At what point did the phrase
"I'm/you're/we're hosed" come into play in the US vernacular? Earliest record? From pop culture somewhere? Are there regions of the US that did not ever use this turn of phrase?
posted by juniperesque
on May 17, 2013 -
17 answers
What would it have meant in the mid-twentieth century to "shake another man's jolt"?
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posted by dinger
on Apr 30, 2013 -
11 answers
I'm learning Swedish in advance of a trip to Stockholm to visit friends this summer. (Yes, I know Swedes generally speak excellent English; learning languages is a hobby.) When I'm there, I'd like to pepper some of my conversations with colorful sayings, slang, and idioms. Kan du hjälpa mig?
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posted by Admiral Haddock
on Mar 7, 2013 -
5 answers
Trying to find out more about what the word Hokis, which seems to be a slang term, means in Armenian. Not very googlable, or not for me. Any help would be much appreciated.
posted by jitterbug perfume
on Feb 3, 2013 -
5 answers
My grandmother (born in 1905) used to refer to herself as the "Oy-yey Lady" (I'm spelling phonetically here) every time she had to clean up something particularly gross (usually animal related). I'm wondering if it's a real word or something she made up.
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posted by Sweetie Darling
on Jan 17, 2013 -
13 answers
Is/Are there term(s) to describe the threshold at which a person can see their own breath outside ?
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posted by fizzix
on Nov 13, 2012 -
4 answers
I'm looking for an online dictionary (or even a simple list) of zoot-suit (Pachuco) culture/era slang. My Google-fu is weak. Help?
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posted by scaryblackdeath
on Nov 9, 2012 -
4 answers
What is the name for the phenomenon of creepy guys being overly protective of women they barely know on the internet, in particular on facebook?
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posted by albrecht
on Oct 31, 2012 -
14 answers
Is "Johnny-on-the-spot" a common nickname for a portable toilet throughout the US, or it it just a regionalism?
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posted by zsazsa
on Oct 26, 2012 -
65 answers
Canarian Spanish slang filter: On a recent trip to rural Tenerife I found some graffiti on a water pumping station wall. It reads:
"Tierra Guanche - only local - no nos hacemos responsables de posibles tolmasos o vignazos"
'Tierra Guanche - only local" seems pretty clear; a (possibly non-literal) identification with the Guanche (pre-Castilian indigenous people of Tenerife) and a comment on tourism or immigration. My rudimentary Spanish says the rest runs "we take no responsibility for possible ..." but 'tolmasos' and 'vignazos' seem to be local slang. Does anyone know what they mean? There's a photo (not mine)
here.
posted by cromagnon
on Oct 15, 2012 -
4 answers
My informal English is boring! I'd like to make it more interesting by incorporating new and/or local (to Philadelphia) linguistic features to it.
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posted by Deathalicious
on May 22, 2012 -
18 answers
Past and current university students: Did you ever use the specific term "weeder class" during your academic career? If so, where did you study?
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posted by C^3
on Apr 25, 2012 -
65 answers
Looking for examples of late 20th century slang/lingo has fallen out of common usage?
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posted by kreestar
on Apr 18, 2012 -
55 answers
Calling Bluesologists and/or Language Historians: Want interpretations of the meaning of a song, or more specifically, a specific phrase used in that song.
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posted by mreleganza
on Feb 21, 2012 -
5 answers
"Ladies with their 'susans' showing?" My google-fu failed this one! What is a susan, if it's not lazy and not an actual person's name?
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posted by Rosie M. Banks
on Aug 29, 2011 -
17 answers
I'm working on a comic that's a parody of detective noir comics. I want the most obscure, antiquated, and obfuscating slang from early 20th century America.
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posted by cmoj
on Aug 8, 2011 -
10 answers
In recent coverage of the Mark Duggan shooting and subsequent riots, I've seen a few instances of people referring to the police as "feds". Obviously in Britain there are no actual feds since there's no federal government, so what's the story here?
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posted by strangely stunted trees
on Aug 7, 2011 -
7 answers
I'm trying to gather a list of regional pejoratives for cities and suburbs. Like here in Oregon USA, we refer to Springfield as "Springtucky," and Clackamas as "Clackansas". In Denver they call Aurora "Saudi Aurora" or "Guadalaurora". "Spocompton" is a common epithet for Spokane, WA.
