belly up to the bar

en-verb

belly up to the bar (third-person singular simple present bellies up to the bar, present participle bellying up to the bar, simple past and past participle bellied up to the bar)

bellies up to the bar (present singular third-person)
bellying up to the bar (participle present)
bellied up to the bar (participle past)
bellied up to the bar (past)

The origin of the phrase "belly up to the bar" can be traced back as early as the 1920s, when it was present in stories like The Wails and Tales of a Tropical Tramp by Cecil Villiers.

Allen declines to discuss acquisition plans. . . . Nonetheless, W. Whitley Hawkins, whom Allen recently promoted to president from executive vice-president for marketing, asks the question out loud: "Are we going to belly up to the bar? All Pan Am assets for sale have some appeal to us."

1991 June 2, “If Delta's Going To Make A Move, 'It's Now Or Never'”, in Businessweek, retrieved 2015-04-05:

"[T]he congressional committees aren't gonna belly up to the bar and say, 'We authorized this,'" says Scheuer.

2005 March 4, Rebecca Leung, “CIA Flying Suspects to Torture?”, in CBS News, retrieved 2015-03-25:

“When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar,” Mr. Clyburn said.

2008 April 25, Mark Leibovich, “Black Leader in the House Sharply Criticizes Bill Clinton”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-04-05:

"They're going to have to belly up to the bar and take up these difficult issues," said G. William Hoagland, who served as director of budget and appropriations.

2014 December 14, Deirdre Shesgreen, “Boehner, McConnell face big to-do list in next Congress”, in USA Today, retrieved 2015-03-25:

(chiefly US, idiomatic) To commit oneself to a challenge or task; to accept a responsibility; to acknowledge a fact.


Repugnantcan

(US, slang, derogatory) A member or supporter of the Republican Party of the United States.


fast times

Popularized by usage in the title of the 1981 novel Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the 1982 film of the same name.

McCourtney, however, recognizes the need for more urgency in these euphoric days of dot.com stock offerings. Underscoring the fast times, Venrock just lost one of its three Silicon Valley partners.

2000 April 3, Robert Lenzner, “Personality Change”, in Forbes, retrieved 2015-04-07:

The book was said to contain salacious details about the fast times of Danielle Staub, one of the principals on “Real Housewives.”

2009 July 15, Virginia Heffernan, “Bibliovision”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Prosecutors say Mandell treated his brokers to fast times in London, spending $1.3 million at the nicest hotels in Europe and bringing plenty of petty cash for strip clubs and prostitutes.

2012 May 3, “'Bad boy' ex-investment manager sentenced in NYC”, in Businessweek, retrieved 2015-04-07:

(chiefly US, set phrase) A period of time characterized by quickly-paced activity, especially involving extravagant or risky conduct, sexual behavior, or other exciting events.


corn-cracker

corn-crackers (plural)
corn cracker (alternative)
corncracker (alternative)

Our summons was answered by its owner, a well-to-do, substantial, middle-aged planter, wearing the ordinary homespun of the district, but evidently of a station in life much above the common "corn-crackers" I had seen at the country meeting-house.

1862, James R. Gilmore, chapter 12, in Among the Pines, or, South in Secession Time:

(US, archaic, mildly derogatory) A lower-class white person in the southern US.

A subscriber at Burnsville inquires for a corn cracker which he can work by attaching it to Warren's horse power. There is a corn cracker made here, but it is not a very superior machine.

1847 August, The Prairie Farmer, Volumes 6-8, "Editor's Table", p. 261 (Google books)

(US, archaic) An agricultural machine for cracking corn kernels.


maverick brand

(US) A brand originated by a dishonest cattleman, who, without owning any stock, gradually accumulates a herd by finding mavericks.


fat sandwich

Nationwide, Rutgers is more known for its grease trucks then its highly rated business school. […] It is said that you are not really a Rutgers student until you have had a fat sandwich.

2005, Taryn Lynn Sauthoff, Omid Gohari, Rutgers New Brunswick College Prowler Off the Record, page 58:

At the top of the food chain is PJ's, whose pizza wins high accolades, and whose menu of fat sandwiches (a local delicacy that stuffs as many deep-fried items into a roll as possible) is extensive.

2012, Renee Pires, Day Trips from Philadelphia, page 43:

(US, New Jersey) A submarine sandwich containing various fast food items such as burgers, fries, and gyro meat.


wintry mix

(US, meteorology) A mixture of freezing rain, ice pellets, and snow.


mule killer

(US, Southern US) Any of various unrelated arthropods, including whip scorpions, velvet ants, mantises, wheel bugs, and walking stick insects, that have been erroneously believed to kill livestock by stinging them or being swallowed.


frammis

Unknown. Originated in the US in the 1930s; perhaps merely a nonsense word.

Right now all his spare time is spent at Moseleys, roller skating for hours on end. "Foozle the frammis snaffle," says Bob, "or don't you like it?"

1938, The Year Book of the Class of 1938: Dedham High School, page 33, column 1:

Are you satisfied that your multiplicative inverse rests securely on its Cartesian coordinates with its cosecant separated from the frammis by the rigid transformation of its orthogonal projection?

1938, The American Biology Teacher, volume 24, page 341, column 2:

"Frammis on the Antispode": The doubletalk heading this paragraph takes the sting out of Mr. Ruark's comment, even if his gay colored foulard Sinatra bow tie didn't contradict his comment[.]

1947, Men's Wear, volume 114, page 90, column 1:

"Listen, I caulderoled the nurse for a minute and sneaked down the frammis." "What?" "I had to talk to you."

1949 January 1, Collier's Magazine, page 56, column 4:

But how can they react helpfully to orders that sound like, "Shift the shackle on the frammis to the glotz"?

1963 May 25, Mademoiselle, page 225, column 2:

And what they added up to was curtains - for him. He'd really stepped into something this time: a Grade-A jam, an honest-to-Hannah, double-distilled frammis.

1957 May, Jim Thompson, Alfred Hitchcock's Suspense Magazine, page 18, column 1:

(US, slang) A confidence trick; a swindle.


water tender

(US, naval, historical) A first-class petty officer in charge in a fireroom, who supplies the boilers with water, sees that fires are properly cleaned and stoked, etc.


Kaintuck

His single shot had clipped a boulder right by Coe's head, just the way a Kaintuck rifleman barks a squirrel.

c. 1958, Theodore Sturgeon, "The Man Who Figured Everything" in The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Vol. X (2005 North Atlantic Books edition) (Google books preview)

I felt at home in the city. Me, a Kaintuck country cracker.

2009, Robert Hicks, A Separate Country, →ISBN:

(US, dialect) Of or pertaining to the US state of Kentucky.


Kaintuck

"Sech deescriptions . . . brings back my yearlin' days in good old Tennessee. We-all is a heaplike you Kaintucks down our way."

1902, Alfred Henry Lewis, Wolfville Days, ch. 9 Colonel Sterett's Reminiscences (Google books preview)

There was a time when January would have been surprised that a Kaintuck could accomplish such mathematics.

1998, Barbara Hambly, Fever Season, →ISBN:

(US, dialect) A native or resident of Kentucky, especially one who has a rustic character.

Most New Orleans citizens . . . were used to the Kentucky riverboatmen, the Kaintucks others called them; they called themselves alligator-horses, and they were largely a rough and tumble breed.

1974, Sylvia Wrobel and George Grider, Isaac Shelby: Kentucky's First Governor and Hero of Three Wars, Cumberland Press, p. 130

By 1800 as many as ten thousand "Kaintucks" — the local term for boatmen from anywhere north of Natchez — annually journeyed on the trace, the most direct overland route home.

1996, Arthur P. Miller Jr., Trails Across America, →ISBN, page 76:

To the people along the lower Mississippi River, the flatboat men eventually came to be known as Kaintucks, whether or not they hailed from Kentucky.

2008, James A. Crutchfield, It Happened on the Mississippi River, →ISBN, page 44:

(US, dialect, obsolete) A worker, especially one having a crude or rowdy manner, on a boat that transported commercial goods on the Mississippi River.


Kaintuck

Si Higgins he's ben over to Kaintuck n' married a high-toned gal thar, outen the fust families.

1873, Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, chapter 1, in The Gilded Age:

"There ain't no sech hunter as Jim ever came out of Virginny, no, nor out of Caroliny, neither. It was him that fust telled me of Kaintuck."

1921, John Buchan, chapter 12, in The Path of the King:


panel truck

(US, Canada) A small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body.


best-by date

best before date
best before date#English

(Canada, US) Synonym of best before date


doodie up

doodie up (third-person singular simple present doodies up, present participle doodying up, simple past and past participle doodied up)

doodies up (present singular third-person)
doodying up (participle present)
doodied up (participle past)
doodied up (past)

All over that big ole doodied up house she walks and talks and I follow.

2009, Kathryn Stockett, The Help, →ISBN:

By the time they're seniors they don't get doodied up anymore to come into the Duane Reade.

1985, Jane Willis, Men Without Dates; And, Slam!: Two One-act Plays, →ISBN, page 48:

When I went inside, there was this very pretty blond headed lady in a nice dress and her hair all doodied up.

2010, Ray E. Murray, Moses' Rod, →ISBN, page 15:

(US, slang) To decorate or dress in a fancy way in order to make attractive.


doodie head

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

Crystal stepped forward and shouted, "you talk to your scabs?! You big doodie head!"

2011, Korin Gould, Cellophane Friends, →ISBN:

My husband reminded me that my 3-year-old nephew had earlier called me a doodie head.

2000, Korin Gould, The 100 Greatest Entertainers 1950-2000, →ISBN, page 74:

He screams. "Shut up down there! You doodie head!"

1984, John Bowers, In the Land of Nyx: Night and Its Inhabitants, page 2:


bro-hug

It wasn't even one of the one-armed bro-hugs that we usually do, it was a full-on hug with my arms wrapped all the way around his pudgy body.

2012, John G. Hartness, Back in Black, Bell Bridge Books, →ISBN:

“I'm proud of you,” Brees whispered in Griffin's ear when they met at midfield after the game for the traditional quarterback bro-hug.

2013, Dave Sheinin, RG3: The Promise, Plume, →ISBN:

He and Joe did that bro-hug thing that guys did that was not quite a hug but was more than a handshake.

2014, Erin Nicholas, Getting in the Spirit, →ISBN:

(US slang) A hug shared between male colleagues or friends, especially a quick, physically reserved one.


county brownie

Named for their brown uniforms and cars.


John Q. Law

Now if we cross the path of any John Q. Laws, nobody does a fuckin' thing 'til I do something.

1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel):


moon cricket

From moon + cricket. Perhaps a reference to slaves singing songs during the night.

Her Dad had been someone her Mom didn't know in Houston. I always used to joke, "Maybe he was a Moon-Cricket from Alabama," but Trish is totally not black.

