f

Abbreviations.
f
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of for.
# (Stenoscript) prefix for-.
# (Stenoscript) suffix/sequence for(e).

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">for-</i>.

What the f do you think you're doing?


on

Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *ana
Old English on
Middle English on
English on
From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-.
Cognate with North Frisian a (“on, in”), Saterland Frisian an (“on, at”), West Frisian oan (“on, at”), Dutch aan (“on, at, to”), Low German an (“on, at”), German an (“to, at, on”), Swedish å (“on, at, in”), Faroese á (“on, onto, in, at”), Icelandic á (“on, in”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up, upon”), Albanian në (“in”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish på, Swedish på, Norwegian på, see upon.

etymon

Southern US, Midland US, Philadelphia, Baltimore

It still gets in the way of her doing things like swimming, and she avoids sleepovers when she's "on".

2011, Hollie Smith Netmums, You and Your Tween: Managing the years from 9 to 13, Hachette, →ISBN:


can

en-verb

can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)

cans (present singular third-person)
canning (participle present)
canned (participle past)
canned (past)
can (infinitive)
can (first-person present singular)
canned (first-person past singular)
can (present second-person singular)
canned (past second-person singular)
cans (present singular third-person)
canned (past singular third-person)
can (plural present)
canned (past plural)
can (present subjunctive)
canned (past subjunctive)
can (imperative present)
canning (participle present)
canned (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-can.wav

From Middle English canne, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup, can”), from Proto-Germanic *kannǭ (“can, tankard, mug, cup”).

inh

The boss canned him for speaking out.

As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of "professional inadequacy" and failing to embody the "party" atmosphere that the consultancy was trying to cultivate.

2022 November 25, B. Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post, NYP Holdings, retrieved 2022-11-27:

(US, euphemistic, transitive) To fire or dismiss an employee.


one

ones (plural)
wone (alternative obsolete)
I (alternative)

PIE word
 *h₁óynos
From Middle English oon, on, oan, an, from Old English ān (“one”), from Proto-West Germanic *ain, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“single, one”).
Cognate with Scots ae, ane, wan, yin (“one”); North Frisian ån (“one”); Saterland Frisian aan (“one”); West Frisian ien (“one”); Dutch een, één (“one”); German Low German een; German ein, eins (“one”); Danish en (“one”); Swedish en (“one”); Norwegian Nynorsk ein (“one”), Icelandic einn (“one”); Latin ūnus (“one”) (Old Latin oinos); Russian оди́н (odín), Spanish uno. Doublet of a, an, and Uno.
The use as an indefinite personal pronoun may have been influenced by unrelated French on, although the Germanic languages widely use cognates for the same sense (usually in non-subject function, but also in subject function, e.g. Luxembourgish een).
Verb form from Middle English onen.

Finally got Ollie Martin. He couldn't have more poise, and what do I care if he is one?

1933 March 25, Dorothy Parker, “The Diary of a Lady”, in The New Yorker, page 13:

(dated, euphemistic or derogatory) A gay person.


BM

en-noun

BM (countable and uncountable, plural BMs)

Frequent involuntary urination. Frequent desire for B.M. but no result.

1911, Journal of the National Medical Association:

Mr. Jansen stated that he had a medium-sized, soft, formed, brown BM after breakfast today.

2017, Sheila A. Sorrentino, Leighann N. Remmert, Mosby’s Textbook for Nursing Assistants, 9th edition, St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier, →ISBN, page 424:

(Canada, US, euphemistic) Initialism of bowel movement.


BM

en-verb

BM (third-person singular simple present BMs, present participle BMing, simple past and past participle BMed)

BMs (present singular third-person)
BMing (participle present)
BMed (participle past)
BMed (past)


peace

en-noun

peace (usually uncountable, plural peaces)

From Middle English pees, pes, pais, borrowed from Anglo-Norman peis and Old French pais (“peace”), from Latin pāx (“peace”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, stick, place”), related to Latin pacīscor (“agree, stipulate”), Latin pangō (“fasten, fix”); see pact. Doublet of pax. Displaced native Old English sibb and broadly ousted friþ (modern frith).

der

’Twere best at once to sink to peace,
Like birds the charming serpent draws,
To drop head-foremost in the jaws
Of vacant darkness and to cease.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 53:


urban

en-adj

urban (comparative more urban, superlative most urban)

more urban (comparative)
most urban (superlative)
urbane (alternative)

Borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin urbānus (“of or belonging to a city, urban; of manners or style: like those of city dwellers: cultivated, polished, refined, sophisticated”) + English -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Urbānus is derived from urbs (“city; walled town; Rome”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to encircle, enclose; a belt; an enclosure, fence”) or *werbʰ- (“to enclose”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).
For the euphemistic or proscribed term, it was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music.

der

(US, UK, euphemistic, offensive) (of inhabitants or residents) Black; African American.


work

en-noun

work (countable and uncountable, plural works)

works (plural)
werke (alternative)
worke (alternative)
wuk (alternative)
werk (alternative)
werq (alternative)

Pijin: waka

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom
Proto-Germanic *werką
Proto-West Germanic *werk
Old English weorc
Middle English werk
English work
From Middle English work, werk, from Old English weorc, from Proto-West Germanic *werk, from Proto-Germanic *werką, from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom.
Akin to Scots wark, Saterland Frisian Wierk, West Frisian wurk, Dutch werk, German Werk, German Low German Wark, Danish værk, Norwegian Bokmål verk, Norwegian Nynorsk verk, Swedish verk, yrke and orka, Icelandic verk, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 (gawaurki), Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”) (from ϝέργον (wérgon)), Avestan 𐬬𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰 (vər^əz, “to work, to perform”), Armenian գործ (gorc, “work”), Albanian argëtoj (“entertain, reward, please”), Russian варганить (varganitʹ, “"to whip up, to cook something quickly, to throw together"”). English cognates include bulwark, boulevard, energy, erg, georgic, liturgy, metallurgy, organ, surgeon, wright. Doublet of erg and ergon.

աշխատանք

thermodynamics: energy in transit between one form or repository and another

all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

has had a lot of work done

Luckily, our eyes have grown accustomed after decades of Botox, fillers and extreme “work” going mainstream, so we don’t notice the weirdness and read it instead as maximum hotness. Thank you, progress!

2025 May 20, Marina Hyde, “Was this a hen do or a humanitarian mission to liberate Paris? Either way, give Lauren Sánchez an award”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(uncountable) Effort.
Something on which effort is expended.
(euphemistic) Plastic surgery.

Effort.
Something on which effort is expended.
Plastic surgery.


love

en-noun

love (countable and uncountable, plural loves)

loves (plural)
loue (alternative obsolete)
luv (alternative)

From Middle English love, luve, from Old English lufu, from Proto-West Germanic *lubu, from Proto-Germanic *lubō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“love, care, desire”).
The close of a letter sense is presumably a truncation of With love or the like.
The verb is from Middle English loven, luvien, from Old English lufian (“to love”), from Proto-West Germanic *lubōn (“to love”), derived from the noun.
Eclipsed non-native English amour (“love”), borrowed from Norman amour (“love”).
Cognates include Russian любовь (ljubovʹ), Latin libido (“desire, lust”), Polish lubić and Sanskrit लोभ (lobha, “desire, greed”).

шӏу лъэгъун

šʷʼu lˢɛğʷun

The prospect that their cherished Greeks would have countenanced, much less honored, a love between men that expressed itself carnally, however, was not so easily assimilated.

2013, Ronald Long, Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods, Routledge, →ISBN, page 3:

(euphemistic) Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.

—What think you, my lord, of... love?
—You mean ‘rumpy-pumpy’.

1986, Ben Elton et al., “Bells”, in Blackadder II:


love

en-verb

love (third-person singular simple present loves, present participle loving, simple past and past participle loved)

loves (present singular third-person)
loving (participle present)
loved (participle past)
loved (past)
love (infinitive)
love (first-person present singular)
loved (first-person past singular)
love (present second-person singular)
lovest (archaic present second-person singular)
loved (past second-person singular)
lovedst (archaic past second-person singular)
loves (present singular third-person)
loveth (archaic present singular third-person)
loved (past singular third-person)
love (plural present)
loved (past plural)
love (present subjunctive)
loved (past subjunctive)
love (imperative present)
loving (participle present)
loved (participle past)
loue (alternative obsolete)
luv (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: lobi

Aukan: lobi

Saramaccan: lóbi

the course of true love never did run smooth

the love of money is the root of all evil

I wish I could love her all night long.

(transitive, euphemistic) To have sex with (perhaps from make love).


French

en-prop

French (countable and uncountable, plural Frenches)

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: 9@InsideNeckhigh-PalmDown 9@SideNeckhigh-PalmUp

→ Choctaw: Filanchi

→ Punjabi: ਫ਼੍ਰੈਂਚ (fraiñc)

→ Zulu: isiFulentshi

Inherited from Middle English Frenche, Frensch, Frensc, Frenshe, Frenk, Franche, from Old English Frenċisċ (“Frankish, French”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frankisk (“Frankish”), equivalent to Frank + -ish (compare Frankish). Cognate with Middle Low German vranksch, frenkisch, vrenkesch, vrenksch (“Frankish, French”), Middle High German vrenkisch, vrensch ("Frankish, Franconian; > German fränkisch (“Frankish, Franconian”)), Danish fransk (“French”), Swedish fransk, fransysk (“French”), Icelandic franska (“French”).
Doublet of Frankish. piecewise doublet of Francis, Franz, and Francisco, which are derived from Late Latin Franciscus
In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English curse words under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them.
In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.

gl

"Frankish, Franconian; > German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">fränkisch</i> (“Frankish, Franconian”)

piecewise doublet

Pardon my French.

The enraged headsman spares no 'bad French' in explaining his motives.

1845, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, Adventure in New Zealand, volume I, page 327:

Cameron: Pardon my French, but you're an asshole!

