Archive for Slang
Yesterday, I posted about the word swazzle. I was led to that from the Wikipedia article about Polari: “Polari […] is a form of cant slang used in Britain by some actors, circus and fairground showmen, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals, prostitutes, and the gay subculture. There is some debate about its origins, but […]
From Vanity Fair: “Alicia Vikander Teaches You Swedish Slang,” a 4-minute video. I initially assumed this was a straight-faced joke, with Vikander (the Swedish actress who’s playing Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider movie) making stuff up; but no, apparently these are real Swedish slang phrases. Though some commenters suggest that some of her […]
I recently read a novel set among Depression-era hoboes, which led me to look up some of the slang terms, which led me to an online dictionary of hobo slang....
The brouhaha over a Michigan state Representative being banned from speaking on the House floor after saying the word “vagina” has led to, among other outcomes, a spate of articles...
Liz A, who is Australian, referred yesterday to Australian politician Tony Abbott and his “budgie smugglers.” When I asked what that meant, she explained that it's Australian slang for tight...
I was reading Suzanne Brockmann's novel The Defiant Hero, and I came across this phrase: as they crossed the roof on their bondoons. I had no idea what bondoons were....
I turned on the radio during Talk of the Nation's Science Friday yesterday, in the middle of a segment about natural gas in water. At one point (starting at 13:52...
Recently encountered an annotated transcription of a podcast from 2007 covering a wide variety of Australian slang terms....
Recently happened across two useful online glossaries, probably while editing a story: Glossary of military terms and slang from the Vietnam War. Wiktionary's Glossary of military slang....
The other morning, as I was waking up, it occurred to me that I pretty much never hear the word "nix," but I do occasionally hear the Pig Latin word...