eat crow

eat crow (third-person singular simple present eats crow, present participle eating crow, simple past ate crow, past participle eaten crow)

eats crow (present singular third-person)
eating crow (participle present)
ate crow (past)
eaten crow (participle past)

First appeared in the 1870s in America in the form eat boiled crow. Unknown origin, but probably a reference to the meat of the crow being very unappetizing.

He must apologise, he saw that clearly enough, must eat crow, as he told himself.

1901, Frank Norris, chapter 2, in The Octopus:

The Nationals started with Jerome Herman ("Dizzy") Dean, who reveled in striking out Lou Gehrig in the first inning. Gehrig made Dean eat crow in the third inning by smashing a home run.

1937 July 19, “Baseball Races”, in Time, archived from the original on 2008-12-06:

In political libel, furthermore, a public recanting by the vilifier is more likely to be believed by the public, for it is well known that no politician likes to "eat crow" unless he has to.

1950, J.C.N.P., “Libel Actions by Political Organizations”, in University of Pennsylvania Law Review, volume 98, number 6, page 883:

[Alison] Roman, now typical for such cases, ate crow with an apologetic statement about how she had reflected and realized her error.

2021, John H. McWhorter, chapter 1, in Woke Racism, New York: Forum, →ISBN:

Today’s change means we only have one Senate race, Ohio, rated as a Toss-up. Democrats surely hope we’ll have to eat crow on today’s update and pull Montana back into the Toss-up category later in the cycle.

2024 September 6, Kyle Klondik, University of Virginia Center for Politics:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To recognize that one has been shown to be mistaken or outdone, especially by admitting that one has made a humiliating error.


lunch pail

lunch pails (plural)
lunchpail (alternative)

(US) A lunchbox (food container) shaped more or less like a bucket with a handle.

The work of making this world resemble one that you would prefer to live in is a lunch pail fucking job, day in and day out, where thousands of committed, anonymous, smart and dedicated people bang on closed doors and pick up those that are fallen and grind away on issues till they get a positive result.

2024 February 12, Jon Stewart, The Daily Show:

(US, figurative) Someone doing work that needs to be done in an unpretentious, down-to-earth manner; (originally) a blue-collar worker.


Phil

the Phils. (canonical)
phil (alternative)
phil. (alternative)
Phil. (alternative)

(US, Philippines, slang, chiefly in the plural) Clipping of the Philippines.


suffrage

en-noun

suffrage (usually uncountable, plural suffrages)

From Middle English suffrage (“prayers or pleas on behalf of another”), from Old French, from Medieval Latin suffragium, from Latin suffragium (“support, vote, right of voting”). The sense of "vote" or "right to vote" was directly derived from classical Latin.

der

What role did the House of Commons play in the political life of the nation in the aftermath of suffrage? There is surprisingly little historiography to help answer the question.

2013 May 28, Julie V. Gottlieb, Richard Toye, The Aftermath of Suffrage: Women, Gender, and Politics in Britain, 1918-1945, Springer, →ISBN:

(uncountable) The right or chance to vote, express an opinion, or participate in a decision, especially in a democratic election.


pain in the butt

en-noun

pain in the butt (plural pains in the butt)

The customers love it, but the employees think the new system is a pain in the butt.

(Canada, US, informal) A nuisance; a source of trouble or annoyance.


MLA

MLAs (plural)
M.L.A. (alternative)
M. L. A. (alternative)

(in the US, art) Initialism of master of liberal arts.


MLA

Modern Language Association
w:Modern Language Association

(in the US) Initialism of Modern Language Association.


knob

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knudaną (“to knead”).
Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop. For the sense of a rounded hill, see nab and knab.

բռնակ

rounded protuberance, handle, or control switch

Males voices, raised in anger, screamed at an unseen freshman. One voice demanded to know the rank on each jacket. “Hey, smack, what rank is this cadet uniform? Answer me, knob! Don’t you know, knob? What’s wrong, are you stupid, knob? For the first time since arriving at The Citadel, I fought to keep back tears. Exhausted from an hour of nonstop harassment, I was caught off guard by the sound of a boy sobbing behind me.

2002 September, Nancy Mace, Mary Jane Ross, In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel, page 44:

“You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.

2018 October, Joe Crochet, My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within, page 3:

Day 1 at the South Carolina Military Academy is filled with the academy’s trademarks - the Guidon, the five basic commands, and a knob haircut.

2021 June, James Wigfall, Standing Tall:

(slang, US) A freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.


honyock

honyocks (plural)
honyak (alternative)
honyocker (alternative)
honyok (alternative)
huniak (alternative)
hunyack (alternative)
hunyak (alternative)
hunyok (alternative)

* Historically, honyock referred to immigrant homesteaders "stubbornly" farming "hardscrabble" or "hardpan" land considered better suited to livestock ranching.
* The first recorded usage in print appeared before 1860. Usage of the word peaked around 1927, and subsequently fell into relative disuse by 1980.
* Multiple possible origins of this word have been suggested:
** Portmanteau word from Hun/Hungarian and the ethnic slur Polack.
** Derivation of the German compound word "Honigjäger", meaning honey chaser; A reference to pursuing "sweet" opportunities and inevitably getting "stung" by unanticipated but predictable consequences.
** Derivation of the Hungarian adjective "hanyag", and its multiple definitions and negative connotations such as careless, sloppy, slothful and slow.

Today "honyock," or farming homesteader, and old-timer live peaceably side by side and each has learned much from the other. The old-timer taught his neighbor the art of stock raising on the range, and the honyock convinced the old-timer that some forage crops could be raised and that it was not good economics to ship out a carload of cows and at the same time ship in a carload of condensed milk.

1938, Unknown FWP Author, A South Dakota Guide, Works Project Administration, Chapter 1, South Dakota Today

(US, slang) A person (especially a farmer) of relatively recent Central or Eastern European peasant extraction.

(Father) told me I was a honyock, kissed my mother(...), and gave me a Dutch rub.

2009, Charles Taylor, Winter from Spring, Xlibris Corporation, page 29:

"You city boys are so complicated."
"Better to be complicated than simple."
"Who're you calling simple?"
"The same honyock who damn near got us killed driving here like he was doing the Indy 500 on a dirt road in the woods."
"I'll have you know that was all skill."

2011, Robert W. Callis, Hanging Rock, iUniverse, page 141:

"Olivia, put some clothes on and I'll be back to deal with you directly. And as for you!" He poked Rhys on the center of his chest. "Come with me, you hairy-legged honyock!"

2013, Connie Mason, Mia Marlowe, Waking Up with a Rake, Sourcebooks Incorporated:

Oh, and did you notice that last line? "I am the Lord." This is not just some guy off the street; not some honyock who doesn't know anything!

2016, Tex Tonroy, Out o' th' Bushes: A Texas Preacher's Guide to Givin' Plumb Up!, WestBow Press:

(US, slang, sometimes derogatory) A person who is foolish, stupid, oafish, wild, impetuous, or stubborn.


hophead

For the alcoholic there are numerous substitutes: a period of intense diversion and excitement, pressing need for rest, hypnotic sedatives, sleep. Not for the hophead. Sedatives don't touch it; he can't rest; he can't even sleep.

1939, Walton Hall Smith, Ferdinand Christian Helwig, Liquor, the Servant of Man, page 193:

“Oed,” looking at her puzzled, “you don't get addicted. It's not like you're some hophead. You take it because it's good. […]

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 5, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 107:

Why should we all go around on tiptoe forever pretending the kid's not a hophead?

1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest, Knopf:


mukluk

mukluks (plural)
makluk (alternative)
mackaluck (alternative)
muck-a-luck (alternative)
muckluck (alternative)
muck-luck (alternative)
muckluk (alternative)
mucluc (alternative)
muklek (alternative)

Borrowed from Yup'ik maklak (“bearded seal”), referring to sealskin used to make boots, originally derived from Proto-Eskimo *makla (“bearded seal, spotted seal”).

Her parkee, made of Caribou, it is a lovely fit, / And she's all right from muck-a-luck unto her dainty mit. / This lovely Klooch is fond of Hooch, and makes it very well.

1898 December 8, Medicine Hat News, page 5:

(Canada, US) A soft knee-high boot of sealskin or reindeer skin, originally worn by Inuit and Yupik.

[...] the Canadians’ [soldiers’] mukluks and sleeping bags were superior to anything in use. the mukluk, a rubber-soled boot with a calf-high outer nylon cover, has a thick woollen inner boot that keeps feet warm in the coldest of weather.

1966 April 27, Kingston Whig-Standard, page 26:

The skin is used to make mukluks, hats, parkas. We are resourceful and respectful of the animals, the land.

2004, Paola Gianturco, Celebrating Women:

(Canada, US) A laced winter boot resembling a traditional mukluk, with thick rubber sole and cloth upper.


snort

en-verb

snort (third-person singular simple present snorts, present participle snorting, simple past and past participle snorted)

snorts (present singular third-person)
snorting (participle present)
snorted (participle past)
snorted (past)

From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.

to snort cocaine

(transitive, slang, originally US) To inhale (usually a drug) through the nose.

смъркам

to inhale (usually a drug) through the nose


odd and curious

(idiomatic, US) A way to designate special coins, namely coins that are both odd and imperfect or seriously damaged.


townie

cocky ()

antonym(s) of “person who lives in a city or town or has an urban outlook”

Professional gamblers have a cushy racket in college football because old grads and even townies of college localities are sentimental bettors and easy to separate from their money.

1947 November, “College football business”, in Kiplinger Magazine, page 36:

School is an ivory tower on the hill; it nestles in the gated groves of academe. It’s residents do not mix with “townies.”

1994, Terry O'Banion, A Learning College for the 21st Century, page 11:

In Spike Lee's movie School Daze you play a townie who's very hostile to the college students from out of town.

2004, Terry Gross, All I Did Was Ask, page 336:

(UK, US) A person living in a university area who is not associated with the university.

