rugger

en-noun

rugger (countable and uncountable, plural ruggers)

From rugby (“Rugby football”) + -er (Oxford “-er”). Compare contemporary soccer, from Association football. Both words seem to have originated at the University of Oxford during the 1880s. See Oxford -er.

Some people refer to a Dropped Goal as if it were a misfortune rather than the perfection of football ... Genuine "Ruggers" will, of course, scoff at this

1889 November 23, "Banshee", “The World of Pastime”, in The Penny Illustrated Paper, volume 57, number 1486, London, page 407:

To this day ruggers belittle soccer, and they will tell anyone who expresses the slightest interest in their game that rugby is "a ruffian's game played by gentlemen," while soccer is "a gentleman's game played by ruffians."

1974 August, Paul Burka, “The Sport of Rough Gentlemen”, in Texas Monthly, volume 2, number 8, page 42:

When you put sixty ruggers and their friends and lovers in a bar, you've really got something going.

1977 Apr, Robert McKay, “My Heart's In Highlands, A Chasing The Ruggers”, in Cincinnati Magazine, volume 10, number 7, page 80:

Some of the world's most talented ruggers had come to New York for the weekend to play for fun. "What's football — just an Americanization of rugby," exclaimed one fan at the 38th Annual New York Sevens Tournament. … Brian Corcoran, who in 1990 played for Team USA for free, distinguished ruggers from "the spoiled, arrogant professionals you're dealing with in other sports."

1996 December 16, Shannon Black, “Rugby: Aliens 3, Locals 0”, in New York Magazine, volume 29, number 49, page 22:

After the game, the teams adjourned to the Dolphins’ usual after-match location, O’Brien’s Irish Pub on Main Street, where they enjoyed a spirited social together: songs were sung, speeches and presentations were made, and mutual admiration was expressed, particularly toward the soldier-ruggers of the 7th for their sacrifice and dedication.

2011 June 8, “Club sports: Touring British Army ruggers welcomed”, in Santa Monica Daily Press:


rutty

en-adj

rutty (comparative ruttier, superlative ruttiest)

ruttier (comparative)
ruttiest (superlative)

Constantly vary your way of doing things; avoid humdrum, rutty, and monotonous ways.

1893, Frederick S. Parkhurst, Work and Workers: Practical Suggestions for the Junior Epworth League, New York: Hunt & Eaton, page 63:

Everywhere we see men who have gone to seed early, become rutty and uninteresting, because they worked too much and played too little.

1913, Orison Swett Marden, The Joys of Living, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, page 97:

We get lazy, then the church becomes rutty.

1922, Edgar Hurst Cherington, chapter 23, in The Line is Busy,, New York: Abingdon Press, page 26:


sachem

Borrowed from Narragansett sachem; compare Mi'kmaq saqamaw (“chief”) and Unami sakima (“chief”), all ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *sa·kima·wa. Doublet of sagamore.

Planted with their broad ends on the deck, a circle of these slabs laced together, mutually sloped towards each other, and at the apex united in a tufted point, where the loose hairy fibres waved to and fro like the top-knot on some old Pottowottamie Sachem’s head.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter XVI, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

If a sachem was too harsh, a tribesman might leave and join another tribe.

1983, Howard S. Russell, Indian New England Before the Mayflower, page 19:

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


sault

In the sense "jump (made by a horse)", from Middle French sault, saut (and in the sense "waterfall", from that word's Colonial-era descendant, 17th-century French sault, corresponding to modern French saut (“jump”)), from Latin saltus.


spigot

From Middle English spigot (“wooden stopper”). Probably ultimately from Latin spīca via Old Occitan espiga and one or more dialects of Middle French [Term?].

der

I went to the sink and turned the spigot, feeling the cold rush of water upon my hand.

1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 323:

(US, especially Appalachia) A water tap: a faucet or sillcock.


tad

1877, ‘young or small child’, probably a shortened form of tadpole. The extended meaning ‘small amount’ is first recorded 1915.

(US, slang, dated) A street boy; an urchin.


teener

(US, slang) A sixteenth of an ounce of a drug.


toby

(US, dated, regional) A kind of inferior cigar of a long slender shape, tapered at one end.


Tory

From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler ("Earl of Ormond") to a Colonel O' Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.

(US, historical) A loyal British subject during the American Revolution.

(US, historical) A Union sympathizer in the Confederate States during the American Civil War.


vamp

Uncertain; possibly related to vamp (etymology 1, above): see the 2008 quotation.

John Mackin is one of the old-timers of the new Department. He was a volunteer fireman as well, […] John Mackin was among the number of "old vamps" who made application to the first Board of Fire Commissioners for appointment in the Paid Department.

1892, “Companies of the Seventh District”, in Our Firemen: The Official History of the Brooklyn Fire Department, from the First Volunteer to the Latest Appointee. Compiled from the Records of the Department, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: [Brooklyn Fire Department], →OCLC, page 371:

The vamps had to carry their equipment to the fire on foot!

2000, “History of the Atlanta Fire Department”, in History of Service: Atlanta Fire Department Commemorative Yearbook, Paducah, Ky.: Turner Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 25, column 1:

Volunteer firemen are called vamps because they often went to fires on foot, vamp being an old English word for "walk." Syosset's first vamps responded quickly to fires and formed bucket brigades to extinguish them.

2008, John Delin, “The Vamps, Syosset’s Bravest”, in Syosset People and Places (Images of America), Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 88:


wapiti

From Shawnee waapiti (“elk; white rump”).

Of deer there are in North America perhaps eight species : the black-tailed deer of the Pacific coast ; the mule-deer, and the white-tailed deer, of the Upper Missouri region and westward; the common deer of the United States east of the Missouri ; the wapiti of the northern and northwestern portions of the United States; one or two species of reindeer ; and the moose of the northern portion of the continent. […] Next to the moose, the wapiti or American elk (Cervus Canadensis) is the largest deer in North America.

1877 April, Sanborn Tenney, “The Plant-Eaters of North America”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 10:

In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountains and on our great plains, and now tending toward extinction.

1904 December 6, Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth State of the Union Address:

You see, if we could keep giraffes or reindeer or some other species of browsing animal there we could explain the general absence of vegetation by a reference to the fauna of the garden: ‘You can’t have wapiti and Darwin tulips, you know, so we didn’t put down any bulbs last year.’ As it is, we haven’t got the wapiti, and the Darwin tulips haven’t survived the fact that most of the cats of the neighbourhood hold a parliament in the centre of the tulip bed; […].

1919, Saki, “The Occasional Garden”, in The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers:

Cervus canadensis
Cervus canadensis#Translingual

(US, Canada) The American elk (Cervus canadensis). It was formerly considered to be in the same species as the European red deer, which it somewhat exceeds in size.


washy

en-adj

washy (comparative washier, superlative washiest)

washier (comparative)
washiest (superlative)

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

a washy horse

(US, dialect, archaic or horse racing) Not firm or hardy; liable to sweat profusely with labour.


winker

From wink (“blinking of only one eye”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

silmäniskijä

We're like father and Aunt Nina, hanging on the wall in the library. Mother's got big black eyes, with winkers a rod long, and her hair shines like my velvet coat, and comes most to her feet.

1864, Mary J[ane] Holmes, “Six Years Later”, in Darkness and Daylight. […], New York, N.Y.: Carleton, […], →OCLC, page 368:

I had fallen down on my knees, with my back to the wind, and already the snow had drifted around me. I also found my eye-lashes frozen together, and I lost several winkers in getting rid of those solidified tears.

1915, Arthur Stringer, “Monday the Eleventh”, in The Prairie Wife […], Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 179:

His eyebrows are gone and his winkers, and he’s as red as a gobbler’s neck.

1931, B. M. Bower [pseudonym; Bertha Muzzy Sinclair], “The Native Son”, in Dark Horse: A Story of the Flying U, New York, N.Y.: Triangle Books, published January 1943, →OCLC, page 217:

A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.

(British, US, dialectal or slang) An eyelash.


yoke

From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh.
Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.

poikkipuu

linking or supporting object that resembles a yoke

駕駛桿 /驾驶杆

device with crosspieces used to control an aircraft

iugum

unit of land area notionally equivalent to the area a team of yoked draft animals can work in a day

Senses relating to a frame around the neck.

Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.

(chiefly US) A frame or convex crosspiece from which a bell is hung.


laker

From lake (“body of water”) + -er (“inhabitant”) or + -er (relational suffix).

(nautical, Canada, US) A ship used on the Great Lakes.


taffy

en-noun

taffy (countable and uncountable, plural taffies)

Probably related to tafia (“a type of rum”).

(US) A soft, chewy candy made from boiled sugar, molasses, or corn syrup and butter.


moider

en-verb

moider (third-person singular simple present moiders, present participle moidering, simple past and past participle moidered)

moiders (present singular third-person)
moidering (participle present)
moidered (participle past)
moidered (past)

Representing the pronunciation by New York City English speakers with the curl-coil vowel merger.

(US, dialect, archaic, transitive) murder


moider

en-noun

moider (countable and uncountable, plural moiders)


sideways

We realized the project could go sideways very quickly if we didn't get the sales and marketing people on our side.

As we walked deeper into the darkness, we both knew this could go sideways in a heartbeat. We were sitting ducks. Birds on a wire. Canaries in a coalmine.

2011, D. P. Lyle, chapter 78, in Hot Lights, Cold Steel, →ISBN, page 340:

It feels like the probability of something going sideways here is higher.

2023 May 20, Tabby Kinder, George Hammond, quoting Ivan Matkovic, “So long, San Francisco”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1:

(chiefly US, colloquial) Not as planned; towards a worse outcome.


toward

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English toward, from Old English tōweard, from Proto-West Germanic *tōward, equivalent to to + -ward. Cognate with Middle Low German tôwart, Middle Dutch toewaert (Modern Dutch toewaarts), Middle High German zuowart, zūwart (Modern German zuwärts). Compare also Middle English tilward, tillward (“toward”).

Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.


blazer

From blaze + -er. Originates from the 'blazing' scarlet jackets worn by members of Lady Margaret Boat Club, the rowing club associated with St. John's College, Cambridge. Compare Old English blæsere, blasere (“burner, incendiary”, literally “blazer”).

(slang, US) One who smokes cannabis; a stoner.


bluff

bluff (countable and uncountable, plural bluffs)

→ Portuguese: bluff, blefe (Brazil)

Probably from Dutch bluffen (“to brag”), from Middle Dutch bluffen (“to make something swell; to bluff”); or from the Dutch noun bluf (“bragging”). Related to German verblüffen (“to stump, perplex”).

der

BLUFF OR POKER [title of a chapter]

(US, dated, uncountable) The card game poker.


breaker

From Middle English breker, brekere, equivalent to break + -er. Cognate with Dutch breker, German Low German Breker, German Brecher.

буренце

small cask of water in case of shipwreck

Their radios had been blocked by a breaker calling himself Yankee Bucket Mouth.

2015, Dave Wise, Stuart Wise, Like A Summer With A Thousand Julys:


breaker

breaker one nine

Breaker to the Bandit

1977, Smokey and the Bandit, spoken by Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason):

(US, dated) Used to open a conversation or call for a response on CB radio.


cadge

en-verb

cadge (third-person singular simple present cadges, present participle cadging or cadgin, simple past and past participle cadged)

cadges (present singular third-person)
cadging (participle present)
cadgin (participle present)
cadged (participle past)
cadged (past)

Possibly a corruption of cage, from Old French.

Are ye gannin te cadge a lift of yoer fatha?

They moved about the bar incessantly, cadging cigarettes and drinks, with something behind their eyes at once terribly vulnerable and terribly hard.

1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room, Penguin, published 2001, Part One, Chapter 2:

1960, Lionel Bart, “Food, Glorious Food,” song from the musical Oliver!
There’s not a crust, not a crumb can we find,
can we beg, can we borrow, or cadge […]

(US, British, slang) To obtain something by wit or guile; to convince people to do something they might not normally do.

vyloudit

slang: to obtain something by wit or guile


cape

cape (third-person singular simple present capes, present participle caping, simple past and past participle caped)

capes (present singular third-person)
caping (participle present)
caped (participle past)
caped (past)

From French cape, from Old Occitan capa, from Late Latin cappa (“cape”). The second sense ("superhero") is metonymic from the fact that many superheroes wear capes. Likewise, the verb sense "defend, praise" alludes to the stereotypical depiction of superheroes wearing capes when they come to people's defense. (Compare caped crusader.) Doublet of capa and cappa.

A lot of African-Americans believe the answer is Clinton, mostly because "she's not Trump" and because President Barack Obama is shamelessly caping for her.

2016, Ken Makin, “Clinton-Trump debacle underscores gross misunderstanding of politics”, in Urban Pro Weekly, 6 October - 12 October 2016, page 5:

Many times, you see white supremacist groups caping for women to mask their agenda of white nationalism.

2017, Laila Nur, quoted in Jordan Green, "Far-right groups converge behind anti-sharia message in Raleigh", Triad City Beat, 14 June - 20 June 2017, page 9

"I can't believe I'm out here caping for a politician."

2017, Mindy Isser [organizer], quoted by Aubrey Whelan [journalist] in "For Philly's socialists, election wins signal momentum", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 November 2017

[…] Biden is the old man who once caped for systematic racism; […]

2019 April 3, Julian Lutz, “Elizabeth Warren has authenticity”, in The Hawk, Saint Joseph's University, page 8:

(US, slang, chiefly with "for") To defend or praise, especially that which is unworthy.


cater

Probably ultimately from French quatre (“four”), possibly via cater (“change-ringing”), although Liberman argues for a derivation from a North Germanic prefix meaning "crooked, angled, clumsy" from which he also derives cater-cousin and, via Norse, Old Irish cittach (“left-handed, awkward”). He finds this more likely than extension of the dice and change-ringing term cater as an adverb, given the likely cognates in other Germanic languages. Caterpillar and caterwaul are unrelated, being derived from cognates to cat, but may have influenced the pronunciation of Liberman's proposed earlier *cate- or undergone similar sound changes.

Cater and Cater-cornered, diagonal; diagonally. To ‘cut cater’ in the case of velvet, cloth, etc., is... ‘cut on the cross’. Cater-snozzle, to make an angle; to ‘mitre’.

1881, Sebastian Evans, Leicestershire Words, Phrases, and Proverbs, s.v. "Cater and Cater-cornered":


commutation

en-noun

commutation (countable and uncountable, plural commutations)

but there was no city officer to stand forth and ask for it — not even so much as to require frequent trains, low fares, and commutations on that part of the road which ran within the city limits.

1879, WR Martin, “Cities as Units in Our Polity”, in The North American Review:

These permit the limited number willing to abandon their automobiles for long hikes to visit some of the most rugged terrain in Southern California. Major resort centers with substantial year-around residence (and much commutation) occur in the western Santa Monica Mountains, the San Bernardino Mountains, and around Idyllwild in the San Jacinto.

1981, David W. Lantis, Rodney Steiner, Arthur E. Karinen, California, land of contrast, page 166:

After decades of complaint that cities are exploited by suburban commuters, the American metropolis is experiencing more and more commutation in the other direction. In some metropolitan areas, there is as much commutation out of the city as into it.

1999, BW Hawkins, DM Ihrke, “Research Note: Reexamining the Suburban Exploitation Thesis in American Metropolitan Areas”, in Publius: The Journal of Federalism:

When Mary worked as an adjunct, she deliberately never calculated how much commutation and the babysitter were costing because she suspected that she was probably losing money on the deal.

2004, Mary W. Quigley, Loretta E. Kaufman, Going Back To Work: A Survival Guide for Comeback Moms, page 36:

(US, nonstandard) The process or habit of journeying to and from work on a regular basis; commuting.


creek

creeks (plural)
crick (alternative)
crik (alternative)

Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin: kriki

Sranan Tongo: kriki

From Middle English creke, kreke, creake, of unclear origin.
Additional etymological information
It existed alongside a second variant in Middle English cryke, krike, cricke, from Old Norse kriki. The first form possibly continues Old English *creca (attested in the diminutive crecca (“creek, bay, wharf”) also found in Anglo-Latin as creca, crecca), from Proto-West Germanic *krekō, from Proto-Germanic *krekô, *krekuz (“corner, hook, angle, bend, bight”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, to wind”).
See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Old Norse kriki, krikr (“angle, corner, nook, bight”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). Modern cognates include West Frisian kreek (“creek”), Dutch kreek (“creek, cove, inlet, bight”), and French crique (“cove”) (borrowed from Germanic).
Early British colonists of Australia and the Americas used the term in the usual British way, to name inlets; as settlements followed the inlets upstream and inland, the names were retained and creek came to be used to refer to any small waterway. A similar semantic development occurred in Dutch and French, where the word originally meant "bay" but came to mean "stream" especially in the French and Dutch colonies (French Guiana, Dutch Guiana and Indonesia).

unk

unclear origin

cog

We all feel it Looming, even when we're awake, out there ahead someplace, the way you come to feel a River or Creek ahead, before anything else,— sound, sky, vegetation,— may have announced it.

1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 67, in Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part Two: America, page 650:

(Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US) A stream of water, typically a stream of freshwater smaller than a river; in Australia, also used of river-sized bodies of water.


culmination

en-noun

culmination (countable and uncountable, plural culminations)

Borrowed from French culmination, from culminer, or from Medieval Latin culminatus + -tion.
Morphologically culminate + -ion.

(US) An attainment or arrival at the highest pitch of glory, power, etc.

Coordinate term: (high school) graduation

(US, education) A ceremony marking the completion of studies at an elementary school, middle school or junior high school.


drape

From Middle English drape (“a drape”, noun), from Old French draper (“to drape; to full cloth”), from drap (“cloth, drabcloth”), from Late Latin drappus, drapus (“drabcloth, kerchief”), a word first recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne, probably from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”, literally “that which is struck or for striking”), from Proto-Germanic *drapiz (“a strike, hit, blow”) and Proto-Germanic *drēpiz (“intended for striking, to be beaten”), both from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”). Cognate with English drub (“to beat”), North Frisian dreep (“a blow”), Low German drapen, dräpen (“to strike”), German treffen (“to meet”), Swedish dräpa (“to slay”). More at drub.

der

(US) A member of a youth subculture distinguished by its sharp dress, especially peg-leg pants (1950s: e.g. Baltimore, MD). Antonym: square.


drift

en-verb

drift (third-person singular simple present drifts, present participle drifting, simple past and past participle drifted)

drifts (present singular third-person)
drifting (participle present)
drifted (participle past)
drifted (past)

From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Danish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”).

cog

(mining, US) To make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect.


extenuation

en-noun

extenuation (countable and uncountable, plural extenuations)

extenuations (plural)
extenuacion (alternative)

An adaptation of extenuātiōn-, the oblique stem of the Latin extenuātiō (“a thinning or diminishing”, “rarefaction”; rhetoric “a lessening”, “diminution”, “extenuation”), noun of action from extenuō (“I thin, reduce, or diminish”). Equivalent to extenuate + -ion. Compare the French exténuation.

bor

They were clad in silken extenuations from the throat to the feet.

1881 May, G.W. Cable, Scribner’s Mag., page 23:

One side wore…extenuations of a…green colour.

1883 September 12, Pall Mall G., page 2/2:

(countable and uncountable) The action of extenuating; extenuated condition.

(US, humorous, in the plural as “extenuations”) Thin garments.


fellow

From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; money”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)) + lag (“something laid down; right position; arrangement; companionship, fellowship; partnership”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”)).
Cognates
* Old Norse filaga, felaka (“partner”, accusative singular), from which the other terms are derived:
* Danish fælle (“companion”)
* Faroese felagi (“member; partner”)
* Icelandic félagi (“companion, comrade, fellow; member; partner”)
* Norwegian felle (“companion”)
* Old Swedish fälaghi (modern Swedish felaga, felaha (“partner”, accusative singular))
* Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, companion, comrade”)

toveri

person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing

compagnon

(senior) member of a learned or professional society

Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.

