fall foliage

en-noun

fall foliage (countable and uncountable, plural fall foliages)

As Chatter adjusted her scarf and cowboy hat to ward off the increasing winds, Sally Ann saw several gray leaves tumble over the grass and realized there had been no fall foliage in Half Moon. No week or so where the leaves explode with color and paint the hillsides with majestic hues of red, orange, yellow and gold. Just like the town itself, the trees and flowers -- remarkably bright and vivid throughout the season -- had simply paled and appeared to be on their way to an ashen bone-like pallor.

2004, Zackary Richards, Half Moon Falls, →ISBN, page 88:

Nature is at her most harmonious beauty with the colorful splash of fall foliages of yellows, reds, browns and greens it is accompanied by a slight wafting breeze.

2010, Edward Anthony Gibbsons, American Corruption: A Story of Boston Corruption Under J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, →ISBN:

Mount spectacular summits and ogle eyepopping fall foliage.

2016, Amy C Balfour, Gregor Clark, Lonely Planet New England Fall Foliage Road Trips, →ISBN:

(US) The brightly colored leaves of deciduous trees that appear in the autumn.


trash panda

From a likening of the black patches around a raccoon's eyes to similar markings on a giant panda, it being in the same superfamily as the red panda, and a reference to its tendency to forage for garbage in urban environments.

Braddock Baskett of the Orlando-area attempted to give some raccoons food. […] Maybe he should’ve taken his own warning before feeding the “trash panda”.

2016 April 30, Zach Dennis, “Florida man tries to feed ‘trash panda’ in epic fail”, in Palm Beach Post, retrieved 2018-04-13:

[T]he family baby, Jack-Jack, sees a raccoon eating from the family’s garbage can while his father, Mr. Incredible, is sleeping, and uses his superpowers […] to do battle with the trash panda.

2017 July 14, Josh Rottenberg, “All the intel on Disney and Pixar's new slate of animated films”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2018-04-13:

A video posted to Facebook on Saturday shows a trash panda breaking into a “raccoon-proof” green bin in less than 30 seconds.

2018 April 12, Alanna Rizza, “It took this raccoon 30 seconds to break into a raccoon-proof green bin”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2018-04-13:

(US, Canada, slang, humorous) A raccoon, especially one that forages in garbage cans.


NAEPP

Stepwise guidance for management based on severity of asthma has been published by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP).

2011, Pauline K. Park, “Assessment of Noncardiac Perioperative Risk”, in Michael W. Mulholland, Gerard M. Doherty, editors, Complications in Surgery, 2nd edition, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, page 83:

(US, medicine) Initialism of National Asthma Education and Prevention Program.


NQF

A very influential group that develops consensus guidelines is the National Quality Forum (NQF), an organization of a wide variety of experts, consumers, government officials, and corporate directors. The NQF several years ago published its list of “30 Safe Practices” recommended for implementation.

2011, Darrell A. Campbell, “Patient Safety”, in Michael W. Mulholland, Gerard M. Doherty, editors, Complications in Surgery, 2nd edition, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, page 58:

National Quality Forum
w:National Quality Forum

(US, medicine) Initialism of National Quality Forum.


NIMHD

w:National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

(US, medicine) Initialism of National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.


momhood

momhood (countable and uncountable, plural momhoods)

Yet there are some guys who are so keyed in to their own interest that they struggle to see the need their wives have for some physical and emotional relief from the rigors of momhood.

2005, Steve Chapman, The Good Husband's Guide to Balancing Hobbies and Marriage, →ISBN:

I also wonder if at times it's a defense mechanism to not desire momhood so strongly.

2006, Camerin Courtney, Todd Hertz, The unGuide to Dating: A He Said/She Said on Relationships, →ISBN:

I wasn't doing momhood well.

2007, Diana Lynn-Barnes, Leigh G. Balber, The Journey to Parenthood: Myths, Reality and What Really Matters, →ISBN:


I have a bridge to sell you

In reference to George C. Parker, an infamous conman who successfully duped his victims into “buying” the Brooklyn Bridge.

(idiomatic, US) An indirect way of expressing that the addressee is gullible.


grain whiskey

(US) Alternative spelling of grain whisky


diapie

At three and a half, he was still crying, "l love my diapie!"

2007, Michele Gendelman, Ilene Graff, Donna Rosenstein, What the Other Mothers Know, page 107:


sutlering

From sutler (“one who sells provisions to an army”), interpreted as a verb, + -ing (“suffix used to form gerunds”).

1870, C. L. Ruggles, The Great American Scout and Spy, "General Bunker", 3rd Edition, Olmsted & Company, page 136,
But, between you and I, (speaking confidentially,) I quit sutlering and joined a band of guerrillas, because I thought that I could make more money at it.

Furthermore, the Director General and Council aforesaid being credibly informed of the sutlering and selling of wine, beer and liquors along the river by yachts, barks, scows, ships and canoes, going up or down, hereby not only strictly forbid such sutlering and selling, but also ordain and command, that[…].

1897, Minutes of the court of burgomasters and schepens, 1653-1655, Knickerbocker Press, page 25:

Besides his dreaming of becoming a vintner at Aquia Creek, Dr. Dunn gave thought to owning a Sutlering Business. Sept 16, 1863 he writes, “I wrote you about being interested in the Sutlering for the 109th Rg'nt. I want you to keep that to yourself & if I have no bad luck will make a nice thing of it.”

2012, Paul B. Kerr, Civil War Surgeon: Biography of James Langstaff Dunn, MD, AuthorHouse, page 244:

(US, historical) The trade of following an army regiment and supplying it with provisions.


call an audible

en-verb

call an audible (third-person singular simple present calls an audible, present participle calling an audible, simple past and past participle called an audible)

calls an audible (present singular third-person)
calling an audible (participle present)
called an audible (participle past)
called an audible (past)

Mr. Krosnick explained with the help of a football analogy. "If somebody called an audible, we'd be right there[…]It has always been that way. We never did that much planning. All the talk and analysis was intended to outline the parameters of our instincts."

1997 October 29, James R. Oestreich, “Juilliard Quartet's Musical Chairs; Sounding Board for the New, Strings Attached to the Old”, in The New York Times:

"We will be calling audibles every time we come to the line," one participant recalls [Condoleezza Rice] saying to [Bush] then.

2001 December 5, Jim Hoagland, “'Calling Audibles'”, in The Washington Post:

We found this insurgency much more virile than we expected, so we called an audible.

2004, Richard L. Armitage, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations for 2005: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Second Session, Part 5: Iraq Reconstruction Program, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 10

Based on that decoding process, we may need to call an audible and either fine-tune or change channels in an attempt to help teenagers decode our messages more accurately.

2008, Doug Fields & Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers: How to Think About, Create, and Deliver Effective Messages, Zondervan/Youth Specialties, page 28

I reflected on what must have been their instructions, and what would have been the consequences for them of not following them, or of calling an audible, not a concept known in the North Korean foreign ministry.

2014, Christopher R. Hill, Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy: A Memoir, Simon & Schuster, page 216:

(US, idiomatic) To change plans at the last minute in response to new information.


you got it

(US, informal) As an answer to a request: sure, no problem.

(US, informal) As an affirmative response to a question or statement: correct, that's right, yes.


Mount Sharp

From mount + Sharp. Named in honour of U.S. geologist Robert P. Sharp.

(US, informal) Synonym of Aeolis Mons (a mountain on Mars)


beanwater

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

(US, slang, chiefly New England) High spirits.


be on one's beanwater

be<is,being,was,been> on one's beanwater

be on one's beanwater (third-person singular simple present is on one's beanwater, present participle being on one's beanwater, simple past was on one's beanwater, past participle been on one's beanwater)

is on one's beanwater (present singular third-person)
being on one's beanwater (participle present)
was on one's beanwater (past)
been on one's beanwater (participle past)

(slang, US, chiefly New England) To be in high spirits; to feel frisky.


counterpin

(informal, US, chiefly Southern US and South Midland US) A bedspread.


cup towel

(US, chiefly Texas and inland Southern US) A dish towel.


craftmaster

(US, nautical) A senior enlisted sailor qualified to operate small vessels and support craft.


come upon the town

While Brimfield people have never been very rich, they have been prudent and thrifty, and there have been very few so poor as to come upon the town for support.

1879, Historical Celebration of the Town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass, Clark W. Bryan Company, page 65:

The daughter had children and they all three came upon the town for support, for they would not work.

1912, Ada Harriet Kepley, A Farm Philosopher, Worman's Printery, page 149:

(US) To receive public charity; to have one's living supported by public funding.

(US) To make one's debut in town society; to become (known as) a man or woman about town.


dweebness

(US, dated, originally university slang, now general slang, derogatory) The quality of being dweeby.


dweebily

en-adv

dweebily (comparative more dweebily, superlative most dweebily)

more dweebily (comparative)
most dweebily (superlative)

But in fact she and her friend Bleeker, in his dweebily short running shorts, confound their peers' social categories altogether—and adults' preconceptions, too.

2011, Rise B. Axelrod, Charles R. Cooper, Axelrod & Cooper's Concise Guide to Writing:

(US, originally university slang, now general slang, derogatory) In a dweeby manner.


feist dog

feist dogs (plural)
fice dog (alternative)

(US) a small snappy belligerent mixed-breed dog


small-l libertarian

en-noun

small-l libertarian (plural small-l libertarians)

(chiefly US, politics) A person who holds libertarian views but is not a member of their country's "Libertarian Party".


parkitecture

(US, informal) A style of 20th-century architecture developed by the United States National Park Service in its efforts to create buildings that harmonized with the natural environment and avoided the regularity and symmetry of the industrial world.


Florida honeymoon

Florida honeymoon (plural Florida honeymoons)


queen for a day

In reference to the US radio and television show Queen for a Day, in which female contestants described their recent hardships.

(US, law, attributive) Describing a proffer letter agreement.


proffer letter

(US, law) A written agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant or prospective witness, allowing the latter to give the prosecutor information about an alleged crime, while limiting the prosecutor's ability to use that information against them.


dirt yard

dirt yards (plural)
dirtyard (alternative)

Out front was a clean dirt yard with every vestige of grass patiently uprooted and the ground scarred in deep whorls from the strike of Livvie’s broom.

1943, Eudora Welty, “Livvie”, in The Wide Net and Other Stories, New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., page 156:

One summer morning, after I had swept the dirt yard of leaves, spearmint-gum wrappers and Vienna-sausage labels, I raked the yellow-red dirt, and made half-moons carefully, so that the design stood out clearly and mask-like.

1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 5, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 23:

Maintaining a communal dirt yard was once routine for black families in the South, and it is also traditional in most West African villages.

1987, Patricia Jones-Jackson, chapter 1, in When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, page 8:

Outside, the familiar darkness disturbed by smog and the distant grumble of dysfunctional Trabants, an empty dirtyard facing the rump of a low, gray municipal building, the only illumination provided by the light trailing from the bar’s open door.

