He wrote more than forty books in his lifetime, considering such diverse topics as abbreviations, American tramp and underworld slang, British and American English since 1900, comic alph
Trang 2OBSERVATIONS ON SLANG AND UNCONVENTIONAL ENGLISH
Some notes on the challenges of lexicography, drawn entirely from the writings
of Eric Partridge (1894–1979)
Partridge wrote widely on matters concerning the English
language He did not, by any means, restrict his interest to
matters slang and unconventional; however, it is his work
in this area that had, and continues to have, the greatest
impact, and on which his reputation is most celebrated
He wrote more than forty books in his lifetime,
considering such diverse topics as abbreviations, American
tramp and underworld slang, British and American English
since 1900, comic alphabets, English and American
Christian names, Shakespeare’s bawdy, usage and abusage,
and he contributed to many, many more It is so
substantial a body of work that any list short of a full
bib-liography will inevitably do his great achievement a
disservice He was a philologist, etymologist, lexicographer,
essayist and dictionary-maker; he is a legend and an
inspi-ration
The flavour, and wisdom, of Partridge’s work is
gathered in the quotations that follow, loosely grouped by
subject, and presented under sub-headings that make new
use of a selection of his book and article titles
Slang Today and Yesterday
From about 1850, slang has been the accepted term
for ‘illegitimate’ colloquial speech: but since then,
especially among the lower classes, ‘lingo’ has been
a synonym, and so also, chiefly among the cultured
and the pretentious, has ‘argot’ Now ‘argot’, being
merely the French for ‘slang’, has no business to be
used thus – it can rightly be applied only to French
slang of French cant: and ‘lingo’ properly means a
simplified language that, like Beach-la-Mar and
Pidgin-English, represents a distortion of (say)
English by coloured peoples speaking English indeed
but adapting it to their own phonetics and grammar
‘Jargon’ – originally as in Chaucer, used of the
warbling of birds – has long been employed loosely
and synonymously for slang, but it should be
reserved for the technicalities of science, the
pro-fessions and the trades: though, for such
technical-ities, ‘shop’ is an equally good word.1
[S]lang is much rather a spoken than a literary
language It originates, nearly always, in speech.1
Slang is easy enough to use, but very hard to write
about with the facile convincingness that a subject
apparently so simple would, at first sight, seem to
demand But the simplest things are the hardest to
define, certainly the hardest to discuss, for it is
usually at first sight only that their simplicity is what strikes one the most forcibly And slang, after all, is a peculiar kind of vagabond language, always hanging
on the outskirts of legitimate speech, but continually straying or forcing its way into the most respectable company.2
Language in general and every kind of language belongs to everyone who wishes to use it.3
Slang, being the quintessence of colloquial speech, must always be related to convenience rather than scientific laws, grammatical rules and philosophical ideals As it originates, so it flourishes best, in colloquial speech.1
Slang may and often does fill a gap in accepted language.1
Words, Words, Words!
