curlies

When the condom gets caught on your curlies while you're trying to roll it off.

2001 December 1, Demetrios Hung, APA, “First helmet laws, now this...”, in rec.motorcycles (Usenet):

Some keywords, such as {abstract}, show up in curly brackets. It's never really clear what should technically be in guillemets and what should be in curlies.

2004, Martin Fowler, UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language:

Doing it manually can be a real drag and messy, but you can use a short macro to change all curlies to straights throughout an entire document.

1994, Woody Leonhard, The Underground Guide to Word for Windows, page 245:


blue balls

US English, 1910s, blue + balls (“testicles”).

[...] away the flesh and cause ulcers and buboes (blue balls).

It invades lymphatics, is carried to the inguinal lymph nodes, where multiple abscesses, buboes, or "blue balls" appear. A brawny edema of the labia, with deeply penetrating destructive ulcers may occur in the late stages.

1960, Laman Alexander Gray, A Text Book of Gynecology, page 47:

sexually transmitted infection
sexually transmitted infection

(US, dated, slang) Buboes (in a person of any sex) caused by a sexually transmitted infection; the infection that causes them.


high seas

I was out on the high seas yesterday and got myself a new mathematics book.

copyright infringement
copyright infringement

(slang) Regions of the Internet in which piracy (i.e. copyright infringement) is prevalent.


Papal States

en-proper noun

the Papal States pl (normally plural, singular Papal State)

the Papal States (canonical plural)
Papal State (singular)

On the model of Italian Stati Pontifici, plural of Stato Pontificio; compare the dated direct calque Pontifical States. The plural is typical in English and reflects the Papal States’ highly regionalised administration, but in various European languages, including contemporary Italian, the singular is more common.

(historical) A country in southern Europe that existed until 1870, comprising the territories of Italy over which the pope was the ruler in a civil as well as a spiritual sense.


seven seas

(poetic) All of the oceans of the world. (In a common modern interpretation, the seven seas are the North and South Atlantic, North and South Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic, but historical interpretations differ widely; see the Wikipedia article for this.)


stockingfeet

Socks, stockings or other hosiery on one's feet but without shoes.


Solomons

A man needs only to be careful—and lucky—to live a long time in the Solomons; but he must also be of the right sort. He must have the hall-mark of the inevitable white man stamped upon his soul.

1910 March, Jack London, “The Terrible Solomons”, in South Sea Tales, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published October 1911, →OCLC, page 200:


Christmas bells

The plant Sandersonia aurantiaca, native to South Africa.


high hopes

Just what makes that little old ant / Think he'll move a big rubber plant? / Anyone knows an ant can't / Move a rubber tree plant / But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes / he's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes[…]

1959, “High Hopes”, in Sammy Cahn (lyrics), Jimmy Van Heusen (music), All the Way, performed by Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges, from the film A Hole in the Head (1959):

Living life is fun and we've just begun / To get our share of this world's delights / High hopes we have for the future

1979, Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers (lyrics and music), “We Are Family”, performed by Sister Sledge:

The optimistic belief that an aim or goal will be achieved.


states' rights

(US politics, conservatism) Rights reserved to the 50 state governments of the United States that allow each one to set policy on some issues, rather than being subject to federal policy, especially in reference to their right to allow slavery before the Civil War.


undershorts

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

From under- + shorts, by analogy with underpants, etc.

I have one clean pair of undershorts.

I have to buy more undershorts.

It being very warm, I removed all of my clothing except my undershorts and lay down to sleep.

1934, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in Pirates of Venus, page 41:

[…] like a mouse [I] hop frantically about on my toes, trying to clear my feet of my undershorts before anybody can peek inside, where, to my chagrin, to my bafflement, to my mortification, I always discover in the bottommost seam a pale and wispy brushstroke of my shit.

1969, Philip Roth, “The Jewish Blues”, in Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, published 1994, page 47:

I have been debriefed—I believe that is the current expression, though I am always tempted, when I hear it, to make sure I still have my undershorts on—by the mandarins of the External Affairs Ministry.

1989, Shashi Tharoor, “The Thirteenth Book: Passages through India”, in The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, published 1993, page 268:

(dated) Underpants, type of underwear worn in skin contact with the hip portion of the body, small enough to be worn invisibly under shorts. Typically refers to male, not female, underpants.


nopales

/nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/

After a day and a half's journey, El Espinero led Frank to a long-abandoned silver working, high over the plain, where nopales grew and lizards lay in the sun.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 441:

(plural only) The leaves of a prickly pear cactus, as used in Mexican cooking.


nail scissors

Small, usually curved scissors for cutting the fingernails and toenails.


financials

(accounting, business) Financial statements.


gay 90s

A romanticized vision of the 1890s; compare with Roaring Twenties.


hosen

From Middle English hosen, from Old English hosan (“hosen, leggings, trousers”), plural of hosa (“hose, legging, stocking”); reinforced by German Hosen (“trousers, pants”). Equivalent to hose + -en (plural ending).

inh

At the court of the Kaiser I born was and bred ; and there my hosen and jerkin were made ; […]

1857, The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art:

Then I searched the pocket of my hosen and found a little knife, such as could be closed, which they had not chosen to take, [...]

1862, Gustav Freytag, Pictures of German Life in the XVth,XVIth, and XVIIth Centuries:

This figure actually wears mail hosen, but others substituted scale or else wore no armour on the legs at all.

1978, Ian Heath, Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300, →ISBN, page 209:

They differed in the length of the leg but were generally similar in the cut at the top. ... By 1770, they bought new hosen.

1990, Ellen J. Gehret, Rural Pennsylvania Clothing:

And the doublet is long enough it hid most of the blood-spattered part of my hosen and they were dark enough the blood didn't much show after I'd rubbed some dirt over them.

2004, Margaret Frazer, The Hunter's Tale:

The invisible cord ... I followed him down a narrow path with a rippling lake of grain on each side, wheat stalks brushing my hosen.

2005, Adam McCune, Keith McCune, The Rats of Hamelin:

Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen [pants, trousers], and their hats, and their other garments, […]

These hosen have saggy butt.” “Don't touch yourself,” Paulo hissed, slapping Jerome's hand away. “I wasn't touching myself, I was trying to pull up these damned—” “Don't touch your clothing, either! Don't touch anything!”

Coverings for the legs; trousers; pants.


two Americas

A juxtaposition of haves and have-nots in the United States originally drawn by John Edwards in 2004.


aughts

From the sense of aught to refer to the number zero.

Dialup internet is so aughts.

Meyer and his team collected the participants in a very aughts way — through Craigslist.

2017 March 22, Tanya Basu, “Scientists figured out a big mystery about smell”, in Inverse, retrieved 2021-06-14:

He's testing out new experiments with knotting and macramé too, tying up dresses and trousers for a look that feels very aughts—and very now.

2020 October 19, Steff Yotka, “Dion Lee: Spring 2021 Ready-to-Wear”, in Vogue, retrieved 2021-06-14:

From or evoking the first through tenth years of a century (chiefly the 2000s).


marital duties

(euphemistic) The duty to be available to one's spouse for sexual intercourse.


dailies

The chances are that a cameraman requesting that his dailies be printed at the middle of the scale is cheating himself.

1972, American Cinematographer - Volume 53, page 811:

(cinematography) Lightly edited versions of the previous day's filming; rushes.


cheaters

a prissy-looking man in rimless cheaters with a smear on his chin that might have been a goatee

1953, Raymond Chandler, chapter 23, in The Long Goodbye, New York: Ballantine, published 1971:

(informal) Non-prescription spectacles that magnify.


classifieds

He ran an ad in the classifieds.

classified advertisement
classified advertisement

A section of a newspaper, magazine or web site containing classified advertisements.


exes

Subs at the Star even had their own monthly exes (expenses), and we never even left the office. We got exes for our home phone calls and even our own supply of daily newspapers; in our view, most reporters made their exes up.

The news-booze axis was reinforced by the fact that most of the meals and drinks were covered by 'exes' — expenses. […] One day perhaps there will be Freedom of Information on newspapers (and judges) and we shall be surprised at what is claimed as exes.


circs

I'm covered as far as iPod and automobile go as I have a solid library of music I've ripped from CD and purchased. But music throughout the house is trickier. And, under normal circs, subscription is no answer.

2009 May 21, Christopher Breen, “Subscriptions, Sonos, and the Second Coming”, in Macworld:

Charlie Gilmour's father is an old Etonian poet; his stepfather a superannuated rock star worth around £78m whose most famous ditty insisted, somewhat amusingly under the circs, that "We don't need no education."

2010 December 16, Julie Burchill, “Spare us these pampered protesters who riot in defence of their privilege”, in The Independent:

All this royal pomp and circs and magnificence and significance and sacred music and you are, quite rightly, your unaffected modern English selves.

2011 May 1, Joanna Trollope, “Royal wedding: is this a fairytale? No, it is the real thing”, in The Telegraph:

"They were trapped in circs that they didn't know anything about, that they could not have foreseen […]

2011 June 14, Jennifer Peltz, “Defense: Fatal NYC tower fire a 'bad circumstance'”, in BusinessWeek:


Reds

In reference to the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine racing faction, a calque of Latin russātī (“Reddish-Brown-Clads”) or factio russata (“the reddish-brown-clad faction”) and Byzantine Greek Ῥούσιοι (Rhoúsioi, “Reds”).

bor

(informal, politics) Synonym of Communist Party in various contexts.


season's greetings

Christmas season
Christmas season#English

A greeting used by well-wishers near the Christmas season or holiday season


losings

One hears much more of winnings than losings.

Monetary losses, as from gambling; losses.


Galilean satellites

(astronomy) The four Galilean moons of Jupiter.


Fortune 500

en-noun

Fortune 500 (countable and uncountable, plural Fortune 500s)

In other words, a majority of the Fortune''' 500 are of the size of universities, from 500 up to about 40000 employees.

1990, Michael Novak, Toward a Theology of the Corporation, American Enterprise Institute, →ISBN, page 20:

Few sportswear or sports equipment companies could be found pitching their products on television; and even fewer could be found among the Fortune 500.

1999, Steve Fiffer, Three Quarters, Two Dimes and a Nickel: A Memoir of Becoming Whole, The Free Press, →ISBN, page 170:

Bennett didn't appear on CNBC, or kibitz with Maria Bartiromo, or speak at Fortune 500 conferences, or get himself profiled in the Wall Street Journal.

2003, Joel C. Rosenberg, The Last Jihad, Tor/Forge, →ISBN, page 23:

(plural only) Collectively, the members of that list.


tubular bells

tubular bells pl (normally plural, singular tubular bell)

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal tubes that are struck with a mallet, producing sounds like those of church bells.

