jds/RS

(military, US) Abbreviation of joined by staff returns.


S/RS

(military, US) Abbreviation of staff returns.


mirandarize

en-verb

mirandarize (third-person singular simple present mirandarizes, present participle mirandarizing, simple past and past participle mirandarized)

mirandarizes (present singular third-person)
mirandarizing (participle present)
mirandarized (participle past)
mirandarized (past)

It wasn't until the officer pulled out the cuffs and mirandarized me that everything fell into place.

(law, US, jargon) to read Miranda warning to the person being arrested


unmirandized

Court ruled that physical evidence that was the fruit of an unmirandized interrogation need not be suppressed.

(law, US) Not having had the Miranda warning read out.


water ouzel

water ouzels (plural)
water ousel (alternative)
water-ousel (alternative)

(US) An American dipper, of species Cinclus mexicanus.


for $500, Alex

From the US game show Jeopardy!, formerly hosted by Alex Trebek.

I'll take things that never happened for $500, Alex. (Meaning you are guessing the event the speaker is referencing never actually happened.)

(humorous, Canada, US) This is my guess.


Catty

(US, colloquial) The borough of Catasauqua in Pennsylvania.


captain save a hoe

Either coined in, or popularized by, the 1993 song of the same name by American rapper E-40 (Earl Stevens).

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) A man who spends an excessive amount of effort and money trying to please a woman, usually a promiscuous one, who doesn't really appreciate this, or doesn't particularly care about him.


gruntspeak

(US) The slang used by infantry soldiers.


Susie Rottencrotch

Suzy Rottencrotch (alternative)
Suzie Rottencrotch (alternative)

(US, military, slang, vulgar) Any woman or girlfriend.


Pinkville

(US, military, slang, historical) A Vietcong stronghold said to be located in the region of Sơn Mỹ village in Quảng Ngãi Province during the Vietnam War.


(military, US) Initialism of torpedoman's mate second class.


strict constructionism

(US, law) A legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that requires a judge to apply the text only as it is written, without drawing inferences.


Gay Nineties

(US) The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal, and the beginning of the suffragette movement.


tummy time

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

(US, colloquial) Time spent by an infant in the prone position while awake and supervised, supposed to reduce the risk of skull deformation from spending too much time supine.


land sakes

for land's sake (alternative)
for land's sake alive (alternative)
for land's sakes (alternative)
for land's sakes alive (alternative)
for the land's sake (alternative)
for the land's sake alive (alternative)
for the land's sakes (alternative)
for the land's sakes alive (alternative)
land sake (alternative)
land sake alive (alternative)
land sakes alive (alternative)
land's sake (alternative)
land's sake alive (alternative)
land's sakes (alternative)
land's sakes alive (alternative)

"Land sakes! I don't keep a boardin' house!"

1886, Horatio Alger, chapter 28, in Helping Himself:

Well, as soon as Alice finished singing, land sakes! goodness, gracious me! if a big fox didn't pop out from behind a tree.

1912, Victor Appleton, chapter 31, in Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble:

The fourth annual “Way Up North in Mississippi” picnic was well under way in Central Park yesterday. . . . There were twangy cries of “land sakes” and “don't that beat all” and choruses of “hi, y'all.”

1983 June 19, Philip Shenon, “For Homesick Mississippians, a Day Full of Grits and Grins”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-11-03:

“One of the McDougal young'uns? Well, land sakes—haven't seen you in a coon's age.”

2015, Lori Copeland, My Heart Stood Still, →ISBN, page 41:

(chiefly US, somewhat dated and rustic) An expression of surprise or dismay.


rubbing alcohol

en-noun

rubbing alcohol (usually uncountable, plural rubbing alcohols)


cohog

Blend of co-ed + quahog; the quahog is indigenous to the area.

(US, Dartmouth College, 1970s, slang, derogatory) A co-ed.


bottle episode

/ˈbɒtəl ˈɛpɪsəʊd/

Said to be from the term “ship-in-a-bottle episode”, the nickname given by the cast and crew of the television series Star Trek (originally broadcast 1966–1969) to an episode set entirely on board the starship USS Enterprise.

That's pretty much what a "bottle" episode is; one that uses minimal sets, guest stars, effects, etc, and/or uses lots of clips from past episodes, in order to make a much cheaper episode.

1996 February 12, Janet A. Dornhoff, “What are they filming now?”, in alt.tv.forever-knight (Usenet), message-ID <4fno37$t28@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>:

One of Wright's great strengths as a screenwriter and producer is his ability to design bottle episodes—shows filmed with the goal of saving money—and turn them into riveting, compelling dramas where the viewer forgets that they are watching a bottle show.

1998, Cinefantastique, volume 30, Oak Park, Ill.: Frederick S. Clarke, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 82:

Even though they are moving, for large stretches 'Spiral' is a bottle episode.

2004, Roz Kaveney, “Writing the Vampire Slayer: Interviews with Jane Espenson and Steven S. DeKnight”, in Roz Kaveney, editor, Reading the Vampire Slayer: The New, Updated, Unofficial Guide to Buffy and Angel, 2nd revised and expanded edition, New York, N.Y.: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, I.B. Tauris, →ISBN, page 125:

By the 2000s, the airwaves seemed full of shows not just making reference to other pop culture "images," but wholly based on pop culture. [...] Community regularly turned episodes into extended homages to M*A*S*H, Doctor Who, and Christmas Claymation specials. In "Cooperative Calligraphy," the show presents a "bottle episode," during which Abed repeatedly reminds everyone they are in a "bottle episode," pointing out each characteristic of such episodes as it occurs.

2018, M. King Adkins, “‘These are Their Stories’: Postmodern Spaces”, in Television Storyworlds as Virtual Space, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 122:

(originally US, television) An episode of a television series designed to be inexpensive and restricted in its use of sets, effects, cast members, etc.


welfare bum

The program also can shatter once and for all that "welfare bum" myth that has served as an excuse to avoid obligation and sacrifice to aid unfortunate people.

1971 June 22, “New Welfare Plan”, in Palm Beach Post, US, retrieved 2015-11-09, page A14:

Welfare has long been scorned by those who see only the "welfare bum," able to work but preferring to sit home and collect a government check.

1982 May 25, “Making Welfare Work”, in Schenectady Gazette, US, retrieved 2015-11-09, page 26:

Marin, who receives $576 a month in family benefits, says she has to get groceries from a food bank every month to survive. . . . "The other kids tell my kid: ‘Your mother's a welfare bum.’"

1986 November 14, Jacquie Miller, “Single mothers use song, skit to plead for higher family benefits”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2015-11-09, page 26:

He also told Sewap to “get a job and stop being a welfare bum.”

2014 December 1, Larissa Burnouf, “Saskatoon landlord tells First Nations woman to kill herself when applying for apartment”, in APTN News, Canada, retrieved 2015-11-09:

(informal, Canada and US, derogatory) A person whose source of income is government public assistance payments, especially one who is lazy and unwilling to work.


hand someone his hat

en-verb

hand someone his hat (third-person singular simple present hands someone his hat, present participle handing someone his hat, simple past and past participle handed someone his hat)

hands someone his hat (present singular third-person)
handing someone his hat (participle present)
handed someone his hat (participle past)
handed someone his hat (past)
give someone his hat (alternative)

McNeil replied, "It may have been Hitler who helped Chamberlain with his overcoat but don't forget it was the British people who handed him his hat."

1948 November 27, Drew Pearson, “The Washington Merry-go-round”, in Ludington Daily News, US, retrieved 2015-11-10, page 4:

You grew up under dictators who would have put people to the sword if they dared hand them their hats and invite them to buzz off.

1972 July 25, Bob Considine, “Letter to Kremlin”, in Reading Eagle, US, retrieved 2015-11-10, page 4:

The President's men, nonetheless, view him the way the Vatican saw Galileo—as a dangerous heretic. . . . They would hand him his hat if they dared.

1984 February 6, Mary McGrory, “Feldstein doggedly speaks his mind”, in Eugene Register-Guard, US, retrieved 2015-11-10, page 15A:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To require someone to depart; to dismiss someone.


coochie-coochie

(US, obsolete) The hootchy-kootchy, a type of erotic dance.


ferhoodle

ferhoodle (third-person singular simple present ferhoodles, present participle ferhoodling, simple past and past participle ferhoodled)

ferhoodles (present singular third-person)
ferhoodling (participle present)
ferhoodled (participle past)
ferhoodled (past)

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German verhuddle.

Oh, how confrontations ferhoodled her.

2014, Stephanie Reed, “The Bachelor”, in Plain City Peace: Book Two, Kregel Publications, page 89:

(US, dialect, transitive) To confuse or puzzle.


trunk or treat

(US) An organized alternative to trick-or-treating where candy is handed out to children from cars in a parking lot.


trunk or treat

trunk or treat (third-person singular simple present trunk or treats, present participle trunk or treating, simple past and past participle trunk or treated)

trunk or treats (present singular third-person)
trunk or treating (participle present singular third-person)
trunk or treated (participle past present singular third-person)
trunk or treated (past present singular third-person)

Immediately Victoria took off her headband that had a witch's hat on it and gave it to the girl. “Now you are a proper witch,” she said. The girl smiled and went out trunk or treating.

2017, Cynthia Staton, Life Lived Not Lost: A Journey of Hope, Morgan James Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:

(US, intransitive) To participate in a trunk or treat event as a child.


NRS

(military, US) Initialism of naval receiving station.


USNH

(military, US) Initialism of United States naval hospital.


USNTS

(military, US) Initialism of United States naval training school.


Christmas pickle

en-noun

Christmas pickle (plural Christmas pickles)

(US) A Christmas decoration shaped like a pickle, hidden on a Christmas tree, with the finder receiving either a reward or good fortune for the following year.


top-notcher

"I don't know, but he must be a top-notcher. I wonder what will happen to us?"

1912, Victor Appleton, Tom Swift in Captivity, page 140:

(dated, especially US) A person regarded as the best in an activity or occupation.


person of interest

person of interest (plural persons of interest or people of interest)

persons of interest (plural)
people of interest (plural)

Tice denies involvement in any conspiracy. . . . Still, Morgan says Tice and "three or four other people" remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.

2009 August 22, Tim Padgett, “The Pensacola Adoptive Couple's Murder: A Hit?”, in Time, retrieved 2015-11-19:

Abdellatif has been interviewed five times by Australian security services since the dropping of the charges and remains a "person of interest" to the federal police.

2013 September 26, “Sayed Abdellatif inquiry will report to Tony Abbott, who called him a 'jihadist'”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2015-11-19:

The 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained on Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest, but Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, declined to say what had led the police to question the man.

2015 September 12, “Police Rule Out Detained Man, 19, as Prime Suspect in Phoenix Freeway Shootings”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-11-19:

(law enforcement, chiefly Canada, US) Someone who police have reason to believe may have a connection to a crime, or to possess important information relating to that crime, but who has not been accused or charged by authorities nor been officially deemed to be a suspect.

persoa de interese

someone believed to have a connection to a crime or to possess important information relating to that crime

bűncselekménnyel összefüggésbe hozható személy


bolson

In three separate bolsons in West Texas, electrical-resistivity soundings and seismic-refraction profiles have been used . . . to estimate the alluvium thickness and ground-water quality.