(US) A working-class citizen in a metropolitan area.


rutter

(Canada, US, now historical) A type of plough used by lumberjacks to carve a track for a sleigh.


sycamore

en-noun

sycamore (countable and uncountable, plural sycamores)

sycamores (plural)
sycomore (alternative)

Circa 1350 as Middle English sicamour, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Ancient Greek σῡκόμορος (sūkómoros, literally “fig-mulberry”), from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) + μόρον (móron, “mulberry”). Possibly influenced by Hebrew שִׁקְמָה (shikmá, “fig-mulberry”).
In the 16th c. applied to the European maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), in the early 19th c. to various plane tree species introduced to North America, perhaps in analogy to their shadiness.

ncog

Stars shining bright above you / Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you / Birds singin' in the sycamore trees

1931, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, Gus Kahn (lyrics), Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt (music):

On his dark face were white sycamore patches.

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 408:

Platanus occidentalis
Platanus occidentalis#Translingual

(US) Any of several North American plane trees, of the genus Platanus, especially Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore), distinguished by its mottled bark which flakes off in large irregular masses.


Scott

Scotts (plural)
Scot (alternative)
Scottie (alternative)
Scotty (alternative)

(philately, US, Canada) The Scott catalogue of postage stamps.


spoiler

→ Catalan: espòiler

→ Czech: spoiler

→ French: spoiler

→ Georgian: სპოილერი (sṗoileri)

→ German: Spoiler

→ Italian: spoiler

→ Polish: spoiler

→ Portuguese: spoiler

→ Russian: спо́йлер (spójler)

→ Spanish: spoiler

→ Turkish: spoiler

→ Ukrainian: спо́йлер (spójler)

спо́йлер

automobiles: device to reduce lift and increase downforce

The optimism at the opening of the talks could not be dampened even by a few spoilers.

1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 713:

Several experts do not believe Jorgensen was a Trump “spoiler” in 2020.

2020 November 8, Victoria Bekiempis, “Was Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen a 'spoiler' for Trump?”, in The Guardian:

(US, chiefly politics, sports) A competitor, unable to win themselves, who spoils the chances of another’s victory.


pally

‘Sit here, pally.’ He pushed me down.

1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 164:

Well, a lot of water has flown under the bridges since then, pally, and while I have been laying off lately, I′m still the same old Joey, which is more than I can say for that O′Hara creep.

1951, Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life, page M-77:

Ahmed the Turk grinned. “You call this hot, chommy? Pally, we used to take slices off the heat, put them on our biscuits and make toast.”

1968, Alex La Guma, Tattoo Marks and Nails: A Walk in the Night: And Other Stories, page 95:

As the Giants moved West, most accepted Horace Stoneham′s apologia: “I can′t stay where I am, pally. If I don′t move the team I go bankrupt. Except for Chub [Feeney], all my relatives would starve.”

1993, Roger Kahn, The Era: 1947-1957, When the Yankees, the Giants, and the Dodgers Ruled the World, page 342:

What do you think you are doing, pally?

(US, Australia) A slightly derogatory and insulting term of address.


bushwhacker

bushwhackers (plural)
bushwacker (alternative)

(US) One who travels through the woods, off the designated path.

The bushwhackers remained at General Cooper′s camp several days, then crossed the Red River into Texas.

1962, Albert E. Castel, William Clarke Quantrill: His Life and Times, page 155:

1967 April, Donald Keith, The Time Machine Hunts a Treasure, Boys' Life, page 51,
She stared at us. “Hardly. You must be from far off, not to know about Quantrill′s raids. Last March the bushwhackers rode into Aubrey, shot every man in town, stole everything, burned down houses. […] ”

Many bushwhackers were young men born to families of southern heritage who were generally wealthier and more likely to own slaves than the typical Missouri farmer.[…]His eldest daughter, Elisa, was an effective bushwhacker spy and informant.

2007, Jeremy Neely, The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line, page 109:

(US, historical) A guerrilla (of either side) during the American Civil War.


boondock

1910s during or around the Philippine–American War after the Spanish–American War, from Tagalog bundok (“mountain”), adopted by occupying American soldiers serving in the mountains or rural countryside of the American-occupied Philippines under the United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands. The term was reinforced or re-adopted during World War II under the U.S. military, where terms like boondockers (“shoes suited for rough terrain”) came originally in 1944 as U.S. services slang word for field boots. It was later shortened to boonies by 1964 originally among U.S. troops serving in the Vietnam War in reference to the rural areas of Vietnam, as opposed to Saigon.

We got lost out in the boondocks, miles from anywhere.

(US, with article, in the plural) A brushy, rural area or location.


boondock

en-verb

boondock (third-person singular simple present boondocks, present participle boondocking, simple past and past participle boondocked)

boondocks (present singular third-person)
boondocking (participle present)
boondocked (participle past)
boondocked (past)

露營 /露营 (lùyíng) (no equivalent exists; lit. "to camp")

When traveling in the American Southwest, we avoid other people by boondocking in the desert.

recreational vehicle
recreational vehicle

(US) To stay in a self-contained recreational vehicle without connections to water, electricity, or sewer services, especially in a remote location.

開露營車 /开露营车 (kāi lùyíngchē) (no equivalent exists; lit. "to drive a recreational vehicle")


wooden spoon

(US, university slang, dated) The lowest appointee of the junior year; sometimes, one especially popular in his class, without reference to scholarship. Formerly, it was a custom for classmates to present to this person a wooden spoon with formal ceremonies.


Janet

→ Welsh: Sioned

From Jane + -et, q.v. Chiefly Scottish until the 19th century.
Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.

doublet

(US, military slang) A highly classified fleet of passenger aircraft used to transport the military and contractors.


barnstorm

en-verb

barnstorm (third-person singular simple present barnstorms, present participle barnstorming, simple past and past participle barnstormed)

barnstorms (present singular third-person)
barnstorming (participle present)
barnstormed (participle past)
barnstormed (past)

From barn + storm (due to performances commonly delivered in barns).

(US) To appear at fairs and carnivals in exhibitions of stunt flying, sporting events, or theater.

haknizik

to appear at fairs and carnivals in exhibitions of stunt flying, or sporting events

He also noted that “we’re in the business of promoting the game” in the United States, which is a task surely helped by the national team’s barnstorming persona.

2013 June 17, Sam Borden, “To U.S. Soccer Team, Home Field Is an Ever-Changing Thing”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, of a sports team) To travel from town to town performing in front of small crowds.


murse

But I could use it as a murse for the show if you're parting with that ole thing.

2009, Deborah Gregory, Catwalk: Strike a Pose:


murse

Scrubs used this one recently, where Elliot couldn't cope with the idea of dating a male nurse ("murse") and Carla was having trouble accepting Turk's marriage proposal:


almighty dollar

Most sources hold this to be a coinage of Washington Irving, alluding to "Almighty God", although a Philadelphia newspaper also used the phrase at approximately the same time and Ben Jonson had used "almighty gold" in 1616 in Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland.

The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages; and unless some of its missionaries penetrate there, and erect banking houses and other pious shrines, there is no knowing how long the inhabitants may remain in their present state of contented poverty.

1836, Washington Irving, The Creole Village, in Knickerbocker Magazine (November 1836), later re-published in Wolfert's Roost's and Other Papers (1855)

(US, derogatory, idiomatic, singular only) The dollar, satirically characterized as a god.


binnekill

From Dutch binnen (“inside”) + kil (“creek”).

(US, local to Catskill region of New York state) The backwater portion of a stream or remnant of an old stream bed.


give up

give up (third-person singular simple present gives up, present participle giving up, simple past gave up, past participle given up)

gives up (present singular third-person)
giving up (participle present)
gave up (past)
given up (participle past)

The next morning, Sunday, I was boxing with R., who had come over with three or four others to swap a few with me. I was given up to be the best boxer around, and I laid them cold as fast as they came at me.

1969, God Struck Me Dead; Religious Conversion Experiences and Autobiographies of Ex-Slaves, Philadelphia, P.A., Boston, M.A.: Pilgrim Press, page 45:

(intransitive, US dialectal) To acknowledge, recognize as.

He gave up that he was the one who opened the door.

(intransitive, US, slang) To reveal (something).


give up

en-adj

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

more give up (comparative)
most give up (superlative)

And now She Seems give up to Sin / Too much neglecting grace within

c. 1808, Mary Woody, A true account of Nayomy Wise:

(US dialectal) Become fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, etc.


on second thought

I originally thought that it was a good idea, but on second thought I'm not so sure.

(US, idiomatic) After reconsidering; on further consideration.


drawdown

en-noun

drawdown (countable and uncountable, plural drawdowns)

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

The presidential drawdown authority, a US foreign policy tool, allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries in crisis.

2023 December 27, “US to provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The act of reduction or depletion (including through withdrawal or utilization).

(US, military, law, in particular) The withdrawal of weapons, ammunition and other supplies from US stocks, and provision of it to another nation.


minnow

minnows (plural)
minnie (alternative)
minny (alternative)
minow (alternative)
menow (alternative)
menoe (alternative)

The noun is derived from Late Middle English menew, menowe (“small fish; (specifically) common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus); or stickleback (possibly the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus)”), from Old English *mynwe, an oblique form of *mynu, a variant of myne (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *muniwu (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“small”). Possibly influenced by Anglo-Norman menu (“small”) and Old French menu (“small”), and English minim (“anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like”).
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Middle Low German mone, möne (Dutch meun, West Frisian meun)
* Old High German muniwa, munuwa, munewa (modern German Münne (“minnow”))
* Latin mēna (“small sea-fish”)

cog

Chiefly with a qualifying word: any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; also (chiefly US), other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families.

karppi

any of a number of other (small) fish from the family Cyprinidae; other small (usually freshwater) fish from other families


family-friendly

en-adj

family-friendly (comparative more family-friendly, superlative most family-friendly)

more family-friendly (comparative)
most family-friendly (superlative)

(US) Devoid of material deemed inappropriate for children such as sexually-explicit text or images, use of profanity, or references to the use of illegal drugs.


military intelligence
military intelligence

(military, intelligence, US) army military intelligence officer position at the division level and higher


SWAT

en-noun

SWAT (countable and uncountable, plural SWATs)

(chiefly US, law enforcement) Acronym of special weapons and tactics. The area of expertise of police officers trained and equipped to neutralize armed or entrenched criminals.

special weapons and tactics

"This situation is out of control. We need a SWAT," the policeman said.

