fag rag

For those of you out-of-the-know, Blueboy is a fag rag on the nice end of the spectrum (opposite Manmeat.)

1992, Louise Rafkin, Queer and Pleasant Danger: Writing Out My Life, Cleis Press, →ISBN, page 148:

He handed her the magazine, and she recognized it as one of her brother Herb's gay publications which he kept hidden in a box under his bed, thinking no one knew about his stash of fag rags.

1997, John Patrick, Come Again, STARbooks press, published 2008, →ISBN, page 110:

I ask my readers to send their old “fag rags” to me instead of burning them, since I argue that these magazines are part of our gay cultural heritage.

2011, Karl Andersson, Gay Man's Worst Friend: The Story of Destroyer Magazine, Entartetes Leben (2011; original Swedish book published 2010), page 50


baby rabies

Some grandparents get baby rabies worse than some parents.

2004 January 25, Terry Austin, “Re: BURKE HAS SUMMONED TERRY AUSTIN!!!”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet):

I was absolutely shocked when I came down with “baby rabies” in my early 30's after 11 years of marriage.

2008, Dawn, "Making the Childfree Choice after a Heartbreaking Choice", in Our Heartbreaking Choices: Forty-Six Women Share Their Stories of Interrupting a Much-Wanted Pregnancy (ed. Christie Brooks), iUniverse (2008), unnumbered page

Some women in their 30s, especially those who wake up with baby rabies at 35, continue to maintain high standards: demanding that a man be straight, single and paroled.

2010, Amy Alkon, "Advice Goddess", Pacific Sun, 11 June 2010 - 17 June 2010, page 39

(slang, humorous or derogatory) An urgent desire to have a baby or grandchild.


drink link

Humorously suggesting that it is a convenient source of money for alcoholic drinks.

This particular ATM was known as the 'drink-link'. It was good to know she would get money any time, for an extra round or a taxi home — assuming she could still remember her PIN number.

2000, William Cullen, Doris Lehniger, B for Business, page 91:

'Yes, and CCTV on the drink link and at Fabio's chipper.'


Leonine verse

en-noun

Leonine verse (countable and uncountable, plural Leonine verses)

(poetry) A kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme); also, the form of such verse.


loser cruiser

In Chappaqua, few self-respecting high school students will ride the bus, derided as the "loser cruiser," preferring to get rides from parents or other students.

2000 September 24, Merri Rosenberg, “A Shortage of Parking Spaces Plagues the County's High Schools”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-06-13:

Before I took the first European Megabus on Monday, a friend disparaged the coach as a "loser cruiser".

2012 April 20, Simon Calder, “'Loser cruiser' or the modern way to Paris?”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-06-13:

We are all going to be riding the Bus (aka loser cruiser) down to the Unemployment office to receive our Government Benefits pretty soon.

2012 June 4, Mike Jones, “Comments: Use of public transit is soaring in 2012”, in USA Today, retrieved 2014-06-13:

If you ride the "loser cruiser," the government figures you get what you deserve. Air conditioned bus indeed!

2014 May 14, skessel, "Comments: MassDOT board expected to approve MBTA fare hikes," Boston Globe (retrieved 13 June 2014)


copy-paste

copy-paste (countable and uncountable, plural copy-pastes)

Etymology tree
Middle English copien
English copy
Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁t-der.
Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō)
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Ancient Greek -τός (-tós)
Ancient Greek παστός (pastós)
Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.
Late Latin pasta
Old French pastebor.
Middle English paste
English paste
English copy-paste

etymon

Paragraphs, images or diagrams are frequently assembled manually by copy-paste actions.

2007, Katrien Herbert, Erik Duval, "Evaluating the ALOCOM Approach for Scalable Content Repurposing", Creating New Learning Experiences on a Global Scale (), Springer →ISBN, page 364

Optimizing your META Keywords field is remarkably easy, especially if you have just optimized your page titles. All you need to do is a simple copy-paste.

2009, Stephen Woessner, The Small Business Owner's Handbook to Search Engine Optimization: Increase Your Google Rankings, Double Your Site Traffic... in Just 15-Steps - Guaranteed, Atlantic Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 114:

It also has disadvantages; for one thing, the lack of focus on program structure leads to lots of copy-paste programming and poorly structured programs. Language workbenches support developing new kinds of programming platforms like this.

2010, Martin Fowler, Domain-Specific Languages, Pearson Education, →ISBN:

(computing) The action of duplicating (text, an object, etc.) by copying it and later pasting somewhere else.

copienganxar

action of duplicating by copying and later pasting

The interesting fact, however, is that the Regulation takes as a model, or better to say it is mostly a copy-paste of the text, of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods rather than being adjusted to the needs of Kosovo.

2013, Ronald A Brand, D Wes Rist, The Export of Legal Education, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., →ISBN, page 101:

(chiefly computing, informal) Material incorporated into another work with minimal or no changes.

copienganxa

material incorporated into another work with minimal or no changes


copy-paste

en-verb

copy-paste (third-person singular simple present copy-pastes, present participle copy-pasting, simple past and past participle copy-pasted)

copy-pastes (present singular third-person)
copy-pasting (participle present)
copy-pasted (participle past)
copy-pasted (past)

It can be useful to copy-paste frames to transfer a sequence from the main timeline to the timeline of a clip symbol.

2004, Corinne Hervo, Straight to the Point: Flash 5, Firewall Media, →ISBN:

(computing, transitive) To copy (text, an object, etc.) and later paste it somewhere else.


spindlelegs

(archaic, derogatory) A person with long thin legs.


workname

‘I made the acquaintance of the head of the independent Thirteenth Intelligence Directorate, subordinated to the Party's Central Committee, who is known throughout Centre only by his workname Karla.’

1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 256:

The alias used by someone involved in secret espionage or intelligence work.


beaver fever

(informal) giardiasis (an infection by Giardia parasites)


worktime

en-noun

worktime (countable and uncountable, plural worktimes)

The period, or daily hours, during which somebody works.


never-was

(informal, derogatory) One who has never achieved success or popularity.


heavy hitter

Even Mrs Clinton, the heavy hitter, will need every ounce of her formidable powers.

1993 January 28, Rupert Cornwell, “Hillary called to cure ills of US health system”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-20:

For Yamana, its El Penon mine in Chile is its heavy hitter, with production expectations of 450,000 to 500,000 ounces per year.

2013 February 20, Sean Williams, “3 Stocks to Get on Your Watchlist”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 2014-08-20:

Müller used this speech, delivered in the presence of Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, another heavy-hitter in the Catholic world, to draw some lines in the sand.

2014 February 15, John L. Allen Jr., “Legionaries are Pope Francis’ problem now”, in Boston Globe, retrieved 2014-08-20:

(idiomatic) A person of considerable importance who is a major decision maker or capable achiever; an especially significant organization or an especially functional object.


eastern kingsnake

eastern kingsnake (plural eastern kingsnakes)

common kingsnake
common kingsnake#English

Synonym of common kingsnake (“Lampropeltis getula, a harmless colubrid kingsnake endemic to much of warm temperate northern Mexico and the United States”); especially Lampropeltis getula getula which is native to the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states.


mates' rates

I looked at him quizzically. ‘It's Rose's place. She says pop in anytime for a hairdo. Mates' rates.’ I must have looked wary because he added, ‘She's good.’ I nodded politely.

2014, Jonathan Harvey, The Girl Who Just Appeared, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 94:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal, chiefly in the plural) Discounted prices offered to friends.


cratedigger

/ˈkɹeɪtdɪɡə/

/ˈkɹeɪtˌdɪɡəɹ/

Serious vinyl collectors will have a minor epiphany at Car City Classics[…], where notorious crate-diggers like the UK's Kirk Degiorgio (a.k.a. As One) have been known to close the store.

1998 April, Scott Sterling, “Localzine: Detroit, Michigan”, in Scott Frampton, editor, CMJ New Music Monthly, Great Neck, N.Y.: College Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 77:

Our audience tends to be what I would call ‘crate diggers’—people who like digging for new stuff.

2001 November 3, Brian Garrity, quoting Derrick Oien, “MP3.com Recasts Itself as Tech Outfit, Promo Vehicle”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 113, number 44, New York, N.Y.: Billboard Music Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 71, column 4:

A little crate-diggers’ paradise for collectors of Latin and easy listening music on vinyl.

2003, Fiona McAuslan, Matthew Norman, Sarah Lazarus, “Havana and around”, in The Rough Guide to Cuba, 2nd edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 154:

Long a crate-digger’s grail and never before available on CD, this is one obscurity that really lives up to the hype.

2008, Signal to Noise: The Journal of Improvised and Experimental Music, South Hero, Vt.: Pete Gershon, →OCLC, page 103:

But it was a chance encounter with Gilles Peterson, an influential U.K. radio personality and cratedigger with a knack for discovering raw talent, that helped move his [José James's] career into high gear.

2010 April 3, David J. Prince, “All that Jazz: Jose James Covers the Classics”, in Craig Marks, editor, Billboard, volume 122, number 13, New York, N.Y.: e5 Global Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 1:

The Beehive is half of a two-room shop that also contains Casbah Records, where cratediggers can flick through stacks of vinyl records while their friends or partners try on clothes next door.

2013 May, Frances Ambler, Emily Bick, Samantha Cook, Nicholas Jones, Lara Kavanagh, “South London”, in Wayne Hemingway, editor, The Rough Guide to Vintage London, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, part 1 (Shopping, Eating and Drinking), page 94:

(music, slang) A person who habitually looks through crates of vinyl records at music shops, especially in pursuit of interesting or rare records.


killstreak

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

(video games) An award or an advantage that a player obtains by achieving an unbroken streak of kills (as sense 1) of a given length.


teaboy

The two parties differ about the actual request, Keegan claiming he was told, by reason of the departure of Davis, to take over the function of teaboy. The employer says he merely asked Keegan to perform that function on the one occasion.

