scrimshaw

en-verb

scrimshaw (third-person singular simple present scrimshaws, present participle scrimshawing, simple past and past participle scrimshawed)

scrimshaws (present singular third-person)
scrimshawing (participle present)
scrimshawed (participle past)
scrimshawed (past)

The origin of the verb is unknown, but it has possibly been influenced by the surname Scrimshaw. Various etymologies have been proposed (for example, that it derives from scrimshank (“(Britain, military slang) to be idle, to shirk duty”)), but the Oxford English Dictionary does not consider any of them convincing.
The noun is probably derived from the verb.

ref

From the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

To create (a small ornamental handicraft also called a scrimshaw) by carving or engraving on bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials.

To carve or engrave (bone, ivory, or other materials) with ornamental designs.

To carve or engrave (ornamental designs) on bone, ivory, or other materials.


scrimshaw

en-noun

scrimshaw (countable and uncountable, plural scrimshaws)

term-label

(originally US, nautical, also attributively)

Rooney got his skull exposed, doggone it
Soon he's gonna get scrimshaw carved on it

2008, Neil Cicierega (lyrics and music), “Modify”, in View-Monster, performed by Lemon Demon:

(countable) A small ornamental handicraft created by carving or engraving bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials, formerly produced by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.

(uncountable) The manufacture of small ornamental handicrafts by carving or engraving bone, ivory, or other materials, formerly by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.


hobo jungle

(US, slang) A makeshift encampment adjacent to a railroad freight carrier's property where train hoppers/hobos, tramps, or bums congregate while waiting for their outbound train.


chaparral

en-noun

chaparral (countable and uncountable, plural chaparrals)

/ˌʃæp.əˈɹæl/

/ˌt͡ʃæp.əˈɹæl/

/ˌʃæp.əˈɹæl/

/ˌʃæp.əˈɹɛl/

[ˌʃæp.ɚˈ(ɹ)æl]

[ˌʃæp.ɚˈ(ɹ)ɛl]

From Spanish chaparral, from chaparro (“evergreen oak”) + -al, from Basque txaparro, from txapar, from sapar.

Coordinate term: macchia

It was quite dark when, after an arduous climb, the sheriff made his tortuous way through the chaparral to the point where Anthony Garland should be stationed.

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter IV, in The Understanding Heart:

Have you ever been south of Monterey? / Barrancas carve the coastline / And the chaparral flows to the sea / 'Neath waves of golden sunshine

1973, Al Jardine (lyrics and music), “California Saga (California)”, in Holland, performed by The Beach Boys:

“Look at all the chaparral on California’s coast — it’s all about surviving that kind of fire cycle.”

2021 February 10, Grayson Haver Currin, quoting Chuck Johnson, “Chuck Johnson’s Ode to What’s Been Lost in California’s Fires”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US) A region of shrubs, typically dry in the summer and rainy in the winter. The coast of the Mediterranean is such a region.


whites

A set of white clothes, especially as a uniform.

(US, military) A white uniform formerly worn by officers of United States Marine Corps.


coverall

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(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A loose-fitting jumpsuit-style protective garment worn over other clothing.


realtor

From real (in real estate) and -or. Coined by Charles N. Chadbourn in 1916, on the model of Latin agent nouns ending in -tor (such as actor, creator), to refer to real-estate professionals who are members of the National Association of Realtors, a trade association in the United States. Equivalent to realt(y) + -or.

It was composed of an engineer, if I remember correctly, a town planner, a realtor, and occasionally an architect […]

1919, Mr. Shannon, U.S. Housing Corporation. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, United States Senate:

First place, we ought to insist that folks call us ‘realtors’ and not ‘real-estate men.’ Sounds more like a reg’lar profession.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

Intrigued by the prospect of an additional commission, the realtor hurriedly assured me he foresaw no problem in obtaining the lease.

1975, Jerzy Kosiński, Cockpit, Grove Press, published 1998, page 189:

The terms agent, broker, and realtor are often used interchangeably.

1997, Douglas A. Gray, Canadian home buying made easy, second edition, page 72:

The realtor was like a carnivore, ready to spring. He was originally from New York and he seemed like the kind of guy who could smell a deal.

2003, Gary Andrew Dresden, Confessions of a Gynecologist, iUniverse, page 111:

(Canada, US) A person or business that sells or leases out real estate, acting as an agent for the property owner.

National Association of Realtors
realtor


fruity

en-adj

fruity (comparative fruitier, superlative fruitiest)

fruitier (comparative)
fruitiest (superlative)

(informal, sometimes derogatory, chiefly US, of a male) Effeminate, flamboyant; homosexual.


sundown

en-noun

sundown (countable and uncountable, plural sundowns)

We’ll meet by the pier at sundown.

Yet oft when sundown skirts the moor
An inner trouble I behold,
A spectral doubt which makes me cold,
That I shall be thy mate no more, […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XL, page 63:


foosball

From German Fußball, itself a calque of English football.

[…] Caleb on Tuesday, for the first time in months, had invited him to play foosball […]

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

(chiefly US, Canada) table soccer (US), table football (UK)


fries

fries pl (normally plural, singular fry)

(cooking, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Ellipsis of french fries.


locker room

locker rooms (plural)
lockerroom (alternative)
locker-room (alternative)

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

We changed into our swimsuits in the locker room next to the pool.

(US, Canada) A room attached to an athletic, recreational, or workplace facility, filled with lockers for storage of clothing and equipment; clothes are generally changed there.


winters

They ski winters in the Laurentians.


digits

Sure she seemed interested — but did you get those digits though?

Muddah called every now and then, and I dialed her digits a few times too, but shit just felt funny when I talked to her.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 132:

telephone number
telephone number#English

(US slang, dated) Synonym of telephone number; especially, the one that belongs to a potential dating partner.


clock in

en-verb

clock in (third-person singular simple present clocks in, present participle clocking in, simple past and past participle clocked in)

clocks in (present singular third-person)
clocking in (participle present)
clocked in (participle past)
clocked in (past)

We clocked in at 7:30, but didn't actually do any work until at least 8.

(US) To begin working time, especially by punching in (entering a workplace by punching a time card with the time clock).

fichar / ponchar / marcar tarjeta de entrada / al entrar

fitxar

to enter a workplace by punching a timecard; punch in


concussion

en-noun

concussion (countable and uncountable, plural concussions)

(uncountable in Commonwealth, countable in Canada, US) An injury to part of the body, most especially the brain, caused by a violent blow, followed by loss of function.


Big Dipper

(astronomy, especially US) A bright circumpolar asterism of the northern sky, said to resemble a ladle or cart, and a part of the constellation Ursa Major which includes the stars Mizar, Dubhe, and Alkaid. The other stars comprising it are Alioth, Megrez, Merak, and Phecda.

بَنَاتُ نَعْشٍ الكُبْرَى

Còig Gadhair Osgair (the line from Alkaid to Dubhe, excluding Phecda and Merak which are known as Tulga is Talga)


garbo

garbo (countable and uncountable, plural garbos)

Clipping of garbage + -o (colloquialising suffix).

"Any quartz in the Mountain?" / "Just garbo quartz, not enough to produce any electrical fields." / "No disruption in the magnetic field?" / "No, sir."

2012, Mickael Taddeo, Gabriel's Mountain, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 229:

Then they beat me and burned me and locked me up, before handing me back like a piece of garbo, when I acted up or they got tired of me.

2016, Clare Revell, Violets in February, Pelican Book Group, →ISBN:

Another Twitter user wrote, "I could lie to you and say that I'm totally not interested in that game [but] I am interested. It sucks so much that JKR is a transphobic piece of garbo. ... I think if I do play it, I'll make it clear in all promotions my feelings about JKR and also promote a trans charity for folks to donate their funds towards. Maybe it's not enough, and I might not have a lot of funds, but I do wanna use my voice to do what I can to support my trans friends."

2022 March 19, Dan Clarendon, “'Hogwarts Legacy' Will Reportedly Welcome Transgender Characters — You Hear That, J.K.?”, in Distractify, archived from the original on 2022-04-22:

Then Noelle told me she's a Paralympian and I was like, "Well, my lie was just garbo. That was terrible. Noelle, you're a beast!"

2022 December 7, Mike Bloom, quoting Sami Layadi, “'Survivor 43's' Sami Layadi Explains Why He Never Went After Cody and Jesse”, in Parade, archived from the original on 2022-12-08:

(Australia, Canada, US, uncountable, colloquial, derogatory) Garbage; something considered worthless.


extension cord

(electronics, US) An electrical cord with a plug one end, and a single socket or a multi-port socket at the other end, used for powering one or more devices at a distance, too far from the wall outlet to be reached by the normal cords of the device or devices.


happy holidays

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

In the United States people say Happy Holidays to include all people on the earth: the Jewish people Celebrating Hanukah, Africans celebrating Kwanza, Middle Eastern people celebrating Eid, Christians celebrating Christmas, […]

2009, Ruben Santos Claveria, Holiday Songs and Kisses: Christmas Songs And other Poems:

Madeleine Mayfair, What Should I Write? 101 Holiday Wishes for Greeting Cards
Season's greetings and happy holidays!

(Canada, US, Philippines) A greeting used during the Christmas and winter holiday season to recognize the celebration of many holidays, sometimes starting with Thanksgiving and including Hanukkah, the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Day.


commode

Borrowed from French commode (literally “convenient”). Doublet of comodo.


logrolling

logrolling (countable and uncountable, plural logrollings)

/ˈlɒɡˌɹəʊlɪŋ/

/ˈlɑɡˌɹoʊlɪŋ/

From log + rolling, the figurative senses from the practice of neighbors helping each other do heavy work such as rolling logs in connection with clearing land and building.

tukkien pyöritys

(countable, US) The rolling of logs from one place to another; an occasion when people meet to help each other roll logs.

(uncountable, US, lumberjacking) The act of balancing on a log floating on a river to guide it downstream, often involving rolling it using one's feet; birling.

koskenlasku

lumberjacking: act of balancing on a log floating downstream

Harkening back to the days when loggers had to break river jams free by carefully stepping out on floating logs, logrolling is all about maintaining balance. Also called birling, logrolling requires competitors to go head-to-head on a single log, trying to toss the other guy into the water by forcing him to lose his balance.