Every group or association, from a pair of lovers to a secret society however large, feels, at some time or other, the need to defend itself against outsiders, and therefore creates a slang designed to conceal its thoughts: and the greater the need for secrecy, the more extensive and complete is the slang[.]1
The specialization that characterizes every vocation leads naturally to a specialized vocabulary, to the invention of new words or the re-charging of old words Such special words and phrases become slang only when they are used outside their vocational group and then only if they change their meaning or are applied in other ways […] But, whatever the source, personality and one’s surroundings (social or occupational) are the two co-efficients, the two chief factors, the determining causes of the nature of slang,
as they are of language in general and of style.1
One kind of eyewash, the army’s innumerable ‘states’ and ‘returns’ was known as bumf, short for bum-fodder: the abbreviation was common in English
public schools from before 1900; the full term for toilet-paper dates back to the seventeenth century, when it was coined by Urquhart, the translator
of Rabelais; Urquhart is one of the most prolific originators of the obscenities and vulgarities of our language, and with him rank Shakespeare and Burns.4
Trang 3In English, the ideas most fertile in synonyms are
those of drinking, drunkenness, money, and the
sex-ual organs and act.1
Many slang words, indeed, are drawn from
pleasurable activities (games, sports,
entertainments), from the joy of life, from a gay
abandon: for this reason it has been wittily called
‘language on a picnic’.1
Common to – indeed, very common in – the
jazzman’s and the Beatnik’s vocabulary is the noun
pad, whence the entirely Beatnik pad me, a cat’s
invitation to a chick to share his room and bed […]
The Beatniks got it from the jazzmen who got it
from the American underworld who got it from the
British underworld (pad, a bed) who got it from
Standard English of the sixteenth–eighteenth
centuries (pad, a bundle of straw to lie on).5
The metaphors and allusions [in slang] are generally
connected with some temporary phase, some
ephemeral vogue, some unimportant incident; if the
origin is not nailed down at the time, it is rarely
recoverable.1
[B]orrowings from foreign languages produce slang;
and every language borrows Borrowings, indeed,
have a way of seeming slangy or of being welcomed
by slang before standard speech takes them into its
sanctum.1
War always produces a rich crop of slang.6
[W]ar (much as we may hate to admit the fact),
because, in all wars, both soldiers and sailors and,
since 1914, airmen and civilians as well, have
imported or adopted or invented hundreds of words,
terms, phrases, this linguistic aspect ranking as, if we
except the unexceptable ‘climate of courage,’ the
only good result of war.7
Human characteristics, such as a love of mystery and
a confidential air (a lazy freemasonry), vanity, the
imp of perversity that lurks in every heart, the
impulse to rebellion, and that irrepressible spirit of
adventure which, when deprived of its proper
outlook in action, perforce contents itself with verbal
audacity (the adventure of speech): these and others
are at the root of slang[.]1
Here, There and Everywhere
When we come to slang and familiar speech
gener-ally, we come to that department of the vocabulary
in which British and American differences are
naturally greater than anywhere else, just as they are
greater in the colloquial language generally than in
the literary.8
American slang is more volatile than English and it
tends, also, to have more synonyms, but a greater
number of those synonyms are butterflies of a day;
English synonyms are used more for variety than
from weariness or a desire to startle American slang
is apt to be more brutal than English[.]1
Canada also has an extensive and picturesque objective slang, but that slang is 80 per cent American, with the remainder rather more English than native-Canadian[…] it is linguistically unfair to condemn it for being so much indebted to its near and ‘pushing’ neighbour[.]1
Australian speech and writing have, from the outset, tended to be unconventional […] The unconventionality is linguistic.9
The truth is that South African slang, as distinct from indispensable Africanderisms, is not intrinsically
so vivid, humorous, witty, or divinely earthy as Canadian and Australian slang, nor is it nearly so extensive, nor has it, except during the Boer War, succeeded in imposing itself upon English slang, much less upon Standard English[.]1
New Zealand is like South Africa in that its popu-lation is too small to have much influenced the language of the mother country whether in Standard
or in unconventional English.1
Usage and Abusage
Some of the upstart qualities [of slang] and part of the aesthetic (as opposed to the moral) impropriety spring from the four features present in all slang, whatever the period and whatever the country: the search for novelty; volatility and light-headedness as well as light-heartedness; ephemerality; the sway of fashion In the standard speech and still more in slang we note that the motive behind figurative expressions and all neologisms is the desire to escape from the old accepted phrase: the desire for novelty operates more freely, audaciously, and rapidly
in slang – that is the only difference […O]f the numerous slang words taken up by the masses and the classes, most have only a short life, and that when they die, unhonoured and unsung, they are almost immediately replaced by novelties equally transitory: the word is dead, long live the word! […S]lang, as to the greater part of its vocabulary and especially as to its cuckoo-calling phrases and it’s parrot-sayings, is evanescent; it is the residuum that, racy and expressive, makes the study of slang revel-atory of the pulsing life of the language.1
[S]lang is indicative not only of man’s earthiness but
of his indomitable spirit: it sets him in his proper place: relates a man to his fellows, to his world and the world, and to the universe.10
And slang is employed for one (or two or more) of thirteen reasons:
1 In sheer high spirits; ‘just for the fun of the thing’
2 As an exercise in wit or humour
3 To be ‘different’ – to be novel
4 To be picturesque
5 To be startling; to startle
6 To escape from cliché’s and long-windedness
7 To enrich the language
8 To give solidity and concreteness to the abstract and the idealistic, and nearness to the
Trang 4distant scene or object.
