Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

delish[d@”lIS] mod. delicious. Oh, this
cake is just delish. What a delish meal.


delts[dElts] n. the deltoid muscles. (Body-
building.) Look at the delts on that
dame! How do you get delts like that?


demGo to demo.


demo[“dEmo] 1. and dem[dEm] n. a
member of the Democratic Party. A
couple of dems are running for the caucus,
but no other party is represented. Which
demos are they? 2. n. a demonstration (of
something). Can I have a demo of this
model? Hey, Chuck, give this man a
demo. 3. n. an automobile or other ma-
chine or device that has been used by a
dealer for demonstration purposes. I
can give you a demo for half price. Do
you have any demos? 4. tv. to demonstrate
something (to someone). Let me demo
this for you so you can see how it works.
Will someone please demo this com-
puter? 5. tv. to demonstrate (something)
to someone. I’ve got to go demo these
people on this software. Can you demo
me before you go?


des[dis] n. December. (Securities markets.
Futures and options trading.) The bean
futures for des fell out of bed yesterday. 
Are these figures des or March?


desert cherryn. a new soldier in a desert
war; a soldier new to the desert in war-
time. (From the Persian Gulf War. See
also cherry.) About 5,000 desert cher-
ries arrived last week. Something is going
to happen soon. The desert cherries are
complaining about the scorpions again.


desk jockeyn. someone who works at a
desk in an office. (Patterned on disc
jockey.)  I couldn’t stand being a
cooped-up desk jockey. The desk jock-
eys at our place don’t get paid very well.


destroyedmod. drug intoxicated. Wo w,
what happened to Tracy? She looks de-
stroyed. The kid who took angel dust is
destroyed most of the time.


thedeuce[dus] 1. n. the devil. I’ll knock
the deuce out of you if you come around
here again. Get the deuce out of here!



  1. n. the two in playing cards. If I could
    only get a deuce. Ah, here’s the deuce I


need. 3. n. two dollars. Can you loan
me a deuce till payday? Sure, here’s a
deuce. Don’t spend it all in one place. 4.
n. a two-year prison sentence. (Under-
world.) Lefty served a deuce up the
river. The DA made sure that Bruno got
more than a deuce. 5. n. a table for two.
Give the next couple the deuce over in
the corner. You can’t put three people at
a deuce!
adevil of a timeand thedevil of a time.
n. a very difficult time. I had a devil
of a time with my taxes. This cold has
been giving me a devil of a time.
thedevil’s own timen. a very difficult
time; a hellish time. I had the devil’s
own time with these tax forms. My gout
is giving me the devil’s own time.
dewGo to (mountain) dew.
dialogtv. to attempt to deceive someone;
to attempt to seduce someone. Just let
me dialog her for a while; then you’ll see
some action. Ron was dialoging this
dame when her brother came in.
diamond in the roughn. a person who is
wonderful despite a rough exterior; a per-
son with great potential. Sam looks a
little tacky, but he’s a diamond in the
rough. He’s a diamond in the rough—
a little hard to take at times, but okay
mostly.
diarrhea of the jawboneGo to diarrhea
of the mouth.
diarrhea of the mouth and diarrhea of
the jawbonen. an imaginary disease in-
volving constant talking. Wow, does he
ever have diarrhea of the mouth! Yo u’r e
getting diarrhea of the jawbone again.
dibs on somethingphr. a claim on some-
thing. I’ve got dibs on the yellow one! 
Dibs on the front seat!
dicey[“daIsi] mod. touchy; chancy; touch
and go. Things are just a little dicey
right now. I’m working on a dicey deal
with the city right now.
dick 1. n. a detective; a police officer. (Un-
derworld. From detective.) Some dicks
were around looking for you. Barlowe
is a private dick who has to keep one step

dick
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