Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with slang

"Hosed" etymology - When did this phrase come into use?

juniperesque — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:26:17 -0800

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?

Do I really want to know what a man's "jolt" is?

dinger — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:25:52 -0800

What would it have meant in the mid-twentieth century to "shake another man's jolt"? There are numerous versions of the "three rules of life" for men. Variations I have heard include "never play cards with a man named Lefty", "never feel sorry for a beautiful woman", and "never spend venture capital on a limited partnership without a detailed analytical fiduciary prospectus" (Cheers, 1986).

Well, I finally stumbled upon the original version, from Nelson Algren's 1956 novel, "A Walk on the Wild Side":

“But blow wise to this, buddy, blow wise to this: Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own. Never let nobody talk you into shaking another man’s jolt. And never you cop another man’s plea. I’ve tried ‘em all and I know. They don’t work."

OK, so now that I've found original rules, I discover that there are not three, but five, one of which concerns a man's "jolt". Google has failed me. What could it possibly meant in the noir world of the forties and fifties, to "shake a man's jolt"?

Jag söker svenska idiomen!

Admiral Haddock — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:07:06 -0800

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? I've found this site, and I can ask my Swedish tutor, but I'd love your input.

As examples I'd take anything from the deliberately / ironically outdated ("Well, shiver my timbers!"), to the colorful / salty ("It's colder than a witch's tit in a brass brassiere this morning!"), to the everyday colorful ("I'm so fucking hungover, I think I am going to die"), to kid speak ("That was fucking amazeballs!"). I'm not looking for translations of those phrases per se--just whatever the analogous things would be på svenska. How would your granddad swear? How does your 12-year-old cousin say something's awesome?

Bonus question: can you recommend any good Swedish pop culture sites or blogs to keep up on what's cool and how people are talking?

Tack så mycket!

Hokis - Armenian slang?

jitterbug perfume — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 11:16:35 -0800

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.

Oy-yey Lady? Oyez Man?

Sweetie Darling — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 05:31:34 -0800

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. I thought of this last night as I scooped the litter box (seriously, I need the shovel the man behind the elephants uses) and wondered if it was maybe of Yiddish or Russian origin? It's also plausible she made it up, as she had a unique vocabulary. My mother thinks it might derive from the "oyez man" - maybe someone who cleaned outhouses? - but Google thinks that term refers to a town crier type person. So, I turn to the hive. Any idea of where that term could have come from and what it meant? I don't think it's her bastardization of "Oy vey," because she knew and used that phrase as well. She grew up upper-middle class Protestant (or possibly non-devout Catholic) in Baltimore. Sources especially welcome, so I can share with Mom. Thanks!

AskMezza

catlet — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:11:06 -0800

What is the etymology of British nicknames ending in -zza/-zzer? For example:

Jeremy Clarkson > Jezza

Paul Gascoigne > Gazza

Laurence Fox > Lozza

Bazzer in Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels

I'm trying to figure out what sorts of names get this treatment, and what the cultural "rules" are for applying it. It appears largely to be done with men's names that start with a consonant, though Harry Styles of One Direction is called "Hazza," so a glottal consonant seems to be sufficient. Some experts-on-the-Internet say this is a Cockney pattern, but I thought Cockney nicknames were more descriptive of person or occupation.

Well, it's not below the Mendoza Line.

fizzix — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:47:23 -0800

Is/Are there term(s) to describe the threshold at which a person can see their own breath outside ? With the colder weather coming around (in parts of the northern hemisphere), I was wondering if there's any specific terms or colloquial phrases to more concisely or properly say (in a professional context) 'it's cold enough to see your breath outside now'

(Not looking for things like "chilly" "freezing" "cold as *******"
For what it's worth, the exact temperature at which this happens varies, depending on humidity and the person's body temperature.

Bonus points if there's terms for it in other languages.

Help me sound out-dated!

scaryblackdeath — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:02:07 -0800

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? I grew up in LA in the '90s, so I'm fine with a lot of modern Latino slang (though I'm a few years out of touch, naturally). However, I'm looking for stuff from the 1940s specifically. Authenticity is a big deal for me here.

What do you call an overly protective facebook creeper?

albrecht — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:33:33 -0800

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? A typical example of what I'm thinking of could be:

A young woman posts something on facebook about how she's going out to a party but doesn't know how she's planning to get home, perhaps asking if anyone can give her a ride. Then some guy she maybe barely knows posts some way-overly-concerned and paternalistic string of comments like "I'm worried about you, please stay safe!" or "Call me when you get home so I know you're ok," etc., etc. The basic idea being a creepy "nice guy" assuming the role of "protector" when the situation really didn't call for it.

I know I've seen this discussed somewhere with a compendium of examples, and I'm guessing there's probably an internet slang term for it, but of course it's hard to search for online because I just find examples of people actually being concerned for their safety and not this particular kind of creepy behavior.

