person singular)
dresses (present singular third-person)
dressed (past singular third-person)
dress (plural present)
dressed (past plural)
dress (present subjunctive)
dressed (past subjunctive)
dress (imperative present)
dressing (participle present)
dressed (participle past)
drest (participle past)

→ Sranan Tongo: dresi

PIE word
 *dwís
The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *directiare (“to guide, direct”). Doublet of direct.
The noun is derived from the verb.

aantrek

to put clothes on (oneself or someone, etc.) — see also clothe

self aantrek

to put on clothes — see also get dressed

koristaa

to adorn or ornament (something) — see also adorn, ornament

siistiä

to fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose — see also get ready

whakahuene

referring to preparing rough sawn timber

While measuring him for his trousers, the tailor asked him if he dressed to the left or the right.

(euphemistic, chiefly in the tailoring context) To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers.

pitää

to allow one’s penis to fall to one side or the other within one’s trousers


estate

From Middle English estat, from Anglo-Norman estat and Old French estat (French: état), from Latin status. Doublet of state and status.

an estate diamond; estate jewelry

(jewelry, euphemistic) Previously owned; secondhand.


culture

en-noun

culture (countable and uncountable, plural cultures)

cultures (plural)
culcha (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

From Middle French culture (“cultivation; culture”), from Latin cultūra (“cultivation; culture”), from cultus, perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate, to grow, worship”) (related to colōnus and colōnia), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”).

der

(euphemistic) Ethnicity, race (and its associated arts, customs, etc.)


buck

en-verb

buck (third-person singular simple present bucks, present participle bucking, simple past and past participle bucked)

bucks (present singular third-person)
bucking (participle present)
bucked (participle past)
bucked (past)

From dialectal buck ("to give in, yield"; also bug (“to bend”)), from Middle Low German bucken (“to bend”) or Middle Dutch bucken, bocken (“to bend”), intensive forms of Old Saxon būgan and Old Dutch *būgan (“to bend, bow”), both from Proto-West Germanic *beugan, from Proto-Germanic *būganą (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”). Influenced in some senses by buck “male goat” (see above). Sense “to meet, to encounter” is a semantic loan from Jamaican Creole buck.
Compare bow and elbow.

gl

"to give in, yield"; also <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">bug</i> (“to bend”)

Well he yoked the ass up to the cart. And then the holy ructions it did start. Well he bucked it in the air and he bucked it all around. Till he smashed the buckin' cart upon the ground.

1997 February 20, “Mickey's buckin' ass”performed by Richie Kavanagh:

Thatch had come down the stairs and chimed in: "Isn't he an awful buckin' eejit?"

"Was he a buccaneer?" I asked. "No, eejit!" Lionel said. Never one to pass up a play on words, he continued, "He's a buckin' IRA man and he's gathering up an army in the Irish Free State. He says he's going to march up to Ulster and drive all of us Protestants into the Irish Sea!"

"I can see the headlines in the morning, taxi man bucking hangs himself.

2012 January 28, 20:01 from the start, in Mrs Brown's Boys (Mammy's Going) (2), episode 5, spoken by Agnes Brown (Brendan O'Carroll):

I will buck a French lad, Erin. I will buck a French lad, so help me God.

2018 January 11, 13:39 from the start, in Derry Girls (1), episode 2, spoken by Michelle Mallon (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell):

Protestors chanted "You're not wanted here" and held up placards with slogans such as "Buck off" - a pun on Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck's name - and "No to racist Ricketts".

2022 April 2, Emma Smith, “Watch: 'Buck off!' - Chelsea fans stage 'No to racist Ricketts' ownership protest outside Stamford Bridge”, in goal.com:

(chiefly Ireland, humorous or euphemistic) To fuck.


colorful

en-adj

colorful (comparative more colorful, superlative most colorful)

more colorful (comparative)
most colorful (superlative)
colourful (alternative)

2002, news.bbc.co.uk
Hussain celebrated reaching his ton with a gesture towards the media centre, pointing to the number three on the back of his shirt and offering some colourful language.

(euphemistic) Profane, obscene, offensive (usually in the phrase colourful language).


walk

en-verb

walk (third-person singular simple present walks, present participle walking, simple past and past participle walked)

walks (present singular third-person)
walking (participle present)
walked (participle past)
walked (past)
walk (infinitive)
walk (first-person present singular)
walked (first-person past singular)
walk (present second-person singular)
walkest (archaic present second-person singular)
walked (past second-person singular)
walkedst (archaic past second-person singular)
walks (present singular third-person)
walketh (archaic present singular third-person)
walked (past singular third-person)
walk (plural present)
walked (past plural)
walk (present subjunctive)
walked (past subjunctive)
walk (imperative present)
walking (participle present)
walked (participle past)

Chinese Pidgin English: walkee

From Middle English walken (“to move, walk, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), a conflation of Old English wealcan (“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”) (ġewealcan (“to go, traverse”)) and Old English wealcian (“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-West Germanic *walkan, from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, *walkōną (“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg- (“to twist, turn, move”).
Cognate with Scots walk (“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje (“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje (“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken (“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken (“to wander about”), German walken (“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke (“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Sanskrit वल्गति (válgati, “amble, bound, leap, dance”). More at vagrant and whelk. Doublet of waulk.

cog

If you leave your wallet lying around, it’s going to walk.

(intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) Of an object, to go missing or be stolen.


chest

chests (plural)
chist (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English cheste, chiste, from Old English ċest, ċist (“chest, casket; coffin; rush basket; box”), from Proto-West Germanic *kistu (“chest, box”), from Latin cista (“chest, box”), from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē, “chest, box, basket, hamper”).

der

He avoided being seen gazing at her chest, although he dearly longed to stare.


duty

en-noun

duty (countable and uncountable, plural duties)

right

antonym(s) of “that which one is obligated to do”

From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe + Middle English -te. Equivalent to due + -ty.

The basic idea in housebreaking is not to wait until the puppy sins and then punish him; it is to call nature to your aid and thus make it easy for him to do his duty.

1927, Will Judy, “Housebreaking”, in Training the Dog, page 23:

(euphemistic) The act of urination or defecation, especially for a dog.


geography

geography (countable and uncountable, plural geographies)

⇒ Malay: geografi

/dʒiˈɒɡɹəfi/

/d͡ʒiˈɑɡɹəfi/

From Middle French géographie, from Latin geōgraphia, from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία (geōgraphía, “a description of the earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).
Use in reference to lavatories derives from the mid-20th century euphemism "show one the geography of the house" in reference to pointing out the toilets.

uder

The Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’

1967 December 21, The Listener, page 802:

(chiefly upper-class UK, euphemistic) The lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.


holy mackerel

Recorded from 1803 with uncertain origin, but possibly a euphemism for Holy Mary, with Mackerel being a nickname for Catholics because they ate the fish on Fridays. Another suggested explanation is the practice of selling mackerel on Sundays in the seventeenth century (because its quality deteriorates rapidly), so it was known as holy fish.

‘Holy mackerel!’ he whispered. ‘Englehorn! Driscoll! Get a look at this thing.’

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 48:

Holy Mackerel! Here Comes the Bride!"

1951, Marguerite Wallace Kennedy, chapter 3, in My Home on the Range:

"Holy mackerel! Just any old dumb hag who can cook and lie on her back?"

1956, Ian Fleming, Diamonds are Forever, published 1965, page 163:

(idiomatic, humorous or euphemistic) An expression of surprise.


holy cow

Minced oath for holy shit, possibly partially based on the fact that cows are sacred in some religions (e.g. Hinduism).

Holy cow I think he's gonna make it!

1977, Jim Steinman, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”, in Bat Out of Hell, performed by Meat Loaf ft. Phil Rizzuto:

(idiomatic, euphemistic, minced oath) An exclamation of surprise or astonishment.


agricultural

en-adj

agricultural (comparative more agricultural, superlative most agricultural)

more agricultural (comparative)
most agricultural (superlative)

/ˌæɡɹɪˈkʌltjʊəɹəl/

/ˌæɡɹɪˈkʌlt͡ʃəɹəl/

(UK, euphemistic, derogatory) Coarse or uncultured.

