Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US gay) the testicles.

1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants.
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 14: egg in the basket (n.): The testicles.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.

(Aus.) insane.

1900

Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Sept. 35/4: Sampson waxed shrill. ‘Man, man, man!’ he said, ‘are ye out of your egg? Have ye senses and brains?’.

1. (US) an autogiro or helicopter.

1955		L.F. Engler ‘Gloss. Air Force Sl.’ in AS XXX:2 120: WHIRLIGIG; EGG BEATER; INFURIATED PALM TREE, n.; n. phr. Helicopter.
1963		W.C. Anderson Penelope 189: They [...] had spent most of the daylight hours flying above the submerged submarine in their eggbeater.
1989		(con. 1950s) C.S. Crawford Four Deuces 101: Red [...] told me about the ‘whirlybirds,’ the ‘eggbeaters,’ the ‘windmills’.
1989		M. Walker How to Kiss a Crocodile 103: A very windy journey across the tarmac, hair vertical, climb aboard the vibrating egg beater, up into the air.
1996		K. Lette Mad Cows 163: They looked up as the airborne eggbeater descended.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

2. an old car.

1995

Eble Campus Sl. Apr.

(Aus.) a bowler hat.

1929		H. Eyre Hilarities 132: Mr Bruce should adopt the style of head cover once used to be known as an ‘egg-boiler’.
1930		L. Lower Here’s Luck 161: ‘Where did you get that boy-size egg-boiler?’ asked Flannery.
1942		Le Courrier Australien (Sydney) 5 June 7/1: You call a bowler hat a darby or hardboiled hat: we line it up as a boxer, bocker, hardhitter, eggboiler, plug hat, peadodger, bun or hap harry.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 233/1: egg boiler – bowler hat.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 73: egg-boiler Any confining hat, originally a bowler hat — on a hot day your egghead boils in it. ANZ c1920.

1. (US) an old car or aeroplane.

1922		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 35: If he can make that egg crate go I’ll suggest his name for a medal.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 108: Where the hell did they dig up this crap detail, guarding them goddam egg crates.
1985		T. Berger Nowhere 180: Who you think’s flying this egg-crate?
2005		E.R. Salvini Hobey Baker: Amer. Legend 112: He craved the excitement that could be achieved only on the stadium field or in a flying egg crate thousands of feet over the deadliest playing field of all.

2. an old elevator.

1934

A. Halper Foundry 27: The men [...] were pounding down the iron stairs, not waiting for old Charley’s slow-going egg-crate.

see separate entries.

(US) a foolish or unpleasant person.

c.1921

in W.C. Fields By Himself (1974) 117: What an awful egg-nog he is....You say the word and I’ll throw him off the back platform [HDAS].

1. (Aus//N.Z. prison) a general term of abuse.

1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 118: Brian [...] was spewing over them [...] saying they were eggrolls and lashers and weaklings, for failing to stick fat.
1986		R.G. Barrett Godson 325: Peregrine can be a bit of an egg roll at times.

2. (US) a derog. term for a Korean immigrant.

1983

Maledicta VII 23: In New York in 1983 the new Korean immigrants and probably other Asian groups are sometimes called egg roll.

3. (US gay) a Chinese man’s penis.

1988

H. Max Gay (S)language.

(Aus./N.Z.) a bald person.

1944		Murrumbidgee Irrigator (Leeton, NSW) 25 Aug. 4/3: It was a very happy function, with many good humored references to the ‘Egg-Shell Blonde’ — a sally at the guest's bald pate.
1947		Sydney Morn. Herald 15 Mar. 9/3: Some time ago I read that if I massaged my dome for fifteen minutes morning and evening a fine, luxuriant crop of hair would result. [...] Being at the time an egg-shell blond I was much interested in the article, and intended to cut it out.
1951		Dly Mercury (Mackay, Qld) 15 Jan. 2/2: NEW THATCH FOR ‘EGGSHELL BLOND’ [...] A ferry fire man who was bald for 10 years now has a thick head of hair.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxiv 4/4: egg shell blonde: Bald headed person.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 126: The only good thing was that, with his clean-shaven head — an egg-shell blond we called it at home — nobody has recognised him.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

see separate entries.

semen; thus egg-white cannon, the penis.