1974, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Research Professional Paper 900, p. 120 (Google preview)

The image of a colossal purse is helpful in envisioning a bolson in the landscape: an extensive, saucer-shaped basin, closed at the bottom and surrounded on all sides by mountain slopes.

2011, Barry Lopez, Debra Gwartney, editors, Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, →ISBN, page 43:

The water in the Mesilla Bolson, which is recharged by the river above it, is part of a major lawsuit between Texas and New Mexico. . . . A settlement could impose new restrictions on wells tapping the bolson in both states.

2015 November 2, David Crowder, “El Paso’s low water rates to rise”, in El Paso Inc., retrieved 2015-11-21:

(chiefly southwestern US) A relatively flat and arid valley that is surrounded by mountains and that drains into a central basin.


RBOC

Regional Bell Operating Company
w:Regional Bell Operating Company

(US, telecommunications) Initialism of Regional Bell Operating Company.


saddle tramp

saddle tramps (plural)
saddle-tramp (alternative)
saddletramp (alternative)

She allowed her fancy to play with the idea of staying in Fairfield, of forgetting her bitter quest. . . . But she was not a schoolteacher. . . . She was what some people called a saddle tramp.

1987, George Bowering, Caprice (2010 New Star edition), (Google preview)

But I hope you don't have eyes for that saddletramp. He won't be around very long.

1990, Janelle Taylor, chapter 15, in Follow the Wind, →ISBN:

Tina continued, “One day this saddle tramp showed up and wanted to work for a meal. . . . After he ate and discovered that there were no men in the house, he started making lewd remarks and giving us lascivious looks.”

2014, Robert J. Gossett, chapter 29, in Two Wanted Men in the Old West, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, derogatory) In the Old West, a person who wanders from place to place on horseback.


ace out

en-verb

ace out (third-person singular simple present aces out, present participle acing out, simple past and past participle aced out)

aces out (present singular third-person)
acing out (participle present)
aced out (participle past)
aced out (past)

I aced out my classes—all As.

2012, Diane Carol Fujino, Samurai Among Panthers, page 50:

(transitive, informal, US) Synonym of ace (“to pass (a test, interviews etc.) perfectly”)


no-knock

a no-knock warrant

a no-knock raid

(US, law) Allowing police to enter a property without immediate prior notification of the residents, as by knocking or ringing a doorbell.


Thanksgiving Thursday

en-noun

Thanksgiving Thursday (plural Thanksgiving Thursdays)

Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day#English

(US) Synonym of Thanksgiving Day (the U.S. Thanksgivings Day)

Thanksgiving Weekend

the long weekend, from Thanksgiving Thursday, through to the Sunday after Thanksgiving Thursday, a typical U.S. holiday period

Black Friday Weekend

the period from Friday through to Monday, inclusive, after Thanksgiving Thursday

Black Friday Week

the week prior to Black Friday, ending on Thanksgiving Thursday


Chiraq

Blend of Chicago + Iraq, coined by South Side rappers comparing the frequency of shootings in Chicago and in Iraq.

Seeing too much of anything in Chiraq streets could be hazardous to anyone's health

Welcome to Chiraq
Chitown
My town

2015, Jimmy Chan, Don't Kill the Messenger 69...The Chronicles of Fo:

When the south and west sides of Chicago are covered in the media, for instance, they are often described using infamous terms such as Chiraq and food deserts. Chiraq, a portmanteau of Chicago and Iraq, is used as code to refer to the violence and poverty of these neighborhoods.

2017, Steve Ventura, Martin Bailkey, Good Food, Strong Communities, page 235:

He met his wife and never thought about moving back to Chiraq.

2018, Shatiera Holman, Equality Ain't Equal:

(US, slang, derogatory) Chicago, especially those parts in the South Side subject to a large amount of violence.


Vansterdam

Blend of Vancouver + Amsterdam from the cannabis drug culture found in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, being comparable to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

(US, Canada, slang) Synonym of Vancouver (“city in British Columbia”)


Vamsterdam

(Canada, US, slang) Alternative form of Vansterdam


NGP

(film industry, US) Initialism of National General Pictures (a distribution and film production company)

National General Pictures

(aviation, US) Initialism of Naval air station Corpus Christi.


KKKonfederate

(US, slang, derogatory) Confederate (with implications of white supremacist leanings)


Jaycee

(US) A member of the United States Junior Chamber.


jug wine

jug wine (countable and uncountable, plural jug wines)

(US) Inexpensive table wine, typically bottled in a glass jug.


jake leg

Out-of-town patients came in droves for the treatment of [jake leg]. Jake leg was caused by drinking methyl (wood) alcohol rather than ethyl alcohol. There's a world of difference.

2010 July 5, Janet Mace Valenza, Taking the Waters in Texas: Springs, Spas, and Fountains of Youth, University of Texas Press, →ISBN:

(US, slang, historical, 1930s and 40s) Paralysis of the feet and ankles caused by the consumption of TOCP (tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate) or methyl alcohol, found in adulterated moonshine or Jamaica ginger extract.


put someone under

en-verb

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

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

The doctor put me under before I went into surgery.

(idiomatic) To anesthetize someone or render them unconscious through the use of narcotic substances, usually either alcohol or pharmaceutical drugs.

давать наркоз

to anesthetize someone or render them unconscious through the use of narcotic substances, usually either alcohol or pharmaceutical drugs


benefit corporation

en-noun

benefit corporation (plural benefit corporations)

(US) A kind of corporate entity that seeks to have a positive impact on society and environment in addition to making profit.


Yankee cheese-box

Yankee cheese-box (plural Yankee cheese-boxes)

The old description of her departed predecessor, " a Yankee cheese-box on a raft," will give one a better idea of her external appearance than any chapter which could be written.

1866, William O. Blake, Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion, volume 2, page 228:

(slang, dated, US) The USS Monitor, USS Montauk and similar American Civil War-era ironclad ships.


comajor

Instead, in addition to my molecular biology major, I was enrolled in a scientific philosophy comajor along with all other members of the honours program, leaving me with time to also do a psychology minor.

2015, Bryan Grieg Fry, Doctor Venom, →ISBN:

Dr. Gönen also received an MS in industrial engineering (1973) and a PhD comajor in industrial engineering (1978) from Iowa State University, as well as an MBA from the University of Oklahoma (1980).

2014, Turan Gonen, Electrical Power Transmission System Engineering, →ISBN:

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) One of multiple main areas of study of a student working toward a degree at an institute of tertiary education.


comajor

en-verb

comajor (third-person singular simple present comajors, present participle comajoring, simple past and past participle comajored)

comajors (present singular third-person)
comajoring (participle present)
comajored (participle past)
comajored (past)

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, intransitive) To concentrate on one of multiple areas of study as a student in a college or university.


snicklefritz

snicklefritzes (plural)
schnickelfritz (alternative)
schnicklefritz (alternative)
snickelfritz (alternative)

From German or Pennsylvania German, related to German Schnickschnack (“chatter”) (see schnacken, *schnicken) + -el + Fritz (a nickname derived from Friedrich), thus probably originally denoting someone chatty or impulsive.

"Them snicklefritzes sponge on their mamas and daddies long after they leave the nest." […] "Let's see what that snicklefritz will do when he sees this," he said.

1972, Harold Keith, The bluejay boarders, →ISBN, pages 102 and 192:

"Hello, snicklefritz," Dr. Nelson said as he let down the crib rail. "That's some shiner you've got there." With slow and gentle movements he proceeded to peer into Danny's eyes.

1997, Jane Toombs, Nobody's Baby, →ISBN, page 153:

“But that doesn't mean—” “Besides, you could use a father for little snicklefritz there.”

2011, Karen Templeton, Marriage, Interrupted, →ISBN:

(US, dialectal, especially Pennsylvania) A child, especially a mischievous one; especially as a nickname or term of endearment, or exasperation. Alternative letter-case form of Snicklefritz.


bee up one's ass

en-noun

bee up one's ass (plural bees up one's ass)

“What got into that horse? Acted like it had a bee up its ass.” Henry stood with help and grimaced in the direction of his now peacefully grazing horse.

2015, Susan Edwards, White Christmas Reunion:

“You know who's been looking for her with a bee up his ass?” Andrew asked his eyes wide.

2010, Pamela Lewis Alexander, The Real Story, page 84:

bee in one's bonnet
bee in one's bonnet#English

(US, vulgar) Synonym of bee in one's bonnet


mommyish

en-adj

mommyish (comparative more mommyish, superlative most mommyish)

more mommyish (comparative)
most mommyish (superlative)

(Canada, US, informal) motherly; maternal


middlebuster

middlebusters (plural)
middleburster (alternative)

Tom Chaney rode his gray horse that was better suited to pulling a middlebuster than carrying a rider.

(US, regional) A type of plough with two mouldboards, which throws earth out to either side.


second division

en-noun

second division (plural second divisions)

Let me pause to explain “second division” to those for whom the term has little or no significance. For the first half of the twentieth century the classic, constant number of baseball teams in a league was eight. Not six, not ten, not twelve, not fourteen. Eight. […] Even if a club failed to win the pennant, it was important to finish second, third or fourth—that is, in the upper half or first division of the league. […] “First division” came to mean something admirable, “second division” was denigrating.

1991, Robert W. Creamer, Baseball and Other Matters in 1941, page 37:

(US, chiefly baseball, dated) The half of the standings containing the teams with the worst records.


first division

(US, chiefly baseball, dated) The half of the standings containing the teams with the best records.


DISCOM

(US, military) Acronym of division support command.


one-gallused

(US, regional, dated) Wearing only one gallus or suspender strap; hence, rustic and simple.


Brazilian butt

(Canada, US, slang) Curvaceous, attractive female buttocks.


three sisters

A calque from an Iroquoian language, compare Mohawk áhsen nikontatenò:sen, Oneida áshʌnaɂtekutahnú·tele, and Onondaga ahsę́ naˀdegųdęhnų́·dæ·ˀ.
First attested in 1850 in the context of Iroquoian mythology (see quote below). Use in reference to the plants themselves first attested in the 1890s (see also below).

One beautiful idea relates to the corn, beans and squashes, all indigenous plants which are called three sisters as well as their life or supporters. The thought is a happy one, for they grow together, and were always important in Indian life.

[1892, William M. Beauchamp, “Iroquois Stories”, in The Iroquois Trail, or Footprints of the Six Nations, […] , Fayetteville: H. C. Beauchamp, →LCCN, page 128:

The three sisters work together as companion plants in many ways. Growing wide-spreading pumpkin vine among vertically oriented corn and beans saves space.