2018, Tzvi Peckar III, Mini Thins, page 285:

Quoted in 2020, Leslie Picca, Joe Feagin, Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage
When we were leaving it was getting dark and my husband says to me “look at all of those moon crickets.” I confusingly asked him what he had meant by that. When we got into the car, he explained to me that all of the black people walking around under the moonlight look like a bunch of crickets scurrying around.

Rooney Baxter, The Bluegrass Kid (page 182), 2015.
They don't have a good enough reason to come at us now. And besides, moon crickets do drive-bys. This feels like a message from someone else.

(US, slang, ethnic slur) A black person.


rehearsal dinner

en-noun

rehearsal dinner (plural rehearsal dinners)

The rehearsal dinner was held at a fancy restaurant.

(US) A formal dinner for the people participating in a wedding ceremony, usually held after the wedding rehearsal on the night before the ceremony itself.


devil's rope

devil's rope (countable and uncountable, plural devil's ropes)

The devil's rope was originally designed to keep cows from roaming, Indians from encroaching, and the cowboys from singing their lonesome ballads.

2011, Linh Dinh, Love Like Hate: A Novel, →ISBN, page 94:


movie palace

From the romantically decorated facades and interiors of the theaters.

(US, historical) An elaborately decorated motion picture theater, principally constructed from 1910 to 1950.


heelpath

From heel + path, a pun on towpath and toe (another part of the foot).

The Century
The Cowles found convenient spiles sunk in the heelpath.

(US) The bank of a canal opposite, and corresponding to, that of the towpath.


Class Day

Princeton's Class Day speaker in 2006 was Bill Clinton

(US, education) In colleges and universities, a day of the commencement season on which the senior class celebrates the completion of its course by exercises conducted by the members, such as the reading of the class histories and poem, the delivery of the class oration, the planting of the class ivy, etc.


momtrepreneur

/ˌmɒm.tɹə.pɹəˈnɜː/

/ˌmɑm.tɹə.pɹəˈnʊɚ/

2018, Kristen Luciani, Venture Forward, Sand Hill Romance LLC
Kristen Luciani is a USA Today bestselling romance author and momtrepreneur with a penchant for stilettos, Silicon Valley, plunging necklines and grapefruit martinis. As a deep-rooted romantic who prefers juicy drama to fill the lives of […]

(US, informal) A mother who runs a business out of her home, implicitly to earn extra income outside of traditional employment.


college-goer

As one teacher, first-generation college-goer herself, argued, I know kids go on college visits.

2006, Lori Chajet, "But is what We Give Them Enough?", →ISBN, page 90:


antigodlin

(US, dialect) crosswise; askew; not straight or directly opposite or adjacent


somedays

(US) On certain days, or at certain times; sometimes.


granger road

The largest single class of 4-8-4's - Rock Island's 65 5000's - was ordered by a granger road as early as 1929.

1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co, page 40:

(US, rail transport, historical) A railroad used mainly for transporting the produce of farmers or grangers.


water pocket

(US, chiefly Western US) A waterhole in the bed of an intermittent stream, especially the bowl at the foot of a cliff over which the stream leaps when in the flood stage.


USOS

(ISS, space science, US) Initialism of United States Orbital Segment. (the part of the International Space Station that was contributed by the United States of America, or using NASA specification-based modules)


dipsey

dipseys (plural)
dipsie (alternative)
dipsy (alternative)

(US, dialect) A sinker attached to a fishing line.

(US, dialect) A line having several branches, each with such a sinker, used in deep-sea fishing.


NOID

(US, government) Abbreviation of notice of intent to deny.


double pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 22- or (US) 24-point.


double small pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 21- or (US) 22-point.


double English

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double pica and double great primer, standardized as 28-point.


double great primer

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double English and meridian, standardized as 36-point.


Continental

British North America
British North America

Continental Congress
Continental Congress

(historical, US, UK) Pertaining to the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.


Continental

(historical, US, UK) A denizen of the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.


unass

en-verb

unass (third-person singular simple present unasses, present participle unassing, simple past and past participle unassed)

unasses (present singular third-person)
unassing (participle present)
unassed (participle past)
unassed (past)

We “unassed” the barracks and slept outside on the lawn the remainder of the night.

2005, Herman Flora, Miz Suzie's Boy, page 248:

(US military slang, transitive) To get out of (a vehicle or building).


get up someone's ass

get up someone's ass (third-person singular simple present gets up someone's ass, present participle getting up someone's ass, simple past got up someone's ass, past participle gotten up someone's ass)

gets up someone's ass (present singular third-person)
getting up someone's ass (participle present)
got up someone's ass (past)
gotten up someone's ass (participle past)
get up someone's arse (alternative)

(rare, vulgar, US) to irritate or annoy intensely


nutraloaf

(US) A bland food made from various ingredients mixed together and baked into a loaf, served to prisoners instead of normal meals as a disciplinary measure.


turn signal

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

(chiefly US, automotive) Each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which is used to indicate the vehicle is moving left or right.


butt lover

butt lovers (plural)
buttlover (alternative)

(Canada, US, slang) A person who is physically attracted to people's buttocks.


it's been real

A few minutes later, D.J. stood up from the table. "Well, it's been real," she said.

1993, Devra Newberger Speregen, Phone Call from a Flamingo, →ISBN, page 19:

(US) An informal farewell indicating the speaker's enjoyment of the time spent together. Often used ironically.


Suckerville

(Canada, US, figurative) A location full of gullible people.


rowhome

(US) One of a row of houses situated side by side and sharing a common wall.


cannibal sandwich

en-noun

cannibal sandwich (plural cannibal sandwiches)

(US) A sandwich made from raw ground beef with onions, on rye bread, and seasoned. Traditionally served at Christmastime in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.


scramble dinner

scramble dinner (plural scramble dinners)


doodinkus

(US, Kansas, Nebraska, informal) thingamabob


renthouse

The company has built pretty little whitewashed renthouses with front porches and fenced-in yards. There's enough room for flowers in the front yard and a vegetable garden in the back.

2008, Helen Lavinia Underwood, Under Cedar Shades:

(US, Arkansas) A house that is rented out.


diddledees

I found 'em way hidden under the pine diddledees.

2011, John Rogers, The Cut of Her Jib, page 61:

(US, New England, regional) Pine needles.


slicky slide

(US, dialect) A children's playground slide.


make the riffle

en-verb

make the riffle (third-person singular simple present makes the riffle, present participle making the riffle, simple past and past participle made the riffle)

makes the riffle (present singular third-person)
making the riffle (participle present)
made the riffle (participle past)
made the riffle (past)

See riffle (“fast-flowing part of a stream”).

(US, dialect, intransitive) To succeed; to overcome obstacles.


fore-handed

en-adj

fore-handed (comparative more fore-handed, superlative most fore-handed)

more fore-handed (comparative)
most fore-handed (superlative)
forehanded (alternative)

His unconscious requirement waas that this also must be reasonable; if it were not, he would accept the portions that were reasonable and reject the others as now too childish for his fore-handed American brain.

The “fore-handed mechanic,” who has the decision to resist the purchase of any coveted article until he has the money to pay for it, finds no trouble, when business reverses come upon a community, in deciding to take in sail while the storm is yet in the distance.

1862, The American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, Volumes 35-36, page 51:

“Fore-handed !' Miss Nanny, fore-handed!” said Madam Gamby, plying her shears, which snapped off the cloth very much as their owner did her words. "I never was one of your after-dinner folks. This kind of work has got to be all done up before plantin' time."

1856, Western Border Life, Or, What Fanny Hunter Saw and Heard in Kanzas [sic] and Missouri, page 174:

(US) Looking to the future; displaying foresight; prudent.

"You mean to say that because I work hard and get a little fore-handed I ought to take a lot of shiftless folks and teach them to be lazy and dependent on me?"

2012, John Habberton, All He Knew A Story, →ISBN:

The young man approaching us, with long temple-locks, cane and other appurtenances of dandyism, is the son of a plain, honest citizen who, as our country friends say, is fore-handed, or well to do in the world

1837, Edgar Allan Poe, The Ladies' Companion - Volume 7, page 18:

Till, long proceeding on the saving plan, He found himself a warm, fore-handed man

1825, Jane Taylor, Essays in rhyme, on morals and manners, page 2:


on pump

to buy something on pump

(US, Nebraska) On credit; with payment delayed until later.


Kinkaider

(US, Nebraska, historical) A claimant of land under the provisions of the Kinkaid Act.


scaper

They were silent, unsmiling youngsters, undersized and pale. They went to school passively, and since they showed no interest in education, Moe was trying to train them in his own profession of carpentering, and was teaching them frog-hunting on the side. "Them scapers is the best frog hunters in the county," he said.

1942, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek:


squam

Shortened from Annisquam, name of a village on the coast of Massachusetts.

He raised his big hand to his squam hat. It lingered there and he removed the hat a little clumsily. She smiled again brightly. "Merry Christmas!" she cried. He smiled back, holding his squam hat in his hand, "Merry Christmas to ye, Miss," he answered gravely and she departed.

1910, Frederick Ritchie Bechdolt, The Hard Rock Man, page 162:

(US, fishing) An oilskin hat; a southwester.


squaw man

(historical, US, especially Western US, sometimes derogatory, now offensive) A white man who married a Native American woman, sometimes gaining tribal rights by doing so.


kinderspullen

Borrowed from Dutch kinderspullen (“children's things”), from kind + -er- + spullen.

bor+

[…] wiping up crayon and markers from the walls, handprints, thick mud tracks, picking up kinderspullen, etc.

2002 April 23, Nina Paley, “Re: Some tart words about women and marriage{longish}”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet):

Now, I'm not a morning person, but at least it doesn't take me 2 hours or more to get the k!dz rustled out of bed in the morning and all the kinderspullen packed, so I can *make* a 7:30am flight.

2002 August 15, Sixkats [username], “Re: Save the Date - KatsCon 2003”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet):

We also don't have to pack a bunch of useless kinderspullen and stinky juices and cereals to keep the kiddies entertained while at daycare.

2003 March 7, Kari Levstik, “Re: how come you are obsessed with children?”, in alt.support.childfree (Usenet):

(US, slang, derogatory) Items (such as toys) associated with a child.


chivarras

From Spanish chivarras, from chivo (“goat”).

(US) Leather leggings of a sort worn by people in or from Mexico and the Southwestern United States.


hot truck

(US) A vehicle from which hot (and sometimes also cold) food can be purchased.


wilderness therapy

en-noun

wilderness therapy (usually uncountable, plural wilderness therapies)

(US) Any of a range of forms of adventure therapy that take place in wilderness areas


minibear

minibears (plural)
mini-bear (alternative)

From mini- + bear. Originated as ranger slang at Philmont Scout Ranch, a large scouting camp in New Mexico.

