Luận văn;luận văn thạc sĩ;luận án tiến sĩ;tài liệu; khóa luận tốt nghiệp; báo cáo khoa học;đồ án tốt nghiệp;khoán luận 23052015085859
- 254 trang
- file .pdf
McGraw-Hill’s
Essential
American Slang
Dictionary
This page intentionally left blank
McGraw-Hill’s
Essential
American Slang
Dictionary
Second Edition
Richard A. Spears, Ph.D.
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United
States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-158934-1
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-149785-4.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark
symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial
fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringe-
ment of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been
printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums
and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information,
please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or
(212) 904-4069.
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”)
and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these
terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and
retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer,
reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute,
disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without
McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and
personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work
may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS
MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY,
ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM
USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE
ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND
EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUD-
ING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do
not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your
requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither
McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy,
error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting
therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information
accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its
licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or
similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of
them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability
shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in con-
tract, tort or otherwise.
DOI: 10.1036/0071497854
For more information about this title, click here
Contents
Introduction to the Second Edition vii
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations ix
Pronunciation Guide xii
Slang Dictionary 1
v
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction to the
Second Edition
This dictionary is a resource cataloging the meaning and
usage of frequently occurring slang and colloquial expres-
sions in the U.S.A. It contains expressions that are famil-
iar to many Americans and other expressions that are used
primarily within small groups of people. These expres-
sions come from movies, novels, newspaper stories, and
everyday conversation. The entries represent the vocabu-
lary found in many places, such as the college campus and
urban streets. We hear slang from surfers, weight lifters,
and young people in general.
There is no standard test that will decide what is slang
and what is not. Expressions that are identified as slang
are sometimes little more than entertaining wordplay, and
much slang is little more than an entertaining, alternative
way of saying something. Slang is rarely the first choice
of careful writers or speakers or anyone attempting to use
language for formal, persuasive, or business purposes.
Nonetheless, expressions that can be called slang make up
a major part of American communication in movies, tele-
vision, radio, newspapers, magazines, and informal spo-
ken conversation.
Young people are responsible for a high proportion of
the fad expressions and collegiate wordplay found here. It
is no surprise that there are a large number of clever
expressions for sex, drinking, and vomiting from this
source. Other matters of social taboo have provided many
slang expressions as well. Although, strictly speaking,
vii
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Introduction to the Second Edition
taboo words are not slang, the major taboo words have
been included in this dictionary.
Many of us enjoy “presenting” a new slang term to a
listener by slipping it into conversation. As listeners, many
of us enjoy hearing a new slang term and figuring out
what it means, using context, setting, and our own brain
power. This element of social wordplay is primarily what
attracts word-wise people to slang and what makes a dic-
tionary of this type interesting reading as well as a useful
reference work.
This edition is a 2,000-entry abridgement of the
fourth edition of American Slang Dictionary and focuses
on recent slang as well as a selection of entertaining locu-
tions that exhibit the highly creative nature of slang and
its users.
viii
Terms, Symbols, and
Abbreviations
䉬 marks the beginning of an example in the main dictio-
nary and serves as a separator in the indexes.
[ ] enclose parts of a definition that aid in its under-
standing but are not represented in the entry head.
abb. abbreviation, referring to both acronyms and ini-
tialisms.
acronym a kind of abbreviation where the initial letters
or syllables of the words of a phrase are combined
into a pronounceable word, such as GIGO = garbage
in, garbage out.
AND indicates that additional variants follow.
black people of African descent and other dark-skinned
people.
cliché an overly familiar and trite phrase.
comp. abb. computer abbreviation, the initialisms and
acronyms used in computer communications, such as
email and instant messaging.
exclam. an exclamation.
Go to indicates that the information you want is at the
entry listed after Go to. Leave this entry and go to the
one indicated.
ix
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations
in. an intransitive verb or phrase containing an intransi-
tive verb.
initialism a kind of abbreviation where the initial let-
ters of the words in a phrase are pronounced one by
one, such as BCNU = Be seein’ you.
interj. an interjection.
interrog. an interrogative.
mod. a modifier of some type, such as an adjective or
adverb.
n. noun or noun phrase.
phr. a phrase.
pro. a pronoun.