2012, Gail Damerow, The Perfect Pumpkin: Growing/Cooking/Carving, Storey Publishing, →ISBN, page 56:

She gave me specifics on what to plant and the layout of the garden. Traditional Native American plants, heirloom varieties only, no GMOs allowed. Use the three sisters approach for planting corn, squash and beans, ilito onions would ring the interior of the fence and sunflowers would stand tall.

2012, Kathleen O’Dwyer, Breathing Blue: Giving my life to Spirit and Spirit to my life, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 151:

Phaseolus vulgaris
Phaseolus vulgaris#Translingual

(US, Canada, agriculture, horticulture) The combination of maize (corn), pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris or climbing beans, string beans, etc.), and squash (i.e. pumpkin), especially when planted together in intertwined plantings.


handshaker

handshakers (plural)
hand-shaker (alternative)
hand shaker (alternative)

(slang, US) A deceitful person, a swindler.


dindu nuffin

dindu nuffins (plural)
dindunuffin (alternative)
dindu-nuffin (alternative)
dindu (alternative)

From I/he/she/they didn't do nothing, a stereotypical spurious protestation of innocence. Spelling reflects eye dialect.

White cop kills a dindu nuffin and blacks riot because of racism. Black kills cute white girl and we need to control guns? I know you sympathize with lebrons, but damn man, don't fall for it!...

2015, Detached, “Gun control”, in alt.suicide.methods (Usenet):

The best solution is still the best solution: Sell your property in the city and move to a rural area that has resources, a friendly climate, and get your off-grid home going there. If you're in a city any larger than say, ten thousand people, the dindu nuffins'll getcha whether you're in a fallout shelter or not.

2015, Oregonian Haruspex, “Re: Iran nuclear deal”, in alt.survival (Usenet):

2018 January 30, Byker, “Dindu nuffins compilation”, in alt.california (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-23:

Yah, when the temps hit 90°F, the Dindu Nuffins start shootin' each other.

2018 August 5, Dindu Nuffin, “52 people shot since Friday...”, in alt.politics.scorched-earth (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-23:

(slang, US, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) A black person, especially if viewed as being, or likely to be, a criminal.


little Ivy

(US, education, informal) A small liberal arts college that has the academic quality or prestige of an Ivy League university.


trash fire

(slang, derogatory, chiefly Canada, US) Something which is very poorly done; a mess or fiasco.


California-style pizza

California-style pizza (countable and uncountable, plural California-style pizzas)

(US, cooking) A style of single-serving pizza that combines New York and Italian thin crust with toppings from Californian cuisine.


TNC

(US) Initialism of tentative nonconfirmation, an E-Verify status.


CDI factor

You don't buy a LaRue because you want lightweight. You buy it for the durability (And the CDI factor)

2007, Patrick Sweeney, The Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Volume 2, Gun Digest Books, page 109:

Instead of donning their equipment for the right reasons, with the understanding that it takes thousands of hours to attain a basic skill level, some Special Operations soldiers wear their gear for the CDI (chicks dig it) factor and forget the reality that this is hard work.

2011, Paul R. Howe, Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War, Skyhorse Publishing, page 12:

'Never decide Pattern A just looks cooler than Pattern B. The Marine Corps call that a "CDI factor" – chicks dig it,' said Timothy O'Neill, a former professor of engineering psychology at West Point who has spent 37 years concocting and analyzing the latest in military camouflage

2012 July 17, “Uncloaked: How Army is testing new camo to replace flawed design”, in NBC News:

[…] SWAT is a highly-specialized skill that takes recurrent (and expensive) training to maintain. Simply kitting out police officers in high-CDI-factor equipment is not enough.

2015, David G. Bolgiano, L. Morgan Banks, III, James M. Patterson, Virtuous Policing: Bridging America's Gulf Between Police and Populace, CRC Press, page 89:

(US military or law enforcement slang) An intangible quality of certain items of professional equipment that is believed to stir inordinate interest in obtaining the item because it makes the possessor feel confident, cool and thus desirable to women.


Irreconcilable

(US, dated, slang) A Confederate who moved to another country following the American Civil War, rather than live in a reunited United States.

(US, dated, slang) A vociferous opponent of the Treaty of Versailles.


social conservatism

(US, Canada) A conservative political philosophy, generally rooted in traditional Christian values and manifesting itself in opposition to drug use, birth control, abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and sexual permissiveness.


open carry

Coordinate term: concealed carry

In most places, open carry is relatively uncommon compared to lawful concealed carry. Open carry has long been a norm in Arizona, and open carry advocates in many other states today are seeking to renormalize the practice.

2018, Nicholas J. Johnson, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary, Michael P. O'Shea, Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy, 2nd edition, Wolters Kluwer, →ISBN, page 736:

Open-carry laws, it’s often noted, wouldn’t allow Black people to wander through the supermarket with huge guns slung over them and the confidence they could impose on others this way; […]

2022 May 30, Rebecca Solnit, “US mass shootings will continue until the majority can overrule the minority”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly US) The practice of openly carrying a firearm in public.


Scotch-Irish

(US, Canada) The descendants of Scottish settlers in the Irish province of Ulster.


molly moocher

(US, West Virginia, dialect) A morel (type of mushroom).


Christfollower

[…] the likelihood that our kids will be Christfollowers as adults.

2006, David Lynn, Kathy Lynn, Home Grown Faith, →ISBN, page 48:

(rare, evangelical US Christianity) Alternative form of Christ-follower (“follower of Christ; Christian”)


premodular

(US, military) Before the reorganization of the United States Army into modular brigades.


canned cheese

canned cheese (countable and uncountable, plural canned cheeses)

(US) A canned spreadable processed cheese product, supplied in a pressurized canister similar to a whipped cream can.


aerosol cheese

From the can containing the cheese being similar to aerosol cans such as spray paint canisters.

(US) A canned processed cheese spread product, with cheese contained in a pressurized canister similar to a whipped cream can.


butt burp

(Canada, US, slang) Synonym of bottom burp


stolen valor

Coined by American writer B. G. Burkett in 1998.

coinage

An instance of a person falsely claiming to have served in the military, or of a member of the military falsely claiming to have served in ways they did not.

(law) An instance of stolen valor in which the perpetrator has the intention to receive money, donations, discounts, or other benefits.

(figurative) Any instance of falsely claiming to be of a respected group to gain that respect.


public Ivy

(US, education, informal) A public university that has the academic quality or prestige of an Ivy League university.


truck nuts

(automobiles, US, Canada) plastic or metal accessories for pickup trucks and other vehicles which resemble a pair of dangling testicles


up to one's ass in alligators

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) Beset by multiple difficulties or adversaries that must be dealt with quickly.


smartassy

en-adj

smartassy (comparative more smartassy, superlative most smartassy)

more smartassy (comparative)
most smartassy (superlative)

(Canada, US, informal) Synonym of smartassed


butt virginity

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

(Canada, US, informal) The state of never having received anal sex.


candy-assed

candy-assed (comparative more candy-assed, superlative most candy-assed)

more candy-assed (comparative)
most candy-assed (superlative)

(slang, somewhat endearing, often humorous, sometimes vulgar, Canada, US) cowardly; timid; wimpy


Kennedy plea

From the case of Kennedy v. Frazier, 178 W.Va. 10, 357 S.E.2d 43 (1987), in which the procedure was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

The Charleston man whose conviction for the shooting death of a former Marshall University football player was overturned, has entered a "Kennedy Plea", rather than go through a second trial... In a Kennedy Plea, the person does not accept guilt, but accepts the punishment for the crime.

2014, WSAZ News Staff, "Jerel Garner Enters "Kennedy Plea" in Donte Newsome's Shooting Death", on WSAZ.com, 9 Sept. 2014

To avoid a lengthy trial and possibly a harsher sentence, 34-year-old Don Douglas Dicken entered a Kennedy plea to the voluntary manslaughter of 46-year-old Glenn L. Farrow... When a defendant enters a Kennedy plea, he or she does not admit committing the criminal act, but believes a plea deal is in his or her best interest instead of taking the case to trial.

2014 December 2, Wendy Holdren, “Don Dicken enters Kennedy plea to voluntary manslaughter”, in The Register Herald:

Williams previously entered a Kennedy plea to second-degree robbery. Williams denied he knew anything about the crime and was not a lookout, as accused...

2016 February 2, Courtney Hessler, “Man sentenced to 30 years in 2014 armed robbery ring”, in The Herald Dispatch:

(US, law) A plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes that the state has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.


exhausted combination

(US, law) The combination, in a patent claim, of a novel device with conventional elements in a conventional manner.


Beauregard claim

en-noun

Beauregard claim (plural Beauregard claims)

Named after the legal decision In re Beauregard.

(US, law) A patent claim to a computer program, written in the form of a claim to an article of manufacture: a computer-readable medium on which are encoded, typically, instructions for carrying out a process.


Jepson claim

Named after the legal case Ex parte Jepson, 243 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 525 (Ass't Comm'r Pat. 1917).

(US, law) A patent claim where one or more limitations are specifically identified as a point of novelty, distinguishable over at least the contents of the preamble.


Markush claim

Named after Eugene Markush, the first inventor to use them successfully in a US patent.

(US, law) A patent claim that identifies multiple functionally equivalent chemical entities allowed in one or more parts of a compound.


reach-through

(US, law) Being or relating to a kind of patent claim that attempts to cover basic research or a discovery before it has become a full invention.


kiyi

From the pronunciation of the abbreviation KIA (killed in action).

You know that Doc's been treating him for melancholy and depression... ever since he got that kiyi about his son... … Kiyi: K.I.A.: Killed In Action letter from the War Dept.

1940s, Sam Glanzman, "The Kiyi", in Our Army at War #258, July 1973

(US military slang) An official letter informing of a person killed in action.

пахава́льная

an official letter informing of a person killed in action


Snicklefritz

After Eva and her Mommie carefully paint cookies, Daddy and his "Snicklefritz" find the perfect little pine tree.

1972, Der Reggeboge: The Rainbow - Volumes 6-13, page 23:

One grandparent used to call me "Snicklefritz," and another regularly referred to me as a "pistol." Think back and remember the pet names your parents and relatives had for you.

2000, James R. Lucas, 1001 Ways to Connect with Your Kids, →ISBN, page 47:

Look after Snicklefritz, there.' I nodded to her as yet flat belly, and waved as we got into the car.

2015, Jeanne M. Dams, The Gentle Art of Murder, →ISBN:

(US, dialectal) A nickname or term of endearment for a child or adult.


Lochnerize

en-verb

Lochnerize (third-person singular simple present Lochnerizes, present participle Lochnerizing, simple past and past participle Lochnerized)

Lochnerizes (present singular third-person)
Lochnerizing (participle present)
Lochnerized (participle past)
Lochnerized (past)
lochnerize (alternative)

From Lochner + -ize; from Lochner v. New York, the title of a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905.

(US, law, intransitive) To read one's policy preferences into the Constitution, as was (allegedly) done by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1905 case Lochner v. New York.


gaylord

A genericized trademark from the Gaylord Container Corporation, a manufacturer of packaging materials.