1918		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 311: The cabin girl ran down the deck. / The villain he pursued her. / The white of an egg ran down her leg. / Columbo, he had screwed her!
1949		in Randolph & Legman Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 504: The white of egg run down her leg, / That son-of-a-bitch, he’d screwed her.
1999		Roger’s Profanisaurus 3 in Viz 98 Oct. 12: egg-white cannon n. A four inch blue-veined blunderbuss loaded with two balls.

(US campus) a fool, a simpleton, an obnoxious person.

2000

Sex-Lexis 🌐 egg for fuck Jocular replacement for shit for brains.

(US) a phr. meaning something for nothing, used as an ironical retort.

1938		E.R. Coulson ‘Aeroplane Factory English’ AS XIII:2 156/1: egg in your beer. An easy job; something for nothing.
1945		H.B. Darrach Jr. ‘Sticktown Nocturne’ in Baltimore Sun (MD) 12 Aug. A-1/1: The Sinbads of these [bars] are the salt of the earth — and the egg in the beer of the 47 tavernkeepers.
1946		J.W. Bishop ‘Amer. Army Speech’ in AS XXI:4 Dec. 243: 3. Whaddya want – an egg in your beer? Properly, this is the retort courteous to a gripe, or bitch, which is not fully justified. By loose usage, it has become an answer to any and all complaints.
1953		(con. 1942) L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 5: What do you want, chief, eggs in your beer?
1987		J. Ciardi Good Words 101: The mocking Am. phrase, whaddya want—egg in your beer? Variantly, You want egg in your beer, go check into the Ritz.
1999		T. Hanley Flyboys 79: So what are ya waitin’ for? Eggs in your beer? Get goin’!
2000		R. La Vallie ‘Rev. of Return to Firetop Mountain’ at FightingFantasy.com 🌐 Also, it would have been excellent if Russ Nicholson, illustrator of the first novel, was the artist for Return of Firetop Mountain. But, what do you want, egg in your beer???
2006		Grist mag. 11 July 🌐 What do you want, eggs in your beer?

(US) trustworthy.

1936

(ref. to 1920s) L. Duncan Over the Wall 82: I’m pretty sure he’s eggs-and-the-coffee. I’m going to let him in on this caper. [Ibid.] 98: He was ‘eggs and the coffee,’ which in Tom Murray’s lingo meant that he was all right.

(US) excellent, wonderful, ideal.

1929		D. Hammett ‘Fly Paper’ Story Omnibus (1966) 36: It was going to be duck soup — yeh! Eggs in the coffee — yeh!
1935		D. Lamson We Who Are About to Die 201: Then everthing will be all right, an’ you don’t have no trouble, an’ it’s eggs in the coffee.

(US black) to be pregnant.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

see lay an egg under lay v.¹

see under beat it v.

see sure as hogs are made of bacon under sure as... phr.

(US campus) enthusiastic response of agreement.

1982

Eble Campus Sl. Fall 2: egg-a-muffin – [...] a response indicating agreement.

(Aus.) hurry up!

1953

K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 40: ‘Egg on,’ Mort urged impatiently.

(N.Z.) that’s it! that’s all! it’s over! etc.

1899		Boy’s Own Paper 11 Mar. 376: ‘Don’t move an inch or I fire,’ he cried [...] As the Maories say, ‘my potato was cooked,’ and I obeyed.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 42/2: eggs are cooked, one’s, something undesirable and probably inevitable which somebody has suffered; eg ‘After droughts two years running, his eggs were well and truly cooked.’ c. 1910.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

(US campus) excl. of dismissal.

1928		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 41: [Fan to noisy spectator:] Go lay an egg.
1930		J.P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl 54: Do you think my heart is a revolving door [...] go lay an egg.
1933		Nicholson & Robinson Sailor Beware! I i: Aw, go lay an egg!
1935		C. Odets Awake and Sing! II i: Why don’t you lay an egg, Axelrod?
1946		B. Vian I Spit On Your Graves (translation) (1996) 50: ‘Now’s the time to take advantage of her, cuty-pie. Go to it.’ ‘Oh go lay an egg. It‘s too easy with somebody that’s drunk.’.
2005		W. Munter My Downside Up Life 38: If our jaws weren’t aching so much by this time, I would have resorted to the well-known command, ‘Oh, go lay an egg!’.