Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) a short, neat haircut.

1991		N. George ‘Michael Bivins’ in Buppies, B-Boys, Baps and Bohos (1994) 65: Sporting fresh cuts, Starter sports gear, and well-rehearsed scowls.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 49: Fresh Cut A nice, clean haircut.

(US teen) to look one’s best, usu. coupled to a specific event, such as a party, an anniversary, a festival.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1993		Lerner et al. Dict. of Today’s Words 27: Bust fresh – to dress with great style, as in, ‘Man, she bust fresh out of sight today’.

1. cheeky and impertinent.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

2. sexually promiscuous.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

3. of meat, smelling raw (although not stale).

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

4. of fish, smelling ‘off’.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

5. of popular music, in the latest style.

1987

cited in Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage (1996).

1. precocious.

1980

cited in Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage (1996).

2. sexually cheeky, suggestive.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

see under bit n.¹

(US tramp) a new, inexperienced tramp.

1909		W.H. Davies Beggars 50: Others, more kind and considerate, would take what was offered and give it to some poor shovel stiff (navvy) out of work, or a fresh cat (new beginner).
1926		W.H. Davies Adventures of Johnny Walker 20: Wingy knew that he had not seen him before, but he did not want his own presence disgraced by a new-made beggar – who is known to the profession by the name of ‘fresh cat’.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 80: fresh Cat.–A neophyte tramp.

(US tramp) one who has just developed a venereal disease.

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 447: Fresh cow, One with a newly developed case of gonorrhea.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 80: Fresh Cow.–One with a newly developed venereal disease.

1. (US prison) a new inmate in a prison; thus fresh fish special, the prison crop given to a new inmate.

1859		Calif. Police Gazette 10 Apr. 1/4: If a new prisoner arrived at night he was put into the room [...] and the instant he entered, his arrival would be signalized by the words ‘fresh fish’.
1864		E. Newsome Experiences 98: The old [...] prisoners would scarecly associate with ‘Fresh Fish’.
1871		J.H. Banka State Prison Life 60: Fresh fish is the name applied to all newcomers.
1908		J. Kelley Thirteen Years in Oregon Penitentiary 35: The next boy to be flogged was a ‘fresh fish’ from Portland.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 42: Several new-looking prisoners walked about [...] They were ‘fresh fish,’ new arrivals.
1937		‘Boxcar Bertha’ Sister of the Road (1975) 92: Too late for the regular supper, seven of us they called ‘fresh fish’ were given a meal.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1952		C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 243: In the old days [...] there came to San Quentin a ‘fresh fish’ — the house burglar Donald Lowrie.
1968		J. Colebrook Cross of Lassitude 239: [He] suddenly found himself a ‘fresh fish,’ landing in ‘the can’.
1971		J.D. Horan Blue Messiah 119: Over there the fresh fish [...] are turned over to the old cons.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: fresh bait = fresh fish.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: fresh fish n. 1 an inmate new to a prison a new, inexperienced officer.
2002		Mad mag. Sept. 22: Oh no!!! [...] You want to make me your fresh fish taco!

2. (also freshie) any novice, e.g. a new recruit.

c.1880		‘The Alphabet Poem’ (US Army poem) F is for Fresh Fish, who get eaten like candy.
1885		Ledger (Noblesville, IN) 14 Aug. 6/2: A fresh fish came in. He recognized an old friend [...] "Hello! when did you get out of the grand sterr?’.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 155: Young chits, fresh meat and fresh fish [...] pretties and chicken (tender white meat) are chased by rapacious chicken-hawks.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: fresh fish n. 2 a new, inexperienced officer.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: freshie n. = fresh fish sense 2.
2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 221: I was fresh fish out of the academy.

3. a new young prostitute.

a.1940

in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 139: She hung out a sign on the door: / ‘Fresh fish cost you a dollar here, / Fancy fucking cost ten cents more’.

1. (N.Z. prison) a Christian.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: fresh fruit n. 1 a Christian.

2. (N.Z. prison) a new inmate.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/1: fresh fruit n. 2 an inmate new to the wing.

(US black) a new lover or sexual partner.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 151: Freshhide (for a new sexual partner).

see under lamb n.¹

(US drugs) a novice drug user.

1959

J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

see separate entry.

(US) clean, healthy.

1995

(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 109: He musta just come outta jail because that nigga’ looked fresh union. That nigga’ was healthy.

(W.I.) from the perspective of an older woman, the young man one is having a relationship with.

1995

Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 20: Fresh-vegetable a young man being dated by an older woman.

a pallid complexion.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.

(Aus.) naïve.

1912

Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Oct. 16/3: On the fresh-as-paint verdancy of the average Jimmy Grant do I enthusiastically agree with brother ‘Snell’.