Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

hit the bull’s-eyeGo to hit the spot.


hit the ceiling and hit the rooftv. to get
very angry. She really hit the ceiling
when she found out what happened. My
dad’ll hit the roof when he finds out about
this.


hit the deck 1. tv. to get out of bed. 
Come on, hit the deck! It’s morning. Hit
the deck! Time to rise and shine! 2. tv. to
fall down; to drop down. Hit the deck.
Don’t let them see you. I hit the deck the
minute I heard the shots.


hit the fantv. to become publicly known;
to become a scandal. (From the phrase
when the shit hit the fan.) I wasn’t even
in the country when it hit the fan. It hit
the fan, and within ten minutes the press
had spread it all over the world.


hit the hay and hit the sacktv. to go to
bed. I have to go home and hit the hay
pretty soon. Let’s hit the sack. We have
to get an early start in the morning.


hit the jackpot 1. tv. to win a large amount
of money. I hit the jackpot in the big
contest. Sally hit the jackpot in the lot-
tery. 2. tv. to be exactly right; to find ex-
actly what was sought. I hit the jack-
pot when I found this little cafe on Fourth
Street. I wanted a small house with a
fireplace, and I really hit the jackpot with
this one.


hit the panic button and press the panic
button; push the panic buttontv. to
panic. She hit the panic button and just
went to pieces. Don’t press the panic
button. Relax and keep your eyes open.


hit the pavementGo to hit the bricks.


hit the roadtv. to leave; to begin to travel
on a road. (See also smack the road.) 
We plan to hit the road about dawn.
Let’s hit the road. We have a long way
to go.


hit the roofGo to hit the ceiling.


hit the sackGo to hit the hay.


hit the skidstv. to decline; to decrease in
value or status. Jed hit the skids when
he started drinking. The firm hit the
skids when the dollar collapsed.


hit the spot 1. and hit the bull’s-eyetv.
to be exactly right. (See also ring the
bell.) You really hit the spot with that
prediction. Pete’s prediction hit the
bull’s-eye. 2. tv. to be refreshing. This
cold water really hits the spot. I want
something hot—some coffee would really
hit the bull’s-eye.
hit the trailtv. to leave. (As if one were rid-
ing a horse.) I have to hit the trail be-
fore sunset. Let’s hit the trail. It’s late.
hit under the wingmod. alcohol intoxi-
cated. (See also shot.) Jed got hit under
the wing. Sally was a little hit under the
wing, but she wasn’t bad off at all.
Hiya![“haIj@] exclam. Hi! (From Hi, you!)
Hiya! Good to see ya! Hiya! Where
you been keeping yourself?
hock 1. tv. to pawn something. I tried
to hock my watch to get some money. 
I’ve got nothing left to hock. 2. n. the state
of having been pawned. (Usually with
in.) My watch is already in hock. Get
it out of hock or go buy a new one. 3. n. a
foot. My hocks are sore from all that
walking. Have you ever seen such hu-
mongous hocks?
hock a luggie[“hak a “lugi] tv. to cough
up and spit out phlegm. Wayne hocked
a luggie right outside the classroom door
and the teacher sent him to the principal’s
office. Tom suppressed the urge to hock
a luggie over the bridge railing.
hockey and hocky[“haki] mod. dung. (See
also horse hockey.) Watch out for that
hocky there in the gutter. Don’t step in
the fresh hockey.
hockshopn. a pawnshop. We took the
watch to a hockshop, but couldn’t get
enough money for it. The cops checked
all the hockshops in town for the murder
weapon.
hockyGo to hockey.
hocustv. to falsify something; to adulter-
ate something. Who hocused the check?
Somebody has hocused the booze.
hodad and hodaddy[“hodAd and “ho
dAdi] n. an obnoxious person; a repellent
person. (California.) Ted is a total ho-

hodad
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