FHA

White residents used Federal Housing Administration-insured loans to buy their way out of the projects and to move to shiny new middle-class subdivisions. […] The F.H.A.’s explicitly racist underwriting standards, which rated black and integrated neighborhoods as uninsurable, made federally insured home loans largely unavailable to black home seekers.

2016 June 9, Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City”, in The New York Times Magazine:

Federal Housing Administration
w:Federal Housing Administration

(US) Initialism of Federal Housing Administration.


FDIC

I just don't see how you can look at the 1930s and name the FDIC as the decade's biggest financial problem.

2009 December 18, Megan McArdle, “How Big a Problem is Moral Hazard?”, in The Atlantic:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
w:Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(US, banking) Initialism of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.


RV

RVs (plural)
RV's (plural)
R.V. (alternative)
R.V. (alternative)
R. V. (alternative)
R/V (alternative)
r.v. (alternative)

Mostly old and pensioned, theyʼd troll the streets in their out-of-state license-plated RVs looking for the last link to their youths.

2015, Paul Beatty, The Sellout, Oneworld Publications (2016), page 67:

According to Outdoorsy, an R.V. share app, millennial R.V. rental bookings went up 70 percent from 2019 to 2020.

2021 August 23, Jay Caspian Kang, “Zen and the Art of #VanLife Influencing”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

recreational vehicle
recreational vehicle#English

(US, automotive) Initialism of recreational vehicle.


FOP

en-noun

FOP (countable and uncountable, plural FOPs)

(US, derogatory) Initialism of flyover people: individuals who reside between the two coasts of the US, with the exception of a few major cities.


at large

From Middle English at large (“at liberty or freedom”) (compare Middle English ben at large (“to be at one's liberty, be free”)). Compare Old French au large (“at liberty” and other senses).

cog

The city has five city council districts; however, the mayor is elected at large.

Although the elections for Boston City Council seats are still seven months away, the race between at-large candidates is beginning to heat up.

1991 May 4, Elizabeth Yukins, “City Council Candidates Lobby For The Gay Vote”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

(US, politics, of an election or elected position) Having an electorate across multiple districts.

不分區 /不分区

having an electorate across multiple districts


fugazi

Origin unknown; a number of possibilities have been suggested:
* One theory is that it is a corruption of French fougasse (“type of land mine”); flame fougasses were used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
* Less plausibly, it might be from English fugacious (“fleeting”) or cognates such as Italian fugace (“fleeting”).
* It has also been suggested that it could be an acronym of “fucked up, got ambushed, zipped in [a body bag]”, but this is more likely a backronym, not the origin (compare FUBAR).

The two of them were getting bombed on bami-bam, beer, and joints laced with opium. That made answers to questions a long time in coming. "Hey, man, what the fuck can I tell you," said Robbie finally. "All fugazi over here. All fucked up. Number ten. The worst. Don't matter what goes down in this asshole country, know what I mean? Hey, papa-san, don't believe everything you hear, okay?"

1982, Marc Olden, chapter 7, in Giri, New York, N.Y.: Arbor House, →ISBN; republished [New York, N.Y.]: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, 2012, →ISBN:

We didn't know anything was fugazi* until we got to a certain place in the South China Sea. A loudspeaker came over the air, "This is your captain speaking. Be advised that your destination is Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam."

1986, Mark Baker, Nam: The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Fought, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 32:

First time I met her. we were stuck on recon. far from the AO. deep in Indian country. the ops completely fugazi. the horn dead. and my BTO sick as skunkrot. She comes creeping by our ditch.

2008, Audrey Shafer, The Mailbox, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 67:

(US, chiefly military, especially during the Vietnam War era, slang) Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.


fugazi

Uncertain; said to be of Mafia origin, from the Fugazy Continental limousine company in New York City which was owned by William “Bill” Fugazy, due to its cheesy “look like a rich guy” advertisements of the 1970s and 1980s, or its alleged poor business practices, possibly influenced by Italian fu cazzo (“it was shit”). The word was popularized by the film Donnie Brasco (1997), based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (1987) by American former FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (born 1939) who used the name “Donnie Brasco” as an undercover alias. First use in English appears c. 1974 in the novel Bones of Contention by Nicholas Gage.

That broad wouldn't have no fugazy diamonds in her house. We had information the broad didn't have no fake jewelry. It's three fucking carats!

1987, Joseph D[ominick] Pistone, with Richard Woolley, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (A Signet Book), New York, N.Y.: New American Library, →ISBN; republished as Donnie Brasco, New York, N.Y.: New American Library, 2014, →ISBN:

JON GRAVELLI: You don't need me to tell you that it's all fugazi; faker than a pair of Vinewood tits.

2008 April 29, Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries, Grand Theft Auto IV, New York, N.Y.: Rockstar Games:

Some of Dean Martin's Italian songs are the real thing, others are fugazi. Even so, when he sings a genuine Italian song, he often Americanizes it: [...]

2010, Will Friedwald, “Dean Martin (1917–1995)”, in A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 306, column 2:

You don't want a girl like me, I'm too crazy / but every other girl you meet is fugazy

2018 May 30, Adam Levine et al. (lyrics and music), “Girls Like You (Remix)”, in Red Pill Blues, performed by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B:


fugazi

I took the diamond and looked it over. "I wouldn't get too excited about it," I said, "because this is fake, a fugazy." […] "It's a fugazy," I said. "Take it home for your kid to play with."

DONNIE BRASCO [Johnny Depp]: Well, you should give it [a diamond] to someone who don't know any better, because that's a fugazi. / LEFTY [Al Pacino]: That's a fugazi? How do you know it's a fugazi? You haven't looked at it for two seconds.

1997 February 24, Paul Attanasio, Donnie Brasco:

Stoner examined the Rolex after Mike handed it to him. He said, "Are you sure this is the real thing Mike? Most of the Rolex's out on the street are fugazy's." He used the street term for phony jewelry, but Mike knew exactly what he meant. "Hey Jack, you're gonna offend me if you talk like that. This ain't no fugazy. I've been dealing hot jewels long enough to know what I'm looking at.["]

2003, Jeff Kaye, chapter 7, in Two Faces Have I, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 55:

The primacy of this immortality system to the officer's overall sense of self can be glimpsed in the fact that retired officers typically acquire a "dupe" or "fugazy"—a full-sized replica of the shield they surrendered. Often partners or workmates will present these "dupes" at a retirement party, symbolizing the recipient's continued connection to policing and the police identity.

2004, Vincent E. Henry, “‘Becoming a Cop’: Basic Social and Psychological Processes”, in Death Work: Police, Trauma, and the Psychology of Survival, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 97:

Hey, do not accept any fugazis. Get the real thing! The genuine Pastore's Pasta can only be made with the ingredients that I've personally listed.

2006, Tony Lip [i.e., Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr.], Steven Prigge, Shut Up and Eat!: Mangia with Family Recipes and Stories from Your Favorite Italian-American Stars, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN:

MARK HANNA [Matthew McConaughey]: No. Number one rule of Wall Street. Nobody – I don't care if you're Warren Buffet or if you're Jimmy Buffet – nobody knows if a stock is gonna go up, down, sideways or in fucking circles, least of all stockbrokers, right? / JORDAN BELFORT [Leonardo DiCaprio]: Mm-hmm. / MARK HANNA: It's all a fugazi [fuˈɡɑzi]. Do you know what fugazi is? / JORDAN BELFORT: Fugazi [fuˈɡeɪzi], it's a fake … / MARK HANNA: Yeah, fugazi [fuˈɡeɪzi], fugazi [fuˈɡɑzi]. It's a wahzi, it's a woozy. It's … fairy dust. It doesn't exist, it's never landed, it is no matter, it's not on the elemental chart. It's not fucking real.

2013 December 17, Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street:

Nordstrom sized up O'Malley's expression, beginning to soften from surly to inquisitive. "We got some info we thought you might be interested in." / "Ya? So what is it? One of those fugazis from the North End die from a bleeding hemorrhoid 'n Gargiulo wants me to be a pallbearer?"

2011, Dan Ferullo, chapter 7, in Monster Hill, [Morrisville, N.C.]: [Lulu.com], →ISBN, page 298:

Benny was taking individual bills from his banded packs, holding them up. / "What are you looking for?" she said. / "Fugazies. Counterfeit. I wouldn't put it past Joey, his last joke on everybody."

2012, Wallace Stroby, chapter 18, in Kings of Midnight: A Mystery, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, →ISBN:

"What about fugazis?" Gio asked. "Get some glass." / "They're not fools," Maria said. "Carlo said they will have an expert to check." / Alonzo whistled. "Four mil? Sorry folks. Not even the flyest gangsters got that much ice on hand."

2019, David Gordon, chapter 11, in The Hard Stuff, New York, N.Y.: Mysterious Press, →ISBN; republished London: Head of Zeus, 2019, →ISBN:

Ain't no facadin', ain't no fugazi

2022 December 2, Future et al. (lyrics and music), “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)”, in Heroes & Villains, performed by Future, Chris Brown, and Metro Boomin:

(US, slang) A person or thing that is fake; a fake, a fraud.


HIPAA

However, several health privacy and ethics experts CNN consulted questioned whether Conley is bound by HIPAA rules, which apply only to providers who accept health insurance.

2020 October 7, Tami Lubby, “HIPAA and what it means for Trump, his doctor and the American public”, in CNN:

(US, law) Acronym of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.


HHS

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) led Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to send a letter to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, following up on previous requests that the administration use its authority to deschedule cannabis and pardon non-violent cannabis-related offenders.

2022 June 7, “Senators Warren, Sanders, Markey, and Gillibrand Urge Administration to Deschedule Cannabis and Pardon Nonviolent Cannabis Offenders”, in warren.senate.gov:

Health and Human Services
w:Health and Human Services

(US) Initialism of Health and Human Services.


PT

en-noun

PT (countable and uncountable, plural PTs)

(military, US) Initialism of patrol torpedo.

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of patrol trainer (“a trainer that is also a patrol aircraft”).


APA

(US) Initialism of Asian or Pacific American.


PPO

PPO (countable and uncountable, plural PPOs)

Coordinate term: HMO

(US, health) Initialism of preferred provider organization.


hole-in-the-wall

hole-in-the-wall (plural hole-in-the-walls or holes-in-the-wall)

hole-in-the-walls (plural)
holes-in-the-wall (plural)
hole in the wall (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hole-in-the-wall.wav

(Canada, US) A restaurant, shop or other establishment catering to customers that is particularly inconspicuous and easily overlooked.


home theater

home theaters (plural)
home theatre (alternative)

high-definition television
high-definition television

(US) A system for showing theater-quality films at home, usually comprising high-definition television and surround sound.


doober

Turn that doober on please.