1985, Judgments, etc., of the Arbitration Court of New Zealand, page 697:

A young man employed to prepare tea (the drink).


fly ash

From fly (“(obsolete) act of flying”, noun) + ash.

compound

Heat exchangers should be kept free of debris to minimize the possibility of fire. Fly ash deposited in heat exchangers may cause nonuniform temperatures. Therefore, the exchangers should be disconnected and cleaned out regularly.

1956 December, Edmund F. Rasmussen [et al.], “Heating System”, in Inspection and Maintenance of Lumber Dry Kilns and Equipment: Information on Ways and Means of Keeping Lumber Dry Kilns Operating Efficiently (Report no. 1900-4), Madison, Wis.: Forest Products Laboratory, Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture in association with the University of Wisconsin, →OCLC, page 19:

Among new freight vehicles was a prototype 21-ton wagon with pressure discharge for the conveyance of fly ash from power stations, […]

1964 August, “BR [British Rail] in 1963 – ‘We have Turned the Financial Corner’”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 115:

Furnaces and boilers with horizontal heating surfaces require frequent cleaning, because fly ash (fine powdery ash) collects on these surfaces.

1975 May, Joseph W[inslow] Simons, “Fuels and Burners”, in Home Heating: Systems, Fuels, Controls (Farmers’ Bulletin; no. 2235), Washington, D.C.: Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 19, column 2:

Besides our sending out of cement by rail, we also bring in pulverised fly-ash, typically once a week, which comes from Drax Power Station and is used in the cement manufacturing process, […]

2022 September 7, Gareth David, “Class 20 Stronghold in the Peak District”, in Rail, number 965, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 45:

A residue generated in the combustion of powdered coal or other materials, comprising the fine particles that rise with the flue gases; when generated industrially it is usually captured and can be recycled for use in construction materials.


bundle branch block

en-noun

bundle branch block (plural bundle branch blocks)

The electrocardiogram manifests with a basic second degree conduction block, e.g. a 2:1 ratio associated with a bundle branch block pattern.

1971, Leo Schamroth, The disorders of cardiac rhythm, page 185:

(pathology) A heart condition in which the electrical impulses controlling the pace of the heart are not transmitted normally through either of the bundle branches.


baby's tears

(Soleirolia soleirolii):

Soleirolia soleirolii
Soleirolia soleirolii#Translingual

Any of various plants having parts (such as leaves or spots on leaves, petals, etc.) resembling teardrops; specifically, angel's tears (Soleirolia soleirolii), a plant in the nettle family grown as a green, mossy ground cover.


ugly stick

You may also find an authentic ugly stick. It's masterfully constructed with beer stoppers, duct tape, a tobacco can, and a few pieces of wood. It just is…

1988 June 17, Stephen Day, “Folk Music Revived at Bridgett’s”, in The Muse, volume 38, number 23, St. John’s, N.L.: Council of the Students Union, Memorial University of Newfoundland, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 4:

Nobody's invited; everybody just comes. And there's no real planning, because the folks that come bring food and music with them. There are fiddles and squeezeboxes and ugly sticks and sometimes even drums to make the music.

2010, Penny Draper, “Bella”, in Laura Peetoom, editor, A Terrible Roar of Water (Disaster Strikes; 5), Regina, Sask.: Coteau Books, →ISBN, page 57:

A lot of you know what it is. It's an ugly stick. And you can see why. [laughter] Anyway, basically what it is is an old mop, or a new one if you're playing at the Arts and Culture Centre [prolonged laughter and clapping.] And it's an old juice can with some black tape over it. A handful of three and a half inch nails. Some felt tins, beer stoppers, wherever they came from [laughter], and that's about it, and it's supposed to make some music.

2011 December, Annie Rosalind McEwen, quoting Doug Dunne, “The Concert”, in “There Was More Strength in Singing”: Community, Identity, and the Performance of Memory in the Folk of the Sea Choir, 1994–2000 (unpublished Master of Arts thesis), St. John’s, N.L.: Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-06-28, pages 64–65:

In the main room a traditional Newfoundland band was playing regional folk music. People were dancing and singing and having the best time. Everyone looked so happy as they passed around the "Ugly Stick," a traditional musical instrument made from household and tool shed items like a mop handle with bottle caps, tin cans, small bells and other items to make noise. […] I'm not sure I've ever felt happier than I did while I was banging the boot with the stick attached on the floor, the nailed on bottle caps clinking to the rhythm of the folk song the band was playing.

2017, Patti Leo Bath, “Keeping Up with the Newfies”, in Amy Newmark, Janet Matthews, compilers, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Canada: 101 Stories of Love and Gratitude, Cos Cob, Conn.: Chicken Soup for the Soul, →ISBN, part 5 (We’re All in This Together), page 172:

(Canada, music) A traditional Newfoundland musical instrument fashioned from household and toolshed items, typically a mop handle attached with bottle caps, small bells, tin cans, etc., which are struck with a drumstick while one end of the handle is hit against the floor.


smallfolk

(fantasy, mythology) Small humanoid creatures, such as gnomes and halflings.


dustpile

A pile of dust and other material, typically composed household refuse.


snitch bitch

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

(prison slang, derogatory) A snitch; one who informs the authorities about another person.


copypaste

en-verb

copypaste (third-person singular simple present copypastes, present participle copypasting, simple past and past participle copypasted)

copypastes (present singular third-person)
copypasting (participle present)
copypasted (participle past)
copypasted (past)


know-nothing

Essentially deverbal in nature, albeit not from a unitary phrasal verb. Compare do-nothing § Etymology.

All over the world, know-nothing xenophobes are claiming – without evidence – that climate science is rigged.

2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, in the Guardian:

Ignorant; characterized by foolish denial of facts or beliefs in that which is not true.


know-nothing

An ignorant person; one who lacks knowledge.


washrack

Part of a stable or garage where an animal or vehicle can be conveniently washed.


Phrygian cap

/ˌfrɪd͡ʒɪən ˈkæp/

Eugène Delacroix
Liberty Leading the People

From Phrygian (“of or relating to Phrygia, its people or their culture”) + cap. Sense 2 (“congenital abnormality of the gall bladder”) is a calque of German phrygische Mütze, coined by J. Bartel in 1916 and popularized by Edward A. Boyden.

compound

A Phrygian Priapus of Elegant VVorkmanſhip: The Phrygian Cap pointed and hanging dovvn behind, as our Caps in Diſhabille are novv vvorn.

1699, Martin Lister, “Of Paris in General”, in A Journey to Paris in the Year 1698, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 46:

[Cornelian. Brit[ish] Muſ[eum].] The tvvo Dioſcuri, vvith Phrygian caps, on horſeback, approaching a female in a long robe, in the middle, vvho ſeems to hold their horſes by the head.

1791, R[udolf] E[rich] Raspe, “Castor and Pollux, or the Twins”, in A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern Engraved Gems, Cameos as well as Intaglios, Taken from the Most Celebrated Cabinets in Europe; […], volume I, London: […] [C. Buckton] for and sold by James Tassie, […]; and J[ohn] Murray, […], →OCLC, paragraph 1261, pages 108–109, column 1:

He was a handsome wretch, physically. […] I have no doubt that his red Phrygian cap concealed a pair of pointed furry ears; but his tattered habiliments and the strips of gay cloth wound, brigand-like, about his calves were not able to hide the ungyved grace of his limbs.

1878 May, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, “From Ponkapog to Pesth. Chapter II. On a Balcony.”, in The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XLI, number CCXLVII, Boston, Mass.: Houghton, Osgood and Company […], →OCLC, page 599, column 2:

A short while later, the fire in the courtyard was lit again when a hen laid a fantastic egg that looked like a Ping-Pong ball with an appendage like that on a Phrygian cap. My grandmother identified it on the spot: "It's a basilisk's egg." She threw it into the fire, murmuring prayers of conjuration.

2003, Gabriel García Márquez, chapter 2, in Edith Grossman, transl., Living to Tell the Tale […] (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 75:

Smiley Phryge (pronounced, with French style, as "Free-juh") represents what's known as a Phrygian cap, based on similar caps worn by 18th-century French revolutionaries, who saw it as a symbol of freedom. […] "When the French and British wanted to choose a cap of liberty from antiquity, they got it wrong," he [Charles Brian Rose] says. "They chose the Phrygian cap, which signified Middle East status, rather than the pileus, which signified liberty—and so the Phrygian cap came to be interpreted as a symbol of liberty."

2024 July 13, Tom Metcalfe, “Why this Ancient Hat is the 2024 Olympic Mascot”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-07-28:

(Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) A soft, close-fitting conical cap with the top bent forward, represented in Greek and Roman art as worn by ancient Phrygians, and later associated with the Roman liberty cap.


brolly dolly

From the umbrellas (“brolly”) they carry; chosen for the rhyme.


bookchest

Bookchests will be ready for distribution on the 4th Saturday of September and January. Books sent to the respective Circles are charged to the officers.

1903, New Jersey. State Board of Education, Annual Report, page 52:

He composed hymns, read holy works, and carried his bookchests wherever he went.

2013, Nancy Marie Brown, The Abacus and the Cross, page 206:


rod pod

(fishing) A stand for holding various items of angling equipment while it is in use.


spack attack

We had some small touristy spack attacks here as our hotel was rubbish (even Istvan thought so) so relocated a few times until we were happy […]

2011, Shirley Castley, One Eye Crying, One Eye Laughing, page 265:

She left jobs because she had “meltdowns from the stress” or had “spack attacks.”

2009, Niall McLaren, Humanizing Psychiatry: The Biocognitive Model, page 169:

(UK, slang, derogatory) A fit of foolish rage; a tantrum.


moonrock

en-noun

moonrock (countable and uncountable, plural moonrocks)


Herzeg-Bosnia

A short-lived, unrecognized political entity that existed during the Bosnian war, consisting of the Croat communities of Bosnia.


crackjaw

a crackjaw language

a crackjaw name

Benjamin Disraeli, who was a pretty bright guy—a novelist, debater, and prime minister of England—tried to identify a person once and ended up exclaiming, "A Polish nobleman, a Count somebody; I never can remember their crack-jaw name."