آلة إيقاعية

percussion instrument consisting of tuned metal tubes


drunken trees

By analogy to the stumbling gait of a person who is drunk on alcohol.

Drunken trees leaning in random directions are often found in spruce forests where discontinuous permafrost has melted.

(forestry) (A stand of) trees displaced from their normal vertical alignment, especially due to thermokarst.


pruning shears

(plural only) A tool consisting of two blades with bevel edges, connected by a pivot, used for gardening.


bragging rights

Worth as much as $900 million, he estimates, the author clearly thinks he has earned bragging rights, and he intends to exercise them.

2008 July 3, Andrea Sachs, “Business books (review of How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis)”, in Time:

It won't be remembered as a classic in the pantheon of great South Wales derbies, but nobody on the Cardiff City side of the divide will care as their team secured the first ever set of Premier League bragging rights in the Welsh capital.

2013 November 3, Delme Parfitt, “Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win”, in Wales Online:

He is talking to RAIL immediately after his station regained its traditional position as 'Britain's busiest' […], and there is no disguising his delight. "The bragging rights are once again Waterloo's," he grins.

2023 January 25, Cem Davis tells Nick Brodrick, “A warm 'Waterloo family' welcome”, in RAIL, number 975, page 38:

(idiomatic) The prerogative to praise oneself for a skill or accomplishment.


Pyu

A people who flourished in ancient Burma.


Pyu

The Tibeto-Burman language of this people.


Qallunaat

Borrowed from Inuktitut ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ (qallonaat).

People who are not Inuit, considered as a group.


invasion stripes

(historical, aviation) A series of alternating black and white stripes painted on the fuselages and wings of Allied aircraft, for the purpose of increased recognition by friendly forces, prior to the invasion of western Europe on D-Day.


goo-goo eyes

N.d., Harry S. Sargent (attributed), "Just Because She Made Dem Goo-Goo Eyes", in, 1902, Jack Haverly, Negro Minstrels, Frederick J. Drake & Company, page 106,
Just because she made dem goo-goo eyes, she did up quick a chap about my size;
Now I wish I had that roll, and the watch and chain she stole,
Just because she made dem goo-goo eyes.

So why did you shoot goo-goo eyes at me?

2005, John Connolly, “The Reflecting Eye: A Charlie Parker Novella”, in Nocturnes, Atria Books, →ISBN, page 319:

I made the opposite of goo-goo eyes at him. Or at least, I tried. "I don't believe I need to make goo-goo eyes to hook up."

2006, Kelly McClymer, Getting to Third Date, Simon Pulse, →ISBN, page 97:

(informal) A romantic look at something or someone.

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


Lares

Lares pl (normally plural, singular Lar)

From Latin Lares, plural form of lār, from Etruscan [Term?].

Coordinate term: lemures

(Roman mythology) The household deities watching over one's family and tutelary deities watching over some public places.


wop-wops

Still, things could happen out here in the wop-wops.

1979, Essie Summers, Lake of the Kingfisher, →ISBN, page 44:

(New Zealand) An out of the way place; the boondocks or backcountry.


Brethren

Specific use of brethren as a semantic loan from German Brüder.

(Protestantism) Members of any congregation in the Anabaptist tradition of the Schwarzenau Brethren, practicing credobaptism and committed to nonresistance and nonviolence, some of whom may wear plain dress and shun modern technology.


shore patrol

A special unit of the military police of the U.S. navy or the Royal Navy whose duties are to police the seamen while they are on shore leave.

sotilaspoliisi

special unit of the military police of the U.S. Navy or the Royal Navy


Wayuu

An Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela.


P's

What kind of things that you have. When I find out don't expect me to stop. I'll come for the P's that you stack. And come for the food that you blot.

2009 March 17, “Next Hype” (track 3), in All-Star Pars, performed by Tempa T:


z's

It's getting late: it's time to catch some z's.


Z's

Alternative letter-case form of z's (sleep).


p's

Probably from the plural of p, where p refers to a penny or pence, but perhaps from pound sterling or paper (referring to paper money).

[Verse 1]:[…]I wash this with Persil, and I wanna make p's of rhyming still.

2021 August 19, Most Certi (lyrics and music), “Drake”performed by Most Certi:


Oto

A Midwestern Native American tribe who speak the Chiwere language.


spanky pants

Very short shorts resembling underwear and worn under cheerleader uniforms etc.


deep pockets

deep pockets pl (normally plural, singular deep pocket)

I like the deep pockets on these pants because my cellphone doesn't fall out when I run with my dog.

It was a good thing his coat had deep pockets because he has big hands and it was quite cold that day.

(literally) Pockets long enough inside to accommodate more than average number or size of contents.


anal beads

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

Before using anal beads made of plastic, be sure to file down any irregular areas with an emery board to keep from injuring yourself.

2003, Hilda Hutcherson, What Your Mother Never Told You about Sex, page 169:

A sex toy consisting of several small balls attached together in series which are one by one inserted into and removed from the rectum.


shits and giggles

(vulgar) Alternative form of shits-and-giggles


lares

lares pl (normally plural, singular lar)

From the Latin plural lares, from lar, q.v.

The season now invites me to retire
To the dear lares of my household fire
To homely scenes of calm domestic peace,
A poet's leisure, and an old man's ease...

1773, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Ovid to his Wife:


millworks

Don't get caught in the millworks: you'll get crushed.


hoppings

(British) An traditional annual fair, usually at Whitsuntide, formerly associated with livestock markets.


gibs

At the perfect moment, Romero fired into the barrel, leaving the monster in a bloody pile of gibs.

2004, David Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture, page 148:

(video games) The internal organs of certain computer game characters after being splattered to death.


gibs

An you shure am a powerful good Massa to gibs me dat chiken nek, yowsa,
yowsa

2000 October 1, Wayne Johnson, “Massa Ward, Massa Ward!”, in soc.culture.african.american (Usenet):

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(dialectal, rare) Pronunciation spelling of give.

Hey nigger, SS was never intended to be a retirement program, it was
meant to be supplemental to a portfolio but then we know with your
character you'll never have much more that what gubment gibs you.

2011 September 8, C...@prayforme.com, “#Obama: ‘Best Debate Ever’”, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh (Usenet):

(dialectal, rare) Pronunciation spelling of gives.


nanobiometrics

Part of nanobiomechanics; the measurement of the tiny forces that act on cells and may be related to diseases and their cure.


puttocks

S. Davy: They look like puttocks; these should be they.

1611, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girl:

The topmast shrouds were set up with deadeyes and lanyards, of which the lower deadeye was either connected to an iron plate at the rim of the top, and by that means to the puttocks (for so what is now called the futtock rigging was named) or else directly to the puttocks (Smith, 1653).

1912, Leonard George Carr Laughton, Roger Charles Anderson, William Gordon Perrin, The Mariner's Mirror - Volume 2, page 303:

The shrouds were set up in the usual way to the puttocks by means of a pair of deadeyes. According to the "Treatise on Rigging" there were iron cross-trees beneath the knee on the bowsprit and the puttocks came to them.

2012, R. C. Anderson, The Rigging of Ships: in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, 1600-1720, →ISBN:

(nautical) A small shroud which goes from the shroud of the mainmast, foremast, or mizenmast, to the topmast shrouds


Issa

Alternative form of Iswa (the Catawba, a Native American people who inhabit the Carolinas).


underoos

(plural only) A set of matching briefs and top (usually a sleeveless shirt or T-shirt) themed after a superhero or other fictional character, popular with children in the 1980s.


PTB

(plural only) Initialism of powers that be.


military tactics

(military) The techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle.


Ch'orti'

Of or relating to the Ch'orti', their culture or language.


alluvials

Deposits of sediment formed over a long period of time by rivers; layers of alluvium.


dramatis personæ

For about the fifth time he then proposed the Heir at Law, doubting only whether to prefer Lord Duberley or Dr. Pangloss for himself, and very earnestly, but very unsuccessfully, trying to persuade the others that there were some fine tragic parts in the rest of the Dramatis Personæ.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 274–275:

They are constantly abusing Proserpine, who is introduced with all the trappings of Tartarean pomp into this performance, where there are no less than ninety-two dramatis personæ, among whom are the Virgin and God the Father.

1823, William Hone, Ancient Mysteries Described, Especially the English Miracle Plays, Founded on Apocryphal New Testament Story, Extant Among the Unpublished Manuscripts in the British Museum; […], London: […] William Hone, […], page 174:

He knew not his countrymen again: one trait of their character still, however, predominated,—their vanity and their love of dramatic situation: hence their liberty, equality, republic, were all êtres de raison, personified into so many dramatis personæ.

1825, A[ndré] Vieusseux, chapter III, in Anselmo: A Tale of Italy, volume I, London: […] Charles Knight, […], page 75:

dramatis personae
dramatis personae#English


aerobia

aerobic organisms, but especially aerobic bacteria; aerobes


street smarts

(informal) Practical knowledge, especially concerning human behavior.

kaupunkilaisjärki

practical knowledge concerning human behavior


good people

But when she desired an old riven oak to be cut down an oak in which the good people (fairies) loved to assemble — because it impeded some favourite view, the poor old woman almost went mad, […]

Synonym of good folk (“magical humanoid creatures”)


Scouserati

From a blend of Scouser (“person from Liverpool”) + literati (“well-educated people, intellectuals”).
Usage is noted in 2007, then gained acceptance by a supplement to the Liverpool Echo newspaper on 1 January 2008, the day Liverpool began its year as European Capital of Culture. The supplement listed 366 people as "The Scouserati - the 366 most influential Scousers on the planet".

blend

(UK, colloquial, neologism) Notable or influential people whose place of birth or residence is in the city of Liverpool or its surrounding region.


early days

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

Lorna liked the sudden transition from urban overcrowding to the rural isolation of Kintrawe House, but she knew it was early days yet.

2015, Dave Rigby, Darkstone: The Future May Be Closer Than You Think:

A time too soon to make a decision or come to a conclusion.


bills payable

(plural only) The outstanding unpaid notes or acceptances made and issued by an individual or firm.


even odds

(gambling, speculation) An opportunity in which the chance of success is equal to that of failure.


market jitters

(plural only, finance) Feelings of uncertainty among investors regarding the current economic environment and causing them to sell their stocks and bonds.


Ha

An ethnic and linguistic group based in Kigoma Region in western Tanzania.


