freep

en-verb

freep (third-person singular simple present freeps, present participle freeping, simple past and past participle freeped)

freeps (present singular third-person)
freeping (participle present)
freeped (participle past)
freeped (past)
FReep (alternative)
Freep (alternative)

Back-formation of Freeper, from The Free Republic, a popular conservative forum.

Hearsay even got "freeped." "Freepers," followers of a rightist Web site called Free Republic, orchestrated a "Freeper Call to Action."

2000 February 28, James V. Grimaldi, “Hearsay: The Lawyer's Column; Keeping Up With the Gundersons”, in The Washington Post:

Freeping is one of the reasons Internet surveys are useless as a gauge of public opinion because the results can reflect an organized campaign.

2005 August 22, Tim Cuprisin, “Contest may not be clear of 'freep'”, in Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, archived from the original on 2008-02-12:

(US, politics, Internet slang) To subject to a mass internet or email assault aimed at pushing a particular point of view.


moonshining

(informal, US) Illicit production and distribution of liquor.


strap on a pair

strap on a pair (third-person singular simple present straps on a pair, present participle strapping on a pair, simple past and past participle strapped on a pair)

straps on a pair (present singular third-person)
strapping on a pair (participle present)
strapped on a pair (participle past)
strapped on a pair (past)

Abbreviation of "strap on a pair of testicles".

The moral of the story is strap on a pair and be a man.

2002 July 17, "Parenting Forum," cleveland.com (Cleveland Plain Dealer) (retrieved 29 Oct 2008)

Somebody clearly needed to "strap on a pair" and say what needed to be said. Forget the flowery words and sensitivity training.

2003 February 1, “The power of words”, in Automotive Industries, retrieved 2008-10-29:

(chiefly US, colloquial, idiomatic, somewhat vulgar) To be brave; to show some courage, especially in a situation where one has so far failed to do so.


whyn't

‘She's skeered. Whyn't they leave her be?’

1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 67:

(US, dialectal) Contraction of why don't.

"Whyn't he tell me, the dang little fool?" "He did!" Mrs. Adams sobbed. "He did tell you, and you wouldn't give it to him."

1921, Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams, page 389:

(US, dialectal) Contraction of why didn't.


use tax

(US) A charge imposed on the use or possession of personal property


CMO

en-noun

CMO (countable and uncountable, plural CMOs)

civil-military operations
w:civil-military operations

(US, military) Initialism of civil-military operations (“a military activity”).


cybergenic

en-adj

cybergenic (comparative more cybergenic, superlative most cybergenic)

more cybergenic (comparative)
most cybergenic (superlative)

They may be near the back of the pack now, but one of them is likely to emerge to vie with Howard Dean, the cybergenic former governor of Vermont […]

2003 September 18, “Edwards, Clark make it official”, in Fayetteville Observer, archived from the original on 2016-03-05:

And when he wins, let us hope that Obama's cybergenic instincts enable the first cybergenic president to govern as effectively as he ran.

2008 August 14, Mitch Wagner, “Digital Campaigning Won't Put Obama In The White House”, in Information Week:

(US, politics) Exhibiting qualities thought to be attractive to internet users


dealy

What's that dealy behind the cab with a chain hooked to it?

He [...] hands Brooklyn his flashlight. It’s one of those survivalist dealies that needs to be cranked instead of having batteries.

2020, N. K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit, page 419:

(US, slang) An object, especially a gadget, whose name the speaker currently cannot recall.


MRAP

(military, US) Abbreviation of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle.


WAC

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


ground game

en-noun

ground game (countable and uncountable, plural ground games)

While the Democratic "ground game" in Texas seems unusually strong, so is the Republicans'.

1988 August 8, Paul Taylor, “Texans Say Bentsen on Ticket Rejuvenates State's Democrats”, in Washington Post, archived from the original on 2013-06-30, page A1:

(US, politics, countable) Local political organization


slave code

(US) Any of several laws that regulated slavery


violative

en-adj

violative (comparative more violative, superlative most violative)

more violative (comparative)
most violative (superlative)

If a restaurant had a policy that two blacks or two Catholics could not sit together, everyone would understand that that policy is unacceptable and illegal. Similarly, we feel that insisting that two people of the same sex cannot sit together is also violative of the law.

1983 August 20, Sue Hyde, quoting Gloria Allred, “'Romantic Dinners' For Hets Only?”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 6, page 2:

If YouTube finds fewer videos to be violative — and therefore removes fewer of them — the percentage of violative video views may decrease. And none of the data is subject to an independent audit, although the company did not rule that out in the future.

2021 April 6, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “YouTube discloses the percentage of views going to videos that break its rules.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US) Tending to violate; constituting a violation; of or relating to violation.


flopper

According to the New York correspondent of the "Daily Mail," professional "floppers" are making good livings out of American insurance companies.

1928, The Post Magazine and Insurance Monitor:

(US, slang) A person who deliberately falls down on a slippery floor or in front of an automobile etc. so as to claim compensation.


ox is in the ditch

An allusion to the urgency and difficulty of extracting an ox from a ditch in which it has become mired.

"The ox is in the ditch," said she, referring to the New Testament excuse for Sabbath work where the need is great, "and Billy must mend this gate if it is Sunday."

1904, Clifton Johnson, Highways and Byways of the South, Macmillan, page 169:

In talking to his staff, Lyndon B. Johnson always announced the onset of catastrophe with the statement: "The ox is in the ditch!"

1987 March 6, George Reedy, “Can the President Still Lead?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-11-07:

"It's obvious that the ox is in the ditch big time," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The Postal Service is projecting up to $5 billion in losses over the next two years.

2001 May 15, “Senators seek Postal Service overhaul”, in USA Today, retrieved 2008-11-07:

"You oughtn't to work on the Lord's Day, son," she told Dad both times. Dad's response was always the same. "The ox is in the ditch, Ma."

2006, Fred Harris, Following the Harvest: A Novel, →ISBN, page 71:

(idiomatic, chiefly southern US) This is a big problem; there is unavoidable or demanding work ahead.


could not get elected dogcatcher

/kəd ˌnɒt ɡɛt ɪˌlɛktɪd ˈdɒɡkæt͡ʃə/

/kəd ˌnɑt ɡɛt əˌlɛktɪd ˈdɔɡˌkæt͡ʃəɹ/

En-us-could not get elected dogcatcher.oga

En-au-could not get elected dogcatcher.ogg

Dogcatchers are virtually never elected to their posts; the phrase is hyperbole, using dogcatcher to indicate the most lowly conceivable office.

An insolent Republican newspaper asserts that Mr. [Grover] Cleveland is so unpopular in Washington that he could not be elected dog catcher for the district. This may be true, yet Mr. Cleveland has caught a great many dogs in his day—stealing. His success in that line would naturally make him unpopular with the claims agents and other parasites that throng the capital.

1889 February 18, Chicago Herald, quotee, “Unpopular with rascals”, in The Courier-Journal, volume LXXIV, number 7,355 (New Series), Louisville, Ky.: Louisville Courier-Journal Print. Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 6:

It is a well known fact that the average American town will not elect well educated men to municipal offices if they can help it. A man who wears kid gloves and a plug hat couldn't be elected dog catcher in any town in Oklahoma. That is why the affirmative wish the city manager to be elected by a commission.

1918 October 15, “The City Manager Plan. [Condenst Paragrafs.]”, in J. W. Scroogs, editor, University of Oklahoma Bulletin (New Series; no. 156; University Extension Series; no. 43), Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma, →OCLC, page 60:

Men like him couldn't get elected dogcatcher. He was a natural lieutenant, not a leader, and it was a fact he accepted with neither bitterness nor regret.

2006 October, credited to Robert Ludlum, chapter 15, in The Bancroft Strategy, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 264:

"She [Christine O'Donnell]'s not a viable candidate for any office in the state of Delaware," said the state party chairman, Tom Ross, who is backing [Mike] Castle. "She could not be elected dog catcher."

2010 September 12, Philip Eliot, “GOP Tries to Take Out Tea Party-backed Candidate”, in Yahoo! News, archived from the original on 2010-09-22:

[Donald] Trump, who has a glancing relationship with the truth and speaks English only as a second language, has hurled his insults at [Bob] Corker (whom he said couldn't get elected dog-catcher in his home state) and at [John] McCain – even as he journeyed to Capitol Hill to try to build support for tax reform.

2017 October 25, John L. Micek, “Trump just keeps digging deeper and deeper”, in The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.: Gannett, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(idiomatic, chiefly US, politics, hyperbolic) Said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular.

ei äänestäisi kukaan

said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular


litogen

(US, informal, law) Any drug or similar substance, administered during pregnancy, that though probably harmless can lead to lawsuits


mooseburger

en-noun

mooseburger (countable and uncountable, plural mooseburgers)

A friend of many years standing flew down from Fairbanks, Alaska, bringing with her as many presents as old St. Nick himself might have carried – steak knives carved from walrus tusks, and, among other things, a fresh moose roast and a package of mooseburger!

1962, Amistad: Magazine of American Society of Mexico:

How to gut a moose without slicing the organs and making a green, smelly mess out of the process, and how to cut it so that you got roasts and steaks instead of, as happened on her first two tries, a winter's supply of mooseburger.

1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 28:

From Alaska, I flew to Newark with moose meat one time— actually, mooseburger, given to me in a five-pound block by Ed and Ginny Gelvin, who lived in Central, about a hundred miles northeast of Fairbanks.

2011, John McPhee, Silk Parachute, →ISBN, page 152:


wingnutosphere

From wingnut + -o- + -sphere, by analogy with blogosphere.

That was obviously violated today as the New Republic betrayed, once again, that it seeks to destroy the new people-powered movement for the sake of its Lieberman-worshipping neocon owners; that it stands with the National Review and wingnutosphere in their opposition to grassroots Democrats.

2006 June 26, Howard Kurtz, quoting Markos Moulitsas, “Coming Clean”, in The Washington Post:

(US politics, blogging, slang, derogatory) The community of bloggers perceived to be on the political far right.


dead to rights

US, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang, thence entered general use. dead (“completely, utterly”) + to rights (“properly”).

have someone dead to rights on something

Because of the video replay, the ref had him dead to rights on the penalty.

(US, idiomatic) With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.


shindy

shindy (countable and uncountable, plural shindies or shindys)

Uncertain; compare shinney, shinty. Tentatively suggested to be a compound of the Irish words seinn (“play, sing”) and tí (“house”).