(chiefly US, law enforcement) A SWAT team.


ha'nt

Joe-Bob and Nelly swore up and down that the thing that pushed their pick-up into the ditch wasn't a big brown bear, but a spectral ha'nt, most likely Joe-Bob's deceased ex-wife.

(US, especially Southern US) Alternative form of haunt, haint (“ghost”)


ha'nt

en-verb

ha'nt (third-person singular simple present ha'nts, present participle ha'nting, simple past and past participle ha'nted)

ha'nts (present singular third-person)
ha'nting (participle present)
ha'nted (participle past)
ha'nted (past)

“[…] Injun Joe’s ghost is round about there, certain.” “No it ain’t, Huck, no it ain’t. It would ha’nt the place where he died—away out at the mouth of the cave—five mile from here.”

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXIII, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 259:

Riley and one of the others were so much afraid of the ghost that “ha’nted” the old house, that they set out straightway for Greenbank, leaving their boats.

1882 March, Edward Eggleston, “The Hoosier School-boy”, in Mary Mapes Dodge, editor, St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks, volume IX, number 5, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., chapter XVIII (Ghosts), page 360, column 2:

It flickered out as he looked. “Ghost lights,” Cal Strenk whispered, awed. “Nobody up there now with Ol’ Pete dead. Ghost lights. That’s what. Ha’nting our ol’ cabin.”

1943, Brett Halliday [pseudonym; Davis Dresser], Murder Wears a Mummer’s Mask (Midnite Mysteries), New York, N.Y.: Books, Inc., published 1946, page 96:

(US, especially Southern US) Alternative form of haunt, haint


whistle walk

(US, idiomatic) The path slaves took to deliver food from the kitchen building of a plantation to the main dining room. Stories claim that slaves were expected to whistle during this walk in order to assure their masters that they were not eating the food.


monkey jacket

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


Joe Schmo

(US, informal) Alternative spelling of Joe Schmoe


FOB

en-noun

FOB (countable and uncountable, plural FOBs)

FOBs (plural)
F.O.B. (alternative)
F. O. B. (alternative)
fob (alternative)

It seemed at times that everyone was an FOB — everyone, that is, who'd emerged from the ivyest groves of academia […]

2007, David Lebedoff, The Uncivil War: How a New Elite Is Destroying Our Democracy, page 133:

(US, politics) Initialism of friend of Bill: a supporter of Bill Clinton.


schlump

schlumps (plural)
schloomp (alternative)

Borrowed from Yiddish שלומפּ (shlump, “stupid, foolish, or inept person”). Compare obsolete German Schlumpe (modern Schlampe).

bor+

Leave the schlumps behind. You can't hope to find Mr. Right but continue to see Mr. Not-on-Your-Life.

2009, J. Courtney Sullivan, Dating Up: Dump the Schlump and Find a Quality Man, Hachette, →ISBN:

(slang, originally US) Someone who is lazy, slovenly, or dull-looking.


gore

Gore (fabrics)
Gore (heraldry)
Gore (road)
Gore (segment)
Gore (surveying)

From Middle English gore (“patch (of land, fabric), clothes”), from Old English gāra, from Proto-Germanic *gaizô.

inh

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(surveying, chiefly US) A small piece of land left unincorporated due to competing surveys or a surveying error.


Bridget

English form of the Irish saints' name Brighid, Brigid. Doublet of Bride.

So long as any Bridget just landed (even before she has learned to walk comfortably in American shoes) can be sure of four dollars a week and her board and prequisites, it is the Bridgets who are really mistress of the situation.

1891, Ellen Battelle Dietrick, Good Housekeeping:

My nurse, my Bridget, has gone back North. She said she wouldn’t stay another day down here among the ‘naygurs’ as she calls them.

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 671:

Beggar lads, emigrants, mowers, slaves, rustics, Malays, Bridgets, and porters peopled her work […]

2009, Aife Murray, Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language:


sweeper

From Middle English swepere, swepare, equivalent to sweep + -er. Cognate with Middle Low German swēpære, swēper (“broom for sweeping up debris”).

(US, regional, including Ohio, Indiana and Western Pennsylvania) A vacuum cleaner.

including Ohio; Indiana and Western Pennsylvania; including Ohio; Indiana and Western Pennsylvania


doplic

en-adj

doplic (comparative more doplic, superlative most doplic)

more doplic (comparative)
most doplic (superlative)

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

That is the third dish I've broken today. I sure am being doplic!

I'd never make it as a brain surgeon: I'm too doplic!

She was young, and had not quite grown into her long, doplic body. Despite her subtle awkwardness there was a sweetness about her.

2000, Mark A. Hess, The Same Mistake, →ISBN, page 209:

(US, slang) Lacking dexterity; not skilled; clumsy.


knickers

en-noun

knickers pl (plural only, attributive knicker)

Students in the University were not permitted to keep cars, and the men – hatless, in knickers and bright pull-overs – looked down upon the town boys who wore hats cupped rigidly upon pomaded heads […].

1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 29:

He was a student at Notre Dame, a robust Joe-College kind of kid, husky and tall and always dressed in plus-four knickers.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Them First Kicks are a Killer”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 2 (1923–1928: Chicago, Chicago), page 77:

(colloquial, now US, rare) Knickerbockers.


clodhopper

Compound of clod + hopper (agentive form of the verb hop). Perhaps affected by analogy with grasshopper. Attested in the sense of "peasant" since the seventeenth century; the extended sense of "boot" or "shoe" dates from the nineteenth century.

We had to walk slow because of his wooden clod-hoppers, and that was the way I wanted it now

1959, Claude F. Koch, A Matter of Family:

(US) Any shoe construed (within a particular context) as ungainly.

hooves

a person's feet construed as big, clumsy, and intrusive


restroom

restrooms (plural)
rest room (alternative)

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

Could you tell me where I can find the restroom?

(US, Philippines, euphemistic) A room containing a public toilet: a public lavatory.


muckety muck

muckety mucks (plural)
muckety-muck (alternative)
muckity-muck (alternative)

Either a variant of muckamuck (the short form of high muckamuck), or a shortening of high muckety-muck. See the entry muckamuck.

Consequently, there have been times when the muckety-mucks at Merriam-Webster have requested that we all mark every third or fifth word in at least one source just to fill our files with words that would not usually catch our eye.

2017, Kory Stamper, Word By Word, Vintage, published 2018, page 88:

(US, colloquial) A high muckamuck; a person (especially self-important) in a position of power, authority, or status.


yah

An alternative pronunciation, equivalent of yeah and yes.

Yah, we did go along but it turned out the wedding was a load of nonsense.

(US, UK, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia) Yes.


yearbook

yearbook (countable and uncountable, plural yearbooks)

yearbooks (plural)
year-book (alternative)

From year + book. Compare West Frisian jierboek (“yearbook”), Dutch jaarboek (“yearbook”), German Jahrbuch (“yearbook”), Swedish årsbok (“yearbook”), Faroese árbók (“annal, record”).

(countable, US, education) A publication compiled by the graduating class of a high school or college, recording the year's events and containing photographs of students and faculty.

ročenka

(uncountable, US, education) A school subject in which students learn journalistic skills by compiling a yearbook.


skin flick

Trading is scheduled to begin next month in the shares of another purveyor of erotica, Olympia Press; its latest skin flick, "Barbara," cost $32,000 to make, grossed $11,700 in its second week in Manhattan and is scheduled for national distribution.

1970 November 16, “The Rich Pornocopia”, in Time:

(chiefly US, slang) A pornographic film.


sass

Say—if you give me much more of your sass I'll take and bounce a rock off'n your head.

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter I, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 23:

Looky here—mind how you talk to me; I’m a-standing about all I can stand now—so don’t gimme no sass.

1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter V, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 33:


sass

en-verb

sass (third-person singular simple present sasses, present participle sassing, simple past and past participle sassed)

sasses (present singular third-person)
sassing (participle present)
sassed (participle past)
sassed (past)

The duke he begun to abuse him for an old fool, and the king begun to sass back; and the minute they was fairly at it, I lit out, and shook the reefs out of my hind legs, and spun down the river road like a deer—for I see our chance; and I made up my mind that it would be a long day before they ever see me and Jim again.

1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXI, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 316:

“But, good land! what did he want to sass back for? You see, it couldn’t do him no good, and it was just nuts for them.”

1894, Mark Twain, chapter 2, in Tom Sawyer Abroad:

(intransitive, US, informal) To talk, to talk back.

Don’t sass your teachers!

“This isn’t any of your business, Ilse Burnley,” muttered Jennie, sullenly.
“Oh, isn’t it? Don’t you sass me, Piggy-eyes.” Ilse walked up to the retreating Jennie and shook a sunburned fist in her face.

1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:

(transitive, US, informal) To speak insolently to.


knock up

knock up (third-person singular simple present knocks up, present participle knocking up, simple past and past participle knocked up)

knocks up (present singular third-person)
knocking up (participle present)
knocked up (participle past)
knocked up (past)

I guess his summer plans are shot now that he knocked his girlfriend up.

“And how many other girls has he knocked up?” “Would you keep your voice down? Mom's home.” She pressed her hands to her head. “I just don't understand how you could ditch Rowan and get knocked up by Scott, like, right away.”

2015, Jaime Loren, Waiting for April, Pan, →ISBN:

(slang, chiefly US) To impregnate, especially out of wedlock. See knocked up.


buttinsky

en-noun

buttinsky (plural buttinskys or buttinskies)

buttinskys (plural)
buttinskies (plural)
buttinski (alternative)

From butt in (“to join a conversation or situation in which one is not welcome or invited, interject”) + -sky (a variant of -ski (suffix added to a word, name, or phrase to invoke Russianness, Polishness, or a more general Slavicness)), humorously modelled after Russian surnames, and originally and often used in the form of a surname.

suffix

I wish I had never met that nosy buttinsky!