(UK, euphemistic, sports) Clumsy or tactless.


bother

en-verb

bother (third-person singular simple present bothers, present participle bothering, simple past and past participle bothered)

bothers (present singular third-person)
bothering (participle present)
bothered (participle past)
bothered (past)

→⇒ Irish: badráil

→ Jersey Dutch: boddere

Borrowed from Scots bauther, bather (“to bother”). Origin unknown. Perhaps related to Scots pother (“to make a stir or commotion, bustle”), also of unknown origin. Compare English pother (“to poke, prod”), variant of potter (“to poke”). More at potter. Perhaps related to Irish bodhaire (“noise”), Irish bodhraim (“to deafen, annoy”).

كلف

to take the trouble, to trouble oneself to do something

(transitive) To annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for.

pla

to annoy, to disturb, to be troublesome to


bother

[H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said "Bother!" and "Oh blow!" and also "Hang spring-cleaning!" and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 11:

"Oh, help!" said Pooh. "I'd better go back."
"Oh, bother!" said Pooh. "I shall have to go on."
"I can't do either!" said Pooh. "Oh, help and bother!"

1926, A A Milne, Winnie the Pooh, Methuen & Co., Ltd., Chapter 2 ...in which Pooh goes visiting and gets into a tight place

(dated, euphemistic) A mild expression of annoyance.


private

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹɑɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vət̞]

[ˈpʰɹəɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɾəɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɹo̞ɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɾo̞ɪ̯və(ʔ)]

From Middle English privat(e) (“individual, exclusive, private”), from Latin prīvātus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from, release”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“I bereave, deprive, release”) (see -ate for more), from prīvus (“private, one's own, peculiar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine. Doublet of privy.

bor

(euphemistic, in the plural) The genitals.


stuff

en-noun

stuff (usually uncountable, plural stuffs)

→ Irish: stuif

From Middle English stuf, stuffe, borrowed from Medieval Latin stuffa and its etymon Old French estofe, estoffe, estuf, estuffe, stoffe, from estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.

materie

the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

Don't give me any of that 'what-about' stuff!

Anger would indite / Such woeful stuff as I or Shadwell write.

1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The First Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, / With yellow kid gloves and a ruff— / Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, / Which the Bellman declared was all "stuff."

1874–1876 (date written), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Fit the Fit the Fourth. The Hunting.”, in The Hunting of the Snark […], London: Macmillan and Co., published March 1876, →OCLC:

Oh, stuff, Julia! I've given up chasing after will-o'-the-wisps like that.

(sometimes euphemistic) Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.


anatomy

en-noun

anatomy (countable and uncountable, plural anatomies)

From Middle English anatomie, from Old French anatomie, from Latin anatomia, from Ancient Greek *ἀνατομία (*anatomía), from ἀνατομή (anatomḗ, “dissection”, literally “cutting up”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut, incise”). By surface analysis, ana- + -tomy. Doublet of ottomy.

His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal's mouth.

2015 September 20, Michael Ashcroft, Isabel Oakeshott, “Drugs, debauchery and the making of an extraordinary Prime Minister: For years rumours have dogged him. Now, the truth about the shockingly decadent Oxford days of the gifted Bullingdon boy”, in Daily Mail:

On the debate stage days later, Trump wanted all of America to know there was "no problem" with the size of his hands — or any other part of his anatomy.

2016 December 28, Jessica Taylor, “11 Times Donald Trump Looked Like He Was Done For”, in NPR:

(euphemistic) The human body, especially in reference to the private parts.


love child

love children (plural)
love-child (alternative)
lovechild (alternative)

Nobody ever came to see her, nobody spoke of her, nobody cared about her. Mr Brass had said once, that he believed she was a ‘love-child’ (which means anything but a child of love).

1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 36, in The Old Curiosity Shop:

Love child, never meant to be / Love child, born in poverty

1968, “Love Child”, performed by The Supremes:

(euphemistic) A child born as a result of a romantic liaison between parents not married to one another; an illegitimate child.

извънбра́чно дете́

child born as a result of a romantic liaison between unmarried parents


member

→ Japanese: メンバー (menbā)

→ Korean: 멤버 (membeo)

→ Malay: member

→ Punjabi: ਮੈਂਬਰ (maimbar)

From Middle English membre, from Old French membre, from Latin membrum (“limb, body part”), from Proto-Italic *memzrom, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗms, *mēms-rom (“flesh”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌼𐌶 (mimz, “meat, flesh”), Crimean Gothic menus.
Coexists with native Middle English lim, limb (“member, limb, joint”) (from Old English lim (“limb, joint, main branch”)), and displaced Middle English lith (“limb, joint, member”) (from Old English liþ (“limb, member, join, tip”)).


take French leave

en-verb

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

term-label

(idiomatic, intransitive, informal, dated)

takes French leave (present singular third-person)
taking French leave (participle present)
took French leave (past)
taken French leave (participle past)
take a French leave (alternative)

From take + French leave, apparently from a French custom, already recorded in the 18th century, of leaving from receptions or other events without formally announcing one’s departure to the host or hostess.

That officer […] reminded Burton of the necessity there was that all the officers of the Spitfire should hold themselves in readiness, as a court-martial was sure to be ordered relative to the loss of that ship: that order might possibly be telegraphed down, and he must therefore decline granting any leave, except for a few hours. Here was a disappointment with a vengeance. The first suggestion of the moment was one altogether unworthy of him, which was to incur the imputation of adopting Gallican habits, and taking, what is known by the term, "French leave."

1829, [William Nugent Glascock], “The Return”, in Sailors and Saints; or, Matrimonial Manœuvres. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 222–223:

In spite of threats and punishment, many Canadians [in the French army] deserted in order to care for their families and to provide food for the coming winter; more than two thousand are said thus to have taken French leave.

1908, Elroy McKendree Avery, “Wolfe and Saunders before Quebec”, in A History of the United States and Its People from Their Earliest Records to the Present Time, volume IV, Cleveland, Ohio: The Burrows Brothers Company, →OCLC, page 269:

absent without leave
absent without leave

(specifically, chiefly military, euphemistic) To desert or be temporarily absent from duty or service without permission; to go absent without leave (AWOL).

lähteä bundelle

to desert or be temporarily absent from duty or service without permission


bank holiday

bank holidays (plural)
Bank Holiday (alternative)
bank-holiday (alternative)

Historically, a holiday, other than a public holiday, observed by the Bank of England.

(euphemistic) A closure of banks in a jurisdiction to curtail or prevent a bank run.


period

periods (plural)
per. (alternative abbreviation)

frequency

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

/ˈpɪə.ɹɪ.əd/

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

periudhë

history: period of time seen as coherent entity

periodike

length of time during which something repeats

When she is on her period, she prefers not to go swimming.

(euphemistic) Female menstruation; an episode of this.

The set of symptoms associated with menstruation, even if not accompanied by menstruation; an episode of these symptoms.


ish

From earlier isht, a minced oath metathetic alteration of shit.

Anyone, really, but seriously, you'd think that people whose very passion depends on their lungs would want to cut that ish out

2010, Jill Murray, Break On Through, page 15:

I owe you a lot Dipal, so put that ish away.

2012, Dipal Parikh, Walking with Krishna: Based on True Life Events, page 154:

Now, it's time to get your ish together.

2013, Ivy McQuain, Get Your Head Out of the Clouds, This Is Business, page 25:

I passed on that craziness. I wasn't messing with that ish.

2015, Ni-Ni Simone, Amir Abrams, Lights, Love & Lip Gloss, page 51:


bottom

en-noun

bottom (countable and uncountable, plural bottoms)

bottoms (plural)
botton (alternative dialectal)

→ Dutch: bottom

→ French: bottom

→ Portuguese: bottom

PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn
From Middle English botme, botom, from Old English botm, bodan (“bottom, foundation; ground, abyss”), from Proto-West Germanic *butm, from Proto-Germanic *butmaz, *budmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom”). Cognate with Dutch bodem, German Boden, Icelandic botn, Danish bund; also Irish bonn (“sole (of foot)”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of a cup or jar”), Sanskrit बुध्न (budhna, “bottom”), Persian بن (bon, “bottom”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) (whence fund, via French).
The sense “posterior of a person” is first attested in 1794; the verb “to reach the bottom of” is first attested in 1808. bottom dollar (“the last dollar one has”) is from 1882.

cog

Calvin, if you shoot that paper clip at me, I'll get your bottom hauled to the principal's office so fast you'll think you were in a time warp!!