"Man, I need to find a johnny on the spot right now!" "What?"

zsazsa — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:55:43 -0800

Is "Johnny-on-the-spot" a common nickname for a portable toilet throughout the US, or it it just a regionalism? In St. Louis, by far the most common provider of portable toilets was called Johnny On The Spot, and in the area, the name was used for any portable toilet, perhaps as a genericized trademark. My wife and I are both originally from St. Louis, now living in the SF Bay Area, and we were recently talking about one such toilet, referring to it as a "Johnny-on-the-spot." Soon after, I realized that the term might be a regionalism. So, I'd figure I'd ask about it here lest I make a fool of myself in the future when referring to porta potties by a silly name.

Searching for the term on Google comes up with quite a few portable toilet companies across the country with the name "Johnny on the Spot" (examples 1, 2, 3), but looking it up on Urban Dictionary shows a lots of thumbs down for the toilet definition.

So, is this just a St. Louis thing, or is it more universal? Or is the term used in certain pockets in the US? Or is the term not even universal in St. Louis? It sure seemed that way when I lived there.

Tolmasos? Vignazos?

cromagnon — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:18:26 -0800

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.

Me talk pretty one day?

Deathalicious — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:33:38 -0800

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. I'm already hip to caring less instead of not caring less, but other than that my non-technology related speech probably sounds like something from the 80s or 90s for all of its linguistic and grammatical modernity. The most transgressive thing I might do is the occasional y'all (after years and years of living in the South from childhood through late 20s).

Now that I'm living in Philly, there are so many cool quirks I could incorporate: things like the positive anymore, jawns, (those are the ones I've heard of/noticed; I'm sure there are more). I'd like some guidance on how to introduce them non-awkwardly and non-self-consciously into my everyday speech.

I'm not 100% sure I want to sound exactly like a local, but I'd love to communicate like one, rather than feeling like an awkward out-of-towner English professor who occasionally says y'all (and, on the rarest of occasions, might could).

Having gone to school in California, I assume we just liked saying "weed" as often as possible.

C^3 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:38:13 -0800

Past and current university students: Did you ever use the specific term "weeder class" during your academic career? If so, where did you study? I realize that the concept of a "weeder class" can go by different names, but I'm trying specifically to figure out if the term "weeder class" is a regionalism or not.

Like awesome dude... Slang from the 90s

kreestar — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:02:49 -0800

Looking for examples of late 20th century slang/lingo has fallen out of common usage? Interested in terms, designations and expressions from early internet days until the turn of the century, along the lines of this:

"I XYZ. Not!"

Whether they've gone that way through disuse or no longer being zeitgeist, they're particular to that era (and may be unfamiliar to the newest web generation).

Can be internet-specific or just the general kind of thing that folks would bandy about in email conversations.

Been trying to think of examples from popular movies of the day, events and news; from IRC chat or newsgroups, but am drawing blanks apart from the very meh example of "slacker", which is still in use (at least in my house) so does not qualify.

Urbandictionary has loads, but so much obscure filler that it's not helping me identify the particular 10-15 year old expressions I'm after.

Must I Holler? Must I Shake 'Em On Down?

mreleganza — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:27:53 -0800

Calling Bluesologists and/or Language Historians: Want interpretations of the meaning of a song, or more specifically, a specific phrase used in that song. The song is Shake 'Em On Down by Bukka White as re-imagined by Led Zeppelin as Hats Off To (Roy) Harper by Led Zeppelin. The lyrics are here.

I'm trying to understand the phrase "Shake 'em on Down" in the context of a 1937 Delta blues singer, owing to the original song.

I understand "shakedown" as the slang term for extortion, but I don't know whether or not that term was used in that way in that place in time? The song doesn't particularly seem to be about extortion anyway.

So if not, what did it mean? It doesn't seem like it's sexual, although I guess it could refer to masturbation. Much of the song is about his grievances with his woman, but on the other hand, at one point he invites her to join him in the shaking too:

Listen, Mama/Put on your mornin' gown
Put on your nightshirt, Mama/We gonna shake 'em on down

All of this is a verbose way to ask what "Shake 'em on down" meant back then, and there. But if you have any other non-obvious interpretations of the song as a whole I'd be interested in hearing that, too.

Two unidentified words from Bill Moyers' Colbert interview

Who_Am_I — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:50:53 -0800

What is Bill Moyers talking about at 16:30 in this recent Colbert Report episode? He says, "you're from the South, you must know the difference between the _____ and the _____."

He uses two words I've never heard, and nobody I asked knew them either. Every way I've tried to spell them turns up nothing on Google.

What are "susans?"

Rosie M. Banks — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:00:50 -0800

"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? Some time ago, an article about British writer Jilly Cooper appeared in the Guardian. The following sentence appears in the first paragraph:

"...the day-to-day business of winning international trophies and large (always rather baffling) financial contracts is conducted by ladies with their susans showing..."

