Green’s Dictionary of Slang

excellent, wonderful.

1999

Ian Dury ‘Itinerant Child’ 🎵 It’s home sweet home to some sweet-arse freaks.

1. (Aus.) a pleasant, enviable situation.

1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 13 Dec. 37/1: It’s a dead sweet cop for a bloke game enough ter take it on.
1949		L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 162: I’d be a sweet cop for the first prohibitionist who puts his nose round the door.

2. (Aus Und.) a successful scheme or criminal enterprise.

1968		D. O’Grady A Bottle of Sandwiches 6: ‘You’re not right in the sconce,’ the boss said. ‘Leavin’ a sweet cop like you got here.’.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 50: cop, denoting a profitable operation of some kind, a term also used in the wider Lingo with a similar meaning in the combination a sweet cop or to cop it sweet though one may also cop it, of course, which means getting into trouble.

see under go n.¹

(Can./US prison) a younger prisoner who joins up with an older man.

1967		C. Cooper Jr Farm (1968) 177: I heard all this head action going down in the next stall. I didn’t dream it was Miss Ann and her sweet girl taking off.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 54: Just because you’re young, tender sweetmeat.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 22: A lot of these wiseacres liked to play the role of studs and give the ‘sweet kids’ sly looks and remarks.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 60: Sweet Kid also Sweet Meat A young and pretty, passive homosexual partner.
2004		N. Kelley ‘The Code’ in Brooklyn Noir 172: He had shanked two motherfuckers Day One who looked at him as if he were sweet meat. He wasn’t gonna play that faggot shit.

(US gay) a woman who runs a string of homosexual male prostitutes.

1972

(ref. to late 1950s) B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 112: During the late ’50s [...] Those who managed hustlers [i.e. male homosexual prostitutes] were referred to as landladies and sweet ladies if female while male counterparts were pushers or steerers.

(US) a trumpet.

1936		Reading Times (PA) 29 May 4/8: They are master of the ‘God box’ (a pipe organ), the ‘Sweet Stick’ (a trumpet) , the ‘Agony Box’ (a clarinet) , the ‘Dog House’ (the bass fiddle) and the ‘Coke Stick’ (the saxophone).
1940		Ted Yates 15 Mar. [synd. col.] The ‘sweet stick’ [means] a trumpet.

(Aus.) everything is satisfactory.

1944		L. Glassop We Were the Rats 140: ‘We’ll hold his legs, won’t we, Eddie?’ ‘Yeah, sure,’ said Eddie. ‘She’s sweet.’.
1949		L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 18: I don’t want a bet. She’s sweet. I done all right on the day.
1957		‘Nino Culotta’ They’re A Weird Mob 155: ‘Yell if yer want help.’ ‘She’ll be sweet, matey. Nothin’ I can’t handle.’.
1986		R.G. Barrett Real Thing 173: Norton smiled and winked. ‘She’ll be sweet’.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 171: I mean, these are fair dinkum, ‘She’ll be sweet, mate’ bloody Aussies.

(orig. UK Und.) easy, simple, no problems, delightful, esp. of a robbery or other ‘job’.

