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Dictionary of American Slang, Third Edition
Completely Revised and Updated
Chapter One
A
A n 1 Amphetamine 2 LSD; ACID (Narcotics)
AA (pronounced as separate letters) modifier : an AA barrage n An antiaircraft weapon, or antiaircraft fire; ACK-ACK, FLAK (WWI)
abandominiums n Abandoned apartments or houses where addicts use drugs : Abandominiums blighted the former middle-class neighborhood
abbreviated piece of nothing n A worthless or insignificant person or thing : Her unemployed neighbor is an abbreviated piece of nothing
abc gum n Gum that has already been chewed : There's abc gum under the desk
abdabs (or habdabs or screaming abdabs or screaming habdabs) n Anxiety or nervous tension : Starting any new project gives her the abdabs (1945+)
Abe's cabe (or abe) n phr A five-dollar bill [Jive talk 1930s+ & rock and roll 1950s+; fr Lincoln's portrait on the bill, perhaps a shortening and repronouncing of ''cabbage'']
A-bomb n 1 An atomic bomb 2 A car especially modified for quick acceleration and speed; hot rod (Hot rodders) 3 A combination of drugs, typically marijuana or hashish plus opium (Narcotics)
abortion n Something of very poor quality; a messy failure; Disaster : That show is a real abortion
about that See sorry about that
about townSee man-about-town
above one's head See in over one's head
abso-bloody-lutely modifier Absolutely : He absobloody-lutely wanted to see her again
absotively (posilutely) modifier Absolutely : I absotively posilutely want to watch the basketball games
academy See laughing academy
Acapulco gold n phr Marijuana of high quality grown near Acapulco, Mexico, and having leaves with a golden hue (Narcotics)
accident n A person born from an unplanned pregnancy; an unplanned pregnancy : At 50, this third one was an accident (1900+)
accidentally on purpose adv phr As if by accident, but really by intention : She missed the meeting accidentally on purpose
accommodation collar n phr An arrest made to fulfill a quota, usu in response to pressure for strong police action against crime (Police)
Dictionary of American Slang, Third Edition
Completely Revised and Updated. Copyright © by Robert L. Chapman. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.