1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

The book... is a welcome change from theory-infected academic discourse, pardon my French.

2005 May 29, New York Times Book Review, page 12:

(uncountable, euphemistic, now often ironic) Vulgar language.


French

en-adj

French (comparative more French or Frencher, superlative most French or Frenchest)

more French (comparative)
Frencher (comparative)
most French (superlative)
Frenchest (superlative)

→ Choctaw: Filanchi

→ Tamil: பிரஞ்சு (pirañcu)

French disease

French crown

French pox

venereal disease
venereal disease#English

(informal, often euphemistic) Used to form names or references to venereal diseases.


abstract

en-verb

abstract (third-person singular simple present abstracts, present participle abstracting, simple past and past participle abstracted)

abstracts (present singular third-person)
abstracting (participle present)
abstracted (participle past)
abstracted (past)
abstract (infinitive)
abstract (first-person present singular)
abstracted (first-person past singular)
abstract (present second-person singular)
abstractest (archaic present second-person singular)
abstracted (past second-person singular)
abstractedst (archaic past second-person singular)
abstracts (present singular third-person)
abstracteth (archaic present singular third-person)
abstracted (past singular third-person)
abstract (plural present)
abstracted (past plural)
abstract (present subjunctive)
abstracted (past subjunctive)
abstract (imperative present)
abstracting (participle present)
abstracted (participle past)

From Middle English abstract, borrowed from Latin abstractus, perfect passive participle of abstrahō (“draw away”), formed from abs- (“away”) + trahō (“to pull, draw”). The verbal sense is first attested in 1542.

काढून टाकणे

kāḍhūn ṭākṇe

Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness.

1872, William Black, The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton:

The inlaid characters in diamond, and other precious stones, have been all abstracted away by the pelf-loving Jaut and Mahratta—leaving the walls defaced with the hollow marks of the chisel.

1869, Bholanauth Chunder, The Travels of a Hindoo to Various Parts of Bengal and Upper India:

Section 13 of the 1968 Act enacts a separate offence of dishonestly abstracting electricity. The separate offence is needed because electricity, like other forms of energy such as heat, is not property.

2014, A P Simester, J R Spencer, G R Sullivan, Simester and Sullivan's Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine:

(transitive, euphemistic) To steal; to take away; to remove without permission.


abstraction

en-noun

abstraction (countable and uncountable, plural abstractions)

From Middle English abstraccyone; either from Middle French abstraction or from Medieval Latin abstrāctiō (“separation”), from Latin abstrahō (“draw away”). Equivalent to abstract + -ion.

der

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.

(euphemistic) The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining.


accountant

desctree

→ Dutch: accountant
→ Indonesian: akuntan

[əˈkæʊn.ʔn̩ʔ]

From Middle English, from Middle French acuntant. Equivalent to account + -ant. First attested in the mid 15th century.

(euphemistic) A sex worker, particularly one who does not want to be publicized as one


know

en-verb

know (third-person singular simple present knows, present participle knowing, simple past knew or (nonstandard) knowed, past participle known or (colloquial and nonstandard) knew)

knows (present singular third-person)
knowing (participle present)
knew (past)
knowed (nonstandard past)
known (participle past)
knew (colloquial nonstandard participle past)
know (infinitive)
know (first-person present singular)
knew (first-person past singular)
know (present second-person singular)
knowest (archaic present second-person singular)
knew (past second-person singular)
knewest (archaic past second-person singular)
knows (present singular third-person)
knoweth (archaic present singular third-person)
knew (past singular third-person)
know (plural present)
knew (past plural)
know (present subjunctive)
knew (past subjunctive)
know (imperative present)
knowing (participle present)
known (participle past)
knowe (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English knowen, from Old English cnāwan (“to know, perceive, recognise”), from Proto-West Germanic *knāan, from Proto-Germanic *knēaną (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).
Cognates
from Indo-European: Latin gnoscō, Latin cognoscō (Spanish conocer, French connaître, Italian conoscere, Portuguese conhecer), Ancient Greek γνωρίζω (gnōrízō, “I know”) and γνῶσις (gnôsis, “knowledge”), Albanian njoh (“I know, recognise”), Russian знать (znatʹ, “to know”), Lithuanian žinoti (“to know”), and Persian شناختن (šenâxtan, “to know”).
from Proto-Germanic: Scots knaw (“to know, recognise”), Icelandic knega (“to know, know how to, be able”), Old High German knājan (“to know, recognise”), Old Norse kná (“to know how”). Remotely related also Dutch and German kennen, West Frisian kenne (see English ken).

col

Cognates

...に精通している

...にせいつうしている

better the devil you know

than the devil you don't (know); than the one you don't (know)

know one's ass from a hole in the ground

know one's head from a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and one's elbow

know which side one's bread is buttered on

that's for me to know and you to find out

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

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

the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

you don't know what you're talking about

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

you never know what you've got till it's gone

AFterwarde the man knewe Heuáh his wife, which cõceiued & bare Káin, & ſaid, I haue obteined a man by yͤ Lord.

1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Genesis IIII:1, folio 2, verso:

Now Gerald had never thought of her having a mother. Then there must have been a father, too, some time. And Miss Wilmarth existed because two people once had loved and known. It was not a thought to dwell upon.

1939, Dorothy Parker, “Horsie,”, in Here lies: The collected stories of Dorothy Parker:

Wait a second. Are you… attempting to know me?

2003 May 11, Garland Testa, 19:37 from the start, in Gary McCarver, director, Night and Deity (King of the Hill), season 7, episode 21, spoken by Dale Gribble (Johnny Hardwick), 20th Century Fox:

know someone in the biblical sense
know someone in the biblical sense

(transitive) To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered.

(transitive, archaic, biblical, euphemistic) To have sexual relations with. This meaning normally specified in modern English as e.g. to 'know someone in the biblical sense' or to 'know biblically'.


throne

From Middle English trone, from Old French trone, from Latin thronus, from Ancient Greek θρόνος (thrónos, “chair, throne”). Superseded earlier seld (“seat, throne”).

der

"If she has intestinal flu, you probably called while she was on the throne and she didn't want to admit it," Alan said dryly.


throne room

(humorous euphemistic slang) A bathroom: a room with a toilet, especially one in one's home.


nature

en-noun

nature (countable and uncountable, plural natures)

natures (plural)
natuer (alternative obsolete)

/ˈneɪ̯.t͡ʃəɹ/

From Middle English nature, natur, from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra (“birth, origin, natural constitution or quality”), future participle from perfect passive participle (g)natus (“born”), from deponent verb (g)nasci (“to be born, originate”) + future participle suffix -urus.
Displaced native Middle English erd (“character, nature, disposition”) from Old English eard (compare German Art (“nature, character, kind, type”)); and Middle English kinde, ikinde (“character, disposition, nature”) from Old English ġecynd. More at kind.

der

birth, origin, natural constitution or quality

ncog

Middle English erd (“character, nature, disposition”)

German Art (“nature, character, kind, type”)

the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature

I oft admire
How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
Such disproportions.

1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

In the works of nature we find, in many instances, beauty and sublimity involved among circumstances, which are either indifferent, or which obstruct the general effect: and it is only by a train of experiments, that we can separate those circumstances from the rest... Accordingly, the inexperienced artist, when he copies nature, will copy her servilely... and the beauties of his performances will be encumbered with a number of superfluous or disagreeable concomitants. Experience and observation alone can enable him to make this determination: to exhibit the principles of beauty pure and unadulterated, and to form a creation of his own, more faultless, than ever fell under the observation of his senses.

1808, Dugald Stewart, Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, pages 315–6:

Most persons in striving after effect lose the likeness when they should go together to produce a good effect you must copy Nature: leave Nature for an imaginary effect & you lose all. Nature as Nature cannot be exceeded, and as your object it [is] to copy Nature twere the hight of folly to look at any thing else to produce that copy.

1816, Matthew Harris Jouett, Notes... on Painting with Gilbert Stuart Esqr:

Nature has caprices which art cannot imitate.

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena, that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source... But what shall we say, when an individual discovers a revelation, addressed to himself alone, on the same vast sheet of record! In such a case, it could only be the symptom of a highly disordered mental state, when a man, rendered morbidly self-contemplative by long, intense, and secret pain, had extended his egotism over the whole expanse of nature, until the firmament itself should appear no more than a fitting page for his soul's history and fate.

1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, pages 186–7:

Nature has good intentions, of course, but, as Aristotle once said, she cannot carry them out. When I look at a landscape I cannot help seeing all its defects.

Nature’s logic was too horrid for him to care for.

1895, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, page 15:

...they will shout at you, it is no use protesting: it is a case of twice two makes four! Nature does not ask your permission, she has nothing to do with your wishes, and whether you like her laws or dislike them, you are bound to accept her as she is, and consequently all her conclusions. A wall, you see, is a wall... Merciful Heavens! but what do I care for the laws of nature and arithmetic, when, for some reason I dislike those laws and the fact that twice two makes four? Of course I cannot break through the wall by battering my head against it if I really have not the strength to knock it down, but I am not going to be reconciled to it simply because it is a stone wall and I have not the strength.

1918, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Notes from Underground”, in Constance Garnett, transl., White Nights and Other Stories, pages 58–9:

Man was entirely at the mercy of nature—a mere scavenger who eked out a miserable existence as a food-gatherer and an eater of shell-fish.

1928, Christopher Dawson, The Age of the Gods, page 49:

Freamon: She too young for you, boy... They get younger, William. Skinnier too. You don't... 's just the nature of things. Age is age, fat is fat, nature’s nature.
Moreland: Pitiful.
Freamon: Pitiless. Nature don't care. Nature just is.

