red, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

red adj.

1. golden, made of gold.

1606		Wily Beguiled 5: O this red chink, and silver coine, it is the consolation of the World.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 29/1: ‘Look at that gold watch, sir, and say before these officers whether it’s yours or mine;’ (and Joe unhitches his ‘red thimble’ from his vest).
1878		Manchester Eve. News 19 Feb. 3/6: ‘I want you to let me know when you have two good red ones — large ones.’ The term ‘red ones’ [...] signifying gold watches.
1885		M. Davis Leaves from Prison Diary 152: I broke off his jerry, and boned the clock, which was a red one, but I was spotted by a copper.
1896		A. Morrison Child of the Jago (1982) 71: You found the watch, an’ it was a red ’un, on a bit o’ ribbin.
1901		J. Caminada Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life II 117: Then red ’uns?
1937		J. Worby Other Half 278: Red, gold.
1952		‘Burglar Cops’ in C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 117: I saw a mark whom I immediately nicked for his red super.
1959		J. Gosling Ghost Squad 25: Thieves’ argot, spoken properly, is a foreign language which needs to be learned [...] gold is ‘red’.

2. (also red-assed) communist, socialist, left-wing [red has been synon. with communism since its birth in 1848 and has been thus used as a synon. adj.; its mass and thus slangier use came after the Russian Revolution of 1917; a handy right-wing insult, it is often used of anything that frightens a conservative speaker].

1848		Illus. London News 1 July 1/2: The working classes, or ‘Red Republicans,’ were imbued with the doctrines of Communism .
1854		F. Smedley Harry Coverdale’s Courtship 72: Chartists, levellers, red-republicans, and all that is dangerous and subversive of morality and security of property.
1887		‘’Arry on Ochre’ in Punch 15 Oct. 169/1: They talks of ‘the Masses and Classes,’ — old Collars is red on that rot.
1892		H. Lawson ‘More Echoes from the Old Museum’ in Roderick (1967–9) I 181: He regards attempted changes in the sacred ‘Constitution’ / As the reddest kind of treason.
1913		Sydney Morning Herald 3 Dec. 19/4: [headline] Warlike ‘Wharfies’ Mass Meeting. The contingent whose ideals were similar to those of the ‘Red Feds’ broke into protest.
1919		C. Sandburg letter Oct. in Mitgang (1968) 169: I am an I.W.W. but I don’t carry a red card.
1922		‘Sapper’ Black Gang 283: That man Waldock who runs two or three of the worst of the Red papers.
1938		W. Smitter F.O.B. Detroit 120: If there’s red talk around, or talk about unions, I get to hear it and I get to talk with the bosses.
1941		K. Tennant Battlers 112: If you think you can come here stirring up trouble with your Red ideas.
1952		K. Williams Diaries 13 Jan. 69: I learned that Don was as Red as I am! madly Socialist in his outlook. Good.
1965		(con. 1930s) R. Wright Lawd Today 62: Why can’t you red niggers get some sense in your heads? Don’t you know them Reds is just using you?
1965		B. Behan Confessions 248: I have a brother who is an anarchist [...] which means singing red songs to the amused tolerance of the police.
1967		R. Starnes Requiem in Utopia 89: ‘[H]e’s a red-assed Commie who is right this minute hatching trouble’.
1977		S. Berkoff East in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 53: The unions who are communist dominated and make the country ripe for a takeover by the red hordes.
1988		Republican (Waterbury, CT) 21 Jan. n.p.: Red newspaper won’t be read in town library [R].
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 176: He ain’t queer, he ain’t Red.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 525: He’s horny, he’s impetuous, he’s as Red as they get.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 6: Aunt Leoda married a Catholic. My dad thought she was Red.
2013		Guardian 6 July 12/5: He is nicknamed ‘Red Len’ by the media.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 17: Duke [i.e. John Wayne] paid me five yards and gave me the skinny on Red Hollywood.

3. in cash (rather than paper) money.

1899		A. Binstead Houndsditch Day by Day 29: The unwashed horde, who always drew it ‘red’ and tried it, piece by piece, between their teeth.
1905		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Incredulity of Juries’ Sporting Times 18 Mar. 1/4: [He] was put away for writing someone else’s name instead / Of his own upon a cheque, exchanged for sundry quidlets red.

4. (Aus.) euph. for bloody adj. (1)

1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 11 Sept. 3/2: Why, strike me blanky dash blank dead, / I do my blanky toil,/ And then a blanky blankitty red / Bookmaker grabs the spoil.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 30 Oct. 5/4: J.B. said Sporty was a red liar.

5. (Aus./Irish) having red or ginger hair.

1884		Flag of Ireland 13 Dec. 4/6: Red Jack and Red Jim.
1936		‘Banjo’ Paterson Shearer’s Colt 17: I’d put the word on this red bloke if I was you, trooper.
1952		Derry Jrnl 16 July 6/1: The outstanding display given by ‘Red’ Jack Gallagher.
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Hot-Prowl Rape-O’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 313: My mom was a redhead, and I never got over it. I got a thing for red gash.

6. (US black, also red-ass, redskin) light-skinned; thus occas. as n. [SE red + -ass sfx/SE skin].

1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 25 Oct. n.p.: Now, for the black ladies, Miss Sarah, long, red, thick lip W—t, a wench of great parts.
1941		Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 7 June 7/2: We’re too dark to be a ‘red’.
1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 21: With thy chops so red and mellow, / Kissed by chicks so fine and yellow.
1961		V.S. Naipaul A House For Mr Biswas 242: ‘Spanish,’ Jagdat said. Mr Biswas knew this was a euphemism for a red-skinned Negro.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 81: I wished I had called him Mr. Red instead of asking what I did.
1969		H. Rap Brown Die, Nigger Die! 7: In between light negro america and Black negro america (in terms of color), there is a special category of people, who are assigned the name of red niggers. These are the people who are light enough to go into light negro america, but do not have caucasian characteristics. They don’t have straight hair or white features. So they can go either way.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 29: He had some young red-ass kid with ’im. [Ibid.] 92: There’s more red cats out there than you can shake a stick at.
1981		E. Bunker Little Boy Blue (1995) 74: The other black was lighter-skinned than the average Sicilian [...] his name was Red Barzo.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 176: You be talkin’ about his color, you the funniest lookin’ nigger around here. You red, look like a damn apple.
1997		‘Q’ Deadmeat 237: Some red-skinned fly-girl in a right micro-mini.
2011		Observer 23 July 🌐 I remember one man saying it was ‘full of red men’ up here, meaning mixed-race people, like he didn't think we were proper black people.