Almost any place worth camping in comes equipped with a full complement of night-foraging critters. Most are small, like chipmunks, but they are still worthy of the nickname "minibears."

2005, Don Jacobson, One-Pan Gourmet Fresh Food On The Trail:

Poor Poncho had been nearly disemboweled during a mini-bear attack. Much of the colorful paper on his outside was ripped off and shredded. Apparently he was a true piñata and had some sweets on his insides.

2010, Joseph Torlucci, Out In God's Country, Tonight - An Adult's Re-Experience of Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico:

(US, slang) A critter, or any animal that is smaller than a bear, that gets into a camper's food, pack, or tent.


onlest

I'm the onlest father them boys has got.

I knowed the onlest thing to get her cured was to get a bucket of ice water, […]

c. 1850-1970, Scott Dunbar, quoted in 2009 by William R. Ferris in Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues →ISBN

(US, dialectal, especially African-American Vernacular, possibly dated) Only.


home-and-home

The USA won the home-and-home series with the Italians, entering the World Cup through a side door

2012 January 17, Vicki Michaels, “After 'humbling' loss, U.S. women's soccer team is cautious”, in USA Today:

(Canada, US, sports) (British, obsolete) Of a series of two games: having one game played at each competitor's home ground.


home-and-home

BYU will host Mississippi State on October 15, 2016. Mississippi State will host the second half of the home-and-home on October 14, 2017.

2015 March 20, Kevin McGuire, “Dates set for BYU-Mississippi State home-and-home series”, in NBC Sports:

(Canada, US, sports) A home-and-home series.


Liberty measles

Similarly, the term "German measles" arose from inconsistent terminology following its initial description by its German discoverers as Rötheln (red). The corresponding virus (now called rubella) has no relation to Germany, nor the actual measles virus. Despite this, the U.S. renamed the disease "liberty measles" to stoke anti-German sentiment and strengthen U.S. patriotism during World War I.

2021 May 12, Ashley Mayrianne Champagne, “Why Scientists Should Not Name Diseases Based On Location”, in American Society for Microbiology:

(obsolete, pathology, US) Synonym of German measles


freedom dressing

Well, pardon our ... uh ... freedom, but if we're dropping the name of a certain country from our vocabulary, we can't stop there.
Menus will have to be rewritten to include the following items: Freedom onion soup, Freedom pastries, Freedom bread, Freedom rolls, Freedom dressing, Freedom dip sandwiches, Freedom roast coffee and Freedom vanilla ice cream.

2003 March 19, Entertainment team, “Why stop there? Being mad at the French means renaming more than just fries”, in Daily Press, Newport News, VA, page D1:

Anyways I guess I got to get the french out of my system before I go through immigration. From now on it's all freedom fries, freedom toast, freedom dressing, and Freedom's Mustard.

2004 October 15, Jeffrey Miller, “From French flies to freedom fries in the Bush league”, in The Lawyers Weekly:

(US, politics, rare, humorous) Synonym of French dressing


freedom tickler

freedom tickler (plural freedom ticklers)

(humorous, US) Synonym of French tickler


momsy

(US, childish, informal) Alternative form of mumsy (“mother; mom”).


CFI

(US, aviation) certificated flight instructor


DWAI

(US, law) Initialism of driving while ability impaired.


Talibangelical

Talibangelicals (plural)
talibangelical (alternative)

It makes perfect sense, if you are a hypocritical far right wing Talibangelical. Having a totally heterosexual military is *far* more important than keeping the troops alive.

2006 January 30, Gregory Gadow, “Re: Military discharges hundreds of medics under gay ban”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

Change the channel and the TV Talibangelical proclaims,
That Hurricane was the Hand of God!

2008, Raymond McNiece, “And The Jazz Plays On...Part 2”, in Greatest Hits 1987–2007, Pudding House Publications, →ISBN, page 34:

If this country continues to elect Talibangelicals like Paul Broun, this country is doomed!

2013 June 13, “Whineline”, in The Metro Spirit, volume 24, number 24, page 2:

(US, slang, politics, derogatory) An overzealous evangelical Christian, especially one who espouses strong right-wing views.


Talibangelical

en-adj

Talibangelical (comparative more Talibangelical, superlative most Talibangelical)

more Talibangelical (comparative)
most Talibangelical (superlative)
talibangelical (alternative)

If you're of the opposing temperament, it might have tickled your fancy to watch Ben Affleck a month earlier at the Democratic convention in Boston - where celebs were largely kept under wraps, much as the barking, ululating Texas Talibangelical tendency would be in New York.

2004 October 16, John Patterson, “The cast are votes”, in The Guardian:

I have grown to despise the South and it’s Talibangelical influence.

2011, Kit, letter to the editor, QNotes, Volume 25, Number 23, 19 March 2011 - 1 April 2011, page 5

They will sacrifice women, children and refuse to give either access to affordable health care with their talibangelical ideology.

2011 June 26, VicXnews [username], “OT:Extreme Radical States Charging Pregnant Women Who Lose Babies with Murder”, in alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers (Usenet):

(US, slang, politics, derogatory) Of, relating to, or espousing strong right-wing evangelical Christian views.


boodling

en-noun

boodling (countable and uncountable, plural boodlings)

“This boodling was worth a hundred thousand pounds a year to the city,” they wrote.

2009 April 22, Jim Dwyer, “When the City Held Pirates in High Regard”, in New York Times:

(US, informal, dated) political corruption involving money; bribery


wild buckwheat

wild buckwheat (usually uncountable, plural wild buckwheats)

(US) Any plant in the genus Eriogonum, related to true buckwheat


gag a maggot

en-verb

gag a maggot (third-person singular simple present gags a maggot, present participle gagging a maggot, simple past and past participle gagged a maggot)

gags a maggot (present singular third-person)
gagging a maggot (participle present)
gagged a maggot (participle past)
gagged a maggot (past)

(US, slang) To cause great disgust or nausea.


sweet butter

en-noun

sweet butter (countable and uncountable, plural sweet butters)


jaygee

Phonetic respelling of the letters JG, for "junior grade".

lieutenant junior grade
lieutenant junior grade

(US, military, slang) lieutenant junior grade


niterie

From nite and French + -erie, as in eaterie.


pasta fazool

Borrowed from Neapolitan pasta e fasule (“pasta and beans”), equivalent to Italian pasta e fagioli. This latter term was also borrowed, and so these two terms for the dish comprise a doublet in English.


buttonwillow

(US) A shrub with round flower heads found near water in California, the Eastern US, and Central America, Cephalanthus occidentalis.


night-riding

A night-riding White Man's Union used intimidation and murder to split the coalition […].

2003 (revised edition), Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, HarperPerennial 2005, p. 291

(chiefly US) That rides out at night, especially to carry out acts of violence.


Floridization

term-label

(American spelling, Oxford British English)

/ˌflɔɹɪdaɪˈzeɪʃən/

/ˌflɔɹədəˈzeɪʃən/

From Florida + -ization (suffix denoting the act, process, or result of doing something). Sense 2 (“phenomenon of the percentage of seniors in a specific region progressively increasing as the population ages”) refers to the sizable number of retirees who settle in the US state.

suffix

The investment banker Pete Peterson calls this "the Floridization of America." The decline in births, right after the peak years, has had an impact on every business that targets young adults.

1998, AFTRA, New York, N.Y.: American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27:

Although the percentage and the sheer volume of elders and people with disabilities living in the United States in the 21st century is increasing, their distribution will vary across the country; the Floridization of the country will happen in pockets.

2000 February 1, Robyn I. Stone, “Toward Person-Centered Care”, in Nursing Homes, Cleveland, Oh.: International Pub. Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-03-10:

While the United States is not yet severely impacted, many European countries and Japan—much further along the road to Floridization—are already confronted with the need for action. The consequences of aging are even more dire in these countries because their populations "are aging even faster, birthrates are lower, the influx of young immigrants from developing countries is smaller, public pension benefits are more generous, and private pension systems are weaker."

2004, Dennis Clark Pirages, Theresa Manley DeGeest, “Demographic Change and Ecological Insecurity”, in Ecological Security: An Evolutionary Perspective on Globalization, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 48:

The greatest twin victory of humanity over health issues has delivered one of the greatest challenges to man: Population ageing. Often described as ‘Floridisation of the World’, population ageing is the outcome of man’s victory over death and deceases as well as unwanted child bearing [...].

2005, The Asian Economic Review, volume 47, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh: Indian Institute of Economics, →OCLC, page 1:

Even if policy shifts resources away from hard investment and back into social spending, the "Floridization" of Chinese demographics will intensify the shortage of healthcare provision over the next decade, worsening the frayed contract between patients, providers, and the government.

2013 September, Damien Ma, William Adams, “Welfare: Socialism with Chinese … Actually No, Not Socialism at All”, in In Line Behind a Billion People: How Scarcity Will Define China’s Ascent in the Next Decade, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press, →ISBN, part II (Social Scarcity), page 103:

(US, demography) The phenomenon of the percentage of seniors in a specific region progressively increasing as the population ages.


trevigintillion

Previous: duovigintillion: short scale 1069

Next: quattuorvigintillion: short scale 1075

(rare, US, modern British & Australian, short scale) 10⁷².

modern British & Australian; short scale; modern British & Australian; short scale


Asian carp

From Asian (relating to Asia) + carp (type of fish).

af

(US) Any of various species of heavy-bodied cyprinid fish from East Asia.


reconstructive mortician

en-noun

reconstructive mortician (plural reconstructive morticians)

(US) A mortician who performs cosmetic work on dead bodies to make them presentable for viewing at a funeral.


Snopesism

From Snopes + -ism, from the surname of several unscrupulous or heartless characters in the Snopes trilogy (1940–1959) by William Faulkner.

Of course, Faulkner went on in “A Fable” to make Snopesism generic. He proclaims that human “rapacity” is universal.

1978 May 21, Quentin Anderson, “New Critic Back Down South”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(uncommon, US) Unscrupulous or heartless behaviour; rapacity.


Gibson Girl

Introduced in the satirical works of illustrator Charles Dana Gibson in the 1890s.
(radio transmitter): So called from its hourglass shape (allowing it to be held between one's legs while the generator handle was turned), supposed to resemble a womanly figure.

(US, military, slang, historical) A survival radio transmitter carried by aircraft on over-water operations.


if-by-whiskey

Refers to a 1952 speech by Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat Jr. during a debate on whether or not Mississippi should legalize alcoholic beverages. He prefaced his qualified agreement with each side in turn with the formula "if by whiskey you mean..." and a definition of "whiskey" crafted to support that side.