2009, Patsy Clairmont, All Cracked Up: Experiencing God in the Broken Places:


gump stump

"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:


volcanic winter

volcanic winter (plural volcanic winters)

Coordinate term: nuclear winter

(climatology) A reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large, particularly explosive volcanic eruption.

vulkaanwinter

reduction in global temperatures after a large, particularly explosive volcanic eruption


nipcheese

(military jargon, derogatory) Synonym of purser.


nip slip

Short for nipple slip, equivalent to nip + slip, chosen for the rhyme.

She had a nip slip during her Houston concert.

I can hardly remember a single word I said during that interview because I was too damn worried that on my first live television show, I was going to have my first live nip slip. Please don't let my boob come out.

2017, Andi Dorfman, It's Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak Into Happily Never After, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 133:

(slang) The brief accidental exposure of a woman's breast, usually partially and on the side.


ginger minger

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)ˈmɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

His hair's a bit thinner and slightly receding: baldness is a curse for a lot of ginger mingers.

2002, Irvine Welsh, Porno, Vintage, published 2013, →ISBN, page 168:

'Is the girl really a ginger minger?' Dannie asked Deirdre.
'She is anything but,' Deirdre told her.

2008, Kate Thompson, Love Lies Bleeding, New Island, →ISBN, page 175:

He knocks back the last of his beer and goes, 'Better text Kathleen,' who's the ginger minger I'm talking about. He's seeing her, when he's not trying to worm his way into my bird, that is.

2012, Paul Howard, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, PS, I Scored The Bridesmaids, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:

(UK, slang, vulgar, derogatory) A person who has red pubic hair.


blastpipe

From blast (“forcible stream of gas, etc., from an orifice; exhaust steam from an engine”) + pipe.

compound

[W]ith this arrangement the cylinders are cast separately from the saddle, and bolted to the frames on each side with a fabricated stiffener between the frames. This stiffener is carried up to form the saddle for the smokebox, and within it is fitted the exhaust pipes from the cylinders to the blast pipe.

1944 November–December, “Modified G.W.R. ‘Hall’ Class Locomotives”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 350:

By this time the "King" had been fitted with four-row superheater, double blastpipe and chimney, and all the later modifications effected by Swindon in these engines, to which they responded so well with the poorer quality of fuel of their last years.

1963 September, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 186:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering, rail transport) A pipe forming part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders up into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the firebox; this speeds up the release of smoke through the chimney.


shopdropping

/ˈʃɒpˌdɹɒpɪŋ/

/ˈʃɑpˌdɹɑpɪŋ/

From shop + dropping, modelled on shoplifting.

This is the season of frenetic shopping, but for a devious few people it's also the season of spirited shopdropping. Otherwise known as reverse shoplifting, shopdropping involves surreptitiously putting things in stores, rather than illegally taking them out, and the motivations vary.

2007 December 24, Ian Urbina, “Anarchists in the aisles? Stores provide a stage”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-19:

(often art) The covert placing of items in retail stores as a form of advertising, countercultural performance art, protest, etc.


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.


anypony

From any + pony, by analogy with anybody.

As I said, I'm writing a fanfic. I need to know if anypony in particular ~doesn't~ want to be in it.

1998 October 1, Jennifer McMichael, “I'm writing a fanfic....”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):

As stated before, if anypony would like one, the cost is $15 plus shipping.

1999 August 17, luv...@geocities.com [username], “My MLP T-shirt”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):

Heyas, I finally got around to drawing a pic of my unicorn self, if anypony wants to see it and let me know if it could use some changes before I get to the coloring of it.

1999 October 29, Pouncer [username], “Pouncer Drawing, not colored yet”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):


everypony

From every + pony, by analogy with everybody.

Hi everypony! I'm back from Germany and my luck held out! You'd never believe what I found!

1998 July 13, Buckbuddy [username], “Back from Germany”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):

why don't a^([sic]) draw a picture of everypony on the newsgroup, in their pony selves!

1998 September 6, Glory, “say cheese!”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):

Thanks so very much EVERYPONY! I really appreciate this! I was so stumped!!

1999 September 14, Michelle, “Re: Wanna help name a custom?”, in alt.toys.my-little-pony (Usenet):

(My Little Pony fandom slang) Everybody.


watchnight

New Year's Eve

whereas watch night is the night that begins at sundown on New Year's Eve and ends with sunrise on New Year's Day

not identical to watchnight – New Year's Eve is the entire day before New Year's Day

And there is one night in the year I have always observed – the good old Methodist vigil called Watch-night, popularly described as "seeing the old year out and the new year in." […] I have only been a Methodist once a year; and peculiar, accordingly, have my watch-night emotions been. There stands the old portico in —— street; can it be a year since I ascended those steps? These are the aisles, the columns, the pulpit, the recess with its inscriptions, the Christmas evergreens yet fresh over the Communion Table – silent preachers all, that seem to say: "You and I are a year older, friend; but we have seen more watch-nights than you, and are likely to see more yet;[…]["]

1861, “Watch-night in the Channel”, in The Sunday at Home: A Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading, London: The Religious Tract Society, →OCLC, page 260:

This was the first watchnight meeting among the Methodists. The people met at half-past eight; the house was filled from end to end; and "we concluded the year," says [John] Wesley, "wrestling with God in prayer, and praising Him for the wonderful work which He had already wrought upon the earth."

1872, L[uke] Tyerman, The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., Founder of the Methodists. … In Three Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 333:

Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Celebration: Order of Watchnight Service to be Held in Every Wesleyan-Methodist Place of Worship in Great Britain on the Night of Monday, 31st December, 1900, Being the Last Night of the Nineteenth Century

[1900], Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Celebration, London, Aylesbury: Hazell, Watson and Viney, →OCLC, cover title:

The first watch night services ever held in Grace Protestant Episcopal Church were but poorly attended, […]

1901 January 1, “Watch Night Services”, in The New York Times, page 2:

Watchnight. December 31 This is a midnight service that summarizes the past year. In recent centuries, the Moravians and early Methodists have celebrated it as a vigil service focusing on newness, the spiritual life, and covenants.

1999, R. Mark Liebenow, And Everyone Shall Praise: Resources for Multicultural Worship, Cleveland, Oh.: United Church Press, →ISBN, page 77:

(Christianity) A religious service involving a review of the past year and preparation for the year ahead participated in by Methodists and members of other Christian denominations which starts late on New Year's Eve and ends after midnight on New Year's Day; hence, the night that begins on December 31 and ends on January 1.


motion lotion

Lubricated and fueled by Elf, the nationalized purveyor of French motion lotion, the RE30B is on the verge of becoming perhaps unbeatable.

1983, Car and Driver, volume 28, page 106:


queen cake

To make Queens Cakes. Take a Pound of dry'd Flovver, a Pound of refin'd Sugar ſifted, and a Pound of Currans vvaſh'd, pick'd, and rubb'd clean, and a Pound of Butter vvaſh'd very vvell, and rub it into the Flovver and Sugar, vvith a little beaten Mace, and a little Orange-Flovver VVater; beat ten Eggs, but half the VVhites, vvork it all vvell together vvith your Hands, and put in the Currans; ſift over it double-refin'd Sugar, and put them immediately into a gentle Oven to bake.

1723, R[obert] Smith, “Of Pastes, Pies, Pasties, Puddings, Tansies, Cakes, Jellies, &c.”, in Court Cookery or, The Compleat English Cook. […], part II, London: […] T[homas] Wotton, […], →OCLC, page 41:

Hal, who was waſteful even in his good-nature, threw a whole queen-cake to the dog, who ſwallowed it for a ſingle mouthful. […] [H]e ate and ate, as he walked along, till at laſt he ſtopped, and ſaid, "This bun taſtes ſo bad after the queen-cakes, I can't bear it!"

1800, Maria Edgeworth, “The Waste Not, Want Not; or, Two Strings to Your Bow.”, in The Parent’s Assistant, or Stories for Children. […], 3rd edition, volume V, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], by G[eorge] Woodfall, […], →OCLC, page 148:

QUEEN CAKE. Beat one pound of butter to cream, with some rose-water, one pound of flour dried, one pound of sifted sugar, twelve eggs, beat all well together; add a few currants washed and dried; butter small pans of a size for the purpose, grate sugar over them; they are soon baked.

1837, [attributed to Frances Harriet Whipple Green McDougall], “Pastry, Cakes, &c.”, in The Housekeeper’s Book, […], Philadelphia, Pa.: William Marshall & Co. […], →OCLC, page 131:

I'm quite ready when I'm done eating this one queen-cake more.

1840, Frances Trollope, “Judgments Formed, and Sentiments Generated— […]”, in The Widow Married; […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 319–320:

Lily was so surprised she sat down on a warm queen's cake that happened to be near, […]

1886, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “The Candy Country”, in Lulu’s Library, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1890, →OCLC, page 52:

I will have queen cakes when you come to me!

1894 August, W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats, The Land of Heart’s Desire, 1st American edition, Chicago, Ill.: Stone & Kimball […], →OCLC, page 32:

"I'm sure my brains work better when they're lubricated with tea," declared Bess Harrison, tilting back her chair at a comfortable though rather dangerous angle, and accepting the queen-cake which Lottie Lowman offered her.

1914, Angela Brazil, “Monitress Mildred”, in The Girls of St. Cyprian’s, [France]: Culturea, published 2023, →ISBN, page 147:

CUPCAKE. It's thought these diminutive cakes [i.e., cupcakes] were inspired from the British Queen cake. This early cake was similar to the pound cake and was served individually. It is believed the spongy treats hopped across the pond and entered the American kitchen as early as 1796.