Well, all right then! If you think I'm a buttinsky, then I'll just butt in!

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XX, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section I, page 252:

"Shut up, Garrett. I never," said Mr. Tallboy, extricating himself from Garrett's grasp and giving him a playful punch in the wind, "in my life, met with such a bunch of buttinskis as you are in this department. Nothing is sacred to you, not even a man's business correspondence."

1933, Dorothy L[eigh] Sayers, “Murder Must Advertise. Chapter 4: Remarkable Acrobatics of a Harlequin.”, in The Five Red Herrings (Suspicious Characters): And Murder Must Advertise, Garden City, N.Y.: Nelson Doubleday, →OCLC, page 357:

It is never pleasant for a man of sensibility to find himself regarded as a buttinski and a trailing arbutus, and it was thus, I could see at a g., that Wilbert Cream was pencilling me in.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter V, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC, page 50:

(derogatory) One who is prone to butt in, interrupt, or get involved where they are not welcome; a busybody.


buckle down

en-verb

buckle down (third-person singular simple present buckles down, present participle buckling down, simple past and past participle buckled down)

buckles down (present singular third-person)
buckling down (participle present)
buckled down (participle past)
buckled down (past)

If he would buckle down and do his homework, he could be an excellent student.

I confess that the recollection of what this bell could do when it buckled down to it gave me pause as I stood that night at 12.30 p.m. prompt beside the outhouse where it was located.

1934 October 5, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XXII, in Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins […], →OCLC, page 280:

(intransitive, originally US, idiomatic) To apply oneself to study, or a task or work; to focus on or take a serious attitude towards something; to put forth the needed effort.

se concentrer

to apply oneself to study, or a task or work


wallet

From Middle English walet (“bag, knapsack”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from an assumed Old Northern French *walet (“roll; bag; knapsack”), from Proto-Germanic *wal- (“to roll”). More at walk, well, wallow.

der

The thief stole all the money and credit cards out of the old man's wallet.

Master leathercrafter does handcrafted wallets, belts, purses, handbags etc., supporting self and helpers. Good enough to carve fantst art and portraits into leather.

1987 August 15, Robert Benitez, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 5, page 14:

(US, UK) A small case, often flat and often made of leather, for keeping money (especially paper money), credit cards, etc.


banter

en-verb

banter (third-person singular simple present banters, present participle bantering, simple past and past participle bantered)

banters (present singular third-person)
bantering (participle present)
bantered (participle past)
bantered (past)

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

unk

unknown

(transitive, US, Southern and Western, colloquial) To challenge to a match.


buttfuck

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) An act of anal intercourse.


buttfuck

en-verb

buttfuck (third-person singular simple present buttfucks, present participle buttfucking, simple past and past participle buttfucked)

buttfucks (present singular third-person)
buttfucking (participle present)
buttfucked (participle past)
buttfucked (past)

Asshole? I'm not the one who just got butt-fucked on national TV, Dwayne.

1988, Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza, Die Hard, spoken by John McClane (Bruce Willis):

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) To perform an act of anal intercourse.


mouthguard

(US) A device that fits into the mouth over one or both arches of the teeth and usually made of plastic. Such devices may protect against injury during sport or fighting or may serve a medical purpose.


top shelf

* (US: best, or high quality): Possibly from the higher quality, thus more expensive, thus less often used liquors being stored on the less accessible top shelf behind a wet bar.
* (British: material with adult content): Such material is often stored on the top shelf in a newsagent's shop, where it is both less visible and harder to reach without being seen.

I bought a bottle of top shelf whiskey.


pung

Shortened form of tom-pung, from the same Algonquian etymon as toboggan.

[…] they all crowded into the big pung sleigh, among straw and furry robes.

1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, page 213:

(US, Canada) A low box-like sleigh designed to be pulled by one horse.


sheriff

sheriffs (plural)
sherriff (alternative)
shrieve (alternative)

From Middle English shirreve, from Old English sċīrġerēfa, corresponding to shire + reeve. There is no etymological connection to Sharif (شَرِيف (šarīf)), an Arabic title of honour that has cognates in other languages including Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, etc.

(US) A government official, usually responsible for law enforcement in their county and for administration of the county jail, sometimes an officer of the court, usually elected.


roto

en-noun

roto (countable and uncountable, plural rotos)

"But that's just not an exciting quote, so they put on that roto baseball guy saying disparaging things about fantasy football," Emil concedes, referring to a roto baseball expert that HBO interviewed for the piece[…]

2004, Mark St. Amant, Committed: confession of a fantasy football junkie:

Looking to find someone who has a comprehensive list of rules and regulations for Roto baseball.

1997, BGI bill, “Looking for Rules and Regulations for roto baseball league”, in pdaxs.sports.baseball (Usenet):

rotisserie baseball
rotisserie baseball#English

(US, sports, informal, uncountable) Clipping of rotisserie baseball.

rotisserie sports
rotisserie sports#English

(US, sports, informal, uncountable) Clipping of rotisserie sports.


yeoman

From Middle English yoman, yeman, from Old English *ġēamann, from Proto-West Germanic *gauwjamann (compare Old Frisian gāman (“villager”), Middle Dutch goymann (“arbiter”)), compound of Proto-West Germanic *gawi (“shire, district”) (compare Old English -ġē, -ġēa (“district, region”) (in ælġē, Sūþriġēa), West Frisian gea, goa, Dutch gouw, German Gau) + *mann (“man”).

m+

(US) A dependable, diligent, or loyal worker or someone who does a great service.


grundle

I placed a finger, then two, on his grundle for added pleasure.

2008, “A Taste for You”, in Jazz, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 10:

I hit the flush button and I feel the air from the VCHT (vacuum, collection, and holding tank) system pass over my grundle. That one full second of cool air down below is one of the few perks of the day and of the job.

2009, Terence Fitzgibbons, Assumed the Watch, Moored as Before: An Alternative Naval Officer's Guide, Xlibris, published 2009, →ISBN, page 37:

Lost in his bliss, he doesn't protest when she presses a spit-slicked finger to his grundle, or when she slips it lower, then deeper.

2009, Cate Robertson, “Half-Crown Doxy”, in Susie Bright, editor, Bitten: Dark Erotic Stories, Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 126:

(US, slang) The perineum; the area between the anus and genitals.


cut the cheese

en-verb

cut the cheese (third-person singular simple present cuts the cheese, present participle cutting the cheese, simple past and past participle cut the cheese)

cuts the cheese (present singular third-person)
cutting the cheese (participle present)
cut the cheese (participle past)
cut the cheese (past)

This idiom references the foul smell emitted by some cheeses, many of which have a rind that keeps the odor in. Once the rind is pierced, as in the case of slicing it, the smell is released.

I cannot believe that you cut the cheese at the dinner table!

You know, did you cut some cheese? Did you fart?

1991, Hal Shymkus, Nightcrawlers, Bait, and Beer to Go, page 82:

(Canada, US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang) To fart loudly.


Jackson

Jacksons (plural)
Jaxon (alternative)
Jaxson (alternative)
Jaxxon (alternative)
Jaxon (alternative)
Jaxson (alternative)
Jaxxon (alternative)

She looked at me with that familiar desire
Her eyes lit up like they were on fire
She said, "My name's Flo, and you're on the right track,
But look here, daddy, I wear furs on my back,
So if you want to have fun in this man's land,
Let Lincoln and Jackson start shaking hands."

(US) A U.S. 20-dollar banknote USD (from the portrait of President Andrew Jackson on the bill).


talk a blue streak

talk a blue streak (third-person singular simple present talks a blue streak, present participle talking a blue streak, simple past and past participle talked a blue streak)

talks a blue streak (present singular third-person)
talking a blue streak (participle present)
talked a blue streak (participle past)
talked a blue streak (past)

She's normally a quiet person, but she will talk a blue streak about fashion, if you let her.

talking a blue streak two miles to her house

1895, Susan Hale, Letters, published 1919, page 289:

Some days, I'd sit with Jason reading the Times in the living room and I'd talk a blue streak, presenting him with all my theories about, say, the deterioration of the American family in the late twentieth century and how it all relates to the decline of an agrarian society.

1994, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, pages 4–5:

Don't know. Even if I wanted to know, couldn't get a word in with Lashawn long enough to ask. Woman talks a blue streak.

2005, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain, spoken by Randall Malone (David Harbour):

(originally US) To talk for a long duration of time, at a rapid pace without giving others a chance to speak, or to the point of tedium.

jaaritella

to talk for a long time, rapidly without giving others a chance to speak, or to the point of tedium


talk turkey

talk turkey (third-person singular simple present talks turkey, present participle talking turkey, simple past and past participle talked turkey)

talks turkey (present singular third-person)
talking turkey (participle present)
talked turkey (participle past)
talked turkey (past)

An Erie car loaded with live turkeys . . . was delivered to the New-York and New-England Railroad yesterday. . . . This first cargo is symbolical of the fact that they will be able hereafter to "talk turkey" to all competitors for New-England business.

1881 December 13, “The Erie to ‘Talk Turkey’”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-10-21, page 8:

I'm here to talk turkey. What's your price?

1918, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 19, in The Valley of the Giants:

This will mean talking turkey about the timing of steps for each side to take, and verification measures.

2005 July 13, “Opinion: Korean advance”, in International Herald Tribune, retrieved 2008-10-21:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To talk or negotiate plainly, frankly, or seriously.


washout

en-noun

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

washouts (plural)
wash-out (alternative)

huuhtoutuminen

erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; channel produced by this action

In a message to NR [National Rail] staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain."

2020 August 26, “Network News: [Grant] Shapps Orders Rapid Review of Flash Flood Resilience from NR”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9:

The erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; also, a channel produced by this action.

(originally US, rail transport, road transport) A breach in a railway or road caused by flooding.


cold turkey

Various explanations; see Cold turkey § Etymology on Wikipedia.

(US military slang, World War I– World War II) Something exposed as a target due to surmountable defense.


washroom

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

From wash + room in reference to its sinks, but generally used euphemistically outside of Canada and the United States.

(Canada, rarely US, euphemistic) A room with a toilet, particularly a public toilet.