(US, slang) A thingamajig; a whatchamacallit.

Can you light my doober, please?


hot button

hot buttons (plural)
hot-button (alternative)
hotbutton (alternative)

Registered as a trademark by American sales trainer Jack Lacy in 1956, first used in the 1940s.

not touch something with a ten-foot pole

Jack Lacey^([sic]), a top rating salesman, says that sales are made by touching off a “hot button” within the prospect’s mind.’

1944, Dental Items of Interest, volume 66, Dental Items of Interest Publishing Company, page 866:

So one way of producing conviction is to “find the hot button”— something the other person is currently interested in—and show him how your idea can help him get that.

1965, John D. Yeck, How to Get Profitable Ideas, McGraw-Hill, page 197:

Therefore, when a prospect is considering buying something, his main concern is what's in it for him. And he always has a dominant desire. There is something he is trying to do which is important to him. We call this dominant desire his “Hot Button.” Once you have found the Hot Button of your prospect, you build your presentation around it.

1975, Paul J. Micali, Hot Button Salesmanship, Dow Jones-Irwin, →ISBN, page 8:

(marketing, originally US) The principal desire that a salesman needs to "hit" in order to make a sale.


juice box

juice boxes (plural)
juicebox (alternative)

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

(US, Canada) A small carton of fruit juice with an attached plastic straw.


shebang

shebangs (plural)
chebang (alternative)
schebang (alternative)
sheebang (alternative)

Andersonville National Historic Site
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Samuel Bowles (journalist)
Tyrone Power (Irish actor)
shebang

Unknown. First attested in 1854 in Pennsylvania as "chebang" in the sense of an Oddfellows lodge. Attested from the early 1860s with the meaning "inn" and (slightly later) “temporary shelter”. The earliest attestions (1854-1859) are spelled "chebang" and abstractly seem to indicate an "affair," "matter of concern," or "happening," in keeping with the modern sense, and seem to be from Midwestern sources; the specific sense of a structure, often pejorative and usually spelled "shebang," seems to originate in the American West just before the Civil War and was widely diffused by troops during the conflict; the sense of a "vehicle” is from 1871–2. The first two senses seem to have been conflated extensively, though they may have different origins. A note by Massachusetts journalist Samuel Bowles dated June 5th, 1865 refers to the term as "vernacular of the [Rocky] Mountains" (Colorado), and defines shebang as "any kind of an establishment, store, house, shop, shanty." This sense appears in California as early as 1860, "the old shebang of a theatre." This apparently Western sense is almost certainly from shebeen, sheban (“cabin where unlicensed liquor is sold and drunk (chiefly in Ireland and Scotland)”), from Irish síbín (“illicit whiskey”), diminutive of síob (“a drift”). One of the earliest known quotations, from June 1862 in the Washington Territory, specifically denotes an inn being used as a front for illegal liquor sales. Irish actor and novelist Tyrone Power used "sheban" in the sense of an inn in his 1830 novel The Lost Heir.
In the sense of “temporary shelter”, it was perhaps spread by US Civil War Confederate enlistees from Louisiana, from French chabane (“hut, cabin”), a dialectal form of French cabane (“a covered hut, lodge, cabin”) (see cabin, cabana), or at least influenced by this term. (However, it was not, as sometimes claimed, common among prisoners at Andersonville; the US National Park Service says it "is virtually absent from most prisoner diaries and contemporary memoirs" and testimony.) The vehicle sense is perhaps from the unrelated French char-à-banc (“bus-like wagon with many seats”). The sense of “matter of concern” could be from either, or onomatopoeia.

uder

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Their shebang enclosures of bushes.

They say that old pirate, Kingfisher Culpepper, had a stock of the real thing from Robertson County laid in his shebang on the Marsh just before he died.

1889, Bret Harte, The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh:

(informal, US, archaic) A lean-to or temporary shelter.

Along all the roads on the reservation to all the mines, at the crossing of every stream or fresh-water spring, and near the principal Indian villages, an inn or shebang is established, ostensibly for the entertainment of travellers, but almost universally used as a den for supplying liquor to Indians."

1862 June 30, Charles Hutchins, Letter G 10, Report of the Secretary of the Interior:

joint#English:_place of business or human activity

(informal, US, archaic) A place or building; a store, saloon, or brothel.


cosmopolite

Borrowed from French cosmopolite, from Latin cosmopolītēs, itself borrowed from Koine Greek κοσμοπολίτης (kosmopolítēs, “citizen of the world”), from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) + πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”).

der

κοσμοπολίτης

The painted lady butterfly […] has been seen around towns throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa. It's known on every continent except Antarctica, and it's even found on islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. […] Not surprisingly, the painted lady is known in some circles as the cosmopolite.

1989, May Berenbaum, chapter 5, in Ninety-nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, page 102:

(Canada, US, dated) The butterfly painted lady (Vanessa cardui).


roundup

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(US, agriculture) An activity in which cattle are herded together in order to be inspected, counted, branded or shipped.


up the river

A reference to Sing Sing prison, which is located on the Hudson river, to the north of (and upstream from) New York City.

The former baseball player that Cincinnati idolized is being sent up the river to Ashland, Ky., to serve a prison term for cheating on his taxes.

1990 July 21, “Pete Rose: He doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame”, in Dallas Morning News, retrieved 2010-09-23:


righteous

en-adj

righteous (comparative more righteous, superlative most righteous)

more righteous (comparative)
most righteous (superlative)
rightuous (alternative)
rightwise (alternative)

From earlier rightuous, rightwose, rightwos, rightwise, from Middle English rightwise, rightwis, from Old English rihtwīs (“righteous, just”), corresponding to right + -wise (with assimilation of second element to -ous), or to right + wise (“way, manner”). Cognate with Scots richtwis (“righteous”), Old High German rehtwīsic (“righteous, just”), Icelandic réttvíss (“righteous, just”). Compare also thefteous, mighteous.

cog

The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.

1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Motion Picture), spoken by Grace Wheelberg (Edie McClurg):

He sold me a bulging paper sack full of Cambodian Red for two dolla' MPC. A strange experience, copping from a kid, but it was righteous weed.

1995, Norman L. Russell, Doug Grad, Suicide Charlie: A Vietnam War Story, page 191:

Tonight the kids will go out and party down in a more righteous mode. Alcohol and not a few tabs of X will be ingested. Club music will throb through big speakers.

2008, Stephen King, Graduation Afternoon:

He found Richard in one piece near a large circular container, thankfully, staring at a righteous mess of blood and gore.

2021, G. S. Jennsen, Amaranthe V: Riven:


SNL

Saturday Night Live
w:Saturday Night Live


CIO

Congress of Industrial Organizations
w:Congress of Industrial Organizations

(US, labor union) Initialism of Congress of Industrial Organizations.


IAM

w:International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

(Canada, US) Initialism of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.


FCC

The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.

1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)

That’s what prompted new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to send a “letter of inquiry” to CBS, asking the network to hand over the unedited tapes and transcript.

2025 February 3, Brian Stelter, “The FCC’s battle with CBS over its Harris interview is raising red flags”, in CNN:

(US) Initialism of Federal Communications Commission.


FCC

(US) Initialism of Federal Correctional Complex.


COBRA

There were COBRA forms to fill out for insurance, and unemployment to file for.

2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 478:

w:Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985

(US, law) Initialism of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, especially the provision that allows some employees to continue their group-based health insurance after leaving a job; also, health insurance obtained under this law.


AAP

affirmative action
affirmative action#English

(US, sociology, politics) Initialism of affirmative action program.


EPA

First the U.S. had to “show leadership” by promising to cut emissions, many self-styled climate hawks had argued during the debates over cap and trade and the president’s E.P.A. regulations, because then and only then the world’s developing economies would be pressured/shamed/persuaded into following along.

2014 November 13, Ross Douthat, “A Test For Climate Hawks”, in The New York Times:

The EPA collects emissions data from more than 20,000 industrial facilities across the country and has even developed its own state-of-the-art tool — the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators model — to estimate the impact of toxic emissions on human health.

2021 November 2, Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw and Lisa Song, “Poison in the Air”, in ProPublica:

w:United States Environmental Protection Agency

(US) Initialism of Environmental Protection Agency.


DOE

Department of Energy
w:United States Department of Energy

(US) Initialism of Department of Energy.


CRC

(chemistry, US) Initialism of Chemical Rubber Company. (a former US-American manufacturer of chemical laboratory equipment, now the publishing company CRC Press.)


NRC

N.R.C. (alternative)
N. R. C. (alternative)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission
w:Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(US) Initialism of Nuclear Regulatory Commission.


AMC

Air Mobility Command
w:Air Mobility Command

(US military) Initialism of Air Mobility Command.


DAT

DATs (plural)
D.A.T. (alternative)
D. A. T. (alternative)

Dental Admission Test
w:Dental Admission Test

(Canada, US) Acronym of Dental Admission Test.


NASM

National Air and Space Museum
w:National Air and Space Museum

(US) Initialism of National Air and Space Museum.

National Academy of Sports Medicine
w:National Academy of Sports Medicine

(US) Initialism of National Academy of Sports Medicine.

w:National Association of Schools of Music

(US) Initialism of National Association of Schools of Music.


APS

Adult Protective Services
w:Adult Protective Services

(US) Initialism of Adult Protective Services (“social services provided to abused, neglected, or exploited older adults and adults with significant disabilities”).


CPS

en-noun

CPS (countable and uncountable, plural CPSes)

I can’t let the reporters see him looking like this anyway, so swollen that CPS would be here before dinner.

2022, Leila Mottley, Nightcrawling, Bloomsbury, page 226:

child protective services
w:child protective services

(US) Initialism of child protective services.

Current Population Survey
w:Current Population Survey

(US) Initialism of Current Population Survey.


FTA

Free Trade Agreement
w:Free Trade Agreement

(economics, Canada, US) Abbreviation of Free Trade Agreement. (between Canada and the United States)


MRE

After first trying an M.R.E. at age 8 — his father bought him one from an Army supply store in Lakewood, Fla., where Mr. Thomas still lives — he became obsessed with tracking down rations from various countries and eras.

2021 June 8, Priya Krishna, “Unloved by Generations of Soldiers, the M.R.E. Finds a Fan Base”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US military) Initialism of Meal, Ready-to-Eat: an individual field ration used by the US military


SSA

(government, US) Initialism of Social Security Administration


OHA

Overseas Housing Allowance
w:Overseas Housing Allowance

(military, US) Initialism of Overseas Housing Allowance.


OUIL

(US) Initialism of operating (a vehicle) under the influence of liquor.


