workday

workdays (plural)
work day (alternative)

From Middle English werkdai, werkedei, werkedai, from Old English weorcdæġ (“workday”), equivalent to work + day. Cognate with West Frisian wurkdei (“workday”), Dutch werkdag (“workday”), German Low German Warkdag (“workday”), German Werktag (“workday”). See also workaday.

PTO

often antonymous, but one can be off during a workday

weekend

often antonymous, depending on one's work schedule

It will take five workdays to process your application.

(chiefly US) Any of the days of a week on which work is done; any day in a workweek. The five workdays in many countries are usually Monday to Friday (and are defined as such in official and legal usage even though many people work on weekends).

business day

day on which work is done in legal and official usage

My workday is 8 hours.

(chiefly US) That part of a day in which work is done.


coinsurance

en-noun

coinsurance (countable and uncountable, plural coinsurances)

coinsurances (plural)
co-insurance (alternative)

selvrisiko

joint assumption of risk between insurer and insured

For Part B-covered services, you usually pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after you meet your deductible. This is called your coinsurance.

2021, Medicare & You 2022, Baltimore, MD: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES : Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, page 6:

(US) The joint assumption of risk between the insurer and the insured party.


jive turkey

Coined in the 1970s, originally African-American.

[1970s school principal:] You girls better get with what's going down! I am not a jive turkey and this school is not a jive turkey! Any questions?

1989, Lynda Barry, “String Heads”, in Ernie Pook's Comeek:

(US, idiomatic, derogatory, dated slang) A fool, a chump, a target for jiving.

(US, idiomatic, dated slang) Someone who performs the jive dance, especially in an amusing or showy manner.

(US, idiomatic, dated slang) Someone who behaves in a glib and disingenuous fashion, a jiver.


workhouse

workhouses (plural)
work house (alternative)

From Middle English werkhous, from Old English weorchūs (“workshop, place of manufacture”), from Proto-Germanic *werkahūsą, equivalent to work + house.

inh

(US) A prison in which the sentence includes manual labour.

työkoti

prison where the sentence includes manual labour


hoochie

Uncertain. Attested from the 20th century, originally in African-American English. Likely from hootchy-kootchy, an erotic dance of unknown origin.

To all my Hoochies, you know who you are, love ya’ll!

1996, Liber Actorum, Boston Latin School, page 16:

(slang, US, black) Playful or affectionate term of address for a woman

He said I nearly did the hoochie on that bench. He placed my hand on his lap and laid it on something hard, I asked him what it was and he said to find out, and I did and it was his thing; it was round and warm and throbbing

(slang, US) Sexual interaction, sexual intercourse.


share-in-savings

(US) A government form of performance-based contracting that moves risk to industry.


kook

The kook we will always have with us, to paraphrase Jesus, but the kooks of yore had to work to maintain their kookery and locate fellow kooks. They had to pick up their kook phone, subscribe to the kook newsletter, drive to the kook convention. Nowadays, all the kook has to do is log in to Facebook, where his feed will be enlivened by the chatter of fellow — and likely more extreme — kooks, toward which Facebook’s algorithms helpfully steer him.

2019 January 29, Tom Bissell, “An Anti-Facebook Manifesto”, in New York Times:

(slang, chiefly US) An eccentric, strange or crazy person.


wrangler

Even as I stretched my arms and shivered a little, the two wranglers threw down their tin plates with a clatter, mounted horses and rode away in the direction of the thousand acres or so known as the pasture.

1907, Stewart Edward White, chapter 5, in Arizona Nights:

(US) A cowboy who takes care of saddle horses.

(US) A cowboy who takes care of tourists.

(US, education, New England, derogatory) A special education teacher.


colonel

Colonel (U.S. honorary title)
Colonel (disambiguation)

colonels (plural)
coronel (alternative)
col. (alternative)
Col. (alternative)

First attested 1548, from Middle French coronnel, from Old Italian colonnello (“the officer of a small company of soldiers (column) that marched at the head of a regiment”), from compagnia colonnella (“little column company”), from Latin columna (“pillar”), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit”), o-grade form from a Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to rise, be elevated, be prominent”). See hill, holm.

der

(US) A form of address for an auctioneer, from the American Civil War practice of commanding officers organizing the public sale of seized goods.


resume

resumes (plural)
résumé (alternative)
resumé (alternative)

Borrowed from French résumé, past participle of résumer (“to summarize”), from Latin resūmere (“to take back”); compare resume.

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia) A summary or account of education and employment experiences and qualifications; a curriculum vitae (often for presentation to a potential future employer when applying for a job).


gruel

en-noun

gruel (countable and uncountable, plural gruels)

From Middle English gruel, gruwel, greuel, growel (“meal or flour made from beans, lentils, etc.”), from Old French gruel (“coarse meal; > French gruau”), from Medieval Latin grutellum, diminutive of Medieval Latin grutum (“flour; meal”), from a Germanic source, likely Old English grūt (“meal; grout”) or perhaps Frankish *grūt; both from Proto-Germanic *grūtiz (“ground material; grit”). Compare Dutch gruit, Middle Low German grūt, Middle High German grūz, German Grütze (“grout”). Related also to English groats, grit.

der

coarse meal; > French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">gruau</i>

(slang, US, obsolete) Sentimental poetry


Lawrence

en-proper noun

Lawrence (countable and uncountable, plural Lawrences)

Lawrences (plural)
Lieurance (alternative)

(US, law, sexuality, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Lawrence v. Texas. A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex sexual relations; and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.


English Plus

(US) A movement that encourages English-only speakers to learn other languages in order to promote cultural diversity and acceptance.


motard

From moto (“motivated, gung-ho marine”) + retard.

(US, slang) In the United States Marine Corps, one who expresses his/her motivation for the Marine Corps to the point of obnoxiousness.


roastnear

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

(US, slang) An ear of corn or corn on the cob.


cluster

→ Catalan: clúster

→ French: cluster

→ German: Cluster

→ Italian: cluster

→ Japanese: クラスター (kurasutā)

→ Portuguese: cluster

→ Russian: кла́стер (kláster)

→ Spanish: clúster, cluster

→ Swedish: kluster

High Performance Computing Center, Stuttgart

The noun is derived from Middle English cluster (“bunch, cluster, spray; compact body or mass, ball”) [and other forms], from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *klas-, *klus- (“to clump, lump together”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; to clench; to amass”)) + *-þrą (suffix forming nouns denoting an instrument or tool). The English word is probably a doublet of clot.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Dutch klister (“cluster”) (dialectal)
* Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”)
* Low German Kluuster (“cluster”)
* Swedish kluster (“cluster”)

nb...

closter, clostre, clouster, clowster, clustre, clustyr

բույլ

A bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other.

(US) In full oak leaf cluster: a small bronze or silver device shaped like a twig of oak leaves and acorns which is worn on a ribbon to indicate that the wearer has been conferred the same award or decoration before; an oakleaf.


rejoinder

/ɹɪˈd͡ʒɔɪndɚ/

From Middle English rejoinder, rejonder, rejoynder, from Middle French rejoindre, with infinitive used as noun frequent in Law French. Doublet of rejoin.

(US patent law) Re-insertion, typically after allowance of a patent application, of patent claims that had been withdrawn from examination under a restriction requirement.


guillotine

Borrowed from French guillotine, named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), who proposed its use for capital punishment.

named-after

/ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/

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

(US) A legislative motion that debate be ended and a vote taken; a cloture.


guillotine

en-verb

guillotine (third-person singular simple present guillotines, present participle guillotining, simple past and past participle guillotined)

guillotines (present singular third-person)
guillotining (participle present)
guillotined (participle past)
guillotined (past)

Borrowed from French guillotiner (“to execute with a guillotine, to guillotine”), from guillotine (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

bor

/ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/

(US) To end (a legislative debate) by invoking cloture.


overnight

en-verb

overnight (third-person singular simple present overnights, present participle overnighting, simple past and past participle overnighted)

overnights (present singular third-person)
overnighting (participle present)
overnighted (participle past)
overnighted (past)
over night (alternative)
overnite (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English overnyght, from Old English ofer niht (“through the night, overnight”), equivalent to over + night. Verbal use (late 19th c.) may have been influenced by German übernachten (16th c.), though it could also have developed independently.

inh

We can overnight you the documents for signature.

(transitive, US) To send something for delivery the next day.


ICC

Interstate Commerce Commission
w:Interstate Commerce Commission

(US, historical) Initialism of Interstate Commerce Commission.


widdle

en-adj

widdle (comparative widdler, superlative widdlest)

widdler (comparative)
widdlest (superlative)

(childish or mocking, chiefly US, Canada) Little.


Victorian

From Victoria + -an (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns), from the name of Queen Victoria (1819–1901), monarch of the United Kingdom.

suffix

The commercial resurgence brought about by the area's changing tastes is reflected in midtown's conglomeration of refurbished Victorians, apartments, specialty shops, offices, corner groceries, restaurants, single-family homes, and bed and breakfast inns.

1987, Faren Maree Bachelis, “Downtown Sacramento”, in The Pelican Guide to Sacramento and the Gold Country (A Firebird Press Book), Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 86:

(chiefly US, architecture) A house built in the Victorian architectural style.


vinegar

en-noun

vinegar (countable and uncountable, plural vinegars)

→ Japanese: ビネガー (binegā)

→ Welsh: finegr

From Middle English vynegre, from Old French vinaigre from Old French vyn egre, based on Latin vīnum (“wine”) + Latin ācer (“sour”). Displaced Old English æċed (survived in Middle English eced).

it is better to be preserved in vinegar than to rot in honey

you attract more flies with honey than vinegar

you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

You full of vinegar now, but you 'bout through / We gonna get a steam drill to do your share of driving / Then what's all them muscles gonna do? Huh, John Henry? / Gonna take a little bit of vinegar out of you.

