fast adj.1
1. of a woman, acting in a ‘masculine’ and thus socially unacceptable/unnerving manner.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Autobiog. of a Female Slave 139: You has put more questions to me than a Philadelphy lawyer could answer. ’Pon my soul, Jane, you is a fast ’un. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Breezie Langton I 8: It was, perhaps, Laura’s too ready tongue [...] that had obtained for them [i.e. two sisters] the reputation of being ‘fast’. | |
| Americanisms 223: The fast young girl [...] affects masculine habits, talks slang, drives fast horses, and advocates Women’s Rights. | |
| Patriotic Schoolgirl 171: ‘She has always seemed to me very unsophisticated and childish—certainly not “fast”’. |
2. immoral, illegal, corrupt; hedonistic.
| Adventures of Mr Ledbury III 16: The great aim of Pageant’s life was, to be considered a ‘fast man’. | |
| Natural History of the Gent 42: On this dog-cart were four Gents [...] Three had cigars, and the other had a horn; and it was evident that they thought they were ‘doing the fast thing, and no mistake’ [Ibid] 72: Going in a scarlet coat and top-boots, and now and then shouting ‘Yoicks!’ constitutes ‘doing the fast thing’. | |
| Caxtons II Pt xiii 324: Bolding had lived a year and a half at Oxford as a ‘fast man;’ so ‘fast’ had he lived that there was scarcely a tradesman at Oxford into whose books he had not contrived to run. | |
| Five Years in an Eng. University 23: A fast man [...] dresses flashily, talks big, and spends, or affects to spend, money very freely. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bell’s Life in Sydney 25 Feb. 2/6: A delightful specimen of the gent. cum fast man was exhibited on Tuesday. | |
![[Ind]](/static/img/flags/ind.png "India") | Delhi Sketch Bk 1 Apr. 41/1: I remember when I was young ; a little fast perhaps, [...] not careful enough to avoid debt. | |
| Delhi Sketch Bk 1 Jan. 4/2: [A] young lady who is so anxious to earn the distinction known as ‘fast,’ that she has given up tea simply because some body told her it was slow juice. | |
| N.Y. by Gas-Light (1990) 135: She loves the society of literary men, and could not exist amid the vulgar inanities of mercantile and ‘fast’ men. | |
| Tom Brown at Oxford (1880) 4: These were not the men to get any hold on the fast set who were now in the ascendant. | |
| Hills & Plains I 221: ‘Stapleton is fast, I suppose, like the rest of them?’ [...] ‘Rayther; ready to gamble to any extent’. | |
| Cornwall Chron. (Launceston, Tas.) 2 Sept. 4/3: It has become fashion able now amongst our local ‘fast men,’ to use low slang threats as to what shall be done to those members of Parliament who have not bowed the knee to the League. | |
| Little Ragamuffin 12: ‘He’s a butchering sight too fast, and so are you, you —!’. | |
| Sportsman (London) 27 Jan. 2/1: [of a book] We see books advertised, the fast titles of which would lead us to infer that they are intended to initiate verdant youth into the mysteries of ‘town’. | |
| Term of His Natural Life (1897) 36: The fast shopboy [...] had shaken off the first shame that was on him, and listened eagerly to the narratives of successful vice. | |
| ‘Naughty Young Man’ 🎵 We fast boys love a lark! | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 27 Sept. 14/3: The fast young man, just entering upon his metropolitan career of midnight dissipation. | |
| My Secret Life (1966) II 283: What a lot of fast-looking chits there are in the fields. | |
| Pioneer Exp. (Pembina, ND) 13 Apr. 4/4: Advice to girls [...] To make oneself conspicuous by open contempott of [...] social laws is the first degree of the descending scale. To be ‘fast,’ ‘loud,’ ‘high,’ ‘fly’ (how many synonyms out national slang dictionary offers for the next slide) is [...] dangerously allied to culpable indiscretion. | |
| Robbery Under Arms (1922) 358: The man that worked in the store with him was a fast sort of card. | |
| Dead Bird (Sydney) 29 Mar. 1/4: The ‘fast girl’ is so seldom really clever that she owes it to the society she so frequently outrages to be pretty. | |