(Canada, US) A physician undergoing a fellowship (supervised subspecialty medical training) after having completed a residency (specialty training program).

(US) A member of a college or university who manages its business interests.

(US) A senior researcher or technician in a corporation, especially one engaged in research and development.


flake

From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Norwegian flak (“slice, sliver”, literally “piece torn off”), Swedish flak (“a thin slice”), Danish flage (“flake”), German Flocke (“flake”), Dutch vlak (“smooth surface, plain”) and vlok (“flake”), as well as with Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”) and Welsh llech (“slate, tablet”). Doublet of plage.

cog

When police decided to score gamblers, they would most often flake people with gambling slips, then demand $25 or $50 for not arresting them. Other times, they would simply threaten a flake and demand money.

1973, Knapp Commission, New York, The Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption, page 83:

(US, law enforcement, slang) A corrupt arrest, e.g. to extort money for release or merely to fulfil a quota.


flake

en-verb

flake (third-person singular simple present flakes, present participle flaking, simple past and past participle flaked)

flakes (present singular third-person)
flaking (participle present)
flaked (participle past)
flaked (past)

(US, law enforcement, slang) To plant evidence to facilitate a corrupt arrest.


fraternization

en-noun

fraternization (countable and uncountable, plural fraternizations)

fraternizations (plural)
fraternisation (alternative)

(chiefly US, derogatory) any type of disallowed, supposedly unethical and unprofessional, social or intimate contact between employees, especially between different gender, class or rank.


gang

→ Bengali: গ্যাং (gêṅ)

→ Cebuano: gang

→ Danish: gæng

→ Dutch: gang

→ Hindi: गैंग (gaiṅg)

→ Japanese: ギャング (gyangu)

→ Malay: geng

→ Norman: dgaîngue

→ Norwegian:

Norwegian Bokmål: gjeng

Norwegian Nynorsk: gjeng

→ Portuguese: gangue

→ Spanish: gang

→ Swedish: gäng

→ Finnish: jengi

→ Tagalog: gang

→ Thai: แก๊ง (gɛ́ng)

From Middle English gang, from Old English gang (“a journey; way; passage”), from Proto-West Germanic *gang, from Proto-Germanic *gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰongʰ-o-s, from *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step; stride”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gong, Dutch gang, German Gang, Norwegian gang, Swedish gång, Icelandic gangur, Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas).


gap

en-verb

gap (third-person singular simple present gaps, present participle gapping, simple past and past participle gapped)

gaps (present singular third-person)
gapping (participle present)
gapped (participle past)
gapped (past)

Well, dey would all begin stretchin' and gappin', and den some of dem would say, with a gap and another stretch: […]

1904, Chuck Connors, Bowery Life, New York, N.Y.: Richard K. Fox Publishing Company, unnumbered page:

(intransitive, transitive, US, slang, dated) To stare or gape.


gauge

en-noun

gauge (countable and uncountable, plural gauges)

From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

cog

I'm talking about cocking a gauge in between your eyes.

1992, “A Nigga Witta Gun”, in The Chronic, performed by Dr. Dre, Death Row Records:

I'm tryin to find ways to cope / But I ain't fuckin' round with the gauge or a rope

1996, “Illusions”, in Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom, performed by Cypress Hill:

It happens everyday don't make me grab the gauge / Dangerously I play, I best to kill with the gauge / And put ya body in the back of that grey Chevrolet

2000, “Grab The Gauge”, in Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis, performed by Three 6 Mafia:

(US, slang, by extension) A shotgun (synecdoche for 12 gauge shotgun, the most common chambering for combat and hunting shotguns).


couple

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

Put any couple guys in a tricked out car and a couple of bandannas […]" He trailed off.

2005, Deirdre Savoy, Body of Truth, page 179:

Since we were now living so close, at least those couple hours of talking together helped boost our spirits.

2005, Elaine Bonzelaar, Those First Two Years, page 47:

Apparently, Ann in particular liked these couple pages of the character thing.

2006, Eric Nolen-Weathington, George A. Khoury, Arthur Adams, Modern Masters: Arthur Adams, volume six, page 22:

(informal, US, Canada) Two or (a) small number of.


couple

A couple fewer people show up every week.

I'll be there in a couple minutes.

Q. (Mr. Feldman, atty) You say you lived upstairs? A. (Emma Moore) I lived upstairs. Q. Until when? A. About couple months we lived upstairs. Q. Up until couple months ago? A. No, couple months after we moved in there because the down stairs was not finished.

1922, “Lewis J. Bennett et al vs. Sebastien L. Petrino”, in State of New York Supreme Court Appellate Division - Fourth Department:

Couple boys from way downcountry come for a summer in the woods. Isaac Cole talked to em.

2007, Jeffrey Lent, Lost Nation, page 182:

[At a pizza parlor] "Couple slices would be great. […]

2011, Elizabeth Eulberg, Prom and Prejudice:

(colloquial, US, Canada) Two or a few, a small number of.


habilitation

en-noun

habilitation (countable and uncountable, plural habilitations)

/həˌbɪlɪˈteɪʃən/

(US) The act of supplying money to work a mine.


hag

From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.

– What is that hag trend that is going on?

– The trend, hagmaxxing, is when younger men pursue relationships with hags.

(US, slang) A woman over the age of 30 years.


inarticulation

inarticulation (countable and uncountable, plural inarticulations)

"Another traditional source of inarticulation is the requirement of an eighth-grade diploma for entrance to high school."

1937, Fred Engelhardt, Alfred Victor Overn, Secondary Education: Principles and Practices, page 124:

(education, US) Any point in the educational system in which the development of the individual is hindered.


incarceration

incarceration (countable and uncountable, plural incarcerations)

/ɪŋˌkɑː(ɹ)səˈɹeɪʃən/

[…]Syria reemerged indirectly, through Turkey's incarceration of Pastor Andrew Brunson.

2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 183:

(chiefly US) The act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment.

բանտարկություն

act of confining, or the state of being confined; imprisonment — see also imprisonment


court

→ Bulgarian: корт (kort)

→ French: court

desctree

→ Russian: корт (kort)
→ Armenian: կորտ (kort)

caught (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)

From Middle English court, from Old French cort, curt, from Latin cōrtem (accusative of cōrs), ultimately from cohors. Doublet of cohort.

مَلْعَب

place for playing the game of tennis and some other ball games

An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different buildings; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.

(Australia, US) A street with no outlet, a cul-de-sac.


integration

en-noun

integration (countable and uncountable, plural integrations)

/ˌɪn.tɪˈɡɹeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɪn.təˈɡɹeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɪn.təˈɡɹæɪ.ʃən/

From French intégration, from Latin integratio.
Morphologically integrate + -ion

racial integration
racial integration#English

(society) The process of fitting into a community, notably applied to minorities.


knapsack

From Low German knapzak or Dutch knapzak (older form cnapsack), from Middle Dutch cnappen (“to bite with teeth”), ultimately from knappen (“to eat, crack”), of imitative origin, + sack. German Knappsack is from Dutch.

onomatopoeic

imitative

The two elder reluctantly left him and walked on, taking their brother's knapsack to relieve him in following, and the youngest entered the field.

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 23:

(chiefly US) A case of canvas or leather, for carrying items on the back.


leak

en-verb

leak (third-person singular simple present leaks, present participle leaking, simple past and past participle leaked)

leaks (present singular third-person)
leaking (participle present)
leaked (participle past)
leaked (past)

From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out”), from Old English *lecan (“to leak”), Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip”); all from Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg-, *leǵ- (“to leak”).
Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Icelandic leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“I damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake.

изтичам

(of a fluid or gas) to pass through an opening that should be sealed

He shanked him, now he's leaking.


lot

en-verb

lot (third-person singular simple present lots, present participle lotting, simple past and past participle lotted)

lots (present singular third-person)
lotting (participle present)
lotted (participle past)
lotted (past)

Boston, Western Pennsylvania, Standard Southern British

From Middle English lot, from Old English hlot (“portion, choice, decision”), from Proto-Germanic *hlutą.
Cognate with North Frisian lod, Saterland Frisian Lot, West Frisian lot, Dutch lot, French lot, German Low German Lott, Middle High German luz. Doublet of lotto. Related also to German Los.

inh

(US, informal, dated) To count or reckon (on or upon).


mall

en-noun

mall (countable and uncountable, plural malls)

→ Russian: молл (moll)

Probably from The Mall, a major street in London, England, which was originally a pall mall alley.

The preliminary plans provide for one million square feet of selling space in three main buildings and a double row of shops along a central shopping mall.

1950 August 15, Philip Hampson, “Field's Plans 15 to 20 Million Shopping Center for Skokie”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, page 1:

America′s first pedestrianized shopping mall opened in 1959 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Like most later pedestrian malls, it was intended to revive what everybody thought was a decaying downtown.

2002, Alexander Garvin, The American City: What Works, What Doesn′t, page 179:

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.


mameluke

Sense 1 (“fool”) is probably derived from Mameluke (“member of various military regimes in the Middle East established and run by freed white slave soldiers; one who supports someone or something blindly or slavishly”).

Kabikov: “Hey, I’m setting a mood.” Mad Sal: “I’ll mood you, you mameluke.

2010 June 3, James Ellroy, American Tabloid:

My goddamn son-in-law, my right-hand man, acting like a fucking mameluke in front of all those people.” “Maybe he acted that way on purpose,” Tozzi said, “To make you think he was a mameluke.” “He was a mameluke!”

2014 January 28, Anthony Bruno, Bad Guys:

“I’m saying there are some asshole cops who take their ‘collar’ out to the desert and bury him. […] There is nothing I would enjoy more than to put that mameluke Mikey Esposito in the ground . . . but that’s not going to happen.”

