Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1
uation where one’s underpants ride up
high between the buttocks. (Named for a
person so stupid and unaware that he is
comfortable with this arrangement. See
also give someone a melvin.) Look at
that twit with the melvin. How could
anybody go around all day with a melvin
like that?

men in blue and boys in bluen. the po-
lice; policemen. (See also blue boys.) 
The men in blue are looking for you. Yo u
can depend on the boys in blue to clean
things up in this town.


mensch[mEntS] n. a mature and responsi-
ble person. (From German via Yiddish.)
Now there goes a real mensch! I am
honored to invite such a mensch into my
home.


men’s room n. a men’s restroom. 
Where’s the men’s room, please? I gotta
use the men’s room.


mental 1. mod. mentally retarded. (Usually
objectionable. Derogatory.) The girl’s
mental. Leave her alone. Everybody in
this ward is mental. 2. n. a mentally re-
tarded person. (Usually objectionable.
Derogatory.) He’s a mental. He’ll need
some help. Who doesn’t need help? Men-
tals are normal on that point. 3. n. a stu-
pid person. You’re such a mental lately.
Don’t be a mental.


mental giantn. a genius. I’m no mental
giant, but I do know trouble when I see it.
Don was a mental giant but didn’t ever
take advantage of it.


mental midgetn. a stupid person. I hate
to seem like a mental midget, but what’s so
great about that? This mental midget
here thinks he can solve it for us.


mep(s) n. meperdine, Demerol™, a
painkiller. (Drugs and hospitals.) The
nurse was sneaking a little meps now and
then. For some people, mep is highly
addictive.


merchandisen. any contraband. (Under-
world.) The merchandise is still at the
boss’s place. How much of the mer-
chandise can you deliver by midnight?


merger-manian. an apparent need for
companies to merge with one another.
(Securities markets and journalism.) 
Merger-mania is in the news again tonight
with Ford’s offer to take over GMC. The
market meltdown put an end to merger-
mania.
mesc[mEsk] n. mescaline, a hallucinatory
substance. (Drugs.) Tiffany is totally
hooked on mesc. I don’t know where she
gets it. Jerry refuses to take mesc or any
other dope.
meshn. a crosshatch or octothorp, #. (See
also pigpen.) Put a mesh on each end
of your formula. What does the mesh
stand for in this equation?
meshuga and meshugah[m@”SUg@] mod.
crazy. (From Hebrew meshuggah via Yid-
dish.) What a meshuga day! This guy
is meshugah!
mess 1. n. a hopeless, stupid person. 
Harry has turned into a mess. The guy’s
a mess! 2. n. dung. (Usually with a.) 
There is a dog mess on the lawn again this
morning. There’s a mess in Jimmy’s di-
apers, Mom.
mess about (with someone)Go to mess
around (with someone).
mess about (with something)Go to
mess around (with something).
mess around (with someone) and mess
about (with someone); monkey
around (with someone) 1. in. to play
with someone sexually. Those two have
been messing around. Pete was messing
around with Maria, and now she’s storked.


  1. in. to waste someone’s time. Don’t
    mess around with me. Just answer the
    question, if you please. I don’t have the
    time for this. Stop messing around. 3. in.
    to waste time with someone else. I was
    messing around with John. John and I
    were monkeying around.
    mess around (with something) mess
    about (with something); and monkey
    around (with something)in. to play
    with or fiddle with something. Don’t
    mess around with the ashtray. Yo u’ l l
    break it if you don’t stop monkeying
    around with it.


men in blue

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