1986 April 10, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):


bum

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic.
Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

(more vulgar)

Maxine tried hers. ‘Oh bum,’ she said crossly. ‘The sugar isn’t sugar. It’s salt.’

(UK, Ireland, childish, euphemistic) An expression of annoyance.


fall asleep

en-verb

fall asleep (third-person singular simple present falls asleep, present participle falling asleep, simple past fell asleep, past participle fallen asleep)

falls asleep (present singular third-person)
falling asleep (participle present)
fell asleep (past)
fallen asleep (participle past)

awake

pass from a state of wakefulness into sleep

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

And he kneeled downe, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sinne to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleepe. And Saul was consenting vnto his death.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 7:60:

(poetic, euphemistic) To die (often seen on gravestones).


package

en-noun

package (countable and uncountable, plural packages)

Equivalent to pack + -age. Possibly influenced by Anglo-Latin paccagium or Old French pacquage.

The women usually wore bikini tops with shorts, swimsuits underneath cover-ups or just swimsuits. Men came in various types of trunks, from traditional boxers, to Speedos, to G-string trunks that showcased their packages.

2013, Velvet Carter, Blissfully Yours, page 93:

(euphemistic, vulgar) The male genitalia.


departure

departure (countable and uncountable, plural departures)

/dɪˈpɑː(ɹ)t͡ʃə(ɹ)/

From Old French deporteure (“departure; figuratively, death”). By surface analysis, depart + -ure.

uder

The time of my departure is at hand.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Timothy 4:6:

His timely departure […] barred him from the knowledge of his son's miseries.

a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:


depart

en-verb

depart (third-person singular simple present departs, present participle departing, simple past and past participle departed)

departs (present singular third-person)
departing (participle present)
departed (participle past)
departed (past)
depart (infinitive)
depart (first-person present singular)
departed (first-person past singular)
depart (present second-person singular)
departest (archaic present second-person singular)
departed (past second-person singular)
departedst (archaic past second-person singular)
departs (present singular third-person)
departeth (archaic present singular third-person)
departed (past singular third-person)
depart (plural present)
departed (past plural)
depart (present subjunctive)
departed (past subjunctive)
depart (imperative present)
departing (participle present)
departed (participle past)

From Old French departir, from Late Latin departiō (“to divide”), from dē- (“away from”) + partiō (“part, divide”).

prefix

[…] his Tongue,
Sounds euer after as a ſullen Bell
Remembred, knolling a departing Friend.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 75, column 2:

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:29:

And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted — "Open then the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more."

1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 1:


approach

en-verb

approach (third-person singular simple present approaches, present participle approaching, simple past and past participle approached)

approaches (present singular third-person)
approaching (participle present)
approached (participle past)
approached (past)

From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

None of you ſhall approche to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakedneſſe: I am the Lord.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 18:6, column 1:

(transitive, archaic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with (someone).


make water

make water (third-person singular simple present makes water, present participle making water, simple past and past participle made water)

makes water (present singular third-person)
making water (participle present)
made water (participle past)
made water (past)

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

For, by the fundamental Laws of the Realm, it is Capital in any Perſon, of what Quality ſoever, to make water within the Precincts of the Palace.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author by an Extraordinary Stratagem Prevents an Invasion. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 91:

She was dismayed by this unusual display of independence and took herself off to make water which she did with enough noise for four thoroughbreds.

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 907:


take a leak

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

takes a leak (present singular third-person)
taking a leak (participle present)
took a leak (past)
taken a leak (participle past)

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

From the slang use of leak in reference to an act of urination.

They could scarcely bear their knowledge, nor could they have borne the sight of Rufus, but they knew why he was in the streets tonight, why he rode subways all night long, why his stomach growled, why his hair was nappy, his armpits funky, his pants and shoes too thin, and why he did not dare to stop and take a leak.

1962, James Baldwin, Another Country, New York, N. Y.: The Dial Press, published 1963 January, page 4:

The piano has been drinking / My neck tie is asleep / And the combo went back to New York / The jukebox has to take a leak

1976, “The Piano Has Been Drinking”, performed by Tom Waits:


corn

Rhyming euphemism for porn, and with influence from the emoji substitute 🌽.

(Internet, euphemistic) pornography; porn


devil

devils (plural)
davil (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
debbil (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
diuel (alternative archaic dialectal)
divel (alternative archaic dialectal)
deuill (alternative obsolete)
devel (alternative obsolete)
devell (alternative obsolete)
devill (alternative obsolete)
diuell (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: tewel

→ Chuukese: tefin

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *dwísder.
Ancient Greek διά (diá)
Ancient Greek δια- (dia-)
Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der.
Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω (bắllō)
Ancient Greek διαβάλλω (diabállō)
Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos)bor.
Latin diabolusbor.
Proto-West Germanic *diubul
Old English dēofol
Middle English devel
English devil
From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, from Proto-West Germanic *diubul, from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Bavarian Teifl (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.

der

better the devil you know than the devil you don't know

better the devil you know than the one you don't know

devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter

he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know

the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know

What in the devil is that?

What the devil is that?

She is having a devil of a time fixing it.

You can go to the devil for all I care.

(euphemistic, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell.

verduiveld

euphemistically, with an article: Hell (as an intensifier)


yuck

en-verb

yuck (third-person singular simple present yucks, present participle yucking, simple past and past participle yucked)

yucks (present singular third-person)
yucking (participle present)
yucked (participle past)
yucked (past)

Perhaps imitative. Akin to Dutch jakkes (“disgusting”). First appeared in the 1960s. Compare also Scots yeuk (“anything that disgusts”), Middle English yuke (“an itchy skin disease" akin to middle Dutch "joke" and modern Dutch "jeuk"”) .

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

I can see these pro-lifer's screams of “Stop killing the foetus” turn to “I ain't taking no mother yucking nickker home to my mother yucking house."

2004, Michael Atkinson, Life Is Amazing, page 365:

But when I was out there, I yucked up everything.

2009, Joan Hiatt Harlow, Secret of the Night Ponies, page 107:

Boy, you sure as hell yucked this up.

2010, Don L. Clark, Magy la Magnifica, page 28:


brave

en-adj

brave (comparative braver or more brave, superlative bravest or most brave)

braver (comparative)
more brave (comparative)
bravest (superlative)
most brave (superlative)

From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.


office

Tok Pisin: opis

→ Belarusian: о́фіс (ófis)

→ Bulgarian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Cebuano: opis

→ Chichewa: ofesi

→ Central Dusun: upis

→ Iban: opis

→ Japanese: オフィス

→ Marshallese: wōpij

→ Malay: opis

→ Russian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Scottish Gaelic: oifis

→ Swahili: afisi

→ Tausug: upis

→ Ukrainian: о́фіс (ófis)

Microsoft Office
office (disambiguation)

From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)).
The use in reference to office software is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office.

zyrë

room(s) or building used for non-manual work

As for the Offices, let them stand at some Distance from the House, with some low covered Galleries, to pass from them to the Palace it self.

1720, William Willymott translating Francis Bacon as "Of Building" in Lord Bacons Essays, Vol. I, page 283

... proposals for erecting 500 Publick Offices of Ease in London and Westminster...

A short passage, bare planked and dusty, led to the kitchen and offices.

1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter III, in A Study in Scarlet:

Only in planted areas does one find old examples of planned ‘courtyard farms’ where the house and offices enclose a square or rectangular yard.

1957, Emyr Estyn Evans, chapter VIII, in Irish Folk Ways, page 112:

The bathroom's to the right and the usual offices next to it.

1957, John Braine, chapter I, in Room at Top, page 13:

Aft of the lobby... is the dining saloon for the passengers with the offices of necessity on either side of it.