SAC

(US, military) Acronym of Strategic Air Command.


TAC

TAC (countable and uncountable, plural TACs)

(US, military) Acronym of tactical air command.

Darrell S. Mudd, The Boys of Chattahoochee: Sons of the Greatest Generation
There were six tactical officers (TACs) in 95th Company, each in charge of a platoon of 40 officer candidates. TACs were not responsible for classroom or field instruction, as their title might suggest, […]

The TACs were commissioned officers; most were infantry officers and OCS graduates. They were lieutenants and called “sir.”

2017, John R. Oreskovich, SCUMBAG: The Education of an American Officer, page 40:

tactical officer
tactical officer#English

(US, military) Short for tactical officer.


get some

en-verb

get some (third-person singular simple present gets some, present participle getting some, simple past got some, past participle (UK) got some or (US) gotten some)

gets some (present singular third-person)
getting some (participle present)
got some (past)
got some (UK participle past)
gotten some (US participle past)

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

So, did you get some with him?

I'm going to that new club to get some tonight.

White folks, you're much too tight / You gotta shake your head like the black folks / You might get some tonight, look out

1984, Prince, Morris Day (lyrics and music), “The Bird”, in Ice Cream Castle, performed by The Time:

Proximity has a subtle, yet powerful effect on our social interactions. By definition, proximity refers to the degree of physical closeness or nearness in this case, with personal space. Logically, the closer you are, the closer you are to getting some.

2003, J. B. Lane, “Manage Your Personal Space”, in Wine, Dine and 69 Ways to Get Some, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN:

She's up all night 'til the sun / I'm up all night to get some

2013, “Get Lucky”, in Random Access Memories, performed by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams:

(US, euphemistic, informal) To have sex.


wisenheimer

First used in the early 20th c. From wise + the German demonymic ending -enheimer.
The form might be an alteration of the similarly formed and synonymous German Schlauberger (19th c.), possibly influenced by Pappenheimer (“person known for some behaviour; crony”) and/or involving a pun on Waisenheim (“orphanage”). On the other hand, the surname Weisenheimer actually exists, both in Germany and the US. It goes back to the towns of Weisenheim am Berg and Weisenheim am Sand (both in Palatinate).

There was an auto salesman in here yesterday that claimed you could always tell a fellow's class by the car he drove, but I says to him, 'Don't be silly,' I says; 'the wisenheimers grab a look at a fellow's nails when they want to tell if he's a tin-horn or a real gent!"'

"It wasn’t until I read Mark Oppenheimer’s charming memoir that I had an apt description of my son: “…a smart aleck is a smart guy gone bad, a boy whose smartness is being used stupidly, while a wisenheimer actually lacks wisdom. He might not be cruel, he might not mean harm, but a wisenheimer is a smart guy you wish had a little less smarts.”

2010, J. Bolton-Fasman, "Debating Salvation: A smart aleck finds his niche" The Jerusalem Post 11/11/2010 On-line, accessed November 13, 2010 (quotations are from Wisenheimer: A Childhood Subject to Debate by Mark Oppenheimer (Hardcover - Apr 13, 2010))

(chiefly US, informal, mildly humorous) A self-assertive and arrogant person; a know-it-all or smart aleck.


getup

getups (plural)
get up (alternative)
get-up (alternative)

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

When near the buildings I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of get–up that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

The Schnitzelbank Band, each member attired in an odd getup, received many comments for the manner in which the men marched.

1917 October 28, “1,200 Reading Firemen March”, in Reading Eagle, Pennsylvania, USA, page 4:

Oh, I forgot. She had on a get-up that took the attention of anyone that saw her, even in that crazy mob. The better to cut the wind, she had shortened sail and wore a short skirt, black tights, and a skullcap.

[A] parade of costumed cadets trots by: a shark costume, an Uncle Sam getup and three young men in form-fitting bodysuits.

2009 June 8, “Worried They Will Miss the War: Inside the Mind of West Point's Class of 2009”, in Newsweek:

(chiefly US, informal) Clothes, costume or outfit, especially one that is ostentatious or otherwise unusual.


coffeed out

en-adj

coffeed out (comparative more coffeed out, superlative most coffeed out)

more coffeed out (comparative)
most coffeed out (superlative)

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

(US, slang) Having have had enough coffee for the time being.

I don't want another cup, thanks. I'm all coffeed out.

(US, slang) Feeling jumpy or nervous from caffeine; feeling any of the symptoms of caffeine overload.


souped-up

souped-up (comparative more souped-up, superlative most souped-up)

more souped-up (comparative)
most souped-up (superlative)
souped (alternative)
souped up (alternative)
suped-up (alternative)

Uncertain; the fact that the earlier senses seem to be the horse racing cant and United States Navy slang ones suggests a derivation from soup (“liquid food item”), connoting a horse or a person being filled with a liquid.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a modified clipping of supe(r), with reference to an aeroplane or automobile engine being supercharged: see, for example, the 1925 quotation. This sense appears to post-date the horse-racing and navy slang senses.

If you have had any experience at all with the effect that it has upon these people when they are in situations of violence, you can understand that you cannot send these persons who are souped up on drugs to perform a delicate mission […]

1968, Melvin M. Belli, Trial and Tort Trends: Belli Seminar, page 253:

(US, naval slang) Intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.

(US, chiefly New England, slang) Excited.


safety school

(US, colloquial) The least desired among the colleges and universities that one applies to for admission, chosen as a contingency in case one is rejected from all others.


gangbang

gangbangs (plural)
gang bang (alternative)
gang-bang (alternative)

(US, slang) An act of a street gang committing crimes as a group, such as attacking random people on the streets.


stump

en-verb

stump (third-person singular simple present stumps, present participle stumping, simple past and past participle stumped)

stumps (present singular third-person)
stumping (participle present)
stumped (participle past)
stumped (past)
stump (infinitive)

From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”).
Cognate with Middle Dutch stomp (“stump”), Old High German stumph (“stump”) (German Stumpf), Old Norse stumpr (“stump”). More at stop.

der

(transitive, US, colloquial) To travel over (a state, a district, etc.) giving speeches for electioneering purposes.


two cents

That car won't last a week, it's not worth two cents.

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, idiomatic, colloquial) A nearly worthless amount, alluding to placing a copper penny on each of the eyelids of a pauper's or slave's body before burial.

не сто́ить вы́еденного яйца́ impf (ne stóitʹ výjedennovo jajcá, literally “to be not worth an eaten egg”)

не сто́ить ло́маного гроша́ impf (ne stóitʹ lómanovo grošá, literally “to be not worth a broken half-copeck coin”)


eraser

uitveër

thing used to erase something written or drawn

I have worn out the eraser on this pencil.

(Canada, US, Philippines) An object used to erase or remove something written or drawn by a pen or a pencil.

(Canada, US, Philippines) An object used to erase something written either by chalk on a chalkboard, by a marker on a whiteboard, or by some other erasable implement; a chalkboard eraser, whiteboard eraser, etc.


scram

en-verb

scram (third-person singular simple present scrams, present participle scramming, simple past and past participle scrammed)

scrams (present singular third-person)
scramming (participle present)
scrammed (participle past)
scrammed (past)

Probably either:
* a clipping of scramble by apocope; or
* from dialectal German schramm, the imperative singular form of schrammen (“to scratch, scrape”), from Late Middle High German schramm, schramme (“a graze, scratch”); further etymology unknown.

What are you kids doing on my lawn? Scram!

Maybe when he found that Chet's jalopy was gone, he felt he'd better scram, and forgot the coat and hat.

1927, Franklin W. Dixon [pseudonym; Leslie McFarlane], “Rival Detectives”, in The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys; 1), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published 1987 (2006 printing), →ISBN:

The boy who was playing glowered at the intruder and growled. "Well, scram Kibitzer; scram."

1935, Harry Carr, “So This is Los Angeles”, in Los Angeles, City of Dreams, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton-Century Company, →OCLC, page 241:

"Come on!" barked Harry. "Scram!"

1935 February 23, J. Lane Linklater, “The Signal: A Short Short Story”, in Fulton Oursler, editor, Liberty, volume 12, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Liberty Publishing, →OCLC, page 35, column 2:

Jus' go on like we was gonna buck barley the rest of our lives, then all of a sudden some day we'll go get our pay an' scram outta here.

1937, John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, published 1994, →ISBN:

"You scram out of here!" she admonished me fiercely. "Get out, or I'll scream so loud I'll wake the whole house up! You—you Peeping Tom!"

1943, Hans Natonek, “The Affair of the Semi-private Bathroom”, in Barthold Fles, transl., edited by Sugden Tilley, In Search of Myself, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, part 2 (The Year before the Decision), page 89:

One day he packs in here with a new convertible, tells me he's moving out and scrams. Never give me a dime.

1950, Mickey Spillane, My Gun is Quick, New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, published 2014, →ISBN:

George was going to Haiti and he knew Lee would feel that the one man who took an interest in him was scramming out the door.

1988, Don DeLillo, Libra, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, published 2006, →ISBN:

[T]wo vampires had picked up the guy who needed a new face, and they scrammed.

2005 July, MaryJanice Davidson, chapter 28, in Undead and Unappreciated (Berkley Sensation), mass-market edition, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published December 2005, →ISBN, page 225:

(intransitive, originally US, often imperative) To leave in a hurry; to go away.


scram

The verb is a variant of dialectal English scramb (“to pull or rake together with the hands; to gather a handful of something from the ground; to scratch with the claws or nails; to pull down violently; to tear off; to maul about; a handful of something from the ground”), possibly related to Dutch schrammen (“to graze, scratch”) and German schrammen (“to scratch, scrape”); see etymology 1.
The noun is derived from the verb.

Just west of this pit is another one, which has been nearly worked out; but three men are scramming about five tons per day in it.

1880, “Marquette Iron District”, in Annual Report of the Commissioner of Mineral Statistics of the State of Michigan, for 1879, Lansing, Mich.: W. S. George & Co., […], →OCLC, page 167:

Recently, Capt. Oliver, [...] set a couple of experienced miners to work scramming in this underground pit, when it was soon discovered that what the former mining captain had conceived to be a regular foot-wall, was, in fact, a thin shale of rock, which hid from view what now appears to be a very large body of clean blue ore.

