mate

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat.

cog

Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?

(colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.


spam

en-noun

spam (countable and uncountable, plural spams)

The original sense (canned ham) is a proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937. It is presumed to be a conflation of either "spiced ham" or "shoulder of pork and ham" but was soon extended to other kinds of canned meat. Hormel spells the trademarked name in all upper case.
The use for unsolicited and unwanted email derives from a Monty Python sketch (Flying Circus, Episode 25). In the 1970 sketch, a group of Vikings in a restaurant repeatedly chant the word "spam". The earliest recorded real-life use for this sense occurs around 1993 which finds reference in a newsgroup post dated March 31, 1993.
The term appears to have been used earlier in a different sense in relation to "Multi-User Dungeons" (MUDs), a kind of multi-user computer gaming environment before widespread use of the Internet, in the 1980s.

An Act to provide for the control of spam, which is unsolicited commercial communications sent in bulk by electronic mail or by text or multi-media messaging to mobile telephone numbers, and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Long title, Spam Control Act (Cap. 311A, R. Ed. 2008)

(uncountable, computing, Internet) Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes.


jandal

Blend of Japanese + sandal, originally a trademarked name.

(New Zealand) A flip-flop (type of footwear)


jackass

jackass (countable and uncountable, plural jackasses)


cos

Clipping of cos lettuce, variously derived from the Greek island of Kos and from Arabic خس (ḵass, “lettuce”).

(chiefly UK) Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce.


cos

Taking the shortcut through the alleyway by the Jobcentre Plus, just cos I can, we arrive at my flat within minutes.

2021, Isabel Waidner, Sterling Karat Gold, Peninsula Press, page 161:

(UK, Ireland, South Africa, African-American Vernacular) Informal spelling of 'cause (“because”).


cos

(informal, African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of coz, cousin.


cos

The stages and distances are as follows:—Hitounda to Bhainsa Dobháng, 3½ cos; to Bhimphédy, 4 cos; to Tambakhâni, 3 cos; to Chitlong, 3 cos; to Thankot, 3 cos; to Káthmándú, 3 cos—Total, 19½ cos.

1857, Brian Houghton Hodgson, Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal, No. XXVII: Papers Relative to the Colonization, Commerce, Physical Geography, &c., &c., of the Himalaya Mountains and Nepal, p. 22

Alternative form of coss, a traditional Nepali unit of distance.


Pepsi

→ French: pepsi

→ Hindi: पेप्सी (pepsī)

→ Mauritian Creole: pepsi

→ Polish: pepsi

→ Portuguese: Pepsi, pepsi

→ Serbo-Croatian: Pepsi, pepsi

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

Originally short for Pepsi-Cola, coined in 1898 as a renaming of the brand from "Brad's Drink", in order to imply that the fizzy drink could cure dyspepsia. While some have suggested Pepsi is short for the digestive enzyme pepsin, sometimes with the assumption that pepsin was used as an ingredient in Pepsi, this is a folk etymology, as there is no official confirmation of it nor any evidence for a link between the enzyme and the beverage.
Nonetheless, both the words pepsin and dyspepsia ultimately derive from Ancient Greek πέψις (pépsis), which means “cooking, fermentation or digestion”. (Compare Italian pepsi, from the same source.)
(person from Quebec): In reference to their supposed love of junk food.

[…] and to maintain a relatively superior, paternalistic position from which French Canadians are for the most part regarded as 'peasoups' or 'Pepsis,' as fellow citizens requiring benevolent supervision […]

1993, Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, volume 20, page 276:

(slang, ethnic slur) A person from Quebec, Canada.


Bangla

(Singapore, Malaysia, British, offensive, ethnic slur) A Bangladeshi.


dumpling

A folk word, first attested in c. 1600s, apparently from a Norfolk (East Anglian) dialect, of uncertain origin:
* perhaps from some Low German word (compare dümpeln (“bobbing up and down”)),
* or from the rare dialectal adjective dump (“lump, of the consistency of dough”) (first attested in the late 1800s), + -ling (diminutive suffix), although dumpling is recorded much earlier. However, compare dumpy (“short and stout”).

(cooking) A ball of dough that is cooked and may have a filling and/or additional ingredients in the dough.

(chiefly UK) Specifically, a ball of dough used in stews and other sauced dishes; a thick noodle.

(chiefly US) Specifically, a food composed of a dough wrapper around a filling.


pudding

pudding (countable and uncountable, plural puddings)

→ Belarusian: пу́дынг (púdynh)

→ Burmese: ပူတင်း (putang:)

→ Chinese: 布丁 (bùdīng), 布甸 (bùdiàn)

→ Esperanto: pudingo

→ Estonian: puding

→ French: poudingue

→ Italian: puddinga

→? French: poutine (semantic loan)

desctree

→ French: pudding, pouding (post-1990 spelling)
→ Romanian: budincă
→ Turkish: puding

→ Dutch: pudding

→ German: Pudding

→ Japanese: プディング (pudingu)

→ Latvian: pudiņš

→ Lithuanian: pudingas

→? Michif: poutchine

→ Polish: pudding

→ Portuguese: pudim

→ Russian: пу́динг (púding)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: пу̀динг

Latin script: pùding

→ Spanish: budín, pudding, pudin, pudín

→ Swedish: pudding

→ Ukrainian: пу́динг (púdynh), пу́ндик (púndyk)

→ Welsh: pwdin

From circa 1305, Middle English podynge (“kind of sausage; meat-filled animal stomach”), puddynge, from Old French boudin (“blood sausage, black pudding”), from Latin botellus (“sausage, small intestine”). Doublet of boudin.
* An alternative etymology assumes origin from Proto-Germanic *put-, *pud- (“to swell”) (compare dialectal English pod (“belly”), Old English puduc (“wen, sore”), Low German puddig (“swollen”), Westphalian Puddek (“lump, pudding”), Puddewurst (“black pudding”). More at pout.

der

the proof of the pudding is in the eating

A type of dessert that has a texture similar to custard or mousse but using some kind of starch as the thickening agent.

пудинг

dessert similar to custard or mousse, containing a starchy thickening agent

We have apple pie for pudding today.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Dessert; the dessert course of a meal.

(archaic, slang) A piece of good fortune.


beau

From Middle English beau, beu, bew, bewe, from Old French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello and boo.

Coordinate term: belle

“[…]—I suppose your brother was quite a beau, Miss Dashwood, before he married, as he was so rich?”
“Upon my word,” replied Elinor, “I cannot tell you, for I do not perfectly comprehend the meaning of the word. But this I can say, that if he ever was a beau before he married, he is one still, for there is not the smallest alteration in him.”
“Oh! dear! one never thinks of married men’s being beaux—they have something else to do.”

1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XXI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume I, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 290:

[H]e could not but turn with ineffable contempt to the tawdry beaus and belles from the city, who presumed to mingle in the fashionable gala.

1824, Cut and Come again [pseudonym], “On Cutting”, in Tobias Merton [pseudonym; Samuel Egerton Brydges and Egerton Anthony Brydges], editor, The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts: […], volume II, London: William Charlton Wright, […], page 19:

(dated) A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.


wen

(eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when


monkey

en-noun

monkey (plural monkeys or (obsolete) monkies)

monkeys (plural)
monkies (obsolete plural)

→ Chukchi: маӈкы (maṇky)

→ Coeur d'Alene: moonki

→ Irish: moncaí

→ Navajo: mágí

→ Scottish Gaelic: muncaidh

→ Tumbuka: munkhwele

→ Welsh: mwnci

Uncertain. May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of a personal name or surname; hence, nickname, literally “miniature man”).

gl

whence Modern French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">mone</i> (“monkey”)

der

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

you can take the monkey out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey

(slang, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) A black person.


fucker

She was a good fucker, but to tell the truth, I had had enough for the night.

A system in which men are conditioned to be the pursuer, the agressor ^([sic]), the possessor, the fucker.

1983 December 31, Gary Hirshberg, “Being Who We Are”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 24, page 5:


ping pong

en-noun

ping pong (countable and uncountable, plural ping pongs)

→ Chinese: 乒乓球 (pīngpāngqiú)

→ Greek: πινγκ πονγκ (pingk pongk)

→ Italian: ping pong

→ Japanese: ピンポン (pin pon)

→ Korean: 핑퐁 (pingpong)

→ Portuguese: pingue-pongue

→ Russian: пинг-понг (ping-pong)

→ Spanish: ping pong

Onomatopoeic. The name “ping-pong” was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. Jaques sold the rights to the “ping-pong” name in the United States to Parker Brothers. Registered in the United States in 1930, Ping-Pong (with dash) is still a registered wordmark of Parker Brothers, Inc. Contrary to a common misconception, the word does not originate from Chinese 乒乓 (pīngpāng), though there are possibilities that the coiners encountered Chinese themselves.

Our correspondent seems to hope that the unclean, playing Ping-Pong with the clean, will become unpleasantly conscious of his uncleanness and reform.

1900, Daily Chronicle, published 1905, May 8, page 6/6:


papa

popper (non-rhotic, father-bother merger)

From French papa, from Middle French papa, from Old French papa, from Latin papa, probably originally a reduplicated imitation of a child's early efforts at vocalising Latin pater (“father”). Compare Ancient Greek πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

onomatopoeic

imitation

cog

(often childish) Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.

(informal) A pet name for one's grandfather.


chick

en-noun

chick (plural chicks or (obsolete) chicken)

chicks (plural)
chicken (obsolete plural)

From Middle English chicke, chike, variation of chiken (“chicken", also "chick”), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”). Sense of "young woman" dates to at least 1860 (compare chit (“young, pert woman”)). More at chicken.

The Aldis lamp flashes at the underside of each aircraft. It shows that the gear is down. Diegal is relaxing. This is such low responsibility, easy night duty. All the “chicks” (fighter aircraft) are home to roost except one.