2011, Lew Freedman, “Preface”, in Timber!: The Story of the Lumberjack World Championships, Madison, Wis.: Terrace Books, University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page xv:

(uncountable, US, sports) A sport in which two people balance on a log floating in a body of water, each one aiming to cause the opponent to fall off by rolling or kicking the log.

rullaus

sports: balancing on a log and aiming to cause the opponent to fall off

As most of the county was covered with forest, it was necessary to clear the land of trees, in order to make way for farming operations. Clearing of the land was accomplished by means of logrollings, a practice whereby logs were heaped into great piles and burned. Much valuable timber was destroyed in that manner, but, as no markets existed for timber, it was the most expedient method of ridding the land of trees. Logrollings continued until probably 50 years ago, when markets for forest products arose and timber began to be sawed and sold.

1940 February, W. A. Davis, E. F. Goldston, “Agricultural History and Statistics”, in Soil Survey of Stokes County, North Carolina (Series 1934; no. 20), Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, pages 6–7:

Logrollings, for example, which occurred during the winter and early spring, took place in a series until the logs on every neighbor's farm were piled. So with many other chores, for cooperative patterns of work form an integral part of productive organization.

1983, Steven Hahn, “Bounds of Custom”, in The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850–1890, New York, N.Y., Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 54:

The show around him [The Celebrity Apprentice], with its cast of backbiting reality retreads and its blatant logrolling – the first challenge involved a beauty line put out by Tyra Banks, one of Mr. [Arnold] Schwarzenegger's "advisers" – was pretty much the same as always.

2017 January 3, Mike Hale, “With Schwarzenegger as host, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ lacks old bite [print version: On TV, Schwarzenegger is no Trump, The New York Times, international edition, 5 January 2017, page 2]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2017-01-10:

(uncountable, US, figuratively) Mutual recommendation of friends' or colleagues' services or products, such as book recommendations in literary reviews.


food coloring

food coloring (countable and uncountable, plural food colorings)


jungle bunny

Originally US English, 1950s. From jungle (“referring to the alleged origins of black people in the African jungles”) + bunny.

Merry Christmas to all the little jungle-bunnies. — From momma jungle bunny.

1952 December 18, The South Side Times, Fort Wayne, Indiana, page 8, column 6:

"[W]e are concerned that outright harassment such as being called nigger, jungle bunny, porch monkey, boy, son, etc., is occurring entirely too much."

1983 January 14, “Racial incidents, declining sales sour Volkswagen dream”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 6:

He doesn't say Judge Brown's last name, telling me Brown's just another jungle bunny far as he's concerned, robe or no robe.

2007, Ron Liebman, Death by Rodrigo, page 90:

(US, UK, ethnic slur, derogatory) A black person.


butthole

My butthole is on fire from that dang hot sauce of yours.

Opinions are like buttholes, Everyone has one but sometimes they stink and you don't want to hear them

(Canada, US, mildly vulgar, slang) The anus.

Don't be such a butthole.

(Canada, US, derogatory, euphemistic) An objectionable person; a bastard; a jerk.


someway

Disinclined to read, and slowly pacing the drawing-room, Lord Meersbrook, after looking earnestly at two small pictures, by old masters, which had someway escaped from their brethren, which were heirlooms at Granard Park, he at length began to examine the works of ingenuity which adorned the mantel;...

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 161:

By some strange arts Isabel's wonderful story might have been, someway, and for some cause, forged for her, in her childhood, and craftily impressed upon her youthful mind; which so — like a slight mark in a young tree — had now enlargingly grown with her growth, till it had become this immense staring marvel.

1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or, The Ambiguities:

Robert spoke of his intention to go to Mexico in the autumn, where fortune awaited him. He was always intending to go to Mexico, but someway never got there.


jawsmith

[Phil LaGassly] had a knack for winning over tough audiences, throwing in little asides and an unscripted joke or two as he went along. […] Andy [LaGassly's speechwriter] would sprinkle in a fair amount of substance here and there, wherever he could, always making sure he came up with a few catchy phrases that were conducive to huzzah; and LaGassly could be counted on to deliver them in exactly the right way. It had been quite an act–the jawsmith and the wordsmith […]

2002, John Quirt, Jackboots in the Heartland, pages 58–59:

(US, slang) An orator, especially a demagogue.

One professional jaw-smith, who came as the self-appointed messenger of American labor wanted a Chinese-wall tariff, and subsidized ships to carry cargoes one way and ballast the other.

1891 January 16, Congressional Record, volume 22, 51st Congress, 2nd session, House, page 1476:

The evolutions and involutions of a maiden effort at Dress Parade are incomprehensible as ravings of the salaried jawsmith in a labor strike, who has burst into a profuse state of prevarication as the rosy beer-froth mantles his sublime cheek.

1898, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, volume 29, page 253:

Many Wobblies became "jawsmiths," or organizers, themselves. While working at their regular jobs they would hitchhike and boxcar-hop across the country, stopping off at factory towns and lumber camps, speaking and singing at the top of their lungs.

1986, Pete Seeger, Carry it on!: a history in song and picture of the working men and women of America, page 104:

The life of a "jawsmith", as IWW speakers and agitators were called […] Fatigue, burnout and overexhaustion are the diseases of the jawsmith trade.

1987, Rosalyn Baxandall, editor, Words on Fire: The Life and Writing of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, pages 11, 19:

(US, slang) A union organizer; later especially of the International Workers of the World.


monetary instrument

monetary instrument (plural monetary instruments)

(defined in 31 USC § 5312(a)(3)(C))

(US) A coin or currency item of a foreign country, such as travelers' checks, bearer negotiable instruments, bearer investment securities, bearer securities, stock on which title is passed on delivery, and similar material or checks, drafts, notes, money orders, and other similar instruments which are drawn on or by a foreign financial institution and are not in bearer form.


blow-dryer

blow-dryers (plural)
blow drier (alternative)
blow-drier (alternative)
blowdrier (alternative)
blow dryer (alternative)
blowdryer (alternative)

(US, Philippines) A handheld electrical device used for drying hair.


number one

(US, law enforcement) Black, African-American.


dimpled chad

(US) a chad that is punched or dimpled but is still attached to the voting ballot at all four corners


sandbag

en-verb

sandbag (third-person singular simple present sandbags, present participle sandbagging, simple past and past participle sandbagged)

sandbags (present singular third-person)
sandbagging (participle present)
sandbagged (participle past)
sandbagged (past)

Some felt that Roberts was sandbagging, because his mastery of the 250s wasn't really showing in practice or the heat.

1976, Cycle World Magazine, volume 15, number 1 & 2, page 83:

The sandbagging manager is similarly deceptive. He has mastered the art of seeming harmless and without power, but in reality he carries far more authority and clout than one would be led to believe.

1976, Richard H. Buskirk, Handbook of Managerial Tactics, Boston: Cahners Books, →ISBN, page 32:

When playing against a wild man, try to be in a position to pick off his bluffs without too many players remaining behind you who can benefit from the action by sandbagging (passing on big hands and waiting for “sport” to whoop up the betting).

1981, Nesmith C. Ankeny, Poker Strategy: Winning with Game Theory, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, page 9:

Accordingly, we may establish as our principle that the time to sandbag is when you have three of a kind or better, when there are at least five players to act after you, and when your hand is made up of low cards.

1981, Oswald Jacoby, Oswald Jacoby on Poker, Garden City, N.Y.: Dolphin Books, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 36:

(figurative, intransitive, originally US) To conceal or misrepresent one's true position, potential, or intent in order to gain an advantage; (originally poker) to pretend to have a weak hand, as a strategy.


factorize

factorize (third-person singular simple present factorizes, present participle factorizing, simple past and past participle factorized)

factorizes (present singular third-person)
factorizing (participle present)
factorized (participle past)
factorized (past)
factorise (alternative)

(US, transitive) To warn not to pay or give up goods.

(US, transitive) To attach the effects of a debtor in the hands of a third party.


cable guy

(Canada, US, informal) A man who works for the cable television service and installs cable television.


aquaplane

PIE word
 *h₂ékʷeh₂
The noun is derived from aqua- (prefix meaning ‘water’) + plane (“flat or level surface”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”)).
The verb is derived from the noun, and is analysable as aqua- + plane (“to glide; to soar; to skim a water surface”).

prefix

At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam.

1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter III, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 47:

(originally US, water sports) A board on which a person stands to ride for leisure which is pulled on a water surface by a motorboat.

hydrofoil

planar surface that generates lift in water


quarter note

(Canada, US, music) A musical note one beat long in 4/4 time.


jap

en-verb

jap (third-person singular simple present japs, present participle japping, simple past and past participle japped)

japs (present singular third-person)
japping (participle present)
japped (participle past)
japped (past)
Jap (alternative)

Shortening of Japanese, in reference to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

(Canada, US, ethnic slur, slang, transitive) To carry out a sneak attack upon (something or somebody).


musette

2011 Tour de France
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Thor Hushovd

From both of the following:
* Late Middle English musette (“type of bagpipe”), from Middle French musette, Old French musette (“type of bagpipe”) (modern French musette), from muse (“bagpipe”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Muse is derived from muser (“to play the bagpipe; (figuratively) to flatter”), perhaps from musel (“muzzle (protruding part of an animal’s head)”) (alluding to a bagpipe player puffing out the cheeks), from Late Latin mūsus (“muzzle”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps expressive of protruding lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgiō (“to bellow, low, moo”), from Proto-Indo-European *mug-, *mūg- (onomatopoeia of the lowing of cattle).
* Borrowed from French musette in the 18th century.
Sense 2 (“small bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap”) is due to the resemblance of the original knapsack to the bag of bagpipes.

ref

From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, U.S.A.

musette

any of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows

(cycling):

The young gentleman had a musette over his shoulder.

1923, [Ernest Hemingway], “Out of Season”, in Three Stories […] & Ten Poems […], [Paris]: [Contact Publishing Company]; printed at Dijon by Maurice Darantière, →OCLC, page 13:

I gave them money for platform tickets and had them take my baggage. There was a big rucksack and two musettes.

1929 May–October, Ernest Hemingway, chapter 23, in A Farewell to Arms, 1st British edition, London: Jonathan Cape […], published 1929, →OCLC, book II, page 156:

Yossarian watched Chief White Halfoat pour whiskey carefully into three empty shampoo bottles and store them away in the musette bag he was packing.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Yo-Yo’s Roomies”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 362:

(chiefly US, originally military) In full musette bag: a small bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap, formerly used by soldiers, and now (cycling) chiefly by cyclists to hold food and beverages or other items.


three-way switch

en-noun

three-way switch (plural three-way switches)

Named after its three electrical connections, as opposed to the two connections of a normal light switch.

