Search Results
bustification, n
bust n + -ification 1906 DN 3.129 nwAR , Bustification. . . Used facetiously of an explosion, disaster, or quarrel.
G.O.P., n 
...N 3.81 nwAR , G.O.P., ‘Get Out and Push.’ ‘Going out on the G.O.P. to-day?’ Facetiously applied to a branch railway. 1966–68 DARE N37 , Joking names for a branch r...
Used as a nickname for a branch railway.
big church, n
... church.” 1908 DN 3.290 e AL , w GA , Big church, the. . . No church: used facetiously to indicate that one is not a member of any church or denomination. “I belong ...
See quots.
coldshin, n
...alled coldshins. . . The word possibly is an echo of cochin, a poultry term facetiously applied to these waterfowl. 1953 AmSp 28.276, Then too, if I am not mistaken,...
heaval, up in a, adj phr
...e , A friend of my mother’s, who grew up near Springfield, Missouri, used to say facetiously that things were “all up in a heaval.” She might be referring to her house aft...
Out of order; mixed up.
cow grease, n
... butter. (This expression is not limited to this section, but is used, generally facetiously , in rural sections in Ohio, for instance). 1936 AmSp 11.275 cn, neTN , Cow...
chiefly MidlandButter.
lazy Tom, n
...stle was worked up and down by water-power. This was called a pounding-mill, or, facetiously , a “lazy John” or “tri-weekly.” 1952 Brown NC Folkl. 1.558 wNC , Lazy-tom....
A type of water-powered mill; see quots.
sideways, n 
...8), Commit sideways was heard often, usually, I think by young people and used facetiously . 1965–70 DARE BB57 , If someone committed suicide . . he _____ 31 Infs, ...
chiefly South, South Midland, WestSuicide.
iron pot, n
...ll Names of Birds 96, The . . “scoters”. . . are referred to collectively, and facetiously , at Pleasantville (Atlantic Co.), N.J., as “iron pots,” or “old iron pots.” 19...
A scoter.
animule, n
... . . animule. 1908 DN 3.286 e AL , w GA , Animule. . . Animal: often used facetiously of a mule. “Wait till I ketch this here animule” 1922 DN 5.136 c West , A w...
Any animal, not necessarily a mule.
chicken scratch, n, freq pl
...g. c1960 Wilson Coll. cs KY , Chicken-scratching. . . Poor penmanship, used facetiously . 1965–70 DARE JJ11 , Joking names for handwriting that’s hard to read 104 ...
1 also chicken scratching, ~ marks, ~ pecking: =hen scratching.
2 See chicken B7.
cob, v4
...all value. Reported as used among schoolboys in Portage, Wisconsin; also as used facetiously , or evasively, when an item in question was acquired in a conventional way....
To take, filch, glom v1 1.
happenchance, n, v
...cident. 1911 DN 3.544 NE , Happenchance. . . Happening, circumstance. Used facetiously . 1941 Sat. Eve. Post 22 Mar 24/3 Sth , Even if by happen-chance a hailstorm...
A chance or accidental occurrence; the possibility of such an occurrence; hence v happenchance to come by chance or accident.
summer name, n
...ty about his past. The nearest approach to curiosity would be when he was asked, facetiously , “What is your summer name?”...
An alias.
long line, n
...n ranches, is a skinner, because he skins up the animals with the reins. He is facetiously known as a long-line skinner. 1964 Jackman–Long OR Desert 276, The “long lin...
=jerk line 1—used in comb long-line skinner a driver of a large team of draft animals.
sliver cat, n
... on a stump that howls in the wind, or a contrivance that makes a similar sound, facetiously explained as the cry of an imaginary animal; the animal itself. 1950 WELS (I...
esp WisconsinA large splinter on a stump that howls in the wind, or a contrivance that makes a similar sound, facetiously explained as the cry of an imaginary animal; the animal itself.
toller, n
...backs. . . The outside duck at the tail of the rank was a veteran canvass-back, facetiously called the toller. 1874 Long Amer. Wild-Fowl 72, For deep-water ducks, three ...
A decoy used in duck hunting.
all hands and the cook (and the whiskey-jacks), n, often used as an exclam
...’s help. 1942 ME Univ. Studies 56.11, The whole ship’s company . . was somewhat facetiously called all hands and the cook. 1942 AmSp 17.130 IN . 1944 Adams Western Word...
All members of a working group without exception—usu used as an exclam announcing an emergency requiring everyone’s help.
fence rider, n
...ce to watch the activity and are at the “opera,” or are “fence riding.” They are facetiously called “fence riders.”...
1 also fencer: See quot 1968. West
2 See quot.
dung out, v phr
... barns or stables where the matter removed actually was dung, but now often used facetiously , as in the sentence: “I tol’ th’ ol’ woman t’ dung out th’ shanty afore compan...
To remove dung from (a barn); also fig.