See also indicates that there is additional information
at the entry listed after See also. Consult or consider
the entry indicated. It is not required that you visit
the indicated entry to understand the current entry.
See also does not mean “synonymous with” the entry
indicated.
sent. a sentence.
so someone.
sth something.
streets slang associated with street gangs and the poplu-
lar “gangsta” culture. Many elements are taken from
the rap or hip-hop music scene.
taboo avoided in polite, formal, dignified, older, or
refined settings.
term of address a word that can be used to address a
person directly.
x
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations
tv. a transitive verb or phrase containing a transitive verb.
underworld slang from criminal and organized crime.
Overlaps with streets.
white people of European descent and other light-
skinned people.
xi
Pronunciation Guide
Some expressions in the dictionary are followed by a pho-
netic transcription in International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) symbols. These expressions include words whose
pronunciations are not predictable from their spellings,
difficult or unfamiliar words, and words where the stress
placement is contrastive or unique. The style of pronun-
ciation reflected here is informal and tends to fit the reg-
ister in which the expression would normally be used. A
[d] is used for the alveolar flap typical in American pro-
nunciations such as [wad#] “water” and [@”naI@led@d]
“annihilated.” The transcriptions distinguish between [a]
and [O] and between [w] and [W] even though not all
Americans do so. In strict IPA fashion, [j] rather than the
[y] substitute is used for the initial sound in “yellow.” The
most prominent syllable in a multisyllabic word is
preceded by a [”]. The use of “and” or “or” in a phonetic
transcription echoes the use of “and” or “or” in the pre-
ceding entry phrase. The use of “...” in a transcription
indicates that easy-to-pronounce words have been omit-
ted. Parentheses used in a transcription either correspond
to parentheses in the preceding entry phrase or indicate
optional elements in the transcription. For instance, in
[“artsi “krAf(t)si] “artsy-craftsy,” the “t” may or may not
be pronounced. The following chart shows the American
English values for each of the IPA symbols used in the
phonetic transcriptions. To use the chart, first find the
large phonetic symbol whose value you want to deter-
xii
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Pronunciation Guide
mine. The two English words to the right of the symbol
contain examples of the sound for which the phonetic
symbol stands. The letters in boldface type indicate
where the sound in question is found in the English word.
[a]
兵 stop
top
[#]
兵 bird
turtle
[n]
兵 new
funny
[tS]
兵 cheese
pitcher
[A]
兵 sat
track
[f]
兵 feel
if
[n]
兵 button
kitten
[T]
兵 thin
faith
[au]
兵 cow
now
[g]
兵 get
frog
[N]
兵 bring
thing
[u]
兵 food
blue
[aI]
兵 bite
my
[h]
兵 hat
who
[o]
兵 coat
wrote
[U]
兵 put
look
[b]
兵 beet
bubble
[i]
兵 feet
leak
[oI]
兵 spoil
boy
[v]
兵 save
van
[d]
兵 dead
body
[I]
兵 bit
hiss
[O]
兵 caught
yawn
[w]
兵 well
wind
[D]
兵 that
those
[j]
兵 yellow
you
[p]
兵 tip
pat
[W]
兵 wheel
while
[dZ]
兵 jail
judge
[k]
兵 can
keep
[r]
兵 rat
berry
[z]
兵 fuzzy
zoo
[e]
兵
date
sail
[l]
兵 lawn
yellow
[s]
兵 sun
fast
[Z]
兵 pleasure
treasure
[E]
兵
get
set
[l]
兵 bottle
puddle
[S]
兵 fish
sure
[“]
兵 ”water
ho”tel
[@]
兵
but
nut
[m]
兵 family
slam
[t]
兵 top
pot
xiii
This page intentionally left blank
A
abbreviated piece of nothing n. an insignificant per-
son or thing. 䉬 Tell that abbreviated piece of nothing to
get his tail over here, but fast.
abe n. a five-dollar bill. (From the picture of Abraham
Lincoln on the bill.) 䉬 This wine cost three abes. It had
better be good.