(US, electricity) A type of light switch that can be arranged in pairs to control lights from two locations, as at either end of a stairway or long hallway; a double-throw switch. (British): two-way switch.


Philadelphia lawyer

Philadelphia lawyer (plural Philadelphia lawyers)

Possibly derived from Andrew Hamilton's skillful defense of John Peter Zenger in 1735, though, as the phrase is not attested until 1788, this is uncertain.

(US) A clever, crafty, or otherwise extremely adroit practitioner of law.


sanitarium

sanitarium (plural sanitariums or sanitaria)

Perhaps a blend of sanitary + sanatorium. Coined by John Harvey Kellogg.

[H]e was led away to a private sanitarium for mental disease, while in the newspapers appeared pathetic accounts of his mental breakdown and of the saintliness of his character.

1908 February 19, Jack London, “The Bishop”, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 188:

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

Treatment in tuberculosis sanitariums at the expense of the public might be warranted.

1954 February 15, Henry E. Michelson, “The Syndrome of Lupus Erythematosus”, in Modern Medicine, volume 22, number 4, Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Medicine Publications, Inc., page 98:


capiche

(chiefly US) Alternative spelling of capisce


cous

(informal, US, UK) cousin (usually as a term of address, but not necessarily towards one's cousin)


topper

From Middle English toppor, equivalent to top + -er.

She was wearing her short pink topper and the small red hat that tilted over one eye so that she looked like a refugee starlet from the Gold Diggers film series.

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

(chiefly US) A short outer jacket worn by women or children.


Likely influenced by the time (4:20 pm) a particular group would meet in search of marijuana, circa 1971; subsequently spread as a cipher through the San Francisco Bay area and adopted among Grateful Dead fans.

four-twenty (alternative)
four twenty (alternative)


repeater

The pimps and the panders, the cadets and maquereaux… they vote the ticket of the organization; they contribute to the campaign funds; they serve as colonizers and repeaters at the polls.

(US) One who votes more than once at an election.


lardass

lardasses (plural)
lard-arse (alternative)

It was soon realized that there werenąt^([sic]) enough creaky knees, arthritic hips and aching backs outside of the sunbelt to support carts so they went after the lardass trade. And when they realized that there were not sufficient numbers of creaky knees, arthritic hips, aching backs and lardasses, they targeted the morally crippled. And when they saw that creaky knees, arthritic hips, aching backs, lardasses and the morally crippled didnąt^([sic]) do it for them, they finally made carts mandatory for everyone.

1997 February 20, Albert Charles, “CART GOLF as I see it”, in rec.sport.golf (Usenet):

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory, vulgar) An overweight or obese person.


hissy

get into a hissy


mortician

/mɔː(ɹ)ˈtɪʃən/

“And I prefer mortician to funeral director. It sounds more professional and, well, it is more precise. I deal with more than mere funerals; I deal with death, passing on, the transition.”

2021, Percival Everett, The Trees, Influx Press (2022), page 91:

(US) An undertaker or funeral director; especially, one who is also the embalmer or cremator.


solarium

solariums (plural)
solaria (plural)
Solarium (alternative)

From Latin sōlārium (“sundial, place for enjoying sunlight”), from sōl (“sun”) + -ārium (“-arium: indicating related places or devices”).

bor

My brother kept a health-lift a few years ago... and then he had a blue-glass solarium.

1891, Edward Eggleston, The Faith Doctor, page 289:

The solariums on the roofs of the houses of the ancient Greeks and Romans testify to the benefits obtained by them from sun baths.

The Greeks had their helioses and the Romans their solaria; yet heliotherapy has as yet scarcely emerged from the most empiric of performances into the dignity of a scientifically justified or rationalized procedure.

1925, Hobart Amory Hare, Progressive Medicine, page 219:

(chiefly US and Canada) A room, rooftop, balcony, or terrace, used for its abundant sunlight (especially) when used as a medical treatment.


homemaker

Forty-seven-year-old homemaker and volunteer museum guide, holder of a master's degree in English, married twenty-three years to a professor.

1979, Lillian B. Rubin, Women of a Certain Age: The Midlife Search for Self, page 233:

(US) A person who maintains the administration and upkeep of his or her residence, especially one who is not employed outside the home; one who runs the household.

رَبّ بَيْت

person who maintains his or her residence


crisis center

(US) a place staffed by volunteers who give help and advice to people experiencing difficulties


burly

en-adj

burly (comparative burlier, superlative burliest)

burlier (comparative)
burliest (superlative)
bowerly (alternative)

From Middle English burly, burely, borly, burlich, borlich, borlic (“tall, stately”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots burely, burly (“rough, stout, sturdy, strong”). Perhaps from Old English *būrlīċ (“noble, stately”, literally “bowerly”), equivalent to bower + -ly; or from Old English *byrlīċ (“high, raised”), from byre (“raised area, mound”), cognate with Old High German burlīh, purlīh (“lofty, elevated, high, exalted”), related to Old High German burjan (“to raise, lift, push up”), English burgeon. However, Irish burla (“bundle, pack; burly person”) points to a different origin.

cog

That wave was burly! (i.e. large, dangerous and difficult to ride)

This hike is going to be burly, but worth it because there is good body surfing at that beach.

(US, slang, surf culture and/or Southern California) Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.


dreamboat

From dream + boat, probably suggesting a person “carrying” or embodying the dreams of another; the term appeared in some 1930s and 1940s love songs, referring to a metaphorical boat carrying a lover’s dreams, such as “When My Dream Boat Comes Home” (1936) written by the Canadian-American bandleader Guy Lombardo (1902–1977) and “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” (1941) by the American songwriters Otis (1898–1970) and Leon René (1902–1982), and Emerson Scott.

My new fella is such a dreamboat. He can dance, can sing, and is the captain of the school hockey team.

(informal, dated or humorous) An exceptionally good-looking and sexually attractive person, particularly a man.


band-aid

band-aids (plural)
bandaid (alternative)

Genericized trademark from Band-Aid, registered and coined by Johnson & Johnson in 1924 as a clipping of bandage + aid.

(Australia, Canada, US, Philippines) An adhesive bandage, a small piece of fabric or plastic that may be stuck to the skin in order to temporarily cover a small wound.

It was another of those political band-aids patted over a minor sore.

1968, United Church Observer, n 15 (March), p 36

(Australia, Canada, US, Philippines, informal) A temporary or makeshift solution to a problem, created ad hoc and often with a lack of foresight.


gas pump

(Canada, US) A device at a gas station that dispenses gasoline.


red flag

(idiomatic, US) Something that will enrage a particular person; a red rag.


lemongrass

en-noun

lemongrass (usually uncountable, plural lemongrasses)

(colloquial, US) Sourgrass, Oxalis pes-caprae.


perfectionist

(US, historical) One of the Bible Communists or Free-lovers, a small American sect founded by J. H. Noyes (1811-86), which settled at Oneida in 1848, holding that the gospel if accepted secures freedom from sin.


husky

en-adj

husky (comparative huskier, superlative huskiest)

huskier (comparative)
huskiest (superlative)

From husk + -y; in relation to voice, from the sense "dry as a husk" or "tough as a husk".

You look like a good, husky man to pitch in the barnyard […]

1910, Hamlin Garland, Other Main-Travelled Roads:

Word got around quickly that this plane, which has been flying since January, is bigger and huskier than our proposed C-5A […]

1965, Popular Mechanics, September issue, page 22:

(US) A modifier for boys' clothing sizes that fit a large waist or chest.


judge advocate

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(US) A commissioned officer acting as a lawyer to advise a court martial on points of law or to act as prosecutor.


lock and load

Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as "well locked and loaded". The variant "load(ed) and lock(ed)" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was "locked" as well as loaded.
As an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German "laden und sichern" ("load and secure"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

1949 — John Wayne in the film Sands of Iwo Jima
Lock and load, boy, lock and load.

(US, slang) A command to prepare a weapon for battle.

(US, slang) Prepare for an imminent event.


lock and load

en-verb

lock and load (third-person singular simple present locks and loads, present participle locking and loading, simple past and past participle locked and loaded)

locks and loads (present singular third-person)
locking and loading (participle present)
locked and loaded (participle past)
locked and loaded (past)

It's great to know that city and town governments, all up and down the East Coast, were ready, locked and loaded, to provide bailouts, and this time it was the literal kind.

2015, Fay Jacobs, Time Fries!: Aging Gracelessly in Rehoboth Beach, page 67:

(US, slang) To prepare for an imminent event.


about to

I'm not about to let the lockdown stop me from going to the beach every day.

I'm not about to wander around at night to find it.

(as negative 'not about to', informal, originally US, Canada) Indicates that one has no intention of doing the stated thing at any time in the future.


poster child

poster children (plural)
posterchild (alternative)

From the usage of appealing young people and children in charitable advertisements.

Coordinate term: pin-up

He's a poster child for militant vegetarianism.

I think he smile could have opened the door by itself. It seemed to have a life of it’s^([sic]) own with snow-white teeth below sparkling blue eyes. Its owner could be the poster child for the expression “grinning from ear to ear.”

2005, Susan Cunningham, “Poster Child”, in Unwrapping the Sandwich Generation. Life Vignettes about Seniors & Their Adult Boomer Children, Morgan James Publishing, →ISBN, page 175:

“He’s not exactly a poster child for the average well-adjusted American kid. He’s only been in-country for a few days.”

2006, Ted Dekker, Bill Bright, Blessed Child, Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 77:

A visit to Adventure Island–an after-school program developed by Robert Slavin and Nancy Madden, professors at Johns Hospkins University and creators of Success for All, a comprehensive school reform program practiced in hundreds of schools across the country–could be the poster child for what some might call the academic approach.

2008, Susan B. Neuman, “Changing the Odds though After-School Programs”, in Changing the Odds for Children at Risk: Seven Essential Principles of Educations Programs that Break the Cycle of Poverty, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 169:

But it isn’t difficult to see why Lawrence, who has since become the poster child for healthy body image, elicits such strong reactions — particularly in GIF form, where differences between the original and Photoshopped images are clear.

2013 December 16, Caitlin Dewey, “Two-year-old Photoshopped Jennifer Lawrence magazine cover draws criticism”, in The Washington Post:

(chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic) One who is a prototypical or quintessential example of something.


honored

en-adj

honored (comparative more honored, superlative most honored)

more honored (comparative)
most honored (superlative)


stickum

en-noun

stickum (countable and uncountable, plural stickums)

A strip of muslin swaddles his privates, fixed by means of pine stickum to his belly and buttocks.

