nones

From Latin nōnus (“ninth”).
As a day of the Roman calendar, via nōnae (“ninth days”) from the original Roman practice of counting forward to the next full or new crescent moon, the nones' occurrence 8 days before the ides of every month (9 counting inclusively) following the establishment of a fixed calendar, and from the Latin practice of treating most recurring calendrical days as plurals. Some scholars believe the name is a variant of the nundines (nūndinae fēriae (“ninth-day festival”)), the Roman market days held every eight days (9 counting inclusively), which were likely announced for each coming month by the Roman kings on the first-quarter days.
As a time of day, via the plural form of Middle English, Anglo-Norman, & French none and Latin nōna (“ninth hour”) after the manner of earlier matins, vespers, etc. As a meal, from the time of day, whether from its plural, genitive, or the occasional adverbial sense of -s.

Þa monðas þe habbað iiii nonas æfter kalendas... habbað to idus xiii dagas and to ii kalendas eahtatyne.
Those months that have 4 nones after the kalends... have 13 days to the ides and eighteen to the second kalends.

10th century, Byrhtferð of Ramsey, Enchiridion (Ashmolean MS 328), Book I, Chapter ii, Section 22

Þe caniculer dayes biginnyth in þe fiftenþe kalendis of august and endiþ in þe nonis of septembris, and so þey ben euene fifty as it is seide þere.
The canicular days begin on the fifteenth kalends of August [i.e., July 18th] and end on the nones [i.e., 5th] of September, and so they are even fifty as it is said there.

14th century, John Trevisa trans. Bartholomaeus Anglicus's De Proprietatibus Rerum, folio 119

The Roman Month its several days divides
By reckoning backwards, Calends, Nones, and Ides.

1679, J. Moxon, Mathematics made Easie, page 26:

As for the Nones, it was thought that the multitudes should avoid mass meetings then because after the kings were expelled, the Roman people particularly celebrated what they took to be Servius Tullius's birthday: because crowds notoriously thronged all the Nones—it being well-known that Servius was born on the Nones, though the exact month was uncertain—those in charge of the calendar were afraid that if the whole population gathered on a market day it might start to revolt out of yearning for the king, and so they took the precaution of keeping the Nones and market days distinct.

2011, Robert A. Kaster trans. Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book I, Chapter xiii, Section 18

[March, May, Quintilis, and October] also have their Nones on the seventh, as Numa ordained, because Julius changed nothing about them. As for January, Sextilis, and December, they still have their Nones on the fifth, though they began to have thirty-one days after Caesar added two days to each, and it is nineteen days from their Ides to the following Kalends, because in adding the two days Caesar did not want to insert them before either the Nones or the Ides, lest an unprecedented postponement mar religious observance associated with the Nones or Ides themselves, which have a fixed date.

2011, Robert A. Kaster trans. Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book I, Chapter xiv, Section 8

The interesting thing about these ceremonies is that they must have originated in a period when the Romans were using true lunar months based on the observation of the crescent moon. The Kalends then would have been the day after the evening on which the crescent had been first sighted, the Nones would have been the first day when the moon was at the first quarter... In the calendar of the late Republic the lunar months have disappeared and the days have been fixed into a rigid pattern.

2015, Agnes Kirsopp Michels, Calendar of the Roman Republic, page 21:

The third day before the nones of March is March 5th; the third nones of August is August 3rd; and the third of the nones of November is November 3rd.

(historical, often capitalized) The notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months.

nones

8th day before the ides of a Roman month

The Greek monks always listen to their reader recite Psalms 83, 84, and 85 from the Septuagint at nones.

(Christianity) The divine office appointed to the hour.

(obsolete) Alternative form of noon: the sixth hour after dawn; midday (12 pm).


guise

en-verb

guise (third-person singular simple present guises, present participle guising, simple past and past participle guised)

guises (present singular third-person)
guising (participle present)
guised (participle past)
guised (past)

From Middle English guise, gise, gyse, from Old French guisse, guise, vise (“guise, manner, way”), from Old Frankish *wīsa (“manner, way, fashion”), from Proto-Germanic *wīsǭ (“manner, way”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, view, behold, perceive”). Cognate with Old High German wīsa (“way, manner”), Old English wīse (“way, manner”), Dutch wijze (“way, manner”). More at wise.

der

(archaic, intransitive) To act as a guiser; to go dressed up in a parade etc.


mention

Inherited from Middle English mencioun, mention, from Old French mention, from Latin mentiōnem, accusative of mentiō (“a mention, calling to mind”).

"I would like Twitter to put some kind of filters in place," suggests Prakash. "At present I can't see troll tweets if I block the user, but others who go into my 'mentions' can do so, and read the graphic abuse, which is disturbing."

2012 November 20, Kavitha Rao, “The Problems With Policing Sexism on Twitter”, in The Atlantic:

In response to the flood of replies, Chance returned to Twitter several hours later — presumably, after his mentions calmed down — to request that users format their resumes as "creative decks, pitches or proposals" […].

2017 March 28, Jaleesa M. Jones, “Time to update your resumes: Chance the Rapper is hiring an intern”, in USA Today:

I didn’t delete my account — yet! I know! I am full of shame! — but I did change the way I use it (no looking at my mentions; far less tweeting; aiming to highlight the work of people I like rather than criticize the work of those I don’t).

2018 December 3, Bari Weiss, Eve Peyser, “Can You Like the Person You Love to Hate?”, in The New York Times:

(Internet, plural only) A social media feed, a list of replies or posts mentioning a person.


neat

en-adj

neat (comparative neater, superlative neatest)

neater (comparative)
neatest (superlative)

on the rocks

antonym(s) of “undiluted liquor or cocktail”

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

der

My room is neat because I tidied it this morning.  She has very neat hair.

Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:

A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…].

1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.

I like my whisky neat.

1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 464-465,
A cup of neate wine of Orleance,
That never came neer the brewers of England.

From this same Head, this Fountain-head divine, / For different Palates springs a different Wine! / In which no Tricks, to strengthen, or to thin ’em— / Neat as imported—no French Brandy in em’—

1756, David Garrick, Catharine and Petruchio, London: J. & R. Tonson and S. Draper, Prologue:

1932, Winston Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, New York: Cornerstone Library, 1965,
At one side of the palette there is white, at the other black; and neither is ever used ‘neat.’

Free from contaminants; unadulterated, undiluted. Particularly of liquor and cocktails; see usage below.

неразреден

undiluted, particularly of alcoholic drinks

Hey, neat convertible, man.

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

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

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


neat

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(informal) An artificial intelligence researcher who believes that solutions should be elegant, clear and provably correct. Compare scruffy.


neat

From Middle English nete, neat, from Old English nēat (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”), from Proto-West Germanic *naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle”, in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock”), Alemannic German Nooss (“young sheep or goat”), Swedish nöt (“cattle”), Icelandic naut (“cattle, bull”) and Faroese neyt (“cattle”). More at note.

cog

From thence into the open fields he fled, / Whereas the Heardes were keeping of their neat / And shepheards singing to their flockes, that fed,

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 467:

And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf / Are all call’d neat.

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

There on a Hillock thou mayſt ſing / Unto a handſome Shepardling; / Or to a Girle (that keeps the Neat) / VVith breath more ſvveet then Violet.

1648, Robert Herrick, “To his Muse”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 2:


boots

I said throw away the boots, I want my little youth

1980, Black Uhuru, "Abortion", Black Uhuru (re-released as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1983)


TDS

Trump derangement syndrome
Trump derangement syndrome#English

(US politics, uncountable) Initialism of Trump derangement syndrome.


points in the paint

(basketball, colloquial) Points scored from within the free-throw lane.


plates of meat

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang


addlings

[…] addlings, wages received for work. A gentleman has informed me, that in Nottinghamshire, and throughout the north, with some variation of sound, addle and addlings are now in use.

1818, Samuel Johnson with H[enry] J[ohn] Todd, A Dictionary of the English Language; in which the Words are Deduced from their Originals; and Illustrated in their Different Significations, by Examples from the Best Writers: Together with a History of the Language, and an English Grammar. By Samuel Johnson LL D. With Numerous Corrections, and with the Addition of Several Thousand Words, and also with Additions to the History of the Language, and to the Grammar, by the Rev. H. J. Todd … In Four Volumes, volume IV, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

ADDLINGS, wages. "Poor addlings," small pay for work. "Hard addlings," money laboriously acquired. "Saving's good addling," as the well known saying, "a penny saved is a penny gained."

1855, "An inhabitant" [pseudonym; Francis Kildale Robinson], A Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases, Collected in Whitby and the Neighbourhood. With Examples of their Colloquial Use, and Allusions to Local Customs and Traditions, London: John Russell Smith, 36, Soho Square, →OCLC, page 2:

"Addlings." Earnings. "Whoas a better house an' I hev? an' av gotten it together, stick be stick, an' ivvry bit on 't, wi' my awan addlings!" "This is my awan addling!" says a man, pulling out of his pocket a handful of silver and showing it to his comrade.

1862, anonymous [C. Clough Robinson], The Dialect of Leeds and Its Neighbourhood: Illustrated by Conversations and Tales of Common Life, etc. To which are Added a Copious Glossary; Notices of the Various Antiquities, Manners, and Customs, and General Folk-lore of the District, London: John Russell Smith, 36, Soho Square, →OCLC, page 233:

Short harvests make short addlings [earnings]. – YORKSHIRE.

1893, Richard Inwards, Weather Lore: A Collection of Proverbs, Sayings, and Rules Concerning the Weather, London: E. Stock, →OCLC, page 8:

My Dunfanaghy correspondent has also heard the noun addlings, though not of late. Addlings were a woman's earnings; money got by selling the odd dozen of eggs or by knitting for the factories or shops.