7. (US) used of an impoverished, bigoted white Southerner [abbr. redneck n. (1)].

1969		H. Rap Brown Die Nigger Die! 53: Humphrey, who is supposed to be a ‘liberal’, was getting madder than a pimp with dogshit on his shoe. So, I looked at him and knew where he was at. The little red punk.
1975		G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 64: red adj Rural or country, and thereby regarded as socially unacceptable.
1987		C. Hiaasen Double Whammy (1990) 107: The usual fate of black troopers was to get assigned to the lousiest roads in the reddest countries.

8. (US campus) conservative, strait-laced.

1974

Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 3: red – very conservative: The party was fun, but too many people there were red.

9. (W.I.) intoxicated by drugs [? one’s red eyes].

1995		Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 43: Red [...] 2. stoned.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red — Under the influence of drugs.

Pertaining to gold

In compounds

red apple parings (n.)

(UK und.) offcuts of gold.

1935

Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red apple parings: Scraps of gold.

red clock (n.)

a gold watch, thus red clock and slang, a gold watch and chain.

1873		Hotten Sl. Dict. 120: Clock, a watch, Watches are also distinguished by the terms ‘red clock,’ a gold watch and ‘white clock,’ a silver watch. Generally modified into ‘red ’un’ and ‘white ’un’.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 2: Red clock, a gold watch.
1895		Mirror of Life 2 Feb. 11/1: Good old Pony! It was worth the loss of the ‘sparkles,’ the red clock, and red tackle for such an advertisement.
1924		E. Pugh in Advertiser (Adelaide) 12 Apr. 24/8: ‘Red clock and slang’ means gold watch and chain.
1928		Framlingham Wkly News 8 Dec. 3/7: Thieves’ Dialect [...] ‘Red clock and slang,’ gold watch and chain.
1936		Framlingham Wkly News 4 Jan. 2/6: The lingo of Cockney criminals [...] ‘red clock and slang’.

red jack (n.)

(UK und.) a gold watch.

1904

Sun (NY) 10 July 29/4: Here is a genuine letter written in thieves’ slang, recently found by the English police [...] We must get a thimble fakir to christen and church the red jacks.

red jerry (n.) [jerry n.⁶]

(UK Und.) a gold watch or watch chain.

1871		Leinster Indep. 30 Sept. 4/3: ‘I was one night working with a mag’s-man,’ said the light-fingered gentleman [...] ‘About half-past twelve I saw a man with a white waistcoast, decorated with a red slang (chain) attached to a red jerry (gold watch)’.
1885		M. Davitt Leaves from a Prison Diary I 119: They very often move in gangs, surrounding a man who may be ‘sporting a red jerry’ (a ‘loud’ exhibition of gold guard) and snatch his watch.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 79: Sporting a Red Jerry, exhibiting a gold chain.
1896		Mirror of Life 28 Oct. 3/2: A young fellow snatched at his watch and actually made his escape with the ‘red jerry,’ ‘the slang,’ and a two-sov. piece .
1901		Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: The red ’un is a gold watch, the white ’un only silver, while a gold chain is a red jerry, and the seals danglers or onions.

red kettle (n.)

see red toy

red lot (and tackle) (n.)

a gold watch and chain, thus gold in general (see cite 1914).

1894		Manchester Courier 24 Feb. 6/3: At the police station Finney said, ‘We were after a red lot’ (meaning a gold watch and chain).
1895		Mirror of Life 16 Feb. 11/1: [T]he ‘wasters’ who crowd on to the stage on these occasions had old Jem Mace for his red lot and tackle .
1901		W.S. Walker In the Blood 158: I went round a few rooms while the people were asleep. ‘Thimble and slang,’ ‘red lot’ and ‘white lot’ were my reward.
1905		Hackney Gazette 15 Sept. 3: Here comes the German with a red lot.
1914		Gloucs. Echo 25 Feb. 6/5: In thieves’ backslang [sic] ‘white horse ’ means silver goods, ‘red lot’ gold goods, ‘elephants’ diamonds [...] and ‘groney’ ring .
1923		Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 11 Aug. 15/2: Pa’s prop, fawney and red lot are in the top right-hand drawer of the Duchess.
1936		H. Corey Farewell, Mr Gangster! 280: Slang used by English criminals [...] A red lot – gold watch and chain.
1946		S. Jackson Indiscreet Guide to Soho 118: Those who value their ‘red lots’ (gold watches).
1950		P. Hoskins No Hiding Place! 191/2: Red Lot. Gold chain.

red one (n.)

(UK und.) a gold watch.

1935

Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red one: Gold watch.

red place (n.)

UK und. a goldsmith’s shop.

1935

Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red place: Manufacturing jeweller’s shop.

red rogue (n.)

a gold coin.

1617

Fletcher Mad Lover V iv: There’s a red rogue, to buy thee handkerchiefs.

red shell (n.)

(UK und.) a gold watch case (the works having been removed).

1900

Illus. Police News 15 Dec. 10/2: I have sent you a few things [...] two R. S. (red-shells — gold watch-cases without the works), two W. K. (white kettles — silver watches), small R. P. K. (red plated kettle-gold-plated watch) [...] three ‘spark’ (diamond) rings, a pearl ‘prop’ (pin), a few odds and ends.

red slang (n.) [slang n.² (2)]

(UK/US Und.) a gold watch chain.

