Slang in the Great Depression. Less'n you're a dumbcluck, you're gonna open up that bazoo and speak the language taught John Swartzwelder everything he knows. [more inside]
posted by ford and the prefects on Aug 31, 2009 - 20 comments

Cool Antarctica is a site dedicated to all things Antarctic. There are pictures (penguins), videos (including, among much else, an old documentary about Edmund Hillary's and Vivian Fuchs' Transantarctic Expedition), a history section focusing on the famous explorers (e.g. Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton, Charcot and de Gerlache) and a fact file, which includes what may be my favorite section, an Antarctic slang dictionary (degomble: removing snow that's stuck to clothing before going inside - monk-on: a term for being in a bad, usually introspective mood, "he's got a monk-on" - poppy: alcoholic beverage that is chilled with natural Antarctic ice). All this is but a taster of what's on the website.
posted by Kattullus on Apr 29, 2009 - 20 comments

Family Words (scroll down, p.9). Do you know what the "Ahh-hee's" are? It describes the feeling you get when you put on a bathing suit that is still damp. What about a "winterpepper?" That would be a backwards flip (opposite of somersault). "Eeksler?" The lever on an ice cube tray, so-called because of the sound it makes. Daw daw, doot-do, to-do to-do, taw taw, der der, drit-drit and hoo-hoo? All refer to the tube of cardboard inside a roll of toilet paper. Featured on NPR's A Way With Words (full episode).
posted by vronsky on Mar 4, 2009 - 76 comments

Old Western Slang and Lingo also Insults and the Code of the West
posted by Del Far on Mar 3, 2009 - 32 comments

Annoying and/or pretentious terms: "jejune", "pyjamas", "piping hot", "social justice". Cool terms: "cogitate", "cul-de-sac", "high dudgeon", "orangutan".
posted by colinmarshall on Oct 17, 2008 - 112 comments

Every trade has a history, a culture and secrets, all most vividly expressed in the special terms used by its workers. The circus is, of course, no different as this handy dictionary of circus slang shows. It contains entries for both American and European circuses, and has a handy list of vaudeville slang words as well. These unique words used on the carnival lot around the world demonstrate a language that defines a world of wonders, and now you can use them to impress your friends and insult your enemies!
posted by Effigy2000 on Sep 25, 2008 - 14 comments

Stan Kelly-Bootle began his career as a member of the earliest wave of computer programmers, who wrote prolifically about a wide range of computing issues. Back in his home town though, he's probably best known for his contributions to a lexicon of local slang, Lern Yerself Scouse, and for his canonical and not-so-canonical contributions to the British folk repertoire. [more inside]
posted by PeterMcDermott on May 12, 2008 - 9 comments

A guide to prison slang. Texas prison guards' guide to prison slang. Jim Goad's guide to prison slang.(He should know). More prison slang. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Jan 2, 2008 - 22 comments

Reflection's Edge, a monthly fiction zine (back issues), has many resources for writers, including slang/dialect (don't miss the links to Texas Talk, the Internet Guide to Jazz Age Slang, or the 1736 Canting Dictionary), writing advice and interviews, and advice on how to sell your story.
posted by Pants! on Dec 10, 2007 - 10 comments

Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue from 1811. Canting Dictionary (thieving slang) from 1736. Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes (1536–1896). Before you end up scragged, ottomised, and grinning in a glass case, you should learn to sing Frisky Moll's Song... and know what the heck it means:
A famble, a tattle, and two popps,
Had my Boman when he was ta’en;
But had he not bouz’d in the diddle shops,
He’d still been in Drury-Lane.
posted by Kattullus on Jul 1, 2007 - 15 comments