2006 Oct. 1, Dennis Lehane, "Refugees", The Wire, 00:34:06

As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

2012 January 10, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:

Gómez Ortega... explicitly ordered them to study only fresh plants, in situ, to draw every part, and 'to copy nature exactly without presuming to correct it or decorate it as some draughtsmen are used to doing, adding colours and ornaments drawn from their imagination'.

2015, Alisa Luxenberg, “Printing Plants: The Technology of Nature Printing in Eighteenth-Century Spain”, in Art, Technology, and Nature, page 140:

As Hurricane Irma prepares to strike, it's worth remembering that Mother Nature never intended us to live here.

2017 Sept. 8, Michael Grunwald, "A Requiem for Florida" in Politico Magazine

The tao of Lao Tzu was a cosmic tao, inner and unwritten, a tao of Nature, while the tao of Confucius was moral and written.

2021, Olof G. Lidin, From Taoism to Einstein, page 196:

Nature doesn't lie.

The laws of nature are written in the language of mathematics.

Tectonic activity is part of nature, so there's no way to stop earthquakes.

(uncountable, often capitalized) The way things are, the totality of all things in the physical universe and their order, especially the physical world in contrast to spiritual realms and flora and fauna as distinct from human conventions, art, and technology.

自然

chū-liân / chīr-liân / chū-jiân / chī-liân

Vliss.: ... One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,
That all with one consent praise new-borne gaudes,
Though they are made and moulded of things past,
And goe to dust, that is a little guilt,
More laud then guilt ore-dusted.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, scene iii], page iii:

Lady. ...Glamys thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis'd: yet doe I feare thy Nature,
It is too full o'th' Milke of humane kindnesse,
To catch the neerest way.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

Nature passes norture.

1641, David Fergusson, Scottish proverbs, D4:

Men may change their Climate, but they cannot their Nature.

Domestic animals of a base nature and not fit for food, are not the subjects of theft. This rule includes dogs and cats.

1834, Criminal Law Commission, First Report... on Criminal Law, page 21:

His own better nature which... was magnanimous and heroic, moved and won him.

1848, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold, volume III, page 375:

The Monophysites held that the two Natures were so united, that although the 'One Christ' was partly Human and partly Divine, His two Natures became by their union only one Nature.

1874, John Henry Blunt, Dictionary of Sects..., page 332:

Mark hardly knew whether to believe this or not. He already began to suspect that Roswell was something of a humbug, and though it was not in his nature to form a causeless dislike, he certainly did not feel disposed to like Roswell.

1869, Horatio Alger Jr., Mark the Match Boy, Ch. 16:

The phrase ‘nature and nurture’ is a convenient jingle of words, for it separates under two distinct heads the innumerable elements of which personality is composed.

1874, Francis Galton, English Men of Science, page 12:

Being by nature of a cheerful disposition, the symptom did not surprise his servant, late private of the same famous regiment, who was laying breakfast in an adjoining room.

1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

The contrast between nature and grace, between human appetites and interests and religion, is not absolute, but relative.

1926, Richard Henry Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, page 20:

Couples bitching at each other is human nature.

1961, Barry Crump, Hang on a Minute Mate, page 147:

Freamon: She too young for you, boy... They get younger, William. Skinnier too. You don't... 's just the nature of things. Age is age, fat is fat, nature's nature.
Moreland: Pitiful.
Freamon: Pitiless. Nature don't care. Nature just is.

Unlike the static conception of nature or nurture, epigenic research demonstrates how genes and environments continuously interact to produce characteristics throughout a lifetime.

2015 July 10, Evan Nesterak, "The End of Nature versus Nurture" in The Psych Report

It's not in my nature to steal.

You can't help feeling that way. It's human nature.

Power corrupts. That's just the nature of the beast.

The particular way someone or something is, especially

The essential or innate characteristics of a person or thing which will always tend to manifest, especially in contrast to specific contexts, reason, religious duty, upbringing, and personal pretense or effort.

Any such corrasiue, sharpe or eager medicine... as the said H. shal think his nature is vnable to suffer...

1592, William West, Symbolaeography, Pt. I, §102b:

For nature creſſant does not grovve alone / In thevvs and bulkes, but as this temple vvaxes, / The invvard ſervice of the minde and ſoule / Grovves vvide vvithal, […]

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

For a human being's vital functions, increasing, do not grow alone / In physical development and bulk, but as this "temple" [i.e., the body] waxes, / The inward operation of the mind and soul / Grows wide with them.

I returned hungry... and had only snow to supply the calls of nature.

1807, Zebulon Pike, An Account of Expeditions to the Source of the Mississippi..., volume II, page 182:

The timber... is found to be brittle and effete; or, to use the workman's expression, 'its nature is gone'.

1820, Thomas Tredgold, Elementary Principles of Carpentry, page 165:

Nature is unable to repair the extensive injury.

The prison allowance will not support nature.

1843, George Henry Borrow, The Bible in Spain, volume III, page 47:

My iron’s just comin’ to natur’.

1895, T. Pinnock, Tom Brown's Black Country Annual...:

Hungry-groond, ground credited to be so much enchanted that a person passing over it would faint if they did not use something to support nature.

1984, William N. Herbert, Sterts & Stobies, page 30:

The vital functions or strength of someone or something, especially (now dialect) as requiring nourishment or careful maintenance or (medicine) as a force of regeneration without special treatment.

He withdrew from the Company to ease Nature.

1701, William Wotton, The History of Rome, page 328:

The women tell you to stop because they's feeling the call of nature. If you don't stop they pee in your lorry.

I hear the call of nature.

A requirement or powerful impulse of the body's physical form, especially

If a man want to break his wife from some man, he steals this dishcloth... an' he ketches her nachure in this dishcloth...

c. 1938, spell cited in Harry Middleton Hyatt, Hoodoo Conjuration Witchcraft Rootwork, Vol. I, p. 534

(now rare) A product of the body's physical form, especially semen and vaginal fluids, menstrual fluid, and (obsolete) feces.


person

Nigerian Pidgin: pesin

[ˈpʰɜːʴ.sᵊn]

From Middle English persoun, personne et al., from Anglo-Norman parsone, persoun et al. (Old French persone (“human being”), French personne), and its source Latin persōna (“mask used by actor; role, part, character”), perhaps a loanword from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). In this sense, displaced native man, which came to mean primarily "adult male" in Middle English; see Old English mann. Doublet of parson and persona.

der

чолові́к m (čolovík) (now only means male (man) or husband)

yura

specifically a human being — see also human, human being, man

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class III § 372. Mankind

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 3. Substantiality

[E]very Person wilfully, openly, lewdly, and obscenely exposing his Person in any Street, Road, or public Highway, or in the View thereof, or in any Place of public Resort, with Intent to insult any Female ... and being subsequently convicted of the Offence for which he or she shall have been so apprehended, shall be deemed a Rogue and Vagabond, within the true Intent and Meaning of this Act ...

1824, Vagrancy Act 1824 (5 Geo. 4. c. 83, United Kingdom), section 4

(law, euphemistic) The human genitalia; specifically, the penis.


jack

→ Brazilian Portuguese: jegue

→ European Portuguese: jaque

Transferred use of the personal name Jack.
(cricket: eleventh batsman): An allusion to the jack in playing cards, which follows the 10.

náłbiil bijaadbee dahnádidlohí

device for raising and supporting a heavy object

You haven't done jack. Get up and get this room cleaned up right now!

Sergeant Albrecht: Hey, c'mon, read the file! Shelly Webster, held on for 30 hours in intensive care and, her body finally just gave up. I saw it man, I couldn't do jack for her.

1994, The Crow, spoken by Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson), Miramax:

She didn't know what he was doing on the Darvish farm, or how long he'd been there, or how long he planned to stay. She didn't even know if it was his plane. In other words, jack, Mira thought, in a spike of furious resentment against herself.

2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 72:

(slang, euphemistic) Nothing, not anything, jack shit.

A non-tool object or thing.
Nothing, not anything, jack shit.


deuce

From Middle English dewes (“two”), from Anglo-Norman, from Old French deus, from Latin duo. The word was used by Ford Motor Co. in 1932 to describe a two-seater car model.


fall

en-verb

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

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

get up

antonym(s) of “come to the ground deliberately”

Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”).
Cognate with West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Low German fallen (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German fallen (“to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla (“to fall”), Icelandic falla (“to fall”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to attack, rush”).
Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Dutch val, German Fall (“fall”) and German Falle (“trap, snare”), Danish fald, Swedish fall, Icelandic fall.
Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

fell

to fell a tree; to fell an opponent; as in

he who digs a pit for others falls in himself

the apple does not fall far from the stem

the apple does not fall far from the tree

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

the apple does not fall far from the trunk

the bigger they are, the harder they fall

the bigger they come, the harder they fall

the rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain

This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.

(intransitive) To change, often negatively.

(intransitive, formal, euphemistic) To die, especially in battle or by disease.


argument

en-noun

argument (countable and uncountable, plural arguments)

arguments (plural)
arguement (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English argument, from Anglo-Norman and Old French arguement, from Latin argumentum. The English word is analysable as argue + -ment. Doublet of argumentum.
Displaced native Old English racu and ġeflit.

/ˈɑːɡjʊmənt/

/ˈɑɹɡjʊmənt/

argument

fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason

وَسِيط

variable that is being passed to a function

Steve got in a physical argument with his neighbor and came away with a black eye.

While biking home, he got in an argument with the pavement.

D5131 has received extensive cab damage, having been in an argument with Class 37 D6855 at Inverness in August 1971 - one of two accidents that occurred there on August 20.

2022 January 26, John Crosse, “When the tide turned to a safer railway...”, in RAIL, number 949, page 52, photo caption:

(by extension, humorous or euphemistic) Any dispute, altercation, or collision.


accident

accident (countable and uncountable, plural accidents)

First attested in the late 14th century. From Middle English accident, from Old French accident, from Latin accidēns, present active participle of accidō (“happen”); from ad (“to”) + cadō (“fall”). See cadence, case. In the sense “unintended pregnancy”, first attested in 1932.

qawwalayla

unexpected event with negative consequences

инциде́нт

military: unplanned event resulting in injury

befalling

unexpected event that takes place without foresight or expectation

We weren’t there long when Karin asked about our dog. When we told her Chris was in the car, she insisted we bring him up to the apartment. I rejected her offer and said he might have an accident on the carpet and I didn’t want to worry about it.