2011, Ann Treistman, “Cupcake”, in Who Put the Devil in Deviled Eggs? The Fascinating Stories behind America’s Favorite Foods, New York, N.Y.: Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN, page 27:

(cooking, dated) A soft, muffin-sized, often heart-shaped cake, particularly popular in the 18th century, containing currants and flavoured with mace and sometimes lemons or oranges, which may be topped with chocolate or shredded coconut.

herukkamuffini

small, muffin-sized, often heart-shaped cake containing currants


noob tube

From the sense that an overpowered weapon might make it easier for "noobs" (newcomers to the game) to succeed against experienced players. Originally stems from the Call of Duty franchise, where the under barrel grenade launcher attachment for an assault rifle became a preferred choice for many newcomer players due to its tendency to one-hit kill any opponents with ease.

(video games, slang) A very overpowered firearm, especially a grenade launcher.


turntail

One who turns tail, or flees in cowardice.


jelly belly

Likely from Jelly Belly, the brand of candy.

My stretchy top kept riding above my jelly belly, but I didn't care.

2008, Simmone Howell, Everything Beautiful:

Or maybe she just has that dreaded jelly belly – the same one I seem to have after all the American portions.

2012, Niamh Greene, A Message to Your Heart:

(slang) Rolls of fat that form around the stomach of an overweight person.


copy/paste

en-verb

copy/paste (third-person singular simple present copy/pastes, present participle copy/pasting, simple past and past participle copy/pasted)

copy/pastes (present singular third-person)
copy/pasting (participle present)
copy/pasted (participle past)
copy/pasted (past)


red scarf

en-noun

red scarf (plural red scarves or red scarfs)

red scarves (plural)
red scarfs (plural)


lackland

Only let me say, that I should be as glad as you could be to find myself in possession of a good independent fortune: and that we poor lacklands and lackstocks who have to earn our livelihood, must endeavour to make the best of it.

1802 November 6, Robert Southey, Letter to To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.; republished in Warter, John Wood, editor, Selections from the letters of Robert Southey, volume 3, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1856, page 212:


cold weapon

From cold + weapon, possibly a calque of Russian холо́дное ору́жие (xolódnoje orúžije, “cold weapon”), from холо́дное (xolódnoje) (the nominative neuter form of холо́дный (xolódnyj, “cold”)) + ору́жие (orúžije, “arm, weapon; weaponry”): see the 1876 quotation.

calque

холо́дное ору́жие

A fencing-room in which twenty or thirty couples of men are practising, is a fair illustration of a mélée with cold weapons.

1863 January 17, “How to Make Soldiers”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round. A Weekly Journal. [...] With which is Incorporated Household Words, volume VIII, number 195, London: […] C. Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 446, column 1:

The most effective weapons in the hands of the Caucasians was the sword, or as the Russians call it "the cold weapon" ["khalodnoye orúdiye," as opposed to firearms "agniovoye orúdiye"], the use of which, in hand-to-hand fight, was their special forte.

1876, Hugo Stumm, “The Field of Operations and the Russian Resources of Operations in General”, in F. Henvey, P. Mosa, transl., The Russian Campaign against Khiva in 1873. […], part I, Calcutta, West Bengal: Foreign Department Press, →OCLC, section II (The Russian Bases of Operations in Central Asia), page 157:

Pistols, carbines and musketoons were the firearms of the cavalry; a sword or sabre the cold weapon.

1890, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, “Army Organization and Tactics. Early Seventeenth to Early Eighteenth Century.”, in Gustavus Adolphus: A History of the Art of War from Its Revival after the Middle Ages to the End of the Spanish Succession War, […] (Great Captains), volume II, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 571:

There are perhaps more variations of the dao than there are of any other cold weapon.

2009, Zhang Yun, “The History and Features of Dao”, in The Complete Taiji Dao: The Art of the Chinese Saber, Berkeley, Calif.: Blue Snake Books, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 27:

(weaponry) A weapon that does not use explosives or fire.


buttslut

(sexuality, slang, vulgar) Somebody who frequently craves anal sex.

persehuora

vulgar slang: somebody who frequently craves anal sex


green hand

An inexperienced person.
(especially) An inexperienced sailor.

An inexperienced person.
An inexperienced sailor.


dickpic

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

[…] Russia is demanding we remove all content that purportedly glorifies homosexuality, suicide, and drugs or face the prospect of getting interdicted, and here in the Emirates they are insisting we not just block the amateur dickpics or vids but also immolate their posters […]

To a question that seemed to be “is it legitimate for the government to obtain a copy of your dickpic?,” people are unanimously opposed. Nobody considers it legitimate for a government to access people's dickpics. […] From here on out, Snowden wilfully plays with Oliver on the possible and eventual destination of Oliver's dickpic inside the vast network of agencies and data-centers.

2018, Julie A. Webber, The Joke Is on Us, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 154:

“It’s like howling into the void for most guys,” he explained, “and like searching for a diamond in a sea of dick pics for most girls.”

2018 November 13, Kate Julian, “Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?”, in The Atlantic:

(vulgar, slang) A photograph of a penis, taken for sexual purposes.


party pill

(colloquial) Any of various recreational drugs, especially those whose main ingredient is benzylpiperazine.


jobsite

A physical location where work is done, especially construction work.


duck derby

A fundraising event where rubber ducks are placed in a stream or river so as to be carried by the current, the winner being the first duck to reach a designated end point.


cuddle puddle

(colloquial) A group session of hugging and petting.


milecastle

One of a series of small rectangular fortifications, spaced roughly one Roman mile apart, built during the period of the Roman Empire.

maililinnoitus

one of a series of small rectangular fortifications, spaced roughly one Roman mile apart, built during the period of the Roman Empire


hush puppy

When we used it in our “hush puppy” against a sentry, the target was almost always hit only once, in the head.

Normally, they would have used the silenced .22 ‘Hush Puppy’ pistol to dispatch both the dog and the sentry, but this was an exercise.

2021, Christophe Downes, War Crimes for the Political Elite:

(military slang) A semiautomatic handgun fitted with a suppressor, used by special forces personnel to quietly take out guard dogs and sentries.


bookflap

The result is an interesting and honest book: certainly not the "future classic" advertised on the bookflap, but a thought-provoking contribution nonetheless.

2003, Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics, Volumes 5-7:

The inner part of a book jacket wrapping around a book cover.


webside manner

Blend of web (“the World Wide Web”) + bedside manner (“the ability of a healthcare professional to interact with their patients”).

blend

But more important than the technology, he says, is what clinicians in the field have taken to calling "webside" manner. It's a modern twist on bedside manner—a physician's ability to relate with a patient and convey their desire to help. […] "Look, there's variation whether you see a clinician in person or whether you see them online, so I'm not saying in any way that telemedicine is less helpful than in-person visits, or that webside manner is worse than bedside manner," says UCSF pulmonologist Adams Dudley. "But webside manner definitely requires more cooperation, and a different kind of cooperation, than bedside manner."

2017 October 26, Robbie Gonzalez, “Telemedicine is Forcing Doctors to Learn ‘Webside’ Manner”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-11-07:

In today's digital revolution and growing telehealth practice, good webside manners are equally important during virtual clinical visits. The same principles apply except physically touching the patient is not possible. Most doctors who have good bedside manners will also have equally good webside manners.

2019, “The Science of Medicine and the Art of Bedside Manners: Two Sides of the Same Coin”, in K. K. Pareek, editor, Medicine Update 2019, volume 29, New Delhi, London: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, →ISBN, page 1309, column 2:

Developing a "webside manner" increasingly is recognized as central to medical education. As it requires a different skill set than in person communication, specific programs are being developed to teach students how to conduct clinical examinations via videoconferencing, monitor data from wearable devices, and understand how to effectively engage patients.

2020, James O. Woolliscroft, “Communication”, in Implementing Biomedical Innovations into Health, Education, and Practice: Preparing Tomorrow’s Physicians, London, San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, →ISBN, part II (Constants in Medicine), page 64:

Webside manners are synonymous with bedside manners and refer to the verbal and nonverbal body language cues utilized during [a] telemedicine patient encounter.

2021, Lakshmi Digala, Garima Singh, Kunal Malhotra, “Webside Manners and Ethical Issues”, in Swathi Beladakere Ramaswamy, Sachin M. Bhagavan, Raghav Govindarajan, editors, Leaning Teleneurology Basics: A Case-based Approach, Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, page 55:

High-resolution web cameras and other home equipment were provided, and staff were given "webside" manner training.

2021, Don L. Goldenberg, “Telemedicine”, in COVID-19’s Impact on Health and Healthcare Workers, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 93:

(neologism) The manner in which a healthcare professional interacts with patients remotely in telehealth or telemedicine.


oldies goldies

A genre of music consisting of hit records from former eras, generally 30 or more years in the past.


sowgelder

The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.

1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31:

First he that led the cavalcate, / Wore a sow-gelder’s flagellet, / On which he blew as strong a levet.

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

Next, old Echepole, the sowgelder, received a blow in his forehead from our Amazonian heroine, and immediately fell to the ground.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:


cart tart

(colloquial, derogatory) A female flight attendant.


tea bowl

A bowl used for preparing and drinking tea.


scare-the-birds

Miss Padsoe looked very fragile and old, more like a scare-the-birds than a woman as she carefully wrapped a mothy old bit of fur round her thin neck, and Miss Baker wondered if she ought to come out in this bitter cold, and said as much.

A black wooden toy windmill on a stick meant for a scare-the-birds was warped and immovable.

1978, Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks, Abacus, published 2014, page 22:


wellhouse

"When did Sir Robert give away his sister's dog?" / "It was just a week ago to-day. The creature was howling outside the old well-house, and Sir Robert was in one of his tantrums that morning.[…]"

1927 March 5, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published June 1927, →OCLC, page 284:


worricow

Hout, na! it canna be our commander Monſieur de Champignon, running about in the dark like a worricow!

1757, [Tobias George Smollett], The Reprisal: Or, The Tars of Old England. […], London: […] R[oberts] Baldwin, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

(Scotland) Anything frightful or grotesque.


starve-acre

Some sandy soils are much overrun with the wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), provincially called " rump," while the clays are swarmed with starve-acre (Ranunculus arvensis), and the clivers or burrs (Galium aparine), which are very troublesome to separate from the grain when winnowed.