Hundreds of 'new' words in the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary (Reuters story), also via BBC, AP and the Fox Television Stations (headline with no story, surprising since its publisher is another Rupert Murdoch subsidiary... but I digress). Some are obvious: hoodie, wiki, POTUS, plasma screen; some reflect our times: Gitmo, Londonistan, extraordinary rendition, carbon footprint; some are absolutely slangy: celebutante, McMansion, muffin top, man bag, disemvowel, barbecue stopper, girlfriend experience... Also in the book: ho. And not the version Santa Claus says. The new dictionary is available "online, on mobiles, as a desktop application or integrated with Microsoft Word" - when you buy the deadtree edition.
posted by wendell on Jun 4, 2007 - 22 comments

Got Playdar? Have you been seagulled lately? Find some great new words to insert into your work, family and friendly conversation. Have you seen that new bitcom?
posted by parmanparman on Apr 4, 2007 - 23 comments

Embrace the Suck. Intensive military activity creates an incubator for slang. By bringing together people from geographically diverse backgrounds, putting them into stressful circumstances, and teaching them a new language of jargon and acronym, the armed forces create fertile ground for new idioms - many of which return home in civvies when the conflicts are over. In the Civil War, World War I and World War II, in Korea and in Viet Nam, servicepeople created or popularized now-familiar terms like shoddy, hotshot, cooties, tailspin, fleabag, face time, joystick, SNAFU, FUBAR, flaky, gung ho, no sweat, flame-out, and many, many others. Now, the GWOT brings us a new generation of 'milspeak'. Military columnist Austin Bay has published an early collection of neologisms from Gulf War II. On NPR, Bay explains what The Suck is, how to identify a fobbit, and why Marines look down on the attitude of Semper I.
posted by Miko on Mar 31, 2007 - 66 comments

Doctor's slang that might be on your chart.
posted by dios on Aug 23, 2006 - 59 comments

Do you know your close-up con games? Some classics: the Tip, the Jamaican Switch, the Wire (and its incredibly complicated cousin, the Rag), the Texas Twist, the Pigeon Drop, the Spanish Prisoner (or Nigerian Scam) and the ancient pig-in-a-poke. Also, learn the argot of the classic con artist, view some videos of card scam moves and discover some patter as well, or just see how the language of the con has been used in one of the more famous papers in sociology.
posted by blahblahblah on Aug 8, 2006 - 23 comments

Dude! ...Dude. [via AIR]
posted by bigmike on Feb 4, 2006 - 22 comments

Spodee (among other spellings) is a Pacific Northwest party drink, a mixture of alcohol and fruit, frequently made in a trash can and left to marinate a day or two before the party. The origin of the word is unknown, but it seems likely to come from the classic R&B song "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Stick McGhee, which in 1949, was the first big hit record for Atlantic Records. (More inside, including links to sound files)
posted by litlnemo on Feb 1, 2006 - 60 comments

Crapulous, katzenjammer, tosspot- etymology of inebriation Good words for explaining what happend last night and has continued on in it's demonic form for many hours past it's welcome....
posted by superchris on Jan 1, 2006 - 6 comments

The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear-words.
posted by nthdegx on Jul 4, 2005 - 47 comments

A dictionary of old hobo slang might be a handy tool to bring along when traveling through North Bank Fred's colorful stories, photos, and chalkings of today's hobo jungles.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 2, 2005 - 16 comments

Is your favorite swear word losing its potency? Stock up on some new ones with the Swearsaurus, a "vast array of swearing, profanity, obscenity, blasphemy, cursing, cussing, and insulting in a massive 165 languages"
posted by Quartermass on Feb 27, 2005 - 21 comments

The Infinite Teen Slang Dictionary
For example, “screef”   ☛ from MonkeyFilter
posted by Ethereal Bligh on Feb 27, 2005 - 61 comments

Protective Pairing for Punks: a primer on sexual relationships in prison. (no images, text mildly NSFW) Also: The Lexicon of Prison Slang, and essays by condemned prisoner Michael Hunter.
posted by fandango_matt on Dec 14, 2004 - 149 comments