"Father took a wonderful shindy to her, for even old men can't help liking beauty. […]"

1855, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, chapter V, in Nature and Human Nature:


sqush

en-verb

sqush (third-person singular simple present squshes, present participle squshing, simple past and past participle squshed)

squshes (present singular third-person)
squshing (participle present)
squshed (participle past)
squshed (past)

Blamed if the king didn't have to brace up mighty quick, or he'd a squshed down like a bluff bank that the river has cut under, it took him so sudden.

[…] it was little better than a swamp, and at every step their shoes went sqush […]

1909, Mary Mapes Dodge, St. Nicholas: A Monthly Magazine for Boys and Girls:

His feet squshed in the water as he went […] He tip-toed upstairs his wet shoes still squshing a little.

1939, Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun, page 12:

[…] a "throne", something God can sit on without having it sqush […]

[…] At the cider-mill, tasting the sweet of the brown sqush....sucking the juice through a straw,

1855, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass, page 36:

(intransitive, US, rare) To squash or squelch.


amber light

[In 1947 Chicago:] Then the changing traffic lights seemed to warn no one but himself: STOP. And so waited prudently, though there was no traffic in sight and the wind so bitter, till the amber light counseled him to look both ways, for enemy and friend alike, before crossing carefully.

1949, Nelson Algren, The Man with the Golden Arm:


EXORD

(US, military) An execute order: an order to implement a specified plan.


CVE

(US military) Designation for an escort aircraft carrier.


graymail

From gray + mail: in the threat sense, by analogy with blackmail.

(US, law) The threatened exposure of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings.


graymail

graymail (third-person singular simple present graymails, present participle graymailing, simple past and past participle graymailed)

graymails (present singular third-person)
graymailing (participle present)
graymailed (participle past)
graymailed (past)

(US, law) To threaten exposure of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings.


lube job

(US, informal) The lubrication of the suspension and drive train of a motor car.


dad-blamed

these dad-blamed newfangled notions

1918, Robert Lemuel Wiggins, The Life of Joel Chandler Harris:

He said he didn't have a dad-blamed furriner nor a dad-blamed Injun in his outfit.

1938, William Riley Burnett, The Dark Command: A Kansas Iliad:

You know how that dad-blamed fathead is always talking like a doctor.

1967, Nevada C Colley, From Maine to Mecca:


decolorize

decolorize (third-person singular simple present decolorizes, present participle decolorizing, simple past and past participle decolorized)

decolorizes (present singular third-person)
decolorizing (participle present)
decolorized (participle past)
decolorized (past)
decolourise (alternative)
decolourize (alternative)
decolorise (alternative)

(US, transitive) To remove the color from.

According to Rühm fresh milk remains blue for 12 hours or more, and infected milk decolorizes in less than one hour.

1912 November, Edwin Henry Schorer, “Experimental Studies on Milk”, in Ludvig Hektoen, Edwin O. Jordan, editors, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, volume II, number 3, page 331:


small-d democrat

en-noun

small-d democrat (plural small-d democrats)

small-d democrats (plural)
small "d" democrat (alternative)
small d democrat (alternative)

Coordinate term: small-r republican

To read his memoir of those years, Locked in the Cabinet, is to feel the sting experienced by this talented, innovative, and principled small “d” democrat as he was repeatedly shoved aside on economic issues by Rubin, Bentsen, Panetta, and, of course, the grand vizier himself, Alan Greenspan.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 5, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:

(chiefly US) A democrat, that is, a person who holds democratic views; not necessarily someone who is a member of a country's "Democratic Party".


pool hall

(US) A building where visitors pay to play billiards (pool).


mainstreaming

mainstreaming (usually uncountable, plural mainstreamings)

It was 1979, and for many educators mainstreaming was an idea whose time had come.

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

(education, chiefly US) The practice of educating students with special needs in regular classes.


formularize

en-verb

formularize (third-person singular simple present formularizes, present participle formularizing, simple past and past participle formularized)

formularizes (present singular third-person)
formularizing (participle present)
formularized (participle past)
formularized (past)
formularise (alternative)

(US) To express as a formula, to formulate.


gussy

gussy (third-person singular simple present gussies, present participle gussying, simple past and past participle gussied)

gussies (present singular third-person)
gussying (participle present)
gussied (participle past)
gussied (past)

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

1952, apparently from Gussy (adjective), schoolyard slang for “overly dressed” (1940); perhaps related to gussie (“effeminate man”) (1901) and somehow connected to Gussie, the nickname for Augusta and Augustus.

(chiefly US) To dress up or decorate in a showy way.


shop right

(US, law) In United States patent law, an implied license under which a firm may use a patented invention, invented by an employee who was working within the scope of their employment, using the firms' equipment, or inventing at the firms' expense.


dry goods

(US) Any product for sale that does not require special storage treatment, especially textiles.


dessert wine

en-noun

dessert wine (countable and uncountable, plural dessert wines)

The standard of identity is from the Code of Federal Regulations, title 27, section 4.21(a)(3).

standards of identity
standard of identity

(US standards of identity) Grape wine with an alcohol content of more than fourteen, but at most twenty-four, percent, by volume.


person of ordinary skill in the art

person of ordinary skill in the art (plural persons of ordinary skill in the art or people of ordinary skill in the art)

persons of ordinary skill in the art (plural)
people of ordinary skill in the art (plural)
person having ordinary skill in the art (alternative)
POSITA (alternative)

(US, law) In United States patent law, the hypothetical individual whose likely knowledge determines whether an improvement on existing technology would be obvious, and therefore not patentable.


prosecution history

prosecution history (plural prosecution histories)

(US, law) The record of the examination of a patent application, including the original application, responses made by the examiner, and amendments made by the applicant to address objections raised by the examiner.


holer

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

And at recess we all went out to the three-holer toilet, and boy, we had us a ball.

1997, Luther Bryan Clegg, The Empty Schoolhouse: Memories of One-Room Texas Schools, page 78:

(US, slang, in combination) An outhouse with the specified number of holes for use as toilets.


on a dime

This boat can turn on a dime.

This car has excellent brakes that will stop it on a dime.

Everything will stop on a dime / Everything will crash into itself in good time / Do you want to beat your own heart, beat your own heart / Or leave it behind / Or leave it behind

2012, Ingrid Michaelson (lyrics and music), “Do It Now”, in Human Again:

(US, idiomatic) Within a very short distance; especially, with agile precision in a very confined space and suddenly.


boosterism

boosterism (countable and uncountable, plural boosterisms)

Urban boosterism has a long tradition in the United States.

1999, Andrew E G Jonas, David Wilson, The Urban Growth Machine: Critical Perspectives, Two Decades Later:

And the mayors’ aims are partly political: Crypto boosterism has a useful bipartisan appeal, garnering popularity among both antigovernment conservatives and socially liberal tech moguls.

2022 January 25, David Yaffe-Bellany, “The Rise of the Crypto Mayors”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US) Promotion of a city, organisation, etc. in order to improve public opinion.


execute order

CJCS Counterdrug Execute Order (EXORD) authorizes continued DOD support to law enforcement efforts to detect, monitor and interdict drug trafficking.

(US, military) An order initiating a military operation.


S.D.N.Y.

United States District Court
United States District Court#English

(US, law) Abbreviation of Southern District of New York. (The federal jurisdiction (district) containing the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, as used in case citations.

Various law enforcement bodies associated with the district, such as the prosecutor's office (U.S. Attorney)

“I have heard from a good number of people in the S.D.N.Y. who have said, ‘Why the heck would Todd do this — why would he ever take this case?’” said Elie Honig, the CNN senior legal analyst, who worked with Mr. Blanche at the Southern District and speaks highly of him.

2024 April 4, Maggie Haberman, Ben Protess, Alan Feuer, “Trump’s Trial Lawyer Gambled a Gilded Manhattan Career to Represent Him”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


home field advantage

home advantage (alternative)
home court advantage (alternative)
home-court advantage (alternative)
home-field advantage (alternative)
home ground advantage (alternative)

(US, sports) The advantage a team enjoys from being on its usual playing field.

kotikenttäetu

sports: advantage of playing as home team


do over

en-verb

do over (third-person singular simple present does over, present participle doing over, simple past did over, past participle done over)

does over (present singular third-person)
doing over (participle present)
did over (past)
done over (participle past)

/ˈduːˌəʊvə(ɹ)/

(transitive, US) To repeat; to start over.


do-over

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

Avoid the frustration of time-consuming do-overs on school projects. Try Crayola Erasable Markers, Crayons & colored pencils.

2006, Binney & Smith, Crayola^® Markers, advertisement on carton

(US, childish) A repeat of a previous activity, with the hope of greater success.


airbridge

airbridges (plural)
air bridge (alternative)
aerobridge (alternative)

Airbridge (logistics)
Beam lead technology
Berlin Blockade
Jet bridge

From air + bridge. In some cases, Calque of German Luftbrücke.

(US, aviation) Synonym of jet bridge: an elevated corridor connecting an airport to a plane.


jetway

From the trademarked Jetway, a common American manufacturer of jet bridges, from jet + way.

(US) Synonym of jet bridge: an elevated corridor connecting an airport to a plane.


half note

(Canada, US, music) A musical note that is two beats long, which is half the length of a semibreve and equal in length to two crotchets; a minim.


NDA

In general, there are two major types of prescription drug applications to obtain agency product approval, which are NDA and ANDA.

2021, Julia Huang, “What Is A CBE 30 Filing? What Is A PAS? What's The Difference Between ANDA And NDA?”, in Pharmaceutical Online:

New Drug Application
w:New Drug Application

(US, law) Initialism of New Drug Application, an application for approval by the Food and Drug Administration of a new pharmaceutical compound for introduction to the market.


center of inertia

en-noun

center of inertia (plural centers of inertia)

centre of inertia
centre of inertia#English

US standard spelling of centre of inertia.


gee willikers

gee whillickers (alternative)
gee whilligers (alternative)
gee whillikers (alternative)
gee willickers (alternative)
gee whittakers (alternative)
whillikers (alternative)


geez Louise

"Geez-Louise, are you getting Alzheimer's or what?" Coyote asked.

1997, Adrian C Louis, Wild Indians and Other Creatures:

Geez, Louise, you're a tough customer.

2003, Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife:

Geez Louise, people are bringing shower gifts and they are also getting bilked for the cost of their own refreshments? Dang, that's tacky.

