at a snail’s gallopGo to at a snail’s pace.
at a snail’s pace and at a snail’s gallop
mod. very slowly. Things are moving
along at a snail’s pace here, but we’ll fin-
ish on time—have no fear. Poor old
Wally is creeping at a snail’s gallop because
his car has a f lat tire.
ate up with someone or somethingmod.
consumed with someone or something;
intrigued by someone or something.
Bob is really ate up with his new girlfriend.
at loose endsmod. nervous and anxious;
bored with nothing to do. To m u s u -
ally works puzzles whenever he’s at loose
ends. I’m at loose ends on weekends.
atomic wedgien. an instance of pulling
someone’s underpants up very tightly—
from the rear—so that the cloth is pulled
between the victim’s buttocks; a severe
wedgieor melvin. I’m going to sneak
up behind Bob and give him an atomic
wedgie.
atticn. the head, thought of as the loca-
tion of one’s intellect. She’s just got
nothing in the attic. That’s what’s wrong
with her. Ken has an attic full of fear
and resentment he needs to clean out be-
fore he will feel comfortable again.
attitude-adjuster n. a police officer’s
nightstick; any club. The officer said
he would bring order to the gathering with
his attitude-adjuster. Andy had a black
attitude-adjuster hanging from his belt,
and I wasn’t going to argue with him.
Aunt Flon. a woman’s menstrual period.
(Used especially in expressions. See also
visit from Flo. Refers to the menstrual
flow.) I am sorry to announce that Aunt
Flo has come for a visit. It’s Aunt Flo
again. She is such a pest.
avenue tankn. a bus. Watch out for them
avenue tanks when you cross the street.theavs[Avz] n. chance; the law of averages.
(Streets.) The avs say that I ought to be
dead by now. It looks like the avs finally
caught up with him.away 1. mod. out (in baseball). Jim put
the last one away, and that is three outs re-
tiring the side. There’s one away and
two men left on base. 2. mod. in prison.
(Underworld.) My cousin is away for a
year. The judge wanted to put him away
for two years, but decided on one instead.awesome 1. exclam. Great!; Excellent!
(Usually Awesome! Standard English,
but used often in slang.) You own that
gorgeous hog? Awesome! Awesome! I ’m
impressed. 2. mod. impressive. Let me
have a look at this awesome new box of
yours. That thing is really awesome.AWOL[e “d@blju “o “El or “ewal] mod. ab-
sent without leave; escaped from prison
or from the military. (Acronym or ini-
tialism.) The kid the cops picked up was
AWOL. He’s had it. If I don’t get back to
the base, they’re going to think I’m AWOL.(Aw) shucks!exclam. a mild oath. (Folksy.)
Shucks, ma’am. It wasn’t anything at
all. Aw shucks, I ain’t never been this
close to a woman before.Aztec two-stepn. diarrhea, specifically
that contracted in Mexico or South
America by tourists; Montezuma’s re-
venge. I was there for only two days be-
fore I was struck down with the Aztec two-
step. I spent a week in Cancun and
never even heard of anybody with Aztec
two-step.at a snail’s gallop