Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1
she’ll have time to sleep it off. When
Harry was finally in rare form, he slid be-
neath the table.

ins and outsn. the fine points (of some-
thing); the details; the intricacies. I’m
learning the ins and outs of this business.
My father taught me the ins and outs
of hog calling.


inside dopen. the inside story; special or
privileged information. (See also (hot)
skinny.) Can you give me the inside
dope on Marty? What’s the inside dope
on the candidate’s drug addiction?


inside jobn. a crime perpetrated against
an establishment by someone associated
with the victimized establishment. (Un-
derworld.) The cops figured that it was
an inside job. It was an inside job all
right. The butler did it.


inside outmod. drunk. Wayne spends
every weekend inside out. Beavis looked
forward to the day he could go out and get
inside out.


in someone’s facemod. irritating some-
one. (See also get in someone’s face; Get
out of my face!; in-your-face.) You are
in my face too much, and I don’t like it. 
I wish that the coach wasn’t always in my
face about something.


in spadesmod. in the best way possible;
extravagantly. He f lunked the test in
spades. They won the championship in
spades.


insy and innie[“Inzi] n. a navel that re-
cedes and does not protrude. (Compare
this with outsy.) Is yours an insy or an
outsy? It’s an outsy. So what?


in tall cottonmod. successful; on easy
street. I won some money at the track,
and I’m really in tall cotton. We w e re
in tall cotton until the IRS caught up
with us.


intensemod. serious; heavy. That man
is so intense! This is an intense matter.
Oh, wow! Now that’s what I call intense!


in the bag 1. mod. cinched;achieved. 
It’s in the bag—as good as done. The
election is in the bag unless the voters find
out about my past. 2. mod. alcohol in-


toxicated. (See also bagged.) Kelly
looks like he is in the bag. John is in the
bag and mean as hell.
in the blackmod. financially solvent; prof-
itable; not in debt. Now that the com-
pany is in the black, there’s a good chance
it will become a deal stock. We’re in the
black now and making a profit.
in the buffmod. naked. You-know-who
sleeps in the buff. You can save hundreds
of dollars in a lifetime by not buying pa-
jamas and sleeping in the buff instead.
in the catbird seatmod. in a dominant or
controlling position. Sally’s in the cat-
bird seat—telling everybody where to go.
I hold all the aces. I’m in the catbird
seat.
in the chipsmod. wealthy; with lots of
money. I’m in the chips this month.
Let’s go squander it. If I was in the chips,
I’d buy a jag.
in the driver’s seatmod. in control. 
She’s just not comfortable unless she’s in the
driver’s seat. I’m in the driver’s seat now,
and I get to decide who gets raises.
in the family wayGo to in a family way.
in the grip of the grapemod. drunk on
wine; drunk. Wayne was in the grip of
the grape and couldn’t talk straight. Sue
was in the grip of the grape after only three
glasses of wine.
in the groovemod. cool; groovy;pleasant
and delightful. Man, is that combo in
the groove tonight! Get in the groove!
Relax.
in the gunmod. alcohol intoxicated. (See
also shot.) Ted is in the gun again. 
When Fred is in the gun, he’s mean.
in the holemod. in debt; running a deficit.
Looks like we are in the hole again this
month. We always end the month in the
hole.
in the (home) stretchmod. in the last
stage of the process. (From horse racing.)
We’re in the homestretch with this proj-
ect and can’t change it now. We’re in
the stretch. Only three more days till we
graduate.

ins and outs

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