They come sorted according to type, in large cardboard gaylord boxes (you'll see pumpkins in these containers at supermarkets) or shrink-wrapped on a pallet.

2009 May 30, Ellen Moorhouse, “Where old computers go to die”, in Toronto Star:

(Canada, US) A large carton that fits on a pallet, used for transporting goods.


Ivy Leaguer

(US) A person who was educated at an Ivy League institution.


poleboat

(US) A barge; a kind of boat propelled by the use of a pole.


Terps

(US, informal) Maryland Terrapins, athletic teams representing the University of Maryland.


Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

A jocular play on the phrase do we cheat 'em and how, suggesting a greedy law firm.

Dewey, Cheatham and Howe (alternative)
Dewey, Cheetham and Howe (alternative)
Dewey, Cheetem and Howe (alternative)

(US, humorous, derogatory) A generic name for a law firm, or occasionally any financial institution.


governmentalization

en-noun

governmentalization (usually uncountable, plural governmentalizations)

(US) The action or result of governmentalizing.


biscuit hooks

Every looked at his hands and said, ‘Them's right powerful-lookin biscuit hooks you got, my friend.’


twitchet

Uncertain. Perhaps from twitch + -et. First attested in the late 19th century.

‘Now I aint one of these twitchet-struck tomcats who's got it on his mind day in and day out, but I'm a man, goddammit, and you showed me what it's like for the first time to enjoy bein a man.’

The country boy felt of her legs, and patted her bottom, and kissed her bubbies, and then he begun to tickle her twitchet.

1976, Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales, page 138:

(US slang, dialectal) The vulva or vagina.


TRAP

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand South Carolina's TRAP law, which imposes 27 pages of requirements on abortion clinics—providing a virtual blueprint for states that want to create constitutional clinic regulations.

2001 September 25, Barry Yeoman, “The Quiet War on Abortion”, in Mother Jones:

(US, legislation) Acronym of targeted regulation of abortion providers.


pure quill

“Have you sampled the pure quill, Tull?”

“Damn,” she said, “he was the pure quill, wasn't he? Him and you and Pardee and McKinnick come here drunk as lords and sing hymns till you passed out.”

(chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The real thing, the genuine article.


fire lane

firefighting apparatus
firefighting apparatus

(US) A passageway or access road that allows a firefighting apparatus such as a fire engine to pass through.

消防通道

passageway that allows a fire engine to pass through


WAAC

(US, military, historical) Initialism of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.


WAAC

(US, military, historical) A member of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.


Weed Day

From weed being slang for cannabis, and the number 420 being associated with the consumption of marijuana, with the date 4/20 being of similar pronunciation.

(US) April 20th of any year, regarded informally as a time to celebrate marijuana consumption.


deass

en-verb

deass (third-person singular simple present deasses, present participle deassing, simple past and past participle deassed)

deasses (present singular third-person)
deassing (participle present)
deassed (participle past)
deassed (past)
de-ass (alternative)

(transitive, US, military, law enforcement, slang) To exit or depart from (an area) rapidly.


Elvis country

Elvis country is 'Anywhere there are no Jews and no Italians.'

2005, Two Covenants: Representations of Southern Jewishness, Eliza R. L. McGraw, page 166:

Mike continued "[…] I bet you were born in Elvis country."

2008, Inge Auerabacher, Highway To New York: A Lady Truck Driver Adventure, page 23:

[…] out here in the middle of Elvis country.

2013, Danny Falcone, Johnny Angel, page 248:


Selection Monday

en-noun

Selection Monday (plural Selection Mondays)

(US, basketball) The Monday in March on which the teams that participate in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament are selected.

NCAA basketball tournament selection process


UNOS

United Network for Organ Sharing
w:United Network for Organ Sharing

(US) Initialism of United Network for Organ Sharing.


fuck book

fuck books (plural)
fuckbook (alternative)

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

The Archbishop of Toronto is an Irish-Catholic, and he told the police there to allow the sale of male-female fuck books but to prohibit the sale of boy-boy fuck books in the porno shops.

1977 April 16, “Sex and Power in High Places”, in Gay Community News, page 10:

(US, slang, vulgar) An illustrated pornographic book; a pornographic magazine.


GAR

He was a Yankee and they say he would not hang a man who had been in the G.A.R.

Grand Army of the Republic
Grand Army of the Republic#English

(US, historical, military, mid-19th century) Initialism of Grand Army of the Republic.


owl hoot trail

owl hoot trails (plural)
hoot owl trail (alternative)

“One thing after all my years ridin' the owl-hoot trail, podna, is that you can't think about what may be behind you. If you do, you soon go crazy in the head.”

2000, William W. Johnstone, Justice of the Mountain Man:

Tub Sampson had quit the owl-hoot trail at the urging of his Indian wife and had been trying to make an honest living for the last several years.

2003, E. Roy Hector, Escape from Hell's Corner, page 80:

(US, slang) A path taken by outlaws or fugitives.


beanie-weenies

(Calvin):Relax, Susie. I bought the cafeteria lunch today. […] It appears to be cigar butts in a gallstone sauce.
(Susie): That's beany-wienies!
(Calvin): Really? Oh gross.

1989 November 6, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

(US, informal) A dish resembling pork and beans, but with hot dog sausage instead of pork.


like a martin to his gourd

like a martin to its gourd (alternative)

The ball flew to its mark like a martin to his gourd and Lucky Ned Pepper fell dead in the saddle.

Whether all of the above was reason enough I don't know, but I left East St. Louis and, like a martin to its gourd, I headed back to the cotton fields of southeastern Missouri.

2008, Paul Self, No Lower Place, page 219:

(simile, US, regional) Straight, unerringly, directly.


country ham

country ham (countable and uncountable, plural country hams)

(US) A variety of cured ham, typically very salty, traditionally prepared in the rural parts of the southern United States.


beer up

en-verb

beer up (third-person singular simple present beers up, present participle beering up, simple past and past participle beered up)

beers up (present singular third-person)
beering up (participle present)
beered up (participle past)
beered up (past)

"Nay I didn't. I found th' cart and horses at 'The Cock' door, and Cracker was inside, beering up."

1885, William Bury Westall, Ralph Norbreck's Trust, page 66:

John Calhoun Benton, a South Carolinian now deceased, was no white lily; he frequently was disciplined by his managers for beering up, and by 1922 the majority of National League club owners wanted no more of him.

1947, J. G. Taylor Spink, Judge Landis and Twenty-Five Years of Baseball, page 121:

2005, "Jon Sharpe" (Ed Gorman), The Trailsman #280: Texas Tart, unnumbered page,
Before returning to the cabin, he spent nearly an hour in a saloon beering up for the ride back.

He stoked his energy for each evening's entrance to the club by beering-up yet one more time at only two-bits a Coors in The Mariposa.

2008, Robert W. Proctor, Even Gods Walk in Shadows, page 101:

(dialectal or US, intransitive) To drink a lot of beer; especially, to get drunk on beer.


Clayton motion

in the interest of justice
in the interest of justice

(US, law) A motion to dismiss a case in the interest of justice.


wilderness treatment center

en-noun

wilderness treatment center (plural wilderness treatment centers)

(US) Any treatment center that offers wilderness therapy as a main therapeutic focus.


Slobbovia

From slob + -ov (forming Slavic possessives) + -ia (forming placenames). First used as Lower Slobbovia in the Li'l Abner comic strip in 1946, its capital named "Raswashingsputin, D.C.", and its culture largely bagel-based, with vague reference to poor but moderately developed countries similar to Eastern Europe. Later maps of Lower Slobbovia placed it in Manchuria and eastern Siberia.
Compare sloboda, a similar-sounding word from Slavic languages.

af

Coordinate term: Freedonia

Suppose that there are 80 births in Lower Slobbovia during 1967, and that the population of Lower Slobbovia was 2,000 on July 1, 1967.

1972, Arnold Birenbaum, Social Problems: Private Troubles and Public Issues, page 50:

(At this point, only readers who know the difference between Slovakia, Slavonia and Slovenia might want to proceed; Slobbovia doesn't count.)

1991 December 22, Josef Joffe, “America's in the Balcony as Europe Takes Center Stage”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The demand and supply curves for shoes are the same in Upper Slobbovia as in Lower Slobbovia. In Upper Slobbovia, shoes are subject to a price ceiling of $2 per pair (which is below equilibrium), and 1,000 pairs are sold per month.

2013 [1989], Steven Landsburg, Price Theory and Applications, 9th edition, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 267:

(chiefly US) Used as a placeholder country name in textbook problems, classroom examples, etc.


Common Core

(US) The Common Core State Standards Initiative, an effort to provide standards to evaluate achievement among US primary and secondary school students in basic subjects and thereby facilitate and motivate teaching of those subjects.


cubic decimeter

en-noun

cubic decimeter (plural cubic decimeters)


ratfucking

(US, vulgar) Political sabotage or dirty tricks.


ground meat

ground meat (countable and uncountable, plural ground meats)

(US) Any meat that has been finely chopped, often with a meatgrinder.


southernist

(US) A scholar who specializes in the study of the Southern region of the United States


is all

All you have to do is ask it the right question is all.

2011, Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods, And Other Stories 2013, p. 128

“Rat poison. Mmm. A nice lingering death!” added Burt with a breathy laugh. “They just taste a bit funny afterwards, is all.”

2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, colloquial) That is all; only, just and nothing more.


plate lunch

(US) A Hawaiian meal consisting of white rice, macaroni salad, and an entrée.


mixed plate

(US) A plate lunch with more than one entrée.


meat and three

(US) A meal, served in restaurants in the Southern United States, consisting of the diner's choice of one meat and three side dishes.


banjee boy

(US) A young homosexual Latino or African American who dresses in stereotypical masculine urban fashion.


DREAMer

From the DREAM Act + -er, after dreamer.

DREAMers had established a public identity, possessed distinctive interests and solidarities, and articulated their interests with a powerful and compelling voice.

2013, Walter J. Nicholls, The DREAMers: How the Undocumented Youth Movement Transformed the Immigrant Rights Debate, Stanford University Press, →ISBN:

undocumented immigrant
undocumented immigrant

(US) An undocumented immigrant who is qualified for relief under the DREAM Act.


red box

gray-box testing
red box
white box (software engineering)

(US, military) A safe located at a nuclear installation containing launch codes.

See also: severe thunderstorm watch

(informal, US, meteorology) A "tornado watch" notification, indicating that conditions might lead to a tornado though none has yet been sighted.


shit or get off the can

en-verb

shit<,,shit:shitted:shat> or get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> off the can

shit or get off the can (third-person singular simple present shits or gets off the can, present participle shitting or getting off the can, simple past shit or got off the can or shitted or got off the can or shat or got off the can, past participle (UK) shit or got off the can or (US) shit or gotten off the can or (UK) shitted or got off the can or (US) shitted or gotten off the can or (UK) shat or got off the can or (US) shat or gotten off the can)

shits or gets off the can (present singular third-person)
shitting or getting off the can (participle present singular third-person)
shit or got off the can (past present singular third-person)
shitted or got off the can (past present singular third-person)
shat or got off the can (past present singular third-person)
shit or got off the can (UK participle past present singular third-person)
shit or gotten off the can (US participle past present singular third-person)
shitted or got off the can (UK participle past present singular third-person)
shitted or gotten off the can (US participle past present singular third-person)
shat or got off the can (UK participle past present singular third-person)
shat or gotten off the can (US participle past present singular third-person)

shit or get off the pot
shit or get off the pot#English

(idiomatic, US, vulgar, imperative) Alternative form of shit or get off the pot.