abolic n. anabolic steroids as used by veterinarians and
abused by humans. 䉬 You keep taking in that abolic, and
you’ll swell up and die!
abs [Abz] n. the abdominal muscles. (Bodybuilding. See
also washboard abs.) 䉬 Look at the abs on that guy. Like
a crossword puzzle!
action 1. n. excitement; activity in general; whatever is
happening. 䉬 This place is dull. I want some action! 2. n.
a share of something; a share of the winnings or of the
booty. 䉬 I did my share of the work, and I want my share
of the action. 3. n. sex; copulation. 䉬 All those guys are
just trying for a little action. 4. n. illegal activity; com-
merce in drugs; acts of crime. (Underworld.) 䉬 Things
have been a little slow here, but there’s some action on
the East Coast.
Adam Henry n. an AH = asshole, = jerk. Treated as a
name. 䉬 Why don’t you get some smarts, Adam Henry?
1
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
addy
addy n. address. 䉬 What’s your addy so I can send you an
invitation?
AFAIK phr. as far as I know. (Acronym. Computers and
the Internet.) 䉬 Everything is okay with the server,
AFAIK.
ag and aggro mod. aggrivated = irritated: annoyed. 䉬
Hey, man. Don’t get yourself so aggro! 䉬 She said she was
too “ag” to help with the dishes.
AH n. an asshole; a really wretched person. (A
euphemistic disguise. Also a term of address. Rude and
derogatory.) 䉬 Look here, you goddamn AH! Who the
hell do you think you are?
aight mod. all right. (Streets.) 䉬 Aight, my bruva, aight,
aight.
ain’t long enough phr. of a sum of money that isn’t ade-
quate; without adequate funds. (Streets.) 䉬 I can’t go
with you. I ain’t long enough.
air biscuit n. a breaking of wind; a fart. 䉬 Who is respon-
sible for that air biscuit?
air guitar n. an imaginary guitar, played along with real
music. 䉬 Jed, who sees himself as some sort of rock star,
plays air guitar when he’s happy or sad.
air hose n. invisible socks; no socks. 䉬 How do you like
my new air hose? One size fits all.
air kiss n. a kiss that is placed on the inside of the fin-
gers of one’s hand then “blown” to the recipient who
is likely to be some distance away. 䉬 A mass of air kisses
drifted down to the wharf from the passengers departing
on the huge Titanic.
2
all-nighter
air guitar
airish mod. [of the weather] chilly or briskly cool. 䉬 It’s
airish enough to freeze the brass off a bald monkey!
All options stink. and AOS phr. & comp. abb. All
options stink.; There is no good solution. 䉬 I don’t know
what to do. All options stink. 䉬 Since AOS, I’ll do noth-
ing at all.
all sharped up mod. dressed up; looking sharp. 䉬
Chuckie, my man, you are totally sharped up.
all show and no go phr. equipped with good looks but
lacking action or energy. (Used to describe someone or
something that looks good but does not perform as
promised.) 䉬 That shiny car of Jim’s is all show and no go.
all-nighter 1. n. something that lasts all night, like a
party or study session. 䉬 After an all-nighter studying,
I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the test. 2. n. a place of
business that is open all night. 䉬 We stopped at an all-
nighter for a cup of coffee. 3. n. a person who often stays
3
Am I right?
up all night. 䉬 I’m no all-nighter. I need my beauty sleep,
for sure.
Am I right? interrog. Isn’t that so?; Right? (A way of
demanding a response and stimulating further conver-
sation.) 䉬 You want to make something of yourself. Am I
right?
ammo [“Amo] 1. n. ammunition. 䉬 There they were,
trapped in a foxhole with no ammo, enemy all over the
place. What do you think happened? 2. n. information
or evidence that can be used to support an argument
or a charge. 䉬 I want to get some ammo on the mayor. I
think he’s a crook.
ammunition 1. n. toilet tissue. 䉬 Could somebody help
me? We’re out of ammunition in here! 2. n. liquor. 䉬
He’s had about all the ammunition he can hold.
anal applause n. the release of intestinal gas. (Jocular.)