2010, Carol Phillip-Tudor, The Boy, The Professor and Ella's Regret, Dorrance Publishing Company (RoseDog Books), page 103,
"You a foolin' nary a soul, mister Emil" says Bilky. "I's thinkin' maybe yourin a usin' the If-by-Whiskey defense. […] "

(US, politics, of a speech, etc.) That equivocates on an issue while appearing to affirm both sides, by asserting that each is correct depending on which of two stated alternatives is used as the definition of a key term.


Valley of the Sun

(US, informal) The Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona, United States.


equine therapy

(US) A treatment using horses for therapeutic purposes to treat a wide variety of mental health issues.


teach school

en-verb

teach school (third-person singular simple present teaches school, present participle teaching school, simple past and past participle taught school)

teaches school (present singular third-person)
teaching school (participle present)
taught school (participle past)
taught school (past)

He had taught school for forty years before retiring.

(US) To work as a teacher in a school; to be a schoolteacher.


homeland security

(US) The concerted national effort, principally by government, to keep the United States safe and resilient to terrorism and other hazards.


deervetch

New World legumes in genera in tribe Loteae, family Fabaceae.


fifi

If you have done it correctly you will have a fairly heavy gell ^([sic]) filled "fifi". A female condom can be easily inserted.

1999 September 25, no_one [username], “MASTURBATION TRICKS, TIP, AND HOME DEVICES”, in alt.sex.masturbation:

(slang, US, vulgar) An improvised vagina substitute used for masturbation.


surresponse

The Local Rules do not address the propriety of surreplies or surresponses.

1995, Charles Harold Haden II, Hunt v. US (CIR), 889 F. Supp. 248

(US, law) A second response, typically by the defending party in litigation.


cow eyes

"... And you were making cow eyes at him, snotty attitude and all."
"I was not making cow eyes at him," Despreaux insisted firmly.
"Call it what you want, girl," the older woman said with a grin. "I call it cow eyes."

2001, David Weber, John Ringo, March Upcountry, Baen Books, page 272:

"Cow eyes?" Brett's gaze shot to Suzanne. "You were making cow eyes at me?" Not that he knew what cow eyes were, but from the fierceness of Mama Jessup's expression and the way Suzanne blushed, cow eyes definitely counted as the non-contact version of a butt squeeze.

2011, Ruth Jean Dale, Kimberly Raye, One in a Million & Love, Texas Stlye, Harlequin, page 173:

"What makes you think I am worried about Lucas?"
"All you ever do is make cow eyes at him ..."

2013, Caroline B. Cooney, An April Love Story, Open Road Media, page 122:

(US, informal) A wide-eyed expression meant to discreetly signal otherwise unstated romantic attraction to the one it is directed at.

kaihoisa katse

a secretive, pining look, or humble doting glance

гла́зки m or pl (glázki) (a flirting look, lit.: "little eyes")


defiber

defiber (third-person singular simple present defibers, present participle defibering, simple past and past participle defibered)

defibers (present singular third-person)
defibering (participle present)
defibered (participle past)
defibered (past)
defibre (alternative)

The samples are defibered according to the kind of paper to be analyzed.

1965, Forest Products Research Institute, Technical Note - Forest Products Research Institute:

The most common type of material has been woody fragments which have been cut into granules (rather than defibered) by pulp refiners.
The paper is defibered in a stock slusher having a movable defibering or slushing element, while infeeding water.

1974, Edgar L. Spruill, Color removal and sludge disposal process for kraft mill:

Processed, defibered products have taken their place.

2012, John L. Seitz, Global Issues: An Introduction, →ISBN, page 91:

(US, transitive) To remove some or all fiber from.


gump stump

gump stumps (plural)
gump-stump (alternative)

"Finding them won't be a problem. There's employment records, driver's license records, Social Security records, records up the gump-stump. […]

1996, Philip Caputo, Equation for Evil, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 85–86:

"Are you hungry? We've got eggs up the gump stump, honey. I thought we could scramble up a panful for breakfast."

1999, Carolyn Davidson, The Tender Stranger, Harlequin, →ISBN:

"Yeah, that's what worries me. You weren't exactly famous for being wrong all that much. Pain in the gump stump, yes, but wrong? Not often. […]

2003, P. T. Deutermann, The Firefly, St. Martin's Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 360:


strong-handed

en-adj

strong-handed (comparative more strong-handed, superlative most strong-handed)

more strong-handed (comparative)
most strong-handed (superlative)
stronghanded (alternative)

If he be strong-handed, (has property,) he has the trees felled, about one foot from the earth, dragged into heaps, and made into an immense bonfire.

1820, Eneas Mackenzie, An historical, topographical and descriptive view of the United States of America and of Upper and Lower Canada, page 392:

Third, the wealthy, or “strong-handed” farmer, who owns from five to twelve hundred acres, has from one-fourth to one-third under cultivation, of a kind much superior to the former; raises live stock for the home, and Atlantic city markets; sends beef, pork, cheese, lard, and butter, to New Orleans: is a man of plain, business-like sense, though not in possession, nor desirous, of a very cultivated intellect

1821, Rev. William Bingley, Travels in North America, page 62:

Unlike the English country squire, the strong-handed farmer in America was a self-made man.

2011, Denise Gigante, The Keats Brothers: the life of John and George, →ISBN, page 235:


pinquito

Phaseolus vulgaris
Phaseolus vulgaris#Translingual

(US) A small pink variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, grown in Santa Maria, California.


bicoastally

en-adv

bicoastally (comparative more bicoastally, superlative most bicoastally)

more bicoastally (comparative)
most bicoastally (superlative)

The literary scene is often defined bicoastally, with the emphasis on the east.

1988 March 25, Achy Obejas, “Calendar”, in Chicago Reader:

(US) In a bicoastal way; often specifically with respect to the East and West coasts of the United States.


gas and dash

gas and dashes (plural)
gas-and-dash (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-gas and dash.wav

Everyone in Ontario who owns a 2002 to 2006 Nissan Altima will be contacted under an intense police investigation now under way to find the driver responsible for a deadly gas-and-dash theft.

2011 June 8, Bob Mitchell, “‘We will find you,’ police warn driver in gas-and-dash death”, in Toronto Star, Canada:

[A] private member’s bill . . . would compel drivers to prepay for all gas purchases. . . . [S]ince British Columbia put a similar law in place, gas-and-dashes have ceased.

2012 October 16, Timothy Appleby, “Crime Stoppers launches ‘gas and dash’ awareness campaign”, in Globe and Mail, Canada:

In the late evening of March 27, 2014 RCMP Innisfail received a complaint of theft of fuel (gas and dash) from the Penhold Fas Gas.

2014 March 28, “Innisfail RCMP Investigate Gas and Dash”, in www.albertapolicereport.ca, Canada, archived from the original on 2016-03-07:

(informal, Canada, US) The criminal act of driving away from a gasoline station without paying after filling one's gas tank.


gas and dash

en-verb

gas and dash (third-person singular simple present gasses and dashes or gases and dashes, present participle gassing and dashing, simple past and past participle gassed and dashed)

gasses and dashes (present singular third-person)
gases and dashes (present singular third-person)
gassing and dashing (participle present)
gassed and dashed (participle past)
gassed and dashed (past)
gas-and-dash (alternative)

Starting July 1, Kansas motorists who repeatedly gas and dash could lose their driver's licenses.

2000 June 23, “Gas-and-dash thefts rise with high fuel prices”, in Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, US: Associated Press:

With the price of gas up 26% over the past year . . . too many Americans are filling up without paying up.

2005 August 16, Logan Orlando, “Don't Try to Gas and Dash”, in Time, US:

(informal, Canada, US) To commit such an act.


hear tell

hear tell (third-person singular simple present hears tell, present participle hearing tell, simple past and past participle heard tell)

hears tell (present singular third-person)
hearing tell (participle present)
heard tell (participle past)
heard tell (past)

I've heard tell that there used to be highwaymen in this part of the country.

Listen closely, we, the Gardanes, heard tell of the glory of the nation-kings, how those nobles performed deeds of valor!


malahack

malahack (third-person singular simple present malahacks, present participle malahacking, simple past and past participle malahacked)

malahacks (present singular third-person)
malahacking (participle present)
malahacked (participle past)
malahacked (past)


Daubert standard

Named after Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, a legal case setting a related precedent in 1993.

(US, law) A rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of expert witnesses' testimony during federal legal proceedings, and based (among other factors) on the use of the scientific method.


venireperson

en-noun

venireperson (plural venirepersons or venirepeople)

venirepersons (plural)
venirepeople (plural)

The court did not know whether personal voir dire would entail the same dangers of inducing bias as to the current procedures for voir dire, which is usually conducted in open court with the entire jury panel present and each juror given the opportunity to observe the examination of other venirepersons.

1981 January, “What's New in the Law”, in ABA Journal, volume 67, page 101:

(US, law) A potential juror who appears in court for jury selection.


the longest pole knocks the persimmon

the longest purse knocks the persimmon (alternative)

Every official in Morocco from the Sultan down is for sale, and it is a case where the longest pole knocks the persimmon.

1905, The Rosary Magazine, volume 26, page 517:

(US, especially Southern US, dated) Whoever has the most advantages has the best chance of success.


knock the persimmon

en-verb

knock the persimmon (third-person singular simple present knocks the persimmon, present participle knocking the persimmon, simple past and past participle knocked the persimmon)

knocks the persimmon (present singular third-person)
knocking the persimmon (participle present)
knocked the persimmon (participle past)
knocked the persimmon (past)

From the expression the longest pole knocks the persimmon.

(US, especially Southern US, dated) To succeed; to obtain success.


North Carolina stratagem

"They [judges] are awake to what is called the 'North Carolina stratagem', whereby an application is made, late on Friday with a thick pile of affidavits, to a judge unfamiliar with an area of law in the hope that the judge will grant the injunction sought out of caution".

(law, US) A legal tactic in court proceedings, intended to place the opponent on to the wrong foot by unethical use of court procedures:


desert willow

Other trees or shrubs that have willow-like leaves or weeping habit:


angrify

angrify (third-person singular simple present angrifies, present participle angrifying, simple past and past participle angrified)

angrifies (present singular third-person)
angrifying (participle present)
angrified (participle past)
angrified (past)

The way he said it, the way it came out of his mouth, I knew Scut was angrifying.

1996, Jerome Gold, The Prisoner's Son: Homage to Anthony Burgess:

"[...] Ain't no cause to get angrified at me."

2005, Jonathan Rogers, The Secret of the Swamp King:

“No need to be so angrified! We just thought that since this is such a dangerous mission, we could have a last meal. You know, just in case we die or something.”

2007, Robert Rawson, Deceptive Juggernaut:

“I've terrible serious doubts as to whether eight paltry legions would do more than angrify the barbarians whilst making only a smallish dent in the whole of germanorum.”