Cousin John

From John (“outhouse; lavatory; chamber pot; toilet”). Possibly derived from a "euphemistic phrase of excuse" (e.g., "visiting my cousin John" or "going to cousin John's house"), similar to modern use of "powdering one's nose", but this is unattested.

cuz john (alternative)
cuzjohn (alternative)
Cuz-John (alternative)

20. No freshman shall mingo against the College wall or go into the fellows' cuzjohn.

1735, Richard Waldron, "A Freshman Guide", in 1953, William Bentinck-Smith, The Harvard Book, p. 162

18. No Freshman shall call or throw any thing across the College yard, nor go into the Fellow's Cuz-John.*
Abbreviated for Cousin John, i.e. a privy.

1741, "The Customs of Harvard College", in 1851, John Bartlett, A Collection of College Words and Customs, p. 319

American males often used British terms such as Cousin John or Jake to refer to a privy or a chamber pot.

2001, “Public Privies to Private Baths”, in The Guide to United States Popular Culture, page 645:

(US, slang, obsolete) A place or device for urination and defecation: an outhouse or chamber pot.


UBO

(US) Initialism of unincorporated business organization: a legal trust set up for the purposes of business.


Triscuit

Marketing coinage, said to be from electricity and biscuit, though historical evidence is lacking; sources from around the time of its introduction interpreted the name to mean "thrice-cooked" (from tris-), like biscuit is ultimately from bis (“twice”) cuit (“cooked, baked”).

(US, Canada) A kind of wholewheat cracker.


hornball

See horn (“sexual arousement”) + ball, and compare sleazeball, cornball, etc.

(US, slang) A person who is often, or easily, sexually aroused.


robocaller

robocallers (plural)
robo caller (alternative)
robo-caller (alternative)

At first I thought it was some kind of robocaller, but last night I heard a TV in the background before whoever it was hung up.

(Canada, US, derogatory) The party that initiates a robocall.


CP Time

Partial abbreviation of Colored People's Time, based on a treatment of it as a time zone.

Mrs. Clinton: Thanks for the endorsement, Bill. Took you long enough.
De Blasio: Sorry, Hillary. I was running on CP time...
Mrs. Clinton: Cautious politician time. I’ve been there.
...if your keyboard is still dry, CNN has the explanation: “ ‘CP Time’—also known as ‘colored people’s time’—is a stereotype about African-Americans running late.”

2016 April 12, James Taranto, “Best of the Web: Hillary Aims at Hilarity”, in Wall Street Journal:

Colored People's Time
Colored People's Time#English

(US, dated derogatory slang, sometimes reclaimed) Synonym of Colored People's Time.


squaw dress

(US, now offensive) A dress with a layered full skirt, popular in the United States in the mid-20th century.


industrial piercing

en-noun

industrial piercing (plural industrial piercings)

(US) A piercing, especially of the upper ear cartilage, in which two pierced holes are connected with a single straight piece of jewelry.


sack lunch

[…] played “black man” and "run sheep run," ate sack lunches, and rushed home after school to bring in the cows […]

1994, Daniel Fitzgerald, Faded Dreams: More Ghost Towns of Kansas, page 149:

(US) A packed lunch in a sack (especially a paper bag); broadly, synonym of packed lunch.


bean chute

(US, slang) An opening in the door to a prison cell, allowing food to be passed through.


dillhole

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

Originally used on the animated TV series Beavis and Butt-Head, possibly as a euphemism for the term dickhole.


gold record

(US, music) An album or single that has sold 500,000 or more copies.


toilet room

toilet rooms (plural)
toiletroom (alternative)
toilet-room (alternative)

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

Originally from French chambre or cabinet de toilette, used for private grooming areas and then euphemistically for the locations of chamber pots and the plumbing fixtures which took their name from the room. Now generally understood as a direct (even impolitely overly direct) reference to the fixtures.

The other apartments are for toilet rooms for both sexes, on first and second floors.

1854, San Francisco Board of Education, Annual Report, page 9:

To have at least four seat closets placed in the toilet room adjoining the assembly and at least two in the toilet room adjoining the senate.

1895, State of Wisconsin, Laws, page 795:

(originally US euphemistic) A room in which to use a toilet: a lavatory.


deadass

From dead + -ass (“used to intensify an adjective”). Apparently originating in New York and popularized around the late 1990s–2000s.

suf

dead ass (alternative)
dead-ass (alternative)

I was deadass starving.

"Im positively deadass tired,' she says, rushing over to us. "Babies, there just aint no one at the 1-2-3—someone's been spreading rumors that theres so much junk being sold there that the cops are gonna knock it over any day!"

1963, John Rechy, City of Night, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 142:

Given Embiid's history of trolling and quotable moments, the internet interpreted Embiid's comments as a joke. But the big man later reaffirmed his intentions on The Ringer NBA Show with Kevin O'Connor. "Yeah, deadass. I'm really serious," Embiid said. "I feel like I can do anything on a basketball court."

2018 January 11, Mike O'Connor, “Sixers Set of the Week: A brief history of Joel Embiid playing point guard”, in The Athletic, archived from the original on 2021-09-27:

i will deadass take my own soap to somebody house😂

2023 July 21, @fineassnayyyy, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-07-23:


bug up one's ass

en-noun

bug up one's ass (plural bugs up one's ass)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bug up one's ass.wav

(US, slang, derogatory, vulgar) A state of continual annoyance or upset about a particular topic.


buttass

At least he isn't butt-ass ugly. He was probably the shit during his time. Look at him in his multi-colored, polyester suit. He's sharper than a tack.

2015, Teresa D. Patterson, Wolf in the Pulpit, page 194:

(Canada, US, slang, mildly vulgar) Synonym of very


buttass

(Canada, US, humorous, slang, mildly vulgar) A term of abuse.


cherpumple

(US) A novelty dessert consisting of cherry pie, pumpkin pie and apple pie stacked inside various flavors of cake.


butterburger

butterburgers (plural)
butter burger (alternative)

Then there is Culver's, the only fast-food restaurant in town. This regional franchise operates out of Sauk City, Wisconsin, and is known for its frozen custard, butterburgers, and blue décor.

(US) A hamburger made with butter, whether it is mixed with the meat or applied to the bun before toasting.


J-term

(US, education) Abbreviation of January term.


PCAT

Pharmacy College Admission Test
w:Pharmacy College Admission Test

(Canada, US, countable) Acronym of Pharmacy College Admission Test.


pigger

Charging documents say James threw a fist-sized portion of concrete at
Detective Stevenson, hitting his head. He was taken to Johns Hopkins
Bayview and pronounced dead just 35 minutes later.

2010 October 19, Kay, “Spook kills pigger over parking spot”, in alt.sports.baseball.sd-padres (Usenet):

Chicago - Domestic violence charges have been re-filed against Des
Plaines Police Sergeant Matthew Hicks.
Hicks, 46, is accused of beating his wife in their home last April.

2011 January 7, Harvey Daye, Jr, “Pigger charged with beating his ho”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet):

A perverted former New York police officer who is dying of cancer was
jailed for almost 22 years today in a hospital bedside sentencing.
Trent Young, 42, pleaded guilty to transporting three underage girls -
two as young as 14 - across state lines for sex.

2011 March 13, Lady Veteran, “Pigger who diddled 14 year old girls goes to hell”, in 24hoursupport.helpdesk (Usenet):

CINCINNATI -- A grand jury indicted a Cincinnati police officer accused
of breaking into a home and choking a woman inside.
Ronald Kiner was indicted Friday on two counts of aggravated burglary,
two counts of menacing by stalking and one count of burglary.

2012 January 28, Eva, “Pigger breaks into woman's home and chokes her”, in alt.support.autism (Usenet):

(ethnic slur, offensive, US) A black police officer.


goback

Although no subsequent year matched this high percentage of returnees, disconsolate "gobacks" remained a permanent feature of the overland emigrations […]

How many turned around and headed for wherever they came from is not known, but these "gobacks" or "turnarounds," as many emigrants called them, often complained that there was either little or no grass for their animals or that there was too much cholera or that the Indian threat was too great.

2005, David Dary, The Oregon Trail: An American Saga, page 230:

(US, historical, sometimes derogatory) An emigrant heading west on the Oregon Trail who gave up and turned back to the east.


bushelwoman

(US, dialect) A tailor's female assistant for repairing garments.


cienega

(US) A marshy spring where groundwater bubbles to the surface.


Virginia snakeroot

Virginia snakeroot (usually uncountable, plural Virginia snakeroots)

(US) A vine native to the eastern US and historically used as a medicinal herb, Aristolochia serpentaria


guest of honor

US standard spelling of guest of honour.


shitfire

From shit + fire, possibly a calque of Spanish cacafuego (“braggart”, literally “fireshitter”).

clq

shit fire (alternative)
shit-fire (alternative)

Shitfire! I never thought he'd get the nomination.


annual ryegrass

en-noun

annual ryegrass (countable and uncountable, plural annual ryegrasses)

Any of various species of ryegrass, including:

(US, UK, Canada) Lolium multiflorum, grown as a cover crop


bathroom bill

His goal, he emphatically clarified, was to enact “an anti-discrimination bill,” “not a bathroom bill.”

2020, Alexander K. Davis, Bathroom Battlegrounds: How Public Restrooms Shape the Gender Order, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 6:

Legislation concerning the use of public bathrooms.

(Canada, US, neologism) In particular, legislation concerning the use of public bathrooms by transgender individuals.


head

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

one's elevator doesn't go to the top (alternative)

(US, humorous) Used as an indirect way to say that someone is mentally deficient.


WPG

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of weather, patrol, gunship/gunboat. (a designation shiptype for the U.S. Coast Guard ocean-going cutters) These USCG patrol vessels also function as meteorological stations, and are equipped with deck guns.

WDE

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval frigate shiptype

WAVP

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the seaplane tender shiptype

WHEC

high endurance, cutter; a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval light cruiser shiptype

WMEC

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval destroyer shiptype

WPC

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval patrolcraft shiptype

WPB

a USCG ocean-going cutter of the naval patrolboat shiptype


packy

(slang, US) Alternative spelling of packie


(US politics, slang) Joe Biden, as the forty-sixth president of the United States.


get one's ass handed to one

en-verb

get<,,got,gotten> one's ass handed to one

get one's ass handed to one (third-person singular simple present gets one's ass handed to one, present participle getting one's ass handed to one, simple past got one's ass handed to one, past participle gotten one's ass handed to one)

gets one's ass handed to one (present singular third-person)
getting one's ass handed to one (participle present)
got one's ass handed to one (past)
gotten one's ass handed to one (participle past)
get one's arse handed to one (alternative)

(vulgar, slang, Canada, US) To suffer an extraordinarily devastating defeat.


jockey shorts

Former trade name, from jockstrap, since they were regarded as offering a similar level of physical support.

