A.W.A.D. - Slang Words
Poet Carl Sandburg once described slang as "a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work." Nothing wrong with words in a tie and suit, but sometimes only slang can do the job.
Since slang is often born in the back-alleys of language rather than in a sanitized hospital room, it's not easy to pin down its origins. Does that matter? Go ahead, hire this week's five hardworking words for your verbal mill.
jake
PRONUNCIATION: (jayk)
MEANING: adjective: Satisfactory; all right; okay
ETYMOLOGY: Of unknown origin
USAGE: "So far as the state is concerned, everything is jake. But the council seems determined to throw a monkey wrench into the works." James Gill; Council Seems Eager to Trip Up Churchill; The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana); Apr 20, 2005.
rhubarb
PRONUNCIATION: (ROO-bahrb)
MEANING: noun: A heated dispute; brawl
ETYMOLOGY: The origin of the plant name rhubarb is from Greek rha (perhaps from Rha, an ancient name of the river Volga on whose bank rhubarb was grown) + barbaros (foreign), but why the word developed this slang sense is unknown. We do know that this usage was popularized in baseball. The Oxford English Dictionary has the first citation from 1943:
"Mr 'Red' Barber,.. who has been announcing the games of the Brooklyn Dodgers, has used the term 'rhubarb' to describe an argument, or a mix-up, on the field of play." (NY Herald Tribune)
USAGE: "People should get their domestic rhubarbs, verbal fisticuffs, and emotional jugular-snatching completely out of the way before they show up for a house tour." Richard Ford; Independence Day; Alfred A. Knopf; 1995.
grift
PRONUNCIATION: (grift)
MEANING: noun: 1. A swindle or a confidence game
2. Money obtained by fraud
verb tr., intr.:
To swindle someone; to obtain something by swindling
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of graft, the origin of which remains unknown as well.
USAGE: "The real genius of the ever-evolving 419 scam is its ability to change with the times. Like Madonna or antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus, the money-advancing grift continuously reinvents itself to better infiltrate society's weaknesses." Helen A.S. Popkin; Don't Get Taken by This Adorable Scam; MSNBC; Nov 7, 2007.
jive
PRONUNCIATION: (jyv)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.:
1. To deceive, to flatter, to taunt, to talk nonsense
2. To go together, to fit in
adjective:
Insincere or deceptive
noun:
1. Jazz or swing music and related dance
2. Insincere, pretentious, or exaggerated talk
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown
USAGE: "The edict by state and city officials that we Durham residents should let water run out of faucets for three or four minutes before drinking it or using it to cook with may indeed be the solution to the lead threat that has been discovered in the city's water supply. But what if they are jiving us? Surely I'm not the only cynic." Barry Saunders; Money Flows With Water Woes; The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina); Sep 2, 2006.
"Designwise, the focus remains on the house-garden connection -- the need for garden rooms and plants to jive with architecture and interiors." Turning over a new leaf; Los Angeles Times; May 21, 2000.
dibs
PRONUNCIATION: (dibz)
MEANING: noun: The right or claim on something
ETYMOLOGY: From shortening of dibstones, a children's game played with pebbles
USAGE: "Carly: I've got dibs on 'Don't Cry for Me, Argentina'. Syesha: No way, girl. That's my song." Donald Munro; What A Tangled 'Idol' We Weave; Fresno Bee (California); Apr 20, 2008.
"Department officers were given first dibs for the job." Michael Tucker; Town Approves Hengel; Belgrade News (Montana); Jun 19, 2009.
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