䉬 Who is responsible for this pungent anal applause?
and a half n. someone or something greater, more severe,
or more intense than normal. 䉬 This computer problem
is a mess and a half!
angle 1. n. a person’s understanding of something; some-
one’s unique perspective on an event or happening. 䉬
What Bob says is interesting. What’s your angle on this,
Molly? 2. n. a scheme or deception; a pivotal or criti-
cal feature of a scheme; the gimmick in a scheme or
plot. 䉬 I got a new angle to use in a con job on the old
guy.
ante [Anti] 1. n. an amount of money that must be con-
tributed before playing certain card games such as
poker. 䉬 That’s a pretty high ante. Forget it! 2. n. the
4
ark
charge or cost. 䉬 What’s the ante for a used 1985 four-
door?
antsy [“Antsi] mod. nervous; restless. 䉬 She gets antsy
before a test.
aped [ept] mod. alcohol intoxicated. 䉬 I’ve never seen my
brother so totally aped before.
apeshit 1. mod. excited; freaked out. 䉬<@t-italic> He was
so apeshit about that dame! 2. mod. drunk. (Acting as
strangely or comically as an ape.) 䉬 The guy was really
apeshit. Couldn’t even stand up.
app n. an application; a computer software application.
䉬 Ted’s killer app can run circles around your old Word-
Sun program.
apples to oranges and A2O phr. & comp. abb. [but
that’s comparing] apples to oranges; [You are] making
an unfair comparison. 䉬 Chevvies and Beemers! That’s
apples to oranges! They’re not even in the same class! 䉬
It’s A2O! What can I say?
arb [arb] n. an arbitrageur; a market speculator. (Secu-
rities markets.) 䉬 I wanted to be an arb, but it takes about
forty million to get in the door.
Are we having fun yet? and AWHFY sent. & comp.
abb. This isn’t the fun that you stated or implied it
would be, is it? 䉬 Are we having fun yet? This is really
dull. 䉬 Gr8t! AWHFY?
areous n. [an] area. (Streets.) 䉬 Keep that baby gangsta
outa ma areous!
ark [ark] n. an old car. 䉬 Why don’t you get rid of that old
ark and get something that’s easier to park?
5
Essential
American Slang
Dictionary
This page intentionally left blank
McGraw-Hill’s
Essential
American Slang
Dictionary
Second Edition
Richard A. Spears, Ph.D.
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United
States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-158934-1
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-149785-4.
All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark
symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial
fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringe-
ment of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been
printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums
and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information,
please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or
(212) 904-4069.
TERMS OF USE
This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”)
and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these
terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and
retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer,
reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute,
disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without
McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and
personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work
may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.
THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS
MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY,
ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM
USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE
ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND
EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUD-
ING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do
not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your
requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither
McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy,
error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting
therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information
accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its
licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or
similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of
them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability
shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in con-
tract, tort or otherwise.
DOI: 10.1036/0071497854
For more information about this title, click here
Contents
Introduction to the Second Edition vii
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations ix
Pronunciation Guide xii
Slang Dictionary 1
v
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction to the
Second Edition
This dictionary is a resource cataloging the meaning and
usage of frequently occurring slang and colloquial expres-
sions in the U.S.A. It contains expressions that are famil-
iar to many Americans and other expressions that are used
primarily within small groups of people. These expres-
sions come from movies, novels, newspaper stories, and
everyday conversation. The entries represent the vocabu-
lary found in many places, such as the college campus and
urban streets. We hear slang from surfers, weight lifters,
and young people in general.
There is no standard test that will decide what is slang
and what is not. Expressions that are identified as slang
are sometimes little more than entertaining wordplay, and
much slang is little more than an entertaining, alternative
way of saying something. Slang is rarely the first choice
of careful writers or speakers or anyone attempting to use
language for formal, persuasive, or business purposes.
Nonetheless, expressions that can be called slang make up
a major part of American communication in movies, tele-
vision, radio, newspapers, magazines, and informal spo-
ken conversation.