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 16:

He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

(Canada, US, informal) Any adhesive, adhesive residue; any sticky or gummy substance.


excuse me

请阁讲一摆

pháiⁿ-sè, chhiáⁿ koh kóng chi̍t-pái / phái-sè, chhiáⁿ koh kóng chi̍t-pái

什物？

sím-mi̍h? / sím-mi? / sím-mih? / sīm-mi̍h? / sám-mi̍h?

(Canada, US) Said as a request to repeat information.

It was so hot I took off my clothes and sat by the window to cool off.
Excuse me?

(Canada, US) Said, as though as a request to repeat information, in order to indicate disbelief or indignation.


pocketbook

pocketbooks (plural)
pocket-book (alternative)
pocket book (alternative)

→ Gulf Arabic: بوك (būk, “wallet”)

→ Najdi Arabic: بوك (būk, “wallet”)

1610s, from pocket + book, popularized in its sense as a paperback by the success of Pocket Books in the United States after its 1939 launch.

The publishers brought out small format pocketbooks of the whole of their nature series.

The kit is produced in three parts including a pocket book designed to fit into a shirt pocket for everyday on-the-job use, a more detailed guide and a training CD. The kit includes a hazard reporting and feedback notebook and hazard management process prompt cards to remind workers of common hazards they may encounter in day-to-day operations.

c. 2005, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Risk Management Pocket Guide:

"I have now lost", he wrote in his pocketbook, "the last barrier between me and death..."

2011, Leslie Stephen, Swift, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 10:

Dave recorded the information in his pocketbook and looked Gibbs straight in the eye.

2015, Graham Ison, Whispering Grass, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(uncommon) A small book, particularly (US) a paperback or (UK) notebook able to fit into a pocket (of any genre, from reference work to fine art).


legman

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-legman.wav

From leg + -man, modelled after legwork, in reference to the walking such a person does.

During the nine-month Great Lakes shipping season, the ore hogs—shovelers, "larry" car weighers, bulldozer operators, car pushers and "leg" men—unite in this miracle of supply that stock-piles enough iron ore to last through the winter. The leg man on a Hulett iron-ore unloader must possess a special blend of brawn, brains and a "go for broke" attitude. He must also be conscious of the safety of fellow workers below him as he deftly maneuvers a 75-ton vertical ramrod and iron-jawed grab bucket.

1953 May, Dwight Boyer, “Giant Jaws Unload Ore Ship”, in H[enry] H[aven] Windsor, Jr., editor, Popular Mechanics, volume 99, number 5, Chicago, Ill.: Popular Mechanics Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76:

[W]ell, anyway, he sent a chap who acts as his confidential ‘leg-man’ and ‘Man Friday’.

1958, Harry Stephen Keeler, Hazel Goodwin Keeler, “The Affair of the Two Other Men”, in The Case of the Two-headed Idiot: A Double-mystery Novel, 2nd edition, [United States]: Ramble House, published 2005, →ISBN, page 215:

Guillam was boss and legman, and twice a day he dropped the tapes on the Berne residency, using a parked car as a letter-box.

1974, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], chapter 21, in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, October 2002, →ISBN, page 181:

A large ship was discharging LASH (lighter aboard ship) barges at its aft end. [...] The crane broke down and a repairman was called. One legman descended from his post on a small raised platform to the deck next to the crane. Once repaired, the crane operator sounded a warning siren. Thinking all was clear, he started the crane toward the aft. The legman next to the crane ran aft and attempted to climb a small ladder next to his post. He was caught between the ladder and the crane, suffering multiple injuries.

1992 August, “Analysis”, in Selected Occupational Fatalities Related to Marine Cargo Handling as Found in Reports of OSHA Fatality/Catastrophe Investigations, [Washington, D.C.]: Office of Statistics, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, →OCLC, page 39:

Once in Hollywood he [Andrew J. Fenady] became a legman for Paul Coates, which led to writing and producing Coates' controversial television series, Confidential File, winner of three Emmy awards.

1998, Andrew J. Fenady, “[Biography of Andrew J. Fenady]”, in Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus: A Play in Two Acts: […], Woodstock, Ill., London: Dramatic Publishing Company, →ISBN:

He [Walter Lippmann] studied at Harvard with [George] Santayana, took tea with William James, worked as a legman for Lincoln Steffens, debated socialism with [George] Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, was in Belgium when the Germans invaded and at the House of Commons when Britain declared war in 1914.

1999, Ronald Steel, “Prologue: The Name that Opened Every Door”, in Walter Lippmann and the American Century, new edition, New Brunswick, N.J., London: Transaction Publishers, published 2008, →ISBN, page xv:

Their targets included kings and commoners, civilians and soldiers, military recruits and senior commanders, political legmen and party chairmen, businessmen and academicians, journalists and belletrists—and ultimately a train of victims' families: husbands, wives, and children.

2015, Howard M[orley] Sachar, “Preface”, in The Assassination of Europe, 1918–1942: A Political History, Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page xii:

(originally US) A person hired to carry out errands or (often) menial tasks, frequently requiring travel from place to place; an errand boy or errand girl, a runner.

فَيْج

person hired to carry out errands or (often) menial tasks, frequently requiring travel from place to place — see also errand boy, runner

[page 136] This was my abrupt introduction to the system by which most of the live news is handled for the New York evening newspapers [...] Its continued use has bred up two distinct and separate types of news-specialists—the leg man, who gets the story, but rarely writes it; and the rewrite man, who writes the story but rarely gets it. [...] [page 140] City editors rail against these news combines, but it was the instinct of self-preservation that long ago drove the leg men into tight and fast organizations.

1913, Irvin S[hrewsbury] Cobb, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 185, Philadelphia, Pa., London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 23; republished in “The Third Stick”, in Stickfuls: (Myself—To Date) (The Works of Irvin S. Cobb), New York, N.Y.: The Review of Reviews Corporation publishers; published by arrangement with George H[enry] Doran Company, 1923, →OCLC, part 1 (Getting Set in New York: In Three Takes), pages 136 and 140:

Morris Cramm was night legman for a columnist and worked from seven in the evening to five in the morning.

1949, John Macdonald [pseudonym; Kenneth Millar], chapter 5, in The Moving Target, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →OCLC; republished as Ross Macdonald, The Moving Target (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard), New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, March 1998, →ISBN, page 32:

The guy looked and acted like a cheap hood when he was the head legman for one of the biggest of the syndicated columnists.

1951, Mickey Spillane, chapter 5, in The Big Kill (Guilt Edged Mystery), New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton, →OCLC; republished as The Big Kill (Mike Hammer series; 5), London: The Murder Room, 2015, →ISBN:

Many of the changes which have taken place in the newspaper field within the last fifty years have been in the direction of specialization. At the turn of the century, for example, a reporter got his stories, wrote them, and sometimes even made up his own headlines. Legmen and rewrite men were practically unknown.

1954, Edmond D[avid] Coblentz, “Introduction: The Drift toward Specialization”, in Edmond D. Coblentz, editor, Newsmen Speak: Journalists on Their Craft, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., London: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 125:

LEG MEN cover local events and phone the information to a rewrite man. The leg man must have a good nose for news and the ability to give information over the phone quickly and accurately. He seldom writes his own stories.

1973, “Newspaper and Wire Service Operations”, in Journalist 3 & 2: Naval Training Command Rate Training Manual (NAVTRA 10294-C), Washington, D.C.: Published by Naval Training Command; United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 153, column 2:

They all said, "What can you expect when you put a leg-man into a spot like that?" and "How can a youngster like that, with only a year's experience in the newspaper business behind him, handle that sort of an assignment?" [...]

a. 1986, Theodore Sturgeon, “His Good Angel”, in Paul Williams, editor, The Ultimate Egoist, volume I (The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon), Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, published 1994, →ISBN, page 107:

Of course newspapers have to have "leg men," especially for afternoon editions, who seldom write their own stories but have to telephone in facts to be hurried into type for press time. But leg men nowadays are expected to be literate, though sometimes barely.

2008, Louis M. Lyons, “Leg Men”, in M. A. Lyons, editor, A Pause to Copy: Memoirs of Louis M. Lyons, Journalist, volume IV, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 91:

[Allen] Raymond was the son of a Methodist lay preacher who traded his Ivy League, New England pedigree for a hardboiled journalistic persona cultivated over decades as a "legman," rewrite man, copyeditor, and reporter for a dozen urban newspapers, mostly in metropolitan New York.

2009, James T. Fisher, “Epilogue: Souls of the (Port) Apostolate”, in On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York (Cushwa Center Studies of Catholicism in Twentieth-century America), Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 299:

(originally US, journalism) A reporter who frequently travels to conduct research, interview witnesses, etc., and then conveys the information to a rewriteman who writes up the story.


chin-up

Not a deverbal, unlike pull-up; the chin-up and the muscle-up as variations of pulling oneself upward were named later than the pull-up, with influence from its name.

Compare the actions of the humerus during the performance of a chin-up with supinated grip with those during the performance of a chin-up with pronated grip. Are the chin-ups alike or different with respect to muscle involvement?

1973 Marilyn M. Hinson, Kinesiology, page 63

(weightlifting) (US) An exercise done for strengthening the arms and back, in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar. It can be defined more restrictively on criteria like the arms starting at lock-out, or the chin requiring contact with the bottom of the bar, or touching the neck to the bar. Palms may be facing in any direction.


chew out

en-verb

chew out (third-person singular simple present chews out, present participle chewing out, simple past and past participle chewed out)

chews out (present singular third-person)
chewing out (participle present)
chewed out (participle past)
chewed out (past)

His dad chewed him out after seeing his poor grades.

(US, slang) To lecture, scold, reprimand, or rebuke, especially in an angry tone of voice.


flunk

flunk (third-person singular simple present flunks, present participle flunking, simple past and past participle flunked)

flunks (present singular third-person)
flunking (participle present)
flunked (participle past)
flunked (past)

Alteration of funk, or perhaps a blend of flinch + funk.

He flunked math, again.

(US, ambitransitive) Of a student, to fail a class; to not pass.

Unsatisfied with Fred's progress, the teacher flunked him.

(US, transitive) Of a teacher, to deny a student a passing grade.

(US, dated, informal) To shirk (a task or duty).


cartesian coordinates

Cartesian coordinates
Cartesian coordinates#English

(US) Alternative letter-case form of Cartesian coordinates


international acre

en-noun

international acre (plural international acres)

(US) a customary unit of 4,046.8564224 m²


customary unit

(US) any unit of measurement that is currently used in the United States


landlocked

From land + locked (i.e. "locked-in by land on all sides").