Remi

(historical) A Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period.


yard goods

2008, Judy O'Bannon, "Lingering with linens," The Corydon Democrat (Corydon, Indiana), 20 Feb.,
As I look at the stacks of neatly folded linens, I see more than yard goods and thread.

Merchandise, especially fabric, sold in units of linear measure.


mares' tails

A cirrus cloud formation resembling horse tails.


zygodactylae

The zygodactylous birds. In a restricted sense, applied to a division of birds which includes the barbets, toucans, honey guides, and other related birds.


Neginoth

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew נְגִינוֹת (nəḡīnōṯ), plural of נְגִינָה (nəḡīnā, “playing of music on a stringed instrument”).

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. (Psalms 4:1, WBS)

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song. God be merciful to us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah (Psalms 67:1, WBS)

More Psalms with Neginoth: 6, 54, 55, 61, 76.

(Jewish music) A direction for the musical accompaniment of a psalm that has been interpreted as "stringed instruments".


current affairs

Recent news, especially in-depth analysis of issues and events.


spoils of war

Theſe ſo great Slaughters, Nations mighty dread, / Like Whirlwinds through ſo many Cities ſpread, / Which might have been anothers cloſing Fame, / Were but his Marches Actions; thus he came: / And in ſo many glorious Conqueſts ſhar'd / The Spoils of War, while he for War prepar'd.

1701, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “Troades; or The Royal Captives. A Tragedy, Written Originally in Latin, by Lucius Annæus Seneca, the Philosopher. Englished by Sir Edward Sherburne, Knight. With Annotations.”, in Edward Sherburne, transl., The Tragedies of L. Annæus Seneca the Philosopher; viz. Medea, Phædra and Hippolytus, Troades, or the Royal Captives, and The Rape of Helen, out of the Greek of Coluthus; Translated into English Verse; with Annotations. To which is Prefixed the Life and Death of Seneca the Philosopher; with a Vindication of the said Tragedies to Him, as Their Proper Author. Adorn'd with Sculptures Representing each History, London: Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford, at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard, published 1702, →OCLC, act II, scene ii, pages 241–242, lines 33–38:

For according to that Hiſtorian [Josephus] upon Nebuchadnezzar [II]'s coming to Babylon in the year after, upon his father's death, and becoming Lord of all his father's Empire, He with the SPOILS of WAR magnificently repair'd, and deckt the Temple of Bel, &c.

1725, Benjamin Marshall, “A Chapter. Shewing that the Abstracted Nature of the Seventy Weeks of Years of this Prophecy, as the Said Number of Weeks of Years Contains Exactly Four Hundred and Ninety Years, and that as They Cannot Possibly Contain Less, so neither Can They Contain More than That Number of Years; …”, in A Chronological Treatise upon the Seventy Weeks of Daniel; …, London: Printed for James Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard, →OCLC, page 56:

The march of mankind from ſavageneſs to refinement is devious and ſlow. In that iron age when the multitude look for ſubſiſtence to the ſpoils of war, and the wants of a powerful empire are relieved by the tributes impoſed on ſubjugated ſtates, the haughty victors, devoting their captives to the taſk of cultivating the ſoil, riot in the fruits of that drudgery which they diſdain to ſhare.

1800, James Sedgwick, “chapter XIII”, in Remarks, Critical and Miscellaneous, on the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone, London: Printed by M. Ritchie, Middle Street, Cloth Fair; for G. G. & J. Robinson, Paternoster Row; J[oseph] Butterworth, Fleet Street; W. Clarke & Son, Portugal Street; J. White, Fleet Street; A. Sutton, Long Acre; and John Glanville, St. James's Street, →OCLC, page 261:

Stripp'd of his trappings, and his head declin'd; / Æthon, his gen'rous warrior-horse, behind, / Moves with a solemn, slow, majestic pace; / And the big tears rolling down his face. / These, the young hero's [Pallas's] lance and helmet bear; / The rest, the victor seiz'd, the spoils of war.

1810, Virgil, “Virgil’s Æneid. Book XI.”, in Christopher Pitt, transl., edited by Samuel Johnson, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited, with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: and the Most Approved Translations. The Additional Lives by Alexander Chalmers, F.S.A. In Twenty-one Volumes, volume XIX, London: Printed for J. Johnson [et al.], →OCLC, page 614, column 2:

The taking of the spoils of war was important to both Muslim and Christian communities during the Crusades. This was particularly so due to its feudal nature, whereby large numbers of men served without pay, and booty became one of the few sources of reward and resources from which campaigns could be sustained.

2011, Alexander Gillespie, A History of the Laws of War: Volume 2: The Customs and Laws of War with regards to Civilians in Times of Conflict, volume 2, Oxford: Hart Publishing, →ISBN:

Tens of thousands of Yazidis were forced to flee their homes after IS [Islamic State] fighters took the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar in August 2014. Thousands of women and girls were treated as "spoils of war" and openly sold in slave markets to IS militants. They were separated from the men and boys, many of whom were shot dead.

2016 October 27, “Sakharov prize: Yazidi women win EU freedom prize”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2016-10-28:

Any profits extracted as the result of winning a war or other military activity.

Frans Hogenberg
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen


feet on the ground

We think we can trust John with this new position as he has his feet on the ground.

(usually with have or with) Used to indicate behavior or manner characteristic of a sensible and practical person.


punies

"Be-dabs, if the whole gin-works hain't got the punies. Even the mare tuck a spell today. She wouldn't eat corn nor shuck."

1980, James Still, The run for the Elbertas, page 35:

Other days, when I tried to get up despite feeling weak, she would inform me that I had a case of "the punies" and ought to stay in the tank.

2003, Mark O'Brien with Gillian Kendall, How I became a human being: a disabled man's quest for independence, page 152:

“I brung my boy. He's got the punies and I want the doc to take a look at him.”

2008, Carolyn Jourdan, Heart in the Right Place, page 222:

(US, dialect, Appalachia) Sickness, weakness.


internals

The internal workings of a mechanism or system that are normally hidden from view


Scotch hands

Butter beaters; large wooden spatulas used when making butter, made out of sycamore wood, or metal, used for shaping the butter into bricks and for other miscellaneous manipulation. One side of the paddle will have ribs or be fluted.


war reparations

monetary compensation intended to cover damage or injury during a war


hearts and minds

From the idea that one needs to persuade people, that is, to win their hearts and change their minds.

As experienced political officers, Sir William Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes should have been aware of what was going on in Afghan hearts and minds, but relations between the two men had become badly strained.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 211:

apart from road patrols they worked with the infantry and SAS, patrolled rivers in canoes, and carried out 'hearts & minds' programmes in the villages.

2006, Will Fowler, Britain's Secret War: The Indonesian Confrontation 1962-66, Osprey Publishing, page 15:

Unlike in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, in Yemen they are trying to implement sharia by winning over the hearts and minds of the people.

2012 April 30, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, The Guardian:

In defense of moderation, he proposed simply stomping out religious radicals. (In American terms: shock and awe, rather than hearts and minds.)

2018 November 3, Hassan Hassan, “The Arab Winter Is Coming”, in The Atlantic:

People's private feelings and emotions, now especially those of a local population towards an invading or occupying military force.


several states

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, . . . but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states.

1787, United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1 & 3

Implicit in this argument is the contention that the Philippines, while belonging to the United States as a sovereign, are not part of it; and that merchandise brought from the Philippines is an import because it originates outside of and is brought into the territory comprising the several states which are united under and by the Constitution, territory in which the constitutional prohibition against the state taxation of imports, is alone applicable.

1945, Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, 324 U.S. 652, 669

(law) The states of the United States, collectively.


collywobbles

Probably from colic (“severe pains that grip the abdomen”) + wobble (“unsteady motion”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word derives from colly (“coal dust”) (in the sense of someone becoming ill from breathing in such dust), or that it is a corruption of cholera.

I don’t like walking through the forest at night. It gives me the collywobbles.

This business of getting Bill educated has just about given me the collywobbles. You wouldn't think to look at the boy, that he could possibly be such a tragic misfit in school.

1943, Mary Ruth Sandifer, American Lay Opinion of the Progressive School, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, →OCLC, page 21:

(by extension) Often preceded by the: anxiety, fear, uneasiness.

mahanpuru

(informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness


moules marinières

A French dish made from cooked mussels and onions in a white wine marinade.


mones

Not a good idea if you're on hormones. Alcohol and mones don't mix.

1997 October 27, PT Holmes, quoting Andrea Bennett, in electrolysis -- helpful hints?, alt.transgendered, Usenet

I hope you don't get pissed at me as I value our friendship but never understood why mones and srs are SO different.. Can you explain?

1999 June 23, Stephe, “These newsgroups”, in alt.support.crossdressing (Usenet):

If you've only been on mones for a little while, you'll just have to be patient and wait to see what nature does for you.

2000 May 3, Dayne Lee, “Silicone injections”, in soc.support.transgendered (Usenet):


Stations of the Cross

A religious ceremony based on station-to-station prayer at each of these icons.


dalles

(plural only) The rapids in a deep, narrow stream confined between the rock walls of a canyon or gorge.

(plural only) A steep-sided part of a stream channel, near the dalles proper, marked by clefts, ravines, or gorges.


tix

From tics (plural of tic (“ticket”)) with -x replacing the /ks/ sound.

Go to FatLens.com, a new site that scours the Web for the cheapest concert tix.

2005 May 29, Jeremy Caplan, “The Sweet Sounds of Summer”, in Time:

Space Exploration Extravaganza: Examine Texas Space Expo: Tix Here

2017 August 12, “The Extreme Excursion to Planet X”, in Wandering Wenda:

(informal) Tickets (passes entitling the holder to admission).


daisy roots

Derives from a simile between daisies (the roots of which are hard to eradicate) and boots which are hard to take off.
It is referred to in the traditional song "My Old Man's a Dustman" recorded by Lonnie Donegan during the 1950s: "he's got such a job to pull them off that 'e calls them daisy roots".

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang

(Cockney rhyming slang) Boots or other footwear


Asafolk

The first element is cognate to the first element of Ásatrú, and derives from Old Norse or Icelandic áss (“god”). The second element is folk.

All Asatru organizations, publications, independent kindreds, and just plain Asafolk are asked to take part.

1996, Lina, Ostara, volume 1, issue 4 (Heathen Journal), An Open Message to All Asafolk

Gamlinginn claims pines have spiritual significance for Asafolk.

1997, Lina, volume 2, issue 4 (Heathen Journal), Second Annual Yggdrasil Day (Charles Spratling)

Most Asafolk seem to have the attitude 'I found the gods, and I'm better off for it.'