1962, “The Legend of John Henry's Hammer”, performed by Johnny Cash:


balls to the wall

First attested in the 1960s in the context of aviation, in reference to ball-shaped grips on an aircraft's engine controls (typically throttle, prop pitch and fuel mixture). Pushing these "balls to the wall" would put the aircraft at maximum thrust. Analogous to pedal to the metal. Not related to the term balls-out, which refers to a ball governor on a steam engine. Neither balls-out nor balls to the wall is connected with the vulgar sense of balls (“testicles”) except via folk etymology.

balls-to-the-wall (alternative)
balls to the walls (alternative)
balls-to-the-walls (alternative)

I told the staff...the day before the hurricane struck that I expected them to cut every piece of red tape, do everything they could, that it was balls to the wall, that I didn't want to hear anybody say that we couldn't do anything—to do everything they humanly could to respond.

2006, Michael D. Brown, Testimony before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee:

“I always go balls to the wall,” founding Ape Gordon Goner tells Rolling Stone over Zoom.

2021 November 1, Samantha Hissong, quoting Gordon Goner, “How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes”, in Rolling Stone:

“Asian women on-screen, especially in America and Hollywood, have been so sexualized and fetishized for the benefit of other people’s stories or jokes,” Ashley says. “And we’re like, ‘We’re gonna go balls to the wall, further than anyone’s gone with Asian women.’”

2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health:

(US, idiomatic, slang) With maximum effort or commitment.

(US, idiomatic, slang) Full throttle; (at) maximum speed.


sub-zero

(US, of a temperature) below 0°F (−18°C)


rising

salt rising; milk rising

(US, dated) A dough and yeast mixture which is allowed to ferment.


rising

Affairs in Canada, with a population that had grown to rising ten thousand, seemed to be going from worse to worse.

1894, Justin Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(US, slang, dated) More than; exceeding; upwards of.


bump

bump (countable and uncountable, plural bumps)

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin.
Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

onom

imitative

cog

Call me the juice and you know I'm a stunt; ride in the car with some bump in the trunk.

2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:

(US, slang, uncountable) Music, especially played over speakers at loud volume with strong bass frequency response.

(US, broadcasting) A short, self-promotional spot on a radio or television station.


bump

en-verb

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

bumps (present singular third-person)
bumping (participle present)
bumped (participle past)
bumped (past)
Lighter (canonical)
1917-1919: An Historical Glossary” (canonical)
volume 47 (canonical)
number 1 (canonical)
page 24 (canonical)

onom

imitative

(criminal slang and US military slang, circa 1920–1950) To encounter and stop, to catch.


voting booth

(US) A small enclosed compartment where a voter may register a vote in private; it may house some voting machine, or just have a pencil for marking a voting slip.

投票站

small compartment where a voter may register a vote


voting station

(US) A public place, normally used for some other function, that has been authorized for the registering of votes in an election; it will contain voting booths and officials with an up-to-date electoral register or similar list of voters; a polling station


tab

Apocopation (shortening) of (variously) tabulate, tabulator, or tabulation.

(informal, chiefly Canada, US) A restaurant bill.

Put this round on my tab, please, barman.

(informal, chiefly Canada, US) Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate


freaking

You're getting on my freaking nerves!

(minced oath, slang, chiefly US, euphemistic) Fucking.


freaking

You think you're so freaking smart, don't you?

He was so scared he freaking ran into a police station.

Suddenly his eyeballs are glazed with tears. “Mom, can you come get me,” he pleads. “Yeah, ’cause I freaking hate it here.[…]”

2021 April 27, Amanda Hess, “Inject the Vaccine Fan Fiction Directly Into My Veins”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


mierda

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

Directly from Spanish mierda, from Latin merda. Doublet of merde.

(Canada, US, neologism, vulgar, in Spanish contexts) Shit.


jerkoff

jerkoffs (plural)
jerk off (alternative)
jerk-off (alternative)

Someone told me once that there's a right and wrong
Punishment was sure for those who dare to cross the line
But it must not be true
For jerk-offs just like you and
Maybe it's just bullshit
I should play God
And shoot you myself

1992, “Jerk-Off (live)”, performed by Tool:

All New Yorkers have this feeling that anyone who's not from New York is a jerk-off. And I couldn't believe that someone had the balls to shoot at me.

1992, Eric Lee, Saigon to Jerusalem: conversations with U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War who […] , page 25:

I think she's a very nice girl, but she's marrying that jerkoff.

1998, Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer, spoken by Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler):

(idiomatic, vulgar, derogatory) Someone who behaves obnoxiously, rudely, inappropriately, or is ignorant of certain social norms, usually a male.

Widerling

rude, mean, nasty, ignorant, obnoxious person

[…]Slob or Slop for a dirty child, Beans for a child who breaks wind, Jerk-off for a child who masturbates.

1935, S. Z. Orgel, J. Tuckman, “Nicknames of Institutional Children”, in American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, volume 5, number 3, →DOI, page 279:

(idiomatic, vulgar, rare) Someone who masturbates.


mañana

/mɑːˈnjɑːnə/

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

(US, in Spanish-speaking contexts) Tomorrow.


flank

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.

cog

All ahead flank!

(US, nautical, of speed) Maximum. Historically faster than full speed (the most a vessel can sustain without excessive engine wear or risk of damage), now frequently used interchangeably. Typically used in an emergency or during an attack.


hybrid car

(US) A European car fitted with American components.


kick the tires and light the fires

en-verb

kick<> the tires and light<,,lit> the fires

kick the tires and light the fires (third-person singular simple present kicks the tires and lights the fires, present participle kicking the tires and lighting the fires, simple past and past participle kicked the tires and lit the fires)

kicks the tires and lights the fires (present singular third-person)
kicked the tires and lit the fires (participle past)
kicked the tires and lit the fires (past)

From kick the tires, referring to a preflight check of the landing gear, and light the fires, referring to the ignition of the afterburners, a part of the engine which burns extra fuel for a speed boost.

His face appears in the open window of the pilot's seat on the flight deck. He is ready. I am ready. It's time to kick the tires and light the fires.

1998, Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate Looks at Fifty (2000 Random House edition), p. 108 (Google preview)

(US, military slang, used by fighter pilots) To take off.


Caucasian

en-adj

Caucasian (comparative more Caucasian, superlative most Caucasian)

more Caucasian (comparative)
most Caucasian (superlative)
caucasian (alternative)

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Mugan plain
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky
The Big Lebowski

From Caucasus (“mountain range in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea”) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘from, related to, or like’, or forming nouns with the sense ‘one from, belonging to, relating to, or like’). The anthropological sense (no longer regarded as scientific) was popularized by the German anthropologist and physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), based on the belief that the first humans originated from there.
Noun sense 2 (“cocktail”) was popularized by the film The Big Lebowski (1998): see the quotation.

nb...

Praemissa est epistola ad virvm perillvstrem Iosephvm Banks baronetvm regiae Societatis Londin. praesidem

Caucasian bear

Ursus arctos syriacus or Ursus arctos arctos

(Canada, US, Singapore) Of a person: having a white complexion and European ancestry; white.


Caucasian

Caucasians (plural)
caucasian (alternative)

The male Caucasian, twenty-four, a skier, was said to have been missing for over three hours.

2008, Ridley Pearson, chapter 2, in Killer View, Jove premium edition, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, published 2009, →ISBN:


post office

en-noun

post office (countable and uncountable, plural post offices)

post offices (plural)
postoffice (alternative)
post-office (alternative)

(Canada, US, uncountable) A party game involving the exchange of kisses.


brig

desctree

→ French: brick
→ Romanian: bric
→ Ottoman Turkish: بریق (brik)
Turkish: brik

→ Irish: bruig

→ Portuguese: brigue

Abbreviated from brigantine, from Italian brigantino; in sense “jail”, from the use of such ships as prisons.

(US) A jail or guardhouse, especially in a naval military prison or jail on a ship, navy base, or (in fiction) spacecraft.


brig

en-verb

brig (third-person singular simple present brigs, present participle brigging, simple past and past participle brigged)

brigs (present singular third-person)
brigging (participle present)
brigged (participle past)
brigged (past)

(US, military slang, dated) To merely pretend to be occupied, to lollygag.

(US, military slang, dated) To jail, to confine into the guardhouse.


campo

Baker Fountain [is] fun to run through, if you can avoid slipping or getting busted by the Campos.

2005, Julia Schwent, Gohari Omid, Rice University College Prowler Off the Record, page 135:

(US, slang) A police officer assigned to a university campus.


dead-end

dead-end (third-person singular simple present dead-ends, present participle dead-ending, simple past and past participle dead-ended)

dead-ends (present singular third-person)
dead-ending (participle present)
dead-ended (participle past)
dead-ended (past)
deadend (alternative)

Watch out! The road dead-ends in 200 yards and there's nowhere to turn around!


dogfood

en-noun

dogfood (countable and uncountable, plural dogfoods)

dogfoods (plural)
dog food (alternative)
dog-food (alternative)


jumper

a jumper was found prepared to receive Mrs. Willoughby ; and the horse being led by the Captain himself , a passage through the forest was effected as far as the head of the Otsego

(US) A crude kind of sleigh, usually a simple box on runners which are in one piece with the poles that form the thills.


jumper

→ Bengali: জাম্পার (jampar)

→ Dutch: jumper

→ Estonian: džemper

→ Finnish: jumpperi

→ Georgian: ჯემპრი (ǯemṗri)

→ German: Jumper

→ Hungarian: dzsömper

→ Japanese: ジャンパー (janpā)

→ Macedonian: џемпер (džemper)

→ Maltese: ġamper

→ Portuguese: jumper

desctree

→ Russian: джемпер (džemper)
→ Kazakh: жемпір (jempır)
→ Kyrgyz: жемпир (jempir)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: џемпер

Latin script: džemper

→ Spanish: chompa, chomba

→ Welsh: siwmper

From the term jump (“short coat”) + -er, originally in sailors' jargon, ultimately of uncertain origin. Jump is possibly from Scottish English jupe (“man's loose jacket or tunic”), from Middle English juype, gype, joupe, from Old French jupe, juppe, from Arabic جُبَّة (jubba); see also jibba. Cognate with Middle Low German jōpe, gōpe (“waistcoat, jacket”), German Joppe (“jacket”). Alternatively, perhaps derived from jump.