(US, nonstandard, transitive) To make angry, to anger.


dreamhouse

(US) Alternative spelling of dream house.


invasive carp

en-noun

invasive carp (plural invasive carp or invasive carps)

invasive carp (plural)
invasive carps (plural)

Minnesota’s governor recently signed a new bill into law that renames the “Asian carp” because the Asian community might find it offensive. / CBS reported that the bill, passed by the Senate in April and signed by the governor in late May, came about “in response to concern by some people that the current term casts people from Asian cultures in a negative light.” / The new name: “Invasive carp,” Mediaite reported.

2014 June 23, Cheryl K. Chumley, “Minnesota renames the ‘Asian carp’ to avoid hurting Asians’ feelings”, in The Washington Times:


slap leather

en-verb

slap leather (third-person singular simple present slaps leather, present participle slapping leather, simple past and past participle slapped leather)

slaps leather (present singular third-person)
slapping leather (participle present)
slapped leather (participle past)
slapped leather (past)

[T]he western . . . provides a ready armature for other dramas that have nothing to do with slapping leather, riding horseflesh or kissing purty gals.

2001 August 17, Stephen Hunter, “'American Outlaws': The Young And the West-less”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2015-07-07:

Murphy plays Tom Destry, the peace-loving son of a notorious gunslinger. . . . Though he prefers to talk rather than slap leather, Destry manages to keep the bad guys at bay.

2010, “Movies: Destry (1954)”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-07-07:

With .45s strapped to their sides, gunslingers—30 men, six women, even an 11-year-old kid—slogged through the mud in their cowboy boots to reach a dirt-caked boardwalk where, one after another, they slapped leather to see who would reign as Oklahoma’s fastest gun.

2015 April 20, Kelly Bostian, “Quick-draw cowboys face off to find Oklahoma's fastest guns”, in Tulsa World, retrieved 2015-07-07:

(US, idiomatic) To make a quick motion to draw one's handgun from its holster, especially in a duel in the Old West.


all dogged up

Perhaps inspired by decked out or dog's dinner.

dogged up (alternative)
all dogged-up (alternative)

Part one of the wind up was in place. Part two required that we should prepare him to win her heart and be there to witness his attempt. The following afternoon we had him all dogged up in borrowed gear.

2013, Peter Joseph Troy, Below Decks; from Pantry Boy to Steward in the British Merchant Navy, 1954-1961:

We were quite warm when we got to Lucerne—but we all “dogged up” for dinner anyway.

2012, Judith Kitchen, Half In Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate:

1986, Through Streets Broad and Narrow. Gabriel Fielding. Pg. 99.
by the time he had reached Mitchell's where Dymphna would surely be at a corner table, there would be seven or eight people with him, all dogged-up, and several attractive girls.

(slang, originally US) Wearing stylish and fancy clothing, having dressed up.


NARTH

w:National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality

(US) Initialism of National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality.


CONELRAD

(US, historical) Acronym of control of electromagnetic radiation: a method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of enemy attack during the Cold War, rapidly switching the television or radio transmitter stations to make the broadcasts unsuitable for bombers that might attempt to home in on the signals.


riparianism

The result was a string of decisions that further established riparianism as a rule of law.

1993, Mary Catherine Miller, Flooding the Courtrooms: Law and Water in the Far West, →ISBN, page 180:

(chiefly US, law) A doctrine of riparian rights, based on the principle that the owners of riparian land had the right to remove reasonable amounts of water from the river, but others did not.


Miller test

Developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California.

(US, law) A test for determining whether speech or expression can be labelled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited.


Frito pie

en-noun

Frito pie (countable and uncountable, plural Frito pies)

(US) An American baked casserole of chili, cheese, and Fritos-brand corn chips, sometimes with additional ingredients.


progressive longways formation

(obsolete, 18th century, US) A country dance, most often specifically a type of New England line dance.


hillbilly music

(historical, to the 1930s, US) A mix of Appalachian, Southern and western music, performed by rural white people in a range of styles for commercial recording in the early United States popular music industry; the precursor to country music.


WASP

WASPs (plural)
Wasp (alternative)
wasp (alternative)

Bill got to college only by dint of support from a female relative and heiress (a useful WASP resource) and by scholarships, then a symbol of WASP entitlement.

1989 March 19, Elizabeth Janeway, “The Brotherhood of the WASP”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Joseph Alsop, the acerbic columnist she married in 1961, called his crowd “the ever-diminishing group of survivors of the WASP ascendancy.” It was a world of perfect manners and closely held power, not hugs and meaningful exchanges.

1993 October 31, Maureen Dowd, quoting Joseph Alsop, “The WASP Descendancy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

We once had a coherent ruling class, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), who more or less owned and ran the United States from its founding through the 1970s. Based largely in the Northeast, with offshoots in the Upper Midwest, WASPs went to the same elite schools and colleges, belonged to the same clubs, married out of the same pool, and vacationed in the same favorite rural retreats. There were Southern WASPs, descendants of the slave-owning gentry, but they never had the social weight of their northern relatives—although they did rule their region and enjoy an outsized role in Congress for decades.

2021, Doug Henwood, “Take Me to Your Leader: The Rot of the American Ruling Class”, in Jacobin:

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
w:white Anglo-Saxon Protestants

(US) Initialism of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a member of the supposed ruling class of America.


ethnic music

ethnic music (countable and uncountable, plural ethnic musics)

2012. Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Volume 8. "Ethnic Music". Martin Stokes. Pg 204.
By 1920 Columbia and Victor had issued around 21,000 copies of ethnic music each.

2003. Horn Man: The Polish-American Musician in Twentieth-century Detroit. Laurie Palazzolo. Pg. 83.
This period marked the beginning of a wonderful, if short-lived, era for ethnic music.

1992. [A Passion for Polka: Old-time Ethnic Music in America]. Victor Greene. Pg. 245.
Welk is much better known for his immensely successful programs over television, which began in the early 50s after the era of "ethnic music" acceptance

(music, US) The classic body of recordings of Central and Eastern European immigrants to the United States from the early to mid-20th century, and music in that style.


album-oriented rock

album-oriented radio
album-oriented radio

(music, US) The kind of rock music played on album-oriented radio (AOR).


anticommandeering

(law, US) That prohibits the federal government from commandeering state governments


interlocuter

master of ceremonies
master of ceremonies

(obsolete, US) The master of ceremonies during a minstrel show.


Allen charge

After the legal case Allen v. United States (1896).

Judge Shira A. Scheindlin read the panel the Allen charge, an instruction meant to encourage juries to continue working until they reach a verdict, and sent them back to continue deliberating.

2006 September 26, Timothy Williams, “Gotti Jurors Say They’re Deadlocked”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-07-14:

(US, law) An instruction intended to prevent a hung jury by encouraging jurors in the minority to reconsider.


gazookus

After he uses Colgate's, no one can tell him that some kind of tooth "gazookus" will get him. He knows that if his teeth are clean they will be healthy.

So what we have to do is to help John by reducing the number of cases where John has to start from scratch with prospects who never even heard of our company, let alone know that our product has a manganese steel gazookus […]

1950, Printers' Ink, volume 230, page li:

(US, slang, dated) An unspecified item; a thingy or gadget.

Now there are several things I would do if I were Editor, and if you will button your face and uncork your ears, Mister Editor, I will give you a load of the real 18-karat gazookus.

1943, Column Review and Editorial Digest, volume 16, page 13:

(US, slang, dated) The real thing, or genuine article; something authentic.


go underground

en-verb

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

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

(intransitive, especially of an animal, chiefly Canada, US) To escape into a burrow, hole, etc. when being hunted.

(figurative, by extension, chiefly Canada, US) To hide from public view or sequester oneself, especially when authorities, members of the news media, or others are looking for one.


alligator lizard

en-noun

alligator lizard (plural alligator lizards)

As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.

(US) Any of many species of lizards in the genera Elgaria, Gerrhonotus, and Abronia.


angelica tree

Aralia spinosa
Aralia spinosa#Translingual

(US) A large shrub or small tree native to the southeastern US, Aralia spinosa


butt-huggers

She left a note on Ray's butt-huggers saying, 'Buy new underwear.'

2002, Bryan Richards, Triopia and the Burden of Excess, →ISBN, page 112:

If you're wondering who to thank for the sight of Will Ferrell struggling through a psychotic episode on a speedway wearing only his butt huggers, wonder no more.

2010, Todd Aaron Jensen, On Gratitude, →ISBN, page 139:

(slang, vulgar) Men's briefs; underwear.


businesscrat

Blend of business + Democrat coined by Gerald D. Nash and popularized by Louis Galambos in Competition and Cooperation: The Emergence of a National Trade Association (1966)

"Businesscrats" had staffed the war agencies and they returned to private life at the end of the conflict.

1986, Frank Dobbin, The institutionalization of the state:

Existing federal bureaucracies were not prepared to mobilize human resources and coordinate the industrial economy for war, so emergency agencies were thrown together for the occasion, mostly staffed by professional experts and "businesscrats" temporarily recruited from the corporate capitalist sector.

1995, Kenneth Finegold, Theda Skocpol, State and Party in America's New Deal, →ISBN, page 55:

Put a business executive up for senator as a Democrat, and you've got a Businesscrat. Maybe also an endangered species.

1996, Lee Walczak, Gail DeGeorge, “PRATFALLS DREAM CANDIDATES' RUDE AWAKENING”, in Business Week:

Second, multiple variants of a “businesscrat” — “a twentieth- century breed of businessman who spends a significant part of his life working as a government bureaucrat (Galambos, 1966, 205, fn 3)”

2013 July, Maria N Ivanova, “The Great Recession and the state of American Capitalism”, in Science & Society, volume 77, number 3:

(US) A person whose career includes acting both as a business executive and a government bureaucrat in the Democratic Party in the United States.


slavocrat

(US, historical, archaic) A member of the United States' Democratic Party during the 19th century, especially one who supported the institution of slavery.


Obamacon

Obamacons (plural)
Obama-con (alternative)

Kmiec has drawn attention because he is one of the nation's leading "Obamacons," conservatives who find Obama's call for a new approach to politics appealing.

2008 June 3, E. J. Dionne Jr., “For an 'Obamacon,' Communion Denied”, in The Washington Post:

The rise of the Obamacons is more than a reaction against Mr Bush's remodelling of the Republican Party and Mr McCain's desperation: there were plenty of disillusioned Republicans in 2004 who did not warm to John Kerry.

2008 October 23, “The rise of the Obamacons”, in The Economist:

Even New York Times Obamacon David Brooks acknowledged ObamaCare was "stuffed. . . .with gimmicks and dodges designed to get a good score from the Congressional Budget Office but don't genuinely control runaway spending."