1998, Lina, volume 4, issue 2 (Heathen Journal), News and Announcements (Dave Haxton)

(uncommon, modern Germanic paganism) Followers of Heathenry.


risibles

It is truly melancholy to see so many minds employed in catering for the risibles and lachrymals of weak men and silly women

1843, “Habits of Reading”, in The Mother's Magazine:

Our General was so tickled […] that it was some time before he could get command of his risibles sufficiently to thank Joe for what he had done.

1866, Richard Miller Devens, The pictorial book of anecdotes and incidents of the War of the Rebellion, page 237:

The muscles and other organs used in laughing.


second thoughts

On second thoughts I don't think I will.

I'm having second thoughts about this party.

I phoned her with second thoughts about our relationship.

The process of raising doubt or coming to a different conclusion through further consideration; the doubts or new conclusion resulting from this process.


table manners

Basic table manners were covered in the first day of finishing school, but more followed.

An accepted code of conduct for behaviour at a dining table.


Merya

A Finno-Ugric tribe which lived in the region around the modern Moscow and was later assimilated by Slavs.


ATC

air traffic control
air traffic control#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic control.

air traffic controller
air traffic controller#English

(aviation) Initialism of air traffic controller.


ATC

Initialism of Air Training Corps (a British youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force).

Air Training Corps

Initialism of Air Transport Command. (an air transport branch of the US Air Force until June 1 1948, when it was merged with the Naval Air Transport Service to create MATS).


famous last words

en-noun

famous last words pl (normally plural, singular famous last word)

Says one Sperry product executive: "As a manager, there is almost nothing you can do to get fired here." Considering the new circumstances, those could be famous last words.

1986 June 9, Janice Castro et al., “The Price Was Finally Right”, in Time:

"But Nick—I'm never getting married again. I'm serious about that.""Famous last words."

1989, Danielle Steele, Season of Passion, →ISBN, page 246:

"Lindsey and Tess are both armed. And Stella and Robert are here. We're ridiculously safe."
"Those sound like such famous last words," Dave said.

2007, Suzanne Brockmann, Into the Storm, →ISBN, page 417:

(figuratively, expressing sarcasm) A statement which is overly optimistic, results from overconfidence, or lacks realistic foresight.


cruels

Corrupted from French écrouelles (“scrofula”). Spelling influenced by cruel.

Glandular scrofulous swellings in the neck.


trailing points

trailing points pl (normally plural, singular trailing point)

(rail transport, plural only) A set of points at which two routes converge in the direction of travel.


facing points

facing points pl (normally plural, singular facing point)

Harrison said he had such a horror of facing points that for many years in the 160 miles between York and Berwick there were, except in Darlington and Newcastle stations, only three examples. [...] For some years now facing points have been practically as safe as any other part of the track and are regularly taken at high speed.

1941 June, “Notes and News: Working and Locking Facing Points”, in Railway Magazine, pages 278–279:

(rail transport) A set of points at which two routes diverge in the direction of travel.


joggers

(plural only) A tracksuit, particularly the trousers.


suit costs

(Nova Scotia, law) An award granted by a court in a family law case requiring one party to pay some or all of another party's costs of the proceedings before the court. Unlike most other legal costs awards, suit costs are required to be paid while the case is ongoing, rather than after the matter has concluded.


party and party costs

The reasonable and necessary costs incurred by a party to a lawsuit, often in accordance with a scale of costs published by the court and excluding any work not necessary to resolve the case.


holubtsi

From Ukrainian го́лубці (hólubci), singular голубе́ць (holubécʹ). Doublet of golubtsy.

(Canada, especially western) cabbage rolls.


three Rs

From the initial consonant in the pronunciation of reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic (aphetically), 1820s.

“You shall teach me, and when I am a woman we will set up a school where nothing but the three R's shall be taught, and all the children live on oatmeal, and the girls have waists a yard round,” said Rose, with a sudden saucy smile dimpling her cheeks.

1875, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 8, in Eight Cousins:

From these studies the schoolmaster would sally forth into his school-rooms, and instruct his boys in the religion, the fanaticism of Hugolatry. He taught them nothing else. Hugo was for him the three R’s, catechism and grammar, deportment and the use of the globe.

1885 July, “A Forgotten Pamphleteer”, in Tinsleys’ Magazine, volume 37, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 84:

Elementary schools have already done a noble work, but among many of them the demand has now arisen for something more than the three R’s and simple Bible-teaching.

1908, Charles W. Hattersley, Uganda by Pen and Camera, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States: Union Press, pages vii–viii:

The basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.

Chapter 11: The Big C and the Three Rs: Chores, Relaxation, Recreation, and Rebellion

2002, Barbara Coloroso, Kids are Worth It!: Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline:

(by extension) The basic precepts of any subject matter.

(sustainability) Reduce, reuse and recycle.


varenyky

From Ukrainian варе́ники pl (varényky), singular варе́ник (varényk), and related terms in other languages, e.g. Russian варе́ники (varéniki) and (particularly in Mennonite communities) Plautdietsch Wareniki. The Ukrainian term comes from ва́рений (várenyj, “boiled”), from вари́ти (varýty, “to boil, to cook”), from Old East Slavic варити (variti), from Proto-Slavic *variti (“to cook”) + masculine ending -ик (-yk). Compare вар (var, “boiling liquid; cooking, boiling”), from Proto-Slavic *varъ, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to burn, blacken”).

der

Boiled dumplings stuffed with potato, cheese, or other filling; a serving of these; plural of varenyk.


MLSS

Initialism of mixed liquid suspended solids.


Dungan

From Turkic [Term?], probably via Russian, originally referring to any Hui Chinese. It is an exonym. Chinese scholar Lin Tao (林涛) lists possible etymologies in the first chapter of Donggan yü lungao (东干语论稿, 2007):
* From Chinese 東甘／东甘 (dōng Gān, literally “Eastern Gan[su]”).
* From Chinese 敦煌 (Dūnhuáng, “Dunhuang”, in Gansu).
* From Chinese 潼關／潼关 (Tóngguān, “Tong Pass”, in Gansu), early site of Bai Yanhu's activity.
* From Turkic [Term?] (turupqaighan, literally “staying behind”).
* From Chinese 東岸／东岸 (dōng'àn, literally “eastern coast; or perhaps, eastern side”), in reference to the Fen River.
Hai Feng (海峰) proposes in a 2005 paper (https://www.cnki.com.cn/article/cjfdtotal-saga20050100e.htm) that it is from Chinese 屯墾／屯垦 (túnkěn), from late Qing policy regarding Xinjiang.

cog

The Sinitic language of this people, a Mandarin dialect written in the Cyrillic script.

хуэйзў йүян

回族語言／回族语言 (huízú yǔyán)


volatiles

The volatile part of a petroleum fraction.

The volatile parts of a planet's atmosphere or crust.


donkey's ears

1916 UK, from British rhyming slang, rhyming with years, due to donkey’s ears being long.

(military, slang) A pair of scissor binoculars.


First Nations

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

Generally speaking, the works of First Nations artists were made with materials such as wood, leather or cloth.

2001, Quebec, Francois Remillard, Hunter Publishing, Inc, →ISBN, page 27:

The prolonged suffering and ghastly deaths of Jesuit missionaries at the hands of hostile First Nations on the borders of the French colonies in Canada in the early seventeenth century rank high in the history of Christian suffering.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 714:

(Canada) The indigenous peoples of Canada (typically not including Inuit or Metis); Indians.

As “savages” become soldiers, and soldiers become social activists, the tribe has rapidly developed a First Nations identity as advocates of both stripes mobilize memories of past resistance in different contexts. Whether the state is green or blue, therefore, Taroko memories will continue to shape the relationship between state and tribe.

2006, Scott Simon, "Formosa's First Nations and the Japanese: from colonial rule to postcolonial resistance," Japan Focus, ISSN 1557-4660, https://web.archive.org/web/20080309204819/http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1565

(Canada, less common) The indigenous peoples of any country or region.

Among the 1692 Australian species and subspecies on the BirdLife Australia Working List V3 (excluding vagrant and introduced taxa [...]), 18.7% derive from unrelated entities (e.g. shrike-tit that is neither shrike nor tit). Just 82 reflect First Nations names for birds (1.6%) or places (3.3%)

2022, Stephen T. Garnett, Golo Maurer, Georgia E. Garrard, “Why Australian common bird names should respond to societal change”, in Emu: Austral Ornithology, volume 122, number 2, page 150:

Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islander

(Australia) The Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) peoples of Australia.


parallel bars

A set of apparatus consisting of two horizontal bars at a small distance apart, upon which acts of swinging and holding and jumping and dips are performed.


means of production

In English by 1733 in Peter Shaw, The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, Vol III, p. 52, noted: "Observe, what has been fully explained in the Novum Organum; that to discover the Causes of Things, is finding the Means to produce them, whence Causes, and the Means of Production are convertible terms."

Coordinate term: means of exchange

(economics, Marxism) The combination of the means of labor, such as machines, tools, and equipment, and the subject of labor used by workers to make products.

وَسَائِل الْإِنْتَاج

combination of the means of labor and the subject of labor


visibles

Within North America, however, Canadian visibles (including Canadian grain in the United States) were smaller only than those of 1933, while United States visibles were the lowest in six years.

1934, Stanford University, Wheat Studies of the Food Research Institute, volume 11, page 23:

(economics) Goods in storage or transport and available for sale or purchase.


release notes

(computing) Documents distributed with a release of a software product, indicating changes, workarounds, etc.


bros.

en-noun

bros. pl (normally plural, singular bro.)

/ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)z/


heads of agreement

Finally, on July 10, 1984, Heads of Agreement were signed. Three extra drafting rounds were necessary in order to formally sign the Renegotiated Agreement.

1995, Wolfgang Peter, Arbitration and Renegotiation of International Investment Agreements, page 116:

(law, former, British) A document stating the intent of the parties to enter into a binding agreement as outlined in the document.


early doors

According to some, the phrase originated at a time when English pubs closed in the afternoon as a term for customers who were waiting or arrived soon after the pub re-opened in the evening. Alternatively, the phrase is said to originate in the theatre world, where it described a facility available to early-arriving members of the audience, who were allowed to avoid the crush and choose the best seats in return for paying a small premium.

Mudchester Rovers conceded two goals early doors and never got back into the game.

(Northern England, Scotland) Early; at a time before expected; sooner than usual.


slim pickings

... they were among the citizens of the Great Republic who got shut into Paris during the siege, and had reason to complain of "the slim pickings" even their dollars commanded during that tragic episode of our neighbours' history.