1999, Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, The Words We Use: Collection 3, Dublin: Four Courts Press, →ISBN, page 33:


Hebrew Scriptures

the Hebrew Scriptures (canonical plural)


Tupi

Any of the Tupian languages, especially Old Tupi or Nheengatu.


ones

(UK, prison slang) The cells located on the ground floor.


different strokes

Appeared in general use by 1970. Possibly originally from the song “Everyday People” by “Sly & The Family Stone”

different strokes for different folks
different strokes for different folks

A shortened version of different strokes for different folks


odds and ends

From a dialectal corruption of ords and ends (“points and endings" or "beginnings and ends”). More at ord, end.

The garage was filled with a random assortment of odds and ends.

I scraped my palette, stuck my brushes in a bowl of black soap, and I strolled into the smoking-room. I really believe that, excepting Geneviève's apartments, no room in the house was so free from the perfume of tobacco as this one. It was a queer chaos of odds and ends hung with threadbare tapestry.

1895, Robert W. Chambers, chapter 2, in The King in Yellow, "The Mask":


oddments

It was a terrific mess. On a table against a wall sat a television, a radio, and a computer, and upon every other available surface were scattered countless tools, wires, books and charts and notebooks, disconnected antennas, disassembled gadgets, and various other unrecognizable oddments.

2007, Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society, page 97:

вся́кая вся́чина

a collection containing a variety of miscellaneous things


two left feet

He should stay off the dance floor with his two left feet.

2 shy 4 pickups. 2 flip 4 potlucks. 2 left feet at bars. But fun.

1985 April 13, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 13:

(idiomatic) Clumsiness, especially at dancing or in sports involving kicking a ball.


mores

From Latin mōrēs (“ways, character, morals”), the plural of mōs. Doublet of moeurs.

All of us seem to need some totalistic relationships in our lives. But to decry the fact that we cannot have only such relationships is nonsense. And to prefer a society in which the individual has holistic relationships with a few, rather than modular relationships with many, is to wish for a return to the imprisonment of the past — a past when individuals may have been more tightly bound to one another, but when they were also more tightly regimented by social conventions, sexual mores, political and religious restrictions.

1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, Bantam Books, page 99:

It is relevant here to recall that the word “morality” is derived from mos with its plural mores, and that in its present usage it has not lost this connexion with the mores — the rules of behaviour — of a society.

1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values”, in Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York, editors, Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, Anchor Books, →ISBN, page 165:

Even as the elements of a culture were forming, as legends began to accrue, as their mastery of programming started to surpass any previous recorded levels of skill, the dozen or so hackers were reluctant to acknowledge that their tiny society, on intimate terms with the TX-0, had been slowly and implicitly piecing together a body of concepts, beliefs, and mores.

1984, Steven Levy, chapter 2, in Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution:

The country's traditional mores have sparked recent ideological battles, as well as a few national embarrassments.

2013 May 3, Dean Van Nguyen, “Why Ireland Has Lagged Behind the Rest of Europe on Reproductive Rights”, in The Atlantic:

The one area where sexual mores seem to have changed is gay relationships. At the beginning of 2004, only 46 percent of respondents thought gay sex should be legal; in another poll that year, only 42 percent of people said they saw it as morally acceptable or believed that same-sex marriage should be legal.

2014 June 9, Emma Green, “Americans: Still Pretty Judge-y”, in The Atlantic:

A set of moral norms or customs derived from generally accepted practices rather than written laws.

norme

a set of accepted moral norms or customs


chitterlings

From Middle English cheterlingis, chitterling, chitterlynge, chytyrlynge, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kūtiz, *kut-, from Proto-Indo-European *gud-, *gewd- (“intestine, gut”), from *gʷu-, *gū- (“to bend, curve, bow, camber, vault, distend”).
Compare Middle Low German kǖtel (“entrails, tripe”), German Kutteln (“tripe”) and Scots kyte (“belly, stomach”). Compare also Icelandic kviður (“stomach”).

[ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɾɚ.lɪŋz]

How fare I? troth for ſixpence a meale, wench, as well as heart can wiſh, with Calves chaldrons and chitterlings […]

1604, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton, “The Honest Whore, […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume II, London: John Pearson […], published 1873, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 40:

Large intestine, cleaned and defatted, usually of a pig. Sometimes prepared with hog maws.


Pyrenees

/ˌpɪɹəˈniːz/

From Middle English Pireneies, partly from Middle French Pyrénées and partly from Latin Pȳrēnaeī (montēs), from Ancient Greek Πῡρήνη (Pūrḗnē, “Pyrene”, literally “fruit-stone”), daughter of Bebryx and beloved of Herakles, and who, legend has it, is buried in the range.

der

A wine-producing region and local government area (Shire of Pyrenees) in Victoria, Australia.


twelve-bar blues

(music) A blues form built on a twelve-measure chord progression, most typically based around the tonic, subdominant and dominant seventh chords of a key.


breeks

From Middle English breke, Northern variant of brechis (“trousers”), from Old English brēċ (“breeches”), plural of brōc (“covering for the leg; trouser”). More at breeches.

—Ah, poor dogsbody, he said in a kind voice. I must give you a shirt and a few noserags. How are teh secondhand breeks?

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Tane unfolded and rose to his full height. Naked, his tanned flesh glistening with sweat, he held out his arms and stretched out the kinks in his body. […] "Loan me some breeks."

2002, Mickee Madden, Midnight Sun, page 144:


LAPD

(telecommunications) Link Access Procedures, D channel; specified in ITU-T Q.920 and ITU-T Q.921. The second layer protocol on the ISDN protocol stack.


end times

And I can hear it loud and clear / The world is ending, and what do I care? / She's gone, end times are here

2010, Mark Oliver Everett (lyrics and music), “End Times”, performed by Eels:

Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, said in an interview that Mr. Van Impe’s premillennial view of the end times paved the way for his own ministry and that of other popular preachers like John Hagee and David Jeremiah.

2020 January 22, Elizabeth Dias, “Jack Van Impe, End Times Preacher on TV, Is Dead at 88”, in The New York Times:

(Christianity) The days leading up to the second coming of the Messiah (Christ), when the world will be judged.

ахырызаман

the days leading up to the second coming of the Messiah


police

en-noun

police pl (normally plural, singular police)

Southern US, African-American Vernacular

From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.

Pearlman: Very clever, Lester. You got it all figured, huh?
Freamon: Me? I'm just a police.

2006 Sept. 17, David Mills, "Soft Eyes", The Wire, 00:06:50

This time it is the worst kind of call a murder police can get.

2006, David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, →ISBN, page 440:

(usually plural only) The staff of such a department or agency, particularly its officers; (regional, chiefly US, Caribbean, Jamaica, Scotland, countable) an individual police officer.


sideburns

sideburns pl (normally plural, singular sideburn)

Reformed from burnside, named after American Army general Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881), noted for his unusual facial hair.

named-after

Facial hair reaching from the top of the head down the side of the face to the side of the chin.

bakkebaarde

facial hair reaching from the top of the head down the side of the face to the side of the chin


bell-bottom trousers

Trousers with a wide flair towards the bottom of the legs, permitting them to be rolled-up above the knee; traditionally worn by sailors.


crow's feet

Wrinkles at the outer corners of the eye.

potes de gall

wrinkles at the outer corners of the eye


facilities

Synonym of facility in certain contexts.

I christened the facilities, shrugged into my windbreaker, and met Dolan at his door.

(euphemistic) Facilities for urination and defecation: a toilet; a lavatory.


bagpipes

en-noun

bagpipes pl (normally plural, singular bagpipe)

From earlier bagpipe, from Middle English bagpipe; equivalent to bag + pipes.

Bagpipes are traditionally played in most Celtic regions and many former parts of the British Empire.

“Iʼll tell you something: there is nothing in the world like the sound of the bagpipes to raise a manʼs morale, to lift his spirits, and give him strength.”

2005, Jennifer Worth, Shadows of the Workhouse, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (2009), page 250:

A musical wind instrument possessing a flexible bag inflated by bellows, a double-reed melody pipe and up to four drone pipes; any aerophone that produces sound using air from a reservoir to vibrate enclosed reeds.


goods

[…]that enormous machine of his[…] which, together with it bottom dependence, the inestimable bulse of ladies jewels, formed a grand showout of goods indeed!

1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, page 210:


kindred

kindred (countable and uncountable, plural kindreds)

From Middle English kyndrede, from older kynrede (“kindred”), from Old English cynrēd, cynrǣden (“kindred, family, stock”), from cynn (“kind, kin, lineage”) + -rǣden (“condition, state”). Equivalent to kin + -red, see these. The -d- is epenthetic between a nasal and a liquid (as e.g. in spindle).

(often plural only) Distant and close relatives, collectively; kin.

*Behold he commeth with clouds, and euery eye ſhal ſee him,and they alſo which pearced him: and all kinreds of the earth ſhall waıle becauſe of him: euen ſo. Amen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Rev 1:7:

(often plural only) People of the same ethnic descent, not including speaker; brethren.


baked beans

A food consisting of beans baked or stewed in a usually tomato-based sauce.


bare bones

By metaphor with the skeleton versus the whole body including the flesh.

He had only been taught the bare bones of the system, but carried on regardless.

The bare bones of a cookbook are its recipes, but as a genre it is so elastic and malleable that it can contain a range of other purposes and dimensions.

1982 April 10, Michael Bronski, “We Are How We Cook”, in Gay Community News, page 7:

The essential elements of something; the minimum viable set of elements; especially when they are described without going into detail.


Americana

/əˌmɛɹɪˈkænə/

/əˌmɛɹɪˈkɑːnə/

/əˌmɛɹɪˈkeɪnə/

Today Coke exists as nostalgic brand, harking back to the day when the drink enjoyed its peak iconic stature. Coke now stands for 1950s Americana.

2004, D. B. Holt, How Brands Become Icons, Harvard Business Press, →ISBN, page 27:

The Clovis Limit, her shop in Portobello Road, dealt exclusively in Americana.

