bullhead

(Canada, US) any of a variety of related species of generally dark-colored catfish in the family Ictaluridae.

(Canada, US) The black bullhead, Ameiurus melas.

Ameiurus nebulosus
Ameiurus nebulosus#Translingual

(Canada, US) The brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus.

(Canada, US) The yellow bullhead, Ameiurus natalis.


muslin

en-noun

muslin (usually uncountable, plural muslins)

From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo (“Mosul”), that is Mosul in northern Iraq (compare 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502: "Muslins are so called from Moussol in India."). Doublet of mousseline.

Other very different styles of fabric are now indifferently called muslins, and the term is used differently on the respective sides of the Atlantic.

1875, Edward H. Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, volume 2, pages 1502–1503:

(US) Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.

(US) Woven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for items other than garments.


siding

siding (countable and uncountable, plural sidings)

From side + -ing (“material, collection”).

Ugh. If there's one thing I can't stand it's cheesy vinyl siding.

(Canada, US) A building material which covers and protects the sides of a house or other building.

klædningur

material to cover the sides of a building


jaywalker

/ˈd͡ʒeɪwɔːkə/

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

From jay (“a stupid person”) + walker; jay walker (“a pedestrian who doesn't pay attention to the road, endangering themselves and obstructing horses, carts, and automobiles”). First use appears c. 1917 in Harper's Magazine. Coined in analogy to the older turn-of-the-20th-century term jay driver (“a driver who doesn't pay attention to the road, endangering horses, carts, bicyclists, and pedestrians”). Promoted by driving enthusiasts and automotive concerns to clear the roads of obstructive pedestrians by making it illegal to walk in the middle of roads.

Coordinate term: jayrunner

(US) A person who violates pedestrian traffic regulations by crossing a street away from a designated crossing or who walks on the part of the street intended for vehicles instead of the part designated for pedestrians.

die Verkehrsregeln missachtender Fußgänger

die Verkehrsregeln missachtende Fußgängerin


jimsonweed

jimsonweed (countable and uncountable, plural jimsonweeds)

jimsonweeds (plural)
jimson weed (alternative)
jimpson weed (alternative)
jimpsonweed (alternative)

In so doing I have included a number of categories which may not generally be considered suitable for inclusion under the heading of religion. Stewart, for instance, includes shamanism, curing, special powers of shamans, miscellaneous shamanistic information, guardian spirits, destiny of the soul, ghosts or soul, and jimsonweed.

1960, James F. Downs, “Washo Religion”, in Anthropological Records, volume 16, number 9, University of California Press, pages 365-386:

While the hallucinations produced by jimsonweed and other anticholinergics are frequently described as frightening or even “nightmarish,” the toxic anticholinergic syndrome caused by jimsonweed can include seizures, CNS depression, respiratory failure, and cardiac abnormalities, all of which can be life-threatening.

2022, Jerrold S. Meyer, Andrew M. Farrar, Dominik Biezonski, Jennifer R. Yates, editors, Psychopharmacology, Fourth edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 63:

Datura stramonium
Datura stramonium#Translingual

(US) A poisonous plant of the Datura stramonium species, part of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family, occasionally ingested as a hallucinogen.

(US, by extension, proscribed) Any poisonous plant of the genus Datura.


johnnycake

johnnycakes (plural)
jonnycake (alternative)
jonny cake (alternative)
johnny cake (alternative)

From johnny, alteration of journey, + cake.

Next mornin' I was up early and when the banker turned out I was fryin' a couple of slices of the pork and had some coffee b'ilin'. Likewise there was a pan of johnnycake in the oven.

1910, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter II, in The Depot Master:

(US) A dense, baked or fried flatbread made of cornmeal.


panhandle

(cartography, US) An area within a nation or subnational division that appears to sticks out or projects when viewed on a map; an especially elongated salient.


panhandle

en-verb

panhandle (third-person singular simple present panhandles, present participle panhandling, simple past and past participle panhandled)

panhandles (present singular third-person)
panhandling (participle present)
panhandled (participle past)
panhandled (past)

I had a white cane, but I never used it. Once, alone and lost in downtown Washington, I unfolded it, immediately sweating as I felt hundreds of eyes shift onto me. A man who was panhandling grabbed me and showed me the way home.

2014 May 30, Will Butler, “The Mark of Cane”, in The New York Times Magazine:

(intransitive, US) To beg for money, especially with a container in hand for receiving loose change, especially on the street, and particularly, as a homeless or vagrant person.


parliamentarian

parliamentarians (plural)
Parliamentarian (alternative)

/ˌpɑː(ɹ)ləmənˈtɛəɹiən/

(US) An officer in most legislative bodies charged with being well-versed in the parliamentary rules of that legislative house, and whose rulings are taken as authoritative, to be appealed only to the whole of the house itself under special rules.


parterre

Borrowed from French parterre (“on the ground”), from par (“on”) + terre (“ground”).

Brussels
Buckinghamshire
Cliveden
Parterre
Parterre (theater audience)
Taplow


patroon

Borrowed from Dutch patroon (“patron saint; boss”), from Middle Dutch patroon, from Latin patrōnus (“protector; patron”). Doublet of padrone, patron, Patronus, and pattern.

doublet

Dr. Tucker accompanied us on our return; and we made a call on General Van Rensselaer. He is the Patroon, or Lord of the Manor here; and is considered the greatest landholder in the United States.

1835, Andrew Reed, James Matheson, “Letter XIX”, in A Narrative of the Visit to the American Churches, by the Deputation from the Congregational Union of England and Wales. … In Two Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Brothers, No. 82 Cliff-Street, →OCLC, page 222:

In the United States the labourer is a freeman, lives on good substance, and being an honest man, neither fears nor envies the richest patroon about him.

1844, “a citizen of Pennsylvania” [pseudonym; J. Churchman], A Few Plain Facts, Addressed to the People of Pennsylvania, 3rd enl. edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: J. Crissy, printer, No. 4 Minor Street, →OCLC, page 3:

One of the earliest “schools” of American painting, the Hudson Valley patroon painters, has often been considered to have derived from seventeenth-century English portraiture. Portraits of English aristocrats appeared to Dutch patroons as displays of the kind of social status they aspired to in their new country. […] Frequently overlooked in the discussion of the appeal of British portraiture to Dutch patroons is the fact that English portraiture of the seventeenth century was, in fact, a direct descendant of the Netherlandish portrait tradition.

2008, Louisa Wood Ruby, “Dutch Art and the Hudson Valley Patroon Painters”, in Joyce D[iane] Goodfriend, Benjamin Schmidt, Annette Stott, editors, Going Dutch: The Dutch Presence in America, 1609–2009 (The Atlantic World), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 27:

Unlike other American colonies, New Netherland was founded as a commercial venture, but the Dutch West India Company soon realized that it needed people to exploit its investment. […] Jeweler Killiaen Van Rensselaer, a company founder, came up with a solution: the patroon system. Established in 1629, it granted near-feudal rights to any wealthy merchant – or patroon – who agreed to populate the valley. In exchange for taking on the costs of establishing mini-colonies of 48 or more settlers, the patroons were allowed to negotiate with the Indians for the purchase of huge tracts of land, which by law would remain in their families forever.

2008, Reed Sparling, “A Novel Way of Colonizing: The Patroon System”, in Hudson Valley Voyage: Through the Seasons, through the Years, Fishkill, N.Y.: Involvement Media, →ISBN, page 21:

(US) One of the landowning Dutch grandees of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, especially after it became a British possession renamed as New York.

Capital District
Manor of Rensselaerswyck
New Netherland
New York


Ivy League

From earlier Ivy colleges (1933), as Ivy League first used by AP sports editor Alan J. Gould (1935). The title became official after the formation of the athletic conference in 1954. From the tradition of Ivy Day at many older colleges and universities, where ivy is planted to honor academic excellence.

Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale form the Ivy League.

Almost as an afterthought, we’re given an origin story for Barney’s alcoholism: he was once a sober, studious, Ivy League-bound high school scholar before Homer forced a beer on him that transformed him into a drooling, slurring, out of control rampaging id.

2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(US, education, politics) An association of eight universities in the USA, known for high quality.

Alan J. Gould
en:Ivy League
en:Ivy League (disambiguation)


hand pie

The original intention for pies was a self-contained unit of food. Nothing exemplifies this more than a turnover or a hand pie. The crust is the edible container and the food is mobile and tidy.

2012, Millicent Souris, How to Build a Better Pie:

(US) (Southern) A semilunar pastry with either a sweet or savory filling, formed by placing a dollop of filling onto a circular piece of biscuit-style dough and then folding it over and crimping it shut. They may be baked, fried or deep-fried.


beignet

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

Borrowed from French beignet, ultimately of Frankish origin.

We sat in a New Orleans cafe eating beignets and sipping cappuccinos.

(US) A Louisiana-style fried doughnut or fritter covered in powdered sugar.


skullduggery

en-noun

skullduggery (countable and uncountable, plural skullduggeries)

And I have another reason which I will express to my St Paul friends, and that is, that they have always been controlled in their political action here by a class of men who have always some traps set for the country members—by men who are always up to this border ruffian kind of trickery—this kind of skullduggery, as it is called in Minnesota. And now St. Paul allows herself to be controlled by these same border ruffian politicians.

1857 July 27, St. A. D. Balcombe, President of the Convention, T. F. Andrews (official reporter), “Thirteenth Day”, in Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention for the Territory of Minnesota, to Form a State Constitution Preparatory to Its Admission into the Union as a State (Records of the States of the United States), Saint Paul, Minn.: George W. Moore, printer […], published 1858, →OCLC, page 126, column 1:

The crew manager collects all the money from his workers. They operate in more or less close formation, with the manager lurking around the edges, riding herd in his car or walking between cover points. Thus, the solicitor has little chance for skullduggery. His receipts are numbered and he has to account for them.

