Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!ex-
clam. Take that!; See how you like that! 
Everybody thinks you’re a phony! Put that
in your pipe and smoke it! You are the
one who made the error, and we all know
it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!


put the arm on someone 1. tv. to demand
something of someone, especially money.
I know Tom wants some money. He put
the arm on me, but I said no. She put
the arm on her roommate for a loan. 2.
tv. to arrest someone. (Underworld.) 
They put the arm on Bart for pushing pills.
They’re gonna put the arm on the whole
gang at once.


put the bite on someonetv. to try to get
money out of someone. Yo u’r e a l w a y s
putting the bite on me for a few bucks. Go
away. Don’t put the bite on me. I’m bro-
ker than you are.


put the chill on someone and put the
freeze on someonetv. to ignore some-
one. She was pretty snooty till we all put
the chill on her. Let’s put the freeze on
Ted until he starts acting better.


put the finger on someonetv. to iden-
tify someone (for someone else, such as
the police). (Underworld.) The old lady
put the finger on the punk who mugged
her. Tyrone put the finger on the killer,
then got out of town fast.


put the freeze on someoneGo to put the
chill on someone.


put the heat on someoneGo to put the
screws on someone.


put the kibosh on somethingtv. to
squelch something. The mayor put the
kibosh on the whole deal. To m w a s
starting his presentation when Bob put the
kibosh on the plan.


put them together for someonetv. to ap-
plaud someone. (To put hands together
clapping.) Please put your hands to-
gether for Ronald and his great musicians!


put the moves on someonetv. to attempt
to seduce someone. (With any in the neg-
ative.) At least he didn’t try to put any
moves on me. If somebody doesn’t try


to put the moves on her, she thinks she’s a
failure.
put the pedal to the metaltv. to press a
car’s accelerator to the floor; to floor it.
Let’s go, man. Put the pedal to the
metal. Put the pedal to the metal, and
we’re out of here.
put the screws on someone and put the
heat on someone; put the squeeze on
someonetv. to pressure someone; to
threaten someone to achieve something.
He told everything about the plan when
they put the screws on him. The cops put
the squeeze on Harry, and he spilled the
beans.
put the skids under someone or some-
thingtv. to cause someone or something
to fail. (See also on the skids.) The
mayor put the skids under my plan. To m
tried to talk, but the boss put the skids un-
der him.
put the squeeze on someoneGo to put
the screws on someone.
put to bed with a shovel 1. mod. dead
and buried. (From put someone to bed
with a shovel.) You wanna be put to
bed with a shovel? Just keep talking that
way. Poor old Jake. He was put to bed
with a shovel last March. 2. mod. alcohol
intoxicated. (From sense 1.) He wasn’t
just tipsy. He was put to bed with a shovel!
Dead drunk? Yes, put to bed with a
shovel.
put to itmod. in trouble or difficulty; hard
up (for something such as money). (As
if one’s back were put to the wall.) 
Sorry, I can’t lend you anything. I’m a bit
put to it this month. What a day. I’m
really put to it.
put too much on ittv. to make too much
fuss over something. Come on, man.
Lighten up. Don’t put too much on it.
putt-puttn. a small motorized vehicle, es-
pecially a small car. I hear him com-
ing in his putt-putt now. That’s not a
motorcycle; it’s just a little putt-putt.
puttyheadn. a stupid person. (As if the
person’s head were soft as putty. Also a
term of address.) Look, you silly putty-

puttyhead
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