Notes on American English
(I apologize for not doing much upkeep of this page; work exigencies and all that, and after all this is a 'volunteer' effort).
"I don't mind" in British means "I don't care" in American, whereas "I don't mind" in American means something more like "I have nothing against it, or I'll allow it".
"Back in the day" means 'in the past'. It might be related to 'back in the good old days'. Not to be confused with "Same old, same old", which means 'nothing has changed.'
"BFF" is a 'Best Friend Forever' to the abbreviation-prone youngsters of our 24/7 connected world. See 'Facebook'.
"Flashlight" is in American as "torch" is to a Brit.
"C-Suite" refers to top-level management, indirectly. The proliferation of titles such as CEO, CFO, COO, CTO and the like is the basis for this neologism.
"Rap" has had two major modern meanings; in the 60's and 70's, as a shortened reference to 'rapport', it was a verb which meant to speak to someone sincerely, someone simpatico. Later, associated with a hard urban edged sound, it was the staccato story of life on the streets, in the 'hood'.
A profligate rich kid who runs afoul of the law might be "heirrested". Perhaps they were just "chillaxing" (combination of 'chill [out]' and 'relax') with their friends and then decided to push their luck.
Herb Caen coined the word "beatnik" based on the Soviet satellite 'Sputnik', and incorporating the beatific nature of the revelations of that movement.
"That's above my pay grade" is largely self-evident in its meaning, but is popular with military and government employees. It means 'that is not my job'.
"Grok" is a verb that comes from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, and its inclusion gives us a chance to honor this late author on the 100th anniversary of his birth. It means 'to understand completely'.
"Hood" (not 'hoodie', now), is short for "Neighbourhood".
"Tattoo Regret" is a fairly common phenonmenon, and a rather self-evident one too. As Americans age and move into more staid professions and lifestyles, a large number of them find it desirable to efface that body decoration.
"Twenty-three Skiddoo" supposedly related to the way the wind whipping down 23rd Avenue near the Flatiron building would catch up the skirts of women pedestrians, but apparently that is not the case. "Twenty-three" means 'exit', and "Skidoo" means 'pronto'
"Revert" in South Asia means to respond to a communication; in the US, "revert" means "to return to the previous state".
"Pronto", unlike Italian translation of 'ready', meant, 'quickly', or 'now' in the US West.
"It don't make me no never mind" - I don't care.
"Mocketing" means making fun of your own product or brand in order to sell the product and build the brand. This is in turn a reflection of the generational changes in attitude toward the media. You see it a lot in commercials oriented toward kids.
"The whole nine yards" somehow means "everything", you know, the "whole kit and kaboodle". The origins of this are unknown, but could not relate to US football, as ten yards is required for a first down, which entitles you to maintain possession of the ball. It also cannot be traced to the length of a machine gunners 'ammo' (ammunition) belt, and hence according to some related to giving all in an effort. (See 'shoot your wad' later).
The "Alphonse and Gaston" routine refers to a counterproductive deference, and traces back to a French origin, as the names of the protagonists would imply. I first heard it as a child watching a ball game, where two outfielders deferred a little too much on a fly ball, and neither got it, out of ill-applied courtesy.
"Three Hots and a Cot" refers to a night in the local jail. The jail in the US, during frontier days, was often called the 'hoosegow', because the jail and courthouse in simpler times were often the same building (think of the concept of the 'circuit judge' who would 'ride the circuit' of the several towns in his jurisdiction.)
"Hoosegow" is an Anglicized pronunciation of the Spanish juzgado, meaning 'tribunal, courtroom'. This Spanish word is the past participle of juzgar, to judge, from Latin iudicare, to judge, from iudex, 'judge'.
"LOL" is one of many acronyms that has been given life with the advent of 'texting' (Instant Messaging). It means "(I) laugh out loud". I guess one usage could be "His tongue lolled as he LOL'ed".
'Piling On' means to unnecessarily add to someone's burden. It can be used in the context of an emotional relationship. Piling on is a specific penalty in US football (although I cannot admit to hearing it lately). In this foul, once an opponent had been brought to the ground, ('tackled'), he would be officially ruled down by an official (zebra-striped, usually male), and the play would stop. Piling on additional players is redundant, and could hurt someone, so it is not allowed.
"Saucing" or "Hot Saucing" is a practice in many American households, especially in the South, where a bit of hot sauce is placed on a child's tongue for punishment. This controversial practice has been covered in a Washington Post article, and is discussed among other disciplinary practices here.
Coming soon:
'Props'
'OPP'
'Gaysted'
'PYT'
'Tending to your knitting'
'Punching above your weight'
'Punching your dance card'
'On the [down] low'
'Yup yup'
'That dog won't hunt'
'Have a dog in that fight'
'Keep a low profile'
'Git er done'
'Nut'
'FUBAR'
'SNAFU' (original form was an acronym, hence the capital letters)
"Keep ahead of the (power) curve"
To 'show heart' is to do what is necessary in a prison situation to prevent your becoming a victim; it can be seen as part of the initiation of a new member of the community of incarcerated, part of how someone is 'sized up'. To show heart may take the form of a beat-down that you put on someone for demonstration effect, often someone who is about your size or could be smaller or older. This is not a good thing to do, obviously, but in the long run it can save a lot of people a lot of avoidable grief by establishing boundaries. It's a tough world in there. Due to weaknesses and laziness in the justice and penal systems and some of those who work within it, thousands of innocent people are behind bars in the US, which imprisons the highest percentage of its people in the world, a little bit of Americana of which I am not particularly proud.
'Throw down' refers to a fight; you might show heat by throwing down with a fellow inmate.
I have childhood memories of Pig's Knuckles as a food choice (I don't think I took that particular option; even a child's appetite and curiosity have their limits), but that's not in any way related to a 'knuckle sandwich' , which means a punch in the mouth, and is obviously (like the Pig's Knuckles, I would aver) NOT a nutritious treat!
Knocking boots is a euphemism for sex; don't knock it (downplay its importance) if you haven't tried it!
Right off the bat means, "immediately, to begin with", probably related to the US game of baseball.
A Yuppie is a 'Young Urban Professional', while an African-American version of that is called 'Buppie'. Note also a much earlier construction, 'Yippie', from the Youth International Party co-founded by Abby Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. The label tried to capitalize on the culture's recognition of 'Hippie' as a phenomenon. Hippie, in turn, should be compared to Beatnik, and the Kerouac generation of the 1950s, which produced some of the ferment which transformed the US political and cultural landscape during the momentous decades to follow.