(US) A one-piece, sleeveless dress, or a skirt with straps and a complete or partial bodice, usually worn over a blouse by women and children; pinafore.


rancho

/ˈɹɑːnt͡ʃoʊ/

From Spanish rancho (“mess, mess room”). Compare ranch.

(US, regional) A simple hut, as of posts, covered with branches or thatch, where herdsmen or farm workers may lodge at night.

The nearest house, they told us, was a rancho, or cattle-farm, about three miles off.

1840, Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast:

(US, regional) A large grazing farm where horses and cattle are raised; distinguished from hacienda, a cultivated farm or plantation.


yola

Northern California slang, said to be from a blend of Spanish yo and hola.

From servin' yola and mobbin' in drop tops to gangsta tales and flat-out Westside anthems, it doesn't take much thought as to whom the target audience is […]

We yayo experts, we been whippin' the yola / Since the crackas decided to take the coke from Coca-Cola.

2004, Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz (Jonathan Mortimer Smith), Grand Finale (rap song)

Ooh I throw the yola in the pot, let it simmer and bake / Add a li'l bakin' soda, make it foam like aftershave.

2006, E-40 (Earl Stevens), White Gurl (rap song)


happy camper

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

The Dictionary of American Slang suspects the phrase to have originated among California movie and show-business people as a reference to child clients of summer camps.

I will be a happy camper when they fix the potholes on my commute.

“You all look like happy campers to me,” Dan Quayle to the people of American Samoa.

1989 April 26, Shirley Marlow, “Quayle Visits Samoa, Decides He'll Give It a Break”, in Los Angeles Times:

"Call, but you can't fight union regulations" / "You're probably right. Still, their boss needs to know I'm not a happy camper."

1997, Roz Denny Fox, Sweet Tibby Mack, page 132:

I had kept telling people that this company would be looking for a victim to pay for this. They would not let it go. And it wasn't just them—look at all the Mob guys I threw out of the union. They weren't happy campers.

2008, Deepa Kumar, quoting Ron Carey, Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike, Appendix, page 194:

(chiefly US, informal) One who is thoroughly content or satisfied.


sticky note

sticky notes (plural)
stick note (alternative)
sticky-note (alternative)

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

(US, informal) A slip of paper, or a chit, with a gummy or gluey top that can be moved from place to place, usually as a reminder.


jock

The computer slang meanings are derived from jockey. The athletic slang meanings in turn date from the middle 20th century and are simple abbreviations of jockstrap, which is in turn derived from the older slang meaning of jock itself, which dates from the 17th century, and whose etymology is unknown.

(US, slang) A young male athlete (through college age).

'Cause all jocks ever think about is sports, all we ever think about is sex.

1984, Steve Zacharias, Jeff Buhai (screenplay), Revenge of the Nerds (motion picture), spoken by Lewis (Robert Carradine):

(US, slang, derogatory) An enthusiastic athlete or sports fan, especially one with few other interests, often stereotyped as slow-witted person of large size and great physical strength.

compiler jock

systems jock

(US, dated computing slang, in combination) A specialist computer programmer.


recess

en-noun

recess (countable and uncountable, plural recesses)

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”).
Sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends.
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Catalan recés
* Italian recesso
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
* Portuguese recesso
* Spanish receso

syvyys

hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place

فُسْحة

temporary stoppage of an activity — see also break, pause

Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess.

(countable) A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.

(Australia, British, Canada, US, Philippines, education) A time away from studying during the school day for a meal or recreation.


recess

en-verb

recess (third-person singular simple present recesses, present participle recessing, simple past and past participle recessed)

recesses (present singular third-person)
recessing (participle present)
recessed (participle past)
recessed (past)

When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “In which the Travellers Move Homeward, and Encounter Some Distinguished Characters upon the Way”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 400:

To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).

julistaa tauko

to temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.)

To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. "Many of his nominees have languished, but he's only recessed the ones that were critical to keep agencies functioning."

2013 January 14, Michael Grunwald, “Cliff Dweller”, in Time, volume 181, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 3:

(informal) To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).

esittää tauon pitämistä

to make a recess appointment in respect of (someone)

Class will recess for 20 minutes.

Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break.

pitää tauko

of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break

This court shall recess for its lunch break now.

Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time.

прекъсвам

of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time


AFL

American Federation of Labor
w:American Federation of Labor

(US, labor union) Initialism of American Federation of Labor.


football player

en-noun

football player (plural football players)

football players (plural)
football-player (alternative)

(Canada, US) One who plays gridiron football.

(American football, US) One who plays American football.


fastener

→ Japanese: ファスナー (fasunā)


pike

Clipping of turnpike (“a toll road, especially a toll expressway; a spiked barrier across a road, originally used to block access to the road until toll had been paid”)
Noun sense 2 (“gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller”) and verb sense 2 (“to depart, travel, especially to flee, run away”) may refer to someone frequently using turnpikes, or may be derived from Middle English pī̆ken (“to go, remove oneself”).

inh

They tried out every idea that came down the pike.

There is heavy traffic on the Mass Pike.

Under cover of the woods, they moved still further south, in a direction parallel with the Baltimore pike; but Gregg was moving too, and when they started out toward the pike, they were again confronted.

1863 June 29, Whitelaw Reid, “Doc. 20. The Battles of Gettysburgh. Cincinnati ‘Gazette’ Account.”, in Frank Moore, editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc., volume VII, New York, N.Y.: D[avid] Van Nostrand, […], published 1864, →OCLC, section III (Thursday’s Doubtful Issue—Friday’s Victory), page 98, column 2:


broccoli

en-noun

broccoli (countable and uncountable, plural broccolis or broccoli)

broccolis (plural)
broccoli (plural)
broccolo (alternative)
brocoli (alternative)
brockely (alternative)

→ Japanese: ブロッコリー (burokkorī)

→ Thai: บรอกโคลี (brɔ́k-koo-lîi)

1699, Italian broccoli, plural of broccolo (“cabbage sprout, head”), diminutive of brocco (“shoot, sprout”) (which is also the origin of brocade), from Latin broccus (“pointed, sharp, projecting; buck-toothed”), possibly of Gaulish origin, related to Proto-Celtic *brokkos (“badger”) or Proto-Celtic *brozdos (“tip, point”) (compare Scottish Gaelic brog (“pointed instrument, awl”), Welsh procio (“thrust, poke”), Old English brord (“point, spike”)). More at brochure, brad.

cog

I be smokin' broccoli, mama told me eat my veggies

2014, “Kodak Black”, in Heart Of The Projects, performed by Skrilla:

All I want is cottage, roll a cigar full of broccoli

2017, “T-Shirt”, in Culture, performed by Migos:


marshal

marshals (plural)
marshall (alternative)
mareschal (alternative)

→ Malay: marsyal

From Middle English marschal, from Anglo-Norman mareschal (“farrier; military commander”), from Medieval Latin mariscalcus (“groom, army commander, court dignitary”), either from Frankish *marhaskalk, or Old High German marah-scalc (“horse-servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *marh + *skalk (whence Old Saxon maraskalk, marahscalc). Compare English mare + shalk.


act one's age

en-verb

act one's age (third-person singular simple present acts one's age, present participle acting one's age, simple past and past participle acted one's age)

acts one's age (present singular third-person)
acting one's age (participle present)
acted one's age (participle past)
acted one's age (past)

Act your age and stop fiddling with that pen – you’re showing us up.

(imperative, originally US) To behave in a mature manner; to avoid being childish.

vestí sebjá sootvétstvenno svojemú vózrastu

вести́ себя́ соотве́тственно своему́ во́зрасту


lector

From Middle English lector, lectoure, lectour, from Late Latin lēctor, from legō (“I read”). “Voice-over” sense probably adapted from Polish lektor.

Its lyrical, poetic flights seem much more at home in the romantic musings of two sisters competing for the attention of the new, handsome lector, a man hired to read stories to workers in a Florida cigar factory, who might otherwise be mesmerized by the repetitive boredom of their jobs.

2004 October 27, D. J. R. Bruckner, “New Inflections and Nuance in a Florida Cigar Factory”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(historical, US, cigar industry) A person who reads aloud to workers to entertain them, appointed by a trade union.


prang

en-noun

prang (countable and uncountable, plural prangs)

Originally World War II Royal Air Force slang; probably imitative.

onomatopoeic

imitative


bangtail

bangtails (plural)
bang tail (alternative)
bang-tail (alternative)

From bang + tail. The primary meaning refers to the sense bang (“fringe of hair cut across the forehead”).

“Eddie!” whinnied Daley, the distraught worshipper of the bang-tails. “Eddie! Phar Lap is dead!”

1934, Stanley Walker, City Editor, published 1999, page 99:

Americans bet $5,000,000,000 a year on the galloping bangtails.

1937, The American Magazine, volume 124, page 52:

If you happen to be out on the far east side between April 23 and September 5, with $10 burning a hole in your pocket, hie yourself out to River Downs Race Track, 6301 Kellogg Avenue, and bet on the bangtails.

1983 March, Cincinnati Magazine, page 43:

I was ridin' the horses then, you understand, and maybe known to take a flutter or two on the bangtails while I was about it.


drop letter

(US) A letter mailed at a post office and either kept for general delivery, or delivered to a post office box, at that same post office.


kibei

Borrowed from Japanese 帰米 (kibei, “returning to the United States”).

bor

Most kibei were not fluent in English because of their upbringing in Japan.

(US) A Japanese-American who is born in the United States but primarily educated in Japan.


smolder

en-verb

smolder (third-person singular simple present smolders, present participle smoldering, simple past and past participle smoldered)

smolders (present singular third-person)
smoldering (participle present)
smoldered (participle past)
smoldered (past)
smoulder (alternative)

From Middle English smolderen (“to suffocate, stifle”), from Middle English smolder (“smoke, smoky vapour”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *smolōn (“to burn, glow, fume, smoulder”). Related to Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (> English smell).

der

The remains of the bonfire were left to smolder for hours.