2021 January 14, Harry Brooks, Nothing Beats Luck:

(US (Italian-American), derogatory, slang) A fool.


mammy

That's what you for—to help white folks keep niggers down. That's why he sent you to me. They be calling you mammy in a few years. You be running the whole house when the old man dies.

(US, historical, often pejorative) In the southern United States, a black nanny employed to look after white children; or in the antebellum South, a female slave who was close to the household and looked after the children.


mellow

en-adj

mellow (comparative mellower or more mellow, superlative mellowest or most mellow)

mellower (comparative)
more mellow (comparative)
mellowest (superlative)
most mellow (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or
* a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”).
The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Dutch murw (“tender”)
* German mürbe (“soft, tender”)
* German Low German möör (“tender”)
* Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”))
* Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”)
* West Frisian murf (“tender”)

nb...

mearewe, mearuw, mereuh, meru, meruwe, meruȝ, meruʒ, merwe, (Early Middle English) mearwe

inh

These boys were heavy smokers, and like my high school classmates, were always "high", "cool" and "mellow." They were never violent and were helpful and respectful to the adults in our village.

2004, Cecil Young, “Department of Health”, in One Canada: Creating the Greatest Country on Earth, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 266:

Late that night, everyone was sprawled on the sofas and bean bags in the lounge room, mellow because they'd smoked a couple of joints of hash.

2014, Julie McSorley, Marcus McSorley, “Part One: Early 1980s”, in Out of the Box: The Highs and Lows of a Champion Smuggler, Berkeley, Calif.: Roaring Forties Press, →ISBN, page 30:

"It better be that mellow shit, Kerry," Wendy said, biting into a cookie. "I have to work tomorrow." / "It's mellow shit. You've smoked this stuff before."

2014, Carrie Mesrobian, chapter 9, in Perfectly Good White Boy, Minneapolis, Minn.: Carolrhoda Lab, Lerner Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 132:

Senses relating to a person or their qualities.

(chiefly US, slang) Pleasantly high or stoned, and relaxed after taking drugs; also, of drugs: slightly intoxicating and tending to produce such effects.


mellow

en-verb

mellow (third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)

mellows (present singular third-person)
mellowing (participle present)
mellowed (participle past)
mellowed (past)

(also reflexive, originally US, informal) Followed by out: to relax (a person); in particular, to cause (a person) to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.

(originally US, informal, followed by out, of a person) To relax; in particular, to become pleasantly high or stoned by taking drugs.


mess

→ Portuguese: messe

From Middle English mes, partly from Old English mēse, mēose (“table”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”); and partly from Old French mes, Late Latin missum, from mittō (“to put, place (e.g. on the table)”). See mission, and compare Mass (“religious service”).

(US) The milk given by a cow at one milking.


misery

en-noun

misery (countable and uncountable, plural miseries)

From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère.

[...] and I had a misery in my left breast and shoulder. I was hurt, but knew not how or how much.

1868, John Vestal Hadley, Seven Months a Prisoner, page 15:

(US and UK, dialects) A bodily ache or pain.


mound

From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundu, from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”).
Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) (German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“a guardian”)), Old Norse mund (“hand”) (Icelandic mund), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), and possibly Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”).


muster

en-verb

muster (third-person singular simple present musters, present participle mustering, simple past and past participle mustered)

musters (present singular third-person)
mustering (participle present)
mustered (participle past)
mustered (past)

From Middle English musteren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mostrer, Middle French monstrer, moustrer (whence the noun monstre, which gave the English noun), from Latin mōnstrō (“to show”), from moneō (“to admonish”). Cognate with French montrer (“to show”), Italian mostrare (“to show”), Spanish mostrar (“to show”). See also monster.

(transitive, US) To enroll (into service).


nanny

Constantijn Huygens Jr.
Nanny (disambiguation)

(1795) It has often been assumed that the English term was originally a widespread child's word for "female adult other than mother" (compare Greek νάννα (nánna, “aunt”), nanna). See also Welsh nain (“grandmother”).
On the other hand, according to recent research of the Dutch historical linguists Hans Beelen and Nicoline van der Sijs (published in Onze Taal, September 2018), on which see also etymologiebank.nl, in Dutch), the term nanny (and the British colloquial nan for "grandmother") may actually be eponymous, viz. being originally an affective form (i.e. a hypocoristic) of the popular female name Anne. The Dutch statesman and scientist Constantijn Huygens Jr. made the following observation during one of his many sojourns in England (noted in his Journaal, dated 13 December 1692): "Yesterday I received 10lb of chocolate again, from niece Becker, and she had Nanny, her maid, bringing me the money that she had owed me" (Gisteren kreegh 10 ℔ choccolate wederom van nicht Becker, en had Nanny, haer meidt, geweest om mij 't geldt, dat van haer hebben most, te brengen). Beelen and van der Sijs therefore assumed that "since many female domestic servants were named "Nan" or "Nanny", the name became a sobriquet for the profession of "maid, childminder" in the 18ᵗʰ century". ("Omdat veel vrouwelijke huisbedienden in het Engels de voornaam Nan of Nanny hadden, verschoof de betekenis in de achttiende eeuw naar die van een beroepsaanduiding: ‘meid, kindermeisje’")

onomatopoeic

child's word


neat

en-adj

neat (comparative neater, superlative neatest)

neater (comparative)
neatest (superlative)

on the rocks

antonym(s) of “undiluted liquor or cocktail”

From Middle English nete, net, nette, from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desirable, clean”), a variant of Old French net, nette (“clean, clear, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”), derived from nitēre (“to shine”). Doublet of net and nitid. Cognate with German nett (“nice, kind”).

der

Hey, neat convertible, man.

"You can tell that Rory has had this type of talent in him for some time now, and to see him putting it together is pretty neat to see."

2011 June 20, Phil Mickelson (being quoted), “US Open: Jack Nicklaus tips Rory McIlroy for greatness”, in BBC News:

(Canada, US, colloquial) Good, excellent, desirable; interesting; cool.


packer

From Middle English pakker, pakkere, packare, equivalent to pack + -er.

(US) A ring of packing or a special device to render gastight and watertight the space between the tubing and bore of an oil well.


pave

en-verb

pave (third-person singular simple present paves, present participle paving, simple past and past participle paved)

paves (present singular third-person)
paving (participle present)
paved (participle past)
paved (past)

From Old French paver (“to pave, to cover”), from Vulgar Latin *pavāre (“to beat down, to smash”), from Latin pavīre (“to beat, strike, ram, tread down”).

der

They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.

1970, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Big Yellow Taxi”, in Ladies of the Canyon:

(Canada, US) To cover with stone, concrete, blacktop or other solid covering, especially to aid travel.

настилам

(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc


peel

From Middle English pele, from Old French pele (modern French pelle), from Latin pāla, from the base of plangō (“fix, plant”). Doublet of pala.


prophylactic

From Latin, from Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before”) + φύλαξις (phúlaxis, “a watching, guarding”).

It is not clear whether such education is to be directed to homosexuals (for whom prophylactics are not a contraceptive) or to heterosexuals as well (for whom prophylactics are a contraceptive).

1977, Human Life Center, International Review of Natural Family Planning, Human Life Center, St. John's University, page 2:

Given the widespread use of coitus interruptus and male prophylactics as contraceptive practices in France […]

1994, Mary Louise Roberts, Civilization Without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France, 1917–1927, University of Chicago Press, page 96:

Some men put the prophylactic on just the tip of the penis: this is a mistake, because the prophylactic will come off.

2000, Peter Parnell, John Irving, The Cider House Rules: Here in St. Cloud's, Dramatists Play Service, Inc., page 46:

A medicine which preserves or defends against disease; a preventive.

(US, specifically) A prophylactic condom.


pry

The noun is probably a back-formation of prise, prize (“tool for levering, lever”), construed as the plural of pry.
The verb is either derived from the noun, or is a back-formation of prise (“to force open with a lever”), construed as pries, the third-person singular present form of pry.

back-formation

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

(East Anglia, US) A tool for levering; a crowbar, a lever.


punk

en-noun

punk (countable and uncountable, plural punks)

Uncertain. Possibly from punk ("rotten wood dust used as tinder", attested since 1678; see Etymology 2 below) to anything worthless (attested since 1869) and then to any undesirable person (since 1908).

putinha

bottom in a male-male sexual relationship — see also bottom

(countable) A person used for sex, particularly:

(chiefly US, LGBTQ) Synonym of bottom: any passive or effeminate homosexual male.

bottom

They'd pick up youngsters as, well—as their playthings. These kids were called punks.

1973, Barry Broadfoot, Ten Lost Years, 1929-1939: Memories of Canadians who survived the Depression, page 137:

(US, LGBTQ, slang) A boy who accompanies a hobo, especially as used for sex.

(US, LGBTQ, derogatory, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Synonym of faggot: any male homosexual.

A person used for sex
Synonym of faggot: any male homosexual.

A punk, if you want it in plain English, is a boy with smooth skin who takes the place of a woman in a jailbird's love life.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 15:

If he is small and weak, he may decide to become a ‘punk’ and allow himself to be raped by the inmate most likely to protect him.

2001, Joseph T. Hallinan, Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, page 106:

Because he was so weak, Vinny soon became Tony's punk.

(US, LGBTQ, prison slang) Synonym of bitch: a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison.

bitch

(countable, US slang) A worthless person, particularly:

(humorous, rare) Synonym of fellow: any person, especially a male comrade.

He said the prisoner called them ‘punk’... He admitted that he shouted ‘punk’ to them.

1908 October 18, New York Times, page 9:

There was nothing so special about the gang, punks are punks.

I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

1971, Harry Julian Fink et al., Dirty Harry, spoken by Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood):

(derogatory) A petty criminal, especially a juvenile delinquent.

racaille

collective noun; female only if in the singular

Do you think a little thing like a scratch would bother me? I'm no punk.

Taking him home she hemmed him up soon as they stepped in the door. Now Tony was a bad dude in the streets but when it came to his mama, he was a punk. A few cuss words on her part had him spilling everything.

