signorina

en-noun

signorina (plural signorinas or signorine)

Signorina Mushroom is an alternative name for Grifola Frondosa, the Maitake Mushroom, which is popular among Italian-Americans in the northeastern United States.

2013, Mary Curtis, Book Of Calories and Phytosterols In Foods, page 318:

hen of the woods
hen of the woods#English

(US) maitake, hen of the woods (mushroom)


ope

Representing oh pronounced with the mouth snapped closed at the end (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /oʊp/, [oʊp̚]) (excrescent /p/). Compare yep, yup, nope, and welp.

Ope! Sorry about that.

Ope, let me just squeeze past ya there.

We're Midwesterners. We like long walks through frozen cornfields. Ope! Watch out!

2024 January 27, Charlie Berens and Myles Montplaisir, We're Midwesterners:

(US, chiefly Midwestern US) An exclamation of surprise; oops.


play hooky

en-verb

play hooky (third-person singular simple present plays hooky, present participle playing hooky, simple past and past participle played hooky)

plays hooky (present singular third-person)
playing hooky (participle present)
played hooky (participle past)
played hooky (past)
play hookey (alternative)
play hookie (alternative)

See hooky for its origin; the construction of the phrase is in the same vein as play truant.

Plenty of people played hooky from work to go see the movie on opening day.

(idiomatic, US) To play truant; to avoid (informally: skip) school, work, or other duties (stay away from these without permission nor an excuse); to skive or to bunk off (UK);

fer campana

to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse


full-fledged

(of a bird) Having all its feathers; able to fly.

After she passes the bar exam, she will be a full-fledged lawyer.

Ansible is not a full-fledged programming language, but it does have several programming language features, and one of the most important of these is variable substitution.

2017, Lorin Hochstein, René Moser, “4. Variables and Facts”, in Ansible: Up and Running, 2nd edition, O’Reilly, →ISBN:

(idiomatic) Having full qualification, credentials or preparation; entire; real.

volwaardig

having full qualification, credentials or preparation


amber alert

amber alerts (plural)
AMBER alert (alternative)
AMBER Alert (alternative)

After Amber Hagerman (1986–1996), a girl who was abducted and killed in Arlington, Texas. The upper-case spelling indicates a backronym: America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response.

(US, Canada) A public notification of a child abduction.


loop

From Middle English loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Arellano formerly cavorted for the Galicias in the fast-paced National-American Soccer loop.

1963 September 27, “Italias Vie In Bayonne On Sunday”, in The Jersey Journal, page 17:

(Canada, US, dated, sports) A sports league


glare

en-noun

glare (countable and uncountable, plural glares)

From Middle English glaren, from Old English *glærian, from Proto-West Germanic *glāʀōn. Cognate with dialectal Middle Dutch glariën (“to glisten; sparkle”), Low German glaren (“to shine brightly; glow; burn”), Middle High German glaren (“to shine brightly”). Related to glower, glass.

cog

a glare of ice


glare

en-adj

glare (comparative more glare, superlative most glare)

more glare (comparative)
most glare (superlative)

skating on glare ice

(US, of ice) smooth and bright or translucent; glary


hot dog

hot dogs (plural)
hotdog (alternative)
hot-dog (alternative)

1894 (US college slang) from hot + dog (in reference to supposed source of the meat), both the sense of frankfurter in a roll, and of show-off.

com

Coordinate term: hamburger

(US, education, informal) Describing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a long rectangle.


fulfillment

en-noun

fulfillment (countable and uncountable, plural fulfillments)


AFL-CIO

(US, labour) Initialism of American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations.


hella

Related to "a hell of a". Originally Northern California slang. Compare helluv, helluva.

I guess she seems hella stoned in her commercial.

I've been a Star Wars fan since I was hella young.

"And to the fella over there / With the hella good hair / Won't you come on over, baby / We can shake, shake, shake"

2014, Taylor Swift (lyrics and music), “Shake It Off”:

The storm got hella crazy and... and you said we would be safe at the lighthouse.

2016, Life Is Strange, spoken by Chloe Price (Ashly Burch), Square Enix, via Dontnod Entertainment:

(slang, potentially considered vulgar, chiefly regional US, African-American Vernacular and Internet slang) Intensifier, modifying adjectives; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly.

potentially considered vulgar; African-American Vernacular and Internet slang; potentially considered vulgar; African-American Vernacular and Internet slang


major in

en-verb

major in (third-person singular simple present majors in, present participle majoring in, simple past and past participle majored in)

majors in (present singular third-person)
majoring in (participle present)
majored in (participle past)
majored in (past)

John majored in Computer Science, while Jane majored in Art.

(US, Canada, education) To take (something) as one's major field of study in an institute of tertiary education (such as a college or university).


purely

en-adv

purely (comparative more purely, superlative most purely)

more purely (comparative)
most purely (superlative)

From Middle English purely, equivalent to pure + -ly.

I am fascinated by the entire scene, I purely am.

(now US regional) Wholly; really, completely.


chili

Ellipsis of chili con carne, from Spanish chile con carne (literally “chili with meat”).

der

chile (alternative)
chilli (alternative)
chilly (alternative)
chile (alternative)
chilli (alternative)
chilly (alternative)

(chiefly US) A dish made with chili peppers and other ingredients, such as beans and beef.


Murphy bed

We lived in just one room with a Murphy bed and a kitchen that looked out on the alley.

2021, Rickie Lee Jones, Last Chance Texaco, Grove Press, published 2022, page 104:

(Canada, US) A light type of bed designed to be folded up or swung into a wall or closet for storage when not in use.


winter rat

Believed to have originated in or around Syracuse, New York.

(idiomatic, colloquial, US) An old, unattractive automobile, purchased for little money, to be driven during brutal Great Lakes winters while the owner's "good" car remains garaged and protected from corrosive road salt for the season.


skillet

→ Missouri French: esquilette

From Old French escuëlette, diminutive of escuëlle (“a porringer”), (French écuelle), from Vulgar Latin scutella, diminutive of scutra, scuta (“tray, dish”). Compare scuttle (“basket”).

Heat some oil in a cast-iron skillet and add the onions.

Inside this paper plane
Note my words are Navy sealed
So here and I quote
Taboo and I are in the same boat
What's said from Pennywise
I guess we all float
Sky is the limit, I could die in a minute
Got my mind in a skillet
Suicide not a mission
See the vibe very timid
I'm timid and very sad
Translated my thoughts and feelings
I pivot into the pad

2018, “Black Balloons”, performed by Denzel Curry:

(chiefly US) A pan for frying, generally large and heavy.

This is an easy skillet with potatoes and bacon.

Can you make up a quick skillet hash?

(US, sometimes attributive) A dish or meal cooked in such a pan.


skillet

en-verb

skillet (third-person singular simple present skillets, present participle skilleting, simple past and past participle skilleted)

skillets (present singular third-person)
skilleting (participle present)
skilleted (participle past)
skilleted (past)

Now that the season has arrived in many parts of the country for the nimrods to load their trusty Thirty-Thirties and go forth in quest of the elusive deer, it seems an appropriate time to say a word about the skilleting of venison — which can be a pretty tough and dry proposition if not properly handled.

1960, The Cattleman, volume 47, page 46:

That said, Danton in manhood is probed and skilleted, admired and reviled in a multitude of memoirs written by contemporaries who love him, loathe him or simply stand and watch as the Danton tempest roars past.

2010, David Lawday, The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life:


sweater

→ Catalan: suèter

→ Czech: svetr

→ Danish: sweater

→ German: Sweater

→ Hungarian: szvetter

→ Japanese: セーター (sētā)

→ Korean: 스웨터 (seuweteo)

→ Polish: sweter

→ Portuguese: suéter

desctree

→ Russian: сви́тер (svíter)
→ Crimean Tatar: sviter
→ Georgian: სვიტრი (sviṭri)
→ Uzbek: sviter

→ Spanish: suéter

→ Swahili: sweta

→ Turkish: süveter

From Middle English swētere, equivalent to sweat + -er.

We could slip away / Wouldn't that be better? / Me with nothing to say / And you in your autumn sweater

1997, “Autumn Sweater”, in I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, performed by Yo La Tengo:


patent

en-noun

patent (countable and uncountable, plural patents)

The noun is derived from Middle English patent (“document granting an office, property, right, title, etc.; document granting permission, licence; papal indulgence, pardon”) [and other forms], which is either:
* a clipping of lettre patent, lettres patente, lettres patentes [and other forms]; or
* directly from Anglo-Norman and Middle French patente (modern French patent), a clipping of Anglo-Norman lettres patentes, Middle French lettres patentes, lettre patente, and Old French patentes lettres (“document granting an office, privilege, right, etc., or making a decree”) (compare Late Latin patēns, littera patēns, litterae patentēs).
For the derivation of Anglo-Norman and Middle French patente (adjective) in lettre patente, see etymology 2 below.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

patent lettre, patent lettres, patente lettre, patente lettres

der

[ˈpʰæ̝ʔn̩t̚]

[ˈpʰe̞ɪʔn̩t̚]

(US, historical) A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent.

maaoikeus

specific grant of ownership of a piece of property


patent

en-verb

patent (third-person singular simple present patents, present participle patenting, simple past and past participle patented)

patents (present singular third-person)
patenting (participle present)
patented (participle past)
patented (past)

[ˈpʰæ̝ʔn̩t̚]

[ˈpʰe̞ɪʔn̩t̚]

(US, historical) To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership.


cloture

en-noun

cloture (countable and uncountable, plural clotures)

Borrowed from French clôture (“closure”). Doublet of closure and clausure.

Now, a filibuster typically begins when a Senator or group of Senators signals their intent to filibuster – which can be done by a private conversation with the majority leader or by quietly placing a bill or nomination on hold. Given the modern Senate's scarce floor time, this threat is usually enough to table the disputed issue until the dissenting Senators cave or until there are definitely enough votes to invoke cloture.