1855, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, page 207:

It seems that a particularly tiresome form of rauunculus, well described by the nickname of “starve-acre," can be cxterminated with dressings of sulphate of ammonia, and that this method is equally efficacious in ridding land of the picturesque but unprofitable poppy. Where there is more starve-acre than grass, the farmer pays twice his nominal rent, and is otherwise wasting money by growing weeds on his pasture.

1922, Industrial & Mining Standard, page 500:

It is quite common for farmers to use cereal grains for seed which contain weed seeds, e.g. starve-acre (ranunculus arvensis), docks, wild oats, rye-like brome (bromus secolinus), etc.

1925, The Farmer and stockbreeder year book and country gentleman's almanack:

A type of crowfoot Ranunculus arvensis, known for growing on impoverished soil.


killshot

He had fired his first shot, the killshot, with crosshairs locked tight at the base of the neck.

2013, J. M. Williams, John Williams, The Black Mariachi:

The killing impact of anything projected.


cathead biscuit

en-noun

cathead biscuit (plural cathead biscuits)

From cat + head + biscuit, apparently from the fact that the biscuit is similar in size to a cat’s head.

Her cathead biscuits were at least three inches in diameter and two inches thick. The trick to eating catheads was to get the butter on them before they got cold—then they were delicious. When, unluckily, they were allowed to get cold, they tended to a gooeyness, not unlike a wad of tired gum.

1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 6, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →LCCN, page 36:

(US) A large fluffy biscuit, typically served with gravy.


stench trench

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

Her stench trench has seen so much action, it must be like a wind tunnel in that thing.


chook chaser

(Australia, slang, derogatory) A person who rides such a motorcycle.


nimble-chops

A talkative person; used mainly as a form of address


tire fire

As the tire fire that is the Edmonton Oilers rages on, their AHL affiliate is going through a worse ordeal.

2014 December 19, “NHL: Oilers lose AHL affiliate Oklahoma City Barons due to attendance issues”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 2017-02-10:

The Reds pitching staff is a tire fire.

2016 May 18, Kraemer_17, "Listless Blue Jays Embarrassed for 2nd Night," BluebirdBanter.com (retrieved 10 Feb 2017)

The Browns . . . threw three quarterbacks into the tire fire against Baltimore last week.

2016 November 18, David White, “Pro Football: Who We Think Will Win in Week 11”, in New York Times, retrieved 2017-02-10:

During his hourlong tire fire of an interview . . . the sheer volume of breathtaking lies flippantly uttered by President Trump made it legitimately difficult to decide which one of them posed the most direct threat to American democracy.

2017 January 26, Jay Willis, “Donald Trump Is Making Shameless Equivocation the Dominant Form of Political Discourse”, in GQ, retrieved 2017-02-10:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, usually sports) A disaster; a chaotic person, thing, or situation.


darkside

darkside (countable and uncountable, plural darksides)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

From dark + side. Sense 2.1 (“side that is evil”) was popularized by the film Star Wars (1977; later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) where the term was used to describe the aspect of a metaphysical power called the Force which could be used to act aggressively and perpetrate evil.

She checked their orbital position. She would have perhaps ten more minutes in darkside. The earth itself was a massive radiation shield between the station and the sun, and she would be perfectly safe.

1985 December, Martin Caidin, chapter 21, in Killer Station, New York, N.Y.: Baen Enterprises, →ISBN, page 299:

This paper describes a hydrogen–oxygen regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage system based on high temperature solid oxide fuel (SOFC) technology. […] The system functions as a secondary battery and is applicable to darkside energy storage for solar photovoltaics.

1987, David J. Bents, High Temperature Solid Oxide Regenerative Fuel Cell for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Storage […] (NASA Technical Memorandum; 89872; AIAA-87-9203), Cleveland, Oh.: Lewis Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, archived from the original on 2021-07-17, abstract, page 1, column 1:

The spacecraft requirement stems from the need for spacecraft to conserve heat, and thus battery power, when not exposed to sunlight ("darkside"), to reflect heat when facing the Sun, and, on occasion, to emit excess heat on the darkside.

2005, P. Chandrasekhar et al., “Far-IR-through-visible Electrochromics Based on Conducting Polymers for Spacecraft Thermal Control and Military Uses”, in Samson A[lly] Jenekhe, Douglas J. Kiserow, editors, Chromogenic Phenomena in Ppolymers: Tunable Optical Properties (ACS Symposium Series; 888), Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, →ISBN, page 67:

(countable) The side of something that is in darkness or unlit, or has less illumination.

varjopuoli

Near-synonym: downside

[B]lack metal is by definition concerned with the occult as seen in its lyrical fixation with Satan or darkside tribal paganism.

2003, Mattias Gardell, “Hail Loki! Hail Satan! Hail Hitler! Darkside Asatrú, Satanism, and Occult National Socialism”, in Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, Durham, N.C., London: Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 305:

"Why horror?" she'd ask, adding to her opinion that, "What sells is love stories, romance. A good drama." And so I'd ask myself, why indeed dwell into t[he] darkside of literature? Does it make me happy to figure out new ways to cause people's death?

2004, Philip M. LaVoie, “Introduction”, in Nightmare Puzzle: A Collection of Short Pieces, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page vii:

People, the darkside already knows who we are, so it's not like we're blowing our cover, they just can't pinpoint us at any given time.

2007, L[eslie] E[sdaile] Banks, chapter 13, in The Cursed: A Vampire Huntress Legend, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, →ISBN, page 338:

We are relieved to put the book aside or leave the theater, knowing that the monsters that these tales portray are not real. They are only creatures born somewhere in the darkside of a writer's psyche.

2010, Brad Steiger, “Demons from the Darkside”, in Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside, Canton, Mich.: Visible Ink Press, →ISBN, page 67:

Of course our teachers in this lifetime have all been mainly from the darkside so it has been easy to propagate these lies. If nothing else, the first six volumes of this work should show us all just how much we have been duped and that just about everything we think we know or believe is a lie.

2011, Peter R. Farley, “As Above, So Below”, in Where Were You before the Tree of Life?: The True History of the Darkness and the Light, volume 7 (The Hunt for Lucifer), [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 41:

The film stumbles as its plot gets more complicated, introducing the house’s previous resident, evil warlock Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan), Jonathan’s former partner-in-magic who turned to the dark side after an encounter with a demon named Azazel (Christian Calloway) during World War II.

2018 September 19, Katie Rife, “Eli Roth, of All Directors, Brings Amblin Magic to the Kid-lit Horror of The House with a Clock in Its Walls”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2022-04-26:

This was the dream, that same damned recurrent dream, never quite the same dream—but on the same subject, night after night, chapter after chapter of the same story: as if he had bought a book of horror stories; they would all be on one theme, but told differently; that was the way with this string of darkside visions.

1964, Harlan Ellison, “Lonelyache”, in Terry Dowling with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont, editors, The Essential Ellison: A 35-year Retrospective, Omaha, Neb.: The Nemo Press, published 1987, →ISBN, part II (Worlds of Terror), page 67:

War inspired mob violence and pressure for suppressing dissent. The earliest and most encompassing example was the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans in the first six months of 1942. The fact that the ACLU report omitted reference to this colossal event suggests that lesser transgressions were similarly repressed in a collective effort to avoid the darkside of the American psyche.

1984, Mauricio Mazón, “Servicemen and Zoot-Suiters”, in The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, published 2002, →ISBN, page 54:

Delving into the darkside of clients' lives has pulled me toward an exploration of the merging process which often develops within the therapeutic relationship.

1989, Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Alexandria, Va.: American Art Therapy Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 111, column 2:

When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.

1989 July 14, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally..., spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):

[P]revious finalists on the show have begun to speak out against issues they had to deal with when the cameras stopped filming. […] But just as the dark side of the genre threatened to overshadow any previous genuine highs, in 2019, buzz spread in the US around a talent show that had to be seen to be believed.

2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How Talent Shows Became TV’s Most Bizarre Programmes”, in BBC Online, archived from the original on 2021-12-07:

(countable, figuratively) The side of something that is metaphorically dark, i.e. evil, distressing or otherwise undesirable; the negative aspect of something.

varjopuoli

side of something that is metaphorically dark; negative aspect of something

He did not give a damn; he had his own problems and considerations and, besides, the BUTTON and he would settle this once and for all on the fifth go-round and then he would press the BUTTON, on the darkside, let them sweat out this one and think they were getting through to him and the two of them would head back for Earth and a generation of peace and celebration.

1971, Barry N[athaniel] Malzberg, chapter XX, in The Falling Astronauts, London: Hachette UK, published 2011, →ISBN:

Also shown at the bottom [of Figure 1] is the trajectory during the first encounter on 29 March 1974, which was a darkside pass with a closest approach distance from the surface of 723 km. […] The third encounter on 16 March 1975 was similar to the first, being a very close approach towards the darkside near the north polar region at a miss distance of 327 km.

1977 January, Norman F[rederick] Ness, “The Magnetic Field of Mercury”, in Edith A[lice] Müller, editor, Highlights of Astronomy, volume 4, part I, Dordrecht, South Holland: D. Reidel for the International Astronomical Union, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-04-26, page 180:

On the lighter side, Cassini should be coming out of darkside soon and run smack-dab into the distress siren.

2002, Carl Rafala, “Soul Solution”, in Wildflower, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 2:

Synonym of farside (“the side of a moon that faces away from the planet that it orbits”)

farside

the side of a moon that faces away from the planet that it orbits

Terraport would be in darkside now, and her great lights would be fused into a single tiny eye winking mockery at him – if he chose to slide back his porthole screen.