9 To reduce solemnity, pain, tragedy
10 To put oneself in tune with one’s company
11 To induce friendliness or intimacy
12 To show that one belongs to a certain school,
trade or profession, intellectual set or social
class In short to be in the fashion – or to
prove that someone else isn’t
13 To be secret – not understood by those around
one.11
But no real stylist, no-one capable of good speaking
or good writing, is likely to be harmed by the
occasional employment of slang; provided that he is
conscious of the fact, he can employ it both
frequently and freely without stultifying his mind,
impoverishing his vocabulary, or vitiating the taste
and the skill that he brings to the using of that
vocabulary Except in formal and dignified writing and
in professional speaking, a vivid and extensive slang is
perhaps preferable to a jejune and meagre vocabulary
of standard English; on the other hand, it will hardly
be denied that, whether in writing or speech, a sound
though restricted vocabulary of standard English is
preferable to an equally small vocabulary of slang,
however vivid may be that slang.1
The Gentle Art of Lexicography
I began early in life: and it is the course of my life
which, allied to a natural propensity to original sin,
has made a lexicographer out of me.12
For most of us, a dictionary is hardly a book to read;
a good dictionary, however, is a book to browse in
Some dictionaries are so well written that one just
goes on and on To write such a dictionary has
always been my ambition.12
Slang [etymology/lexicography] demands a mind
constantly on the qui vive; an ear constantly keyed to
the nuances of everyday speech, whether among
scholars or professional men or craftsmen or
labourers; a very wide reading of all kinds of books.13
I have read much that is hopelessly inferior,
hopelessly mediocre; and much that, although
interesting, is yet devoid of literary value But ever
since my taste acquired a standard, I have been able
to extract some profit from even the most trashy
book.14
There is far more imagination and enthusiasm in the
making of a good dictionary than in the average
novel.15
Words at War: Words at Peace
For over a century, there have been protests against
the use of slang and controversies on the relation of
slang to the literary language or, as it is now usually
called, Standard English Purists have risen in their
wrath and conservatives in their dignity to defend
the Bastille of linguistic purity against the
revolutionary rabble The very vehemence of the
attack and the very sturdinessof the defence have ensured that only the fittest survive to gain entrance
to the citadel, there establish themselves, and then become conservatives and purists in their turn.16 Any term that prevents us from thinking, any term that we employ to spare us from searching for the right word, is a verbal narcotic As though there weren’t too many narcotics already…17
Words are very important things; at the lowest estimate, they are indispensable counters of communication.18
Notes/bibliography
1 Slang Today and Yesterday, 1933: George Routledge &
Sons, London
2 Slang Today and Yesterday, 1933, quoting Greenough and Kittredge, Words and their Ways in English Speech, 1902: George Routledge & Sons, London
3 ‘The Lexicography of Cant’, American Speech, Volume
26, Issue 2, May 1951: The American Dialect Society, Durham, North Carolina
4 ‘Byways of Soldier Slang’ in A Martial Medley, 1931:
Scholartis Press, London
5 ‘A Square Digs Beatnik’, August 1959 Originally published for private circulation Christmas 1959/New
Year 1960 Collected in A Charm of Words, 1960:
Hamish Hamilton, London
6 ‘Words Get Their Wings’, originally published in
Chamber’s Journal, July-August 1945 Collected in Words at War: Words at Peace, 1948: Frederick Muller,
London
