Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) to perform cunnilingus [dive v. (2)].

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 458: Pearldiver, (2) A type of homosexual pervert.
1939		Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. 37: pearl diver – a pervert.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 173: pearldiving Sexual variance.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 139: to tongue the clitoris and vulva [...] pearl dive.

2. (US gay) to prefer offering fellatio to receiving it.

1972

R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.

3. see also SE compounds below.

(US gay) a drop of semen.

1934		‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana II 6: A little further on, still another lisper lisped, ‘Oh my dear Bunny, where did you acquire that enchanting pearl tie-pin?’ Bunny looked down at the pearl in surprise, caught it up on his finger and gracefully licked it into his mouth.
1972		(ref. to mid-1960s) B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 53: semen [...] pearl [drop] (mid ’60s: drop of semen).
1988		H. Max Gay (S)language.

(US) a cunnilinguist.

c.1930

‘Aunt Jemima “Turns ’Em on a Hot Griddle”’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 76: Hurry up, pearl-fisher, and I’ll put some syrup on it!

the drops (‘pearls’) of semen ejaculated onto a partner’s neck after fellatio.

1985		‘Thommo’ Dict. Aus. Swearing & Sex Sayings 94: PEARL NECKLACE — With the female holding her tits together, the male works himself to an explosive orgasm by rubbing his penis between them. When ejaculation occurs his semen spurts over her neck, resembling the appearance of a pearl necklace.
1993–2003		Urban Dict. 10 Apr. 2003 🌐 titwank The act of pleasuring oneself by thrusting the erect member between a generous pair of bristols. Typically concludes with the delivery of a pearl necklace.
1993		B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 87: Giving your woman a pearl necklace means spraying your come around her throat.
1995		G. Pelecanos Down by the River 121: [She pushed] her huge breasts together until there was a tight tunnel formed between them [...] I straddled her chest and gave her the pearl necklace she was looking for.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pearl necklace Definition: to cum on a bitch’s neck so that it looks like she’s wearing a necklace Example: I fucked dat biatch yestaday an I gave her a pearl necklace, nomesane.
2006		T. Dorsey Big Bamboo 136: No cornholing, no tittie-fucks, pearl necklaces, muff diving or golden showers.

(US black) the vagina; one who practises cunnilingus.

1985		T.R. Houser Central Sl. 40: pearl tongue One who is accomplished at eating pussy.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pearl tongue Definition: vagina (when used in the context of oral sex) Example: I was in love like a mufuka, lickin’ da’ pearl tongue.

see under dive v.

1. to work as a dishwasher.

1918		D.G. Rowse Doughboy Dope 49: The most aristocratic job the kitchen has to offer – that is, ‘pearl diving,’ or the operation of recovering the crockery from the bottom of two feet of ‘water.’.
1927		W. Edge Main Stem 73: I was pearl diving (washing dishes) in those days.
1936		K. Mackenzie Living Rough 121: I took a job pearl-diving in a Greek hash-house.
1947		S. Lewis Kingsblood Royal (2001) 236: I’d like to see you stowing cargo, or pearl-diving.
1962		W.R. Burnett Widow Barony 14: [H]e was grinding away in night school and ‘pearl-diving’ on the side.
1972		O. Hawkins Ghetto Sketches 117: He’d just put in a day pearl divin’ at some restaurant on the Northside.
1984		Flame : a Life on the Game 108: The job was washing pots or ‘pearl diving’ as we were to call it, in a seafront hotel.
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 63: How long would it take to get a job pearl diving?

2. see also sl. compounds above.

1. (US) a dishwasher in a hotel or restaurant.

1907		Boston Sun. Globe 10 Mar. (ProQuest) 64: Pearl Diver In Texas. Pearl diver wanted—apply at the [illegible] Star cafe. ‘The cafe was not in need of a diver when I applied, but the cashier explained the duties of the job. The diver was the dishwasher; just the Texas slang for the occupation.’.
1916		Daily Book (Chicago) 18 Aug. 25/1: Some pearl divers who belong to the I.W.W. [...] heard the carnival was going to be classy [...] nobody would kid me if they called it ‘The Dishwashers’ Home’ or the ‘Pearl Divers’ Palace’.
1926		E.P. Norwood Other Side of the Circus 58: Those who washed dishes were called ‘pearl divers’.
1933		C.W. Willemse Cop Remembers 33: Now, [I] advanced to the position of pearl diver, [...] the title the Bowery gave to its dishwashers.
1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 51: Don’t be no pearl diver, when you can be a mighty fine jiver!
1951		Kerouac On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 219: Al Hinkle said he was an old pearl-diver from way back and pitched his long arms into the dishes.
1965		B. Behan Confessions 198: It contains the headquarters of a firm of caterers, giving employment [...] to thousands of pearl divers — dish washers.
1983		R. Aven-Bray Ridgey-Didge Oz Jack Lang 39: Pearl Diver Dishwasher.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

2. (US black) a job as a washer-up.

1944

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 29 Jan. 10A: [He] put down a gasser about me copping a pearl diver.

(US prison) a factory-made cigarette.

c.1943		‘Bill O. Lading’ You Chirped a Chinful!! n.p.: Pearl Handle: Machine rolled cigarette.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Pearl Handle: A commercial cigarette. (AL).

see under dive v.

impossible to find.

1902

H. Baumann Londinismen (2nd edn).