Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

rolling buzzn. a long-lasting drug high.
(Drugs.) What I want is a nice rolling
buzz. That stuff will give you a rolling
buzz without putting you to sleep.


ronchieGo to raunchy.


ronin. pepperoni, as used in pizza. I
want roni and shrooms on my pizza.


rook[rUk] tv. to cheat someone. She tried
to rook me when I paid my bill. Don’t
go into that store. They’ll rook you.


rookie and rooky[“rUki] 1. n. a person
new at something; a neophyte, especially
a police officer or a ballplayer. Tom is
a rookie on the police force. The rookie
tackled the old-time player and earned a
lot of cheering and applause. 2. mod. new;
inexperienced. Fred is a rookie first
baseman for the home team. A rooky
cop can make arrests just like the other
cops.


room for rentn. a person who acts very
stupid. (Also a term of address. This im-
plies that one’s head is so empty of brains
that the space could be rented out.) 
Hey, room for rent, wake up and pay at-
tention. My brother is a room for rent
if I ever saw one. What a dope!


rooster[“rust#] n. the posterior; one’s butt
end. (Old. Because one roostson it.) 
Don’t just sit there on your rooster. Get to
work. I fell down smack on my rooster.


root 1. n. a cigarette or a cigar. That root
you’re smoking sure stinks. Yo u g o t a
root I can borrow? 2. in. to eat food like
a pig. Don’t root. Slow down and enjoy
your food. Bart is downstairs rooting
now. It won’t take that slob long to eat.


rooting-tootingmod. exciting; renown; fa-
mous; illustrious. (A vague adjective of
praise.) We really had a rooting-tooting
time last weekend. She’s a rooting-toot-
ing dancer from Omaha.


rope someone in 1. tv. to cause someone
to get involved in some project. She’s
always trying to rope me into her club. T
Let’s rope in someone to help with clean-
ing up. 2. Go to take someone in.


roscoe[“rasko] n. a pistol, especially a re-
volver. (Underworld.) He’s got a roscoe


in his pocket. I’m going down there to
talk to Max, and I’m taking my roscoe.
rosymod. good; satisfactory. Things are
looking rosy now that the economy is im-
proving. Doesn’t look like a very rosy fu-
ture. When the stock market crashed,
nothing looked rosy.
rotn. nonsense. Don’t give me any more
of your rot. Speak straight with me. 
That’s just rot. Don’t believe any of it!
RO(T)F(L)interj. rolling on the floor laugh-
ing. (Used in electronic mail and com-
puter forum or news group messages.
Not pronounced aloud.) I was ROTFL
when I read your note. That was too much.
Your comment had me ROTF.
rotgut 1. n. strong or inferior liquor, espe-
cially whisky. (Folksy.) Where is that
jug of rotgut you used to keep around here?
The old man nearly went blind drink-
ing all that rotgut. 2. mod. [of liquor]
strong or fiery. You’ve got to stop drink-
ing that rotgut liquor and think of your
health. I won’t pay for this rotgut
whisky. Give me something better. 3. n.
weak or otherwise inferior beer. I need
a can of beer, and you give me this rotgut?
She can afford something better, but she
drinks nothing but cheap rotgut.
rotorheadn. a helicopter pilot or member
of a helicopter crew. (Military. Also a
term of address.) Radio those rotor-
heads and tell them to get back to the base,
now! Hey, rotorhead, where’s your egg
beater?
rotsee[“ratsi] n. ROTC,the Reserve Offi-
cers Training Corps. I joined rotsee to
help pay my way through school. How
long have you been in the rotsee program?
Rots of ruck![“rats@”r@k] exclam. Lots of
luck! (Mocking a Japanese pronuncia-
tion.) Have a good trip, and rots of
ruck! Good-bye, and rots of ruck!
rotten 1. mod. smelly; disgusting. (Not
slang.) What is that rotten smell? 
Something rotten is under that board. 2.
mod. alcohol intoxicated. (From sense 1.
See also putrid.) It takes a case of beer
to get Wilbur rotten. When he gets rot-
ten, he’s sort of dangerous. 3. mod. poor

rotten
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