7 ‘Introduction’ in Dictionary of New Words, Mary
Reifer, 1957: Peter Owen, London
8 British and American English Since 1900, co-authored
with John W Clark, 1951: Andrew Dakers, London
9 ‘Australian English’ in A Charm of Words, 1960:
Hamish Hamilton, London
10 Usage & Abusage, 1947: Hamish Hamilton, London
[originally published in the US in 1942]
11 The World of Words, 2nd edition, 1939: Hamish
Hamilton, London [reduced by Eric Partridge from a
fuller consideration in Slang Today and Yesterday,
1933, and based on the work of M Alfredo Niceforo,
Le Génie de l’Argot, 1912]
12 The Gentle Art of Lexicography, 1963: André Deutsch,
London
13 Adventuring Among Words, 1961: André Deutsch,
London
14 Journey to the Edge of Morning, ©1946, reprinted
1969: Books for Libraries Press, New York
15 As Corrie Denison, a pseudonymous epigraph to A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Captain
Francis Grose (3rd edition, 1796), edited by Eric Partridge, 1931: Scholartis Press, London
16 Here, There and Everywhere, 1950: Hamish Hamilton,
London
17 ‘Verbal Narcotics’, originally published in Good Housekeeping magazine, June 1949 Collected in From Sanskrit to Brazil, 1952: Hamish Hamilton,
London
18 ‘Words in Vogue: Words of Power’, 1942: collected in
Words at War: Words at Peace, 1948: Frederick Muller,
London
Trang 6Anoun1 amphetamineUS , 1967.2 LSD An abbreviation ofACID US ,
1977.3 in a deck of playing cards, an aceUS , 1988.< get A into G;
get your A into Gto stop idling; to apply yourself to an activity;
to start doing something useful Euphemistic forGET YOUR ARSE IN
GEAR NEW ZEALAND , 2002
Aadjective1 reserved for the best; the bestUS , 1945.2 analUS , 1997
a2mnouna scene in a pornographic film in which an object or body
part is withdrawn from a rectum and taken into a mouth without
either washing or editing Shorthand for ‘ass-to-mouth’US , 1997
A3anytime, anyplace, anywhere An abbreviation used in text
messagingUK , 2003
AAAnounan amphetamine tablet In the US, the AAA is the national
automobile club, which, like an amphetamine tablet, helps you get
from one place to anotherUS , 1993
A and Anounin the military, a leave for rest and recreation A
jocular abbreviation of ‘ass and alcohol’US , 1966
A and Bnounassault and batteryUS , 1986
aap; arpnouna marijuana cigarette From Afrikaans for ‘monkey’
SOUTH AFRICA , 1946
aardvarknounan F-111 combat aircraft or any aircraft that is
awkward-looking or difficult to fly Vietnam war usageUS , 1963
abnounan abscess, especially as a result of injecting drugsUS , 1952
ABnoun1 the Aryan Brotherhood, a white prison gang in the USUS ,
1990.2 the bleed period of the menstrual cycle An abbreviation of
‘Annie Brown’NEW ZEALAND , 1996
ABAnouna traveller’s chequeUS , 1985
abbadjectiveabnormalUS , 1991
abba-dabbanounchatter, gossip Undoubtedly originated with the
song ‘The Aba-Daba Honeymoon’, written in 1913 and re-released
with great success by Larry Clinton and His Orchestra in March
1948, in which ‘abba-dabba’ is the chatter of monkeysUS , 1961
abba-dabbaadjectivedark-skinned, especially ArabicUS , 1975
abbedadjectivehaving well-defined abdominal musclesUK , 2002
abbeynouna swindler who impersonates a priestUS , 1950.< on the
abbeyengaged in a swindle involving clergy impersonationUS , 1992
abbottnouna capsule of pentobarbital sodium (trade name
Nembutal™), a central nervous system depressant From the name
of the manufacturerUS , 1971
Abby Singernounin television and film making, the next-to-last
shot of the day Singer was active in US television from the early
1950s until the late 1980s; his name became an eponym when he
was an Assistant Director in the 1950sUS , 1990
ABCnoun1 an American-born ChineseUS , 1984.2 in poker, the ace,
two and threeUS , 1988
ABCadjective of a piece of chewing gum, already been chewed.