1980, William Golding, chapter I, in Rites of Passage, page 6:

(now in the plural, dated) The parts of a house or estate devoted to manual work and storage, as the kitchen, scullery, laundry, stables, etc., particularly (euphemistic, dated) a house or estate's facilities for urination and defecation: outhouses or lavatories.


try

en-verb

try (third-person singular simple present tries, present participle trying, simple past and past participle tried)

tries (present singular third-person)
trying (participle present)
tried (participle past)
tried (past)
try (infinitive)
try (first-person present singular)
tried (first-person past singular)
try (present second-person singular)
triest (archaic present second-person singular)
tried (past second-person singular)
tries (present singular third-person)
trieth (archaic present singular third-person)
tried (past singular third-person)
try (plural present)
tried (past plural)
try (present subjunctive)
tried (past subjunctive)
try (imperative present)
trying (participle present)
tried (participle past)
trie (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English trien (“to separate out, sift, choose, select, evaluate, try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier, triher, triere (“to divide, separate, choose, select, prove, determine, try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Occitan triar (“to choose, sort, scrutinise, peel”), Catalan triar (“to pick, choose, decide”). Suggested to be derived from Late Latin *trītāre (“to crush, grind, trample, wear out”), itself derived from Classical Latin trītus (“rubbed, worn down, pulverised”), the past participle of terō, terere (“to rub, wear down, trample”), though this derivation is incompatible with the Occitan form. Additionally, the shift in meaning from "rub, crush, trample" to "pick out, choose, cull" is difficult to explain. One suggestion is that the semantic shift might have originated from a Latin phrase *granum terere ("to tread the corn (in threshing)"; compare Latin trītūra (“rubbing, chafing, friction" also "threshing”)), which has a parallel in the modern French trier le grain (“to sort the grain”). Alternatively, perhaps derived from Vulgar Latin *trīāre, a metathetic alteration of *tīrāre (“to tear off, pull, draw”), whence also Old French tirer (“to draw, pull, pluck, tug, peck at, extract”), Occitan tirar (“to take, draw, retrieve, remove, extract”).
Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).

gl

"to tread the corn (in threshing)"; compare Latin <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">trītūra</i> (“rubbing, chafing, friction" also "threshing”)

cog

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯]

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]

don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs

(euphemistic, of a couple) To attempt to conceive a child.

To experiment, to strive.
To attempt to conceive a child.


motion

en-noun

motion (countable and uncountable, plural motions)

Inherited from Middle English mocioun, mocion, from Anglo-Norman motion, Middle French motion, and their etymon Latin mōtiō (“movement, motion”), related to movēre, from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- (“to move”).

der

perpetual motion machine of the first kind

perpetual motion machine of the second kind

From that time to the present (three weeks) she has taken one pill every night, and had one comfortable motion every morning without the aid of any other aperient, and her health has much improved.

1857, William Braithwaite, The Retrospect of Medicine:

(euphemistic) A movement of the bowels; the product of such movement.


wardrobe

From Middle English warderobe, from Old Northern French warderoube, wardereube, northern variants of Old French garderobe, from garder (“to keep safe”) + robe. Subsequently influenced by various senses of garderobe as they developed in French. Doublet of garderobe.

(obsolete) A private chamber, particularly one used for sleeping or (euphemistic) urinating and defecating.


place

en-noun

place (countable and uncountable, plural places)

Pijin: ples

Tok Pisin: ples

From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platea (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁδός (plateîa hodós, “broad way”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“to spread”), extended form of *pleh₂- (“flat”). Displaced native Old English stōw, stede, and -ern. Compare also English pleck (“plot of ground”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot, location”), Dutch plek (“place, spot, patch”). Doublet of piatza, piazza, and plaza.

noncog

all over the place like a mad woman's custard

lightning does not strike twice in the same place

lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place

lightning never strikes twice in the same place

there is a place and time for everything

there is a time and place for everything

there's a time and a place for everything

Place,... (2) a jakes, or house of ease.

1901, John Stephen Farmer et al., Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, volume V, page 220:

‘I guess I'll take this opportunity to go to the place’...
‘She means the little girls room.’

1951, William Styron, chapter II, in Lie Down in Darkness, page 59:

(physical) An area; somewhere within an area.

(euphemistic slang) An area to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.


time machine

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

Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895 in his novel The Time Machine.


present

presents (plural)
præsent (alternative archaic)
ps. (alternative abbreviation)

→ Japanese: プレゼント (purezento)

From Middle English presenten, from Old French presenter, from Latin praesentāre (“to show”), from praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“be in front of”).

I think our toddler's just left us a little present in his diaper...

She has to deal with her cats' presents in the litterboxes on a daily basis, and she doesn't mind one bit.

(colloquial, euphemistic, endearing) poo; feces


personal

en-adj

personal (comparative more personal, superlative most personal)

more personal (comparative)
most personal (superlative)
personall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel.

der

personal lubricant; personal massager


petty

The adjective is derived from Middle English peti, pety (“little, small; minor”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman petit, Middle French petit, and Old French peti, petit, pitet (“young; little, small; inferior; insignificant”) (modern French petit), ultimately of imitative origin. It is no longer thought that the word is derived from Celtic. Doublet of petit and petite.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

If these houses had been built by his Lordship every one would have had his petty, at all events dividing the odour & also having a chance that some of the occupiers would clean out—but a common occupation is nobody's business, unless the owner of all the buildings takes it in hand.

1848 September 27, Maria Josepha Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley, “[Letter 245]”, in Nancy Mitford, editor, The Ladies of Alderley: Being the Letters between Maria Josepha, Lady Stanley of Alderley, and Her Daughter-in-law Henrietta Maria Stanley during the Years 1841–1850, London: Hamish Hamilton, published 1967, →OCLC, page 172:

Cottages occupied by Betty Hines and others; petty in a very filthy state, wants walling. Two petties belonging to Mr. James Parr to be walled, and one next Thomas Wilkinson's to be removed further off.

1852, Robert Rawlinson, “Appendix”, in Report to the General Board of Health on a Preliminary Inquiry into the Sewerage, Drainage, and Supply of Water, and the Sanitary Condition of the Inhabitants of the Township of Barton-upon-Irwell, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, London: […] George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, […] for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 47:

We have an evil in the excretal deposits, and in the ashes an antidote; but instead of applying the antidote, we keep the evil to itself, and suffer it to exercise its unmitigated power over the health of the household. […] Now the simple remedy for this would be, to construct the petties with several steps upward and backward, so as to be more over the centre of the ash-pit. […] Such an arrangement would ensure the mingling of the ashes with the excreta, by which the latter would be deodorised, and the evil suppressed.

1868 January 1, “The Sanitary Condition of Manchester”, in The Manchester Monthly Record and Advertiser, Manchester: Abel Heywood and Son, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; and Heywood and Co., […], →OCLC, page 32:

(dialectal, euphemistic, informal) An outbuilding used as a lavatory; an outhouse, a privy.


ladies

As a lavatory for women, via misspelling of ladies'. Compare gents.

Pardon me, I need to visit the ladies.

(British, euphemistic) A ladies' room: a lavatory intended for use by women.


on the game

UK late-19th century. However, the game as a euphemism for sexual activity dates to at least Troilus and Cressida (1602): "Set them down / For sluttish spoils of opportunity / And daughters of the game." Compare with the similar euphemism sport.

Oh please go on the game. It's a steady job and you'd be working from home.

1986 January 9, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Bells (Blackadder II), episode 1, spoken by Kate's Father (Edward Jewesbury):

What's he want it for anyway? Don't tell me he's going on the game.

1990 November 18, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

(UK, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Working as a prostitute.


blow off

en-verb

blow off (third-person singular simple present blows off, present participle blowing off, simple past blew off, past participle blown off)

blows off (present singular third-person)
blowing off (participle present)
blew off (past)
blown off (participle past)

Please avoid blowing off while we're in church.

(intransitive, euphemistic, UK, Australia) Synonym of fart.


gents

A clipped form of gentlemen. As a room, via misspelling of gents', a clipped form of gentlemen's room.

Where is the gents? I need a slash.