1950 fall, Charles L[eonard] Harness, “Heritage”, in Robert P[ark] Mills, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume I, number 4, New York, N.Y.: Fantasy House, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 100:

The vehicle, in an equatorial orbit of 300 nautical miles, has a period of 2.1 hours establishing 0.7 hours of darkside operation and 1.4 hours of sunlight operation.

1963, Engineering Problems of Manned Interplanetary Exploration: A Volume of Technical Papers Presented Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 1963, New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, →OCLC, page 78, column 2:

In the case of Copernicus [a lunar crater], during an eclipse three maxima in the brightness temperature were observed within the crater, whereas with the same resolution, only one maximum was seen 16 hours after sunset. Thus a careful comparison of darkside and eclipse infrared mapping may show differences which, in the case of the rock hypothesis, could be due to variations in the size distribution.

1966 December, J[ohn] M[atthew] Saari, R[ichard] W. Shorthill, Review of Lunar Infrared Observations […] (Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories Document; D1-82-0586), Seattle, Wash.: Geo-astrophysics Laboratory, Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories, →OCLC, page 18:

But that air was at its coldest—aphelion was the chilliest season everywhere on this chill and temperate world—and the mountains of that limb were lower. Currents of darkside air would begin to flow through the low passes into the relative warmth of the marsh country, and the ponderous wheel of air would roll again.

1988 September, M[ary] J[ane] Engh, “[Preface to ‘The Second Turn’]”, in Wheel of the Winds, 1st mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, Tom Doherty Associates, published October 1989, →ISBN, pages 273–274:

NOAA-lO is a terminator orbital satellite which leads WFOVSW channel to only a few days of darkside data in a whole year.

1989 March, Nesim Halyo, Dhirendra K. Pandey, Deborah B. Taylor, Modeling and Characterization of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Nonscanner and Scanner Sensors (NASA Contractor Report; 181818), Hampton, Va.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC:

Synonym of nightside (“the side of a planet that faces away from the sun around which it orbits”)

nightside

The label closely observed the shifts in techno during the 90s, being a staple source of ‘darkside’ hardcore in 1992.

1994, “Reinforced Records”, in Colin Larkin, editor, The Guinness Who’s Who of Rap, Dance & Techno, Enfield, Middlesex [London]: Guinness Publishing, →ISBN, page 304, column 1:

1993 was the year that hardcore began to get more varied with different styles being made. One style known as "darkness" or "darkside" used less pianos and more darker sounding chords.

2003 May 6, Alex Nikolaenko Jr., “What is a Jungle?”, in fido7.ru.music.drum-bass (Usenet):

After some atonal washes and twitchy breakbeats, the track lurched to a sudden halt and – in a moment that still takes my breath away when I listen to it now – a brief snatch of the spidery, abstract electronics instantly recognisable from the Japan record leapt into the chasm, before being immediately consumed by viscous bass ooze and the synthetic screeches that were the sonic signatures of darkside Jungle.

2007 December, Mark Fisher, “Epiphanies”, in The Wire, number 286, London: The Wire Magazine, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-05-17, page 106, columns 1–2:

(uncountable, music) A style of electronic music, being a form of hardcore characterized by discordant sounds.


dude food

(informal) Junk food prepared with simple ingredients and with an emphasis on meat.


wombman

From womb (“uterus”) + man, modelled after woman.


tear-cat

Fie upon't, mere fustian; I had rather hear two good bawdy jests then a whole play of such tear-cat thunder-claps.

1606, John Day, The Isle of Gulls, in White, Thomas, editor, The Old English Drama, volume 4, published 1830, Induction, page 15:

I am cal'd by those that have seen my valour, Tear-Cat.

1611, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girl, act 5, scene 1:


merit badge

/ˈmɛɹɪt ˌbæd͡ʒ/

Coordinate term: proficiency badge

(originally and chiefly US, scouting) An embroidered cloth patch awarded to a youth member of the Boy Scouts of America or other scouting organization who successfully completes an activity within an area of study (the badge bearing an image representing the activity), which is either sewn on to the sleeve of the scout's uniform or a sash worn with the uniform; hence, the award itself.

ansiomerkki

embroidered cloth patch awarded to a youth member of the Boy Scouts of America or other scouting organization who successfully completes an activity; the award itself

förtjänstmärke

more for meritorious contributions to the Scout Movement


elephant trap

From elephant + trap, alluding to the fact that a trap for an elephant needs to be quite large, and so ought to be easily seen.

ref

From the collection of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

Queen's Gambit Declined
Queen's Gambit Declined

(chess) Often in the form Elephant Trap: a faulty attempt by White to win a pawn in a popular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, which is generally only effective against inexperienced players.

parany de l'elefant

(chess) faulty attempt by White to win a pawn


Clear Creek County

One of 64 counties in Colorado, United States. County seat: Georgetown.


rocket docket

(US, law) A court or other tribunal that is noted for the speedy disposition of cases.


Clarion County

One of 67 counties in Pennsylvania, United States. County seat: Clarion.


Bieber fever

(informal) Enthusiasm for the Canadian singer Justin Bieber.


devil-ridden

en-adj

devil-ridden (comparative more devil-ridden, superlative most devil-ridden)

more devil-ridden (comparative)
most devil-ridden (superlative)

1878, William Morris, letter cited in John William Mackail, The Life of William Morris, London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899, Volume I, Chapter 11, p. 370,
I am still plaguy lame, a very limpet, but not so devil-ridden as I was. I think that came of that infernal furnace-heat we were in, the last few days of Italy […]

He was so gifted, so lovable, but so great an extremist, they said; he overdrove himself always one way or another; and when he married the wrong woman, the mistake tortured him more than it might have done other men. “He’s devil-ridden with that temperament of his,” Bricksham said once to his wife.

1920, Ruth Holt Boucicault, chapter 17, in The Rose of Jericho, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, page 258:

1938, R. Thurston Hopkins, “The Tower of the Forty Companions” in Ghosts and Goblins, London: The World’s Work,[1938], p. 88,
This, of course, was merely the semi-delirious notions of a man devil ridden by fever and nerves […]

In the picture Return of Rusty […] the little refugee boy, Loddy, is still devil-ridden with his memories of the war.

1952, Herman Lewis, A Practical Manual of Screen Playwriting, Cleveland: Forum, published 1963, Section 3, p. 184:

(figurative) Suffering from mental anguish.


work-tool

If the task demands require impossible arrangements of worktools, is the workstation or technology support designed so the user may easily relocate items on a short-term basis to support ongoing work?

2016, Michael J. O'Neill, Measuring Workplace Performance, Second Edition, page 312:

An implement used in performing or completing a specific job or task


come-here

There are many other ways of catching crabs, including chicken-necking (a sure sign of a come-here), and traps or pots.

1997, William H. Turner, Chesapeake Boyhood: Memoirs of a Farm Boy (page 189)

(US, Virginia, colloquial) A recent arrival to a place; a person who has only lately come to live in the area.


breakstone

en-noun

breakstone (countable and uncountable, plural breakstones)

Any plant growing in stony places, especially in cracks in stone

Pimpinella saxifraga
Pimpinella saxifraga#Translingual


cunt-punt

en-verb

cunt-punt (third-person singular simple present cunt-punts, present participle cunt-punting, simple past and past participle cunt-punted)

cunt-punts (present singular third-person)
cunt-punting (participle present)
cunt-punted (participle past)
cunt-punted (past)

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

(slang, vulgar, transitive) To kick (a female) in the groin.


swag bag

Mid-19th century UK. From swag (“stolen goods”).

Except in old-fashioned thrillers and detective stories there doesn't seem to be much talk of thieves and break-ins. There might be a robbery in P. G. Wodehouse, but only as a bit of comic business, as in the modern cartoon, where eye-mask and swag-bag identify the comic neighbourhood burglar.

2004, Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, Magic Seeds:

A career criminal was caught by police as he attempted to leave a swag bag of stolen goods with a friend's next-door neighbour.

2014 December 22, Jeremy Culley, “One of Bolton's most prolific criminals is caught after trying to leave bag of stolen goods with baffled neighbour”, in The Bolton News:

A bungling robber who had to abandon £9,000-worth of cigarettes because the swag bag was too heavy has been told he deserved every day of his four-and-a-half year sentence.

2017 March 14, James Cartledge, “Bungling raider who dumped stolen cigarettes because swag bag was too heavy loses jail appeal”, in The Birmingham Mail:


help vampire

From help + vampire (“person who drains one’s energy, money, time, etc.”).

compound

Help Vampires are found in every public online community, from those nearest to our hearts to those furthest from our principles. Instead of consuming of ill-gotten hemoglobin, these vampires suck the very life and energy out of people. By nature they feed on generous individuals who tend towards helping others, and leave their victims exhausted, bitter and dispirited.

2006 December 22, Amy Hoy, “Help Vampires: A Spotter’s Guide”, in Slash7:

Personally, I see this ratings/feedback thing only useful for mentors to know if a student is abusive and/or a help vampire, if he is willing to learn and put some effort on the process or not, etc, to be able to dedicate mentoring time to someone who will really appreciate it and will benefit from this.

2009 May 21, Matías Flores, “Rails Mentors”, in Bridgefoundry Google Group:

All kinds of people hop onto the list. In addition to genuine ones there are spammers, trolls, dicks, nuts, philosophers, help-vampires etc etc.

2013 November 29, rusto…@gmail.com, “Managing Google Groups Headaches”, in comp.lang.python (Usenet):

Mark, I sympathize with your feelings. jmf is certainly a troll, and it doesn't feel like anything has been, or is being, done about that situation (or for that matter, the help vampire situation … although I haven't seen any threads from that one lately – did he give up, or has he been moderated away?). […] And, to be clear, the coddling of trolls and help-vampires also makes the list an unfriendly place to be. Terry, would it be appropriate to share some of what the moderators do do for us on this list and the others? And what does the Code of Conduct have to say about trolls and help-vampires?