Our quiuering Lances ſhaking in the aire,
And bullets like Ioues dreadfull Thunderbolts,
Enrolde in flames and fiery ſmoldering miſtes,
Shall threat the Gods more than Cyclopian warres, […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

(intransitive, now US) To burn with no flame and little smoke.


fire department

en-noun

fire department (plural fire departments)

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

(firefighting, US) An organization, often part of a local government, whose purpose is preventing and putting out fires. May provide other emergency services as well.


shoot the breeze

en-verb

shoot the breeze (third-person singular simple present shoots the breeze, present participle shooting the breeze, simple past and past participle shot the breeze)

shoots the breeze (present singular third-person)
shooting the breeze (participle present)
shot the breeze (participle past)
shot the breeze (past)

A slang phrase, alluding to talking into the wind, it was first recorded in 1919. In the variant, first recorded in 1908, bull is used instead of breeze, and means "empty talk" or "lies."

We were just standing around shooting the breeze.

Oh, I've just been upstairs with your boss, shooting the breeze… shooting his fish.

1989, Lethal Weapon 2 (motion picture), spoken by Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson):

Listen, I came here to do some business, not shoot the breeze. If you want to expound your personal philosophies, write another book.

1999, The Ninth Gate (motion picture), spoken by Dean Corso (Johnny Depp):

(idiomatic, US) To chat idly or generally waste time talking.


WPC

This forecast was prepared based on WPC, SPC, and NHC forecasts.

Weather Prediction Center
w:Weather Prediction Center

(US) Initialism of Weather Prediction Center.


yogi

yogi (third-person singular simple present yogis, present participle yogi-ing, simple past and past participle yogied)

yogis (present singular third-person)
yogi-ing (participle present)
yogied (participle past)
yogied (past)

From the cartoon character, Yogi the Bear, who was known for conning tourists out of their picnics.

Ready to do some hiking now that we are through yogi-ing? I asked, grinning at Map Man. The hikers looked up at me quizzically, but Map Man knew yogi-ing meant the good natured way thru-hikers ask for food without actually begging.

1999, Ellen Wolfe, Walking the dream, →ISBN, page 138:

Late in the afternoon, I came to a shady spot where there was a picnic table—a rare luxury on the trail. As I approached, I saw that there was a peach on top of the table and beneath it a note. Cheryl! We yogied this from day hikers for you. Enjoy! Sam and Helen

2012, Cheryl Strayed, Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found, →ISBN:

You can also yogi food from other hikers and tourists. The yogi cannot realistically be counted upon as a primary resupply strategy, but it's reliable for netting a few extra calories during summer months when traveling through popular parks, especially on weekends.

2013, Dan Feldman, Long-Distance Hiking, →ISBN, page 96:

(US, thru-hiker slang) To persuade someone to give you food or other favors without actually begging.


underinsured

en-adj

underinsured (comparative more underinsured, superlative most underinsured)

more underinsured (comparative)
most underinsured (superlative)

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


fire brigade

/ˈfaɪə(ɹ)bɹɪˌɡeɪd/

(firefighting, US) A group of people within a corporation or industrial site, organized for the purpose of putting out fires, usually in addition to their normal job.

فِرْقَة مَطَافِئ

group within a corporation or industrial site

General Westmoreland used some incoming troops as a fire brigade to squelch major threats and keep the Communists off balance.

1976, The Encyclopedia Americana, volume 28, page 112:

(military, US) A trained unit that can be rapidly deployed to deal with any difficult situation.


upstate

upstate (comparative more upstate, superlative most upstate)

more upstate (comparative)
most upstate (superlative)

They went hunting in upstate New York.

(US) Of the northern section of a state.


upstate

He drove upstate to visit his mother.

(US) To the northern section of a state.


under protest

(US, law) of a payment made subject to dispute


canvasser

(politics, obsolete except US, Philippines) A person who scrutinizes the ballot in an election.


garage

en-noun

garage (countable and uncountable, plural garages)

→ Assamese: গেৰেজ (gerez)

→ Bengali: গ্যারেজ (gêrej)

→ Hindi: गेराज (gerāj)

→ Irish: garáiste

→ Japanese: ガレージ, グラージ

→ Malay: garaj

→ Scottish Gaelic: garaids

→ Sinhalese: ගරාජ් (garāj)

→ Urdu: گیراج (gerāj)

/ˈɡæ.ɹɑː(d)ʒ/

Borrowed from French garage (“keeping under cover, protection, shelter”), derivative of French garer (“to keep under cover, dock, shunt, guard, keep”), from Middle French garer, garrer, guerrer; partly from Old French garir, warir (from Old Frankish *warjan); and partly from Old French varer (“to fight, defend oneself, protect”), from Old Norse varask (“to defend oneself”), reflexive of vara (“to ware, watch out, defend”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, ward off”), *warōną (“to watch, protect”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).

der

The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(chiefly Commonwealth, dated, in US) A place where cars are serviced and repaired.


buy the farm

en-verb

buy the farm (third-person singular simple present buys the farm, present participle buying the farm, simple past and past participle bought the farm)

buys the farm (present singular third-person)
buying the farm (participle present)
bought the farm (participle past)
bought the farm (past)

Not known with certainty. Two long-held hypotheses are as follows: One describes combat soldiers wistfully wishing to go back home, buy a farm, and live peacefully there; later, after they had been killed in combat, their fellow soldiers would say that they had bought the farm (compare the established metaphor pattern of having gone to that big [whatever sort of nice place] in the sky). Another links the phrase to the idea that governments compensate farmers whose land is damaged by a military aircraft crash; a deceased pilot was thus said to have bought the farm, and the term eventually entered wider use.

You're just as dead if you buy the farm in an "incident" as if you buy it in a declared war.

1959, Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers, page 131:

Then tracers laced the sky in front of me. Forget the shooting! If I get distracted now, I'll buy the farm anyway!

BETTY. Shoot, if I knew you was gonna buy the farm I coulda asked for everything you got in the world... How were you gonna do it? ¶ROGER (takes revolver out of briefcase). With this.

1995, Steve Allen, “Having a Good Time”, in Ann McDonough, Kent R. Brown, editors, A Grand Entrance, published 2000, →ISBN, page 212:

They gambled with as much reckless abandon as they flew their airplanes. They knew they might buy the farm tomorrow.

2002, W. Barry Baird, Vietnam Journey, →ISBN, page 171:

(idiomatic, US, informal, euphemistic) To die; generally, to die in battle or in a plane crash.


benjamin

From the image of Benjamin Franklin on the US $100 bill.

(US, slang) Alternative letter-case form of Benjamin: a US $100 bill.


fitting

fittin' (alternative)
fittin (alternative)

I'm fitting to go home and sleep.

'I am fitting to go to South Hadley Seminary [as Mount Holyoke was known], and expect if my health is good to enter that institution a year from next fall', she confided to Abiah.

1846, Lyndall Gordon, quoting Emily Dickinson, letter, quoted in Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds, published 2010:

(informal, US, with infinitive) Getting ready; preparing.


have a nice day

祝你今天過得愉快 /祝你今天过得愉快 (zhù nǐ jīntiān guò de yúkuài) (no exact equivalent exists; literal translation provided)

Thank you. Have a nice day.

You can reach my parents at their places of business. Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your concern for my well-being. Have a nice day!

1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, spoken by Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick):

(US, Canada, rather formal). A polite parting during daytime.


quadriad

(US) A government committee of four economic experts.


fuck off

fuck off (third-person singular simple present fucks off, present participle fucking off, simple past and past participle fucked off)

fucks off (present singular third-person)
fucking off (participle present)
fucked off (participle past)
fucked off (past)

It really fucks me off when you do that.

(transitive, idiomatic, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth)

srát

to annoy, irritate — see also annoy, irritate

I'm bored. Shall we just fuck this off and go home?

[…] we force ourselves to have jobs and maintain apartments and push ourselves into positions of high adulthood, when really we could all just fuck it off and live in a camper van and play beach volleyball all day, but we don't, because we're pussies.

2016 August 11, Joel Golby, “A Definitive Ranking of Every Olympic Sport and Whether It Is Cool or Not”, in Vice:


EMS

“Training to be a paramedic.”
“EMS? For real? You want to scrape drunks off the sidewalk for a living?”
“I want to do something that matters, if that’s what you mean.”

2014, Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven, Picador (2022), page 10:

(US, medicine) emergency medical service: an organization, often part of a local government whose purpose is to provide emergency medical care to the public.


chum

Originally American English, from the 1850s. Perhaps from Powhatan.

The whale’s floating body also forms a chum slick on the surface—a trail of blood, oil, and chunks of fat and flesh that might stretch for miles across the water. […] This chum slick is what attracts sharks from afar. Seabirds are drawn to it too.

2021 March 18, Sarah Zhang, “A Gruesome Feeding Frenzy in the Atlantic Ocean”, in The Atlantic:

Most of us have seen the movie “Jaws”. Sheriff Brody is complaining about being the lucky one in charge of creating a chum line out of the back of the boat. The bucket is full of an awful combination of fish parts and blood. As he ladles scoop after scoop into the ocean, clearly, it was ^([sic]) working…

2020, “The Best Methods to Go Chumming”, in Bait Binder, Coastal Baits, LLC, archived from the original on 2020-09-27:

(fishing, chiefly Canada, US) A mixture of (frequently rancid) fish parts and blood, dumped into the water as groundbait to attract predator fish, such as sharks.


heft

en-noun

heft (countable and uncountable, plural hefts)

The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (“heaviness; something heavy, a weight”), from heven (“to lift, raise; to make an effort to lift or raise, heave”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft from weven (modern English weave), etc. (also compare words like cleft from cleave, and theft from thieve, where the development occurred in Old English or earlier languages). The English word is analysable as heave + -t (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
The verb is probably derived from the noun.

inh

The man had been carried out of the yard while the fire was still burning; […] Public opinion was much divided, some holding that it would go hard with a man of his age and heft; but the common belief seemed to be that he was of that sort "as'd take a deal o'killin'," and that he would be none the worse for such a fall as that.

