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.

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).