Safire's latest list of slang
posted by srboisvert on Dec 3, 2004 - 91 comments

William Safire on "the izzle": "And now, in the pages of The New York Times, there it is — a word modified with the ubiquitous izzle. Some clever Times copy editor, for a June article about Chrysler's new 300C sedan, created the headline, "Fo' Shizzle, That Big Bad Chrysler Really Does Sizzle". So now that the gray lady herself has been izzled from the inside, is it time for everyone to wish one last fond farewizzle and shed the shizzle? (MTV interview mentioned in the article is here.)
posted by taz on Sep 21, 2004 - 33 comments

Is Golan Cipel a "gunsel"? Gov. McGreevey's friend Golan Cipel appears to meet the original Maltese Falcon definition (a young man 'kept' for sex by an older man), but not it's later, derived one. Slantpoint provides a timeline of the relationship.
posted by Jos Bleau on Aug 13, 2004 - 6 comments

Drunk Talk. Modern Drunkard's new crop of bar slang.
posted by Ufez Jones on Jul 21, 2004 - 14 comments

The Online Dictionary of Playground Slang. Includes not just slang words, but also all those obnoxious rhymes we sang. "My little Pony, skinny and bony..."
posted by Robot Johnny on Apr 29, 2004 - 4 comments

F-word now a word, as well as : twelve-incher, sheepshagger, and old man of the woods! The newest real English words now in the OED.
posted by mfoight on Mar 22, 2004 - 10 comments

Need an Idiom? Check out The Idiom Connection. Think certain phrases are such cliches that they should be banned? Before you condemn or mock them, take a moment to learn more about the origin of some of these phrases.
::via The Tower of English::
posted by anastasiav on Oct 7, 2003 - 8 comments

Fo shizzle my nizzle! At last, the lingustic puzzle is solved, or at least attempted. Over and over. And over. Definition - "for the sizzle" of tasty burgers on the grill. Often used by members of lower classes because they cannot taste the tasty burgers, nor enjoy the sizzle.
posted by xmutex on May 23, 2003 - 33 comments

Learn urban lingo from your friends at the The Source For Youth Ministry. Fo' shizzle mah nizzle.
posted by xmutex on May 5, 2003 - 14 comments

10 disgusting things traditional Irish flute players do - along with a guide to the Irish flute, a few flute clips and a bleedin' deadly guide to Irish slang.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 17, 2003 - 4 comments

So this is what is means to be hip. (NY TIMES link)

What ''The Preppie Handbook'' did for whale belts and synonyms for vomiting, ''The Hipster Handbook'' accomplishes for this generation's stylistic and linguistic signs and signifiers."

According to the book, "deck" means "cool", "tassel" is a girl, "bust a moby" means to dance, and a "frado" is an ugly guy who thinks he is good looking. Being a member of said generation myself, I can honestly say that I have never ever heard anyone speak this way. Maybe I'm just too "ishtar". Do you think the Hipster Handbook captures today's, um, deck kids accurately? What would your Hipster Handbook include?
posted by 4easypayments on Feb 13, 2003 - 53 comments

Not sure if someone wants to beat you, or is asking for a date? Literal vreakdowns of American slang, including explanations of expressions found in movies and pop music. Don't miss the the literally Boschian body-parts slang or the insults, including the classic "I hate you, and if a horse had brought you here, I'd hate it just as much, if not more."
posted by blissbat on Dec 8, 2002 - 25 comments

Vaudeville Slang. A boffo glossary of the language of American Vaudeville. Visit the main site for tons of links to famous performers and theatres. For more hokum, you can visit here to watch and hear some actual Vaudeville acts. No applesauce!
posted by Joey Michaels on Nov 21, 2002 - 5 comments

Have you got your boots on, Jack? Do you collar this jive? Listen all you righteous cats and canaries, it's copacetic. Don't be a hincty Jeff. Put on your cogs, get in there and focus on how to speak hip so you can dig what I am laying my racket about.
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 19, 2002 - 12 comments

