Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

captain of industryn. a corporation offi-
cer; a capitalist. The captains of indus-
try manage to hang on to their money no
matter what. It’s fun to see those cap-
tains of industry drive up in their benzes.


carb[karb] n. an engine carburetor. This
can needs a new carb. I learned how to
clean and adjust a carb by the time I was
in high school.


carbos[“karboz] n. carbohydrates. (Body-
building.) You need more protein and
less carbos. Too many carbos will make
you fat.


carburetorn. a device for smoking canna-
bis that mixes the smoke with air.
(Drugs.) I have a carburetor with the
rest of my stash. Frank showed Walter
how to use a carburetor.


carcass[“kark@s] n. one’s body; a large or
heavy body. He hauled his carcass out
of the car and lumbered into the bank. 
Put your carcass on a chair, and let’s chew
the fat.


card 1. n. a funny person. Tracy is such
a card. She cracks me up. Gee, Fred.
You’re a card. Somebody’s gonna have to
deal with you. 2. tv. to check people’s ID
cards for age or other eligibility. (See also
carded.) They card everybody at the
football games, even the parents. The
bartender was carding people so we left
quietly.


carded and proofedmod. [of an ID card]
examined to determine whether one has
reached the legal drinking age. Dave
got carded at the party even though he is
thirty and looks it. All the students were
proofed at the door.


carriern. a narcotics seller or transporter.
(Drugs. See also courier.) The carrier
has the most dangerous job of all. Yo u’ l l
never see an old carrier.


carrot topn. a person with red hair. (Also
a term of address.) Sam is a carrot top
with the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen.
Hey, carrot top, where are you going?


carry 1. in. to carry drugs on one’s person.
(Drugs.) If you get busted while you’re
carrying, you are in big trouble with the


man. You gotta learn when you can
carry and when you can’t. 2. n. drugs car-
ried on the person as an emergency sup-
ply in case of arrest. (Underworld.) I
lost my carry somewhere. The cops
found my carry, and I spent three days in
the clink climbing the walls.
carrying a (heavy) loadmod. alcohol in-
toxicated. Marty is carrying a heavy
load. Your father’s carrying a load
again. What are we going to do?
carry the sticktv. to live as a hobo, on the
streets. (Streets. From the stick that sup-
ports the hobo’s bundle.) I even carried
the stick for a while in the sixties. I was
afraid I’d be carrying the stick if I got laid
off.
carry weighttv. to have influence. I
don’t carry much weight around here, but
Walter does. Tom carries weight with
the mayor. Ask him.
cartwheeln. a round, white cross-scored
amphetamine tablet. (Drugs.) He took
cartwheels in the morning and fender-ben-
ders at night. Cartwheels were the fa-
vorite diet pill of the 1960s.
carved in stonemod. permanent or not
subject to change. (Often in the nega-
tive.) Now, this isn’t carved in stone yet,
but this looks like the way it’s going to be.
Is this policy carved in stone?
cas[kAz] mod. okay; fine. (From casual.
See also cazh.) That’s cas, man. Good
to hear it. I agree. Cas. Totally cool.
case of the shortsGo to short.
case the joint 1. tv. to look over someplace
to figure out how to break in, what to
steal, etc. (Underworld. See also joint.) 
First of all you gotta case the joint to see
where things are. You could see he was
casing the joint the way he looked around.


  1. tv. to look a place over. The dog
    came in and cased the joint, sniffing out
    friends and foes. The old lady entered
    slowly, casing the joint for the face of some-
    one of her era, and finally took a seat.
    cash cown. a dependable source of money;
    a good investment. I put most of my
    money in a dependable cash cow that pays


captain of industry

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