| Gal’s Gossip 101: Mrs Terence Wortonhunt, whose shockingly fast husband ran away with Letty Bunn from the Gaiety. | |
| Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 17 Apr. 4/4: Some of the horses on the track were very slow, and some of the ladies on the lawn were very fast. | |
| Abner Daniel 249: She had been so spoiled by the ‘fast set’ of Atlanta during her stay. | |
| Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) I vi: Roue, gambler, leading a double life of the fastest kind. | |
| This Side of Paradise in Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald III (1960) 222: A rather fast crowd had come out, who drank cocktails in limousines and were promiscuously condescending and patronising toward older people. | |
| Haxby’s Circus 312: They [...] were known as ‘the fast set’ because they smoked, were addicted to high balls, ‘spots,’ and cracking jokes with men. | |
| Battlers 154: Perhaps things would be better when the fast crowd who had come to the Stainford for the races departed, taking their loud jollity and their cards and drink and big cars with them. | |
| Sexus (1969) 124: There’s a fast crowd comes here; if you’d like to dance and have a drink or two, why this is the place. | |
| Swell-Looking Babe 4: The Manton got more than its share of the fast crowd. | |
| Flat 4 King’s Cross (1966) 12: I got a reputation among the boys for being ‘easy,’ and a reputation among the older people for being ‘fast’. | |
| Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 114: Johnny was fast and way ahead of everybody else. | |
| (con. 1960s) Black Gangster (1991) 13: A good heroin connect [...]. would make a young, fast black man rich. | |
| On the Stroll 20: This bus station is too fast a place for a trustin young lady like yourself. | |
| Limericks Down Under 74: A hard and fast girl of Southport. | |
| Mr Blue 299: She knew the meager extent of Paducah’s fast life. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 604: She wanted [...] to be a fast flapper caressed by many men with glossy hair and two-tone shoes. |
3. (US) sexy, provocative.
 | Boston Blade (Boston, MA) 10 June n.p.: I had on some of the fastest dry-goods you ever see in your life’. | |
| Early Havoc 29: She could sew, bead, knit and crochet such things as garters that were naughty and fast. |
4. of speech, slangy, obscene.
| Paul Pry (London) 15 Aug. n.p.: That soft-headed, chicken- hearted noodle, Harry F—lk—r, should try and behave himself better in company, as it is not very agreeable to hear a young man make use of fast language, or use an oath every time he speaks. | |
| Sporting Gaz. (London) 15 Feb. 18/3: [She] shocks her father by a plentiful repetition of slang and ‘fast’ phrases. |
5. of a man or woman, promiscuous.
| Paul Pry (London) 15 Aug. n.p.: Little Nell, the fast young lady, of the Foundry, New-foundland-street, should not flirt so much and fancy she is a woman. | |
| Semi-Detached House (1979) 149: Yes, Sir! I can waltz! I can flirt! [...] Pa’ says I’m a romp, Ma’ says I’m a pert, / I say, I am fast! I am fast! | |
| Cheshire Obs. 18 Aug. 8/1: Skirts hitched up on a spreading frame, / Pettitcoats as bright as flame, / Dandy high-heeled boots, proclaim / Fast young ladies. | |
| ‘New Act of Parliament’ in Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 87: Any Milliner, dress maker or fast young girl who may be seen walking with a chignon larger than a porter’s knot. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 7 Jan. 3/4: a wanton wallowing in wealth. / A fast woman, Emma Jordan, was arrested [...] for drunkenness and disordorly conduct. | |
| Venus in India I 83: Have you not seen common or fast women, who dare to do what your own wife or sister dare not, and nobody says more than that they are fast? | |
| Vandover and the Brute (1914) 58: Ida was [...] as jealous of her reputation as only fast girls are. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Feb. 14/3: Proverbs of the block. Johnny: ‘Fine feathers make fast woman!’. | |
