Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a primarily male party.

1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 sword fight n 1. a gathering with many more males than females. (‘This party is a sword fight.’).
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 35: Men wallpaper our screens. In fact, the second-oldest profession could best be described as a sword fight.
2004		J.A. Juarez Brotherhood of Corruption 71: ‘How’s the action tonight, José?’ [...] ‘It’s going on. It started off as a sword fight, but now all the little chickies are out to play’.

2. the sequential (or simultaneous) fellation of two men by the same woman.

1989

D. Waters Heathers [film script] OK, I rarely listen to neanderthals like Kurt Kelly, but he said that he and Ram had a nice little sword fight in your mouth last night.

(UK juv.) a male homosexual; thus swordfighting, mutual masturbation.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 116: mutual masturbation by two men. [...] swordfighting (’70).
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 sword fighter n. homosexual.

a male sexual athlete.

1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 251: Jack the Ripper, Literal Swordsman of the 1890s.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1979		R.M. McInerny Seventh Station 305: He was an ass- hound [...] A real swordsman.
1980		J. Sifton Scandalous Stewardess n.p.: I’ll bet he’s one helluva swordsman.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
1993		J. Green It 199: Not that I saw myself as a stud in this situation, hardly a swordsman. My self-image is much more the little boy getting lucky.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 16: Not a stone swordsman like Clay, but not bad.
1999		Indep. Rev. 23 June 4: Kirk Douglas, quite a swordsman in his day.
2001		N. Green Shooting Dr. Jack (2002) 13: He was [...] a draft horse among fillies, the most improbably successful swordsman in New York City.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 159: Meyerhold was a sweltering swordsman. Did he siphon his seed [...] in New York?
2023		Twitter 23 May 🌐 [T]wo young London swordsmen shacked up and enjoying all the swinging 60’s could offer in their fantastic bachelor pad at the Albany.

a fellator or fellatrix; thus sword-swallowing n., fellating; swallow (a) sword v., to fellate.

1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1967		J. Hibberd White with Wire Wheels (1973) 160: rod: Who was she? mal: A female sword-swallower. rod: I know that. Her name. [...] mal: I don’t remember. I don’t even remember the naughty.
1970		‘Troy Conway’ Cunning Linguist (1973) 21: No sword-swallower, past, present, or future, will ever match the depth and overwhelmingly proper consumption of Damon by Suzette de Pogany.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 33: to suck a penis [...] swallow a sword.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Sword swallower. One who fellates.
1998		Zane Heat Seekers 🌐 There I was infatuated with what I thought was a prime candidate for The Pussy Eater’s Hall of Fame when all along I was giving all my sweet loving to a booty bandit, a rump wrangler, a sword swallower. No wonder he knew how to eat a pussy so damn good.
2000		T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 81: Fucken jism-guzzling sword fucken swallowing fucken cross-fucken-dressing fucken ass-fucken-biter!
2001		G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 63: Girl was probably [...] swallowing sword ten times a day just for the right to squat in that shit hole.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 68: Linda lovelace [...] the broad that does the sword-swallowing in the fuck movie.

keen on duels of honour.

1832

Satirist (London) 8 Jan. 11/3: '[F]rom the well known sword-eating qualities of the little hero, a fatal rencontre has been hourly expected.

(N.Z. prison) a homosexual.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 182/2: sword-fighter n. a homosexual.

a means of making money by enlisting in a regiment, taking the bounty, deserting and moving on to a new regiment.

1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

(Aus.) one who eats from his knife.

1905		Sun (Kalgoorlie) 29 Oct. 6/2: He is always rousing on poor old Plain Bill about using his knife instead of his fork, and declares he will be taken for a sword-swallower.
1924		Newcastle Morn. Herald (NSW) 5 Apr. 3/8: The ‘sword swallower’ who negotiates his meal with his knife and the offender who ‘floats’ his spoon in his cup, seem below the contemptuous notice of the critics.
1936		Western Mail (Perth) 17 Dec. 12/4: His reputation as a ‘sword swallower’ has never been really challenged in the North. He has never been known to use a fork in his life.
1939		Sun (Sydney) 23 Apr. 25/1: It gets on a wife’s nerves to have to sit opposite man at meals who is a sword-swallower and a soup-gargler .
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl.

(US) eating.

1919

Van Loan ‘Mister Conley’ in Score by Innings (2004) 427: In our camp the recruits have tables of their own and do their sword-swallowing in a bunch.

(Aus.) to be finished or exhausted, to be irreparably damaged.

1974		D. Ireland Burn 99: If I come across that rifle you’ll all be in the reservation so quick it’ll make you giddy. You’ve really had the sword this time.
1986		R. Beckett Dinkum Aussie Dict. 28: Had the claw: Something or someone is buggered. Normally used in reference to a piece of machinery which will no longer work as in, ‘Sorry, mate, but your washing machine’s had the bloody claw.’ Pieces of machinery can also be deemed to have had the ‘sword’, ‘Richard’ or ‘Dick’.
1998		Medicine Online ‘Aussiespeak’ 🌐 When something is broken or out of order, we say: Its all screwed up..../ had the dick, had the gong, had the Richard, had the ridgy didge (although that is what we call the fridge!), had the sword.
2016		N. Cummins Adventures of the Honey Badger [ebook] VITAL AUSSIE VERNACULAR Tired: 1. Buggered 2. Shagged 3. Had the sword 4. Rooted 5. Clagged out 6. Done and dusted.

(US black) relax, be calm.

1990

N.Y. Mag. 28 May 27/1: [black high school slang] ‘Be sword’ [...] means ‘relax’.