Childish usageUS , 2004
ABC adnouna newspaper advertisement listing shows in
alphabetical orderUS , 1973
ABC classnounthe entry grade in a primary schoolTRINIDAD AND
TOBAGO , 2003
ABCing youused as a farewell Intended as a clever variant of ‘I’ll
be seeing you’US , 1947
ABC’snoununderwearUS , 1949
ABC-yaused as a farewell Intended as a clever variant of ‘I’ll be
seeing you’US , 2002
abdabs; habdabs; screaming abdabsnouna condition of anxiety,
uneasiness, nervousness; also, but rarely, delirium tremens or a
state of enraged frustration Always following ‘the’, usually now phrased (to give someone) the screaming abdabsUK , 1946
abdicateverbto vacate a public toilet upon orders of a homosexual-rousting attendant The royal imagery is derived from the homo-sexual asQUEEN US , 1941
Abdulnoun1 used as a term of address for any Turkish soldier World War 1 coinageUK , 1925.2 any male Arab Gulf war usageUS , 1991
Abenoun1 a five-dollar note An abbreviation ofABE LINCOLN US , 1945
2 any Jewish male Also variant ‘Abie’ From the archetypal Jewish name: AbrahamUS , 1914
A beannouna capsule of MDMA, the recreational drug best known
as ecstasyUK , 2003
Abe Lincolnnouna five-dollar note The note bears an engraving of President LincolnUS , 1966
AbernicknameAberdare, Abergavenny, Aberystwyth or any town so constructed From Welsh for ‘where two waters meet’UK: WALES , 2001
abercrombienoun1 a person devoted to prep-school fashions and styleUS , 2004.2 someone who strives at creating the impression of knowing allUS , 1945
abfabadjective absolutely fabulous Originally the slang of Australian
teenagers From early 1990s in the UK it has been the widely
fam-iliar short-form of popular television situation comedy Absolutely
Fabulous AUSTRALIA , 1965
Abigailnouna staid, traditional, middle-aged homosexual manUS , 1972
ableadjectivestrong, capable, courageous In general speech, this word is usually followed by ‘to do [something]’, but the Canadian use tends to follow the otherwise obsolete pattern of letting it stand alone or with an intensifierCANADA , 1980.< can’t spell able
be unable to do what you are told to doBARBADOS , 1996
Able Dognounthe propeller-driven Douglas AD Skyraider Based on the letters A and D in phonetic alphabet The Skyraider was manufactured between 1946 and 1957; it saw service in Korea and VietnamUS , 1961
able Grablenouna sexually attractive girlUS , 1945
abonounan Australian Aboriginal An abbreviation of ‘aborigine’ blended with the ‘-o’ suffix Now a strongly taboo word, formerly
in frequent use by white people, and viewed by them as less marked than other terms such as ‘boong’ or ‘coon’ It was even used in names for products, businesses, etcAUSTRALIA , 1906
aboadjectiveAustralian Aboriginal; of, or pertaining to, Australian AboriginalsAUSTRALIA , 1911
aboardadverbpresent, part of an enterpriseUS , 1957.< go aboard
of someoneto act vigorously and aggressively, to attack, or scold vigorouslyCANADA , 1980
A-bomb; atom bombnounmarijuana combined in a cigarette with cocaine, heroin or opium The addition of narcotic enhancements
to a BOMB (a marijuana cigarette) is signified by the ‘A’US , 1969
A-bombedadjectiveunder the influence of amphetaminesUS , 1975
A-bonenouna Model A Ford car, first built in 1927US , 1951
abootprepositionused as a humorous attempt to duplicate a Canadian saying ‘about’US , 1995
abortverbto defecate after being the passive partner in anal sexUS , 1972
abortionnouna misfortune; an ugly person or thingUS , 1943
about-facenouna 180-degree turn executed while driving fastUS , 1965
about it; ’bout itadjectivein favour of somethingUS , 2001
about right correct, adequate
Trang 7above boardadjectiveentirely honest From card playingUK , 1616
above paradjective1 in excellent health or spirits Originates from
describing stocks and shares as above face valueUK , 1937.2 mildly
drunk By extension from the previous senseUK , 1984
abracadabra, please and thank youused as a humorous
embellishment of ‘please’ A signature line from the Captain
Kangaroo children’s television show (CBS, 1944–84) Repeated
with referential humourUS , 1944
Abraham Lincoln; Abie Lincolnadjectivedisgusting, contemptible.
