Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

privyn. an outdoor toilet; any toilet. Un-
cle Paul was out in the privy. Where’s
the privy around here?


pro 1. n. a professional(at anything); some-
one as good as a professional. I’m a pro
at photography. When it comes to typ-
ing, he’s a pro. 2. mod. professional. I
hope to play pro ball next year. This is
not what I’d call a pro hammer. 3. n. a
prostitute. Do you think she’s a pro or
just overly friendly? This pro comes up
to me and acts like she’s met me before.


Probablee.mod. probably. (As an answer
to a question. The last syllable is accented
and drawn out.) Q: Will you be there
when I get home? A: Probablee.


prod 1. n. a reminder. She gave me a lit-
tle prod about the report that is due Mon-
day. Call me up and give me a little prod
so I won’t forget. 2. tv. to remind some-
one (about something). Call me up and
prod me just before the due date. Stop
prodding me about these minor matters.


profn. a professor. (Collegiate.) The prof
was dull and the room was hot, and I kept
closing my eyes. Who’s the prof for that
course?


(pro)filein. to walk about and show some-
thing off; to walk carefully in a way that
gets attention. (As if showing one’s pro-
file.) Look at Albert profiling along!
What a nerd. All those guys are filing
and styling like they were a bunch of pea-
cocks.


pronto mod. fast; immediately. (From
Spanish. Common in Western movies.)
You get over here, pronto. I want to
see you in my office, pronto.


proofedGo to carded.


propsn. evidence of respect; one’s proper
respect. You gotta give me my props.


prosty and prostien. a prostitute. The
cops haul in about forty prosties a night
from that one neighborhood alone. This
one prosty was high on something and
started screaming.


pseudo[“sudo] 1. mod. false; bogus. This
is a very pseudo position that you are tak-


ing. She is just too pseudo. What a
pseudo hairdo! 2. n. a phony person. 
Randy is such a pseudo! What a fake!

psyched (out) 1. mod. excited; over-
whelmed; thrilled. She’s really psyched
out. That’s great. I’m really psyched! 
What a psyched out way to talk! 2. mod.
alcohol or drug intoxicated. (Drugs.) 
She’s just lying there psyched out. Tw o
beers and a red devil and he was psyched
out.

psyched (up)mod. completely mentally
ready (for something). I’m really psy-
ched for this test. The team isn’t psyched
up enough to do a good job.

psychon. a psychopathic person; a crazy
person. Get that psycho out of here! 
Pat is turning into a real psycho.

psych outin. to have a nervous or emo-
tional trauma; to go mad for a brief time.
(See also freak (out).) Another day like
this one and I’ll psych out for sure. He
looked at the bill and psyched out.

psych someone outtv. to try to figure out
what someone is likely to do. Don’t try
to psych me out. TThe batter tried to
psych out the pitcher, but it didn’t work.

psych someone uptv. to get someone ex-
cited or mentally prepared for some-
thing. (See also psyched (up).) I psy-
ched myself up to sing in front of all those
people. TThe coach psyched up the team
for the game.

ptomaine-domain and ptomaine-palace
[“to”men...] n. any institutional dining fa-
cility; a mess hall; a cafeteria. I can’t
stand the food at the ptomaine-domain. 
Time to go over to the ptomaine-palace
and eat—if you can call it that.

ptomaine-palaceGo to ptomaine-do-
main.

puddingheadn. someone, usually a male,
who acts very stupid. Please stop being
such a puddinghead. That puddinghead
sold my antique table for junk!

puddle jumpern. a small airplane. I’m
not going to f ly 200 miles in that puddle

puddle jumper
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