retard[“ritard] 1. n. a rude nickname for
a retarded person. (Derogatory and un-
kind.) That retard is having a rough
time. Don’t call my brother a retard! 2.
n. a stupid person. (Also a term of ad-
dress.) Don’t be a retard! Get with it!
Look, you retard, get busy.
retread[“ritrEd] n. a burned-out person; a
made-over person. Chuck is just a re-
tread. He’s through. I need somebody
fresh and alive, not some tired retread.
reverse gearstv. to wretch as a prelude to
vomiting. The cat is reversing gears.
Throw her out the back door. Beavis is
reversing gears and might be going to
vomit. You never know with Beavis.
rev something uptv. to speed up an en-
gine in short bursts. Rev it up a few
times and see if it stalls. TTom sat at the
traffic light revving up his engine.
revved (up) mod. excited, perhaps by
drugs. Bill is revved from too much
dope. The kids were all revved up, ready
to party.
rhoidn.a bothersome person; a person
who is a pain in the ass. (Streets. From
hemorrhoid.) Get away from me, you
rhoid! These rhoids are driving me
crazy!
rhubarb[“rubarb] n. a brawl, especially in
a baseball game. There’s a noisy
rhubarb down on the field. Te d g o t
punched around a little bit in that rhubarb
last week.
rib 1. n. a joke; an act of teasing. I didn’t
mean any harm. It was just a little rib.
That’s a great rib, Sam! 2. tv. to tease
someone. Please don’t rib me any more
tonight. I’ve had it. Let’s go rib Jennifer.
rib-ticklern. a joke; something very funny.
That was a real rib-tickler. I’ll remem-
ber that joke. She told a rib-tickler, and
everybody laughed.
ricockulous mod. ridiculous. (Streets.
Word play based on dick = cock.)
What a stupid thing to say! That is ric-
ockulous! Your silly laugh is ricockulous
and it makes me sick.
riden. a car. What time are you coming
by in your ride? Do you care if I leave
my ride parked in your driveway?ride shotguntv. to accompany and guard
someone or something. (A term from the
days of stagecoaches and their armed
guards. See also shotgun.) I have to
take the beer over to the party. Why don’t
you come along and ride shotgun? Who’s
going to ride shotgun with Bill?ride the porcelain busGo to drive the big
bus.rif[rIf] 1. tv. to dismiss an employee. (From
the euphemism reduction in force.)
They’re going to rif John tomorrow.
Who’ll they rif next? 2. n. a firing; a dis-
missal. Who got the rif today? There’s
a rif in your future.riff 1. n. a short, repeated line of music
played by a particular performer. Jim
just sat there and forgot his riff. Listen
to this riff, Tom. 2. n. a digression while
speaking. (From sense 1.) Excuse the
little riff, but I had to mention it. If she
didn’t make so many riffs while she spoke,
we could understand her better.riffed 1. mod. alcohol or drug intoxicated.
That guy is really riffed! I can’t keep
getting riffed every night like this. 2. and
riftmod. fired; released from employ-
ment. (From RIF, “reduction in force.”)
Poor Walter got riffed Friday. Most of
the sales force was riffed last week.riftGo to riffed.rig 1. tv. to arrange or tamper with the re-
sults of something. The crooks rigged
the election. Somebody rigged the con-
test so no one got first prize. 2. n. a large
truck; an eighteen-wheeler. Jim drives
a really big rig. There were three rigs sit-
ting in the parking lot when we got there.right as rainmod. completely correct.
(Folksy. Often with as.) Yes, indeed!
You are right as rain! She was right as
rain about the score.righteous[“raItS@s] mod. good; of good
quality. (Originally black.) She is a
righteous mama. Bart told me aboutrighteous