He had left his swimming suit at home, but going around in his jockey shorts seemed a good substitute.

1980, William Hogan, The Quartzsite Trip, page 209:

Back in his stateroom, sitting in his black jockey shorts, Scotty once again felt the exhaustion creep back into his body.

2000, Charles Edward Gibb, Murder on the Cocktail Circuit, page 194:

In my jockey shorts I quickly tiptoed on bare feet down the still corridor to embrace my beaming rosy-cheeked bedfellow before the elevator arrived.

2011, Howard S. Rowland, Robinson Crusoe in Suburbia, page 64:

We sat in our jockey shorts and t-shirts drinking whiskey.

2018, C. Dale Young, The Affliction, page 14:

(US, dated, informal) Men's or boys' briefs.


Canadian tuxedo

en-noun

Canadian tuxedo (plural Canadian tuxedos or Canadian tuxedoes)

Canadian tuxedos (plural)
Canadian tuxedoes (plural)

From Canadian + tuxedo from the stereotypical occurrence of a Prairies-dwelling Canadian wearing such attire (jean jacket and jeans).

(US, fashion, derogatory) An outfit consisting of denimwear for tops and bottoms, such as a jean jacket and jeans (pants)


palazzo pants

It's a sunny Saturday and Shannen is giving a tour of her new house. She is wearing loose navy palazzo pants, a sleeveless white linen shirt that keeps coming unbuttoned, and her omnipresent motorcycle boots.

1993 November, Lynn Hirschberg, “Brat on a Hot Tin Roof”, in Vanity Fair:

Here you are […] in your favourite viscose shirt and palazzo pants.

2022, NoViolet Bulawayo, Glory, Chatto & Windus, page 191:

(US and non-British) Very wide flared trousers for women.


Waffle House Index

Coined by FEMA administrator Craig Fugate in May 2011, following the 2011 Joplin tornado.

coinage

(US) An informal metric used to determine the impact of a storm in terms of disaster recovery, based on whether local Waffle House restaurants are open and serving a full menu.


gunmetal gray

en-noun

gunmetal gray (countable and uncountable, plural gunmetal grays)

She's wearing a gunmetal gray dress that’s tasteful in front, and practically obscene from the back.

2012, John Locke, Wish List (Donovan Creed), John Locke Books, →ISBN, page 18:

(US) Alternative spelling of gunmetal grey.


CBP

BATF

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

CBP continues to find ways to improve the entry process through the use of mobile technology to ensure it is safe and efficient. To that end, CBP has deployed a process which allows travelers to use a mobile app to submit information to CBP prior to arrival in domestic locations and prior to departure at preclearance locations. This process, called Mobile Passport Control (MPC) allows travelers to self-segment upon arrival into the United States or departing a preclearance location.

2023 October 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of Existing Collection; U.S. Customs Declaration (CBP Form 6059B)”, in Federal Register, Document Number 2023-23783, pages 73867-73868:

(US law enforcement) Initialism of Customs and Border Protection.

USCBP

United States Customs and Border Protection


Matrix defense

From the plot of the film The Matrix (1999), whose protagonist is woken from an illusionary simulated world into the dystopian reality.

There is now a legal strategy called the "Matrix defense," which has been an effective form of insanity defense. The film evidently had a part in inspiring Lee Malvo, the Washington D.C. sniper, and it has been mentioned in connection with the Columbine High School killings, which happened less than a month after the release of The Matrix.

2012, C. Stephen Jaeger, Enchantment: On Charisma and the Sublime in the Arts of the West, University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 41:

(US, law) A legal defense in which the defendant claims to have committed a crime in the belief that he/she was not in the real world, but in a simulated reality.


sidewalk chalk

sidewalk chalk (countable and uncountable, plural sidewalk chalks)

(US) A colored chalk-like substance, made from paint, plaster of Paris, etc., used for drawing on sidewalks or cement.


tighties

A padded knee shattered my balls. I doubled over in the hallway, coughing up blood and yellow stuff I thought might be bile. Though wracked with pain, I was glad I wore briefs. My tighties kept those precious little orbs in place.

2005, Mike Philbin, CHIMERAWORLD #1, page 113:

In addition, nowhere in the article did I sense that anyone is angry at Serrano or blaming the school for lax security or getting their tighties in a twiddle about this or that.

2010, Matt Soper, Raising Up a Testimony, →ISBN, page 64:

“You wearing tighties or boxers, big boy?” Liv says to Marcus.

2014, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly, page ?:

A pack of teenage boys gathers at the bottom of the stairway, wearing their tough gangsta pusses and pants hanging below their tighties. Joe will never comprehend what's so tough about underwear.

2015, Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens, page 220:


priestress

From Middle English preesteresse, from prestre (“priest”; from Middle French prestre) + -esse (“-ess”), and Middle French prestresse; later reinterpreted as priest + -ress.

(rare, nonstandard, now chiefly US) A priestess.


justice-involved

Histories of trauma and suicide attempts compound the already complex behavioral health problems experienced by youth involved in the juvenile justice system. It is estimated that between 25 and 31 percent of justice-involved youth have been victims of abuse […]

2011, David W. Springer, Albert R. Roberts, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, page 349:

DDMI has not been tested with a justice-involved population, but its emphasis on incorporating psychiatric conditions and its functionality make it potentially useful for this population.

2015, Robert L. Trestman, Kenneth L. Appelbaum, Jeffrey L. Metzner, Oxford Textbook of Correctional Psychiatry, page 255:

(US) Having had interactions with the criminal justice system as a defendant.


Delta Force

(US, military) A US Army unit that carries out hostage rescue, counterterrorism, and actions against high-value targets.


dumpster fire

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

As honeymoons go, this was a total dumpster fire.

2015, Michael Cosgrove, Imperfect Passage: A Sailing Story of Vision, Terror, and Redemption:

Illinois football and the entire university are in a state of mayhem. . . . Illinois athletics is a dumpster fire right now.

2015 August 28, Kevin Trahan, “The University of Illinois is a dumpster fire”, in insidenu.com, retrieved 2016-10-27:

[W]ith these two candidates, this election remains a dumpster fire.

2016 July 7, Sean Sullivan, Philip Rucker, “Trump, seeking GOP unity, has tense meeting with Senate Republicans”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2016-10-27:

(US, slang) A chaotic, unpleasant, unmanageable thing, situation, or person; a disaster.

shemozzle

chaotic, unpleasant and unmanageable thing, situation or person


big dog of the tanyard

(US, slang, dated, derogatory) A pompous, overbearing person who will not stand for dissent.


Italian sausage

Italian sausage (plural Italian sausages)

From being a common type of sausage in Italian cuisine.

(Canada, US, food, informal) A slightly spicy pork sausage flavoured with fennel and anise.


muttonfish

muttonfish (plural muttonfish or muttonfishes)

muttonfish (plural)
muttonfishes (plural)

(chiefly US) Any of several Atlantic and Caribbean fishes which are said to taste of mutton, especially a mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis), an ocean pout (Macrozoarces americanus), or an Irish pompano (Diapterus auratus).


tater tot

Appellativisation of the trademark Tater Tot.

For sandwiches, you might sink your teeth into a Cape Cod reuben with crispy cod, Swiss and coleslaw with tater tots or sweet potato fries, fried chicken and waffle sandwich with maple aioli, or bacon jam burger — maple bourbon bacon jam, gorgonzola, fried egg, arugula, tomato.

2022 June 12, Lauren Daley, “How to eat through Blackstone Valley in a weekend”, in Boston Globe:

(Canada, US) A small cylindrical piece of grated potato, generally deep-fried.


unincorporation

(US) The state of being unincorporated, i.e. not contained in a municipality.


betterfy

en-verb

betterfy (third-person singular simple present betterfies, present participle betterfying, simple past and past participle betterfied)

betterfies (present singular third-person)
betterfying (participle present)
betterfied (participle past)
betterfied (past)

The kind-hearted Clio encouraged her hopes, and recounted sundry histories which she had heard from their forest customers, of the betterfying effects of the handsome locations round Natchez.

1857, Frances Trollope, Lynch Law; or, the Life and Adventures of Jonathan Jefferson Whitlaw, page 25:

And so the citizens of Fort Wayne desiring to “beautify and betterfy” their home town looked about for a leader and found one in Prof. Charles Zueblin, a civic evangelist who had stirred Grand Rapids in a somewhat similar movement about a year before.

1909, The Civic League Bulletin of Newport, R.I., volume 4, number 1, page 5:

You betterfy me, angel.

2011, Erica Hayes, Blood Cursed, page 304:

(transitive, US, slang, rare, nonstandard) to make better


Kill Haole Day

(US) The last day of school before the summer vacation in Hawaii, when non-white students are sometimes alleged to harass or attack white students.


continuing education

further education
further education#English

(US, Canada) Synonym of further education


prerealization

(US, finance) Occurring before the realization of money or other assets.


alpine saxifrage

en-noun

alpine saxifrage (usually uncountable, plural alpine saxifrages)

(Canada, US) Micranthes nidifica (peak saxifrage)

Any of several plant of alpine habit
Micranthes nidifica (peak saxifrage)


undie run

(US, informal) An event where a large number of people, typically college students, run an outdoor route in their underwear.


Natty

Natty Ice; Natty Light

(US, slang) Natural beer, an economy brand of pale lager.


Hangtown fry

Invented in Placerville, California, known at that time as Hangtown.

(US) An omelette with additional ingredients, typically bacon and oysters.


Frick and Frack

From the name of a Swiss-American ice skating comedy duo.

Sparks suddenly had seen the light and Frick and Frack had their eyewitness identification.

1988, Denny McLain, Mike Nahrstedt, Strikeout: the story of Denny McLain, page 185:

Or at least your pals Frick and Frack over at the IRS should have it.

2002, James E. Wollrab, Malfeasance, page 154:

I know it's been difficult, particularly with Frick and Frack here leaving for college.

2011, Callie Mcfarlane, A Clear Destiny, page 17:

(chiefly US, slang) Names given to a pair of companions, usually male, who are very similar in appearance.


Latinx

The gender-neutral suffix -x replaces the gendered suffixes -a and -o. Reinforced by United States Spanish latinx.

-a-o-x

(which see for more)

"Black and/or Latinx transgender people often find ourselves the target of increased police hostility,..."

2015, Eric A. Stanley, Nat Smith, Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, →ISBN:

There is also the fact that, from an early age, people of color— especially young black people and to some extent Hispanic and Latinx/Latino/Latina people—are automatically sexualized to a higher degree by white observers [...]