Glasgow rhyming slang forSTINKING UK , 1988
AbrahampsteadnicknameHampstead, an area of north London
with a large Jewish population A combination with the archetypal
Jewish name AbrahamUK , 1981
absnounthe abdominal musclesUS , 1956
absobloodylutelyadverbabsolutely, utterly First recorded as
‘absoballylutely’UK , 1914
absofuckinglutelyadverbabsolutelyUK , 1921
absolutely!used for registering complete agreementUK , 1937
Absolutely, Mr Gallagher Positively, Mr Shean.used for a
humorous assent From the Vaudeville team of Gallagher and
SheanUS , 1922
absotively; absitivelyadverbcertainly A jocular blend of
‘posi-tively’ and ‘absolutely’US , 1926
Abyssinian polonouna game of diceUS , 1962
Abyssinian teanounkhat, a natural stimulant grown in Kenya,
Ethiopia and SomaliaUK , 2004
Acnounan Acura carUS , 2002
AC/DC; AC-DCnounin gay society, a coupleUK , 2002
AC/DC; AC-DCadjectivebisexual A pun on electricity’s AC
(alternating current) and DC (direct current)US , 1960
ACABall coppers are bastards An initialism, a philosophy, a tattoo
UK , 1996
academynouna jail or prisonUS , 1949
Academy Awardnounrecognition of excelling in a fieldUS , 1958
Academy Awardadjective1 excellentUS , 1958.2 histrionicAUSTRALIA ,
1966
Academy Award winningadjectivehistrionicAUSTRALIA , 1987
Acapulconounmarijuana from southwest Mexico A shortened form
ofACAPULCO GOLD US , 1970
Acapulco goldnoungolden-leafed marijuana from southwest
Mexico A popular, well-known strain of cannabis The song
‘Acapulco Gold’ by the Rainy Daze was released in 1967 and had
just begun its climb on the pop charts when programme directors
figured out what it was about and pulled it off play listsUS , 1965
acca; ackernounan academic whose work serves the marketplace
rather than the intellect; hence a particularly sterile piece of
academic writing An abbreviation punning onOCKER(a coarse
Australian)AUSTRALIA , 1977
acceleratornoun1 an amphetamine tabletUS , 1993.2 an arsonistUS ,
1992
accessorynouna boyfriend or girlfriendUS , 1992
accibouncenouna minor collision or accidentTRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ,
2003
accidentnouna murder that cannot be proved as suchUS , 1964
accidentally on purposeadverbapparently accidental yet
deliberately done, especially with hidden malicious purposeUS , 1887
accommodation arrestnouna pre-arranged, consensual raid of an
illegal gambling operation, designed to give the appearance of
strict enforcement of lawsUS , 1961
according to Hoyleadverbin keeping with established rules and
norms After Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769), who codified the rules
for many gamesUS , 1904
accordion act
accordion warnounUS tactics during the Korean war: accordion-like movements up and down Korea by land forcesUS , 1982
account executivenouna pimp who procures and profits from high-price prostitutesUS , 1972
accrueverb< accrue chocolateto behave towards officers in an obsequious, sycophantic manner Royal Navy usage; a play on
BROWN-NOSE(to behave obsequiously, etc.)UK , 1929