1937 June, R. B. Sullivan, “Education via the Two-pay”, in Arnold Gingrich, editor, Esquire: The Magazine for Men, volume VII, number 6 (number 43 overall), Chicago, Ill.: Esquire, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 237, column 2:

Government members are now talking about skullduggery. Whose skullduggery are they referring to? If there is any skullduggery it will be because many eligible people are denied the opportunity to cast a valid vote, and that is all the more reason for the House to pass the Electoral Law Amendment Bill today. I do not want any skullduggery in elections at any time, […]

1980 June 6, Arthur James Faulkner, “Adjournment—Northern Maori Electoral Roll”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Second Session, Thirty-ninth Parliament (House of Representatives), volume 429, Wellington: P. D. Hasselberg, government printer, →OCLC, page 566:

What exhibition of rapaciousness, race prejudice and political spoliation could be cheaper, commoner, or meaner? These are the little tyrannies and petty skullduggeries that make bitter the relations between the races.

2002, J. Douglas Smith, quoting the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, “Little Tyrannies and Petty Skullduggeries”, in Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia, Chapel Hill, N.C., London: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 137:


intellectualize

en-verb

intellectualize (third-person singular simple present intellectualizes, present participle intellectualizing, simple past and past participle intellectualized)

intellectualizes (present singular third-person)
intellectualizing (participle present)
intellectualized (participle past)
intellectualized (past)
intellectualise (alternative)

(US) To find a seemingly rational explanation for.

(psychology) To use (excessive) reasoning and rationalization to block out emotional stress and anxiety associated with painful or traumatic experiences.


package store

From the state laws of Connecticut and Georgia which declare that purchased liquor must be in a sealed container or removed from the premises in a bag or other package.

It’s not like there was any shortage of booze in Eloe. There were package stores and churches every hundred feet.

2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, pages 153–154:

(US) A retail store that sells alcoholic beverages, specifically one in which only sealed containers may be sold for consumption off the premises.


divider

intercalaire

separator used to divide sheets of paper

The median (US) or central reservation (UK) of a highway or other road where traffic in opposite directions are kept separated.


Little League

(US) an organization that sponsors and organizes baseball and softball leagues for children.


log drive

(US, Canada) the transport of timber down a river to a sawmill as a floating raft


no duh

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-no duh.wav

no doi (alternative)
no doy (alternative)
no dah (alternative)
no dar (alternative)
no der (alternative)
no derr (alternative)
no dur (alternative)
no durr (alternative)

It says here not to drive with the sun shade covering the windshield of your car. No duh!

A long pause was followed by Hannah saying, “Well, no duh!”
“What?”
“That sign. Did you read that sign?”
“No, what did it say?”
“It said ‘State Prison Next Exit: Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers.’ That′s why I said, no duh! Like they have to tell people not to pick up hitchhikers.”
“That was a strange sign,” I agreed.

2005, Robin Jones Gunn, Gardenias For Breakfast, page 99:

“I could maybe buy that one, for some who has advanced up the scale of faith. However, I have trouble believing it would be sellable to the general population.”
“That′s a big ‘no duh.’ Now, I hope you don′t mind me keeping your feet to the fire. Let′s get back to your idea that maybe there are multiple paths to Heaven. And by the way, I hope you know you′re making me dizzy.”

2008, Donald James Parker, All the Stillness of the Wind, page 127:

Ultimately, humans aren′t wholly monogamous either. (Can we hear a “No duh,” from the bleacher seats?)

2010, Joselin Linder, Elena Donovan Mauer, Have Sex Like You Just Met - No Matter How Long You've Been Together, page xvii:

(chiefly US, colloquial, sarcastic) An expression or exclamation that something is exceedingly obvious or apparent, or that one would have to be extremely foolish not to realize something immediately.


malt liquor

en-noun

malt liquor (usually uncountable, plural malt liquors)

(US) beer, especially that having a higher than normal alcohol content.


truthy

en-adj

truthy (comparative truthier, superlative truthiest)

truthier (comparative)
truthiest (superlative)

From truth + -y. In colloquial sense, back-formation of truthiness.

Historians today point out that each of these ringing assertions was, at best, truthy.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 595:

(US, colloquial) Only superficially true; that is asserted or felt instinctively to be true, with no recourse to facts.


crib mattress

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

(US) A mattress that fits a standard-sized baby crib.


long johns

Reputedly named after American heavyweight boxer John L. Sullivan (1858–1918); also posed as an approximation of French longues jambes (“long legs”); see Wikipedia.

named-after

long john (alternative)
long-john (alternative)
longjohn (alternative)
long-johns (alternative)
longjohns (alternative)

(US) A full-length undergarment, worn on the bottom half of the body, or two-piece, to keep the wearer warm in cold weather.


knee-high

Coordinate term: ankle-high

(US, usually in the plural) A sock or stocking that reaches to the knees; chiefly, women's nylon stockings that end slightly above the knee and supported by garter belts.


perfecta

From American Spanish quiniela perfecta (“perfect quinella”).

der

(chiefly US) A kind of bet wherein the first- and second-place finishers must be predicted in the correct order.


row house

row houses (plural)
rowhouse (alternative)
row-house (alternative)

The walls in Eduardo's row house were so thin he could hear the neighbors two houses down.

When we meet Jess in the early '50s she's seven, living in a row house crammed against other row houses in a working-class Lancaster, all packed in against the steep hills that populate the English Northwest.

1990 August 18, Liz Galst, “The Boston Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Continues”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 6, page 9:

(chiefly US) A variety of residential building where the individual houses lining a street share adjacent walls in common and have a continuous stretch of roof


townhouse

From town + house. Compare Dutch tuinhuis (“summer house, cabana”), tuinhuisje (“bower”).

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia, Philippines) A row house or terraced house.


varsity

en-noun

varsity (countable and uncountable, plural varsities)

First attested in the mid 17th century. Clipping of univarsity, reflecting an archaic pronunciation of university.

There were sixteen of them in all, for the most part upper classmen who had failed to make the varsity the year before, with a sprinkling of sophomores and two freshmen.

1903, Ralph Henry Barbour, C. M. Relyea, Weatherby's Inning: A Story of College Life and Baseball, New York: D. Appleton and Company:

A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics?

2019 November 13, Luke Winkie, “Why Colleges Are Betting Big on Video Games”, in The Atlantic:

(sports, US) The principal sports team representing an institution (usually a high school, college, or university.)


boricua

en-adj

boricua (comparative more boricua, superlative most boricua)

more boricua (comparative)
most boricua (superlative)
Boricua (alternative)

From Puerto Rican Spanish boricua, from Taíno *borīkē.

She hated Lincoln Center, for which an entire neighborhood was destroyed and 7,000 boricua families uprooted, just because Anglos who didn't really give a shit about High Culture were afraid of these people's children.

2013, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge, Vintage, published 2014, page 55:


hokey

hokey (comparative hokier, superlative hokiest)

hokier (comparative)
hokiest (superlative)
hokie (alternative)
hoaky (alternative)
hoky (alternative)

From the verb hoke (“to give an artificial feel to”), from hokum.

When asked for his book report, Chad came up with a series of hokier and hokier excuses.

I thought the windshield wiper blades were a little hokey when I saw their cheap packaging.

(US, colloquial) Phony, as if a hoax; noticeably contrived; of obviously flimsy credibility or quality.

Terry hated going to the cinema with Pat; she always chose hokey romantic comedies that made him want to gag.

After the chant, we bowed our heads and closed our eyes, as Bob administered the recitation, part prayer and part affirmation—an ever-changing hokey thing that he improvised on the spot.

2018, Ling Ma, chapter 4, in Severance, →ISBN:

(US, colloquial) Corny; overly or unbelievably sentimental.


silver dollar

In Las Vegas, many of the slot machines use silver dollars.

And the road goes on forever / And I've got one more silver dollar / But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no

1970, “Midnight Rider”, performed by The Allman Brothers Band:

(US) A dollar coin, whether made from silver or not.

Alice went to the diner and ordered a stack of silver dollars with butter and blueberry syrup.


snapper

snappers (plural)
schnapper (alternative)

Any of approximately 100 different species of fish.

(US) Any of the family Lutjanidae of percoid fishes, especially the red snapper.

(US) Small, paper-wrapped item containing a minute quantity of explosive composition coated on small bits of sand, which explodes noisily when thrown onto a hard surface.


hockey stick

(Canada, US, ice hockey) A stick used to handle the puck in ice hockey, having a flat, angled blade at the end.


pound cake

en-noun

pound cake (countable and uncountable, plural pound cakes)

pound cakes (plural)
poundcake (alternative)

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

But when I got to Anita Bryant′s pound cake, I stopped looking. Her recipe is my favorite so far. The cream isn′t quite authentic—real pound cakes are supposed to contain only butter, sugar, eggs and flour—but it does make the cake′s texture meltier.

1993, Ann Hodgman, Beat This! Cookbook, published 1999, page 166:

Pound cakes, butter cakes with a tender fine crumb, are English in origin. In the 1700s and 1800s, the basic cake formula was based on the pound cake—butter, sugar, flour, and eggs in equal proportions by weight, with no chemical leavening added.

2002, Greg Patent, Baking in America, page 159:

Satisfied her aunt had things under control, Addy put on the coffee and sliced and arranged the pound cake on a cookie sheet.

2011, Lexi George, Demon Hunting in Dixie, unnumbered page:

(US) A dense yellow cake, the traditional recipe for which consists of equal quantities (nominally one pound) of butter, eggs, flour, and sugar.

磅蛋糕

dense yellow cake made from equal quantities of butter, eggs, flour and sugar


truck garden

As the home house people (the industrious part of them at least) might want ground for their truck patches, they might, for this purpose, cultivate what would be cleared. But I would have the ground from the cross fence by the Spring, quite round by the Wharf, first grubbed, before the (above mentioned) is attempted.

1792 November 4, George Washington, The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources: 1745-1799, volume 32:

it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden.

1901, Booker T. Washington, chapter 14, in Up From Slavery: An Autobiography:

(chiefly US) Synonym of market garden, a garden whose produce is mostly intended for sale.


USP

Initialism of United States Pharmacopeia.

(US, pharmacology) The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Inc., a standard-setting authority that publishes USP-NF standards about pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements.

(US, pharmacology) The United States Pharmacopeia, the published standards.


USP

Clarithromycin Tablets, USP

(US, pharmacology, postpositive, used after a drug's name) Adhering to the standards of the United States Pharmacopeia.


USP

(US, pharmacology) Ellipsis of USP unit.