2015, Julie Decker, The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality, →ISBN:

[…] anti-black racism, anti-Latinx racism, […]

2016, Charles J. Sykes., Fail U.: The False Promise of Higher Education, →ISBN, page 188:

Police found no weapon on 93% of the people stopped, and it is unclear what was found on the remaining 7%. Actually, among people that the police frisked, black and Latinx people were less likely than white people to have a weapon on them.

2019 November 18, Derecka Purnell, “Bloomberg's weak apology for stop-and-frisk is too little, too late”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly US, see usage notes) Of Latin American descent or origin.


Latinx

en-noun

Latinx (plural Latinxs or Latinx or Latinxes)

Latinxs (plural)
Latinx (plural)
Latinxes (plural)

Spanish: latinx

(which see for more)

@nmoon Looks can be deceiving, but I "see" no Latinx, several multi-racials, 3 whites 90% AfrAm. I don't see anyone who looks solely AsAmer

2008 July 26, Elisa Camahort Page, “Elisa Camahort Page on Twitter”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 2016-11-17:

@metalmujer @soylamar there's also a variant with an x (Latinxs, maestrxs, etc.) but not quite as popular as @

2011 April 20, Karari Kue, “Karari Kue on Twitter”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 2016-11-17:

@kararikue @metalmujer I would love to read more abt the variations of Latin@ Latinx send me links, working on a presentation on diversity

2011 April 21, Reina Valenzuela, “Reina Valenzuela on Twitter”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 2016-11-17:

Asian Latinxs … Chicanxs/Latinxs …

2015 Fall, City on a Hill Press-Primer, page 30

Exclusion mainly occurs because Latinxs are conceived by the dominant Euroamerican culture as not belonging, as perpetual “illegals.”

2016, Miguel A. De La Torre, The U.S. Immigration Crisis: Toward an Ethics of Place, page 72:

[And] there is no reason Latinxs shouldn't be the ones to fill them.

Do stars with “hyphenated identities” have a responsibility to their constituencies (for example, a Latinx star to young Latinxes)?

2019, Kristin Lené Hole, Dijana Jelača, Film Feminisms: A Global Introduction, Routledge, →ISBN:

Her [Lucila D. Ek’s] research focuses on the bilingualism, biliteracy, and identities of Latinxes.

2019, “Author Biographies”, in Inmaculada M. García-Sánchez, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, editors, Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools: Bridging Learning for Students from Non-Dominant Groups, New York, N.Y., London: Routledge, →ISBN, page xiii:

Similarly, White Latinx people, who can pass in the United States as part of the dominant culture, sometimes experience pressure to not identify as Latinx or are told they are not as Latinx as brown-hued Latinxes.

2019, Grisel Y. Acosta, editor, Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity, Routledge, →ISBN:

Dr Pigozzi’s book is essential reading for professionals who want to deliver effective and equitable care for Latinx.

2020, Teddie M. Potter, “Foreword”, in Laura Maria Pigozzi, Caring for and Understanding Latinx Patients in Health Care Settings, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 10:

Seventy percent of Latinxes’ ages 5 and older speak English proficiently, yet English proficiency varies across bilingual communities in the U.S. South Americans have the largest percentage (66.8%) of children who speak English very well, while 43.1% of Mexicans and 41.0% of Central American children (ages 5 – 18 years) speak English less than well.

2020, Sheila Bridges-Bond, “A Bilingual Child Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)”, in Diane M. Scott, editor, Cases on Communication Disorders in Culturally Diverse Populations (Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies), IGI Global, →ISBN, page 92:

With the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections being decided by the electoral college rather than the popular vote, the distribution of Latinx is of prime political importance. Latinx are learning that the best defenses against xenophobic laws are U.S. citizenship and the right to vote.

2020, Edwin David Aponte, Miguel A. De La Torre, Introducing Latinx Theologies, Orbis Books, →ISBN:

The following section seeks to deepen our understanding of the heterogeneity of Latinxes.

2020, Desiree D. Zerquera, Jasmine Haywood, Martín De Mucha, “More Than Nuance: Recognizing and Serving the Diversity of the Latinx Community”, in Robert T. Teranishi, Bach Mai Dolly Nguyen, Cynthia M. Alcantar, Edward R. Curammeng, editors, Measuring Race: Why Disaggregating Data Matters for Addressing Educational Inequality (James A. Banks, editor, Multicultural Education), Teachers College Press, →ISBN, part II (Unmasking Educational Inequality Through Disaggregated Data), page 157:

Recent national elections launched millions of young people, women, working people, LGBTQIA+ people; those concerned about the environment; Blacks, Latinxes, and immigrants fighting voter suppression; and others into electoral politics, movement building, and community organizing.

2021, Nicholas Freudenberg, “From Now to Next: How to Build a Movement for Another World”, in At What Cost: Modern Capitalism and the Future of Health, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 298:

GARCÍA I think that's such a great way of thinking about some of the critical issues that we're facing today as Latino/Latina/Latinxes, however you identify yourself, in the United States.

2021, Michael M. Chemers, editor, The Theatre of Luis Valdez, Routledge, →ISBN:

While Farrakhan’s body gains its meaning through relationship to the Wheel, his true “mother,” Farrakhan is connected to the meaning of black women’s bodies and to all “black” people’s bodies—black in all the colors and “races” of blackness—historically, Native Americans, Asians, Latinxes, and the people of African descent, among whom African Americans are most significant.

2022, Stephen C. Finley, In and Out of This World: Material and Extraterrestrial Bodies in the Nation of Islam, Duke University Press, →ISBN:

Latinxes often view their achievements as being dependent on the outcome of others.

2022, Bryan Powell, Gareth Dylan Smith, editors, Places and Purposes of Popular Music Education: Perspectives from the Field, Intellect, →ISBN:

The handbook authors draw on their methodological expertise and demonstrate in their individual chapters how Latinx are crafting lived theologies of liberation through their words, actions, and embodied faith. […] Reimagining Christianity and its theological constructs, and proclaiming what it can be for US Latinx, as well as demonstrating what this looks like, is at the heart of all of the chapters.

2022, Kristy Nabhan-Warren, “Introduction: Una Historia de perseverancia y resiliencia pueblo (A People’s History of Perseverance and Resilience)”, in The Oxford Handbook of Latinx Christianities in the United States, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 4:

(chiefly US, see usage notes) A Latin person (of any gender); a Latino or Latina.


bright and early

en-adv

bright and early (comparative more bright and early, superlative most bright and early)

more bright and early (comparative)
most bright and early (superlative)

/ˌbɹaɪt‿n̩ ˈɜːli/

/ˌbɹaɪt‿n̩ ˈɜɹli/

From bright (“in a bright manner: in good spirits; cheerfully, vivaciously”) + and + early.

And this morning, bright and early, the beak parted him from ten quid.

1919 May 17, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, “A Damsel in Distress”, in George Horace Lorimer, editor, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 191, number 46, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, chapter VI, page 90, columns 2–3:

Bright and early on Monday, Elon Musk sent the government a surprising new document. In it, the world's wealthiest man laid out his possible intentions towards Twitter, in which he has amassed a 9.2 percent stake, underlining how drastically his position had changed from a week ago.

2022 July 8, Mike Isaac, Kate Conger, “Twitter grapples with an Elon Musk problem”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-10:

(idiomatic, originally US) (Very) early in the morning.

early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise


abisselfa

Condensed form of A by itself, A. Compare ampersand.

It dawned upon me that abisselfa was an English translation of a-per-se-a, a-by-itself-a. So also e-by-itself-e became ebisselfe. Similarly ibisselfi, obisselfo, ubisselfu. This nomenclature was confined to the vowels as being the only letters that could stand by themselves.

1891, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America:

(obsolete, colloquial, US, education) The letter A when it stands alone within a word, not forming part of a diphthong, etc.


lobbygow

Probably from Cantonese, but of unclear derivation. The first element is either English lobby or modified after that word from an obscured Chinese source; the second element may be English gow (“opium”), or may be Cantonese 狗 (gau², “dog”).

(US, informal) An errand boy, especially in Chinatown.


dine and dash

dine and dashes (plural)
dine-and-dash (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dine and dash.wav

He was also an irresponsible boozehound who habitually ran out on the check in restaurants, even though he must have known it was the waitress who had to pay the bill for such dine-and-dash customers.

2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, informal) The crime of eating (up) a meal in a restaurant and leaving without paying.

eetpiraterij

leaving a restaurant without paying after eating


dine and dash

en-verb

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

dines and dashes (present singular third-person)
dining and dashing (participle present)
dined and dashed (participle past)
dined and dashed (past)
dine-and-dash (alternative)

(Canada, US, informal) To commit such an act.

吃霸王餐

to leave a restaurant without paying after eating

(étteremből) fizetés nélkül távozik/meglép/meglóg


leaf peeping

(US, informal) The activity of traveling to view and photograph the changing colors of the fall foliage, particularly in New England.


bat the breeze

bat the breeze (third-person singular simple present bats the breeze, present participle batting the breeze, simple past and past participle batted the breeze)

bats the breeze (present singular third-person)
batting the breeze (participle present)
batted the breeze (participle past)
batted the breeze (past)

(idiomatic, US) To chat; to shoot the breeze.


JDAT

JDAT is a subcommand of the J6 Directorate of the United States Joint Chief of Staff.

Joint Deployable Analysis Team
w:Joint Deployable Analysis Team

(US, military) Initialism of Joint Deployable Analysis Team.


flat iron steak

en-noun

flat iron steak (plural flat iron steaks)

flat iron steaks (plural)
flat-iron steak (alternative)
flatiron steak (alternative)

(Canada, US) A tender, flavorful cut of beef from the shoulder of the steer.


nickel tour

Our nickel tour doesn't do justice to GA mechanics, but even a longer explanation would leave us scratching our heads and asking how such simple operators might do anything useful, let alone promote an effective, robust search for good stuff.

2004, Ian Parmee, Adaptive Computing in Design and Manufacture VI, →ISBN, page 4:

Just what I needed, another nickel tour by another roommate; “What was it with roommates and nickel tours?” I wondered.

2012, Thaddeus Deluca, At Bully Hills, →ISBN:

"Come on. Fix me a cup of sissy coffee and I'll take you on the nickel tour.” The nickel tour included such highlights as the spot where the uncomfortable floral couch held court in the parlor and a little borderline sexual stroking of the aforementioned chair rails in the dining room.

2016, Maggie Wells, Flip This Love, →ISBN:

“Come on, let’s give you the nickel tour,” he suggested. “Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Harper.”

2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 14, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 267:

(US, idiomatic, derogatory, dated) Synonym of fifty-cent tour.


fifty-cent tour

fifty-cent tour (plural fifty-cent tours)

fifty-cent tours (plural)
50 cent tour (alternative)
50-cent tour (alternative)
fifty cent tour (alternative)

An adaptation of earlier nickel tour accounting for inflation.

Let me give you the fifty-cent tour of the office.

Spider then gave me the fifty-cent tour of the facility, showing me all the various departments and telling me their functions.