1628		R. Speed Counter Scuffle D: He puts / His hands, to feele for Lockwoods guts, / Which came not foorth so sweet as Nuts.
1654		E. Gayton Pleasant Notes III i 34: So you have him uncorrupt, and by the help of Rablais sweet as a nut.
a.1661		‘The Breech wash’d by a Friend to the Rump’ in Rump Poems and Songs (1662) II 14: Wash the Members as sweet as Nuts, / And then throw them all to the Devil.
1670		J. Ray Proverbs 208: As sweet as honey; or as a nut.
1685		N. Thompson Loyal Songs 198: By turns the saints turn’d up their Scuts / Each jealous of the others bliss, / The pleasure was as sweet as Nuts.
1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 7 Dec. 2/4: ‘[H]e’s as sweet as a nut, and will keep a month or so’.
1907		Brisbane Courier 29 May 6/3: [The phrase] ‘Sweet as a nut’ is fighting in its last ditch.
1918		A.N. Depew Gunner Depew 20: Their vessels were ship-shape all the time, and were run as sweet as a clock.
1931		‘William Hatfield’ Sheepmates 271: He’s as sweet as a lolly! [...] leg fixed like he’d never know it was broke in a month.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 10: Friendly gossip between employer and employed, and everything as sweet as a nut.
1937		J. Curtis You’re in the Racket, Too 61: It’s a cinch, we’ll have it off sweet as a nut.
1943		R. Llewellyn None But the Lonely Heart 96: You might have one of them squatting up there, reading the paper, sweet as a nut.
1956		J. Curtis Look Long Upon a Monkey 63: It was a giggle to see the young man fall for it, sweet as a nut.
1967		J. Wynnum I’m a Jack, All Right 34: I was sweet as a nut as far as Parkes.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 2: Tony blows the peter sweet as a nut.
1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 190: Mate, I’m sweet as a nut with the little blonde.
1986		R. Hewitt White Talk Black Talk 185: That was well sweet [...] Well sweet, Sweet as a nut, twice as ’ard.
1992		M. Coleman Fatty 229: ‘All I want you to do is catch the ball and pass it, maybe a kick here and there okay?’‘Sweet as a nut’.
1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 11: ‘You’re shweet as a fuckin’ nut there [...] Eet-fucking-shwa as an ut-na’.
1998		M. Newall ‘Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight’ in Indep. Weekend Rev. 26 Dec. 1: ‘Sweet as,’ sayes Wayne. ‘Sweet as.’.
1999		Guardian 11 Nov. 34: I chested it down and hit it, half-volley sweet as a nut.
2004		H. Kunzru Transmission 23: [H]is brand-new passport had been returned, with its American-eagle visa stamp on the clean first page. ’Sweet as!’ said Priti, in her new servicing-Australians accent.
2003		Dizzee Rascal ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’ 🎵 Sweet as a nut, mate, sweet as a nut.
2004		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 9 Dec. 🌐 Popular south oke words are [...] ‘schweet like a lemon’ [...] delightful.
2004		R.G. Barrett Rosa Marie’s Baby (2013) [ebook] ‘Sweet as a nut,’ said Les. ‘It’d be a pleasure’.
2006		C. Carr Our Town 280: ‘Sweet as a button,’ Kathleen added.