1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “Englebourn Village”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 302:

"Look at the heft of 'n [a baby]," said the proud father, "entirely drags ye down, Miss Sybil, 'e do."

1888–1889, Maxwell Gray [pseudonym; Mary Gleed Tuttiett], “Light and Shade”, in The Reproach of Annesley. […], volume I, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., […], published 1889, →OCLC, part III, page 260:

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

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages 115–116:

(dated except UK, dialectal and US) The force exerted by an object due to gravitation; weight.

tíha

force exerted by an object due to gravitation — see also weight

The turkey's nest was islanded with a fragrant swath,—the "heft" of the crop noted and rejoiced over,—[…]

1865, [Adeline Dutton Train Whitney], “The Secret at the Hartshornes”, in The Gayworthys: A Story of Threads and Thrums. […], Boston, Mass.: [A. K.] Loring, […], →OCLC, page 49:

He run to South America or somewheres, taking the heft of the firm's money with him.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 7:

(US, informal, dated) The greater part of something; the bulk, the mass.


sunshine

In the Coverdale Bible in 1535, in Genesis and Exodus about 1250 as Middle English sunnesine; synchronically sun + shine. Compare isolated Old English sunsċīn (“mirror”).

Because of the sunshine law, we could go to the planning meeting.

(chiefly US) Open to and permitting public access, especially with regard to activities that were previously closed-door or back-room meetings.


IHS

(institute, US) Initialism of Institute for Human Studies.

(institute, US) Initialism of Institute for Humanist Studies.

(service, US) Initialism of Indian Health Service (a US health agency)


crack up

en-verb

crack up (third-person singular simple present cracks up, present participle cracking up, simple past and past participle cracked up)

cracks up (present singular third-person)
cracking up (participle present)
cracked up (participle past)
cracked up (past)

From all directions they came to the rescue, one predominant fear gripping their hearts: Fire! Someone had cracked-up. It was for this they sped. The flames that so frequently burst from a crashed airplane became an instantaneous cauldron; many a pilot has lived through the crash to die in the fire that followed.

1930 December, Lawrence M. Guyer, “Chuck Luck: The Story of a Flying Dog”, in Boys' Life:

When I reported this to Burwell by telephone, he called me a Chinese ace — in those days Chinese aces were pilots who cracked up their own airplanes […]

1983, John Thorn, David Reuther, The Armchair Aviator, page 101:

(US) To crash an aircraft or automobile.

To break.
To crash an aircraft or automobile.


square away

square away (third-person singular simple present squares away, present participle squaring away, simple past and past participle squared away)

squares away (present singular third-person)
squaring away (participle present)
squared away (participle past)
squared away (past)

I have almost squared away the last of the paperwork from that job.

(idiomatic, US, Canada) To finish, complete, tidy or put in order.


fork over

fork over (third-person singular simple present forks over, present participle forking over, simple past and past participle forked over)

forks over (present singular third-person)
forking over (participle present)
forked over (participle past)
forked over (past)

Hundreds of spectators forked over the 70 bucks for tickets.

Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk.

2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(transitive, idiomatic, US) To pay, give up or hand over a large amount of money.


doozy

doozies (plural)
doozie (alternative)
duesey (alternative)
duesy (alternative)

Unknown. First appearance 1903. Perhaps from daisy (“the flower”) (Rudyard Kipling used daisy in this sense) or the name of Italian actress Eleonora Duse. The automobile manufacturer Duesenberg is often erroneously cited as the origin, but the word existed more than a decade earlier. Alternatively, possibly from Polish duży, but this is chronologically unlikely and not attested in period sources.

Most of the test was easy, but the last question was a doozy.

Like the em unit, the rem unit is based on declared font size. The difference — and it’s a doozy — is that whereas em is calculated using the font size of the element to which it’s applied, rem is always calculated using the root element.

2017, Eric A Meyer, Estelle Weyl, CSS: The Definitive Guide: Visual Presentation for the Web, Kindle edition, O'Reilly Media, page 126:

(US, colloquial) Something that is extraordinary: often troublesome, difficult or problematic, but sometimes extraordinary in a positive sense.

c’est quelque chose

something that is extraordinary: often troublesome, difficult or problematic, but sometimes extraordinary in a positive sense


doozy

en-adj

doozy (not generally comparable, comparative doozier, superlative dooziest)

doozier (comparative)
dooziest (superlative)
doozie (alternative)
duesey (alternative)
duesy (alternative)

As soon as the races were billed he began to evolve Schemes — one Doozy scheme followed the other...

1903, Alfred Leon Kleberg, Slang Fables from Afar, page 83:

The hydra wasn't the doozy? How could it not be the doozy? What could be doozier than that?

2011, “Feeling Pinkie Keen”, in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:

(US, slang, dated) Of high quality; remarkable; excellent.

praštěný

extraordinary: often troublesome, difficult or problematic, but sometimes extraordinary in a positive sense

Who was that doozy fellow I saw you with?

1917, Elsie Warnock, “Terms of approbation and eulogy in American dialect speech”, in Dialect Notes, volume IV, page 21:

Sweetie, do let me show you the dooziest little afternoon frock that Poiret designed for me in Paris.

1920, Jane Barrett, “English review”, in High School Life, volume 21, page 531:

(US, slang, dated) Sporty, ostentatious, flashy.


theater

en-noun

theater (countable and uncountable, plural theaters)

/ˈt̪eːʈə(ɾ)/

(US, Canada, Southern American English) -iːtə(ɹ)

Inherited from Middle English theater, theatre, from Old French theatre, from Latin theatrum, from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”). Doublet of tiatr.

der

We sat in the back row of the theater and threw popcorn at the screen.


ROTC

A trumpeteer from Ft. Polk sounded colors and an ROTC color guard raised the US flag to the top of a silver staff.

1982, All Volunteer, volume 35, number 11, page 18:

Reserve Officers' Training Corps
w:Reserve Officers' Training Corps

(US, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, military) Initialism of Reserve Officers' Training Corps.


leverage

en-verb

leverage (third-person singular simple present leverages, present participle leveraging, simple past and past participle leveraged)

leverages (present singular third-person)
leveraging (participle present)
leveraged (participle past)
leveraged (past)

/ˈlɛv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/

They plan to leverage the publicity into a good distribution agreement.

They plan to leverage off the publicity to get a good distribution agreement.

EAP research has developed advanced methods for producing corpus-informed vocabulary resources, but these have yet to be fully leveraged to promote disciplinary literacy within the secondary school context.

2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 105:

Russian forces continue to prioritize their offensive push towards Pokrovsk, and the operational significance of seizing the city will likely in part depend on the Russian military's ability to leverage the city in wider operational maneuver in Donetsk Oblast.

2024 October 3, Riley Bailey, Angelica Evans, Grace Mappes, Davit Gasparyan, Nate Trotter, Frederick W. Kagan, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 3, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:

(transitive, chiefly US, slang, business) To use; to exploit; to manipulate in order to take full advantage (of something).


mom

moms (plural)
mam (alternative)
Mom (alternative)
mum (alternative)
Mum (alternative)

(Canada, South Africa, US, West Midlands, colloquial, informal) Mother.

(spoken by the father) I don't share it with mom! Right, mom?

(by extension) used as a term of address for one's wife


mom

mom (third-person singular simple present moms, present participle momming, simple past and past participle mommed)

moms (present singular third-person)
momming (participle present)
mommed (participle past)
mommed (past)
mam (alternative)
Mom (alternative)
mum (alternative)
Mum (alternative)

The shock of my news had worn off, and now she'd want to know where I was, how I was doing, and she'd sniff out that I was with someone. “I just wanted to check in on you.” That was Mom. Totally unashamed about momming me.

He tried to tell me how to live, to mom me, I told him fuck off, […]

2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi, Hachette, →ISBN:

(transitive, Canada, US, informal) To care for in a motherly way.


bathing suit

bathing suits (plural)
bathing-suit (alternative)

(US, Canada) A tight-fitting garment worn for swimming, especially the one piece garment worn by women and girls; a swimsuit.


no strings attached

no string attached (alternative)
NSA (alternative)

/nəʊ ˌstɹɪŋz‿əˈtæt͡ʃt/

/noʊ ˌstɹɪŋz‿əˈtæt͡ʃt/

From strings (“(figurative) conditions, limitations, restrictions”), possibly from an old prank where a money purse with a hidden string would be placed on the ground, and pulled away when someone tried to pick it up.

For a friend I’ll help out for free, no strings attached.

In the present century marriage is preceded by a betrothment, gifts are usually interchanged (but with no strings attached), and a causeless withdrawal therefrom by either party is considered infamous.

1883 March 24, “Current Topics. Marriage.”, in W. T. Baggett, editor, Pacific Coast Law Journal, […], volume XI, number 5, San Francisco, Calif.: Pacific Coast Law Printing and Publishing Co., […], →OCLC, pages 90–91:

Mr. [James Gillespie] Blaine's declination—it is always understood that we assume there is no string attached to his letter—is undoubtedly a wise move on his part.

1892 February 17, “Cartoons and Comments”, in H[enry] C[uyler] Bunner, editor, Puck, volume XXX, number 780, New York, N.Y.: Keppler & Schwarzmann, →OCLC, page 430, column 2:

Listen. We've kept it quiet, but she's in with the elect on French Hill. Her claim's prospected the richest of the outfit. Present indication half a million at least. In her own name, no strings attached. Couldn't she take that and go anywhere in the world and reinstate herself?