| Kipps (1952) 51: It is not quite the thing to walk abroad with a ‘feller’, much more to ‘spoon’ with him [...] it is considered a little ‘fast’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 30 July 11/4: Bunkered. / She: ‘When we first met you thought I was fast.’ / He: ‘Oh, no, I didn’t. I only hoped you were!’. | |
| New Orleans Blue Book (10 edn) Preface: Storyville [is] the only district of its kind in the States set aside for the fast women by law. | |
| Bottom Dogs 36: He was a bit fed up throwing his kale around on fast women. | |
| (con. 1920s) Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 378: He kissed her again. ‘You’re fast,’ she said. | |
| Battlers 151: Those two fast pieces she invited up with her, the Cliprell sisters. | |
| Savage Night (1991) 12: What’s a fast guy like you doing at a tank-town teachers’ college? | |
| et al. CUSS 115: Fast A sexually expert male. | |
| (con. 1950s) ‘Fifties’ in Eisen Age of Rock 2 (1970) 102: The first thing a make-out artist asked: is she fast? | |
| Fixx 186: Someone told me you were a bit of a rake. That [...] you were a bit fast. | |
| Indep. Mag. 9 Oct. 6: A fur coat and red shoes were seen as very fast in those days. | |
| (con. late 19C) Shady Ladies of the Old West 🌐 Other names [for prostitutes] were [...] ‘fast women’, [etc.]. |
6. (US black) illegal, obtained through crime, spec. of money.
| Down These Mean Streets (1970) 212: So, let’s get together [...] and make some fast pesos. | |
| Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 136: It’s hard to move slow with fast money. |
In compounds
(US) one who is unscrupulous as to the source of their income.
| Little Sister 187: We’ve got the [...] percentage works, the fast dollar boys, the hoodlums. |
(Aus./US) a brothel.
| Women of N.Y. 206: I say, officer, can you tell me where there are any ‘fast’ houses around here? | |
| Dead Bird (Sydney) 19 Oct. 6/3: Having an eye to business in one of his favourite fast houses. | |
| Susan Lenox II 209: A fast-house parlor dress of pink cotton silk. | |
| Call House Madam 266: Hers is a story of a ‘madam’ of fast houses. | |
| Pimp 201: She’s working a fast house up there. | |
| Village Voice (N.Y.) 5–11 May 🌐 Last week, two cops from the Midtown South precinct were indicted on charges of receiving cash and free services in exchange for protecting a 39th Street ‘fast house.’. |
(US) the worlds of gambling, drug-dealing, prostitution etc; also attrib.
| Things I Have Seen II 72: That ‘fast’ life which has been so divertingly depicted in Pierce Egan’s ‘Life in London.’. | |
| ‘Death Bed Blues’ 🎵 Mama told me, told me, on her bed a-dying / That these fast-life women surely get you down. | |
| [Amos Easton] ‘Fast Life Blues’ lyrics] I wonder why fast life keeps on following me; / Well it seems like old fast life ain’t gon’ never let me be. | |
| Urban Blues 24: [H]e is a typical hustler, pushing narcotics and apparently using them off and on, in and out of jail, separated from his wife [...] leading the fast life. | |
| Ghetto Sketches 20: That fast life will put lines in your face. | |
| Pimp’s Rap 108: Daddy, this is Terri. She’s 21 and ready for the fast life. |
cheating, swindling.
| ‘Sleeping Dogs’ in Spicy Detective Sept. 🌐 You thought you could come out here and pull some more fast stuff on Leneta. | |
| Dames Don’t Care (1960) 35: I am wonderin’ if somebody has been doin’ a little fast stuff with the cards. |
In phrases
to act in an illegal or unsanctioned manner, to ‘play fast and loose’.
| Close Pursuit (1988) 136: Looks like a drug hit — maybe the kid was getting fast with the bank. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
(US black) anyone who moves fast.
| Mules and Men (1995) 167: Boy, he sich a fast Aleck, he grabbed de bridle and wen on down tuh de lot tuh ketch ole Bill. |
fast, quick.
| Reviews wake-zine.com 🌐 The tight unit does a good job of slow, sick-ass guttural riffs and fast-ass grind that will make you want to kill your neighbor. |
see under black n.
see separate entries.
(W.I.) very fast.