2005, Jeanne Hamilton, Wedding Etiquette Hell: The Bride's Bible to Avoiding Everlasting Damnation:


concertmistress

Possibly a calque of German Konzertmeisterin, corresponding to concert + mistress.


wah-wah

onom

Imitative

When told during a Fox News segment about a 10-year-old with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother at the southern border, the former campaign manager of President Trump replied, "Wah wah."

2018 June 20, “Corey Lewandowski Mocks Immigrant Child With Down Syndrome Taken From Mother: 'Wah, Wah'”, in Inside Edition:

(US, Canada, onomatopoeia) The sad trombone sound, used to indicate failure or disappointment. May be used mockingly; also written wah wah and womp womp.


gag me with a spoon

"Gag me with a spoon," I said. He scratched his head.

1999, Tamar Myers, Baroque and Desperate: A Den of Antiquity Mystery:

"Whatever!" I pretend to stick my finger in my mouth and make a choking sound of mock disgust at Beth's compliment. "Like gag me with a spoon!" I laugh.


tushed

a big-tushed dancer.

(US, colloquial, especially in combinations) having a particular tush (bottom)


shelter dog

(US) A dog temporarily resident in or obtained from an animal shelter.


CDS

en-noun

CDS (countable and uncountable, plural CDSs or CDSes or CDS)

CDSs (plural)
CDSes (plural)
CDS (plural)

Controlled Dangerous Substances
Controlled Dangerous Substances#English

(law, US, Maryland) Initialism of Controlled Dangerous Substances.


you can't fight City Hall

I see they're going to build the airport after all. I suppose you can't fight City Hall.

As Audre Lorde, my professor at Hunter College, told our class in 1982, "That you can't fight City Hall is a rumor being spread by City Hall."

1998, Sarah Schulman, Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America, Duke University Press, page 45:

(chiefly US, literal, figurative) Nothing can be done to change the situation, because it is a governmental decision or a similarly institutional decision (e.g., high-level corporate, senior military brass, dominant cultural norm).


downgone

When they got to the place, Waits saw that auctions down valley were very seemingly like any others, and he saw the same crowd of buggies and mules and cars all hitched together around the downgone farm-place till it was a surprise anybody could untwine them one from the other.

1928, Maristan Chapman, The Happy Valley, page 182:

(US, dialectal, Appalachia) Poor-looking; shabby


sugar cookie

(US, Canada) A cookie with granules of sugar sprinkled on the top before baking.


kerplunk

From ker- (prefix forming onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling) + plunk (“dull thud of something landing on a surface”).

prefix

(figuratively, US, slang, dated) A disappointment which comes as a surprise.

shokkipettymys

(slang) disappointment which comes as a surprise


bubble ass

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

They'll find someone new with a bubble ass and a short dress.

2004, Bobby Heenan, Steve Anderson, Chair Shots and Other Obstacles:


zamzawed

en-adj

zamzawed (comparative more zamzawed, superlative most zamzawed)

more zamzawed (comparative)
most zamzawed (superlative)

You axed Zillah for me to boil'm in the furnace, an' I boiled 'm, and so you see it be no good you telling me they'm zamzawed […]

1962, Henry Williamson, It was the Nightingale:

(US, dialect) Dried through overcooking.


guinea keet

Say, Annie, do you know a chicken when you see it walking round? Or a turkey? Or a guinea keet? We got em all, Aunt Dolcey, she takes car of ’em

c. 1919-1924 (published 1926), Blanche Colton Wialliams, Best American Stories, 1919-1924, Doubleday, Page 203

...but after they've calved a time or two they swell up like a cow in a truck patch an’ you need a wagon to move ’em. They do nothin’ but eat and holler like a guinea keet....

1963, Cecil Robinson, With the Ears of Strangers: The Mexican in American Literature, University of Arizona Press, Page 77

George (the male Guinea keet) was half through a hole in the fence losing many feathers to Red, who was trying to help him back into the pen.

2001, Richard S. Raffauf, Journal of a Country Gentleman, Trafford Publishing, page 26


rockfish

en-noun

rockfish (countable and uncountable, plural rockfish or rockfishes)

rockfish (plural)
rockfishes (plural)
rock-fish (alternative)

Yet another Rockfish goes under. ¶ Young Deejion was playin some hoop with some homies by da riva, wen de backetbaw fell in da river.

2010 August 20, Jesse, “Blacks & common sense”, in uk.current-events.terrorism (Usenet):

Three nigger teenaper sows join rockfish parade. Three nigger "teens" reportedly drowned when the stolen car they were driving careened into a pond ...

2017 February 6, Rick Mathers, “Three nigger teenaper sows join rockfish parade”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

Everyone knows niggers don't surf, they sink -- like the rockfish they are

2017 October 7, Byker, “TNB: All I'm seeing is 100% negro”, in can.politics (Usenet):

(derogatory, slang, ethnic slur, US) A black person who does not know how to swim.


shopping center

shopping center (plural shopping centers)

shopping centers (plural)
shopping centre (alternative)

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

(US) An area hosting multiple retail stores, especially one with outdoor common areas.


coldwave

From cold + wave, perhaps influenced by earlier genres such as new wave and darkwave. In France the post-punk genre was called la vague froide.

Modern industrial music subgenres and fusion-genres include EBM, futurepop, power-noise, aggrotech (terror-EBM), coldwave, elektro, dark-electro, and industrial-metal. Yes, it can be quite confusing.

2007, Raven Digitalis, Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, →ISBN, page 37:

(music, US) The industrial metal music genre in the 1990s.


chouse

en-verb

chouse (third-person singular simple present chouses, present participle chousing, simple past and past participle choused)

chouses (present singular third-person)
chousing (participle present)
choused (participle past)
choused (past)
chowse (alternative)

(US, of cattle) To handle roughly, as by chasing or scaring.

This gave the roundup the appearance of a cavalry charge, and a stranger observing the procedure for the first time might have thought we were a bunch of green, possibly drunken cowboys making sport out of chousing cattle. But we weren't chousing them, we were just trying to keep them in sight, and for a very good reason.

1980, John R. Erickson, Panhandle Cowboy, page 79:

(US, regional) To handle, to take care of.

[…] but the fact remains that my range cattle, because of the chousing which they received at the hands of the troops and the fright that they had, were caused to go into a period of considerable range deﬁciency without the ﬂesh with which they should have entered this period.

1940 April 9, John Owen, “[letter to] Paul J. Kilday”, in [Relief of] John Owen, quoted in United States congressional serial set, 76th Congress, 3rd session (January 3, 1940—January 3, 1941), miscellaneous volume 3, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, published 1940-05-24, →ISSN, 76th Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Claims, report number 2293, page 12 of report:

(transitive, US, regional) To cause undesirable activity in livestock, such as running.


T-Day

(US, slang) Thanksgiving Day; Turkey Day.


shareholders' derivative action

en-noun

shareholders' derivative action (plural shareholders' derivative actions)

shareholders' derivative actions (plural)

(US, law) A lawsuit brought on behalf of a corporation by a shareholder in that corporation, against a third party usually an insider of the corporation, such as an executive officer or director.


malt shop

(US) An informal cafe that serves milkshakes and similar products.


socko

en-adj

socko (comparative more socko, superlative most socko)

more socko (comparative)
most socko (superlative)

“Then let me get on the stage and dance. I got a socko routine.”

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

If you want people to come back and turn you on every week, you have to come up with a socko ending.

(US, slang) Superb, excellent, stunning.


Saxbe fix

After William B. Saxbe (born 1916), who was confirmed as Attorney General in 1973 after Congress reduced the office's salary to the level it had been before Saxbe's term commenced.

(US, politics) A solution to violations of a clause in the United States Constitution that prevents sitting members of Congress being appointed to jobs created for them or for which the salary was increased while they were in office.

(US, politics) Specifically, a method for correcting violations of Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution.


woods colt

woods colts (plural)
woodscolt (alternative)

Originates from the unplanned breeding of horses that allowed to roam in unsupervised areas.

(euphemistic, US, Virginia) A child born out of wedlock.


drop top

drop tops (plural)
drop-top (alternative)
droptop (alternative)

A rhyming colloquial form derived from the fact that the roof (top) of the car drops down.

You got no hand skills, there's no security to save ya / No pager, no celly, no drop top Benz-y

1998, “Moment of Truth”, in Moment of Truth, performed by Gang Starr:

(colloquial, US) A convertible car, the roof of which can be folded down to form an open-top vehicle.


criss-cross applesauce

Etymology
Rhyming on criss-cross, particularly with a word familiar to children and teachers, possibly with similarity to lap forming a bowl.
Apparently originated in the 1990s US, as an alternative for Indian style.
Compare also traditional children’s rhyming game / massage (rhyme said while touching, tickling, and blowing), which goes:
: Criss, cross. Apple sauce.
: Spiders climbing up your back.
: Spiders here, Spiders there.
: Spiders even in your hair.
: Cool breeze,
: Tight squeeze,
: And now you have the shivers.
: Brrrrrrr.

Sit criss-cross applesauce.

(childish, US, regional, idiomatic) (of sitting): Cross-legged.


stand off

en-verb

stand off (third-person singular simple present stands off, present participle standing off, simple past and past participle stood off)

stands off (present singular third-person)
standing off (participle present)
stood off (participle past)
stood off (past)

We took hold of anything that might serve as a weapon to stand off the menacing group of young men.

(US) To prevent any would-be attacker from coming close by adopting an offensive posture.


foggetaboutit

Based on a New York City accent, and associated with Italian gangsters; popularized by media like Donnie Brasco (1997) and The Sopranos (1999–2007).

fuggedaboudit (alternative)
fuhgeddaboudit (alternative)
fuhgetaboutit (alternative)

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(slang, US, ethnic) Pronunciation spelling of forget about it.


emergency room

(Canada, US, Philippines, healthcare) A department of a hospital where seriously ill or injured patients, often with life-threatening conditions that require urgent or immediate treatment, are brought in, usually by ambulance.

otdelénije ékstrennoj medicínskoj pómošči

отделе́ние э́кстренной медици́нской по́мощи


grocery store

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

(chiefly US, Canada) A store where groceries can be purchased, especially a supermarket.


harborage

en-noun

harborage (countable and uncountable, plural harborages)

harborages (plural)
harbourage (alternative)

(US, nautical) A place for refuge for a vessel.