2004, Joe Welzen, The Gutsy Stomach Walker, page 50:

(military, slang) A friendly fighter aircraft.


lady

⇒ Afrikaans: haar ladyskap

→ Arabic: لِيدِي (līdī)

Egyptian Arabic: ليدي (lēdī)

→ Belarusian: лэ́дзі (lédzi)

→ Bulgarian: ле́йди (léjdi)

→ French: lady

→ German: Lady

→ Greek: λαίδη (laídi), λέδη (lédi)

→ Italian: lady

→ Japanese: レディ (redi), レディー (redī)

→ Korean: 레이디 (reidi)

→ Latvian: lēdija

→ Macedonian: леди (ledi)

→ Polish: lady

→ Romanian: lady

→ Russian: ле́ди (lédi)

→ Spanish: lady

→ Swedish: lady

→ Tongan: leitī

→ Ukrainian: ле́ді (lédi)

→ Volapük: läd

From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.

inh

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today. Follow me, ladies!

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:

(in the plural) A polite reference or form of address to women.

(archaic) gastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.

(UK, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)


wanker

tlb

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar)

merchant banker Rhyming slang often contracted as in He is a right merchant

(humorous) A very informal term of address used between friends.


hout

(Rhodesia, slang, ethnic slur) A black African.


ook

en-verb

ook (third-person singular simple present ooks, present participle ooking, simple past and past participle ooked)

ooks (present singular third-person)
ooking (participle present)
ooked (participle past)
ooked (past)

Imitative of the cry of an ape or monkey.

onomatopoeic

Imitative

Starts ooking and eeking About Slavery, Racism, Hair Salons, etc!

2012 August 19, Trending Now, “Huge Feral Nigger Sheboon Chimps Out at Gas Station”, in aus.politics (Usenet):

On Saturday, April 27, 2013 11:40:40 PM UTC+10, nigger brndy ooked:
> You all have AIDS, cock suckers.

2013 April 27, farkya...@live.com, “Im the only normal person on here”, in alt.music.michael-jackson (Usenet):

Weird spectacle, to be expected of simians.
The grieving mudda is wearing dark sunglasses even though it is night
and appears highly medicated, she ooks and eeks and you can tell she is
in her glory in front of the cameras.

2014 November 26, Jesse, “'Burn this b---- down!'”, in alt.france (Usenet):

Meanwhile, the first nigger interviewed on the scene said she saw
the whole thing. She ooked that the "boy" dint do nuffins" .

2015 May 4, Debby teh Dikeman, “Re: NIGGER LOGIC REVISITED”, in alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk (Usenet):

WASHINGTON -- A California coongressboon ooked today that it would be
"preparing the nigger resistance" instead of apetending human
President-elect Trump's inauguration.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D/Nigger-Calif.) ooked its chimpout in a statement:
"I will not be celebrating or honoring an incoming president who rode
racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry to the White House."

2017 January 16, Rick Mathers, “Sow in Coongress will be preparing for chimpout instead of attending inaguration”, in soc.culture.african.american (Usenet):

Schenee started getting into chimpouts with its husboon Freddie, and at
one point ooked to it: 'The only thing you do is wipe my ass and wash
me up'.

2018 April 11, Dindu Nuffin, “Morbidly obese sheboon felt like it was "drowning in her own fat"”, in alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk (Usenet):

Ugly disgusting jungle chimp go back to the mudaland Ápefrica u came from u ooking eeking nigger ape piece of shit

2018 June 3, asgo...@gmail.com, “Re: 10 Reasons Why I Hate NIGGERS”, in alt.politics (Usenet):

Castle Hill, Bronx … 51-year-old C&R nigger Gary Mallette is wanted for
attempted muhdik on an 83-year-old female in her apartment. The nigger
posed as a repair-nig and ooked it was going to fix a leak.

2019 March 30, Robert Wolfe, “Catch and release (80 times) nigger assaults an 83 year old woman”, in alt.checkmate (Usenet):

(slang, ethnic slur, offensive) Of a black person: to speak gibberish or nonsense.


chickadee

Apparent onomatopoeia from these birds' calls having a distinctive “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” sound, possibly influenced by chick or chicken.


fucking

en-noun

fucking (countable and uncountable, plural fuckings)

the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you get

the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you're going to get

the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you take

I took a real fucking on the interest rate for that loan.

(vulgar, figuratively) An act of mistreatment.


fucking

→ Danish: fucking

→ Dutch: fucking

→ German: fucking

→ Norwegian Bokmål: føkkings

→ Romanian: fucking

→ Swedish: fucking

No fucking way.

This is a fucking nightmare!

Give me the fucking key!

Open the fucking locker!

Yeah, she caught my eye, as I walked on by / She could see from my face that I was fucking high

2005, James Blunt (lyrics and music), “You're Beautiful”, in Back to Bedlam:

“Every time it’s shown, I get e-mail from young guys who want to get it on with me,” she said. “Which is wonderful. I’m seventy-seven fucking years old.”

2006 March 6, Lauren Collins, quoting Harriet Sohmers Zwerling, “Last Bohemians”, in The New Yorker:

(vulgar) An intensifier, often applying more to the whole utterance than to the specific word it grammatically modifies.


fucking

New Fucking York.

She had been, as I say, drinking all afternoon and she suddenly howled, “Ten o’clock! It’s ten o’fucking clock! Why doesn’t he come? Why in God’s name doesn’t he come?” Something along those lines.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section III, page 27:

[…] I think that life's too long to bother with suing Andrew fucking Lloyd Webber.

If you wanted some background information on me, Holden, all you had to do was ask. I would have gladly volunteered it. You didn't have to go playing Hercule fucking Poirot!

1997, Kevin Smith, Chasing Amy (motion picture), spoken by Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams):

Far out, man. Far fucking out!

1998, Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski (motion picture), spoken by The Dude (Jeff Bridges):

(vulgar) Alternative spelling of -fucking-, used when the word infix is put between two words.


ter

"Jesus Christ! Was my folks refined. My mam she wouldn't think-a lettin' us young'uns call a pee pot a pee pot. A chamber's what she called it... And by God! Us young'uns had ter call the pee pot a chamber or git our God damn necks wrang."

1946, Elizabeth Metzger Howard, Before the Sun Goes Down, page 31:

‘Do you mean ter tell me,’ he growled at the Dursleys, ‘that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin’ abou’ – about ANYTHING?’

1997, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, section IV:


ter

"But he never speaks ter anybody, child—he hain't for years, I guess, except when he just has to, for business, and all that."

1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 8, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC:

‘What about that tea then, eh?’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘I’d not say no ter summat stronger if yeh’ve got it, mind.’


fool

full (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger)

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of follis and folly. Displaced native Old English dwæs.

(literature) A stock character typified by unintelligence, naïveté or lucklessness, usually as a form of comic relief; often used as a source of insight or pathos for the audience, as such characters are generally less bound by social expectations.

Upon opening the door, Trech was suddenly drawn aback by the shocking presence of the armed goon standing directly in front of him. “Yo, what up fool? […]”

2010, G.C. Deuce, From the Gutter to the Grave: An American Hood Novel, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 291:

“What up, fool?” he finally responded. “Not too much; fell asleep watching your boys get their asses kicked,” I told him, referring to the Carolina Cougars, the last team he played for before he got sick.

2012, Peron Long, Livin' Ain't Easy, Urban Books, →ISBN:

Fame leaves out the house and walks to the BP gas station on Alabama Avenue. On the way there he sees his man Mark posted up at the rec center and walks over to holla at him. “What’s up fool?” Mark says while dapping Fame up.

2014, Hitta Lo, Bracing Season I, Kaleidoscopic Publishing, →ISBN:

“What up fool?” Lil Slim said noticing the seriousness in Lil Kilo’s voice. “You ain’t switched up on us have you.” Lil Fresh looked at Lil Kilo like where that come from. “Nigga I’ll neva switch up.” Lil Slim said feeling a little offended.

2018, Keith L. Bell, Drought Season Over: The Sequel, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

(slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular, Hispanic) An informal greeting akin to buddy, dude, or man.


fool

en-verb

fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)

fools (present singular third-person)
fooling (participle present)
fooled (participle past)
fooled (past)

They fool me to the top of my bent.

c. 1599 to 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii.384

(archaic) To make a fool of; to make act the fool.


fool

From Old French fouler (“to mix or mash”).

Coordinate term: mess

an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool

Eton is renowned for its "messes," and "strawberry mess" is Empress of them all, with raspberry mess as a very good second. It does not at all convey the joys of a "mess" to say that it consists of iced fruit and cream, and somewhat resembles a "fool." It is a thing apart, and should be approached with bated breath and unimpaired capacity.

1913, Pearson's Magazine, volume 36, part 2, page 373:

Pellaprat [...] invented the dish [of Eton mess] when a load of over-ripe strawberries needed eating up. His disguise was a fluff of whipped cream and the fool was served with sponge fingers. Somewhere along the line, someone else had the idea of stirring chunks of meringue into the fool at the last moment.

(cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.


Sleeping Beauty

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

In the genetics sense, so called because the transposon was brought back to activity from a long evolutionary sleep.

Alternative form of sleeping beauty (Oxalis corniculata).


kid

en-noun

kid (countable and uncountable, plural kids)

From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare Swedish and Danish kid, German Kitz and Kitze, Albanian kedh and kec.
Sense of child since 1590s as cant, since 1840s in informal use.

der

is that what the kids are calling it these days

I have three pairs of kid gloves. I've had kid mittens before from the Christmas tree, but never real kid gloves with five fingers.

1912, Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs: Letter 3:

Only '90s kids will remember this toy.

He's been living in Los Angeles for years now, but he's a Florida kid.

(informal) A person whose childhood took place in a particular time period or area.

No, kid, you didn't do anything wrong; they did!

Here's looking at you, kid.

1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Rick (Humphrey Bogart):

(in the vocative) Used as a form of address for a child, teenager or young adult.


Velcro

Blend of French velours (“velvet”) + French crochet (“hook”)

blend

A fastener consisting of two strips of fabric, one covered with minute fiber hooks and the other with tiny fiber loops, which stick strongly together but can be pulled apart.


caterpillar

/ˈkætəˌpɪlə/

/ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/

/ˈkætəˌpɪlɚ/

From Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably from Old Northern French catepeluse (Modern French chatte + pileuse (“hairy cat”)), from Late Latin catta + pilōsa. The sense "rapacious, extortionate person" arose by association with obsolete piller (“plunderer”).