2006, Kali James, Can U Get Away?, page 17:

(derogatory) Synonym of sissy: a weak, timid person.

A worthless person
Synonym of sissy: a weak, timid person.

(circus slang) A young, untrained animal or worker.

A worthless person
A young, untrained animal or worker.

This fellow was just a punk... a nobody.

1933, Ernest Hemingway, Winner Take Nothing, page 94:


punk

en-adj

punk (comparative punker, superlative punkest)

punker (comparative)
punkest (superlative)

Babbitt boomed on: "Pretty punk service the Company giving us on these car-lines. Nonsense to only run the Portland Road cars once every seven minutes. Fellow gets mighty cold on a winter morning, waiting on a street corner with the wind nipping at his ankles."

1922, Sinclair Lewis, “3”, in Babbitt, page 30:

(US, colloquial) Worthless, contemptible, particularly

Worthless, contemptible, particularly
Bad, substandard.

Worthless, contemptible, particularly
Thuggish, criminal.

... Donald Trump is also a coward. For all of his tough talk and bluster, the president of the United States is a punk ass bitch.

2018, Damon Jones, “Just Remember That Your Punk-Ass President Would Never, Ever, Ever Call LeBron James Dumb to His Face”, in The Root:

(chiefly African-American Vernacular) Cowardly.

Worthless, contemptible, particularly
Cowardly.

With the subtleties of dressing ran other complex worries. "I feel kind of punk this morning," he said. "I think I had too much dinner last evening. You oughtn't to serve those heavy banana fritters."

1922, Sinclair Lewis, “1”, in Babbitt, page 10:

Worthless, contemptible, particularly
Poorly, sickly.

Worthless, contemptible, particularly
Inexperienced.


rag

Perhaps from ragged. Compare later ragtime.

(obsolete, US) An informal dance party featuring music played by African-American string bands.


ratchet

ratchet (comparative more ratchet, superlative most ratchet)

more ratchet (comparative)
most ratchet (superlative)

Possibly a variant (representing a Southern or specifically Louisianan pronunciation) of wretched. Compare rasslin' for wrestling.

The one thing that always accompanies Miley's ratchet look (along with the gang signs) is the tongue, which is sort of like saying this persona that she has adopted is some sort of gonzo idiot who can't keep its tongue in her head.

2013 September 24, Elspeth Reeve, Brian Moylan, “Miley Cyrus's Tongue: A Debate”, in The Atlantic:

The feminine-meets-fiesty creations are right on par with all the reasons we love the rightgeously^([sic]) ratchet “Work” singer — and she knows it.

2016 April 19, Julee Wilson, “Rihanna's Latest Sock Collection is Exactly What You'd Expect...and More”, in Essence:

Classy in the streets but we ratchet

2018 March 28, Todrick Hall (lyrics and music), “T.H.U.G. (Trade)”, in Forbidden, track 14:

I love it when jaboons let their jibbering get them in 5 times as much trouble as they're already in. Let's see if this ratchet can keep her dick trap shut in court.

2023 January 3, KWILLS, soc.culture.african.american (Usenet):

(US, slang) Ghetto; unseemly, indecorous.


reefer

Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs.
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs.

1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall:

Next to the cash register, a bulletin board was thumbtacked with notes from deadheaders who needed loads heading west, and shippers looking for a reefer (refrigerated truck) going down to Florida.

1988, Jane Stern, Michael Stern, A taste of America, →ISBN, page 41:

en:refrigerated trailer, ship, or shipping container

(colloquial, chiefly US) A refrigerated, insulated trailer, ship or shipping container.

(rail transport, US) a refrigerator car (type of boxcar).


rocky

rocky (comparative rockier or more rocky, superlative rockiest or most rocky)

rockier (comparative)
more rocky (comparative)
rockiest (superlative)
most rocky (superlative)

From rock (“to move back and forth”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’). Rock is derived from Middle English rokken (“to move (something, such as a cradle) back and forth; to move or sway back and forth in an unstable manner; to go”) […], from Old English roccian (“to rock”), from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną (“to move; to move back and forth, rock”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- (“to dig; to till (soil)”).

nb...

rocke, rocken, rocki, rok, roke, roken, rokke, rokki

inh

(originally US) Of a person: ill, or unsteady (for example, as a result of a shock).


rout

en-verb

rout (third-person singular simple present routs, present participle routing, simple past and past participle routed)

routs (present singular third-person)
routing (participle present)
routed (participle past)
routed (past)

A variant of wrout, itself a variant of wroot (“to search or root in the ground”) (obsolete), from Middle English wroten (“to search or root in the ground; of a person: to dig earth; of a worm: to slither, wriggle; to corrode; of a worm: to irritate by biting the skin; to destroy (a fortification) by digging or mining”) [and other forms] (whence root), from Old English wrōtan (“to root up or rummage with the snout”). from Proto-West Germanic *wrōtan, from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (“to dig with the nose or snout, to root”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“a root”), cf. English wort, English root .

nb...

vrote, wroote, wrot, wrote, wrothe, wrotyn, (Scotland) wrotte

inh

Nevertheless, he was always stimulated by Winsett, and whenever he caught sight of the journalist's lean bearded face and melancholy eyes he would rout him out of his corner and carry him off for a long talk.

1920, Edith Wharton, chapter XIV, in The Age of Innocence, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 122:

(transitive, chiefly US) Usually followed by from: to compel (someone) to leave a place; specifically (usually followed by out or up), to cause (someone) to get out of bed.


setback

(US) The required distance between a structure and a road.


shack

en-noun

shack (countable and uncountable, plural shacks)

Obsolete variant of shake. Compare Scots shag (“refuse of barley or oats”).

Some peple hev a fakilty two get along into the world, whilst others air poor shacks & good for nothing.

All the poor old shacks about the town found a friend in Deacon Marble.

1868, Henry Ward Beecher, Norwood, or Village Life in New England:

(UK, US, dialect, obsolete) A shiftless fellow; a low, itinerant beggar; a vagabond; a tramp.


shack

en-verb

shack (third-person singular simple present shacks, present participle shacking, simple past and past participle shacked)

shacks (present singular third-person)
shacking (participle present)
shacked (participle past)
shacked (past)

(US, intransitive) To hibernate; to go into winter quarters.


shred

shred (third-person singular simple present shreds, present participle shredding, simple past shredded, past participle shredded or shred)

shreds (present singular third-person)
shredding (participle present)
shredded (past)
shredded (participle past)
shred (participle past)
shred (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English shreden, shred (“to chop, cut up; to cut, hack; to wound with a knife; to cut off a part of (something); to prune, trim”) [and other forms], from Old English sċrēadian (“to cut up, shred; to cut off; to prune, trim”), from Proto-West Germanic *skraudōn, related to Proto-West Germanic *skraudan (“to cut up; to shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to cut up; to shred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”).
The adjective is derived from the past participle form of the verb.

nb...

schred, schredde, schrede, screde, shreade, shrede, shredde, shrid, (Early Middle English) screda, scradien, (Ormulum) shrædenn

inh

(originally US) To convincingly defeat (someone); to thrash, to trounce.


skimp

en-adj

skimp (comparative more skimp, superlative most skimp)

more skimp (comparative)
most skimp (superlative)

(dated, UK, dialect or US, colloquial) Scanty.


slam

en-verb

slam (third-person singular simple present slams, present participle slamming, simple past and past participle slammed)

slams (present singular third-person)
slamming (participle present)
slammed (participle past)
slammed (past)

From Middle English *slammen (not recorded), apparently from a Scandinavian source ultimately from Old Norse slæma, slœma (“to slam, swing a weapon, strike an object out of reach”), related to Old Norse slamra, slambra (“to slam”). Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål slamre (“to slam”), Swedish slamra (“to pound, beat, make a clatter, rattle”), Norwegian Nynorsk slamra (“to sway, dangle”).

правя капо

card games: to defeat by winning all the tricks

Don't ever slam me in front of the boss like that again!

Union leaders slammed the new proposals.

Critics slammed the new film, calling it violent and meaningless.

For years we have kept our mouths shut about Rita Mae, always reluctant to slam one of our own, particularly one who used to be pretty good.

1988 December 11, Susana Darwin, “Keep Editing, Rita Mae”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 22, page 8:

Roger Stone slammed Ivanka Trump after not getting pardoned, video shows[.] Republican operative calls Trump an ‘abortionist bitch’ in video released by film-maker who provided footage to January 6 panel[.]

2022 October 15, Martin Pengelly, “Roger Stone slammed Ivanka Trump after not getting pardoned, video shows”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

On Twitter, United We Dream, an immigrant youth-led rights group, slammed Biden’s new policy “a racist and classist attack” on migrants.

2023 January 8, Edwin Rios, “Biden’s ‘carrot and stick’ approach to deter migrants met with anger”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(transitive, colloquial, originally US) To speak badly of; to criticize forcefully.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:slam. And Citations:slammed.

(informal, US) To occupy and busy with a high workload.


slam

en-noun

slam (countable and uncountable, plural slams)

I don't mean this as a slam, but you can be really impatient sometimes.

“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

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


sled

From Middle English sledde, from Middle Dutch sledde or Middle Low German sledde (compare Dutch slee, slede, Low German Sleden), from Proto-Germanic *slidô (compare Saterland Frisian sliede, German Schlitten, Norwegian slede). Doublet of sleigh; also related to slide.

Coordinate term: sleigh (generally larger)

"Mush!" he yelled at the dogs pulling the sled.

en:vehicle with runners, often with draft animals

(chiefly Canada, US) A vehicle on runners, used for conveying loads over the snow or ice, and often pulled by sled dogs.

We saw them go by on their sleds this afternoon, headed toward their grandfather's quarter section.

(slang, chiefly Canada, US) A snowmobile.

He was a bit reckless and frankly we were nervous about riding with him in that big old sled of his, a Cadillac with a V-8.

That sled had manual drum brakes on all four corners.