2009, Marcia Stedron, My Roller Coaster Life as an Army Wife, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 56:

(euphemistic) An instance of incontinence.

Urine or feces excreted due to incontinence.

Taylor was our sweet little accident, and we're so glad!

(derogatory or humorous) A person born from an unintended pregnancy.


mother

(Burn, baby, burn) Disco inferno / (Burn, baby, burn) Burn the mother down

1976, Leroy Green, Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey, “Disco Inferno”, in Disco Inferno, performed by The Trammps, track 4:

Stick a votive candle in it and fire that mother up, right?

1989 December 19, Slim Randles, “Entrepreneur Hopes Luminaria Delivery Service Catches On”, in The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 2:

Who run this mother

2011, Beyoncé Knowles, “Run the World (Girls)”, in 4:

(euphemistic, mildly vulgar, slang) Motherfucker.

November, 1943 If ever, Cortney Anders promised himself, I get out of this mother of a thunderstorm there is a thing I will do if it is the last act of my life.

1964, Richard L. Newhafer, The last tallyho:

Some hot night there's gonna be one mother of a riot down here. Just wait." He'd been saying the same thing since 1958, five years of crying wolf.

1980, Chester Anderson, Fox & hare: the story of a Friday night, page 5:

Basically, we wind up with a program. One mother of a complex application.

2004 Nov, Rajnar Vajra, “The Ghost Within”, in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, volume 124, number 11, page 8:

Josh, whose fleshy face resembles a rhino's - beady wide-set eyes blinking between a mother of a snout

2006, Elizabeth Robinson, The true and outstanding adventures of the Hunt sisters:

(euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".)


uncle

Bislama: angkel

→ Burmese: အန်ကယ် (ankai)

⇒ Chinese: 安哥 (āngē)

→ Hawaiian: ʻanakala

→ Hindi: अंकल (aṅkal)

→ Irish: uncail

→ Scottish Gaelic: uncail

Tok Pisin: ankol

Torres Strait Creole: ankel

→ Welsh: wncl

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os
Latin avunculus
Old French unclebor.
Middle English uncle
English uncle
From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)). Displaced native Middle English em (“uncle”) from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, and Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”). Compare Saterland Frisian Unkel (“uncle”), Dutch nonkel (“uncle”), German Low German Unkel (“uncle”), German Onkel (“uncle”), Danish onkel (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.

der

(euphemistic) Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.


bathroom

bathrooms (plural)
bath room (alternative)
bath-room (alternative)

→ Hindi: बाथरूम (bāthrūm)

→ Urdu: باتھ روم (bāth-rūm)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁-
Proto-Germanic *baþą
Proto-West Germanic *baþ
Old English bæþ
Middle English bath
English bath
Proto-West Germanic *rūm
Old English rūm
Middle English roum
English room
English bathroom
From bath + room. Compare Dutch badkamer (“bathroom”), German Badezimmer (“bathroom”), Swedish badrum (“bathroom”), Faroese baðrúm (“bathroom”).

etymon

Most Americans don't know 'WC' and many Brits mock 'bathroom' but almost everyone understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.

(chiefly US, South Africa, Canada, Philippines, Australia, euphemistic) A lavatory (area where one washes or bathes): a room containing a toilet and (typically but not necessarily) a bathtub.


flower

en-noun

flower (countable and uncountable, plural flowers)

flowers (plural)
flowre (alternative obsolete)
flow'r (alternative archaic poetic)

flour (for people who pronounce flower as one syllable, or flour as two)

From Middle English flour, from Anglo-Norman flur, from Latin flōrem, accusative of flōs, from Proto-Italic *flōs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). Doublet of fleur, flor, flour, bloom, and blossom.
Partly displaced native Old English blostma (which is cognate), whence Modern English blossom.

doublet

[F]or ſtill, that my virgin-flower was yet uncrop'd never once enter'd into his head, and he would have thought it idling with time and words to have queſtion'd me upon it.

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, page 106:

So was it asserted, that whenever a maiden was destined to die unmarried, as surely would the plant wither away and perish, and if a dughter of the Renseccos lost her honour or had given away her flower to an unworthy lover, then would the flower be blighted overnight.

1893, Emily Gerard, The Voice of a Flower, page 44:

In some local tradditions a fallen bride was married wearing a crown of straw rather than a garland of flowers, to symbolize her loss of virginity – the wilting of her flower.

2018, Satu Lidman, Gender, Violence and Attitudes: Lessons from Early Modern Europe:

"Our flesh as one!" he laughed, speaking loudly. "Sweating bodies entwined in carnal passion! As I plunge myself deep into her lady flower, again and again and again— !"

2019, Shaun Barger, Mage Against the Machine, page 146:

(euphemistic, hypocoristic) The vulva, especially the labia majora.


monthly

monthlies (plural)
mon. (alternative abbreviation)

Japanese: マンスリー

Katherine assumed she was having her monthly. She could recall times when her own monthly was so intense that it showed on her face.

2008, Monica Dixon, Through Closed Eyes, page 230:


retreat

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

From Middle English retret, from Old French retrait or retret, from Latin retractus, from retraho. Doublet of retract, retrait, and ritratto.

(rare and obsolete, euphemistic) A peaceful, quiet place in which to urinate and defecate: an outhouse; a lavatory.


grape

en-noun

grape (countable and uncountable, plural grapes)

(Internet slang, euphemistic) Filter-avoidance spelling of rape.


grape

en-verb

grape (third-person singular simple present grapes, present participle graping, simple past and past participle graped)

grapes (present singular third-person)
graping (participle present)
graped (participle past)
graped (past)


toilet

→ Japanese: トイレット, トイレ

Krio: tɔylɛt

Tok Pisin: toilet

From Middle French toilette, diminutive of toile (“cloth”), from their use to protect clothing while shaving or arranging hair. From its use as a private room, toilet came to refer euphemistically to lavatories and then to its fixtures, beginning in the United States in the late 19th century.

ашьашьма

room used for urination and defecation — see also bathroom, men's room, ladies' room, outhouse, portable toilet, latrine, shitter

toilet

fixture used for urination and defecation — see also flush toilet, squat toilet, chemical toilet, urinal, latrine

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class II § 191. Receptacle

Sorry, I was in the toilet.

He would hit her when she cried and, if this did not work, would lock her in the toilet for hours on end.

2002, Digby Tantam, Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice: A Narrative Framework, page 122:

He wet his thumb with saliva pressing on the tongue, ran it up and down faster over the letter 'I' of 'TOILET', the 'LADIES TOILET' was transformed into 'LADIES TO LET' in no time.

2014, C.S. Walter, Abandoned Bridges, pp. 105 f.:

(UK, Australia, Hong Kong) A room, enclosed area or single-purpose building containing a fixture or fixtures used for urination and defecation; a bathroom or water closet.

(New Zealand) A small secondary lavatory having a fixture used for urination and defecation and sink but no bathtub or shower.


friend

stranger

antonym(s) of “person with whom you are acquainted”

enemy

antonym(s) of “person who provides assistance”

Jamaican Creole: fren

Krio: frɛn

→ Cantonese: friend (fen¹)

→ Finnish: frendi

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: frȅnd

Cyrillic script: фре̏нд

→ Spanish: friend

From Middle English frend, freend, from Old English frēond (“friend”, literally “loving[-one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“lover, friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to like, love”), equivalent to free + -nd.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fjund, Früünd (“friend”), West Frisian freon, froen, freondinne (“friend”), Dutch vriend (“friend”), Low German Frund, Fründ (“friend, relative”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), German Freund (“friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Welsh ffrind (“friend”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”). More at free.
Other cognates include Romanian prieten, Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend”), and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “beloved”).

der

with friends like these who needs enemies

Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

Time has been, when a gentleman wanted a friend, I could supply him with choice in an hour; but the market is spoiled, and a body might as soon produce a hare or a partridge […]

1813, Samuel Foote, The Commissary, Etc., page 17:

I met your friend. She's very nice, what can I say?

(euphemistic) A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.


soil

From Middle English soilen, soulen, suylen (“to sully, make dirty”), partly from Old French soillier, souillier (“to soil, make dirty, wallow in mire”), from Old Frankish *saulijan, *sulwijan (“to make dirty, soil”); partly from Old English solian, sylian (“to soil, make dirty”), from Proto-Germanic *sulwōną, *sulwijaną, *saulijaną (“to soil, make dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”). Cognate with Old Frisian sulia (“to soil, mire”), Middle Dutch soluwen, seulewen (“to soil, besmirch”), Old High German solōn, bisulen (“to make dirty”), German suhlen (“to soil, make dirty”), Danish søle (“to make dirty, defile”), Swedish söla (“to soil, make dirty”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisauljan, “to bemire”). Compare sully.

cog

(uncountable, euphemistic) Faeces or urine etc. when found on clothes.


BA

en-adj

BA (comparative more BA, superlative most BA)

more BA (comparative)
most BA (superlative)
B.A. (alternative)


BS

en-noun

BS (countable and uncountable, plural BSs)

BSs (plural)
B.S. (alternative)
B. S. (alternative)

My gut reaction was to lay into him for being a snotnosed little creep doing no more than spouting his rich daddy's BS and asking him where he got off making comments like that to a customer.

2006 October 17, Gasonfires, “Neocon Divisiveness Has Worked - On Me! Oh Damn!”, in Daily Kos:

Still, he said, “I’m so tired of all this political correctness. It’s such B.S.”