2010 April 22, Mimi Murray Digby Marziani, Diana Lee, “Statement for the Record, Brennan Center for Justice, New York, NY”, in Examining the Filibuster: Hearings before the Committee on Rules and Administration, United States Senate, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, Second Session, April 22, 2010, May 19, 2010, June 23, 2010, July 28, 2010, and September 22 and 29, 2010 (S. Hrg. 111-706), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 112:

(law, politics, chiefly US) In legislative assemblies that permit unlimited debate (that is, a filibuster): a motion, procedure or rule by which debate is ended so that a vote may be taken on the matter. For example, in the United States Senate, a three-fifths majority vote of the body is required to invoke cloture and terminate debate.


beat off

en-verb

beat off (third-person singular simple present beats off, present participle beating off, simple past beat off, past participle beaten off or beat off)

beats off (present singular third-person)
beating off (participle present)
beat off (past)
beaten off (participle past)
beat off (participle past)

Example 1: "I don't need a girlfriend. I just need some swimsuit catalogs, so I can beat off six or seven times a day."

2003, David Burke, The Slangman guide to dirty English: dangerous expressions Americans use, page 13:

(intransitive, idiomatic, vulgar, colloquial, chiefly US, Canada) To masturbate by stimulating one's own penis.


uffdah

A term with Scandinavian origins (either Swedish or Norwegian).

(US) A term for sensory overload. Can be used as an expression of surprise, astonishment and sometimes dismay.


scary

en-adj

scary (comparative scarier, superlative scariest)

scarier (comparative)
scariest (superlative)
scarey (alternative)

“Whist! whist!” said Natty, in a low voice, on hearing a slight sound made by Elizabeth, in bending over the side of the canoe, in eager curiosity; “’tis a sceary animal, and it’s a far stroke for a spear. […]”

1823, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 5, in The Pioneers, volume 2, New York: Charles Wiley, the UK edition of the same year has scary (p. 262), page 77:

“She’s cursed,” said the skipper; “speak her fair:
I’m scary always to see her shake
Her wicked head, with its wild gray hair,
And nose like a hawk, and eyes like a snake.”

1867, John Greenleaf Whittier, The Tent on the Beach, and Other Poems, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, The Wreck of Rivermouth, page 25:

And let us say to these interests that, until the Buy-It-Made-In-Texas movement co-operates with the farmers, we are going to be a little scary of the snare.

1916, Texas Department of Agriculture, “Bulletin”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), numbers 47-57, page 150:

The two brothers stood over the dead rat […].
“Please, Bigger, take ’im out,” Vera begged.
“Aw, don’t be so scary,” Buddy said.

1940, Richard Wright, Native Son, book 1, London: Jonathan Cape, published 1970, page 10:

(US, colloquial) Subject to sudden alarm; easily frightened.


leggy

leggy (comparative leggier, superlative leggiest)

leggier (comparative)
leggiest (superlative)

Fred preferred leggy blondes.

(UK, US, chiefly of a woman) Having long, attractive legs; long-legged.


privilege

en-noun

privilege (countable and uncountable, plural privileges)

privileges (plural)
priviledg (alternative)
priviledge (alternative)

From Middle English privilege, from Anglo-Norman privilege and Old French privilege, from Latin prīvilēgium (“ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual”), from prīvus (“private”) + lēx, lēg- (“law”).

der

(countable, US, finance, now rare) A stock market option.


xenocide

en-noun

xenocide (countable and uncountable, plural xenocides)

(US, colloquial) The intentional killing of an entire foreign (plant or animal) species.


CID

(US, military, law enforcement, initialism) U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command

(US, military, law enforcement, initialism) Former name of NCIS. (Naval Criminal Investigation Division)


naught

naught (countable and uncountable, plural naughts)

From the Middle English naught, nought, naht, nawiht, from Old English nawiht. Cognate with West Frisian neat (“nothing, naught”). Doublet of nought. Equivalent to ne + aught.

(chiefly US, dated) Alternative spelling of nought


boy toy

boy toys (plural)
boytoy (alternative)
boy-toy (alternative)

(US, Canada, idiomatic, colloquial) A gigolo or younger man who is sexually pursued by an older person.

HEY DADDY! Boy, 35, is looking for you. Submissive, hairy, eager. Love to serve and service aggressive, verbal, mature man. SM/BD, spanking etc. Couple or daddy who shares his boy toys especially welcome.

1990 December 9, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 12:

(US, slang) A young man that is viewed or used similarly to a sex toy.


DILLIGAFF

give a flying fuck
give a flying fuck#English

(US, military slang) Acronym of does it look like I give a flying fuck?.


easy street

From easy (“at ease, comfortable”) + street.

Stocks are light, while packers will be able to get financial aid, which will, so far as that is concerned, place them on "easy street."

1813, Financial Year Book of the Daily Commercial News, San Francisco, Calif.: Commercial News Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 55, column 2:

Once after this I asked the "pardners" if Jimsey's mascot was bringing him luck. / "Yes, lady," said Tom, "we walks on de shady side of de street now—don't we, Jimsey?" / "Yes, we lives on Easy street."

1890 August, Marie L[ouise] Marsh, “[The Sketch Book—Character in Outline] Jimsey’s Mascot”, in Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review, volume V, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Current Literature Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 121, column 2:

There was big money in it—the fellows who did that job might live on Easy Street the rest of their lives.

1919, Upton Sinclair, “Jimmie Higgins Puts His Foot in It”, in Jimmie Higgins […], Pasadena, Calif.: Upton Sinclair, →OCLC, section II, page 83:

Honestly, Sally, it's the chance of a lifetime. It would put you right on easy street. Isn't there really any way you could get your money out of this other thing and take on this deal?

1921 October 8 – December 31, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIV, in Mostly Sally [The Adventures of Sally], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 23 March 1923, →OCLC, section II, page 256:

Sometimes I'm tired and I wonder / What's so all-fired important / About being someplace at some time / Oh, but I don't really mind / 'Cause I could be on Easy Street

1972 October, Carole King (lyrics and music), “Bitter with the Sweet”, in Rhymes & Reasons:

Easy street, easy street / Where the rich folks play (yeah, yeah, yeah) / Move them feet to easy street / When you get there, stay

1977, “Easy Street”, in Martin Charnin (lyrics), Charles Strouse (music), Annie (soundtrack):

(originally US, idiomatic, informal) Chiefly preceded by on: a carefree lifestyle or situation, especially as as a result of becoming wealthy.

kissanpäivät

(informal) carefree lifestyle or situation, especially as resulting from being wealthy


tall order

head

tall order (plural tall orders, comparative taller order, superlative tallest order)

tall orders (plural)
taller order (comparative)
tallest order (superlative)

/ˈtɔːl ˈɔːdə/

/ˈtɔl ˈɔɹdɚ/

[ˈtɔl ˈɔɹɾɚ]

tall (“big, large”) + order (“request”).

[W]e must come, consequently, to the impressive conclusion that to live on potatoes alone[…], a man must eat at least 30 lbs. of potato a day—which would be rather a tall order, even for an Irishman.

1871, W. W. Hall, “Are Vegetable Foods Difficult to Digest?”, in Health by Good Living, New York, N.Y.: Published by Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC, footnote, page 92:

Guess they'd find it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen.

1911 October, E[dward] Phillips Oppenheim, “The Night Train from Vienna”, in Havoc, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, page 26:

We suggest that your committee assume the responsibility for establishing a definite long range construction program for the American Merchant Marine. This is a tall order but one of extreme urgency. An entire indusry is now suspended in the balance between war and peace, and upon you and your committee depends which way the scales will tip.

1947 November, ““Dear Chairman Weichel”: An Open Letter to Chairman Weichel of the House Committee on the Merchant Marine Suggesting a Program for the Next Session of Congress”, in Murray Morse, editor, The Log, volume 42, number 12, Los Angeles, Calif.: Miller Freeman Publications, page 33, column 2:

The present writer was once asked to name what he considered to be "the most typically English railway approach to a town": a somewhat tall order, especially as such matters will always be, in the last resort, of individual opinion. But the unhesitating answer to this question (which has not been altered after many years of extended travel throughout England) was "Sudbury, in Suffolk."

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 705:

These are tall orders, but they are, in part, the responsibilities you assumed when you donned the mantle of manager. When you accepted this position, your implied promise, assuming you want to be the best leader you can be, was to be an effective teacher, a sensitive counselor, and a master gardener.

2002, Jack H. Grossman, J. Robert Parkinson, “Introduction”, in Becoming a Successful Manager: How to Make a Smooth Transition from Managing Yourself to Managing Others, Contemporary Books, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2:

Frank Macedo, an electrical engineering consultant who used to oversee transmission planning at the former Ontario Hydro, said creating that many jobs in three years is "a tall order." As it is, utilities such as Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation are already struggling to replace thousands of boomer-age employees who will be retiring over the next few years.

2009 February 25, Tyler Hamilton, “50,000 green jobs ‘a tall order’”, in Toronto Star, Toronto, Ont., archived from the original on 2016-08-11:

It is estimated that by 2013, Uganda alone will have over 10 million unemployed youths[…]. Overall, at least 500,000 new jobs are needed every year to meet the current demand. […] These figures are tall orders that might eventually spell doom for the region unless the stakeholders provide more tangible solutions immediately.

2012, David Wesley Ofumbi, “The Challenge of Local Communities in East Africa”, in Identity and Transformation: The Significance of African Christianity in Community Transformation, U.S.A.: Xulon Press, →ISBN, page 63:

In the past six weeks, she had turned Luke Almeida into Chicago's Sexiest Fireman, his sister into America's Favorite Firefighter, and had recovered from a cheating ex who was about to have octuplet walruses with a nurse. Meet the queen of tall orders.

2015 April, Kate Meader, Flirting with Fire, 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 366:

This was a tall order. Charles has never been the star of his own life. He’s been the king for months now; he’s been an international figure for decades. But much of his story has been his mother’s, his wives’, his children’s.

2023 May 6, James Poniewozik, “Charles III Was Crowned King. But Can He Ever Be the Star?”, in The New York Times:

(originally US, idiomatic) A big job; a difficult challenge.


diddly-squat

The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang suggests that this is a variation of doodly-squat from 1934, probably from American slang doodle (“excrement”) + squat, used in the sense of defecating. Doodly-squat was originally the more common form, but diddly-squat overtook it in the early 1980s, and is now an order of magnitude more common in print.

diddly squat (alternative)
diddlysquat (alternative)
doodly-squat (alternative)
doodley-squat (alternative)

I didn't know diddly-squat about development; I also didn't know that someone could be an “officer” of major gifts. “Do they wear badges?” my friends had wanted to know, because my friends, like myself, had been completely ignorant of the field of development.