I figured that "susans" probably means either breasts or panties, assuming Cooper's heroines flash things at work that real-life women usually don't. But I can't find the term in any dictionary - not Wiktionary, not other online dictionaries, nor lists of Cockney rhyming slang. Is "susans" a common slang term in the UK? If so, what does it mean? Or did the author Zoe Williams just make it up?

I've been scratching my head for some time, and my usual sources have completely failed me on this one. So I'm turning to the green.

Maybe We Can Eventually Make Language A Complete Impediment To Understanding.

cmoj — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:38:24 -0800

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. The plan is for this to read like Cockney to the uninitiated. The dialogue by itself would be unintelligible. I'm not worried about linguistic anachronism, though something like, "moon shot," that would date it too specifically might be a problem.

I know I've seen much better lists than I've found googling, and probably somewhere in the Metas, but both lists and top-of-the-head answers are welcome.

The feds in a unitary state

strangely stunted trees — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:57:15 -0800

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? Half an hour before his fatal encounter with the police, Mark Duggan sent a text to his girlfriend saying that "The feds are following me." The Guardian reports someone in Enfield refusing to talk to the police as saying "Why would we talk to feds? You're the reason this is happening."

Am I correct in guessing that the term is an import from American crime dramas and police procedurals? Is this usage common in Britain, or limited in usage to just London or to young people or to a particular class?

If it is a term with a commonly understood meaning, would it just be the Met that would be the feds, or any cop in general?

I deserve to ask a question because I paid my $5.

Pastor of Muppets — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:49:13 -0800

What does it mean to "deserve" something? When we say, "You deserve to have someone who loves you for who you are" or "you deserve an honest answer" or "you deserve a chance to make a living" or "we all deserve to be treated equally" or any time we say "you/I/we deserve" something, what does that mean?

Does it mean that you have some kind of 'right' to that thing? In which case, who or what is supposed to enforce that? Is it just a case of "you (magic word)deserve(/magic word) it, so keep asking/trying/complaining until you get it?"

I'm confused by the use of this word and I'm not sure how to answer when someone says something like "You deserve better" or "I want X, I deserve it!" What does 'deserve' really mean, when used this way?

Hello, Pete!

something something — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:55:15 -0800

Have you heard "Hello, Pete!" used as an exclamation? My seventy-one year old Southern (American) boss is always saying, "Hello, Pete!" in a context in which most people would say something like, "Dang!" or "Jesus!" (Example: "Hello, Pete! It's hot outside today!") I've googled and this does not seem to be something the internet has heard of.

Was this a common slang term at some point? Is it a regional thing? I'm not from the South (we live in North Carolina) but I have also not heard anyone else here use this expression.

Help me find an M.I.A. mashup?

herrdoktor — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:40:11 -0800

I'm looking for a specific mashup, and suggestions for similar mashups. Several years ago I came across a mashup which was about 15 minutes long. It started off with some horns, and a chorus of doods chanting something like "Hip. Hop. Hip. It's better than / Hip. Hop. Hip," etc. MIA's "Pull Up the People" was in it, but sped up, and there was also another song with a guy yelling something like:
"East side where the fuck you at? Let me see your haaaands up!
West side where the fuck you at? Let me see you haaaands up!"

Tried searching over the years, every now and then, Google, lyrics databases, etc. Can't score a hit. Can't find it on my old computer.

Additionally, I'm looking for any suggestions to similar songs, or stuff that's danceable and fairly long in length. My dark sekrit is that I dance in the garage in my dress shoes late at night, cuz the soles and the cement let me slide around. I practice, and have been digging Girl Talk's latest, but just want something similarly poppy, fast, and beat-y.

Thanks, MeFi!

Springtucky Derby

yalestar — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:25:01 -0800

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. Obviously, some of these might be offensive, so please recuse yourself if you see fit.

Readin' time's here!

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:05:24 -0800

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. This was said by one of the characters in Mad Max:

"Time counts and keeps countin', and we knows now finding the trick of what's been and lost ain't no easy ride. But that's our trek, we gotta' travel it. And there ain't nobody knows where it's gonna' lead. Still in all, every night we does the tell, so that we 'member who we was and where we came from... but most of all we 'members the man that finded us, him that came the salvage.

Aother example is finding someone "half jumped by Mr. Dead" i.e. finding someone close to death.

The Dark Knight Returns example:

"Eyes downside spud" (i.e. look down, buddy)

Note how it's easy to tell what's being said in english, but the use of metaphors and anthropization of elements makes what's being said much more interesting and sets tone. What other written pieces of fiction or non fiction (but not movies) contain similar uses of slang and/or metaphors? It's ok if it's not scifi/fantasy or comics.

Not looking for stuff similar to Trainspotting, with its written examples of a thick accent.

Are there any slang terms for the cervix?

gregr — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:29:08 -0800

Are there any slang terms for the cervix?