Questions tagged [slang]
Questions about “Language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense.” [OED: 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈]
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Why is a penny called a "win"?
I've just found out that a penny can be called a win in slang. It appears to be only used in British slang, and perhaps in Irish too.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang mentions below and gives the earliest ...
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What was the meaning of this unusual version of "natural" in the early 1970's?
I just want to say off the bat that I can speculate really well myself, was culturally adjacent, and am pretty good with the language. So if you don't have more or novel information on this subject ...
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Amusing historical nicknames for the patent office?
I'm looking for amusing (including disparaging) nicknames for the USPTO that can be traced back to an historical primary source, including but not limited to famous inventors such as Thomas Edison or ...
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Meaning of "She'd give a dog a bone" [closed]
In a movie Wayne's World 2, at the beginning when Wayne say to the camera what was happening with his life since first Wayne's World. He talks about his girlfriend Cassandra and he says:
What a babe. ...
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Is there a phrase for someone who's really bad at cooking?
I'm looking for a phrase that describes someone who's really bad at cooking, similar to 'green fingers' for someone who's good at gardening. There doesn't seem to be any such phrase from a Google ...
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What does "losing one's ass" mean?
I found a joke once that involved a man and his donkey taking a walk, but people are demanding to him, and when he tries to satiate their demands, the donkey ends up falling off a cliff, with the ...
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What would be non-slang equivalent of "copium"?
Lately, I have seen many people use the word "Copium" to refer to the sorts of fallacies and rote lies people often use to soften the blow when presented with defeats or evidence that ...
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Origin of the phrase "I'm on it"
What are the origins of, or how far back does the expression "I'm on it" go? Would someone have said this in the 1800s or 1700s?
In this Ngram comparing "I'm busy" to "I'm on ...
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What's the origin of the colloquial "peachy", "simply peachy", and "just peachy"?
I found a few connotations of how the slang "peachy" is used:
Vocabulary.com: #1: very good [non sarcastic]:
If you're unhappy, it's usually best to be honest about it, rather than ...
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What does ‘a grade-hog’ mean?
I would like to know the meaning of a grade-hog in this New York Times quotation about How We Learn by Benedict Carey:
Carey, a New York Times science reporter, begins his book with a confession: He ...
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Origin of "That tracks" to mean "That makes sense."
For the past few years, I have been hearing people say "that tracks," meaning "that makes sense." My search on Green's Dictionary of Slang yielded nothing with this clear meaning, ...
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Origin and grammaticality of "I like me ..."
A pattern:
I like me a good book.
I like me some fried eggs.
Most English speakers would not express ideas in this way. However, this vernacular is not uncommon in some parts of the United States.
...
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What is a Reggie in slang? Origins and Characteristics
I read a blog and the blog told me that "Reggie" is a slang term often used to refer to low-quality or mid-grade marijuana. It's derived from the term "regular," indicating that it'...
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why are people revealing secrets spilling the tea instead of the beans lately? [duplicate]
Has "spilling the beans" become stodgy and needs a voguish replacement? I am seeing "spilling the tea" everywhere.
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Who was the original Dr. Feelgood, and what did he practice?
I am interested in the emergence and evolution of the slang term “Doctor Feelgood.”
J.L. Lighter, The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1994) has this entry for the term:
Doctor ...
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What "On your approach" means in this context? [closed]
I've playing a game called gta san andreas and I've ran into this phrase
Hey carl
you gotta stay nice and low on your approach or you pop up on the
radar
And two questions crossed my mind that is:
...
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What's the etymology of "noddle"? And is "noodle" a derivative?
Dictionary.com defines noddle as:
noun Older Slang.
the head or brain.
What is the etymology of this slang?
I've never heard the term "noddle" before, but I have heard the term "...
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What transitive verbs are there for when someone ignores your attempts to contact them? [duplicate]
I’m looking for transitive verbs that might fill in the blank in these sentences: We’ve been sending him emails every week, but he’s ___ed us, We’ve been sending him emails every week, but he’s ___ing ...
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When did "light (something) up" begin to mean shooting?
I was wondering if it would be period accurate if depicting someone like a soldier during World War I or II to say "light them up" to shoot the enemy and at what time the term came into use.
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The meaning of schneid (not sure of the spelling) in colloquial British English (London centric)
The word schneid is used commonly in London (UK) slang to mean that someone is devious and not to be trusted - like a spy for example. It is highly derogatory. I have read that on this site that the ...
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What is an adjective for a person who is attractive but doesn't like taking care of their appearance?
Like an attractive person but who doesn't wear make up, doesn't comb, and doesn't try to combine his clothes.
Attractive in an edgy way, not caring about their look but still looking good. Being ...
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What's the exact meaning of 'Temprist'?
I look for a word that describes a person who loves music, food, jokes, metaphorically getting high. I mean a person whose MOOD or Temper is usually good and cheerful. And it's better to be a slangy/...
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Does referring to someone as a "rando" mean you didn't know who they were at the end of your interaction with them?
I got a message from a rando ...
Some rando walked up to me and said ...
It seems clear to me that the speaker here didn't know who this person was at the beginning of the interaction, when the ...
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Where does the second definition of applesauce, nonsense, come from?
Where does the meaning of nonsense in applesauce come from?
I tried looking it up, and Etymonline says that
The slang meaning "nonsense" is attested from 1921 and was noted as a vogue word ...