USP

U.S. Penitentiaries
w:U.S. Penitentiaries


scabrous

en-adj

scabrous (comparative more scabrous, superlative most scabrous)

more scabrous (comparative)
most scabrous (superlative)

From Latin scaber (“scabrous, rough; scabby, mangy, itchy”) (from scabō (“to scratch, scrape, abrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to scratch”)) + English -ous; compare French scabreux, Late Latin scabrōsus.

der

She twisted her head away from him and stared at the scabrous papered wall beside the bed.

1950, Anya Seton [pseudonym; Ann Seton Chase], Foxfire, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC; republished Boston, Mass.: Mariner Books, 2015, →ISBN, page 221:

(figurative, chiefly US) Covered with a crust of dirt or grime.


club soda

en-noun

club soda (countable and uncountable, plural club sodas)

(Canada, US) A carbonated beverage consisting mainly of carbonated water, with or without a few other minor ingredients such as potassium citrate.


soda jerk

Looking at it, serenely topping that crazy-quilt house, I had the impression of its being an outrageously squashed cherry topping, the whipped cream of as madly a concocted sundae that a soda jerk ever made. A pleasant impression.

1943 January, John York Cabot, “Rats in the Belfry”, in Amazing Stories:

(US, idiomatic, dated) A person who works at a soda fountain.


soda jerker

Dear kindly social worker / They say go earn a buck / Like be a soda jerker / Which means like be a schmuck.

1961, "Gee, Officer Krupke" (song in the stage version of West Side Story)


soda fountain

Suddenly, looking at him enjoying his sundae at a soda fountain, it dawned on me.

2022, Hernan Diaz, Trust, Picador (2023), pages 325-326:

(US) A counter in a shop, at which sodas, ice creams, etc. are prepared and served.

(US) An apparatus for dispensing carbonated soft drinks.


soda glass

soda glass (countable and uncountable, plural soda glasses)

(US) the glass in which drinks are served in a soda fountain


saltine

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

Originally a US brand name in the late 1800s, presumably salt + -ine.

(Canada, US) A thin, crisp, salted, customarily white-colored cracker; a soda cracker; a soda biscuit.

(Canada, US, ethnic slur) A euphemism for cracker ("white person").


slowpoke

Hey, you slowpokes in the back! Get a move on!

"Yas'm," said Prissy and, turning, sauntered down the walk at snail's gait. "Hurry, you slow poke!"

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:

Some cooks are diddlers and slowpokes. Some are efficient speed demons.

1990, Helen Nearing, Simple Food for the Good Life: Random Acts of Cooking and Pithy Quotations, Chelsea Green Publishing, →ISBN:

(US, Canada, informal, mildly derogatory) A person who moves slowly or takes a long time to do something.


Mickey D's

For those five days each month when we've been hormonally hijacked, there are women's health clinics to be defended, underpaid amigas at Mickey D's to be organized, and redwood trees to be protected.

2001, Susan Jane Gilman, Kiss My Tiara: How to Rule the World as a SmartMouth Goddess, page 42:

He looked around. This place wasn't exactly Mickey D's, but it was sure a lot better than some of the places he'd been eating in lately.

2003, JoAnn Ross, Magnolia Moon, page 121:

What would I tell him, “Sorry, darling, I was at Mickey D's”?

2004, Mariane Pearl, A Mighty Heart: The Inside Story of the Al Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl, page 97:

"Hey, listen here, ya'll," Serena said, "I don't know if big is beautiful, but Mickey D's fries and Dunkin' Donuts are damn masterpieces. They're straight-up works of art. O-kayyyy?"

"This like Mickey D's. It's all about the dollar." "I can pay you," said the old woman. She raised a pathetic handful of ragged bills.

2005, John Connolly, The Black Angel: A Thriller, page 24:

(US, slang) McDonald's (the chain of fast food restaurants).


Britisher

"Why now, I expect," said the American, "you would not shoot me in cold blood, although you are a Britisher, I guess."

1833, Frederick Chamier, The Life of a Sailor, J. & J. Harper, page 215:

[…] and as he spoke, there was just a soupçon of foreign accent in the pronunciation of the French vowels, a certain drawl of o's and a's, that would have betrayed the Britisher to an observant ear.

1906, Baroness Orczy, chapter VI, in I Will Repay, London: Greening & Co, page 88:

French newspapers carried today a notice that all Britishers between the ages of 15 and 65 have been interned in special camps. Women and sick men have not been interned.

1940 August 16, “France Interns Britishers”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page 2:

Even in the heart of London, Britishers boast you're never far from the countryside—only a few stories up!

1959 August 6, “Nixon's Triumphal Return” (2:40 from the start), in Universal Newsreels (32), episode 63, spoken by narrator (Ed Herlihy):

From what we've heard, some of the gayest, hottest and most unusual bedroom scenes have resulted from a stewardess accepting the stiff and proper advance of a Britisher.

1967, Trudy Baker, Rachel Jones, Donald Bain (uncredited), Coffee, Tea, or Me?: The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses, New York: Bantam Books, page 248:

A lot of people have made the very valid point that it is a bit rich for a Britisher to criticise Indian food as being bland!

2020 October 9, Sudha G Tilak, quoting Edward Anderson, “Row over 'insult' to Indian dish Kamala Harris likes”, in BBC News:

(now chiefly Canada, US, India) A Briton.


swamp cooler

Kind of like sitting five feet away from a swamp cooler on a hot day: you feel something approximating a breeze and maybe it’s even cool, but mostly you just end up frustrated and sticky.

2022, N. K. Jemisin, The World We Make, Orbit, page 170:

evaporative cooler
evaporative cooler#English

(US, informal) Synonym of evaporative cooler


millwork

(US) Any wooden object manufactured at a lumbermill (sawmill).


endowed chair

(chiefly US) An endowed faculty position which is supported by the annual payout from a privately funded endowment. The endowment may cover the faculty salary, research and travel stipends or other associated costs and continues in perpetuity.


like a cat on a hot tin roof

A simile developed from the behaviour of a cat observed on a hot tin roof.

(simile, colloquial, chiefly US) Jumpy, nervous.


Union Jack

(nautical, US) The flag, consisting of the blue star-studded field in the corner of the national ensign, flown at the jackstaff by ships at anchor.


moosebird

From moose + bird. They have been observed landing on moose to eat engorged ticks.

Perisoreus canadensis
Perisoreus canadensis#Translingual

(US) The gray jay, Perisoreus canadensis.


sunperch

sunperch (plural sunperches or sunperch)

All Bill caught were two smallish sunperch, barely worth the effort to clean and cook.

(US) Regional name for any of various North American sunfish caught as panfish.


catty-corner

Corruption of cater-corner under influence from catty.

cattycorner (alternative)
catty-cornered (alternative)
cattycornered (alternative)
kitty-corner (alternative)

He takes the Brewer turnoff off the Pike and the road takes him through the town where he first bought gas. As he takes the road marked BREWER 16 he can see cattycornered across the main street the dirtdigger's pumps and his dark window full of glinting shovels and fishing rods.

1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 35:

(US, Canada) Synonym of cater-corner: diagonally across from.


catty-corner

(US, Canada) Synonym of cater-corner: diagonally across from one another.


cattycorner

(US, Canada) Alternative form of catty-corner


streetcar

desc

→ Pannonian Rusyn: штрицкара (štrickara)

From street + car; this compound noun was formed in an era when motorcars didn't yet exist, and it emphasized a type of car on rails that were in the street (along with foot traffic, wagons, and carriages) rather than on a separate, dedicated railroad, as a (so-named) railcar is.

Here, outside, in the light and the shade and the heat, there was a great tinkling of the bells of innumerable streetcars, and a constant strolling and shuffling and rustling of many pedestrians, a large proportion of whom were young women in Pompadour-looking dresses.

1878, Henry James, An International Episode:

Tired as he felt at night, and dark and bitter cold as it was in the morning, Jurgis generally chose to walk; at the hours other workmen were traveling, the streetcar monopoly saw fit to put on so few cars that there would be men hanging to every foot of the backs of them and often crouching upon the snow-covered roof.

1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XX, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

[…]but after all there's nothing less displeasing to me than a beefsteak smothered in mushrooms on a balcony in sound of the Broadway streetcars, with a hand-organ playing down below, and the boys hollering extras about the latest suicide.

1908, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hostages to Momus”, in The Gentle Grafter, New York, N.Y.: The McClure Company, →OCLC:

(Canada, US) A tram or light rail vehicle, usually a single car, but also attached together, operating on city streets. A trolley car.


spendy

en-adj

spendy (comparative spendier, superlative spendiest)

spendier (comparative)
spendiest (superlative)

Amy: When I get married, I'm gonna register at the UCLA cadaver lab.
Penny: Eww, why?
Amy: Cause I've always wanted a whole human skeleton, and they are really spendy.

2012 October 4, “The Decoupling Fluctuation”, in The Big Bang Theory, season 6, episode 2, spoken by Amy Farrah Fowler and Penny (Mayim Bialik and Kaley Kuoco):

(US, especially Upper Midwestern US and Northwestern US, British Columbia) Expensive, costly.


on point

Possibly from the French "en pointe" meaning to be on the tip of the toes in ballet and reflects a higher degree of skill. "On point" also describes a degree of competence and in the military the man "on point" was at the front and most exposed position in a combat military formation, that is, the leading soldier or unit advancing through hostile or unsecured territory. In recent American youth (especially hip hop) culture, the idiom "on point" refers either to someone who possesses abundant and various qualities of competence, leadership or style, or to specific acts which demonstrate such qualities.

We have no decisions in our state directly on point. With us the problem is one of first impression. None of the cases cited is on point.

1937, Herdman Motor Co. v. State Bd. of Tax Appeals, 119 N.J.L. 164, 166

His historical discussions always appear on point, well researched, and indicate a great deal of care.

1984, Eike-Henner W. Kluge, “Review of Frege and the Philosophy of Mathematics by Michael D. Resnik and Gottlob Frege by Hans D. Sluga”, in Noûs, volume 18, number 2, page 342:

Eitingon raised Jung's idea of substituting a new complex; Freud did not answer on point, but talked at length about transference.

1994, John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, →ISBN:

The second question of the night was about the shortage of flu vaccine. Bush gave a fine answer, on point.

2004 October 13, Dick Meyer, “Opinion: Bush Did Well, But Kerry Won”, in CBS News, retrieved 2012-06-22:

(chiefly US, law, philosophy) Having a direct application to the case or topic under consideration; apposite, relevant.


oppo

Clipping of opposition, or of opposition research as a whole.