2013 December 3, Ethan Furman, “Python Unicode Handling Wins Again – Mostly”, in comp.lang.python (Usenet):

(chiefly computing, derogatory, informal) A person who requests answers and solutions from a community while giving nothing in return.


old timer's disease

From old timer + -’s + disease, from the fact that the disease disproportionately affects older people, and because of the phonetic similarity between Alzheimer’s and old timer’s.

Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease#English

(neurology, pathology, slang, sometimes derogatory or humorous) Eggcorn of Alzheimer's disease (“a disorder involving loss of mental functions resulting from brain tissue changes”).


drug rug

So called because of its association with the cannabis subculture.


single-use

Filtrona Plastics, Victoria, has supplied Malaysia with $20 000 worth of single-use plastic ware for hospitals and laboratories.

1981 December 4, Overseas Trading, page 757, column 2:

For example, more than 100 cities have adopted restrictions on polystyrene takeout containers, and the state has banned single-use plastic grocery bags.

2018 February 20, “Grocery bags and takeout containers aren't enough. It's time to phase out all single-use plastic”, in Los Angeles Times:

Designed or intended to be used one time and then discarded or disposed of.


Google Doodle

American graphic designer and filmmaker, Saul Bass, has been given a video Google Doodle to mark what would have been his 93rd birthday.

2013 May 8, Luke Howard, “Google Doodle celebrates work of graphic designer Saul Bass with Video Tribute”, in The Independent:

The Quintanilla-inspired Doodle comes after Google's homepage artwork has been criticized in the past for its lack of diversity. A report from advocacy group SPARK Movement found in 2014 that 62% of people featured in Google Doodles from 2010 through 2013 were white men.

2017 October 17, Lisa Eadicicco, “New Google Doodle Celebrates Iconic Singer Selena Quintanilla”, in Time:

Today, a Google Doodle has celebrated the 66th anniversary of the creation of the game-changing institution.

2017 October 18, David Hughs, “Studio for Electronic Music remembered with Google Doodle – why the German institution's 66th anniversary is worth celebrating”, in The Sun:

(Internet) A periodic alteration of the logo on Google's homepage that is intended to celebrate achievements, events, holidays, and noteworthy people.


gallybagger

From gally (“to frighten”) + bagger (“beggar”).


big bad

The noun was back-formed in 1998 in the episode “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is a nominalization derived from the long-established adjectival pattern within Big Bad Wolf and collocative constructions inspired by it (e.g., I tried to reason with her, but to her I'm just the big bad authority figure who can't be trusted).

Charlie, now menacingly equipped with a bionic arm, is these days in the service of new pantomime big bad, Poppy Adams, played with lysergic glee by Julianne Moore.

2017 September 19, Gwilym Mumford, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – spy sequel reaches new heights of skyscraping silliness”, in the Guardian:

A major adversary or antagonist of a piece of fiction.


commotion lotion

(Scotland, slang) Buckfast Tonic Wine, a brand of fortified wine.


pen picture

Mr. [Timothy Shay] Arthur has been, and is, a close observer, and in his pictures of domestic life, his groups include all the necessary characters, while the back ground and filling up take in all the accessories and incidentals, which, skilfully managed, give a pen-picture its vraisemblance.

1842 April 30, “Six Nights with the Washingtonians: A Series of Original Temperance Tales. New York: Curry & Co., 155 Broadway [book review]”, in Brother Jonathan, volume II, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Wilson and Company, →OCLC, page 17, column 2:

[O]ur purpose […] was to secure a series of Pen Pictures, descriptive,—not of the most important events of the War, for that would be simply metrical history,—but of those events which have relation to the individual, that each and every particular poem might come home to some heart, and there find its abiding place throughg all time; […]

1863, J[ohn] Henry Hayward, “Editor’s Preface”, in J. Henry Hayward, editor, Poetical Pen-pictures of the War: Selected from Our Union Poets. […], New York, N.Y.: [J. Henry Hayward] […], →OCLC, page iv:

An afternoon newspaper published in Worcester, Mass., inflected upon its readers a screed worthy the ablest efforts of a Chicago anarchist. […] It drew a pen picture of the dread disease [cholera] in the act of purging the city of Fall River of such men as would dare to insinuate that the young woman [Lizzie Borden] was guilty.

1893, Edwin H. Porter, “Lizzie A. Borden Indicted”, in The Fall River Tragedy. A History of the Borden Murders. […], Fall River, Mass.: Geo[rge] R. H. Buffinton; press of J. D. Monroe, →OCLC, page 142:

I was most amused by the article on Sir Henry Fowler in the series "Some C.M.Es. I have Known." It was a perfect pen picture of one full of nervous energy.—Major H[ewitt] P[earson] M[ontague] Beames, […] (formerly Chief Mechanical Engineer, L.M.S.R.).

1942 November–December, “What Our Readers Think”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 322:

In the poem, the poet just gives a pen picture of his father, who according to him, represents all that is best in Aryan culture.

1987, Chandrakant Mehta, “Chitradars Hano”, in edited by Amaresh Datta, Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, volumes I (A–Devo), New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, →OCLC, page 726, column 2:

If ego development has been disrupted by adverse life events, and especially an absence of nurturing during the formative years[…], we can expect this developmental weakness to be played out in a range of behaviours that cause society concern and often lead to the individual requiring specialist forms of care and support. […] Below is a pen picture of a child lacking ego integrity.

2014, Jeremy Millar, Janine Bolger, “Working in the Life Space”, in Joyce Lishman, Janine Bolger, Neil Gibson, Gary Spolander, Chris Yuill, editors, Social Work: An Introduction, 3rd edition, London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, published 2023, →ISBN, part 3 (Models of Intervention), page 377:

A written description, often biographical.


no-tell hotel

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-no-tell hotel.wav


soy boy

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

Etymology tree
Chinese 醬油 /酱油 (jiàngyóu)obor.
Japanese 醤油
Japanese そやbor.
Dutch sojabor.
English soy
Proto-West Germanic *bōjō
Old English *bōia
Middle English boye
English boy
English soy boy
From the idea that men who prefer soy to dairy and meat are weak and feminine, and that the naturally occurring phytoestrogen in soy feminizes men. See Soybean (Wikipedia) for more.

etymon

(Internet slang, derogatory) An effeminate or unmasculine man.


lack-all

To these outcast soldiers of his, unregimented roving banditti for the present, or unworking workhouse prisoners who are almost uglier than banditti; to these floods of Irish Beggars, Able-bodied Paupers, and nomadic Lackalls, now stagnating or roaming everywhere, drowning the face of the world (too truly) into an untenantable swamp and Stygian quagmire, has the Chief Governor of this country no word whatever to say?

1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The Present Time”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets:

Thus feel both the labourers and the lack-alls who do not labour, and partly both have a just grievance and a true quarrel against society.

1886, William Graham, The Social Problem, page 7:

One who has nothing; a destitute person.


cattleshed

/ˈkætəlˌʃɛd/

The occupier of any land within the municipality on which there shall be erected any stable, cowyard, cattleshed or goatshed, shall cause such premises to be kept in such a state in respect of cleanliness as not to be a nuisance or injurious to health […]

1882, Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia, volume 4, page 12:

When the farm-hand went into the cattleshed there was no sign of the bull there.

1992, Helena Henderson, The Maiden who Rose from the Sea and Other Finnish Folktales, →ISBN, page 9:

"So? Are you afraid they'll starve in my cattleshed?" asked Gunvanta, sarcastically.

2014, Vishwas Patel, A Dirge for the Damned, →ISBN:

A small barn in which cattle are kept; a byre, a cowshed.


lack-latin

From lack + Latin. Literally someone who does not understand the Latin language.

But some will say, our curate is naught, an asshead, a dodipole, a lack-latin, and can do nothing: Shall I pay him my tithes, that doth us no good or none will do? Yea, I say, thou must pay him his due; and if he be such a one, complain to the bishop.

1550 October 9, Hugh Latimer, “A Sermon preached at Stamford”, in John Watkins, editor, The Sermons and Life of Hugh Latimer, volume 1, London: Aylott & Son, published 1858, page 288:

(obsolete, derogatory) An uneducated, ignorant person.


workglove

While Tom was lifting him, Collin had groaned and clutched a bloody workglove to the place where the bullet pierced his chest.


sticky-icky

No stress, no seeds, no stems, no sticks! / Some of that real sticky-icky-icky / Ooh wee! Put it in the air!

1999 November 16, Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg (lyrics and music), “Still D.R.E.”:

(African-American Vernacular, slang) Marijuana.


grouper trooper

en-noun

grouper trooper (plural grouper troopers)

(US, slang) A game warden responsible for protecting fish.


booger sugar

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

Compound of booger + sugar, alluding to the common application involving nasal inhalation.

Nurse Hall: Is there any reason we shouldn't do a full workup? / Steve Denube: Ignorance is bliss; that's about it. Hangover's worse than usual but that's probably from the drinking and recreational drug use. / Nurse Hall: We'll ignore the ganja and booger sugar markers.

2019, Justin Benson, directed by Justin Benson, Synchronic, spoken by Nurse Hall and Steve Denube (Rhonda Johnson Dents and Anthony Mackie), XYZ Films, →OCLC:

By the time they get here we'll already have the story of the senator's legislative director in the wrong woman's car with a snout full of booger sugar on the front page of the Globe and the Herald.