A. The exterior of the premises and all structures thereon shall be kept free of all nuisances, unsanitary conditions and fire or safety hazards in the public areas and any of the foregoing shall be removed and abated promptly by the owner or manager.
B. Without limiting the generality of Subsection A, the maintenance includes: . . . (3) Keeping the premises free of conditions conducive to infestation by vermin or insects, such as rodent harborages or stagnant water, and other known sources of infestation.

2016, Jersey City, N.J. Code of Ordinances § 254-43. - Maintenance of exterior of premises:

Even with little notice of the meeting at which Waste Management's application was approved, Appellants' attorney appeared and presented documents describing problems with the proposed plan, including concerns relating to traffic, pollution and flooding, and problems with potential insect, rodent, and bird harborage and attraction to the site.

1997, Eastern Consolidation & Distribution Servs., Inc. v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Hampden Twp., 701 A.2d 621, 624 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1997) (Jiuliante, J., writing for a unanimous court)

(US, law) A condition on land favorable to infestation by animals considered pests.


harbormaster

harbormasters (plural)
harbour master (alternative)
harbourmaster (alternative)
harbor master (alternative)

(US, nautical) An official responsible for the enforcement of regulations in a port.


honor roll

honor rolls (plural)
honour roll (alternative)

(US, education) A list of high-achieving students at a university or college.


big whoop

(colloquial, US) Expressing indifference or dismissiveness; so what?


HOV

/eɪt͡ʃ əʊ ˈviː/

Ultimately, Ms. Bottone said she just wanted to know whether she could keep driving in the H.O.V. lane for the remainder of her pregnancy, as she said she had in her previous pregnancies, long before the overturning of Roe.

2022 July 12, Luke Vander Ploeg, “Can You Drive Alone in the H.O.V. Lane if You’re Pregnant? A Post-Roe Quandary.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

high-occupancy vehicle
high-occupancy vehicle#English

(US, automotive) Initialism of high-occupancy vehicle.

(US, traffic control) Initialism of high-occupancy vehicle lane.


LPC

LPC (countable and uncountable, plural LPCs)

life plan community
life plan community#English


Welcome Wagon

The Welcome Wagon lady, sixty if she was a day but working at youth and vivacity (ginger hair, red lips, a sunshine-yellow dress), twinkled her eyes

2004, Ira Levin with Peter Straub, The Stepford Wives, page 3:

(US) A nationwide business which contacts new homeowners after relocation, providing them with coupons and advertisements from local businesses.

The students' solution was to create a Welcome Wagon program to cordially introduce new students to their class.

2004, Beth Doll with Steven Zucker and Katherine Brehm, Resilient Classrooms: Creating Healthy Environments for Learning, page 53:

(US) Any similar approach of institutionalised welcoming.


descope

en-verb

descope (third-person singular simple present descopes, present participle descoping, simple past and past participle descoped)

descopes (present singular third-person)
descoping (participle present)
descoped (participle past)
descoped (past)

From de- + scope. First attested in US military and aerospace contexts.

The arms controllers who "descoped" the Patriot bear a heavy burden.

1991 March 26, “Lethal Control of Arms”, in Washington Times:

The decision follows a recommendation made by the Oakervee review in February 2020 to descope the original plans for Euston and to re-examine the efficiency of the future station.

2021 November 3, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Ten platforms confirmed for HS2's Euston terminus”, in RAIL, number 943, page 18:

(management, US) To reduce the scope of; to revise objectives downward, sometimes in the context of a funding shortfall.


inquire of

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

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

If I do not know what their policy is, I should inquire of them.

If you find them, or any of them, Guilty, you are to inquire whether they, or any of them, fled for it: if you find that they, or any of them, fled for it, you are to inquire of their goods and chattels, as if you had found them Guilty. If you find them, or any of them, Not Guilty, nor that they did fly for it, you are to say so, and no more, and hear your evidence.

1840, George Lillie Craik, English Causes Célèbres, Or, Reports of Remarkable Trials, page 19:

Mr. G. Cannon, of Spartanburgh, offered the following resolution, which was agreed to: Resolved, That it be referred to the committee of eleven to inquire of the governor how many and what amount of bonds he has signed under the various acts authorizing the same, and what disposition has been made of said bonds.

1872, United States. Congress. Joint Select Committee on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire Into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: Testimony taken by the Joint Select Committee to inquire into the condition of affairs in the late insurrectionary states: South Carolina (June 6-July 27, 1871), page 477:


how'll

"Well, mine ain't," said Beatrice; "I wish she was, that's all; I'd like to change with you; come, how'll you swap?"

So Smith took the bait, and says he, "Mr. Brown, I wouldn't sell out, but we might swap aroun' — How'll you trade your place fer mine?"

1916, James Whitcomb Riley, Hewitt Hanson Howland, The Hoosier Book: Containing Poems in Dialect:

(US, dialect, dated) will, how about (as a proposal)


come to hand

come to hand (third-person singular simple present comes to hand, present participle coming to hand, simple past came to hand, past participle come to hand)

comes to hand (present singular third-person)
coming to hand (participle present)
came to hand (past)
come to hand (participle past)

The horse came to hand, and won first prize.

(US, horse racing) To perform well, to come under control.


give two hoots

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

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

(chiefly US slang) To care about; to place value on something.


rabbit's foot

rabbits' feet (plural)
rabbit foot (alternative)
rabbit-foot (alternative)

A rabbit's foot may bring good luck to you, but it brought none to the rabbit.

1912, Ambrose Bierce, “Epigrams of a Cynic,”, in A Cynic Looks at Life:

(chiefly US) A charm carried to bring good luck, traditionally consisting of the left rear foot of a rabbit.


definitize

definitize (third-person singular simple present definitizes, present participle definitizing, simple past and past participle definitized)

definitizes (present singular third-person)
definitizing (participle present)
definitized (participle past)
definitized (past)

As before, in order to definitize the solution, an initial condition is needed.

2005, Alpha Chiang, Kevin Wainwright, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill International, page 548:

(transitive, US military) To make (a contract, plan, or the like) definite.


window of opportunity

en-noun

window of opportunity (plural windows of opportunity)

windows of opportunity (plural)
opportunity window (alternative)

/ˌwɪndəʊ‿əv ˌɒpəˈtjuːnɪtɪ/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-window of opportunity.wav

Popularized by its use by the United States Government in the 1970s in reference to the Cold War (1945–1991).

U.S. officials also thought a preventive war [against the Soviet Union] would be costly, and U.S. allies would be disapproving. Thus U.S. leaders saw a fading window of opportunity, but the opportunity was not very attractive; it would not be followed by vulnerability; and it probably would not be followed by a war.

1999, Stephen Van Evera, “Power Shifts: Windows of Opportunity and Vulnerability”, in Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 102:

The EMTs had given Lolly magnesium on the ride in, Dr. Salazar said, and that had put the injury in "slo-mo." And with stroke victims, "time was brain," she said; the quicker there was treatment, the better the odds of avoiding permanent damage. "When she got here, we gave her a clot-buster called tPA. Great drug if the patient gets it in time―acts like Drano on clogged arteries―but the operative word here is if. Time-wise, there's only a small window of opportunity. When the blood supply's cut off, brain cells begin to die. I think you'd better prepare yourself for the fact that your aunt will most likely have an altered life."
"Altered how?"
"Too soon to tell. We'll know more in the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours."

2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.3, at p.59

The Lord moves in mysterious ways – though not a thousandth as mysterious as those of his senior personnel from time to time – so there is no earthly possibility of predicting how long the window of opportunity enjoyed by Pope Francis is likely to be.

2013 September 20, Marina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

There is a narrow window of opportunity to save ourselves, and the innumerable other species that we are destroying with reckless abandon. There is still time to rid ourselves of fossil fuels, not much. We will grasp the opportunity, or the human experiment will come to an inglorious end.

2022 September 14, Arthur Neslen, quoting Noam Chomsky, “Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-22:

(originally US) A (usually limited) period of time in which suitable action can achieve success.


gapers' block

gapers' blocks (plural)
gapers block (alternative)

In the lingo of the traffic reporters, "gapers' block" is a tie-up caused by motorists slowing down to gape at an accident.

In the pretty, tranquil valley, elk were feeding just off the highway, creating a gapers block.

2001, "Rocky Road Rocky Mountain National Park boasts as ear-popping drive full of peak experiences," Wichita Eagle (Kansas), 25 Mar., p. 1G

(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction.


parlormaid

parlormaids (plural)
parlor maid (alternative)
parlourmaid (alternative)

(US) A maid who takes care of the parlor.


passivize

en-verb

passivize (third-person singular simple present passivizes, present participle passivizing, simple past and past participle passivized)

passivizes (present singular third-person)
passivizing (participle present)
passivized (participle past)
passivized (past)
passivise (alternative)

(transitive, US, grammar) To render into the passive form.


supervize

supervize (third-person singular simple present supervizes, present participle supervizing, simple past and past participle supervized)

supervizes (present singular third-person)
supervizing (participle present)
supervized (participle past)
supervized (past)


outshoot

outshoot (third-person singular simple present outshoots, present participle outshooting, simple past and past participle outshot)

outshoots (present singular third-person)
outshooting (participle present)
outshot (participle past)
outshot (past)
out-shoot (alternative)

Boston outshot New York by 16-10, including by 8-3 in the first half, but Gao Hong, the Power's goaltender, covered her zone impressively.

2001 June 4, Andrew R. Tripaldi, “SOCCER; Despite Being Outshot, the Power Upends the Breakers”, in The New York Times:

(sports, US) To score more goals than the other side in a goal sport such as hockey or soccer


small-r republican

en-noun

small-r republican (plural small-r republicans)

small-r republicans (plural)
small "r" republican (alternative)
small r republican (alternative)

Coordinate term: small-d democrat

(chiefly US) A republican, that is, a person who favors a republic, who may or may not be a member of their country's "Republican Party".


smackdown

Deverbal of smack down (“to defeat utterly and decisively, especially in a humiliating way”), from smack (“sharp blow, slap”, noun) + down. Influenced by earlier throwdown. Popularized by:
* the United States professional wrestling television programme WWF SmackDown! (first broadcast on April 29, 1999), now called WWE SmackDown and produced by World Wrestling Entertainment; and
* the phrase lay (or put) the smack down (“to start a fight”).

deverbal

A significant or humiliating setback or defeat; a beating, a thrashing.


boniato

Borrowed from Spanish boniato (“sweet potato”).

bor+

Ipomoea batatas
Ipomoea batatas#Translingual

(US) A Cuban type of sweet potato with light-colored flesh that is drier and less sweet than the varieties typical in the US (Ipomoea batatas).


geezery

en-adj

geezery (comparative more geezery, superlative most geezery)

more geezery (comparative)
most geezery (superlative)

Stayed up thar myself fer a spell - with some geezery ole moonshiners.