2014, William Gibson, “The Clovis Limit”, in The Peripheral, G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN:

Recycling Americana through predigested pop culture makes Monster Trucks seem indebted to Amblin movies of the ’80s, by way of the boy-and-his-car riff on those same movies Michael Bay half-assedly performed in the first Transformers.

2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club:

All things peculiar to the United States' culture and people, anything that is a symbol of American life.

The music that became Americana crossed racial lines very early, becoming one of the major integrating forces in America. The chapter shows how artists such as Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers were creating and playing Americana long before we had a name for what they were doing.

2017, Michael Scott Cain, The Americana Revolution, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page xxx:

A quarter-century later, the Band’s music provided a key template for the acts first labeled Americana, including Son Volt, Wilco and Lucinda Williams, as well as for their sonic heirs.

[2023 August 9, “Robbie Robertson, 80, Dies; Canadian Songwriter Captured American Spirit”, in The New York Times:

(music) An amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles.


Hollywood Irish

Irish people and culture as stereotypically portrayed by the movie industry, particularly from the USA.


threads

Mark Zuckerberg is revamping his public image with new threads. With a trio of bold shirts worn in recent appearances, he’s communicating that he came, he saw, he conquered and he will win again at any cost.

2024 September 28, Blake Montgomery, “Zuckerberg Augustus: Meta’s emperor rebrands in new clothes”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


West Indies

From west + Indies. From being lands called the Indies, of the West. From being mistaken for the East Indies (aka, the Indies).

(cricket) A Federation of Caribbean states which, together with Guyana, play Test matches as if they were a single nation.


bowling figures

(cricket) A group of statistics listed for each bowler in a single innings:- number of overs bowled, number of maiden overs bowled, number of runs conceded and number of wickets taken.


the cat's pyjamas

Popular in the US as early as 1922 around which the bee's knees, cat's whiskers, and numerous other similar phrases gained prominence. Sometimes attributed to cartoonist Tad Dorgan. It is widely believed that the origin of this idiom predates considerably, tracing back to the early 1800s in England. During this period, a tailor named E.B. Katz crafted silk pajamas for members of royalty and the upper class.

That new car was really the cat's pyjamas.

(idiomatic) A highly sought-after and fancy example of something, usually referring to inanimate objects.


Akimel O'odham

Pima, a Uto-Aztecan people of southwest Arizona. The Pima language is a dialect of O'odham.


braces

Susy has to go to the dentist to see if she needs braces.

(orthodontics) A device worn on the teeth to straighten them.

(British) A pair of straps crossing one's shoulders and extending down to one's trousers, where a clip or button arrangement allows them to affix to the trousers, ensuring that they will not fall off.


turnip greens

Brassica rapa
Brassica rapa#Translingual

The edible leaves of the turnip plant (Brassica rapa).


covers

It's time to get under the covers!

(plural only) The bedclothes; collectively, the sheets, blankets, etc.


wind chimes

(music) A chime constructed from tubes, rods, bells, etc. made of wood, glass, metal or ceramic, suspended outside a building in such a way that they tinkle pleasantly when moved by the wind.

бятърни камбанки

chime made from suspended wooden, metal, etc. tubes, bells and rods that tinkle when moved by the wind


years

Wales, General South African, other regions

It took years for the bus to come.

(colloquial, hyperbolic) A very long time.


Gurage

Any of the Semitic languages of these people.


trimmings

Don't forget to take the trimmings down by twelfth night.

(British) Domestic decorations for a room, especially Christmas decorations.


papers

"All right, if you happen to be over that way, just get me some fags. No, wait a shake, get me a tin of cigarette tobacco and some papers."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 76:


demographics

/dɛməˈɡɹæfɪks/

Every museum has to wrestle with the differing interests and needs of the varied demographics of its visitors - and none more so than the LTM [London Transport Museum], with its mix of tourists (both domestic and foreign) seeking an 'experience', transport enthusiasts indulging their passion, and families looking for education and entertainment for their children.

2020 June 3, Sam Mullins discusses with Stefanie Foster, “LTM: a new chapter begins at 40”, in Rail, page 53:

The characteristics of human populations for purposes of social studies.


Alabama

From Alabama Albaamaha, the name of a people native to the area.

That’s right. In fact, a law which passed in Mississippi is so restrictive, it could close the one remaining abortion clinic they have in the entire state, meaning a Mississippi woman, right now, could be saying to herself, “I need to go someplace more progressive like Alabama.”

2014 November 2, “State Legislatures and ALEC”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 23, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

A state of the United States. Capital: Montgomery. Largest city: Birmingham.

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

American Samoa · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Puerto Rico · United States minor outlying islands · United States Virgin Islands


canonical

He, good man, could make but little of his solitary friend, and must many a time have been startled out of his canonicals by the strange, alien speeches which he heard.

1857, Various, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857:

Mr Altham rose, as in duty bound, in honour to a priest, and a priest who, as he dimly discerned by his canonicals, was not altogether a common one.

1891, Emily Sarah Holt, The White Lady of Hazelwood:

When I was a boy I was a passionate atheist, I defied God, and so far as God is the mere sanction of social traditions and pressures, a mere dressing up of the crowd's will in canonicals, I do still deny him and repudiate him.

1915, H. G. Wells, The Research Magnificent:

(plural only) The formal robes of a priest.


human rights

From human right + -s (suffix forming plural nouns and pluralia tantum).

suffix

We should not facilely judge China by the American standard of democracy, but its current human rights violations are beyond the pale. At the same time, we should not suspend our relationship because of the human rights issue. If we had always refused to deal with leaders who violated human rights, there would have been no opening to China in 1972.

1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 178:

Another issue important to my district is human rights, specifically what is happening in China. My district includes San Francisco's famous Chinatown, and many of my constituents were deeply concerned—as was I—when the Chinese government began to crack down on protesters who were demonstrating peacefully in Beijing and throughout China. Huge demonstrations led to the Tiananmen Square massacre, where more than two thousand people who had dared to speak out against the government were killed and many more injured. The massacre was followed by even more suppression and imprisonment of protesters.

2008, Nancy Pelosi, “A Voice That Will Be Heard”, in Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 92:

A United Nations report said Friday that disconnecting people from the internet is a human rights violation and against international law.

2011 June 3, David Kravets, “U.N. Report Declares Internet Access a Human Right”, in Wired, →ISSN:

(international law) The set of basic rights and freedoms that all humans should be guaranteed, including the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.


piles

Many women get piles when pregnant.

Who with thy leaves shall wipe (at need)
The place where swelling Piles do breed ...

1648, Robert Herrick, “Another”, in Hesperides:


munchies

en-noun

munchies pl (normally plural, singular munchie or munchy)

We were given the first name of the host, the address of the apartment and told to bring whatever toys we wanted. Beer and munchies would be on hand.

1988 May 7, Christopher Wittke, “It Takes Two To Tango”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

(slang) Food, especially convenience snack foods.


liquorice allsorts

A confection made of liquorice, coconut and aniseed.


cahoots

cahoots pl (normally plural, singular cahoot)

PIE word
 *ḱóm
From earlier cahoot + -s (suffix forming regular plurals of nouns). Cahoot is probably borrowed:
* from French cahute (“hut, shack”), from Dutch kajuit (“cabin on a ship”), from Middle Low German kajüte, probably from Middle Dutch kayhute; further etymology uncertain, possibly borrowed from Old French *cahute, chahute (whence Middle French quahute), a blend of cabane (“cabin, hut, shack”) + hute (“hut”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to conceal, hide; to cover; hide, skin”)); or
* from French cohorte (“group of people supporting the same person or thing, cohort”), from Latin cohors (“cohort; crowd”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by; near; with”) + *ǵʰer- (“to enclose”) (and if so, a doublet of cohort).

der

Those two are definitely in cahoots.

There was no stage on the road, and no vehicle in the place except these mighty wagons. Accordingly I struck a bargain with a wagoner, who took my baggage. 'You may go with me,' said he, 'but may-be you can't go cahoots with me in my eatin' fixin's, stranger.'

1843 November 8, “Letters from the South-west—No. 1”, in H. A. Graves, editor, Christian Reflector: A Religious and Family Newspaper, volume VI, number 45 (number 279 overall), Boston, Mass.: William S[hapleigh] Damrell, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 2:

Like as not, Uncle Billy is still in ‘cahoots’ [i.e., shares] with his old pard, and is just laughin’ at us as he’s sendin’ him accounts of our tomfoolin’.

1888, Bret Harte, “Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy”, in Stories in Light and Shadow; The Argonauts of North Liberty (The Works of Bret Harte; XIII), Argonaut edition, New York, N.Y.: P[eter] F[enelon] Collier & Son, →OCLC, page 65:

[…] I suspected him of being in cahoots with the steward, who got the lights doused long enough for the pearls to be stolen.

1926 August 21, Henry C. Rowland, “Twin Propellers. Chapter XI.”, in George Horace Lorimer, editor, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 199, number 8, Philadelphia, Pa., London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 51, column 2:

Now it came to pass that the President of the Republic of Guaduragua was suspected of being in cahoots with a Juju society, of consulting astrologers, and of being under the undue influence of a designing woman; whereupon the Guaduraguan Parliament thought it well to investigate the matter, and came together on its own initiative for that purpose. […] [I]t was not in Guaduragua at all that the comedy was enacted, but in one of the Sovereign Commonwealths of the United States of America.

1928 March, “Trouble in Guaduragua”, in The North American Review, volume CCXXV, number 841, New York, N.Y.: North American Review Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 371–372:

They probably give it back to him; they're all in cahoots.

1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 74:

The Klan was in cahoots with political, business, and law-enforcement leaders.