Bristow Castle, which they say is held
By Busbie, Bagot, and their Complices,
The Caterpillers of the Commonwealth,
Which I haue sworne to weed, and plucke away.

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 33:

(obsolete) A rapacious, extortionate person preying upon the community.


beauty

en-noun

beauty (countable and uncountable, plural beauties)

→ Cebuano: byuti

From Middle English bewty, bewte, beaute, bealte, from Anglo-Norman and Old French beauté (early Old French spelling biauté), from Vulgar Latin *bellitātem (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fair”); see beau. In this sense, mostly displaced native Old English fæġernes, whence Modern English fairness.

(physics, obsolete) A beauty quark (now called bottom quark).


croc

From the name of the American shoe company, Crocs, Inc. Apparently, this name came to the founders’ mind when they looked at their clogs from the side, and they resembled them a crocodile snout (additionally, the logo features a crocodile). The company states that it “was given the name Crocs™ after the multi-environment, amphibious nature of Crocodiles.” Likely influenced by the name of the material they were originally made from, Croslite.


frog

From frog legs, stereotypical food of the French. Compare French rosbif (“English person”), from roast beef, corresponding term for the English, likewise based on stereotypical food; and Kraut for Germans.

(Canada, offensive) A French-speaking person from Quebec.


chap

Pennsylvania German: Tschaepp (“guy”)

Clipping of chapman (“dealer, customer”) in 16th-century English.

clipping

Who’s that chap over there?

“Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps.”

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:

A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.

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

‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(dated outside UK and Australia) A man, a fellow.


chap

en-verb

chap (third-person singular simple present chaps, present participle chapping, simple past and past participle chapped)

chaps (present singular third-person)
chapping (participle present)
chapped (participle past)
chapped (past)

From Middle English chappen (“to split open, burst, chap”), of uncertain origin. Compare Middle English choppen (“to chop”), Dutch kappen (“to cut, chop, hack”). Perhaps related to chip.

inh

And then it seems that through the open door there came the chapping of a clock.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

The door was shut into my class. I had to chap it and then Miss Rankine came and opened it and gived me an angry look […]

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 35:

(Scotland, Northern England) To strike, knock.


chap

(Internet slang) Clipping of chapter (“division of a text”).


VHS

en-noun

VHS (countable and uncountable, plural VHSes)

Initialism of Vertical Helical Scan, later reinterpreted as Video Home System.

The curt take on VHS is that it is a dead format, a quaint and sham way to watch a movie. Regardless, to date, there are quantities of VHS titles not available on DVD, and that may never be.

2009, Jacques Boyreau, Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box, page 5:

There is, it turns out, much demand for these old VHS tapes, price tags notwithstanding, and despite post-2006 advancements in technology.

2021 February 20, Hannah Selinger, “Who Is Still Buying VHS Tapes?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A type of videotape originally developed by the Japanese company JVC.


nerf

en-verb

nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)

nerfs (present singular third-person)
nerfing (participle present)
nerfed (participle past)
nerfed (past)

From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.

The lightning spell was originally pretty powerful, but in the sequel they nerfed it so it became completely useless.

(transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective.


duck tape

en-noun

duck tape (countable and uncountable, plural duck tapes)

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Originally (from late 19th century) from duck (“a tightly woven fabric”) + tape, due to the make-up of the tape. The adhesive tape now commonly known as "Duck tape" (a trademark in the United States) has its origins in a product first created for the US military during World War II,https://www.duckbrand.com/about and the word "duck" was later associated with the waterproof qualities of this tape, as in the idea of "water off a duck's back".http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/duckvsduct.html
The terms "duck tape" and "duct tape" overlap in modern usage. According to one theory, the modern product was originally called "duck tape". The term "duct tape" was then later applied because of mishearing and/or because the product was used to join together pieces of duct-work. However, this chronology has been questioned due to lack of documented evidence that "duck tape" predates "duct tape" as a name for the modern product.http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/03/14/tale_of_the_tape/ The Duck Brand website itself refers to "Duck Tape® Brand Duct Tape" https://www.duckbrand.com/products/duck-tape, using "Duck tape" as the brand name, and "duct tape" as a generic description of the type of product.

If you can't fix it with duck tape, it's not worth fixing.

(trademark, also used generically) A type of multi-purpose heavy-duty adhesive tape.


asshole

Esshole, Asshole, the hole under the fire to hold ashes.

1775, Tim Bobbin [John Collier], The Miscellaneous Works of Tim Bobbin, Esq., →OCLC, page 68:

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A receptacle under a fire grate for collecting ashes.


chopstick

Apparently a compound of chop + stick, but the sense of the first element is not clear. The eating utensil sense (attested since 1637) is presumably a transfer of sense from the earlier fishing tackle sense (attested from 1615), based on physical resemblance.
The common derivation from Chinese Pidgin English chop(-chop) (“quick”), a supposed calque from Chinese 筷子 (kuàizi, “chopstick”), derived from 快 (kuài, “quick”), is chronologically impossible as Chinese Pidgin English did not come into existence until the 18th century.

der

When was in Hampshire the other day, a chop-stick, who came to my lodging to talk to me about the mode of harvesting and preserving the corn, and who soon diverged into a talk about the Reform Bill, said, "And this cholera morbus, sir, don't you think it's a sort of a shoshoy to frighten us out of the Reform?"

1832 April 11, The Launceston Advertiser, Tasmania, page 119, column 2:

Every horse you possess having no action, or which a day's journey would knock up, (to be found in lots far more numerous than the Chinamen as yet,) ought to be turned out to fatten; when plump, take the animal into the nearest station, occupied by these chopsticks.

1852 March 13, The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, NSW, page 4, column 3:

"How cool is that, Chong? Wolverine is in the house." "Wolver this, you chopstick."

2013, Angelina Martinez, Falling In Love, Bloomington: Author House, page 50:


bloody

en-adj

bloody (comparative bloodier, superlative bloodiest)

bloodier (comparative)
bloodiest (superlative)

From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdag, from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood + -y. Cognate with Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.

All that remained of his right hand after the accident was a bloody stump.

And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall, / Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

O Antony! Begge not your death of vs: / Though now we muſt appeare bloody and cruell, / As by our hands, and this our preſent Acte / You ſee we do: Yet ſee you but our hands, / And this, the bleeding buſineſſe they haue done:

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 119:

There have been bloody battles between the two tribes.

Some bloody paſſion ſhakes your very Frame:

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 336:

I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.

1846 [1845], Frederick Douglass, chapter I, in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, page 8:

The story of Elizabeth Bathory is one of the bloodiest in history.

2007, Lucinda Mallows, Lucy Mallows, Slovakia: The Bradt Travel Guide, page 169:

Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.

1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland

Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.

1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 519:

You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.

2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64:

“You bloody fool, I could′ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.

2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498

With 109km of fixed infrastructure, of which only 50% is utilised, Perry's message is simple: "put more bloody trains on it!"

2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45:

(informal, British, Ireland, Commonwealth, Hawaii, mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier.


bloody

en-adv

bloody (comparative more bloody, superlative most bloody)

more bloody (comparative)
most bloody (superlative)

Walk! Not bloody likely. [Sensation]. I am going in a taxi. [She goes out].

1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act III, page 153:

"Dice are no bloody good," David said.

1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 109:

(informal, Australia, British, India, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, mildly vulgar) Used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or for emphasis.


bloody

en-verb

bloody (third-person singular simple present bloodies, present participle bloodying, simple past and past participle bloodied)

bloodies (present singular third-person)
bloodying (participle present)
bloodied (participle past)
bloodied (past)

(transitive) To demonstrably harm (the cause of an opponent).


sauerkraut

en-noun

sauerkraut (countable and uncountable, plural sauerkrauts)

/ˈsaʊɚˌkɹʌʊt/

Borrowed into English around 1600 from German Sauerkraut, from sauer (“sour, acidic, spoiled”) + Kraut (“herb; cabbage”). Doublet of choucroute.

(countable, obsolete, ethnic slur, offensive, slang) A German person.


Your Highness

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(informal, sarcastic) A sarcastic term of address to anyone who is (or is acting) pompous or bossy.


Jesus Christ

Jesus + Christ; from Middle English Jesu Crist, Jesus Crist, from Latin Iēsus Chrīstus.

Almighty God, give us the grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life (in which thy son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;)

1681, Church of England, The book of common prayer:

(Christianity, Islam, Baháʼí) Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Jewish religious preacher and craftsman (commonly understood to have been a carpenter, see Ancient Greek τέκτων (téktōn, “builder”)) from Galilee, held to be a prophet, teacher and the Messiah, or Christ, in Christianity. Also held to be a prophet in Islam and the Baháʼí Faith.

ܝܶܫܽܘܥ ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ

Yešūʿ M'šīḥāʿ

ܝܼܫܘܿܥ ܡܫܝܼܚܵܐ

Īšōʿ M'šīḥāʿ

ܝܶܫܽܘܥ ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ

Yešūʿ M'šīḥōʿ

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


helluva

Written form of a reduction (relaxed pronunciation) of hell of a.

We had a helluva good time at the party.

(colloquial); (expletive) (A) hell of a; extremely or very.


Your Majesty

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I have heard that Your Majesty wishes to have the great burial on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month and that the court has sent its commissioner to supervise the tomb work. I do not know if a site has yet been chosen. Some say that there are plans to search widely outside of Yung-an county [where the previous Sung imperial tombs were located] for an auspicious site. In my ignorance, I consider this to be a mistake.

1991 [1063 CE], Patricia Buckley Ebrey, quoting Ssu-ma Kuang, “Comabting Heterodoxy and Vulgarity in Weddings and Funerals”, in Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China: A Social History of Writing about Rites, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 72:

(formal) A term of address used in direct address to a monarch of higher rank than a prince, such as a king, queen, emperor, or empress.


arsehole

arsehole (countable and uncountable, plural arseholes)

From Middle English arce-hoole, equivalent to arse + hole. Compare Old English ears-þyrel (“anus”, literally “arse-hole”).

cog

(UK, Ireland, vulgar, uncountable) A variant of the card game big two.


piss

en-noun

piss (countable and uncountable, plural pisses)

From Middle English pisse (noun) and pissen (verb), from Old French pissier, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pīssiāre, probably of echoic origin. Compare Old Norse pissa (“to urinate, piss”).

onomatopoeic

echoic

I'm desperate for a piss!