OWI

From its inception the OWI framed directives that offered guidelines for songwriters to aid them in the composition of “proper” war songs, and, in the public press, the OWI rebuked Tin Pan Alley for its uninterrupted production of “nostalgic” hit songs.

2003, Kathleen E. R. Smith, God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 81:

w:United States Office of War Information

(US, World War II) Initialism of Office of War Information.


NCIC

National Crime Information Center
w:National Crime Information Center

(US) Initialism of National Crime Information Center.


farb

Disputed. Various explanations of the origin are given:
* That it is a contraction of the phrase "far be it from me to criticize anyone, but...", or of "far below" (the expected standard).
* That it comes from the German word Farbe ("colour") (many fabrics dyed with modern dyes are "too colourful" to be authentic, by comparison with their historical originals).
* There exists a letter dated 1 April 1863 from an A.R. Crawford in the 76th Illinois Infantry, Co D, that uses the phrase, "fallacious accoutrements & reprehensible baggage," in description of six children posing in phony military gear during a sham reenactment that took place during the actual Civil War. Many point to this phrase as the origin of the word, citing "farb" as an acronym.
* Many early replica rifles were marked with what looked like "F.A.R.B." among the proofmarks. Removing this would make the rifle look more authentic.

"Farb was the worst insult in the hardcore vocabulary. It referred to reenactors who approached the past past with a lack of verisimilitude.

1998, Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, 1st Vintage Departures edition, Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 10:

(US) A historical reenactor (especially an American Civil War reenactor) whose efforts at a historically accurate portrayal are, in the opinion of the speaker, inadequate (for example, wearing a modern wristwatch with period costume). The opposite of farb is "hard-core" (or hardcore), someone who is, in the opinion of the speaker, an "authenticity fanatic".


farb

en-verb

farb (third-person singular simple present farbs, present participle farbing, simple past and past participle farbed)

farbs (present singular third-person)
farbing (participle present)
farbed (participle past)
farbed (past)

(US, slang, intransitive) To act like a farb; to portray a historical character in an inauthentic way.


farby

(US) of, or relating to a farb; anachronistic


daddy longlegs

en-noun

daddy longlegs (plural daddy longlegs or daddy longlegses)

daddy longlegs (plural)
daddy longlegses (plural)
daddy-longlegs (alternative)
daddy-long-legs (alternative)

/ˈdædɪ ˈlɒŋ(ɡ)lɛɡz/

Unlike spiders, daddy longlegs do not have a clearly marked division between thorax and abdomen. They are further distinguished from spiders in that they do not produce venom or silk.

2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia, volume 10, page 636:

Daddy longlegs aren′t even really spiders.

2004, Clay Thompson, Marshall Trimble, The Valley 101 Great Big Book of Life, page 33:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) Any (non-spider) arachnid of the order Opiliones, mostly with long thin legs; the harvestman.


motorbike

→ Norman: motor-bike f, motorbike f


uptown

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

(chiefly Canada, US) The residential part of a city, away from the commercial center.


uptown

en-adj

uptown (comparative more uptown, superlative most uptown)

more uptown (comparative)
most uptown (superlative)

(chiefly Canada, US) In the upper part of a town.

uptown problems

She's been living in her uptown world / I bet she's never had a backstreet guy

1983, Billy Joel (lyrics and music), “Uptown Girl”:

(chiefly Canada, US, by extension) Of or relating to an affluent area or population.


uptown

Let's go uptown and try out that new restaurant.

(chiefly Canada, US) To or in the upper part of a town.


bailiff

From Middle English baillif, baylyf, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bailif (plural bailis), probably from Vulgar Latin *bāiulivus (“castellan”), from Latin bāiulus (“porter; steward”), whence also bail. As a translation of foreign titles, semantic loan from French bailli, Scots bailie, Dutch baljuw, etc. Mostly replaced the role of native reeve. Doublet of bailo.

Bailiffs of Jersey and Guernsey
High Bailiff of the Isle of Man
Landvogt
bailiff

مَأْمُور

equivalent officers of the court in foreign contexts

(law enforcement) An officer of the court, particularly:

(US) Any law enforcement officer charged with courtroom security and order.

teremőr

a law enforcement officer charged with courtroom security and order

process server

in role of serving processes and summonses


hostler

From Middle English hostiler, from Middle French hostiler, from Old French hostelier, from Medieval Latin hostilārius, hospitālārius, from hospitāle "inn", from hospitālis "hospitable", from hospes "host, guest". Both hostler and its alternative form ostler originally meant simply "innkeeper", and acquired a specific association with horses in the second half of the 14th century. Doublet of hosteler and hotelier.

(by extension, US) A railway worker employed to care for a locomotive or other large engine; especially, a yard jockey.

parowozowy

person employed to care for a locomotive


B-girl

Clearing his throat, Patrolman Mancuso stood before his sergeant and said, “I got a lead on a place where they got B-girls.”

1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, chapter 3, in A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN, page 55:

The bar was a rough, tough frontier place with B-girls drinking colored water at premium whiskey prices, bought by horny guys who thought they were going to get laid but were only going to get screwed.

1996, Russell Means, Where White Men Fear to Tread:

What’s really sick, if you ask me, is the B-girl shit where you pay all that money for just looking and thinking about it, but not really doing it.

1997, Dan Wakefield, Sara Davidson, Going All the Way:


NLRB

Retaliation against organizing unions is illegal under US federal law, and complaints with the NLRB can lead to fired workers being reinstated with backpay, Bloomberg notes.

2023 February 16, Jon Porter, “Tesla fired dozens of Gigafactory workers after Tuesday’s union announcement: NLRB complaint”, in The Verge:

National Labor Relations Board
w:National Labor Relations Board

(US) Initialism of National Labor Relations Board.


TBS

Turner Broadcasting System
w:Turner Broadcasting System

(US, television) Initialism of Turner Broadcasting System.

(military, US) Initialism of The Basic School.


CAIR

Clean Air Interstate Rule
w:Clean Air Interstate Rule

(US) Acronym of Clean Air Interstate Rule.

Council on American-Islamic Relations
w:Council on American-Islamic Relations

(US) Acronym of Council on American-Islamic Relations.


NREL

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
w:National Renewable Energy Laboratory

(US) Initialism of National Renewable Energy Laboratory.


NIH

“This action aims to ensure that WIV does not receive another dollar of federal funding,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. “The move was undertaken due to WIV’s failure to provide documentation on WIV’s research requested by NIH related to concerns that WIV violated NIH’s biosafety protocols.”

2023 July 19, Jeremy Diamond and Simone McCarthy, “Biden administration suspends funding for Wuhan lab”, in CNN:

National Institutes of Health
w:National Institutes of Health

(government, US) Initialism of National Institutes of Health.


TRI

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(artificial intelligence, US) Initialism of Toyota Research Institute.


NNI

(US) Initialism of National Nanotechnology Initiative.


PCAST

(US) Acronym of President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.


TSCA

(US) Initialism of Toxic Substances Control Act.


JPL

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
w:Jet Propulsion Laboratory

(space science, US) Initialism of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


GMC

en:GMC truck brand of GM, in recent times

General Motors Company
w:General Motors Company

(automotive, US) Initialism of General Motors Company. A truck brand by GM (not a synonym of GM).

General Motors Company

en:GMC truck brand of GM, or GM itself, in times past

General Motors Corporation
w:General Motors Corporation

(automotive, US, dated) Initialism of General Motors Corporation. A truck brand by GM (not a synonym of GM outside of GM's earliest decades).


GI

government issue
government issue#English


switcheroo

switcheroos (plural)
switcharoo (alternative)

/ˌswɪt͡ʃəˈɹuː/

In a corporate merger, it is usually the big company that buys a smaller one. Last week Boston's up & coming Tracerlab, Inc. pulled a switcheroo. Tracerlab, which grossed only $1,700,000 last year, bought the much bigger ($8,000,000 gross) Kelley-Koett Mfg. Co.

1951 April 30, “Business & Finance: Switcheroo”, in Time, archived from the original on 2012-09-29:

When you are dealing with American presidents, you always have to watch for the old switcheroo. Lyndon Johnson opposed Barry Goldwater's "extremism" on Vietnam, then proceeded to try to bomb Hanoi back into the stone age. Richard Nixon opposed price and wage controls, until he suddenly adopted them.

1977 April 18, Don McGillivray, “Carter, true to form, pulls the ‘switcheroo’”, in Montreal Gazette, retrieved 2012-07-27, page 22:

Elsewhere, it’s a ‘switcheroo’ ([Kevin] Kelly’s word, not mine) that will lend technology the working status of a vital force that, like ‘nature’, operates outside the reach of social imperatives.

1997, J. J. King, “The Right Connections: Tea with Kevin Kelly”, in Mute, volume 1, number 8, →ISSN:

The Manhattan Theater Club has pulled a switcheroo, delaying a planned production of Gone Home, by John Corwin, and replacing it with Four, by the 26-year-old playwright Christopher Shinn.

2001 December 21, Jesse McKinley, “On Stage and Off”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-07-27:

(informal, Canada, US) A sneaky, unexpected, or clever swap or exchange.


malarkey

malarkeys (plural rare)
malachy (alternative)
malarky (alternative)
mallarky (alternative)
mullarkey (alternative)

Of unknown origin; the word was popularized by the Irish-American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius (“Tad”) Dorgan (1877–1929), who started using it in cartoons on March 9, 1922.

I decided it was a bunch of malarkey and stopped reading about halfway through.

Malachy—You said it—I wouldn't trust a lawyer no further than I could throw a case of Scotch.

1934 April 2, Thomas Aloysius Dorgan, The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.: Capital Times Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:

It's a lot of mallarky for mothers, sisters, and sweethearts to ask "Laddie, when you're far away will you think of me?" The answer is NO! The girls who teach the soldier boys are kept busy as a bee. It's the soldier boys who pay.

1939, The Commentator, volume 6, New York, N.Y.: Payson Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 45, column 2:

She shrugged. "I've told you all I know." / "Mallarky. You haven't even begun to spill and you know it."

1945, Lawrence Lariar, Erle Stanley Gardner, Marjorie Alan, The Girl with the Frightened Eyes [by Lawrence Lariar]; The Case of the Half-wakened Wife [by Erle Stanley Gardner]; Dark Prophecy [by Marjorie Alan], New York, N.Y.: Detective Book Club, →OCLC, page 127:

If I told you that we had launched the glove washing program without effort it would be purely malarkey. Right off the bat we had some squawks about dermatitis.

1957 July, Merrick Pratt, “Administering the Protective Equipment Program”, in Gerard J. Riley, editor, Modern Sanitation: The Magazine of Sanitation Management and Plant Housekeeping, volume 9, number 1, Easton, Pa.: Powell Magazines, →OCLC, page 21:

'Smuggling,' she said. 'has a fine romantic ring about it—once aboard the lugger, you heave ho and all that kind of malarky. [...]'