accumulatornouna type of bet where the amount won on one event becomes the stake for the next event; a bettor who operates
in such a mannerUK , 1889
acenoun1 a very close friendUS , 1932.2 used as a form of addressUK ,
1919.3 a good and reliable friendUS , 1941.4 one dollarUS , 1900.5 one hundred dollarsUS , 1974.6 one-eighth of an ounce of a drugUS , 1989
7 phencyclidine, the recreational drug known as PCP or angel dust
US , 1981.8 in dice games, a rolled oneUS , 1999.9 an important or notable CB user Citizens’ band radio slangUS , 1976.10 a prison sentence of one yearUS , 1927.11 in the theatre, a one-night engagementUS , 1981.12 in pool, the number one ballUS , 1878.13 a table for one at a restaurantUS , 1961.14 a single rotten fruitUK , 1963
15 in lunch counter usage, a grilled cheese sandwichUS , 1975
16 the grade ‘A’US , 1964.< ace in the holean undisclosed resourceUS , 1908.< ace up your sleevea resource that is yet to
be revealed From the popular belief that card cheats hide cards
up their sleevesUS , 1927.< on your acealone; by yourself
AUSTRALIA , 1904
aceverb1 to outsmart someoneUS , 1929.2 to work your way somewhere, to engineer somethingUS , 1929.3 to do well in an examinationUS , 1957.4 to kill someoneUS , 1975
aceadjectiveexceptional, expert, excellentUS , 1930
ace boon coon; ace boon poonnouna very close friendUS , 1958
ace boynouna very good male friendBERMUDA , 1985
ace coolnouna very close and trusted friendUS , 1988
ace-deucenoun1 a fellow prisoner upon whom you rely without questionUS , 1989.2 your best friendBELIZE , 1996
ace-deuceverbin craps, to sustain a heavy lossUS , 1987
ace-deuceadjective1 cross-eyedUS , 1955.2 riding a racehorse with the right stirrup higher than the leftUS , 1948
ace-deuceadverbon an angle, with one side higher than the other
US , 1948
ace-douchenounin craps, a first roll of three ‘Douche’ is an intentional corruption of ‘deuce’; a come-out roll of three losesUS , 1999
ace high; aces highadjectivethe very best From pokerUS , 1896
ace inverb1 to manipulate someone or something into a situation
US , 1971.2 to become associated with a group and work your way into itUS , 1992
acelerantenounan amphetamine or central nervous system stimu-lant Borrowed Spanish used by English-speakersUS , 1992
ace mannouna youth gang’s top fighterUS , 1953
ace notenouna one-dollar noteUS , 1929
ace of spadesnounthe vulvaUS , 1960
ace onadjectiveskilled atBAHAMAS , 1982
ace outverb1 to fool someone; to swindle someoneUS , 1933.2 to exclude someoneUS , 1964.3 in poker, to win a hand by bluffing while holding a relatively low-value handUS , 1983
ace over apexadverbhead over heelsUS , 1960
acesnounin poker, a hand with a pair of acesUS , 1987.< aces in
both placesin craps, a roll of twoUS , 1999
acesadjectiveexcellentUS , 1901
acey-deuceynoun1 in backgammon, a variant rule under which the game is started in positions other than the standard layoutUS , 1944
2 a bisexual A probable elaboration ofAC/DC US , 1980
acey-deuceyverb(used of a jockey) to ride with the inside stirrup lower than the outside stirrup A riding style popularised by