English words
In 2004 I moved from the Netherlands to the United States, and it’s been great to experience a new culture from up close. I like to keep track of new English words and expressions that I learn over time.
Some of these words were completely new to me and for others I wasn’t very sure about their precise meaning.
| Word | Description |
When found |
|---|---|---|
| roll tide roll | Slogan for the University of Alabama | 02/05/2008 |
| lunch bucket Democrats | of, relating to, or possessing working-class values — blue-collar http://aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/lunch-bucket | 02/05/2008 |
| paucity | Smallness of number; fewness. http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srchst=ref&query=said%20reflected%20the%20paucity%20of%20Mr.%20McCain’s&fw=3 | 02/03/2008 |
| rinky-dink | http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/318100.html: Something that is worn out, cheap or insignificant. To give someone the rinky-dink means to cheat them. | 01/19/2008 |
| Palmetto State | Nickname for South Carolina | 01/18/2008 |
| untenable | http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srchst=ref&query=left hanging with an untenable arrest because two agents &fw=4: Being such that defense or maintenance is impossible: an untenable position. | 01/18/2008 |
| bubba | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubba Bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother, given to boys to indicate their role in the family, especially the oldest male sibling. For some boys and men, bubba is used so pervasively it replaces the given name. The nickname may also be used outside the family by friends as a term of affection. Because of its association with the southern part of the United States, bubba is often used outside the South as a pejorative meaning low economic status and limited education. The term “bubba” may also be taken to mean one who is a “good ol’ boy.” In the US Army and Marines, bubba can mean a lay soldier, similar to grunt but with connotations of endearment instead of derision. For example “Can you make that device easier to work, ‘cus every bubba is gonna have to use it.” | 01/17/2008 |
| to kick the bucket | to die http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/218800.html: One theory as to why, albeit with little evidence to support it, is that the phrase originates from the notion that people hanged themselves by standing on a bucket with a noose around their neck and then kicking the bucket away. There are no citations that relate the phrase to suicide and, in any case, why a bucket? Whenever I’ve needed something to stand on I can’t recall ever opting for a bucket. This theory doesn’t stand up any better than the supposed buckets did. The mist begins to clear with the fact that in 16th century England bucket had an additional meaning (and in some parts it still has), i.e. a beam or yoke used to hang or carry items. The term may have been introduced into English from the French trébuchet - meaning a balance, or buque - meaning a yoke. That meaning of bucket was referred to in Peter Levins’ Manipulus vocabulorum. A dictionarie of English and Latine wordes, 1570: “A Bucket, beame, tollo.” and was used by Shakespeare in Henry IV Part II, 1597: “Swifter then he that gibbets on the Brewers Bucket.” [to gibbet meant to hang] The wooden frame that was used to hang animals up by their feet for slaughter was called a bucket. Not unnaturally they were likely to struggle or to spasm after death and hence ‘kick the bucket’. | 01/13/2008 |
| shuck 'n jive | “To shuck and jive” originally referred to the intentionally misleading words and actions that African-Americans would employ in order to deceive racist Euro-Americans in power, both during the period of slavery and afterwards. The expression was documented as being in wide usage in the 1920s, but may have originated much earlier. “Shucking and jiving” was a tactic of both survival and resistance. A slave, for instance, could say eagerly, “Oh, yes, Master,” and have no real intention to obey. Or an African-American man could pretend to be working hard at a task he was ordered to do, but might put up this pretense only when under observation. Both would be instances of “doin’ the old shuck ‘n jive.” Today, the expression has expanded somewhat from earlier usage, and is now sometimes used to mean “talking pure baloney,” “goofing off,” or “goofing around.” The original meaning of deceit often remains, however. (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006051720041) | 01/11/2008 |
| prime the pump | Encourage the growth or action of something, as in Marjorie tried to prime the pump by offering some new issues for discussion. In the late 1800s this expression originally was used for pouring liquid into a pump to expel the air and make it work. In the 1930s it was applied to government efforts to stimulate the economy and thereafter was applied to other undertakings. (http://www.answers.com/topic/prime-the-pump) | 12/07/2007 |
| oi vey | Oh No, in yiddish (rough transaltion, carries a sense of giving up with it) (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1005121903275) | 12/07/2007 |
| ingress/egress | In property law, ingress, egress and regress are the rights of a person (such as a lessee) to enter, leave, and return to a property, respectively. | 12/05/2007 |
| flurry | 12/05/2007 | |
| booger eater | 11/05/2007 | |
| honey do list |
List with things to do for your spouse |
09/18/2007 |
| hot to trot | eager to begin something http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hot+to+trot | 09/15/2007 |
| Altoids | Altoids are a popular brand of breath mints that have existed since the turn of the 19th century (produced in Britain). | 08/16/2007 |
| Valedictorian | the title of valedictorian (an anglicized derivation from the Latin vale dicere, “to say farewell”) is given to the top graduate of the graduating class | 08/15/2007 |
| smart aleck | Smarty pants. | 08/15/2007 |
| suicide queen | Queen of Diamonds, in cards. | 08/10/2007 |
| doozy | 07/19/2007 | |
| haberdashery | 07/14/2007 | |
| boondoggle | An unnecessary or wasteful project. | 07/14/2007 |
| to commute | “Commute” usually means traveling from or to work, but there’s a second meaning that I didn’t know. Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially of terms of imprisonment. | 07/02/2007 |
| Clothes-pin | It’s pretty rare that I find a so-common word that I didn’t know. A clothes-spin is the English word for the Dutch knijper. According to Wikipedia alternative words are C47, bullet, clothes peg, or just peg. | 06/30/2007 |