2005, Steven D[avid] Levitt, Stephen J[oseph] Dubner, “How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-estate Agents? In which is Argued that Nothing is More Powerful than Information, Especially when Its Power is Abused”, in Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 58:

[A] sense of grievance and victimization has come to permeate the modern conservative identity. […] In this account, Hollywood acts in functional cahoots with academia and the news media, and what drives the populism of Republican politicians like Ron DeSantis in Florida and J[ames] D[avid] Vance in Ohio is full-throated opposition to those institutions.

2022 June 6, A[nthony] O[liver] Scott, “Critic’s notebook: Are the movies liberal?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-17:

Chiefly preceded by in: collaboration or collusion, chiefly for a nefarious reason.

ledtog

collaboration or collusion, chiefly for a nefarious reason — see also collaboration, collusion


Cymry

Borrowed from Welsh Cymry, q.v. Cognate with English Cambrian and Cymric.

The natural conclusion is that the Silurians or Iberians, now represented by the little, dark Welshmen, are the oldest existing race in Wales, and, though now speaking Cymraeg, were long before the Cymry there.

1881, James Bonwick, Who Are the Welsh? (Our Nationalities; III), London: David Bogue, […], page 46:

“What brings you into our lands?” The strange looking barbarian asked again. / He was speaking Cymraeg, which means the language of the aborigines, or “the language of the first race.” It was the same language of the Cymry of which Cedric and his tribe was a people of.

2001, Jodie K. Scales, Of Kindred Celtic Origins, volumes 1 (Myths, Legends, Genealogy and History of an Ordinary American Family), Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 416:

(uncommon) Synonym of Welsh: the Welsh people collectively.


bibliobibuli

The term was coined in 1957 by H. L. Mencken, from the Greek "biblio", meaning books, and the Latin "bibulous", from "bibere" (to drink).
"There are people who read too much: bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing."

The kind of people who read excessively.


dog days

en-noun

dog days pl (normally plural, singular dog day)

Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (“puppy days”), a calque of Ancient Greek κυνάδες ἡμέραι (kunádes hēmérai, “dog days”), from κυνάς (kunás, “of or related to dogs”), from Κῠ́ων (Kúōn, “the Dog”) in reference to the star Sirius, which appears in Homeric Greek as "Orion's dog". The return of Sirius to the night sky (its heliacal rising), occurring in antiquity around July 25 (Athens) or 29 (Rome), was considered by the Greeks and Romans to herald what were considered the hottest, least healthy, and least lucky days of summer.

der

κυνάδες ἡμέραι

lang

κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος

κῠ́ων Ὠρίωνος

κύν᾽ Ὠρίωνος

κύν᾽ Ὠρίωνος

... a sterre, wherof canicular or dogge days be named Dies caniculares.

1538, Thomas Elyot, “Canicula”, in The Dictionary of Syr Thomas Eliot:

Dog days bright and clear
Indicate a good year;
But when accompanied by rain,
We hope for better times in vain.

1883, H.H.C. Dunwoody, "Proverbs Relating to Months, Weeks, and Days" in Weather Proverbs, Signal Service Notes, No. IX, p. 98

(archaic) The days following the heliacal rising of Sirius, now in early August (Gregorian) at dates varying by latitude.

горещници

the days between early July and early September


vibe

Apocopic form of vibration, vibrator, etc.


duds

I looked at what I could see of my rough blue duds, which I had plenty of opportunity of contrasting with the gay attire of the citizens we had come across; […]

1890, William Morris, News from Nowhere, in the journal The Commonweal. (First published in book form 1890.)

“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. […]”

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

They grab his duds and his picks as well. They hoy him down to the pit of hell. Down you go and fare ye well. You dirty blackleg miner.

1970 June 5, traditional (lyrics and music), “The Blackleg Miner” (track 4), in Hark! The Village Wait, performed by Steeleye Span:

We were hard-pressed to find anyone who actually skis in these designer duds, but someone's buying the stuff: Hilfiger's ski and boardwear line grosses around $25 million per year […]

JESSE:Badger? Where you been keeping yourself? Nice duds.

2008 October 26, Vince Gilligan,Patty Lin, directed by Tricia Brock, Breaking Bad (Gray Matter) (1), episode 5 (TV), spoken by Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul):

Scavenger: Nice duds. Better watch your back. There's probably already a dozen people planning to kill you for them.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Elaaden:

(US, British, informal, dated) Clothing, especially for work or of rough appearance.

Klamotten

clothing, especially those for work or of rough appearance


Himalayas

Pluralisation of Himalaya, learned borrowing from Sanskrit हिमालय (himālaya).

lbor

The mountain range in south-central Asia which extends about 2,414 km (1,500 mi) through Kashmir, northern India, southern Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam; it contains nine of the world’s ten highest peaks, including Mount Everest/Qomolongma.


dungaree

en-noun

dungaree (countable and uncountable, plural dungarees)

/ˌdʌŋ.ɡəˈɹiː/

From Hindi डूंगरी (ḍūṅgrī, “coarse calico”), from the name of a village.

(plural only) Trousers or pants or overalls made from such fabric.


cojones

From Spanish cojones (“testicles, balls”), from Late Latin cōleonēs, from Latin cōleus (“sack, scrotum”). Doublet of cullion and culeus.

Stepping right into a trap... Your biggest problem is that you got big cojones but nothing in your brains.
I think Freud would have something to say about your obsession with my big cojones.

2005, Total Overdose, spoken by Ramiro “Ram” Cruz (Simon Prescott as Cesar Morales and Daniel E. Mora), Square Enix Europe; Eidos Interactive, via Deadline Games and Square Enix:

(slang, usually vulgar) Synonym of balls (“testicles; courage, masculinity”).


smithereens

Uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested, though the etymons are all first attested later than the English word:
* From Irish smidiríní, smiodairíní (“smithereens”), from smiodar (“broken piece, fragment”) + -ín (suffix forming diminutive nouns) + -í (slender form of -aí (suffix forming plurals of some nouns)).
* From smithers (“fragment; atom”) infixed with -een (suffix forming diminutive nouns in Hiberno-English).
* From Hiberno-English (Wexford) smaddereen, a variant of smattering (“small amount or number of something; shallow or superficial knowledge of a subject”).
* From Hiberno-English (Wexford) smithered, smashed

The urn shattered into smithereens the moment it hit the ground.

When the waiter dropped the platter, one smithereen struck him above the knee, and the four remaining smithereens scattered across the floor.

However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

(originally Ireland, informal) Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.

парчета

fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items


FPS

first-person shooter
first-person shooter#English

(video games) Initialism of first-person shooter.


jodhpurs

jodhpurs pl (plural only, attributive jodhpur)

/ˈd͡ʒəʊdpəz/

1913 (earlier as jodhpur breeches, 1899), from Jodhpur, former state in northwestern India. The city at the heart of the state was founded 1459 by Rao Jodha, a local ruler, and is named for him.

"What's the big idea?" Dorothy sprang in beside him, looking very trim and boyish in jodhpurs and dark flannel shirt over which she wore a thin brown sweater.

1933, Dorothy Wayne [pseudonym; Noel Everingham Sainsbury], Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings:

The man in jodphurs muttered, ‘Is why black people can't get on. You see how these waiters behaving? And they black like hell too, you know.’

1957, V. S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

All the portraits that hang on the walls of the living room are, I realize, of my mother's family: miniatures of her great-aunts in Victorian bustles and elaborate feathered hats; a gilt-framed oil of her great-great-great-uncle as a boy in pastoral England, wearing a gold riding coat over white jodhpurs and sitting astride a white steed, a King Charles spaniel yapping at them from the foreground of the canvas.

2006, Peter Godwin, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa:

Soon Bowie entered, wearing three-tone NASA jodhpurs.

2019, Casey Rae, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 121:

Flared riding trousers of heavy cloth, fitting tightly from knee to ankle.


dungarees

dungarees pl (normally plural, singular dungaree)

/ˌdʌŋ.ɡəˈɹiːz/

Helen donned a pair of faded dungarees and grabbed her knapsack before rushing off to school.

I’d arrived at Heaven nightclub, underneath the Charing Cross railway arches, on a hot Sunday afternoon to find my friends had already gone in – you didn’t risk hanging back and missing your chance – so I joined the queue of kids dressed in the acid house uniform of Day-Glo dungarees and smiley T-shirts.

2018 July 1, Sharon Walker, “Thirty years since the second summer of love”, in The Guardian:

Heavy denim pants or trousers, usually with bib and braces, worn especially as work clothing.


exuviae

(historical, military) Among the Ancient Romans, weaponry and equipment stripped from the person of a foe; booty.


craps

From Louisiana Creole craps, a corruption of English crabs.

“As an inventor,” Bob Mason suggested, “you're a howling success at shooting craps ! If I were as free of spavins, ringbone, saddle-galls, and splints as you are, I'd have that nanny-goat in here, hog-tie her, flop her and let the boy help himself. […]”

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XII, in The Understanding Heart:

Start off the dice-rollin' mats for craps to cee-lo / With side-bets, I roll a deuce, nothin' below

1994, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:

(gambling, dice games) A game of gambling, or chance, where the players throw dice to make scores and avoid crap.


rates

(British, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong) Taxes, usually on property, levied by local government.


LUDs

(telecommunications) local usage details; a list of locally called numbers, often provided by telecom companies to the police as part of an investigation.


turning

From Middle English turnyng, turnynge, from Old English tyrning, turnung, equivalent to turn + -ing.

The turnings get into your trouser turnups!

(plural only) Shavings produced by turning something on a lathe.

стру́жка

The shavings produced by turning something on a lathe


taps

From tap (noun) + -s. Sense 1 (“signal for extinguishing all lights in soldiers’ quarters and retiring to bed”) is from the fact that the signal was originally made using a drum.