(uncountable, US, politics, informal) Research into one's opponent's family, friends, and past, which aims to uncover activities or interests which embarrass or discredit them.


jaybird

Belinda was a jaybird and could prattle on for hours about the latest gossip.

(US, colloquial) One who talks incessantly.


drill instructor

en-noun

drill instructor (plural drill instructors)

Army: drill sergeant

Navy: recruit division commander

Marine Corps: drill instructor

Air Force: military training instructor

Coast Guard: company commander

(US military) The generic term for the principal instructor of fresh military recruits undergoing basic training in the various branches of the United States military, routinely abbreviated to the initialism DI; always filled by enlisted personnel (a sergeant or petty officer).


heighth

From Old English hēahþu, hīehþu, equivalent to high + -th. Cognate with Dutch hoogte (“height”).

And from hence also shall be the geodesy of the Icosaedrum. For the finding out of the heighth of the pyramis, there is the semidiagony of the side of the decangle and the halfe ray of the circle: But the side of the decangle is a right line subtending the halfe periphery of the side of the quinquangle, or else the greater segment of the ray proportionally cut.

1636, Peter Ramus, translated by Peter Bedwell, The Way To Geometry: [Being Necessary and Usefull for Astronomers, Enginees, Geographers,. Architects, Land-meaters, Carpenters, Sea-men & Etc.], pages 277–278:

In the Infancy of the World, Governments began with little Families and Colonies of Men; so that, when ever any Government arrived to greater Heighth than the rest, either by the great Wisdom or Courage of the Government, they afterwards grew a pace...

1690, Nicholas Barbon, A Discourse of Trade:

'Why then to me this restless World's but Hell,
Till this mishapen trunks aspiring head
'Be circled in a glorious Diadem --
But then 'tis fixt on such an heighth, O!...

The heighth of the celestial happiness is to see God (...).

1809, James Grey Jackson, An Account of the Empire of Marocco, London, page 169:

"[…] That! that, is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark hair's; and small it is, too, for one of such a noble heighth and grand appearance! […]"

1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans:

The four of us were dressed in the heighth of fashion, which in those days was a pair of black very tight tights with the old jelly mould, as we called it, […]

1963 [1962], Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, New York: W. W. Norton, →ISBN, page 4:

(obsolete outside US dialects, now proscribed) Alternative form of height


pedal pushers

/ˈpɛdl̩ ˌpʊʃəz/

/ˈpɛdəl ˌpʊʃɚz/

From pedal pusher (“cyclist”) + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum and regular plurals of nouns), as they were originally worn by cyclists.

suffix

Medium close shot of a tall slender girl of fifteen with the face of a Nordic madonna. no, proclaims the apron attached to the waistband of her ragged pedal pushers; no, no, the patches over her budding breasts.

1948 August, Aldous Huxley, “The Script”, in Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 96:

He drove beneath a canopy of elms, then along a stretch of open shore, then past the municipal docks, where a woman in pedal pushers stood casting for bullheads.

1987, Tim O’Brien, “Speaking of Courage”, in The Things They Carried […], Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, published 1990, →ISBN, page 127:

Tall and handsome, Ms. [Cherry] Jones, 53, was wearing pedal pushers and a gray T-shirt but had kept on her high-buttoned Mrs. Warren boots. Her manner was not unlike her outfit: forthright, unaffected, a little playful.

2010 September 5, Charles McGrath, “Single, and singular, women become her”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-10:

I will always remember the floral broadcloth blouse, pedal pushers, sun hat, and cotton sneakers she wore while picking strawberries.

2021 September 16, Charles Harbison, “Always the Gold Sandal”, in The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-26:

(originally US) Women's casual trousers, usually fairly form-fitting, that end at the calves.

trapperbroek

women’s casual trousers, usually fairly form-fitting, that end at the calves


punkie

Possibly an alteration of the first two syllables of pumpkinseed (“the North American sunfish Lepomis gibbosus”) + -ie (diminutive suffix).

But, although anything but a wary fish, the sunfish is not easy to catch because of its small mouth. Unless a small hook is used, meager results are secured in proportion to the antics of the cork or bobber, which in good "punkie" territory is likely to jiggle, stand on end and depart bottomward on short notice.

1949 October–November, John R. Greeley, “Sunfishes”, in P. W. Fosburgh, editor, New York State Conservationist, volume 4, number 2, Albany, N.Y.: State of New York Conservation Department, →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

(US) Synonym of pumpkinseed (“a North American sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus”).


pinch cake

(US) Any of various quickly-made Texan desserts made from unbaked biscuit dough, with butter (or margarine), sugar, cinnamon or other flavorings, baked in the oven.


quilling

en-noun

quilling (countable and uncountable, plural quillings)

Childbirth seldom was difficult, but when it was the simple process of "quilling" (which consisted in blowing at just the right time tobacco powder through the quill into the nostril) always brought on a huge sneeze, which immediately delivered the child.

1915, Irving P. Fox, editor, The Spatula, volume 22, page 466:

[...] the midwife kept suggesting quilling.

2002, Wendy Mitchinson, Giving Birth in Canada, 1900-1950, →ISBN, page 86:

2003, Anita Price Davis, North Carolina During the Great Depression: A Documentary Portrait of a Decade, page 194,
To muster the strength for the final push in childbirth, midwives like Granny Lewis of Burlington, North Carolina, quilled the mother-to-be. With quilling the midwife placed the snuff on one end of the straw and blew it into the nostril of the woman at the right time; the great sneeze that resulted from the woman was accompanied by the birth of the child. Granny Lewis and others used quilling well into the 1930s (Kirby, p192).

(US and Canada, especially Appalachia and the Prairies) The practice of blowing pepper or snuff through a quill into the nose of a woman who is giving birth, to induce sneezing and diaphragmatic contractions which will induce or hasten labor.


buffalo robe

The snow was too thick and the ruts frozen too hard for the motor. They drove out in a clumsy high carriage. Tucked over them was a blue woolen cover, prickly to her wrists, and outside of it a buffalo robe, humble and moth-eaten now, used ever since the bison herds had streaked the prairie a few miles to the west.

1920, Sinclair Lewis, Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, →OCLC:

(US, historical) A cured bison hide, with the hair left on, used as a blanket or wrap.

chʼidí

A cured bison hide used as a blanket or wrap


buffalo soldier

buffalo soldier (plural buffalo soldiers)

(US, military, historical) An African-American soldier in the US Army, serving in one of a number of segregated units under white officers, in the period after the US Civil War up to the final racial integration of the US military, at the end of the Korean War.


redback

redbacks (plural)
red-back (alternative)
red back (alternative)

Calidris alpina
Calidris alpina#Translingual

(US) A brown and white sandpiper (Calidris alpina), native to the Northern Hemisphere; the dunlin.


baggageman

(US) A railway employee who was in charge of the baggage car, storing and retrieving passenger's baggage and sometimes handling mail.


Trenton

⇒ Translingual: trentonensis

Originally named "Trent's town" in the 17th century, after a Quaker, William Trent.
The town in Nova Scotia is named after the capital of New Jersey.

(chiefly US) A male given name transferred from the place name.


rehabilitate

en-verb

rehabilitate (third-person singular simple present rehabilitates, present participle rehabilitating, simple past and past participle rehabilitated)

rehabilitates (present singular third-person)
rehabilitating (participle present)
rehabilitated (participle past)
rehabilitated (past)

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin rehabilitātus, perfect passive participle of Latin rehabilitō.

lbor

Cumaratunga was so furious that he intensified his campaign for revitalizing the traditional practices of asweddumization, so that neglected arable land could be rehabilitated, and a degenerating economy restructured and rejuvenated.

1992, Alavattāgoḍa Pēmadāsa, Cumaratunga, the Unknown: Hidden Facets of His Scientific Profile, page 115:

Engineers are considering using the blowable insulation to rehabilitate residential buildings in Chicago under an Argonne partnership with Bethel New Life, a Chicago community economic initiative.

1996 November, “Doggone it, it's a new ceramic binder”, in DOE this Month, page 14:

(transitive, Canada, US, construction) To restore or repair (a vehicle, building); to make habitable or usable again.


roque

Coined 1899 by removing the first and last letters from croquet.

(US) A form of croquet using short-handled mallets, and played on a hard surface.


sagamore

From an Algonquian language; compare Abenaki sôgmô, sôgemô (“chief”), Mi'kmaq saqamaw (“chief”), and Penobscot sagama, sagema, sagemo, sangemo (“chief”), all ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *sa·kima·wa (“male chief”). Doublet of sachem.

der

[A] Sagamore with a Humberd in his eare for a pendant, a black havvke on his occiput for his plume, Movvhackees for his gold chaine, good ſtore of VVampompeage begirting his loynes, his bovv in his hand, his quiver at his back, vvith ſix naked Indian ſplatterlaſhes at his heeles for his guard, thinkes himſelfe little inferiour to the great Cham; hee vvill not ſtick to ſay, hee is all one vvith King Charles.

1634, William Wood, “Of Their Apparell, Ornaments, Paintings, and Other Artificiall Deckings”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 2nd part (Of the Indians, […]), page 66:

An Indian Soggamore is not in his full Pomp and Bravery without one of theſe Birds in his Ear for a Pendant.

1693 May, “The Description of the American Tomineius, or Humming Bird, communicated by Nehemiah Grew, M. D. and Fellow of the Royal Society”, in Philosophical Transactions: Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies and Labours of the Ingenious; in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XVII (for the year 1693), number 200, London: […] S[amuel] Smith and B[enjamin] Walford, […], published 1694, page 761:

Once we slept where we could hear the salt lake speak in its anger. Then we were rulers and Sagamores over the land.

1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter XIII, in The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page 222:

Now we are ready, I think for any assault of the Indians; / Let them come, if they like, and the sooner they try it the better,— / Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, sachem, or pow-wow, / Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or Tokamahamon!

1858 October 16, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Courtship of Miles Standish”, in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, stanza I (Miles Standish), page 12:

A chief of one or several Native American tribe(s), especially of the Algonquians.


saloonkeeper

(US) someone who owns or operates a saloon (drinking establishment)


saltbox

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

Rather than build new homes, weekenders are renovating existing homes, with saltboxes and capes predominant.