2004, Barbara Sutton, The Send-away Girl: Stories, University of Georgia Press, →ISBN, page 184:

Money? Power? Maybe a little prestige? Everything they worked for amounted to diddly-squat; more money, bigger houses, more and more empty air. None of them would ever know the feeling of having a purpose in life.

2007, Chris Stewart, The Fourth War, Macmillan, →ISBN:

(US slang, often humorous) Nothing; nothing whatsoever.


nosebleed

nosebleeds (plural)
nose bleed (alternative)


fire company

(firefighting, US) An organization whose purpose is to extinguish fires.

brannvesen

an organization whose purpose is to extinguish fires

(firefighting, US) A single emergency response unit and its personnel within a fire department


voir dire

en-noun

voir dire (countable and uncountable, plural voir dires)

/ˈvwɑː ˌdɪə/

/ˈvɔɹ ˌdaɪɹ/

/ˈvwɑɹ ˌdɪɹ/

Anglo-Norman for “to say the truth”, from Old French voir (“true, truth”) + dire (“to say”), from Latin vērum + dīcere.

(law, US) The preliminary phase of a jury trial in which the jurors are examined and selected.

(law, England, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, US) A preliminary hearing without a jury in order to determine whether the evidence meets the test for admissibility to go to a full hearing at a criminal trial, in the legal systems of England and Wales, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.


snirt

We then have what we call ‘snirt’ storms.

1975, United States House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Related Agencies, Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1976, page 175:

Snirt or a mixture of snow and dirt is the term popularly applied to the windrows of dirt along the roads during a Minnesota winter.

1985, United States House Committee on Agriculture, General Farm Bill of 1985: Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, page 924:

‘Snirt’ is a thing of the spring.

1997, William S. Burroughs, Last Words, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 73:

[…] it wasn't a hard winter. Only a couple of blizzards and snirt and snuss storms.

2004, Dean Norman, Studio Cards: Funny Greeting Cards and People Who Created Them, Trafford Publishing,, →ISBN, page 131:

(Canada, US) Snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed.


fancy pants

fancy pants (plural)
fancy-pants (alternative)
fancypants (alternative)

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

From what I hear fancy pants is dancing real good with that fat pig.

2008, Ivan Narayan, Kill Or Be Killed: The Henry Street Affair, page 135:

(US) A person wearing fancy clothing; a member of a social elite.


remuda

To one side of the barn was a remuda of work-horses, perhaps twenty in all.

2003, Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla:

Buddy did not know what his mother was going to do, but he was sure that whatever she did would be right; so he hoisted his saddle on the handiest fresh horse, and loped off to drive in the remuda, feeling certain that his father would move swiftly to save his cattle that ranged back in the foothills, and that the saddle horses would be wanted at a moment's notice.

A big remuda had been driven up, Cayuse ponies mixed with larger American horses.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 29:

(Canada, US) A herd of horses from which the horses to be used for a particular purpose are selected.


in order

en-adv

in order (comparative more in order, superlative most in order)

more in order (comparative)
most in order (superlative)

She stood in order for her husband to see her. / She stood for her husband to see her.

(not comparable, idiomatic, US, with "for") Emphasizes that what follows immediately is the purpose of the preceding or the beyond.


favorable

en-adj

favorable (comparative more favorable, superlative most favorable)

more favorable (comparative)
most favorable (superlative)

From Middle English favourable, from Old French favorable, from Latin favōrābilis, from favor. By surface analysis, favor + -able.

The conditions favorable to health and life of the indigines of the poles or the north temperate zones are destructive to the indigines of the tropical, and vice versa.

1871, Ohio State Medical Society, Transactions of the Annual Meeting, page 135:


shoestring

The noun is derived from shoe + string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

Your shoestring is untied.

I am ſure ſhe is not half ſo beautiful, and vvill even venture to ſay, that ſhe is not vvorthy to tie her majeſty's ſhoe-ſtrings.

1755, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “The Pleasant Artifice Practised to Extricate Our Enamoured Knight from the Most Rigorous Penance He had Imposed upon Himself”, in T[obias] Smollett, transl., The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part I, book IV, page 221:

(chiefly US) The string or lace used to secure a shoe to the foot; a shoelace.


shoestring

(US, chiefly American football, baseball) Of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player's shoes.

jalka-

of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player’s shoes


nail Jell-O to a tree

en-verb

nail Jell-O to a tree (third-person singular simple present nails Jell-O to a tree, present participle nailing Jell-O to a tree, simple past and past participle nailed Jell-O to a tree)

nails Jell-O to a tree (present singular third-person)
nailing Jell-O to a tree (participle present)
nailed Jell-O to a tree (participle past)
nailed Jell-O to a tree (past)
nail Jell-O to a wall (alternative)
nail jelly to a tree (alternative)
nail jelly to a wall (alternative)

They are asking us to nail Jell-O to a tree if they insist on having everything done in three days.

(US, slang, rare) To do something that is impossible or very difficult, with connotations of pointlessness.


specialty

specialties (plural)
speciality (alternative)

From Middle English specialte, Old French specialte, especialte, from Latin specialitas.

An attribute or quality peculiar to a species.


blockbuster

→ Catalan: blockbuster

→ French: blockbuster

→ German: Blockbuster

→ Italian: blockbuster

→ Japanese: ブロックバスター (burokubasutā)

→ Korean: 블록버스터 (beullokbeoseuteo)

→ Polish: blockbuster

→ Portuguese: blockbuster

→ Russian: блокба́стер (blokbástɛr)

→ Spanish: blockbuster

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

From block + buster, referring originally to aerial bombs capable of destroying a whole block of buildings.

Whereas White residents fell prey to blockbusters who stoked fears of invading Negroes and plummeting housing values during the 1950s, African Americans confronted more-than-imagined difficulties in neighborhoods after the 1968 riots.

2016, Sabiyha Prince, African Americans and Gentrification in Washington, D.C., page 106:

(US) One who engages in blockbusting (technique encouraging people to sell property).


ballot

Borrowed from Italian balota (obsolete), ballotta (“small ball, especially one used to register a vote”), from balla (“bale, bundle”) + -otta (suffix forming diminutive nouns); or from Middle French balote (obsolete), ballotte (“small ball used to register a vote”) (also compare Middle French balotiage, French ballottage (“second ballot, runoff”)); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *ballu (“ball”).

cog

Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia

(chiefly US) A list of candidates running for office; a ticket.


specialist

Borrowed from French spécialiste, equivalent to special + -ist.

(US, military) Any of several non-commissioned ranks corresponding to that of corporal.


debug

en-verb

debug (third-person singular simple present debugs, present participle debugging, simple past and past participle debugged)

debugs (present singular third-person)
debugging (participle present)
debugged (participle past)
debugged (past)

Mr. Moses started out his garden this year with only two toads. As they were differently marked, they soon became known as "Henry" and "Frank." Henry was strong in the pursuit of "ants." Every morning he is seen perched on his favorite hill "anting" for breakfast. Frank's occupation is that of debugging the roses and beating up the paths for miscellaneous insects.

1905 June 15, A. J. R., “With the Long Bow”, in The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minn., retrieved 2017-02-15, page 14:

You can debug yourself at home with various over-the-counter medications.

1999, Stephen E. Goldstone, The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex: A Medical Handbook for Men, page 59:

If you find nits, it's time for some serious debugging.

2011, Jay Heinrichs, Home Remedies from a Country Doctor:

Before we moved into our new quarters we, and our belongings, had to be deloused and debugged.

2013, Peter Jackson, Sacrifice, Captivity and Escape: The Remarkable Memoirs of a Japanese POW, page 165:

MK2 has said that its theatres have been de-bugged and that “there is no more risk in our rooms than in any other public place in Paris”.

2023 September 4, “Coming soon to a cinema near you? The return of the bed bug”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(US) To remove insects from (somewhere), especially lice.


Harvard comma

From Harvard University Press, where such use is the house style.


shpadoinkle

Coined 1993 by Trey Parker in film Cannibal! The Musical as a nonsense word. Later used in episode “The Gift” (May 22, 2001) of TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon, thence popularized by fans.

Holy Shpadoinkle Danny, you killed like, everything in town.

2007. James M. Stillwell. Stand Strong Crew: A Super Tale

(slang, US) An exclamation meaning "great" or denoting surprise.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Cannibal! The Musical
Joss Whedon
Trey Parker


tightass

tightasses (plural)
tight-arse (alternative)

Back-formation of tight-assed; equivalent to tight + ass.

(slang, mildly vulgar) Someone who does not know how to have fun, or who is so worried about insignificant things as to ruin any fun that anyone around them may be having.

Spaßtöter

person that does not know how to have fun

jitterbug

person worried about insignificant things


field day

Some postulate the idiomatic usage is derived from the "parade day" military use. A parade is much easier than the soldiers’ usual drilling and intense exercise.

(US military, specifically US Navy, US Coast Guard and US Marine Corps) A day on which there is top-to-bottom all-hands cleaning.


hew

hew (third-person singular simple present hews, present participle hewing, simple past hewed or (rare) hew, past participle hewn or hewed or (archaic) hewen)

hews (present singular third-person)
hewing (participle present)
hewed (past)
hew (past rare)
hewn (participle past)
hewed (participle past)
hewen (archaic participle past)

From Middle English hewen, from Old English hēawan, from Proto-West Germanic *hauwan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to strike, hew, forge”). Cognate to German hauen, Dutch houwen and Swedish hugga. Sense 3 derives from the phrase hew to the line (literally “cut evenly with an axe or saw”).

der

Few men measured up to his standard of righteousness; he hewed to the line.

1905, Albert Osborn, John Fletcher Hurst: A Biography, Jennings & Graham, page 428

Inside the stories usually hewed to a consistent formula: no matter how outlandish and weird the circumstances, in the end everything had to have a natural, if not plausible, ending—frequently, though not always, involving a mad scientist.