An easement of necessity, said the court, may be provided when property is landlocked and the owner needs access to that property from a public highway.

2005, Washington Legislative Reference Bureau, State of Wisconsin Blue Book, 2005-2006, page 610:

In some states, the law allows for easements by necessity, especially in circumstances where a property is landlocked.

2005, Thomas J. McEvoy, Owning and Managing Forests: A Guide to Legal, Financial, and Practical Matters, page 49:

For example, if a property is landlocked (entirely surrounded by other privately owned land) and has no access to a public street...

2006, Real Estate Principles, Rockwell publishing, page 114:

(US, real estate, of a property or parcel) Surrounded by other property and having no access to a public road.


copa

en-adj

copa (comparative more copa, superlative most copa)

more copa (comparative)
most copa (superlative)


layaway

en-noun

layaway (countable and uncountable, plural layaways)

Deverbal of lay away. The truly solidified verb (as contrasted with the merely misspelled one) is back-formed from the noun but is nonstandard.

A chain of local gun shops advertised, as a “Father's Day Sale,” the semiautomatic Intratec TEC-9, with extra ammo clip, case, and flash suppressor, reduced from $347.80 to $249.95 and available on layaway.

1987, Joan Didion, Miami, Granta, published 2005, page 24:

(Canada, US) The system of accepting a deposit and holding for a customer to complete purchase.

(Canada, US) An item which has been held in this way.

капарирана стока

An item which has a deposit placed on it


pogo

Genericization of the trademark Pogo, which is a hot-dog frankfurter on a stick and covered in batter.


reserved powers

(US) Powers reserved for the states under the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution.


lefty

(Canada, US, informal) One who is left-handed.


lefty

en-adj

lefty (comparative more lefty, superlative most lefty)

more lefty (comparative)
most lefty (superlative)
leftie (alternative)

(Canada, US, not comparable) Left-handed.

The lefty scissors are the ones with the red plastic handles.

(Canada, US, not comparable) Intended for left-handed use.


defeasance

en-noun

defeasance (countable and uncountable, plural defeasances)

defeasances (plural)
defeasaunce (alternative)

(US, law) The rendering void of a contract or deed; an annulment or abrogation.


defeasance

en-verb

defeasance (third-person singular simple present defeasances, present participle defeasancing, simple past and past participle defeasanced)

defeasances (present singular third-person)
defeasancing (participle present)
defeasanced (participle past)
defeasanced (past)
defeasaunce (alternative)

(US, law, transitive) To void; to annul.


go whole hog

go whole hog (third-person singular simple present goes whole hog, present participle going whole hog, simple past went whole hog, past participle gone whole hog)

goes whole hog (present singular third-person)
going whole hog (participle present)
went whole hog (past)
gone whole hog (participle past)

go the whole hog
go the whole hog#English

(chiefly US) Alternative form of go the whole hog


equalizer

equalizers (plural)
equaliser (alternative)

Familiar epithets for the revolver were equalizer, shootin' iron . . . smoke wagon.

1950, C. Merton Babcock, “The Vocabulary of Social Life on the American Frontier”, in Western Folklore, volume 9, number 2, page 138:

(Canada, US, slang) A weapon, usually a blackjack or gun.


blueline

blueline (third-person singular simple present bluelines, present participle bluelining, simple past and past participle bluelined)

bluelines (present singular third-person)
bluelining (participle present)
bluelined (participle past)
bluelined (past)

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

Not unlike the negative results of the bluelining and steering practices of many banks and real estate firms, such efforts leave bitterness in their wake and serve to bolster the worst fears and prejudices of both races.

1979, Wade Clark Roof, Race and residence in American cities, page 130:

(US, Canada) To designate a certain area as representing one in which investment is risky.


leatherneck

The Marine Corps has instituted a martial-arts program in which leathernecks are indoctrinated in a new code of honor, the Ethical Marine Warrior.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 318:


goof off

goof off (third-person singular simple present goofs off, present participle goofing off, simple past and past participle goofed off)

goofs off (present singular third-person)
goofing off (participle present)
goofed off (participle past)
goofed off (past)

He sat there goofing off all day instead of working.

I've been goofing off since the day I was born.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 173:

(US, Australia, slang) To dawdle, lollygag; to waste time aimlessly or engage in idle activity or inactivity.

He goofed off this whole project.

(US, dated, slang) To fall asleep or pass out on drugs.


brain trust

brain trusts (plural)
braintrust (alternative)

Derives from a group of academics who advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

(chiefly US) Originally, a group of experts who advise a government, often informally.


harken

harken (third-person singular simple present harkens, present participle harkening, simple past and past participle harkened)

harkens (present singular third-person)
harkening (participle present)
harkened (participle past)
harkened (past)

desctree

Sranan Tongo: arki
Aukan: aliki
>? Saramaccan: háika

Ev'n from the depths of Hell the Damn'd advance, / Th' Infernal Manſions nodding ſeem to dance; / The gaping three-mouth'd Dog forgets to ſnarl, / The Furies harken, and their Snakes uncurl.

1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 143, lines 690–693:

How, then, am I mad? Harken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

1843 January, Edgar A[llan] Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, in J[ames] Russell Lowell, R[obert] Carter, editors, The Pioneer. A Literary and Critical Magazine, volume I, number I, Boston, Mass.: Leland and Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 29, column 1:

[T]he mother who had shaped him if any had toward the man he almost was, [...] whom he had revered and harkened to and loved and lost and grieved: [...]

1942, William Faulkner, “The Bear”, in Go Down, Moses, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC, section 5, page 326:

(ambitransitive, chiefly US) Alternative spelling of hearken: to hear, to listen, to have regard.

Bell argued that the manual approach was "backwards," and harkened to a primitive age where humans used gesture and pantomime.

2005, Carol Padden, Tom L. Humphries, Inside Deaf Culture, page 48:

(intransitive, US, figuratively) To hark back, to return or revert (to a subject, etc.), to allude to, to evoke, to long or pine for (a past event or era).


shoo-in

shoo-ins (plural)
shoo in (alternative)
shoe-in (alternative)
shoe in (alternative)

From a sense of the verb shoo, where racehorses would fall back and allow a chosen rider to win a fixed race. See 1910 quotation.

She's very popular and good with numbers, so I expect she'll be a shoo-in for treasurer.

Participation in primaries was often more important than in the general election because the Democratic Party nominee was a shoo-in for success in the general election.

2007, Governors Speak, by Jack D. Fleer, page 47

Despite this heady mix, Milei is broadly considered the undisputed shoo-in president appealing particularly to young underprivileged men.

2023 August 27, Uki Goñi, “The ‘false prophet’ v the pope: Argentina faces clash of ideologies in election”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(by extension, colloquial, originally US) A candidate or contestant generally agreed upon as the presumptive winner; a favorite, somebody who is well-liked or widely agreed upon.

gedoodverfde winnaar

candidate that is the presumptive winner


attorney's work product

(law, US): Evidence which a party to a lawsuit does not have to reveal during the discovery process because it represents the thought process of the attorney preparing for trial.


layover

/ˈleɪˌəʊvə(ɹ)/

We had a layover while waiting to change planes, so we stretched our legs.

We could restore a second platform at Battersby to eliminate the long layover in the branch stub that is currently required for trains to pass one another.

2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 78:

(Canada, US, Australia) A break between stages of a journey.


evet

(US) Any of several species of aquatic salamanders.


federal question

en-noun

federal question (plural federal questions)

federal question jurisdiction
federal question jurisdiction

(US, law) a cause of action brought in a court under the United States Constitution or a federal statute. A federal question gives rise to federal question jurisdiction


federal question jurisdiction

federal question jurisdiction (uncountable)

(US, law) The authority that a United States federal court has to hear a cause of action brought under the United States Constitution or federal statutes.


hell west and crooked

When he and Bob knocked Steelman′s plans hell west and crooked after that yellow skunk George Doble betrayed me to Brad, the boy lost his boots in the brush.

1921, William MacLeod Raine, Gunsight Pass, page 52:

“ You see, Parson Brown, your stock is all mixed in and scattered hell-west and crooked ways, so you′ll jest have to pick out what′s handy. Is that all right ? ”

1922, Elbert Hubbard, Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard, page 310:

24 October 1934 — Wednesday
Mustering the plant horses all day. Now we have stopped shooting they are scattering about Hell West and Crooked.

1992, Tom Cole, “Riding the Wildman Plains”, in The Tom Cole Omnibus, Pan Macmillan Australia, published 2003, page 109:

2005, Private Albert Franklin Edwards (Canadian Infantry), Two Years in the Ypres Salient, Henry L. Fox (editor), What the Boys Did Over There: Allied Overseas Stories, page 53,
When it was exploded it blew up the entire town and also blew 61000 Huns “Hell, west and crooked.”

Unfortunately Les arrived by 4WD to check up on our progress, only to find most of us sound asleep in the shade. He gave us a good revving and sent us hell, west and crooked to forage for bush tucker.

2007, Rowhan Marshall, A Walk on the Wild Side, page 45:

They then scattered half a dozen scraggy chooks hell, west and crooked.

2011, R.M. Winn, Bury Me Vertical, unnumbered page:

(US, Australia) All over the place; every which way.


mecate

Borrowed from Spanish mecate, from a Nahuan language; cf. Classical Nahuatl mecatl.

(originally US, Southwestern US) A rope of hair or maguey fibre, for tying horses, etc.


marquee

From marquise, from French marquise. Ultimately from same root as march (“border country”), margin (“edge”). Ultimately cognate with marque.

(US) A projecting canopy over an entrance, especially one with a sign that displays the name of the establishment or other information of it.

(US, by generalization) Lights that turn on and off in sequence, or scrolling text, as these are common elements on a marquee.


seat-of-the-pants

The new pension-fund managers are an eclectic group, displaying a spectrum of styles and strategies. Some rely chiefly on computers and charts, while others are more likely to trust their seat-of-the-pants judgment.

1984 January 9, Charles Alexander, Frederick Ungeheuer, “The Billion-Dollar Boys”, in Time:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) Done by feel, guess, or trial and error rather than by careful planning, thought or technique.


sor

Clipping of sorority, like frat from fraternity.

“The Greeks have tons of influence on campus,” says one student. “Frats and sors allow for smaller groups of friends, making it easier to have a social identity.”

2004, The Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges 2005, page 327:

If you are not a part of a Frat/Sor, then it seems at though they are non-existent.