2007 March 9, Wendy Knight, “A Town That’s Still Down to Earth in a Highflying Ski Region”, in New York Times:

(US) A distinctively shaped wooden-frame house with two stories at the front and one behind, characteristic of New England.


wake up and smell the coffee

en-verb

wake<,,woke,woken> up and smell<,,:smelt> the coffee

wake up and smell the coffee (third-person singular simple present wakes up and smells the coffee, present participle waking up and smelling the coffee, simple past woke up and smelled the coffee or woke up and smelt the coffee, past participle woken up and smelled the coffee or woken up and smelt the coffee)

wakes up and smells the coffee (present singular third-person)
waking up and smelling the coffee (participle present)
woke up and smelled the coffee (past)
woke up and smelt the coffee (past)
woken up and smelled the coffee (participle past)
woken up and smelt the coffee (participle past)

Probably a humorous elaboration of wake up (“to become more aware of a real-life situation; to concentrate on the matter in hand”), alluding to the fact that coffee is often consumed at breakfast time after waking up in the morning. The term was popularized by the American writer Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer (1918–2002), who used the pen name Ann Landers, in the syndicated newspaper advice column Ask Ann Landers.

Your paper gains "notice" as an example of the use of English as it should not be written nor spoken. Wake up and smell the coffee.

1927 June 4, Purist [pseudonym], “Smelling the coffee [letter]”, in John S[hivley] Knight, editor, Akron Beacon Journal, number 157, Akron, Oh.: Beacon Journal Co., →OCLC, page 4, column 5:

A few years back, when a wife told her husband to "wake up and smell the coffee," it usually was said in utter derision. Now, when there is coffee to smell, she shouts it to him in supreme delight.

1943 January 18, Guy Finamore, “Rationing dept.”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, volume CII, number 15, Chicago, Ill.: Wheeler, Stewart & Scripps, →OCLC, page 17, column 2:

Wake up and smell the coffee, Dummy. You're a comfort station on a back-street detour. Send him on his way.

1970 November 29, Ann Landers [pseudonym; Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer], “Wake up, smell the coffee”, in The News & Observer, volume CC, number 152, Raleigh, N.C.: News & Observer Pub. Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, section III (Today’s Woman), page 20, column 4:

Dear God, was she going to look at everybody who owned a truck with this sort of suspicion? “Come on, Heskell. Wake up and smell the coffee. They've become the singles bars of the nineties.[…]”

1997 October, Joanna Elm, chapter 6, in Delusion, 1st mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, published January 1999, →ISBN, page 51:

He had opened his eyes, which was what his first wife was always telling him to do—open your eyes, Al, wake up and smell the coffee—and seen that Rosalind was at least as unhappy as he was, […]

2000, Jane Smiley, “Breeders’ Cup”, in Horse Heaven, 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published 2001, →ISBN, book 2 (1998), page 319:

(idiomatic, US, Philippines, informal) Often in the infinitive or imperative: to face reality and stop deluding oneself.

面對現實 /面对现实

снять ро́зовые очки́ pf (snjatʹ rózovyje očkí, literally “take off pink glasses”)


cafone

(US, slang) A boorish, uneducated Italian-American.


cathead

catheads (plural)
cat-head (alternative)

The noun is derived from cat + head.
Sense 1.1 (“heavy piece of timber projecting from a ship on which an anchor is raised or lowered, and secured”) is from the fact that such a timber traditionally had a cat or lion’s head carved on its end. Sense 4 (“short for cathead biscuit”) is apparently from the fact that the biscuit is similar in size to a cat’s head.
The verb is derived from the noun.

The trick to eating catheads was to get the butter on them before they got cold—then they were delicious. When, unluckily, they were allowed to get cold, they tended to a gooeyness, not unlike a wad of tired gum.

1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 6, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →LCCN, page 36:

(US) Short for cathead biscuit (“a large fluffy biscuit, typically served with gravy”).


Scotch tape

→ Romanian: scoci

→ Russian: скотч (skotč)

Genericized trademark from Scotch Tape. Reportedly a reference to the stereotypical tendency of the Scottish towards thrift, due to cutting of corners with the product initially produced. Compare Dutch oven for similar sense of origin.

(US, Philippines, Singapore, Canada) Transparent or translucent pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, used for sealing items together, especially paper.


dinner jacket

dinner jackets (plural)
dinner-jacket (alternative)

So called because it is worn by men to formal dinners.

Constant was fully dressed in blue-green evening shorts and a dinner jacket of gold brocade.

1959, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 2, in The Sirens of Titan, New York: Dial, published 2006, page 49:

He was dressed in a gray dinner jacket and matching trousers.

2012, Tan Twan Eng, chapter 10, in The Garden of Evening Mists, Hachette, page 126:

(especially US) A jacket, often white, corresponding to a tuxedo jacket.


selectman

Every selectman in the state of New Hampshire seems to be positive that growth in a town will lower taxes, but if you plot growth rates against tax rates, you find a scatter as random as the stars in a New Hampshire winter sky.

2008, Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems:

The New England […] town had its own government: a group of selectmen elected by the adult male members of the church. The selectmen acted as a plural executive, while the town’s eligible voters gathered for town meetings and functioned as a miniature parliament.

2011, Colin Woodard, chapter 4, in American nations, New York: Penguin, →ISBN:

(US) Any of a board of municipal officers elected to manage some New England towns.


shirtwaist

shirtwaists (plural)
shirt-waist (alternative)
shirt waist (alternative)

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

The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist […].

1926, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Penguin, published 2000, page 109:

(US) A woman's tailored blouse, buttoned down the front.


shirtwaist blouse

en-noun

shirtwaist blouse (plural shirtwaist blouses)


churchwarden

From Middle English cherchewardeyn, chirchewardeyn, churchewardeyn, schyrsche wordeyn; equivalent to church + warden.

(US) A similar functionary of the Episcopal church.


double bed

‘If you sleep on the floor, I’ll sleep on the floor too. But it seems rather a waste of a fine double bed.[’]

1980 [1962], Ian Fleming, chapter 13, in The Spy Who Loved Me, →ISBN, page 196:

(UK, US) A bed designed for two adults, typically measuring 54 by 75 inches (1.35 by 1.9 meters).

queen-size (60 inches wide by 80 inches long)


doughboy

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

From dough + boy; its use to refer to an infantryman is unknown, but dates from 1847, during the Mexican–American War.

The "dough boys" were loaded into army wagons drawn by mules, and with the cavalry at the flanks the relief column started.

1901 July 19, “Horses in time of War”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 10, page 296:

The miser, a-seeking lost gelt, / The doughboy, awaiting the battle, / May possibly know how I felt / While the long years dragged by as the dealer / As slow as the slowest of dubs, / Stuck out the last helping of tickets / 'Till I lifted—the Bullet of Clubs!

1969, Robert L. Vann, The Competitor, volumes 2-3, page 135:

(US) An American infantryman, especially one from World War I.


downshift

The noun is derived from down (preposition) + shift (“slight change or movement”). The verb is derived from the noun.

compound

A change in career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.

The driver, Lindsay, gave me a regal wave at the top after he had completed a series of perfect downshifts[.]

2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 197:

(automotive, cycling) A shift of a transmission into a lower gear, as dictated by heavier load on the engine, as for example when climbing a hill or strongly accelerating.


downshift

en-verb

downshift (third-person singular simple present downshifts, present participle downshifting, simple past and past participle downshifted)

downshifts (present singular third-person)
downshifting (participle present)
downshifted (participle past)
downshifted (past)

zwalniać

to change one’s career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding

落波

to shift the transmission of a car or bicycle into a lower gear

But in this variation on Superbad's wild night of transgression, downshifting the age of the protagonists from teen to tween actually only enhances the stealth, wide-eyed innocence that secretly drives this genre of pre-college hedonism.

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

To reduce (something) in quality or quantity (as effect, scope, speed, etc.)

To change (one's career or lifestyle) to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.

To change one's career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.

In a stick-shift vehicle, the driver must downshift when necessary; in an automatic, the transmission downshifts as needed.

(automotive, cycling) To shift a transmission into a lower gear.


downstate

The final election returns from downstate may not be available until late Wednesday morning.

(US) The southern region of certain US states, particularly Michigan, New York, and Illinois.


downstate

en-adj

downstate (comparative more downstate, superlative most downstate)

more downstate (comparative)
most downstate (superlative)

(US) Of the southern section of a state.


downstate

(US) To the southern section of a state.


downtime

en-noun

downtime (countable and uncountable, plural downtimes)

downtimes (plural)
down time (alternative)
down-time (alternative)

From down (“out of order; out of service; inoperable”) + time.

compound

I’ve been working all weekend. I need some downtime.

But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.

2010 August 24, Matt Richtel, “Digital devices deprive brain of needed downtime”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-29:

‘We need to use the downtime, when things are calm, to prepare for when things get serious in the decades to come,’ he [Demis Hassabis] has said. ‘The time we have now is valuable, and we need to make use of it.’

2021 March 19, James Fallows, “Can humans be replaced by machines?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-29:

(chiefly Canada, US) A period of time set aside for relaxation and rest; leisure time, free time.


sourcing

en-noun

sourcing (countable and uncountable, plural sourcings)

(chiefly US) The supply of resources needed by a business process.


fire marshal

fire marshals (plural)
fire marshall (alternative)

(US, Philippines) A public official with police powers responsible for enforcing fire safety regulations, and sometimes, who also investigates suspicious fires.


honey do list

honey do lists (plural)
honeydew list (alternative)
honey-do list (alternative)

From "Honey, could you do...", punning on honeydew.

(US, idiomatic) A collection of requests, usually a list of household tasks assigned by a partner.


foursquare

foursquare (countable and uncountable, plural foursquares)

From Middle English foure square; equivalent to four + square.

(countable, architecture, US) A boxy style of domestic architecture with four rooms to a floor, one of which is usually a stair hall.


free state

From free + state, probably a calque of German Freistaat.

(US, historical) Before the American Civil War, any of the states in which the owning of slaves was not legal.


step up to the plate

en-verb

step up to the plate (third-person singular simple present steps up to the plate, present participle stepping up to the plate, simple past and past participle stepped up to the plate)

steps up to the plate (present singular third-person)
stepping up to the plate (participle present)
stepped up to the plate (participle past)
stepped up to the plate (past)

An allusion to taking one's turn at bat in baseball.