1998, Frank M. Robinson, Lawrence Davidson, Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines, Collectors Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 103:

Faculty members and students alike were buzzing with the fashionable nostrums that dominated U.S. education discourse in the late sixties, […] These hewed to the recommendations of the Plowden Report, […]

2008, Chester E. Finn, Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 28:

Hewing to the old comedy convention of beginning a speech by randomly referencing something in eyesight, Homer begins his talk about the birds and the bees by saying that women are like refrigerators: they’re all about six feet tall and weigh three hundred pounds and make ice cubes.

2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid on the Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:

King recovered the rights on the condition that he'd stop publicly disparaging Kubrick's version. "For a long time I hewed that line," he told CBS News in June. "And then Mr. Kubrick died. So now I figured, what the hell. I've gone back to saying mean things about it."

2013 October 2, Alex Pappademas, “Leuqes! LEUQES! LEUQES! – The Shining sequel and what it says about Stephen King”, in Grantland.com, retrieved 2013-10-16:

(transitive, US) To act according to, to conform to; usually construed with to.


dust bunny

WASHINGTON: The common American household Dust Bunny has been designated as an endangered species, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) announced last week. "The widespread use of household cleaning products and devices has drastically reduced the habitat of the Dust Bunny," said Noah Present, Acting Director of the Endangered Species Program. "American homes are cleaned too frequently, and much better than in the past." / "We are not to blame for the improper use of our products," responded a spokesman for the Household Products Association. "Correctly used, many of the Dust Bunnies should survive."

2008, Hugh A. Holub, “Dust Bunnies Designated Endangered Species: 25% of Homes Declared Critical Habitat”, in Deer Seen as Terrorist Threat and Other Stories, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 83:

About 3.6 billion years ago, the sun and its planets coalesced from a cloud of stellar debris, probably helped along by the push from the explosion of a nearby supernova. The particles of cosmic dust began sticking together by static electricity, the same force that forms dust bunnies under your bed. Eventually, the particles got big enough for gravity to start pulling more pieces together.

2016 August 28, Dale Gnidovec, “Geology: Chemically unique meteorite found in quarry might be ‘extinct’”, in The Columbus Dispatch, archived from the original on 2016-08-29:

Sure, some dogs may get super-itchy and lose extra fur, while others may seem to groom themselves incessantly, leaving your floors strewn with serious dust bunnies. In the absence of these and the above-mentioned problems, your Lab mix is just being a dog that conforms perfectly to her breed type. In other words, this breed sheds – a lot!

2016 August 30, Patty Khuly, “Dog shedding too much? Try these easy fixes”, in Miami Herald, archived from the original on 2016-08-31:

Phobos just can't catch a break. Not only is Mars' lumpy, crusted-over dust bunny of a moon destined to be ripped to pieces in 10 million years, it seems the poor thing can't stop punching itself.

2016 August 31, Maddie Stone, “We finally know what caused those mysterious craters on Phobos”, in Gizmodo Australia, archived from the original on 2016-08-31:

(US, informal) A small clump of dust, fluff, hair, particles of skin, etc., that tends to accumulate indoors in areas not regularly dusted, such as under heavy furniture.


lower Ivy

(US) any of the Ivy League universities, such as Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell that are generally seen as less prestigious than Harvard,Yale, and Princeton.


sepulcher

(Canada, US) Alternative form of sepulchre


sepulcher

en-verb

sepulcher (third-person singular simple present sepulchers, present participle sepulchering, simple past and past participle sepulchered)

sepulchers (present singular third-person)
sepulchering (participle present)
sepulchered (participle past)
sepulchered (past)


jefe

Borrowed from Spanish jefe (“leader, boss”), from Old French chief, from Latin caput. Doublet of chief, chef, caput, and head.

bor+

Antonio Rivera Cabezas was chosen vice-jefe in March 1830.

1887, Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Central America, History Company, page 153:

before he stepped forward uttering the stereotyped greeting, the Texan had put him down as the jefe or head man....
Snatching up the rifle he lit out after the jefe, who had left two jumps ahead of the smoke.

1898, Southern Pacific Company Passenger Department, Sunset, Sunset Magazines Inc. (1912), pages 313-314

Hilario Saño, a suspect, resident here but much doubted by the jefe local, was put to the test

1900, United States War Department, Annual Reports of the War Department, U.S. Government Printing Office:

(informal) An officer with political influence; a head or chief in government, such as a sheriff, particularly where that person is Hispanic or of Mexican descent.


heckler

[…] the usual gap between the time the last strike of the day departed and the first night hecklers arrived was closed with "zippers" — night fighters who, using day fighter tactics, proceeded to the target in daylight in time to relieve the last day blanket patrol.

(US, military, slang) An aircraft flying attack missions at night.


critter

First attested 1815, from a dialectal pronunciation of creature.

The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.

2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

(usually endearing, US, Australia) A creature, an animal.


VFD

(US) Initialism of volunteer fire department.


eggplant

en-noun

eggplant (countable and uncountable, plural eggplants)

eggplants (plural)
egg-plant (alternative)

From egg + plant, originally applied only to the white-colored, egg-shaped variety.

Solanum melongena
Solanum melongena#Translingual

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The plant Solanum melongena.

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) The edible fruit of the Solanum melongena: an aubergine.

eggplant:

(Canada, US) A dark purple color, like that of the skin of this fruit.

Hey. Yeah. And, and your great-great-great-great grandmother fucked a nigger, ho, ho, yeah, and she had a half-nigger kid… now, if that's a fact, tell me, am I lying? 'Cause you, you're part eggplant.

1993, Quentin Tarantino, True Romance, spoken by Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper):

"Why am I not surprised?" This was the limit. "You know, I'm black enough for his family to yell eggplant-this and nigger-that at me," she said.

2004, Wendy Coakley-Thompson, Back to Life:

What else can he do? But Hopper continues his riff. "Sicilians still carry that nigger gene . . . Your ancestors are niggers. You're part eggplant."

2006, Jerome Charyn, Raised by wolves: the turbulent art and times of Quentin Tarantino:

(US, slang, derogatory, offensive) A black person (used mainly by Italian-Americans).


surge

From Middle English surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent. Doublet of sourd.

der

surge capacity; surge fleet; surge deployment capabilities

(US, naval, often attributive) A deployment in large numbers at short notice.


cellular

From New Latin cellulāris, from cellula (“cell”) + -āris.

MULDER: Yeah, Eddie, this is all good stuff. Yeah, see what else you can find on him from the N.C.I.C. and call me back. At, at this number or on my cellular.

1994, "Red Museum", (episode of The X-Files TV series)

(US, informal) A cellular phone (mobile phone).


chewy

en-noun

chewy (countable and uncountable, plural chewies)

[…] Roni clears away the dishes and returns with a plate of jaw-breaking, fillings-yanking, elderly butterscotch chewies.

2006, Diana Abu-Jaber, The Language of Baklava, page 255:

Chocolate chewies are light, crisp, and, yes, chewy chocolate cookies that are studded with chocolate chips and pecans.

2011, Lisa Fain, The Homesick Texan Cookbook, page unnumbered page:

While many versions of the chocolate chewy exist and can be found in bakeries across the country, we wanted are fined recipe for a simple-to-make cookie so we could get our chocolate fix any time.

2017, The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies & Bars, page 63:

(US, informal) A type of soft and sticky cookie.


scarf down

en-verb

scarf down (third-person singular simple present scarfs down, present participle scarfing down, simple past and past participle scarfed down)

scarfs down (present singular third-person)
scarfing down (participle present)
scarfed down (participle past)
scarfed down (past)
scoff down (alternative)

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

I plan to scarf down the rest of this sandwich and get back to work.

It was Jan. 26 — just two days into GameStop’s big week — when he and his brother hit up Hooters, scarfed down 30 wings and got 10 more to go.

2021 February 7, Matt Phillips, Taylor Lorenz, Tara Siegel Bernard, Gillian Friedman, “The Hopes That Rose and Fell With GameStop”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


NIMBY

Was used in a 1980 article by British writer Emilie Travel Livezey; popularized by British politician Nicholas Ridley, who was Conservative Secretary of State for the Environment.
Prior to that, Joseph A. Lieberman, a member of the US Atomic Energy Commission, gave a keynote address in early 1979 at the Fort Magruder Conference Center in which he reportedly asserted that "the 'nimby' (not in my backyard) syndrome must be eliminated." As reported in the Newport News (Virginia) Daily Press, Tuesday, February 13th, 1979, "Radioactive Waste: National Regulations Needed." Source: WorldHistories.net.

(chiefly US, UK) Alternative letter-case form of nimby


ERA

(US) Initialism of Equal Rights Amendment.


s'more

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

A contraction of some more, so called because they are meant to be so tasty that you always want some more.

1990, Margaret Kenda, Cooking Wizardry for Kids
S’Mores are a traditional favorite cook-out food with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

2003, Sheri Joseph, Bear Me Safely Over
She bit into the s’more, and the melted marshmallow goo fell over her lip, onto her chin.

2003, Cynthia Kaplan, I’m Like This
I’d had too many s’mores.

(US, Canada) A snack food made by combining graham crackers, marshmallows (frequently toasted) and chocolate, a typical camping fireside treat.


bubbler

(US) A freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens), of central North America.


doohickey

doohickeys (plural)
dohickey (alternative)
do-hickey (alternative)
doo-hickey (alternative)
do-hinky (alternative)
doohinky (alternative)

First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.

What does this doohickey do?

Customers will ask for "gizmos" and "what-cha-ma-call-its" and "doohickeys," and make crude drawings on paper bags of what it is they think they need.

1981 October 27, William E. Geist, “HUNTING FOR DOOHICKEYS”, in The New York Times:

Besides, the show has invented a doohickey that makes it possible for Dr. Manhattan to exist as Calvin, a stable and supportive husband and father with no memory of his life as Jon Osterman, who can live out those 10 years as something close to a human being.

