afternoon just shooting the breeze. It
was good to shoot the breeze with you,
Mary.shoot the bull and shoot the crap;
shoot the shittv. to chat and gossip.
(The same as throw the bull. Use caution
with crap; shit.) Let’s get together some-
time and shoot the bull. You spend too
much time shooting the crap.
shoot the cattv. to empty one’s stomach;
to vomit. I must have shot the cat a
dozen times during the night. Shooting
the cat is no fun when you’re weak and
dizzy.
shoot the crapGo to shoot the bull.
shoot the dozensGo to play the dozens.
shoot the shitGo to shoot the bull.
shoot the works 1. tv. to do everything; to
use everything; to bet all one’s money.
Okay, let’s go out to dinner and shoot the
works. Don’t shoot the works! Save some
for a cab. 2. tv. to empty one’s stomach;
to vomit. Suddenly she turned sort of
green, and I knew she was going to shoot
the works. After she shot the works, she
looked fine—but I was sort of pale.
shoot upGo to shoot.
shoot up (on something) 1. in. to inject
(a drug). (Drugs. See also shoot.)
About that time we both began shooting up
on skag. He couldn’t wait to get home
and shoot up. 2. n. an injection of nar-
cotics. (Drugs. Usually shoot-up.)
Barlowe watched the dame do a shoot-up
on H. and settle down so they could talk.
A quick shoot-up was all she needed.
shopping listn. a list of things, especially
questions or things one wants. (See also
laundry list.) I have a shopping list of
absolute musts. He showed up for the in-
terview with a shopping list so long that it
took two pages.
short 1. n. a small drink of hard liquor or
of beer. One short, bartender. I’ll
have a short and a pack of cigarettes. 2.
mod. having to do with a single drink of
undiluted liquor. I’ll take mine short,
innkeeper. Who ordered a short one? 3.
n. a purchase of drugs that counts or
weighs out less than the amount agreed
upon. You gave me a short. Fix it now,
or this thing goes off accidentally in your
ear. 4. tv. to give someone less of some-
thing than was agreed upon. Yo u
shorted me! They shorted us on the last
order, so we switched suppliers. 5. n. a car.
(Streets.) Man, that’s some short you
got! Max gets his money cracking shorts.- n. the sale of borrowed shares of stock;
a short sale. (Securities markets.) I
think that IBM is a good short in here. The
high-tech companies are in for a pullback.
There is a lot of covering of shorts this
week. After that the market is in for a
steady decline. 7. tv. to sell borrowed
stock. (Securities markets.) I wouldn’t
short IBM. It’s a long-term hold. The
way the deficit is running, I’d short the
whole market.
theshort end of the stickn. the burden,
responsibility, blame, etc., for something.
Here I am stuck with the short end of
the stick again. I am the one who plans
all this stuff, and when you jerks drop the
ball, I’m left holding the short end of the
stick.
short fusen. a quick temper. Fred’s got
a short fuse. Watch out. I knew she’d
blow. She’s got a short fuse.short onen. a small or quickly drunk drink
of liquor, including beer. (Compare this
with tall one.) How about a short one,
innkeeper? Give my friend here a short
one.
theshorts and case of the shortsn. the
lack of money. Here I am with a case
of the shorts again. The shorts always
come around at the end of the month.short-snortn. a quick drink of whisky
from a bottle, flask, or jug. He grabbed
a short-snort and went back to his carving.
Jed offered the visitor a short-snort from
a jar of shine.shot 1. n. a try at something. Go ahead.
Give it another shot. Have a shot at this
problem. 2. mod. exhausted; ruined. I
really feel shot today. Here’s your pen
back. It’s shot anyway. This thing is shot.
Let’s get a new one. 3. n. a rocket launch-shot