1. (also sweet upon) in love with, infatuated by.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: To be Sweet upon, to coakse, wheedle, entice or allure.
c.1700		London-Bawd (1705) 120: A handsome brisk young Man [...] I had observ’d was very sweet upon my Maid.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1784		Rambler’s Mag. Jan. 39/1: A gentleman, who was very sweet upon the lady’s maid of the house where he was on a visit [etc.].
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1809		B.H. Malkin (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas (1822) I 173: Signor don Roderic was sweet upon the mistress of the tennis-court.
c.1815		J.K. Paulding Bucktails (1847) IV iii: I reckon he wants to be sweet upon her.
1818		W. Perry London Guide 226: I knew he was sweet, not to say nutty, upon the covess.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1835		Dickens ‘A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle’ in Slater Dickens’ Journalism I (1994) 434: Vell, she vos as sweet upon him as he vos upon her, and so I s’pose they made it all right; for they got married ’bout six months arterward.
1845		Bell’s Life in Sydney 29 Nov. 2/6: One of the attachés to the English embassy at Paris is very ‘sweet’ upon one of the ballet girls of the opera .
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 71: Her nibs was rank sweet on the shallow cove.
1853		Southern Literary Messenger Apr. 220: He was very sweet on old Miss Julia Pritcher, a girl of about thirty-five.
1861		Hills & Plains I 151: ‘I thought you told me [...] she was sweet on Stapleton’.
1868		H.L. Williams Black-Eyed Beauty 22: Do you think he was sweet on you, Matty?
1869		Sydney Morn. Herald 23 Apr. 3/2: No, sir, I’m not sweet on Fanny. I should have enough to do if I was to get spooney on all the pretty girls I chat with on my rounds.
1874		‘Old Calabar’ Won in a Canter III 44: ‘He was sweet on Lady Verriefast at one time’.
1879		C.J. Kickham Knocknagow 139: She’s mighty sweet on him.
1882		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 23 Dec. 3/4: [T]he children of two neighbors seemed unusually sweet upon each other.
1885		A. Griffiths Fast and Loose I 119: The jade! [...] Sweet on her! I hate her!
1894		H. Lawson ‘Remailed’ in Roderick (1972) 197: Long years agone Bill and Jim were ‘sweet’ on a rose of the bush.
1895		E. Townsend Chimmie Fadden Explains 20: De dude has money t’ burn a wet dog wid, and was sweet on dat lady besides.
1895		Mirror of Life 7 Dec. 6/4: Plimmer was so sweet upon his chance that he got out the savings of a life-time at long odds [but] even the Poplarites were not so sweet upon their idol’s chance, for 5 to 4 was wanted in that river-side district.
1914		Joyce ‘Counterparts’ Dubliners (1956) 87: Mr Alleyne was said to be sweet on her or on her money.
1922		A. Christie Secret Adversary (1955) 70: Fancied he might be sweet on the missus, that’s all.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 216: Maude was sweet on a bull in Scotland Yard.
1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 32: There were two girls there, Sergeant Trent was a bit sweet on.
1934		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 426: Stan said he was sweet on Studs’ sister.
1936		W. Holtby South Riding (1988) 387: They say she’s sweet on Holly of the Shacks.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 267: Mackey and her were goin’ together, and this bouncer man was kind of sweet on her too.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 157: Ain’t all the gals sweet on him?
1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 60: ‘She’s very sweet on you, so it’s up to you to return the amours’.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 192: He [...] busted his head for talking to a woman he’s sweet on.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 177: I’ve got a girlfriend I’m rather sweet on at the moment.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 137: Pa’s sweet on scum, that Binnie on Red Light Hill.
1984		Benjamin & Pearl Limericks Down Under 32: A rabbi who dwelt at Maroubra / Was sweet on a pretty young lubra.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 63: I was sweet on her way back.
2005		J. Stahl I, Fatty 37: Of course I was sweet on her [...] I wanted her to be my Mom.
2012		J.J. DeCeglie ‘Death Cannot Be Delegated’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] I was maybe half sweet on her.
2018		(con. 1963) L. Berney November Road 89: ‘Annabelle over at the diner [...] I think she’s sweet on you’.

2. (UK Und.) nagging, pestering; insistent.

1818		W. Perry London Guide 55: If I had chosen to be sweet upon him, I might have drawn him something handsome, for he was ready tip.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 58: I tells Bet to be on the wido, for a swell was sweet on me for a tail.

3. fond of, keen on, in non-amatory senses.

1824		J. Wight Mornings in Bow St. 106: This here little rascal [...] with two or three dirty chaps [...] got so sweet upon themselves with drinking beer, that they must needs go into the parlour to drink grog amongst the gentlemen.
1842		M. Lemon Turf I iii: He’s very sweet on the field.
1853		N.Y. Clipper 17 Dec. 3/3: In such happy moments [i.e. tipsiness] it is that our dramatic friends become ‘sweet’ upon the editorial and reportorial corps, and ply them with sage and wholesome advice.
1866		Bell’s Life in Sydney 23 June 3/1: There may be found a colt that is good enough, but I’m not sweet on the younsters [sic].
1869		H. Smart Breezie Langton I 141: ‘The people round here seem very sweet on your chance [of winning]’.
1887		‘’Arry on Law and Order’ in Punch 26 Nov. 249/1: Betting Laws, Prize Fight pervention, and such, / That some mealy-mouthed mugs are so sweet on.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 325: A very good local horse that all the diggers were sweet on.
1895		Mirror of Life 16 Feb. 6/3: We know Papa Calder is very sweet on the lad [i.e. his son].
1903		A. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise 66: Mind you, John, the stable is as sweet as sugar on the horse.
1906		Sun. Times (Perth) 16 Sept. 4/7: I cracks I’m dead sweet on it [i.e. a play].

4. in a non-sexual context, satisfied with, happy about.

1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 28/1: While we slowly steamed along the pier the ‘fly cop’ could easily manage to have us ‘pinched,’ [...] and for that reason we were not over ‘sweet’ on our position. [Ibid.] 84/1: [She] didn’t feel ‘sweet’ on the position assigned her by Squib’s granny — that of ‘slavey’ for the firm.
1866		letter in Bendigo Advertiser (Vic.) 12 Oct. 2/6: Grown-up people, who are sweet on themselves, put challenges in Bell’s Life.
1875		Wagga Wagga Advertiser (NSW) 23 Oct. 4/2: I think it's a clipping idea, and I'm deuced sweet, on it myself.
1890		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 22 Feb. 11/2: Matt Dawson, the famous English trainer, is very sweet on the chances of his young charges .
1919		Van Loan ‘Mister Conley’ in Score by Innings (2004) 426: It didn’t take half an eye to see that the boss was sweet on the redhead.
1997		‘Q’ Deadmeat 88: He’d bonded with the car, he was really sweet on it.

nitrous oxide.

2000		Mao ‘Just Me, 2C and I’ on ‘Experience Vaults’ on Erowid.org 27 Jun. 🌐 I take out my cracker and fill up a balloon with nitrous... I slowly take in the sweet air, and suddenly become very content.
c.2003		Dr. Jerry Gordon ‘Patient Benefits from Laughing Gas’ at DentalComfortZone.com 🌐 Nitrous Oxide Gas, often referred to as laughing gas or sweet air, is an effective anesthetic drug that has many benefits for patients seeking dental treatment.

(drugs) heroin.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 20: Sweet dreams — Heroin.

1. hashish dissolved into wine.

1959		‘Paul Merchant’ ‘Sex Gang’ in Pulling a Train’ (2012) [ebook] He knew how to filter after-shave lotion and anti-freeze [...] making Sweet Kucy or Sneaky Pete to sell to the wet-brains on the Bowery.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 157: ‘Wine is good for her and it ain’t no sweet lucy. Leave her have it’.
1982		Abel Marihuana Dict.

2. marijuana.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1971		Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH) 16 Mar. 2/7: The chart calls [marijuana] ‘Texas tea,’ and ‘sweet Lucy.’.
1994		National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information Technical Assistance Bulletin Sept. n.p.: Third and fourth graders in the same school mentioned crack, ice, PCP, speed, ‘sweet lucy’ (marijuana according to Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence reports).
2001		Daily Tel. (UK) 30 Jan. n.p.: Now that the hairies of the adult hemp movement are bringing 420 into the mainstream, parents will work out what 420 means, and the term will fizzle from use. Sweet Lucy, anyone?

3. barbiturates dissolved into muscatel wine.

1961

H. Ellison ‘Have Coolth’ in Gentleman Junkie 128: You got to stay away from the Sweet Lucy and the pot.

4. (also lucy) alcohol as drunk by alcoholics, usu. a variety of cheap, sweet wine.

1958		H. Ellison Web of the City (1983) 8: In the alley, slumped down with a ketchup bottle of Sweet Lucy, lay his father.
1962		T. Southern ‘Razor Fight’ in Southern (1973) 23: Crow walked into the Paradise Bar with a bottle of Sweet Lucy in one hand and $6 in the other.
1967		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction (3rd edn).
1973		J. Wambaugh Onion Field 60: [N]umerous liquor stores stock more Sneaky Pete and Sweet Lucy than the rest of metropolitan Los Angeles combined.
1984		J. Ellroy Blood on the Moon 21: [of whiskey] ‘I needs my Lucy! I gots to have my Lucy!’ [...] searching for an intact bottle of liquid salvation. Finally he found [...] a pint of six-year-old Seagram's 7.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 151: He was hooked on sweet Lucy.
1996		(con. 1960s) ‘Richard’ My Life www2.netdoor.com 🌐 If we couldn’t get enough money for beer, we would buy the cheapest wine we could find. Which was called Sweet Lucy and cost one dollar and ten cents for a gallon jug!
2002		www.countryrag.org 🌐 ‘They’ve been to see Sweet Lucy!’ – assessment someone has been drinking alcohol.

(drugs) morphine.

1973		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction in Maurer Lang. Und. (1981).
2002		‘Drug Sl. Vault’ on Erowid.org 🌐 Sweet Morpheus. Morphine.

(US drugs) a craving for, or addiction to, narcotics.

1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1972		Dahlskog Dict. Contemp. and Colloq. Usage.

nothing at all.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1185/1: [...] since ca. 1940.

see separate entry.

see separate entry.

see sweet n. (5)

see separate entry.

the female pubic hair.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

see bugger all n.

see sweet fuck all

1. (also sweet chips) a term of affection.

1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 28: I had a couple a sweet kids but they didn’t have chips like this, patting her again on the ass [...] It cost loot to do me now sweetchips [Ibid.] 43: Georgette [...] fluttered her lids when he said hello sweetchips, whereya been?
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 156: Here, Sweet Chips, give me a ring in a couple of years when you grow up.
1992		R. Marcinko Rogue Warrior (1993) 25: You’re welcome, sweet cakes.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 331: Hey, sweetcakes, have we met before?

2. (US gay) the buttocks.

1988

H. Max Gay (S)language.

1. (US gay) the buttocks.

1988

H. Max Gay (S)language.

2. used as a term of (ironic) affection.

2011		W.D. Myers Carmen 55: carmen: I’ve got stuff on my mind, Raimondo. Maybe some other time. raimondo: What some other time. This is once in a lifetime, sweet cheeks!
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘How you doing, sweet cheeks?’.

see under con n.¹

see under daddy n.

nothing whatsoever.

1920		‘Officers of ‘A’ Flight’ in C.H. Ward-Jackson Airman’s Song Book (1945) 81: Watching the Flight Commander / Doing sweet damn-all.
1927		(con. WW1) P. MacDonald Patrol 19: Mespot [...] A wide expanst of sweet damn all wiv’ a river runnin’ froo it!
1941		‘The Heavy Bombers’ in C.H. Ward-Jackson Airman’s Song Book (1945) 143: They sent us out to Egypt [...] Where miles and miles of sweet damn-all are covered up with sand.
1955		D. Niland Shiralee 142: We wouldn’t have stayed there in that god-forsaken hole gouging our guts out for sweet damn-all.
1976		H. Leonard Time Was (1981) Act I: He saw sweet damn all.
1978		(con. 1940s) O. Manning Battle Lost and Won 251: You handed in five days, sir? Back to the grind for sweet damn all?

(W.I.) a lustful glance or wink; thus make sweet-eye v., to glance in this way; get sweet-eye v., to receive such a glance.

1966		W. Redhead Three Comic Stories 12: I giving dem a little side-look so [...] and I making me little sweet-eye and I waving me little finger give dem so.
1977		Pelican (Bridgetown, Bdos) 11 Nov. 8: Dey was faithful to duh husbans, / Faithful to de en’ / Even when duh get sweet-eye / From de husban’ bes’-frien’.
1988		S. Selvon Eldorado West One 53: I have been giving her a little sweet-eye now and then.

see separate entry.

absolutely nothing.

1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 130: We all go over the top knowing sweet fuck-all of what we are supposed to be doing.
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 202: Bedad, man dear, they’d be gettin’ sweet but-all if I didn’t!
1946		K. Amis letter 13 May in Leader (2000) 64: He is getting £50 a month for doing sweet fuck-all.
1951		K. Amis letter 29 Apr. in Leader (2000) 256: I got a shirt and a cake and some fags from my mum and a Ronson lighter from my wife and sweet effay from my tart.
1957		S. Selvon Ways of Sunlight 91: By the time the siren blow [...] the gauge ain’t fall, and my bottom hot from sitting down and doing sweet f--- all.
1960		C. MacInnes Mr Love and Justice (1964) 46: I hope you don’t mean the customers ... because darling, they just mean sweet f--k-all to me.
1966		D. Niland Pairs and Loners 22: ‘What goes on in this dump, anyway?’ ‘Sweet eff-ay,’ the barman said.
1976		D. Ireland Glass Canoe (1982) 73: Bloody old Tom: says little, never thinks and does sweet fuckall.
1993		Smith & Noble Neddy (1998) 96: Bill did sweet fuck-all when it came to the business side. But I preferred it that way.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 222: No plans, no ambitions, no responsibilities, no nothing, sweet fuck all, in fact.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] What in sweet fuck-all was going on?
2015		I. Welsh Decent Ride 138: Take shaggin n peeve oot ay the equation n yir left wi the square root ay sweet fuck all.

see separate entries.

(drugs) morphine; heroin.

1967		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction (3rd edn).
1977		S.N. Pradhan Drug Abuse.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 20: Sweet Jesus — Heroin.

see under lick v.¹

a glutton.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

see under mack n.²

(US black) a black man’s female lover; also as v.

1926		R. Etting ‘Could I? I Certainly Could!’ 🎵 Could I sit on that papa’s knee? / Could I let him ‘sweet mama’ me? / Could I? I certainly could!
1928		R. Fisher Walls Of Jericho 262: Can’t buy the sweet mamma shoes on four-bit bets.
1941		A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) 19: Now these boys used to all have a sweet mama. [Ibid.] 20: When sweet mama cooks and carves that fowl, sweet papa is sure to eat the choicest portions, no argument about that!
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 380: Hold dat engine, let sweet momma git on boa’d.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1998		(con. 1960s) G. Washington Blood Brothers 177: ‘And what about me?’ asked Main Cook, who everybody called Sweet Mama. (From this moment on I called him Sweet Mama as he was such a Tutti Frutti.).

see separate entry.

see separate entry.

see separate entries.

see sweetmouth n. (1)

see sweet n. (5)

(US black) a man who provides for the material wants of his lover.

1923		L. Hegamin ‘Rampart Street Blues’ 🎵 There down yonder on old Rampart Street lives my sweet papa Lou, / He’s the one sweet papa I can always tell my troubles to.
1935		(con. late 1920s) L. Hughes Little Ham III i : I’m sweet papa Gilbert from Texas.
1941		A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) 20: When sweet mama cooks and carves that fowl, sweet papa is sure to eat the choicest portions, no argument about that!
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 375: You may tip out sweet poppa, while tippin’ is grand, / But yo’ tippin’ will be over when Momma gits her Mojo hand.
1964		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 106: When I first met you, sweet papa, you tried to shoot me a line a bull.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 256: sweet poppa [...] 1. Male lover. 2. Attractive male. 3. Term of endearment.

see under patootie n.

see separate entries.

see sweetie-pie under sweetie n.

see sugar pimp n.

1. a general term of endearment.

1919		Des Moines Trib. (IA) 24 Apr. 14 /5: Rae calls her potato [...] ‘She’s my sweet potato’.
1980		D. Grote Medicine Man 11: Desist, my sweet potato pie, desist!
1999		C. Osgood See You on the Radio 92: You are my little cupcake, my sweet potato pie, [...] You’re my favorite confection, so sugary and sweet.
2004		B. Lowry Perfect Sonya 127: My sweet potato pie. My juicy apple dumpling. Your daddy knows all the songs.
2005		G. Fried Nellcott is My Darling 82: There was this one scene where John Cassavetes’ character calls his wife from a pay phone and says to her, ‘You’re my sweet- potato pie’.

2. (US black) an attractive young man or woman.

1929		C. McKay Banjo 127: The Prince of Wales – why he’s A number one – a sweet potato in the skin.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 150: Women, too, relate sex to the sweet-tasting [...] when they identify an attractive male as sweet potato pie.

3. male or female genitals.

1929		Lil Johnson ‘You’ll Never Miss Your Jelly Till You’re Jelly Roller’s Gone’ 🎵 If you don’t like my sweet potato, what made you dig so deep? / In my potato field three, four times a week.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 198: There were also terms related to men and sex: [...] sweet potato pie (attractive male, male genitalia).

4. sexual intercourse.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 150: Expressions like ‘I’m gonna get me some [...] sweet potato’ reflect a sense of sweet-tasting sex, of nourishment, of being fed.
2008		N.Y. Rev. of Books 16/1: Whern Obama launched into his story with ‘Because I love pie,’ a woman [...] shouted back ‘I’ll make you pie, baby!’ [...] and to the general hooting laughter the candidate returned [...] ‘You gonna make me sweet potato pie?’.