2010, David Limbaugh, Crimes Against Liberty: An Indictment of President Barack Obama, Regnery Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, page 69:

(US, politics, slang) A conservative (especially a Republican) who supports or supported the election of Barack Obama as president.


supper club

Dearie unpacks her baggage, hits the night spots, and sings in a soothing supper-club style.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 13:

(US) A dining establishment that also functions as a social club.


sobersided

en-adj

sobersided (comparative more sobersided, superlative most sobersided)

more sobersided (comparative)
most sobersided (superlative)


ass in a sling

en-noun

ass in a sling (usually uncountable, plural asses in slings or asses in a sling)

asses in slings (plural)
asses in a sling (plural)
arse in a sling (alternative)
butt in a sling (alternative)

I see our asses in a sling if we get caught, that's what I see.

1977, Smokey and the Bandit (film), screenplay, 10:21 (retrieved 24 July 2015)

Dempsey briefed senior HUD officials on federal ethics rules in early 1981, he said, "and most of those who later got their ass in a sling sat there and ignored it."

1986 April 27, Howard Kurtz, “Reagan's People: Issues of Propriety”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2015-07-24:

I think that kind of breathless egotism deserves little more than to limp home with its arse in a sling.

1995 December 19, Alex Sharkey, “Dear Roger Mear”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2015-07-24:

[T]he bullpen's continued ineffectiveness has to fall on John Mozeliak. . . . If it ends up with Johnny Mo's ass in a sling, so be it.

2011 June 15, Aaron Schafer, “Cardinals Still Struggling to Spell Relief”, in Riverfront Times, retrieved 2015-07-24:

[Frank Sinatra] asked me what I was doing. I said, "The usual. Making pictures. You?" He said, "The usual. Getting my ass in a sling."

2013 July, Ava Gardner, Peter Evans, “Three Men and a Goddess”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 2015-07-24:

(Canada, US, informal, vulgar) An uncomfortable personal state of affairs involving injury, defeat, or other trouble, especially a state of affairs resulting from one's own ill-considered actions.


mall walker

(US, neologism) A person who walks in a mall as a form of exercise


costume jewelry

costume jewelry (usually uncountable, plural costume jewelries)

costume jewellery
costume jewellery#English


saw gourds

en-verb

saw gourds (third-person singular simple present saws gourds, present participle sawing gourds, simple past sawed gourds, past participle sawed gourds or sawn gourds)

saws gourds (present singular third-person)
sawing gourds (participle present)
sawed gourds (past)
sawed gourds (participle past)
sawn gourds (participle past)

In reference to the sound made by sawing.

I thought of these things with a tendency to philosophize, but Zeno himself would have gone to sleep after such a day as I had spent. In five minutes, thoughtless and philosophers, we were all “sawing gourds” together in the land of Nod.

1870, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, chapter II, in The Heart of the Continent, page 91:

He set by the fire a chawin his tobacco and swapped lies with us untill bed time, and we put him in the surplus room and he sawed gourds so, it was after midnight before we got to sleep.

1873, Bill Arp’s Peace Papers, paper xxxiii, page 216

The fuse burnt down to the skin and went out, but Cudjo still continued to saw gourds, apparently in no wise incommoded by the burning of the fuse.

1892, John Crittenden Duval, chapter XI, Early Times in Texas II: The Young Explorers, page 154, § 8

When a farmer gits a good run of stock and various and sundry crops growin around him, with the natural increase in full swing, he is in the middle of the big road that leads right on to the land of peace and plenty and love and liberty. When the day’s work is done, and the gold of evenin meets the dusk of night, he can draw his bobtail night shirt about him and tumble down to pleasant dreams, knowin that while he sleeps and dreams and saws gourds his worldly possessions are growin and stackin up all the time.

ante''' 1897, Francis Bartow Lloyd; Lily C. Lloyd, editor, chapter XXX, Sketches of Country Life, page 188

(chiefly late-19th-century US slang, intransitive) To snore very loudly.


nation of laws

Shortened from earlier phrase "nation of laws and not of men," a common expression of the rule of law.

We talk a lot about being "a nation of laws," but some of the laws found on the books of states, counties and municipalities are a bit much.

1976, Carpenter - Volume 96–97, page 18:

If we are to be a nation of laws, we must follow the rule of law consistently and not abandon it when times get tough.

2012, Peter Jan Honigsberg, Our Nation Unhinged, page 16:

(chiefly US) A nation-state that is subject to the rule of law.


QMC

Quartermaster Corps
w:Quartermaster Corps

(military, US) Initialism of Quartermaster Corps.


rootworker

(US, dialect) A practitioner of rootwork, or hoodoo.


duck-billed cat

en-noun

duck-billed cat (plural duck-billed cats)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:duck-billed cat.

(US, dialect, chiefly Mississippi, dated) A paddlefish (Polyodontidae spp.).


gray power

(chiefly US) Alternative form of grey power


upcode

en-verb

upcode (third-person singular simple present upcodes, present participle upcoding, simple past and past participle upcoded)

upcodes (present singular third-person)
upcoding (participle present)
upcoded (participle past)
upcoded (past)

Several factors appear to have fueled the PBD epidemic: […]; and diagnostic upcoding in the U.S. health system that rations treatment according to DSM diagnoses [ 14 ].

2014 March 28, Peter Parry, “Biologism in Psychiatry: A Young Man’s Experience of Being Diagnosed with “Pediatric Bipolar Disorder””, in Journal of Clinical Medicine, volume 3, →DOI:

(medicine, chiefly US) To change the diagnostic code of a patient's condition from the correct code to one for which a larger amount can be billed.


farmerette

(US, historical) A member of the Woman's Land Army of America.


bodeguero

(US) The owner of a bodega (shop that sells alcohol).


Blockburger test

After the 1932 legal case Blockburger v. United States.

(US, law) The test of whether multiple crimes violating the same statute represent separate offenses, based on whether each one requires proof of some distinct element.


stick up one's ass

have a stick up one's ass

My parents […] had been decently off at some time in the past, but all that remained by the time I came along was a certain New Englandy Puritan sense of respectability. […] I've inherited it. As much as I've tried to fight it, when you're born with a stick up your ass, you die with a stick up your ass.

2009, Don Nigro, Gorgons and Other Plays, →ISBN, page 47:

President Adrian Kantor, whom […] Sandy often referred to as a "prissy do-gooder with a stick up his ass," credited Sanderson & Dunn with his swift ascent from the House to the Senate to the White House.

2014, Jay Giles, chapter 1, in Moneymoon's End, →ISBN:

He was too straight-laced to appreciate piercings and tattoos. If he could manage to keep future comments to himself, she wouldn't have any reason to mention the stick up his ass.

2015, Tara Mills, chapter 2, in Going Solo, →ISBN:

(Canada, US, vulgar, derogatory, figuratively) A stiff, stern, uptight, or humorless manner.


pickle up one's ass

stick up one's ass
stick up one's ass#English

(Canada, US, vulgar, figuratively) Synonym of stick up one's ass


Greek life

From Greek (“of or pertaining to a fraternity or sorority”) and life.

(US) The activities of college fraternities and sororities.


me-tooism

en-noun

me-tooism (countable and uncountable, plural me-tooisms)

me-tooisms (plural)
metooism (alternative)
me-too-ism (alternative)
me tooism (alternative)
me too-ism (alternative)

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

From me too + -ism (suffix forming names of tendencies of action, behaviour, condition, opinion, or state belonging to groups of persons).

suffix

Next week's programme is one of peculiar interest. The following questions are announced for debate: The origin of "Me-tooism" in politics and "Too-tooism" in æsthetics, with reference to the study of modern history.

1883 August 23, Harold Van Santvoord, “Philosophy at Pompoonik”, in Life, volume II, number 34, New York, N.Y.: Published at the Life Office, […], →OCLC, page 96, column 1:

Senator [Arthur] Vandenberg answered critics who say the bipartisan foreign policy has produced mere Republican “me tooism” with the assertion that unity is vital if any policy is to get results. He declared: “If that's ‘me tooism’, then any unity is me tooism.”

1949 December 21, “Vandenberg Backs Continued Europe Aid, on Reduced Basis”, in Department of State Wireless Bulletin, number 299, [Washington, D.C.]: International Press and Publications Division, Office of International Information, Department of State, →OCLC, page 11:

For some elections past the Republican party has appeared to be acting on the fatuous theory that it could lure the labor leaders away from their Democratic alliance. Of all the "metooisms" that the Republicans have committed this one was the most transparent and the least effective.

1955, George S. Benson, NERBA, volume 34, part 5, Boston, Mass.: New England Road Builders Association, →OCLC, page 12-2, column 2:

I believe [Dean] Rusk has abdicated. Rusk merely follows [Robert] McNamara. It is McNamara who is calling the shots in South Vietnam. [...] The South Vietnamese program is McNamara's program. I am not interested in Rusk's "me-too-isms" in regard to it.

1964 April 9, Wayne Morse, “McNamara’s War in Vietnam”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 88th Congress, Second Session (United States Senate), volume 110, part 6, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7431, column 1:

Having [Richard] Nixon woo the hard-shell Republicans and ardent anti-Communists and pleasing [Robert Alphonso] Taft and [Joseph] McCarthy, however useful for expunging "me-tooism" from the campaign, constantly threatened to jeopardize the greatest potential source of [Dwight David] Eisenhower's political strength: that fickle, uncommitted, apolitical, independent vote.

1972, Herbert S. Parmet, “Holding the Center”, in Eisenhower & the American Crusades (American Presidents Series), New Brunswick, N.J., London: Transaction Publishers, published 1999, →ISBN, page 134:

For some time there has ceased to be any significant difference between the Democrats and the Republicans; they are best thought of as two branches of the same party. [...] The depoliticization of most of the American intelligensia merely reflects the conformism and convergence—the "me-tooism"—of political life in general.

2001, Susan Sontag, “A Few Weeks After”, in Paolo Dilonardo, Anne Jump, editors, At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 2007, →ISBN, page 116:

Republican domestic stands of the time were called "me-tooism," saying about each of the popular domestic innovations of FDR [Franklin Delano Roosevelt] and the Democrats, "we support that too."

2004, James Allen Stimson, “What the Public Wants from Government”, in Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 25:

(politics) The act of following or taking on a policy of another (especially competing) person or political party.


quad rugby

Blend of quadriplegic + rugby from official players of this sport needing to be affected by some form of quadriplegia or equivalent missing limbs.

wheelchair rugby
wheelchair rugby#English

(US) Synonym of wheelchair rugby (US regional name and American English vernacular name)


OCILLA

w:Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act

(US, law) Abbreviation of Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act.


penny tray

(Canada, US) A tray or dish found in small stores for convenience in cash transactions, allowing customers to discard unwanted pennies received in their change, or to take a penny for a transaction.


carnap

en-verb

carnap (third-person singular simple present carnaps, present participle carnapping or carnaping, simple past and past participle carnapped or carnaped)

carnaps (present singular third-person)
carnapping (participle present)
carnaping (participle present)
carnapped (participle past)
carnapped (past)
carnaped (participle past)
carnaped (past)

From car + -nap, formed in allusion to kidnap based on an erroneous belief that the latter specifically refers to the kidnapping of children.