A gents' toilet room might be found in a house that caters for the cheaper class of theatrical patronage, where the slangy language of the "goin' to the mat this aft?" style prevails. A gents toilet room is not found in the Southern Hotel. It either "men's" or "gentlemen's".

1898, The Hotel/Motor Hotel Monthly, volume 6, page 27:

London's first 'gents' public toilets were opened in Fleet Street in 1851, followed in 1852 by a 'ladies' toilet at 51 Bedford Street, Strand.

2000, Munroe Blair, Ceramic Water Closets, page 15:

One unidentified man spoke of how he was approached to "go to the Gents" with an MP at an event for young political activists while another man described how an MP invited his entire office staff to a gay bar.

2014 April 11, Charlotte Meredith, “The Palace of Sexminster”, in Huffington Post: United Kingdom:

(chiefly UK, informal euphemistic) A men's room: a lavatory intended for use by men.


bally

He's just a bally idiot.

“My faith! It’ll be more bally corpse than bride, though, this journey.”

1889, Rudyard Kipling, “Only A Subaltern”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 145:

However, be that as it may and whether you liked the bally thing or didn't, the point was that it had vanished [...] It amazed me that I could have allowed myself to be let in for a binge of this description simply because a woman wished it. Too bally chivalrous for our own good, we Woosters, and always have been. [...] “When you hear me burst into song, you'll know there's peril afoot and you'll have plenty of time to nip out of the window.” “And break my bally neck?” [...] “Nothing can possibly go wrong.” “Just as you say, sir. But I still have that feeling.” The blood of the Woosters is hot, and I was about to tell him in set terms what I thought of his bally feeling, when I suddenly spotted what it was that was making him crab the act.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VII, VIII, AND XV”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

“Bunny has a bad heart.” She glanced toward the corpse in the hallway. “The bally fool... the stupid, bally fool.

1984, Armistead Maupin, Babycakes, page 134:

(British, dated, euphemistic) Bloody (used as a mild intensifier).


bally

That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!


disappear

disappear (third-person singular simple present disappears, present participle disappearing, simple past and past participle disappeared)

disappears (present singular third-person)
disappearing (participle present)
disappeared (participle past)
disappeared (past)

From Middle English disapeeren, equivalent to dis- + appear. Displaced native Old English fordwīnan.

The Chinese government is well-known for disappearing particularly vocal political dissidents.

"Did they disappear him?"
 "I don’t know."
 "What will you do if they decide to disappear you?"

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Kid Sister”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 416:

Now a new hunt is under way to find a grave believed to contain the remains of some of those who were “disappeared” at Colonia Dignidad.

2018 May 2, Marella Oppenheim, “Excavations at Chile torture site offer new hope for relatives of disappeared”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

"It's such an honoring for Native people in this country, when we've been so disappeared and disregarded," Harjo says.

2019 June 19, Lynn Neary, Patrick Jarenwattananon, quoting Joy Harjo, “Joy Harjo Becomes The First Native American U.S. Poet Laureate”, in npr:

The book centres on Eilish Stack, a scientist, mother of four and wife to a teacher trade unionist who has been disappeared by the secret police.

2023 December 2, Frederick Studemann, “Civilisation is so easily lost”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 11:

Yet after her brother was detained and disappeared by Israeli forces at a checkpoint as he evacuated south months ago, Ms. Nabil, like others, fears moving south.

2024 October 25, Ghada Abdulfattah and Taylor Luck, “Under deadly Israeli siege, north Gaza residents face terrifying ultimatum”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(transitive, often euphemistic) To make vanish; especially, to abduct or murder for political reasons.


rest

en-noun

rest (countable and uncountable, plural rests)

From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with West Frisian rêst (“rest”), Dutch rust (“rest”), German Rast (“rest”), Swedish rast (“rest”), Norwegian rest (“rest”), Icelandic röst (“rest”), Old Irish árus (“dwelling”), German Ruhe (“calm”), Albanian resht (“to stop, pause”), Welsh araf (“quiet, calm, gentle”), Lithuanian rovà (“calm”), Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rest, respite”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈 (aⁱrime, “calm, peaceful”), Sanskrit रमते (rámate, “he stays still, calms down”), Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 (rimis, “tranquility”). Related to roo.

rest

stick used to support the cue in snooker

She was laid to rest in the village cemetery.

(euphemistic, uncountable) A final position after death. Also, death itself: "Not alone, not alone would I go to my rest in the heart of the love..." -- George William Russell ("Love")


beep

en-verb

beep (third-person singular simple present beeps, present participle beeping, simple past and past participle beeped)

beeps (present singular third-person)
beeping (participle present)
beeped (participle past)
beeped (past)

Jason beeped Sharlene after they had drunk a few beers.

(transitive, informal, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with (someone), referring to the bleep tone used to censor obscene words in broadcasts.


necessary

en-noun

necessary (plural necessaries or necessarys)

necessaries (plural)
necessarys (plural)

/ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/

/ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/

From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, required”), variant of necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”), probably from ne or non cessum, from the perfect passive participle of cēdō (“yield; avoid, withdraw”); see cede.
Older use as a noun in reference to an outhouse or lavatory under the influence of English and Latin necessārium, a medieval term for the place for monks’ “unavoidable” business, usually located behind or attached to monastic dormitories.

der

It soon became fashionable for even the poorest families to have a necessary not far from their cabin. […] The more affluent settlers painted their necessarys in bright colors and carved their names on the doors.

2009, Don Corbly, The Last Colonials, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 67:

(chiefly UK, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, archaic, euphemistic, usually with the definite article) A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.

Rhode Island; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Massachusetts


dang

en-verb

dang (third-person singular simple present dangs, present participle danging, simple past and past participle danged)

dangs (present singular third-person)
danging (participle present)
danged (participle past)
danged (past)

First attested in c. 1797, a minced oath of damn.


dang

Draining your pasta water (and reserving a bit for your pasta sauce recipe) is so dang easy with this clip-on strainer. Plus, it wastes waaay less cabinet space than a traditional colander.

2024 October 8, Lauren Gruber, Megan Uy, “We Found Sooo Many Viral TikTok Items on Sale for October Prime Day”, in Cosmopolitan:


dang

I don't give a dang.

(euphemistic) A damn, a negligible quantity, minimal consideration.


prairie dog

prairie dog (third-person singular simple present prairie dogs, present participle prairie dogging, simple past and past participle prairie dogged)

prairie dogs (present singular third-person)
prairie dogging (participle present)
prairie dogged (participle past)
prairie dogged (past)
prairie-dog (alternative)

By analogy with the way in which the animal pops its head up from its burrow.

2001, Andy Breckman, Rat Race
[Kimberly needs to go to the bathroom] Dad, I'm prairie dogging it! What the hell does that mean? You know, like when a prairie dog sticks his head in and out of the ground.

I'm about to crap my pants.
Je vais me faire au froc.
I'm prairie-dogging it.
J'ai le cigare au bout des lèvres.
Literally, “the cigar is at the edge of my lips”

2008, Adrien Clautrier with Rowe, Henry and Mack, Lindsay, Dirty French: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!", Berkeley: Ulysses Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 54:

[…] Postin' Up On the Blaster / Power Dump / Prairie-Dogging it / Press a Loaf Purp […]

2009, Brian J. Baker, Yuck! ...That Guy Didn't Wash His Hands!: The Complete Guide to the American Man's Bathroom Experience, American Bathroom Experience, →ISBN, page 150:

“Oh, God stop, stop,” Kat said, holding her side, “I'm starting to prairie dog.” […] “You know, prairie dogging,” Kat said, trying to explain between breaths. “When it pokes its head out of the hole and then back in, out and in, out and in.”

2011, David, Jr. Rivera, Harlem's Dragon: The Love You Can't Fight, Largo: Strebo Books, →ISBN, page 162:

2011, Various, David Mack, James Robinson, Ty Templeton, Alan Moore, Jeph Loeb, Kurt Busiek, Vampirella Masters Series 4: The Lost Tales
...They are gonna get a mouthful and a pantful. Crappin their shorts all the way into next week... Yeah those little bastards will be prairie dogging it all the way home!