Young people are responsible for a high proportion of
the fad expressions and collegiate wordplay found here. It
is no surprise that there are a large number of clever
expressions for sex, drinking, and vomiting from this
source. Other matters of social taboo have provided many
slang expressions as well. Although, strictly speaking,
vii
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Introduction to the Second Edition
taboo words are not slang, the major taboo words have
been included in this dictionary.
Many of us enjoy “presenting” a new slang term to a
listener by slipping it into conversation. As listeners, many
of us enjoy hearing a new slang term and figuring out
what it means, using context, setting, and our own brain
power. This element of social wordplay is primarily what
attracts word-wise people to slang and what makes a dic-
tionary of this type interesting reading as well as a useful
reference work.
This edition is a 2,000-entry abridgement of the
fourth edition of American Slang Dictionary and focuses
on recent slang as well as a selection of entertaining locu-
tions that exhibit the highly creative nature of slang and
its users.
viii
Terms, Symbols, and
Abbreviations
䉬 marks the beginning of an example in the main dictio-
nary and serves as a separator in the indexes.
[ ] enclose parts of a definition that aid in its under-
standing but are not represented in the entry head.
abb. abbreviation, referring to both acronyms and ini-
tialisms.
acronym a kind of abbreviation where the initial letters
or syllables of the words of a phrase are combined
into a pronounceable word, such as GIGO = garbage
in, garbage out.
AND indicates that additional variants follow.
black people of African descent and other dark-skinned
people.
cliché an overly familiar and trite phrase.
comp. abb. computer abbreviation, the initialisms and
acronyms used in computer communications, such as
email and instant messaging.
exclam. an exclamation.
Go to indicates that the information you want is at the
entry listed after Go to. Leave this entry and go to the
one indicated.
ix
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations
in. an intransitive verb or phrase containing an intransi-
tive verb.
initialism a kind of abbreviation where the initial let-
ters of the words in a phrase are pronounced one by
one, such as BCNU = Be seein’ you.
interj. an interjection.
interrog. an interrogative.
mod. a modifier of some type, such as an adjective or
adverb.
n. noun or noun phrase.
phr. a phrase.
pro. a pronoun.
See also indicates that there is additional information
at the entry listed after See also. Consult or consider
the entry indicated. It is not required that you visit
the indicated entry to understand the current entry.
See also does not mean “synonymous with” the entry
indicated.
sent. a sentence.
so someone.
sth something.
streets slang associated with street gangs and the poplu-
lar “gangsta” culture. Many elements are taken from
the rap or hip-hop music scene.
taboo avoided in polite, formal, dignified, older, or
refined settings.
term of address a word that can be used to address a
person directly.
x
Terms, Symbols, and Abbreviations
tv. a transitive verb or phrase containing a transitive verb.
underworld slang from criminal and organized crime.
Overlaps with streets.
white people of European descent and other light-
skinned people.
xi
Pronunciation Guide
Some expressions in the dictionary are followed by a pho-
netic transcription in International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) symbols. These expressions include words whose
pronunciations are not predictable from their spellings,
difficult or unfamiliar words, and words where the stress
placement is contrastive or unique. The style of pronun-
ciation reflected here is informal and tends to fit the reg-
ister in which the expression would normally be used. A
[d] is used for the alveolar flap typical in American pro-
nunciations such as [wad#] “water” and [@”naI@led@d]
“annihilated.” The transcriptions distinguish between [a]
and [O] and between [w] and [W] even though not all
Americans do so. In strict IPA fashion, [j] rather than the
[y] substitute is used for the initial sound in “yellow.” The
most prominent syllable in a multisyllabic word is
preceded by a [”]. The use of “and” or “or” in a phonetic
transcription echoes the use of “and” or “or” in the pre-
ceding entry phrase. The use of “...” in a transcription
indicates that easy-to-pronounce words have been omit-
ted. Parentheses used in a transcription either correspond
to parentheses in the preceding entry phrase or indicate
optional elements in the transcription. For instance, in
[“artsi “krAf(t)si] “artsy-craftsy,” the “t” may or may not
be pronounced. The following chart shows the American
English values for each of the IPA symbols used in the
phonetic transcriptions. To use the chart, first find the
large phonetic symbol whose value you want to deter-
xii
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
Pronunciation Guide
mine. The two English words to the right of the symbol
contain examples of the sound for which the phonetic
symbol stands. The letters in boldface type indicate
where the sound in question is found in the English word.
