Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Pimp
Got a request for this one after the Academy Awards (It ain't easy bein' a pimp won best song). A pimp is a guy that is the boss man for one or more prostitutes (hookers). When you want to get with a girl, you go through the pimp. He sets you up and takes part of the money you pay the hooker. She, in turn, gets protection from him, although some times she also gets a beating from him. Pimps dress with a certain flair (see Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch). This leads to terms like "pimping out" which means to add style to something. Pimping out my ride would mean to dress up your car with new wheels, stereo equipment, video displays, etc.
Prairie Dogging
Do you work in a place with lots of cubicles? When someone says "donuts" do people pop their heads up above the cubicle walls to see what's going on? If so, you've witnessed "Prairie Dogging". The term comes from the similarity of that to what prairie dogs do in the wild (small squirrel like animals). In order to see what's going on around their area they will often stand on their hind legs to get as tall as they can to see farther.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Rats
Rats. This term in American can mean one of two things. One, your house could be overrun by long tailed, slimy vermin intent on chewing through your electrical wiring or the more common one is a term meaning that things have not gone as planned and you are upset. Other common phrases like this are: darn, dang, damnit, shoot, shucks, damn it all to hell, god bless it, oh lord, oh dear, crap, shit, and gosh darn it all anyway.
Sticking to the B's
3 more words that start with a B for today.
Buck. A buck in America typically refers to 1 dollar ($1). Sometimes a bum (see below) will stop you in the street and say "gimme a buck", he is asking for a dollar. Buck can also mean male deer. If you hear someone say "I shot a 12 point buck this weekend" they are not talking about a strange dollar that they shot, it was a deer. Very important to keep this straight.
Bum. A bum is slang for a homeless person or a worthless person. You'll hear people say something like "this bum stopped me on the street and wanted a buck." You might also hear this at sporting events in reference to the officials or the players. You'll hear things like "You bum ref!" or "Hey Kobe, you're a bum!" In that situation it's meant to be derogatory.
Brothel. A brothel is a house of ill repute. A place where prostitutes operate. Typically these are only found in places where prostitution is legal, like Amsterdam or Las Vegas. A place you'd visit during a conference.
Buck. A buck in America typically refers to 1 dollar ($1). Sometimes a bum (see below) will stop you in the street and say "gimme a buck", he is asking for a dollar. Buck can also mean male deer. If you hear someone say "I shot a 12 point buck this weekend" they are not talking about a strange dollar that they shot, it was a deer. Very important to keep this straight.
Bum. A bum is slang for a homeless person or a worthless person. You'll hear people say something like "this bum stopped me on the street and wanted a buck." You might also hear this at sporting events in reference to the officials or the players. You'll hear things like "You bum ref!" or "Hey Kobe, you're a bum!" In that situation it's meant to be derogatory.
Brothel. A brothel is a house of ill repute. A place where prostitutes operate. Typically these are only found in places where prostitution is legal, like Amsterdam or Las Vegas. A place you'd visit during a conference.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Helping out our co-workers
It's becoming obvious that as American's we owe it to our foreign co-workers to explain some of our "non-standard" english. So, this blog is meant just for that. As I come across words they don't get they'll go here so they have a reference when they don't get it.
First word: Booze. Booze is slang for alcohol. It could be anything, bourbon, scotch, vodka, tequila, etc. It also could be for beer and wine but they are typically not referred to as booze. Most people don't say booze, but you will hear homeless people and guys that hang out at the local tavern at 8am using the term liberally.
First word: Booze. Booze is slang for alcohol. It could be anything, bourbon, scotch, vodka, tequila, etc. It also could be for beer and wine but they are typically not referred to as booze. Most people don't say booze, but you will hear homeless people and guys that hang out at the local tavern at 8am using the term liberally.
