to chain, and my husband threatened to
leave me if I didn’t give it up. I quit when
he left.chain-smokern. someone who smokes
cigarette after cigarette. She was a
chain-smoker for thirty years, and then
suddenly, boom. She’s gone. There are
fewer chain-smokers now than there were
just a few years ago.
thechairn. the electric chair, as used in the
execution of the death penalty. (Under-
world.) You’ll fry in the chair for this,
Lefty! I don’t wanna go to the chair!
cham and chammy; sham; shammy
[SAm and “SAmi] n. champagne.
Would you like a little more shammy?
This is a stunning cham you picked for us,
Tiffany. Is it famous?
chamber of commercen. toilet; restroom.
Q: Where’s Bob? A: Oh, Bob’s in the
chamber of commerce.
chammyGo to cham.
champ[tSAmp] 1. n. a champion. (Also a
term of address.) Mark is a real
champ—always there to help. Hey,
champ, welcome home! 2. n. a dependable
member of the underworld. (Under-
world. See also thoroughbred.) John
would never sing. He’s a champ. Lefty
is a champ. He stood by me the whole time.
champersand shampers[“Samp#z] n.
champagne. I could live on shampers.
My dad sent us a bottle of French cham-
pers.
changen. money. (See also and change.)
It takes a lot of change to buy a car like
that. I don’t have the change to get one
of those videotape machines.
changesn. an alteration in one’s mental
state. (See also go through the changes.)
The changes have sort of got me down.
I’m forty and I’m finished with the
changes, and if there’s anything I don’t
want it’s to be young again.
change the channeltv. to switch to some
other topic of conversation. Just a
minute. I think you changed the channel.
Let’s go back to the part about you owing
me money. Let’s change the channel here
before there is a fight.
channel hopping and channel surfing;
channel zappingn. using a remote con-
trol to move quickly from one television
channel to another, pausing only a short
time on each channel. I wish you would
stop channel hopping! Channel zapping
is a way to keep up with a number of tele-
vision shows at the same time.
channel surfern. a person who practices
channel hopping. My husband is a
confirmed channel surfer. I can’t under-
stand why he does it. Channel surfers
try to keep up with many programs at one
time.
channel surfingGo to channel hopping.
channel zappingGo to channel hopping.
chaptv. to anger or annoy someone. (See
also chapped.) That whole business
really chapped me. I didn’t mean to
chap you.
chappedmod. angry; annoyed. I was
chapped. There was no way to get around
it. Don’t get so chapped. Nothing can
be done now.
chapter and versemod. in the finest de-
tail. (From the chapter and verseorgani-
zation of the Bible.) He could recite the
law concerning state-funded libraries,
chapter and verse. She knew her rights,
chapter and verse.
charge 1. n. a dose or portion of a drug.
(Drugs.) I need a charge to tide me over.
Just a little charge till I can get to my
candy man. 2. n. a drug’s rush. (Drugs.)
This stuff has no charge at all. What
kind of charge do you expect out of half-
cashed weed? 3. n. a thrill. Seeing my
kid up there on that stage was a real
charge. I got a tremendous charge out
of your last letter.
charged (up) 1. mod. slightly overdosed
with drugs. (Drugs.) He was talking
fast and nodding his head back and forth.
I think he was charged. The kid is usu-
ally charged up by class time. 2. mod. drug
intoxicated. (Drugs.) The way she sat
there nodding, you knew she was com-charged (up)