Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1
I can’t thank you enough. SALLY: Any-
time.

A-OKmod. in the best of condition. I
really feel A-OK.


apen. a hoodlum or strong-arm man, es-
pecially if big and strong. (Underworld.)
Tell your ape to let me go! You take
your apes and get out of here!


aped[ept] mod. alcohol intoxicated. I’ve
never seen my brother so totally aped be-
fore. He comes home aped about once a
month.


ape hangersn. long steering handles on a
bicycle or motorcycle. Who is that guy
riding the bike with ape hangers? Aren’t
ape hangers sort of dangerous?


apeshit 1. mod. excited; freaked out. (See
also go apeshit over someone or some-
thing. Usually objectionable.) He was
really apeshit about that dame. 2. mod.
drunk. (Acting as strangely or comically
as an ape.) The guy was really apeshit.


appn. an application; a computer software
application. Ted bought a new app for
word-processing and he says it’s a killer.
Ted’s killer app can run circles around
your old WordSun program.


apple 1. n. a baseball. Jim slammed the
apple over the plate, but the ump called it
a ball. Just when I raised my arm to
throw to second, the damn apple slipped
out of my hand and rolled down my arm.
Now, explain that! 2. n. an Amerindian
who behaves more like a European than
an Amerindian. (Like the apple, the per-
son is red on the outside and white on the
inside. Patterned on oreo. See also ba-
nana. Rude and derogatory.) Stop act-
ing like an apple all the time! Sam is
your typical apple. Can’t decide who he
really is. 3. n. a breast. (Usually plural.
Usually objectionable.) Look at the
firm little apples on that girl!


apple-polishern. a flatterer. Doesn’t that
wimpy apple-polisher know how stupid he
looks? Everybody at the office seems to
be an apple-polisher but me.


applesaucen. nonsense. Don’t give me
that applesauce. I know better. That’s
just applesauce!
arb[arb] n. an arbitrageur; a market spec-
ulator. (Securities markets.) The arbs
are at it again, buying up companies like
hot cakes. I wanted to be an arb, but it
takes about forty million to get in the door.
Are we away?interrog. Shall we go?; Let’s
go. (Really a command to depart ex-
pressed as a question.) Well, it’s late.
Are we away? The car’s warmed up. Are
we away?
ark[ark] n. an old car. Why don’t you get
rid of that old ark and get something that’s
easier to park? This ark is the most com-
fortable car I’ve ever had. I’ll drive it till
it falls apart.
armn. a police officer. (Underworld. See
also long arm of the law.) What’ll you
do if the arms come in while you’re saw-
ing the bars of your cell? So this arm says
to me, “Going to a fire?”
armpitn. any undesirable place. (A nick-
name for an undesirable town or city.)
Who wants to spend a weekend in an
armpit? The town should be called the
armpit of the nation.
arm-twistern. someone who uses strong
persuasion. I hate to seem like an arm-
twister, but I really need your help on this
project. My aunt works as an arm-
twister collecting overdue bills for the tele-
phone company.
arm-twistingn. powerful persuasion. 
The boss is very good at arm-twisting. 
If nice talk won’t work, try a little arm-
twisting.
army bratn. a child born to a parent in
the army. (Such a child will live in many
different places.) I was an army brat
and went to seven different schools before
I got out of high school. We army brats
tend to stick together.
(a)round the bend 1. mod. crazy; beyond
sanity. I think I’m going around the
bend. She sounds like she’s round the
bend already. 2. mod. alcohol or drug in-
toxicated. One more of those, and you’ll

A-OK

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