1968, Margery Allingham, “The String Man”, in Cargo of Eagles, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC; republished London: Vintage, 2016, →ISBN, page 91:

Save that malarkey for those old fossils at Midas Creek! You're aiming at the pot. So am I. I'm in control, but you and your infernal luck could upset the applecart.

1957 October 19, Robert Ormond Case, “Trouble at Midas Creek”, in Ben Hibbs, editor, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 230, number 16, Philadelphia, Pa., London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 64, column 1:

But, Tony, this has got to stay within the Department. None of our FBIers or state troopers or all them other malarkeys get to hear a word of it.

1983, Donald E[dwin] Westlake, chapter 23, in Why Me?, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN; republished [New York, N.Y.]: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road, 2011, →ISBN:

But I'm not havin' this film mallarky. I'm takin' no memories wi' me.

1985, Stephen Lowe, “Moving Pictures”, in Moving Pictures: Four Plays (Methuen New Theatrescript), London, New York, N.Y.: Methuen, →ISBN, page 7:

A company that makes a fetish of never exceeding the budget invites game-playing and other malarky. It is easy to forget the obvious: that it involves no skill to come in on time and under budget if the schedule and budget are generous enough.

1993, Richard Barry, “Budgeting”, in The Management of International Oil Operations, Tulsa, Ok.: PennWell Books, →ISBN, page 331:

"No. She was going through a Kramer vs. Kramer kind of thing at the time. You know, a sort of I-want-to-find-out-who-I-am malarkey." / "And did she find out who she was?" / "Not really. I don't know if anyone really does, do they?"

1998, Nick Hornby, chapter 13, in About a Boy, London: Gollancz, →ISBN; republished as chapter 13, in About a Boy, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, 1998, →ISBN:

"An underwater tunnel!" he exclaimed. "A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of such malarkey!"

2001 January, Jules Verne, chapter 5, in Frederick Paul Walter, transl., 20,000 Leagues under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World (Project Gutenberg eBook; #2488), Project Gutenberg, →OCLC, part 2:

This book isn't about the application process itself – how best to complete your UCAS form, what the codes are for exam awarding bodies, what to say in interviews and all that mullarkey.

2004, Johnny Rich, “The Application Process”, in Ruth Bushi, editor, The Push Guide to Choosing a University, 2nd edition, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: Nelson Thornes, →ISBN, page 68:

That's a bunch of malarkey piled on malarkey. I knew the minute I saw you there was something special about you, [...]

2015, Liz Talley, Sweet Talking Man (Harlequin Superromance), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 337:

(originally US, informal) Nonsense; rubbish.


hunky

hunky (comparative hunkier, superlative hunkiest)

hunkier (comparative)
hunkiest (superlative)

(US, slang) All right; in good condition.

[…] he dropped like a brick into the firing line and began to shoot; began to get "hunky" with all those people who had been plugging at him.

1900, Stephen Crane, Wounds in the Rain:

(US, slang) even; square; on equal footing with


hunky

hunkies (plural)
hunkie (alternative)
hunkey (alternative)

From the older *hunk, probably alteration of Hungarian + -ie/-y. Compare bohunk and honky / honkey.

"All hunkies and wops, and no wonder there was seven hundred and fifty of them."

He made hunkies and cut ice-cream sandwiches.

1940, Unemployment Compensation Interpretation Service: Benefit series, page 183:

The night before I had let a hunky called Big John have a dollar's worth of chips in the poker game […]

1952, Chester Himes, Cast the First Stone, page 66:

He said, "I'm going to buy this building and turn this into a Nigger bar. I'm going to bar all you fucking hunkies."

1969, Robert Beck (Iceberg Slim), Trick Baby, page 149

On the negative side, a hunky was culturally schizophrenic, an inhabitant of crowded and ill-kept rooms and whose clothing was in poor taste, an alcoholic, intrinsically dull and stupid, an offspring of domineering parents, […]

1994, Josephine Wtulich, American Xenophobia and the Slav Immigrant: A Living Legacy of Mind and Spirit:

Like blacks, who were the only ethnic group below them on the social scale, Eastern Europeans, contemptuously labelled ‘hunkies’, were dismissed as incapable and untrustworthy.

2009, Victor Bockris, Warhol: The Biography, page 20:

(US, slang, now uncommon, ethnic slur) A Hungarian or other eastern European, e.g. a Romanian or a Slav. (Sometimes applied (like honky) to any white person.)


where's the beef

From a catchphrase in a 1980s television commercial for the fast food chain Wendy's.

(US, idiomatic) Where is the content? So what?


jeet

A compressed pronunciation of the words did you (d'ya) eat.

"Jeet yet?" he asks. He asks it every time they're together, though usually not this early.

1976, Jack Ansell, Giants, Berkley Medallion, →OCLC, page 76:

So it will come as no surprise if a local inquires whether you've eaten yet — or, as Philadelphians say, "Jeet yet?"

2002, The Postal Record, volume 115, page 17:


UC

Coordinate term: CSU

“Twelve pesticides commonly applied to citrus groves are slated for study in the project’s plots,” reports Tom S. Bellows, UC Riverside assistant entomologist. They include four acaricides (Morestan, Kelthane, Pictran, Vendex), four thripsicides (Cygon, Carzol, Orthene, Sabadilla), and four scalicides (Parathion, Supracide, Lorsban, Sevin).

1983 May 26, “Pesticide residue effects under study”, in The Californian, volume 25, number 16, Temecula, Calif., page A-11:

With the changes to federal and state public health guidance and the end of the federal Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023, UC is moving to a systemwide COVID-19 vaccination opt-out program for UC students and employees.

2023 May 25, “UC updating COVID-19 vaccination policy to systemwide opt-out program”, in UCNet:

Initialism of University of California. A university system in California

University of California
w:University of California

(US)
Initialism of University of Cincinnati.

University of Cincinnati
w:University of Cincinnati


retrofit

en-verb

retrofit (third-person singular simple present retrofits, present participle retrofitting, simple past and past participle retrofitted)

retrofits (present singular third-person)
retrofitting (participle present)
retrofitted (participle past)
retrofitted (past)

/ˌɹɛtɹəʊˈfɪt/

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ˌfɪt/

/ˌɹɛtɹoʊˈfɪt/

/ˈɹɛtɹoʊˌfɪt/

The verb is derived from retro- (prefix meaning ‘back; backward’) + fit (“to equip, supply”).
The noun, which is first attested later than the verb, is either derived:
* from the verb (see above); or
* from retro- + fit (“act of fitting; conformity of elements one to another”).

saada jälkikäteisasennuksena

(intransitive) to supply a device, structure, etc., with new components or parts that were not previously available or installed

The bug was so bad that we had to retrofit our patch to the last three releases, as well as the newest release.

(computing) Synonym of backport (“to retroactively supply a fix or feature to a previous version of a software product at the same time or after supplying it to the current version.”)


microneighborhood

microneighborhoods (plural)
microneighbourhood (alternative)

(US) A very small urban neighborhood, usually extending the length of a city block or smaller.


ACS

American Cancer Society
w:American Cancer Society

(US) Initialism of American Cancer Society.

American Chemical Society
w:American Chemical Society

(US) Initialism of American Chemical Society.


LAT

(US) Initialism of laboratory animal technician.


NHTSA

Last year, NHTSA ordered dozens of automobile and technology companies to report crash data on automated vehicles in order to better monitor their safety.

2022 January 19, Hayley Smith, Russ Mitchell, “A Tesla on autopilot killed two people in Gardena. Is the driver guilty of manslaughter?”, in Los Angeles Times:

w:National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(US) Acronym of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.


OSW

(US) Initialism of Office of Solid Waste.


FTC

Federal Trade Commission
w:Federal Trade Commission

(US) Initialism of Federal Trade Commission.

Federal Transfer Center
w:Federal Transfer Center

(US) Initialism of Federal Transfer Center.


ATF

(US, law enforcement) Initialism of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)


ATF

en-noun

ATF (countable and uncountable, plural ATFs)

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of advanced tactical fighter.

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of auxiliary tugboat fleet.; a naval fleet tugboat, a fleet tug that can keep up with a fleet on operations


VFW

Veterans of Foreign Wars
w:Veterans of Foreign Wars

(US) Initialism of Veterans of Foreign Wars.


MQSA

(US, law) Initialism of Mammography Quality Standards Act.


IOM

Institute of Medicine
w:Institute of Medicine

(US) Initialism of Institute of Medicine.

(US) Initialism of Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan; used as a designation for soybeans grown in these states


NOF

(US) Initialism of National Osteoporosis Foundation.


NIP

National Immunization Program
w:National Immunization Program

(US) Abbreviation of National Immunization Program.


CPSC

(US) Initialism of Consumer Product Safety Commission.


NIA

National Institute on Aging
w:National Institute on Aging

(US) Initialism of National Institute on Aging.


NJRF

(US) Initialism of National Joint Replacement Foundation.


NINDS

(US) Acronym of National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.


CAM

(US, historical, philately) Initialism of contract air mail (often followed by the route number, eg, CAM 21).


NCCAM

w:National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

(US) Initialism of National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.


NIAAA

w:National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

(US) Initialism of National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.


SAD

Special Activities Division
w:Special Activities Division

(US) Initialism of Special Activities Division.


NMHA

(US, historical) Initialism of National Mental Health Association.


IRS

Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service#English

(US) Initialism of Internal Revenue Service.


NOW

National Organization for Women
w:National Organization for Women

(US) Acronym of National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization.


NOW

(US, finance) Acronym of negotiable order of withdrawal (“an instrument similar to a check”).


COSTART

(US) Initialism of Coding Symbols for a Thesaurus of Adverse Reaction Terms.


NIEHS

(US) Initialism of National Institute of Environmental Health Science.


ONCHIT

Information Technology
information technology#English

(US) Acronym of Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.


UL

(US) Initialism of Underwriters Laboratories., a product-safety testing laboratory.


OSHA

Having conducted 15 negotiated rulemakings for five federal agencies, I expected OSHA to publish the rule in 2006.

2008 June 12, Susan Podziba, “Safety Starts at the Top”, in The New York Times:

w:Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(US) Acronym of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


NEI

(US) Initialism of National Eye Institute.


NHLBI

w:National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

(US) Initialism of National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.


spring for

en-verb

spring for (third-person singular simple present springs for, present participle springing for, simple past sprang for, past participle sprung for)

springs for (present singular third-person)
springing for (participle present)
sprang for (past)
sprung for (participle past)

Wal-Mart . . . would pay the town $100,000 in annual taxes and cover much needed road improvements too. The store even agreed to spring for an archaeological dig on the site, once an Indian campground.