1876, The Gentleman's Magazine, July to December issue, pg. 208:

Only at one season during the year does the average Haitian get more than these slim pickings; that is in mango-time, and then the roads and trails are carpeted with the yellow pits.

1920, Harry Alverson Franck, Roaming Through the West Indies, The Century Co., page 153:

But in a year of slim pickings in the super-coach business -- Cowher and Carroll preferred to wait another day -- there was not much left to choose from.

2008, Mike Wise, The Washington Post, "Redskins Looked Below the Radar," February 10, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/09/AR2008020903082_pf.html

(colloquial) A small amount, especially of money; paucity.


Ambonese

A Malay-based Creole language used for trade by some 250,000 speakers principally in Indonesia (central Maluku, Ambon).


instrumentals

(music) The backing track of a song. The audio of a song without the vocal track.


eating irons

But I had the unmitigated pleasure of watching a family of four Chinese struggle to use knives and forks to their bacon and eggs. These were the first eating irons I had seen in a long while.

1999, Lydia Laube, Bound for Vietnam, →ISBN, pages 24–25:

Eating irons in hand, we plonked ourselves down at the round six-seating dining table and thrashed out the ethics of my decision to change football teams.

2000, Shane Maloney, Nice Try: A Murray Whelan Mystery, →ISBN, page 25:

There was even one man in the dining room sitting up at the table with his eating irons at the ready, tapping impatiently on the table, all the while gazing vacantly into the middle distance, whistling a sad little ditty slightly out of key.

2005, Lilian MacDonald, Murdoch MacDonald, Phoenix in a Bottle, →ISBN, page 49:

(humorous) Knife, fork and spoon; cutlery.


Han Chinese

See Han for more historical information.

Lueyang county is a mountainous county located in the Qing mountains in the far south of Shaanxi province, far from Xi'an, on the borders of Sichuan and Gansu provinces. It has a relatively small population—about 200,000. Before the Tang dynasty, Lueyang was occupied mostly by minority Chinese, who were defeated by the Han Chinese, and most were forced to migrate to other places.

2007, Marcus W. Feldman, Shripad Tuljapurkar, Shuzhuo Li, Xiaoyi Jin, Nan Li, “Son Preference, Marriage, and Intergenerational Transfer in Rural China”, in Anne H. Gauthier, C.Y. Cyrus Chu, Shripad Tuljapurkar, editors, Allocating Public and Private Resources across Generations: Riding the Age Waves, volume 2, Springer, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 144:

The largest ethnic group native to China.

ဟန်လူမျိုး

the largest ethnic group native to China


twelve-ounce curls

From the size of common beer containers (bottles and cans) in the United States: twelve ounces + curls, a weightlifting exercise.

He sat on the couch all weekend eating chips and doing twelve-ounce curls.


good offices

good offices pl (normally plural, singular good office)

To clarify the intended sense of office (“kindness, service”) and to distinguish from antonyms such as ill offices.

Marshall’s concern over Russia was to prove itself not without foundation. The Russians were already exploring areas along the Amur River, and only seven years after Marshall’s warning, Russia acquired an important tract of land between the Ussuri and the sea (including the city of Hai-ts’an-wei^([sic – meaning Hai-shen-wei]), later changed to Vladivostok) as a reward for her good offices during the Anglo-French Chinese war of 1858-60.

1964, Te-kong Tong, “The Marshall Mission and Its Failure”, in United States Diplomacy in China, 1844-60, Seattle: University of Washington Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 130–131:

The beneficial services and acts of a third party, particularly mediation between two parties in a dispute.

goede diensten (m pl, conciliatory mediation)


pignoli

From Italian pinoli (“pine nuts”) (by confusion with pignoli (“fussy people”)?).


Rwa

An ethnic and linguistic group in Tanzania


cargo pants

Pants (trousers) designed for outdoor activities, having many pockets.


matching numbers

(Firearms, on a bolt action rifle), corresponding serial numbers on both the removable bolt and the frame of the rifle.

Firearms; on a bolt action rifle; Firearms; on a bolt action rifle


field glasses

I pursued her with some thoughts of an explanation, but she flew down the drive, and some minutes afterwards I was able to pick her out with my field-glasses travelling very rapidly in a south-westerly direction.

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:


manpris

"Manpris" is a derogatory term for Capri-style pants for men.

[2002 March 20, Sally Cragin, “Chillin' With Surfers and Sick Waves”, in Boston Globe:

The young Spaniard's vivacity and flair is the perfect foil to Federer's stoicism and meticulousness. Hell, I'm even beginning to come around on the manpris (OK, maybe not).

2006 July 9, Jim Ryan, “Federer's game has no weaknesses”, in SportingNews:

Her husband has one uniform to accompany his always untamed mane, and it's not a particularly flattering one: He's addicted to black Hush Puppies ("he will not wear any other shoe but these — even in the summer"), the color black and, perhaps most insidiously, "manpris" — capri pants for men.

2007 June 13, Olivia Barker, Mary Cadden, “Dumpy dads yield fashionable fathers”, in USA Today, page 6D:

But Leo's fanny pack was a Titanic mistake ... and we can only hope it's near the 11th hour for manpris.

2007 July 27, Sarah van Schagen, Sarah K. Burkhalter, “From Bend It to Blow It”, in Grist Magazine:

But modern American manpris? I don't understand them. Unless you're doing something creative with your socks[…] the midcalf length typically just makes a man look sloppy—and shorter.

2012, Tim Gunn, Ada Calhoun, Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(plural only, slang) Capri pants that are worn by men.


like terms

(mathematics) algebraic expressions whose literal coefficients represent the same value regardless of the numbers assigned to them.


Intertubes

Blend of Internet + tubes. Inspired by the famous "series of tubes" analogy used on June 28, 2006 by then United States Senator Ted Stevens to describe the Internet.

Nameserver administrators also provide email forwarding, which is the equivalent of call-forwarding on the Intertubes.

2007, David Gewirtz, Where have all the emails gone? (citing a March 30, 2007 blog post on Corrente Wire), Zatz, p. 95

(If you missed my musings, you can find them on the Intertubes here [link removed])

2008 January, Rik Myslewski, “Deep Tech - Multicore Management”, in Mac Life, volume 2, number 1, page 17:

Go on out to the wilds of the Intertubes and have a look: there are approximately 8,234,58721 vegan food blogs […]

2009, Bob & Jenna Torres, Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World, 2nd edition, PM Press, page 52:

(chiefly Internet slang, humorous) The Internet.


electricals

Electrical components of a device or its design.


reindeer games

/ˈɹeɪndɪə ˌɡeɪmz/

From the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949) by the American songwriter Johnny Marks (1909–1985): “All of the other reindeer / Used to laugh and call him names. / They never let poor Rudolph / Join in any reindeer games.”

The natives are a primitive but gregarious lot. They invited me to join them in their reindeer games, which I did.

1984, Joseph Dougherty, Digby: A Play, New York, N.Y.: Dramatists Play Service, published 1986, →OCLC, page 68:

Transfer to Washington. Transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westerburg's going to let you play their reindeer games.

1989, Daniel Waters, Heathers, spoken by Heather Chandler (Kim Walker):

His unhappiness was not due solely to the ravages of adolescence, the eccentricities of his family, exclusion from his peers' reindeer games, or even by living in the embodiment of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. It was all of those things and none of them.

2002, Terry J. Kunkel, “An Older Reflection”, in Is Wanting Enough? […], Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, part I (Lighting the Race Point Luminaria on Cape Cod), page 40:

It's tough being different in a society where conformity is so very important. Not the type of different that caused you to be picked on by the big kids in grade school because you wore glasses or didn't join the reindeer games, but the type of different that caused you to listen up in class and always do your homework.

2003 October 27, Tim Dannelly, “The Top, Home of the Lonely Brave”, in Living the American Dream, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stbooks, →ISBN:

When socializing it's important that you never talk business unless they bring it up. If you do, you'll find out quickly that you're no longer invited to any of the really good reindeer games. Rather, be a good listener.

2006, Christopher Duncan, “Managing Your Management”, in Dominic Shakeshaft, editor, The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World (The Expert’s Voice), 2nd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: Apress, →ISBN, part II (Guerilla Tactics for Front-line Programmers), page 171:

Some fighter pilot traditions have taken on the air of reindeer games—they are nothing more than something one has to be a fighter pilot to understand.

2007, Jonathan C. Dowty, “Fighter Pilot Traditions”, in Christian Fighter Pilot is Not an Oxymoron, [U.S.A.?]: [Jonathan C. Dowty], →ISBN, part 1 (Fighter Pilot Foundations), page 23:

He found all the faddishness of what restaurant or club was in, much less what designer clothes one wore or food one ate, to be depressingly shallow and frantic. In his own private protest, he had long since consciously decided not to play their reindeer games.

2009 April, Robert Asprin, “Prologue”, in Dragons Luck, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN:

In my mind I had won. Lyndon was with me and not with Hope so whether the two of them shut me out of their reindeer games or included me, it didn't matter one iota to me.

2014, Latonya D. Young, “The Promise of Forever”, in Secrets in Love, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu Publishing, →ISBN, page 86:

I know reindeer games, and this chick is playing them.

2015, John Hornor Jacobs, chapter 9, in The Conformity (The Twelve-fingered Boy Trilogy; 3), Minneapolis, Minn.: Carolrhoda Lab, Lerner Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 55:

(US, informal) Activities which exclude outsiders.

Johnny Marks
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


timbales

(music) A pair of tunable single-headed, metal-shelled cylindrical drums, used in Latin American music


vector graphics

(computing) Geometrical primitives based upon mathematical equations to represent images in computer graphics, contrasted with raster graphics.

ве́ктарная гра́фіка

geometrical primitives based upon mathematical equations to represent images


superrich

The trickle-down benefit of spending by the super-rich is insignificant in comparison to the insidious damage.

2018 September, Martin Vander Weyer, “Cheques & Imbalances”, in Literary Review:

In the ballroom of the five star Savoy hotel on the Strand in central London, the super-rich and their advisers were this week advised that they may soon need to watch out for people with “pitchforks and torches” unless they do more to use their fortunes to help the millions struggling with the cost of living crisis.

2023 June 30, Rupert Neate, “Super-rich warned of ‘pitchforks and torches’ unless they tackle inequality”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Very wealthy people, considered as a class.

գերհարուստները

a very wealthy group of people, considered as a class


automobilia

Ask any automobilia collector what the most popular field of auto-related antiques is and you'll invariably be told license plates.