Noitnetta Setiretlifatem [NYTimes] The French are now even more confusing. Verlan [2] [3] is the modern Pig Latin of France.
posted by srboisvert on Aug 18, 2002 - 11 comments

They might actually be, you know, be useful. This year, a student in Nebraska won $1000 for finding the worst example of overuse of the phrase 'you know,' by an athlete who said it 30 times in a 135 second interview. But are they really that terrible? Known as discourse markers, phrases such as 'you know' and 'I mean' are thought to be essential in conveying information in conversation and helping us understand each other. Discourse markers also exist in many other languages and possibly even ancient languages.
posted by adrianhon on May 15, 2002 - 25 comments

A Glossary of HardBoiled Slang will allow you to understand such wonderful, alliterative phrases as:

"You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles before I stuff that mud-pipe down your mush - and tell your moll to hand over the mazuma."

Welcome to the world of HardBoiled Fiction. Take some time to brush up on the classics.
posted by vacapinta on Apr 27, 2002 - 18 comments

Learn Irish Slang In Under 20 Seconds
Jaysus - an expression of disbelief or despair: "Jaysus! Didya see that?" "Jaysus woman! Will ya leave me be?"
discuss amongst the fecking banjaxed gobshites in your midst.
posted by quonsar on Mar 10, 2002 - 27 comments

I was talking to my wife this morning about one of the kids "bombing" a test at school, and she asked me, "Is that good or bad?" I said, "Bad, of course. You know, you bomb a test, that means either flunking it or close to it." She said, "No, not any more, like 'it's the bomb' or 'we bombed that hill' on skateboards. Bombing is a good thing." Certain words and phrases are changing their meanings. Have you found yourself tongue-tied?
posted by JParker on Oct 11, 2001 - 18 comments

Polish slang! Having just moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the heart of Polish New York City, I've been digging for Polish links. English-Polish computing dictionary. Useful Polish phrases, with audio. Simple Polish lessons and email list. Polish spelling dictionary. Warsaw Voice English-language newspaper. Warsaw Business Journal, in English. Warsaw Insider, a city guide. Portal for Wroclaw, capital of Lower Silesia. Kracow Academic Radio. Radio KRAJ from Brisbane. Polish Reader's Digest. Finally, The Official Site of His Serene Highness Dennis Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt.
posted by Mo Nickels on Sep 8, 2001 - 14 comments

Go to jail. Snag a ace boon coon, avoid the toosh hogs and dream of tack heads.
posted by ed on Jun 20, 2001 - 2 comments

The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy: An Interactive Study Since the development of carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic geography's most important and least investigated phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the use of the terms "pop" and "soda."
posted by lagado on Apr 18, 2001 - 68 comments

Cor, Blimey Guv'nor! It's the English/Cockney Rhyming Slang Dictionary! Very useful if you don't know your John Cleese's from your Duke of Kent's. Once you've mastered the art, you'll have no trouble understanding this passage.
posted by astro38 on Feb 24, 2001 - 4 comments

Ooooh, those trendy young Brits and their funny new words. What I can't help wondering is how many people have been sending in made up slang. (via clog).
posted by davidgentle on Dec 14, 2000 - 22 comments

Benoit's article on hip hop slang and mass media poses some interesting questions, albeit briefly. There's certainly no reason the two can't coexist...
posted by NickBarat on Aug 14, 2000 - 3 comments

Does Gareth Branwyn's / WIRED's Jargon Watch ever acknowledge its debt to Eric Raymond's Jargon File? I mean, the File's revision history states clearly that it began in 1975-- considerably before WIRED came to the trough --so isn't this Jargon Watch book just a rip-off of the print verison of the Jargon File, The New Hacker's Dictionary?
posted by jbushnell on Jun 18, 2000 - 10 comments

Everyone wants to be l33t. Now it's even easier with this handy guide.
posted by Mark on Mar 26, 2000 - 0 comments