(slang, idiomatic, euphemistic) To struggle to hold back an involuntary bowel movement.


toy

Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“play-thing, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”). Cognate with German Zeug (“stuff”), Danish tøj (“stuff”), Norwegian tøy (“equipment, riggings, stuff”). Related to tug, tow, taw, tew.


constitutional

PIE word
 *ḱóm
From constitution + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Constitution is derived from Middle English constitucioun, constitucion (“edict, law, ordinance, regulation, rule, statute; body of laws or rules, or customs; body of fundamental principles; principle or rule (of science); creation”) from Old French constitucion (modern French constitution), a learned borrowing from Latin cōnstitūtiō, cōnstitūtiōnem (“character, constitution, disposition, nature; definition; point in dispute; order, regulation; arrangement, system”), from cōnstituō (“to establish, set up; to confirm; to decide, resolve”) (from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) + statuō (“to set up, station; to establish; to determine, fix”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or the results of actions), -tiōnem (accusative singular of -tiō).

der

morning constitutional

For Mac McCrary and me, the Tet Offensive of 1968 begins as we sit in the outhouse. Since things are in such disorder, sergeants have been invited to use the officers' facility. We both arrive at the latrine at the same time to take a constitutional.

2006, Tom A. Johnson, To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam, Potomac Books, Inc., →ISBN:

The painter looked up at the ceiling. He listened to the woman's television and wondered what to do. He got out of bed. The painter started the coffee pot. He went into the bathroom to take his morning constitutional. The poor painter could still hear the woman's television. Christ, how he hated her.

2012, Nathaniel Tower, Bartleby Snopes Issue 7, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 56:

Or there was the quickie hire of the White dressed up to look like you the hirer yourself in a hoodie (fashion out of the film Rocky, guaranteed in writing) thundering along'n'away for a quickie ten-kays early-morning constitutional to clear out the tubes, fitness being part of your innate lifestyle out of the clean slate of your mind, and not the way your waistline was trying to meet the core of your gravity face-to-face.

2020 January 3, Bill Reed, Wi, Reed Independent, →ISBN:

Something that aids or fosters one's constitution (health):


creative

en-adj

creative (comparative more creative, superlative most creative)

more creative (comparative)
most creative (superlative)

Borrowed from Late Latin creativus, from Latin creō. Equivalent to create + -ive. Displaced native Old English orþanclīċ.

(euphemistic, of art) bad, unartistic, busy.


load

The sense of “burden” first arose in the 13th century as a secondary meaning of Middle English lode, loade, which had the main significance of “way, course, journey”, from Old English lād (“course, journey; way, street, waterway; leading, carrying; maintenance, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *laidō (“leading, way”), Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, go forth, die”).
Cognate with Middle Low German leide (“entourage, escort”), German Leite (“line, course, load”), Swedish led (“way, trail, line”), Icelandic leið (“way, course, route”)). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has preserved the older meaning.
Most likely, the semantic extension of the Middle English substantive arose by conflation with the (etymologically unrelated) verb lade; however, Middle English lode occurs only as a substantive; the transitive verb load (“to charge with a load”) is recorded only in the 16th century (frequently in Shakespeare),
and (except for the participle laden) has largely supplanted lade in modern English.
For the meaning development from PIE, compare Latin carrus (whence carry) akin to currō.

cog

What a load!


fudge

en-noun

fudge (countable and uncountable, plural fudges)

Probably a variant of fadge (“to fit”), the confectionery sense having evolved from the meaning of “merging together” or “turning out as expected”.

Here comes the fudge!

(euphemistic, slang) Fecal matter; feces.


stupid

en-adj

stupid (comparative stupider or more stupid, superlative stupidest or most stupid)

stupider (comparative)
more stupid (comparative)
stupidest (superlative)
most stupid (superlative)

/ˈʃt͡ʃjʉː.pɪd/

From Middle French stupide, from Latin stupidus (“struck senseless, amazed”), from stupeō (“be amazed or confounded, be struck senseless”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tup-, *(s)tewp- (“to push, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew- (“to push, hit”). Cognate with Old High German stubarōn (“to be astonished, be stunned, be blocked”). Related also to Old English stoppian (“to block, stop”). More at stop.

cog

there's no such thing as a stupid question

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 450a. Absence of intellect

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 499. Imbecility

I fall for every stupid trick every stupid day in this whole stupid world!

Mom: Oh you stupid car! What's wrong with you now?!?
Calvin: That's it, Mom! Go ahead and swear! We don't mind!

1986 February 23, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

Calvin, be quiet and eat the stupid lima beans.

1986 April 7, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

Dewey: "It's too narrow for all three of us. Oh, bummer!"
Huey: "Or we could just go single file."
Dewey: "Stupid smart Huey..."

2018, “The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!”, in DuckTales:

(euphemistic, by association) Usually replaces an obscene or profane word, and thus is audibly stressed as such.


Aryan

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

From Sanskrit आर्य (ā́rya, “noble; noble one”) + -n. The Sanskrit word is from Proto-Indo-Iranian *áryas (the original Indo-Iranian autonym). Borrowed into English in the 19th century, at first as a term for the Indo-Iranian languages, and later partly extended to the Indo-European languages and peoples following a theory by Friedrich Schlegel that connected the Indo-Iranian words arya/ā́rya with German Ehre (“honor”) and some older Germanic names, thus assuming that it was the original Indo-European autonym meaning "the honorable people". The original meaning of the Indo-Iranian autonym and its possible Indo-European origin/cognates are disputed (see the Wikipedia article for further details).
The same Proto-Indo-Iranian root is the ultimate source of the country name Iran.

der

Cal tried to think of words that would convey Wolfgang Stahl to the ears and hands of a woman who’d never seen him and never, until now, had to imagine him.
 […]
 ‘Why not . . . why not think of your chap as a type? Tell me what type you’d sort of put him into.’
 ‘Sort of?’
 ‘You know . . . roughly.’
 ‘He’s an Aryan.’
 ‘Ah, one of those, eh? Odd when you think about it. I mean. How did they arrive at blue-eyed blonds as a racial type? Hitler’s short and dark and looks like Charlie Chaplin. Goebbels is short and ugly and looks like a rat. And as for Goering – well is that what Billy Bunter grew up to be?’

2004, John Lawton, Bluffing Mr. Churchill:

(chiefly US, informal, euphemistic) A Caucasian racist, often one who is an Aryan in the first sense.


Aryan

en-adj

Aryan (comparative more Aryan, superlative most Aryan)

more Aryan (comparative)
most Aryan (superlative)
Arian (alternative)

Imagine our outrage if the foreign press depicted Aryan groups as representing mainstream Christianity.

2006, Margaret Kleffner Nydell, Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times, Intercultural Press,, →ISBN, page 106:

(US, informal, euphemistic) Pertaining to Caucasian racists or their organisations, theories, etc.

Arisch

euphemistic: pertaining to Caucasian racists


ninja

Enter the Ninja
Eric Van Lustbader
Hokusai Manga
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
ninja

A romanized borrowing of Japanese 忍者 (ninja), popularized within Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by Eric Van Lustbader's 1980 novel The Ninja and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja, of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person.
The “Mongolian miner” sense arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga.

What's up, ninjas?

2003, Steven Ayromlooi, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, spoken by LEPRECHAUN:

I'm thicker than a Snicker, I'm thicker than your ninja!

2024, “BBL Drizzy”, King Willonius (lyrics):

(euphemistic, African-American Vernacular) Synonym of nigga as a friendly term of address.

What up, my ninja!

(Juggalo slang) Synonym of man as a friendly term of address.

African-American Vernacular; Juggalo slang; Juggalo slang

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


plot

From Middle English plot, plotte, from Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Middle Low German plet (“patch, strip of cloth, rags”), German Bletz (“rags, bits, strip of land”), and possibly Gothic 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (plat, “a patch, rags”). See also plat. See also complot for an influence on or source of sense 5.
Sense 9 is a back-formation from for the plot.

cog

Actor X has some great plot near the end of E07.

(fandom slang, euphemistic) Attractive physical attributes of a fictional character; assets.


temporal

en-adj

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

more temporal (comparative)
most temporal (superlative)

From Middle English temporal, temporel (“transitory, worldly, material, of secular society”), from Old French temporel or Latin temporālis (“of time (in grammar), temporary, relating to time as opposed to eternity”), from tempus (“time, period, opportunity”) + -ālis.

af

Of limited time, transient, passing, not perpetual, as opposed to eternal.