1993 November 1, Sophfronia Gregory et al., “They're Up Against the Wal”, in Time:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To pay for; to offer money.


NCID

w:National Center for Infectious Diseases

(US) Acronym of National Center for Infectious Diseases.


NFID

(US) Acronym of National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.


NCIPC

w:National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

(US) Initialism of National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.


CHPA

(US) Initialism of Consumer Healthcare Products Association.


NSF

Those overall numbers are in line with Schumer's year-old plan to make NSF the spearpoint of a massive federal investment in research aimed at outinnovating China.

2021 May 28, Jeffrey Mervis, “Biden backs new NSF tech directorate, but Senate balks”, in Science:

National Science Foundation
w:National Science Foundation

(US) Initialism of National Science Foundation.


NCCDPHP

(US) Initialism of National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.


NIAID

The NIAID supports projects at universities and research organizations around the United States as well as a network of 21 NIAID labs across the country.

2023 August 2, Ben Tinker, Meg Tirrell and Brenda Goodman, “New director named at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases after Fauci’s retirement”, in CNN:

w:National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

(government, US) Initialism of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.


ACE

American Council on Education
w:en:American Council on Education

(US, education) Initialism of American Council on Education.


cop out

cop out (third-person singular simple present cops out, present participle copping out, simple past and past participle copped out)

cops out (present singular third-person)
copping out (participle present)
copped out (participle past)
copped out (past)

Attested since 1942 as “flee, escape, cop (an) out”.

Somebody should have copped him out last night.

(idiomatic, dated, US) To remove from a situation or crowd, such as for arrest or punishment.


PL

The government's primary market promotion tool is Public Law 480, the Food for Peace program. Since its inception in 1954, PL 480 has provided an outlet in less-developed countries for American agricultural surpluses.

1982, Richard Gilmore, A Poor Harvest: The Clash of Policies and Interests in the Grain Trade, page 21:

(US, law, government) Initialism of public law.

(US, scouting) Initialism of patrol leader.


DOT

D.O.T. (alternative)
D. O. T. (alternative)
DoT (alternative)

(US) Initialism of Department of Transportation or Department of Transport.


CPR

Canadian Pacific Railway
w:Canadian Pacific Railway

(rail transport, Canada, US) Initialism of Canadian Pacific Railway.


CPA

en-noun

CPA (countable and uncountable, plural CPAs)

certified public accountant
certified public accountant#English

(US, Philippines, accounting) Initialism of certified public accountant.


LL

(US, military) Short for lesson learned.


HMO

Coordinate term: PPO

It's a real problem because HMOs do not deal with chronic pain — they want to just deal with crises.

1990 February 4, Margy Dowzer, Mary Frances Platt, Aviva Shmuckler, “Disability And Accessibility Cost Money!”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 13:

By the mid-1990s, seven states required HMOs to pay for bone marrow transplantation.

2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, Fourth Estate (2011), page 325:

health maintenance organization
health maintenance organization#English

(US, medicine) Initialism of health maintenance organization.


BYOB

(US, Utah) Initialism of bring your own Bible.


cilantro

cilantro (usually uncountable, plural cilantros)

/sɪˈlæntɹəʊ/

From Spanish cilantro, possibly from an unattested regional Vulgar Latin variant (with front vowel) of Late Latin coliandrum, from Latin coriandrum (“coriander”). Doublet of coriander and culantro.

Coriandrum sativum
Coriandrum sativum#Translingual

(US) The stems and leaves of the coriander plant, Coriandrum sativum, used as a seasoning and garnish in cooking.


takeaway

takeaways (plural)
take-away (alternative)

(US) A concession made by a labor union in the course of negotiations.


take something in stride

en-verb

take something in stride (third-person singular simple present takes something in stride, present participle taking something in stride, simple past took something in stride, past participle taken something in stride)

takes something in stride (present singular third-person)
taking something in stride (participle present)
took something in stride (past)
taken something in stride (participle past)
take something in one's stride (alternative)

He took it in stride when they attempted to ostracize him.

(idiomatic, US) To cope with something unfortunate without much effort; to accept or manage difficulties well.


music center

music centers (plural)
music centre (alternative)

(US) A place where music is performed or rehearsed.


druthers

From the expression I'd rather (“I would prefer to”), often pronounced "I druther" in some dialects.

"If I had my druthers, I would not be a king. I'd druther be just what I am than any other thing."

1929, Harry McClintock, "If I Had My Druthers":

"If you had your druthers—" Old Lew was always saying, "If I had my druthers, gimme one of them there Shevrolics."

1950, Alice Walworth Graham, The Natchez Woman:

"If I had my druthers," he informs us, "I'druther be myself — not because I'm anythin' special, just because it's convenient."

1957, Society of Arts and Crafts, Theatre Arts, volume 41, page 29:

If I'd had my "druthers," our engagement would not have been two and one half years long. But schooling made our druthers invalid.

1977, Carole Mayhall, From the Heart of a Woman:

If I had my "druthers," I'd screw a chimpanzee. Call it, pointless.

(US, informal, often humorous) Wishes, preferences.


CSI

'Damn cops,' said a CSI, who concentrated on the holes in the bark of a tree, the only holes not made by gun-happy rat killers.

2012, Carol O'Connell, The Chalk Girl: Kathy Mallory:

(informal, US) Initialism of crime scene investigator.


WGA

The use of AI in the production of film and television – either to write scripts, generate actors’ likenesses, or cut corners in paying creative work, has been a major point of contention in negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and Sag and the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

2023 July 26, Adrian Horton, “Netflix lists AI job worth $900,000 amid twin Hollywood strikes”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The W.G.A.’s negotiating committee recognized that A.I. had to be on the table, and not simply as something to be resisted or refused.

2023 September 29, Adam Seth Litwin, “Hollywood’s Deal With Screenwriters Just Rewrote the Rules Around A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Writers Guild of America
w:Writers Guild of America

(US, film, television) Initialism of Writers Guild of America, the labor union representing writers of film and television.


DHS

However, the council, which provides guidance and recommendations to the DHS secretary, noted that the “underlying work of Department components on this issue is critical.”

2022 August 24, Geneva Sands, “DHS shuts down disinformation board months after its efforts were paused”, in CNN:

Asked by CNN what measures DHS was taking after the Pentagon leaks, Mayorkas said the department issued a reminder to employees and that he had directed a review.

2023 May 16, Priscilla Alvarez, “DHS directs review of personnel with access to classified material in wake of Pentagon leak”, in CNN:

Department of Homeland Security
w:Department of Homeland Security

(US) Initialism of Department of Homeland Security.

Department of Human Services
w:Department of Human Services

(US) Initialism of Department of Human Services.


nevermind

Hell, they've got groundrules and guidelines comin' out the kazoo, but do they pay any nevermind to 'em?

2002, William Walling, It's Too Late to Leave Early:

"... buy what he wants. It's none of your nevermind."

1949, A.B. Guthrie, Jr., The Way West, page 22:

"These is my brothers, Tom and Benjamin. We's from Missoura. Would you be Yankee or Secesh?" / "Neither one," Joe said. "Not that it's any nevermind o' yours, Mr. Wickersham."

2008, Gary Franklin, Blood at Bear Lake, page 76:

Let 'em say she was his mistress, that she was a witch. Wasn't true, but it didn't make any nevermind if they thought it was. Nice woman, quiet, could tell the cards.

1926, Lester Cohen, Sweepings, page 306:

Either way—doesn't mean no nevermind to me, you understand.

1997, Annie Jones, Irish Eyes, →ISBN, page 211:

So it don't make a heap of nevermind to me which one you choose!

2002, Lee Gramling, Ninety-Mile Prairie, Pineapple Press, →ISBN, page 248:

If'n it makes any nevermind, you'll be grubbin' alongside me.

2005, Larry Jay Martin, O'Rourke's Revenge, page 21:

(US regional) Consequence; significant change in or effect on a situation or state; difference.


nevermind

nevermind (third-person singular simple present neverminds, present participle neverminding, simple past and past participle neverminded)

neverminds (present singular third-person)
neverminding (participle present)
neverminded (participle past)
neverminded (past)

Nevermind a sustainable river, a sustainable earth, like an improvident farmer who kills his only milk cow because he wants steak tonight.

1989, William Mills, The Arkansas: An American River, page 159:

"Ya, that's a good idea, neverminding. Let's nevermind, huh?"


BR

(chiefly Canada, US) Abbreviation of bedroom.


recap

recap (third-person singular simple present recaps, present participle recapping, simple past and past participle recapped)

recaps (present singular third-person)
recapping (participle present)
recapped (participle past)
recapped (past)

They buy a lot of camelback because they recap a lot of truck tires for trailer fleets.

In 1942 almost 86,000,000 pounds of camelback—a 25-percent increase over 1941—were made available for recapping purposes, and the output of this product is continually increasing. Dealer establishments are as busy as beehives. They have about 90 percent of the recapping equipment. In the testimony before you yesterday one of the proponents of this bill admitted that independent dealers had 88 percent of all the recapping machinery there is in the United States. We estimate that it is probably about that figure, although we thought it was a little higher, probably 90 percent. In addition to recapping tires for the general public, they also are doing this work on Government-owned tires, including the military, with the result that the independent dealer has retreaded hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tires, at a substantial profit, during said period.

1943 November 10, Lyle M. Buckingham, “Distribution of motor-vehicle tires. [Testimony.]”, in Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Government Printing Office, page 51:

Are recapped tires safe? This is obviously the thing to know before you consider buying recaps.

1957 Aug, “Recap your old tires?”, in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, volume 11, number 8, page 13:

(Canada, US) To replace the worn tread on a tire by gluing on a new outer portion.


MSA

(US) Initialism of Michigan Statutes Annotated.


MSA

en-noun

MSA (countable and uncountable, plural MSAs)

metropolitan statistical area
w:metropolitan statistical area

(US, demography) Initialism of metropolitan statistical area.


GSW

Golden State Warriors
w:Golden State Warriors

(US, basketball) Initialism of Golden State Warriors.


CCLCM

(US) Initialism of Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.


highfalutin

en-adj

highfalutin (comparative more highfalutin, superlative most highfalutin)

more highfalutin (comparative)
most highfalutin (superlative)
hifalutin (alternative)
hifalutin' (alternative)
hifaluting (alternative)
highfalutin' (alternative)
highfaluting (alternative)
high-falutin (alternative)
high-falutin' (alternative)
high-faluting (alternative)
high falutin (alternative)
high falutin' (alternative)
high faluting (alternative)

Possible an alteration of high-fluting. Another speculation connects the term with high-flighting/-flying. First appears c. 1839 in the Spirit of the Times.