2019 December 8, Scott Tobias, “‘Watchmen’ Season 1, Episode 8 Recap: Chicken or Egg?”, in The New York Times:

(slang, originally US) A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)


downtown

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

(chiefly US, Canada) The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center.

middestad

either the lower, or the business center of a city or town


funky

en-adj

funky (comparative funkier or more funky, superlative funkiest or most funky)

funkier (comparative)
more funky (comparative)
funkiest (superlative)
most funky (superlative)

(US, slang) Offbeat, unconventional or eccentric.

By the tone of her voice I could tell she had a funky attitude, but I kept my head under the covers and didn't say shit.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 143:

(US, slang) Not quite right; of questionable quality; not appropriate to the context.

Eight-bit Arkanoid is a funky game — not as sexy as its 16-bit sister, but fun to spend time with. I'm hooked.

I love high heels, and these were totally funky! The coolest part: They actually let me take 'em home!

2001, ELLEgirl magazine (Autumn 2001, page 127)

What every teenage driver desires: a fab, funky car and freedom!

2006, Sue Cook, Claire Crompton, Quick to Stitch Cross Stitch Cards, page 60:


interference

en-noun

interference (countable and uncountable, plural interferences)

/ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈfɪəɹəns/

/ˌɪntəɹˈfɪɹɪns/

From interfere + -ence. The sense in physics was likely introduced by English polymath Thomas Young, which he used as early as 1801 in a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

(US, law) In United States patent law, an inter partes proceeding to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications; a priority contest.

müdahale

legal, patent law: inter partes proceeding to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications


slick

en-adj

slick (comparative slicker, superlative slickest)

slicker (comparative)
slickest (superlative)

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”),
from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

cog

That is one slick bicycle: it has all sorts of features!

(US, West Coast slang) Extraordinarily great or special.

raffiniert

(US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special


slick

(by extension, hydrodynamics, US, dated) A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion.


airship

airships (plural)
air-ship (alternative)
air ship (alternative)

From air + ship.
* (jocular British sense): is in imitation of worship "form of address for magistrates et al., possibly also an oblique reference to Colonel Blimp.

(US, law enforcement, aviation) A police air unit, a police helicopter.


cooler

About a year or so back we had him in the cooler on a Mann Act rap.


zaftig

en-adj

zaftig (comparative more zaftig, superlative most zaftig)

more zaftig (comparative)
most zaftig (superlative)
zoftig (alternative)
zaftige (alternative)

From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik), cognate to German saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of sappy.

By his description the same broad. A zaftige piece too, in a mink stole.

1953, Saul Bellow, chapter XXII, in The Adventures of Augie March, New York: Viking Press, →OCLC, page 460:

Sportcasters are drawn from three different talent pools. Some are professional media people, others are ex-coaches and the most zaftig lot are ex-players.

1980, Washington Journalism Review, volume 2:

Well, a certain zaftig coed told this on herself. She tried to give her all to Brainy in exchange for a passing grade in the general math course necessary to any degree on our campus. […] "Brainy" didn't accept, didn't refuse, wasn't offended, didn't seem to understand. He told her that she had better talk to her instructor about getting tutoring and a re-exam. Now Miss Zaftig is circulating the story that Prof "No Brain" must be a eunuch or a robot. Not even a homo. Totally sexless.

1980, Robert A. Heinlein, chapter VII, in The Number of the Beast, part one, pages 61–62:

But I've been waiting for you just to say / The zoftig chick is mine / But all I know is you got no money / But that's got nothing to do with a good time

1992, Sonic Youth (lyrics and music), “100%”, in Dirty:

Mrs Stahlbaum, a much more zaftig figure than the Housekeeper, wears a strawberry blonde wig with bangs, her hair tied back in a bun.

1996, Gay Morris, “Moving Words: Re-Writing Dance”, in Gay Morris, editor, 9: "Styles of the Flesh": Gender in the Dances of Mark Morris, page 152:

1995 Clinton has his first sexual encounter with zaftig intern Lewinsky.

2000 January 22, “D.C. 90210”, in Time, archived from the original on 2012-03-11:

And being fatter at the outset meant you had more to offer; scrawnier mothers were consumed sooner than their more zaftig counterparts, which then meant that the young spiders were less likely to turn from their parent to an arguably even more unsavory occupation: eating each other.

2011, Marlene Zuk, Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World, page 156:

Tor's “old lady,” Bari, is a warmer zaftig presence.

2022, Jennifer Egan, “What the Forest Remembers”, in The Candy House:

(US, colloquial, of a woman) Having a plump and sexually attractive figure; voluptuous, well-proportioned; large.


SOA

(US) Initialism of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, officially titled the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002.

School of the Americas
w:School of the Americas

(US) Initialism of School of the Americas, a US Army training facility subsequently officially known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

School of the Americas

Society of Actuaries
w:Society of Actuaries

(US) Initialism of Society of Actuaries, one of the two main professional societies of actuaries in the United States.


EA

en-noun

EA (countable and uncountable, plural EAs)


hunk

Probably borrowed from West Flemish hunke (“hunk; chunk”), of obscure origin. Probably from an earlier *humke, *humpke, a diminutive related to Dutch homp (“hunk; lump”), English hump, equivalent to hump + -kin. The sense of an attractive man is recorded in Australian slang in 1941, in jive talk in 1945.

"You ain't callin' me a country hunk, are you?" "Hell, naw!" Louie backed away and grinned.

1941, William Woodrow Chamberlain, Leaf Gold, page 76:


hunk

(US) A goal or base in children's games.


coat check

(US) A service provided at certain businesses which allows one to check one's coat for safekeeping while inside.


charity

charity (countable and uncountable, plural charities)

From Middle English charite, from Old French charité, cherte, chariteit, cariteit, from Latin cāritās.

(US, Philippines, basketball, informal) A free throw.


AFDC

w:Aid to Families with Dependent Children

(US, historical) Initialism of Aid to Families with Dependent Children.


cowcatcher

With its long tapered cowcatcher, massive headlamp and enormous diamond smokestack behind, wagon-top boiler, high running-plate above the driving-wheels reached from a front door in the square side-window cab, cylinders with slide valves mounted on top, and double bogie tender, General in its present form is typical of much earlier American locomotive practice.

1942 February, “Notes and News: An Historic American Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 56:

The locomotive was black, an ungainly contraption led by the triangular snout of the cowcatcher, though there would be few animals where this engine was headed.

2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 83:

It was a rural railway that served the fertile Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. But because it flanked public roads and was unfenced (to save costs), it was deemed a tramway and its locomotives had to be fitted with a cowcatcher.

2023 January 11, Richard Foster, “British Rail's weirdest railways...: Wisbech & Upwell Tramway”, in RAIL, number 974, page 46:

(rail transport, principally US) A plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.

كانسة عقبات

plough-like device on the front of a train locomotive


lege

(US, colloquial) Clipping of legislature.


make-work

I once described this rather vulgarly as a Euro-wanking make-work project and I do not resile from that.

2011 November 10, Lord Gilbert, House of Lords Hansard:

They are more sympathetic to immigration, free markets, and free trade, and less sympathetic to protectionism, make-work policies, and government intervention in business.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 802:

In that COVID era, in June of 2020, I interviewed the anthropologist David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, a few months ahead of his untimely death. His book had suggested that many modern jobs were make-work, created out of “managerial feudalism,” where bosses needed minions around to feel important and signal their importance to other bosses. Graeber felt vindicated by the revolution in working life triggered by COVID, which had exposed some jobs as “essential”—while others were not. Those nonessential workers, he concluded, never needed to clog highways, or sit through meetings where, one by one, people would update the boss while everyone else stared off into space, contemplating what they’d rather be doing with their brief time drawing breath, aka office life.

2025 February 12, Dan Vergano, Jeanna Bryner, “Return-to-Office Demands Don’t Benefit Employees or Businesses”, in Scientific American:

(chiefly US) An activity or task assigned or undertaken for the sake of activity or busy-ness, rather than because of a particular need.


cloverleaf

cloverleaf (plural cloverleafs or cloverleaves)

cloverleafs (plural)
cloverleaves (plural)
clover-leaf (alternative)

By the time we got into Tulsa Town
We had eighty-five trucks in all
But there's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf
And them bears was wall-to-wall.

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

cloverleaf interchange
cloverleaf interchange

(US) (with plural cloverleafs or cloverleaves) A cloverleaf interchange.


howdy-do

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(US) Pronunciation spelling of how do you do.


quilter

(US) A person who performs the entire process of making a patchwork quilt, whether or not it is decorated with quilting stitches.


top off

en-verb

top off (third-person singular simple present tops off, present participle topping off, simple past and past participle topped off)

tops off (present singular third-person)
topping off (participle present)
topped off (participle past)
topped off (past)

The waitress topped off my coffee every few minutes.

(US) To fill or refill the final portion of something that is not empty, until it is completely full.

auffüllen

(US) to fill completely; to fill or refill the final portion of something not empty


oodles

en-noun

oodles pl (normally plural, singular oodle)

Uncertain; perhaps from scadoodles (“unspecified large amount, number, or quantity”) (US, slang) (although the Oxford English Dictionary notes this is attested slightly later), or from boodle (“whole collection or lot”) (US, dialectal), caboodle (“large collection of people or things”) (US, slang) + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum).

"Along the lake where I went camping once there were oodles of a bright purple thing." / "I don't know what that was," my mother said. "I've never lived near the water. The purplest thing around here is joe-pye weed. We can look him up and see if he has any relatives. Come to think of it, the book had a color index."

1965, John Updike, Of the Farm, Ipswitch edition, London: André Deutsch, published April 1973, →ISBN, page 121:

Minimalist yet soothing décor, private pools and steam rooms […] and simply oodles of class make this one of the island's top choices. Honeymoon, anyone?

2008, Andrew Burke et al., Thailand’s Islands & Beaches, 6th edition, Footscray, Vic.: Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 323:

(originally US, informal) Chiefly followed by of: an unspecified large amount, number, or quantity; lots, tons.

rúgva

unspecified large amount, number, or quantity — see also lots


school counselor

school counselor (plural school counselors)

(US) A professional member of an educational team who assists students in their personal, social, academic, and career development aspects of education through services such as individual counseling, small group counseling, and classroom teaching, and provide leadership in educational reform (advocacy); traditionally known as a guidance counselor, although this term is deemed inaccurate by most professionals today.


sticker shock

sticker shock (usually uncountable, plural sticker shocks)

Coined circa 1981, in reference to price stickers affixed to items for sale.