But the urinal was safe, no unshielded pissing trough, but a nice, modest urinal, with a wall on each side of you so you could have your privacy. … That was one of the best pisses of my life.

1999, Tin House #2 (→ISBN, Win McCormack, Rob Spillman, Elissa Schappell), page 170

Let's dash over to Fisher's for a fifth of that one-fifty-one West Indian. We can't drink this piss, it's degrading.

1974, Donald Newlove, The Drunks, →ISBN, page 33:

‘Want some advice?’ I said. ‘Stay off the piss. You won't want to be handling this kind of thing with a hangover.’

1985, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries 1978-1987, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 140:

(countable and uncountable) Alcoholic beverage, especially of inferior quality.


piss

en-verb

piss (third-person singular simple present pisses, present participle pissing, simple past and past participle pissed)

pisses (present singular third-person)
pissing (participle present)
pissed (participle past)
pissed (past)

onomatopoeic

echoic

"I'll piss this," I thought. "There's only Gary to beat and I beat him easily in both heats."

2018, Carl Fogarty, The World According to Foggy, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, transitive) To achieve easily.


piss

echoic

At times he gets irritable, especially if he believes that something has been misplaced or lost: "Piss oh piss! -- where in the hell does everything go around here!"

1967, Walter Otto Weyrauch, The Law of a Small Group: A Report on the Berkeley Penthouse Experiments with Emphasis on Penthouse V. Parts I and II:

There was nothing left of the sundae except a puddle of white foam muddied by chocolate syrup, with a cherry floating on top. "Oh, piss," she muttered, "the ice cream's melted."

1992, Sandra Brown, Three Complete Novels, Wings, →ISBN:

Fowler was unresponsive when emergency services arrived and was declared dead at the scene. Fowler worked for the mayor's office for the past three years and twice ran unsuccessfully for city council. Police are asking anyone who saw a green Toyota or Honda SUV near the scene of the accident to contact them.' 'Piss!' Melchiori said again. 'He was a friend of mine.'

2014, Michael Wiley, Blue Avenue: First in a noir mystery series set in Jacksonville, Florida, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN:

Well, piss! I can't leave here now. Billy, call into the room and ask one of the girls to ask the Doc if he can guess how much longer it will be.

2022, Terry McGuin, The Dracula Shark, page 179:

(mildly vulgar) Expresses anger, disappointment or dissatisfaction.

pis!

expression of anger, disappointment or dissatisfaction

couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery

I wouldn't piss on someone if they were on fire

not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of

piss on someone's leg and tell them it's raining


bastard

en-noun

bastard (countable and uncountable, plural bastards)

From Middle English bastard, bastarde, from Anglo-Norman bastard, Old French bastart (“illegitimate child”), perhaps via Medieval Latin bastardus, of obscure origin.
Possibly from Frankish *bāst (“marriage, relationship”) + Old French -ard, -art (pejorative suffix denoting a specific quality or condition). Frankish *bāst derives from a North Sea Germanic variety of Proto-Germanic *banstuz (“bond, connection, relationship, marriage with a second woman of lower status”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”) and is related to West Frisian boaste (“marriage, matrimony”), Middle Dutch bast (“lust, heat”), and more distantly to English boose (“cow-stall”). The term probably originally referred to a child from a polygynous marriage of heathen Germanic custom — a practice not sanctioned by the Christian churches.
Alternatively, Old French bastart may have originated from the Old French term fils de bast (“packsaddle son”), meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (medieval saddles often doubled as beds while travelling). However chronology makes this difficult, as bastard is attested in Old French from 1089 (Middle Latin bastardus as early as 1010), yet Old French bast (modern French bât), though attested since 1130 with the meaning of "beast of burden", doesn't acquire the specific meaning of "packsaddle" until the 13c., making it too late to have given rise to the terms bastard and bastardus with this sense. The French Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales supports the Germanic theory further above as being most likely.

unk

obscure

cog

Jarrod: Who are you?
Heath: Your father’s bastard son.

(dated) A person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant.


kebab

From Arabic كَبَاب (kabāb), partly through Urdu, Persian and Turkish kebap. Doublet of cevapi. See the Arabic entry for more.

(slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A Muslim, usually of southern European, Middle Eastern, or North African descent.


pop tart

A genericization of the brand name Pop-Tarts.

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2000 January 29, Peter Sagal (host), Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!, National Public Radio
Carl Kasell will come to their house and cook his signature dish, breakfast à la Edwards, which is two pop tarts and a Benson and Hedges.


coach

→ Czech: kouč

→ Danish: coach

→ Dutch: coach

→ French: coach

→ German: Coach

→ Italian: coach

→ Japanese: コーチ (kōchi)

→ Korean: 코치 (kochi)

→ Malay: koc

→ Polish: coach

→ Spanish: coach

→ Swahili: kocha

→ Swedish: coach

Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi. According to historians, the coach was named after the small Hungarian town of Kocs, which made a livelihood from cart building and transport between Vienna and Budapest.
The meaning "instructor/trainer" is from Oxford University slang (c. 1830) for a "tutor" who "carries" one through an exam; the athletic sense is from 1861.

(rail transport, UK, Australia) A passenger car, either drawn by a locomotive or part of a multiple unit.

կառք

wheeled vehicle drawn by horse power — see also carriage

The commanders all came on board and the council sat in the coach.

1660 May 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 3rd, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC:

(nautical) The forward part of the cabin space under the poop deck of a sailing ship; the fore-cabin under the quarter deck.

We couldn't afford the good tickets, so we spent the flight crammed in coach.

(chiefly US) The part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; the economy section.

(chiefly US) The lower-fare service whose passengers sit in this part of the airplane or train; economy class.


coach

John flew coach to Vienna, but first-class back home.

(chiefly US) Via the part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; via the economy section.


treasure

en-noun

treasure (countable and uncountable, plural treasures)

From Middle English tresour, from Old French tresor (“treasury”), from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure house”). Displaced native Old English goldhord and Old English ġestrēon. Doublet of thesaurus.

der

one man's trash is another man's treasure

one woman's trash is another woman's treasure

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

"Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the chart to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 20, in Treasure Island:

(uncountable) A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc.


AstroTurf

From astro- + turf, from its namesake trademark, in turn a reference to the Astrodome stadium in Houston, the first major sports venue to install artificial turf in 1966. The venue was named by its developer Roy Hofheinz, presumably a reference to the emerging identity of Houston as Space City.
Originally marketed as ChemGrass.

And then there's AstroTurf. Invented in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and patented by Monsanto in 1965, AstroTurf is the world's first synthetic turf used as a sports playing surface, coming to fame—and its name—when it was put into the Houston Astrodome in 1966.

2011, Rick Horrow, Karla Swatek, Beyond the Scoreboard: An Insider's Guide to the Business of Sport, Human Kinetics, →ISBN:

A synthetic material used in sports grounds as a durable substitute for natural grass.


Wi-Fi

en-noun

Wi-Fi (countable and uncountable, plural Wi-Fis)

Coined in analogy to Hi-Fi as a trade name developed for the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (later Wi-Fi Alliance).
Often analyzed as a shortened form of wireless fidelity (similar to how hi-fi is short for high fidelity); this is possibly due to the former slogan of the aforementioned Wi-Fi Alliance, The Standard for Wireless Fidelity.

وَاي فَاي

computing: wireless data communication standard

(networking, uncountable) Any of several standards for short-range wireless data transmission (IEEE 802.11).

The refrigerator cost 1000 more dollars just because it had Wi-Fi, and I'm thinking "this is ridiculous"!

(informal, uncountable) The capability to connect to a Wi-Fi network.


Wi-Fi

en-verb

Wi-Fi (third-person singular simple present Wi-Fis, present participle Wi-Fi-ing, simple past and past participle Wi-Fied)

Wi-Fis (present singular third-person)
Wi-Fi-ing (participle present)
Wi-Fied (participle past)
Wi-Fied (past)

What type of electronics will be immune from being Wi-Fied?

2003 September 15, Scott Bradner, “So why isn't it wireless?,”, in Network World, volume 20, number 37:

The biggest market may be Wi-Fi-ing people's homes.

To Wi-Fi or Not to Wi-Fi?

2004, Jon Edney, William A. Arbaugh, William Arbaugh, Real 802.11 Security: Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i, page XVI:

There was no point in being off the grid if the vehicle you drove was Wi-Fied to it with every turn of the wheels.

2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 10:

The hotel manager even claims he's seen Red Sox problem child Manny Ramirez Wi-Fi-ing in the lobby on his Palm.

2003, Newsweek - Volume 142, Issues 18-25, page 76:

Perhaps someone sees you typing in confidential information while you are "Wi-Fi-ing" in a hotel lobby or a crowded airport waiting area.

2004, Harold Davis, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Wi-Fi Wireless Networking, page 237:

If Addison and Steele were alive and holding court at Starbucks, they'd be Wi-Fi-ing into a joint blog.

2004, Vanity Fair - Issue 524, page 146:


gook

First attested in the 1890s in reference to Filipinos (in particular, it is defined in an 1893 citation in Slang and Its Analogues as referring to prostitutes who followed army camps; it is defined similarly in a 1914 work). The word was used of Nicaraguans during the US military occupation there in the 1910s, and Haitians during the US invasion there, when Herbert Seligman noted in 1920 that "The Haitians … are nicknamed 'Gooks'".
Other early uses in the 1920 and 30s still refer to people from the Philippines (a 1921 work refers to the Philippines as "Gook Land"), and the term seems to be connected to goo-goo (“a Philippine person”), for which a variety of etymologies have been proposed; see that entry for more. (A later folk etymology suggests that during the Korean War, North Korean soldiers would shout Korean 美國 (Miguk, “America”) at Americans, who interpreted it as "me gook", as if identifying themselves as "gooks"; this ignores the many earlier examples of the word outside Korea.) Gook was used of Pacific Islanders by World War II, and Koreans and Vietnamese people by the time of the 1950s and 60s US military interventions there, which cemented the shift to meaning "Asian".