2002, Gary Shteyngart, chapter 35, in The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, New York: Riverhead Books, page 419:

(chiefly US) An unpaved yard that is kept free of grass and other vegetation.


PEBLO

(US, military) Acronym of physical evaluation board liaison officer.


JROTC

/d͡ʒeɪ ɑː(ɹ)əʊ tiː siː/

J.R.O.T.C. programs, taught by military veterans at some 3,500 high schools across the country, are supposed to be elective, and the Pentagon has said that requiring students to take them goes against its guidelines.

2022 December 11, Mike Baker, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Ilana Marcus, “Thousands of Teens Are Being Pushed Into Military’s Junior R.O.T.C.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

w:Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps

(US, military) Initialism of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.


horse and carriage

horse and carriage (plural horses and carriages)

(British, US) A light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses.


horse and buggy

horse and buggy (plural horses and buggies)


European War

From European + war. From being a war fought in Europe.

(Canada, US, obsolete, 1910s) Former name of WWI / World War One / First World War / The Great War.


tanglelegs

You remind me of a sailor I saw the other day. Jack was already "half seas over," when he went into Smith's and called for an ounce of old tangle-legs. Thinks I, what is that? So I kept my eye on the scales, but Smith understood him; so he gave him a glass, you see, and off he went. But, dear me, I guess it was tangle-legs! First he went this way; and then that, zigzag, like a Virginia fence, till his legs got into a complete tangle, and down he went.

1844, “The Monster of Many Names”, in Temperance Dialogues, New York: American Temperance Union:

Whiskee iz one ov the tonicks, i think, but i aint sure, i kno it iz one ov the tanglelegs, for I hav seen it tried often.

1879, Henry Wheeler Shaw, “March 1879”, in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax; republished in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, 1870–1879, New York: G. W. Dillingham, 1902:


no bueno

Pseudo-Hispanism, derived from no + bueno; a calque of no good.

pseudo-loan

(US, informal, mildly humorous) not good; no good; bad


tits and ass

T&A (alternative)
tits and arse (alternative)
tits and bums (alternative)

Workin for a tits and ass magazine. I don't need a tent and a rag around my head to know shit when I smell it.

1996, Michael Bigelow Dixon, Michele Volansky, By Southern Playwrights: Plays from Actors Theatre of Louisville, →ISBN:

Although the magazine featured tits and ass, it was black tits and ass.

2010, J. Ryan, Post-Jazz Poetics: A Social History, →ISBN, page 109:

Weis added, “He upgraded the dancing so that it wasn't just tits and ass.”

2013, Thomas Lisanti, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959–1969, →ISBN:

Marilyn, she asserted, “loved being all tits and ass. She invented tits and ass. She wanted to be a movie star, not an actress.

2014, C. David Heymann, Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love, →ISBN, page 167:

“Tits and ass, that's what the attraction is.” Just tits and ass? “No, an apache team in between for rationalization.” Well, that must be just one hotel—what's the second bit attraction? “More tits and ass.”

2016, Lenny Bruce, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography, →ISBN:

(vulgar, slang, US, Canada) Entertainment involving scantily clad women.

tieten en kont

entertainment involving scantily clad women


Bourbonish

en-adj

Bourbonish (comparative more Bourbonish, superlative most Bourbonish)

more Bourbonish (comparative)
most Bourbonish (superlative)

(US) Characteristic of a Bourbon Democrat.


P&DC

(US) Initialism of processing and distribution center.


dance with the one that brought you

"I have had people say, ‘Oh, the landscaping business is doing OK. So, you're going to get out of tobacco farming.’ No! I would like to see my landscaping business grow. But, without the cash flow from the farm, I would not have been able to start the landscaping operation," the Bunn, N.C., farmer stresses. "As they say, you dance with the one that brought you."

1986, Cooperative Farmer, Vols 42-43, p. 77. (Google snippet view) (retrieved 9 May 2018)

Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, Torre has trusted Hernandez more than any of his starters.

2000 October 18, Thomas Boswell, “Unlike the Boss, Torre Recognizes the Right Stuff”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2018-05-09:

Obama’s approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. “Dance with the one that brought you,” the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there’s only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.

2014 February 17, John E. Sununu, “Keeping Obama at arm’s length”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 2018-05-09:

I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.

2016 April 30, James Allan, “Leaving the dance with the one who brought you”, in Spectator, UK, retrieved 2018-05-09:

(chiefly US and Canada, informal, colloquial) To be considerate and loyal to the person who has been supportive, attentive, or helpful.


groceria

Borrowed from U.S. Spanish grocería, from English grocery.

She walked toward Avenue C. The black tar with a hideous spectre and the dim grocerías tucked into the walls.

1970, Paul Spike, “The Conference Man”, in Bad News, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, published 1971, page 90:

The action on the block had moved from the individual stoops to the bit of sidewalk in front of a groceria about three-quarters of the way down toward First Avenue.

1983, Timothy Cohrs, Tendencies, New York: St. Martin/Marek, page 210:

‘[…] it’s mostly Spanish up there now I think, and it’s probably got cigar stores and grocerías and Spanish graffiti, which looks the same as English graffiti, since you can’t read any of it anyway.’

1990, Robert Chibka, chapter 6, in A Slight Lapse, New York: Norton, page 182:

On 180th Street, worse: empty lots everywhere interspersed with random sections of stores: a groceria, a drugstore, a church; a stretch of emptiness and discard […]

2001 June 24, Vivian Gornick, “My Neighborhood, Its Fall and Rise”, in New York Times:


choke-dog

(obsolete, US) Any of several plants in the genus Gonolobus.


one-holer

In the corner by the door is a faucet with a basin beneath it, and beyond this what Chic Sale would call a "family one-holer".

1941, P. G. Wodehouse, second Berlin broadcast

A friend of mine had a Model T coupe, as tall and chaste as a one-holer.

1956, John Steinbeck, Jalopies I Have Cursed and Loved:

(US slang) An outhouse with a single hole.


teraliter

teraliters (plural)
teralitre (alternative)

(US) A unit of volume equivalent to 10¹² liters. Symbol: Tl


no promo homo

Other states like Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma include discussion LGBTQ+ sex but mandate talking about it in a way that stigmatizes their identities through what is often called no promo homo laws.

2022 August 30, “The sex ed most queer students never got”, in Life Kit, spoken by Lili Quiroz, via NPR:

(US) Describing laws approved by various US states that prohibit or limit the discussion of homosexuality and transgender identity in public schools.


Dutch baby

(US) A kind of sweet popover, normally served for breakfast.


nope out

en-verb

nope out (third-person singular simple present nopes out, present participle noping out, simple past and past participle noped out)

nopes out (present singular third-person)
noping out (participle present)
noped out (participle past)
noped out (past)

21st century. From the idea of saying nope and getting out; compare bow out (v.i.), peace out (v.i.), and laugh away (v.t.), which illustrate similar metonymic formation of a troponym.

noped outta there real quick

Van got a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, Dallas was right, he should have 'noped-out' of the whole situation. Such thoughts were simply moot at this stage however.

2016, Joshua Causer, A Slacker's Road Map of The Universe:

She felt a flash of guilt about that, but it went away when he talked about working ninety-hour weeks now that he was trying to make partner. It wasn't her job to bend her life around his. And he'd noped out of hers as soon as she'd told him she was pregnant.

2018, Zoe York, Love on the Outskirts of Town:

(intransitive, slang, Canada, US) To leave a place or abandon a situation or activity, usually quickly, because of feelings of fear or disgust.


asport

asport (third-person singular simple present asports, present participle asporting, simple past and past participle asported)

asports (present singular third-person)
asporting (participle present)
asported (participle past)
asported (past)
asportate (alternative)

To take and move to a certain other place, to carry away.


hoodmold

... was made to give a Gothic character to it by inserting windows of four lights, pointed, subdivided by a transom, and with a hoodmold over them, into the openings of the original sashes; and by adding a porch on the west side.

1886, Robert Willis, The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge, and of the Colleges of Cambridge and Eton, page 749:


pretensive

en-adj

pretensive (comparative more pretensive, superlative most pretensive)

more pretensive (comparative)
most pretensive (superlative)

From the participle stem of Latin praetendere + -ive.

I used half a lifetime reading the critics, and while I found the content pretensive I found the style somehow pleasurable […].

1967, Charles Bukowski, letter, in On Writing, Canongate 2016, p. 95


syphed up

syphed up (comparative more syphed up, superlative most syphed up)

more syphed up (comparative)
most syphed up (superlative)
siffed-up (alternative)
siffed up (alternative)
syphed-up (alternative)

And then, I always tell myself if I get siffed up, I'll merely knock myself off, put the old gun in my mouth.

1960, Ronald Verlin Cassill, Clem Anderson:

I am the siffed-up redhead being let out of the car on the corner.

1968, Charles Bukowski, letter, 20 April, in On Writing, Canongate 2016, p. 103

She wanted to die. She was a syphed-up junkie whore, she'd have died before she was forty of malnutrition or an accidental OD […].

(US slang) Afflicted with syphilis; syphilitic.


lickety

From earlier lickedy (“slick, sleek, fast”), equivalent to lick + -ety.

lickedy (alternative)
licketie (alternative)
lickerty (alternative)
licketty (alternative)
lickity (alternative)
lickoty (alternative)

lickety-cut

lickety-split

Away they started, “lickety-click,” and arrived at the winning-post within touching distance of each other.

1843, John S. Robb, Streaks of Squatter of Life, and Far-west Scenes, page 116:

Lickity, lickity, switch, we came to the ford, and Chiquita / Buckled right down to her work

1886, Bret Harte, “Chiquita”, in Abraham Firth, editor, Voices for the Speechless, page 95:

(US, informal, usually compounded with a noun) At full speed, fast.


state park

(especially US) a park managed by the federal state in which it is situated.


weather anchor

(US) A television presenter who presents the weather forecast.


kiss cam

(US) A camera that photographs couples kissing during a sports event and displays the image on a giant screen.


or bust

Indicating that the only alternative to what is being attempted is a bust (“(slang) failed enterprise; bomb”).

Nearly half a lifetime I have lived in Laramie, with all the while a great longing to see the wonders of the Yellowstone— [...] so when the boys wrote along the wagon top "Park or Bust," that settled it, and we started July 4th, 1903.

1905 June 29, N. E. Corthell, “A Family Trek to the Yellowstone”, in Henry Chandler Bowen, editor, The Independent, volume LVIII, number 2952, New York, N.Y.: The Independent, […], →OCLC, page 1460, column 1:

Mr. [William Jennings] Bryan recognizes that he must win New York—"or bust." He went there straight from Des Moines and had a three-hour conference with the local leaders.

