tear-jerker[“tIrdZ#k#] n. a very sad story
or film. The film was a real tear-jerker.
I don’t care to read a steady diet of tear-
jerkers.
tear loose (from someone or some-
thing)[tEr...] in. to manage to break
away from someone or something. The
quarterback tore loose and ran twenty
yards for a first down. Barlowe tore
loose from Rocko and made for the door.
tear offin. to break away; to run away.
I hate to tear off, but I’m late. Don’t tear
off without having some of my pie.
tear someone or something aparttv. to
criticize someone or something severely.
I was late, and the boss tore me apart.
I thought my paper was good, but the
prof tore it apart.
tear someone or something uptv. to rip
someone or something to pieces. The
two drunks tore the bar up the best they
could. TThe dog tore up the robber, and
the robber sued.
tear someone uptv. to cause someone
much grief. (See also tore (up).) I
know this news will tear him up. TThe
situation really tore up his father.
teaser[“tiz#] 1. n. a (found) cigarette butt.
The hobo picked up the teaser from the
street and put it in a little bag. He saves
up teasers to make a big smoke out of
them. 2. n. a brief sample of something,
such as a performance. The teaser
didn’t look very promising, but the reviews
were great. The teasers they showed
before the film were the best part of the
evening.
techie[“tEki] 1. n. a student in a technical
or engineering college. Does one guy
like Martin prove that all techies are nerds?
Of course, one groovy guy proves that
techies aren’t nerds, right? 2. n. a person
with technical skills or knowledge.
We’ll have to take this problem to a techie.
The techies say it should work, theoret-
ically, that is. 3. mod. having to do with
technical people or things. I don’t like
this techie jargon. This is the techie
lounge. See how messy it is?
tech-nerd[“tEkn#d] n. a technically ori-
ented, dull person, typically a male com-
puter enthusiast. My brother, who is a
tech-nerd, spends more than ten hours a
day on his computer. I had to consult a
tech-nerd to get my VCR operating.
technicolor yawn n. vomit. (See also
throw a technicolor yawn.) This hor-
rible pizza will bring on a few technicolor
yawns if we serve it. Who did the tech-
nicolor yawn in the bushes?
teed offmod. angry. I’m not teed off! I’m
enraged. I was so teed off I could have
spit!
teed (up)mod. alcohol or drug intoxicated.
She was totally teed up by midnight.
Tom was too teed to drive.
teenie and teenyn. a sixteenth. (Securi-
ties markets. From sixteenth. One six-
teenth of a point in a stock price. See also
steenth.) It’s going at three and two tee-
nies at the moment. My forty thousand
shares have dropped to three teenies each,
and I think I am going to go down to the
beach and jump.
teenie-weenieGo to teeny-weeny.
teensy-weensyGo to teeny-weeny.
teenyGo to teenie.
teenybopper[“tinibap#] n. a young teen-
ager, usually a girl. The teenyboppers
moved around the mall in droves, not buy-
ing and not causing any trouble, just be-
ing available for anyone who wanted to see
them. Somebody called Mary a, like,
teenybopper, and she went, like, “So gross!”
teeny-weeny and teenie-weenie;
teensy-weensy [“tini”wini and
“tintsi”wintsi] mod. tiny. It was just a
teeny-weeny sin. This one is too teeny-
weeny. Could you move just a teenie-
weenie bit to the left?
teepeeGo to TP.
tee someone offtv. to make someone an-
gry. (See also teed off.) That really teed
me off! TWell, you sure managed to tee
off everybody!
tee-tee[“titi] 1. in. to urinate. (Juvenile.
Usually objectionable.) Jimmy, pleasetear-jerker