2011, Brian Washburn, University of Utah 2012:

(US, informal) A sorority (student organization).


mendicancy squad

mendicancy squad (plural mendicancy squads)

It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the look-out for the mendicancy squad. - The Gift of the Magi - "O. Henry" - 1906

(US) police who arrested beggars and homeless people


muta

(US, slang) Alternative form of mootah (“marijuana”)


NIE

National Intelligence Estimate
w:National Intelligence Estimate

(US) Initialism of National Intelligence Estimate.


scuttlebutt

scuttlebutt (countable and uncountable, plural scuttlebutts)

scuttlebutts (plural)
scuttle-butt (alternative)

The noun is derived from scuttle (“to cut a hole through (something)”) + butt (“wooden cask”). Sense 2 (“gossip, idle chatter; rumour”) refers to the fact that sailors would gather around the scuttlebutt to drink and exchange gossip; compare furphy and water cooler.
The verb is derived from the noun.

compound

"That's the scuttlebutt," Bronson said defiantly. "You got some pet coolie down there you want to put in Chien's place." / "Who told you that?" / "It's just scuttlebutt." / "Scuttlebutt travels on words." Holman's voice was shaking. "You tell me one man you heard say that, or I'll beat your fat face in!"

1962 September, Richard McKenna, chapter 9, in The Sand Pebbles […], New York, N.Y., Evanston, Ill.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, page 137:

His resolve not to worry about unfounded scuttlebutt lasted about two minutes.

2003, Len Custer, Called to Serve: A Historical Novel of the Korean War, New York, N.Y.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 211:

They were bound this day for the city of Chicago, and the World's Columbian Exposition recently opened there. Since their orders had come through, the "scuttlebutt" among the excited and curious crew had been of little besides the fabled "White City," […]

2006, Thomas Pynchon, “The Light over the Ranges”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 3:

(uncountable, originally US, nautical slang) Gossip, idle chatter; also, rumour.


morning zoo

(US) A morning radio show format with plenty of wackiness and zaniness.


eye bank

The surgeon places a request for tissue with an eye bank expecting that high-quality corneal transplant tissue will be procured, processed, and delivered to the operating room on schedule.

2009, Frederick S. Brightbill, Corneal Surgery: Theory, Technique and Tissue:

(US) A reserve store of human corneas kept for treatment of the blind.


logbook

logbooks (plural)
log-book (alternative)

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

1670s, log + book, originally a record of a ship’s speed and progress, from a wooden float (chip log, or simply log) used to measure speed.

корабен дневник

nautical: book in which details from journey are recorded

(UK) A record of the ownership, and licensing of a motor car.


Merc

a '49 Merc with a flathead V-8

Mercury (automobile)
w:Mercury (automobile)

(especially US, dated) Clipping of Mercury (automobile).


travois

travoises (plural)
travois (plural)
travail (alternative)
travoise (alternative)
travoy (alternative)

PIE word
 *tréyes
The noun is derived from Michif travawy (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /tɹæˈvɔɪ/), from Canadian French travail (“travois”), from French travail, from Middle French travail, from Old French travail (“frame for restraining horses and cattle for medical treatment or shoeing”), from Late Latin tripālium (“torture device consisting of three stakes”), from Latin tripālis (“having, or propped up by, three pales or stakes”) (from tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) + pālus (“pale, stake”)) + -ium (suffix forming nouns).
The spelling travois and pronunciations /ˈtɹævwɑ(ː)/, /tɹævˈwɑ/ are probably influenced by French -ois (suffix forming adjectives relating to particular countries, regions, or cities, their associated inhabitant names, and the local languages or dialects).
The verb is derived from the noun.

IPA

IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /tɹæˈvɔɪ/

noncog

On the plains they will have horses dragging travoises, dogs with travoises, women and children loaded with impedimenta, […]

1892, Julian Ralph, “‘Talking Musquash’: Concluding the Sketch of the History and Work of the Hudson Bay Company”, in On Canada’s Frontier […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, pages 236–237:

Riding out for wood he watched his shadow and the shadow of the horse and travois cross those palings tree by tree. Boyd rode in the travois holding the axe as if he'd keep guard over the word they'd gathered […]

1994, Cormac McCarthy, chapter I, in The Crossing (The Border Trilogy; 2), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 5:

(originally and chiefly Canada, US, historical) A frame, often consisting of two poles tied together at one end to form a V-shaped structure with the vertex attached to a dog, horse, etc., or held by a person and the other ends touching the ground, which was used by indigenous peoples (notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America) to drag loads over land.

manistsí

frame used by indigenous peoples (notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America) to drag loads over land

(Canada, US, forestry, archaic) A sled dragged by a horse or ox to transport logs, with one end of each log on the sled and the other end touching the ground.


chippy

In due time a nest-full of little chippies appear to be nourished with insectiverous^([sic]) food from a parental beak until fledged and able to look after themselves.

1902, Henry Harrison Metcalf, John Norris McClintock, The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire magazine devoted to history, biography, literature, and state progress, volume 32, page 385:

Surely no young chippy was ever so stout and so emphatic as this bird.
The funny part of it all is that the starling appears to make the chippies do whatever it pleases.

1908, Alice Lounsberry, chapter I, in The Garden Book for Young People, page 139:

How early in the season does the chippy appear and where does it spend the winter?

1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, page 88:


chippy

en-adj

chippy (comparative chippier, superlative chippiest)

chippier (comparative)
chippiest (superlative)
chippie (alternative)

2007, Canadian Interuniversity Sport, cisport.ca,
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and University of Saskatchewan Huskies battled to a 1-1 draw in a chippy Canada West men’s soccer affair that saw the teams combine for 33 fouls and five yellow cards.

(Canada, US, sports) Involving violence or unfair play.


tump

en-verb

tump (third-person singular simple present tumps, present participle tumping, simple past and past participle tumped)

tumps (present singular third-person)
tumping (participle present)
tumped (participle past)
tumped (past)

To reach our sleeping quarters under the roof we were obliged to climb seven flights of stairs and after tumping a blanket roll and a ruck-sack up these, both our breath and enthusiasm had suffered abatement.

1918, Robert Whitney Imbrie, Behind the Wheel of a War Ambulance:

(US, dialect) To draw or drag, as a deer or other animal after it has been killed.


hurdy-gurdy

Probably onomatopoeic in imitation of the sound produced by the stringed instrument. Compare obsolete hirdy-girdy (“an uproar; noise”). Attested from the 1740s.

(US, California) A water wheel with radial buckets, driven by the impact of a jet.


schm-

Borrowed from Yiddish שמ־ (shm-), imitative of many Yiddish words such as schmaltz or schmuck.

Rain, schmain, we've got a game to play.

(chiefly US) Used to form a reduplicated rhyming compound of any word in order to express disparagement, dismissal, or derision.


Minnie

en-proper noun

Minnie (countable and uncountable, plural Minnies)


Campbell

* As a Scottish surname, from Scottish Gaelic Caimbeul, from cam (“crooked”) + beul (“mouth”). Compare Cameron, from Scottish Gaelic cam (“crooked”) + sròn (“nose”).
* As an Irish surname, from Mac Cathmhaoil (“son of Cathmhaol”), see Caulfield, Cowell.
* As an English surname, variant of Camel, probably influenced by the above.
* (duck breed): Developed by Adele Campbell.

(US, law, copyright law, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.. A 1994 U.S. Supreme Court case that held that commercial parodies can be subject to fair use.


scag

en-noun

scag (countable and uncountable, plural scags)

Vietnamese: xì ke

Unknown. Compare scat (“heroin; whiskey”), slag (“waste; a prostitute”), skank (“a disreputable woman”).

“Then have a skag,” said I. / “’Twill make it seem like happier times, / You liked this brand, I understand.”

1915, “The Doomsday Butt”, in The Cornhusker, page 458:

Awoke when our florescent lights came on and went outside to smoke a few scags before breakfast.

1996, Paul Bunker, Keith Barlow, Bunker's War: The World War II Diary of Paul D. Bunker, page 134:

(slang, countable, dated, US) A cigarette.


sirloin

sirloin (countable and uncountable, plural sirloins)

From Middle English surloine, from Old French surlonge, from sur la longe (literally “above the loin”).

(US) A cut of beef from the lower part of the back, where the last ribs are (called rump in UK English).


burgess

From Middle English burgeis, from Anglo-Norman burgeis, of Proto-Germanic origin; either from Late Latin burgensis (from Latin burgus), or from Frankish *burg, both from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ-. See also bourgeois, burgish.

der

(historical, US) A member of the House of Burgesses, a legislative body in colonial America, established by the Virginia Company to provide civil rule in the colonies.


area rug

(US) A rug that only covers part of the floor of a room.


mog

en-verb

mog (third-person singular simple present mogs, present participle mogging, simple past and past participle mogged)

mogs (present singular third-person)
mogging (participle present)
mogged (participle past)
mogged (past)

Unknown; the Oxford English Dictionary tentatively suggests a connection to the Scottish dialect terms mudge (“to move oneself; to stir”) and muggins.

to mog about

to mog off

They marched, grumbling and threatening, but Sile never paid a bit of attention. He just mogged on behind, and every time one of them turned, he wiggled his gun, and that was enough.

1923, Clarence Budington Kelland, Catty Atkins, Financier, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 128:

He was mogging around on the Muskrat Creek near Indian Lake when he shot and wounded a big buck with the finest head that he had ever seen, a set of horns that he would never forget.

1978, Harvey L. Dunham, Adirondack French Louie: Early Life in the North Woods, Sylvan Beach, N.Y.: North Country Books, page 102:

But mostly, that dark and rainy afternoon — as I mogged back and forth between boat and office, and then, all books and papers and twenty-seven boxes of Nick the Nose safely aboard, distributed the cargo here and there from stem to stanchion— I thought about Gaybee, her place in the ground, and how sorrowfully soon she had come to it.

1979, William Kelley, The Tyree Legend, New York: Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 350:

"Thirty pounds a day," Alex said. "Mogging about in the jungle is unhealthy—fever, tigers, and all that."

1986, Alvin S. Fick, “A Grave on the Indragiri”, in Cathleen Jordan, editor, Alfred Hitchcock's A Mystery by the Tale, London: Severn House, published 1990, →ISBN, page 191:

Two girls hugged her and they all put on boots and shoes and mogged away to the wagons.

1988, Glendon Swarthout, The Homesman, London, […]: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 187:

I had to do everything on my own. But I made the best of it and mogged on.

2013, Kathryn R. Biel, Good Intentions, page 246:

We know that economist and ex-con Vicky Pryce went properly nuclear when her husband Chris Huhne mogged off with his aide, resulting in wrecked political careers, a family torn asunder and custodial sentences.