1966, Josephine Carson, First Man, Last Man:

(US, informal) Like a geezer: old and senile


Washington's Birthday

On Washington's Birthday nineteen congressmen⁷ wrote me an impressive letter. These men, some of whom I knew well, a number of whom I knew not at all, urged me, on behalf of their respective constituents, to come home and seek the Republican presidential nomination.

1963, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mandate for Change 1953-1956, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 21:

(US) A public holiday in the USA celebrated on the third Monday of February, during which the US presidents, especially George Washington, are celebrated or remembered.


defund

en-verb

defund (third-person singular simple present defunds, present participle defunding, simple past and past participle defunded)

defunds (present singular third-person)
defunding (participle present)
defunded (participle past)
defunded (past)

Did the Arizona legislators satisfy the principles of deliberation when they decided to defund organ transplants?

1996, Amy Gutmann, Dennis Frank Thompson, Democracy and Disagreement:

However, when Congress has attempted to defund a presidential agency, presidents have responded by creating new agencies to perform similar functions.

2003, David E Lewis, Presidents and the Politics of Agency Design:

"It has me concerned that this religiously-powered anti-access anti-person campaign has succeeded in a small town in America already," Chrastka told Motherboard. "The idea that there is a breakdown in the respect that we used to have in America for the separation of church and state and a rise of a political perspective that wants to essentially break government, defund education, approach issues around the rights of individual humans as if it was a criminalization campaign... this is a troubling moment and a signal for the rest of America to wake up."

2022 August 5, Claire Woodcock, “This Town Voted To Defund its Public Library After it Included LGBTQ+ Books”, in Vice.com, archived from the original on 2022-12-11:

(transitive, chiefly US) To cancel funding for.


erf

Borrowed from obsolete Dutch erf (“hereditament, plot of land”). Doublet of erf above.

bor

(US regional, Cape Colony, New York, South Africa) A small inherited house-and-garden lot in a village or settlement.


doctrine of equivalents

(law, US) A legal rule in most patent systems that allows a court to hold a party liable for patent infringement when the infringing device or process does not fall within the literal scope of a patent claim, but nevertheless is equivalent to the claimed invention.


NERSC

w:National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center

(US) Initialism of National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.


wheelhorse

wheelhorses (plural)
wheel horse (alternative)
wheel-horse (alternative)

From wheel + horse. Sense 2 (“person who labors heavily for a cause”) is from the fact that a horse nearest to the wheels of a carriage that it is drawing does much of the pulling work.

The off wheel-horſe a grey, named Single Peeper, ſold for 50 [guineas] […] The near wheel-horſe cheſnut, named Chance.

1750 October, “A Description, with the Form, of the Four Wheel Carriage, which was Drawn at Newmarket, 19 Miles in 54 Minutes. […] Invented by Mr J. Wright in Long Acre.”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XX, London: Printed by Edw[ard] Cave, at St John's Gate, published January 1755, →OCLC, page 440:

The driver […] neither knew any thing, said any thing, or did any thing but watch a dozen equine ears, and keep six reins taut in his hands, and coax the off wheel[-]horse with the belly of his whip-lash every two minutes, invariably accompanying the stroke with a tremendous solitary cluck.

1869 September, E. P. Willard, “A Night and a Day on the Sierra Nevada”, in The Western Monthly, volume II, number 9, Chicago, Ill.: Reed, Browne & Co., publishers, No. 18 Tribune Building, →OCLC, page 179, column 2:

“Ay! he med well say that,” repeated the wagoner, still digesting the pleasure of Ben Lee’s compliment, and slapping the wheel[-]horse’s vast flank, so that the fairy chime began again, and the smack resounded like an accompaniment to its music.

1886, Maxwell Gray [pseudonym; Mary Gleed Tuttiett], chapter I, in The Silence of Dean Maitland: A Novel, London: Kegan Paul & Co., →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, 1888, →OCLC, part I, page 12:

In contrast to the methods used in New England all the lumber from the high Sierras is taken out in the summer instead of the winter. Teams of about seven pairs of horses, or mules, or traction engines, are used. Teams draw two or three wagons, and are managed by one driver who rides on a wheelhorse and guides with one rein, whip and voice.

1914 April, W[illard] W[ebster] Eggleston, “A Trip to Stanislaus Forest, California. (Abstract.)”, in Bulletin, number 9, Burlington, Vt.: Published annually by the [Vermont Botanical] Club; Free Press Printing Company, →OCLC, page 23:

The cannoneer posted nearest the left wheel of the limber engages the end of the pole of his carriage in the pole ring of the neck yoke and then hitches the near wheel horse; the cannoneer posted nearest the right wheel of the limber hitches the off wheel horse.

1916, War Department, Office of the Chief of Staff, “The Driver”, in Provisional Drill and Service Regulations for Field Artillery (Horse and Light) 1916 (War Department Document; no. 538), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, part III (Mounted Instruction), section IV (Mounted Instruction), paragraph 437, page 181:

(US, dated) One of a team of horses which is nearest to the wheels of a carriage, as opposed to a leader or forward horse.

процепен кон

one of a team of horses which is nearest to the wheels of a carriage

wheeler

[F]rom his [Benjamin Ruggles'] well-known habits of industry and constant devotion to the interests of his constituents, he was called "The Wheelhorse of the Senate."

1866, Charles Lanman, “Ruggles, Benjamin”, in Dictionary of the United States Congress, Compiled as a Manual of Reference for the Legislator and Statesman, 3rd rev. edition, [Washington, D.C.]: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 326, column 1:

A medical journal, it seems to the writer, should be a medium for the propagation of useful knowledge, the instruction of the profession in the best and most scientific methods of fighting disease; and who is so well qualified for the work as the old wheelhorses, the men who have grown gray in the fight?

1905 December, E. E. Lusk, “Homeopathy ‘is Not Built that Way’”, in H. C. Allen, editor, The Medical Advance and Journal of Homeopathics: A Monthly Journal of Hahnemannian Homeopathy, volume XLIII, number 12, Batavia, Ill.: James E. Forrest, →OCLC, page 768:

I can't understand why an old wheel-horse like Elsworth should kick over the traces that way.

1910 November, Jack London, Theft: A Play in Four Acts, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, Act I, page 3:

He was a wheelhorse, a tower of strength, to the Park Service and to the forces that were trying to establish new parks, seashores, canoe wildernesses, and other reservations during the Kennedy and Johnson years.

1997, David Backes, A Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, page 369:

(US, figuratively) A person who labors heavily for a particular cause, without being concerned about recognition.


dillio

From the slang phrase "what's the deal, yo?" meaning "what's going on?".

I am having an incredibly time getting my sound recorder to work and would appreciate any possible insight available. Here's the dillio, the microphone is properly hooked up to the sound card. I can hear the sound through the PC speakers and the microphone volume is up just loud enough to fend off the steady stream of feedback.

1998, Chris, “Sound Advice....”, in news.newusers.questions (Usenet):

"That's the dillio." Tosha, sensing that this version of the story would take too long, cut her off.

"What's the dillio? I just saw you! Call me."

2007, Kirsten Sawyer, Not Quite a Bride:

(US, slang) The deal; that which is current, relevant, or taking place.


jughandle

A jughandle is the Jersey way of making a left turn without creating gridlock...

2006, Lillian Africano, You Know You're in New Jersey When...:

(US) A ramp or slip road on the right-hand side of the road, used for making left turns.


Christianism

en-noun

Christianism (countable and uncountable, plural Christianisms)

/ˈkɹɪʃ.t͡ʃən.ɪzm̩/

From Latin christianismus; compare French christianisme, equivalent to Christian + -ism.

Christianism is an ideology, politics, an ism. The distinction between Christian and Christianist echoes the distinction we make between Muslim and Islamist. Muslims are those who follow Islam. Islamists are those who want to wield Islam as a political force and conflate state and mosque.

May 7, 2006, Andrew Sullivan, ‘My Problem with Chistianism’, TIME Magazine

At its extreme, as in the Christian identity movement, Christianism merges with white supremacy.

2007, Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, page 31:

Because I was always against any extremist ideology whether Islamism or Christianism or whatsoever.

2015, Stefan Borg, European Integration and the Problem of the State, page 129:

Christianism is characterised by overt, often extreme, anti-Islamism.

2021, Jeffrey Haynes, Trump and the Politics of Neo-Nationalism:

(US, derogatory) A political ideology centered around Christian fundamentalism.


shearling

From Middle English scherling; equivalent to shear + -ling.

Her coat was lined with shearling.

(chiefly US) A sheepskin or lambskin that has gone through a limited shearing process so that the fibers are of uniform depth


duck stamp

(US) An adhesive stamp or an electronic equivalent sold by the US Federal and various state governments as proof of payment for a duck-hunting licence, with the proceeds used for conservation programs.


scungilli

scungilli (countable and uncountable, plural scungillis or scungilli)

scungillis (plural)
scungilli (plural)
scungile (alternative)
scungille (alternative)
scungili (alternative)

(US) Whelk, especially when prepared as food.


sustainer

(US) A person who makes regular donations, especially to a public radio or television station.

21st time this year a sponsor gave the nod to a sustainer: from now on Let’s Pretend, a CBS sustainer for 13 years, will pretend for Cream of Wheat.

1943 September 6, “Wallflowers Join the Dance”, in Time, archived from the original on 2013-08-26:

(US, obsolete) A radio program without a commercial sponsor.


swisher

From Swisher International Group, a cigar manufacturer.

They were rolling up a grape swisher blunt and we were telling them how we just got out.

2011, Taylor Goetz, 169 Pages Of My Life, page 112:

'Amp' and 'fry' are joints or swishers that have been dipped in embalming fluid laced with PCP and then frozen prior to smoking.

1994, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Epidemiologic trends in drug abuse, volume 1, page 45:

(US, African-American Vernacular, slang) The wrapping paper of a cigar for use in making a blunt to smoke marijuana


bumpoff

bumpoffs (plural)
bump-off (alternative)

Frank Buttitta, 28, victim of what police termed a "gang bumpoff," was identified today by Eugene J. Donnelly, assistant Federal attorney, as "the chief Buffalo area distributor for a western New York ring which produced counterfeit gasoline coupons."

1944 July 23, “Slaying at Buffalo Linked to ‘Gas’ Ring”, in New York Times, page 37:


Joe Schmoe

From Joe (as in average Joe) and diminishing shm-reduplication, schm- + Joe. Compare schmo § Etymology 1.

Joe Schmo (alternative)
Joe Shmo (alternative)
Joe Shmoe (alternative)

(US, informal, derogatory or humorous) The typical, everyday person who does not have any special status, frequently in contrast to some group.


tea dance

tea dances (plural)
T-dance (alternative)
T dance (alternative)

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

(US, Canada) Any late afternoon or early evening dance.


alexanders

alexanders (plural)
Alexanders (alternative)

From French alisander, apparently named for Alexander the Great, for one or more species thought to be endemic to Macedonia.

/ˌælɪɡˈzændɚz/

/ˌælɪɡˈzɑːndəz/

(chiefly Canada, US) Various plants of genus Zizia or Angelica thought to resemble European alexanders.


war daddy

The phrase may have originated with Harold T. White, a coach at Mississippi's Perkinston Junior College in the 1950s.

(slang, American football, US) A player with extraordinary ability and exceptional toughness.


woolly back

woolly backs (plural)
wooley back (alternative)
woollyback (alternative)
woolyback (alternative)

The Liverpool Echo suggests two possible origins for the term, both dating back to the early 1900s:
* It may be a term for scab workers brought into the city from surrounding towns to manually load and unload ships in the Liverpool docks; unloading ships, the dockers would carry the woollen bales on their backs, leaving wool on their clothes.
* It may be a term for men who delivered coal into Liverpool from mines surrounding the city, who wore sheep fleece to protect their backs.
Another suggestion is that it could have originated in the Middle Ages from non-resident Welsh and English people trying to avoid the entry fee at the Chester city walls on market day by sneaking in the livestock entrance with a sheep on their back.


PLAN

(US) A particular standardized examination taken by high-school students.


call for

en-verb

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

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

The forecast calls for rain.


midmajor

midmajors (plural)
mid-major (alternative)

(US, basketball) A conference that is not a major conference


pickin' and grinnin'

From Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap there was a lot less pickin’ and grinnin’ and a lot more soft rockers and heartbroken love ballads.

1987 March 20, Scott Mervis, “Country Slickers”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 2009-01-03, page 19:

In this city of guitars and grits, Andersen is the ambassador of pickin’ and grinnin’.

2008 June 25, Joe Edwards, “Guitar-playing 'ambassador' greets visitors at Nashville's Hall of Fame”, in USA Today, retrieved 2009-01-03:

(chiefly US, music, idiomatic) Vigorous playing of folk or country music on a stringed musical instrument, especially the guitar or banjo, while smiling broadly.


Great Pyrenees

(US) A large breed of dog originating in France and often used to guard livestock.


megajerk

"I guess Valerie's death is probably why Devin's been such a megajerk," Joelle told the filly as she groomed her later.

1998, Karle Dickerson, The Forgotten Filly:

I love him, and he's had a bad time since Mom died, which is why I can forgive him for being such a megajerk, but he's not exactly gracious company...

2005, Lisa Marie Rice, Woman on the Run:

Or maybe they've — you've — had a run-in with the gum-popping, eye-rolling, demanding megajerks; the chatty, bargain-hungry Target cashier; or an irritated armchair film critic like Aunt Linda...

2009 January 4, Melena Ryzik, “She's really shy, but that's a secret”, in New York Times:

(US, slang) A particularly objectionable jerk.


scooch

scooch (third-person singular simple present scooches, present participle scooching, simple past and past participle scooched)

scooches (present singular third-person)
scooching (participle present)
scooched (participle past)
scooched (past)
scootch (alternative)
skooch (alternative)
skootch (alternative)

A variation of scouch. The verb sense "shift, scoot" is probably influenced by scoot. For the noun sense "a small amount", compare skoosh, skosh.

"We could watch it all night," Joselle would add, scooching closer to her mother. "If it was on all night."

Lying on your side, start rocking back and forth, scooching to and fro and kicking.

1998, George Ostrom, Shannon Ostrom, Nature:

Turning over onto his back, he scooched down farther into his bag. It was the kind of sleeping bag with a hood built into it, so he pulled on the drawstring...

2002, Andrew Clements, A Week in the Woods:

(US) To shift, move aside, or scoot over.


hoofer

Once a good friend of mine, a fine hoofer who was having trouble getting bookings, ran up to that tree, gave it a big smack, and yelled “Lawd please make me a pimp, any kind of a pimp, long as I’m pimpin’. I’m tired of scufflin’ and my feet are too long outa work.”

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Tell a Green Man Something”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 3 (1928–1935: The Big Apple), page 208:

(US, slang) A professional dancer, particularly one who has paid his or her dues.


drink the Kool-Aid

drink the Kool-Aid (third-person singular simple present drinks the Kool-Aid, present participle drinking the Kool-Aid, simple past drank the Kool-Aid, past participle drunk the Kool-Aid)

drinks the Kool-Aid (present singular third-person)
drinking the Kool-Aid (participle present)
drank the Kool-Aid (past)
drunk the Kool-Aid (participle past)
drink the Kool Aid (alternative)

Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, whose members committed mass suicide in 1978 by drinking a powdered drink mix (popularly, but erroneously, believed to be Kool-Aid) laced with cyanide.

Outside the Convention Center, meanwhile, protesters on either side of police barricades waved signs, chanted, sang songs and heckled people walking inside to attend the fundraiser. Signs included "Limp Wrists Make Strong Fists," "I'd Rather Be Dead Than Born Again" and "Abort the Moral Majority." One of the more original chants was "Don't drink the Kool-Aid!"

1982 April 24, Claude Peck, “Demo Greets Falwell During Visit to Minneapolis”, in Gay Community News, page 3:

Netscape, while willing to drink the open source Kool Aid, realized there were other important issues in the commercial sector.

1999, Robert Young, Wendy Goldman Rohm, Under the Radar: How Red Hat Changed the Software Business:

[…] essentially three options to choose from when you're confronted with the liberal hooey. The options are: 1. You can drink the campus Kool Aid […]

2007, Doug Giles, A Time to Clash: Papers from a Provocative Pastor:

They "drink the Kool-Aid", as Lampley terms it, meaning that they buy into the Olympic experience.

2008, Andrew C Billings, Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television:

"Then we better not drink the Kool-Aid. Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid, Robert?"

2008, James Howard Kunstler, World Made by Hand:

(chiefly US, colloquial, derogatory) To come under the influence of a leader, organization, or movement to the point of believing uncritically in an espoused idea or ideology.


ratepayer

The government is supposed to mediate between ratepayers and the power company.

(chiefly Canada, US) Someone who pays for a public utility or service.


leg-breaker

leg-breakers (plural)
leg breaker (alternative)
legbreaker (alternative)

The thug was an acknowledged leg breaker, a shakedown artist, a peddler of violence.

1974 September 4, Victor Riesel, “Mob money took Rebozo”, in Rome News-Tribune, US, retrieved 2009-01-05, page 4:

(chiefly US, slang) A violent thug, especially one employed as an enforcer by a criminal organization (e.g., a mafia, a loan shark).


Fedzilla

Allow me to state a blindingly obvious fact: when Fedzilla gets involved in anything, political motives and ideologies take precedence over everything else—including your health.

2010, Ted Nugent, Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto:

(US, informal, derogatory) US federal government regarded as a rapacious monster with an appetite for political power, money, etc.


dweeby

en-adj

dweeby (comparative dweebier, superlative dweebiest)

dweebier (comparative)
dweebiest (superlative)

THEY have no shame. That's my first reaction upon hearing that Candlestick Park has been violated by some dweeby Silicon Valley techno-name.

1995 September 17, George Vecsey, “Sports of The Times; Candlestick Park Deserves Better Than a Nerdy Name”, in The New York Times:

"Mother," Dominica whined, "Oggie Cooder is the dweebiest dweeb to ever walk the earth. I'll die of embarrassment if he comes to my birthday party."

In the public imagination, vaping — with its oversize, multipart manipulatable products — has become associated with a techier, dweebier slice of the population.

2018 July 4, Amos Barshad, “The Juul Is Too Cool”, in The New York Times:

(US, dated, originally university slang, now general slang, derogatory) Like, or characteristic of, a dweeb; nerdy, uncool.


stovetop

stovetops (plural)
stove-top (alternative)

You make this on the stovetop, not in the oven.

(cooking, US, Canada) The top of a stove; usually specifically the burners.


nonsports

ABC was third as "Desperate Housewives" (14.3 million) was the night's highest rated nonsports show.

2009 January 6, Benjamin Toff, Compiled By Dave Itzkoff, “Football Tramples ‘Superstars of Dance’”, in New York Times:

(chiefly US) Not related to or concerned with sports


snazz up

en-verb

snazz up (third-person singular simple present snazzes up, present participle snazzing up, simple past and past participle snazzed up)

snazzes up (present singular third-person)
snazzing up (participle present)
snazzed up (participle past)
snazzed up (past)

He worked with me from the very beginning to tighten and brighten my writing, snazz up my layouts.

1983, Donna Hagemann, edited by Judith Clabes, New Guardians of the Press: Selected Profiles of America's Women Newspaper Editors, →ISBN, page 88:

And wouldn't it snazz up the entrance to have a stained-glass window replace the clear one over the front door?

2003, Nora Roberts, Key of Light, →ISBN, page 186:

The Great White Way has in recent years increasingly banked on resurrections of Golden Oldie musicals and dramas from earlier decades, snazzed up with cinematic stars as box-office bait.

2003 June 1, Misha Berson, “On Broadway, old wine in snazzy new bottles”, in Seattle Times, retrieved 2009-01-08:

(transitive, chiefly US, informal) To improve appearance or appeal by increasing stylishness or functionality, or by adding other attractive features.


naturalista

From natural + -ista. Compare natural (“hairstyle for people with Afro-textured hair in which the hair is not straightened or otherwise treated”).

(US) A person with Afro-textured hair who embraces their natural hairstyle; a follower of the natural hair movement.


slicking

(US, dialect, historical) A whipping with a hickory switch.


jockocracy

en-noun

jockocracy (countable and uncountable, plural jockocracies)

And I see a clear relationship between militarism, jockocracy, and sexism […] Everything in this country is a hustle, so why settle on sports or jockocracy?

1976, Florynce Kennedy, Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times:

Rhythm and blues for Black community radio, I Love Lucy for women, jockocracy for men, heroin for the junkies: Nielsen says they like it.

"Big Spiel," as he came to call himself, formed his own tight little social circle in response to his exclusion from the jockocracy of Arcadia High School.

1999, Joseph McBride, Steven Spielberg: A Biography:

(US, slang) Rule by jocks (athletic macho men).


-emia

From the New Latin combining form of Ancient Greek αἷμᾰ (haîmă), αἵμᾰτος (haímătos, “blood”).

(chiefly Canada, US) Alternative spelling of -aemia


brainpan

brainpans (plural)
brain-pan (alternative)
braynepan (alternative)

From Middle English brayn panne, from Old English bræġnpanne, corresponding to brain + pan.

Many a time but for a Sallet, my braine-pan had bene cleft with a brown Bill.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ix]:

Yet, whether thwart or flatly it did lyte, / The tempred steele did not into his braynepan byte.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(now chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The braincase; the skull.

‘And a hard word it is,’ said Richie, ‘as my brainpan kens to this blessed moment.’

1822, Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel:

(now chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The brain or mind.


preclearance

preclearance (countable and uncountable, plural preclearances)

The great state of Alabama believes that preclearance is a relic of the past.

(US, law) Advance approval by a federal court or the Department of Justice for changes to voting regulations in certain states under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.


doty

en-adj

doty (comparative dotier, superlative dotiest)

dotier (comparative)
dotiest (superlative)
doaty (alternative)
dotey (alternative)

doty in the Dictionary of American Regional English

(US, dialectal, of a person) Senile; in one's dotage


snakebitten

And that is when the Chargers, snakebitten for so long in the playoffs, began their inexorable slide.

2009 January 12, Judy Battista, “Steelers Dominate Chargers to Reach A.F.C. Title Game”, in New York Times:

Since then, his campaign sometimes seemed snake-bitten as it dodged hecklers and a drumbeat of presumptuous questions about life after No. 10 Downing Street.

2010 May 5, Alistair MacDonald, Joe Parkinson, “Brown Scrambles for Votes as U.K. Poll Nears”, in The Wall Street Journal:


floaty

From float (noun) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns).

suffix

I am going to begin with a confession that seems to me to be startling less for its content than for the sheer number of similar stories that I have heard related among so many of my successful women friends. Prevalent as it is, it always surfaces abruptly, bobbing awkwardly as a lone yellow floatie in the public pool of our conversations.

1998, Debra Shukles, “Weighing in as a Feminist”, in Rosamund Else-Mitchell, Naomi Flutter, editors, Talking Up: Young Women’s Take on Feminism, Melbourne, Vic.: Spinifex Press, →ISBN, page 71:

My best friend just may be the Florida champ of floatie racing. Or she at least has the Cape Canaveral title. She pushed the flamingo floatie to the opposite end of the pool in record time. I come in a distant second, as usual. This, after my best efforts to use my ginormous floatie to bump her off course, splashing us both.

2019, Alyssa Milano, with Debbie Rigaud, chapter 2, in Project Middle School (Hope; 1), New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, →ISBN, page 15:

A lilo (inflatable air mattress) or similar object that floats on water and can be lain or sat on.

kelluke

As an escaped megalodon swims close to a busy beach, we see humanity at its most chompable: chubby kids in floaties, doofuses on pontoons, some dork in a tight Speedo rolling around in one of those big inflatable Zorb balls. But alas, the movie is a gore-free PG-13, and though CGI has long since replaced animatronics as the monster movie's weapon of choice, one thing hasn’t changed: giant killer fish still look like they’re made of rubber.

2018 August 8, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Jason Statham fighting a giant shark should be a lot more fun than The Meg”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2023-12-26:

(swimming) Chiefly in the plural: synonym of armband (“one of a pair of inflatable plastic bands, normally worn on the upper arms, to help the wearer (often a child) float in water and learn to swim”)


stickman

stickmen (plural)
stick man (alternative)

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

Stick candy is made by a stick puller or stickman, who pulls the hard candy after it has been boiled; […]

1903, United States. Census Office, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, number 270, page 1189:

(US) A person who makes confectionery by pulling candy onto a stick.


get off on

en-verb

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

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

(slang, US, dated) To fight (somebody); to win a fight against (someone); to insult or provoke (someone) to a fight.


little brown fucking machine

en-noun

little brown fucking machine (plural little brown fucking machines)

little brown fucking machines (plural)
LBFM (alternative)

Mack soon learned that this new bit of colonialist lingo stood for "Little Brown Fucking Machine." It was more convenient to abbreviate […]

And we still have soldiers who call us "a little brown fucking machine fueled by rice.

1996, Mary John Mananzan, J Shannon Clarkson, Letty Russell, Women Resisting Violence: Spirituality for Life:

What about that little brown fucking machine? She's got a nice body, a nice attitude; she takes care of herself. I figured you'd like her.

A Little Brown Fucking Machine is not unsexed by prostituting, she is "just doing what comes naturally."

1999, Kamala Kempadoo, Sun, Sex, and Gold:

After Wes forced the split between Jeri and Captain America, he started dating her and dangling a possible dalliance with the Little Brown Fucking Machine […]

LBFM is Navy speak for Little Brown Fucking Machine. They are the bar girls sailors meet in all the ports in the Orient. The term is generic for bar girls […]

(US, navy, vulgar, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A Southeast Asian woman regarded as a sex object.


chief petty officer

chief petty officer (plural chief petty officers)

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

petty officer first class
petty officer first class

senior chief petty officer
senior chief petty officer

(US, Navy) A non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, ranking above petty officer first class and below senior chief petty officer.


army brat

O-Ren Ishii was born on an American military base in Tokyo, Japan. The half Japanese, half Chinese American army brat made her first acquaintance with death at the age of nine.

2003, Quentin Tarantino (writer–director), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (film), 0:33–4

(US) One who has a parent or parents in the military, possibly one who lives on a military base.

kapiaisen kakara

child who lives with his or her parents on a military base, or an adult who did so as a child


melodeon

/mɪˈləʊdɪən/


Medicare

My mom started getting Medicare last week.

One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.

2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN:

(US) The system of government subsidies for health care for the elderly and disabled.


mack daddy

(US, slang) A pimp, especially a prosperous one.

Coordinate term: big daddy

"Out of sight!" praised a suave and youthful mack daddy, boogying under the glittery flashing lights. "I can dig all your moves, foxy momma! Say...Why don't we go over to a table and rap a little? Dig?

2003, Ashaki Boelter, Distant Lover: All-4-Love Series 1 of 3, page 1:

(US, slang) A flirtatious and seductive man.


Caddy

All those ones live in those great big piecrust mock-Two-door houses with His and Hers Caddies parked out by the hydrangea bushes.

He's driving a ten-year old^([sic]) lime-green Caddy with a trunk full of golf clubs and one suitcase. We got a license number.

2000, John Sandford [pseudonym; John Roswell Camp], Easy Prey, page 126:

So Dave backed his car in beside the Caddy, his eyes on the side door of the bar, no one having come out for a while.


Midwesterner

Midwesterners (plural)
midwesterner (alternative)

People from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Kentucky are often considered Midwesterners.


Midwestern

en-adj

Midwestern (comparative more Midwestern, superlative most Midwestern)

more Midwestern (comparative)
most Midwestern (superlative)
midwestern (alternative)

(US) Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Midwest.


AFDB

(US, military, dated) Initialism of auxiliary floating drydock barge.


plug-ugly

(US, historical) A member of an American nativist street gang that operated in the west side of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1854 to 1865.

(US, slang, dated) A violent thug; a goon.


Rube Goldberg machine

en-noun

Rube Goldberg machine (plural Rube Goldberg machines)

Named for Rube Goldberg, an American cartoonist, who drew many such machines.

(US) A comical, overcomplicated machine which performs a simple task.


fascinator

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

(dated, US) A type of wool or lace headscarf.


bluecoat

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

The shot wounded Thomas Lord, a 73-year-old former New York City police officer from Suffolk, Va., and a bluecoat with the Seventh New York Volunteer Cavalry.

2009 January 18, Ralph Blumenthal, “Re-enactor Is Indicted in Shooting of a Yankee”, in New York Times:

(US history) A soldier or officer in the Union army during the American Civil War


paratransit

paratransit (countable and uncountable, plural paratransits)

/ˌpeɪɹəˈtɹænzɪt/

/ˌpeɪɹəˈtɹænsɪt/

From para- (“beside”) + transit, perhaps influenced by paraplegia. US from 1972.

The disability community had hoped that the submission of ADA complementary paratransit plans to FTA would constitute an opportunity for real monitoring of local progress and that FTA would take action to ensure that transit agencies were in compliance with their plans.

2000, Marco Bristo, Promises to Keep: A Decade of Federal Enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, page 279:

So about twice a week, he calls a day in advance to arrange a trip[…] through Access-a-Ride, the city’s door-to-door paratransit service for the elderly and the disabled.

2009 January 18, Gregory Beyer, “For Disabled Riders, New Bumps in the Road”, in New York Times:

In developing countries the form of paratransit modes range from simple non-motorized human, mainly hand-drawn or pedal-driven, or animal-powered vehicles to motorized minibuses.

2010, Kenneth Button, A Dictionary of Transport Analysis, page 295:

(US) An auxiliary transit service without fixed routes or schedules, usually serving the disabled on demand.

handicapkørsel

auxiliary transit service for the disabled


liberalish

en-adj

liberalish (comparative more liberalish, superlative most liberalish)

more liberalish (comparative)
most liberalish (superlative)

“Fox is in a much better position with a liberalish Democrat in the White House than they were with a Republican,” said Eric Alterman, the media columnist for The Nation magazine.

2009 January 19, Brian Stelter, “Fox News Primes Itself for a Shift”, in New York Times:


crimebuster

crimebusters (plural)
crime-buster (alternative)
crime buster (alternative)

Etymology tree
English crime
English buster
English crimebuster
From crime + buster.

etymon

This corporation law background is less known than his record as a crime-buster.