(military) A signal, by drum or trumpet, for extinguishing all lights in soldiers' quarters and retiring to bed, usually given about a quarter of an hour after tattoo; the signal is sometimes also given during the funeral of a soldier.


green fingers

/ɡɹiːn ˈfɪŋɡəz/

/ɡɹin ˈfɪŋɡəɹz/

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From green (adjective) + fingers, possibly popularized by the British gardener and radio and television broadcaster Cecil Henry Middleton (1886–1945).

To some they are a rural escape in the centre of the city, to others they are a chance to test their green fingers and design skills. Now London mayor Boris Johnson has found a new use for urban roof gardens – as a key weapon on the front line against global warming.

2008 August 29, David Adam, “Environment: Johnson unveils secret weapon in war on climate change – the roof garden”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-13:

(idiomatic, informal) A seemingly natural gardening ability.


first freedom rights

One of the Freedoms of the Air, arranged under the Chicago Convention in 1944.

The right of an airline of one country to fly over the territory of another country without stopping.


second freedom rights

One of the freedoms of the air, arranged under the Chicago Convention in 1944.

The right of an airliner of one country to land in another country for technical reasons such as refueling and maintenance.


fifth freedom rights

One of the Freedoms of the Air, defined under the Chicago Convention in 1944.

The right of an airline of one country to land in a different country, pick up passengers, and carry them on to a third country — e.g. a British airline flying to France, collecting passengers, and taking them to Italy.


third freedom rights

The right of an airline of one country to land in a different country and deplane passengers coming from the airline’s own country.


fourth freedom rights

The right of an airline of one country to land in a different country and board passengers travelling to the airline’s own country.


freedoms of the air

The bilateral agreements concerning international air travel defined by the Chicago Convention in 1944, covering such topics as overflight, stopovers, and passenger carriage.


battle honours

(naval) The names of battles and actions in which a warship (or a previous namesake) has taken part, usually displayed on a board in a prominent position


conkers

(British, games) A game for two players in which the participants each have a horse-chestnut (known as a "conker") suspended from a length of string, and take turns to strike their opponent's conker with their own with the object of destroying the opponent's conker before their own is destroyed.


creative differences

"Ace 2" is back on track after the original director resigned, citing creative differences with the star.

1995 June 26, “Funny Face: Jim Carrey Is One Twisted Superstar. But Look Who's Laughing”, in Newsweek:

(euphemistic) Interpersonal disagreements within a collaborating group of musicians, authors, or other artists, especially as resulting in a collapse of the collaboration.


beam-ends

The ship is lying over half upon her beam-ends; lee scuppers under water, and forecastle all in a smother of foam.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC:

It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

(nautical) The ends of the transverse beams of a ship.


sales

He's likable and motivated: perfect for a career in sales.

We have a sales training program beginning this Monday.

The activities involved in selling goods or services.


broad shoulders

(idiomatic) the ability to take criticism, or accept responsibility.

(avoir les) épaules solides

the ability to take criticism or accept responsibility


gods

So called from the idea of gods (deities) reigning from on high.

(printing, historical) The quadrats used by printers in throwing on the imposing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice.


regalia

From Middle English regalie, from Medieval Latin rēgālia (“royal powers”), substantivisation of the neuter plural of rēgālis (“of a king”), from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal.

Traditional dress and accessories of North American Indigenous nations worn for ritual purposes.


bells and whistles

His new car has all the bells and whistles, but it doesn't move through traffic jams any faster.

The bells and whistles do not impress me.

I need a new phone, but I don’t want all those fancy bells and whistles on it!

Charles’s coronation was a full-color spectacle, showing off the peacocked glory of British tradition and the bells and whistles of 21st-century TV. Britain brought out its finest garments, its finest relics, its finest rain.

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

(idiomatic) Extra features added for show rather than function; fancy additions or features.

финтифлюшки

extra features added for show rather than function


dishes

After dinner they had to do the dishes.


glad rags

1896, Henry M. Blossom, Jr., Checkers: A Hard-luck Story, Grosset & Dunlap, page 39,
“But say, you wouldn’t have known me if you’d seen me here with my wife that time—my glad rags on, a stove-pipe lid, patent leather kicks and a stone on my front. […]

1897 April, W. H. Carruth and Paul Wilkinson, "Dialect Word-List.—No. 4", in Kansas University Quarterly, Series B:—Philology and History, Volume VI, Number 2, University of Kansas, page 88,
glad rags: “Sunday-go-to-meeting” clothes.—General.

1920, Helen Reimensnyder Martin, The Schoolmaster of Hessville, Doubleday, page 285,
“[…] Or she’ll say, ‘Well, I must go now and put on my glad rags.’ Glad rags yet, John! Yes, that’s what she calls her best frock! Ain’t it funny? […]”

‘I bet you are busy,’ he said. He paused at the door: ‘I shall need some money for glad rags.’ ¶ ‘Glad rags?’ ¶ ‘White tie and the rest of it.’

1935, Graham Greene, England Made Me, Penguin Classics (1992), page 83

1959, Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 30,
Helen: Help yourself to a drink, Peter, and I'll go and put my glad rags on. [Exit.]

2007, Brett Atkinson, Central Europe, Lonely Planet Publications, →ISBN, page 143,
Brno has an excellent theater and classical music, and you’re expected to put your glad rags on.


Chazal

From Hebrew חז״ל (khazál), which is an acronym for חכמינו זיכרונם לברכה (khakhaméinu zikhronám livrakhá, “our sages, of blessed memory”).

(Judaism) The sages from the time of the Second Temple and afterward, through the sixth century C.E.


pulmonic sounds

(phonetics) sounds in which the air stream originates in the lungs.


chatterati

Blend of chatter + literati, attested since 1990.

2002, Annabelle Sreberny, “Trauma talk,” in Journalism After September 11, Barbara Zelizer and Stuart Allan edd. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0415287995&id=zHs5FsL2pAIC&pg=PA222&lpg=PA222&sig=xCPKCNE7rqbp3yj9eDEhIlq_94o
The newspaper the Guardian, together with its Sunday sister the Observer, are the liberal papers of choice among the middle-class chatterati.

Perhaps some Anatolian Leigh Fermor had a bestseller among the chatterati of Topkapi with his Travels in the Egripos.

At last, after many years, the doctrine of multi-culturalism is being questioned. The chatterati have long held onto this as a core belief, a multi-cultural society where hundreds of different cultures exist side by side, and anyone criticising it has been labeled as a racist.

2004 January 20, Peter Simmons, “political incorrectness and the chatterati”, in One World Net, archived from the original on 2023-07-28:

2005 Christina Odone, in the Manchester Guardian, quoted in Credo by Ray Pritchard http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN1581347197&id=uR7gKh4CWUIC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&sig=58JatuzqcghLCAd6Tazni_ntH2U
From when to die to when to give birth, from whom to have sex with, to how to spend their money, the chatteratis believe they should enjoy unlimited freedom.

as if the plural of a singular *chatterati


cybernetics

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

From Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, guide, act as a pilot”) (whence English govern). The term is attested since at least 1948 in the book Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener, influenced by the cognate term and doublet governor, the name of an early control device proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1868. Note also the 1830s French cybernétique (“the art of governing”). Also doublet of Kubernetes.

cog

The theory/science of communication and control in living organisms or machines.


office hours

If you need help with the homework, the professor will be holding office hours on Thursday from 7–9pm.

A pre-arranged time when a person whose occupation frequently takes them away from their office during working hours is available in their office to answer questions or provide assistance without the requirement for an appointment.

咨詢時間

prearranged time when a person is available


maccheroni

Large kettles stand full of dressed maccheroni, with cheese scattered over it, and decorated with small pieces of love apple.

1819 August, Galignani’s Traveller’s Guide through Italy; or, a Comprehensive View of the Antiquities and Curiosities of That Classical and Interesting Country: […], Paris: […] Galignani; […], page 467:

Part of the supper, consisting of boiled and fried fish; French beans, and different kinds of fried vegetables, was quickly served; fried light pastes and a dish of maccheroni with cheese, were afterwards brought in.

1826, [Alexander Brodie], The Prophetess: A Tale of the Last Century, in Italy, volume II, Edinburgh: […] Thomas Clark, […]; and Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, London, page 300:

The whole of the next morning was taken up in kneading the paste for making the maccheroni; […]

1856, Madame Émile de Girardin [i.e., Delphine de Girardin], translated by Alfred Elwes, “How to learn to make Maccheroni”, in Stories of an Old Maid Related to Her Nephews and Nieces, London: Addey and Co., […], section “The Isle of Cooks”, page 61:

In the kind of eating-house that suited his mood, an obscure bettola probably never yet patronized by Englishman, he sat down to a dish of maccheroni and a bottle of red wine.

1890, George Gissing, The Emancipated: A Novel, volume I, London: Richard Bentley and Son, page 153:

When the maccheroni are dried (twelve hours of exposure are usually sufficient) they are ready to be packed and shipped.

When Mariannina has sent us in a particularly nice and generous dish of maccheroni garnished with a few pieces of meat, she does not always serve the companatico, but keeps it for the evening meal, and boasts of her economy.

1913, Cooking Club Magazine, volume 15, page 76:

The maccheroni are of course excellent, but most foreigners cannot live on maccheroni alone.

1926, Edward Hutton, Cities of Sicily, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., page 112:

It didn’t take long for him to choose his table; for, sitting alone in a quiet part of the room, Colonel George Crimmins was eating maccheroni like a Neapolitan!

1933, Marie Van Vorst, The Gardenia, Mills & Boon, Limited, page 102:

During this time cook the maccheroni in salted water, drain when “al dente” and tip into the oven-dish containing the baked tomatoes, stir gently but thoroughly and bake for 5 minutes.

1986, “Maccheroni baked in the oven”, in Pasta: From A to Z, Comet, →ISBN, page 79:

In his book The Ten Pains of Death, Gavin Maxwell tells how only the mother may knead the flour, salt, water, and oil for homemade maccheroni, using a special board for making pasta and bread.