2013 October 10, Rebecca Armstrong, “Revenge is a dish best served... by a woman”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-07-06:

They're loyal. And you're not one of us, so we want you out. We're taking over this business. And tha can mog off right now.

2016, Margaret Dickinson, The Buffer Girls, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 306:

(intransitive, US, UK, dialectal) To move or walk slowly; to trudge, amble; (more broadly) to go.

'Tell John to mog the cows i' in the mornin'—it's time as they wenten i' the Cote Leasnow.'

1879, Georgina F[rederica] Jackson, “MOG”, in Shropshire Word-Book, a Glossary of Archaic and Provincial Words, etc. Used in the County, London: Trübner & Co, page 285:

"I've been directed here to find Miss Susan Pike," the man outside explained, between fresh coughings. ¶ "Well, then, mog your boots out of this as quick as ever you can!" my Aunt replied, with great promptitude. "You won't find her here!"

1894, Harold Frederic, “My Aunt Susan”, in Marsena and Other Stories of the Wartime, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 200:

(transitive, US, UK, dialectal, rare) To cause to move; to drive.


AWB

(US, politics, initialism) Federal Assault Weapons Ban.


peter out

peter out (third-person singular simple present peters out, present participle petering out, simple past and past participle petered out)

peters out (present singular third-person)
petering out (participle present)
petered out (participle past)
petered out (past)

/ˌpiːtəɹ‿ˈaʊt/

What started as a great effort ended up petering out to nothing.

But the luck had failed, the mines petered out; and the army of miners had departed, and left this quarter of the world to the rattlesnakes and deer and grizzlies, and to the slower but steadier advance of husbandry.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, “With the Children of Israel. I. To Introduce Mr. Kelmar.”, in The Silverado Squatters, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 60:

Soon, the overhead wires will reach here. My only hope is that common sense prevails, and that the overhead line equipment continues its march north rather than petering out, leaving a monument to short-term thinking and a lack of vision.

2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New Infrastructure and New Rolling Stock”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 49:

peter

(intransitive, originally US) Synonym of peter (“to diminish to nothing, (originally) to refer to a vein of ore”)

غَارَ

to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle


swatting

Swatting started in the combative world of online gaming. It was a way to terrorize someone more famous, get even with a rival or retaliate against someone with different political views.

2020 January 23, Sheera Frenkel, “People Are Calling SWAT Teams to Tech Executives’ Homes”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Mr. Herring’s relatives said they wanted tougher laws against swatting and more training for police agencies on how to recognize potential fake calls.

2021 July 24, Maria Cramer, “A Grandfather Died in ‘Swatting’ Over His Twitter Handle, Officials Say”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US, slang) The action of making an illegitimate call to the police so as to have a SWAT team dispatched to a location.


secondary school

en-noun

secondary school (countable and uncountable, plural secondary schools)

(education, Canada, US) The federally designated, graduation-separated classification of grades 9–12 (approximately ages 14–18), regardless of whether they are compiled together in one school or separate from the other grades.


longshoreman

From alongshoreman, from alongshore + -man.

After that, Mr. Givens thought little more of his illness and returned to work as a longshoreman at the Port of New Orleans.

2020 December 12, Pranshu Verma, “‘Very High Risk’: Longshoremen Want Protection From the Virus So They Can Stay on the Job”, in The New York Times:

With hours to go before their labor contract expired, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts prepared on Monday to go on strike at midnight, halting most activity at some of the busiest U.S. ports.

2024 September 30, Peter Eavis, “Counteroffers Exchanged in Effort to Avert U.S. Dock Strike”, in The New York Times:

(US) A man employed to load and unload ships; any person thus employed.


ass-licker

ass-lickers (plural)
asslicker (alternative)
ass licker (alternative)
arse-licker (alternative)
arselicker (alternative)
arse licker (alternative)

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

Said because the ass is considered vulgar and being willing to kiss another's is considered a sign of submission and patronage.

(US, vulgar, slang) Someone who succumbs to authority, doing whatever authority figures ask and attempting to please them in every possible way; (by extension) any contemptible person.

(US, vulgar, slang) Someone who performs anilingus.


archeological

en-adj

archeological (comparative more archeological, superlative most archeological)

more archeological (comparative)
most archeological (superlative)

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

Rabbit is the most represented species at every archeological level, although some macromammal remains (ibex, red deer, wild boar, lynx, fox, and badger) have also been documented.

2015 March 12, “Looking at the Camp: Paleolithic Depiction of a Hunter-Gatherer Campsite”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(Canada, US) Alternative spelling of archaeological


lallygag

en-verb

lallygag (third-person singular simple present lallygags, present participle lallygagging, simple past and past participle lallygagged)

lallygags (present singular third-person)
lallygagging (participle present)
lallygagged (participle past)
lallygagged (past)
lollygag (alternative)

"She's goin' to wait fer us down to Rothschild's bridge. 'N' her 'n' me 's goin' to set on the back seat together—" / "'N' lallygag," interrupted his mother. […] / "Oh, we allus lallygag when we git together, me 'n' Cynthy does." […]

1894, Frederick Thickstun Clark, On Cloud Mountain: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, page 115:

Kissing is a game that should always be played in private. Those who must lallygag or perish should pull down the blinds.

1898, William Cowper Brann, The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast, page 257:

(archaic, US) To pet, kiss, or otherwise demonstrate overt affection, generally in public.


hit the books

hit the books (third-person singular simple present hits the books, present participle hitting the books, simple past and past participle hit the books)

hits the books (present singular third-person)
hitting the books (participle present)
hit the books (participle past)
hit the books (past)

They go to the beach when they should be hitting the books and then they wonder why they get bad grades.

(chiefly US and Australia, informal, figuratively) To study, especially with particular intensity.


patent medicine

en-noun

patent medicine (plural patent medicines)

(US) Any medicine with a proprietary formula which can be bought without a prescription, irrespective of whether it is protected by a patent.


babbitt

Ira Gershwin
Sinclair Lewis
Ziegfeld Follies

From Babbitt, the surname of George Babbitt, the title character of the novel Babbitt (1922) by the American author Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951). The word was also popularized by the George (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) song “The Babbitt and the Bromide”, first featured in the 1927 musical Funny Face and later in the film Ziegfeld Follies (1945).

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

One speaks of a babbitt habit, a babbitt era. Nothing is more true. America recognized itself in Babbitt, it demurred, but it also admired.

1930, The Literary digest, volume 105, Funk and Wagnalls, page 21:

… a "babbitt" is a person full of self-confident bluster who is nevertheless a narrowminded philistine and a hypocrite.]

2002 Tamkang review, Volume 33, Tamkang College of Arts and Sciences, p.158

Ira relished telling the story that Fred Astaire took him aside and said he knew what a babbitt was, but what was a bromide?

2003, William Hyland, George Gershwin: a new biography, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 116:

(US, dated) Alternative letter-case form of Babbitt (“a person who subscribes complacently to materialistic middle-class ideals”)


habilitate

en-verb

habilitate (third-person singular simple present habilitates, present participle habilitating, simple past and past participle habilitated)

habilitates (present singular third-person)
habilitating (participle present)
habilitated (participle past)
habilitated (past)

Borrowed from Late Latin habilitātus, past participle of habilitāre (“to enable”).


rambler

I like being mother and wife. We've lived in a rambler in West Valley City, Utah for three years.

2002, Marcia Tuttle, Turning Thirty/Forty/Fifty: A Journal, page 3:


roach coach

(US, idiomatic, humorous) A catering or food truck.


backfill

backfill (third-person singular simple present backfills, present participle backfilling, simple past and past participle backfilled)

backfills (present singular third-person)
backfilling (participle present)
backfilled (participle past)
backfilled (past)
back-fill (alternative)

The company backfilled Joe's position after he was terminated.

(US) To replenish or restock due to attrition or loss.


backfill

en-noun

backfill (countable and uncountable, plural backfills)

backfills (plural)
back-fill (alternative)

(US) That which backfills; a replacement.


internship

/ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/

Coordinate term: fellowship

A job taken by a student in order to learn a profession or trade.

(US) The first year of a medical residency.


scolder

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


USGS

United States Geological Survey
w:United States Geological Survey

(geology, US) Initialism of United States Geological Survey.


nougat

nougat (countable and uncountable, plural nougats)

desc

→ Cantonese: 鳥結糖 /鸟结糖 (niu⁵ git³ tong⁴⁻²)

→ Wu: 鳥結糖 /鸟结糖 (⁵gniau-ciq₇-daon₆)

→ Welsh: nyget

→ Wu: 牛軋糖 /牛轧糖 (⁶gnieu-gaq₈-daon₆)

→ Hakka: 牛軋糖 /牛轧糖 (ngiù-kâ-thòng)

→ Mandarin: 牛軋糖 /牛轧糖 (niúzhátáng, niúgátáng)

(UK, General Australian, New Zealand) -uːɡɑ

From French nougat, from Occitan nogat, from noga (“nut”), ultimately from Latin nux (“nut”) + -atus (“-ate, forming adjectives and substantives having or resembling some thing or trait”). Compare Spanish nuégado.

Cake Nogat: This nogat may be made in moulds, or square pieces.

1827, Guglielmo A. Jarrin, Italian Confectioner […] , 3rd edition, page 24:

[…](being twenty four and
never screwed but in her
soft nougat thighs)[…]

1999, Lyn Lifshin, “In Spite of His Dangling Pronoun”, in Before It's Light, page 29:

[…]it helps that Snickers offers the holy trinity of confection: nougat, caramel and peanuts[…]

2014 February 18, Sarah Begley, “The 13 Most Influential Candy Bars of All Time”, in Time:

(uncountable) A mixture consisting of egg white and a sweetener, variously mixed with (in western Europe) almonds or (in eastern Europe) hazelnuts or (in US) used without nuts as a filler in candy bars.

نُوغَة

a confection of egg white, a sweetener, and (usually) nuts


pyrolyze

en-verb

pyrolyze (third-person singular simple present pyrolyzes, present participle pyrolyzing, simple past and past participle pyrolyzed)

pyrolyzes (present singular third-person)
pyrolyzing (participle present)
pyrolyzed (participle past)
pyrolyzed (past)


oofta

offda (alternative)
oofda (alternative)
uffda (alternative)
uff da (alternative)

"Oofta! I've long ago forgotten it."

2004, Janet Elaine Smith, A Lumberjack Christmas, page 16:

“Ooh, uffda.”