1902 October, Jack London, chapter XXI, in A Daughter of the Snows, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, page 224:

"No," I assured him, after receiving his cordial welcome, "my offer had no string attached. I'm more than ready to help in any way I can, to find a niche for you in this old town and fit you into it. It doesn't matter where you hail from, or how you got here; New York is an all-comers' race, and the devil take the hindmost."

1919, Carolyn Wells, “Case Rivers”, in The Man Who Fell through the Earth, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 170:

Would he ask her out (if he ever did) just for herself, no strings attached?

1953 (date written), Sylvia Plath, “Initiation”, in Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: And Other Prose Writings, London: Faber and Faber, published 1977, →ISBN, page 151:

As to the $12 billion State share, there is not even the pretense of an attempt at congressional oversight, Federal control, or standards of performance. The State share is totally no-string attached.

1972 July 27, Andrew J[ohn] Biemiller, witness, “Statement of Andrew J. Biemiller, Director, Department of Legislation, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Accompanied by Nathaniel Goldfinger, Director, Research Department, and Arnold Cantor, Economist, Research Department”, in Revenue Sharing: Hearings before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, Ninety-second Congress, Second Session on H.R. 14370 to Provide Payments to Localities for High-priority Expenditures, to Encourage the States to Supplement Their Revenue Sources, and to Authorize Federal Collection of State Individual Income Taxes […], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 452:

'I asked him to think again. I asked him to put Drago's interests first. I repeated that there were no strings attached to my offer.' / 'No visible strings, you mean.'

2005, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 20, in Slow Man, London: Vintage, →ISBN, page 151:

You say that you want / All of my love / But let's be honest, we don't need all that / I like it better with no strings attached

2013, Tim Myers, Melissa Sheppard (lyrics and music), “Bad Things”, in Dear You, performed by Meiko, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Calif.: Fantasy Records, published 2014, →OCLC:

He also criticised what he called the Government's "bailout" of the privatised rail companies with no strings attached, stating: "There is simply no reason why the same easy solution could not have been applied to London,[…]."

2020 November 18, Richard Clinnick, “Network News: Emergency Funding Package of up to £1.8bn Agreed for TfL”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15:

When government delivers handouts with no string attached, more people naturally want to use and abuse them, which eventually ruins economy and drains a country's wealth. Essentially the welfare state destroys the ethic which sustains this very state.

2021, Andrei Znamenski, “Regime of Goodness: Social Democracy and the Swedish Model, 1920s–1990s”, in Socialism as a Secular Creed: A Modern Global History, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 205:

(idiomatic, originally US, informal) Without conditions or obligations; without a catch.

без за́дней мы́сли (bez zádnej mýsli, literally “without an ulterior motive”)


survey

From Middle English surveyen, from Old French sourveoir, surveer (“to oversee”), from sour-, sur- (“over”) + veoir, veeir (“to see”), from Latin videre. See sur- and vision. Related to supervision.

(US) A district for the collection of customs under a particular officer.


ballpark

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

From ball + park. Sense 2 related to ballpark figure.

(US) A field, stadium or park where ball, especially baseball, is played.

Let’s get in the ballpark, then worry about the fine details.

Some people say a lie is just a lie / But I say the cross is in the ballpark / Why deny the obvious, child?

1990, “The Obvious Child””, in The Rhythm of the Saints, performed by Paul Simon, Warner Bros.:

But touching his wife's feet and sticking your tongue in the holiest of holies ain't the same fucking ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fucking sport.

1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson):

(US, figuratively) The general vicinity; somewhere close; a broad approximation.


all-nighter

all-nighters (plural)
allnighter (alternative)
all nighter (alternative)

From all-night + -er = all- + night + -er.

(US, crime, slang) A criminal or other person kept in jail over night.


singing

en-noun

singing (usually uncountable, plural singings)

From Middle English syngyng; equivalent to sing + -ing.

(US) A gathering for the purpose of singing shape note songs.


colorless

en-adj

colorless (comparative more colorless, superlative most colorless)

more colorless (comparative)
most colorless (superlative)

The servant to whom he put this question was a young fellow with chubby cheeks, small, dull eyes, and a round chin, covered with a colorless down.

1867, Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef [i.e., Ivan Turgenev], chapter I, in Eugene Schuyler, transl., Fathers and Sons […], New York, N.Y.: Leypoldt and Holt, →OCLC, page 1:


high on the hog

en-adv

high on the hog (comparative higher on the hog, superlative highest on the hog)

higher on the hog (comparative)
highest on the hog (superlative)
high off the hog (alternative)

An allusion to the best and costliest cuts of meat from a hog, considered to be parts above the belly such as the loin, rather than lower parts such as the feet, knuckles, hocks, belly, and jowls. US, late 1800s; popularized 1940s. The variant forms – live/eat and on/off – are attested since at least the 1930s. However, decades earlier is the phrase on the hog, originally on the hog train meaning someone living on little expense.

Ever since his promotion, they’ve been living high on the hog.

With all the tenderloin, spareribs and backbones, we lived “high off the hog”.

1912, George S. Jack, Edward Boyle Jacobs, History of Roanoke County,, page 29:

Down our way there is a favorite expression used quite often—“eating high on the hog”. That is what our competitors have been doing…

1927, Allegheny Regional Advisory Board, Proceedings of the regular meeting,, page 21:

The synthetic belle wins the prize and her creators are eating high off the hog until the nation’s Press demands a look at the original.

If she was pulling this scam off all that time, I think she'd be living a little higher on the hog, don't you?

2006, Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery:

(idiomatic, US) Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security.


forty-eight

They had their ten-day leaves and regular forty-eights from behind the nets of Bantry Bay and Scapa Flow […]

1919, Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy:

(US, military) A period of 48 hours' leave, i.e. two days.


sixty-one

(US, New York, informal) A police officer's report detailing a crime reported by a civilian.


assault weapon

(US) Any select-fire firearm that allows semi-automatic and fully automatic operation, and is used or was once used by a military organization.

(US) A semi-automatic firearm that resembles a military weapon.

(New York State) A semi-automatic weapon that has a folding stock, a muzzle flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, or a pistol grip.

(US) A rocket launcher designed to attack fortified structures, such as a Mk 153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (aka SMAW).


as all get-out

as all get out (alternative)
as get-out (alternative)

Miss Collins looks pretty as all get out on a club floor, much more so than a frequent TV camera shot would lead you to suppose.

John and I got over to the house around eight o’clock and were all set to watch a television show when we noticed Mr. Pignati was sad as all get out.

1968 October 12, Paul Zindel, chapter 10, in The Pigman:

(US, idiomatic, informal, simile) Extremely; to a superlative degree; very much.


get one's ass in gear

en-verb

get one's ass in gear (third-person singular simple present gets one's ass in gear, present participle getting one's ass in gear, simple past got one's ass in gear, past participle gotten one's ass in gear)

gets one's ass in gear (present singular third-person)
getting one's ass in gear (participle present)
got one's ass in gear (past)
gotten one's ass in gear (participle past)
get one's arse into gear (alternative)
get one's ass into gear (alternative)
put one's ass in gear (alternative)
have one's ass in gear (alternative)

He had been sitting there for two hours until the boss showed up and told him to get his ass in gear.

(US, idiomatic) To exert effective effort; to get going; to get moving; to start producing.


strata

The bread is layered with the filling to produce strata (layers).

Egg dishes, stratas, and casserole recipes are delicious for breakfast and work well in the slow cooker.

2014, Slow Cooking for Two (Mendocino Press)

(US, cooking) A kind of layered casserole dish in American cuisine.


lah-di-dah

/ˌlɑːdiːˈdɑː/

c. 1880s, with a comeback in the 1980s due to its use in Annie Hall (1977) by Woody Allen, although in a different context, spoken by the actress Diane Keaton.

la-di-da (alternative)
lah-de-dah (alternative)
la-de-da (alternative)
lardy-dardy (alternative)

(US) Not a care in the world. (used in a sing-song voice, for childhood rhymes)


ace in the hole

en-noun

ace in the hole (plural aces in the hole)

From stud poker in which there is one unknown card called the "hole card", referring to the optimum "hole card" being an ace.

Our ace in the hole left our opponents stupefied; it isn't every day that an NBA star plays street basketball.

You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul in a fistfight with you? No. You need an ace in the hole. Mine's Harvey.

2008 July 14, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, The Dark Knight, spoken by The Joker (Heath Ledger), Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Legendary Pictures:

ace up one's sleeve
ace up one's sleeve#English

(US, idiomatic, informal) Synonym of ace up one's sleeve


bail bond

(US) A surety, used to obtain the release of a criminal defendant who has been required to give bail.


at loose ends

(US, Canada) Without any activity or purpose.


momentarily

The system will restart momentarily.

He told me, further, that the second coming was at hand--was looked for momentarily in Jerusalem.

1880, Lew Wallace, chapter 3, in Ben-Hur, a Tale of the Christ:

(US, proscribed, duration) In a moment or very soon; any minute now, any time now.


all hat and no cattle

In reference to cattle ranchers and the hats they stereotypically wear; also derives from people wearing cowboy hats as fashion, but who are not actually cowboys, i.e., a poser, or a pretentious and phony individual.

big hat, no cattle (alternative)
all hat, no ranch (alternative)

1980, Patricia Calvert, The Snowbird, Scribner, →ISBN, page 29,
A fortune can be made on the prairie, and that's what me and Mr. B aim to do. Don't aim to be all hat and no cattle forever, let me tell you!

c. 1982, Paul W. Cronin, quoted in Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein (Eds.), The American Elections of 1982, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (1983), →ISBN, page 82,
They provided a lot of talk, what Texans refer to as “all hat and no cattle.”

1985, Regis MacKenna, The Regis Touch: Million-Dollar Advice from America’s Top Marketing Consultant, Addison-Wesley Longman, Incorporated, →ISBN, page 27,
There’s an old Texas saying about a cowboy who was “all hat and no cattle.” That is, he was all show and no substance.

Drusilla: It's time, Angel. She's ready for you now, she's dancing, dancing with death.
Spike: Big deal, he won't do anything. Our man Angel here likes to talk, but he's not much for action. All hat and no cattle.

