airy-fairymod. insubstantial; of wishful
thinking. Haven’t you outgrown that
kind of airy-fairy thinking yet? I don’t
care to hear any more of your airy-fairy
ideas.
ak and ok[ak] n. October. (Securities mar-
kets: options and futures trading.) The
ak futures are looking worse by the hour.
When the oks expire on Friday, we’ll
start looking at the dec index.
alchy and alkie; alky[“Alki] 1. n. alcohol;
an alcoholic beverage. He showed up
with a week’s supply of alkie. The crooks
stole most of the alchy from the bar at the
club. 2. n. a drunkard. You see alchy af-
ter alchy all up and down Maxwell Street.
Some alkie came in and asked for a
quarter.
alkieGo to alchy.
alkied (up)mod. alcohol intoxicated.
That old bum looks completely alkied up.
alkyGo to alchy.
alley apple 1. n. a piece of horse manure.
(See also road apple.) The route of the
parade was littered with alley apples after
about twenty minutes. Harry is collect-
ing alley apples for his garden. 2. n. a brick
or stone found in the rubble of the
streets. “Drop it!” the cop called to the
kid with an alley apple in his hand.
Kelly kicked an alley apple so that it struck
a garbage can with a crash.
all meat and no potatoesGo to all (that)
meat and no potatoes.
all-nighter 1. n. something that lasts all
night, like a party or study session. Af-
ter an all-nighter studying, I couldn’t keep
my eyes open for the test. Sam invited
us to an all-nighter, but we’re getting a lit-
tle old for that kind of thing. 2. n. a place
of business that is open all night. We
stopped at an all-nighter for a cup of cof-
fee. I worked in an all-nighter for a
month. I just couldn’t keep those hours
though. 3. n. a person who often stays up
all night. Fred is an all-nighter. He’s not
worth much in the mornings though.
I’m no all-nighter. I need my beauty sleep,
for sure.
all over someone like a cheap suitphr.
pawing and clinging; seductive. (A cheap
suit might clingto its wearer.) She must
have liked him. She was all over him like
a cheap suit.
all over somethingmod. very fond of
something. Jane’s really into jazz. I
mean she’s all over it! Dave is all over
old bikes.
all right 1. interj. yes; okay. All right. I’ll
do it. 2. mod. for sure; for certain. He’s
the one who said it, all right. I was there,
all right. 3. mod. okay. (This is hyphen-
ated before a nominal. Slang when used
before a nominal.) Wally is an all-right
guy. I’m all right. We had an all-right
time at your party. 4. exclam. That’s
good!; Keep it up! (A general expression
of approval, often cried out from the au-
dience during a performance or at ap-
plause time. Usually All right!The right
is drawn out and falling in pitch.) Af-
ter the last drumbeat, the entire audience
exploded into a roaring “All right!” “Al l
right!” cried the crowd when they heard
the announcement about the pay increase.
(all) shook upmod. excited; disturbed; up-
set. She stole my heart, and I’m all
shook up. They were pretty shook up af-
ter the accident.
all that and then somephr.everything
mentioned and even more. Yes, he
brought all that and then some. Q: Did
she say all those terrible things so that
everyone could hear her? A: All that and
then some.
all that jazzn. all that stuff; all that non-
sense. I need some glue, paper, string,
and all that jazz, to make a kite. She told
me I was selfish, hateful, rude, ugly, and
all that jazz.
all (that) meat and no potatoesphr. said
of a tremendously fat person. (A rude
catchphrase.) Look at that guy—all
meat and no potatoes. All that meat and
no potatoes. She should go on a diet.
all the waymod. with everything on it, as
with a hamburger. (See also go all the
way.) I’d like one double cheeseburger—
all the way. Make mine all the way, too.all the way