[a]
兵 stop
top
[#]
兵 bird
turtle
[n]
兵 new
funny
[tS]
兵 cheese
pitcher
[A]
兵 sat
track
[f]
兵 feel
if
[n]
兵 button
kitten
[T]
兵 thin
faith
[au]
兵 cow
now
[g]
兵 get
frog
[N]
兵 bring
thing
[u]
兵 food
blue
[aI]
兵 bite
my
[h]
兵 hat
who
[o]
兵 coat
wrote
[U]
兵 put
look
[b]
兵 beet
bubble
[i]
兵 feet
leak
[oI]
兵 spoil
boy
[v]
兵 save
van
[d]
兵 dead
body
[I]
兵 bit
hiss
[O]
兵 caught
yawn
[w]
兵 well
wind
[D]
兵 that
those
[j]
兵 yellow
you
[p]
兵 tip
pat
[W]
兵 wheel
while
[dZ]
兵 jail
judge
[k]
兵 can
keep
[r]
兵 rat
berry
[z]
兵 fuzzy
zoo
[e]
兵
date
sail
[l]
兵 lawn
yellow
[s]
兵 sun
fast
[Z]
兵 pleasure
treasure
[E]
兵
get
set
[l]
兵 bottle
puddle
[S]
兵 fish
sure
[“]
兵 ”water
ho”tel
[@]
兵
but
nut
[m]
兵 family
slam
[t]
兵 top
pot
xiii
This page intentionally left blank
A
abbreviated piece of nothing n. an insignificant per-
son or thing. 䉬 Tell that abbreviated piece of nothing to
get his tail over here, but fast.
abe n. a five-dollar bill. (From the picture of Abraham
Lincoln on the bill.) 䉬 This wine cost three abes. It had
better be good.
abolic n. anabolic steroids as used by veterinarians and
abused by humans. 䉬 You keep taking in that abolic, and
you’ll swell up and die!
abs [Abz] n. the abdominal muscles. (Bodybuilding. See
also washboard abs.) 䉬 Look at the abs on that guy. Like
a crossword puzzle!
action 1. n. excitement; activity in general; whatever is
happening. 䉬 This place is dull. I want some action! 2. n.
a share of something; a share of the winnings or of the
booty. 䉬 I did my share of the work, and I want my share
of the action. 3. n. sex; copulation. 䉬 All those guys are
just trying for a little action. 4. n. illegal activity; com-
merce in drugs; acts of crime. (Underworld.) 䉬 Things
have been a little slow here, but there’s some action on
the East Coast.
Adam Henry n. an AH = asshole, = jerk. Treated as a
name. 䉬 Why don’t you get some smarts, Adam Henry?
1
Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.
addy
addy n. address. 䉬 What’s your addy so I can send you an
invitation?
AFAIK phr. as far as I know. (Acronym. Computers and
the Internet.) 䉬 Everything is okay with the server,
AFAIK.
ag and aggro mod. aggrivated = irritated: annoyed. 䉬
Hey, man. Don’t get yourself so aggro! 䉬 She said she was
too “ag” to help with the dishes.
AH n. an asshole; a really wretched person. (A
euphemistic disguise. Also a term of address. Rude and
derogatory.) 䉬 Look here, you goddamn AH! Who the
hell do you think you are?
aight mod. all right. (Streets.) 䉬 Aight, my bruva, aight,
aight.
ain’t long enough phr. of a sum of money that isn’t ade-
quate; without adequate funds. (Streets.) 䉬 I can’t go
with you. I ain’t long enough.
air biscuit n. a breaking of wind; a fart. 䉬 Who is respon-
sible for that air biscuit?
air guitar n. an imaginary guitar, played along with real
music. 䉬 Jed, who sees himself as some sort of rock star,
plays air guitar when he’s happy or sad.
air hose n. invisible socks; no socks. 䉬 How do you like
my new air hose? One size fits all.
air kiss n. a kiss that is placed on the inside of the fin-
gers of one’s hand then “blown” to the recipient who
is likely to be some distance away. 䉬 A mass of air kisses
drifted down to the wharf from the passengers departing
on the huge Titanic.