(Philippines, originally US) To steal a motor vehicle.


affective partisan polarization

en-noun

affective partisan polarization (uncountable)

(political science, US) the process of steady growth of the mutual dislike between Republicans and Democrats since the 1970s


all politics is local

Variously attributed to Associated Press Washington bureau chief Byron Price, said to have first used this term in 1932, and to Chicago writer Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936).
Derivative of British English professor, Dr. Samuel Johnson's 18th Century aphorism, "All virtue is local".

"The campaign never ends," said the 44-year-old Congressman. . . . "I win by reaching out to people one by one, through relentless retail politics." In other words, Mr. Bacchus is betting his congressional career on the adage that all politics is local.

1993 December 7, Clifford Krauss, “On Congress's Home Front, Faith That All Politics Is Indeed Local”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-08-17:

[A]ll politics is local and Kerry North is more local than most. In the electorate, the view is that Mr Ferris got in because . . . he has been an assiduous local councillor and constituency worker, painstakingly building up a formidable Sinn Fein machine that has delivered on local issues.

2002 May 20, David McKittrick (Ireland Correspondent), "Kerry kicks out former party leader and replaces him with former gun-runner," Independent (UK) (retrieved 17 Aug 2015)

But in the end, all politics is local, and almost every race is decided by local issues.

2002 June 21, Mitch Frank, “The White House Goes Local”, in Time, retrieved 2015-08-17:

All politics is local. I believe in a grassroots approach that is founded on strong representation for constituents.

2007 Sept. 14, "Politics: John O'Toole (incumbent)," Toronto Star (Canada) (retrieved 17 Aug 2015)

(chiefly US, politics) Ultimately, constituents and voters are concerned most about issues that affect their personal lives and home communities, and they vote accordingly.

Barry Popik
Byron Price
Finley Peter Dunne
all politics is local


hipification

He is, in large part, responsible for the hipification (some may say the crassification) of the neighborhood, a district east of SoHo and south of the East Village.

2007 June 3, Allen Salkin, “Lower East Side Is Under a Groove”, in New York Times:

(US, informal) The effects on a neighborhood of an influx of hipsters.


on the road

(US, Canada, sports) At the venue of an opposing team or competitor.


butterhead

Yeah, if one of my sisters ever brought home a fuckin' butterhead, you know what my old man would do?

(US, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of East Asian descent.


ball alley

It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to keep or maintain in the said village, any ball-alley, or apparatus, alley, machine, building or enclosure, constructed or used for the purpose of playing thereon or therewith at the game called or known by the name of nine-pins or ten-pins, for gain, hire, reward or emolument of any kind or in any manner whatsoever;

1828, Charter of the village of Albion, New York; quoted in Tanner v Trustees of Albion 5 Hill 121 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1843)

[I] knew [Herman Melville] when he was setting up pins in a ball alley.

1849, Hiram R. Hawkins, quoted in Hershel Parker, Herman Melville: A Biography; Volume 1 : 1819-1851, p.250 (JHU Press, 2005) →ISBN


megadouche

While he orders two sodas, I ignore him and watch for Stamp. It's hard to find him because he looks just like every other megadouche in the joint […]

2013, Rusty Fischer, Zombies Don't Forgive, page 138:

(US, slang, derogatory) A highly objectionable person.


lobster palace

(US, historical) An ostentatiously elegant restaurant in New York City.


subfreshman

(US, dated) A student preparing for the freshman year.


Dutch loaf

Dutch loaf (countable and uncountable, plural Dutch loaves)

(US) A luncheon meat made from spiced coarse-ground lean pork and beef formed into a loaf shape and smoked.


talk out of one's ass

en-verb

talk out of one's ass (third-person singular simple present talks out of one's ass, present participle talking out of one's ass, simple past and past participle talked out of one's ass)

talks out of one's ass (present singular third-person)
talking out of one's ass (participle present)
talked out of one's ass (participle past)
talked out of one's ass (past)
talk out of one's arse (alternative)

"We looked it up," Colbert said. "And the Department of Environmental does not exist, meaning Trump is either talking out of his ass or he's already eliminated it."

2016 April 7, Brendan Gauthier, “‘Talking out of his ass’: Stephen Colbert loses patience with Donald Trump’s ignorance”, in salon.com, retrieved 2017-12-06:

(Canada, US, idiomatic, vulgar) To exaggerate, lie, or speak nonsense.


in the interest of justice

Motion to dismiss in the interest of justice

(law, US, idiomatic) the reason of case dismissal used when the judge decides that justice will be best served when the case is dismissed


NPSC

(US, military) Initialism of Navy Personnel Separation Center.


Rooshian

(US, historical) A Russia German (Russian German, German from Russia) in the US (member of one of the German communities which migrated first to the Russian Empire and then from there to the US).


private car

In the days before televised press conferences, or debates between Presidential contenders, the railroads carried the politicians to the people. Here, President Truman addresses a crowd from the verandah of his private car, at Sacramento during the 1952 campaign.

1985, Rodger Bradley, Amtrak: The US National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Blandford Press, →ISBN, page 11, photo caption:

(rail transport, US) A railroad passenger car that is either privately owned or used privately, or both.


garbage day

(Canada, US) The day of the week when people place their rubbish outside to be collected by garbagemen.


catskinner

Blend of cat (“tracked vehicle”) + muleskinner

blend

(slang, US) One who drives (or operates) a tracked vehicle.


bathroomgoer

The exhibition lasted only from 6 to 6:26 p.m., the artists said, because a security guard, alerted by concerned bathroomgoers, showed up and tapped on Mr. Hartshorn’s shower curtain.

2008 April 11, Randy Kennedy, “At the Modern, Art in a New York Minute”, in New York Times:

We were not about to be accused of peeping through a hole in the wall—every bathroomgoer was now in charge of their own peeping. Lots of cool pictures came out of that.

2010, Daniel Lanois, Soul Mining: A Musical Life:

(US, rare) One who goes to use the toilet.


dadburn

Can you believe the nerve of that dadburn whippersnapper at the press dinner, saying your memoir would be called ‘How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People?’

2009 May 20, Maureen Dowd, “Cheney Grabs a Third Term”, in New York Times:

(Santa) This dadburn G.P.S. is zigzagging me all over the planet!!! I never should have fired Rudolph!!

2010 December 24, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):


fish cop

(US, Canada, slang) An officer of a fish and wildlife conservation commission.


Armistice Day

From being the day on which the armistice of World War I was signed.

Ημέρα Ανακωχής

11th November, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice agreement to end World War I, commemorating the fallen of that war.


glibertarian

However, Ken completely ignores all other taxes, per the custom of the glibertarian.

2009 December 17, Chris Bellomy, “Re: Was Pitts right?”, in rec.sport.golf (Usenet):

The State of California is following Colorado Springs into the glorious future envisioned by Ayn Rand-addled glibertarians!

2010 April 20, Spartakus [username], “Re: CA's Budget Crisis Harbinger of Things to Come on National Scale”, in alt.politics.conservative (Usenet):

It's these guys versus all of us, yet half the people being rogered (Republicans and glibertarians and hell, half the Democrats) have been convinced the other side is a bigger threat to their well being than the people with all the power, money, and resources.

2011 February 11, Yankee Doodle Dandy [username], “Former Wingnut John Cole”, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh (Usenet):

(US, slang, derogatory) A disingenuous libertarian.


concealed carry

Coordinate term: open carry

Unlike other states, where concealed carry is specifically prohibited in places of worship, Wisconsin's new law allows it anywhere except for specific locations.

2011 November 4, Daniel Schultz, “Don't bring your guns to church, leave your guns at home”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly US) The practice of carrying a concealed firearm in public.


two cents' worth

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-two cents' worth.wav

two pennies' worth
two pennies' worth#English

(chiefly US and Canada) Synonym of two pennies' worth.


peepaw

(US, dialect, Southern US) Synonym of papa (“father”)


Revlon mode

After the legal case Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc.

(US, business) The position of a company whose sale or breakup is imminent and whose directors' responsibility is consequently narrowed to securing the highest possible price to benefit stockholders.


code black

code black • code blue • code brown • code grey • code orange • code pink • code red • code silver • code white • code yellow

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a patient death.

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a security threat to medical facility infrastructure.


code blue

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition of the occurrence of a medical emergency.

code

to experience a code blue situation in a patient


code pink

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a neonatal medical emergency.

(Canada, US, medicine, more generally) The condition on the occurrence of a pediatric medical emergency.


code red

en-noun

code red (countable and uncountable, plural code reds)

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition on the occurrence of a fire at the medical facility.

(Canada, US) An extrajudicial punishment.


code brown

(Canada, US, medicine) The condition of the occurrence of a hazmat situation at a medical facility.


pogey bait

Related to pogue (“soldier assigned administrative rather than combat duties”).

(US, military, slang) Snacks, candy, and similar food items that are not generally available to soldiers in the field.


massah

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(US, historical, colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of master, representing African-American Vernacular English.


bailjumping

From bail + jumping; see jump one's bail.

(US, slang) The act of absconding while at liberty under bail bonds.


Lawsonize

en-verb

Lawsonize (third-person singular simple present Lawsonizes, present participle Lawsonizing, simple past and past participle Lawsonized)

Lawsonizes (present singular third-person)
Lawsonizing (participle present)
Lawsonized (participle past)
Lawsonized (past)

From Lawson + -ize. Named after American businessman Thomas W. Lawson, co-founder of the controversial Amalgamated Copper Mining Company and later author of Frenzied Finance, which told the story of the amalgamation in an aggressively one-sided manner.

named-after

A little Lawsonizing might do the department mentioned a power of good in the way of housecleaning.

Their spelling would often make Josh Billings envious and their logic is only in process and hasn't yet been “ Lawsonized.” But we don't worry over their crudity while they are learning to strike out.

1909, State Teachers Association, Proceedings of the New York State Teachers Association ... Annual Meeting, New York:

I will add right here that if there was ever any industry in this country that needed Lawsonizing any more than the whaling and latter day merchant marine does, I have not heard of it.

(obsolete, early 20th century, US, usually derogatory) To amalgamate.

Admitting Mr. Bok's right to play to the gallery if he wishes, why can't he play fair? Why can't he Lawsonize things he knows something about ?

He could Lawsonize the theatrical world with some very diverting 'frenzied drama ,' no doubt.