(slang, chiefly Canada, US, figuratively) A car (automobile) or truck, usually called so with the implication of sledlike traits: heavy, low-slung, and prone to going fast but not braking or cornering particularly well.


sliver

From Middle English slivere, sliver from Middle English sliven (“to cut, cleave, split”), from Old English slīfan (as in tōslīfan (“to split, split up”)).

треска

long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment

(US, New York) A narrow high-rise apartment building.

tour

New York: narrow high-rise apartment building


snap

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

gloss

”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">snapa</i> (“to get; scrounge”)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

cog

I just ran over your phone with my car. —Oh, snap!

(Canada, US) Used in place of an expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously.

a manóba

used in place of expletive to express surprise, usually in response to a negative statement or news; often used facetiously


sneak

Possibly from Middle English sniken (“to creep, crawl”), from Old English snīcan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *snīkan, from Proto-Germanic *snīkaną (“to creep, crawl”), which is related to the root of snake. Compare Danish snige (“to sneak”), Swedish snika (“to sneak, hanker after”), Icelandic sníkja (“to sneak, hanker after”). Possibly related to snitch.

cog

We would have been laughed off the street in Philadelphia if we were seen wearing sneaks. In the big city, the young population wore loafers or boots.

2014, Faye McKnight, Goodnight, Bob, page 9:


souse

From Middle English souse (“to salt pickle”) also a noun (“liquid for pickling,” “pickled pig parts”), from Old French sous (“preserved in salt”), from Frankish *sultija (“saltwater, brine”), from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“saltwater, brine”). Cognate with Old Saxon sultia (“saltwater”), Old High German sulza (“brine”).

der

Something kept or steeped in brine.
The pickled ears, feet, etc., of swine.
(US, Appalachia) Pickled scrapple.

Something kept or steeped in brine.
The pickled ears, feet, etc., of swine.
Pickled scrapple.


souse

First appeared online during the Bush administration.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(US, Internet slang) Pronunciation spelling of source.


span

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spannō (“span, handbreadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”).
Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ġespan, ġespann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

der

(US, Canada) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.


span

en-verb

span (third-person singular simple present spans, present participle spanning, simple past and past participle spanned)

spans (present singular third-person)
spanning (participle present)
spanned (participle past)
spanned (past)

From Middle English spannen, from Old English spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannaną (“to stretch, span”). Cognate with German spannen, Dutch spannen.

inh

(intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.


splitter

lumper

antonym(s) of “one who prefers to split categories”

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

(US) A wheaten cake split and buttered when hot.


squirt

en-noun

squirt (countable and uncountable, plural squirts)

From Middle English squirten, squyrten, of uncertain origin; probably onomatopoeic. Akin to swirl. Compare Low German swirtjen (“to squirt”) and Swedish water onomatopoeias skvala, skvalp, skvimpa, and skvätta; Icelandic skvetta; and Norwegian skvette.

Hey squirt! Where you been?

1986, Alethea Helbig, Agnes Perkins, Cutlass Island, entry in Dictionary of American Children′s Fiction, 1960-1984: Recent Books of Recognized Merit, page 137,
Hurd returns with Mal, Mr. Eph, and Gumbo, the “town squirt” of twelve, and the boys′ activities come out.

2010, Karen Witemeyer, A Tailor-Made Bride, Bethany House Publishers, US, page 66,
How the child managed to converse and fold at the same time was a marvel, yet the shirt lay in a tidy rectangle by the time she came up for air.
“Thanks, squirt.” He winked at her and she giggled.

(UK, Ireland, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, slang) A small child.


stack

en-verb

stack (third-person singular simple present stacks, present participle stacking, simple past and past participle stacked)

stacks (present singular third-person)
stacking (participle present)
stacked (participle past)
stacked (past)

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

From Middle English stack, stacke, stakke, stak, from Old Norse stakkr (“a barn; haystack; heap; pile”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“a barn; rick; haystack”).
The data structure sense is a calque of Dutch stapel, introduced by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Cognate with Icelandic stakkur (“stack”), Swedish stack (“stack”), Danish stak (“stack”), Norwegian stakk (“stack”). Related to stake and sauna.

натрупвам

To place objects or material in the form of a stack

Jim couldn′t make it today as he stacked his car on the weekend.

1975, Laurie Clancy, A Collapsible Man, Outback Press, page 43,
Miserable phone calls from Windsor police station or from Russell Street. ‘Mum, I′ve stacked the car; could you get me a lawyer?’, the middle-class panacea for all diseases.

Marmalade: Who stacked the car? (pointing to Saloon) Fangio here.
 Jock: (standing) I claim full responsibility for the second bingle.

1984, Jack Hibberd, A Country Quinella: Two Celebration Plays, page 80:

Eventually he sideswiped a bus and forced other cars to collide, and as he finally stacked the car up on a bridge abutment, he passed out, perhaps from exhaustion, perhaps from his head hitting the windshield.

2002, Ernest Keen, Depression: Self-Consciousness, Pretending, and Guilt, page 19:

2007, Martin Chipperfield, slut talk, Night Falling, 34th Parallel Publishing, US, Trade Paperback, page 100,
oh shit danny, i stacked the car
ran into sally, an old school friend
you stacked the car?
so now i need this sally′s address
for the insurance, danny says

(transitive, US, Australia, slang) To crash; to fall.


stang

(slang, US) Short for "Mustang", a brand of automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company.


stuffy

en-adj

stuffy (comparative stuffier, superlative stuffiest)

stuffier (comparative)
stuffiest (superlative)


stuffy

(US, Canada, colloquial, often childish) Synonym of stuffed toy


moderate

moderate (comparative more moderate, superlative most moderate)

more moderate (comparative)
most moderate (superlative)

From Middle English moderat, from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“regulate, restrain, moderate”), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modestus (“moderate, discreet, modest”), from modus (“measure”); see mode and modest. Doublet of moderato. Displaced native Old English ġemetlīċ (“moderate”) and metegian (“to moderate”).

(US, politics) Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.

mötədil

having an intermediate position in politics


recluse

From Old French reclus, past participle of reclure, from Latin reclūdere (“to disclose, to open”), from re- + claudō (“close”).


taint

Reportedly from the phrase “'tain't your balls and 'tain't your ass”. Ascribed to E.E. Landy's Underground Dict. (1972) is the following explanation: ‘'taint their ass and 'taint their pussy.’

Sorry you feel that way. But since your mother sucks cocks in hell if I go there I won't be rotting.....I'll be on line right behind you hoping to get another good head job from your Mom or Sister....if you can remember which is which.......(Moms the one with the beard on her taint)

2000 June 17, Marc Newman, “Re: Americas are overated”, in talk.politics.guns (Usenet):

Even her taint's raw?

2005 July 14, Noodles Jefferson, “Re: My Wife's Raw Comments”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet):

Did you know that guy has absolutely no tan lines? He'll show his taint to prove it!

2010 February 22, Duchamanos, “Re: Huck Finn 2010-anyone going?”, in rec.sport.disc (Usenet):

Thats right, Alex Jones is trying to sell you sloppy wet rags for your tait [sic]. And-- and when you are done wiping down the area between your genitals and anus with a glorified wet nap...
And look-- look, this tactical taint wipe has demonstrated incredible results, hasn't it, Doctor?

2017, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, HBO:


troll

en-verb

troll (third-person singular simple present trolls, present participle trolling, simple past and past participle trolled)

trolls (present singular third-person)
trolling (participle present)
trolled (participle past)
trolled (past)
troll (infinitive)
trowl (alternative)
trowle (alternative)

Spanish: trolear

The verb is derived from Middle English trollen (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”) [and other forms], of uncertain origin; perhaps in part from Old French troller (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, yet probably from or related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll, walk with short strides”) (modern German trollen (“to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to *trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). Doublet of trull.
Verb sense 4.2.2 (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl
The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun sense 3 (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1).
Cognates
* Middle Low German drullen (“to stroll”) (Low German trullen (“to troll”))

unc

uncertain

laulaa vuoroin

(transitive, intransitive) to sing the parts of (a catch, round, or similar song) in succession

laulella

to sing (a song) freely or in a carefree way, or loudly

tokaista

(transitive, intransitive) to say (something) lightly and quickly

kalastama

(transitive, intransitive) to fish in (a place) using a running fishing line

Their young men […] trolled along the brooks that abounded in fish.

1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:

(fishing, Scotland, US) To fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat similarly to trawling.


tweak

en-verb

tweak (third-person singular simple present tweaks, present participle tweaking, simple past and past participle tweaked)

tweaks (present singular third-person)
tweaking (participle present)
tweaked (participle past)
tweaked (past)

From Middle English twikken, from Old English twiccian (“to pluck”), from Proto-West Germanic *twekkōn (“to fasten; clamp; pinch”). Related to twitch. The drug-related sense may be a blend of twitch and freak.

inh

(intransitive, US, slang) To abuse methamphetamines, especially crystal meth.

(intransitive, US, slang) To exhibit extreme nervousness, evasiveness when confronted by authorities, compulsiveness, erratic motion, excitability, etc, due to or mimicking the symptoms of methamphetamine abuse.


clam

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clamm (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan (“press, squeeze together”). The sense “dollar” may allude to wampum. The sense "Scientologist" alludes to the Scientologist belief that human thetans (souls) previously inhabited clams.

als

mollusc — see also mollusc, oyster, mussel

razor clam

Siliqua spp., Solecurtus spp., Solen spp.

Those sneakers cost me fifty clams!

The network canceled—nonco-operation their legal shysters said. Suing me, for, for ten million clams, damages to sponsors, agencies.

(US, slang, chiefly in the plural) A dollar.

Why, he hasn't opened his clam since that morning in your room. I expected he would hold forth on every and all occasions.

1900, Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell's Tricks: Or True Friends and False:

Jason wouldn't shut his clam about the invaders.

2017, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Dungeon Brain:

(dated, US, slang) mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)


laundromat

/ˈlɔːndɹəʊˌmæt/

en:George Edward Pendray
en:laundromat (disambiguation)

Blend of laundry + automatic. From Laundromat, (former) trademark (1940s) of Westinghouse Electric Corporation for its washing machines, coined by Westinghouse publicist George Edward Pendray.