Surround yourself with good people who can reliably step up to the plate and solve problems when they occur.

2008 June 12, Beth Stackpole, “The IT pro's vacation planner”, in Computerworld, retrieved 2020-06-17:

When you introduce a new and very important issue, you are likely to inspire some of those who have been sitting back to step up to the plate and take on the new role of promoting ethical practice.

2013, Janice Gow Pettey, Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 207:

However, every time you fail to do something, you make it harder to step up to the plate for the next challenge. Think of this ability and willingness to step up as a competency or skill that you can develop over time.

2014, Henry Evans, Colm Foster, Step Up, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 78:

"There is something in railway people that has encouraged them to step up to the plate," says Starr.

2021 January 27, Paul Clifton, “What is the future of the RDG?”, in RAIL, issue 923, page 44:

take a responsibility
take responsibility

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To initiate action; to assume or take a responsibility.


swamplife

(US) The animals and birds that inhabit swamps.


theatergoing

(US) Alternative spelling of theatregoing


theatergoing

en-noun

theatergoing (usually uncountable, plural theatergoings)


flapjack

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

From flap (“to toss sharply”) + jack (“generic object”). So called from the process of baking it by flipping and catching it in the griddle when done on one side.

af

Sven ordered a stack of flapjacks with maple syrup, two strips of bacon, and an egg, sunny side up.

There is CCTV in the coach, so anyone planning to pilfer a flapjack may well be seen!

2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The next king of Scotland”, in Rail, page 52:


frosting

en-noun

frosting (countable and uncountable, plural frostings)

“[…] Cities aren’t like frosted cake — and, anyhow, even the cake didn’t keep very well. I tried it, and it dried up, ’specially the frosting. I reckon the time to take frosting and good times is while they are going; so I want to see all I can now while I’m here.”

1915, Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna Grows Up, The Page Company:

(US) Icing, a sweet, often creamy and thick, covering for cakes and other baked goods.


bachelor pad

Wanna slow dance in my mansion / Shawty wanna stay in my bachelor pad / But I'm a bachelor and I'm happy

2008, Gucci Mane (lyrics and music), “Bachelor Pad”, in The Movie:

But upon his arrival, Lewis discovers that his uncle’s place is no threadbare bachelor pad. It’s a creaky old Victorian mansion, full of overstuffed chairs, flocked wallpaper, stained glass, creepy carnival curios, and dozens and dozens of clocks.

2018 September 19, Katie Rife, “Eli Roth, of all directors, brings Amblin magic to the kid-lit horror of The House With A Clock In Its Walls”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 2018-09-20:

(US) A nice, well-furnished dwelling where an unmarried man lives, usually by himself, but sometimes with other men.


suspenders

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

(US) A pair of straps crossing one's shoulders and extending down to one's trousers, where a clip or button arrangement allows them to affix to the trousers, ensuring that they will not fall off.


garter belt

(US) An item of women's underwear consisting of a belt to which are attached garters for holding up stockings.


monograph

en-verb

monograph (third-person singular simple present monographs, present participle monographing, simple past and past participle monographed)

monographs (present singular third-person)
monographing (participle present)
monographed (participle past)
monographed (past)

(transitive, US) Of the FDA: to publish a standard that authorizes the use of (a substance).


chickenyard

chickenyards (plural)
chicken yard (alternative)


Hellenization

(Canada, US) Alternative spelling of Hellenisation


tormented

en-adj

tormented (comparative more tormented, superlative most tormented)

more tormented (comparative)
most tormented (superlative)


dipping

en-noun

dipping (countable and uncountable, plural dippings)

(US) The use of dipping tobacco (moist snuff) in the mouth, usually between the lip and gum or cheek and gum in the lower or upper part of the mouth.


solitaire

solitaire (countable and uncountable, plural solitaires)

Borrowed from French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitary.

You like to sit high on a hill / Count the daisies in the field / It's your own way of playing solitaire / You won't answer no question / Or say where you've been / The last thing you think you need is a friend

1979, Ashford & Simpson (lyrics and music), “Stay Free”, in Stay Free (album):

Mr. Greenwood said yesterday that he always finished his work in a timely fashion, and that he played solitaire only when there was nothing else left to do, usually a few times a week or during lunch breaks.

2006 February 10, Winnie Hu, “Solitaire Costs Man His City Job After Bloomberg Sees Computer”, in The New York Times:

I learned to play solitaire as a child. Its advantages over other games were obvious, even then. No need to persuade a friend to play or explain the boring rules, no hard feelings when someone won or lost, no lessons required, no costly equipment to badger my parents into buying. I could play whenever and wherever I wanted. All I needed was a deck of cards.

2013 February 23, Francine Prose, “Solitaire: Me vs. Me”, in The New York Times:

(card games, chiefly US) Any of various card games that can be played by one person.


catering

catering (countable and uncountable, plural caterings)

[ˈkeɪ.ɾɚ.ɪŋ]

(uncountable, US) The business of providing such services for special occasions.


heaping

a heaping teaspoon of sugar

a heaping big bowl of ice cream; a heaping bowl of rice

(especially US, Canada) Containing a heap (of something). (Compare heaped.)


puffing

It's called "puffing," when drivers start their car and then leave it unattended while running.

2011 December 6, TRI-102.5 Staff, “‘Puffing’ is Illegal in Colorado (Warming Up Your Car Unattended)”, in TRI-102.5:

(US) Leaving a car engine running unattended, especially in cold weather to warm it up.


joking

Twenty euros cover charge? You're joking me!

(British, US, Ireland, colloquial, transitive) Kidding, trying to fool.


chowderhead

chowderheads (plural)
chowder head (alternative)
chowder-head (alternative)

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

Did you seriously think that was gonna work? You magnificent chowderhead! I saw that coming miles away!

Now when you run the program, you should get output similar to the following: Attempt to access array out of bounds, chowderhead!

2003, Thomas Petchel, Java 2 Game Programming:

(US, informal, derogatory) An idiot; a dummy.


pizza parlor

pizza parlors (plural)
pizza parlour (alternative)

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

The gang and I went to the pizza parlor to order some pizza and kill a little time.

(US) A restaurant or other business establishment whose primary menu item is pizza.


passenger car

(rail transport, US) A railroad car designed to carry passengers.


streaked

en-adj

streaked (comparative more streaked, superlative most streaked)

more streaked (comparative)
most streaked (superlative)

(US, dialect, dated) uncomfortable; out of sorts.


food waste disposer

en-noun

food waste disposer (plural food waste disposers)

(chiefly US) A machine, built into the waste tube of a domestic sink, that shreds unwanted food and flushes it away.


empty the bench

en-verb

empty the bench (third-person singular simple present empties the bench, present participle emptying the bench, simple past and past participle emptied the bench)

empties the bench (present singular third-person)
emptying the bench (participle present)
emptied the bench (participle past)
emptied the bench (past)

(US, sports) to remove the varsity players from a game and insert junior varsity players. Usually happens toward the end of a one-sided contest.


scalawag

scalawags (plural)
scallawag (alternative)
scalliwag (alternative)
scallywag (alternative)
skalawag (alternative)

Of obscure origin, perhaps from the name of the Shetland village of Scalloway (from Old Norse Skálavágr), known for its dwarf ponies and dwarf cattle.

“And you, Hugh Elsing, I’m ashamed of you! What will your poor mother say? Drunk and out with a—a Yankee-loving Scallawag like Captain Butler![…]”

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part IV, page 803:

(derogatory, US, archaic or historical) Any white Southerner who supported the federal plan of Reconstruction after the American Civil War or who joined with the black freedmen and the carpetbaggers in support of Republican Party policies.


color commentator

en-noun

color commentator (plural color commentators)

color commentators (plural)
colour commentator (alternative)

From color (“detail or flavour”) + commentator.

af

(US, sports) At a sporting event, a member of the radio or television announcing team who assists a play-by-play announcer. Provides insight into strategy, player performance, background information, etc., and often light humor.


video arcade

The boys played Space Invaders at the local video arcade.

(US) A business or establishment containing a selection of arcade games, pinball machines and other amusement devices.

Spielhalle

business or establishment with video games and other amusement devices


huckleberry

Probably an alteration of Middle English hurtilbery (“whortleberry”). American English from 1660s.

cog

I'm your huckleberry.

(US, slang) The person one is looking for; the right person for the job.


in case

Whenever tempted to resume my sex, I was invariably met with the thought — what then? […] The chances were but few in case I resumed my other character, that I would be able to command the amount necessary for their [her children's] support.

1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 17:


jobber

An intermediary who buys and sells merchandise.

(US, business) A type of intermediary in the apparel industry, as well as others, who buys excess merchandise from brand owners and manufacturers, and sells to retailers at prices that are 20-70% below wholesale.


Homecoming King

en-noun

Homecoming King (plural Homecoming Kings)

(US) In colleges and high schools, a young man chosen by his peers to "reign" over the traditional activities associated with the Homecoming football game, usually alongside a Homecoming Queen.


prom queen

Coordinate term: prom king

(US) In colleges and high schools, a young woman chosen, or sometimes elected by her peers, to have an honored status over the school's prom and related activities.


prom king

Coordinate term: prom queen

(US) In colleges and high schools, a young man chosen, or sometimes elected by his peers, to have an honored status over the school's prom and related activities.


big old

big ole (alternative)
big ol' (alternative)

(US, idiomatic, informal, chiefly Southern US) Emphatically or impressively big; really big.


honkin'

en-adj

honkin' (comparative more honkin', superlative most honkin')

more honkin' (comparative)
most honkin' (superlative)
honking (alternative)

From honking or honkingly by shortening.

(US, slang) Emphatically or impressively big; really big.

But that hasn't stopped U2 from assuming the mantle as the biggest, honkin'-est rock band in the world and running with it.

1997 March 5, Will Hermes, “The Importance of Being Earnest: U2 goes forward and backward with Pop”, in Minneapolis City Pages:


drop a bomb

en-verb

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

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

To drop a bomb in the public toilet.

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

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

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

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

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


blue sky law

blue sky (canonical)
blue sky laws (plural)

(law, US) In the United States, a law that regulates the offering and sale of securities to protect the public from fraud, requiring the registration of all securities offerings and sales, as well as of stock brokers and brokerage firms.