It's only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the scenery.

That one Cajun that moved to Austin is too highfalutin to come back to Livingston Parish. He's over there with that mean bread lady!

His speech was very highfalutin.

There’s been a spate of stories lately about how Cruz’s rhetoric is more hifalutin than everybody else’s. He uses lots of big words and dependent clauses.

2015 November 1, Hendrik Hertzberg, “That G.O.P. Debate: Two Footnotes”, in The New Yorker:

(US, informal) Self-important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical.

надут

(informal) self-important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical


fifth wheel

fifth wheels (plural)
5th wheel (alternative)

/ˌfɪfθ ˈʍiːl/

From the fact that since many vehicles such as carriages, coaches, wagons, prime movers, and trucks generally have four wheels on which they move, this component which resembles a wheel is the fifth.
* (anything superfluous or unnecessary): Sense 3 refers to the fact that a fifth wheel is not needed for a four-wheeled vehicle to operate.

nb...

􂀿...􂁀 Containing Complete Instructions in All the Different Branches of Carriage Building. Adapted to the Wants of Every Person Directly or Indirectly Connected with the Manufacture of Carriages. Written and Revised by Practical Men of Acknowledged Ability and Practical Experience in Their Several Departments.

refn

From “Platform Spring Carriage”, in The Coach-makers’ Illustrated Hand-book, […], 2nd edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: I[saac] D[elaney] Ware, […], 1875, →OCLC, part II (Blacksmith Department), page 126.

Fifth-wheel hitching is a simple affair compared to trailer coupling. Choose a quality hitch and don't overburden an inadequate pickup truck with a big fifth wheel and you're almost in business.

1997, Kim Baker, Sunny Baker, “Towing, Tow Vehicles, and Towed Vehicles”, in The RVer’s Bible: Everything You Need to Know about Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Your RV (A Fireside Book), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, part II (The Mechanical Side of RVing), page 182:

Janet [Rosenstock] and Dennis [Adair] are avid travelers who venture to Europe now and again, and as full-time RVers travel through the United States and Canada. Look for them on the open road; their fifth wheel bears the sign "Read a Joyce Carlow lately?"

2000, Janet Rosenstock, Dennis Adair, “About the Author”, in The Fire, the Sword and the Devil, Lincoln, Neb.: toExcel, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 382:

(road transport) A type of trailer hitch, which consists of a horseshoe-shaped plate on a multidirectional pivot, with a locking pin to couple with the kingpin of a truck trailer.

In full, fifth-wheel trailer: a large caravan or travel trailer that is connected to a pickup truck for towing by a hitch similar to the one described in sense 1 located in the center of the truck's bed.


CFR

Code of Federal Regulations
w:en:Code of Federal Regulations

(US, law) Initialism of Code of Federal Regulations.

Council on Foreign Relations
w:en:Council on Foreign Relations

(US) Initialism of Council on Foreign Relations.


NOAA

/ˌɛn oʊ eɪ ˈeɪ/

It noted that the reanalyzer uses model output data, which it called “not suitable” as substitutes for actual temperatures and climate records. The NOAA monitors global temperatures and records on a monthly and an annual basis, not daily.

2023 July 7, “UN says climate change ‘out of control’ after likely hottest week on record”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(US) Acronym of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


NAMI

The NAMI survey found that most Americans did not know crucial facts about the Lifeline or what to expect if they call.

2023 July 13, Christina Caron, “Is the New 988 Suicide Hotline Working?”, in The New York Times:

National Alliance on Mental Illness
w:National Alliance on Mental Illness

(US) Acronym of National Alliance on Mental Illness.


NIMH

National Institute of Mental Health
w:National Institute of Mental Health

(US) Acronym of National Institute of Mental Health.


STA

(law, US) Initialism of special temporary authority (to operate a radio station in the US)


DO

en-noun

DO (countable and uncountable, plural DOs)


roustabout

roustabouts (plural)
rouseabout (alternative)

The U. is my own Alma Mater, and I am proud to be known as an alumni, but there are certain instructors there who seem to think we ought to turn the conduct of the nation over to hoboes and roustabouts.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 14, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

Then Sísiphos in torment I beheld / being roustabout to a tremendous boulder.

1961, Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Odyssey, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Book Eleven, 668-9:

Brooklyn Tony, who had run away from home to be a circus roustabout, became a poster artist and eventually an Abstract Expressionist.

1974, Saul Bellow, “Him with His Foot in His Mouth”, in Collected Stories, Penguin, published 2001, page 377:

She works in McGregor, North Dakota as a roustabout pusher. That means she and her crew help fix and maintain the drilling sites.

2013 January 7, Celeste Headlee, NPR, archived from the original on 2015-10-29:

See also quotations under rouseabout.

(chiefly US) An unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship.


DSS

Diplomatic Security Service
w:Diplomatic Security Service

(government, US) Initialism of Diplomatic Security Service.


UBAL

(US) Acronym of unlawful blood alcohol level.


UDAA

(US) Initialism of unlawful driving away of an automobile.


RH

RH (countable and uncountable, plural RHs)

(US, army, aviation) Initialism of reconnaissance helicopter.


VBSL

(US) Initialism of violation of the basic speed law.


SS

(US, Navy) Initialism of subsurface, a subsurface ship, a submarine

attack submarine
attack submarine#English


DOI

w:United States Department of the Interior

(US) Initialism of Department of the Interior.


sportscaster

At the beginning of the all-star game, the sportscaster always says that the players just want to have fun today; at halftime, or in the bottom of the fifth inning, the sportscaster always says that the players' competitive spirit has taken over and now they all really want to win.

2003, David Shields, Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity, Univ of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 49:

(chiefly Canada, US) One who reports sporting events on television or radio.


DARPA

(US, military) Acronym of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.


DEA

When Trump announced Chronister as his pick Saturday, the president-elect said in a social media post: “As DEA Administrator, Chad will work with our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES.”

2024 December 3, Alejandra Jaramillo and Jack Forrest, “Trump’s pick for DEA administrator withdraws from consideration”, in CNN:

Drug Enforcement Administration
w:Drug Enforcement Administration

(US) Initialism of Drug Enforcement Administration.


UAW

Coordinate term: CAW

What the UAW and the automobile manufacturers had done in the private sector, Eisenhower wanted to accomplish in the public sector.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 1, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:

The W.G.A. owes a debt of gratitude to unions like the U.A.W., too, for modeling effective — and at times ineffective — collective bargaining techniques.

2023 September 29, Adam Seth Litwin, “Hollywood’s Deal With Screenwriters Just Rewrote the Rules Around A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

United Auto Workers
w:United Auto Workers

(US, labor union) Initialism of United Auto Workers.


SBA

Small Business Administration
w:Small Business Administration

(US) Initialism of Small Business Administration.


DNC

(US, law, historical) Initialism of District of North Carolina, a former United States federal court.


BLS

Bureau of Labor Statistics
w:Bureau of Labor Statistics

(US) Initialism of Bureau of Labor Statistics.


nat

(colloquial, US) Clipping of natatorium.


MRO

(NASA, space science, US) Initialism of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.


USW

United Steelworkers
w:United Steelworkers

(Canada, US, trade unionism) Initialism of United Steelworkers.


ICWUC

w:International Chemical Workers Union Council

(US, labor union) Initialism of International Chemical Workers Union Council.


PACE

w:Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union

(US, labor union) Acronym of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union.


ICEM

w:International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union

(US, labor union) Initialism of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union.


DTRA

(US, military) Initialism of Defense Threat Reduction Agency.


marketeer

(US) A specialist in marketing (promoting and selling products and services).


puss

puss (countable and uncountable, plural pusses)

Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (piši), Tamil பூசை (pūcai), Tagalog pusa
and Sardinian pisittu.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themselves.


CMS

Chicago Manual of Style
w:en:Chicago Manual of Style

(media, US) Initialism of Chicago Manual of Style.

Charlotte Motor Speedway
w:en:Charlotte Motor Speedway

(US, motor racing) Initialism of Charlotte Motor Speedway.


NPCA

(US) Initialism of National Paint and Coatings Association.


NACD

(US) Initialism of National Association of Chemical Distributors.


sanitary napkin

en-noun

sanitary napkin (plural sanitary napkins)

sanitary napkins (plural)
sanitary pad (alternative)
sanitary towel (alternative)

(chiefly US, Philippines) Synonym of menstrual pad: a pad of absorbent material used to absorb menstrual flow.


BRACC

Base Realignment and Closure
w:Base Realignment and Closure

(US, military) Acronym of Base Realignment and Closure.


FCU

(US) Initialism of federal credit union.


NPS

National Park Service
w:National Park Service

(US) Initialism of National Park Service.


cosmopolitan

From cosmopolite + -an. Compare metropolitan and megalopolitan.

(Canada, US, dated) A butterfly of species Vanessa cardui.


regent

/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/

From Middle English regent, from Anglo-Norman regent, Middle French regent, and their source, Latin regēns (“ruling; ruler, governor, prince”), present participle of regō (“I govern, I steer”).

der

(Scotland, Canada, US) A member of governing board of a college or university; also a governor of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.


bumper sticker

bumper stickers (plural)
bumper-sticker (alternative)

→ Dutch: bumpersticker

He has a bumper sticker on his van that reads "faster than a speeding ticket".

My space in the teachers' parking lot was next to Henry's. His back bumper had two stickers: "I'd Rather Be Golfing" and "He who dies with the most toys WINS!"

2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.35

Many longtime residents strongly oppose the extremism of the newcomers, sporting bumper stickers that say, “Don't Californicate Colorado.”

2012 [2001], Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 65:

Are bumper stickers, as a folk art, on the decline? Yes — in fact, a lot of luxury cars don’t even have bumpers anymore.

2012 September 21, Pagan Kennedy, “Who Made That Bumper Sticker?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US) An adhesive label or decal, usually applied to the bumper or back end of an automobile, and displaying a short political, promotional, philosophical, or humorous message.

bumper-sticker philosophy

"It's like a status thing, you know? 'My kid's special because he's got a peanut allergy.' I'm surprised they don't have a bumper sticker for it."

2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.7, at p.157

(US, figurative) Said of canned insight; a slogan or saying that is trite or lacks depth.


dink

Origin unknown. Attested since the 1960s. Compare Chink, a derogatory term for a Chinese person.

unknown

Origin unknown

Our job was to go out on night patrols and stay behind to zap any dinks we caught sneaking back to their holes at dawn.

1989, Craig Roberts, Charles W. Sasser, The Walking Dead: A Marine's Story of Vietnam, page 197:

(US, military slang, derogatory, dated) A North Vietnamese soldier.


dink

Acronym. Originally US. Attested since the 1980s.


dink

Origin unknown. Attested since the late nineteenth century.