1990, Carol Field, Celebrating Italy, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 201:

In 1835, however, while he was touring Campania, Alexandre Dumas wrote that the common people, the so-called lazzaroni, were living mainly on melons and pizzas, and he went on “Today maccheroni is a European food which has travelled like civilisation, and is to be found everywhere.”

1990, Massimo Alberini, “Pasta: Not Only Italian”, in Harlan Walker, editor, Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery 1989: Staple Foods; Proceedings, Prospect Books, →ISBN, page 38:

Drop the maccheroni into the water and boil vigorously, stirring often, 12 to 15 minutes or until tender but still pleasingly firm to the bite.

1992, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 127:

The woman who is less poor gives her neighbor the water in which her maccheroni was cooked, a whitish liquid that is spilled onto morsels of bread, making them softer and giving them at least a flavor of maccheroni.

2004, Carol Helstosky, Garlic and Oil: Politics and Food in Italy, Berg, →ISBN, page 11:

When they are cooked, place in a plate, having first grated hard rather than fresh provatura cheese, canella well pounded and sugar however much will seem convenient, everything incorporate together so that the maccheroni is covered in cheese, after which fill the plates.

2007, Ken Albala, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe, Urbana, Ill., Chicago, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 175:

Cook the maccheroni in salted boiling water until al dente.

2008, Margaret Fu, “Maccheroni with Sea Urchin Sauce”, in Enjoy Pasta at Home, Hong Kong, →ISBN, page 89:

[Summary of the visual subject] a dish of maccheroni and a waiter serving it

2013, Barry Pennock-Speck, María M. del Saz-Rubio, editors, The Multimodal Analysis of Television Commercials (English in the World), Universitat de València, →ISBN:

Add more gravy and toss until all the maccheroni are coated.

2018, Mary-Grace Fahrun, “Food”, in Italian Folk Magic: Rue’s Kitchen Witchery, Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 35:


bells

(nautical) Ship's bells; the strokes on a ship's bell, every half-hour, to mark the passage of time.


mets

Mets can be found in multiple organs.

(medicine, colloquial) Clipping of metastases.


glottometrics

The quantitative research of words and text.


militaria

/ˌmɪlɪˈtɛrɪə/

By surface analysis, military + -ia (“collection of things”).

surf

According to Denby, who has a store at 20 Birch Ave., the militaria market has grown up in recent years. "It used to be that only school boys were interested in collecting these things." Now with cap badges going for up to $4,000, the market has matured to the point where the collector has to know what he's doing or he can get "stung."

2014, Ross Skoggard, The Compleat Collector:


the shits

"I feel bad we're havin' this nice bonding moment while we both got the shits." "Could be worse. We could be trying to use the toilet simultaneously."

2020, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), 4187: When It Comes Up:


deletia

(computing) In an email reply, material omitted from the quoted original.


knickerbockers

From the short breeches worn by Diedrich Knickerbocker in George Cruikshank's illustrations of Washington Irving's 1809 A History of New York.

Five men and a woman, two young girls,[…], and a boy […] are at the machines sewing knickerbockers, “knee-pants” in the Ludlow Street dialect.

1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Sweaters of Jewtown”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 125:

[…] and some gems that represent the tasseled garment that the leader wears show it in a distinctly religious connection. On a gem from Zakro it [the sistrum] is being being carried by a man who does not wear the loin-cloth, but a baggy kind of knickerbockers like the Moslem trousers of to-day.

1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 37:

And it was early morning, and the world was moist, when the crystal-gazer's husband, a freak in knickerbockers with an open coppish and a sabbath gamp, came over the stones outside his house to meet the holy travellers.

a. 1954 (date written), Dylan Thomas, “The Holy Six”, in Adventures in the Skin Trade (A New Directions Paperbook; no. 183), New York, N.Y.: New Directions Publishing Corporation, published 1969, →ISBN, page 129:

Men's or boys' baggy knee breeches, of a type particularly popular in the early 20th century.

A History of New York
George Cruikshank
Washington Irving
knickerbockers (clothing)


Olympic Games

From Olympic + games, after Middle French ieux olympiques.

Every athlete's dream is to compete at the Olympic Games.

Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games received a boost yesterday when its most famous former resident, the American president, Barack Obama, ended months of speculation by announcing that he would fly to Copenhagen before Friday's vote, in order to lobby on the city's behalf.

2009 September 28, Owen Gibson, The Guardian:

An international multi-sport event (inspired by the ancient festival) taking place every fourth year.

Olimpiese Spele

international multi-sport event inspired by the ancient festival — see also Olympics

オリンピック競技大会

オリンピックきょうぎたいかい


knickers

en-noun

knickers pl (plural only, attributive knicker)

The debate here is not over whether raising £26,000 (and counting) for our troops is a wonderful thing – it unarguably is – but over whether, whenever times are tough and money must be found, our default reaction as women should be to take off our knickers to help out?

2010 April 24, Sali Hughes, “Calendar girls galore”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Women's underpants.


italics

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

There is no need to put the whole paragraph in italics.

[T]hey [the Catholics and Puritans] encumbered their verſion [of the Bible] with a load of uſeleſs Italics; often without the leaſt neceſſity, and almoſt always to the detriment of the text. In fact, either the words in Italics are virtually implied in the Hebrew, or they are not. In the former caſe they are a real part of the text, and ſhould be printed in the ſame character: in the latter, they are generally ill aſſorted and clumſy ekes, that may well be ſpared; and which often disfigure the narration under pretence of connecting it.

1786, Alexander Geddes, Prospectus of a New Translation of the Holy Bible from Corrected Texts of the Originals, Compared with the Ancient Versions. […], Glasgow: Printed for the author, and sold by R[obert] Faulder, […]; C. Eliot, […]; and —— Cross, […], →OCLC, page 95:

Writing of cyclic diagramming, he speaks of ". . . the practical state of locomotives that pass through any number of engine and maintenance crews' hands in the course of a week's common user working, receiving love from none". The italics are mine.

1959 May, G. F. Fiennes (reviewer), “New Reading on Railways: British Railways Today and Tomorrow. By G. Freeman Allen. Ian Allan. 25s.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 271:

(typography, plural only) Letters in an italic typeface.


contents

I always start a book by reading the dustjacket and the contents before I really dig in to the content itself.

(plural only) A table of contents, a list of chapters, etc. in a book, and the page numbers on which they start.


Crown Jewels

The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are held in the Tower of London.


crown jewels

The crown jewels in the United Kingdom are heavily guarded and anyone trying to steal them will certainly have a hard time.

(literally) The jewelry that accompany the office of rulership in a monarchy, i.e. crown, scepter, signet ring, etc.


panties

Routine dress for Tuesday will be bra and panties with high-heel satin mules.

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 29:

Her housecoat had fallen open. She was wearing only panties and bra, which did nothing to make her scrawny, wrinkled body appealing.

1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 12:

blumen m (Dominican Republic, recessive usage - better : panty)

cuadros m pl (Chile, recessive usage - better : calzón)


two cents

That's just my two cents, you can believe what you like.

(idiomatic, colloquial) One's opinion or thoughts.

пять копе́ек f pl (pjatʹ kopéjek, literally “five copecks”)

That car won't last a week, it's not worth two cents.

(US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, idiomatic, colloquial) A nearly worthless amount, alluding to placing a copper penny on each of the eyelids of a pauper's or slave's body before burial.

не сто́ить вы́еденного яйца́ impf (ne stóitʹ výjedennovo jajcá, literally “to be not worth an eaten egg”)

не сто́ить ло́маного гроша́ impf (ne stóitʹ lómanovo grošá, literally “to be not worth a broken half-copeck coin”)


gubbins

Ante 1553. From gobbon (“piece, portion, slice”), from Old French gobon, gobet (“piece”). Cognate with English gobony (“line of alternating squares”).

cog

"Silly gubbins," she said. "You told me twice, and I was interested even the second time. […]"

1916, Edward Frederic Benson, David Blaize, page 146:


riches

From rich + -es (plural suffix) by analogy with poors (“poor people”).

Mr. Chander Lall Mookerji wrote to me thus: “The youngs and the olds, the highs and the lows, the riches and the poors, all join together in praising Your Honour’s magnanimity.”

1929 March, A. C. Amy, “‘Well, when I was at the War——’”, in William H[eaton] Horrocks, C. J. Coppinger, editors, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, volume LII, number 3, London: John Bale, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. […], page 189:

In Antiquity has also existed social conflicts between the poor men and the riches.

2012, Constantin Portelli, “The Italian Fascism”, in The Big Transition, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN:

[…] South America used to be a heaven for the riches and the hell for the poors and it's true.

2015, Jings Chen, chapter 18, in South Texas Never Raided, Partridge Publishing Singapore, →ISBN:

She slips her rosary out of her purse, works her fingers over the beads, and continues chanting her list of deads. It’s one of her many lists. And one of her many quirks. She’s list obsessed. The deads, the gays, the riches, the poors, the outs, the down-and-outs. […] And, after my sister, Opal committed suicide, she dipped deeper into the buggy pot. […] After Dad passed, our long-distance phone conversations took on all kinds of new eccentricities. […] The deads were not going to be disregarded, according to Mom.

2016, A. Wilding Wells, “Snowvale”, in Sunshine Bleeds a Black Edge (The Wild Things; 3), Hyp Notic Press, →ISBN:

They live in the forest, steal from the riches and help the poors.

2020, Derya Öztürk, chapter 9, in Robin Hood (Stage-1), İstanbul: Maviçatı Yayınları, →ISBN:

The riches have money not happiness / The poors are happy but penniless

2021, Manya Srivastava, “Don't Judge a Book by It's^([sic]) Cover”, in Alfesha Zeeshan, Saher Beig, compilers, Musing, Rourkela, Odisha: Unvoiced Heart; Spectrum of Thoughts, →ISBN, page 77:


nads

Do you really have the ’nads to go through with this?


bitts

From Middle English, probably of Low German or North Germanic origin, and the English form a corruption or contraction, from Old Norse biti, probably ultimately from a variant of Proto-Germanic *bitiz. Compare Swedish beting and Danish beding.