A few days later he had a 'damned good party' at NORMASH, drinking brandy, and he then 'beat up a Gook [Korean] village.' This resulted in an 'awful hangover all day', […] Later, he walked back to his unit, alone at three o'clock in the morning, having 'swiped a Gook torch.'

2002, Colin Baker, Wild Goose: The Life and Death of Hugh Van Oppen, pages 59–60:

(slang, vulgar, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of (South) East Asian descent; originally a native of the Philippines, but now especially:

(US, derogatory) A Korean person (especially during the Korean War).

Of course, I've got so many confirmed kills I lost count. Nobody believes me because the gooks drag off their dead.

1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 57:

(US, derogatory) A Vietnamese insurgent in the Vietnam War, particularly a member of the Vietcong.


Jim Crow

/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/

From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.

(obsolete, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A Black man.


babe

From Middle English babe, a variant of earlier baban, perhaps from Old English *baba (“boy, child”), from Proto-West Germanic *babō, from Proto-Germanic *babô, reduplicated variant of *ba-, *bō- (“father, brother, close male relation”).
cognates and related terms
Related to Old Frisian bobba (“child”) (whence North Frisian babbe, babb, babe (“child”)), Old High German Babo (a male forename), see boy. Otherwise, origin obscure. Compare mama, dada, papa. Welsh baban (“baby”), believed by Skeat to be a mutation of maban, a diminutive of mab (“son”), is probably rather a borrowing from English. Cognate also with English bub.

out of the mouths of babes and sucklings

Hey, babe, how's about you and me getting together?

But, Babe, you don't have to meet 'em if you don't want to.

1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post:

(endearing) Darling (term of endearment).


kike

Thought to be from Yiddish קײַקל (kaykl, “circle”). In the early 20th century, non-English-speaking Jews that immigrated to the United States would sign papers with a circle as opposed to a more common X. The latter symbol was associated by these Jews with the Christian cross, a symbol that represented to them millennia of persecution. This is the dominant etymological theory, but there are others, in particular a contraction from the documented phrase ‘Ikey-Kikey’, an American-origin reduplication of Ikey, British-English pejorative for Jews after the prevalence of the name Isaac.

"Now you quit kidding me! What's the nice little name?" "Oh, it ain't so darn nice. I guess it's kind of kike. But my folks ain't kikes. My papa's papa was a nobleman in Poland, and there was a gentleman in here one day, he was kind of a count or something--"

(US, offensive, ethnic slur, religious slur) A Jew.


auntie

Tok Pisin: anti

Torres Strait Creole: anti

→ Burmese: အန်တီ (anti)

⇒ Chinese: 安娣 (āndī)

→ Pennsylvania German: Aendi

→ Scottish Gaelic: antaidh

→ Yoruba: àǹtí


madame

Borrowed from French madame, from Old French ma dame (“my lady”). Doublet of madam and Madonna.


pasty

en-adj

pasty (comparative pastier, superlative pastiest)

pastier (comparative)
pastiest (superlative)

He smoothed his tailored suit and red tie. "Boy, does it look like I ain't rich now? My pockets are already full of paper! Why the fuck would I want to risk doing business with some pasty cracker? For all I know, you a cop!"

2008, John Lacombe, Winter Games, page 184:

“So, snow bunny, what should black women do? How do we...oh, how do I say this... cure our brothas of this widespread, pasty disease?” I didn't reply. Again, I tried to step away. Again, she grabbed my arm.

2010, James W. Lewis, Sellout, page 107:

(slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) Whiteskinned.


gib

Only gib me some few shingles an’ a flo’, an’ dar yer hev jes ez good a church ez de ’postles ebber hed ter preach in.

1880, Albion W. Tourgee, “Red Wing”, in Bricks Without Straw, New York, N.Y.: Fords, Howard, & Hulbert; London: Sampson Low & Co.; Montreal, Que.: Dawson Bros., page 87:

I has gib you licker an’ I has gib you music, an’ wife, dar, is cookin’ supper fur you, an’ it ain’ no mo’ den reason dat I’d wanter know whut we gwine git fur it.[…]“Yo’ supper is done an’ ef you’ll jest gib me room I’ll fix de table,” the woman remarked, taking the bread off the griddle.

1896, Opie Read, chapter VIII, in The Jucklins, Chicago, Ill.: Laird & Lee, pages 105 and 107:

De kindest heartedest little boy in de worl’ would forget to gib his cat its dinner if he had a new toy to play wid, or a new suit o’ party dress to put on to show his poppy when he come home.

1902, John Kendrick Bangs, Bikey the Skicycle & Other Tales of Jimmieboy, New York, N.Y.: Riggs Publishing Company, page 181:

Please, Mars’ Gineral, do gib me dime fer snack.

1938, Hervey Allen, Action at Aquila, New York, N.Y.: Farrar & Rinehart, page 98:

Don’t your mommy gib you bacoln?

1988, Lynda Barry, The Good Times Are Killing Me, published 2020, →ISBN:

“My daddy doesn’t gib me guns, ’cause he doesn’t like dem. But Pop will gib me one when I gets ten.”

2002 July, Patricia Sprinkle, Who Invited the Dead Man?, Signet, →ISBN:

“Maybe you could jus’ gib me one, then,” she suggested sweetly.

2007, Victoria Pade, A Family for the Holidays, Silhouette Books, →ISBN, page 12:

Hooman you is nice, / You gib me bath so I no hab lice.

2021 March, Srashti Behure, Unconditional: Pets Over Peeps, Spectrum of Thoughts (an affiliate of FanatiXx), →ISBN:

“Gib us our toy bacc!” reads the caption accompanying this dog video [by @lifewithkleekai].

2022 February 8, Sohini Sengupta, “Dogs react to human freezing their favourite toys. Watch hilarious video”, in Hindustan Times:

“I be model for fotos, now you gib treats”

2022 February 10, Steve Rouge, “The Cutest Puppies of the Day”, in Medium:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling


arse

Sranan Tongo: lasi

From Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Dutch aars and German Arsch), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érsos (“backside, buttocks”) (according to Julius Pokorny and Carl Darling Buck).

inh

could eat the arse out of a low flying duck

think the sun shines out of someone's arse

“You're an arse,” Ellen said. ¶ “Please? You must like something about me …?” ¶ “I do. You're an arse. I just told you that. I feel comfy with you, because you're such an arse.”

2007, Martin Harrison, The Judgement of Paris, page 282:

He looked at me, was just about to call me an arse, when I told him, “You throw it too hard. Try and think of the javelin hitting the target before you throw it. Let it all go through your mind first, see it, feel it, then throw it.” ¶ “Good advice, you arse,” he said and tried again.

2007, L. A. Wilson, The Silurian: Book One: The Fox and the Bear, page 103:

Felnigg. What a suppurating arse. Look at him. Arse.

2011, Joe Abercrombie, The Heroes, unnumbered page:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory, slang) A stupid, pompous, arrogant, mean or despicable person.

(vulgar, slang, uncountable) Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.


arse

(euphemistic)

(Commonwealth) An expression of frustration.


albo

(US, offensive, ethnic slur) An Albanian.


bugger

From Middle English bougre (“heretic”), from Old French bougre, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus (“Bulgar”), from Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ, “Bulgarian”), used in designation of heretics (especially the Bogomils, who arose around the 10th century AD in the First Bulgarian Empire), to whom various sexual practices such as anal sex were ascribed. Doublet of Bulgar.

der

What is that little bugger up to now?

(slang, UK, US) A whippersnapper, a tyke.


ma'am

The noun is a contraction of madam, and represents a regional pronunciation of that word in the United Kingdom. The verb is derived from the noun.

– Sergeant, have the platoon in formation and ready for inspection at 0800.

– Aye aye, ma'am.

A respectful term of address to a woman of higher rank or position.


negress

From French négresse, from nègre. Equivalent to Negro + -ess.

Directly they were trotted off in their little pea-green and gilt carriage, guardian negress and all, I went into the shop, about which I had all this time been loafingly prowling, and called, clapping my hands, for some violet sherbet, […]

1860, Walter Thornbury, Turkish Life and Character, volume 1, page 137:

1995, A. J. Verdelle, The Good Negress (book title)

(dated, literary, now offensive and an ethnic slur) A black female.


madder

en-verb

madder (third-person singular simple present madders, present participle maddering, simple past and past participle maddered)

madders (present singular third-person)
maddering (participle present)
maddered (participle past)
maddered (past)


madam

From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.

Mrs Grey wondered if the outfit she was trying on made her look fat. The sales assistant just said, “It suits you, madam”.

Later, Mrs Grey was sitting in her favourite tea shop. “Would madam like the usual cream cakes and patisserie with her tea?” the waitress asked.

“Nothing, madam, but a tumbler of wine with a little water—thank you, madam. Mesdames, great events have occurred since I left you.”

1857, Charles Reade, White Lies. A Story., volume I, London: Trübner & Co., […], page 276:

I leaned on the hoe, in classic pose, and watched the cowbird try to bust his buttons in that agonizing split whistle which is his serenade to the madam. Perhaps I should say to the mesdames, for this fellow is the Don Juan of the feathered world, with no moral standards and a distinct aversion to anything that resembles domestic ties.

1951 April, John H. Day, “The Breath of April”, in Pennsylvania Game News, volume XXII, number 1, Pennsylvania Game Commission, page 27, column 1:

“[…] This size, madam!” Certainly, the mesdames would not have been interested.

After two years, Madam X was busy enough to take on a partner: Madam Z, aged twenty. Both regularly scouted new marks and told Stead that ‘nurse girls’ (nannies) were the best: ‘there are any number in [the parks] every morning and all are virgins’. Selling maidenhoods was their speciality. ‘Our gentlemen want maids,’ they said, ‘not damaged articles.’ ‘Come,’ he said to the mesdames, ‘what do you say to delivering me five [girls] on Saturday next? . . . Could you deliver me a parcel of maids, for me to distribute among my friends?’ Within a fortnight, the Mesdames had supplied Stead with seven girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen.

