About 50 results
Open links in new tab
  1. What is the etymology of "dope" meaning excellent, great ... - slang

    Jan 5, 2016 · Dope is a rather new slang word that is used to define someone or something excellent, great, impressive. OED says that it is originally in African-American usage and …

  2. Etymology: Dope - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Sep 8, 2017 · Dope in the sense of information, particularly information that isn’t widely known or easily obtained, came directly from this practice. A whisper from the stables or some …

  3. Origin of slang "fire" meaning "cool" / "great" and does it have any ...

    Jul 11, 2018 · Fire as a slang adjective appears to be the bleeding-edge version of "cool." To some extent, the word appears to be interchangeable with dope. One thing that seems odd to …

  4. etymology - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    May 13, 2022 · 3 That's clearly clipped from the common construction as there are dope heads, hip-hop heads, meth heads and so on. Accordingly, the English wiktionary defines head …

  5. What do you call slapping someone at the back of their head

    Jan 22, 2014 · Dope slap is the most common expression I know for striking someone in the back of the head with an open palm. The b -expression, which I will not repeat, usually refers to a …

  6. etymology - Origin of phrase "put one over on"? - English …

    Mar 22, 2022 · The exact phrase "put one over on" in the sense of "get the better of"—through superior skill, superior strategy (or trickery), or the element of surprise—appears to have …

  7. idiom requests - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Jun 1, 2016 · Rope-a-dope is a strategy Mohammed Ali (boxer) used to outfox his opponent, George Foreman, in a match called the Rumble in The Jungle. He pretended to be beaten, …

  8. idioms - Origin of shooting the breeze? - English Language

    Jul 25, 2024 · Instances of "shoot the bull [con]" appear as early as 1906. From " Dope of the Day," in the Minneapolis [Minnesota] Journal (August 25, 1906): Is it loyalty to the club that …

  9. What is the origin of the expression "do me a solid"?

    The semantic development from ‘solid dope’ to ‘favor’ is hard to work out, and solid could easily arise as a nouning by truncation independently in different contexts: from solid N (N = dope, …

  10. What do the words "tenant" and "ponies" in US mean?

    Aug 6, 2024 · Farlex Dictionary of Idioms lists the fixed expression 'play the ponies'; 'ponies' thus obviously refers to racehorses / horse racing in general. 'Tenant' must be a broadened sense …