2021 July 17, Jacob Bernstein, “Keith McNally Stirs the Pot”, in The New York Times:

(slang, euphemistic, chiefly Canada, US, also card games) Abbreviation of bullshit.


BS

en-verb

BS (third-person singular simple present BSes, present participle BSing, simple past and past participle BSed)

BSes (present singular third-person)
BSing (participle present)
BSed (participle past)
BSed (past)
B.S. (alternative)
B. S. (alternative)

Researchers embarked on a novel study intent on measuring what a Princeton philosophy professor contends is one of the most salient features of our culture — the ability to play the expert without being one. / Or, as the social scientists put it, to BS.

2019 April 26, Christopher Ingraham, “Rich guys are most likely to have no idea what they’re talking about, study suggests”, in The Washington Post:

(slang, euphemistic) Abbreviation of bullshit.


exit

From Middle English exit, from Latin exitus (“departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue”), from exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Exeō is derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from ). The English word is cognate with Italian esito, Portuguese êxito, Spanish éxito. Doublet of ejido and exitus.
The verb is derived from the noun.

ikje

action of going out or going away, or leaving — see also departure

the untimely exit of a respected politician

However, there are no ideas strike more forcibly upon our imaginations, than those which are raised from reflections upon the exits of great and excellent men.

1711 August 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, August 2, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 133; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 199:

I have contrived a most effectual machine for the easy decapitation for such as chuse that noble and honourable exit; which no doubt must give great satisfaction to all persons of quality, and those who would imitate them.

1756 September 9, “Thursday, September 9, 1756”, in The World, number 193, London: Printed for R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley [...] and sold by M. Cooper [...], →OCLC; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The British Essayists; with Prefaces Historical and Biographical, volume XXIX, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, [et al.], 1808, →OCLC, page 200:

(figuratively, often euphemistic) The act of departing from life; death.


exit

en-verb

exit (third-person singular simple present exits, present participle exiting, simple past and past participle exited)

exits (present singular third-person)
exiting (participle present)
exited (participle past)
exited (past)

ацара

to go out or go away from a place or situation — see also depart, leave

(intransitive, often euphemistic) To depart from life; to die.


science

en-noun

science (countable and uncountable, plural sciences)

→ Ido: cienco

→ Japanese: サイエンス

→ Malay: sains
→ Indonesian: sains

→ Swahili: sayansi

→ Urdu: سائِنْس (sāins)

From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciens, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”).

wetenskap

particular discipline or branch of learning

From a conviction, that the science is universally understood, the strong are taught humility, and the weak confidence. Many have laughed at the idea, that Boxing is of national service, but they have laughed at the expence^([sic]) of truth.

1816, The art and practice of English boxing, page v:

[…] for not a blow or guard in boxing will repay you more than the cross-counter, which may well be called the sheet-anchor of the science.

1888, William Edwards, Art of Boxing and Science of Self-Defense:

(euphemistic, with definite article) Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”).


poop

Uncertain, possibly from Middle English poupen (“to make a gulping sound while drinking, blow on a horn, toot”). Compare Dutch poepen (“to defecate”), German Low German pupen (“to fart; break wind”). Also representing poo pronounced with the mouth snapped closed at the end.

cog

Poop. The copier's broken again.

I don't need him for a friend. I can have fun by myself! ... Poop.

1986 July 29, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

(childish, euphemistic) Expressing annoyed disappointment.


get

en-verb

get (third-person singular simple present gets, present participle getting, simple past got or (archaic) gat, past participle got or (United States, Canada) gotten or (Geordie) getten)

gets (present singular third-person)
getting (participle present)
got (past)
gat (archaic past)
got (participle past)
gotten (Canada US participle past)
getten (Geordie participle past)
get (infinitive)
get (first-person present singular)
got (first-person past singular)
gat (archaic first-person past singular)
get (present second-person singular)
gettest (archaic present second-person singular)
got (past second-person singular)
gottest (archaic past second-person singular)
gattest (archaic past second-person singular)
gets (present singular third-person)
getteth (archaic present singular third-person)
got (past singular third-person)
get (plural present)
got (past plural)
get (present subjunctive)
got (past subjunctive)
get (imperative present)
getting (participle present)
got (participle past)
gotten (dialectal participle past)
getten (dialectal participle past)

From Middle English geten, from Old Norse geta, from Proto-Germanic *getaną. Cognate with Old English ġietan (whence also English yet), Old Saxon getan (“to get, to gain sth.”), Old High German pigezzan (“to uphold”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bigitan, “to find, discover”)), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to seize”).

cog

(get + <adjective> is often translated by a reflexive verb in French; get drunk = s'enivrer)

gehen (sometimes translated by a reflexive verb: get drunk = sich betrinken)

καθίσταμι (kathístami) (+ adj. or εἰς + noun)

(get + <adjective> is often translated by a reflexive verb in Italian; get drunk = ubriacarsi)

(is often translated by a passive verb in Latin) finiri (get finished)

(get + <adjective> is often translated by a reflexive verb in Portuguese; get drunk = embriagar-se)

get + (adjective) is often translated by a reflexive verb in Spanish

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

get glad in the same britches one got mad in

get glad in the same pants one got mad in

They’re coming to get you, Barbara.

He got Dancer and Prancer with an old German Luger
And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddy Krueger

1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “The Night Santa Went Crazy”, in Bad Hair Day:


go

en-verb

go (third-person singular simple present goes, present participle going, simple past went or (obsolete) yode, past participle gone or (nonstandard) went or (substituted in certain contexts) been)

goes (present singular third-person)
going (participle present)
went (past)
yode (obsolete past)
gone (participle past)
went (nonstandard participle past)
been (participle past)
go (infinitive)
go (first-person present singular)
went (first-person past singular)
yode (archaic first-person past singular)
go (present second-person singular)
goest (archaic present second-person singular)
went (past second-person singular)
yode (archaic past second-person singular)
wentest (archaic past second-person singular)
goes (present singular third-person)
goeth (archaic present singular third-person)
went (past singular third-person)
yode (archaic past singular third-person)
go (plural present)
went (past plural)
yode (archaic past plural)
go (present subjunctive)
went (past subjunctive)
yode (archaic past subjunctive)
go (imperative present)
going (participle present)
goand (archaic participle present)
gone (participle past)
yode (archaic participle past)

From Middle English gon, goon, from Old English gān (“to go”), from Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”).
The inherited past tense form yode (compare Old English ēode) was replaced through suppletion in the 15th century by went, from Old English wendan (“to go, depart, wend”).
cognates and related terms
Cognate with Scots gae (“to go”), West Frisian gean (“to go”), Dutch gaan (“to go”), Low German gahn (“to go”), German gehen (“to go”), Swedish, Norwegian and Danish gå (“to go”). Compare also Albanian ngah (“to run, drive, go”), Ancient Greek κιχάνω (kikhánō, “to meet with, arrive at”), Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬰𐬁𐬨𐬌 (zazāmi), Sanskrit जहाति (jáhāti).

cog

someone's driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you're going to get

the screwing you get isn't worth the screwing you're going to get

You said WHAT about my mom? Do you want to go, bro?

(intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) To fight, usually with the fists.


keep

en-noun

keep (countable and uncountable, plural keeps)

From Middle English kepe, kep, from the verb (see above).

My Darling Girl, In London the other day I heard a piece of news which may amuse you. The French girl who shot her so-called Egyptian prince and is going to be tried for murder, is the fancy woman who was the Prince's 'keep' in Paris during the war […]

1923 September 9, Lord Curzon, [Letter to his wife]:

(euphemistic, obsolete) A mistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations).


horse hockey

(slang, euphemistic) False or deceitful statements; lies; exaggerations; nonsense; horse pucky. (a euphemism for horseshit).


leave

en-verb

leave (third-person singular simple present leaves, present participle leaving, simple past and past participle left)

leaves (present singular third-person)
leaving (participle present)
left (participle past)
left (past)
leave (infinitive)
leave (first-person present singular)
left (first-person past singular)
leave (present second-person singular)
leavest (archaic present second-person singular)
left (past second-person singular)
leftest (archaic past second-person singular)
leaves (present singular third-person)
leaveth (archaic present singular third-person)
left (past singular third-person)
leave (plural present)
left (past plural)
leave (present subjunctive)
left (past subjunctive)
leave (imperative present)
leaving (participle present)
left (participle past)

desc

→ Russian: лива́ть (livátʹ), ливну́ть (livnútʹ)

→ Ukrainian: ліва́ти (liváty), лівну́ти (livnúty)

From Middle English leven, from Old English lǣfan (“to leave”), from Proto-West Germanic *laibijan, from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to let stay, leave”), causative of *lībaną (“to stay, remain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick; fat”).
Cognate with Old Frisian lēva (“to leave”), Old Saxon lēvian, Old High German leiban (“to leave”), Old Norse leifa (“to leave over”) (whence Icelandic leifa (“to leave food uneaten”)), lifna (“to be left”) (whence Danish levne). More at lave, belive.
The noun is attested since the 19th century, with earliest references to billiards.

cog

The other evening Sheri called to tell me that Connie had left us, and that I will never again be able to hold my pot luck supper plate on my knee and listen to Connie's wonderful talk or see her slow, almost impish smile.