2012, Bridget O’Donnell, Inspector Minahan Makes a Stand: The Missing Girls of England, Picador, →ISBN:

A polite form of address for a woman or lady.

ခင်ဗျာ

used by males to address both males and females

ရှင်

used by females to address both males and females


dad

From Early Modern English dadd, dadde (circa 1500), undoubtedly older, from unrecorded Middle English *dadde, of uncertain ultimate origin.
* Perhaps of Celtic origin, compare Welsh and Breton tad (from Proto-Brythonic *tad), Old Irish data; and possibly related to Russian дя́дя (djádja, “uncle”) and/or Russian де́душка (déduška, “grandfather”), all imitative. In Welsh, when subject to soft mutation (which occurs in vocative contexts, among others), tad becomes dad.
* Perhaps imitative of a child's first uttered syllables da, da.
* Possibly from a metathetic variation of unrecorded Old English *ætta, *atta (“father”), from Proto-West Germanic *attō, from Proto-Germanic *attô ("father, forefather"; whence also North Frisian ate, aatj, taatje, tääte (“father; dad”), Middle High German tate (“father, dad”) (whence German Tate (“dad”), Bavarian tatte (“dad”), Cimbrian tatta (“dad”)), Icelandic táta (“dad”)), from Proto-Indo-European *átta (“father”), whence Sanskrit तत (tata, “father”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

gloss

(slang) Used to address an older adult male


stoopid

en-adj

stoopid (comparative stoopider or more stoopid, superlative stoopidest or most stoopid)

stoopider (comparative)
more stoopid (comparative)
stoopidest (superlative)
most stoopid (superlative)

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

Perhaps imitative of the American pronunciation of stupid, or implying the referent would spell the word that way.

Did you read what he wrote? How stoopid was that?

(humorous) Eye dialect spelling of stupid, used as an emphatic form of the word.


dude

American Speech
James Caldwall
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Wellcome Library
dude

Uncertain, though likely a clipping of doodle (“fool, simpleton, mindless person”), perhaps with reference to the fashionable “Yankee Doodle dandy” in the 18th-century lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle”; the word is first attested in 1883 as a New York City slang term of contempt for a “fastidious man, fop”. If so, then related to German Low German Dudeldop, Dudendop (“fool, dunce”), Saterland Frisian Duddigegen (“idiot”).
It has also been suggested that the word is derived from dudes (“old rags”; compare duds) and dudesman (“scarecrow”), or possibly related to dawdle; It has also been suggested the word derives from the Irish dúid.
The common claim that the term derives from (or is) a word for a camel's foreskin (or some other vulgar thing, like a hair on a cow, horse, donkey, or elephant's bottom) is false.

clipping

Dude! You finally called!

And, feckin' A, you ain't never gonna guess this one—dude! […] Thinking this is a little worse than me watching porn. Dude.

2011, Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever: A Novel (The Fever Series; 5), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN:

(slang) A term of address, usually for a man, conveying awe, excitement, surprise, annoyance, etc.


doona

Originally a product name, derived from Danish dyne /dyːnə/. Trademark owned by the Tontine Group.

He had put the doona on sideways. My feet were sticking out.

1983, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 66:

Lena pulled the doona over her head.

Doonas can be made of goose feathers, wool or synthetics. Wash them twice a year or even more if you sweat a lot. You can tell it′s time for a wash when the fibres are packed down and lumpy, or the doona smells.

2011, Shannon Lush, Jennifer Fleming, Spotless: Room-by-Room Solutions to Domestic Disasters, unnumbered page:

(Australia) A padded blanket used as a cover in bed; a duvet.


doona

“I doona ken how he found us,” he muttered darkly.

2005, Karen Marie Moning, Spell of the Highlander, page 122:

“Are you talking to those cats again? Do you really think they listen? Do you really think they understand?”
“I doona know, Grandma. And I doona care.”

2005, Harold Cheney, Jack of Tabbyshire: Jack of Tabbyshire and Other Grandfather Tales, page 9:

“Oh, and doona go near the ruins or the castle when I leave,” he said, picking up the book and heading for the door.

2007, Margo Maguire, A Warrior′s Taking, page 286:


office

Tok Pisin: opis

→ Belarusian: о́фіс (ófis)

→ Bulgarian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Cebuano: opis

→ Chichewa: ofesi

→ Central Dusun: upis

→ Hindi: ऑफ़िस (ŏfis)

→ Iban: opis

→ Japanese: オフィス

→ Marshallese: wōpij

→ Malay: opis

→ Russian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Scottish Gaelic: oifis

→ Swahili: afisi

→ Tausug: upis

→ Ukrainian: о́фіс (ófis)

Microsoft Office
office (disambiguation)

From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)).
The use in reference to office software is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office.

zyrë

room(s) or building used for non-manual work

Giving the office—is when you suffer any person, who may stand behind your chair, to look over your hand.

1803, Sporting Magazine, number 21, page 327:

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Where Silas Linden Comes into His Own”, in The Land of Mist, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published 1926, →OCLC, [https://archive.org/details/landofmist0000doyl/page/" […] What is there for me in it?" "Not a shilling." "What? Wasn't it I that gave the information? Where would you have been if I had not given you the office?"/mode/1up page " […] What is there for me in it?" "Not a shilling." "What? Wasn't it I that gave the information? Where would you have been if I had not given you the office?"]:

(figuratively, slang) Inside information.


mac

(UK, US, Canada, Australia, slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Scottish descent, used in driving culture to denigrate someone for poor/slow/amateurish driving responses, a reference to the frugality of Scottish people.


Jap

Shortened from Japanese, attested as a noun since 1872, and adjectivally since 1878. Compare Nip (shortened from Nippon).

He petered out under Pitty's savage look: Do you speak Jap? Do you understand the world from inside those bastards' slanty-eyed little head-lopping poem-writing minds?

2007, Les A. Murray, Fredy Neptune, page 239:

He said it in Japanese, which surprised the boy and stunned Cullen.
“You speak Jap?” asked Cullen.
“Looks like it, doesn't it?”

(offensive, slang, ethnic slur) The Japanese language.


Jap

Among our Japs on board are two returning from Italy, where they have been with silk-worms' eggs, on cards, to sell. This has become a great speculation, and the Japs are going into it with zeal. The Japs almost always—always when they can—take cabin passages ; the Chinese seldom, or never.

1872, James Brooks, A Seven Months' Run, Up, Down, Around the World:

We had to kill 110,000 Japanese before we took Okinawa, and when the officers of the Japanese are killed- or defeated- they commit suicide. They cost us 12,000 men and they had to kill 110,000 Japs. And it's a terrible thing- don't know what you're gonna do with any crazy outfit like that except all you can do is to destroy them, and that's too bad.

1964, Harry S. Truman, 1:38 from the start, in MP2002-288 Former President Truman Discusses the Battle of Okinawa, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:

American officers have observed how Chinese troops stationed at American air bases have frequently refused to shoot at Japanese raiding planes. Asked by an American officer for the reason for this behavior, a Chinese officer at Lao-ho-k’ou air base in Hupeh answered (November 1944): “Well you see, if we shot down a Jap plane, the Japs would be angry and would take revenge and return and bomb the city and do a lot of damage.”

1968, Lyman P. Van Slyke, editor, The Chinese Communist Movement: A Report of the United States War Department, July 1945, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 90:

(derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur, US) A Japanese person.


Jap

A soldier might grab his rifle and batter his way to the heart of some Jap position. Back home they gave him all sorts of medals but his companions dismissed him as the poor bastard who finally went Asiatic.

1951, James Albert Michener, The Voice of Asia, page 6:

(derogatory, ethnic slur) Japanese; of or pertaining to Japan or its people.


mummy

en-noun

mummy (countable and uncountable, plural mummies)

From Middle English mummie, from Anglo-Norman mumie, from Middle French momie, from Medieval Latin mumia, from Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ), from Persian مومیا (mumyâ), from موم (mum, “wax”). Doublet of mumijo.

der

Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ)

For many, mummies fascinate more than repel. Our horrific connotations lie not so much with the mummy itself, but in associated fears. The mummy serves, of course, as a general reminder of our own mortality and our fear of death, but this alone is not enough to make it a monster.

2007, S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, volume 1, page 376:

(countable, by extension) A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a stock character in horror films.


damn

en-verb

damn (third-person singular simple present damns, present participle damning, simple past and past participle damned)

damns (present singular third-person)
damning (participle present)
damned (participle past)
damned (past)
damn (infinitive)

From Middle English dampnen, from Old French damner, from Latin damnāre (“to condemn, inflict loss upon”), from damnum (“loss”).

der

I’m afraid that if I speak out on this, I’ll be damned as a troublemaker.

To put out of favor; to ruin; to label negatively.

осъ́ждам

to put out of favor; to ruin; to label negatively


abo

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(Australia, offensive, ethnic slur, slang) An Aboriginal person.


lass

term-label

(archaic except UK, dialectal, informal or poetic)

From Middle English las, lasce, lasse (“female infant or child; young woman”), probably from Old Norse laskwa (“unmarried”, adjective).
cognates
* Scots lass, lassie

der

As fair art thou, my bonie laſs, / So deep in luve am I; / And I will luve thee ſtill, my Dear, / Till a' the ſeas gang dry.

[1794, Robert Burns, “A Red, Red Rose”, in Songs, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, volume IV, Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] James M‘Kie, published 1869, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 210:

"Hi, Juno, lass—hi, old girl; down, Daph, down," said Wardle, caressing the dogs.

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “A Pleasant Day, with an Unpleasant Termination”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 188:

(Scotland, familiar) A term of address for a woman, or a female animal.


magic wand

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

Stealthily, she slid her nightstand drawer open, located the knee-high sock and pulled out her magic wand vibrator, ready to go with new batteries.

2017 October 17, Rachelle Ayala, Playing Catch, Rachelle Ayala:

The vibration wasn't as strong as that of her magic wand, but she slid the tip up and down the valley of her sex.