DSC

en-noun

DSC (countable and uncountable, plural DSCs)

Distinguished Service Cross
w:Distinguished Service Cross

(military, British, US, Australia) Initialism of Distinguished Service Cross.


revivalist

en-adj

revivalist (comparative more revivalist, superlative most revivalist)

more revivalist (comparative)
most revivalist (superlative)


timber wolf

en-noun

timber wolf (countable and uncountable, plural timber wolves)


Dopp kit

Dopp kits (plural)
dopp kit (alternative)

From the name of Charles Doppelt, a leatherworker.

(US) A small leather bag containing a man's grooming tools, such as razor, shaving cream, comb, nail clippers, scissors, toothbrush, toothpaste, and cologne


clap on

en-verb

clap on (third-person singular simple present claps on, present participle clapping on, simple past and past participle clapped on)

claps on (present singular third-person)
clapping on (participle present)
clapped on (participle past)
clapped on (past)

(dated, slang, US) To decide to make a concerted effort to do something; to operate with dedication and vigor.


after-discovered evidence

"After-discovered evidence that a cap...identified as belonging to the accused who was convicted, belonged to another...who had a similar gun, motive and opportunity, and admitted to several that he had committed the crime, held ground for a new trial." Hines v. Commonwealth. June 14, 1923. p. 365 §4

(US, law) Evidence discovered after a legal decision has been reached. A party may attempt to have the decision reversed using this evidence. They must first prove that the evidence could not have been discovered until after the decision was reached.


casita

Borrowed from Spanish casita (literally “small house”).

bor

Last fall, construction began on the new spa building with […] about 30 two-bedroom, free-standing casitas.

2007 May 11, Nick Kaye, “Icon Vallarta and Pronghorn”, in New York Times:

AARP, the research and advocacy behemoth, has begun aggressively promoting the spread of these units, often referred to as casitas or, more cheekily, granny flats.

[2023 September 6, Michelle Cottle, “The Magic of the Granny Flat”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US) A small, attached but self-contained house or apartment.


NASBA

w:National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

(US) Initialism of National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.


prostitot

prostitots (plural)
prosti-tot (alternative)

(derogatory, Canada, US, slang) A prepubescent girl who emulates the overtly sexual fashions and attitudes of twentysomething women such as pop stars.


missis

1878, quoted 2001, from a song by James Bland, an African American songwriter for minstrel shows, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America. Garland Publishing. Ellen Koskoff (Ed.). p. 192.
Massa and missis have lone gone before me.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(US, historical, colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of missus, representing African-American Vernacular English.


three-on-the-tree

In driver's education, they used to teach students to drive in cars with a three-on-the-tree, but now the cars all have automatic transmission.

(US, idiomatic) On an automobile (especially those produced from 1939 through the mid-1970s), a three-speed manual transmission whose gearshift lever is mounted on the steering column.


Southerner

Lee, known through life as "Roony," was a Virginian of the eighteenth century... Tall, largely built, handsome, genial, with liberal Virginian openness towards all he liked, he had also the Virginian habit of command and took leadership as his natural habit. No one cared to contest it. None of the New Englanders wanted command. For a year, at least, Lee was the most popular and prominent young man in his class, but then seemed slowly to drop into the background... No one knew enough to know how ignorant he was; how childlike; how helpless before the relative complexity of a school. As an animal, the Southerner seemed to have every advantage, but even as an animal he steadily lost ground. Strictly, the Southerner had no mind; he had temperament. He was not a scholar; he had no intellectual training; he could not analyze an idea, and he could not even conceive of admitting two; but in life one could get along very well without ideas, if one had only the social instinct.

1905, Henry Adams, chapter IV, in The Education of Henry Adams:

Strike the average of all I have said, and you get as the basic Southerner... an exceedingly simple fellow—a backcountry pioneer farmer or the immediate descendant of such a farmer... In some respects, perhaps as simple a type as Western civilization has produced in modern times... The Southerner, however, was primarily a direct product of the soil, as the peasant of Europe is the direct product of the soil. His way of life was his, not—John Crowe Ransom to the contrary notwithstanding,—as one "considered and authorized," not because he himself or his ancestors or his class had deliberately chosen it as against something else, not even because it had been tested through centuries and found to be good, but because, given his origins, it was the most natural outcome of the conditions in which he found himself.

1941, Wilbur Joseph Cash, The Mind of the South, pages 29–30:

...That the Democrats of Alabama would be most deeply hurt, shocked and disillusioned should any attack upon racial segregation be adopted as a plank in the 1948 party platform... Such an action by the National leadership of the Democratic party could but force every Southerner into the undesired position of determining which is the greater loyalty, that to the South, or that to the party.

1948, State Democratic Executive Committee of Alabama, Resolution

Or take this passage, about the individualism of the plantation world: "[It] was full of the chip-on-the-shoulder swagger and brag of a boy—one, in brief, of which the essence was the boast, voiced or not, on the part of every Southerner, that he would knock hell out of whoever dared to cross him." Plainly, Cash did not mean "every Southerner" to include Southern blacks and Southern women. For a woman to reveal that attitude would have been unladylike; for a black to display it could have been fatal.

1992, John Shelton Reed, “The Mind of the South and Southern Distinctiveness”, in The Mind of the South: Fifty Years Later, page 147:

I have trouble understanding Southerners. Some of them sound like they're chewing on a dick. And I really have nothing against them individually; one by one they can be quite charming. But when you take them as a whole, there's some really dangerous genetic material floating around down there.

1997, George Carlin, “Well, Ya Gotta Live Someplace”, in Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 17:

During the turbulent times in the civil rights struggle, people from outside the South totally misunderstood the nature and intent of many Southerners.

2005, Jesse Helms, “Race Relations”, in Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 159:

In defending the racial status quo, Dixon had actually elevated himself to the role of defender of the white South itself and—in the minds of virtually all white southerners of the time—the "Southland". For African Americans were in no way considered "of the South" in the same way white southerners understood the proposition of their own nativity. Blacks were part of the South, to be sure, but one with alien roots, and only a legitimate part of the Southland when kept firmly "in their place" of subservience, quietude, and dutiful physical labor.

2009 August, Glenn Feldman, "Southern Disillusionment with the Democratic Party", Journal of American Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2, p. 213

(US) A resident of the American South, often specifically a white resident of the American South.

Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

(US, historical) Synonym of Confederate: a citizen of the Confederate States of America.

Sudisto

someone from the area that once formed the CSA


wiener roast

wiener roasts (plural)
weenie roast (alternative)
wienie roast (alternative)

The campers decided to have a wiener roast before singing songs around the campfire.

(US) An activity in which people use a ground fire (e.g., a campfire) to cook hot dogs.


Yukon

From Gwich'in ųųg han, contraction of chųų gąįį han (“white water river”). See Wikipedia's name section for details.

(US, automotive) A GMC Yukon automobile.


powwow

powwows (plural)
pow wow (alternative)
pow-wow (alternative)
pau wau (alternative)

From an Eastern Algonquian language, probably Massachusett pauwau (“he uses divination; he practices magic or sorcery”) or Narragansett powwáw (“sorcerer, shaman”), ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *pawe·wa (“one who dreams”).

der

rada plemienna (Indian północnoamerykańskich)

(Canada, US) A large gathering during which Indigenous songs and dances are showcased for an audience, essentially a recital or concert. Often also doubles as a fundraiser, or can be held in conjunction with a non-indigneous fair or exhibition in order to attract a large crowd, as at the Calgary Stampede and K-Days.


conscious parallelism

(law, US, antitrust law) Price fixing that occurs without direct communication between the participants, but where the participants instead intentionally follow one another in raising prices to maximize profits at the expense of competitive pricing.


inside-the-Beltway

inside the beltway (alternative)
in the Beltway (alternative)
in the beltway (alternative)

Derives from the Beltway, a highway that encircles Washington, D.C.
Transferred to New Zealand.

(US) Within the portions of Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia encircled by Interstate 495. (The Washington Beltway)

(US) Of or relating to things that occur in Washington, D.C., usually in relation to United States national politics.

(US) Out of touch with sentiments of persons living outside of Washington, D.C.


sewing lounge

(US) A commercial space where people may sew, or learn to sew, as members of a community; equipment and tuition is normally available


gavel

Origin obscure. Possibly an alteration of dialectal cavel, a variant of kevel (“a stone mason's axe with a flat face, a cleat or bollard”), from Middle English kevel (“a mason's hammer”), from Old Norse kefli (“a piece of wood, stick, cylinder, mangle”). Cognate with Norwegian kjevle (“rolling pin”).

der

(metonymically, chiefly US) The beginning or end of legal proceedings.

(metonymically, chiefly US) The legal system as a whole.


catch a buzz

en-verb

catch a buzz (third-person singular simple present catches a buzz, present participle catching a buzz, simple past and past participle caught a buzz)

catches a buzz (present singular third-person)
catching a buzz (participle present)
caught a buzz (participle past)
caught a buzz (past)

(US, slang) To become slightly inebriated, but not yet quite drunk.


niggerhead

en-noun

niggerhead (countable and uncountable, plural niggerheads)

niggerheads (plural)
nigger head (alternative)

From nigger + head, reflecting a supposed resemblance to a black person's head.

These plants fill the interstices between the grasses and tiny shrubs that make the outer, fuller form of the niggerhead.

Responsible in large part for the difficulties of movement to which the geologists referred were tussocks, still known as “niggerheads” in the 1930s. The “niggerhead,” according to Bob Marshall, “among the gifts of nature, ranks as the most cursed.[…]”

1991, Peter A. Coates, The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Controversy, page 108:

Much of the land is tundra, a mass of spongy, waterlogged clumps of sphagnum moss called tussock, muskeg, hummock, or in the vernacular of old-time Alaskans “niggerheads.”

2004, James Campbell, The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness, page 65:

From the air, the bright green grassy floor of the tundra looks as smooth as a golf course fairway, but a closer inspection reveals peaty tussocks of crabgrass called niggerheads spaced just far enough apart for a foot to twist clumsily between. Walking on the frost-formed niggerheads is very much akin to walking across a gymnasium floor covered by thousands of glued-in-place softballs.

2006, Kit Cain, Flying The Yukon's Bush, page 30:

This sloshing was compounded by the fact we were unable to keep in step with each other due to the many and various sized niggerheads (hard tussocks in tundra) that would attempt to roll from under us as if one was stepping on balls ranging in size from softballs to basketballs, with each step if unable (most of the time we could not) to avoid.