1882, A. P. Swineford, “The Cyclops Mine”, in Annual Review of the Iron Mining and Other Industries of the Upper Peninsula for the Year Ending Dec. 31, 1881, [Marquette, Mich.]: Mining Journal, →OCLC, page 141:

(transitive, US, mining, archaic) To mine for ore on a small scale, especially from mines previously been worked on where most of the ore is believed to have been removed.


scram

[page 64] Many of these old openings still afford places where ore is mined. A man can start in almost anywhere and fine ore. There is a great deal of this "scramming" done at the Jackson. Quite a proportion of the annual product comes in this way. Not unfrequently one of these "scrams" leads to the finding of a large deposit of ore. [...] [page 67] South from the east part of the Incline pit they have a scram of good ore which furnished a small product.

1887, Cha[rle]s D. Lawton, “The Jackson Iron Co.”; “The Cleveland Mining Co.”, in Mines and Mineral Statistics, Lansing, Mich.: Thorp & Godfrey, […], →OCLC, pages 64 and 67:

There are numbered workings running to about 20, representing small pits and scrams, sometimes worked by contract by "scrammers."

1891, N[ewton] H[orace] Winchell, H[orace] V[aughn] Winchell, “The Chandler Mine”, in The Iron Ores of Minnesota, […] (Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota Bulletin; no. 6), Minneapolis, Minn.: Harrison & Smith, […], →OCLC, part II (Methods of Exploration and Mining, and Descriptions of the Various Mines), page 196:

(US, mining, archaic) A mine previously worked on where most of the ore is believed to have been removed, but which is still being mined on a small scale.


way-out

Hector is one, way-out guy.

Jenny is a way-out kinda gal.

(US, slang) out of the mainstream of society


weathercock

From Middle English wetharcoke, weþercok, wedercoc, wederkok, equivalent to weather + cock.

(chiefly Canada, US) A kind of wind pump whose top behaves like a weather vane, moving with the wind direction, but which also has a wheel attached to measure wind speed.


immunization

en-noun

immunization (countable and uncountable, plural immunizations)

immunizations (plural)
immunisation (alternative)

From French immunisation. Coined by Albert Calmette. Equivalent to immunize + -ation or immune + -ization.

Near-synonym: vaccination (broadly synonymous)

Immunization against influenza is important for all child-care workers.

It will do little for the future of immunization to prepare excellent vaccines, test them to a fare-thee-well for safety and efficacy, and then not insure that they are adequately used.

1961, Geoffrey Edsall, “The Future of Immunization”, in Public Health Reports, volume 76, number 9, page 816:

(US, uncountable) The process by which a person is safely exposed in a controlled manner to a material that is designed to prime their immune system against that material.

The first immunization a baby gets is against HBV.

Our results are consistent with those obtained by other groups screening camelid-derived libraries, where an impressive diversity in the Nb nucleotide sequence, specificity and neutralizing capacity was found, especially after successive immunizations to promote the development of superimmunity.

2023 March 14, “Nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2 reduced virus load in the brain of challenged mice and neutralized Wuhan, Delta and Omicron Variants”, in National Library of Medicine:

Immunization via previous infection is not unusual among infectious diseases, but the degree and duration of such immunization varies by disease and depends on other factors as well (such as immunocapability and dietary sufficiency).

(US, uncountable) The process by which any organism's body develops immunity against a pathogen.


pacifier

(Canada, US) A rubber or plastic device imitating a nipple that goes into a baby’s mouth, used to calm and quiet the baby.


brahmin

brahmins (plural)
Brahmin (alternative)
brahman (alternative)
Bramin (alternative)

Borrowed from Middle French bramine, from obsolete Portuguese bramine, from Sanskrit ब्राह्मण (brā́hmaṇa); modern French brahmane, Portuguese brâmane are readjusted after Sanskrit. Doublet of Brahmana.

Branching from the root of it all was New England Society. The original Nelson [W. Aldrich] became remembered as a patrician, a Brahmin.

1988 July 31, Jane O'Reilly, “Even Brahmins Get The Blues”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

In Iran-Contra, the independent counsel investigating the scandal, Lawrence Walsh, was a deadly serious Brahmin lawyer with a sterling Republican pedigree; he nevertheless faced withering criticism from members of his own party, just as special counsel Robert Mueller has as he investigates Trump and his circle.

2018, Zach Dorfman, “How to Kill a Presidential Scandal”, in Foreign Policy:

(chiefly US, capitalized) A member of a social and cultural elite, especially in the New England region of the USA.


contraband

contraband (usually uncountable, plural contrabands)

From Spanish contrabanda (modern spelling contrabando), from Italian contrabando (modern spelling contrabbando), from contra (“against”) + bando (“ban”), and reinforced by French contrebande.

While some Yanks treated contrabands with a degree of equity or benevolence, the more typical response was indifference, contempt, or cruelty.

1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 497:

(countable, US, historical) A black slave during the American Civil War who had escaped to, or been captured by, Union forces.


Kermit

Variant of English and Manx Kermode, cognate with Irish Mac Diarmata (“son of Dermot”). Popularized in the US by the naming of Kermit Roosevelt (after a Manx ancestor). The computing sense is named after the Sesame Street character, but later provided with a backronym ("KL10 Error-Free Reciprocal Microprocessor Interchange over TTY").

(chiefly US) A male given name from Manx.


curriculum vitae

curriculum vitae (plural curricula vitae or (hypercorrect) curricula vitarum)

curricula vitae (plural)
curricula vitarum (hypercorrect plural)
curriculum vitæ (alternative)

From Latin curriculum (“course”) + vītae, genitive of vīta (“life”).

curriculum vitae

written account of one's education, accomplishments, etc.

མི་ཚེའི་ལོ་རྒྱུས་མདོར་སྡུས (mi tshe'i lo rgyus mdor sdus, literally “abridged history of a human life”)

(US) A detailed written account of one's education and experience used to seek positions in academic or educational environments, typically including academic credentials, publications, courses taught, etc.


wetting

Earned my name name for all of them wettings
If I let you live, then give blessings

2018 August 25, (1011) Eleven X (Splash) Russ X Taze, here Taze (lyrics and music), “Anti”, 3:01–3:05:

(US, MLE, slang) An act of murdering or seriously injuring someone.


carpetbag

en-verb

carpetbag (third-person singular simple present carpetbags, present participle carpetbagging, simple past and past participle carpetbagged)

carpetbags (present singular third-person)
carpetbagging (participle present)
carpetbagged (participle past)
carpetbagged (past)
carpet-bag (alternative)

The Five Star Movement has long railed against carpetbagging, but for all of Ms. D’Alessandro’s efforts to seem of the place — talking about her childhood in Naples and showing the bar where she had her first date — she clearly isn’t.

2018 February 23, Jason Horowitz, “Italy’s ‘Five Star’ Grows Up Into a Real Party, Scandals and All”, in New York Times:

(chiefly US) To come to a place or organisation with which one has no previous connection with the sole or primary aim of personal gain, especially political or financial gain.


carpetbag

carpetbag travels

(chiefly US) Having the characteristics of carpetbaggers.


dogi

We were standing on the lawn near the pool in our bright white dogis, he with his black belt and I with my white.

2009, Percival Everett, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Influx Press, page 30:


wise guy

(US, slang) A member of the Mafia; a mobster.


broil

broil (third-person singular simple present broils, present participle broiling, simple past and past participle broiled)

broils (present singular third-person)
broiling (participle present)
broiled (participle past)
broiled (past)

From Middle English broylen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs:
* bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“to burn, scald”)
* usler (“to scorch”), from Latin ustulō (“to scorch”)

To broil a pigeon. When you broil them, do them in the same manner, and take care your fire is very clear, and set your gridiron high, that they may not burn, and have a little parsley and butter in a cup. You may split them, and broil them with a little pepper and salt, and you may roast them only with a little parsley and butter in a dish.

1788, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy: Which Far Exceeds Any Thing of the Kind Yest Published, page 6:

To broil Red Mullet. Neither seale nor gut your mullet, wipe them very clean in a cloth, butter half a sheet of writing paper for each fish, put them in, and fasten it all round; have a very clear fire, broil them very gently for twenty minutes, hen put them in a dish, with anchovy sauce and plain butter in boats.

1798, Richard Briggs, The English Art of Cookery…With Bills of Fare for Every Month in the Year…A New Edition, page 70:

To broil fish. To broil trout in a third way. When they are cleaned and washed, dry them well in a napkin. Then bind them about with packthread, sprinkle them with melted butter and salt, and broil them over a gentle fire, turning them from time to time.

1813, Bell Plumptre, Domestic Management; Or, the Healthful Cookery-Book, page 247:

(transitive, Canada, US, obsolete in the UK) To cook by direct, radiant heat.

жа́рить

на откры́том огне́

(transitive, Canada, US) To expose to great heat.

(intransitive, Canada, US) To be exposed to great heat.

жа́риться

на откры́том огне́


doodad

doodads (plural)
doo-dad (alternative)
dodad (alternative)
do-dad (alternative)
dodab (alternative)

Unknown; attested since the 1880s. Compare earlier daud (“a piece of something”), later doohickey (“a thing (whose name one cannot recall)”), dialectal dad, dadge (“a large piece, chunk”).

My mom has a clever doodad for peeling oranges.

Of course I eat an apple every evening—an apple a day keeps the doctor away—but still, you ought to have more prunes, and not all these fancy doodads.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter I, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section IV, page 11:

The room was too big, the ceiling was too high, the doors were too tall, and the white carpet that went from wall to wall looked like a fresh fall of snow at Lake Arrowhead. There were full-length mirrors and crystal doodads all over the place.

The reason is that not all bomblets explode as they’re meant to, and thousands of small, unexploded grenades can lie around for years, even decades, before somebody — often, a child spotting a brightly colored, battery-size doodad on the ground — accidentally sets it off.