(euphemistic) Lasting for a short time only.


acme

acmes (plural)
achma (alternative)
acmè (alternative)
akme (alternative)
achme (alternative)

Directly borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point, high point”).

bor

[He] then holds back his own climax for another ten or fifteen minutes of active copulation until his mate signals him that she is about to reach her acme; then they both ecstatically erupt together.

1963, Albert Ellis, If This Be Sexual Heresy, page 120:

She has enough of the narcissist in her to love exhibiting herself and to have the exhibition itself arouse her and bring her to her acme (that's very literary, even a little affected, but it's a word that pleases me).

He reached a climax about one minute after penetration and as this was always much sooner than his partner reached her acme this disturbed him.

2012, Alexander Lowen, The Language of the Body: Physical Dynamics of Character Structure:


ease

From Middle English ese, eise, aise, from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise, aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Apparently related to Provençal ais, Italian agio and asio, Sicilian aciu and Portuguese azo. Sometimes ascribed to Vulgar Latin *āsia or *āsium, possibly from Latin ānsa (“handle, haft”) or Frankish *ansiju (“handle, loophole, eyelet; cup-handle; arms akimbo, elbow room”), but more often derived from Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), from Latin adjacēns (“adjacent, neighbouring”), present participle of adjaceō (“lie next to, border on”), though the forms and senses are difficult to trace clearly.
Alternatively, possibly from a non-Latin source such as Germanic or Celtic on the basis of the conflicting forms which appear in various Romance languages. Compare Old English īeþe (“easy”), Gothic 𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐌹 (azēti, “ease; pleasure”), *𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*azēts, “easy”), Breton eaz, ez (“easy”), Irish adhais (“easy; leisure”). See also eath.
The verb is from Middle English esen, ultimately of the same origin.

der

Relief, an end to discomfort, particularly:

(euphemistic, obsolete) Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.


eff

en-verb

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

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

A spelling of the letter f (also spelled ef), the initial letter of the vulgar term fuck. Compare pee.

Eff off!

And he kept saying, "Effing this, effing that."

“Holy moly. What the heck is happening here? Hey, hey! Let me out of here. Hey, you. Give me back control of my body.” “[scoffs] Nah, dude, this is my body. You already effed it up.” “No, it's not.” “Whatever, man. I don't take orders from a reflection. [chuckles]” “I'm not a reflection. Help! I think an anaphasic alien took over my body.”

2022 September 22, Mike McMahan, “Reflections” (4:41 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 3, episode 5, spoken by Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero):

“So what do you think?” “Am I supposed to eff him or, you know, what's the plan here?” “I mean, you can if you want, but, no, that's not why I brought him here.” “Well, why did you bring him here? PS: I probably will eff him. But more out of boredom than anything else. [sighs] Such is the plight of The Guide.”

2024 October 21, Paul Simms, “The Return of Jerry” (21:03 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 1, spoken by The Guide (Kristen Schaal):

(euphemistic, slang) Fuck (the taboo swear word, but not in the sense "to copulate")


chimney

en-noun

chimney (plural chimneys or (archaic) chimnies)

chimneys (plural)
chimnies (archaic plural)
chimley (alternative dialectal)
chimbley (alternative dialectal)

→ Bengali: চিমনি (cimoni)

→ Hindustani:

→ Hindi: चिमनी (cimnī)

→ Urdu: چِمْنی (cimnī)

→ Unami: chìmìni

From Middle English chymeney, chymney, chymne, from Old French cheminee, from Late Latin camīnāta, from Latin camīnus, from Ancient Greek κάμῑνος (kámīnos, “furnace”). Doublet of chimenea.


plumbing

en-noun

plumbing (countable and uncountable, plural plumbings)

(slang, euphemistic) The genitourinary system.


late

en-adj

late (comparative later, superlative latest)

later (comparative)
latest (superlative)

From Middle English late, lat, from Old English læt (“slow; slack, lax, negligent; late”), from Proto-West Germanic *lat, from Proto-Germanic *lataz (“slow, lazy”). By surface analysis, deverbal from let.

der

Her late husband had left her well provided for.

Mary was entitled to the crown by her late father’s testament.

To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 181:

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):

The following public assemblies and public processions are excluded from the prohibition in paragraph 2: […] any public assembly or public procession in an open space that is held primarily to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew […]

Order 3(ca)(i), Public Order (Prohibited Areas) Order 2009 (G.N. S 490/2009)

“He is not my ‘late husband’. He is my husband,” she said, before discussing how the couple had managed to retain their independent identities while together.

2022 December 14, Nadia Khomami, quoting Iman, “‘He’s not my “late” husband’: Iman speaks of grief over death of David Bowie”, in The Guardian:

(not comparable, euphemistic) Deceased, dead: used particularly when speaking of the dead person's actions while alive. (Generally must be preceded by a possessive or an article, commonly "the"; see usage notes. Can itself only precede the person's name, never follow it.)

已故

yǐ gù / ㄧˇㄍㄨˋ


heck

Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell.

Heck, what did I expect? It's too muddy out to go biking today.


heck

You can go to heck as far as I'm concerned.

"And the railway industry needs a heck of a lot of people to be up-skilled," notes Darroch.

2024 March 20, Richard Foster, “Vital experience in an open-air classroom”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 57:


shield

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild (“shield”), German Schild (“shield”), Danish skjold (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”) and Faroese skjøldur (“shield”).
Compare Latin scūtum (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Russian щит (ščit, “shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- (“to cut, split”).

noncog

A shape like that of a shield; usually, an inverted triangle with sides that curve inward to form a pointed bottom, commonly used for police identifications and company logos.

(Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A toilet seat.

(figuratively, Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.


truncheon

/ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/

/ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/

From Middle English tronchoun, from Old French tronchon (“thick stick”), from Late Latin *troncionem, from Latin truncus.

Then, being on his knees between my legs, he drew up his shirt and bared all his hairy thighs, and stiff staring truncheon, red-topt and rooted into a thicket of curls

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:


funk

en-verb

funk (third-person singular simple present funks, present participle funking, simple past and past participle funked)

funks (present singular third-person)
funking (participle present)
funked (participle past)
funked (past)

1620, from French dialectal (Norman) funquer, funquier (“to smoke, reek”), from Old Northern French fungier (“to smoke”), from Vulgar Latin fūmicāre, alteration of Latin fūmigāre (“to smoke, fumigate”). Related to French dialect funkière (“smoke”). More at fumigate.

Funk this!

Snow bunny, I pledge to funk you baby / You sexy lady, my only temptation […] Oh, I just want to funk you

2017, Bootsy Collins, “Snow Bunny”, in World Wide Funk:

Look, glittery tacos have their place. A date, business lunch, night out with besties, etc. But otherwise, paying almost 20 bucks for pizzazz between a few tortillas in Huntsville, funk that.

2023 November 25, Matt Wake, “Five meals under $10 that I love from local Huntsville restaurants (and you will, too!)”, in The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, Ala., →ISSN, →OCLC:

(euphemistic, slang) Fuck (the taboo swear word)


skid mark

skid marks (plural)
skidmark (alternative)

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

(colloquial, humorous, euphemistic) A visible feces stain left on underpants, trousers, or sometimes the toilet bowl.

koríčnevyje sledý na vnútrennej storoné trusóv

кори́чневые следы́ на вну́тренней стороне́ трусо́в


minority

en-noun

minority (countable and uncountable, plural minorities)

From Middle French minorité, and its source Late Latin minōritās, from Latin minor.
Morphologically minor + -ity


dance

en-verb

dance (third-person singular simple present dances, present participle dancing, simple past and past participle danced)

dances (present singular third-person)
dancing (participle present)
danced (participle past)
danced (past)
daunce (alternative obsolete)

→ Arabic: دانس (dāns)

→ French: dance

→ Zulu: dansa

From Middle English dauncen, from Anglo-Norman dauncer, from Vulgar Latin *dantiāre, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English sealtian, and partially displaced Old English hlēapan (“to leap, dance, run”) (whence modern leap).

ncog

Received Pronunciation, Cockney, Estuary, Jamaica

You make me feel like dancing.