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'My bad' vs 'My bag'
Over the years I've noticed a non-insignificant amount of people use the term 'My bag' to admit guilt when getting something wrong (i.e. 'Mea culpa'). For example:
Happy Birthday!
My birthday's not ...
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What does "neat" mean in 1950s slang as a noun referring to a person? (see: Grease)
There are two instances in the play/musical "Grease" where someone is referred to as "a neat", and I'm having trouble figuring out the meaning.
The first instance is after Danny (&...
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Is "It's like watching Mitt and Mutt work" a reference to Mutt & Stuff? [closed]
Hey English community,
I was watching Best Fails Of The Year | Try Not To Laugh and the sentence at the timestamp took me off guard, mostly because I've never heard it before and I really like it. I ...
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What's the meaning of "jolly weezer" on the show WW2BAM?
A TV presenter of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" lamented it would be a "jolly weezer" if the man made less than his wife on a game show. What did he mean?
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What is the meaning of "burke a school" in Anticipations?
In Anticipations (1901), chapter 9, in the middle of a long passage, H. G. Wells wrote (referring to a personification of Jewish people):
... He is a remnant and legacy of mediævalism, a ...
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What triggered the slang term "epic fail"?
Epic fail is defined as a spectacularly embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given a greatly exaggerated importance.(Dictionary.com)
The ...
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Is "bugly" used in British English?
Is "bugly" (from 'butt ugly') used in British English? And if it is, is it more common in some regional dialects than others?
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Can “spooky” and “sketchy” be considered synonyms?
German kids widely use a mixture of German and English (Denglish). I'm a German boomer, and strongly dislike my daughter's (24) usage of Denglish. Normally she simply uses correctly translated English ...
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What are "weed" (the annoying plant) and "weed" (the drug) classified as that makes them treated differently grammar-wise?
"Weed" (the annoying plant you don't want in your garden) and "weed" (the psychoactive drug) are treated differently grammatically. Just some example sentences
"There are ...
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Are there any terms for the summer directly after high/secondary school?
Leaving school seems like such a huge event in our lives. There's this single summer where you have more freedom than you've ever had before with a group of people you've grown up with before you all ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 3: the guesser falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘mandar fruta’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Meaning of . . . “you just meet me on the ballast, and we'll make it a barquentine.”
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI, published 1892)
Passage 177
“I don't see it,” returned the captain drily. “One captain's enough for any ship that ever I ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 2: the sophist falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘versear’ or ‘chamuyar’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Meaning of . . . , "I'm laying a little dark"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI; published 1892)
Passage 176
“Well,” returned Nares, with the same unamiable reserve, “for a reason, which I guess you know, ...
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What is the origin of the Australian slang “pommers” to refer to English people? [duplicate]
What is the origin of the Australian slang “pommers” to refer to English people?
(I’m uncertain as to the spelling)
Why is this the term that is used?
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Meaning of "get out" in "He gets out when he can" [closed]
In his famous hit Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes sings:
He believes in God and Elvis
He gets out when he can
He did his time in Vietnam
Still mad at Uncle Sam
I can't make sense of the second line. ...
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Idiomatic word/expression for someone ‘who has no feeling for the game’ - Translation of Spanish ‘pechofrío’
I'm having trouble translating the expression pechofrío (pecho frío, ‘cold chest’) from Spanish—specially Argentinian Spanish, I don't know if it's used in other countries. It means:
s. masc. Persona ...
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Use of the word "cork" to signify a mistake? [closed]
A colleague who is a ELL used the word "cork" to signify a mistake/error/typo on a schedule.
I thought that the four-day schedule was a cork.
She says she thinks her English teacher was a ...
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When did the insult “up yours” come into existence?
The movie Blazing Saddles used everything and anything to get a laugh. When the African American sheriff, newly assigned to a rural town, patrolled the main thoroughfare he happened upon an elderly ...
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Origin of the word "blackbirding" for a type of slave trade
I read about blackbirding on Wikipedia and tried to figure out why it is called blackbirding. I could not find anything in that article about its etymology, just this simple introduction:
The owners, ...
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Afro American specific slang [duplicate]
I'm from South America and I've been fluent (at least in my opinion) in English for several years as of now. With this in mind it has really called my attention lately that I've heard Afro-American ...
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What exactly is the meaning of the word "Feddy" here?
I've been playing a game and after completing a mission, one character ask to another the following:
How you doing on the feddy?
From the context, I assume that it's somehow related to money, but I'...
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What's the meaning of "not no small feat"? [closed]
I didn't understand meaning of "not no small feat" in this sentence:
I want y'all to meet Deltron Zero, hero, not no small feat.
From Deltron 3030's song 3030 Verse 1, 2nd line
I know what ...
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At a 2:40 rate — slang for high speed
I've run across the phrase "at a 2:40 rate" in mid-19th Century sources. The context suggests that it means "at high speed," but I'd like to know the derivation. If it means a mile ...
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Why is a good-looking or sexually attractive person called a 'snack'?
Why is a good-looking or sexually attractive person called a 'snack'?
Young people often use it this way, and it's a sense listed in some dictionaries.
a sexually attractive person.
"it's clear ...
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3
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‘We curled through the library’?
Is there a word similar in sound to 'curl' or 'furl' or a connotation of either that applies in a sentence like “we curled through the entire library” to imply searching or something of the like?
I ...
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