2020 July 21, Lila Dubois, Vienna Bargain, Farm Boy Press, →ISBN:

genericized trademark
genericized trademark

(genericized trademark) A long vibrator with a vibrating rubber head; the Hitachi Magic Wand or any similar sex toy.


faggot

From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). Perhaps from a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Latin fascis (“bundle of wood”). Compare also Old High German fazza (“bundle, load, burden”). Doublet of fagotto. See also: fag.
The senses relating to persons, though possibly originating as an extension of the sense "bundle of sticks", may have been reinforced by faygele, from Yiddish פֿייגעלע (feygele, “homosexual”, literally “little bird”), related to English fowl.

der

(US, Canada, derogatory, offensive) An annoying or inconsiderate person.

The Glasgow Herald thought that his attack on the faggots was too serious […]

1973, Ellen Reid Gold, Gladstone in Midlothian: A Rhetorical Analysis of His 1879 Campaign, page 114:

(UK, Ireland, historical, possibly now offensive) A faggot voter.


blacky

[I]t was agreed that two double beds were in requisition: — one for the host and hostess — and the other for the loving nigger and his wife, who it plainly appeared, had no inclination to be separated. Our hope was in a double bed — the one which the blacky and his fairer half looked at with a longing eye — but out of which he had no idea of turning: […]

1836, Pedestres (pseud.), Sir Clavileno Woodenpeg (knight of Snowdon, pseud.), A pedestrian tour of thirteen hundred and forty-seven miles through Wales and England (page 269)

Apropos of Van Balen, an artist who painted me lately had painted a blackamoor praying; and not filling his canvas, stuffed in his little girl aside of a blacky gaping at him unmeaningly; and then did not know what to call it.

1942, Eva Beatrice Dykes, The Negro in English Romantic Thought, page 91:

(informal, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.


tabloid

From tabl(et) + -oid, originally created as a registered trademark by Burroughs, Wellcome & Company. See the Etymology section of the Wikipedia article "Tabloid".

‘It’s those tabloids!’ Conroy stamped his foot feebly as he blew his nose. ‘They’ve knocked me out. I used to be fit once.’

1911, Rudyard Kipling, In the Same Boat:

"Tabloids and duty!" says the doctor, and the sufferer sighs with relief.

1914 October 11, The Sunday Times, Perth, Australia, page 1, column 9:

(now rare) A compressed portion of drugs, chemicals, etc.; a tablet, a pill.

"A public school in Moperville, where the local newspaper is sold in neighboring towns with all the regard of a tabloid. We've got a reputation to protect! We can only report on confirmed monsters, like mega hogs, or Bigfoot!"

2009 January 20, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009:

Train operating companies get plenty of column inches in the tabloids, usually for negative reasons. Happily, Southeastern is worthy of praise for having made The Sun for something positive.

2024 February 21, Nick Brodrick, “Inclusion and development for all”, in RAIL, number 1003, page 62:

(publishing) A newspaper having pages half the dimensions of a broadsheet format, especially characterized as favouring stories of a sensational or popular nature over serious news.

таблоид

newspaper that favours stories of sensational nature


tabloid

tabloid journalism

I watched your 6 o'clock news today; it's straight tabloid. You had a minute and a half of that lady riding a bike naked in Central Park; on the other hand, you had less than a minute of hard national and international news.

1976, Paddy Chayefsky, Network, spoken by Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway):

Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.

2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:


Jacky

(Australia, ethnic slur, offensive) An Aboriginal.


fotograf

ILLUSTRATED / With Fotografs / By J. Doody, the Sourdough Fotografer

1916, “Platinum Bill” [pseudonym; Wilfrid Robert Smith], Under the Northern Lights, Portland, Ore.: The Columbia Printing Co., title page:

(nonstandard) Eye dialect spelling of photograph.


maestro

Borrowed from Italian maestro, from Latin magister (“master”). Doublet of magister, master, and meister.


gentleman

Chinese Pidgin English: gentleman

→ Danish: gentleman

→ Esperanto: ĝentlemano

→ French: gentleman

desctree

→ Russian: джентльмен (džentlʹmen)
→ Armenian: ջենտլմեն (ǰentlmen)
→ Georgian: ჯენტლმენი (ǯenṭlmeni)

→ Mohegan-Pequot: gundermon

→ Polish: dżentelmen

→ Portuguese: gentleman

→ Spanish: gentleman

→ Yiddish: דזשענטעלמען (dzhentelmen)

[ˈd͡ʒɛɾ̃.ɫ̩.mən]

From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.

Being a gentleman, Robert was entitled to shove other commoners into the gongpit but he still had to jump out of the way of the knights to avoid the same fate himself.

And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d:
And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes,
Share equally the gold that bought their liues,
And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

But when Adam delued, and Eue ſpan,
VVho was then a Gentleman?

1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

“[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(chiefly historical) A man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of property) who does not work for a living but has no official status in a peerage; (UK law) an armiferous man ranking below a knight.


Paki

Either a clipping of Pakistani or a back-formation from Pakistan. Doublet of Pak.

Their byword is Aggro (Aggravation) and their crucial enemies are hippies, homosexuals and Pakis (Pakistanis or Indians).

1970 March 29, Nik Cohn, “England's New Teen Style Is Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Paragraph 2, DPP v Collins ([2006] 1 WLR 2223)
In these telephone calls and recorded messages the respondent, who held strong views on immigration and asylum policy and the provision of public support to immigrants and applicants for asylum, ranted and shouted and made reference to "Wogs", "Pakis", "Black bastards" and […] "Niggers".

(UK, Canada, by extension) Anyone whose origins are perceived to be from South Asia/the Indian subcontinent.


Paki

(British, Canada, derogatory, ethnic slur) Pakistani, or perceived to be Pakistani.


mace

From Middle English mace, borrowed from Old French mace, mache, from Vulgar Latin *mattia, *mattea, matia, (compare Italian mazza, Spanish maza), probably from Proto-West Germanic *mattjō (“cutting tool, hoe”).

der

A long baton used by some drum majors to keep time and lead a marching band. If this baton is referred to as a mace, by convention it has a ceremonial often decorative head, which, if of metal, usually is hollow and sometimes intricately worked.


chimp

(offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.


baggy

en-adj

baggy (comparative baggier, superlative baggiest)

baggier (comparative)
baggiest (superlative)

→ French: baggy

Of clothing, very loose-fitting, so as to hang away from the body.

Pop historian Jon Savage listens to the best of the Stone Roses and their contemporaries – from Baby Ford to the Sabres of Paradise – and creates the perfect set of baggy playlists

2011 October 18, Jon Savage, “Stone Roses reunion: three baggy playlists”, in The Guardian:

The Birmingham band – now a five-piece after multi-instrumentalist James Balmont joined them – have ditched the loose and baggy guitar pop of 2013’s Where the Heaven Are We? in favour of psych-pop that contorts itself into pulsing Balearic acid house and motorik rhythms.

2015 October 1, Tshepo Mokoena, “Swim Deep: Mothers review – baggy indie kids embrace psych-pop”, in The Guardian:

(music) Of or relating to a British music genre of the 1980s and 1990s, influenced by Madchester and psychedelia and associated with baggy clothing.

a baggy book

(figurative) Of writing, etc.: overwrought; flabby; having too much padding.


baggy

I said dad you're a shabby / You run around and groove like a baggy / You're only here just out of habit

1990, “Kinky Afro”, in Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, performed by Happy Mondays:

(UK) A member of the 1980/90s British music and fashion movement.


homeboy

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

20th century United States African-American urban slang. Originated from travelers to metropolitan areas derived from American English as a blend of hometown + boy. However, modern use is mostly by African-Americans and Latinos in the United States.

When the boy next door; Don't want to be my homeboy no more; Saw something that I never saw before; I think he wants to be my baby

(colloquial) Someone, particularly a male acquaintance, from one’s hometown.

(colloquial, African-American Vernacular) A close friend or fellow member of a youth gang.


homeboy

head

homeboy (third-person singular, masculine, nominative or objective case)

en-pron

(1:38) If homeboy’s coming through with these, it’s quiet. Yeah no, it’s quiet for him. But, like, if he comes through with, y’know, these; you got some air maxes out here, you got some Jordans. Homeboy’s gonna, like, get it.

2017 October 2, Complex (@Complex), YouTube:

Homeboy rafikied a peacock with a squeegee.

2023 February 1, Fiona’s Videos 🎬 (@fiona_videos), Twitter:

He's talking about the jumpscare warnings in Dead Space. The ones you can turn off. Homeboy takes gaming way too fucking seriously.

2023 January 31, IStandWithVic Posting Their L's Online (@ISWV_Losers), Twitter:

He hit homeboy in his junk

2023 January 28, Jovani Vasquez (@JovaniVasquez25), Twitter:

Should’ve listen to homeboy

2023 January 28, LaughTalkTV (@LaughTalkTV), Twitter:

(African-American Vernacular, slang) he or him


granny

The suitcase was old. The brown leather was battered and scuffed. Two hanks of clothesline had been wrapped around it and tied in large, clownish grannies.

1977, Stephen King, Children of the Corn:


Kraut

From German Kraut (“cabbage”), alluding to the use of cabbage as an ingredient in German cuisine (namely sauerkraut). First use appears c. 1833-1837, but popularized during the First and Second World Wars.

Those Krauts can't hurt you anymore. The only ones left are dead or dying.

1991, Art Spiegelman, Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began, New York: Pantheon Books, page 112:

(ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory, slang) A German.


pal

→ Afrikaans: pêl

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
Borrowed from Angloromani pal (“brother, friend”), from Romani phral (“brother”), from Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother”). Doublet of bhai, brother, frater, and friar.

doublet

Don't you threaten me, pal – I'll report you to the police.

(colloquial) An informal term of address, often used ironically in a hostile way.


yew

A spinoff, “Major Crimes,” starring “Battlestar Galactica” veteran Mary McDonnell and a number of “Closer” cast members, premieres in August. Sedgwick won’t be among them, swapping Brenda’s syrupy “thank yew” for an upbeat “buh-bye now” to her co-workers.