(US) the female genitals in context of sexual intercourse.

2011

F. Bill ‘Rabbit in the Lettuce Patch’ in Crimes in Southern Indiana [ebook] ‘I’d be willing to turn a cheek for a piece of your sweet stuff’.

see sugar pimp n.

see separate entries.

(US black) a kindly, attentive man; esp. as a pose practised by a pimp when ‘catching’ a new whore.

1979

‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 39: I decided to play Sweet Willie all the way.

(Polari) left and right.

2019

P. Baker Fabulosa 298/1: sweet and dry left and right.

a general excl.

1928		E. Ferber ‘Hey! Taxi!’ in One Basket (1947) 322: Sweet jeez, lookit.
1970		C. Brown Down All the Days 173: ‘Sweet bleeding Jasus,’ Father said, exasperated.
1978		S. King Stand (1990) 328: Sweet bleeding Jesus, you better believe you was lucky [...] What a fuck up this turned out to be. Bleeding Christ.
2002		S. Mintus ‘Deadlines a cause for spiritual uplift’ 4 Mar. in Tartan 🌐 ‘Sweet bleeding Jesus, what are you doing?’ I asked. He continued to stare at me with the most evil combination of hatred and bewilderment I have ever seen. ‘Back off, you horrible ravenous monkey! I’m killing myself!’ ‘In a bucket?’.

(US) a general expletive, expressing annoyance and surprise.

1997–2002

Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 sweet fucking Jesus (phrase) expletive with no particular meaning, conveying annoyance, surprise and generally feeling upset about something or somebody. Street jargon without expressedly blasphemical intention.

a mild, if blasphemous, oath.

1787		Adventures of Jonathan Corncob 192: For sweet J-sus’ sake, what is the matter upon deck?
1918		E. Wilson ‘Death of a Soldier’ in A Prelude (1967) 196: Sweet Jesus! Do yuh think I’m gonta stand up all night?
1933		(con. 1860s) R. Bradford Kingdom Coming 129: Well, Sweet King Jesus! [...] ain’t you sad?
1952		‘Josephine Tey’ Singing Sands 230: [N]ow the secret was front-page news [...] Oh, Sweet Jesus, let him not have read about it yet.
1961		(con. 1930s) D. Behan Teems of Times and Happy Returns 47: Ah, sweet Jesus! Goin’ to the pawn to see pictures of people.
1967		K. Kolb Getting Straight 103: Sweet Christ, where are my brains?
1971		T. Whitmore Memphis-Nam-Sweden 25: Sweet pleadin’ Jesus, what did we run into this time!
1976		H. Leonard Time Was (1981) Act I: Sweet Jesus, where am I?
1979		K. Bonfiglioli After You with the Pistol (1991) 299: ‘Oh, sweet Christ and chips and tomato sauce,’ I sighed.
1983		J. Matthews The Park and Other Stories (2nd edn) 216: Sweet Jesus! What can I say? I love you!
1993		(con. 1945) S. McAughtry Touch and Go 40: Sweet Jesus! [...] Boys, boys, what’s this?
1999		G. Seal Lingo 132: jesus fucking christ and holy shit is about as bad as it gets here, with jesus wept, christ almighty, sweet jesus and for christ’s/god’s sake being uncreative also rans.
2012		G. Flynn Gone Girl 192: [I] realized she was pregnant again. For one second my mouth dropped—four kids under four, sweet Jesus!

an excl. of praise.

1921

H.C. Witwer Leather Pushers 289: Sweet Mamma – you should of seen Enright’s face!

(US) a general excl.

1920		H.C. Witwer Kid Scanlon 199: ‘Sweet Papa!’ says the Kid, wipin’ his eyes.
1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 67: Sweet Papa, if you only knew somethin’!

see under patootie n.

an excl. of anger, dismay, etc.

1977

P. Hamill Flesh and Blood (1978) 64: ‘Oh shit,’ Kirk says. ‘Oh sweet shit.’.