swift adj.
1. exciting.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Tales of the Ex-Tanks 286: Well, it was a pretty swift week after that [...] but it didn’t cost us more than $200. | |
| Down the Line 59: Hereafter when Clara Jane yearns for something swift I’ll take her down and let her watch the trolley cars go by. |
2. sexually forward.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | DSUE (1984) 1186/2: late C.19–20. |
3. smart, clever, cunning.
| Nat. Police Gaz. 26 Sept. n.p.: Then Silas Peabody [...] gave Miss Hasty the hasty shake — she was too swift for him. | |
| ‘’Frisco Kid’s Story’ in High School Aegis X (15 Feb.) 2–3: He wuz de swiftest scrapper on de drag. | |
 | ‘Mateship’ in Lone Hand (Sydney) Sept. 511/2: Ginger, who is ‘pretty swift with the three-pea’. | |
| Smoke Bellew Pt 10 🌐 You’re almighty swift with business up here on the hill. | |
| On the Yard (2002) 80: I ain’t real swift [...] If I was I wouldn’t be beating this yard morning after morning. | |
| Villain’s Tale 152: He won’t tolerate any suggestions of a fit-up, no matter how swift it looks. | |
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 257: swift 1. Quick-witted. 2. Alert. | |
| Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 183: The really swift dealers found ways to convert a portion of their goods to forbidden cash. |
4. wealthy, sophisticated.
| ‘Chimmie Fadden’ 20 Nov. [synd. col.] Dat newspaper piece [...] is putting me and de missus next to de swift set. | |
| ‘Ruby Ransom’ Hollywood Detective Dec. 🌐 The league he liked to travel in socially was too swift for my bankroll. |
5. (US campus) dull, stupid, ignorant.
| Current Sl. III:4. | |
| Current Sl. V:4. |
6. of a police officer, carrying out any illegal activities, esp. during an arrest.
| ‘Metropolitan Police Sl.’ in Scotland Yard (1972) 328: swift: of a CID officer whose methods are scarcely legal. |
7. (US campus) good, excellent.
| Campus Sl. Mar. 9: swift – good: ‘I made an A on my English 36 test.’ ‘Swift!’. | |
| Crack War (1991) 24: ‘That shit was swift,’ the Shooter said. |
8. healthy.
| Wizard of La-La Land (1999) 189: If I was you, I’d go back to sleep. You don’t look too swift. |
In compounds
1. a cunning individual, one who is ‘in the know’.
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Sun. Times (Perth) 8 Apr. 4/8: There was You Luck, an’ Draky, an’ Bushy, an’ Spasms [...] an’ a dozen other swift ’uns. |
2. (UK Und.) corrupt police procedure when arresting a suspect.
| Villain’s Tale 114: They made it look like a swift ’un, Fred Pyall thought, as he stood in the muster room and observed the proceedings, even though he accepted that it wasn’t. |
In phrases
(UK police/Und.) describing the taking of unfair advantage; usu. the complaint is made by the villain against the arresting officer.
| Signs of Crime 203: Swift, a bit Unfair advantage was taken: ‘Guv’nor, now that was a bit swift.’. | |
| Lowspeak 136: Swift, a bit – an unfair advantage, as in ‘That was a bit swift’. |
to carry out some form of confidence trick.
| Real Thing 180: They’re going to realise that’s exactly what it is: garbage [...] I’ll be fifteen grand down the drain [...] Not to mention getting sprung trying to pull a swifty. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
1. a quick drink.
| Sun (N.Y.) 13 May 2/3: Why, I mean that, after church was out, I went into a porter house and took a swifter [DA]. | |
| (con. 1943) Big War 56: I’m going down to Moran’s and have a swifty or two. | |
| Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 14: What say you and me nick in the nearest old English inn and sink a few swift ones? | |
| ‘May the Force be with You’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] He was coming down for a swift one but he got involved with a bit of business. |
2. (US) a smart comment, a witicism.
| Flirt and Flapper 90: Flapper: Had they some pretty swift one in it? [i.e. a conversation] [...] Flirt: If ’swift ones’ means incredible points of view, they assuredly had . |