(US, Canada, Australia) A self-service laundry facility with (traditionally) coin-operated (which now may use other per-load payment methods) washing machines, dryers, and sometimes ironing or pressing machines, open to the public for washing clothing and household cloth items.


transplant

From Middle English transplaunten, from Old French transplanter, from Late Latin transplantare, equivalent to trans- + plant.

The Seigneur summoned the island's doctor, a young transplant from London named Peter Counsell, who determined that Mrs. Beaumont had suffered a stroke.

2012 October 29, Lauren Collins, The New Yorker:

(US) Someone who is not native to their area of residence.


commute

en-verb

commute (third-person singular simple present commutes, present participle commuting, simple past and past participle commuted)

commutes (present singular third-person)
commuting (participle present)
commuted (participle past)
commuted (past)

From commutation ticket, a pass on a railroad, streetcar line, etc. that permitted multiple rides over a period of time, eg, a month, for a single, commuted payment.

通勤

to regularly travel to and from work, school etc.

I commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan by bicycle.

My convention diary is unusually disjointed, since I was mingily commuting from Berkshire rather than pay £65 per night for a single room.

2005, David Langford, The Sex Column and Other Misprints, page 66:

MRS. PATERSON, a runner and semilapsed vegetarian — she eats meat once a week to fend off anemia — spends weekdays in Manhattan with her son and commutes to Albany most weekends; she and her husband rented out their house in Guilderland, an Albany suburb, and have moved into the Executive Mansion, where she is continuing Ms. Wall Spitzer’s “greening” initiative.

2008 June 6, Robin Finn, “No Bed of Roses for a Sudden First Lady”, in The New York Times:

(intransitive, US, UK, Canada) To regularly travel from one's home to one's workplace or school, or vice versa.


candy

en-noun

candy (countable and uncountable, plural candies)

→ Cebuano: kendi

→ Hindi: कैंडी (kaiṇḍī)

→ Hopi: kyenti

→ Japanese: キャンディ (kyandi)

→ Kashubian: kindus (United States)

→ Korean: 캔디 (kaendi)

→ Tagalog: kendi

From Middle English sugre candy, from Old French sucre candi (literally “candied sugar”), from Arabic سُكَّر قَنْدِي (sukkar qandī), from Arabic قَنْد (qand, “rock candy”), from Persian کند (kand) from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa, “piece, fragment, candied sugar, dried molasses”), root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”), or from Proto-Dravidian *kaṇṭu; compare Tamil கண்டு (kaṇṭu, “hard candy”).

der

سُكَّر قَنْدِي

They came down to buy sugar, flour, saltfish or candy from Nana, to collect letters and exchange gossip.

artificial sweetener
artificial sweetener

(uncountable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.

Unwholesome pink and yellow candies were sold from trays.

(countable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) A piece of confectionery of this kind.


milkman

(US, slang) A black man who prefers dating white women.


booger

Alteration of the English dialectal words buggard (bug + -ard), boggart or boggard. Compare bogey. Compare also Alemannic German Naaseböög (“booger”).

Mama says you mustn't pick boogers out of your nose with your fingers; you must use your handkerchief.

1948, Publication of the American Dialect Society, page 16:

Now in the halls of the necro lord / Flash of fear when he sees my sword / Raped his woman, smoked his bone / Leave a booger underneath his throne!

2006, Strapping Young Lad, “Far Beyond Metal”, in The New Black:

(US, Canada, Philippines, slang) A piece of solid or semisolid mucus in or removed from a nostril.

The latter is discovered by Caesar, Maurice, and their compadres living in a crumbling, snow-packed ski lodge, its antler chandeliers hung with boogers of ice in a mockery of humanity’s pretensions of alpha-predator-hood.

2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetskyg, “The ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes ends up surrendering to formula”, in The Onion AV Club:

(US, slang) Something suggestive of this material.

(US, slang) A thing; especially a problematic or difficult thing.


offside

en-adj

offside (comparative more offside, superlative most offside)

more offside (comparative)
most offside (superlative)
off-side (alternative)

From off- + side. Compare German Abseite (“remote area, backside”), German abseits (“out of the way, apart, aside”, adverb), Dutch afzijdig (“neutral, impartial”).

cog

an offside diner

(US) To the side of the road, past the curb and sidewalk.


assrun

en-verb

assrun (third-person singular simple present assruns, present participle assrunning, simple past assran, past participle assrun)

assruns (present singular third-person)
assrunning (participle present)
assran (past)
assrun (participle past)

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

From ass + run. First used among gaming communities in the late 1990s.

One of your players assran me at every opportunity.

You were assrunning for the whole game.

first-person shooter
first-person shooter

(US, video games, slang) To follow (a player in a first-person shooter game) in order to shoot them from behind.


jerk off

en-noun

jerk off (countable and uncountable, plural jerk offs)

jerk offs (plural)
J-O (alternative)
J/O (alternative)


gumption

gumption (usually uncountable, plural gumptions)

Borrowed from Scots gumption (“common sense, shrewdness; drive, initiative”); further etymology unknown, possibly connected with Middle English gome (“attention, heed”), from Old Norse gaumr (“attention, heed”), from Proto-Germanic *gaumō. English cognates include gaum (“to comprehend, understand”) and goam (“to recognize, see”).

bor+

"You've got a hard way of looking at things, Scarlett," he said. "But you think Hugh over. You could go far and do worse. I think his honesty and his willingness will outweigh his lack of gumption. Scarlett did not answer, for she did not want to be too rude. But to her mind there were few, if any, qualities that outweighed gumption.

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXVIII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part IV, page 666:

(US) Boldness of enterprise; aggressiveness or initiative.

A person filled with gumption doesn't sit around dissipating and stewing about things. He's at the front of the train of his own awareness, watching to see what's up the track and meeting it when it comes. That's gumption.

1974, Robert M[aynard] Pirsig, chapter 26, in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN, part III, page 303:

(US) Energy of body and mind, enthusiasm.


Cheddarhead

From Cheddar + -head; Wisconsin is famed for its cheese production.

(US, slang, sometimes derogatory) A Wisconsinite.


sunny

From Middle English sunni, from Old English *sunniġ. Cognate with West Frisian sinnich, Low German sünnig, Dutch zonnig, German sonnig. Equivalent to sun + -y.


purdy

en-adj

purdy (comparative purdier, superlative purdiest)

purdier (comparative)
purdiest (superlative)
purty (alternative)

Corruption of pretty, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States.

Yes sirree, you're the purdiest li'l thing I ever did see.

Why, you got a purdy mouth boy.

(US, slang and dialects, like Southern US and Appalachia) pretty.


bingo

en-noun

bingo (countable and uncountable, plural bingos)

→ Polish: bingo

Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.

(countable, Scrabble, US) A play where all seven of a player's letter tiles are played, awarding a score bonus.


bingo

Well, the old pucker factor went up about 75 notches at that point cause that length of time would put my wingman below Bingo fuel, plus the thought of sitting in an orbit several miles West of the Yen Bai […]

1993, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots, page 40:

The first pilot to get down to this bingo fuel state would call, “Banjo 4, bingo fuel,” or whatever.

2012, Larry R Gibson, Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot, page 54:

(US, aviation slang, chiefly military, primarily of fuel) Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)


bingo

en-verb

bingo (third-person singular simple present bingos, present participle bingoing, simple past and past participle bingoed)

bingos (present singular third-person)
bingoing (participle present)
bingoed (participle past)
bingoed (past)
Bingo (alternative)

Tony's den

10; in the UK, referring to the Number 10, Downing Street, the prime minister's residence

on its own

followed by the number: any single-digit number

(intransitive, US, aviation slang, chiefly military) To return to base.


eon

eons (plural)
aeon (alternative)
æon (alternative)

From Latin aeon, from Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn, “age, era”).

It’s been eons since we last saw each other.

(US, informal, hyperbolic) A long period of time.

вечност

informal, hyperbolic: a long period of time


flathead

flathead catfish
flathead catfish#English

(US, informal) Alternative form of flathead catfish


continental

en-adj

continental (comparative more continental, superlative most continental)

more continental (comparative)
most continental (superlative)
Continental (alternative)

antonym(s) of

→ Korean: 콘티넨털 (kontinenteol)

characteristic of the style of continental Europe'

continental money

(US, historical) Of or relating to the confederated colonies collectively, in the time of the Revolutionary War.

kontinentální

in the main part of a country or region, as opposed to on one of its islands


continental

continentals (plural)
Continental (alternative)

(US, historical) A member of the Continental army.

(US, historical) Paper scrip (paper money) issued by the continental congress, largely worthless by the end of the war.


honor

From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor.
Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”).
The verb is from Middle English honouren, honuren (“to honor”).

cog

“Not a ha’porth. Different gangs and different ships. He was tried again for prison breaking, and got made a Lifer.”
“And was that—Honour!—the only time you worked out, in this part of the country?”
“The only time.”

1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:


jive

en-verb

jive (third-person singular simple present jives, present participle jiving, simple past and past participle jived)

jives (present singular third-person)
jiving (participle present)
jived (participle past)
jived (past)

Unknown. Slang attested in African-American and rural American culture. Frequently used to imply lying, verbal deception or trickery. Has a possible historical antecedent in gyve (“shackle”). Alternatively, of African origin, compare Wolof jev, jeu (“to talk about someone absent, especially in a disparaging manner”).

Don’t try to jive me! I know where you were last night!

It's the year when all of the white politicians will be back in the so-called Negro community jiving you and me for some votes.

1964, Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet:

(transitive, intransitive, US, colloquial) To deceive; to be deceptive.


jive

en-noun

jive (countable and uncountable, plural jives)

Don’t give me that jive. I know where you were last night.