2
all-nighter
air guitar
airish mod. [of the weather] chilly or briskly cool. 䉬 It’s
airish enough to freeze the brass off a bald monkey!
All options stink. and AOS phr. & comp. abb. All
options stink.; There is no good solution. 䉬 I don’t know
what to do. All options stink. 䉬 Since AOS, I’ll do noth-
ing at all.
all sharped up mod. dressed up; looking sharp. 䉬
Chuckie, my man, you are totally sharped up.
all show and no go phr. equipped with good looks but
lacking action or energy. (Used to describe someone or
something that looks good but does not perform as
promised.) 䉬 That shiny car of Jim’s is all show and no go.
all-nighter 1. n. something that lasts all night, like a
party or study session. 䉬 After an all-nighter studying,
I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the test. 2. n. a place of
business that is open all night. 䉬 We stopped at an all-
nighter for a cup of coffee. 3. n. a person who often stays
3
Am I right?
up all night. 䉬 I’m no all-nighter. I need my beauty sleep,
for sure.
Am I right? interrog. Isn’t that so?; Right? (A way of
demanding a response and stimulating further conver-
sation.) 䉬 You want to make something of yourself. Am I
right?
ammo [“Amo] 1. n. ammunition. 䉬 There they were,
trapped in a foxhole with no ammo, enemy all over the
place. What do you think happened? 2. n. information
or evidence that can be used to support an argument
or a charge. 䉬 I want to get some ammo on the mayor. I
think he’s a crook.
ammunition 1. n. toilet tissue. 䉬 Could somebody help
me? We’re out of ammunition in here! 2. n. liquor. 䉬
He’s had about all the ammunition he can hold.
anal applause n. the release of intestinal gas. (Jocular.)
䉬 Who is responsible for this pungent anal applause?
and a half n. someone or something greater, more severe,
or more intense than normal. 䉬 This computer problem
is a mess and a half!
angle 1. n. a person’s understanding of something; some-
one’s unique perspective on an event or happening. 䉬
What Bob says is interesting. What’s your angle on this,
Molly? 2. n. a scheme or deception; a pivotal or criti-
cal feature of a scheme; the gimmick in a scheme or
plot. 䉬 I got a new angle to use in a con job on the old
guy.
ante [Anti] 1. n. an amount of money that must be con-
tributed before playing certain card games such as
poker. 䉬 That’s a pretty high ante. Forget it! 2. n. the
4
ark
charge or cost. 䉬 What’s the ante for a used 1985 four-
door?
antsy [“Antsi] mod. nervous; restless. 䉬 She gets antsy
before a test.
aped [ept] mod. alcohol intoxicated. 䉬 I’ve never seen my
brother so totally aped before.
apeshit 1. mod. excited; freaked out. 䉬<@t-italic> He was
so apeshit about that dame! 2. mod. drunk. (Acting as
strangely or comically as an ape.) 䉬 The guy was really
apeshit. Couldn’t even stand up.
app n. an application; a computer software application.
䉬 Ted’s killer app can run circles around your old Word-
Sun program.
apples to oranges and A2O phr. & comp. abb. [but
that’s comparing] apples to oranges; [You are] making
an unfair comparison. 䉬 Chevvies and Beemers! That’s
apples to oranges! They’re not even in the same class! 䉬
It’s A2O! What can I say?
arb [arb] n. an arbitrageur; a market speculator. (Secu-
rities markets.) 䉬 I wanted to be an arb, but it takes about
forty million to get in the door.
Are we having fun yet? and AWHFY sent. & comp.
abb. This isn’t the fun that you stated or implied it
would be, is it? 䉬 Are we having fun yet? This is really
dull. 䉬 Gr8t! AWHFY?
areous n. [an] area. (Streets.) 䉬 Keep that baby gangsta
outa ma areous!
ark [ark] n. an old car. 䉬 Why don’t you get rid of that old
ark and get something that’s easier to park?
5