1982 February 13, Nancy Walker, “Connie”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 10:

(euphemistic, transitive) To die (the object denotes those affected by the death).


make

en-verb

make (third-person singular simple present makes, present participle making, simple past and past participle made or (dialectal or obsolete) maked)

makes (present singular third-person)
making (participle present)
made (participle past)
made (past)
maked (dialectal obsolete participle past)
maked (dialectal obsolete past)
make (infinitive)
make (first-person present singular)
made (first-person past singular)
maked (dialectal first-person past singular)
make (present second-person singular)
makest (archaic present second-person singular)
made (past second-person singular)
maked (dialectal past second-person singular)
madest (archaic past second-person singular)
makes (present singular third-person)
maketh (archaic present singular third-person)
made (past singular third-person)
maked (dialectal past singular third-person)
make (plural present)
made (past plural)
maked (dialectal past plural)
make (present subjunctive)
made (past subjunctive)
maked (dialectal past subjunctive)
make (imperative present)
making (participle present)
makeing (archaic participle present)
made (participle past)
maked (dialectal participle past)
mak (alternative Durham Wearside dialectal)
makee (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
myek (alternative Geordie dialectal)

From Middle English maken, from Old English macian (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ- (“to knead, mix, make”).
Related to match.
Cognates
* Scots mak (“to make”)
* Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make”)
* West Frisian meitsje (“to make”)
* Dutch maken (“to make”)
* Dutch Low Saxon maken (“to make”)
* German Low German maken (“to make”)
* German machen (“to make, do”)
* Danish mage (“to make, arrange (in a certain way)”)
* Latin mācerō, macer
* Ancient Greek μάσσω (mássō)

elér

with definite conjugation and a subordinate clause

don't get your honey where you make your money

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs

you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear

you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette

When my father comes back with a dark wet spot on his pants, right in front, as if he has made in his pants, he starts eating his food in great shovelfuls.

1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The kingdom of Brooklyn, page 30:

"He made in his pants, okay? I hope everybody's satisfied!" She flung her hat on the floor and kicked it. "He'll never come back to school now! Never! And it's all your fault!

2003, Mary Anne Kelly, The Cordelia Squad, page 121:

(intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) To defecate or urinate.

I was a young un at 'Oogli,
Shy as a girl to begin;
Aggie de Castrer she made me,
— An' Aggie was clever as sin;
Older than me, but my first un —
More like a mother she were
Showed me the way to promotion an' pay,
An' I learned about women from 'er!

(transitive, euphemistic) To take the virginity of.


bull

en-noun

bull (countable and uncountable, plural bulls)

bear

investor who sells in anticipation of a fall in prices

From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Thracian βόλινθος (“wild bull”), Macedonian вол (vol, "ox"), Slovene vol ("ox"), Albanian buall (“buffalo”) or related bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).

rozzer. See also Thesaurus:police officer

(uncountable, informal, euphemistic, slang) Clipping of bullshit.


bull

From Middle English bull, bul, boule (“falsehood, deceit”), probably from Old French boul, boule, bole (“fraud, deceit, cunning”), from Old French bouler, boler (“to deceive, delude, lure, take in”), from Middle Low German bôlen (“to woo, court”), related to German buhlen (“to woo”), English bully. Often reanalyzed by surface analysis to be an expurgated clipping of bullshit.


bog

en-verb

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

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

From bug off, a clipping of bugger off, likely under the influence of bog (coarse British slang for "toilet[s]").

(euphemistic, slang, British, usually with "off") To go away.


machine

→ Ainu: マシン

→ Bengali: মেশিন (meśin)

→ Cowlitz: məšín

→ Irish: meaisín

→ Japanese: マシン (mashin)

→ Korean: 머신 (meosin)

→ Maori: mīhini

→ Punjabi

Gurmukhi script: ਮਸ਼ੀਨ (maśīn)

Shahmukhi script: مشین (maśīn)

→ Swahili: mashine

→ Tok Pisin: masin

Borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”), from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhănā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”), from which comes mechanical. Displaced native Old English searu.

cog

perpetual motion machine of the first kind

perpetual motion machine of the second kind

Outline of machines on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

He now reſumes his attempts in more form: firſt he put one of the pillows under me, to give the blank of his aim a more favourable elevation, and another under my head, in eaſe of it: then ſpreading my thighs, and placing himſelf ſtanding between them, made them reſt upon his hips: applying then the point of his machine to the ſlit, into which he ſought entrance;

1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, page 107:


thing

things (plural)
thang (alternative pronunciation-spelling slang usually)
thin' (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
thinge (alternative archaic)
thynge (alternative obsolete)
ting (alternative)

From Middle English thing, from Old English þing, from Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Ding (“thing”), West Frisian ting, ding (“thing”), Dutch ding (“thing”), German Low German Ding (“thing”), German Ding (“thing”), Swedish, Danish and Norwegian ting (“thing”), Faroese ting (“parliament, assembly”), Icelandic þing (“congress, assembly”).
The word originally meant "assembly", then came to mean a specific issue discussed at such an assembly, and ultimately came to mean most broadly "an object". Compare Latin rēs, also meaning "legal matter", and same transition from Latin causa (“legal matter”) to "thing" in Romance languages. Modern use to refer to a Germanic assembly is likely influenced by cognates (from the same Proto-Germanic root) like Old Norse þing (“thing”), Danish ting, Swedish ting, and Old High German ding with this meaning.

render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch

there's no such thing as a stupid question

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

“Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.”

1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 150:

ona stvar f (in this slang sense, always used with demonstrative pronoun 'ona')

‘They reckon she lets her dogs lick her thing.’

1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 65:


simple

en-adj

simple (comparative simpler or more simple, superlative simplest or most simple)

simpler (comparative)
more simple (comparative)
simplest (superlative)
most simple (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English symple, simple, from Old French and French simple, from Latin simplex (“simple”, literally “onefold”) (as opposed to duplex (“double”, literally “twofold”)), from semel (“the same”) + plicō (“I fold”). See same and fold. Compare single, singular, simultaneous, etc.
Partially displaced native English onefold.

der

(now colloquial, euphemistic) Feeble-minded; foolish.


basket

en-noun

basket (countable and uncountable, plural baskets)

→ Cornish: basket

→ Irish: bascaed

→ Welsh: basged

From Middle English basket, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, bascat, of obscure origin.
One theory is that it derives from Late Latin bascauda (“kettle, table-vessel”), from Proto-Brythonic (in Breton baskodenn), from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”), from purported Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle”), but this is now widely viewed as a substrate word for phonetic reasons. Related to Latin fascis (“bundle, package, load”) (whence English fasces), Albanian bokshe (“bundle”), Breton bac'h (“bundle, load”), Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos) and βάσκιοι (báskioi) (“bundle (of sticks)”); see also faggot (“(originally) bundle of sticks”).

unk

obscure

buslo

a large, deep basket used especially in marketing

pangnan

a small basket used by fishermen or to hold flowers or fruit

Wait till I catch you, you little basket!


curtain

Inherited from Middle English curtine, from Old French cortine, from Late Latin cōrtīna (“curtain”), a calque from Ancient Greek.

For life is quite absurd / And death's the final word / You must always face the curtain with a bow.

1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life:

(euphemistic, also "final curtain", sometimes in the plural) Death.


sleep

en-verb

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

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

Sranan Tongo: sribi

From Middle English slepen, from Anglian Old English slēpan (West Saxon slǣpan), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpan, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną.

Last night we slept together for the first time.

(idiomatic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse (see sleep with).

For if we beleeue that Ieſus died, and roſe againe: euen ſo them alſo which ſleepe in Ieſus, will God bring with him.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, column 2:

It was that of a man in advanced life, with a long grizzled beard, and also robed in white, probably the husband of the lady, who, after surviving her many years, came at the last to sleep once more for good and all beside her.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Then bury me beneath the willow
Beneath the weeping willow tree
And when he knows that I am sleeping
Perhaps he will weep for me

b. 1909, traditional, “Under The Willow Tree”:

(intransitive, euphemistic, idiomatic) To be dead.


deflation

en-noun

deflation (countable and uncountable, plural deflations)

Beyond that, there is the hope that deflation of the US economy which the administration has in mind will, overtime; stem the import flood.

1969 March 13, “Stans to seek foreign trade”, in Christian Science Monitor:

It also must be acknowledged that Britain's problems won't be solved by an abrupt deflation of the economy.

1976 October 11, “Unions Hold Key To British Stability”, in Milwaukee Sentinel:

The great deflation of the northern economy occurred with the rupturing of the Mackenzie Valley pipe dream.

1978 June 3, “Valley Pipe Dream Wrecked Economy”, in Calgary Herald:

(economics, euphemistic) An economic contraction.


shoot

en-verb

shoot (third-person singular simple present shoots, present participle shooting, simple past shot, past participle shot or (rare) shotten)

shoots (present singular third-person)
shooting (participle present)
shot (past)
shot (participle past)
shotten (participle past rare)
shoot (infinitive)
shoot (first-person present singular)
shot (first-person past singular)
shooted (archaic first-person past singular)
shoot (present second-person singular)
shootest (archaic present second-person singular)
shot (past second-person singular)
shooted (archaic past second-person singular)
shootedst (archaic past second-person singular)
shoots (present singular third-person)
shooteth (archaic present singular third-person)
shot (past singular third-person)
shooted (archaic past singular third-person)
shoot (plural present)
shot (past plural)
shooted (archaic past plural)
shoot (present subjunctive)
shot (past subjunctive)
shooted (archaic past subjunctive)
shoot (imperative present)
shooting (participle present)
shot (participle past)
shooted (archaic participle past)
shotten (archaic participle past)

→ Catalan: xut

→ Greek: σουτ (sout)

→ Hijazi Arabic: شوت (šūt)

→ North Levantine Arabic: شوت (šūt)

→ Persian: شوت (šut)

desc

→ Portuguese: chuto, chute (Brazil), chutar

→ Romanian: șut

→ Vietnamese: sút

From Middle English shoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian sjitte, Low German scheten, Dutch schieten, German schießen, Danish skyde, Norwegian Bokmål skyte, Norwegian Nynorsk skyta, Swedish skjuta; and also, through Indo-European, with Russian кида́ть (kidátʹ), Albanian hedh (“to throw, toss”), Persian چست (čost, “quick, active”), Lithuanian skudrùs.

(+ partitive object when injuring or genitive object when killing) ampua

when the looting starts, the shooting starts

His idea was shot on sight.