(US, colloquial) Synonym of bullshit: patent nonsense, transparently deceptive talk.

bullshit

Although speaking Western Japanese to your friends in Ōsaka, Kyōto, or Kōbe will allow you to get closer to them, speaking Western Japanese in Tōkyō might seem as outlandish as hearing a Japanese exchange student back home speaking jive or cockney.

1993, Peter Tse, Kansai Japanese: The Language of Osaka, Kyoto, and Western Japan: This Japanese Phrasebook and Language Guide Teaches the Kansai Dialect, Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, page 17:

"Oh come on," she said. "I heard you talking jive the other day when you were playing with your dolls. And back in February, when you recited that poem by, by—what was the poet's name?
"Langston Hughes?"
"Right, Langston Hughes," Kanta said. "You spoke jive when you read that poem, remember?"

2019, Mathea Morais, There You Are, Amberjack Publishing, →ISBN:

African-American Vernacular English
African-American Vernacular English

(US, colloquial, often derogatory) African-American Vernacular English.


jive

(US) To jibe, in the sense of to accord, to agree


DMV

Coordinate term: Delmarva

District of Columbia
District of Columbia

(US) The region made up of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.


DMV

I've been to hell. I spell it...I spell it DMV
Anyone that's been there knows precisely what I mean
I've stood in line and waited near an hour and fifteen

Girlie, as far as you're concerned, I'm the messiah of the DMV. Now, get out of the car.

1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by DMV tester (Ron Orbach):

department of motor vehicles
w:department of motor vehicles

(US) Initialism of department of motor vehicles.


COB

contingency operating base
contingency operating base#English

(US, military) Initialism of contingency operating base.


alley oop

alley oops (plural)
alley-oop (alternative)
alleyoop (alternative)
allez-oop (alternative)
allez oop (alternative)
allez-up (alternative)
ally-oop (alternative)

Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.

Owens helped beat the Chicago Bears with a catch he made in the end zone;... a week later he gathered in an Alley Oop from Tittle for a victory over Green Bay.

1965, Harold Rosenthal, The Big Play, page 71:

It was a mystery how he managed to ride at all with that set-up, let alone tweak alley-oops on this natural quarter pipe!

2006, Snowboard Journal, number 10, page 29:

Kobe Bryant–to–Shaquille O'Neal alley-oops are among the most iconic and lasting NBA images of the early 2000s. The duo's alley-oop in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals stands above the rest, without a doubt.

2017, National Basketball Association, "Top Moments: Famous Alley-oop from Kobe to Shaq Caps Lakers' Comeback"

(US sports) A high and arcing pass, catch, or move, especially (basketball) a shot made by a player as part of the same jump used to catch a pass.

ponte aérea

basketball: a play in which one player catches a pass while airborne and scores


alley oop

alley-oop (alternative)
alleyoop (alternative)
allez-oop (alternative)
allez oop (alternative)
allez-up (alternative)
ally-oop (alternative)

I decided to go for the Alley-Oop pass. I knew I had to lay it in the end zone, high, and I just rared back and threw as hard as I could.

1957 November 4, Y.A. Tittle, Reno Evening Gazette, page 14:

The Oroville Tigers have adapted the San Francisco '49er football team's famed... play to their own use on the basketball court.

1959 January 21, “Oroville using ‘Alley Oop’ play”, in The Appeal–Democrat, page 6:

Do you know what an ollie to frontside 50/50 is? A stale-grab Madonna? A smith-grind to revert? An alley-oop lipslide?... They are all gravity- or death-defying tricks.

1989 November 29, The Guardian, Society, page 46:

(US skateboarding and snowboarding) Involving at least a 180-degree turn.


freshman

At the time I was a wide-eyed freshman, but I was soon to grow jaded and cynical.

When he was but yet a freshman in Cambridge.

1596, Thomas Nashe, Have with You to Saffron-Walden:

Sir Alexander: Then he's a graduate.
Sir Davy: Say they trust him not?
Sir Alexander: Then is he held a freshman and a sot,¶ And never shall commence, but being still barr'd¶ Be expuls'd from the master's side to th' twopenny ward,¶ Or else i' th' hole be plac'd.

1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl, act 3, scene 3:

As a country, we now enter what the seven freshmen called “unchartered waters”, with an unprecedented political and constitutional crisis looming on the horizon.

2019 September 25, Geoffrey Kabaservice, “Impeach Trump? The United States is now in uncharted waters”, in The Guardian:

Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting.

January 7 2023, Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, “McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote”, in AP News:

(US, Canada, Philippines) a person (of either sex) entering the first year of an institution, especially a high school (ninth grade for US, grade 9 for Canada, grade 7 for Philippines), a university, or legislative body

一年級新生 /一年级新生

a person of either sex entering the first year of an institution


ditch day

From ditch (“deliberately not attend classes”).

(US) A day on which a group of students, generally the senior class, leaves the campus and its responsibilities for a day.

Święto Lasu

a day on which a group of students, generally the senior class, leaves the campus and its responsibilities for a day


schlock

schlock (countable and uncountable, plural schlocks)

From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow”).

Before pop art, there was such a thing as bad taste. Now there’s kitsch, schlock, camp and porn.

1978, Don DeLillo, Running Dog, New York: Knopf, page 148:

(colloquial, US) Commodity that is shoddy or inferior.


crunch

From earlier craunch, cranch, of imitative origin.


slacker

From slack + -er; compare especially slack off.

[S]everal hundred prisoners captured in North Jersey slacker raids last week and sent to this camp are being Inducted into military service today[…]

1918 September 10, “Take Slackers into Army”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Senator Burton K. Wheeler opened his fight in the Senate today[…], raising the cry of "slackers" against deferred workers in Government establishments and industry.

1943 September 29, C. P. Trussell, “Wheeler Assails Bureau ‘Slackers’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(dated, US) A person who seeks to avoid military service.


hitchhike

en-verb

hitchhike (third-person singular simple present hitchhikes, present participle hitchhiking, simple past and past participle hitchhiked)

hitchhikes (present singular third-person)
hitchhiking (participle present)
hitchhiked (participle past)
hitchhiked (past)
hitch-hike (alternative)

ճանապարհորդել ավտոստոպով

to try to get a ride in a passing vehicle while standing at the side of a road

дайгдах

замын машинд

проголосова́ть pf (progolosovátʹ, literally “vote”)

путеше́ствовать автосто́пом

see: автостоп

pedir aventón / bola / botella / cola / jalón / pon

Pamela hitchhiked a ride to New York.

“I’m not goin’ to tell you what happened to me,” Asey said, “from the time I found her till I finally managed to hitchhike a ride to town. I want to forget that period of my life. […]”

1945, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Proof of the Pudding, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, page 42:

(US, transitive) To try to get (a ride) in a passing vehicle while standing at the side of a road, generally by either sticking out one's finger or thumb or holding a sign with one's stated destination.

She made a great many photographs, and hitchhiked her way back to Lanchow again, and thence to Peking.

1953, Pearl Buck, “Preface”, in Irene Vongehr Vincent, The Sacred Oasis: Caves of the Thousand Buddhas Tun Huang, University of Chicago Press, page x:

Holly came from Miami, F-L-A / Hitchhiked her way across the U.S.A.

1972, Lou Reed (lyrics and music), “Walk on the Wild Side”, in Transformer:

(US, transitive) to make (one's way) by hitchhiking.


derelict

en-adj

derelict (comparative more derelict, superlative most derelict)

more derelict (comparative)
most derelict (superlative)

PIE word
 *de
The adjective and verb are a learned borrowing from Latin dērelictus (“(completely) abandoned, deserted, forsaken; discarded”), the perfect passive participle of dērelinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake; to discard”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; completely, thoroughly’) + relinquō (“to abandon, desert, forsake, leave (behind); to depart (from); to give up, relinquish”) (from Proto-Italic *wrelinkʷō, from *wre (“again”) (whence Latin rē- (prefix meaning ‘again’)) + *linkʷō (“to leave”) (whence linquō (“to forsake; depart from, leave, quit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”))). Doublet of relict and relinquish.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

atılmış

given up by the guardian or owner — see also abandoned, forsaken

The wrongs which we have suffered from Mexico are before the world, and must deeply impress every American citizen. A Government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties.

1859 December 19 (date delivered), John Buchanan, “The President’s Message [Third State of the Union Address]”, in The Albion, volume 37, number 53, New York, N.Y.: W. Young & Co., published 31 December 1859, →OCLC, page 630, column 1:

(chiefly US) Negligent in performing a duty; careless.

疏忽的

negligent in performing a duty — see also careless, neglectful, unfaithful


derelict

en-noun

derelict (countable and uncountable, plural derelicts)

hylätty omaisuus

property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; item of such property

hulttio

person who is (perceived as) negligent in their hygiene and personal affairs

(countable, chiefly US) A person who is negligent in performing a duty.


stoop

Borrowed from Dutch stoep (“platform", "pavement”). Doublet of stoep. Cognate with step.

A short flight of iron steps leads up to it and a storm door is built over the stoop, forming a little vestibule, and serving to keep out the gusts.

1902, Gustav Kobbé, Signora: a child of the opera house, page 15:

You better hurry up and get strong, if you going to carry me across the stoop.

1975, Laurraine Goreau, Just Mahalia, Baby: The Mahalia Jackson Story, page 248:

Holding her breath while she set one foot over the stoop and followed it up into the house

1997, Peter S. Feibleman, A place without twilight, page 15:

She grins at me and lifts her walker over the stoop.

1999, Nora Gallagher, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith, page 115:

(US) The threshold of a doorway; a doorstep.


faucet

From Middle English faucet, fawcett, from Old French fausset, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Late Latin falsāre (“to falsify”) or from a diminutive of Latin faux, faucēs (“throat”). Alternatively, from Old Norse foss, fors (“waterfall”); if so, cognate with English force, foss.

Wallace beats his palm against the reluctant handle of the faucet until it gives way, and the water comes out too hard, too fast.

2020, Brandon Taylor, Real Life, Daunt Books Originals, page 80:

(Canada, US) An exposed plumbing fitting; a tap or spigot; a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir.