salve n.
1. (US) praise, flattery; any form of ‘line’ that facilitates a confidence trick; also v. and attrib.
 | Bolton Chron. 3 Oct. 7/1: Mr Alsop certainly did most ably try to salve and soft sawder the people. | |
| , | ![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. |
| Sl. Dict. | |
| Leics. Chron. 6 Mar. 5/2: ‘Don’t salve me; don’t flatter me’. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Down the Line 100: It’s immense for the chest measurements to have the bunch hand you out the salve spiel — believe me! | |
| Sorrows of a Show Girl Ch. 16: Hand ’em salve, pardy, hand ’em salve. A soft answer turneth away wrath. | |
| ‘Behind the Mask’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 239: O’Higgins [was] the best umpire in the league — the salve passed without a nod. | |
| Day Book 9 Sept. 17/2: Well, Joe, you should have heard the salve those two Lukes were spreading. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
2. (US tramp) butter.
| Flash Mirror 20: A sponge and salve, two win. | |
| True Northerner (Paw Paw, MI) 19 Oct. 7/1: ‘Then salve is —’ ‘Butter, oleomargarine’. | |
| implied in Pennsylvania salve under Pennsylvania adj. | |
| ‘A Word List From Montana’ in DN IV:iii 245: salve, n. Butter. ‘Pass the salve’. | |
| ‘Stanford Expressions’ in AS II:6 278: salve—butter. | |
| Amer. Lang. (4th edn) 582: Milk is cow-juice, butter is salve or axle-grease. | |
| Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: butter [...] salve. |
3. (US) money, esp. as a reward for something difficult.
| cited in DAS (1975) 441/1: That [$4,100] is nice salve, even after taxes. |
4. (US campus) exaggeration.
| ‘College Sl. Words And Phrases’ in DN IV:iii 234: salve, n. Exaggeration. |
5. (US/US tramp) a bribe.
| ‘College Sl. Words And Phrases’ in DN IV:iii 234: salve, n. [...] An enticing offer. | |
| AS I:4 251: Salve—a bribe given to a trainman for a ride. |
6. (US tramp) a complaint.
| Gay-cat 304: Salve—a complaint. |
In compounds
(US) a flatterer.
| Indoor Sports 7 Apr. [synd. cartoon] Listen to that old salve artist. |
(US) an immigrant from northern Europe, esp. a Swede.
| Milk and Honey Route 38: Swedes are ‘roundheads’ or ‘salve eaters’. |
In phrases
(US) to talk in a conciliatory, soothing manner (to); thus salve-spreader, a smooth talker.
| Maison De Shine 221: I let the servant shoot a little salve about me bein’ one of the real guys an’ all that. | |
| Wkly Tribune & Cape Co. Herald (Cape Girardeau, MO) 27 Apr. 6/6: Take one of those salve spreaders and he’ll come right up to you and remove your suspenders while you look at him and grin. | |
| Big Town 71: So when he’d spread all the salve, he rung the bell and in come Allah with cocktails. | |
| Wise-crack Dict. 14/1: Spread the salve – Soft, conciliatory talk. | |
| ‘Argot of the Vagabond’ in AS II:9 392: What kind o’ salve are ye tryin’ t’ spread on us? | |
| ‘Toledo Slim’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 194: We chewed the rag for quite a while, I shot the con for fair, / (And when it came to spreading salve, you may gamble I was there). | |
| Much Obliged, Jeeves 60: Conciliatory, I think you’ll agree. I could hardly have given him the old salve with a more liberal hand. |