2024 October 21, Paul Simms, “The Return of Jerry” (4:06 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 1, spoken by Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak):

(US, chiefly upper midwest) A mild expression of error, dismay, or concern (often in a comical sense).


hocus-pocus

en-noun

hocus-pocus (usually uncountable, plural hocus-pocuses or hocus-pocusses or hoci-poci)

hocus-pocuses (plural)
hocus-pocusses (plural)
hoci-poci (plural)
hocus and pocus (alternative)
hocuspocus (alternative)
hocus pocus (alternative)

/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/

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

Archbishop of Canterbury
Jesus
John Tillotson
Robert Ibbitson

The interjection and noun are derived from made-up pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (with a particular 17th-century conjurer adopting Hocus Pocus as his name) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

That is, the Lord doth Avenge the Blood of the Innocent upon the Inhabitants of the Earth: This Book is Profitable to bee Read by All Judges of Assizes, before They Passe the Sentence of Condemnation against Poor People, who are Accused for Witchcraft; it is also Profitable for All Sorts of People to Read who Desire Knowledge.

dwelling in Simithfield neer Hosier Lane End

Containing Fifty-four Sermons and Discourses, on Several Occasions. Together with the Rule of Faith. Being All that were Published by His Grace Himself, and Now Collected into One Volume. To which is Added, an Alphabetical Table of the Principal Matters.

(countable, uncountable, chiefly US, also attributively) Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery.

hoqqa

some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery


embarras

(now rare, historical, Canada, US) Specifically, a clump of driftwood obstructing a waterway.


my gosh

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


oh my gosh

oh my gosh ! (canonical)
oh, my gosh (alternative)
ohmygosh (alternative)
omigosh (alternative)

(idiomatic, US, UK, euphemistic) oh my God!


right on

I knew you could do it. Right on!

Right on to Jean Segaloff and her Speaking Out column, "The Myth of the 'Feminist Male!" A man who calls himself a "feminist" is akin to a white civil rights worker who calls him or herself a "black activist."

1981 August 15, Cliff Flanders, “Anti-Masculinists”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 5, page 4:

(US, idiomatic) An expression of enthusiasm or encouragement.


Jefferson

/ˈd͡ʒɛfɚsən/

From Jeffrey + -son. The placenames in the United States are named for Thomas Jefferson.

"Gambling's not my form of masochism," said Carl. "Huh?" "So how much?" "The wad's mostly ones. Some Jeffersons. Two or three Abes."

1996, J. Madison Davis, And the Angels Sing, page 210:


liquor store

(US, Canada) A shop that sells alcoholic beverages to be consumed off the premises.

مُتَّجِر كُحُول

shop that sells alcoholic beverages to be drunk off the premises

酒店

さかみせ, sakamise, さかだな, sakadana, しゅてん, shuten

magazín vínnoj i likjóro-vódočnoj prodúkcii

магази́н ви́нной и ликёро-во́дочной проду́кции


doof

From doofus, or alternatively from Scots, which uses the word with the same meaning. Scots doof is derived from Low German doof (“deaf”).


bulldoze

en-verb

bulldoze (third-person singular simple present bulldozes, present participle bulldozing, simple past and past participle bulldozed)

bulldozes (present singular third-person)
bulldozing (participle present)
bulldozed (participle past)
bulldozed (past)

From earlier bulldose (noun, literally “bull-dose, a dose fit for a bull”), equivalent to bull + dose.

Whatever may be the long delayed result of the election of 1876, there is one point which has not yet been commented on, and that is, its effect upon our language. There is no surer indication of the mightiness of a national event than this, that a number of new expressions and new words have been born into our common speech, through the strong travail of the times. You will find in the mouths of the people and the press at least three combinations of words which, in the strongest sense they are now used in, have never been there before. One of them is “Counted out,” or “Counted in.” Another is, “Wait for the returns,” and a third, pure slang, is, “bulldozed.” […] ”Wait for the returns,” has drifted from politics into business, religion, home and society, and bulldozed is the common word for intimidation in any of the extraordinary occupations of life.

1876 November, A. Straw, The Globe: An Illustrated Magazine, volume 4, page 108:

The standard of qualifications for teachers has been very greatly advanced, till at the present day not one in ten of the old pedagogues who taught “readin’, ritin’ and ‘rithmetic,” and bulldozed unruly pupils with the birch, the beech or the willow rod, or in their absence the ferrule, would be able to procure a third grade or any grade certificate to be able to teach in the most secluded rural “deestrict” in all of the western states.

1877 January, W.B.Chrisler, Bruce Carr, Sarah E. Turner, editor, The Common School Teacher: Devoted to the Cause of Common Schools, volume 2, page 113:

The practice of whipping and killing negroes in the Southern States was called bull-dozing. The word is a corruption of bull dose, or strong dose - in the sense that a bull fence is a strong fence. “Give him the bull dose” was the direction when a negro had to be severely punished.

1877 February 3, “Varieties”, in Family Herald: A Domestic Magazine of Useful Information and Amusement, page 223:

He endeavoured to persuade, then to drive, and lastly to bulldoze, and this is where he made a mistake that came near to ruining his future happiness. The bull lowered his head, uttered a war whoop, and, raising his antagonist from the face of the earth, sent him spinning through some twenty feet or more. […] The bull is now doing duty in a butcher’s shop as a stock in trade and (Mr William H.) Searing is nursing two sore ribs.

1881 January 20, “Bulldozing A Bull. An Experiment in which a Mount Vernon man failed signally”, in Wit and Wisdom: From All the New York Papers and Every Humorous Paper in the Land, page 7:

In any effort to recall incidents of reconstruction, “bulldozing” and kindred slang expressions are sure to present themselves. It is impossible to avoid them, so they may as well be taken up first as last. “Bulldozing” is the new name for an old deviltry. It is the last stage of negro intimidation, and is sometimes known as “the Mississippi plan”. There have been three stages in the development, - namely, “mule-lifting”, “ku-kluxing” and “bulldozing. Ku-kluxing was he keystone of the arch of intimidation. It was secret, cruel, relentless, and bloody, and, shall I say? cowardly. It whipped, and murdered, and burned behind a mask. Bulldozing was simply ku-kluxing with the mask thrown aside. It was cruel, relentless, and bloody, but not secret. It trusted for safety to its strength and - save the mark! - respectability!

1895 August, James Chester, “Recollections of Reconstruction”, in The United Service: A monthly Review of Military and Naval Affairs, volume 14, chapter 2, page 130:

(US, slang, dated) To intimidate; to restrain or coerce by intimidation or violence; used originally of the intimidation of black voters in Louisiana.


garage rock

(US, music) A simple, relatively raw form of rock and roll from the mid-1960s.


neighborly

en-adj

neighborly (comparative neighborlier, superlative neighborliest)

neighborlier (comparative)
neighborliest (superlative)

He's very neighborly: he always collects my mail when I'm away on vacation.


clangor

en-noun

clangor (countable and uncountable, plural clangors)

Canada, US standard spelling of clangour.


clangor

en-verb

clangor (third-person singular simple present clangors, present participle clangoring, simple past and past participle clangored)

clangors (present singular third-person)
clangoring (participle present)
clangored (participle past)
clangored (past)


spooge

en-noun

spooge (usually uncountable, plural spooges)


Mexican overdrive

Synchronically, coordinate with other variants of overdrive in this sense of the word, whereas some of the variants certainly denigrate outgroups (e.g., Jewish overdrive, Polish overdrive) and others might not be denigrating but rather celebratory (e.g., Georgia overdrive); diachronically, this one has been said to be based on NASCAR teams' experience in the early 1950s in the legendary Carerra Panamerica, where the long hills would have otherwise overrevved the engines, although this may be a folk etymology for just another outgroup-denigrating variant.

He shifted his car out of gear, at the top of the hill, and coasted down in Mexican overdrive.

(US, slang, automotive) Synonym of angel gear.


chalky

en-adj

chalky (comparative chalkier, superlative chalkiest)

chalkier (comparative)
chalkiest (superlative)

It’s funny — even though the bracket has been so chalky, several of the top seeds have looked suspect at times.

(US, sports, chiefly basketball) Of a tournament: in which the favorites win, or expected to win, most of the games.


moving walkway

The slope [at Bank station, Waterloo & City] was always resented, especially on Monday morning, and it was supplemented by the installation of the Underground's first Trav-o-lator - or moving walkway - in 1960.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 110–111:

Interim London Transport Commissioner Andy Lord and Transport for London Chief Capital Officer Stuart Harvey opened two new 100-metre moving walkways and three new escalators connectting the Northern and Central lines at Bank station on October 28.

2022 November 16, “Network News: Bank's moving walkways open”, in RAIL, number 970, page 12:

(US) A slow conveyor belt that transports people horizontally or on an incline in a similar manner to an escalator.


kleenex

kleenexes (plural)
Kleenex (alternative)

From the name of brand of tissues trademarked by Cellucotton Products Company (now Kimberly-Clark) in 1924–25. Alteration of clean + -ex.

Could you hand me a kleenex? My nose is running.


lost and found

en-noun

lost and found (countable and uncountable, plural lost and founds)

lost and founds (plural)
lost-and-found (alternative)

Well, if you can't find your glasses, then go to lost and found and ask if anyone turned them in.

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A department, service or location where items that are found can be claimed by their owners.

遺失物取扱所

いしつぶつとりあつかいじょ


lookalike

lookalikes (plural)
look-alike (alternative)
look-a-like (alternative)

esh

person physically resembling another person

Among competing products, a generic substitute is one thing, whereas a deceptive lookalike is another.

Only a lookalike, not a real hearse, it had just enough room in the trunk for one coffin. The other one would have to sit on the back seat. Pierre got a green canvas tarp and laid it out on the seat. Rico stood by, watching anxiously.

2007 08, Alan Rolnick, Landmark Status, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116:

[The car] used by Ferris and his friends in the 1986 movie was not a real Ferrari. The Italian automaker made fewer than 100 250GTs, which cost $350,000 each. The studio saved money by putting a lookalike fiberglass shell on an MG.

2019 May 7, Editors of Portable Press, Strange Hollywood: Amazing and Intriguing Stories From Tinseltown and Beyond, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

Someone who, or something which, physically resembles (looks like) another.

(Canada, US) Something that looks very similar to or the same as the genuine article.


drunk driving

(law, automotive, US) The act of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Specifically, the criminal offence of driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) level higher than the local legal limit.


drunk driver

(chiefly US) Someone who drives under the influence of alcohol.