Last week Jensen returned to his dealer's showroom to eye the new Continental, but he quickly became another victim of what Detroit calls "sticker shock." The price on the car's window: $25,692. Says he: "Damn, that is expensive! It persuaded me to keep driving my '80 until it won't go any more."

1981 November 9, P. Witteman, K. Pierce, “Going from Bad to Even Worse”, in Time:

Now the 1997 model year brings a slew of new and redesigned models that tackle sticker shock head-on.

1996 Dec, Ed Henry, Taking on Sticker Shock, Kiplinger's Personal Finance:

This was supposed to be a summer of long-awaited celebrations in New York City, the return of a packed calendar full of birthday dinners and happy hours. But New Yorkers are confronting sticker shock everywhere they look, whether they’re shopping for barbecue supplies at the grocery store, ordering a beer after work or grabbing a late-night slice of pizza.

2022 August 8, Nicole Hong, “$15 French Fries and $18 Sandwiches: Inflation Hits New York”, in New York Times, →ISSN:

But we have been educated, by a warped system, to believe that food is cheap as of right. That is why many of us are now suffering sticker shock when we eat out.

2023 June 10, Tim Hayward, “The pie's the limit”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2:

(idiomatic, chiefly US) Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale.


blue box

gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

See also: severe thunderstorm watch

(informal, US, meteorology) A "tornado watch" notification category.


top oneself

en-verb

top oneself (third-person singular simple present tops oneself, present participle topping oneself, simple past and past participle topped oneself)

tops oneself (present singular third-person)
topping oneself (participle present)
topped oneself (participle past)
topped oneself (past)

From top (“to excel; to surpass; to beat”).

(US, idiomatic) To outdo oneself or do more than one's previous best.


cherry-pick

cherry-pick (third-person singular simple present cherry-picks, present participle cherry-picking, simple past and past participle cherry-picked)

cherry-picks (present singular third-person)
cherry-picking (participle present)
cherry-picked (participle past)
cherry-picked (past)
cherry pick (alternative)
cherrypick (alternative)

A metaphor, from the idea of picking through a bowl of cherries and seeking the best for oneself, or the idea of picking off the cherries for oneself from a cake or dessert.

(US, idiomatic, sports) To position oneself near the opponent's goal to attempt to receive an errant or intentional pass for an easy score, as in basketball or versions of soccer where offsides are not enforced.

kärkkyä

in sports, to position oneself near the opponent's goal

Those stations that will send CNN tapes of their local and regional news for CNN to cherry-pick from, in turn will be allowed to cherry-pick themselves.

1980, Television/radio age, volume 28, page 80:

(US, idiomatic, broadcasting) To broadcast selected programming from another network.


start over

start over (third-person singular simple present starts over, present participle starting over, simple past and past participle started over)

starts over (present singular third-person)
starting over (participle present)
started over (participle past)
started over (past)

I forgot to save my work, and I had to start over.

He had to start the game over because he lost his memory card.

If every man in the heat falls down the first ten yards, don't stop your watch under the impression that they will "start over." They won't.

1885, “On Timing Races”, in Outing, volume 5, page 44:

I have often heard of God referred to as the potter who gently and carefully shapes our character, but I am also aware that there are times when the potter mashes the clay and starts over.

2010, Kathy O'Keefe, Over His Rainbow: A Single Woman's Journey to God's Promise:

The first step in my process of healing was to choose to let go and leave behind any encumbrances that would prevent me from starting over and moving ahead.

2012, Susan Miller, After the Boxes Are Unpacked:

The typical business model relies on a line operating intensively from March or April through to September or October, before shutting down during the winter months - at which point essential repairs and maintenance can take place using income accrued during the busy summer months, ahead of the cycle starting over again.

2020 July 1, Daniel Puddicombe, “How can heritage lines recover from enforced closures?”, in Rail, page 30:

(idiomatic, ambitransitive, US) to begin again; to return to the beginning


bully pulpit

From bully (“(US, slang) very good”) + pulpit (“raised desk, lectern, or platform for an orator or public speaker”), said to have been coined by the United States President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) who used the term to refer to his office, by which he meant a terrific platform from which one can advocate an agenda: see the 1909 quotation.

compound

He [Theodore Roosevelt] was sitting at his desk reading to us his forthcoming Message. He had just finished a paragraph of a distinctly ethical character, when he suddenly stopped, swung round in his swivel chair, and said: "I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!"

1909 February 27, Lyman Abbott, “A Review of President Roosevelt’s Administration: Its Influence on Patriotism and Public Service”, in Lyman Abbott, editor, The Outlook, volume XCI, New York, N.Y.: The Outlook Company, →OCLC, page 430, column 1:

“The only option is to continue raising the issue, making it a political fight and using the bully pulpit to get more attention,” the [White House] source said.

2024, unnamed source, quoted in: James Oliphant, Joseph Ax, and Bad Brooks, Republicans scramble to contain backlash from IVF court ruling, Reuters, published in: The Christian Science Monitor, February 26 2024

At a leadership level, Ms. Hurst wishes that lawmakers would use their bully pulpit to convene constituents for more of the sorts of conversations that took place in Portugal.

2024 July 10, Stephen Humphries, Alfredo Sosa, “Stick, meet Carrot. How Portland police and activists teamed up to fight addiction.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

But the 2024 year-end report has a much sharper message—with the Chief Justice using his bully pulpit to rail, quite aggressively, against four types of attacks on judicial independence[.]

2025 January 2, Steve Vladeck, “Bonus 115: The Chief Justice's Tone-Deaf Year-End Report”, in One First:

In his final days in office, Mr. Biden has used both his presidential power and his bully pulpit.

2025 January 16, Linda Feldmann, “Joe Biden served just one term. What will his legacy be?”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(US, chiefly politics) An advantageous position from which to express one's views, especially a political office.


close, but no cigar

/ˈkləʊs bʌt nəʊ sɪˈɡɑː/

From the practice of giving cigars as prizes at carnivals in the United States in the 20th century; those who did not win would fail to receive a cigar, even if they came close.

Betty ran all out in the sprint race; yet, it was close, but no cigar.

The long distance trophy [for alumni who had traveled the furthest to attend the reunion], an appropriately inscribed silver cigarette case, was awarded to Em Gooch who had made the trip from Lincoln, Neb. for the occasion. Several other members came close, but no cigar, and we trust that all those in New York and Philadelphia who failed to show up, without reason, will read these lines with a quiver.

1929 July 2, J. C. R., “’28’s First”, in Asa S[mith] Bushnell [III], editor, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume XXIX, number 36, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1166, column 2:

(idiomatic, originally US, colloquial) Used to indicate that one is almost correct or has almost succeeded, but not quite.

功虧一簣 /功亏一篑

used to indicate that one is almost correct or has almost succeeded, but not quite

失之毫厘，差之千里 (shīzhīháolí, chàzhīqiānlǐ, literally “a failure of micrometres and centimetres, a discrepancy of a thousand li (five hundred kilometres)”)

lige ved og næsten slår ingen mand af hesten

чуть-чу́ть не счита́ется (čutʹ-čútʹ ne sčitájetsja, literally “‘a little’ doesn't count”)

про́мах есть про́мах (prómax jestʹ prómax, literally “a miss is a miss”)


chancellor

chancellors (plural)
chanceler (alternative)
chanceller (alternative)
chancellour (alternative)
chancelor (alternative)
chancelour (alternative)
chaunceler (alternative)
chaunceller (alternative)
chauncellor (alternative)
chauncellour (alternative)
chauncelor (alternative)
chauncelour (alternative)

/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/

/ˈt͡ʃænsələ/

Angela Merkel
Frick Collection
Hans Holbein the Younger
Thomas More

From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, chanceler, canceler (“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancellārius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancellī (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -ārius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use).
The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.

refn

From the Frick Collection in New York City, New York, USA.

مُسْتَشَار

senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government

The state [of Virginia, USA] is divided into 9 chancery districts, in each of which a superiour court of chancery is held. There are 4 chancellors.

1821–1822, “Virginia State Law and Regulations”, in William Griffith, editor, Annual Law Register of the United States, volume III, Burlington, N.J.: David Allinson, published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph VI (The “Superiour Courts of Chancery”), page 321, column 1:

In some of the states, as New York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal, having its appropriate judge, or chancellor, and officers.

1864, John Bouvier, “CHANCERY”, in A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, […], 11th edition, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: George W[illiam] Childs, […], →OCLC, paragraph 3, page 219, column 2:

[John] Blair [Jr.] began his long judicial career when the state legislature—following the establishment of Virginia's judicial department in October, 1777—elected him one of five judges of the newly organized General Court. By 1779 he had become chief justice of that court, and, in November, 1780, he became chancellor of the three-member High Court of Chancery.

1985, “John Blair: Appointment as Associate Justice in 1789”, in Maeva Marcus, James R. Perry, editors, The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1800, volumes 1, part 1 (Appointments and Proceedings), New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 54:

(US, law) The chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one exercising equity jurisdiction).


paramedic

/ˌpæɹəˈmɛdɪk/

medic

functionally synonymous in some contexts but not necessarily idiomatically interchangeable

(US) A person who is licensed at the state or national level to practice medical interventions in an emergency prehospital setting.


open house

We′re holding an open house this weekend at 77 Parkway Road.

I took my sign out of the boot and put it up that morning, then arranged the advertising and open house viewings as soon as I returned to my office.

2009, Peter Yong Huang, The Australian Dream and $1 Properties, page 133:

Avoid boredom. Avoid starvation. Why hang around a homeowner′s refrigerator all day while sitting at a deadbeat open house? Do what they have done in Australia for years. Hold multiple open houses in one day.