2023 July 10, The Editorial Board, “The Flawed Moral Logic of Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(originally US) Used to refer to something whose name one cannot recall: an unspecified device, gadget, part, or thing.


whiff

The noun is possibly:
* partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either:
** waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”), possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”); or
** wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”)), or from wǣfan (see bewǣfan, ymbwǣfan); and
* partly onomatopoeic.
Noun sense 6 (“name of a number of flatfish”) is possibly derived from sense 1 (“brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air”), sense 4 (“small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.”), and other such senses.
The verb and adjective are derived from the noun. Verb sense 2.6 (“to catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat”) is possibly derived from sense 1.1 (“to carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air”), sense 2.2 (“to be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air”), and other such senses.
The interjection is derived from noun sense 7.4 (“a sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle”).

дъх

short inhalation or exhalation of breath

(sports, chiefly US, slang) A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.

(baseball) From the batter's perspective: a strike.


whiff

en-verb

whiff (third-person singular simple present whiffs, present participle whiffing, simple past and past participle whiffed)

whiffs (present singular third-person)
whiffing (participle present)
whiffed (participle past)
whiffed (past)

(US, baseball) Of a pitcher: to strike out (a batter); to fan.

"Casey Bat". You can't help but swing this bat with all your might. There's a good chance that you may just whiff.

1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:

(US, chiefly sports) Especially in baseball or golf: to completely miss hitting a ball; hence (baseball), of a batter: to strike out; to fan.

lyödä ohi

especially in baseball or golf: to completely miss hitting a ball


off the bat

From cricket, baseball, and other sports where a bat is used to strike a ball and the players have to make an immediate decision where to run and what plays to make after a successful strike.

hot off the bat; straight off the bat

I didn't see anything wrong, off the bat.

"We're not going to uplift the frequency until we've got the new trains. But what we've seen straight off the bat has been a big winner for our customers."

2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 35:

(US, idiomatic) From the start; immediately; right away.


whipped cream

en-noun

whipped cream (usually uncountable, plural whipped creams)

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

The standard of identity comes from 21 CFR 131.25.

հարած սերուցք

thick cream that has had air incorporated into it by rapid beating

standards of identity
standard of identity

Thick cream that has had air incorporated into it by rapid beating.

(US standards of identity) Cream, at least 30% of which is milkfat, possibly also containing emulsifiers and/or stabilizers but nothing else, which is then whipped.


debut

en-verb

debut (third-person singular simple present debuts, present participle debuting, simple past and past participle debuted)

debuts (present singular third-person)
debuting (participle present)
debuted (participle past)
debuted (past)
début (alternative)

→ Cantonese: 地標 /地标 (dei⁶ biu¹)

From French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”). More at butt.

der

Amalgamated Software Systems debuted release 3.2 in Spring of 2004.

(transitive, chiefly US) to formally introduce, as to the public


thru

American English
Merriam-Webster
Middle English

Modern use originated in American English as a phonetic and simplified spelling of through around 1839. The spelling had previously been one of several used in Middle English.

We wanted an overall treatment system that gave us optimum reliability and required a minimum of labor to operate - from primary clarifier thru sludge handling, …

1996 December, Joe Hastreiter, “Sludge Management Savings Found Among Reeds”, in Water Engineering & Management, volume 143, number 12, Scranton Gillette Communications, page 23:

… to respect human rights, then failing to explicitly define thru common understanding.

2003, Hasson Kevin J., “Religious Liberty and Human Dignity: A Tale of Two Declarations”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 27, number 1, Harvard, pages 81–92:

As the technology improves, there is a possibility to reprogram adult stem cells for therapeutic cloning without "passing it thru" the preimplantation embryo, thus negating current ethical challenges to such research.

2004 December 22, Fredericks, Marcel / Odiet, Jeff A. / Miller, Steven I. / Fredericks, Janet, “Toward an Understanding of "Genetic Sociology" and Its Relationships to Medical Sociology and Medical Genetics in the Educational Enterprise.”, in Education, volume 125, number 2, Project Innovation, Inc., →ISSN, pages 222–235:

Going thru a great crisis of self-analysis, especially in relation to job, school, work, students.

2006 December,, Roxanne Mills, “Leadership in Higher Education and the Second Half of Life”, in Education, volume 127, number 2, Project Innovation, Inc., →ISSN, pages 294–302:

Myths and Legends of the Pimas of Arizona as received by J. William Lloyd from Comalk-Hawk-Kih (Thin Buckskin) thru the interpretation of Edward Hubert Wood.

2010 January, David Martinez, “Pulling Down the Clouds: The O'odham Intellectual Tradition during the "Time of Famine"”, in American Indian Quarterly, volume 34, number 1, University of Nebraska Press, →ISSN, pages 1–32:

If you see thru my eyes, you'd wish you weren't here, because all you will feel sadness and fear. It loneliness and sorrow if you see thru my eyes sit and talk to before you say goodbye. […] See thru my eyes and a tear you will see, I wish you could cry and cry with me.

2011, Fancine N. D'Aprile, From Hell on Earth to the Foot of the Cross, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 157:

(Canada, US, informal) Nonstandard spelling of through.

(chiefly Canada, US) Abbreviation of through.


Franklin

From Middle English frankelein (“freeholder”), see franklin. The place names are mostly named after American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790).

named-after

That night, I bought a stack of spirit money. In U.S. currency, of course. I would make it rain Franklins in the spirit world.

2018, Ling Ma, chapter 8, in Severance, →ISBN:

(US, informal) A one-hundred-dollar bill, which carries the portrait of Benjamin Franklin.


mainstream

en-verb

mainstream (third-person singular simple present mainstreams, present participle mainstreaming, simple past and past participle mainstreamed)

mainstreams (present singular third-person)
mainstreaming (participle present)
mainstreamed (participle past)
mainstreamed (past)

Despite these beliefs, the decision to send my son to a regular school was not made easily. I didn't know of any child as disabled as he who had been mainstreamed.

1985 April 14, Barbara Gerbasi, “Mainstreaming My Son”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive, education, chiefly US) To educate (a disabled student) together with non-disabled students.


miscegenation

en-noun

miscegenation (countable and uncountable, plural miscegenations)

/mɪˌsɛd͡ʒ.əˈneɪ.ʃən/

Coined by American journalist David G. Croly in 1864 from Latin miscēre (“mix”) + genus (“race”) + -ation, and first used in an anonymous pamphlet he coauthored, which claimed to be written by a person who believed in the inherent unity of all racial groups, that marriage between blacks and whites would create a better race, and that the American Civil War was a fight for the latter idea. Later, it was exposed that the pretext of the pamphlet was false and that it had actually been written by a group which hoped to inflame anger, particularly against then-US President Abraham Lincoln who was up for reelection.
Replaced previous amalgamation, from metallurgy. See further discussion.

coinage

Anissimov took to posting paranoid white supremacist rants on Twitter. Why, he asked, do “blacks get your own continent”? “European whites are being replaced and destroyed by ‘diversity,’” he cried. He denounced miscegenation and declared that women should be confined to the home.

2018, Corey Pein, Live Work Work Work Die, Metropolitan Books, →ISBN, unnumbered page:

(chiefly US, see usage notes) The mixing or blending of race in marriage or breeding, interracial marriage.


antimiscegenation

antimiscegenation laws

(US, law) Against mixing or blending; especially, against the mixing or blending of races in marriage or breeding.

antimiscigenação

against mixing or blending; especially, against the mixing or blending of races in marriage or breeding


whiting

From Middle English whityng, whytyng, perhaps an alteration of Old English hwītling (“whiting”), remodelled after white + -ing (diminutive suffix). Related to the colour white. Cognate with Dutch wijting (“whiting”), Old Norse hvítingr (“a kind of whale”).

Merlangius merlangus
Merlangius merlangus#Translingual

Any fish of many species that resemble Merlangius merlangus:

(US) Any of several marine fish found in North American coastal waters, including hakes (genus Merluccius), especially Merluccius bilinearis (silver hake).


robe

→ Irish: róba

→ Scottish Gaelic: ròb

From Middle English robe, roobe, from Old French robe, robbe, reube (“booty, spoils of war, robe, garment”), from Frankish *rouba, *rauba (“booty, spoils, stolen clothes”, literally “things taken”), from Proto-Germanic *raubō, *raubaz, *raubą (“booty, that which is stripped or carried away”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to tear, peel”).
cognates and related terms
Akin to Old High German roup (“booty”) (Modern German Raub (“robbery, spoils”)), Old High German roubōn (“to rob, steal”) (Modern German rauben (“to rob”)), Old English rēaf (“spoils, booty, dress, armour, robe, garment”), Old English rēafian (“to steal, deprive”). Cognate with Spanish ropa (“clothing, clothes”). More at rob, reaf, reave.

cog

(US) The skin of an animal, especially the bison, dressed with the fur on, and used as a wrap.


stew

en-noun

stew (usually uncountable, plural stews)

→ Japanese: シチュー (shichū)

From Middle English stewe, stue, from Anglo-Norman estouve, Old French estuve (“bath, bathhouse”) (modern French étuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *extufāre, from ex- + Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, steam”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”). See also Italian stufare, Portuguese estufar. Compare also Old English stuf-bæþ (“a hot-air bath, vapour bath”); see stove.

cog

(US, regional) An artificial bed of oysters.


hoosegow

hoosegows (plural)
hoosgow (alternative)
hoosecow (alternative)
hooscow (alternative)

From informal spoken Spanish juzgao, variant of standard Spanish juzgado (“court, courthouse”). Alteration of pronunciation and spelling by law of Hobson-Jobson.

There's parts of Mexico they'd take you straight to the hoosegow for just whistlin that.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 424:

Philip Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology department, divided the participants at random into ‘prisoners’ and ‘guards,’ and even got the Palo Alto police to arrest the prisoners and haul them to the campus hoosegow.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 674:


likely

en-adj

likely (comparative likelier or more likely, superlative likeliest or most likely)

likelier (comparative)
more likely (comparative)
likeliest (superlative)
most likely (superlative)

From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċ (“likely”) and Old Norse líkligr (“likely”), both from Proto-Germanic *līkalīkaz, equivalent to like + -ly (adjectival suffix).