Origin unknown

The hair on my legs is softer than the hair around my dink, but it still grosses me out.

2004, Brian Francis, Fruit: A Novel about a Boy and his Nipples, page 2:

(Canada, US, colloquial, slang) The penis.

[…]he was a dink, and all the money, fame, and power in the world wouldn't change that one simple fact.

1997, Chris Gudgeon, You’re Not as Good as You Think, page 13:

(Canada, US, colloquial, slang) A foolish or contemptible person.


dink

(US, military) Alternative spelling of dinq


utilization

en-noun

utilization (countable and uncountable, plural utilizations)

utilizations (plural)
utilisation (alternative)

From French utilisation or from utilize + -ation.

(Canada, US, Oxford British English) Alternative spelling of utilisation


precept

en-verb

precept (third-person singular simple present precepts, present participle precepting, simple past and past participle precepted)

precepts (present singular third-person)
precepting (participle present)
precepted (participle past)
precepted (past)
præcept (alternative)

Borrowed from Late Latin praeceptum, form of praecipiō (“to teach”), from Latin prae (“pre-”) + capiō (“take”).

(intransitive, chiefly US, medicine) To act as a preceptor; to teach a physician-in-training by supervising their clinical practice.


inquire

inquire (third-person singular simple present inquires, present participle inquiring, simple past and past participle inquired)

inquires (present singular third-person)
inquiring (participle present)
inquired (participle past)
inquired (past)
enquire (alternative)

From Latin inquīrō (“to seek for”), composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“I seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Displaced Middle English enqueren (from Old French enquerre, of the same source) and native Middle English speir (“ask, inquire”).

der

"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day.[…]A strong man—a strong one; and a heedless." ¶ "Of what party is he?" she inquired, as though casually.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(intransitive, US, Canada, Australia) To ask (about something).


pitcher

(chiefly US, colloquial) The top partner in a homosexual relationship or penetrator in a sexual encounter between two men.


inquire after

en-verb

inquire after (third-person singular simple present inquires after, present participle inquiring after, simple past and past participle inquired after)

inquires after (present singular third-person)
inquiring after (participle present)
inquired after (participle past)
inquired after (past)
enquire after (alternative)

(transitive) To ask about the health of (someone).

demander des renseignements sur quelqu’un


vise

→ Japanese: バイス

From Middle English vis, vys, vice (“screw”), from Anglo-Norman vyz, vice, from Old French vis, viz, from Latin vītis f (“vine”).
Probably akin to English withe.

Clamp this loop in a strong vise and twist the two ends evenly into one piece. As the twisting progresses, move the wire along so as to keep the grip of the vise close to the hands.

1937 October, R. H. Jenkins, “Five attractive new designs you can work out from inexpensive materials”, in Popular Science, volume 131, number 4, Bonnier Corporation, page 96:

(US) An instrument consisting of two jaws, closing by a screw, lever, cam, or the like, for holding work, as in filing.


prenuptial

prenuptials (plural)
pre-nuptial (alternative)

Thus, the collaborative prenuptial is recommended.

2014, Marilyn J. Coleman, Lawrence H. Ganong, The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia:

prenuptial agreement
prenuptial agreement#English


tearoom

From tea + room. In reference to a lavatory, probably as a variant of t-room (“toilet room”).

I'm deathly afraid of the tearooms though, John. Some of my best friends have been entrapped and busted by the fuzz.

1973, chapter II, in Deep Dick, page 21:

I had run into Grant in a tea-room—The busy main floor crapper—a few months earlier.

1975, chapter III, in Hard-Headed Dick, page 39:

The euphemistically named "tea room" has been used in sexual subcultures among men who have sex with men (MSM) to describe public sex environments, usually public toilets, where men meet other men in sexual interaction... The term itself might be outdated...

2014, A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis, page 216:

(euphemistic, slang) A public lavatory, especially (US, gay slang, dated) as a meeting place for gay men.


VOA

(US, radio) Initialism of Voice of America.


NIGMS

w:National Institute of General Medical Sciences

(US) Initialism of National Institute of General Medical Sciences.


AMS

American Mathematical Society
w:American Mathematical Society

(US, mathematics) Initialism of American Mathematical Society.

American Meteorological Society
w:American Meteorological Society

(US, meteorology) Initialism of American Meteorological Society.


icy

en-adj

icy (comparative icier, superlative iciest)

icier (comparative)
iciest (superlative)
icey (alternative)
ycie (alternative)

Your bitch's a regular bitch, you're calling her wifey, I fucked her, I feed her fast food, you're keeping her icy.

2003, “Patiently Waiting”, in Curtis Jackson, Marshall Mathers, Luis Resto, Mike Elizondo (lyrics), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent:

(US, slang) To be wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, especially of the high-quality and expensive kind.


HUD

Folks were divided on whether to blame him or his wife for selling it to a developer cashing in on HUD money.

2003, Toni Morrison, Love, Vintage (2016), page 45:

The request has added to worries among workers that HUD might be the next target for major downsizing by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a unit in the Trump administration led by Elon Musk.

2025 February 11, Jennifer Ludden, “HUD is bracing as DOGE seeks to cut waste, fraud. Union leaders have a suggestion”, in w: NPR:

(US, politics) Acronym of Department of Housing and Urban Development.


EEOC

w:Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(US) Initialism of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.


apple cider

en-noun

apple cider (countable and uncountable, plural apple ciders)

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

(Canada, US) Cider; sweet cider (non-alcoholic beverage).


CMHS

(US) Initialism of Center for Mental Health Services.


DHHS

(US) Initialism of Department of Health and Human Service.


gina

(US, Canada, slang, derogatory) The female equivalent of a gino.


w/h

(US, taxation) Abbreviation of withholding.


DMCA

The DMCA also gives the targets of notice-and-takedown complaints a limited opportunity to have access to their materials restored.

2001, Charles H. Kennedy, An introduction to U.S. telecommunications law:

Digital Millennium Copyright Act
w:Digital Millennium Copyright Act

(US law) Initialism of Digital Millennium Copyright Act.


Eph

Shortened from Ephraim Williams, the name of the college's benefactor.

(US, slang) A student at Williams College, Massachusetts, USA.


takeout

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

(Canada, US) (Of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought.

за вкъщи

(of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought


takeout

takeout (countable and uncountable, plural takeouts)

takeouts (plural)
take-out (alternative)

desc

Japanese: テイクアウト (teikuauto), テークアウト (tēkuauto)

(Canada, US, Philippines) Food purchased from a takeaway.


thumbtack

Coordinate term: pushpin

You say that I'm broke my nigga, how is that?
Bitch I'm stickin to this paper like a thumbtack

2016 June 10, BlocBoy JB (lyrics and music), “No Chorus, Pt. 5”, in Who Am I, 1:20–1:27:

(Canada, US) A small nail-like tack with a slightly rounded head that can be pressed into place with light pressure from the thumb; used for hanging light articles on a wall or noticeboard.


cheerleader

(chiefly US) A person, usually a young, attractive female, who encourages applause and cheers at a sports event, and wearing a specially-designed uniform in the official colors of the team he/she cheers for.

rasieleier

person (usually female) who encourages applause


crevasse

From French crevasse. Doublet of crevice.


parkway

→ Japanese: パークウェイ (pākuwei)

(US) A divided highway with a landscaped median.


NCAUR

(US) Initialism of National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research.


NASW

w:National Association of Social Workers

(US) Initialism of National Association of Social Workers.


NAFDI

(US) Acronym of National Foundation for Depressive Illness.


AFSP

Annual Filing Season Program
w:Annual Filing Season Program

(US): Initialism of Annual Filing Season Program.


AO

(US, Navy) Abbreviation of auxiliary oiler.


FQPA

(US, law) Initialism of Food Quality Protection Act.


SAP

en-noun

SAP (countable and uncountable, plural SAPs)

special access program
w:special access program

(US, military) Initialism of special access program.


AV

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of Auxiliary Voler, a naval aircraft transport.


fanny fart

(US, mildly vulgar or childish) A (normal) fart.


NHC

“The NHC has issued a hurricane watch for southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi and Alabama coasts.”

2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 182:

(US) Initialism of National Hurricane Center.


DPA

Defense Production Act
w:en:Defense Production Act of 1950

(US) Initialism of Defense Production Act.


SSR

Sub Surface Radar
Sub Surface Radar#English

(US, military, nautical, obsolete) Initialism of Sub Surface Radar — a radar picket submarine.


scallion

scallions (plural)
scullion (alternative)

From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), from Ancient Greek Ἀσκάλων (Askálōn, “Ascalon, an ancient port city in the Levant”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ʾašqəlôn).

der

Allium fistulosum
Allium fistulosum#Translingual

(now chiefly US, Ireland) A spring onion, Allium fistulosum.

(now chiefly US, Ireland) Any of various similar members of the genus Allium.


grill

en-noun

grill (plural grills or (jewelry) grillz)

grills (plural)
grillz (plural)
grille (alternative)

1655, from French gril, from Middle French gril, from Old French greïl, graïl (“gridiron”), from graïlle (“grate, grating”), from Latin crātīcula (“gridiron”), diminutive of crātis (“hurdle, wickerwork”), q.v. Related to griddle, hurdle.

I put some peppers and mushrooms on the grill to go with dinner.

(US) A cooking device comprising a source of radiative and convective heat and a means of holding food above it; a barbecue.


grill

en-verb

grill (third-person singular simple present grills, present participle grilling, simple past and past participle grilled)

grills (present singular third-person)
grilling (participle present)
grilled (participle past)
grilled (past)
grille (alternative)

Bradly hung the fowl in a sugar-bag for to-morrow's dinner and set about grilling chops, with tomatoes stuffed with cheese and breadcrumbs in the pan.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 139:

(transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To cook food under the element of a stove or only under the top element of an oven – (US) broil, (cooking) salamander.


grill

grills (present singular third-person)
grilling (participle present)
grilled (participle past)
grilled (past)
girl (alternative)

From Middle English grillen (“to anger, provoke”), from Old English grillan, griellan (“to annoy, vex, offend”), from Proto-West Germanic *gralljan (“to shout, make angry”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian grulje (“to make angry”), Dutch grillen (“to shudder, shiver”), Low German vergrellen (“to anger, provoke”), German grollen (“to rumble”) and perhaps also with French grouiller (“to swarm”).

cog

(transitive, Scotland, US, obsolete) To make angry; provoke; offend, incite.


bum's rush

First use appears c. 1911. See cite below.

"I didnt' think you fellows'd put the bum's rush onto me," he complained, "I ain't no bum."

1911 March, Wm. Hamilton Osborne, “Blowing the Crowd”, in Ambition: A Journal of Inspiration to Self Help, volume 9, number 8:

It seems that the board appointed to look into alleged shortcomings of leftish Council leaders didn't like the "observers" who were brought along and decided to give them the bum's rush.

1948, Daily Labor Report - Issues 181-210, page 326:

But suddenly he has a lucid interval . . . senses exactly what is going on. And he gives me this furious look. Astonishes me by saying, with all the old force, in his old, frightening growl: “This is a bum's rush!”

2013, Chris Crowley, Jennifer Sacheck, Thinner This Year: A Younger Next Year Book:

Early last September, some fellow beekeepers reported that the females in their bee colonies had already given the bum's rush to the males, the drones, kicking them out in the cold.

2013, Jack Mingo, Bees Make the Best Pets, page 81:

(chiefly Canada, US, slang, idiomatic) The forcible ejection of someone, such as a bum or a hobo, from an establishment.

Baumes law on Wikipedia.: although this has been suggested as the origin of the phrase

bum's rush was in use more than a decade before the law was passed


receptacle

From Middle English receptacle, from Anglo-Norman receptacle and Middle French receptacle (“organ containing a fluid; gathering place; water basin”) (modern French réceptacle), from Latin receptāculum (“animal enclosure, container, place of refuge, receptacle, repository, reservoir, shelter”), from receptāre (“to harbour, to receive, to shelter”) or receptō (“I receive back or again, I recover”), frequentative of recipiō (“I receive; I hold back, I reserve”) (from re- (“back, again”) + capiō (“I hold”)) + -culum (suffix forming nouns from verbs, particularly nouns representing tools and instruments); cognate with Italian recettaculo, ricettaculo, Portuguese receptáculo, Spanish receptáculo.

der

National Electrical Manufacturers Association

A contact device installed at an outlet for the connection of an attachment plug is a receptacle[…]. A multiple receptacle is a single device consisting of two or more receptacles[…].

2002, Charles R. Miller, “Section 1: Foundational Provisions”, in Illustrated Guide to the National Electrical Code: Based on the 2002 National Electrical Code, 2nd edition, Albany, N.Y.: Delmar Thomson Learning, →ISBN, unit 2 (Definitions), page 22:

Whether you call them outlets, plug-ins, or receptacles, these important devices represent the point where the rubber meets the road in your home wiring system. From the basic 15-amp, 120-volt duplex receptacle to the burly 50-amp, 240-volt appliance receptacle, the many outlets in your home do pretty much the same thing: transmit power to a load.

2008, “Receptacles”, in The Complete Guide to Wiring (Complete Guide series), 4th rev. edition, Minneapolis, Minn.: Creative Publishing International, →ISBN, page 103:

(electricity, US) A contact device installed at an outlet for the connection of an attachment plug (typically by receiving the plug's prongs) to supply portable appliances or equipment.

dugaszalj, dugaszaljzat, konnektoraljzat, csatlakozó aljzat


saddle

→ Japanese: サドル (sadoru)

Homer Tunnel
Milford Sound
Oxford English Dictionary

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”.
Cognates
* Danish sadel
* Dutch zadel
* German Sattel
* Icelandic söðull
* Low German Sadel
* Russian седло́ (sedló)
* Saterland Frisian Soadel
* Scots sadil
* Swedish sadel
* West Frisian seal

saal

seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal

satula

something resembling a saddle in appearance or shape

satula

depression located along the axial trend of an anticline

Something resembling a saddle (sense 1) in appearance or shape.

A piece of leather stitched across the instep of a shoe, usually having a different colour from the rest of the shoe.

satula

'Now then … What'll it be, boys?' Mr Berman asked. / My mother answered. 'Brown-and-white saddles for Fudge and loafers for Peter.'

1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, New York, N.Y.: Dutton Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 56:

Synonym of saddle oxford or saddle shoe (“a shoe, resembling an oxford, which has a saddle (sense 11.1)”)


saddle

en-verb

saddle (third-person singular simple present saddles, present participle saddling, simple past and past participle saddled)

saddles (present singular third-person)
saddling (participle present)
saddled (participle past)
saddled (past)
saddle (infinitive)

From Middle English sadelen (“to put a saddle on (an animal), to saddle”) [and other forms], from Old English sadolian, sadelian, sadilian (“to saddle”), from Proto-Germanic *sadulōną (“to saddle”), from *sadulaz (“a saddle”, noun) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming denominative verbs from nouns).
Cognates
* Middle Dutch sādelen (modern Dutch zadelen)
* Middle Low German sādelen
* Old Danish sathlæ (modern Danish sadle)
* Old High German satalōn, satulōn (Middle High German satelen, sateln, German satteln)
* Old Norse sǫðla
* Old Swedish saþla (modern Swedish sadla)

nb...

(Late Middle English) saddull, sadylle, (Middle English) saddil, saddull, saddyll, sadel, sadele, sadil, sadille, sadillen, sadle, sadlen, sadul, sadulle, sadyl, sadyll, (Early Middle English) sadeli (West Midlands), sadelie (West Midlands), sadelien

nshiuedz

(transitive) to put a saddle on (an animal)

kiinnittää

to put (something) on to another thing like a saddle on an animal

satuloida

(intransitive) to put a saddle on an animal

Next day, while we were saddling, Ali and Abd el Kader appeared.

1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book VI: The Raid upon the Bridges. Chapter LXXI.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 394:

(intransitive, chiefly Canada, US) Often followed by up.

Often followed by up.
To put a saddle on an animal.

Till the dead midnight we saddled not,— / I have journeyed far and fast— / And hither I come to carry thee back / Ere the darkness shall be past.

c. 1844 June (date written), Gottfried August Bürger, translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lenore […], London: Ellis and Elvey, […], published 1900, →OCLC, page 26:

[A]y, every churl who owns a manor, if he dares—must needs arm and saddle, and levy war on his own behalf, and harry and slay the King's lieges, if he have not garlic to his roast goose every time he chooses […]

1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward was Outlawed, and Went North to Seek His Fortunes”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I, London, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 61:

Often followed by up.
Of a person: to get into a saddle.


RTP

Research Triangle Park
w:Research Triangle Park

(US) Initialism of Research Triangle Park (and metonymically referring to the Research Triangle region)


trooper

From troop + -er, from French troupe. The sense of “one who endures adversity” comes from trouper (“member of an acting troupe”) but through assimilation with the sense of “soldier” has come to be usually spelled “trooper”.

(US, law enforcement) Ellipsis of state trooper.


mizzle

en-verb

mizzle (third-person singular simple present mizzles, present participle mizzling, simple past and past participle mizzled)

mizzles (present singular third-person)
mizzling (participle present)
mizzled (participle past)
mizzled (past)

From Late Middle English misellen (“to drizzle”), cognate with Low German miseln, musseln (“to mizzle”), Dutch miezelen (“to drizzle, rain gently”). Of obscure origin, possibly a frequentative related to the base of mist; or, related to Middle Low German mes (“urine”), Middle Dutch mes, mis (“urine”), both from Old Saxon mehs (“urine”), from Proto-Germanic *mihstuz, *mihstaz, *mihsk- (“urine”), from *mīganą (“to urinate”), from Proto-Indo-European *meiǵʰ-, *omeiǵʰ- (“to urinate”). Compare also English micturate (“to urinate”), Old Frisian mese (“urine”), Low German miegen (“to urinate”), Dutch mijgen (“to urinate”), Danish mige (“to urinate”).

cog

(intransitive, British, Canada, US, chiefly dialectal) To rain in very fine drops.


floater

From float + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

kelluja

person who physically floats in a gas or liquid

kelluva esine

thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid

leijuri

(figurative) A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.

A voter who shifts their allegiance from one political party to another, especially (US) one whose vote can be illegally purchased.

puoluettaan vaihtava äänestäjä

(US) A person who votes illegally in various electoral districts or polling places, either under a false voter registration or under the name of a properly registered voter who has not yet voted.

laittomasti moneen kertaan äänestävä

(US) A person, such as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, such as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed one (or an extra) representative of its own.

epätavallisen vaalipiirin edustaja

person who represents an irregular constituency

["]Suppose I should tell you that there's a permanent order in the sheriff's office, left there by the old sheriff, that if I ever use your name or admit I'm your wife I'll get a floater out of the county and out of the state. Does that tempt you?" / "Tempt me to do what?" / "To get me floated and take all the money."

1952 September 19, John Steinbeck, chapter 31, in East of Eden, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, book 3, section 1, page 383:

(figurative) A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.

(US, law) A criminal sentence which is suspended so long as the convicted person leaves an area.


sawbuck

sawbucks (plural)
saw buck (alternative)

* From saw + buck, calque of Dutch zaagbok.
* (ten-dollar bill): From the resemblance of the Roman numeral X (ten) to a sawhorse.


Ameche

After Don Ameche, who played Alexander Graham Bell in a 1939 film.

Alexander Graham Bell
Don Ameche
en:The Story of Alexander Graham Bell


bean-shooter

bean-shooters (plural)
beanshooter (alternative)


beezer

Unknown, perhaps from Spanish cabeza (“head”), though the meaning “head” appears to somewhat postdate “nose” in English. First attested in 1908, originally apparently as American boxing slang. Various sources have suggested a borrowing, perhaps by American sailors or marines, from Mandarin 鼻子 (“nose”). While the Mandarin may have reinforced an existing term, an ultimate derivation from Mandarin is improbable given the context and time frame of early use.

We were beating up into the wind, when Captain Pray decided to tack, and her concise order to me was “Duck your beezer!” and while I was wondering which part of the boat a beezer was, the boom just missed the top of my head and she remarked, “I told you to duck.”

1921 July 24, Eleanor Pray, “[Letter home]”, in Birgitta Ingemanson, editor, Letters from Vladivostok, 1894–1930, published 2013, page 98:

“[…] If the hogs ate your beezer with all the phony ideas you’ve got in it, they’d croak!”

1928, Robert Joyce Tasker, Grimhaven, page 110:

“If you’re mad, go to Lindewiese— / Then be glad, put an old hat on your beezer!”

1936, Adolf Lorenz, My Life and Work: The Search for a Missing Glove, page 4:

Beezer, head

[1937, “Slang: American Slang”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica, 14th edition, volume 20, page 768:


bindle

Probably a corruption of bundle; perhaps influenced by the preceding word bindle meaning "length of cord used to bind something".

[L]astly he made a bindle in a plastic tarp of some cans of juice and cans of fruit and cans of vegetables […]

2006, Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN:

(US and Canada slang) A bundle carried by a hobo (usually containing his possessions), often on a stick slung over the shoulder; a blanket roll.

(Canada, US, slang) Any bundle or package; specifically one containing narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, or morphine.