Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1
smoked in open defiance of the law. 
My uncle was at a smoke-in. He says the
reporters were getting kids to pose for shots.
They say you could get a high just by be-
ing near a smoke-in.

smoke like a chimneyin. to smoke a great
deal of tobacco or other smokable sub-
stances. My uncle smoked like a chim-
ney when he was living. Somebody who
smokes like a chimney in a restaurant
ought to be thrown out.


Smokey (the Bear)n. a highway patrol of-
ficer; a police officer. (Citizens band ra-
dio. See also bear, lady bear.) A
Smokey was hiding behind a billboard! 
Smokey the Bear is after you!


smokin’[“smok@n] mod. really hot;over-
powering. Those threads on that dude
are really smokin’. If you wanna hear
some smokin’ vinyl, just stay tuned.


smoking gunn. the indisputable sign of
guilt. Mr. South was left holding the
smoking gun. The chief of staff decided
that the admiral should be found with the
smoking gun.


smooch[smutS] 1. in. to kiss and neck. 
Too much smooching in a movie ruins it
for me. I like to smooch myself, but I
don’t enjoy watching somebody else. 2. n.
a kiss. I like a good smooch from my
hubby. Hey, sweetie, how about a
smooch?


smoothieGo to smooth operator.


smooth operator and smoothien. a
clever and quiet person, especially in ref-
erence to romantic involvement. Clare
is an old smoothie till she thinks she’s got
everything the way she wants. Then you
see the real Clare. Hank is a smooth op-
erator. The girls just love him.


smurf[sm#f] 1. n. someone who “cleans”
ill-gotten money by buying cashier’s
checks at banks and shifting funds from
place to place. (Underworld. From the
name of a type of cartoon character. See
also greenwash, launder.) I think the
guy at the first window is a smurf. He’s in
here twice a week with $9,500 in cash each
time. Did you get a good look at this al-
leged smurf? 2. tv. & in. to shift illicit


money from place to place to conceal its
origin. (Underworld.) I smurf for a liv-
ing. It doesn’t pay much, but you meet
some very interesting people. I smurfed
a fortune for a famous drug kingpin and
got fourteen years up the river—with some
very interesting people.
smurfbrain [“sm#fbren] n. a simple-
minded person. (A smurf is an innocent
little cartoon character.) You can be
such a smurfbrain! You’re not a smurf-
brain, I suppose?

smurfed[sm#ft] mod. having to do with
a bank that has been used to launder
money. (See also smurf.) The teller
came slowly into the office. “I think we
were smurfed,” she said. See that this
dough is smurfed by Friday.

snafu[snA”fu] n. an accident; a foul-up.
(Acronym. From situation normal, all
fouled (fucked) up. Also capitalized.) 
Your being last is not just a snafu. It’s a dis-
aster. What a SNAFU! All the power
went off when you turned on the coffeepot.
snag 1. n. a difficulty. There’s a little snag
in our plan. We ran into a little snag,
I’m sorry to say. 2. n. an ugly (young)
woman. She’s not a snag! She’s lovely. 
Who’s the snag your brother is running
around with? 3. and SNAG n. a Sensitive
New-Age Guy. Tim is a wimp, a SNAG,
a twit! There were only snags and bim-
bos at the rally, so I left. 4. tv. to procure,
grab, or steal something. Somebody
snagged the jacket I just bought. See if
you can snag a couple of good seats while
I get the popcorn.

snail-mailn. post office mail; regular mail
as opposed to electronic mail. (Refers to
the slowness of regular mail in compar-
ison to electronic mail or faxes.) I’ll
send you the full text by snail-mail. 
There are lots of color pictures in the arti-
cle, so I will send you the original by snail-
mail.

snake 1. in. to scheme; to plot and plan.
(Prisons.) He spent a lot of time
snaking about that job. 2. tv. to steal
something. Where did you snake that
bike?

smoke like a chimney

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