![[WI]](/static/img/flags/wi.png "West Indies") | Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage. |
(US gay) spontaneous, short-term sex, e.g. that enjoyed in lavatories, bath-houses and similar places of anonymous assignation.
| Gay (S)language. |
(US drugs) phencyclidine.
| Central Sl. |
of a man, one who is unable to delay his own orgasm until his partner is satisfied too; a premature ejaculator; a rushed lover.
| Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.]. | |
| White Men Can’t Hump 211: Miranda- ‘You were not a fast fuck.’ Robert- ‘No, you’re right, I wasn’t. I was nice... and slooow...just the way you liked it.’. |
see separate entries.
1. (W.I.) used adj., cheeky, impertinent.
| (con. 1940s) ‘Peaces’ in Jamaica Labrish 106: Faas-mout Edna clip yuh long tongue / Lie an back-bitin noh pay. | |
| Man-of-Words in the West Indies 125: ‘He ain’ easy’ [...] may refer to someone’s propensity to rudeness, especially stealing, playing smart, or its verbal equivalent, having a fas’ mout’ (that is, gossiping, t’iefing someone’s name). |
2. (US black) one who has a tendency to impertinent and/or gossiping talk.
| ‘Block Party–145th Street Style’ in 145th Street 145: ‘You know you got a fast mouth, girl [...] I don’t know how you can be so correct and righteous in your heart, and still fix your mouth to say all them mean things’. |
see separate entry.
amphetamine.
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Ringer [ebook] The only way I’m moving is with a hit on the fast powder, so I’m out the bed again and rifling my pockets for a wrap. |
see fast buck n.
(US) someone who is quick to use a gun; also attrib.
| Pimp 246: The stud is got a rep as a fast-rod joker. |
(US) a cheap hotel that rents out its rooms by the hour to prostitutes and their clients or to illicit lovers.
| Pimp 29: There was a ‘Fast sheet’ joint with the trick rooms in the rear. [Ibid.] 264: She ran a fast sheet setup for a dozen whores. They tricked out of her joint. | |
| Trick Baby 207: Who did I spy coming out of a fast sheet joint at Forty-sixth Street? One Pocket with a young broad from big foot country. |
see under Mr Charlie n.
see separate entry.
a successful womanizer, one who achieves his seductions quickly; occas. of a woman (see cits. 1926, 1937).
| War Birds (1926) 223: Mac made a date to call on a pretty little nurse. That boy is a fast worker. | |
| Nigger Heaven 137: When you get started, Mary, you’re certainly a fast worker, unless you’ve been holding this sheik out on me. | |
| Rampant Age 311: You like the fast workers, huh? | |
| Flirt and Flapper 73: Flapper[of a woman] : It’s all right with me, honey, but you’re a fast worker. | |
| Limey 33: Jiminy crickets! [...] he’s a fast worker all right. | |
| Dames Don’t Care (1960) 110: It looks to me like this dame is fallin’ for me too fast even if she is a quick worker. | |
| Capt. Bulldog Drummond 89: I’ve always heard you were a fast worker, Captain Drummond [...] But really! | |
| Long Good-Bye 157: You got to kiss her the other night. Probably fancy yourself as a fast worker, but you’re wasting your time, bud. | |
| Coal Flat 149: You watch yourself, Flora! He’s a fast worker in the dark! | |
| Unforgettable Legal Stories 4: Watch out – he’s a fast worker. He’s already asked me for your address and telephone number. | |
| Steel Storage (2004) 336: ‘But I warn you that he’s a fast worker.’ She tossed her strawberry curls and blushed slightly. ‘I can take care of that boy.’. | |
| ‘Hot Lips Hot Legs and Hot Jokes’ at www.sexylegsplaygirl.com 🌐 He’s a fast worker. When he hits a new town, he just walks over to the first girl and says, ‘Can you direct me to your house?’. |
In phrases
very fast.
| Power of Black (1962) 138: You’re crazy goin’ up before a gun like Colonel Jones! He’s fast as greased titties.’ ‘Fast sure, but facing a man with a gun isn’t like shooting glass balls.’. |