Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see big kick under big adj.

(drugs) a marijuana cigarette.

1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 59: Soon there’s no noise except the music and the steady hiss of cats blasting away on kick-sticks.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 13: Kick stick — Marijuana cigarette.

(US) to reach orgasm.

1968

in B. Jackson In the Life (1972) 97: If I didn’t have my habit I swear to God I’d bust my kicks (have an orgasm) right here.

for pleasure, for amusement.

1943		Billboard 1 May 20/2: It is a common practice for many famous but hungry names to sit in for kicks, getting their bread-and-butter money where they can find it.
1947		Kerouac letter 26 Aug. in Charters I (1995) 115: If you’re in the chips and Burroughs feels good, all three of you could come out here for kicks sometime.
1959		J. Thompson Getaway in Four Novels (1983) 71: I was figuring on taking a fling at Tulsa myself, just for kicks, y’know.
1963		B. Hecht Gaily, Gaily 100: She wanted to do some killing herself. For kicks.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 291: Three young toughs [...] obviously intent on muscling me off the sidewalk for kicks.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 235: Tell me more about Cathcart. What does he do for kicks?
1990		R. Campbell Sweet La-La Land (1999) 191: I never believed in this crap. I went along with it for the kicks.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 345: Flash sketched for kicks. Flash dug on tigers.
2019		A. Parks February’s Son 169: ‘Can’t see Scobie or Charlie Jackson taking [Mandrax] for kicks’.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 202: ‘[Y]ou killed that kidnap chump for kicks’.

to enjoy, to appreciate.

[1917		H. Scandlin Wicked John Goode 103: Those fellows can't get a ‘kick’ out of good whiskey and many of them can't get one out of ‘third rail’].
1921		Sat. Eve. Post 193:3 lx: I have been doing business with that man now for five ears, and I get a kick out of it every time see one of his letters on my desk.
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 136: Hugh said that he got a great kick out of it, but, as a matter of fact, he remained only a short time.
1938		G. Kersh Night and the City 211: I used to be able to get a kick out of a hard fight.
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 92: He gets a kick out of little things like that.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 154: The crowd got a real kick out of that.
1962		H.S. Thompson letter 2 Feb. in Proud Highway (1997) 314: I get a kick out of returning the stares as I burst out of the subway and hawk on some well-polished pointed shoes.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 158: In fact I think he actually gets a kick out of it, the bloody Turk!
1999		K. Sampson Powder 52: Guy was getting a kick out of how tough he could be.

1. having a good time.

1958

E. Frankel Band of Brothers 56: I’d won two thousand bucks [...] so I went on a kick.

2. enthusiastic about.

2002

‘Litterbox’, on S.F. Bay Guardian 🌐 These days, the Editor is on a kick about the recent Rolling Stones reissues. Which is good.

(Ulster) a weakness of character; thus put a kick in someone’s gallop, to ruin someone’s plans, to ‘put a spoke in their wheel’; odd kick in one’s gallop, an eccentricity.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: An Odd kick in his Gallop a strange Peculiarity .
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: An odd kick in one’s gallop; a strange whim or peculiarity.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1841		Northern Star (W. Yorks.) 24 Apr. 12/2: We last week put a ‘kick in the gallop’ of the project by showing Daniel’s delight and cooperation.
1848		Carlisle Jrnl 11 Feb. 2/4: This was Lord George’s fault, [...] he had a kick in his gallop. He would not go the length of denying civil rights to a man who differed from him in religious opinion.
1850		Northern Star (W. Yorks.) 19 Jan. 10/5: I also received a summons [...] to appear in the County Courrt [...] but I got a certiorari, and put a kick in his gallop.
1864		Cork Examiner 11 Aug. 4/3: They will take the squinting and the hare lipped, and him who has ‘a kick in his gallop’.
1891		Isle of Wight Obs. 21 Feb. 8/1: The young head of a patrician family [with[ an impoverished estate, or what his friends would term ‘a kick in his gallop’.
1999		Tina Greig ‘Corps Sister’, Part Two, on Unicorn’s I&M Storybook 🌐 She squeezed Ivanova’s hand. Your Marcus. He loves you. Bit of an odd kick in his gallop. Didn’t seem to like it much but I guess that’s the way it is with fantasies.

1. a salutory punishment.

1906		Joyce letter in Gilbert & Ellman (eds) Letters II 203-4: Thanks for Whitman's poems. What long flowing lines he writes. Kick in the arse for the following. G.K.C: G.B.S: S.L: H.J: G.R. Kicks in the arse all round, in fact.
1963		‘Nino Culotta’ Gone Fishin’ 25: He taught me all I know. Even if he did do it with more kicks in the arse than encouragement.
1963		Time 82 38/3: According to cherished, if apocryphal Dublin legend, ‘the cops gave him a kick in the arse and told him to go home to his mom’.

2. (Irish) a very small distance or space of time, lit. or fig.

1948		P. Kavanagh Tarry Flynn (1965) 81: And mind you, Mary is no chicken. Only the day I was thinking that she’s within a kick of the arse of thirty.
1990		in D. Campbell That Was Business, This Is Personal 22: That’s not a kick in the arse off being a loony Nazi.

3. a setback, a grave disappointment.

1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 204: What a kick in the ass that is!
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 27: kick in the ass. A personal setback, disappointment, or defeat; euphemistically, a kick in the pants (or tail).

4. anything that urges one on to greater effort, commitment.

1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 83: Goddamn! Isn’t that a kick in the ass!
2006		(con. 1972) Jurgenson & Cea Circle of Six 75: But now, this simple street gesture gave me a much-needed kick in the ass.

a setback, a grave disappointment.

2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Kick in the bollocks, a (n): very bad news.
2011		M. Young Saudi Bodyguard [ebook] However, it was when checking in the prince that I got my kick in the bollocks. He was bumped off the aircraft.
2012		R. Coleman Reclaiming the Streets 193: That was a real kick in the bollocks to Liverpool and the regeneration process.

(US) an extreme example.

2012

M. Lacher On the Bro’d 12: It [i.e. someone’s personality] was kind of a kick-in-the-dick of American awesomeness [...] something sick as hell.

1. a dram of gin or any other spirit.

1737		B. Franklin ‘Drinkers Dictionary’ in Pennsylvania Gazette 6 Jan. in AS XII:2 91: They come to be well understood to signify plainly that A MAN IS DRUNK. [...] Had a Kick in the Guts.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

2. a setback or disappointment.

1999		Hereniko & Wilson Inside Out 106: Witi Ihimaera described it as ‘a kick in the guts to New Zealand’s much vaunted pride’.
2001		Martin & Gannon Lionheart 24: That was a real kick in the guts. Not only did they think I couldn’t do it, they thought I was a girl.

a setback, a grave disappointment.

1972		S. Longstreet Pedlock Inheritance 362: Paul said, [...] ‘You know, it could damage your chromosomes.’ Mike Corey laughed, head back. ‘Now ain't that a kick in the nuts’.
1991		C. Hiaasen Native Tongue 35: What a kick in the nuts.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 76: Ain’t that a kick in the nuts!
2009		B. Kalman Scoff at the Mundane 64: You could imagine how much of a kick in the nuts it was [...] to discover that one of the main streets in the town is named Ashby.

1. a setback, a grave disappointment.

1925		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 52: (IS: Kidding the guy at the track who always has a bet on the winner) I guess you got your taxi fare on that one eh Phil — That was a kick in the pants. A guy would have to be an awful mug to muff that one.
1929		D. Hammett Red Harvest (1965) 21: ‘Think she killed Willsson?’ ‘Sure. It’s a kick in the pants.’.
1937		Dundee Courier 19 May 5/6: What he called a ‘kick in the pants’ was dealt to the Co-Operative political party.
1947		J. Maclaren-Ross Of Love And Hunger 130: I got two quid out of it anyway, better than a kick in the pants.
1961		L. Schecter Roger Maris 116: On July 17, 1961, Mantle and Maris received a jolting kick in the pants from Lady Luck.

2. a salutory punishment.

[1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 7 Apr. 1/1: The manager who toadied to him deserves a healthy boot in the bustle].
1929		D.H. Clarke In the Reign of Rothstein 70: All the girl got was a ‘kick in the pants,’ is the only added detail that Fallon contributed.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 66: What she needs most in this world is a swift kick in the pants.
1943		Nottingham Eve. Post 20 Jan. 3/4: If the lad continued [...] to bully smaller boys he would get a kick in the pants.
1946		K.S. Prichard Roaring Nineties 82: Morrey wants a kick in the pants, not comin’ in to meet her.
1953		T. Runyon In For Life 193: The Old Man [...] had given him a well-earned kick in the pants.

3. a joke, a laugh (often used ironically).

1927		D. Hammett ‘The Big Knockover’ Story Omnibus (1966) 282: This is the fastest picking ever rigged, a kick in the pants to go through — air-tight.
1943		R. Chandler Lady in the Lake (1952) 35: ‘Jesus, if that ain’t a kick in the pants!’ he gasped.

4. anything that urges one on to greater effort, commitment.

1937		Western Dly Press 22 Dec. 3/1: ‘I may have given you a kick in the pants,’ he said, referring to the steel manufacturers, ‘but [...] it was only to help you’.
1949		Gloucester Citizen 8 July 12/5: [headline] British Economy Needs a Kick in the Pants.
1955		Kerouac letter in Charters I (1995) 502: A foreword by you [...] would really give it [a] kick in the pants.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 27: To kick [someone] in the pants is to propel that someone into action.
2010		L. Berney Gutshot Straight [ebook] ‘It was the kick in the pants I needed [...] because I’d spent the last eighteen months just sort of feeling sorry for myself’.

5. attrib. use of sense 4.

2005

L. Theroux Call of the Weird (2006) 129: I just thought, ‘Go for it!’ It’s a kick-in-the-pants job. I can’t think of a better one.

(Aus.) very nearly.

1914

Bulletin (Sydney) 30 July 22/2: On the station they have shorn within a kick of half a million sheep, but draught has reduced the tally of late years.

(Aus.) very close to.

1900

Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Oct. 14/2: Queensland aboriginal protector Meston reports finding ‘a new species of bird’ somewhere within the kick of a brown cow of the railway-line.