green lightn. the signal to go ahead with
something; the okay. (See also go-ahead;
high sign.) She gave the green light to
the project. When we get the green light,
we’ll start.
greenmailn. a money-making scheme
wherein a very wealthy person buys a
large number of shares of a company,
threatens to take control of the company,
and then offers to sell the stock to the
company at an exorbitant price in lieu of
a takeover. (Securities markets.) Mr.
Smith made about twenty million in
greenmail last year. One state is trying
to outlaw greenmail to protect its indus-
trial base.
green paperGo to green.
green stuffGo to green.
green thumbn. a wonderful ability to gar-
den and grow houseplants. Heidi has
a green thumb and can work wonders with
plants. If I had a green thumb, I could
grow my own bananas.
greenwashtv. to launder money; to oblit-
erate the illegal sources of money by
moving it through a variety of financial
institutions. (Underworld.) It was
shown in court that the mayor had been
involved in greenwashing some of the bribe
money. The treasurer hired someone to
greenwash the cash.
greldge[grEldZ] 1. n. something nasty or
yucky. What is this greldge on my shoe?
That’s not greldge, that’s just plain mud.
- exclam. Nuts!; Darn! (Usually
Greldge!) Oh, greldge! I’m late! This
is the last straw! Greldge!
griefoGo to greefo.
gripe one’s ass and gripes one’s butttv.
to annoy someone; to bother or irritate
someone. (Usually objectionable.) Yo u
really gripe my ass when you act like that!
That kind of thing really gripes my butt.
gripe one’s buttGo to gripe one’s ass.
gripe one’s soultv. to annoy someone.
That kind of thing really gripes my soul!
John, have I ever told you that you gripe
my soul?
gritn. courage; nerve. It takes a lot of grit
to do something like that. Well, Pete has
lots of grit. He can do it.
gritch[grItS] 1. in. to complain. (A blend
ofgripe and bitch.) Stop gritching all
the time. Are you still gritching about
that? 2. n. a complainer; a griper. Yo u
are getting to be such a gritch. Don’t be
such a gritch!gritchy[“grItSi] mod. complaining; irritable.
I don’t feel as gritchy today as I did yes-
terday. You seem quite gritchy to me.
groan boxn. an accordion. (See also
(squeeze-)box.) Clare is pretty good at
the groan box. I used to play the groan
box when I was a kid.
groatyGo to grody.grod and groddess[grad and “grad@s] n.
an especially sloppy man or woman.
(Patterned on god and goddess.) Hello,
grods and groddesses, what’s new? She
is the groddess of scraggly ends.
groddessGo to grod.
grody and groaty[“grodi] mod. disgusting.
(From grotesque. See also grotty.)
What a grody view of the street from this
window. These shoes are getting sort of
groaty. I guess I’ll throw them out.
grody to the max[“grodi tu D@ “mAks]
mod. totally disgusting. (California.
From grotesque. See also grody.) Oo,
this is grody to the max! This pizza is,
like, grody to the max!grog[grag] n. liquor. Here, have some
more of this grog. That’s enough grog for
me.
groggery[“grag#i] n. a tavern; a place to
buy liquor. Sam stopped at the groggery
for a snort. All the groggeries are closed
on Sundays.
groggifiedGo to groggy.groggy 1. mod. tired; in a stupor. He was
too groggy to care what happened to him.
Who’s that groggy guy? I’m still
groggy by ten in the morning. 2. and
groggified[“grOgifaId] mod. alcohol in-
toxicated. John was a little groggy—green light