2011, Danielle Kennedy, Warren Jamison, How to List and Sell Real Estate, 4th edition, page 155:

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia) A period of time, usually several hours in a day, during which a house which is for sale is open for inspection or tour by interested parties.

näyttö

(chiefly US, Australian) time when a house for sale is open for inspection

(US, education) A casual school event where the school invites parents or guardians to tour their child's school and meet the teachers.

vanhempaintilaisuus

(US) casual school event to which the school invites parents or guardians


randomize

en-verb

randomize (third-person singular simple present randomizes, present participle randomizing, simple past and past participle randomized)

randomizes (present singular third-person)
randomizing (participle present)
randomized (participle past)
randomized (past)

US and Oxford British English standard spelling of randomise.


Homecoming Queen

en-noun

Homecoming Queen (plural Homecoming Queens)

(US) In colleges and high schools, a young lady chosen by her peers to reign over the traditional activities associated with the Homecoming football game.


homecoming

From Middle English hom-comyng, home komyng, home-cumyng, home-commynge, equivalent to home + coming. Probably an alteration of earlier Middle English hom-come, homkome, hame-come, ham-cume, from Old English hāmcyme (“homecoming; return”).

der

Many alumni come back for homecoming, and many freshmen are advised to flee.

homecoming ball

homecoming game

homecoming party

homecoming rave

(Canada, US, also attributive) In colleges and high schools, a tradition centred around a football game, a parade and the "coronation" of a Homecoming Queen.

harvest homecoming
harvest homecoming#English

Ellipsis of harvest homecoming.; A traditional (street) party and/or dance near the start of the school year, at around fall mid-terms. Traditionally marking the start of harvest break, where students go home in autumn to harvest the crops on the family farms.


privateer

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪə/

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪɚ/

From private + -eer, probably after volunteer.

(motor racing, chiefly Canada, US) A private individual entrant into a race or competition who does not have the backing of a large, professional team.

yksityiskuski

motor racing: private individual entrant


dinette

(US, military, informal) A submarine's mess hall.


betty

betties (plural)
bettee (alternative)
Betty (alternative)

Betty Rubble
Green's Dictionary of Slang

From Betty (nickname for “Elizabeth”). In thieves’ cant a tool for wrenching locked doors is also called a Bess (from “Elizabeth”) or a Jenny. The “attractive woman” sense may relate to the character Betty Rubble in the cartoon The Flintstones.

On olive oil in casks, twenty cents per gallon; olive salad oil in bottles or betties, thirty per centum ad valorem

1841, Acts and Resolutions Passed at the First Session of the Twenty-Seventh Congress of the United States:

(US, archaic) A pear-shaped bottle covered with straw, in which olive oil is sometimes brought from Italy; a Florence flask.


honeydew

en-noun

honeydew (countable and uncountable, plural honeydews)

The noun is derived from honey + dew, originally believed to be a form of dew that fell from the sky like rain onto plants (see sense 1).
The adjective is derived from the noun.

(uncountable, originally US) In full honeydew tobacco: a fine sort of tobacco moistened with a sweet substance (originally molasses).


take five

en-verb

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

takes five (present singular third-person)
taking five (participle present)
took five (past)
taken five (participle past)
take a five (alternative)

Hey, stop fighting! Take five, people!

(US, Canada, informal) To take a short, typically five-minute, break from some activity.


zaibatsu

Borrowed from Japanese 財閥(ざいばつ) (zaibatsu), coined from Middle Chinese 財 (d͡zoj, “wealth”) + 閥 (bjot, “powerful family”). Doublet of chaebol.


honeypot

honeypots (plural)
honey pot (alternative)

From Middle English hwny pott; equivalent to honey + pot.

(figuratively) Something or someone similarly sweet or enticing, particularly:

(US slang, dated) A romantic pet name; "honey".


skell

* Perhaps from skeleton, describing the often skeletal appearance of drug users.
* Alternatively, from skellum or skelder ("to beg in the streets"). Used by Ben Jonson, 1599.
* In the sense of a suspicious person, popularized by the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.

Did you see those two skells lying in the doorway?

(slang, US, New York) a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.

(slang, US, New York, police jargon) A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler.


scrooge

scrooge (third-person singular simple present scrooges, present participle scrooging, simple past and past participle scrooged)

scrooges (present singular third-person)
scrooging (participle present)
scrooged (participle past)
scrooged (past)

So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged, then he scrooged again[.]

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 12:

(UK, US, dialect) To crush or press; to squeeze (past, into, together, etc.).


NIST

w:National Institute of Standards and Technology

(government, US) Acronym of National Institute of Standards and Technology.


witching hour

/ˈwɪt͡ʃɪŋ ˌaʊə/

/ˈwɪt͡ʃɪŋ ˌaʊ(ə)ɹ/

From witching (“of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers”, adjective) + hour. Sense 1 (“midnight”) was popularized by the reference to the “witching time of night” in the play Hamlet (written c. 1599–1602; published 1603) by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616): see the quotation.

compound

(originally and chiefly US, stock market) The final hour of trading each month during which certain stock options expire, leading to a higher trading volume and greater price volatility.


centered

en-adj

centered (comparative more centered, superlative most centered)

more centered (comparative)
most centered (superlative)
centred (alternative)

(especially Canada, US) emotionally stable, calm, serene; having a balanced mind


upshot

Presumed from up- + shot, referring to the last shot in a match of archery.

I'm not interested in hearing all the details. Just give me the upshot.

One of the major upshots of prefab building is its decreased environmental impact.

(US) A positive aspect or consequence, often either unexpected or in contrast to other negative aspects.


bootlegger reverse

en-noun

bootlegger reverse (plural bootlegger reverses)

(US, automotive) An automobile driving maneuver where the driver puts the vehicle in a controlled skid in order to quickly reverse the vehicle's bearing to the opposite direction.


agita

/ˈæ.d͡ʒɪ.tə/

From Italian (southern dialectal pronunciation of) acido (“acid, heartburn”). The non-medical sense, upset of the mind rather than the stomach, developed under the influence of agitation. Doublet of acid.

Why should any of the products of culture matter when the current political moment is rife with agita and rage, precluding progress or even respectful discussion?

2020, Susan E. Kirtley, editor, With Great Power Comes Great Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning, and Comics:


honky-tonk

honky-tonk (countable and uncountable, plural honky-tonks)

honky-tonks (plural)
honky tonk (alternative)
honkytonk (alternative)

From honk-a-tonk (“a cheap nightclub”), possibly imitative.

But I made a vow to the moon and stars / That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars / And kill that man who gave me that awful name

1969, Shel Silverstein (lyrics and music), “A Boy Named Sue”, performed by Johnny Cash:

Talking 'bout in Mexico (Mexico) / In a honky-tonk down in Mexico

1975, James Taylor (lyrics and music), “Mexico”, in Gorilla, →OCLC:

(US) A bar or nightclub that caters to Southern patrons and provides country music for entertainment.


soda

soda (countable and uncountable, plural sodas)

From Italian soda. Sense 4 is an ellipsis of soda water.

(chiefly US, uncountable) Any carbonated (usually sweet) soft drink.

agua (colloquial - short for agua gaseosa)

fresco

colloquial - regional and working class usage

(chiefly US, countable) A glass, bottle or can of this drink.


elector

electors (plural)
electour (alternative)

From Middle English electour (“one with a right to vote in electing some office, elector”), borrowed from Late Latin ēlēctor (“chooser, selector; voter, elector”), from Latin ēligere (“to elect”) + -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns), equivalent to elect + -or. Ēligere is the present active infinitive of ēligō (“to extract, pluck or root out; (figurative) to choose, elect, pick out”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + legō (“to appoint, choose, select”) (from Proto-Italic *legō (“to gather, collect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)).

der

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows / Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

1787 September 17, “[Constitution of the United States]”, in The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, archived from the original on 2020-01-01, Article II, section 1:

The electors were originally designed to be the agents of a State, armed with plenary authority to cast its vote for President and Vice-President in such manner as the agents themselves or a majority of them might will, all danger of abuse of the trust being intended to be averted by the selection of worthy and fitting instruments for the execution of this high office. [...] Electors are now the mere instruments of party, "party puppets," as Justice [Joseph Philo] Bradley termed them, to perform a function which an automaton without intelligence or volition might as fittingly discharge.

1906, J[ohn] Hampden Dougherty, “The Electoral System should be Abolished—Defects in the Provisions of the Constitution Regarding the Presidential Succession”, in The Electoral System of the United States: Its History, together with a Study of the Perils that have Attended Its Operations, […], New York, N.Y., London: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons […], →OCLC, page 250:

The secondary electors will be formed into twelve electoral colleges according to the religious community to which they belong: the number of colleges to be allotted to each religious community will be proportionate to the number of secondary electors belonging to the several communities; and each electoral college will elect one member of the [Legislative] Council.

1922 February 16, “The Future of Palestine. Administration Outlined.”, in The Near East, volume XXI, number 562, London: […] St. Clements Press […], →OCLC, page 213:

Presidents have never been elected directly by individual voters. They vote for electors from their respective state. Each state then chooses its electors that equals to its representation in Congress. The electors then vote for the president. In most states, the candidate who wins the popular vote also wins the electoral vote of that state.

2009, Michael Duvalle, “Electoral Votes”, in Complete Book of Historic Presidential Firsts: With Fascinating Details & Factual Tidbits, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 260:

Faithless electors were nothing new in Wallace County. When President [John Fitzgerald] Kennedy won the election of 1960, Democratic electors from Alabama and Mississippi—incensed over Kennedy's stance on civil rights—tried to sabotage democracy by voting for Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia—a former Klansman who wasn't even on the ballot. Had enough electors followed suit, the election of 1960 would have been thrown into the House [of Representatives], and [Richard] Nixon might have won.

2015, Pate McMichael, “Election Night: Tuesday, November 5, 1968”, in Klandestine: How a Klan Lawyer and a Checkbook Journalist Helped James Earl Ray Cover Up His Crime, Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Review Press, →ISBN, part V (Stand Up for America, 1967–1968), page 176:

(politics) A person eligible to vote in an election; a member of an electorate, a voter.

A member of an electoral college; specifically (US) an official selected by a state as a member of the Electoral College to elect the president and vice president of the United States.