1980 July, Yankee, volume 44, Yankee, →OCLC, page 237:

I once found and brought home a Mercedes Benz hubcap. For years it sat in my garage. One day an automobilia collector happened to see it and told me it was worth $40 because it came from a popular sports model Mercedes.

1984, Stephen Hughes, Pop Culture Mania: Collecting 20th Century Americana for Fun and Profit, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 100:

The other [classified section] is general automobilia. Here you can find items such as go-karts, hot rod memorabilia, license plates, literature, books and many others.

1999, Todd A. Jensen, Automotive Web Sites, McFarland, →ISBN, page 83:

There's something for everyone at an automobilia auction, from lots of sales literature and boxes of brochures to milk crates full of license plates and signs galore, all at more attainable price points, so many more of us can participate.

2021, Steven Rossi, West Peterson, Gearhead at Large: A Backroad Tour of Automotive History and the Old Car Hobby, McFarland, →ISBN, page 304:

Everything pertaining to automobiles, especially collectibles.


usual suspects

The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the 1942 film Casablanca, especially since the 1990s.

I think the eco-utopian picture … is an unlikely outcome. I generally avoid over-population arguments. But there’s no question we’re in population overshoot. The catch is we’re not going to do anything about it. There will be no policy. The usual suspects: starvation, war, disease, will drive the population down. There’s little more to say about that really, and it’s certainly an unappetizing discussion, but it’s probably the truth. In any case, we’re in overshoot and we face vast resource scarcities. That’s it. The “usual suspects” are already doing their thing as worldwide food prices go up and peoples on the margin begin to suffer and starve.

2011 May 22, James Howard Kunstler, “Entropy Made Visible”, in Terrain:

And yet a quiet campaign is in the works to secure landmark protection for the 46-story limestone and glass tower. It is not being led by the usual suspects, like preservationists, community groups or politicians.

2014 September 29, Matt A.V. Chaban, “A Bid to Make the Park Lane Hotel a Landmark, but Not by the Usual Suspects”, in New York Times:

It was - to be only a little bit unfair - all the usual suspects at the Paris demo. Trotskyite students chanting against the patriarchy; anarchists; grizzled veterans of '68; plenty of pensioners; theatre-workers. In other words the regular left-wing alphabetti-spaghetti.

2016 March 9, Hugh Schofield, “France unions and youths protest against labour reforms”, in BBC News:

(by extension, informal) The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context.

toujours les mêmes

people or things that would be expected to appear


bathing trunks

His bathing trunks were ruined and he didn't have another pair.

A pair of shorts or briefs worn for swimming or bathing.


ramsons

ramsons pl (normally plural, singular ramson)

From Middle English ramsons, ramsens, rampsons, ramesones, ramsouns, plural of Middle English ramson, ramsen (“wild garlic”), reinterpreted as a singular form, from Old English hramsan, nominative plural of Old English hramsa (“wild garlic”), from Proto-West Germanic *hramusō, from Proto-Germanic *hramusô (“onion; leek”), from Proto-Indo-European *kremus-, *kermus- (“wild garlic; onion”).

Allium ursinum
Allium ursinum#Translingual

A wild relative of chives, of species Allium ursinum, having edible leaves and roots.


Stars and Stripes

The men of Red Cow did not even know whether their camp was situated in Alaska or in the Northwest Territory, whether they drew breath under the stars and stripes or under the British flag.

1910, Jack London, “The Passing of Marcus O'Brien”, in Lost Face, page 166:


Stars and Stripes

The official newspaper of the United States armed forces.


Kore

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl, maiden”).

lbor

(Greek mythology) The birth name of Persephone/Proserpina, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and of vegetation. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter; and the wife of Hades.


sea legs

(idiomatic, nautical) The ability, when walking aboard a ship, to anticipate the motion of the deck so as to walk steadily without losing balance.

(idiomatic) The ability to travel by ship without becoming seasick.

(chiefly US, rare) Synonym of crabsticks

So, from the Jurassic Period to today, the problems that come with being secondarily aquatic seem to have had the same kinds of solutions. And what we've learned is that it's no easy task to get your sea legs. But once you do, it's smooth sailing.

2021, PBS Eons: When Crocs Thrived in the Seas:

(idiomatic) The ability to partially or fully inhabit a marine environment.


harpings

(nautical) The front part of the wales of a vessel, around the bow and fastened to the stem; used to provide protection from the seas.


stalkerazzi

en-noun

stalkerazzi pl (normally plural, singular stalkerazzo)

(derogatory) Paparazzi who violate their targets' privacy in the manner of stalkers.


special damages

(law) Damages that can be quantified precisely, including such things as plaintiff's medical expenses, lost wages, and similar out-of-pocket costs (as contrasted with general damages, such as pain and suffering, which must be estimated).


lost wages

(law) Income that a plaintiff in a lawsuit would have received but for the actions of the defendant, and for which the defendant is therefore liable.


BOQ

(military) Initialism of bachelors' officers' quarters.


sleeves from one's vest

sleeves from one's vest pl (plural only)

"when a prosecutor dismisses some of the charges in a multi-count indictment, he is giving the defendant the sleeves from his vest"

1980, Alvin W. Cohn, Benjamin Ward, Improving Management in Criminal Justice, page 79:

"Mr. President," I said, "We don't have anything to deploy so you are giving them the sleeves from your vest.

2003, Ronald Reagan, Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Graebner Anderson, Martin Anderson, Reagan: A Life in Letters, page xii:

Of someone stingy he would say, "This guy wouldn't give you the sleeves from his vest."

2006, Richard Sonnenfeldt, Witness to Nuremberg: The Chief American Interpreter at the War Crimes Trials, page 170:

(idiomatic) Something non-existent; something of no value or cost.


dire straits

After being shipwrecked on the island, we were in dire straits.

"I understand the country is in dire straits and has a £2 trillion national debt. […]"

2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 50:


cynegetics

PIE word
 *ḱwṓ
From cynegetic + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum).

affix

(hunting, obsolete) Hunting (especially with dogs).


Appalachians

A range of mountains in eastern North America, running northeast from Alabama in the United States to Newfoundland in Canada, variously including or excluding the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York.

جِبَال اَلْأَبَلَاش

a mountain range in eastern North America

The portion of this area which lies in the southern United States, as a socioeconomic region.


curling tongs

Tongs, usually electrically heated, used for curling or waving the hair.

kulma

heated tongs for curling or waving the hair


fire tongs

Tongs used for gripping and moving burning coals and logs in a fire. Part of a set of fire irons.

アベバシュイ

tongs used for gripping and moving burning coals and logs


old days

In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.

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

He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days, and he felt a genuine thrill of pleasure when he recognized the red bandana turban of old Aunt Lyddy, the ancient negro woman who had sold him gingerbread and fried fish, and told him weird tales of witchcraft and conjuration, in the old days when, as an idle boy, he had loafed about the market-house.

1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter 1, in The House Behind the Cedars:

Nevertheless, there were many passengers on the recent special trains to whom the immaculate little 80-year-old "Terrier," No. 32636, formerly Fenchurch, and its two L.B.S.C.R. coaches, recalled nostalgic memories of the old days on the line, when the trains were always spick and span; and days when the Kemp Town branch train was packed to capacity.

1952 December, R. C. Riley, “By Rail to Kemp Town”, in Railway Magazine, page 836:

Fist: So I get friendly with the whores in my off hours. So what? That's all I got left of the old days, thanks.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Afterlife Club, Omega:

A period that was a relatively long time ago; the distant past.


emperor's new clothes

After The Emperor's New Clothes, a tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

Marks & Spencer announced a 19% fall in annual profits on Tuesday.

2005 May 26, “Is an M&S suit the emperor's new clothes?”, in The Guardian, UK:

2005 July 31, Jeff Sabatini, “2006 Lexus RX 400h: The hybrid emperor's new clothes”, in New York Times:

(idiomatic) Something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored or that goes unacknowledged.

Hans Christian Andersen
The Emperor's New Clothes
the emperor's new clothes

kejserens nye klæder

something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored


grafting scissors

a surgeon's scissors, used in rhinoplastic operations, etc.


bobby socks

en-noun

bobby socks pl (normally plural, singular bobby sock)


Taos

From Spanish Taos (“Taos”), from Taos tə̂o (“village”), as in tə̂otho (“in the village”) or tə̂obo (“to the village”).

A town, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico, south of Taos Pueblo.


2.4 children

From what was once the average (and therefore supposedly typical) number of children per household in the United Kingdom.

Maybe their pastoral family, with their 2.4 children, is at the perfect age and life stage for that church, and yours does not seem to be (or vice versa).

1993, Carl F. George, How to Break Growth Barriers: Capturing Overlooked Opportunities for Church Growth, Baker Books, →ISBN:

In the 1960s and 1970s it was normal to marry and have babies at a young age – girls were routinely leaving school at sixteen, marrying at eighteen and having their 2.4 children before their twenty-third birthday..

2013, Jackie Highe, The Modern Grandparents' Guide, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

The heterosexual, monogamous, married for life couple, exclusively committed to the upbringing of their 2.4 children, was the family unit that adoption was legally designed to replicate.

2015, Kerry O'Halloran, The Politics of Adoption: International Perspectives on Law, Policy and Practice, Springer, →ISBN, page 821:

A stereotypical characteristic of normal family life; frequently used ironically.


calzoons

(obsolete, plural only) Drawers; underwear.


illderly

the illderly

at-home nursing care for the illderly

en:old people, collectively, who are in poor health

(with definite article, collective) Old people who are in poor health: unhealthy senior citizens.


wellderly

the welderly

hiking vacations for the welderly

en:old people, collectively, who are in good health

(with definite article, collective) Old people who are in good health: healthy senior citizens.


rose-coloured glasses

rose-colored glasses
rose-colored glasses#English

British standard spelling of rose-colored glasses.


rose-tinted glasses

Christian Wolmar seems to have a particularly effective pair of rose-tinted glasses when he looks back at BR days.

2021 January 13, “Open Access: West Coast success”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 26:

Alternative form of rose-colored glasses


experience points

experience points pl (normally plural, singular experience point)

(roleplaying games) A system of points which, when a predetermined amount is accumulated by a player character, causes them to level up. This is one of the core mechanics of many role-playing games. Abbreviations: EXP or XP.

經驗值

set of points accumulated by a player character


rose-colored glasses

Phrase appears as early as 1830 according to OED. From rose-color or rose-colored (meaning "pleasant"), from the notion that roses are widely regarded as uncommonly beautiful.

Such captivating beauty corresponds to our protagonist’s naive idealism, and the rose-colored glasses through which he views an upper-crust world of dandies and refined intellectuals.