1998, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "I Only Have Eyes for You" (roughly 24.5 minutes in)

"Big Hat, no cattle / Big head, no brain / Big snake, no rattle".

1999, Randy Newman, "Big Hat, No Cattle", from the album Bad Love, ASIN B00000J7R4, Uses variation of idiom in refrain

2001, Janis L. Edwards, "Running in the Shadows in Campaign 2000: Candidate Metaphors in Editorial Cartoons", in American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 44 Issue 12, page 2142,
We expect a leader to be effective in his job, not just a public relations artist who is "all hat and no cattle."

2007, John Saul, "Freewheeling", in Call It Tender, Salt Publishing, →ISBN, page 31,
She slapped my backside. Yew ol’ cowpoke.
I’m a cowpoke?
Yew certainly are. All hat and no cattle.

(US, idiomatic) Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.


deputy

From French député, from Late Latin deputatus (“appointed”).

պատգամավոր

member of parliament — see also legislator, Member of Parliament

The sheriff's deputies took the suspect into custody.

Deputy Jones was promoted to corporal today.

(US) a law enforcement officer who works for the county sheriff's office; a deputy sheriff or sheriff's deputy; the entry level rank in such an agency.


treehouse

treehouses (plural)
tree house (alternative)
tree-house (alternative)

From tree + house. First use appears c. 1867. See cite below.

so that I am high and dry, and have all the better view too, quite a grand flight of steps-a broad ladder-up into my house. The Mahaga lads and I call it my tree-house.

1867, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Life of John Coleridge Patteson, Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands, Volume 2, page 177:

(chiefly US) A house, or similar structure within a tree, or several trees, built with light materials.


teller

From Middle English tellere (“one who counts or enumerates; one who recounts or relates; teller”), equivalent to tell (verb) + -er.

inh

(banking, chiefly US) A bank clerk who receives and pays out money.


any way one slices it

Perhaps a reference to a food item such as a cake or a sausage looking the same on the inside no matter how it is sliced.

Any way you slice it, we have to get out of here and we have to take him with us.

Back inside I thought it all over carefully, weighing my options. Not good, any way you sliced it.

1998, Bill Pronzini, Boobytrap, Speaking Volumes, →ISBN:

Any way one slices it, his dissection of human disease is not a pretty sight.

2013, William F. Zak, A Mirror for Lovers: Shake-speare's Sonnets as Curious Perspective, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 74:

Any way I slice it, that's going to take some time. Just flying there and back is going to eat up days.

2018, Derek Haas, The Way I Die: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(chiefly US, informal) From any perspective; in every case.

как ни крути́ (kak ni krutí, literally “however you turn it”)

no matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney


RMB

Address: RMB 35 Beaumont Crescent, The Ridgeway, Queanbeyan. New South Wales 2620, Australia.

1997, Nicholas Polunin, Lynn M. Curme, World Who is Who and Does What in Environment & Conservation, page 103:

2005, Katy Mallett (editor), Photographers, Flora of Australia: Volume 44B: Poaceae 3, Australian Biological Resources Study, page x,
[…] The Centre for Crop Improvement, RMB 944 Calala Lane, Tamworth, New South Wales 2340.

Sid Fogg′s Coaches ([phone:] 4928 1088; www.sidfoggs.com.au; RMB 2324 Main Rd, Fullerton Cove)[…].

2005, Paul Smitz, Australia & New Zealand on a Shoestring, page 94:

(US, Australia) Initialism of roadside mailbox: part of a postal system used in rural areas where several houses collect their mail from a cluster of mailboxes at the roadside.


conflicted

en-adj

conflicted (comparative more conflicted, superlative most conflicted)

more conflicted (comparative)
most conflicted (superlative)

I felt conflicted about whether he liked me or not.

He sees a pretty woman in a pod and decides to make her his, subsuming her lifetime of hopes and dreams (not to mention her bodily autonomy) to his own desire for companionship, and lies to her in order to fulfill that desire. But he’s a nice guy, and he felt conflicted about it before he did it, so it’s… understandable? Or at least forgivable? Apparently?)

2016 December 20, Katie Rife, “Passengers strains the considerable charms of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 2018-04-23:

(Canada, US, informal) In a state of personal or emotional conflict.


postal

From post + -al, modelled on French postal.

SANDI: Maybe I should just have my own party, since you obviously think I'm postal.

1999, "Daria Dance Party" (Daria, season 3 episode 4)


go postal

en-verb

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

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

/ˌɡəʊ ˈpəʊstl̩/

From go (“to become”) + postal (“relating to the collection, sorting and delivery of mail”), from a number of incidents, mostly gun violence, perpetrated by disgruntled U.S. Postal Service workers on co-workers in the United States in the mid 1980s.

(to become aggressive and erratic):

(to become very angry):

Violence that spills in from the streets may be less worrisome than the worker rampages, to judge by the attentive audience of personnel managers (and the consultants available for hire) at "A Growing American Phenomenon: Workplace Violence." The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, which has seen so many outbursts that in some circles excessive stress is known as "going postal." Thirty-five people have been killed in 11 post office shootings since 1983.

1993 December 17, Karl Vick, “Violence at work tied to loss of esteem”, in St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.: The Times Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 4A, column 1:

(intransitive, chiefly US, informal) To become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.


cry uncle

cry uncle (third-person singular simple present cries uncle, present participle crying uncle, simple past and past participle cried uncle)

cries uncle (present singular third-person)
crying uncle (participle present)
cried uncle (participle past)
cried uncle (past)

The Powels would serve strong punch and play loud music, and their parties ended when the last guest cried uncle, often a day and half after they began.

1976, Geoffrey Wolff, Black Sun, New York Review of Books, published 2003, page 158:

(US, colloquial) To beg for mercy; to give up, admit defeat.


hightail it

hightail it (third-person singular simple present hightails it, present participle hightailing it, simple past and past participle hightailed it)

hightails it (present singular third-person)
hightailing it (participle present)
hightailed it (participle past)
hightailed it (past)
high-tail it (alternative)

He started to hightail it out of there, but I stopped him at the door.

The cat hightailed it out of the bushes.

[…] I suggest you hightail it over to your girlfriend's house ASAP, man!

2002 March 11, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Strong Bad Email #17: studying”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad (Matthew Chapman):

"Great! A guy getting off a night shift who hasn't been laid in years finds his wife in flagrante with some hamburger-faced guy who hightails it out the front door in his underwear. We're walking into a hornet's nest, Jackson."

2004, Rex Pickett, Sideways, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 292:

Whilst sinking, there was still a small chance that Hornet might be towed out of the danger zone and then reboarded, but, by now, the Japanese Navy surface forces were getting closer, and the order was given to scuttle Hornet instead. But, she proved remarkably hard to actually encourage to sink at any pace but her own. A number of torpedoes and several hundred 5-inch shells later, the two destroyers assigned to the job seemed none the closer to actually finishing it, and they were forced to hightail it out of the area. Shortly after ten o'clock that night, the Japanese forces came across the still-afloat, and still-ablaze, Hornet, but, concluding, at this point, that taking her as a prize wasn't particularly likely, they put four Long Lances into her, and Hornet finally sank just after one-thirty in the morning.

2021 February 3, Drachinifel, 21:35 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Santa Cruz (IJN 2 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

I made awkward small talk with my seat neighbor and high-tailed it home before the socializing began in earnest.

2022 April 5, Michal Leibowitz, “'I Didn't Feel Like Going, but I'm Glad I Did': My Motto of the Moment”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(informal, chiefly Canada, US) To hurry or run; often, to flee.


ho-hum

en-adj

ho-hum (comparative more ho-hum, superlative most ho-hum)

more ho-hum (comparative)
most ho-hum (superlative)
ho hum (alternative)

She wore ho-hum clothes, but practical ones.

(dated, US, Canada) Boring; not interesting or novel.


ho-hum

Look at all this paperwork. Ho-hum!

(dated, US, Canada) Used to express boredom, uninterest or lack of novelty.

hohhoijaa

interjection used to express boredom, disinterest or lack of novelty


Uncle Sam

/ˌʌŋkl̩ ˈsæm/

/ˌʌŋkəl ˈsæm/

From uncle + Sam (diminutive of the male name Samuel), probably based on the initialism U.S. of the United States. While folk etymology suggests that the term was named after Samuel Wilson (1766–1854), a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied the United States Army with canned meat during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom, the Oxford English Dictionary notes there is no evidence that this is the case.

compound

Uncle Sam needs brave men and women to enlist in the Army.

(colloquial, originally US) A personification of the United States federal government or (rare) citizens.

James Montgomery Flagg
Oxford English Dictionary
Samuel Wilson
United States Army
War of 1812

اَلْعَمّ سَام

personification of the United States federal government or citizens


ANA

(US, medicine) Initialism of American Nurses Association.


crib

en-noun

crib (countable and uncountable, plural cribs)

From Middle English crib, cribbe, from Old English crib, cryb, cribb, crybb (“couch, bed; manger, stall”), from Proto-West Germanic *kribbjā, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ (“crib, wickerwork”), from Proto-Indo-European *grebʰ-, *gerbʰ- (“bunch, bundle, tuft, clump”), from *ger- (“to turn, twist”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kräbbe, Krääb, Krääf (“crib”), West Frisian krêbe (“crib”), Dutch krib (“crib, manger”), German Krippe (“rack, crib”), Danish krybbe (“crib”), Icelandic krubba (“crib”). Doublet of crèche. The sense of ‘stealing, taking notes, plagiarize’ seems to have developed out of the verb.
The criminal sense may derive from the 'basket' sense, circa the mid 18th century, in that a poacher could conceal poachings in such a basket (see the 1772 Samuel Foote quotation). The cheating sense probably derives from the criminal sense.

inh

In two minutes I was kneeling by the child’s crib, and Sandy was dispatching servants here, there, and everywhere, all over the palace. I took in the situation almost at a glance -- membranous croup!