1908 September 12, “Campaign Topics”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1642, San Francisco, Calif.: Argonaut Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 399, column 2:

Here it was, in black and white: More than 50 percent of our membership Tenderfoot Scouts, about 25 percent Second Class, only 20 percent First Class or more! [...] Set a goal—something like "First Class or more before '54!" or, if you are more ambitious than that: "First Class or bust, by September Fu'st!"

1953 May, “Green Bar Bill” [pseudonym], “Green Bar Bill Says … First Class or Bust!”, in Harry A. Harchar, editor, Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume XLIII, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 23, column 2:

The rush [the Pike's Peak Gold Rush] took on new momentum. [...] Each day fresh emigrants left the outfitting places along the Missouri with signs on their wagons, "Pikes Peak or Bust." During the summer of 1859 a continuing flood of gold-seekers poured across the plains and on into the mountains to conquer the Front and Park Ranges.

1987, Caroline Bancroft, Colorful Colorado: Its Dramatic History (Bancroft Booklets), Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 44:

In the fall of 1951, I was on my way to South Dakota State College in Brookings SD with Dale Pettyjohn in his Model A Ford. We painted the back of the Model A in white letters "SDSC or Bust".

2014 April 2, Delane Quiver Boyer, “SDSC or Bust”, in Path Chosen: Life of a Lakota: Mi Lakota Yelo, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 82:

For scores of African migrants, it's a case of "Europe or bust", no matter what Moroccan authorities throw at them in the way of detentions and being bussed hundreds of kilometres away.

2018 October 25, “‘Europe or Bust’ Migrants Undeterred in Morocco”, in France 24, archived from the original on 2018-10-25:

(chiefly US, informal) Used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.

tai ei mitään

used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative


depper

en-adjective

depper (comparative more depper, superlative most depper)

more depper (comparative)
most depper (superlative)

Don't be that one guy who shows up to boot camp in his depper clothes.

(US, military, nautical, slang) Of or pertaining to the Delayed Entry Program.


depper

The recruiting officer led the deppers outside to do PT in the hot sun.

(US, military, nautical, slang) A member of the Delayed Entry Program.


bastard horn snake

en-noun

bastard horn snake (plural not attested)

(US, dialectal, now rare) The common kingsnake.


old wife

From Middle English ald wyf, eld wiif, olde wyffe.

The Oldvvives, be a foule that never leave tatling day or night, ſomething bigger than a Ducke.

1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:

Clangula hyemalis
Clangula hyemalis#Translingual

(Canada, US, now rare) The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis.


S&P

standards and practices
standards and practices#English

(US, television) Initialism of standards and practices.


loss prevention

loss prevention (usually uncountable, plural loss preventions)

loss preventions (plural)
retail loss prevention (alternative)
LP (alternative)

aggressive loss prevention strategies at Target

loss prevention officer

(US) Prevention of a loss of profit (instances of theft, fraud, etc.) done by retail stores.

caught shoplifting by loss prevention

(US) The department or a person who is employed to carry out loss prevention.


median strip

(US)

(UK)

(US) A strip of land between opposing lanes of a road.

разделителна лента

area which separates opposing lanes of traffic


SDS

Students for a Democratic Society
w:Students for a Democratic Society

(US, historical) Initialism of Students for a Democratic Society.


zoo plane

(US, politics, slang) An airplane used during a political campaign to transport cameramen, technicians, members of lesser press publications, etc., separate from the primary plane that carries the candidate and major reporters.


DPT vaccine

DPT vaccines (plural)
DPT-vaccine (alternative)

Initialism of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus + vaccine.

Even though it may have held about 50 percent of the market with a product that was reputed to be safer than the other DPT vaccines available, Lilly was willing to sacrifice Trisolgen.

1985, Harris Livermore Coulter, Barbara Loe Fisher, DPT: a Shot in the Dark, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, page 302:

Pursuant to the court's Order, the FDA attempted to satisfy Kyle's additional requests for a variety of documents, including documents relating to the manufacture of DPT vaccine.

1990, Food, Drug, Cosmetic Law Reporter, Commerce Clearing House:

A perfectly healthy child of three months is taken in for a routine compulsory DPT vaccine.

1991, Colorado Lawyer, volume 20, Colorado Bar Association, page 1835:

Tdap vaccine

variants where the pertussis component is [[acellular]]

(medicine, chiefly US) Any publicly administered vaccine comprising a combination of vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus.


SPOD

(US, military) Acronym of seaport of debarkation/disembarkation.


BBG

Donald Trump intends to nominate Michael Pack, a controversial ally of Steve Bannon, as the next head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), according to a recent statement by the White House. […] BBG has sometimes been accused of being a propaganda outlet; perhaps because some of the networks it manages were set up for precisely that purpose.

2018 June 6, Arwa Mahdawi, “Michael Pack: the Bannon ally critics fear will become Trump's global propagandist”, in The Guardian:

Broadcasting Board of Governors
w:Broadcasting Board of Governors

(US, broadcasting) Initialism of Broadcasting Board of Governors.


megacap

From mega- + cap (short for capitalization).

market capitalization
market capitalization

(US, finance) The stock of a public company with a very high market capitalization, typically over $100 billion.


donut cake

(US) A large iced cake resembling a donut.


WHSC

White House Signal Corps
w:White House Signal Corps

(US, historical) Initialism of White House Signal Corps.


WHCA

White House Communications Agency
w:White House Communications Agency

(US) Initialism of White House Communications Agency.


driving while black

A jocular play on driving while intoxicated.

I was pulled over for driving while black yesterday. That idiot cop spent 20 minutes asking me a bunch of crap.

jill We [Jill and her husband James] call it, "Driving While Black." We have a . . . nice car. So we got pulled over for a DWB. . . .

[1995, Paul C. Rosenblatt, Terri A. Karis, Richard D. Powell, Multiracial Couples: Black and White Voices (Understanding Families), SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 147:

(US, sarcastic) A fictitious criminal offense, said to be committed when a traffic stop is motivated by a police officer's racial bias against a black motorist, rather than any actual violation of law.


breakbone

breakbone (countable and uncountable, plural breakbones)

breakbone A chicken's wishbone; also called the breaking bone or pulleybone.

[2000, Robert Hendrickson, editor, The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 30:

(US dialect, countable) A chicken's wishbone.


change purse

Not having enough money in her change-purse to pay for them, she took a roll of bills from a bill-fold in her inner pocket, and, taking five dollars from the roll, returned it to its place of safety in the lining of her coat.

1919, Hildegard G. Frey, chapter 18, in The Camp Fire Girls Solve a Mystery, New York: A. L. Burt, page 198:

1921, Almira Bailey, Vignettes of San Francisco, The San Francisco Journal, “Bags or Sacks,” p. 55,
In the East a change purse is scorned by anything masculine, but here all the men carry one, I don’t know why not in the East, nor why in the West.

And off went packages and bundles and wallets and bags; they whirled around the cashier’s desk in a clutter, hands digging into pocketbooks seeking change-purses, and fingers rummaging in change-purses for coins, and down below, in a forest of alien legs and hems and overcoats, children no longer held by the hand became lost and started crying.

1963, Italo Calvino, “Marcovaldo at the supermarket”, in William Weaver, transl., Marcovaldo, or The Seasons in the City, New York: Harcourt Brace, pages 84–85:

[…] as any Commonwealth native knows just by sifting through her change purse, the Queen is the most pictured living person in history.

2013 May 10, Leah McLaren, “Portrait of a lady: The delicate art of capturing the Queen”, in Maclean’s:

(chiefly Canada, US) A small purse or pouch designed for carrying coins.


sketch out

en-verb

sketch out (third-person singular simple present sketches out, present participle sketching out, simple past and past participle sketched out)

sketches out (present singular third-person)
sketching out (participle present)
sketched out (participle past)
sketched out (past)

The awkward and agitated customer began to sketch them out a bit.

(informal, Canada, US, transitive) To creep out; to give a creepy or sketchy feeling to someone.


Antwon

Antoine (alternative)
Antwone (alternative)

(US) A male given name from French, equivalent to English Anthony.


labonza

Likely from Sicilian la bonza (“any large rounded liquid container”).


womp womp

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

Imitative of a plaintive descending four-note trumpet or trombone sound, like G–F#–F–E, articulated with a plunger mute, played during game shows to indicate a player losing.

onom

Imitative

However, this fad quickly faded when people realized this technology (sad trombone: womp, womp) . . . well, it didn't work.

2017, Joe Clement, Matt Miles, Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber, page 227:

But in happy news, she said that even though “I have balance in all aspects of my life except for love,” (womp womp) I haven’t met my twin flame.

2019 November, Vonetta Logan, “Future Shtick”, in Luckbox, page 11:

Bread: alcoholic fermentation isn’t just for booze. When yeast, single-celled fungi, chow down on dough’s carbohydrates, they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide gas (the alcohol is evaporated during baking, womp womp).

2020, Meredith Hardie, "Back To Basics", Foodism, Summer 2020, page 39

(US, Canada, onomatopoeia, humorous) Used, sometimes mockingly, to indicate failure or disappointment.


butcher boy

One of his [Casey Stengel's] more practical creations? The butcher boy, in which a batter would draw the infield in by squaring up to bunt ... only to quickly pull it back and take a short, downward swing at the ball.

2016 June 14, “The origin stories behind 11 uniquely strange baseball terms”, in MLB.com, retrieved 2018-06-26:

(US, baseball) Batting at a pitch with a short swing from a bunt position; a slash bunt, a slug bunt.


out of one's cotton-picking mind

out of one's cotton-pickin' mind (alternative)

out of one's mind
out of one's mind#English

(US, dialectal) Synonym of out of one's mind.


put the dead wood on

en-verb

put the dead wood on (third-person singular simple present puts the dead wood on, present participle putting the dead wood on, simple past and past participle put the dead wood on)

puts the dead wood on (present singular third-person)
putting the dead wood on (participle present)
put the dead wood on (participle past)
put the dead wood on (past)

(US, dated, slang, transitive) To gain a great advantage over (someone).


Cletus

Borrowed from Latin Cletus, short form of the papal name Anacletus, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος (anáklētos, “invoked”), from ανακαλώ + -τός.

der

One of those things with a wooden handle and garishly serrated edges, used by guys with names like Cletus or Bobby Ray.

2011, Veronica Wolff, Isle of Night: The Watchers, Penguin, →ISBN:

(chiefly US) A male given name from Ancient Greek.


contagious fire

(US) The situation where one police officer firing a weapon induces others to fire as well.


logarithmization

(US) The action, or the result of logarithmizing


rooster sauce

en-noun

rooster sauce (usually uncountable, plural rooster sauces)

rooster sauces (plural)
red rooster sauce (alternative)
Red Rooster sauce (alternative)

From the rooster on the label of the brand sold in the US.


NIDCR

w:National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

(US) Initialism of National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.


like a chicken on a June bug

Lots of times you just have to step out on faith when you think something is the right way to go. J.D. took to the forestry stuff like a chicken on a June Bug.

2006, Richard Etheredge, A Logger's Dream, page 61:

So there I was, struggling mightily to protect my virtue with my step-father-in-law all over me like a chicken on a June bug, and I would have been shamed for sure, but the good Lord sent me a sign in the form of a hot brick.

Baz pounced quickly, like a chicken on a June bug.

2014, Allan Lawrence, Olympus and Beyond, page 340:

(Canada, US, simile, informal) Very quickly; in short order.


Carolina blue

(US) A light grayish blue, one of the official school colors of the University of North Carolina.


AFTAH

w:Americans for Truth about Homosexuality

(US) Initialism of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality: an anti-gay organization.


double off

en-verb

double off (third-person singular simple present doubles off, present participle doubling off, simple past and past participle doubled off)

doubles off (present singular third-person)
doubling off (participle present)
doubled off (participle past)
doubled off (past)

The fielder doubled the runner off for the second out.

(baseball, transitive) After a fly ball is caught, to tag the base (a runner) was on at the time of the pitch, thereby causing them to be out for failure to tag up.


Pinkster Monday

Pinkster-Monday (alternative)
Pinxter Monday (alternative)

Pentecost Monday
Pentecost Monday#English


spliffy

en-adj

spliffy (comparative more spliffy, superlative most spliffy)

more spliffy (comparative)
most spliffy (superlative)

I went to one of those swell dances in the pavilion on the pier, and got acquainted with two such interesting girls and three boys friends they had with them, and the bunch of us had a spliffy dinner in the casino.

1918, Louise Francis Spaller, Thomas Washington Shannon, Personal Help for Girls:

The message on this 1911 card reads “How spliffy! This river is safe for canoeing, as it is very shallow. The man in the picture has a case of beer on board.”

1999 [1911], Agnes Warren Barnes, quoting Kansas City Postcard Company, Waco, Texas A Postcard Journey, page 13:

[Kidd Creole] The boss talker, the spliffy walker / The woman teaser, the crowd pleaser

1979, “We Rap More Mellow”, performed by The Younger Generation:


cussfest

After the usual explanations and cussfest it was discovered that, aside from broken headlights and knocked down pilots, no other damage was done.

1936, Locomotive Engineers Journal, volume 70, page 37:

He hunches at the computer when there are seconds left to bid and his fingers itch to be the top bidder as he pounces and types in his offer and typically wins and then starts up the cussfests he used to have during Internet checkers.

2007, Susan Reinhardt, Don't Sleep with A Bubba: Unless Your Eggs Are in Wheelchairs:

(US, slang) An event or situation characterized by a great deal of swearing.


fifty-one fifty

en-verb

fifty-one fifty (third-person singular simple present fifty-one fifties, present participle fifty-one fiftying, simple past and past participle fifty-one fiftied)

fifty-one fifties (present singular third-person)
fifty-one fiftying (participle present)
fifty-one fiftied (participle past)
fifty-one fiftied (past)


fifty-one fifty

en-adj

fifty-one fifty (comparative more fifty-one fifty, superlative most fifty-one fifty)

more fifty-one fifty (comparative)
most fifty-one fifty (superlative)

He acts like he's gone fifty-one fifty.


gas engine

internal combustion engine
internal combustion engine

(US, Canada) An internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline; especially, a reciprocating one.


GSI

(US, education) Initialism of graduate student instructor.


bush sunflower

(US) A shrubby perennial with yellow flowers, Simsia calva, native from New Mexico and Texas to Central and South America.


mule's ear

(US) Any plant in the North American composite genus Wyethia, with woolly leaves and sunflower-like flowers.

(US) Any of various related plants in the genera Agnorhiza or Scabrethia (both formerly Wyethia).


cinchweed

(US) Any plant in the genus Pectis, especially Pectis papposa, a fragrant herb of deserts in the North American Southwest and related to the marigolds, used for flavoring and for traditional medicinal uses.


WAVES

(US, historical) Initialism of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.


hand cannon

hand cannons (plural)
handcannon (alternative)

1994, Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction
Vincent: "Did you forget that somebody was in there with a goddamn hand cannon?"

Hand Cannon - TV Tropes. Retrieved on 17 June 2022.
Magnum-caliber handguns or pistols that use rifle cartridges comprise most of the Hand Cannon trope, due to their superior ballistics.

(US, slang) A very large handgun, often impractically so.


cougarhood

And dating guys twenty years younger means you have officially hit cougarhood, proceed with caution.

2009, Reba Toney, The Rating Game: The Foolproof Formula for Finding Your Perfect Soul Mate, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 130:

Maybe they're still "studs" and "Lotharios", even at that age, long after the females have lost their "slut" status and moved on to cougarhood.

2009, Paul Madarasz, “How many cougars are there on the prowl?”, in alt.fan.cecil-adams (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

The women that age who have taken up the cause of cougarhood, if I might call it that, seem to have no trouble flaunting it, like it's something worth crowing about.

2010, Douglas Browning, Season of Guilt, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

C'mon, at this point even Gloria's adult daughter is too old and too ugly to be worthy of cougarhood.

2011, Ferd Berfle, “Gloria Allred”, in alt.clubs.just-for-fun (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

2011, Trijcomm, “Generation X women turning 40 are learning to embrace and celebrate their cougarhood”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-19:

Are you a MILF yet, or did you move up to cougarhood? When does one become a cougar?

2018, Daniel Urban, Grow Up Already, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, slang, rare) The condition of being a cougar (older woman who seeks relationships with younger males).


Texas trinity

(US, cooking) brisket, spare ribs, and smoked sausage


hareleaf

From the name of the genus, which is from Ancient Greek λαγώς (lagṓs, “hare”) + φύλλον (phúllon, “leaf”).

(US) Any plant in the genus Lagophylla- annual flowers of the western US having leaves covered by dense, soft hairs reminiscent of a rabbit's fur.


lunchette

(US) A little restaurant that serves lunch.


cougarness

In my last visits I wanted to shield Bonnie from the public's probing eye, to guarantee her the company of people who knew her condition and still respected her cougarness.

I understand that once she has found a regular relationship, no matter the age difference, ,^([sic]) she's no longer a cougar. I'm not sure if a regular booty-call partner is enough of a relationship to break her cougarness. However, the best definition, I believe, is a cougar (as any wild cat) is on the prowl for fresh (young) meat!

2005, CalgaryBill, “Re: What is your definition of a Cougar?”, in calgary.general (Usenet), retrieved 2018-07-22:

Then Mrs. Rock basically confessed to her own predatory cougarness: […]

2009, Chris Grabenstein, Mind Scrambler: A John Ceepak Mystery, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 191:

(Canada, US, slang, rare) The quality of being a cougar (older woman who seeks relationships with younger males).


blue-eyed Mary

en-noun

blue-eyed Mary (countable and uncountable, plural blue-eyed Marys)

(Canada, US) Collinsia verna, an annual plant native to the eastern and central parts of North America, having blue and white flowers.


out the ass

They will hire a Harvard graduate and pay him out the ass before looking at some middle-aged person who should have had his shit together years ago. Then there's me . . . thirty-four at nine dollars an hour.

2007, Joy Evans-Smith, Secrets to Kill For, page 11:

(US, slang, vulgar) Synonym of out the wazoo


on the DL

We like to keep it on the D.L.
because our clientele prefers it that way

2005, “Circus Maximus”, performed by Clutch:

(US, slang) Alternative form of on the down-low


From section 401(k) of the US Internal Revenue Code, which provides for such accounts.

Contribute 10 percent of your salary each month to your 401(k), and you're good. Start at age 25 making $50,000 a year, and earn a 3 percent annual raise until retirement.

2008 January–February, Steve Calechman, “5 Things You Can Stop Worrying about (And 5 Others that Should Trouble You Deeply)”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 148:

(US) A tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension account.


borderplex

(US) A metropolitan area on the border of the United States and Mexico.


postal note

(US historical) A fixed-sum postal order issued by the USPS between 1945 and 1951.


jackleg fence

The wind had blown the snow against the jackleg fences, and now only the top rail and anchor posts peeked out from beneath the drifts.

1985, Sally Garrett, chapter 13, in Northern Fires, New York: Harlequin, page 213:

More meadowlarks were perching along the poles of the jackleg fence, their necklaced throats throbbing as they sang to the Sun.

1991, Patricia Nell Warren, chapter 36, in One Is the Sun, New York: Ballantine, page 489:

(US) A fence constructed with wooden posts attached to form Xs and a top rail resting where they cross, or rails nailed on either side.


buck fence

[…] he sat down weakly on the lower bar of the buck fence and burst into tears […]

1922, Honoré Willsie, chapter 2, in Judith of the Godless Valley, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, page 29:

A stone cross was erected in March 1999 to mark the spot where Matthew Shepard was found lashed to a buck fence on the high plains east of Laramie, Wyoming.

2000, Deborah Able, Hate Groups, Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Chapter 5, p. 90, caption:


AAMS

American Air Mail Society
w:American Air Mail Society

(US, philately) Initialism of American Air Mail Society.


atomic buffalo turd

atomic buffalo turd (plural atomic buffalo turds)

(US, cooking, slang, mildly vulgar) A spicy barbecue snack, typically a jalapeño stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon.


armadillo egg

Since they do not contain any egg, the name may have come from Scotch egg, another snack food that is wrapped in sausage meat.

(US, cooking) A jalapeño popper, especially when wrapped in bacon or sausage meat.


gone coon

(US, slang) A goner; a person for whom there is no hope.


block group

(US) A small geographical unit that is part of the US censuses


San Quentin quail

San Quentin quail (plural San Quentin quails)

From San Quentin + quail. San Quentin invokes statutory rape, whereas quails were used as game, compare bait in jailbait.

(US, slang) jailbait (underage woman considered sexually attractive by adult men)


file 13

Just put it in file 13. It doesn't warrant a response.

If not, it’s not going to be of value to you or anyone else to put it in print after the event has taken place. Therefore it will be filed in file 13, and just in case you’re not familiar with this file, the army calls it the “waste-basket”.

1957, Cy Linder, “Piston Poppin’”, in American Motorcycling, page 34:

(US, military slang, dated) A trash can, wastepaper basket.


pussydom

(derogatory, vulgar, chiefly US, Canada, rare) The quality of being a pussy (coward, weakling).


permission slip

permission slip (plural permission slips)

Julie DeLongpre: Um, can someone please just sign my permission slip?
Richard DeLongpre: Julie, there she is! What did you do today?
Julie: Well, let's see I went to school, I got a permission slip, I asked you to sign it, …

2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1)

(US, education) A paper form that a school sends home with a student to a parent, onto which the parent provides authorization for the student to attend a certain event, such as a field trip.


rap down

en-verb

rap down (third-person singular simple present raps down, present participle rapping down, simple past and past participle rapped down)

raps down (present singular third-person)
rapping down (participle present)
rapped down (participle past)
rapped down (past)

We built an interim anchor and Mike rapped down to Jeff.

2016, American Alpine Club, Accidents: In North American Climbing 2016:

(transitive, Canada, US, slang, mountaineering) To rappel down a mountain.


jackass battery

en-noun

jackass battery (plural jackass batteries)

(historical, military, US) A group of cannons pulled by mules, used in 19th century warfare.


cup-tosser

Biddy Kelly was the best cup-tosser in the country. Only last week she had tossed her cup for " her ladyship," and saw in the cup a letter, a journey, and a surprise.

(dated, US, slang) Someone who reads tea leaves; someone who practices tasseography.


Clansman

(US) Alternative spelling of Klansman (KKK)


Clanswoman

(US) Alternative spelling of Klanswoman (KKK)


curly fries

curly fries pl (normally plural, singular curly fry)

(chiefly Canada, US) A kind of fries characterized by their spring-like helical shape, being cut from whole potatoes using a specialized spiral slicer.


raccoon oyster

So called because they were commonly eaten by raccoons.

(US) An oyster growing on the shores of the sea, having a narrow and elongated shell.


cowboy church

(US) A local Christian church characterized heavily by Western culture.


dewey

A phonetic pronunciation of the initialism DUI, particularly in some rural areas of the US.

(US, slang, humorous, uncommon) A charge of DUI.


QM

QM (countable and uncountable, plural QMs)

(military, scouting, US) Initialism of quartermaster.


wuzzle

en-verb

wuzzle (third-person singular simple present wuzzles, present participle wuzzling, simple past and past participle wuzzled)

wuzzles (present singular third-person)
wuzzling (participle present)
wuzzled (participle past)
wuzzled (past)

(transitive, US, dialect, dated) To jumble or confuse.


Fiddler's Green

From 19th-century English maritime folklore.

Fiddlers' Green (alternative)
Fidlers' Green (alternative)

1996, Edward L. Daily, We Remember: U.S. Cavalry Association, Turner Publishing Company, page 7,
Fiddler's Green is where a cavalryman meets his comrades who have gone before him, at an old canteen, surrounded by a broad meadow, dotted with trees and crossed by many streams. Here the cavalryman stops, unsaddles his horse, and joins his comrades for a visit with many stories, reminiscences, and camaraderie, before continuing his journey. Soldiers of no other service may stop at Fiddler's Green, they must continue to march.

(US, military) A stopping place for fallen cavalrymen on the path to the afterlife.


make the cheese more binding

make the cheese more binding (third-person singular simple present makes the cheese more binding, present participle making the cheese more binding, simple past and past participle made the cheese more binding)

makes the cheese more binding (present singular third-person)
making the cheese more binding (participle present)
made the cheese more binding (participle past)
made the cheese more binding (past)

Why bother the title company with opening an escrow, making a search, when your deal might “flop”? Wait until you get that additional deposit to make the “cheese more binding.”

1951, Harold Arthur Mitchell, How to Make Money in the Real Estate Business, page 51:

After all that the car wouldn't start and, to make the cheese more binding, Jack had taken my jumper cables.


German sparrow

Named “German” because the introduced population originally released in Missouri in 1870 came from Germany.

Passer montanus
Passer montanus#Translingual


slaunchwise

en-adj

slaunchwise (comparative more slaunchwise, superlative most slaunchwise)

more slaunchwise (comparative)
most slaunchwise (superlative)


plus factor

Race may therefore not be the only determining factor in the allocation, but race may be considered as a plus factor that may be taken into account.

2001, Johan Rabe, Equality, Affirmative Action and Justice, page 143:

Three white women challenged the admissions system, which gave applicants “plus factors” or "points" for being non-white […]

2005, Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, volume 28, page 225:

These plans can take many forms including outreach, special training programs, race or gender as plus factors, and goals and timetables.

2007, Anderson C. Williams, A Concise Summary of Human Resource Management:

(US, law) Any trait of a person, such as their race, that may give them an advantage under affirmative action.


Mr. President

(US, politics) Honorific used in addressing the president of the United States; POTUS.


singed cat

(US, dated) A person who is better than they look.


right smart

Papa used to have a right smart of money, but I don't know what he did with it.

1983, Faye Julian, A Magic Christmas: A Play for Children in One Act:

(slang, US, dated) A large amount, a great deal.


doppich

doppich (comparative more doppich, superlative most doppich)

more doppich (comparative)
most doppich (superlative)

Originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, from Pennsylvania German doppich (“clumsy”), related to German täppisch (“clumsy”).

“I'm so sorry, I'm just so doppich,” she commiserated unable to look him in the eye. He chuckled in response. “Now my boots match the rest of me,” he replied with laughter in his voice. He pointed to his tight trousers that were smudged ...

2011, Henry A. Fischer, Emigrants and Exiles: book three, volume one, Author House, →ISBN, page 44:

We bought it new a few years ago, and since then it's been dropped a few times by overzealous kids and doppich (clumsy) Mom.

2011, Lorilee Craker, Money Secrets of the Amish, Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 17:

Don't be so doppich, he'd told himself. Now, struggling with the painful ache in his throat, he looked over at Sassy. She was taking dainty steps as she stalked over to the dresser and rubbed against first its wooden legs, then the chair's.

2015, Beverly Lewis, The Love Letters, Baker Books, →ISBN:

(US, especially Pennsylvania, slang) Clumsy; lacking dexterity; not skilled.


classification yard

en-noun

classification yard (plural classification yards)

(rail transport, US) a railroad yard where incoming freight trains are sorted into various sidings.


towerman

(rail transport, US) a person employed in a railroad switch tower to control and direct the movement of cars and trains.


well car

(rail transport, US) an open low-sided freight car with a lowered body.


they-uns

From they + uns, a form of ones representing an older pronunciation of it.

they'uns (alternative)
theyuns (alternative)

(US, Midwestern US and Appalachia) They (third-person plural subject pronoun).

[…] 'only' (she said as if the thought had just struck her, and as if to herself) 'that would be burning up in part the property of one of we uns, as, thank God, the house don't belong to they uns.'

1880, George Chittenden Benham, A Year of Wreck: A True Story, by a Victim, page 106:

"I'd like mighty well to raise myself, and reach a helpin' hand down to they-uns below, but I sure ain't prepared to leave you sad and lonesome." She laughed — a laugh light as a child's. "Do I look sad?" she asked. "I'll be proud as a peacock ...

1903, Emma Rayner, Handicapped Among the Free, page 7:

(US, Midwestern US and Appalachia) Them (third-person plural object pronoun).


team track

(rail transport, US) a railroad siding where customers can load and unload freight cars themselves.


road switcher

(rail transport, US) a diesel locomotive that combines the duties of a switcher with those of a locomotive hauling trains from one place to another.


short line

(rail transport, US) alternative form of shortline.


hood unit

(rail transport, US) a diesel locomotive with a body that is less than full width, apart from the cab.


cab unit

(rail transport, US) a diesel or electric locomotive with a full-width body for its entire length.


Krogering

From Kroger + -ing. From a marketing campaign by The Kroger Company that featured the jingle "Let's Go Krogering!" https://books.google.com/books?id=2DaFZGPDdfwC&pg=PA28

If yours is a “happy family”—in the midwest—you go Krogering.

1960, Jack Mendelsohn, Why I Am a Unitarian, Thomas Nelson, page 207:

Needless to say, our bunch won’t be going Krogering again, like they say down that way.

2002 February 22, Orris Tottle, “And the senior shall wind down at the Lion”, in Walker County Messenger, LaFayette, Georgia, page 4:

He tells Hodges his folks are off Krogering, and he’s got babysitting duty until they get back.

2014, Stephen King, Mr. Mercedes, New York City: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 214:

While I’ll continue Krogering until Aug. 14, when the Durham stores close, Kroger may have lost me as a customer when traveling and shopping outside of the Triangle and state.

2018 July 26, Howard Craft, “Last days of Krogering get personal for this Durham shopper”, in The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina, retrieved 2018-09-01:


track pan

TWENTY-NINE track pan water stations, located at strategic points on the Main Line and on the Michigan Central, play an important part in keeping New York Central Railroad's traffic speeding without the delay caused by locomotives stopping.

1945, Locomotive Engineers Journal - Volume 79:

The New York Central Railroad was the first railway in the U.S.A. to use water troughs, or track pans, as they are called in America.

1949 March and April, “The Why and The Wherefore: Water Troughs in the U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 137:

In 1870 at Montrose, N.Y., the New York Central made the first installation of a track pan and scoop to permit locomotives to take water on the fly. Since these installations invariably were in tiny communities, and since they permitted locomotives literally to “jerk water”

1979, The Train Dispatcher - Volumes 61-62, page 49:

Towns with track pans no longer had as many trains stop there, and they became derisively known as “jerkwater” towns, where the trains would jerk water and just keep on going.

2016, Kevin EuDaly, Mike Schafer, Steve Jessup, The Complete Book of North American Railroading, page 335:

(rail transport, US) a long trough placed between the rails in a railroad track, which enabled a steam locomotive to replenish its water supply without stopping by lowering a scoop.


TOFC

This explains the railroads' enthusiasm for the astonishing growth of trailer-on-flat-car traffic (T.O.F.C., or more commonly "piggyback").

1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 681:

(rail transport, US) Initialism of trailer on flatcar. (referring to semi-trailers transported by train)


sectionman

sectionmen (plural)
section man (alternative)
section-man (alternative)

1916, Annual Report of the Public Utilities Commission, State of Maine, Sentinel Publishing Company https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hi1FAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA56&lpg=RA2-PA56&dq=%22sectionman%22&source=bl&ots=i9BCwYgdC9&sig=d72pK2gH6efsfs4_I_v6M619s-g&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT1uqotJ_dAhXCCMAKHfhZCTE4ChDoATAEegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=%22sectionman%22&f=false
... a sectionman was killed when his motor velocipede was struck by an extra freight on a curve; a sectionman was crushed between two cars when working on a track left unprotected; a sectionman was struck by a shifting engine; …

Sectionmen step back to admire a T&P Texas in West Texas as the 2-10-4 comes charging up bad Baird Hill.

1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (photo caption)

Being on the engine when the engineer applied the brakes I asked why he was stopping and he said "there's a sectionman fighting with a wolf". So I backed up to the spot and the fireman and I jumped off with pick and shaker bar. I hit the wolf on the head with the pick and fireman Grier hit it with the shaker bar. This finished the wolf.

2013, Canadian Folk: Portraits of Remarkable Lives, by Peter Unwin, Dundum, →ISBN:

(rail transport, US, Canada) A railroad worker who maintains and patrols the track.


truck crop

(US) A vegetable crop grown by truck farming.


flood the zone

en-verb

flood the zone (third-person singular simple present floods the zone, present participle flooding the zone, simple past and past participle flooded the zone)

floods the zone (present singular third-person)
flooding the zone (participle present)
flooded the zone (participle past)
flooded the zone (past)
followed by with (usually)

The NFL renaissance of Doug Flutie is a reminder of one of the great plays in college football history. […] "The play was called 'Trips Right, Flood Tip,'" Phelan said. "That meant three receivers to the right side, flood the zone and try for the tip."

1998 November 22, Hal Bock, “Hail To Flutie And The Gang: Miracle Pass to Phelan Still Has Lasting Effect on Players”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2018-09-03:

McCarthy could spot his curveball for strikes, and flooded the zone with fastballs and cutters.

2017 April 17, Andy McCullough, “Dodgers taxed bullpen gives up first homer in 4-2 loss to Diamondbacks”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 2018-09-03:

Of the 17 Padres position players who saw the most playing time in 2017, 16 of them were 29 or younger. […] Of course, simply flooding the zone with young players doesn't guarantee anything.

2017 November 19, Jonah Keri, “Astros Lead Our Offseason Power Rankings”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 2018-09-03:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, sports) To fill a relevant region of the field of play.


pilot beam

To comply with restrictive clearances this T-1-a mounts pumps, headlight and bell on the pilot beam and carries a squared-off sandbox and a naked Coffin feedwater heater.

Pilot beams, however, the foremost cross-brace of the frame, continued to be made of wood until almost 1900.

1979, A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development 1830-1880, by John H. White, Courier Corporation, →ISBN:

(rail transport, US) a transverse beam at the end of a locomotive which carries the pilot or cowcatcher.


nasal cannula

(medicine, more common in Canada, US) A device used to deliver supplemental oxygen or increased airflow to a patient in need of respiratory help.


time freight

en-noun

time freight (countable and uncountable, plural time freights)

No. 92 is drifting down into Burlington with time freight in 1946.

1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co., page 14 (photo caption)

(rail transport, US, uncountable) Freight for movement on regularly scheduled trains providing expedited service and a guaranteed delivery time.


Garrisonism

(US, historical) The abolitionist beliefs of William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), American journalist, suffragist, and social reformer.


mail car

(rail transport, US) a railroad car in which mail is carried and sorted.


common carrier

(US, telecommunications) a company providing public telecommunications facilities.


bridge route

A decade later D&H began buying fast, high-horsepower locomotives in the interest of lucrative bridge-route traffic.

1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co., page 34:

(rail transport, US) a railroad which provides a link from one major carrier (railroad) to another.


refarmed

(US, Australia, telecommunications) having undergone refarming


JTAC

Joint Terminal Attack Controller
w:Joint Terminal Attack Controller

(US) Initialism of Joint Terminal Attack Controller.


hallway monitor

hallway monitor (plural hallway monitors)


bimbo eruption

Coined by Betsey Wright, lobbyist for US president Bill Clinton, who was involved in such a scandal.

Let this Little Rock lawyer and unintentional firefighter appear at the site of a bimbo eruption, and its scale shrinks from Vesuvius to anthill.

1996, Paul Greenberg, No Surprises: Two Decades of Clinton-watching:

(slang, US, derogatory) A scandal in which a woman publicly accuses a male politician of sexual misconduct.


orthographic neighbor

orthographic neighbor (plural orthographic neighbors)

orthographic neighbour
orthographic neighbour#English

US standard spelling of orthographic neighbour.


orthographic neighborhood

orthographic neighborhood (plural orthographic neighborhoods)

orthographic neighborhoods (plural)
orthographic neighbourhood (alternative)

In summary, the present experiments have shown that addition and deletion neighbors form part of a word’s orthographic neighborhood.

2009, Colin J. Davis, “Re(de)fining the Orthographic Neighborhood: The Role of Addition and Deletion Neighbors in Lexical Decision and Reading”, in Journal of Experimental Psychology, Human Perception and Performance, 35(5): 1550-1570:

(orthography) The set of words that can be formed by changing one letter while maintaining letter positions.


FHLBB

Federal Home Loan Bank Board
w:Federal Home Loan Bank Board

(US, finance, historical) Initialism of Federal Home Loan Bank Board.


coldwater flat

coldwater flats (plural)
cold-water flat (alternative)
cold water flat (alternative)

In Hoboken, in a coldwater flat ("one can to four families"), Frank was born on Dec. 12, 1915.

1955 August 29, “Cinema: The Kid from Hoboken”, in Time, retrieved 2018-09-27:

"I used to drop in here on Saturdays, when I lived in a coldwater flat and couldn't afford to buy anything […]," she reminisced.

1974 April 26, Bernadine Morris, “Shop Talk”, in New York Times, retrieved 2018-09-27:

[Diamond] lived in Florence until 1965. He was on his third Guggenheim Fellowship and explained, "I can make my income last and live extremely well with my own villa and garden at a cost that would provide a hole-in-the-wall, coldwater flat in America."

2005 June 15, Peter Dickinson, “Obituary: David Diamond”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2018-09-27:

Page has been collecting and hoarding fabric since the early '70s, when she was a hippie living in a cold-water flat in Montreal.

2008 April 5, Rita Zekas, “Quilty pleasure”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2018-09-27:

(chiefly US, dated) A small, very inexpensive apartment having only the most rudimentary features and lacking a plumbing system to supply hot water.


USMCA

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; predecessor to USMCA

FTA

United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement; predecessor to NAFTA

He’s promoted the USMCA as one of his big accomplishments, claiming it’s already creating jobs – despite the fact it hasn’t been ratified by Congress.

2019 April 18, Katie Lobosco and Haley Byrd, “Trump’s NAFTA replacement would have modest but positive impact, report finds”, in CNN:

United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement
w:United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement

(trade, US) Initialism of United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.


Tennessee windage

Why not assume that a hundred and sixty-seven thousand light-years leaves room for Tennessee windage amounting to only a hair’s breadth of a fraction of one per cent?

1958, Robert Heinlein, chapter 12, in Have Space Suit—Will Travel, New York: Del Rey, page 250:

1976, Morris L. Bigge, “Describing the Learning Process” in Walter R. Nord (editor), Concepts and Controversy in Organizational Behavior, Pacific Palisades, CA: Goodyear Publishing, 2nd edition, p. 148,
To hit a squirrel he had to take wind and distance into consideration and move the rifle away from a line on the target (windward and upward) to give “Tennessee windage” and “Kentucky elevation.”

(US, slang) An adjustment made by a shooter to correct for wind (or motion of the target) by aiming at a point horizontal to the target's position in the sight rather than by adjusting the sight to compensate.


motarded

en-adj

motarded (comparative more motarded, superlative most motarded)

more motarded (comparative)
most motarded (superlative)

(US, military, slang) Like a motard; obnoxiously overenthusiastic.


Three Amigos

From three + amigo. From Spanish amigo (“friend”), and there being three of them.

(plural only, informal, Canada, US, politics) Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

NORAD

North American Aerospace Defense Command

(plural only, informal, Canada, US, politics) The prime minister of Canada and the presidents of Mexico and the United States.

(informal, Canada, US, politics) The North American Leaders Summit.


full-service

I didn't realize this was a full-service Italian restaurant, they serve more than pizza.

(US) Providing full service: a complete line of products or services.

(US, of a gas station) Which provides an attendant to pump gas.


forward-leaning

forward-leaning (comparative more forward-leaning, superlative most forward-leaning)

more forward-leaning (comparative)
most forward-leaning (superlative)
forward leaning (alternative)

"I got a little too rambunctious, like a colt that got out of the barn to play, and I pulled myself in. I didn't do it all myself. My task force lawyer was whispering like Jiminy Cricket in my ear. I probably got us a little too far forward leaning at one point in time and then pulled us back." - Alan Fiers, a C.I.A. official, on secretly aiding Nicaraguan rebels. (A2:2.)

1987 August 26, “Quotation of the Day”, in New York Times, retrieved 2018-10-12:

He denied ever using the phrase "forward-leaning" (a euphemism at the Pentagon for the most coercive techniques) over torture policy.

2005 January 7, Rupert Cornwell, “We do not torture, insists Bush's choice for attorney general”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2018-10-12:

“He was right to say they could be more forward leaning about what they could possibly do against ISIS,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

2016 February 26, Lolita C. Baldor, “U.S. military targets ISIS propaganda in aggressive cyberwar”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2018-10-12:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) Disposed to take action or to exercise initiative; aggressive; bold.


cut in line

en-verb

cut in line (third-person singular simple present cuts in line, present participle cutting in line, simple past and past participle cut in line)

cuts in line (present singular third-person)
cutting in line (participle present)
cut in line (participle past)
cut in line (past)


thotty

All these thotties on my dick. You know I'm the man lil' bitch.

Scotty to Hotty, she fucked everybody, can't wife the lil' bitch, she a thotty.

But I know she is a thotty hypnotize me with her body.

(US, slang) Alternative form of thot (“slut, sexually promiscuous woman”)


thotty

en-adj

thotty (comparative thottier, superlative thottiest)

thottier (comparative)
thottiest (superlative)

(US, slang) Resembling or characteristic of a thot (slut, sexually promiscuous woman).


what wins on Sunday sells on Monday

win on Sunday, sell on Monday (alternative)
wins on Sunday, sells on Monday (alternative)

Doesn't anyone remember the axiom that what wins on Sunday sells on Monday? Automotive execs may wonder whether that still applies, but you can bet they know who won before they go to bed each Sunday night.

1991 July 3, Al Pearce, “General Motors likely to reduce NASCAR funds”, in Daily Press, Virginia, US, retrieved 2018-10-15:

"The automakers have provided a lot of money and support for NASCAR," Baker said. "They believe that what wins on Sunday sells on Monday."

2008 December 20, Don Crinklaw, “Life in the fast lane”, in Sun-Sentinel, Florida, US, retrieved 2018-10-15:

"Chevrolet wants to have an engine running after midyear so by July we want to be running it on the track in car tests," Penske said. "They say what wins on Sunday sells on Monday."

2011 April 8, Bruce Martin, “Penske talks future in IndyCar, Danica's foray in NASCAR, more”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 2018-10-15:

Auto racing was a glamorous extension of Detroit's iconic position in American life, where "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" was gospel truth.

2012 May 22, Micheline Maynard, “'Mad Men' And The Glory Of Mid-1960s Cars”, in Forbes, retrieved 2018-10-15:

(chiefly US, marketing, motor sports) A brand of automobile that performs well in racing competitions will be popular with retail purchasers.

There's an old saying in the golf industry: What wins on Sunday sells on Monday. Golfers are the ultimate copycats.

2006 April 13, Ed Sherman, “Dual-driver bag is not for duffers”, in Chicago Tribune, retrieved 2018-10-15:

(chiefly US, marketing, by extension) Any equipment available to consumers that performs well in widely-viewed public events on weekends can be expected to receive higher retail sales subsequently.


break the Internet

en-verb

break the Internet (third-person singular simple present breaks the Internet, present participle breaking the Internet, simple past broke the Internet, past participle broken the Internet)

breaks the Internet (present singular third-person)
breaking the Internet (participle present)
broke the Internet (past)
broken the Internet (participle past)
break the internet (alternative)
break the internets (alternative)

Early use of the phrase (circa the mid-1990s) refers to literally breaking the Internet connection of a single device. It also refers to breaking the World Wide Web or the Internet itself, with the implication that it would be impossible or implausible to do so in most ordinary contexts.
A figurative usage of the phrase emerged in the early 2000s. Rather than the Internet or an Internet connection literally breaking, the figurative meaning describes a web server becoming overwhelmed by a surge in organic, non-malicious web traffic. It can also describe a deliberate, malicious attempt to overwhelm a web server, as in a denial-of-service attack or other cyberattack.
In the early 2010s, "break the internet" developed a secondary figurative usage in Internet slang. Similar to "going viral", the slang usage refers to behavior that causes a dramatic increase in web traffic or social media commentary, especially when the behavior was ostentatious or controversial. The phrase was famously used on the November 2014 issue of Paper magazine, titled "Break the Internet" and featuring American celebrity Kim Kardashian on the cover. The magazine was not the first to use the phrase in this sense, but it did popularize it.

“Click on everything including graphics, buttons, and links, to see where they lead. Don't be afraid to get lost, and don't worry about making mistakes. 'You can't break the Internet,' says Warren Shaver, project manager for ASTD Online Services.”

1996 Sacha Cohen, John Makulowich, Warren Shaver, Training & Development (cited in 2016 Merriam-Webster.com, "Words We're Watching: Break the Internet")

Advocacy groups warned that entertainment companies—who invested heavily in lobbying for the bills—where trying to “break the Internet”; […]

2014, Astra Taylor, chapter 4, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, colloquial, literally) To cause a connection to the Internet, or the Internet itself, to malfunction.


Trumpophobia

At home, I see intolerance, various forms of prejudice, demonisation and the exploitation of fear – the last like shooting at the side of a barn, in the American context – at work in our Trumpophobia. This is the soft despotism of the American neoliberal.

2016, Stan Grant, Quarterly Essay 64 The Australian Dream: Blood, History and Becoming:

Heer, who writes a bi-weekly column with headings such as “Steve Bannon is Turning Trump into an Ethno-Nationalist Ideologue” and “Donald Trump is the Bizarro Noam Chomsky”, appears to have contracted a particularly virulent strain of Trumpophobia

2017 April 25, D McCann, “The new totalitarians: Fresh thoughts on James Burnham”, in Quadrant:

Comedian Bill Maher — currently in the midst of his 15th season on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" — has certainly been the beneficiary of increased viewership due to Trumpophobia.

2017 May 7, Zach Freeman, “Maher needed to put away his notebook and be present at Chicago Theater”, in Chicago Tribune:

Alan Dershowitz, a Clinton voter in the last election, warned that the effort to escalate perfervid Trumpophobia from criminalization of policy differences (as well as sour grapes over the lost election) to “psychiatrization” was even more sinister and anti-democratic.

2018 January 10, Conrad Black, “Michael Wolff and the Death Rattle of Trumpophobia”, in National Review:

We may disapprove of Donald Trump's crude behaviors and documented low respect for truth[3]. However, these may have created a kind of Trumpophobia that leads otherwise thoughtful people to exaggerate earlier positive influences of US foreign policy

2018, FT Manheim, “Is Donald Trump's Influence on World Affairs Really Worse than Earlier American Policies?”, in papers.ssrn.com:

(US, politics, informal) Fear of Donald Trump


Blob

(US, derogatory) The section of the elite class in Washington D.C. who have moved from political or regulatory work to lobbying firms or think tanks, especially in foreign policy or on the behalf of corporations.


congressfolk

(US, informal) congressmen and congresswomen


scouthouse

In the summer of 1920 a second troop was started, and opened with a Scouthouse at Laie, windward Oahu, for the children of those missionaries living together in this happy settlement which radiates the true spirit of hospitality and kindness.

1935 October, “Explorers and Scouts: Scouting in the Oahu Stake”, in Heber J[eddy] Grant, John A[ndreas] Widtsoe, editors, The Improvement Era, volume 38, number 10, Salt Lake City, Ut.: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, →OCLC, page 634, column 1:

A new rectory, a youth center and a scouthouse were constructed […]

1980, Frank A. Driskill, Noel Grisham, Historic Churches of Texas: The Land and the People, Burnet, Tex.: Eakin Press, →ISBN, page 211:

Once, they thought they saw a light burning in a place which should have been dark. But it was only the reflection of the streetlamps shining on the scouthouse windows, and they did not even stop to investigate.

1982, Staffrider, volume 5, Braamfontein, Johannesburg: Ravan Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 83, column 1:

I've only been an out of town visitor at the Mon night scouthouse dances a few times, but I've never found it uninviting.

1994 April 12, Phil Katz, “Tempo”, in rec.folk-dancing (Usenet), message-ID <2od0eh$ol6@news.u.washington.edu>:

(scouting, US) A building where members of the Scout Movement hold their meetings.


Sou'frican

Sou'fricans (plural)
Soufrican (alternative)


Sou'frican

If it wasn't for the Sou'frican Plan, I have no doubt, we'd all be slouching and moaning right now.

2006, Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, page 104:


sorcerer's stone

en-noun

sorcerer's stone (countable and uncountable, plural sorcerer's stones)

sorcerer's stones (plural)
sorcerers' stone (alternative)
sorcerers stone (alternative)

philosopher's stone
philosopher's stone#English


don't that beat all

Don't that beat all? A grown thirty-year-old with the measles!

2012, Earl Cooke, Redemption of a Dark Hero, page 26:

(Canada, US, informal) Expressing great wonder or surprise.


PGSO

(US) Initialism of psychology graduate students organization.


PGSO

w:Prince George's County Sheriff's Office

(US) Initialism of Prince George's County Sheriff's Office.


hospital corpsman

hospital corpsman (plural hospital corpsmen)

hospital corpsmen (plural)
HM (alternative)

(military, US, nautical) A member of a hospital corps, typically an enlisted navy sailor, often working at military hospitals.


CVPI

Crown Victoria Police Interceptor#English

(US, automotive, law enforcement) Initialism of Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.


HQMC

Headquarters Marine Corps
Headquarters Marine Corps#English

(US, military) Initialism of Headquarters Marine Corps.


FFAR

Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket
w:Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket

(US, military) Initialism of Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket.


hospitalman

(military, US, nautical) A seaman who is also a hospital corpsman.


Lamborghini door

Lamborghini door (plural Lamborghini doors)

I put Lamborghini doors on that Escalade.

2004, “How We Do”, in Jayceon Taylor, Mike Elizondo, Curtis J. Jackson, Andre R. Young (lyrics), Andre R. Young and Mike Elizondo (music), The Documentary, performed by The Game (featuring 50 Cent), G-Unit Records:

genericized trademark
genericized trademark

(genericized trademark, US, slang) A scissor door.


unfragged

(US, military, slang) Not specified as a military target.


turnt up

en-adj

turnt up (comparative more turnt up, superlative most turnt up)

more turnt up (comparative)
most turnt up (superlative)

(US, slang) turned up; wild and crazy; excited


NDCC

National Defense Cadet Corps
w:National Defense Cadet Corps

(US, military) Initialism of National Defense Cadet Corps.


general delivery

(US, Canada) The issuing of postal mail to recipients from a post office counter, rather than by delivering it to their addresses.


third-degree murder

en-noun

third-degree murder (usually uncountable, plural third-degree murders)

(US, law) Murder without intent but during a felony.


Clintonoid

en-adjective

Clintonoid (comparative more Clintonoid, superlative most Clintonoid)

more Clintonoid (comparative)
most Clintonoid (superlative)

Which Clintonoid columnist or propagandist did not employ this dramatic phrase, as their hero found himself at the mercy, not of a law 'n' order Democrat on the approved model, but of a law 'n' order Republican?

1999, Christopher Hitchens, chapter 3, in No One Left to Lie to: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton:

But this, he asserted, "does not require the rhetoric of reparations," and it fit what he called "the Clintonoid tenor of sappy public apologies and maudlin psychobabble about collective pain and healing."

2005, Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas, Martha Merrill Umphrey, The Limits of Law, →ISBN, page 89:

Clintonoid liberals have their own narratives that minimize the lessons to be drawn from Trump's victory.

2018, Adolph L. Reed Jr., “Foreword”, in Crashing the Party: From the Bernie Sanders Campaign to a Progressive Movement:

(derogatory, informal, US) Clintonian: relating to or supporting Bill or Hillary Clinton.


Clintonoid

A Clintonoid would be able to easily dismiss it as just some sort of clerical error if it weren't so logically cohesive.

1995, Michael Cliff Kellett, The Murder of Vince Foster, page 135:

Samuel Francis sounds like a Clintonoid in his column "Will Europe Survive?" (Principalities & Powers, August).

2016, Ted Rall for Counterpunch, Hey, Clintonoids, Stop Bullying Me About My Vote:

(derogatory, informal, US) A Clintonite.


NORML

Similarly, alcohol and tobacco are not scheduled under the CSA. These two substances are descheduled. […] NORML believes that a similar descheduling option – where the federal government and state governments both possess varying degrees of regulatory authority over the production, marketing, and taxation of the product, is appropriate for cannabis.

2019 May 19, “How to End Marijuana Prohibition With Regard to the Controlled Substances Act”, in NORML:

(US) Acronym of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.


fussbutton

fussbuttons (plural)
fuss-button (alternative)

“[…] there’s old Buttercup in the big meadow, ride at her, Tom, and see her run,” proposed Dan, bent on mischief.
“No, you mustn't,” began Demi, who was learning to distrust Dan’s propositions.
“Why not, little fuss-button?” demanded Dan.

1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Chapter 6”, in Little Men: […], Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

Maybe I’m just an old fuss button. For undoubtedly thousands of Americans unquestioningly accept and down this insipid beverage and as far as I know there’s never been any petition presented at Washington in protest.

1941, Cornelia Otis Skinner, “In Quest of Tea”, in Soap Behind the Ears, New York: Dodd, Mead, page 149:

(Canada, US) One who complains or fusses a great deal, especially about unimportant matters.


dine-and-dasher

(Canada, US, informal) One who dines and dashes.


lieberal

lieberals (plural)
LIEberal (alternative)

(US, slang, politics, derogatory) Pejorative for liberal, as considered particularly prone to lying.


lieberal

(US, slang, politics, derogatory) Pejorative for liberal, as above.


GOV

(US) Initialism of government-owned vehicle.


tavern-cut

(US) Of pizza: cut into squares rather than slices.


eye-winker

She never said nothin’ for a minute; she flushed all up as red as a rose, and I see her little fingers was shakin’, and her eye-winkers shiny and wet […]

1858, Rose Terry Cooke, “Eben Jackson”, in Somebody’s Neighbors, Boston: James R. Osgood, published 1881, page 8:

One ear was sot back on his [the cat’s] neck, ’n’ his tail was stove up, ’n’ his eye-winkers was swinged^([sic – meaning singed]) off, ’n’ he was all blacked up with powder an’ smoke, an’ all sloppy with mud ’n’ slush f’m one end to the other.

1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 442:

The oxen that drew his sled were sleek, well-fed beasts, the pride of Zeph’s heart, and as the red sunlight darted across the snowy hills their breath steamed up, a very luminous cloud of vapor, which in a few moments congealed in sparkling frost lines on their patient eye-winkers and every little projecting hair around their great noses.

1878, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Election Day in Poganuc”, in Poganuc People: Their Loves and Lives, New York, N.Y.: Fords, Howard, & Hulbert, →OCLC, page 94:

Shore I’d stood there—stock-still—an’ never moved an eye-winker.

1920 January, Zane Grey, chapter XX, in The Man of the Forest […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 287:

John saw a whale and let the boys up out of their caulked cabin to have a look at him. He was a sixty-footer. He sailed along with them companionable as could be. Freddie could count the eye-winkers, he said, by his little dark eyes.

1939, Robert P. T. Coffin, chapter 17, in Captain Abby and Captain John, New York: Macmillan, page 296:


Schumer box

After Chuck Schumer, who introduced the legislation that mandated it.

(US) A textual summary of the costs of a credit card.


talk someone's arm off

en-verb

talk someone's arm off (third-person singular simple present talks someone's arm off, present participle talking someone's arm off, simple past and past participle talked someone's arm off)

talks someone's arm off (present singular third-person)
talking someone's arm off (participle present)
talked someone's arm off (participle past)
talked someone's arm off (past)

talk someone's ear off
talk someone's ear off#English

(US, figurative, informal) Synonym of talk someone's ear off.


talk someone's head off

talk someone's head off (third-person singular simple present talks someone's head off, present participle talking someone's head off, simple past and past participle talked someone's head off)

talks someone's head off (present singular third-person)
talking someone's head off (participle present)
talked someone's head off (participle past)
talked someone's head off (past)


special prosecutor

en-noun

special prosecutor (plural special prosecutors)

Under the Ford plan, the president—not the courts—would appoint the special prosecutor.

1999, Bob Woodward, Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate:

conflict of interest
conflict of interest

(US, politics, law) A lawyer assigned to investigate, and if necessary prosecute, a case for which there is a conflict of interest for the normal prosecuting authority.


special counsel

special counsel (plural special counsels)

Schiff said Republicans have so far declined to assist the special counsel.

2018 November 30, Jon Swaine, The Guardian:

(US politics, law) A special prosecutor.


Kool-Aid smile

From the wide smile of the character used to advertise the drink.

"We in E," they said in unison as big Kool-Aid smiles popped up on everybody's faces.

2007, Michele A. Fletcher, Charge It to the Game, page 116:

(US, idiomatic, informal) A large, beaming smile.


crawldad

crawldads (plural)
crawl-dad (alternative)

Variant of crawdad, apparently influenced by crawl.

“Anybody here every pour concrete?” I asked the group. “I'm not the concrete pourer or the concrete pourer's son ...” came back the cheerful chorus of replies as Quentin, staggering a little, wandered up from the creek to join us, complaining that a crawl-dad had bitten him.

1998, HomerHickam Jr., October Sky, page 140:


crawlfish

crawlfish (countable and uncountable, plural crawlfish)

Variant of crawfish, apparently influenced by crawl.

Crayfish, crawlfish, crawdads, or crabs, as they are locally and variously known, are all more or less cylindrical, and the body and appendages are strongly sclerotized.

2005, Amita Saxena, Text Book of Crustacea, page 35:

I usually leave spelling mistakes and typos alone. But I just love your crawlfish. They do crawl! We grew up calling them crawdads or crawdaddies. But not crawldads.
The French word is ecrevisse. I imagine that's where crayfish and crawfish come from. Or crawled from.

2019 April 3, “Crawlfish boil [comment]”, in Trip Advisor:


working stiff

/ˌwɜːkɪŋ ˈstɪf/

From working + stiff (“average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education”).

Now he spends his time off from work hanging out with his diminutive best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), the casual-dress princess hero of racing game Sugar Rush. Ralph enjoys life as a working stiff, though Vanellope is growing bored with her racing-world domination.

2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-21:

The balance sheets of the middle class have improved as well. Good. But if working stiffs have come out OK, the richest have consolidated their gains.

2023 May 28, Robert Armstrong, “The world wobbles; the luxury industry strides on”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 21:

(originally US, informal) An ordinary person who works in a non-management position, especially one who works for wages rather than a salary.


licorice pizza

Humorous reinterpretation of the acronym LP (“long-play”), alluding to the round black appearance of a record.


monkey butt

(US, slang) A soreness or rash around the buttock area, resulting from a long period of sweaty activity such as running or cycling.


German chocolate cake

German chocolate cake (countable and uncountable, plural German chocolate cakes)

The dark chocolate used in the recipe was developed by Samuel German, an English-American chocolate maker.

(US) A layered chocolate cake filled and topped with coconut-pecan frosting.


butter brickle

Apparently originally a trade name for a butterscotch-like candy, probably from butter(scotch) + brickle (“brittle, breakable”).


tow-away zone

(US) An area where car parking is not allowed, and where illegally parked cars will be removed by tow truck.


hang a uey

en-verb

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

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

You missed the turn, so hang a uey at the stoplight.

(US, slang, idiomatic) To make a U-turn turn while driving a vehicle.


CRLA

California Rural Legal Assistance
w:California Rural Legal Assistance

(US, law) Initialism of California Rural Legal Assistance.


Woolworth gun

In reference to Woolworth's, a chain of inexpensive stores.

(US, military, slang, derogatory) The FP-45 Liberator, a crude, cheaply-made single-shot pistol.


work the hole

work the hole (third-person singular simple present works the hole, present participle working the hole, simple past and past participle worked the hole)

works the hole (present singular third-person)
working the hole (participle present)
worked the hole (participle past)
worked the hole (past)

(US, slang) To rob drunks on the subway.


mompreneurship

(Canada, US) Alternative form of mumpreneurship


barcalounger

Genericization of the trademark BarcaLounger, from Barcalo (“the manufacturer”) + lounger, named after Edward J. Barcalo (1870–1963).

named-after

With a little marketing, these could easily replace barcaloungers and lazy boys.

2004, Bradley G. Richardson, Daddy Smarts: A Guide for Rookie Fathers:

(Canada, US, dated) A plush stuffed recliner armchair.


lazyboy

Genericization of the trademark La-Z-Boy, from lazy + boy.

(Canada, US, dated) A plush stuffed swivel rocking recliner armchair.


Club Fed

A pun on Club Med, a company offering luxurious holidays, and fed (“federal agent”).

(Canada, US, slang) A prison offering greater comfort and more facilities to inmates than is typical.


collect call

Hello, operator — I'd like to make a collect call.

(Canada, US) A phone call paid for by the receiver (callee), as opposed to the caller.


dweebery

“There are some pretty lame displays among all this dweebery,” Robbie said.
Anna leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Did he just say 'dweebery'?”
“Just go with it,” I mumbled back.

2014, Scott Craven, Dead Jed: Dawn Of The Jed:

(US, slang, derogatory) The state or condition of being a dweeb.


third grader

third graders (plural)
3rd grader (alternative)
third-grader (alternative)

(US, education) A pupil who is in third grade.


JB

(US, military) Abbreviation of joint base.


schneid

Clipping of schneider, from German Schneider (“tailor”).

(Canada, US, sports, slang) A losing streak.


Troopergate

A 2007 controversy involving New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly ordered the state police to create special records of senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.


Spygate

(neologism, US, politics) A conspiracy theory claiming that Barack Obama's administration planted a spy in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.


foolishment

en-noun

foolishment (countable and uncountable, plural foolishments)


moiderer

(US, dialect, archaic) murderer as pronounced by some speakers of New York City English with the highly-stigmatized curl-coil vowel merger. Extremely rare now if still extant.


ditch weed

(US) wild marijuana, usually a type used for hemp production, e.g., Cannabis sativa var. sativa.

(US, slang, figurative) low-quality marijuana.


jobholding

(US) The status of jobholder; employment in a regular job.


BOSS

(US, finance) Initialism of Bond and Option Sales Strategy.


cornfest

Greater sandhill cranes take wing after a cornfest near the Rio Grande.

1982, America's Wildlife Sampler, page 138:

The cornfests later attracted as many as two hundred families, who came on the day the corn ripened to perfection.

1996, William P. Everts, Stockwell of Minneapolis: A Pioneer of Social and Political Conscience:

(US) A festival celebrating the harvesting of a corn crop.


bouillon cube

(Canada, US) A small cube, consisting of dry ingredients, that can be dissolved to make a broth or soup stock.


WAVE

[H]e read the faded sticker on the crystal of the door, “A slip of the lip can sink a ship.” Below a WAVE held her finger to lips that had turned tan.

1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:

(US, historical) A members of the WAVES; a member of the US Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve).


B-drink

B-drink (countable and uncountable, plural B-drinks)

(US, slang) A drink designed to look like whisky (or some other alcoholic drink) but which is actually cold tea or similar, as drunk by a woman trying to entice men in a club, bar etc to spend more money.


bloody noun

bloody nouns (plural)
bloody-noun (alternative)
bloodynoun (alternative)

From "blood 'n' 'oun's", from "blood and wounds". Several sources, including Harrison Garman's 1892 A Synopsis of the Reptiles and Amphibians of Illinois, say the frog is so called because "its peculiar bass notes […] have a fancied resemblance to the expression" blood and wounds and other similar-sounding and similarly imposing phrases like "be drowned".

"Ye little spalpeeny frog of a bog-throtting son of a bloody noun!"

1850, Edgar Allan Poe, Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling:

The big fellow was not there, but a keen-eyed little bull-frog had taken his place and he seemed to comprehend the situation at a glance. For he set up the croak, Bloody nouns, played out! played out!! PLAYED OUT!!!

1868, F. O. S., of Shreveport, Louisiana, quoted in The Land We Love: A Monthly Magazine; V. 1-6; May 1866-Mar. 1869, page 165

"Bloody nouns are the big ones." […] A name given by boys in Philadelphia to large bullfrogs.

1898, Henry George, The Science of Political Economy, book 2, page 62, quoting a Philadelphia boy

(US dialects, now rare) The bullfrog, or the sound made by it.