2020 October 13, Beatrice Loayza, “Jack London gets an Italian makeover in the tragic and romantic Martin Eden”, in AV Club:

(idiomatic) An optimistic perception of something; a positive opinion; seeing something in a positive way, often thinking of it as better than it actually is.

ulleres violetes

overly optimistic perception of something

(se något i/genom) ett rosa skimmer

"(see something in/through) a pink shimmer"

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rose-colored, glasses.


girly bits

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


thumbies

(colloquial) Knitted hand or thumb mitts


mandem

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole man dem (“men”). Equivalent to man + them.

bor+

Coordinate term: gyal dem

The mandem all used to go round there and get head off her, the sister blowing the man line by line while her brother shotted downstairs in the stairwell.

2011, “Chyna”, in How I Escaped a Girl Gang: Rolling in a London Girl Gang:

She probably heard some hyped up version from the mandem but she don't know the truth. She ain't seen what I seen.

2013, Polly Courtney, Feral Youth, page 169:

[…] reports suggest he may have had links to that group and allied north London gangs such as the Broadwater Farm Posse and Tottenham Mandem.

2013, David Childs, Britain since 1945: A Political History:

But you see my man over there with the pouch
Dare one of you man try get loud
All of my mandem move so foul

The mandem too inconsiderate, five-star hotel, smokin' cigarette / Mixin' codeine up with the Phenergan

2023, “Sprinter”, performed by Central Cee x Dave:

(MLE, MTE) A group of men or boys; male friends or fellow gang members.


ill-gotten gains

Perhaps extracted from ill-gotten gains never prosper.

Was it her fault if she did not possess those sycophantic arts which her hypocritical nephew, Pitt Crawley, practised? She wished him all the happiness which he merited out of his ill-gotten gains.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XXXIX, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

Secondly, the highly reprehensible course pursued by the Free Church of Scotland, in soliciting, receiving, and retaining money in its sustentation fund for supporting the gospel in Scotland, which was evidently the ill-gotten gain of slaveholders and slave-traders.

1855, Frederick Douglass, “Life as a Freeman”, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 380:

By the bright bow of Heaven, I will have their ill-gotten gains from them, even though I hang for it as high as e'er a forest tree in Sherwood!

1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood and Will Scarlet”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:

The exclusion from his clubs would mean ruin to Moran, who lived by his ill-gotten card gains.

1903 September 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Empty House”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:

How, exactly, does a lawyer come to legally give away ill-gotten gains on behalf of an international company that does not want to be named and surely does not want to face prosecution for what one division did?

2015 February 6, Paul Sullivan, “Finding the ‘Right’ Way to Dispose of Ill-Gotten Gains”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Money or other property acquired dishonestly.

argent sale

money acquired dishonestly — see also dirty money


Canadian French

The Design on Lequesne, supposing all to have been honest that produced it, could have taken it's Rise from nothing but want of Knowledge in common Geography: No Eye that follows the Course in the Map, which is always taken by the Canadian French from Quebec to Fort Lequesne, but must be necessarily convinced that the taking Niagara would have answered all the Purposes of possessing that and Lequesne.

1755, John Shebbeare, A Letter to the People of England: On the Present Situation and Conduct of National Affairs, volume 1, page 42:


damaged goods

(figuratively) A person who is no longer fit for purpose, especially an unmarried woman who is no longer a virgin.


naming rights

The right to name a piece of property, either tangible property or an event, usually granted in exchange for financial considerations.


Stymphalides

From Latin Stymphālides, from Ancient Greek Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες (Stumphalídes órnithes, “birds of Stymphalus”).

der

Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες

(Greek mythology) In Greek mythology, a flock of metallic man-eating birds that haunted Lake Stymphalis in Arkadia. They were slain by Herakles as part of his sixth Labour, who took advantage of their sensitive sense of hearing.


ants in one's pants

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ants in one's pants.wav

(slang) The condition of being sexually excited.


metabola

From Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”); μετά (metá, “beyond”) + βολέω (boléō, “throw”).

bor

(in the plural, entomology) Insects that metamorphose.


bread and circuses

From Latin panem et circenses (literally “bread and circuses”), a reference to Satire 10 of the Roman poet Juvenal’s Satires (early 2nd century C.E.). The relevant passage states: “… nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses” (“[F]or that sovereign people that once gave away military command, consulships, legions, and every thing, now bridles its desires, and limits its anxious longings to two things only,—bread, and the games of the circus!”). Juvenal was commenting that the Roman people no longer cared for political involvement, and were satisfied with cheap food and entertainment provided by politicians.

nb...

with Notes, Chronological Tables, Arguments, &c. by the Rev. Lewis Evans, M.A. Late Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. To which is Added the Metrical Version of Juvenal and Persius, by the Late William Gifford, Esq.

The government of William Ewart Gladstone may not supply the people, as the Roman emperors did, with "bread and circuses," but if giving them plenty to talk about can satisfy a nation, we Britishers ought just now to be very happy. A whole week is never permitted to elapse without some piece of political gaucherie being enacted for the public amusement.

[1873 January 11, “English Gossip”, in Harper’s Bazar. A Repository of Fashion, Pleasure, and Instruction, volume VI, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 30, column 4:

Take a Mahommedan at his devotions, and he is a model of religious abstraction; [...] but see him in his hours of relaxation, or on the occasion of a public holiday, and he is as garrulous and full of laughter as a big child. Like a child, too, he loves noise and movement for the mere sake of noise and movement, and looks upon swings and fireworks as the height of human felicity. Now swings and fireworks are Arabic for bread and circuses, and our pleb's passion for them is insatiable.

1877, Amelia B[lanford] Edwards, “Cairo and the Mecca Pilgrimage”, in A Thousand Miles up the Nile, London: Longmans, Green, & Co., →OCLC, page 35:

In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-01-04:

(idiomatic) Food and entertainment provided by the state, particularly if intended to placate the people.

ogia eta zirku

food and entertainment provided by the state

хле́ба і відо́вішчаў (xljéba i vidóviščaŭ) (only in genitive case)

chleba i igrzysk (only in genitive case)

хле́ба и зре́лищ (xléba i zrélišč) (only in genitive case)

хлі́ба і видо́вищ (xlíba i vydóvyšč) (only in genitive case)


cheap seats

The lowest-priced seats in a theatre or stadium, typically located on an upper balcony.


Home Counties

From Caro, the British colonel's wife, now ferrying around anti-tear gas solvent kits and bottled water, her toenails painted a riot of different colors, her posh Home Counties diction already absorbing the shortened vowels of our southern African dialect.

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

All the English counties surrounding London.


boyshorts

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

The only viable alternative, one that my daughter favored, was an item called boyshorts, a low-riding pair of short shorts loosely, or should I say tightly, based on Britney's stagewear.

2003 October 6, Claudia Wallis, “The thing about thongs”, in Time:

This time round BarelyPolitical.com has got in on the act, selling skimpy red boy-shorts with "OBAMA" written in big white lettering across the back.

2008 April 8, Ada Edemariam, “The rise of pants campaigns”, in The Guardian:

A female undergarment that covers the hips like a pair of shorts.


Olympic Rings

A symbol consisting of five interlocking colored rings, each one representing a continent that competes in the Olympic Games.


Atayal

Their Austronesian language, which uses the Latin alphabet.


warrigal greens

A leafy ground cover, Tetragonia tetragonoides, that can be eaten as a vegetable.


hamentashen

en-noun

hamentashen pl (normally plural, singular hamentash)


life and limb

A reference to a person risking the loss of their life and injury to their limbs (arms and legs).

Those kids are risking life and limb when they go inside that old abandoned house: it might collapse on their heads.

Existence together with the bodily faculties.

henki ja terveys

existence together with the bodily faculties


Disneyana

items related to The Walt Disney Company, especially collectibles.


railwayana

Items related to railways, especially collectibles.


Edwardiana

From Edwardian + -ana. or Edward + -iana.

Items related to the Edwardian era, especially collectibles.


Victoriana

/vɪkˌtɔɹiˈænə/

/vɪkˌtɔɹiˈɑnə/

To lovers of Victoriana it will not be necessary to enlarge on the original beauty of many [old stations], but to the modern traveller romantic nostalgia will not compensate for bleak, draughty waiting rooms, ancient sanitation, uncomfortable grimy seats and gas lighting; he is likely to prefer the comforts of a modern car on a winter's morning.

1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 249:

A Suite en forme de Valses by the 19th century Frenchwoman Melanie Bonis is a piece of third rate Victoriana which should be returned to the attic.

1979 December 1, Rob Schmieder, “NEWS Revives Works by Women”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 19, page 11:

Items related to the Victorian era, especially collectibles.


food miles

As a result of the rise in crude oil prices, the cost per food mile worldwide has soared.

2008, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Energy Agency, World energy outlook 2008, →ISBN, page 174, →ISBN:

The number of miles a particular item of food travels from its source of production to its place of retail or consumption, used as a measure of the environmental impact in the global food trade.


letters after one's name

letters after one's name pl (plural only)

Again, as he was a mere student without any letters after his name, he got scant attention, and I never heard that he gained over a single supporter. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Stark Munro Letters - Page 16

(idiomatic) A list of abbreviations, separated by commas, representing the academic qualifications and civil or military honours achieved by a person


towers of Hanoi

A puzzle in which stacks of disks are moved one at a time from one of three spindles to another so that no disk ever rests on a smaller disk.


Ugandan affairs

/juːˌɡændən əˈfɛəz/

Probably a variant of Ugandan discussions (“(UK, euphemistic, informal) sexual intercourse”), from discuss Uganda (“(UK, euphemistic, informal) to have sex”), said to have been coined by the English journalist and poet James Fenton (born 1949), based on a 1973 incident at a party at which the Irish journalist Mary Kenny (born 1944) explained why she was in the arms of a former Ugandan cabinet minister by saying they were “upstairs discussing Uganda”. The incident was reported by the British satirical and current affairs magazine Private Eye on 9 March 1973, which then popularized the expression by using it to refer to other sexual affairs.

Everyone known about them now; Rosemary has even been mentioned in Private Eye as "discussing Ugandan affairs with a gorgeous young American don."

1984, Alison Lurie, chapter 5, in Foreign Affairs, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published November 1985, →ISBN, page 171:

'You sure they're not … er … discussing Ugandan affairs?' Rhona asked, citing the old euphemism for illicit sex.