(transitive, figurative) To dismiss or do away with.

To launch a projectile.
To dismiss or do away with.


wet

en-adj

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

wetter (comparative)
wettest (superlative)

Bislama: wet

→ Araki: wet

From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-West Germanic *wātijan, from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).
Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

cog

the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet

a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff

(slang, euphemistic) Involving assassination or "wet work".


b-word

Although some women may casually use the term among friends or as a sign of empowerment, the b-word is still widely considered a particularly aggressive and demeaning insult when hurled at a woman, especially if it comes from a man.

2016 June 16, Jenna Johnson, “Donald Trump Calls Her 'Crooked Hillary,' but His Fans Just Say 'B----'”, in Washington Post:

(euphemistic) Any of various vulgar words beginning with the letter B, particularly bitch and bastard.


box

en-noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

boxes (plural)
boxen (humorous nonstandard plural)

Tok Pisin: bokis

→ Afrikaans: boks

→ Bengali: বাক্স (bakśo)

→ Bulgarian: бокс (boks)

→ Crimean Tatar: boks

→ Danish: boks

→ Dutch: box m

→ Faroese: boks

→ French: box m

→ German: Box f

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: बकस m (bakas), बक्सा m (baksā)

Urdu: بکس m (baks, bakas)

→ Icelandic: box n

→ Indonesian: boks

→ Irish: bosca m

→ Italian: box m

→ Japanese: ボックス (bokkusu)

→ Korean: 박스 (bakseu)

→ Maori: pāka

→ Marwari: बकस (baks, bakas)

→ Nepali: बाकस (bākas)

→ Norman: bosc m

→ Norwegian: boks m

→ Pashto: بکس (baks)

→ Persian: باکس (bâks)

→ Polish: boks m

→ Portuguese: box m

→ Russian: бокс m (boks)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bogsa m, bocsa

→ Spanish: box m

→ Swedish: box c

→ Welsh: bocs

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

кутия

compartment or receptacle for receiving items

ramme

rectangular border around an image, text, etc.

квадратче

small area on a document for a tick mark

tofu

empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts

Prior to the explosion we spoke about what would happen if he [Lance-Corporal James Simpson] died and came back in a box and what music he would want at his funeral.

2010 March 6, Pauline Rogers (interviewee), “Soldier who lost both legs in Afghanistan wants to return to frontline”, in The Telegraph, London, archived from the original on 2010-05-24:

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.


certain

en-adj

certain (comparative more certain or certainer, superlative most certain or certainest)

more certain (comparative)
certainer (comparative)
most certain (superlative)
certainest (superlative)
certaine (alternative obsolete)
certayne (alternative archaic)
certeine (alternative archaic)

From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewiss (“certain, sure”)) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”).

بَعْض

not specifically named, indeterminate, indefinite

I would have been here on time, but a certain someone lost the car keys!

(euphemistic, preceded by "a") Used to denote that the speaker is referring to a specific person or thing that they do not want to name directly, implying that the listener should infer the identity of the referent.

certa

in reference to a specific person or thing that the speaker does not want to name directly


stork

From Middle English stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. Compare also Latvian stārķis (“stork”), borrowed from Germanic.

My sister's expecting a visit from the stork.

(folklore or euphemistic) The mythical bringer of babies to families, or good news.


count

From Middle English counten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conter, from Old French conter (“add up; tell a story”), from Latin computō (“I compute”). In this sense, displaced native Old English tellan, whence Modern English tell. Doublet of compute.

That count deserves a punishment.

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


horizontal

en-adj

horizontal (comparative more horizontal, superlative most horizontal)

more horizontal (comparative)
most horizontal (superlative)

/ˌhɒɹɪˈzɒntəl/

/hərɪˈzɔɳʈəl/

horizontal tango

Comparing a man who inspires you intellectually and makes you laugh with a guy who fulfils all your horizontal desires means you’re not comparing like with like.

2020 February 2, Mariella Frostrup, “One is a great guy; the other is good in bed. So who do I choose?”, in The Guardian:

(sex, euphemistic) Relating to sexual intercourse.


party

en-verb

party (third-person singular simple present parties, present participle partying, simple past and past participle partied)

parties (present singular third-person)
partying (participle present)
partied (participle past)
partied (past)

From Middle English party, partye, partie, from Anglo-Norman partie, from Old French partie (“side, part; portion, share; separation, division”, literally “that which is divided”), noun use of feminine of past participle of Old French partir (“to divide, separate”), from Latin partire (“to share, part, distribute, divide”), from pars (“a part, piece, a share”); see also part. First attested in c. 1300. Doublet of partita. The sense of communist party of a communist state derives Russian партия (partija), short for Коммунистическая партия (Kommunističeskaja partija).

der

“Miss, do you party?” the boy asked. “What?” Jennifer asked back. “Do you smoke? I'll get you some cheap. One American dollar equals forty Jamaican dollars. I'll get you as much of the stuff as you need.”

2004, Daniel Nicholas Shields, Firewoman:

(intransitive, slang, euphemistic) To take recreational drugs.


dump

From Middle English dumpen, dompen, probably from Old Norse dumpa (“to thump”) (whence Danish dumpe (“to fall suddenly”)), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of falling, similar to thump.

onomatopoeic

imitative

I have to take a dump.

(slang, often with the verb "take", euphemistic) An act of defecation; a defecating.


start

en-verb

start (third-person singular simple present starts, present participle starting, simple past and past participle started)

starts (present singular third-person)
starting (participle present)
started (participle past)
started (past)

→ Cantonese: 撻 /挞 (taat¹)

→ Dutch: starten

→ German: starten

→ Norman: stèrter

→ French: starter

→ Icelandic: starta

→ Faroese: starta

→ Norwegian Bokmål: starte

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: starta

→ Swedish: starta

→ Danish: starte

→ Slovak: štartovať

From Middle English sterten (“to leap up suddenly, rush out”), from Old English styrtan (“to leap up, start”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan (“to startle, move, set in motion”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter- (“to be stiff”). Cognate with Old Frisian stirta (“to fall down, tumble”), Middle Dutch sterten (“to rush, fall, collapse”) (Dutch storten), Old High German sturzen (“to hurl, plunge, turn upside down”) (German stürzen), Old High German sterzan (“to be stiff, protrude”). More at stare.

cog

Have you started yet?

(intransitive, euphemistic) To start one's periods (menstruation).


gender

en-noun

gender (countable and uncountable, plural genders)

genders (plural)
g. (alternative abbreviation)

→ Arabic: جِنْدَر (jindar)

→ Armenian: գենդեր (gender)

desc

→ Belarusian: ге́ндар (hjéndar), ге́ндэр (hjénder)

→ Bulgarian: дже́ндър (džéndǎr)

→ Czech: gender

→ Dutch: gender

→ Esperanto: genro (semantic loan)

→ French: genre (semantic loan)

→ Georgian: გენდერი (genderi)

→ German: Gender

→ Hungarian: gender

→ Indonesian: gèndêr

→ Japanese: ジェンダー (jendā)

→ Korean: 젠더 (jendeo)

→ Polish: gender

→ Russian: ге́ндер (géndɛr)

→ Slovak: gender

→ Ukrainian: ге́ндер (hénder), ґе́ндер (génder)

→ Yiddish: דזשענדער (dzhender)

From Middle English gendre, borrowed from Old French gendre, borrowed from Latin genere (“type, kind”). Doublet of genre and genus. The verb developed after the noun.

sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts


manure

en-noun

manure (countable and uncountable, plural manures)

From Middle English maynouren, manuren (“to supervise, toil”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman meinourer and Old French manovrer (whence also English maneuver, or in French manœuvrer) from Vulgar Latin *manuoperare (“work by hand”), from Latin manū (“by hand”) + operārī (“to work”).

der

“You know the police think I killed Marge, don't you?”
“What a load of manure! I couldn't believe it when I read the paper.”

2005, Ginny Aiken, Design on a Crime, page 217:

(euphemistic) Rubbish; nonsense; bullshit.


passage

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French passage, from passer (“to pass”).

With a look of triumph that he was unable to keep from his dark eyes he slid into her passage with one smooth thrust, […]

1986, Bertrice Small, A Love for All Time, New American Library, →ISBN, page 463:

This way, the tip of your penis will travel up and down her passage.

1987, Usha Sarup, Expert Lovemaking, Jaico Publishing House, →ISBN, page 53:

At the same moment, Aidan plunged two fingers deep into her passage and broke through her fragile barrier.

2009, Cat Lindler, Kiss of a Traitor, Medallion Press, →ISBN, page 249:


put down

en-verb

put down (third-person singular simple present puts down, present participle putting down, simple past and past participle put down)

puts down (present singular third-person)
putting down (participle present)
put down (participle past)
put down (past)

Rex was in so much pain, they had to put him down.

A couple walking in Kirkleatham Woods, Redcar, heard whimpering and found the terrier-type animal in a mound of earth at about midday. It was rushed to a vet but its injuries were so serious it had to be put down.

2016, Dog found buried alive in Redcar with nail in head, BBC:

The only thing left to do before putting the plan into action was checking the barracks for stragglers, and putting them down. She placed the first three bombs, then crept to the final door and opened it.

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

(euphemistic) To execute (a person), especially extrajudicially.


kick the bucket

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

kicks the bucket (present singular third-person)
kicking the bucket (participle present)
kicked the bucket (participle past)
kicked the bucket (past)

/ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/

There are many theories as to where this idiom comes from, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests the following:
* A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, however, says that this is mainly speculative;
* An archaic use of bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig's death throes. The OED finds this a more plausible theory.
Another theory is given by Roman Catholic Bishop Abbot Horne.

The old horse finally kicked the bucket.

My posthumous book Allegorizings, which will go to press in London and New York the minute I kick the bucket, is loosely governed by my growing conviction that almost nothing in life is only what it seems. It contains nothing revelatory at all.