ընտրիչ

member of an electoral college; official selected by a state as a member of the Electoral College to elect the president and vice president of the United States


efficiency

en-noun

efficiency (countable and uncountable, plural efficiencies)

səmərə

extent to which a resource is used for the intended purpose

I have an efficiency available June through July.

fully-furnished efficiencies


sweetheart

[ˈswiˌɾ(ʱ)ɑɹt̠̚]

From Middle English swete hert, swete heorte (phrase of endearment); equivalent to sweet + heart.

(US) A female member of a college or university fraternity.


FNG

2003: "Two agents in a dark blue sedan were waiting for me. One of them, Jim Heekin, took charge immediately, and also put me in my place. "You must be the FNG," he said as we shook hands." — https://web.archive.org/web/20050403063411/http://www.twbookmark.com/features/jamespatterson/chapters/bigbadwolf5.html

2004: "The other guy is hollering "F-N-G!" He's saying "Your FNG is here!" And I didn’t understand what FNG meant. I soon learned: Fucking New Guy. Or we called them Cherries, meaning brand-new guy in Vietnam." — https://web.archive.org/web/20050313164139/http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic30-3-4/warstr.html

2009: "The FNG here says that we have too much ammunition." District 9

"So, this isn't the first time new personnel have been improperly briefed on the special schedule for 8 September, but it is the first time it's been fatal. Sampi-5243 have our hands full dealing with the actual breach, and since we can't have random FNGs walking into our little anniversary party a bit of inter-Sectional cooperation would be a big help."

2020 July 24, HarryBlank, “SCP-5243”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-09-02:

(chiefly US, military, slang) Initialism of fucking new guy.


kinfolk

kinfolk (countable and uncountable, plural kinfolks or kinfolk)

kinfolks (plural)
kinfolk (plural)
kinsfolk (alternative)

‘You have kinfolks here though. Women. That used to live in this house.’

1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 122:

That says something about the nature of man—his fantasies of death that get enacted into the slaughter of man by man—kinfolk or strangers in droves—on every possible mindless occasion.

1982, Bernard Malamud, “Cohn’s Island”, in God’s Grace, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux:

Three 6 Mafia, them my kinfolk.

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:


stampede

→ German: Stampede

The noun is derived from Mexican Spanish estampida (“a stampede”), from Spanish estampida, estampido (“a bang, a crack (sound)”), from Old Occitan estampida, from Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌼𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (stampjan), from Proto-Germanic *stampōną (“to compress, squeeze; to stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *stembʰ- (“to trample down”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(Canada, US) An event at which cowboy skills are displayed; a rodeo.


red ant

(US) The pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis).

Any of various red-coloured ants.
The pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis).


red cent

Probably from the color of the copper from which the coin was minted. Prior to 1909, a brighter nickel-based cent was used, often called the white cent. It is also possible that the red originally referred to the obverse bearing an Indian head stamp. See Indian Head cent.

I wouldn't pay one red cent for a ticket.

Snorkey. But I ain't got two cents. What's a fellow to do if he hasn't got a red?

1867, Augustin Daly, Under the Gaslight, Act III, Scene 2, page 28:

Day by day for two-and-a-half years, I've seen resources diminishing, disappearing. We're begging, damn near down on our knees, and not getting one red cent.

1989 December 10, John Zeh, quoting Tony Allen, “AIDS Groups' Execs Arrested In D.C.”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 22, page 1:

My dad said he wasn't going to pay the bastards ten red cents.

2011, Jann Arden, Falling Backwards: A Memoir, page 158:

(US, colloquial, chiefly in the negative) A very small amount of money.

rød øre

a very small amount of money in the negative


color wheel

en-noun

color wheel (countable and uncountable, plural color wheels)

(US) Alternative spelling of colour wheel


squadron

squadrons (plural)
to: sqn (abbreviation)

(US, military, U.S. Space Force) A spaceforce unit; multiple squadrons make up an operations delta or a support garrison.


storied

en-adj

storied (comparative more storied, superlative most storied)

more storied (comparative)
most storied (superlative)
storeyed (alternative)

[W]hen vvee ſpeake of the Intercolumniation or diſtance, vvhich is due to each Order, vve meane in a Dorique, Ionicall, Corinthian Porch, or Cloiſter, or the like of one Contignation, and not in Storied buildings.

1624, Henry Wotton, “The Seate, and the Worke”, in The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC, I. part, pages 39–40:

Just as the first ray of the rising sun shot like a golden arrow athwart this storied desolation we gained the further gateway of the outer wall[.]

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

(chiefly US) Having multiple storeys; multistoried.


penitentiary

pĕn'·ĭ·tĕnʹ·shə·rē

/ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/

From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (“place of penitence”), from Latin paenitentia (“penitence”), term used by the Quakers in Pennsylvania during the 1790s, describing a place for penitents to dwell upon their sins.

der

For quotations using this term, see Citations:penitentiary.

(chiefly US) A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.


nanometer

[ˈnænəˌmiɾɚ]

[ˈnɛənəˌmiɾɚ]

We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.

2012 January 25, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 2012-11-14, page 23:

Images also indicated that gel porosity was in the nanometer range, similar to previously characterized hyperporous beads generated using the same sol-gel methods, which limits mobility of encapsulated cells (Fig 2B ) [23 ].

2016 January 14, “Toward Bioremediation of Methylmercury Using Silica Encapsulated Escherichia coli Harboring the mer Operon”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

It is noteworthy that biological phenomena occur at scales ranging from nanometers to megameters, and from nanoseconds to gigaannums.

2017, Ashok K. Goel et al., “Is Biologically Inspired Design Domain Independent?”, in John S. Gero, editor, Design Computing and Cognition ’16, →ISBN, page 157:


one-drop rule

[T]he notorious historian William Estabrook Chancellor […] helped assemble a controversial biographical portrait accusing President Warren Harding of covering up his family’s “colored” past. […] Under the one-drop rule of American race relations, Chancellor claimed, the country had inadvertently elected its “first Negro president.”

2008 April 6, Beverly Gage, “Our First Black President?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2017-01-08:

It was the wadjelas that created the ‘one drop’ rule, that defined anybody with a single bla(c)k ancestor as black. They did that to separate people, to create a caste system, to protect the notion of whiteness, to protect whiteness from the merest ‘impurity’, from the merest influx of colour.

2021 November 7, Claire [G.] Coleman, “Not quite blak enough: ‘The people who think I am too white to be Aboriginal are all white’”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly US) The notion that one drop of black blood (i.e., any African ancestry at all) makes a person black.


a

(chiefly US) Alternative spelling of a.m. (“ante meridiem”) or am


Administration

(chiefly US, often nonstandard) Alternative letter-case form of administration


Aggie

A diminutive shortening of agricultural, from the names of any of several land-grant colleges in the US.

(US) An agricultural school, such as one of the state land-grant colleges esp. one with the phrase "Agricultural & Mechanical" in its name

(US) A student or alumnus of such a school esp. a student or alumnus of Texas A&M University


Arctic

From Middle French artique (with -c- reintroduced after Latin in the 17th century), from Latin arcticus, from Ancient Greek ἀρκτικός (arktikós, “northern, of the (Great) Bear”), from ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear, Ursa Major”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos (“bear”). Cognate with Latin ursus.

etymon

frm>artique>pertaining to the North Pole

der

(US, now chiefly historical) A warm waterproof overshoe.


Athletics

(US, sports) Nickname for many athletic teams whose full name includes "Athletics".


Atlas

en-proper noun

Atlas (countable and uncountable, plural Atlases)

From Latin Ā̆tlās, from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας (Átlas), either from ἁ- (ha-, copulative prefix) + Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“bear, undergo, endure”) or of Pre-Greek origin.

der

(astronautics, military, US) An SM-65, an early ICBM, soon developed into a long-lived orbital launch vehicle series.


Atlas

(astronautics, military, US) A particular model or individual specimen of the Atlas missile and launch vehicle line.


Bailey

Bailie (alternative)
Baily (alternative)
Bayly (alternative)
Bayley (alternative)
Bailee (alternative)
Baylee (alternative)

(chiefly US) A female given name transferred from the surname.


Beantown

From bean + town, in reference to Boston baked beans.

(US) Nickname for the city of Boston, Massachusetts


Beast

Plebes spend their first summer at Cadet Basic Training — Beast Barracks — where they get soldierized.

2014, David Lipsky, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, page 8:

I was able to keep up with the herd and evade the Beast. Cadet Basic Training ended with a rigorous twenty four-hour exercise that included a twelve-mile, rite-of-passage road march to West Point […]

2019, Conrad Taylor, PATH to FREEDOM: My Story of Perseverance:

(US, military, slang) A cadet's basic training at West Point.


Bell

(US, Canada) a telephone utility; a Baby Bell.


Ben

(US, slang) A US$100 bill, which bears a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Often used in the plural form to indicate large sums of money.


Benjamin

Benjamins (plural)
benjamin (alternative)

From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".

cog

بِنْ يَومِين

Arabic بِنْ يَومِين

Fuck the past, let's dwell on the 500SL, the E&J and ginger ale / The way my pockets swell to the rims with Benjamins

1994, “One More Chance”, in Ready to Die, performed by The Notorious B.I.G.:

Swimmin' in women wit they own condominiums / Five plus fives, who drive millenniums / It's all about the Benjamins, what?

1997, “It's All About the Benjamins”, in No Way Out, performed by Puff Daddy ft. Lil' Kim, the Lox, and The Notorious B.I.G.:

Health Care: It's All About the Benjamins [title]

2006 April 12, Dean Ornish, “Health Care: It's All About the Benjamins”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 2006-11-28:

(US slang, often in the plural) A $100 bill, which bears a portrait of Benjamin Franklin.


Benny

From the name of Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait is on the bill.

Money coming in plenty / Twenties, fifties and Bennies

2012, “Vision of Excellence”, performed by Purpose & Confidence:


Billy

Just then a squadron of "Billys" -- twin-engined B-25 Mitchell land-based bombers -- flew overhead ….

2003 Bradley, James Flyboys. New York: Little, Brown and Company. Ch 7

(US, nickname) The B-25 twin-engine bomber aircraft used during World War Two, commonly called the "B-25 Mitchell" in honor of U.S. Army General William "Billy" Mitchell.