1998, Cathy Kelly, chapter 13, in She’s the One, London: Headline Publishing Group, published 2011, →ISBN:

The fact that his [George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe's] "heavy workload" included many discussions of Ugandan affairs just shows how prescient Private Eye was when it adopted the phrase as a euphemism for the sexual indiscretion of politicians at least 15 years later.

2004 January 1, Alan Travis, “Call girls, drugs and Ugandan affairs shook cabinet: Ministers in the Heath government had to quit”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-12-01:

She [Margaret Thatcher] had been baffled by what Private Eye referred to as "Ugandan affairs" in relation to [Cecil] Parkinson's affair with Sarah Keays,^([sic – meaning Sara Keays]) saying: "I know it's untrue. He's never been to Africa."

2016 January 25, “Lord Parkinson – obituary: Thatcherite star whose career faltered after revelations of an affair with his former secretary”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(British, euphemistic, humorous) Often in the form to discuss Ugandan affairs: sexual intercourse, usually an extramarital affair.

BBC News
James Fenton
Mary Kenny
Private Eye


Oghuz

From Turkish Oğuz, from Old Turkic 𐰆𐰍𐰕 (uǧz), a term for a tribal military division, perhaps in origin an early plural of 𐰸 (ok, “kin”) (arrows in early Turkic culture were used as symbolizing such tribes or divisions in ceremonial or ritual contexts).

A subbranch of the Turkic language family. The three languages with the largest number of speakers are Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Turkmen.


dentelli

Borrowed from Italian dentelli, plural of dentello. Compare dentil, borrowed from French.

in a cornice, if the gola or cynatium of the corona, the coping, the modillions or dentelli, make a noble show, by their graceful projections

1712 July 7 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “THURSDAY, June 26, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 415; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:


Dolomites

A mountain range of the Alps in north-eastern Italy.


fresh country eggs

fresh country eggs pl (normally plural, singular fresh country egg)

A common way to describe ordinary chicken eggs on a breakfast menu, especially in expensive restaurants and hotels.


crewels

Alternative form of cruels (“scrofulous swellings in the neck”)


pearly penile papules

(urology) A harmless hereditary anatomical variation consisting of small protuberances that may form on the ridge of the glans of the human penis.

перламу́тровые па́пулы

голо́вки полово́го чле́на

перламу́трові па́пули

голі́вки стате́вого чле́на

hirsuties papillaris coronae glandis

papillary hirsutism of the corona of the glans

papillomatosis coronae glandis

papillomatosis of the corona of the glans

papillomatosis coronae penis

papillomatosis of the corona of the penis


daks

From DAKS, trademark for a brand of trousers originally made in the 1930s by Simpsons of Piccadilly; formed from the initials of Alexander Simpson and the first and last letters of the name of his business associate Dudley Beck.

The usual stuff – sports jacket, a couple of pairs of daks, one brown and one grey, three pairs of socks, though I only had need for one sock in the meantime, two white shirts and a decent pair of shoes, though again, only one shoe being useful in my present predicament.

2004, Bryce Courtenay, Brother Fish, published 2008, unnumbered page:

2008, Dave Sabben, The Scorpion Dance, Denny Neave, Soldiers' Tale: A Collection of True Stories from Aussie Soldiers, page 144,
But the pain′s still there, so I begin to drop my daks to investigate the territory.

“Look, I'll pull the bloody leeches off you. Okay? They won't hurt you. They′s only trying to suck your bloody blood. Why waste a pair of clean dacks?”

2010, Robin Easton, Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest, page 43:

They were still there the next morning, flapping in the breeze. Filthy, grease stained pair of daks. The crotch half rotted away.

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) Trousers or underwear.


dry goods

(US) Any product for sale that does not require special storage treatment, especially textiles.

(Commonwealth) Dry food that can be transported and stored without immediate danger of spoiling.


end-feet

(anatomy) Button-like terminals of axons that make synaptic connections with other nerve-cells.


inconsequentia

The life had been lived and chronicled, and what remained was a happy retirement filled with those inconsequentia which made life pleasant

2000, Colley Cibber with Byrne R. S. Fone, An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber:

Trivia; items or facts of little or no importance.


jaggies

From jaggy or jagged + -ie (“diminutive”) + -s (“plural”).

affix

The anti-alias option in image editors helps to eliminate the jaggies.

1999, Brent Heslop, David Angell, Rick Darnell, Microsoft Word 2000 Bible:

2007, Pulli et al, Mobile 3D Graphics: With OpenGL ES and M3G
Edge antialiasing only works at the edges of primitives, but jaggies can happen also at intersections of polygons.

(computer graphics, informal) Jagged artifacts in raster graphics, such as those caused by resizing a bitmap image without preserving its aspect ratio.


silvern

From Middle English sylveren, selverne, from Old English seolfren, from Proto-Germanic *silubrīnaz (“made of silver”); equivalent to silver + -(e)n. Cognate with Dutch zilveren (“silvern”), German silbern (“silvern”).

inh

But, leaving novelists alone, on the whole we find in real life that if speech is silvern, silence is essentially golden, and that more harm is done by saying too much than by saying too little; above all, that infinite mischief arises by not letting sleeping dogs lie.

1868 August 29, “Sleeping Dogs”, in The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art, volume 26, number 670, page 287:

I know a pool, where shadows fall
From fir-trees, melancholy tall,
That dream and quiver round the rim,
And in the molten centre swim,
Where taper tops do all unite
Bemirrored in its silvern light.

(literary) Made of silver; resembling or characteristic of silver; silvery.


PWID

(medicine) Initialism of people who inject drugs.


rheumatics

You ain't subject to the whatdyecallems - the rheumatics, are you?

a. 1857, Edward Bradley, Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green:


adversaria

(plural only, obsolete) Originally, a book of accounts, so named from the placing of debt and credit in opposition to each other.

(plural only, obsolete) A collection of notes or commentaries; a commonplace book.


best efforts

en-noun

best efforts pl (normally plural, singular best effort)

(law) An assurance of good-faith effort to achieve best results under prevailing circumstances.

(finance) An effort to sell securities without a firm underwriting.


Ngwa

A clan within the Igbo people of Nigeria.


turtle graphics

programming language
programming language

(computing) Vector graphics generated by a turtle that moves according to relative coordinates on a Cartesian plane, as in the Logo programming language.


jogpants

He pulled on a pair of jogpants and sat in the dark of the living room taking long pulls at his cigarette.

Soft, stretchy pants (trousers), such as sweatpants, intended for jogging.


psyops

psyops pl (normally plural, singular psyop)

‘Russia Today’, he said, his finger marking each syllable with a thud on the table in front of us, ‘is psy-ops’—short for psychological operations. […] ‘It is run directly from the Kremlin. It's following Kremlin's narratives. It's a psy-ops operation. And it's black psy-ops.’

2018, Carl Miller, quoting Mark Laity, chapter 6, in The Death of the Gods […] , William Heinemann, →ISBN:

Techniques used by military and police forces to influence the beliefs, emotions and behaviour of citizens.


adnexa

adnexa pl (normally plural, singular adnexum)

(anatomy) The appendages of an organ, such as the Fallopian tubes of the uterus.


Sts'Ailes

A First Nations people in the Lower Mainland of the Canadian province of British Columbia.


Tłįchǫ

Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories

A Native American people living in the Northwest Territories of Canada.


Sasak

The language spoken by the Sasak people.


consumer rights

The legal and moral duties of protection owed to a purchaser of goods or services by the supplier.


Ibibio

The language spoken by the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State of southern Nigeria. It belongs to the Niger-Congo language family.


greengroceries

The commodities sold by a greengrocer or in a greengrocery (fresh fruit and vegetables).


nefasti

In the calendar of Ancient Rome, those days on which business could not be transacted and assemblies and courts could not convene.


comix

(slang) Comics, especially those that are self-published and deal with offbeat or transgressive topics


While the clothes of the '80s were too flashy and fantastic for denim to gain much of a foothold in fashion, the ‘90s were ripe for a denim revival. The first wave of ‘90s fashion denim was dark and stiff, similar to the pristine denim of the '50s in all but its high price, which, for a pair of high-status jeans by a designer such as Helmut Lang, could be several hundred dollars.

2003, Nancy MacDonell Smith, The Classic Ten: the true story of the little black dress and nine other fashion favorites:

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

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


midteens

Many children first experiment with drugs and alcohol in their midteens.

The period around the middle of the teenage years, such as ages 15 and 16


Poleszuk

For different reasons the Poleszuk could not participate in the process of building Polish national identity. The reasons were rooted not in cultural differences, in a different language and in their Orthodox religion.

2008, Lech Mróz, Aleksander Posern-Zieliński, Exploring home, neighbouring and distant cultures, →ISBN:

The Greek Catholic Church was driven underground, but today a small Greek Catholic community has been revived, based mainly among the Poleszuk community in the south west of the country.

2014, Jim Jose, Rob Imre, Not So Strange Bedfellows: The Nexus of Politics and Religion in the 21st Century, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 96:

The Poleszuk and Hutsul peoples or the Tatra Mts. highlanders were once treated as “lesser brothers” but not as residents of another continent.

2014, Wiesław Szpilka, “Batman – a Story of Creation”, in Konteksty, number 0, archived from the original on 2020-06-16, page 357:


librariana

Items related to libraries, especially collectibles.


Shakespeareana

/ʃeɪkˌspɪəɹɪˈɑːnə/

/ʃeɪkˌspɪɹiˈænə/

/ʃeɪkˌspɪɹiˈɑnə/

Items related to William Shakespeare, especially collectibles.


maledicta

From Latin maledicta, plural of maledictum (“curse, insult”).

For 11 years now, “day and night, every Saturday and Sunday,” Aman had devoted his life to what he calls maledicta, the scholarly study of profanity and insults.

1977 October 30, Edith Herman, “*%&!$*&#-X!!!: Naughty Words — Reinhold Aman knows them all”, in Toledo Blade:

Most foreigners believe that Japanese is sparse in maledicta, which is not true. However, they can be quite subtle at times and tend to bypass the square-heads conditioned to blunt ravings of the “up yours, shithead, motherfucker” variety.

1987, John Solt, “Japanese Sexual Maledicta”, in Reinhold Aman, editor, The Best of Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression:

Other types of maledicta are jarns, nittles, and quimps.

2022, Tara Lazar, Absurd Words, page 112:

Taboo language of all kinds, including profanity, blasphemy, swearing, cursing, insults, hate speech, impolite language, etc.


toe pleats

(medicine) Pleats in the sheets that allows a patient in bed to be able to move feet, to prevent pressure ulcers from developing on patients' heels and toes.


rantings

Loud and angry comments that continue for a long time.