2012, Otis Hammonds, As the Hawks... Free of Earth's Bounds, Xlibris, unnumbered page:

(US, Alaska, dated, now offensive) A tussock (clump of plant material), found on the tundra.


Zippergate

From zipper + -gate, referring to the fastening on a man's trousers.

(chiefly US) The Monica Lewinsky scandal.


holidays

Where will you be spending the holidays?

(Canada, US) The season around Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's Day.


faith-based

en-adj

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

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

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

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

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


marriage lite

(US, informal) cohabitation, civil union


waitress mom

(US, informal) Any woman with children who has a relatively low-paid (blue-collar) job (such as a waitress).


welfare-to-work

(US) A social program designed to wean those receiving government benefits back into employment.


extraordinary rendition

en-noun

extraordinary rendition (countable and uncountable, plural extraordinary renditions)

(US) The sending of untried criminal suspects to countries outside the USA for interrogation or imprisonment.


bust one's butt

en-verb

bust one's butt (third-person singular simple present busts one's butt, present participle busting one's butt, simple past and past participle busted one's butt or bust one's butt)

busts one's butt (present singular third-person)
busting one's butt (participle present)
busted one's butt (participle past)
busted one's butt (past)
bust one's butt (participle past)
bust one's butt (past)

I've been busting my butt getting the tent fixed, while you're just sipping cocoa. Give me a hand.

I have several friends who are public defenders. They are competent, hard working attorneys who bust their butts every day to give these people the best defense available at any price.

1987 December 13, anonymous author, “Asinine Policy Of Supporting Prisoners”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 22, page 4:

Those flings, those strings you've got to cut / So get out on the streets, girls, and bust your butts

1995, Jewel (lyrics and music), “Who Will Save Your Soul”, in Pieces of You:

(slang, Canada, US) To work exceptionally hard.


call the shots

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

calls the shots (present singular third-person)
calling the shots (participle present)
called the shots (participle past)
called the shots (past)

In today's health care system, insurance companies call the shots. They pick whom they cover and how they cover them. They can cut off your benefits when you need your coverage the most. They are in charge.

1994 January 25, Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Clinton's Second State of the Union Address:

Myanmar's Shan state, which borders both China and Thailand, is the wild wild east. And in many parts of the state, it's well-armed ethnic militias, not Myanmar's military, who call the shots.

2019 July 4, Michael Sullivan, “In Myanmar, Methamphetamine, Synthetic Drug Production Soars”, in NPR.org:

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that Iran’s elections are insignificant. Regardless of who wins, the argument goes, in the end, it’s the supreme leader who calls the shots.

2021 June 22, Ali Vaez, Dina Esfandiary, “The Hard-Liners Won in Iran. That’s Not All Bad News.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(chiefly US) To make the decisions; to be in charge; to give orders.


comforter

From Middle English comfortour et al, from Anglo-Norman confortour, from Old French conforter. See comfort.

A vast quilt or comforter was heaped beside the bed, in a broad puddle of congealed blood, thick and shiny on the patterned rugs.

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 185:

(US) A padded cover for a bed, duvet, continental quilt.


auto insurance

(US) Insurance purchased by the owner of a vehicle to cover losses due to traffic accidents or theft: car insurance.

autovakuutus

insurance purchased by the owner of a vehicle


precinct

precincts (plural)
præcinct (alternative)

From Middle English precinct, precincte, early 15th century, in sense of “district for government purposes”, from Medieval Latin precinctum, alternative form of praecinctum (“enclosure, boundary line”), neuter singular of praecinctus, perfect passive participle of Latin praecingō (“surround, gird”), from prae (“before”) + cingō (“surround, encircle”), from which also cinch.
Cognate to Italian precingere (“to encircle”).

(US, law enforcement) A subdivision of a city under the jurisdiction of a specific group of police; the police station situated in that district.

(US) A subdivision of a city or other locality for the purposes of voting and representation in local government. In cities, precincts may be grouped into wards.


janitory

en-adj

janitory (comparative more janitory, superlative most janitory)

more janitory (comparative)
most janitory (superlative)

(US) Of, related to, or for use by a janitor.


CRS

en-noun

CRS (countable and uncountable, plural CRSs)

(US, realtors) Initialism of certified residential specialist.

(US, aviation) Initialism of (FAA) certified repair station.


CRS

Congressional Research Service
w:Congressional Research Service

(US, government) Initialism of Congressional Research Service.


unavailable

(US, history) A communist who operated underground and was therefore not available for a political leadership position.


800 number

In the original North American Numbering Plan, phone numbers beginning with an area code of "800" were reserved for so called toll-free numbers, where the party receiving the call pays the charges. As more toll-free numbers were needed, additional area codes were added to the scheme including 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833 and one more was reserved: 822. The term "800 number" is used colloquially to refer to all of these.

(Canada, US) A toll-free telephone number.


Cliff notes

From the given name Clifton. Derived from Cliff's notes, a series of literature study guides published by Clifton Hillegass.

Ryker stepped forward and blurted out the cliff notes of the current crisis.

2012, Gary Wayne Clark, The Devolution Chronicles: Rise of the Chimera, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 105:

Well, of course there's more, a lot more. But that's the cliff notes of what faces us once we find Sanderson.

2014, CP Moore, Legacy of the Gods, CP Moore, →ISBN:

“If this is you being serious, I'll just give you the cliff notes of the plan for tonight,” said Ray.

2015, Jack Fisher, The Escort and the Gigolo, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

Can you give us the, the Cliff notes version of that?

2017, “What North Korea Wants”, in Reuters War College:

(US) A rundown (rough outline) of a situation, event, etc.


tabling

The Woodstock Town Board dropped the controversial anti-discrimination ordinance after a meeting marked by a series of tablings and withdrawals of various resolutions.

1978 April 22, “Woodstock, NY Rights Ordinance Killed in Rules Stalemate”, in Gay Community News, page 6:

(US) A setting-aside of a topic from discussion.


station sedan

1948, American Machinist, Volume 92, Issues 1-5, page 72,
July 11, 1946, the first station wagon went into production. It has the familiar Jeep “front-end look” with radiator grid, bonnet, front fenders, cowl, dash, windshield assembly and door assemblies identical with those in panel delivery, 2- and 4-wheel drive trucks and the new station sedan.

1949 April 18, Advertisement, Life, page 120,
The ‘Jeep’ Station Sedan combines the luxurious riding ease of a sedan with the spaciousness of a station-wagon.

He noticed somebody come running around the corner and to the side of the station sedan nearer to the kerb, and get in.

1975, South Australian Supreme Court, The South Australian State Reports, volume 12, page 405:

1993, Paul B. Kidd, Never to Be Released, 2001, Pan Macmillan Australia, unnumbered page,
Police throughout Australia were alerted to keep a lookout for a white or cream 1973–74 Holden Kingswood station sedan.

(US, Australia, obsolete) A station wagon.


ball-breaker

ball-breakers (plural)
ballbreaker (alternative)

My slave-driving boss expects me to work over the weekend. What a ball-breaker!

(US, idiomatic, vulgar) A person or task which is excessively demanding or punishing.


woobie

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

From the 1983 film Mr. Mom, in which it is a child's word for his security blanket.

baby girl

male morally-ambiguous character romanticised by fans

Draco in Leather Pants

any morally-ambiguous character romanticised by fans

poor little meow meow

endearingly pathetic villain or morally-ambiguous character

(US, childish) Any object, typically a blanket, garment or stuffed animal, that is used simply for its comforting characteristics; a security blanket.


crickets

Sense 2 is derived from the cinematic metaphor of chirping crickets at night, signaling (otherwise) complete quiet.

to hear crickets

Since then, I've received no response. Not a word. Just… crickets.

We asked for an explanation, but all we got was crickets.

"We have one exclusive one block from Bee on Fifth and Seventy-third. Prewar. White-glove. Top-notch." His Queen's English posh London accent made it sound extra-fabulous. […] / "Do you maybe have any listings that are less? Like ... four million less?" I asked, semi-blushing. / "Four million or less? Sure!" / "No, no, no," I said. "Not four million or less. Four million less than five point three million, i.e., something in the one-to-one-and-a-half range." / "Oh." / Crickets.

2007, Jill Kargman, Momzillas, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN:

Maria Chapelle-Nadal, a Democratic state senator, said she feared that the commission's findings would be announced with great fanfare, "but then we're just going to hear crickets, crickets, crickets."

2015 September 14, Monica Davey, “Panel studying racial divide in Missouri presents a blunt picture of inequity [print version: 'Report blunt on race inequity', International New York Times, 15 September 2015, page 7]”, in The New York Times:

Stopping a group of teenage boys at a museum [in Bangladesh] devoted to the 1971 war, I asked them which American leaders had played an important role in the conflict. Henry A. Kissinger? They looked at me with blank faces. Richard M. Nixon? Crickets.

2016 June 27, Ellen Barry, “To U.S. in ’70s, a dissenting diplomat. To Bangladesh, ‘a true friend.’ [print version: 'A dissenter remembered: Diplomat pushed U.S. to condemn Pakistan’s 1971 assault on Dhaka', International New York Times, 29 June 2016, page 2]”, in The New York Times:

(often singular, US, Canada, figurative, slang, humorous) Used alone or in metaphorically descriptive phrases: absolute silence where meaningful sound is expected; lack of response; no communication.


de nada

1976, American review: the magazine of new writing: Issue 25, link
Mooch-ass grassy-ass! Ha ha, de nada, jefe

"I'm really grateful to you for being nice to her." "De nada," he answered with a small bow and a quick swipe to her behind as she passed.

1996, Ellen Feldmen, Rearview mirror, link:

She shook her head slowly. “De nada. You don't owe me anything, Rio.

2010, Lara Adrian, Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed 8-Book Bundle, link:


guttersnipe

(US, slang, dated) A broker who sold securities in the street.


advisement

advisement (usually uncountable, plural advisements)

advisements (plural)
avisement (alternative)

From Middle English advisement, avisement, from Old French advisement, avisement, from adviser, aviser + -ment.

He took the situation under advisement, but was able to draw no conclusion.


AIM

(US, military) Acronym of air intercept missile.