1889, Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court:

(US) A baby’s bed with high, often slatted, often moveable sides, suitable for a child who has outgrown a cradle or bassinet.


finger-lickin' good

en-adj

finger-lickin' good (comparative more finger-lickin' good, superlative most finger-lickin' good)

more finger-lickin' good (comparative)
most finger-lickin' good (superlative)
finger-licking good (alternative)

/ˈfɪŋɡəˌlɪkɪn ˈɡʊd/

/ˈfɪŋɡɚˌlɪkɪn ˈɡʊd/

From the advertising slogan “It’s finger-lickin’ good” adopted by the U.S. fast-food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC) in 1956, referring to the fact that something eaten with the hands is so delicious that one cannot help but lick one’s fingers to savour the crumbs of food or juices left behind.


Ordnung

the Ordnung (canonical)
ordnung (alternative)

From Pennsylvania German, from German Ordnung (“order, discipline”).

Rather than a packet of rules to memorize, the Ordnung is the “understood” set of expectations for behavior. In the same way that the rules of grammar are learned by children, so the Ordnung, the grammar of order, is absorbed by Amish youth.

2003, Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, JHU Press, →ISBN:

According to Beiler, adherence or nonadherence to the ordnung became a full-blown subject of discussion and controversy during the American Civil War, when changes in fashionable clothing and inventions of new farming technologies made it imperative for the Amish to address such issues directly, in the hope, as Beiler puts it, of preserving intact “their old-time religion.”

2007, Tom Shachtman, Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish, North Point Press, →ISBN:

(US) A set of rules for Amish and Mennonite living.


realize

en-verb

realize (third-person singular simple present realizes, present participle realizing, simple past and past participle realized)

realizes (present singular third-person)
realizing (participle present)
realized (participle past)
realized (past)
realize (infinitive)
realise (alternative)

desc

→ Portuguese: realizar (“to realize, become aware of”) (semantic loan)

PIE word
 *reh₁ís
From real (adjective) + -ize (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to), possibly modelled after French réaliser, Middle French réaliser (“to make real; to convert (something) into assets or cash”), from real (“actual, real”) + -iser (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to). Real is derived from Old French reel, from Latin reālis (“actual, real”), from rēs (“deed; event; matter; thing”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship).

أَدْرَكَ

(transitive) to become aware of or understand (a fact or situation); (intransitive) to become aware of or understand a fact or situation

apiolarse / caer en la cuenta / darse cuenta / percatarse / coscarse / caer en cuenta [de]

tehdä todeksi

(transitive) to cause (something) to seem real; to present (something) clearly to the mind, a person, etc., so that it seems real; (intransitive) to cause to seem real

بَاعَ

(transitive) to convert (an asset or property) into a more easily usable form such as money, especially by selling the asset or property; (intransitive) to convert an asset or property into a more easily usable form such as money

He realized that he had left his umbrella on the train.

She desperately yelled at her young daughter, frantic to make her realize what she had done.

[S]he cannot realize the change we must undergo. She has no idea of poverty but in the abstract: she has only read of it in poetry, where it is allied to love.

1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Wife”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 49:

But Scott, unaccountable as it seems, evidently failed to realize how far superior is Clara Mowbray [in Saint Ronan's Well] to all his other heroines of the same rank or class.

1825–1832, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “The Journal of Sir Walter Scott”, in Studies in Prose and Poetry, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 17:

Have faith in God! He shall dispose thy lot, / Nor weep for woe thou realisest not: / They shall precede thee to the better land, / And meet and greet thee on its joyful strand.

[1849], “‘Woman, Why Weepest Thou?’”, in Memorials of Bertie’s Brother and Infant Sister. […], London: Ward and Co., […], →OCLC, page 79:

For so bight and placid was the farewell voyage of the little spirit [of a child], […] that it was impossible to realize that it was death that was approaching.

1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Death”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume II, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 109:

Utterly helpleſs, thou wert ſinking for ever, and realiſedſt not the fearfulneſs of thy poſition, for thus wert thou born and nurtured.

1865, [Henry] Suso, “Light after Darkness”, in [anonymous], transl., Spiritual Voices from the Middle Ages. […], London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, part V (Of the State of Grace), paragraph 97, pages 75–76:

No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or[…]. And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:

Praise be to God! thou realizest that wine / is a juice that frees the heart from a hundred pains.

1898, Omar Khayyam, “Quatrains of Omar Khayyām (Ousely MS., 140, Bodleian Library, Oxford): Quatrain 81”, in Edward Heron-Allen, transl., The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyām: A Facsimile of the MS in the Bodleian Library […], London: H. S. Nichols, →OCLC, page 14:

SHE wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, drowsily realising that since she had fallen asleep it had come on to rain smartly out of a shrouded sky.

1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, page 378, column 1:

I realized at once that indescribable quiver in the air of momentous events.

1916 January, Hugh Walpole, “The Forest”, in The Dark Forest, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, part II, page 245:

And for the first time she realised what it was to escape from the smallish perfection of England, into the grander imperfection of a great continent.

1920, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Journey Across”, in The Lost Girl, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, page 325:

[…] Uxbridge thought it could safely ignore the railway[…]. Like many other towns which adopted similar tactics, Uxbridge soon realised its mistake.

1952 March, R. K. Kirkland, “The Railways of Uxbridge”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 147:

Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?

2000 June – 2002 April (date recorded), Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Dave Fridmann, Michael Ivins (lyrics and music), “Do You Realize??”, in Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, performed by The Flaming Lips, Burbank, Calif.: Warner Brothers Records, published 16 July 2002, →OCLC:

In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told [online version: ‘Killer robots’ pose threat to peace and should be banned, UN warned]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-11, page 6:

As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing – a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My Weirdest and Wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68:

To become aware of, understand, or appreciate (a fact or situation, especially something which has been true for some time).

en:become aware of, understand, or appreciate

Over the mind of the tourist, visiting the Old World for the first time,—countries where have transpired thrilling events recorded in history, what an immensity of thought and feeling sweeps! It was thus with Natalie; she could not realize that she was treading in the footsteps of royalty, who living in long past days, had held sway over this land, had looked upon this land of "merrie England" as their home.

1859, Ferna Vale [pseudonym; Emma V. Hallett], “We are Going Home”, in Natalie; or, A Gem among the Sea-weeds. […], Andover, Mass.: W[arren] F[ales] Draper, →OCLC, page 286:

That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.

1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), page 9:

To sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real.

konscii

to sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real

(obsolete, US) To have an actual or real experience of (something).


cat's-paw

en-noun

cat's-paw (plural cat's-paws or cats'-paws)

cat's-paws (plural)
cats'-paws (plural)
cat's paw (alternative)
catspaw (alternative)

From cat + paw. In most senses, due to a resemblance of shape. In its senses as a pawn to another's interests or analysis, variant of earlier cat's-foot, derived from European tales of a monkey (attested as early as 1456 but sometimes misattributed to the 16th-century monkey of Pope Julius II) who used a sleeping puppy or cat's foot to rake hot chestnuts out of a fire, taken as a metaphor for rulers' ill use of their subjects. Now usually understood in light of Jean de La Fontaine's 1679 fable of the "The Monkey and the Cat" (sometimes misattributed to Aesop), in which the monkey fools the cat into removing the chestnuts through flattery and promises of shared reward. The cat removes the chestnuts one by one, burning his paw while the monkey eats each in turn. A maid then enters and chases them both away. La Fontaine's moral concludes that princes should not endure real losses for mere flattery from their king.

dupe

one unwittingly used for another's purposes

an unrelated metaphor from a separate story

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

Filed Dec. 13, 1952. Cat's Paw. For Hand Tools for Pulling Nails and Spikes.

1954 November 10, U.S. Patent Office, Official Gazette, page 321:

(US carpentry) A small crowbar with a handle at a right angle to a blade with a V-shaped notch, principally used by carpenters to remove nails.

(US law) A supervisor whose reliance on a subordinate's analysis is so complete as to render him or her liable for the subordinate's animus or other misconduct towards a third employee.


phosphate

From French phosphate. By surface analysis, phosphoric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”).

surf

nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

An egg phosphate is a phosphate to which an egg has been added in the proper manner. While an egg phosphate can be flavored with any syrup that makes a good phosphate, still the standard flavor by long usage has com to be orange […]

1920, Irving P. Fox, The Spatula, page 27:

“This man here,” she said, “can make you a cherry Coke or a chocolate Coke or a phosphate — a chocolate phosphate or. “Vanilla phosphate,” the man helped, “cherry phosphate, orange phosphate, lime phosphate, lemon phosphate,

2002, Michael Raleigh, In the castle of the Flynns, page 180:

You order California burgers for us both, even though I don't eat lettuce or tomato, then you order me a phosphate, cherry, a dreadful fizzy drink you say you always loved. It's bitter, bubbly, unbearable; but, thirsty for your past, force myself to drink it.

2008, Kathryn Kysar, Riding shotgun: women write about their mothers, page 106:

(US, regional, dated) A carbonated soft drink containing phosphoric acid, often flavored with a fruit-based syrup.


benny

(US, slang) Alternative letter-case form of Benny (“one-hundred-dollar bill”)


benny

Unknown or disputed. Attested from the late 19th century. Possibly from benjamin, slang from the early 19th century for a type of greatcoat. Possibly in reference to Uncle Benny or Uncle Ben (“a pawnbroker”), who might accept coats during the warm summer months, though the latter slang term does not appear to be attested before 1920.

If lil ole Souttland is goin’ to keep her dome up in the golf department, an’ I tip my benny to her right now, she must put the kibosh on gin-hoisting an’ lay a stymie to every saloon.

1923, Owen Seaman, editor, Punch, volume 165, page 514:

(US, slang, obsolete) A straw hat. [early 20th century]


crib death

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

(pathology, US) The unexplained death of a baby usually while sleeping.

mort sobtada

the unexplained death of a baby usually while sleeping