2001, John Fiduccia, Paranoid, →ISBN, page 291:

Investigator Bays quickly gave his young rookie the fifty-cent tour of downtown.

2009, Ronald Long, The Demise of a Texas King, →ISBN:

“Well,” she said boldly, “if you're looking for ways to keep out of the house, I'd be happy to take you on the fifty-cent tour of the island sometime.”

2010, Cynthia Baxter, Summer House, →ISBN:

(US, idiomatic, derogatory, usually humorous) A fast and general introduction to a place.


ABCD

(US, Indian diaspora, humorous or derogatory) Initialism of American-born confused desi: a South Asian-American born or raised in the United States.


American Revolution

American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

(US, historical) The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) of the contiguous southern Thirteen Colonies of the British Empire on the east coast of the North American mainland.


dough-faced

en-adj

dough-faced (comparative more dough-faced, superlative most dough-faced)

more dough-faced (comparative)
most dough-faced (superlative)

In reference to the white color of a person's face when drained of blood through fear.

(US, idiomatic) Obsequious; fawning; pliable.


oil of lemon eucalyptus

Corymbia citriodora
Corymbia citriodora#Translingual

(US) An active insecticide ingredient based on oil produced from the lemon eucalyptus (Corymbia citriodora), containing 64% or more of p-menthane-3,8-diol.


bugwood

Horton and the others had hardly assimilated the lessons of Wilder when the Grundy County bugwood cutters struck. Bugwood, knotty crooks of trees which can be found in any cut-over forest, is unfit for sawing into lumber, but it was harvested for use om distilling wood alcohol

1975, Frank Adams, Myles Horton, Unearthing Seeds of Fire: The Idea of Highlander, page 37:


Loyalist

Patriot

antonym(s) of “person during the American Revolution”

republican

antonym(s) of “supporter of Irish unification”

(US, Canada, historical) A person from the 13 Colonies (of British North America from the eastern seaboard of mainland North America) who was in favor of remaining in the British Empire during the American Revolution.

United Empire Loyalist
w:United Empire Loyalist

(US, Canada, historical) Abbreviation of United Empire Loyalist.


razz someone's berries

en-verb

razz someone's berries (third-person singular simple present razzes someone's berries, present participle razzing someone's berries, simple past and past participle razzed someone's berries)

razzes someone's berries (present singular third-person)
razzing someone's berries (participle present)
razzed someone's berries (participle past)
razzed someone's berries (past)

(US, slang, idiomatic) To impress somebody.


assgasm

Many people are able to reach orgasm through anal penetration, called an “assgasm.” A female assgasm is a vaginal orgasm caused by stimulation or penetration of the anus, sometimes in combination with vaginal or clitoral stimulation.

2003 October 29, Christina Huff, “A Backdoor to Sexual Delight? Butt of Course!”, in The Daily Nexus:

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar, rare) An orgasm derived from the penetration of the anus.


COMSUBPAC

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, submarine force, U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


COMPACFLT

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


PACFLT

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of U.S. Navy Pacific fleet.


USSOCOM

w:United States Special Operations Command

(US, military) Abbreviation of United States Special Operations Command.


luncheteria

(US, dated) A cafeteria where lunch is served.


Archie Bunker house

en-noun

Archie Bunker house (plural Archie Bunker houses)

Referring to the home of the fictional Archie Bunker from the 1970s American television sitcom All in the Family.

(US) A frame house with clapboard siding.


stink pretty

Wear all that stink pretty and stuff, you know.

1986, Kristen R. Yount, Women and Men Coal Miners: Coping with Gender Integration Underground:

Longarm decided the base of her French perfume had to be jasmine. She wore her brown hair severely bunned for a gal with such expensive tastes in stink-pretty.

2000, Tabor Evans, Longarm 257: Longarm and the Nevada Bellydancer:

Well ... I've been too close to people who could run a skunk off a gut wagon with their stink-pretty, but I don't know if I'd go quite THAT far.

2004, Polack, “Re: TOAST: To the shining city on the hill”, in alt.callahans (Usenet):


COMSUBFOR

(US, nautical, military) Abbreviation of commander, submarine forces.


Peter Witt

Introduced by Cleveland Railway commissioner Peter Witt (1869-1948).

(US, historical) A kind of streetcar distinguished from other streetcars of the era by its use of the center door as an exit only, with a conductor stationed inside just in front of the door.


TFR

Coordinate term: NOTAM

(US, aviation) Initialism of temporary flight restriction.


jam-up

Pete's a real jam-up guy.

(US, dialect) Splendid; wonderful; upstanding.


mathletic

en-adj

mathletic (comparative more mathletic, superlative most mathletic)

more mathletic (comparative)
most mathletic (superlative)

In the high school ecosystem, hot, disgruntled theatre guys do not ordinarily engage in direct social transactions with stick-insect nerd-girl anthropologists with excellent mathletic records.

2011, Joanna Pearson, The Rites and Wrongs of Janice Wills, page 17:


Victor airway

From Victor (“the letter V in the ICAO spelling alphabet”), short for VOR (“VHF omnidirectional range”).

(US, Canada, aviation) Any of a set of low-altitude airways defined as line segments, each based on a straight line between either two VOR (VHF omnidirectional range) stations, or a VOR and a VOR intersection.


ghost detainee

(US) A person held in a detention center whose identity has been hidden by keeping them unregistered and therefore anonymous.


ghost ramp

(US) A highway ramp that is inaccessible to traffic, either because the construction work was never completed, or because it has been taken out of use.


cottage food operation

en-noun

cottage food operation (plural cottage food operations)

(US) A small business that produces homemade foods and is partially exempt from the regulations governing larger commercial food operations.


BigLaw

(informal, chiefly US) Large-scale law firms and their work, specializing in multiple areas of legal practice.


lick my balls

(idiomatic, chiefly US, vulgar, rare) Synonym of suck my balls


stoga

Probably derived from Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Note the existence of the Conestoga Cigar Company from the 1880s.

(US, obsolete) a type of cigar popular in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

(US, obsolete) A heavy work boot manufactured in the northern United States and in Canada in the nineteenth century.


WoW

(US, politics, derogatory) Initialism of War on Women.


ratfucker

ratfuckers (plural)
rat-fucker (alternative)
rat fucker (alternative)

For the first time, he considered the possibility that the President of the United States was the head ratfucker.

2007, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, All the President's Men, →ISBN, page 129:

The Republican operatives called their sabotage operations ratfucking, and the chief ratfucker was one Donald Segretti.

2008, Larry J. Kolb, America at Night, →ISBN:

The FBI questioned Rove, but dropped its investigation of the small fry. Yet he would become the greatest ratfucker of them all.

2008, Sidney Blumenthal, The Strange Death of Republican America, →ISBN:

(vulgar, US) Someone who engages in sabotage and dirty tricks, especially one involved in the Watergate scandal.


Fedwire

(US, economics) The Federal Reserve Wire Network, a real-time gross settlement funds transfer system operated by the US Federal Reserve Banks.


FedACH

(US, economics) Abbreviation of Federal Reserve Banks' Automated Clearing House.


active shooter

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

The sense “individual engaged in a shooting spree” was popularized in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre (1999).

In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

“When you have an active shooter going after people at random—a shooter with a plan,” he said, “that's completely different than your typical barricade hostage situation.”

1999 April 28, Timothy Egan, quoting Larry Glick, “School Attack May Bring Changes in Police Tactics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Today, the sound of gunshots often prompts “active shooter” warnings on social media, whether or not the event fits the F.B.I.’s definition of the term. In many cases, reports of active shooters have turned out to be false.

2021 May 5, Jacey Fortin, “What Does ‘Active Shooter’ Really Mean?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, military, law enforcement) A person actively engaged in a shooting spree.


CENTCOM

(US, military) Acronym of Central Command. (a global U.S. forces regional command)


FinCEN

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
w:Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

(US) Abbreviation of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.


kiss-me-quick

kiss-me-quick (countable and uncountable, plural kiss-me-quicks)

(US, slang, obsolete, countable) A bump in a road.


autocategorization

(computing, chiefly US) Automatic categorization.


autocategorize

en-verb

autocategorize (third-person singular simple present autocategorizes, present participle autocategorizing, simple past and past participle autocategorized)

autocategorizes (present singular third-person)
autocategorizing (participle present)
autocategorized (participle past)
autocategorized (past)

(computing, rare, chiefly US) To automatically categorize.


rain barrel

rain barrels (plural)
rainbarrel (alternative)
rain-barrel (alternative)

(Canada, US) A barrel used to collect and store rainwater runoff, typically from rooftops via gutters.


bird-nesting

birds'-nesting (alternative)
bird nesting (alternative)

An unusual, but not unheard of, setup called bird nesting is when children stay in the house and the parents take turns moving in and out.

2007, Gayle Rosenwald Smith, What Every Woman Should Know about Divorce and Custody:

He should feel lucky I agreed to test out this bird-nesting custody arrangement this month. It was a huge inconvenience for me to have the kids staying full time in the house while Mark and I traded time living there.

2017, Etta Faire, Feliz Navi-Dead: A Sketchy Matchmaker Mystery:

(US) A custody arrangement in which the child of divorced parents remains in one home while the parents take turns to move in and out.


nigger knocker

nigger knockers (plural)
nigger-knocker (alternative)

She knew “who was going with who and when they were doing it and what night of the week they were doing it.” And when the detectives were using the “burrhead sticks” or “nigger knockers” on some poor blacks, she would have to leave […]

1996, Jack Nelson, Terror in the Night: The Klan's Campaign Against the Jews, University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 129:

So Harry runs to open up the deadlock. Now Joey got the nigger knocker wrapped around his hand real tight, dig. I know he about to correct me on some honky rules.

2005 July 2, Miguel Piñero, Outlaw: The Collected Works of Miguel Piñero, Arte Publico Press, →ISBN, page 226:

The nigger knocker: The nigger knocker was a cut-down-to-size nightstick that measured about ten inches in length. It had been sanded down to create a fine natural wood appearance. The beauty of choosing the nigger knocker was that the victim didn't know when he was going to be hit. Normally impact did not come on the same day as the choice;[…]

2014 January 20, Noah Jacobson, The Pop up Kid: Secret Memoirs of the Intentionally Abused, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 243:

(US, slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A nightstick or a similar weapon.

(US, slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A wooden baton used by truckers to check the tire pressure.


letter jacket

(US) A jacket traditionally worn by high-school and college students to represent school and team pride or to display one's athletic or academic awards.


Twizzler

Brand name, established in the 1920s, from twizzle + -er.

Drive-in Party. Lug the TV into the backyard, pop a couple of videos into the VCR, and serve popcorn, sodas, and Twizzlers.

1997, Kim Goad, Magic Moments: A Busy Woman's Guide to Forgotten Pleasures:

Fill cars with candy; link together with Twizzlers.

2002, Parents, volume 77, numbers 5-8, page 230:

(US, Canada) A kind of chewy candy in the form of long twists.