1938 April 10, Louther S. Horne, “Loesch Tells How to Beat Crime: A Need is Seen for Fearless Prosecutors”, in New York Times, page 120:

Bit by bit, J. Edgar Hoover's image as an incorruptible crimebuster has crumbled since his death in 1972.

1976 August 2, “Dipping into the Cookie Jar”, in Time:

Swayze's ruthless crimebuster never hesitates—and as he plugs street scum full of bullets and pursues his own form of frontier justice with a hard, penetrating squint, we find ourselves rooting for a character who, in lesser hands, could be perceived as downright ugly.

2009, Joel Rubinoff, "Swayze breathes life into killing" (TV review), Toronto Star, 22 Jan. (retrieved 22 Jan. 2009)

(chiefly US, informal) A person, especially a law enforcement officer, who is particularly effective in thwarting criminal activity and in bringing criminals to justice.


swamp pine

(US) Any of several pine trees, such as loblolly pine or longleaf pine, that prefer swampy conditions


appellee

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French apelé.

After winning in the lower court, the appellee hoped she would win again in the appeals court.


prepster

They are also hugely varied, and on a recent Friday night included hipsters, prepsters, fraternity boys in ball caps, soul men with their entourages, East Side girls in diamonds, Howard University grads and an old man pushing 70 in a navy flannel suit.

2009 January 22, Alan Feuer, “A Place to Groove, Without Being Too Groovy”, in New York Times:

(US) A person who dresses or behaves in a way characteristic of such a student.


skronky

en-adj

skronky (comparative more skronky, superlative most skronky)

more skronky (comparative)
most skronky (superlative)

MODESELEKTOR (Saturday) This duo, from Berlin, plays skronky, occasionally disconcerting electronic music, and has benefited enormously from the copious—and copiously heeded—praise of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.

2009 January 23, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times:

This is the kind of difficulty that has a kinship with skronky jazz, and avant-garde noise, and some hip-hop, and lots of punk rock.

2019, Stephanie Burt, Don't Read Poetry:

(US, music, slang) Raw and discordant, especially of an electric guitar.


darn tootin'

darn tootin’ (canonical)
dang tootin' (alternative)
dang tooting (alternative)
darn tooting (alternative)
durn tootin' (alternative)
durn tooting (alternative)
damn tootin' (alternative)
damn tooting (alternative)

Pink . . . nodded assent. "You're durn tootin’ it's right!" he testified.

1916, B. M. Bower, chapter 28, in The Heritage of the Sioux:

(chiefly US, countrified, idiomatic) Absolutely correct; speaking the truth.

I’ve decided that Wii Fit is darn tootin’ fun.

2009 January 5, Lana Sweeten-Shults, “Look out 2009, here I come”, in Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas, retrieved 2009-01-24:

(chiefly US, countrified, idiomatic) Absolute, utter, complete, very.


darn tootin'

In speech, in rapid responses, in interviews, Kerry and Edwards remind us these days how darn tootin’ chock full of values they really are.

2004 July 17, David Brooks, “Values, Values Everywhere”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-01-24:

(chiefly US, countrified, idiomatic) Assuredly, absolutely, utterly, completely, you bet.


darn tootin'

dang tootin' (alternative)
dang tooting (alternative)
darn tooting (alternative)
durn tootin' (alternative)
durn tooting (alternative)
damn tootin' (alternative)
damn tooting (alternative)

"May I assume you wish to enter a plea of not guilty?"
"Darn tootin’."

2001, William Bernhardt, Murder One, →ISBN, page 66:

(chiefly US, countrified, idiomatic) You are absolutely correct.


antilife

antilife (comparative more antilife, superlative most antilife)

more antilife (comparative)
most antilife (superlative)
anti-life (alternative)


supermax

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

From super- + max (as in maximum security prison).

As he sits today in Supermax, Powers had amputated his fingers, a testicle, his scrotum and his earlobes, has cut his Achilles tendon, and had tried several times to kill himself.

2012 June 18, Andrew Cohen, “An American Gulag: Descending into Madness at Supermax”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 2023-06-11:

(US) A prison with the highest possible level of security.


GSE

en-noun

GSE (countable and uncountable, plural GSEs)

By buying tranches in NC2 and similar entities, the GSEs helped fuel private-label securitization.

2020, Katharina Pistor, “4: Minting Debt”, in The Code of Capital […] , Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

government-sponsored enterprise
w:government-sponsored enterprise

(US, finance) Initialism of government-sponsored enterprise.


Gordie Howe hat trick

Gordie Howe hat trick (plural Gordie Howe hat tricks)

From Gordie Howe + hat trick.
Named for Gordie Howe (1928-2016), considered one of the all-time best ice hockey players, but known for his tendency to fight.

"Basil got a ‘Gordie Howe hat trick’," Dave Gagner said. "He scored a goal, got an assist on the winner and got into a fight. A hell of a fight!"

1989 December 17, “North Stars Snap Road Slump 4-3”, in St. Paul Pioneer Press, retrieved 2013-09-21:

"Last February against Anaheim," Severyn said . . . "I got a Gordie Howe hat trick that night. You know, a goal, a fight and an assist."

1996 November 23, Rick Sadowski, “Severyn has starring role as AVs trip up Islanders”, in Rocky Mountain News, retrieved 2013-09-21:

The assist came in the first period. . . . The goal came later in the first. . . . Then in the third, to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick, the fight just happened, said Milan Lucic.

2010 October 20, Fluto Shinzawa, “Lucic settles a score and Bruins capitalize”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 2013-09-21:

(Canada and US, ice hockey) The triple achievement of a goal, an assist for a goal, and participation in a fight, within a single game.

Gordie Howe
Gordie Howe hat trick
en:Gordie Howe


cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

Catchphrase of Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, the cartoon mascot of the General Mills breakfast cereal Cocoa Puffs: "I go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!" See cuckoo (“crazy”).

This girl is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

1994, Helen Childress, Reality Bites, spoken by Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke):

'She's totally cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.'


RD

RD (countable and uncountable, plural RDs)

Under these restrictions, the only way for nuclear information that had been classified as RD to be controlled under UCNI is for the information to be declassified and then for circumstances to change such that the information becomes sufficiently sensitive to warrant reassertion of some degree of control.

1995, National Research Council, Division on Earth and Life Studies, Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources, A Review of the Department of Energy Classification:

(US, uncountable) Initialism of rural delivery, formerly used when addressing mail.

(US, law enforcement) Initialism of reporting district.


segregant

(US, historical) An internee sent to the maximum-security Tule Lake (WWII internment camp for Japanese Americans).


leftosphere

From left + -o- + -sphere, perhaps by analogy with blogosphere.

I know quite a few [marines in the] USMC, my kid was in Iraq. To the man, none of them fit the "clueless" stereotype that is propogated by the leftosphere.

2006 March 30, "SteveR" (username), "Re: Rumsfeld - Pre-9/11 Thinking", in tx.politics and other newgroups, Usenet

Sure, you mention some of the good things to come out of the leftosphere - what's the most recent "good" thing they have done? Hmm? All you mention is ancient history.

2008 March 4, O'Neil's Faggy Prostate - SWEEPEAT!!!, “Re: I. . . I just couldn't do it!!! :_(”, in alt.sports.baseball.bos-redsox (Usenet):

I've read complaints from the leftosphere complaining that there's no soundbite to play in retaliation to the noisebots on Fox.

2008 March 19, Sam Hutcheson, “Re: How to ensure Obama coasts to the Democratic nomination”, in alt.sports.baseball.atlanta-braves.coffeeshop (Usenet):

When kos sneezes, the rest of the nutroots catch a cold, so [James] Webb should be an acceptable nominee to the entire leftosphere.

2008 December 5, Josh Painter, Team Obama needs your help:

(US) Blogs on the political left, taken collectively.


beavertail

beavertails (plural)
beaver tail (alternative)
beaver-tail (alternative)

(Canada, US) Any object like a beaver's tail, oval or tear-drop in plan, usually broad and flat; usually beaver-tail.

Coordinate term: elephant ear

(Canada, US) A fried-dough pastry of such shape; usually beaver tail or Beaver Tail.


diaper rash

diaper rash (countable and uncountable, plural diaper rashes)

(US) Any of various skin rashes in the diaper area.


capper

From Middle English capper; equivalent to cap + -er.

(US, slang, dated) A by-bidder; a decoy for gamblers.


rolling paper

(chiefly US) A small sheet of paper used for rolling (tobacco) cigarettes, joints (marijuana cigarettes), and the like.


robber baron

robber baron (feudalism)
robber baron (industrialist)

Still sails the Robber Baron’s yacht in sunny Southern seas. Daily she jams her nose ashore, and daily takes on and puts off a fresh cargo of telegraph dispatches; and he who is idling for his liver's sake knows every night the tale of Wall-street's ticker and baiteth still without cessation his everlasting mouse trap.

1886 March 14, “A Robber Baron Muses”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page 3:

An early operator in the field, Ivy Lee, is reported to have changed the image of John D. Rockefeller from robber baron to philanthropic old gentleman who loved to play golf and hand out shiny coins to children.

1975, Michael Argyle, Bodily Communication, →ISBN, page 206:

When the robber barons emerged in the late nineteenth century as the first ultrarich Americans, they had no clear guide on how to build palatial homes, so they just copied the architecture of wealthy European families.

2022, W. David Marx, chapter 2, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, usually derogatory) Especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a business tycoon who had great wealth and influence but whose methods were morally questionable and often unethical.


trunkload

But Joseph’s mobile phone seemed permanently off, and we soon learned that he had been caught by the police with a trunkload of whiskey.

2009 January 25, Azadeh Moaveni, “Wine-Order Bride”, in New York Times:

(US) A quantity sufficient to fill the trunk of a car


cooktop

These include such precautions as swimming only in the company of a responsible adult who knows about your condition and how to manage a seizure; getting your doctor to assess whether or not you should drive; having showers rather than baths, and leaving the bathroom door unlocked; using guards for open fires, radiators and cooktops.

2009 January 25, By Dr Cindy Pan, “Living with epilepsy”, in Herald Sun:

(cooking, US, Canada) An assembly of burners for cooking, designed to fit onto a surface such as the top of a table


jumpout

“Well, I figured if the jumpouts came they wouldn′t search her,” says Rosa Lee. “They′d search me but they wouldn′t find nothing.”

1997, Leon Dash, Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America, page 33:

(US, slang) A plainclothes narcotics officer.