(nautical, plural only) A frame composed of two strong oak timbers (bitt-heads) fixed vertically in the fore part of a ship, bolted to the deck beams to which are secured the cables when the ship rides to anchor


peeps

en-noun

peeps pl (normally plural, singular person)

Shortened from people, with simplified spelling, + -s to emphasize the plurality of the word.

Not many peeps here tonight, innit?

Hey my peeps, how are you doing?

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel.
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby.

2001, Shaggy, Rayvon (lyrics and music), “Angel”, in Hot Shot:

I was a hard niggah, but not twisted enough to eat and socialize with my peeps knowing I was planning on robbing them before the night was over.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 108:

(slang) Alternative form of people; often especially (with personal pronoun) one's friends or associates.


cremains

Blend of cremated + remains. Apparently originally a euphemism used by undertakers.

Some people prefer to keep the cremains in their homes in a special place.

1992, Kathleen Sublette, Martin Flagg, Final Celebrations: A Guide for Personal and Family Funeral Planning, page 52:

Paul's cremains arrived by limo service less than an hour before the living room memorial.

2009, Mugan Sozan Peter Schellin, Rogue Monk: A Memoir about Zen, Disability, and Work, page 93:

Because of these remaining bone fragments, the cremains must be pulverized to a grainy powder before any scattering of ashes.

2010, Norman L. Cantor, After We Die: The Life and Times of the Human Cadaver, page 111:


Wellington boots

Wellington boots pl (normally plural, singular Wellington boot)

Named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who wore and popularised a similar style of boot, if not made of rubber.

named-after

(British) Waterproof rubber boots, intended to be worn in wet or muddy conditions. Short forms: wellies (singular welly or wellie)


forty winks

As you're so tired, why not try to catch forty winks before you leave?

[…] who evidently a glutton for work, it struck him, was having a quiet forty winks for all intents and purposes on his own private account while Dublin slept.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[[Episode 16]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Powell: I... sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:

(idiomatic) A short sleep, an extra sleep, a nap.


conjugal rights

The rights and privileges arising from the marital relationship; especially those of love, affection, companionship, comfort and sexual relations.


pirate articles

The standard operating procedures for buccaneers in the late 17th century; covered division of plunder, behaviour, punishment and compensation etc.


Ulaid

A people of Early Ireland who gave their name to the Irish province of Ulster.


wicket-keeping gloves

(cricket) protective gloves worn by a wicket keeper to cushion the hands when repeatedly catching balls


groceries

/ˈɡɹəʊs(ə)ɹiz/

/ˈɡɹəʊs(ə)ɹɪz/

/ˈɡɹoʊʃ(ə)ɹiz/

She carried a sack of groceries in from her car and placed it on the kitchen table.

The commodities sold by a grocer or in a grocery store.


whereabouts

From Middle English wheraboutes, equivalent to whereabout + -s.

The IPC reminds all athletes in their Registered Testing Pool to remain vigilant when it comes to filing and updating their whereabouts.

2021 June 11, “Nigerian athlete Roland Ezuruike receives 18-month ban for whereabouts rule violation”, in Press Releases, International Paralympic Committee:

(sports) Information about an elite athlete's future whereabouts, supplied to antidoping authorities to facilitate random out-of-competition testing.


onomastics

1936, from the adjective onomastic (“of or belonging to naming”) (1716) with a suffix -s, from French onomastique, from Ancient Greek ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós), from ὀνομαστός (onomastós, “named”), form of ὀνομάζω (onomázō, “I name”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”) (whence English name).

Her father had long been a student of onomastics, and loved to unpack the names of people they encountered as children.

2024, Susie Dent, Guilty By Definition, Zaffre, page 65:

The branch of lexicology devoted to the study of names and naming, especially the origins of names.


finest

Fifty of New York's finest were on hand for security.


Elysian Fields

Calque of Latin Campī Ēlysiī, from Ancient Greek Ἠλῠ́σῐον Πεδῐ́ον (Ēlúsion Pedíon). By surface analysis, Elysian + fields.

der

Ἠλῠ́σῐον Πεδῐ́ον

Indeed, the Elysian Fields themselves were a part of Hades, though they have since been removed to Paris.

1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Hades”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 127:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Elysium; home of the blessed, after death.

Ելիսեյան մարգագետիններ

home of the blessed after death in Greek and Roman mythology — see also Elysium


workings

Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

The internal mechanism of some device or system.

The main platforms are unusually far apart, because the two centre tracks were lifted after the East Coast Main Line was diverted in 1983 to avoid now defunct new coal workings.

2022 September 21, “Lifts at Selby by next summer”, in RAIL, number 966, page 21:

The parts of a quarry or mine that are being (or has been) worked.


Irukandji

/ˈɪɹəˌkænd͡ʒi/

From Djabugay Yirrganydji "the Yirrgay people", a derivative of Yirrgay "the Yirrgay dialect of Djabugay", itself a comitative form of a root yirrga- of unidentified meaning.
Perhaps compare also Djabugay Gulunydji "the Guluy dialect of Djabugay", of identical derivation, perhaps based upon gulu "here".

Any box jellyfish with a sting that produces Irukandji syndrome.

Article which discusses the development of the 2nd sense


tens

teens · twenties · thirties · forties · fifties · sixties · seventies · eighties · nineties

Gay Nineties · Naughty Nineties · Roaring Twenties · Dirty Thirties · Swinging Sixties

The period from a year 100x + 10 to a year 100x + 19 (mostly referring to the 1910s or 2010s). The teens, the oneties.


breeches

en-noun

breeches pl (plural only, attributive breech)

/ˈbɹɪ.t͡ʃɪz/

From Middle English breches, brechen pl, a variant of Middle English breche, brech, brek (“breeches”), from Old English brēċ (“underpants”), from either (or both) earlier Celtic origin or from Proto-West Germanic *brōk, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl (nom.acc.), from *brōks (“trousers”). Akin to Old Norse brók (“breeches”), Danish brog, Dutch broek, German Bruch f; compare Latin brācae ( > French braies, Spanish bragas) which is immediately of Celtic origin. Compare brail.

And how then was the Devil drest? / Oh! he was in his Sunday's best: / His jacket was red and his breeches were blue, / And there was a hole where the tail came through.

1834 [1799], Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, “The Devil's Thoughts”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume II, London: W. Pickering, page 83:

A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.

kuitbroek

a garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs


vespers

From Middle English vespers, from Old French vespres (French vêpres), from Ecclesiastical Latin vesperae (“vespers”), substantivisation of relational Late Latin vesperus (“evening”), from vesper (“evening”) + -us.

der

(Christianity, plural only) The sixth of the seven canonical hours, an evening prayer service


Psalms

en-proper noun

the Psalms pl (normally plural, singular Psalm)

the Psalms (canonical plural)
Psalm (singular)

(biblical) A book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh.


vocal cords

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

(chiefly in the plural) Two folds of tissue located in the larynx that vibrate when air passes over them, producing the sound waves associated with talking and singing.


headquarters

The military installation from which troops are commanded and orders are issued; the military unit consisting of a commander and his support staff.


bedclothes

From Middle English bedclothys, plural of Middle English bedcloth, bedclothe, bedde clothe (“bed-cloth, bedding”), from Old English bedclāþ, beddclāþ (“coverlet, blanket, bedding, bedclothes”), equivalent to bed + clothes.

She pulled the bedclothes over her neck to stay warm.

When she was little and I went to see her in bed, I often thought she wasn't there. She lay so neatly and so straight, without a ruckle and with her head just under the top of the bedclothes.

2013, Candida Lycett Green, Over The Hills And Far Away, →ISBN:

Sheets, blankets, quilts or other coverings used on a bed.


kinder

From German Kinder (“children”), sometimes via Yiddish קינדער (kinder, “children”).

But - let wifey leave him with the kinder while out shopping...

2008 December 31, Al Scaduto, They'll Do It Every Time (newspaper comic)

Of special interest to the kinder are The Children's Place, Baby Gap, Gap Kids and Gap, Gymboree, The Limited, America!, and the Sweet Factory.

2010, Beth Rubin, Frommer's Washington D.C. with Kids, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

Do note, as Goin mentions, this is a policy better implemented when the kinder are well past infancy.

2012, Charlotte Druckman, Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen, Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 192:

(chiefly humorous or in German or Yiddish contexts) Children.


kinder

en-noun

kinder (countable and uncountable, plural kinders)

(Philippines, countable, uncountable) Short for kindergarten.

(informal, countable) Short for kindergartener.


Amish

From Pennsylvania German Amisch or German Amische, after the name of the Swiss preacher Jakob Amman (1645-1730). The surname is a contraction of Old High German ambahtman.

A strict Anabaptist sect living mainly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.


pearly whites

The least you can do is keep your pearly whites squeaky clean with a cutting-edge electric toothbrush.

2009 July 31, Ben Patterson, “High-Tech Helpers: Philips Sonicare FlexCare”, in Time:


trunks

Roger came through, rustling up four shirts and trousers, two belts, pointed out the underwear selections, where Alex riffled through the boxers, boxer-briefs, and trunks, choosing a package of each.

2021, Shirley Goldberg, Eat Your Heart Out:


uses

(law) A form of equitable ownership peculiar to English law, by which one person enjoys the profits of lands, etc. whose legal title is vested in another in trust.


underclothes

(plural only) clothes worn next to the skin and underneath outer clothing


uncertain

en-adj

uncertain (comparative more uncertain or (rare) uncertainer, superlative most uncertain or (uncommon) uncertainest)

more uncertain (comparative)
uncertainer (comparative rare)
most uncertain (superlative)
uncertainest (superlative uncommon)

From Middle English uncerteyn; equivalent to un- + certain.