[T]he time was when the public feeling against the Standard Oil has been Tarbellized and Lawsonized into almost a fever-heat.

(obsolete, early 20th century, US, usually derogatory) To harshly criticize, to use the press to condemn a rival business.


Tarbellize

en-verb

Tarbellize (third-person singular simple present Tarbellizes, present participle Tarbellizing, simple past and past participle Tarbellized)

Tarbellizes (present singular third-person)
Tarbellizing (participle present)
Tarbellized (participle past)
Tarbellized (past)

From Tarbell + -ize, after Ida Tarbell, author of The History of the Standard Oil Company, a book that heavily criticized John D. Rockefeller and his monopolistic practices.

The agencies of the Central States have been "Tarbellized" this month. Now watch the returns.

1903, The Equitable News: An Agents' Journal:

At this stage we must take a risk; / We may full soon be Tarbellized, / Or through exposures blunt and brisk / Be quite completely Lawsonized.

Shirley worked deviously, of course. Having, under a name not her own, achieved fame by Tarbellizing the plutocrat in a book, and having (still in disguise) been given by the simple minded great man command of his most private papers […]

1906, Army & Navy Life and the United Service:

(obsolete, transitive, early 20th century, US) To criticize through investigatory journalism.

Ida Tarbell
John D. Rockefeller
The History of the Standard Oil Company


harkener

(chiefly US) Alternative spelling of hearkener


CIB

CIB (disambiguation)
Cosmic infrared background

certificate of Indian blood
certificate of Indian blood#English

Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood
Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood

(US) Initialism of certificate of Indian blood., a document signifying Native American ancestry, also known as a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood.


daggum

Those daggum thieves stole my car!


daggum

Daggum! My car's been stolen!

(US, euphemistic, dialectal) goddamn; an expression of frustration


OPSEC

(US, military) Abbreviation of operations security.


Terry search

(US, law enforcement) A search carried out by the police during a Terry stop.


Terry stop

From the legal case Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), in which the Supreme Court held that police may briefly detain a person who they reasonably suspect is involved in criminal activity.

(US, law enforcement) The brief detention of a person by the police on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity but short of probable cause to arrest.


buy when it snows, sell when it goes

buy when it snows and sell when it goes (alternative)

There is a phenomenon in stock market investment known as "seasonality." In Canada we sometimes summarize it with the epithet "Buy when it snows, sell when it goes."

2007 May 10, Peter McKenzie-Brown, “Sell in May and Stay Away!”, in Language Matters, retrieved 2015-10-13:

Most years, he says, investors can make money by simply holding broad indices, such as the S&P 500 and Canada's S&P/TSX Composite, from Oct. 28 to May 5, when they tend to make most of their gains, and then selling. If that's too hard to remember, Vialoux has a handy catch phrase: “Buy when it snows! Sell when it goes!”

2010 October 21, Paul Marshman, “Buy when it snows, sell when it goes!”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 2015-10-13:

According to Carlo R. Besenius, CEO of Creative Global Investments in Luxembourg, the trade, known as "buy when it snows, sell when it goes," was profitable in 53 of the past 61 periods. In a recent note, he pointed out that Munich, Geneva, Luxembourg, and Calgary had their first snowfall on Sunday, Oct. 28. He credits annual recurring events such as transactions for tax purposes and the holidays, among others.

2012 November 3, Robin Goodwin Blumenthal, “Season for Stocks: Let It Snow, Let It Snow?”, in Barron's, retrieved 2015-10-13:

(business, stock market, chiefly northern US and Canada) Stock market securities can be expected to increase in value to a greater degree in the cold winter months from November through April than in the warm months from May through October, and profit-minded investors should manage their portfolios accordingly.


rip ass

rip ass (third-person singular simple present rips ass, present participle ripping ass, simple past and past participle ripped ass)

rips ass (present singular third-person)
ripping ass (participle present)
ripped ass (participle past)
ripped ass (past)


pro tempore

From the Latin prō tempore (literally “for a time”).

uder

pro tem. (alternative)
p.t. (alternative)

President pro tempore of the Senate

(chiefly US) temporarily; for the time being


pro tempore

(chiefly US) acting (of a job or role), serving temporarily


state police

en-noun

state police (usually uncountable, plural state polices)

(US, Australia, law enforcement) The police force belonging to the state (subnational) government, as contrasted with federal, county, or municipal law enforcement.

Staatspolizei

police force belonging to the state government


cawk

(slang, Canada, US) Pronunciation spelling of cock (in the sense of penis).


break ass

en-verb

break ass (third-person singular simple present breaks ass, present participle breaking ass, simple past broke ass, past participle broken ass)

breaks ass (present singular third-person)
breaking ass (participle present)
broke ass (past)
broken ass (participle past)

(Canada, US, slang, vulgar) To flatulate; to fart.


new normal

The new normal for this country is simply to survive economically.

However, the abnormal condition may last for a few years, and the tendency to return to the former balance may never be more than partially realized. That is to say, the abnormal situation may persist until it becomes a new normal.

1922 August, B. H. Hibbard, “Effect of Change of Price of Produce on Intensity of Cultivation”, in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, volume XXXVI, number 4, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 659:

Well, it is a fact that in most of the food businesses your sales have increased very greatly in the past few years. Whether this is a permanent new level, and whether we are some day going back to what we call a normal level or did call a normal level, I do not know. Maybe this is a new normal and, of course, there is a lag between the time farm products go down, and the time that a processed food product goes down, and the length of that time lag is dependent upon the complexity of the processes through which the basic commodity goes, until it reaches the form in which it gets to the consumer.

1949 December 14, George H. Coppers (witness), “Statement of George H. Coppers, President, National Biscuit Co.; Accompanied by George A. Mitchell, Vice President, and E. W. Barto, General Counsel”, in Utilization of Farm Crops: Price Spreads: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, United States Senate, Eighty-first Congress, First Session […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 1950, →OCLC, page 1107:

Clothing styles lead us quickest into new normals and out of old ones, as we can see quite readily by looking over the pictures in old magazines and books.

1954 February 26, Thomas G. Walters (witness), “Statement of Thomas G. Walters, Operations Director, Government Employees’ Council”, in Fringe Benefits for Federal Employees: Hearings before the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, United States Senate, Eighty-third Congress, Second Session on S. 2665 […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 105:

I hope you will comply willingly; it will speed the day when I can bow out and life can get back to normal—a new normal, free of the Authority, free of guards, free of troops stationed on us, free of passports and searches and arbitrary arrests.

1966 June 2, Robert A[nson] Heinlein, chapter 14, in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, book 2 (A Rabble in Arms), page 152:

After nine months of pregnancy, I'm sure you're ready to call your body your own and return to normal. The truth is, you probably won't feel "normal" for a while, especially if you're nursing. Even then, your new normal may turn out to be somewhat different from your old normal. […] Your body deserves time and attention during the weeks and months after your baby's birth so it can create the new normal as quickly and comfortably as possible.

2000, Sheryl Gurrentz, “Section 3: Dealing with Physical Changes”, in The Guilt-free Guide to Your New Life As a Mom: Practical Ways to Take Care of Yourself, Your Life & Your Baby—All at the Same Time, Glendale, Calif.: Perspective Publishing, →ISBN, page 35:

But scientists involved in the effort warned that squabbling among teams and government representatives from more than 100 countries – over how to portray the probable amount of sea-level rise during the 21st century – could distract from the basic finding that a warming world will be one in which shrinking coastlines are the new normal for centuries to come.

2007 January 30, James Kanter, Andrew C. Revkin, “World scientists near consensus on warming”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-22:

The exhibit concluded with the statement about what the modern world owes to the Age of Revolution. It claims that the Age of Revolution “created several ‘new normals’,” among them that “slavery was fundamentally inhuman and had to be abolished”; […] But of course, these were not “normals” for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and are still not “normals” in much of the world today.

2018, Alan J. Singer, “Politics of Historical Memory”, in New York’s Grand Emancipation Jubilee: Essays on Slavery, Resistance, Abolition, Teaching, and Historical Memory, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 165:

How should we respond to the new normal? China's economic development is now in the new normal. This conclusion is drawn from analyzing the world economic cycle, China's development stage, and the interaction between the two. This conclusion has been widely recognized by the rest of the world. According to the IMF [International Monetary Fund], China's economic development is in the new normal, so is global economic development.

2018, Xi Jinping, “The New Normal: How to Respond and Adapt”, in [anonymous], transl., The Governance of China, volume II, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, →ISBN, section I, page 261:

For a while, therefore, it looked like the great heat wave would be like mass shootings in the United States—mourned by all, deplored by all, and then immediately forgotten or superseded by the next one, until they came in a daily drumbeat and became the new normal.

2020, Kim Stanley Robinson, chapter 6, in The Ministry for the Future, London: Little, Brown Book Group, →ISBN:

Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado said mass shootings could not be the "new normal."

2021 March 23, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Jenny Gross, “Suspect charged with 10 counts of murder in Boulder, Colo., shooting”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-23:

Extreme heat in the world's oceans passed the "point of no return" in 2014 and has become the new normal, according to research.

2022 February 1, Damian Carrington, “Extreme heat in oceans ‘passed point of no return’ in 2014”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-01-30:

It's becoming the new normal on a network with far too many trains being cancelled, and too many cancelled at short notice causing chaos for commuters and local communities.

2022 November 16, Philip Haigh, “Network news: TPE under fire over ‘unacceptable’ cancellations”, in Rail, number 970, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:

(originally chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic) A current prevailing situation which has emerged recently, that differs dramatically from the previous one and is expected to remain.


pony keg station

en-noun

pony keg station (plural pony keg stations)

From pony keg + station, by analogy with gas station.

The carrier also affords a convenient mode of merchandising beverages such as are commonly used for picnics and the like, a container containing, for example, twelve bottles of soft-drinks, beer, or the like being sold in iced condition by the retailer, such as an ice house, pony keg station or other outlets having facilities for icing the containers.

Under a January 29 divorce decree, Mrs. Johnson received real estate and a pony keg station, and although she said she lost both businesses, the judge ruled that she had the ability to pay her ex-husband, Thomas, and must now remain in jail until she makes arrangements to pay.

“Mr. & Mrs.”, in Jet, volume 23, number 26, 1963 April 18, page 48

In 1969 two felons held up a pony-keg station in Philadelphia with two seven and one-half-foot medium action spinrods.

Tallon, Jim (1971 April 2) “Outdoors Omnibus”, in High Country News, volume 3, number 6, page 13

(US, dated) A convenience store specializing in pony kegs.


jdfr

(military, US) Abbreviation of joined from.


HqBn

(military, US) Abbreviation of headquarters battalion.


MARFOR

(military, US) Acronym of Marine forces.