2023, Cait Duffy, directed by Omar Madha, "A Night at the Symphony" (Reacher), Shaun Sipos (actor):

(US, slang) Cocaine drugs in powder form.


contact call

(ornithology) A call made between birds in a flock or a pair in order to maintain contact with one another when foraging, flying, etc.


tard guard

(Canada, US, slang, offensive) A person employed to look after people with mental disabilities, particularly involving restraint and protecting the person from harming himself or others.


softhead

A fool; a silly or feeble-minded person.


desk drop

An informational flyer distributed within an office, library, etc. by leaving copies on the desks.


washdirt

(mining) Earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing.


killcow

Of all occupations that now adays are used / I would not be a butcher, for that's to be refused; / For whatever is gotten, or whatever is gained, / He shall be call'd Kill-cow, and so shall be named.

c. 15th century, anonymous author, Old Ballad; quoted in Nares, Robert, Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard, Wright, Thomas, A Glossary; or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, etc., which have been thought to require illustration in the works of English Authors, Particularly Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, new edition, volume 2, London: Reeves and Turner, 1888, page 483:

And how do I look now? Like one that was begotten under a butcher's stall, I warrant, and born in a slaughter-house? I know there's never a Kill-cow i' th' city becomes a woollen apron better than I do.

c. 1636, anonymous author, The London Chanticleers, scene 4; A Select Collection of Old English Plays, 4th edition, New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1964:


ticklebrain

Peace, good pintpot. Peace, good ticklebrain.

a. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, act 2, scene 4:


tanglelegs

You remind me of a sailor I saw the other day. Jack was already "half seas over," when he went into Smith's and called for an ounce of old tangle-legs. Thinks I, what is that? So I kept my eye on the scales, but Smith understood him; so he gave him a glass, you see, and off he went. But, dear me, I guess it was tangle-legs! First he went this way; and then that, zigzag, like a Virginia fence, till his legs got into a complete tangle, and down he went.

1844, “The Monster of Many Names”, in Temperance Dialogues, New York: American Temperance Union:

Whiskee iz one ov the tonicks, i think, but i aint sure, i kno it iz one ov the tanglelegs, for I hav seen it tried often.

1879, Henry Wheeler Shaw, “March 1879”, in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax; republished in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, 1870–1879, New York: G. W. Dillingham, 1902:


kill-devil

The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion alias Kill-Divil, and this is made of sugar canes distilled, a hot hellish, and terrible liquor.

1651, [anonymous letter], quoted in The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published 2015, Rum, page 582:

KILL DEVIL. New ſtill-burnt rum.

1788, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition:

Without half the indulgences British troops have, were these poor miserable wretches left to their fate, not an allowance of spirits to render their water palatable, except new rum, which is not improperly termed "kill devil."

1807, Henry Bolingbroke, chapter XIV, in A Voyage to the Demerary, page 291:

Monday 24, I went aboard the Fellowship of 170 tons, a Flemish bottom: several of my friends came to bid me farewell, among them the rest Capt. Thomas Wannerton, who drank to me a pint of kill-devil alias rhum at a draught; at 6 o'clock in the morning, we set sail for Massachusetts.

1831, William Willis, quoting Mr. Mitton, The History of Portland, volume 1, page 39:

Some nights Musa brought her small gifts of rich molasses smuggled from the boiling house, or a tot of kill-devil made from the skimmings of the sugar vats that transformed the crushed cane into a harsh, courage-giving liquid.


kill-the-beggar

In your examination of Monday, you spoke of kill-the-beggar-whiskey; has any analysis been made of that whiskey?

1834 June 18, James Silk Buckingham, “Minutes of Evidence, Wednesday, the Eighteenth Day of June, 1834”, in Evidence on Drunkenness, London: British and Foreign Temperance Society, published 1834, page 98:

To men of common gumption, / Hot strange, besides, must seem / At this time any scheme / To put a check upon potheen's consumption, / When all are calling for Irish Poor Laws! / Instead of framing more laws, / To pauperism if you'd give a pegger, / Don't check, but patronise their "Kill-the-Beggar!" / If Pat is apt to go in Irish Linen, / (Buttoning his coat, with nothing but his skin in) / Would any Christian man -- that's quite himself, / His wits not floor'd, or laid upon the shelf --, While blaming Pat for raggedness, poor boy, / Would deprive him of his "Corduroy!"

1835, Thomas Hood, “Ode to J. S. Buckingham, Esq. M.P.”, in The Comic Annual, pages 135–136:

The quality of the liquor served in the spirit grocers was poor and often adulterated, said [John] Edgar. He gave an example of a whiskey known as 'kill the beggar' in Belfast because 'it first makes the beggar and then kills the beggar'. There was an even worse concoction called 'corduroy', so named because it gave a rough feeling on the tongue and palate.

2016, Kevin Martin, “Special Exemptions”, in Have Ye No Homes to Go To?: The History of the Irish Pub, Collins Press, →ISBN:

(obsolete, Ireland, slang) Cheap and poor-quality whiskey.


killcalf

With any summe you are afraid to lose / But in the night, but then take heed of those / Base Padding Rascalls, for their kill-calfe law / I am not priuy to, I neuer saw / Them, nor their actions, then I cannot show / How to preuent the thing I doe not know.

1628, John Clavell, A Recantation of an Ill Led Life, page 35:

Sir Francis Drake's ship at Deptford, my Lord Mayor's barge, and divers secret and unsuspected places, and there they make private shambles with kill-calf cruelty, and sheep slaughtering murder, to the abuse of Lent, the deceiving of the informers, and the great grief of every zealous fishmonger.

1630, John Taylor, “Jack A Lent: His Beginning and Entertainment”, in Works of John Taylor, the Water Poet, London: Reeves and Turner, published 1876, pages 12–13:


watch-birth

This Pattern pleas'd thee ſo, th' haſt fram'd by it,
Th' eternall Watch-births of thy ſacred Wit:
Thy pithy Book of Proverbs richly-grave,
Unto the PORCH may rich relation have:
For that it gives us Oeconomike Lawes,
Rules Politike, and Private civill Sawes;
And for (the moſt) thoſe Leſſons generall
At Humane matters ayme the moſt of all.

1641 [1578–84], “The Magnificence”, in Sylvester, Joshua, transl., Du Bartas His Diuine Weekes and Workes, translation of Semaines by Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste, page 215:


quakebreech

en-adj

quakebreech (comparative more quakebreech, superlative most quakebreech)

more quakebreech (comparative)
most quakebreech (superlative)

Hang me, if I do not fancy I ſtill hear that confounded Noiſe, which made my Guts wamble in my Belly! Faith and Troth, I found that Bout that my Mothers Son was in Quake-breech fear.

1705, John Stevens, A Continuation of the Comical History of the Most Ingenious Knight, Don Quixote de la Mancha, volume 3, translation of original by de Avellaneda, Alonso Fernández, page 59:


reel-pot

And lastly some shall have a palsy in their feet, and will not be able to stand to anything but shake and reel from the stall into the channel—your excellent reel-pots.

1604, Thomas Middleton, Plato's Cap Cast at the Year 1604:

There I heard news out of all countries in all languages: how many villains were in Spain, how many luxurs in Italy, how many perjureds in France and how many reel-pots in Germany.


squeeze-grape

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

He was a notable squeeze-grape, a huge quaffer, his glasse should bee alway brim-full, and he would vp with it de profundis; his vsuall draught was a large pint & a halfe: and hauing drunke liberally before he came to the rack, think∣ing that would haue made him lesse sensible of his paine, he confest at the first, whatsoeuer they would haue him.

1623, Mabbe, James, transl., The Rogue: or The Life of Guzman de Alfarache, translation of Guzmán de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán, page 33:


spoil-paper

From spoil + paper. Possibly a calque of French guaste-papier.

Certain persons have reproached the Author for knowing no more about the language of the olden times than hares do of telling stories. Formerly these people would have been vilified, called cannibals, churls, and sycophants, and Gomorrah would have been hinted at as their natal place. But the Author consents to spare them the flowery epithets of ancient criticism; he contents himself with wishing not to be in their skin, for he would be disgusted with himself, and esteem himself the vilest of scribblers thus to calumniate a poor little book which is not in the style of any spoil-paper of these times.

1874 [1833], “Prologue [The Second Ten]”, in Droll Stories, translation of Les Cent Contes drolatiques by Honoré de Balzac, page 173:


strikefire

[…] hevin a little drop a strikefire in a bottle e me pockit, ah thowt ah cuddant do better then drink t'Queen and Prince Olbert's good health […]

1851, Tom Treddlehoyle's Trip Ta Lunnan, Leeds: Alice Mann, page 43:


coffee cake

en-noun

coffee cake (countable and uncountable, plural coffee cakes)

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

Any cake designed to be eaten with coffee.


whip-arse

From whip + arse. Possibly a calque of French fouette-cul, from fouetter (“to whip”) + cul (“arse”).

Feſſe-cul. A Pedanticall whip-arſe.

1611, Randle Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, page FES-FES:


spit-poison

[…]a vile person comes to be understood, and then to be abhorred, and to be pointed at as he passes by with such kind of elogies as these; "There goes a person for whom no one breathing was ever the better, but many ruined, blasted, and undone; the scourge of society, a spit-poison, a viper, and to be abandoned and shunned by all companies, like a mortal infection[…]"

a. 1716, Robert South, “Posthumous Sermon L”, in Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, volume 2, London: Reeves & Turner, published 1877, page 424:

(obsolete, derogatory) A malicious person.


get-nothing

Euery get-nothing is a theefe, and lazineſſe is a ſtolen water: if the Deuill can winne thee, to plye hard this liquour, hee knowes it will whet thy ſtomach to any vice.

1614, Thomas Adams, The Diuells Banket [The Devil's Banquet], page 76:

(obsolete) A lazy person; an idler; a layabout.


stroygood

To this same Turret up they went, and there with syghes behilld / The Oxen lying every where stark dead uppon the feelde / And eeke the cruell stroygood with his bluddy mouth and heare.

1567, Golding, Arthur, transl., Metamorphoses, book 11, translation of original by Ovid, lines 392–394:

[…]If I should destroy and pull down those things which my predecessors have built and ordained, I should not be called a builder and maker, but justly accounted a stroy-good and puller down[…]

c. 1563–1570, John Foxe, “Answer of the Prelates to the Lord Peter's Oration Before Philip, the French King”, in Rev. Stephen Reed Cattley, editor, The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe, volume 2, London: R. B. Seeley and W. Burnside, published 1837, page 632:

A Drunkard is a meer stroy-good.

1712, Increase Mather, Wo to Drunkards, 2nd edition, Boston: Timothy Green, page 11: