Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. in gambling, a card that is slightly wider than the rest of the pack and thus identifiable by cheats (cf. old gentleman n. (2)).

1828

G. Smeeton Doings in London 78: There is not only an old gentleman, but an old lady (a card broader than the rest) amongst them.

2. one’s mother.

1848		‘Ned Buntline’ Mysteries and Miseries of N.Y. I 23: I shall have to ring and wake the old lady up.
1857		T. Hughes Tom Brown’s School-Days (1896) 79: I want to please the old lady. She gave me half-a-sov. this half, and perhaps’ll double it next if I keep in her good books.
1896		Ade Artie (1963) 21: The old lady’s a little leary of me, but I can win her all right.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 92: Remarkable group picture [...] showing for the first time Mr. Mutt’s old gent and old lady. (Note strong resemblance betyween the candidate’s beak and that of his mother.).
1916		J. Lait ‘Omaha Slim’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 120: If I got home to-morrer mornin’ the ol’ man’d have me between a pair o’ plough-handles before I had time to kiss my ol’ lady howdydo.
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 29: He consistently called his mother his old lady.
1931		P.J. Wolfson Bodies are Dust (2019) [ebook] ‘“What about the one who felt my old lady when my father was downstairs getting a loaf of bread to feed him’.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 54: Inspiration’s old lady gave birth to a new brainchild one afternoon.
1950		‘Hal Ellson’ Tomboy (1952) 95: My old man and old lady don’t care [...] as long as I bring the money in.
1962		T. Berger Reinhart in Love (1963) 110: But Maw! [...] A fellow takes his accomplishments to his Old Lady. A smart girl like Mary ought to be able to handle her old lady.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 24: I knew for a fact the old lady used to turn tricks.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 185: I guess Karras’ old lady called the store.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Old Lady (n): mother.
2010		K. Richards Life 49: Otherwise you’d get the old lady wound up about ‘Who did it?’.
2010		C. Hiaasen Star Island (2011) 39: Who pulls up [...] but Cherry and her old lady!

3. (orig. US) a wife (actual or common-law).

1838		T. Haliburton Clockmaker II 99: My old lady, said he, is agoin’ for to jive our Arabella, that’s jist returned from boardin’ school to Halifax, a let off to-night.
1865		Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1994) 659: I must keep the knowledge from my old lady.
1871		E. Eggleston Hoosier School-Master (1892) 172: Here’s the old lady.
1884		E. Nye Baled Hay 88: It would harden me and the old lady.
1893		F. Remington letter 22 Apr. in Splete Sel. Letters (1988) 168: I took the old lady to a quiet visit to the jug.
1899		Newcastle Courant 18 Nov. 5/2: Hey, old lady? What say?
1904		B.L. Farjeon Amblers 175: And, I say, old lady, we’d better be off.
1913		T.A. Dorgan Silk Hat Harry’s Divorce Suit 6 Mar. [synd. cartoon strip] Say Harry I just called up the old lady and told her I wouldn’t be home until quite late and she was nice as pie.
1929		J.F. Matheus Black Damp in Hatch & Hamalian Lost Plays of Harlem Renaissance (1996) Scene i: Buck Pope dances with my old lady an’ she falls fo’ his smooth tongue.
1936		W. Holtby South Riding (1988) 297: Why, Lily! Come, old lady. What is it, eh?
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 107: In half an hour anybody’s old lady was forgotten.
1956		J. Curtis Look Long Upon a Monkey 85: Stick this geezer at the wheel. [...] And lumber the old lady as a hostage.
1968		L. Wolf Voices from the Love Generation 48: My old lady and I split for the woods.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 66: You got to get yo’self a good old lady.
1980		T. Lewis GBH 3: Sammy goes through life as if he’s always expecting both barrels. That being so, I’d expected his old lady.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 217: His old lady wasn’t the type to get involved.
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 288: I don’t want to be Bill’s old lady.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 203: Do you take this woman to be your righteous old lady?
2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 203: Tell her how much the guy’s old lady was gonna pay for the money shot!
2013		T. Piccirilli Last Whisper in the Dark 266: Now go nab his old lady while you can.

4. the vagina.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 825/1: C.19–20.

5. (orig. US) a girlfriend or regular partner, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

1918		L.E. Ruggles Navy Explained 82: The best girl is [...] the old lady.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 24: Hey, look, baby [...] I know you’re Capone’s old lady.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 148: She’s my ole lady. I’m the one she’s shacking with.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 144: You’re my number one girl. My real old lady.
1973		D. Goines Street Players 106: My old lady and the bondsman are hanging out in this crummy office.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 280: Your old lady’s dyin’, Gloria.
1998		G. Burn Happy Like Murderers 152: She was Fred’s old lady.
2004		C. Hiaasen Skinny Dip 110: Awful damn young to be a widower [...] You couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to the guy’s old lady.
2010		K. Richards Life 224: I started to become a fashion icon for wearing my old lady’s clothes.
2021		S.A. Crosby Razorblade Tears 112: ‘Old ladies don’t snitch’.

6. (US campus) a roommate of the same sex.

1934		H. Sebastian ‘Negro Sl. in Lincoln University’ AS IX:4 288: ole lady Roommate.
1946		F. Eikel Jr ‘An Aggie Vocab. of Sl.’ AS XXI:1 34: old lady, n. Room mate.
1959		A. Anderson ‘School Days in North Carolina’ in Lover Man 82: [between boys] ‘You going to be my old gal?’ ‘Your who?’ ‘My old gal. Down here we don’t say room-mate, we say “old gal” or “old lady”. Come on in’.

7. (US prison) a passive partner in a homosexual relationship, male or female.

1937		A. Herndon Let Me Live 210: The principal victims of these sexual orgies were [...] boys who had been convicted of petty thievery. The prisoners had a curious name for them. They called them ‘Old Ladies’.
1953		M. Robbins ‘Inside Story of a Girls’ Reformatory’ in Collier’s 30 Oct. 76: A Los Guilucos girl may be a ‘fine chick’ or a ‘vot’. A vot slicks back her hair, wears no lipstick and acts like a boy. She can have an ‘old lady (wife)’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 214: [of a man] submissive homosexual who assumes the ‘feminine’ responsibilities in a homophilic partnership old lady.
1982		H. Beaton Outside In I ii: We’re bottom of the rung ... unless, of course, you’ve got an ol’ lady. Then you’re someone.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Old Lady: Passive partner in a prison homosexual relationship.

8. of a man, a weakling, a sentimentalist.

1938		H. Nicolson Diary 10 Nov. (1966) 378: This memorandum was not at all liked by the old ladies of the Executive .
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 91: Aaah, don’t be an old lady.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 112: I didn’t know its gonna turn out like this, that fuckin’ old lady.

9. (US black) a member of a pimp’s stable of whores; a single whore.

1969		B. Jackson Thief’s Primer 129: It cost you say $25 a week and another $25 for your old lady if you were running one.
1972		E. Sanders Family (1972) 25: We talked about Main Old Ladies — a pimp’s number one girl who controlled all the others.
1977		J.L. Dillard Lex. Black Eng. 88: The whores plus the pimp are a ‘family,’ and of course, the prostitutes may be called wives or old ladies.