2012 July 1, T.L. Stanley, “No more crimes for her to solve”, in Los Angeles Times:


orc

→ Catalan: orc

→ Czech: ork

→ Danish: ork

→ Dutch: ork

→ Estonian: örk

→ Finnish: örkki

→ French: orc

→ Georgian: ორკი (orḳi)

→ Greek: ορκ (ork)

→ Hungarian: ork

→ Icelandic: orki

→ Japanese: オーク (ōku)

→ Korean: 오크 (okeu)

→ Latvian: orks

→ Lithuanian: orkas

→ Marathi: ऑर्क (ŏrka)

→ Norwegian: ork, orc

→ Polish: ork

→ Portuguese: orc

→ Romanian: orc

→ Russian: орк (ork)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ork / орк

→ Swedish: ork

→ Ukrainian: орк (ork)

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
J. R. R. Tolkien
orc

Probably from Italian orco (“man-eating giant”); later revived by J. R. R. Tolkien, partly after Old English orc, which he took to mean "demon". Both are from Latin Orcus (“the underworld; the god Pluto”). Doublet of ogre and Orcus.
Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian орк (ork, “evil monstrous humanoid creature; orc”) or Russian орк (ork), both from the English word and possibly under the influence of Russian у́рка (úrka, “criminal”, prison slang). Popularized in English in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

m+

(by extension, Internet slang, ethnic slur) A Russian person.


Romeo

From Italian Romeo, from Ancient Greek Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos, “Roman”).

der

A male given name from the Romance languages.


bro

head

bro (third-person singular, masculine, nominative or objective case)

desc

→ Arabic: بْرُو (brō), بْرُوه (brō, brōh) (slang)

→ Italian: bro (slang)

→ Russian: бро (bro) (slang)

→ Spanish: bro (slang)

→ Ukrainian: бро (bro) (slang)

→ Vietnamese: bro (slang)

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
Clipping of brother, Cf. scro.

Bro said he finna go off today

You gotta go up to bro and say, "I know what you mean"

(African-American Vernacular) A person previously mentioned, usually male. Chiefly equivalent to he and him.

samideano

male comrade or friend; one who shares one’s ideals


brownie

en-noun

brownie (countable and uncountable, plural brownies)

→ Belarusian: бра́ўні (bráŭni)

→ Chinese: 布朗尼 (bùlǎngní)

→ French: brownie

→ German: Brownie

→ Hungarian: brownie

→ Irish: donnóg (calque)

→ Italian: brownie

→ Japanese: ブラウニー (buraunī)

→ Lithuanian: braunis

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: brownie

→ Polish: brownie

→ Portuguese: brownie

→ Russian: бра́уни (bráuni)

→ Kazakh: брауни (brauni)

→ Spanish: brownie

→ Thai: บราวนี (bpraao-níi)

→ Turkish: brownie, browni, brovni

→ Welsh: browni

From brown + -ie (diminutive suffix). In folkloric sense, originally Scots.

(ethnic slur, offensive) A person with brown skin.


bogan

Unknown. First appeared in Australia in the 1980s. Possibly in reference to supposedly unsophisticated people from remote outback places such as the Bogan River or Bogan Gate (cf. dubbo from Dubbo).

(New Zealand, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Anglo-Celtic member of a lower socioeconomic group, stereotypically classified as wearing black jumpers or black concert T-shirts.

westy

Australia (esp. Sydney), NZ (esp. Auckland)


az

The whole legiſlature likewize acts az a court for the trial of public delinquents.

1790, Noah Webster, A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings, pages 340–341:


slut

From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet, hail”), related to Proto-West Germanic *slaut (“puddle, ditch”). Compare Dutch slodder and slet, dialectal Swedish slata (“idle woman”), Norwegian sludd (“sleet”), and the dialectal Norwegian slutr (“sleet, impure liquid”). Doublet of sleet.

cog

(obsolete) A rag soaked in a flammable substance and lit for illumination.


scrap

en-noun

scrap (countable and uncountable, plural scraps)

From Middle English scrappe, from Old Norse skrap, from skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb-, *skrep- (“to engrave”).

(ethnic slur, offensive) A Hispanic criminal, especially a Mexican or one affiliated with the Sureno gang.


doll

doll (plural dolls or (Internet slang) dollz)

desc

→ Kashubian: dolka (Canada, United States, New Zealand)

From Doll, a popular pet form of Dorothy.

The signals are on a three-doll bracket post; one doll carries two [signal] arms, one above the other.

1943 March and April, “Notes and News: Peculiar Distant Signals on L.N.E.R”, in Railway Magazine, page 116:

(rail transport) A short signal post mounted on a bracket mounted on the main signal post, or on a signal gantry.


shite

en-noun

shite (usually uncountable, plural shites)

From the Middle English shite, schite, scīte (“excrement”), cognate with Middle Low German schīte, Middle High German schīze, Dutch schijt. Compare Middle English shitel, scitel, scytel (“dung, excrement”), from Old English sċitel. More at shit. Doublet of scheisse.

That’s a load of shite.

Look at all this shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) Shit; trash; rubbish; nonsense

He's a useless shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, derogatory, uncommon) A foolish or deceitful person.


shite

en-adj

shite (comparative more shite, superlative most shite)

more shite (comparative)
most shite (superlative)

The film was utter shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) Bad; awful; shit.


shite

Shite! I left my wallet at home.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) An expression of annoyance or dismay.


shite

en-verb

shite (third-person singular simple present shites, present participle shiting, simple past shited or shit or shat, past participle shited or shitten)

shites (present singular third-person)
shiting (participle present)
shited (past)
shit (past)
shat (past)
shited (participle past)
shitten (participle past)

From Middle English schiten, from Old English sċītan (“to defecate, shit”), from Proto-West Germanic *skītan, from Proto-Germanic *skītaną (“to defecate”), from Proto-Indo-European *sḱeyd-, *skeyt- (“to vomit, retch, shit”, literally “to shed”). Cognate with Dutch schijten (“to shit”), German scheißen (“to shit”), Swedish skita (“to shit”), Irish sceith, sgeith (“act of spewing, vomiting, shedding”), Albanian shqit (“to tear, separate”).

inh

[…] it still softened my heart to see a man hurt so badly he sobbed and shited on himself.

2004, Robert Morgan, Brave enemies, page 38:

He would probably have a head full of locks. Who has time to be pretty when people are hurting? Crying. Shiting on themselves trying to beat heroin.

2007, Talonie Starr, Growth Manifesto, page 173:

I have eaten a dishful of curds,
And I have shitten your mouth full of turds.

2011, Douglas Bruster, Eric Rasmussen, Everyman and Mankind:

(UK, chiefly Scotland, Ireland, vulgar) To defecate.


ninja

Enter the Ninja
Eric Van Lustbader
Hokusai Manga
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
ninja

A romanized borrowing of Japanese 忍者 (ninja), popularized within Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by Eric Van Lustbader's 1980 novel The Ninja and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja, of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person.
The “Mongolian miner” sense arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga.

(euphemistic, vulgar, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) nigger.


slope

en-noun

slope (countable and uncountable, plural slopes)

(vulgar, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Chinese or other East Asian descent.


eek

en-verb

eek (third-person singular simple present eeks, present participle eeking, simple past and past participle eeked)

eeks (present singular third-person)
eeking (participle present)
eeked (participle past)
eeked (past)

onomatopoeic

Imitative

(slang, ethnic slur, offensive) Of a black person, to speak nonsense or gibberish.


bud

[T]hen he shrugged his shoulders and said, with admirable philosophy: "Well, that's life, ain't it, bud?"

1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 87:

(informal, chiefly Canada) Synonym of guy, term of address for a man or person.


hajji

Borrowed from Middle French hagi, from Ottoman Turkish حاجی (hacı), from Classical Persian حَاجِی (hājī).

(derogatory, slang, US, ethnic slur) A Muslim or Arab.


spic

Possibly imitative of a Hispanic pronunciation of speak. Usually considered a contraction of the earlier used spiggoty.

(US, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A Latino; a person of Latin American descent.

“He’s a spic” he said. He was frantic with jealousy, he didn’t want to be hurt again.

1934, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night: A Romance, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC; republished as Malcolm Cowley, editor, Tender is the Night: A Romance … With the Author’s Final Revisions, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1951, →OCLC, book IV (Escape: 1925–1929), page 236:

(US, ethnic slur, originally) A person of Italian descent.


daddy

Rock 'n' roll is cool, daddy, and you know it!

(dated slang) An informal term of address for a man.


cracker

From crack + -er. From crack (verb), the sound made when one is broken. The hard "bread" and "biscuit" sense is first attested in 1739. The computing senses of cracker, crack, and cracking were promoted in the 1980s as an alternative to hacker, by programmers concerned about negative public associations of hack, hacking (“creative computer coding”). See Citations:cracker. Various theories exist regarding the term's application to poor white Southerners. One theory holds that it originated with disadvantaged corn and wheat farmers (corncrackers), who cracked their crops rather than taking them to the mill. Another theory asserts that it was applied due to Georgia and Florida settlers (Florida crackers) who cracked loud whips to drive herds of cattle, or, alternatively, from the whip cracking of plantation slave drivers. Yet another theory maintains that the term cracker was in use in Elizabethan times to describe braggarts (see crack (“to boast”)); a letter from 1766 supports this theory.

Brothers and the whiteys / Blacks and the crackers / Police and their backers / They're all political actors

1970, “(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go”, in Curtis, performed by Curtis Mayfield:

Check this shit: You got cracker farm boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes. And then you got Darth Vader, the blackest brother in the galaxy, Nubian god!

1997, Kevin Smith, Chasing Amy, spoken by Hooper (Dwight Ewell):

“You know that old cracker beat them boys.”

2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 202:

(US, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) An impoverished white person from the southeastern United States, originally associated with Georgia and parts of Florida; (by extension) any white person (slang).


firewire

From fire + wire. In the first sense ("high speech digital link standard"), the term was originally a trade name—capitalized FireWire—used by Apple Inc. as it developed the standard in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

A system of wires or tubes designed to detect fire and trigger automatic fire-extinguishers in an aircraft engine compartment for example.