2015 April 22, Sam Jordison, quoting Jan Morris, “Jan Morris talks about Venice”, in The Guardian:

(idiomatic, euphemistic, colloquial, humorous) To die.

сыгра́ть в я́щик (sygrátʹ v jáščik, literally “play into the casket”)

почить в бозе (počitʹ v boze, literally “sleep in God”) (solemn or ironical)

приказа́ть до́лго жить (prikazátʹ dólgo žitʹ, literally “order to live long”)

откинуть копыта (otkinutʹ kopyta, literally “throw away the hooves”)

протяну́ть ноги (protjanútʹ nogi, literally “stretch the legs”)

дать ду́ба (datʹ dúba, literally “give some oak”)

коньки́ отбро́сить (konʹkí otbrósitʹ, literally “throw away the skates”)


kick off

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

kicks off (present singular third-person)
kicking off (participle present)
kicked off (participle past)
kicked off (past)

It's a wonder that old dog hasn't kicked off yet.

(intransitive, US, idiomatic, colloquial, euphemistic) To die or quit permanently.


without

From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). By surface analysis, with- + out.
Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”).

inh

withoute (alternative obsolete)
wythoute (alternative obsolete)
wythowt (alternative obsolete)
wythowte (alternative obsolete)

“What's within reason?” “Hand-job, blow-job, full sex — straight, full service. Greek, maybe, if you're not too big. Golden shower, if you like, but not reverse. No hardsports. And absolutely nothing without.”

2012, Maxim Jakubowski, The Best British Crime Omnibus:

(prostitution, euphemistic) Without a condom being worn.


lavatory

lavatories (plural)
lavat'ry (alternative)

From Middle English lavatorie, from Late Latin lavātōrium, from Latin lavāre (“to wash”) + -ium (forming places related to an activity). Doublet of lavatorium. As a place to pan gold, via Spanish lavadero. See also lave.

Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.

People needing to use the lavatory often ask to use the baño in a restaurant; toilet paper is rarely available, so the experienced traveler always carries a personal supply.

2003, Rob Rachowiecki et al., Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, page 44:

THE RESTROOM ON THE OLDER TRAINS ARE TOO SMALL FOR AN ADULT. ONE CAN'T USE THE TOILET WITHOUT CONSTANTLY ELBOWING THE WALL. AIRPLANES HAVE LARGER LAVATORIES AND A BETTER USEABLE FAUCET.

2014, “Verbatim Comments”, in Corey, Canapary & Galanis, editor, Caltrain 2014 On-Board Survey, Caltrain, retrieved 2023-07-30, page 1:

(euphemistic) A room containing a toilet: a bathroom (US) or WC (UK).


downstairs

something wrong downstairs

(slang, euphemistic) Regarding the genitalia.


downstairs

The wind lifted up her skirt and I caught a glimpse of her downstairs.


upstairs

upstairs (plural)
up stairs (alternative archaic)
up-stairs (alternative archaic)


dancer

dancers (plural)
dauncer (alternative obsolete)
dawncer (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ダンサー (dansā)

From Middle English dauncer, dawncere, dancere, equivalent to dance + -er.


XXX

Unknown. Possibly from X, a graphic derivative of the skull and crossbones (“indicator of death”). For other possible explanations, see Beer measurement § Saltire marks on WikipediaWikipedia.

pedia

/ˈtɹɪpəlˈʔɛks/

(obsolete) Extra strong alcohol, particularly ale or (later) any beer.


sex

en-noun

sex (countable and uncountable, plural sexes)

sexes (plural)
sexe (alternative archaic)
s*x (alternative)

→ Dutch: seks

→ German: Sex

→ Japanese: セックス (sekkusu)

From Middle English sexe (“gender”), from Old French sexe (“genitals; gender”), from Latin sexus (“gender; gender traits; males or females; genitals”), from Proto-Italic *seksus, from Proto-Indo-European *séksus, from *sek- (“to cut, cut off, sever”), thus meaning "section, division" (into male and female).
Usage for women influenced by Middle French le sexe (“women”) (attested in 1580). Usage for third and additional sexes calqued from French troisième sexe, referring to masculine women in 1817 and homosexuals in 1847. First used by Lord Byron and others in English in reference to Catholic clergy. Usage for sexual intercourse first attested in 1899 (in the writings of H. G. Wells).

der

Another ha's gon through with the bargain... One that will find the way to her Sex, before you'le come to kissing her hand.

1664, Thomas Killigrew, Princess, ii, ii:

And the black cypresses strained upwards like the sex of a hanged man.

1938, David Gascoyne, Hölderlin's Madness, section 18:

She touched his sex with her hand.

1993, Catherine Coulter, The Heiress Bride, page 354:

And he put in a fake sex (penis) because he wanted to make the scene more real, more rude.

2003 March 2, Daily News, New York, section 2:

(countable, euphemistic or slang) Genitalia: a penis or vagina/vulva.


pot

Possibly a shortened form of Mexican Spanish potiguaya or potaguaya (“cannabis leaves”), or potación de guaya (literally “drink of grief”), supposedly denoting a drink of wine or brandy in which marijuana buds were steeped, from pota + de + guaya (see guayar (“to lament”)).

The way we figure it, ma'am, if everybody walked around naked, smoked pot and listened to rock'n'roll, there wouldn't be any more wars!

1968 July, Shel Silverstein, “Silverstein's Hippies”, in Playboy Magazine, page 189:


French letter

From French + letter. Compare earlier French pox, French-sick (“syphilis”), or later French safe, French tickler (“condom”), or French kiss. Attested from the 19th century.

‘So you’re fifteen – and you know the function of a “French letter”? You are familiar with its use?’
‘I know what it’s for, sir, yes.’

1984, Leslie Thomas, In my Wildest Dreams, page 289:

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that you have a question about gonorrhea. Those questions are so much easier to answer.”[…]
“I was going to ask about what you said earlier. That you’d... that you’d... not used a French letter in eighteen months.”

2012, Courtney Milan, A Kiss for Midwinter, page 80:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated, euphemistic) A condom.


generative

en-adj

generative (comparative more generative, superlative most generative)

more generative (comparative)
most generative (superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹətɪv/

/ˈd͡ʒɛnɹətɪv/

/d͡ʒəˈnɛɹətɪv/

/ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹətɪv/

[ˈd͡ʒɛnəɹəɾɪv]

/ˈd͡ʒɛnɹətɪv/

[ˈd͡ʒɛnɹəɾɪv]

/d͡ʒəˈnɛɹətɪv/

[d͡ʒəˈnɛɹəɾɪv]

/ˈd͡ʒenəɹətɪv/

[ˈd͡ʒenəɹəɾɪv]

From Middle English generatyve, generatyf, generatif, equivalent to generate + -ive. Compare French génératif.

Hence the ubiquity of Priapus himself as a sculptural representative of the generative principle, populated the Roman gardens, assertive in ithyphallic pose.

1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page iii:

This ceremony seals the covenant in the flesh of the male generative organ.

2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 91:


blessed

blessed (comparative more blessed, superlative most blessed)

more blessed (comparative)
most blessed (superlative)
blessèd (alternative)
blesséd (alternative)
blest (alternative)

condemned

antonym(s) of “having divine aid, or protection, or other blessing”

I know—for Death, who comes for me
From regions of the blest afar,
Where there is nothing to deceive,
Hath left his iron gate ajar, […]

1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

Elect or saved after death; hence (euphemistic) dead.

Not one blessed person offered to help me out.

I'm blessed if I'm going to drive all that way at this time of night.

(informal, euphemistic) damned (as an intensifier or vehement denial)


rock

en-verb

rock (third-person singular simple present rocks, present participle rocking, simple past and past participle rocked)

rocks (present singular third-person)
rocking (participle present)
rocked (participle past)
rocked (past)

From Middle English rokken, from Old English roccian, from Proto-West Germanic *rokkōn, from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną, from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ruknéh₂ti, from *h₃rewk-, *h₃runk-.
See also obsolete Dutch rokken, Middle High German rocken (“to drag, jerk”), Modern German rücken (“to move, shift”), Icelandic rukka (“to yank”); also Latin runcāre (“to weed”), Latvian rũķēt (“to toss, dig”).

cog

the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world

the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

I wanna rock!

Cum on feel the noize, girls, rock your boys.

1973, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, “Cum On Feel the Noize”, performed by Slade:

Rock me gently, rock me slowly, take it easy, don't you know, that I have never been loved like this before.

Open up your heart / And let the loving start / Oh, woman, take me in your arms / Rock your baby.

1974, Harry Wayne Casey, Richard Finch, “Rock Your Baby”, performed by George McCrae:

I just wanna rock you, all night long.

1980, Jonah Ellis, Alisa Peoples, Cavin Yarbrough, “Don't Stop the Music”, in The Two of Us, performed by Yarbrough and Peoples:

Try me out, and if you get excited
Take me home, I'd love to be invited
Once we're there, I'm sure you'll be delighted
We could rock all night

(slang, ambitransitive, euphemistic) To make love to or have sex (with).


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.

noncog

Sir Thomas looks as if to ask what the dash is that to you! but wanting still to go to India again, and knowing how strong the Newcomes are in Leadenhall Street, he thinks it necessary to be civil to the young cub, and swallows his pride once more into his waistband.
Comment: Some editions leave this passage out. Of those that include it, some change the 'you!' to 'you?'.

1853, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes, Chapter VI, serialized in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, (VIII, no. 43, Dec 1853) p. 118

Who the dash is this person whom none of us know? and what the dash does he do here?

1884, Lord Robert Gower, My Reminiscences, reprinted in "The Evening Lamp", The Christian Union, (29) 22, (May 29, 1884) p. 524

(dated, euphemistic) A stand-in for a censored word, like "Devil" or "damn". (Compare deuce.)

viiva

euphemistic: stand-in for a censored word