Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

rattle-trapn. a rattly (old) car; any rattly
vehicle. I hear Ted’s rattle-trap in the
driveway. I bought a rattle-trap for
$400.


rattlingmod. excellent. (Collegiate. See also
rocking.) Her party was really rattling.
What a rattling place to live!


raunch someone out[rOntS...] tv. to dis-
gust someone. (From raunchy.) These
dirty socks absolutely raunch me out! 
Wayne and Beavis enjoy raunching peo-
ple out.


raunchy and raunchie; ronchie[“rantSi]



  1. mod. crude; tasteless; bad. He told
    a very raunchy story at the party. Don’t
    be so ronchie. 2. mod. alcohol intoxicated.
    Those guys were raunchy as hell. Let’s
    go out and get good and ronchie. 3. mod.
    sick; ill. I feel sort of ronchy. After
    I ate dinner, my stomach felt a little
    raunchie, so I went home. 4. mod. untidy;
    unclean; crude; tasteless. Get your
    ronchie socks out of the living room. We
    decided to leave the raunchy movie about
    halfway through.


raven. a party; a wild celebration. What
a rave! A real fine party. Let’s have a lit-
tle rave next Friday.


raw 1. mod. inexperienced; brand new. 
The raw recruit did as well as could be ex-
pected. She’ll get better. She’s just a lit-
tle raw. 2. mod. vulgar; crude; raucous;
untamed. I’ve had enough of your raw
humor. That joke was a little raw. 3.
mod. [of alcoholic spirits] undiluted;
neat. No ice, please. I prefer it raw. 
I’ll drink it raw—just the way it is now.



  1. mod. [of alcoholic spirits] unaged;
    fiery and strong. My gosh, this stuff is
    raw! It’ll burn a hole in me. Give me
    something to drink that isn’t quite so raw.


araw dealn. an unfair deal; unfair treat-
ment. You really got a raw deal. My
last job was a raw deal. I hope this is better.


raysn. sunshine. (Collegiate.) I’m going
to go out and get some rays today. I’ve
had too many rays. I’m cooked.


razz[rAz] tv. to tease someone. Please
stop razzing me. I was just razzing you.
I didn’t mean any harm.


razzamatazzGo to razzmatazz.
razzle-dazzle[“rAzl”dAzl] n. flamboyant
publicity; hype. After all the razzle-
dazzle dies down, we’ll see what things are
really like. Hollywood is filled with raz-
zle-dazzle and excitement.
razzmatazz and razzamatazz[“rAzm@-
”tAz and “rAz@m@”tAz] n. deceptive talk;
hype. Cut out the razzamatazz. How
dumb do you think I am? Don’t give me
all that razzamatazz!
reach for the sky 1. Go to aim for the sky.


  1. in. (a command) to put one’s hands up,
    as in a robbery. Okay, you guys, reach
    for the sky! The bank teller reached for
    the sky without having to be told.
    readern. a piece of paper with writing on
    it; a note; a prescription; an IOU. (Un-
    derworld.) Max has my reader for $500.
    I got a reader for some morphine.
    Read my lips!Go to Watch my lips!
    realmod. very; really. This is a real fine
    party. You did a real good thing.
    real bitchn. a very difficult or annoying
    thing or person. (Can refer to male or fe-
    male.) This math problem is a real
    bitch. Fred is a true problem. A real
    bitch.
    real gonemod. really cool; mellow and
    pleasant. (See also gone.) Man, this
    music is real gone. That’s a real gone
    drummer.
    the(real) McCoy 1. n. something authen-
    tic. This is the real McCoy. Nothing else
    like it. This is no copy. It’s the McCoy.

  2. n. pure drugs or alcohol. Is this stuff
    the McCoy? If it’s not the real McCoy, I
    don’t want it.
    ream someone outtv. to scold someone
    severely. The teacher really reamed him
    out. TThe coach reamed out the whole
    team.
    rear (end)n. the tail end; the buttocks.
    (Euphemistic.) She fell right on her
    rear. The dog bit her in the rear end.
    rear-ender and back-endern. an auto-
    mobile wreck where one car runs into the
    back of another. (See also fender-


rear-ender
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