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posted by yalestar
on Apr 18, 2011 -
217 answers
Do you know of any written stories, fiction or otherwise (but not movies) with language usage similar to that in
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome or
The Dark Knight Returns? Example of what I'm looking for are after the break.
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posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Mar 23, 2011 -
30 answers
Are there any slang terms for the cervix?
posted by gregr
on Mar 4, 2011 -
20 answers
German speakers, please tell me what this word means (and how it's actually spelled).
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posted by Srudolph
on Feb 19, 2011 -
29 answers
Does the word gumbo have a slang meaning in the UK / London? Specifically, when referring to a person, as in "Hey gumbo..."
posted by doowod
on Nov 17, 2010 -
7 answers
Do you have any quick phrases or slogans that you like to repeat yourself to get yourself to calm down (or at least NOT panic) when entering an anxiety-inducing situation?
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posted by AlbatrossJones
on Aug 30, 2010 -
95 answers
[JapaneseLanguageIdiomFilter] What might "Pochée" mean in the context of a japanese language sewing book?
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posted by Rube R. Nekker
on Jul 23, 2010 -
4 answers
I should be able to let things like this go, I know, but a Facebook friend wrote a status update containing a phrase I've never heard, and not knowing what she meant is driving me nuts. I'm 44 and the opposite of "street." She's in her 20s -- a hip New Yorker. This sort of thing happens to me all the time, but usually googling or Urban Dictionary helps me. Not this time. So, is this a real phrase or is it some quirky thing she made up: "What's your evil?"
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posted by grumblebee
on Apr 29, 2010 -
48 answers
Does anyone know any American slang (preferably country or southern) that is for this concept:
"poor people/lower socioeconomic class people who behave in upper class ways" ?
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posted by mscottveach
on Mar 28, 2010 -
60 answers
A Princetonian character in
The Dud Avocado (set in Paris in the 50s) is described as saying mostly "zop zop". Was this a real thing? Part of ivy/preppy or Paris-based emigrant slang? Part of a larger lexicon of nonsense? No one in the novel (thus far) seems to think it remarkable.
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posted by kenko
on Mar 25, 2010 -
10 answers
I was chatting with a fella from Rome a few years back and mentioned that my father's parents emigrated from Napoli. He said, "you're a ____!" which was apparently a slang term for somebody from Naples-and no, it's not "Napolitano" or anything close to that. Anybody know what he said?
posted by ethnomethodologist
on Mar 9, 2010 -
15 answers
What slang words have gone out of date within the past 10 years or so?
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posted by naju
on Mar 7, 2010 -
82 answers
So what do you know about "sugar", "sugar diabetes", or "the sugar" being used as synonyms for "diabetes"? And how did that meaning come to be, exactly?
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posted by skoosh
on Mar 6, 2010 -
32 answers
Given that Federal bailout monies are being tossed around to banks like sacks of rice from an aid truck, are there any emergent slang terms for one billion dollars?
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posted by Burhanistan
on Jan 15, 2010 -
14 answers
In Chicago the standard term for bags of heroin sold on the street is "blows." I've also heard the word used as a verb, e.g. "You blow?" Does anyone have any clue as to the origin of the term?
posted by generalist
on Dec 9, 2009 -
8 answers
I've noticed an informal language convention, usually among younger people, but not always. It's a kind of affirmative interjection: "Right?".
For example:
Me: I'll be glad when this heat wave ends.
Interlocutor: Right? (variation: "I know, right?")
My question: Does this type of expression have a name? I initially filed it with tag questions like "innit", but it's not really a question, it's more like "totally!" with a high rising terminal. Bonus points for any links to discussion of this particular expression; a casual search at Language Log yielded nothing.
posted by everichon
on Sep 1, 2009 -
33 answers
"I Haven't Had So Much Fun Since the Pigs Ate My Brother." Aside from this post, what year and where was the first time you heard this phrase?
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posted by eccnineten
on Aug 23, 2009 -
11 answers
"Pea green pink Irish Catholic" - what, if anything, does this phrase mean and/or refer to?
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posted by MaudB
on Jun 24, 2009 -
17 answers
What the f*ck is a hobknocker? Sounds dirty but was apparently used on a kids show...
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posted by radioamy
on Apr 17, 2009 -
11 answers