(figurative, euphemistic) To make love or have sex.

If that veil can be maintained, if the workers can be kept from knowing the perfidy of officials, the criminality of capitalism, the murderous vengeance that is planned by the plutocratic powers of America, then Charles Moyer, William D. Haywood, and George Pettibone will dance on empty air, while the ghouls of capitalism rejoice because they have landed another blow upon the body of resisting labor.

1907, Literary Digest, volume 34, page 364:

Beneath the shoulder blades of the limp form lying there lay the heart that had hated him, that had beat high at the thought of seeing him kick at the end of a hangman's rope, that had exulted in the prospect of him dancing a death dance on air.

1926, Walter Noble Burns, The Saga of Billy the Kid, page 250:

Simon had seen other men executed at Berkeley, both in the castle and outside in the village. They were usually strung up like rats, left to dance, their death throes sometimes seeming to last forever.

2001, Paul Doherty, The Hangman's Hymn (Canterbury Tales Mysteries, Book 5):

'Hats off!' the shout went up, not out of respect for those about to die, but for a better view of their death dance. The hangman, who was as drunk as anyone else, uncoiled the rope's free end from each prisoner in turn and threw it up to an assistant balanced precariously on the beam above. Each was tightly fastened, leaving very little slack. When the moment came, the carts would be driven out from under the prisoners, leaving them dancing the Tyburn jig, their legs paddling helplessly in the air.

2010 January 12, Sara Starbuck, Dread Pirate Fleur and the Hangman's Noose, page 342:

Not only will you be whipped, but Jack Ketch will be displeased. He knows how to attach the rope just so...a man's neck can be snaped in an instant and he feels pain for a moment only. Or, at Ketch's pleasure, the man swings in the air, his legs dance in an ungainly manner, his face turns red, his tongue turns purple and protrudes - a poor devil once bit off the tip and spit it out, and he chocked(sic) to death.

2019 November 7, Carter J. Gregory, The Hangman's Psalm: The Girl at the Gallows:

Initially, all hanging deaths were by the short rope. The victims strangled as they performed a twitching death dance. Over time there was a move to a longer rope. The extra drop meant the victim's neck snapped, causing a more humane death. For a long time adter the long rope was introduced, stories circulated around Aberdeen of executioners slipping in the short rope for criminals convicted of particularly heinous crimes, especially for crimes against children. No quick end for these devils. A slow dancing death, courtesy of the short rope, brouht in by canny executioners.

2022 November 30, John Gardiner, A Hitchhiker's Triptych:

(figurative, euphemistic) To kick and convulse from the effects of being hanged.


darn

But I ain't up to my baby tonight / 'Cause it's too darn hot

Of the two episodes, “Mortshall” is slightly weaker, while still being pretty darn good. I spent a lot of this season bemoaning the weaker entries, and like I said last time, it’s shit like this that makes me complain when stuff gets super dumb.

2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:


darn

en-verb

darn (third-person singular simple present darns, present participle darning, simple past and past participle darned)

darns (present singular third-person)
darning (participle present)
darned (participle past)
darned (past)


darn

His opinion isn't worth a darn.


durn

The older man eyed him for a moment bale fully. "I'm goin' to set 'em again," he replied, "and don't you touch 'em. I'm goin' to trap where I durn please. There's two of you, but you don't bluff me out, not any."

1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

(US, informal, euphemistic) Darn; damned; extremely.


acopic

en-adj

acopic (comparative more acopic, superlative most acopic)

more acopic (comparative)
most acopic (superlative)

a- + cope + -ic, as a pun on the other etymology.

(medicine, euphemistic) Unable to function or cope.


nicker

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


cull

en-verb

cull (third-person singular simple present culls, present participle culling, simple past and past participle culled)

culls (present singular third-person)
culling (participle present)
culled (participle past)
culled (past)

From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil.

der

(nonstandard, euphemistic) To kill (animals etc).


shower

→ Hindi: शावर (śāvar)

→ Japanese: シャワー (shawā)

→ Korean: 샤워 (syawo)

→ Pashto: شاور (šāwar)

→ Persian: شاور (šâvar) (Dari)

→ Urdu: شاوَر (śāvar)

From Middle English shour, from Old English sċūr, from Proto-West Germanic *skūru, from Proto-Germanic *skūrō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱēwer- (“north; north wind; cold wind; rain shower”). Cognate with Dutch schoer, German Schauer, Old Norse skúr, Norwegian skur, Swedish skur, Danish skur, Russian север (sever).

It was one of the worst feelings in the H-Block, one of the worst experiences to sit and listen to somebody getting beat. Because you were totally powerless, and you would always get somebody shouting at the door, “You shower of bastards!” It was always a crowd of screws and one or two naked men in a cell. They had total control.

1991, Allen Feldman, Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern Ireland, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 208, →ISBN:

(chiefly Ireland, euphemistic, derogatory, with of and an invective) Used as an intensifying pluralizer or intensifier


shuffle off this mortal coil

en-verb

shuffle off this mortal coil (third-person singular simple present shuffles off this mortal coil, present participle shuffling off this mortal coil, simple past and past participle shuffled off this mortal coil)

shuffles off this mortal coil (present singular third-person)
shuffling off this mortal coil (participle present)
shuffled off this mortal coil (participle past)
shuffled off this mortal coil (past)

From Hamlet by William Shakespeare, see mortal coil.

For in that ſleepe of death, what dreames may come, / When we haue ſhuffel'd off this mortall coile, / Muſt giue vs pawſe.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 265, column 2:

But when you and I shuffle off this mortal coil, formal remembrances won’t be the only way we are remembered.

2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist:

Handsome, with a Freud-like beard and piercing eyes, it was also said that he had perfected the death stare. Whenever he required the skeleton of some exotic beast to compare with his fossil bones, he would visit Basel Zoo and stare at the appropriate animal, which would soon thereafter shuffle off its mortal coil.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 81:

(euphemistic, idiomatic) To die; to divest oneself of one's mortal body.


outie

outies (plural)
outtie (alternative)
outy (alternative)

(childish or euphemistic) A penis, seen as an everted version of a vulva.


innie

(informal) Anything concave; especially:

(childish or euphemistic) A vulva seen as an inverted version of a penis.


chuff

chuff (third-person singular simple present chuffs, present participle chuffing, simple past and past participle chuffed)

chuffs (present singular third-person)
chuffing (participle present)
chuffed (participle past)
chuffed (past)

1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”. Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense (see etymology 1 above). Or, perhaps a euphemistic alteration of fuck or another expletive.

Oh chuff off! I'm so chuffing fed up with all of the spam posts on my timeline.

(UK, euphemistic) Used as a replacement for obscenities, particularly fuck.


jigger

jiggers (plural)
gigger (alternative)
gyger (alternative)
jegger (alternative)

A slang term of unknown origin, originally meaning prison. Oxford English Dictionary suggests that its origin might be the same as Etymology 1, above.

Well, they saw a little boy on the street and his penis was hanging out and they said his "jigger" was hanging out, and I said, "Well, maybe his mother didn't tell him differently."

1931, Chloe Owings, A Research in Parental Sex Education, University of Minnesota Press, →OCLC, page 245:

A tiny pulse from Lisette's thigh beat under my ear: stroke, stroke, stroke. I contemplated the thick red bush of her jigger, so close to my face.

2002, Nalo Hopkinson, “Paris, 1842”, in Elizabeth Ruth, editor, Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales, Toronto: Women's Press, →ISBN, page 23:


lavabo

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

From the Christian ritual, which was traditionally accompanied in Catholicism by a recitation of Psalm 25:6 (Psalm 26:6, in the Hebrew and in most modern translations) which in Latin begins with the word lavābō (“I will wash”). The sense of "room with a toilet" developed under the influence of lavatory and lav.

Mr. Pond fussed out and she heard the door of the little lavabo in the passage open with a loud creak.

1930, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter XIV, in Strong Poision, page 177:

(humorous, euphemistic) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.