вероятен

displaying the qualities or characteristics that make something probable

They are likely to become angry with him.

He is likely to succeed at anything he tries.

People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?

2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times:

In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages - with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.

2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:

(as predicate, followed by to and infinitive) Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined, probable.

liable

as predicate, followed by "to" and infinitive


wagon wheel

(US, in the plural) Synonym of ruote (“a type of pasta shaped like a wheel”).


windshield

The freezing rain covered our windshield with ice and we couldn't see a thing.

For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels.

1960 November 25, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684:

I was at Park Safari Africa in Canada on the Canadian border. This was years ago outside of Plattsburgh, New York. And I had a new car at the time, and I was driving through, going through the monkey area. And they said 'beware of the monkeys.' So about ten of them circled my car. And this one special one, like he was the leader of the pack, jumped up on the hood and came right up to the windshield and looked in. So I was like making faces at him. [garbled] 'don't do that!' And believe it or not, he made like a face back. He jumped off the car. He took his fingernails and he peeled all the chrome on both sides of my car off. Picked it up, jumped on the hood, dropped it and left- looked at me and left.

2006 May 9, Penn Jillette, Michael Goudeau, quoting Pat, 34:52 from the start, in Penn Radio:

The new report said 413 million yuan spent on train windshields was wasted when design specifications were changed in March 2011, three months before the line opened.[…]
It found that Beichen district government in Tianjin had 340 million yuan in its own accounts instead of being paid promptly in compensation for land procured for the railway.

2012 March 19, Zhou Xin, Nick Edwards, “China audit details fraud, waste at Beijing-Shanghai railway”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters, sourced from BEIJING (Reuters), archived from the original on 2024-07-04, World:

Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.

2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times:

(Canada, US, Philippines) A transparent screen made of glass, located at the front and back of a vehicle in front of its occupants to protect them from the wind force generated by the vehicle's speed and inclement weather.

bitaʼ

screen located in front of a vehicle to protect from wind and weather


cruiser

(US, law enforcement) A police patrol vehicle.


windshield wiper

en-noun

windshield wiper (plural windshield wipers)

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

2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:

(automobiles, US, Canada) a device used to clear rain and dirt from a windshield; normally a pivoting arm with a rubber blade


flip

flip (countable and uncountable, plural flips)

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). Cognate with Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”).

inh

He loaded his flip and took careful aim at what he considered to be Emily's most vulnerable spot […]

1986, George Scarbrough, A summer ago, page 123:


flip

en-verb

flip (third-person singular simple present flips, present participle flipping, simple past and past participle flipped)

flips (present singular third-person)
flipping (participle present)
flipped (participle past)
flipped (past)

The mafioso flipped on his superiors to get a lighter sentence.

(intransitive, US) To turn state's evidence; to agree to testify against one's co-conspirators in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.

The district attorney was able to strengthen his case against the bank robber by flipping the getaway driver.

(transitive, US) To induce someone to turn state's evidence; to get someone to agree to testify against their co-conspirators in exchange for concessions.


stool

en-noun

stool (countable and uncountable, plural stools)

From Middle English stool, stole, stol, from Old English stōl (“chair, seat, throne”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōl, from Proto-Germanic *stōlaz (“chair”) (compare West Frisian stoel, Dutch stoel, German Stuhl, Swedish/Norwegian/Danish stol, Finnish tuoli, Estonian tool), from Proto-Indo-European *stoh₂los (compare Lithuanian stálas, Russian стол (stol, “table”), Russian стул (stul, “chair”), Serbo-Croatian stol (“table”), Slovene stol (“chair”), Albanian kështallë (“crutch”), Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “block of stone used as a prop or buttress to a wall”)), from *steh₂- (“to stand”). More at stand.
The medical use derives from sense 2 (seat used for defecation).

cog

(US, dialect) Material, such as oyster shells, spread on the sea bottom for oyster spat to adhere to.


colonial

en-adj

colonial (comparative more colonial, superlative most colonial)

more colonial (comparative)
most colonial (superlative)

(US) Of or relating to the original Thirteen Colonies of the USA.

kolonial

US: of or relating to the original thirteen colonies of the USA

(US) Of or relating to the style of architecture prevalent at about the time of the Revolution.

колониа́лен

US: of or relating to the style of architecture


colonial

(US) A house that is built in a style reminiscent of the period of the colonization of New England.


ditto

First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“I say, I speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”).
The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, the brand name of a spirit duplicator.

Please run off twenty-four dittos of this assignment, for my students.

Mr. Zappadia gave each student a ditto of a black-and-white cow.

2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Jonathan Cape, page 227:

(US, informal) A duplicate or copy of a document, particularly one created by a spirit duplicator.


ditto

en-verb

ditto (third-person singular simple present dittos, present participle dittoing, simple past and past participle dittoed)

dittos (present singular third-person)
dittoing (participle present)
dittoed (participle past)
dittoed (past)

But they were all purple, Dittoed—worn, torn, stained with coffee.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 55:

I was going to join a commune of my friends. I sort of issued a declaration of independence which I dittoed up and put in everybody's mail box in the department.

1976 April 26, Jil Clark, Julia Penelope, Susan Wolfe, “The Politics of Language”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

(US) To make a copy using a ditto machine.


Chinese fire drill

en-noun

Chinese fire drill (plural Chinese fire drills)

Perhaps from the WWI era, from the British practice of using Chinese as a slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.

(US) A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.

(US, derogatory) A silly, pointless exercise.


wingtip

Then, immaculately dressed in three-piece suit, starched collar, and wingtips, Wilbur was obliged to drive a spike of Nevada silver into a railroad tie, a tricky and potentially embarrassing ceremonoial duty, especially with a phalanx of eager photographers poised to record every misswing.

2014, Joseph E. Stevens, Hoover Dam: An American Adventure:

A part of a shoe, often with brogueing that extends backwards on both sides from the toe.


witness stand

(chiefly US) An enclosed area in a courtroom where witnesses give their evidence.


sticker

From stick (“to pierce, to be fastened, to adhere”) + -er (“agent”).


jungle gym

jungle gyms (plural)
JungleGym (alternative)
junglegym (alternative)

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

Genericized trademark of JungleGym, from jungle + gym.

Not much later, in 2008, attention shifted south again as the Israeli army invaded Gaza in response to the Qassam rockets launched into the Negev, and the JNF introduced Operation Security Blanket. Instead of building up new Blueprint Negev settlements, the JNF allocated millions for a rocket-proof indoor playground replete with a jungle gym, video game arcade, disco, merry-go-round, swing sets, therapy rooms, barbecue pit and, according to the JNF, "rooms that double as bomb shelters."

2010, Rebecca Manski, “Blueprint Negev”, in Middle East Report, number 256, page 3:

(US, Israel) A play structure designed for children to climb on, traditionally constructed as a frame of metal bars as introduced in 1920.

馬騮架 /马骝架 (maa⁵ lau⁴⁻¹ gaa³⁻², literally “monkey frame”)


finest

Fifty of New York's finest were on hand for security.

1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
Told him I'd had a fun time with a sailor & he said, "Oh no! Are you corrupting our country's finest?"


sheepdog

sheepdogs (plural)
sheep dog (alternative)

(US, slang, law enforcement) A police officer.


sesh

(Australia, Canada, US, informal) A period of sustained cannabis smoking.

A session.
A period of sustained cannabis smoking.


cell phone

cell phones (plural)
cellphone (alternative)
cell-phone (alternative)

(chiefly Canada, US, New Zealand, Philippines) A portable, wireless telephone, which changes antenna connections seamlessly during travel from one radio reception cell to another without losing the party-to-party call connection.


facility

en-noun

facility (countable and uncountable, plural facilities)

From Middle English facilite, from Middle French facilité, and its source, Latin facilitās. By surface analysis, facile + -ity. Doublet of faculty.


boondoggle

Coined by American scout leader Robert H. Link in 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”. Compare woggle of similar sense, attested in same period.
In sense of “wasteful government program”, popularized in 1935 by The New York Times, in reference to New Deal programs which were claimed to feature people making such braids.

coinage

Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle.

Senator John Stennis […] has been active and effective for so long as a member of the Armed Services Committee that he knows as well as any man can where the bodies are buried in the Pentagon and the boondoggles are buried in the defense budget.

1971 September 19, Tom Wicker, “In the Nation”, in The New York Times, retrieved 2018-08-13:

By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.

2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place, →ISBN:

Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.

2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times:

For cynics, it is a boondoggle plagued by delays (it began in 2007 and was supposed to begin experiments in 2016, but this will not now happen until 2025), questionable management and ballooning costs (double the original estimate).

2019 May 2, “Iter, a reactor in France, may deliver fusion power as early as 2045”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, figuratively, usually politics) A waste of time and/or money; a pointless activity.


pink slip

From pink + slip (“piece of paper”), referring to the colour of the paper, in some cases as it was in past, and not necessarily present, practice.
* (automobile title): Most likely from California, where the title is printed on a smaller index-card sized piece of pink paper; in other states the title is typically a full-size 8 1/2" x 11" sheet, usually printed on blue or blue-green paper with borders, similar to a stock certificate.

But when she visited the bank, all she found inside were the pink slip to her car, a passport she′d acquired two years ago before a vacation trip to Australia and a few other documents.

1997, Jacqueline Diamond, Million-Dollar Mommy, Harlequin, unnumbered page:

(US) The title document for an automobile.


pink slip

en-verb

pink slip (third-person singular simple present pink slips, present participle pink slipping, simple past and past participle pink slipped)

pink slips (present singular third-person)
pink slipping (participle present)
pink slipped (participle past)
pink slipped (past)

After a week of anxiously watching the mailbox through little Japanese binoculars his wife had given him for a going-away present (she'd left him the day after he was pink-slipped) and getting nothing but sucker-list stuff through the regular deliveries that came each noon, he was jolted out of a boozy, black-and-white dream of jumping off The Stack into rush-hour traffic, by an insistent banging at the door.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 84:

(US, informal, transitive) To terminate the employment of.