Tomorrow's weather is uncertain.


emergency services

Collectively, the police, fire department and EMS services. May also include other response agencies.


doctor's orders

A laxative pill, "number 9", once issued in the British army


all one's eggs in one basket

en-noun

all one's eggs in one basket pl (plural only)

alt på ét kort

the state of having invested in one area only

The stock market decline wouldn’t have hurt him so badly if he hadn’t had all his eggs in one basket.

The state of having invested heavily in just one area.


all the marbles

After a day's worth of events, it came down to one last match; this one was for all the marbles.

(idiomatic) everything; all that is to be had.


periaktoi

From Ancient Greek περίακτοι (períaktoi), masculine plural of περίακτος (períaktos, “revolving, pivoting”), from περιάγω (periágō, “I turn round”).

A device for changing scenery in a theatre. A row of adjacent, three-sided columns form a backdrop to the stage and are turned in unison to show a different face.


all-comers

The meeting is open to all-comers.


bits and bobs

A random assortment of things; small remaining pieces and items.


just deserts

It may appear that they're getting ahead by cheating, but they'll get their just deserts in the end.

(idiomatic) A punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved.

po zásluze

a punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved


baby blues

Most women (70–80 percent) will experience “baby blues” beginning a few days or weeks postpartum. Symptoms can include irritability, mood swings, crying spells, feelings of tension or nervousness, sleep disturbance, feelings of being overwhelmed, loss of appetite, and sadness. Baby blues generally lasts anywhere form a few hours to a few days and is caused by the sudden fluctuation of hormones following birth.

2016, Dr. Nancy Lins, Baby Blues: A Naturopathic Approach for Postpartum Health, Balboa Press, →ISBN:

postnatal depression
postnatal depression

(informal) Period and feeling of depressiveness after giving birth; a less severe form of postnatal depression.


pubes

From Latin pubes (“the hair which appears on the body at the age of puberty, the genitals”), from pubes, puber (“grown up, of mature age; of plants, downy, pubescent”); see puberty.


general public

After days of intensifying pressure from runners, politicians and the general public to call off the New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, city officials and the event’s organizers decided Friday afternoon to cancel the race.

2012 November 2, Ken Belson, New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-02:

Members of the public not in the attentive public of any given issue; laypeople.


cc

Alternative form: CC

Alternative forms: cc., c.c.

cubic centimeter
cubic centimeter#English


ll

Abbreviation of lines; formed similarly to pp for pages.


mushy peas

(chiefly British) Dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight and then boiled until they form a paste; a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips.


singles

(sports, plural only) a game between individual players


small potatoes

A specialization of a sense of potato meaning a thing of little value, and a comment on the low value of a small potato in particular, appearing in its modern form in North America in the mid-19th century (see 1855 quotation).

My paycheck is small potatoes compared to hers.

He no longer works for individuals, since they are small potatoes compared to his corporate clients.

It's small potatoes for a man-o-war to be hunting poor game, like us little fore and afters."

1855, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, “Unlocking a Woman's Heart”, in Nature and Human Nature, volume 1, page 38:

The queen may have outwitted Otto, but he’s small potatoes compared to a master opponent like the Lady of Driftmark.

2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV Club:

(idiomatic) One or more persons or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.


Jesus jammies

He had the creepy Tenexed helmet of silver hair and a sort of peachy Palm Beachy resorty sport jacket and slacks. And under that, probably, Jesus jammies.

2009, Brian D'Amato, In the Courts of the Sun (The Sacrifice Game), Dutton, →ISBN, page 195:

(slang, derogatory) Synonym of temple garment


private parts

And what was it only one of the smutty yankee pictures Terry borrows off of Corny Kelleher. Secrets for enlarging your private parts.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

(euphemistic) Those parts of the human body commonly expected to be covered by clothing when in public; especially, the pubic area.


pix

Abbreviation of pictures, first used in Variety in 1916, along with other similar words that the magazine calls slanguage.

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

Mutual has started a campaign to substitute a word for the term “Movies.” It contemplates the use of the word “Pix” and thinks this would be welcomed as a short word for the headline writer and amply descriptive.

[1916 December 8, “News of the film world”, in Variety, volume XLV, number 2, page 27:


returns

The number of unsold books that booksellers return to publishers (called the rate of returns) has been averaging between 25 per cent and 35 per cent.

2002, Irina Dunn, The writer's guide^(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CwKUuUcdBPgC&pg=PA129&dq=%22average+rate+of+returns+(unsold+books)%22), page 129:

(plural only) Merchandise returned to the retailer, wholesaler or supplier.

remitenda

unsold merchandise returned to the supplier


Nuu-chah-nulth

/nuːˈtʃɑːnʊlθ/

From Nootka nuučaan̓uł (“all along the mountains”).

uder

A people indigenous to Vancouver Island in western Canada.


Tuatha Dé Danann

From Irish Tuatha Dé Danann (literally “peoples of the goddess Danu”).

bor

(Irish mythology) The fifth group of inhabitants of Ireland according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn tradition, thought to represent the gods of the Goidelic Irish. Their Christian redactors have reduced them to historical kings and heroes.


split hairs

The Microsoft trial had been in danger of slipping out of the public eye. Its endless procession of less-than-riveting economics professors and forgetful executives, mixed with scads of legal and technical split hairs, just hasn't made for gripping headlines.

1999 February 4, Lev Grossman, “Microsoft Tangled Up in Videotape Evidence”, in Time:


TOR

terms of reference
terms of reference#English

(management) Initialism of terms of reference.


shorts

(uncountable) Remnants, clippings, trimmings of production processes.

[…]the first remove above bran is shorts ; the next above that is sharps

1847, James Orchard Halliwell, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, volume II, →OCLC, page 822:

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran; pollard.


bifocals

From bi- + focal (see focus), coined in 1824 by John Isaac Hawkins, inventor of trifocals. When the concept of bifocals was originally conceived by Benjamin Franklin, he called them double spectacles.

He unfolded a pair of bifocals and thrust them as far up the bridge of his nose as possible.

2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 116:

Spectacles that have corrective lenses of two different powers; used by people who need both distance and reading glasses.


Dii Majores

From Latin di maiores (literally “greater gods”).

der

(Roman mythology) The twelve great gods of Roman mythology, namely Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune, Vulcan, and Apollo.

Di Majores

di and dei are both acceptable forms in Latin for 'gods'. Also Dii majores

and with maiores following current Latin spelling


labia minora

en-noun

labia minora pl (normally plural, singular labium minus)

The ventral skin of the penis is homologous to the labia minora.

(anatomy) The two inner folds of skin within the cleft of the labia majora.

লেবিয়া মাইনরা

(anatomy) the two inner folds of skin within the cleft of the labia majora


labia majora

labia majora pl (normally plural, singular labium majus)

A new technology has enabled man to take gardening away from women and turn it into agriculture; the plow is the great phallus that separates the labia majora of the furrows of earth, and the plow is under the majesty of Enki.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 162:

(anatomy, primatology) The two outer rounded folds of adipose tissue that lie on either side of the opening of the vagina.


connections

People with whom one is acquainted who can offer help and influence.

關係

people with whom one is acquainted who can offer help and influence

(sports, usually preceded by definite article) The people financially involved in a racehorse or racing greyhound.


mysteries

(Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, religion) a number of secret societies or cults


eaves

PIE word
 *upér
From Middle English eves (“projecting lower edge of a roof”) [and other forms], from Old English efes, yfes, *ofes (“edge of a roof”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubisu (“hall”), from Proto-Germanic *ubiswō (compare Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌶𐍅𐌰 (ubizwa), Old High German obasa (“hall; porch; roof”)), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“above; over”) (whence over).

nb...

euez, euese, evese, ewse, eyues, eyuis, hevese, ouese, ouise, ovese

der

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

Him that you term'd Sir, the good old Lord Gonzallo, / His teares runs downe his beard like winters drops / From eaues of reeds: […]

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 16, column 2:

Thus night oft ſee me in thy pale career, / Till civil-ſuited morn appeer, / […] / Or uſher'd with a ſhower ſtill, / When the guſt hath blown his fill, / Ending on the ruſsling Leaves, / With minute drops from off the Eaves.

a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 42:

By my window bowered round with leaves, / And down my cheeks the quick tears ran / Like twinkling rain-drops from the eaves, / When warm spring showers are passing o'er: […]

1818 August, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Rosalind and Helen”, in Rosalind and Helen, a Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 22:

(architecture) The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.

spreth

But after many strains and heaves / He got up to the Saddle eaves.

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, 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, page 14:

The mystic glory swims away; / From off my bed the moonlight dies; / And closing eaves of wearied eyes / I sleep till dusk is dipt in gray: […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto LXV, page 92:

(by extension) Something that extends over or projects beyond.

läppä

something that extends over or projects beyond


favourable

From Middle English favourable, from Old French favorable, from Latin favōrābilis, from favor.

As of Friday, RealClearPolitics puts Biden's favourables at 51 per cent and his unfavourables at 44 per cent.

2020 October 17, Éric Grenier, “How U.S. polls got it wrong in 2016 — and why they're more likely to get it right this time”, in CBC:

(plural only) Favourability ratings, percentage of people in favour


ardent spirits

First attested 1471, from its inflammability; see etymology section of ardent.

"Even then I realized the possibilities of my suburb, that hotbed of revolution in which heroes, inventors, and practical men of science, rogues and scoundrels, virtues and vices, were all packed together by poverty, stifled by necessity, drowned in drink, and consumed by ardent spirits."

1837, et al, Honoré de Balzac, translated by Clara Bell, Facino Cane:

Strong distilled alcoholic liquor or whiskey.