1868		letter 30 Jan. in Law Jrnl NS 37 84/1: 1 Red Case [...] 1 Red Slang.
1871		Leinster Indep. 30 Sept. 4/3: ‘I was one night working with a mag’s-man,’ said the light-fingered gentleman [...] ‘About half-past twelve I saw a man with a white waistcoat, decorated with a red slang (chain) attached to a red jerry (gold watch)’.
1884		Wkly Freeman’s Jrnl 20 Dec. 7/6: I was jogging down a blooming slum in the Chapel when I butted a reeler who was sporting a red slang. I broke off his jerry and boned the clock.
1914		Wash. Post 11 Nov. Misc. 3/4: A watch [...] may be called a ‘block’ or a ‘turnip’ or a ‘kettle,’ while the chain is either a ‘white slang’ or a ‘red slang.’.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red slang: A gold chain.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

red stuff (n.) [SE stuff]

1. money, presumably golden sovereigns.

1903		A. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise 183: He [...] turned up in the club nearly every night an’ never seemed at all short o’ the red stuff.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 60: He could side-step the Red Stuff.

2. (UK Und.) gold; esp. jewellery.

1923		Hull Dly Mail 24 Sept. 8/5: Asked by Inspector Stott what he meant by the ‘red’ stuff, Smith said, ‘I mean jewellry, not gold. When I’m on a job I go for the “red” stuff’.
1926		N. Lucas London and its Criminals 159: There are ‘fences’ who deal in nothing but ‘red stuff’ (jewellery) and plate.
1930		Eve. Herald (Dublin) 9 Dec. 4/6: ‘Red stuff’ is a miscellaneous collection of gold jewellery.
1930		(con. 1910–20s) D. Mackenzie Hell’s Kitchen 120: Red stuff ... gold.
1936		J. Curtis Gilt Kid 23: Got a bit of stuff hanging around her drum she has. Red stuff, jewellery, furs and the ready. She keeps the dough under the carpet in her bedroom.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 253: Red stuff. Gold.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 169: Quite a bit of ‘red stuff’ (gold), all old-fashioned and rather heavy.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 198: Red stuff Gold.

red super (n.) [super n.² (1)]

(US Und.) a gold watch.

1859		Matsell Vocabulum 73: red super A gold watch.
1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 21 Sept. n.p.: He had appropriated the cases to his own use, and ‘fenced the red supers’.
1952		C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 324: Red super, A gold watch.

red tackle (n.) [tackle n.¹ (7)]

(UK Und.) a gold chain.

1879		‘Autobiog. of a Thief’ in Macmillan’s Mag. (London) XL 502: One day I went to Croydon and touched for a red toy (gold watch) and red tackle (gold chain) with a large locket.
1887		‘Dagonet’ ‘A Plank Bed Ballad’ in Referee 12 Feb. n.p.: One day I’d a spree with two finns in my brigh, / And a toy and a tackle – both red ’uns.
1889		Barrère Argot 54/1: Bridaukil (thieves’), gold watch chain, ‘redge slang,"’or ‘red tackle’.
1895		Mirror of Life 2 Feb. 11/1: Good old Pony! It was worth the loss of the ‘sparkles,’ the red clock, and red tackle for such an advertisement.
1931		‘English Und. Sl.’ in Variety 8 Apr. n.p.: Red tackle—Gold chain.

red toy (n.) (also red kettle) [toy n.¹ (5)/kettle n.¹ (3a)]

a gold watch.

1879		‘Autobiog. of a Thief’ in Macmillan’s Mag. (London) XL 502: One day I went to Croydon and touched for a red toy (gold watch) and red tackle (gold chain) with a large locket.
1885		Aberdeen Peoples’ Jrnl 5 Dec. 3/4: ‘You see [...] picking pockets [...] I generally got two or three “red kettles” a week’.
1887		‘Dagonet’ ‘A Plank Bed Ballad ’ (in Referee 12 Feb.) n.p.: One day I’d a spree with two finns in my brigh, / And a toy and a tackle – both red ’uns.
1913		Van Loan ‘For Revenue Only’ in Lucky Seventh (2004) 215: ‘What watch?’ he repeated [...] ‘Look for yourself. “Home run, Boyle.” That’s me, and now kick in with the red kettle.’.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red kettle: Gold watch.
1937		J. Curtis You’re in the Racket, Too 119: ‘Well, these here red kettles,’ Snowey pointed to the watches.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		P. Hoskins No Hiding Place! 191/2: Red Toy. Gold watch.

red ’un (n.) (also red thing)

1. a gold coin, a sovereign.

1886		Sporting Times 24 Apr. 1/5: We trust all good Pink ’Uns will continue to shell out the red ’uns for this deserving case.
1890		Sporting Times 25 Jan. 5/5: If we only had a couple of red ’uns, [...] we might dine.
1905		Illus. Police News 30 Dec. 6/4: [A] smartish hotel where you yourself well / For couple of red ’uns a day.

2. a gold watch.

1873		Sl. Dict. 268: Red un a gold watch.
1887		‘Dagonet’ ‘A Plank Bed Ballad ’ in Referee 12 Feb. n.p.: One day I’d a spree with two finns in my brigh, / And a toy and a tackle – both red ’uns.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 66: Red ‘Un, a gold watch.
1901		Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: The red ’un is a gold watch, the white ’un only silver, while a gold chain is a red jerry, and the seals danglers or onions.
1901		Daily Tel. 14 May 11 5: You just now alluded to your watch as a red ’un. – Cooper: I did. And then you explained that ‘red-’un’ was thieves slang. – So it is [F&H].
1931		‘English Und. Sl.’ in Variety 8 Apr. n.p.: Red thing—Gold watch.

Other uses

red fed (n.) [sense 2 + abbr. SNZE Federation of Labour] (N.Z.)

1. a left-winger, an agitator, a militant.

1914		Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 45/2: The Maoriland Federation of Labor (the Red Feds.) has received another wallop.
1914		Eve. Post (Wellington) 17 Apr. 8/6: One of the principle arguments used by the Red Feds against Mr M’Laren [...] is that he sat on a rail during the late strike.
1920		N.Z. Free Lance (Wellington) 1 Dec. (Xmas Annual) 45: The aviator pinned the tribute to the breast of the Right Honourable R. Fedd. ‘He died for a principle!’ [DNZE].
1947		D. Davin For the Rest of Our Lives 102: Who cares if he is a red-fed? I’ve gone a bit bolshy myself after some of the ballsups I’ve seen out here.
1959		Star (Christchurch) 9 Mar. 2: I have always prided myself on my British descent and our fair play and am not a Redfed, but I admire the natives for kicking over the traces and striking on this account [DNZE].
1965		(con. 1930s) N. Hilliard Power of Joy 213: To the well-off it seemed that all who worked for wages were dolies or red-feds.
1970		D. Davin Not Here Not Now 280: He sounded a bit of a red-fed, though. No time for Baldwin or any of that lot over in England.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 92/2: Red Fed member of the Federation of Labour, perceived as a Communist agitator by conservatives or cynical seekers of political advantage.
1992		F. Farrell Skinny Louie Book 58: Nancy-boy [...] was of the opinion that the country’s salvation had lain with Campbell Begg and not some ex-Red Fed [DNZE].
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 172: red-fed Left-wing agitator or somebody who is difficult about workplace conditions.

2. attrib. use of sense 1, left-wing, ‘socialist’.

1917		N.Z. Free Lance (Wellington) 30 Mar. 6: Mr Webb’s interference in municipal elections is on behalf of the ‘Labour’--otherwise the Red Fed-ticket [DNZE].
1920		N.Z. Free Lance (Wellington) 6 Jan. 8: When the Red Fed candidates came before the electors last December, they included quite a number of the ‘radish’ fraternity [DNZE].
1956		D. Davin Sullen Bell 59: ‘Isn’t that the red-fed lawyer?’ Hugh laughed at him, at the combination of respect for a headline name and honour of political notoriety.
1963		letter in F.M. McKay Baxter (1990) 195: It is not ‘Marxist’ or ‘Red-fed’–it is a certain kind of love [DNZE].
1978		J.H. Sutherland Elver 44: When it comes to the pinch you can trust the New Zealander. We don’t go for these red-fed ideas here [DNZE].

Redland (n.)

Communist Russia, the USSR.

1942

Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.

Red Onion (n.)

the Red Onion supermax state prison located in Wise County, VA.

2021

S.A. Crosby Razorblade Tears 17: I did a nickel at Red Onion. Some hard fellas out that way.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

red... (n.)

see also under relevant n.

red... (n.)

see also separate entries.

red ’Arry (n.) (also red-back) [the colour + ? the signature on the note]

(Aus.) a £10 note.

1934		Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld) 1 Mar. 10/4: I chops the red-back out in three days. Livin’ on revivers for a couple of days.
1959		Baker Drum.
2013		T. Peacock More You Bet 66: The ‘$20 note’ is known a ‘red-back’, after the spider, or as a ‘lobster’, or a ‘lobby’ for short, due to colour of a $20 note resembling that of a boiled lobster.

redball (n.) (also redball freight) [on early railroads such trains mounted a red ball on the engine as a signal calling for priority; note US police jargon redball, a high priority, high-pressure case]

(US) a fast freight train.

1905		Brownsville Dly Herald 22 Nov. 1/4: A section of a red ball freight got to the top of Glorietta Pass.
1907		Topeka Star (KS) 31 July 6/2: Perishable goods and other freight which require quick shipment are known as redball freight.
1912		Iron Co. Register 4 Apr. 5/4: ‘Red ball’ is [a] fast freight.
1926		Odum & Johnson Negro Workaday Songs 132: Lawd, lissen, I believe I go to town / An’ ketch the Red Ball.
1930		G. Milburn ‘The Hobo’s Last Lament’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 75: For I have flipped a red-ball freight, / I’ll ride it straight on through.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 56: He [...] thought bitterly of saying to hell with you, Dudley, and walking out of the room, catching a Red Ball for the Coast, and never coming back.
a.1940		‘Wise Egg’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 114: I’d [...] Tapped spikes beside the spics, / And caught redball freights on the fly.
1945		F.H. Hubbard Railroad Avenue 2: ‘Redball’ is a fast freight.
1964		J. Thompson Pop. 1280 in Four Novels (1983) 390: Ken [...] caught the Red Ball freight to Pottsville.
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 6: You don’t piss around with way freights. You ride redballs.

red beard (n.) [the implied youthfulness, thus energy of a red beard, as opposed to the ‘white hair’ of an older man]

a watchman, a constable, poss. a young man.

1607

Dekker & Webster Northward Hoe III i: White haires may fall into the company of drabs as well as red beardes into the society of knaues.

red birds (n.) [the colour of the pills]

(US drugs) barbiturates, esp. Seconal.

1954		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction.
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 88: John carried Red Birds, Yellow Jackets, Purple Hearts, and Blue Heavens in quantity.
1977		L. Young et al. Recreational Drugs.

red bit (n.)

(Aus. prison) A$20.

1984

B. Ellem Doing Time 195: red bit: twenty dollars.

red bob (n.) (also red quid) [play on red shilling ]

(Aus.) a pimp, thus (see cit. 1967) the money he extorts.

1944		T. Hartley gloss. in Simes DAUS (1993) 171/2: red bob A bludger on a prostitute. Abbreviation for red shilling. Prostitutes are kind hearted to men just released from jail. And it is not unusual for them to be approached for assistance. It is only necessary to say that you are just out of boob & down to the bare bones of your a-se for a prostitute to let you live with her or if she has a bludger to put you onto another who hasn’t. The belongings of a ‘red bob’ are said to be ‘a towel & a toothbrush’.
1953		K. Tennant Tell Morning This (1967) 395: You’ve only got to put it to a girl on the beat that you’re just out of stir and flat broke and she won’t see you left. If she’s slinging it to someone already, she’ll send you along to another girl who isn’t, and you’ll have a room a few quid and a hell of a lot of kindness. I’m no bludger, see? I’m no Red Bob, but I’ve no time for these loud-mouthed larrikins that despise a girl because she’s dumb enough to fall for them.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/2: hoon: A male living partly or fully on the earnings of prostitution. A taker of the red bob.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Red quid. To live off the proceeds of prostitution. As in ‘to cop the red quid’.

red boots (n.) (also red tennis shoes) [var. on red birds ]

(drugs) secobarbital (Seconal).

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 168: Identifications that ranged from the literal to the metaphoric – [...] red boots, red tennis shoes.

red bottoms (n.)

(US black) Christian Louboutin’s which feature a trademark red sole.

2016

Kash Doll ‘Summer Sixteen’ 🎵 Her shoe game is broke! I’m wearing red bottoms.

red boy (n.)

(N.Z. prison) 1 a M?ori skinhead.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: red boy n. 1 a M?ori skinhead.

redbreast (n.)

see robin redbreast n.

Red Bull (n.) [the energy drink Red Bull]

(N.Z. prison) a macho walk adopted by ‘hard’ prisoners.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: Red Bull n. refers to the boob walk an inmate adopts in the prison yard, a simultaneously defensive and defiant posture where the inmate draws himself up to his full height and performs a ‘front lat spread’ so that his arms jut out and sway as he walks.

red can (n.)

1. (Aus.) a can of Emu Export beer.

1998		Google Groups: alt.folklore.urban 19 Feb. 🌐 In the ruggeder NW the real men aren’t trusted with glasses in the back bars, so it’s: White can, Red can, Green can, Blue can.
2003		PPRuNe Forums 4 Sept. 🌐 [I]f it starts to hurt knock back a few red cans until the pain dissappears but the number of red cans required to get rid of the pain would probably cost more than u earn so maybe give it a miss.
2015		Trip Advisor 11 Jan. 🌐 I recommend after a few red cans taking a short walk up the water tower with absolutely stunning views of the town and a magical place to watch the sunset.
2016		BigFooty 20 Feb. 🌐 Yeah imagine [...] sitting round on shift change sinkin a few red cans talking footy.

2. (Aus.) a can of Melbourne Bitter beer.

2004		J. Lambert Macquarie Dict. Aus. Sl. 166/1: red can a can of Melbourne Bitter beer.
2005		Australianbeers.com Apr. 🌐 In relation to can colours, I have only ever heard people refer to red cans and green cans, mainly because that’s all people drink and in the outback communities were the reference is most often used (particularly aboriginal communities) they only serve Melbourne Bitter and VB.
2012		A. Hughes Ringer’s Hands 63: All the ringers and jackaroos were allowed one six-pack each, and they only had one choice [...] ‘green cans’ (Vic Bitter) or ‘red cans’ (Melbourne Bitter).
2017		Beer Drinkers Guide in Aus. 5 Dec. 🌐 When in NT, you can simply order a beer by the colour of the can: […] Red Can: Can of Melbourne Bitter.

red card (n.)

(US) a membership card of the Industrial Workers of the World.

1921		P. & T. Casey Gay-cat 192: Sure, a Wobbly, an I.W.W., a carrier o’ the red card that will yit be the flag o’ industrial freedom fur the world!
1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 460: Red card, An I.W.W. membership card.

red carpet (n.)

(US gay/prison) the tongue.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 170: red carpet tongue. red carpet treatment 1. to lick out the ass.

red centre (n.) [the predominantly red soil; coined in the eponymous book by H.H. Finlayson]

(Aus.) the central areas of Australia.

1935		Newcastle Morn. Herald (NSW) 14 Dec. 16/5: [headline] NEW BOOKS / ‘THE RED CENTRE’ / Life in Central Australia.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl.
1946		Mercury (Hobart, Tas.) 25 May 8/4: The camels padded stolid- ly away from the last of civilisation into the brilliant barrenness of the ‘Red Centre,’ that land of russet sand and rock, with its scrub burn- ing under the pitiless sun.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 238/1: red center or centre – the interior desert country of Australia.

red chenke (n.)

see redleg

red chicken (n.) [SE red, i.e. the brown colour and/or packaging]

(drugs) Chinese heroin.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1971		‘The Narcotics Traffic in Hong Kong’ in Listener 11 Nov. 644: [They] are turning out the crude No 3 heroin (known as . . . Red Chicken) for local consumption.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red chicken — Heroin.

redcoat (n.)

1. (US) a bedbug [its colour; presumably an anglophobe insult].

1913

Day Book (Chicago) 7 Nov. 28/2: That wary, night-faring, blood-sucking, little animal [...] ‘bedug,’ ‘chinch,’ ‘mahogany flat,’ ‘red coat’ or ‘wall louse’.

2. a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted police [the uniform].

1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 239: A ‘redcoat,’ as the Mounted Police are called, was killed by a drunken Indian.
1929		L. Thomas Woodfill of the Regulars 87: Two rookies have deserted [...] But they didn’t get far. The Redcoats of the Mounted picked ’em up at Forty Mile.
1978		Maledicta II:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 168: Redcoat Originally this meant a British soldier or Hessian mercenary employed by British soldiers. By extension, it came to mean any soldier or police official in the former British empire, and still does.

red-collar (adj.)

(UK Und.) of a prisoner, privileged.

1888		R. Barnett Police Sergeant C 21 252: He was drafted into the ‘red-collar’ men gang – a privileged one – and set to work on the farm.
1890		Maidstone Jrnl 23 Sept. 7/1: There are very few men at each prison who are called ‘Red-collar’ men.
1900		Sheffield Wkly Teleg. 13 Oct. 14/1: ‘Red-collar’ men, the best-behaved, most trusted convicts.
1913		Sussex Agric. Exp. 28 Mar. 6/5: A convict named Day, who as a red-collar man, was entitled to special privileges.
1937		‘Red Collar Man’ ‘Chokey’ 49: My life in Parkhurst Prison was, however, very different from the existence led by the ordinary convict. I was employed as a red collar man, or to use a term imported from the U.S.A. and one which is never used in English jails, a ‘Trusty’.
1950		P. Tempest Lag’s Lex. 177: red collar. The forerunner of the redband.

red copper (n.)

see red cent n.

red cross (n.) [? its efficacy as a painkiller]

1. (drugs) morphine.

1922		W.H. Wells ‘Terms used in the Drugs Trade’ in DN V 181: Terms for Morphine [...] Red Cross – As differentiated from White Cross, or cocaine, above.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 156: Red Cross.–Morphine, possibly chosen as a name for this drug since most sufferers from railroad and street accidents are eased by its administration at the hands of the ambulance surgeon.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1953		Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic In Narcotics 314: Red Cross. Morphine.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore 157: Red Cross M – Morphine.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 815: red cross – Morphine.

2. marijuana.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red cross — Marijuana.

red death (n.) (US prison)

1. prison-cooked barbecue beef or pork.

1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 142: We wake our prisoners up at five A.M. and serve them meals of red death.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 67: Red Death Barbeque beef or pork.

2. jam (jelly in the US).

1986

J. Ellroy Silent Terror 67: The mess-hall slang for Salisbury steak, hot dogs and breakfast jelly was respectively, ‘Gainesburgers,’ ‘donkey dicks’ and ‘red death’.

red deener (n.)

see red shilling

red devil (n.) (also RD) [the colour of the capsules]

1. (drugs) any form of barbiturate available in a red capsule, e.g. Seconal.

1959		cited in Spears Sl. and Jargon of Drugs and Drink (1986).
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 223: The next step up the scale is Seconal (‘reds’ or ‘red devils’).
1973		D. Goines Street Players 74: I had dropped some red devils earlier tonight.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 179: That’s why they called red devils – they make you mean like d’ devil. I use to drop pills. Cut ’em loose. Dey put you on some weird trips.
1997		L. Pettiway Workin’ It 183: Vanessa gave me my first pill. It was a red devil. That’s a sleeping pill.
2002		L. Pizzichini Dead Men’s Wages (2003) 222: Seconal were the Red Devils he rode till he made it over the Tuinal Rainbow.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 70: [I] found her Seconal stash [...] I chased five fat red devils with Lee’s double martini.

2. (Aus. prison) amphetamines.

1967		R. Conot Rivers of Blood 329: [H]e may have been stimulated by bennies, for he had been released only two days previously from the custody of the sheriff, having served 30 days for illegal possession of ‘red devils’.
1978		W. Diehl Sharky’s Machine 230: It’s a red devil all right. Seventy percent speed, thirty percent nitroglycerine.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Red devils. Psychoactive pills, eg amphetamines.

3. phencyclidine.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red devil — Depressants; PCP.

red dime (n.)

see red cent n.

red dirt (n.) [SAmE dirt, earth]

(US drugs) marijuana that is or has been growing in the wild.

1955		T. Southern [story title] Red-Dirt Marijuana.
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 219: red dirt marijuana marijuana growing wild.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972) 160: red dirt mariuana [...] Marijuana that is growing wild and uncultivated.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red dirt — Marijuana.

red disturbance (n.) [the colour and the effects]

(US) whisky.

1944

R.F. Adams Western Words (1968) 246/1: red disturbance. A cowboy’s term for whiskey. Some of it [...] ‘would make a muley cow grow horns.’.

Red Dog (n.)

(N.Z. prison) a member of the Devil’s Henchmen gang.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: red dog n. a Devil’s Henchman Gang member.

red dwarf (n.)

(N.Z. prison) a powerful species of marijuana.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/2: red dwarf n. see skunk.

red eel (n.)

a general term of derision.

1837

D. Crockett in Meine Crockett Almanacks (1955) 92: Said I, stranger you are a damn red eel.

red flag (n.)

(NZ prison) menstruation.

1999

D. Looser ‘Boob Jargon’ in NZEJ 13 34: red flag n. Menstruation; ‘got vour red flag out?’.

red flag day (n.)

see red-letter day

red fustian (n.) [SE fustian, a coarse cloth; thus note the contrast with ‘smooth’ satin n. (1a), denoting gin]

1. port or claret.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Red fustian Clarret or red Port-Wine.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Red fustian, port wine.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1834		(con. 1737–9) W.H. Ainsworth Rookwood (1857) 48: Famous wine this [...] better than all your red fustian.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.
1891		(ref. to 18C) Birmingham Dly Post 23 Dec. 8/5: Red ‘tape’ was a Newgate phrase for Genever [...] and ‘red fustian’ meant claret.

2. porter.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

red grate (n.)

see red lattice

red gravy (n.)

(US black) blood.

1947

M.H. Boulware Jive and Sl.

redgut (n.)

see gut n. (1g)

red heifer (n.)

(US prison) a whip made of red leather.

1993

Doc Reese in Levet Talkin’ That Talk (2010) 199/2: Now you must know that in red heifer times a man by the name of Bud Russell operated the transfert [sic] wagon that collected the prisoners from all over the state.

red-headed aunt (from Red Bank) (n.)

(US) menstruation.

1948

Word 4 183: Some of these [phrases] combine with allusions to red: My red-headed aunt from Red Bank, aunt Emma from Reading, Grandma’s here from Red Creek.

red herring (n.) [play on lobster n.¹ (1a)]

a soldier.

1847		Belfast News-Letter 26 Oct. 4/1: I must make bould to say that you fobbed many a fair pound of our money, before you ever laid your eye upon this ‘red herring’.
1853		Dickens ‘Slang’ in Household Words 24 Sept. 75/2: A soldier [is] a swaddy, a lobster, a red herring.
1855		Huddersfield Chron. 10 Mar. 3/1: The common soldier is the red-herring, and the officer is the bloater.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1873		Sl. Dict.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Apr. 11/2: The red herring that attunes the literature of the Cowra Free-Pass Press and the gridiron that controls the imperial destinies of the Border Post are agreed in their estimate of the amazing genius of a poem contributed by one ‘Alaster’ to the latter, and apologetically borrowed by the former.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 66: Red Herring, a soldier.
1896		Regiment 22 Aug. 312/1: It was shown [...] that the prosecutor greeted the approach of the soldiers with the exclamation, ‘Here comes the red-herring brigade’ .

red horse (n.)

(US) an inhabitant of Kentucky.

1838		T. Haliburton Clockmaker II 264: There’s the hoosiers of Indiana, the suckers of Illinoy, the pukes of Missuri [...] the red horses of Kentucky.
1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 236: Why, as I am a livin’ sinner that’s the Hoosier of Indiana, or [...] the Red Horse of Kentucky.

red house (n.) [? a particular institution]

(US milit.) a psychiatric institution.

1906		C. M’Govern Sarjint Larry an’ Frinds 39: It was only by de gratest piece of luck [...] that I escaped de ‘red-house’ entoirely.
1906		C. Fowler letter 12 Dec. in Tomlinson Rocky Mountain Sailor (1998) 178: At that time, and even now, it was not a question of whether the old environment or anything suggestive of it was detrimental to development, it was just simply a case of cut loose from everything, and do so quickly, or go to the ‘Red House’ [editor's fn: Charlie’s term for ‘nut house’].

red jacket (n.)

a whipping (the blood drawn).

1830

Owl (NY) 14 Aug. n.p.: Inform a certain Lottery Vender [sic] [...] not again to take two dollar pledges from a poor labouring man [...] or I will give him a taste of the red jacket.

red jackets (n.) [packaging]

(drugs) Seconal, a barbiturate.

1958		W. Motley Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) 382: They took the bennies for kicks. Or red jackets and yellow jackets: goofballs. Or reds and yellows with bennies to give an additional kick.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).

red lady (n.)

see red man

red lamp (n.) [such a lamp hung outside]

a brothel, also attrib.

1928		J. Harvey French Foreign Legion in Syria (1995) 50: there were the usual ‘red lamp’ establishments where romance could be purchased for a couple of francs [ibid.] 203: [T]he legionnaires were enthusiastic patrons of the red lamp, and a good deal of the barrack-room talk was taken up with frank discussions on the comparative charms of various girls .
1930		(con. 1914–18) Brophy & Partridge Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier.
1934		R. Baker Penal Battalion 279: Gomar winked at me, indicated the café with a wave of his hand, and said: ‘Red Lamp, Bakker’.

red lattice (n.) (also red grate) [a red lattice or grate was a popular tavern sign and thence, if the tavern was thus inclined, could also indicate a brothel; at one time an actual Red Lattice inn stood at Butcher’s Row, off the Strand]

an inn; often doubling as a brothel; also attrib.

c.1597		Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor II ii: Your cat-a-mountain looks, your red-lattice phrases and your bold-beating oaths.
1612		N. Breton Wits Private Wealth in Grosart (1879) 11/2: The world goes hard with pride, when a Lady lyes at a red Lattice.
1620		J. Taylor ‘Praise of Hemp-Seed’ in Works (1869) III 65: His blushing lattice would look pale and wan, / Nor could he long be a well liquord man.
1729		Hell upon Earth 12: No City in the Universe can boast of so handsome a show of Bushes, Bacchus’s, Lattices, and Stills as our Metropolis.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

red lead (n.)

1. (US) jam, jelly (US).

1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 31/1: RED LEAD. Packing-house jelly included in the mess on Sundays and holidays.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 176/1: Red lead. (P) Jelly served in prison mess-hall.

2. tomato ketchup, catsup (US).

1918		R.W. Kauffman Our Navy at Work 6: ‘Red lead’ is catsup, which it hugely resembles.
1929		V.W. Saul ‘Vocab. of Bums’ in AS IV:5 344: Red lead—Catsup.
1936		H.W. Bentley ‘Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker’ in AS XI:1 44: RED LEAD. Catsup.
1941		S.F. Chronicle 15 June 5/4: ‘Red Lead’ is tomatoes, tomato sauce or ketchup.
1957		‘Weldon Hill’ Onionhead (1958) 105: Half a bottle of catchup, known locally as ‘red lead’.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 815: red lead – Catsup.
1984		V. Darroch On Coast 76: Red-lead: Tomato sauce.

3. (Irish) luncheon meat.

1997

Share Slanguage.

4. (Aus.) Emu Export beer.

2007		Wikipedia 12 Aug. 🌐 Emu Export, sometimes called Emu Export Lager is a lager. The beer was first brewed in 1954 and contains 4.5% alcohol. It is also affectionately known as ‘the red led’ [sic], the ‘flightless bird’ or simply ‘export’.
2016		Sydney Morn. Herald 25 June 🌐 The photo of hundreds of Emu Export cans strewn on a Perth road had Gen Ys and co crying tragedy, the post was shared 600 times, garnering 2400 likes and 3000 comments despairing the wasted death of so much ‘red lead’.

redleg (n.)

1. (US) a guerilla fighting for the Union during the US Civil War; based in Kansas and Missouri.

1863		Dublin Eve. Mail 6 Oct. 3/5: The work of these ‘bushwhackers,’ ‘jayhawkers,’ and ‘red legs’ is not likely to come to an end before these once flourishing Western counties are utterly laid waste.
1867		Eve. Teleg. (Philadelphia, PA) 16 Nov. 4/2: Colonel Jennison, the notorious ‘jayhawker’ and ‘red-leg’.
1891		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 22 Dec. 4: Kansas [...] was subjected to predatory border warfare between the ‘jayhawkers’ and the ‘bush-whackers,’ the ‘red-leg guerillas’ and the ‘paw-paw militia’.

2. (US milit.) an infantryman; also attrib. [the red stripe on his uniform trousers].

1890		F. Remington letter 31 Oct. in Splete Sel. Letters (1988) 109: So you are a ‘bloomin’ artillery man – a red leg.
1909		G.H. McLellan Phases of Barbados Life 11: The ‘Red-Leg Johnnies’ of Barbados. [...] In giving evidence before the Royal Commission in January 1897 [...] the late Mr. Quintin Hogg told the Commissioners that; ‘mean whites’, or ‘Red legs’ – families who have now been in some cases over three centuries in the island [...] and the sun has given those parts of the body exposed to it a colour which finds its expression in the local name of ‘Red Legs’.
1918		N.Y. Tribune 19 May 8/5: [headline] Infantryman, Engineer, Redleg, Marine, Each Speaks Individual Language.
1940		Phila. Eve. Ledger 20 July n.p.: ‘Gravel agitator’ and ‘red leg’ – artillerymen.
1972		R. Glasser 365 Days 291: Red Legs – Slang for Artillery. In the Civil War Union Artillery men had red stripes on their pants.
2012		(con. 1954) ‘Jack Tunney’ Tomato Can Comeback [ebook] ‘Gun bunnies,’ ‘red leggers,’ ‘cannon cockers’ were some of the more polite names soldiers had for artillerymen.

3. (W.I., Bdos, also red chenke, red shanks) a poor white [SE red + leg/chenke/shank; i.e. their skin tone; chenke is pron. of shank].

1970		F. Collymore Notes for Gloss. of Barbadian Dial. 95: Red leg. A poor white.
1996		Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage 469/2: red chenke [...] poor-white. [Ibid.] 470/1: red leg poor-white. [Ibid.] 470/2: red shanks .

red-letter day (n.) (also red flag day)

(US) menstruation [note mid-17C use of ‘red-lettered’ to refer a back bleeding from a whipping (see M. Stevenson Norfolk Drollery 1673 p. 86)].

1954		‘Misc.’ AS XXIX:4 298: Reference to the Color Red [...] fly the bean flag or the red flag.
1965–70		in DARE.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 183: Red flag day Be menstruating.
1999		J. Randall ‘A Visit from Aunt Rose’ in Verbatim Winter n.p.: Codes that refer to blood include [...] the Red Sea is in, having the painters in, the reds, wearing red shoes, are you a cowboy or an indian? a red-letter day, and riding the red horse.

red-letter man (n.) [SE red letter day, a saint’s day or church festival indicated in the calendar by red letters]

a Roman Catholic.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Red-letter-man a Roman-catholic.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: red letter men, Roman Catholic(k)s, from their observation of the saint’s days, marked in red letters.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

red light (n.)

(Aus. prison) a warning to alert prisoners to the nearby presence of a prison officer.

1984

B. Ellem Doing Time 195: red light: a verbal warning when a prison officer is nearby.

red liquor (n.)

(US) alcohol, primarily whiskey.

1893		St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 3 Dec. 17/7: ‘There are a great many terms for drink [...] ‘red liquor’ for all sort of spirits.
1908		Mixer & Server 17 27: If old man Gus Guzzleberger wants to split his rhinoceros skin with red liquor, wabble off home [...] and have his wife beat the pants off of him, let him go.
1914		Z. Grey Light of the Western Stars 102: Why, Danny was a fish fer red liquor.

red lizzie (n.) (also red liz) [var. on red biddy under biddy n.²)]

methylated spirits mixed with cheap port .

1936		Nottingham Eve. Post 21 Dec. 9/4: ‘Red Lizzie’ — a mixture of methylated spirits and bad port — was condemned [...] by the coroner [...] as ‘wretched stuff’.
1939		Notingham Eve. Post 17 Jan. 1/3: [headline] ‘Red Lizzie’ Drove Him Mad.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 98: ’Er weakness? Drink. Red Lizzie pay-day; otherwise methylated spirits. [Ibid.] 116: She’ll tail off—ginger ’erself up with a dose of Red Liz and go on till she unwinds.

red man (n.) (also red lady)

(drugs) secobarbital (Seconal).

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 168: Identifications that ranged from the literal to the metaphoric – [...] red man, red lady.

red mare (n.) (also red steer)

(Aus.) a bush fire.

1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 59: Red steer, the, fire, esp. a bush-fire.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 90: From the bushman, living in continual dread of summer bush-fires, have come the red mare and the red steer for such fires.

red mary (n.)

(US black) a menstrual period.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 157: There are a variety of expressions [...] that refer to a women’s menstrual period – [...] red Mary, to ride the white horse, the red dog/red knight is on the white horse.

red ned (n.) (also ned) [‘masculine’ var. on red biddy under biddy n.²)]

(Aus./N.Z.) cheap red wine.

1913		Sport (Adelaide) 2 Aug. 9/2: They Say [...] Fatty N.. [...] ought to give; Jew Boy Joe's ginger beer a spell and take on hard work or red Ned.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 11 Dec. 6/4: ‘Well, you've been drinking, too! Red Ned, that’s what you have had.’ ‘What? Pinkie—me? [...] No, never, deah bhoy’.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 26 June 4/3: Sporty is on the tracks of the culprits who shook the pinky from the punt. Stiff luck, Ted, losing your ‘Ned’ .
1921		Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA) 11 Nov. 11/3: [He] told them that on the night he took the sugar he had been drinking ‘red ned’ (cheap red wine).
1932		Sun (Sydney) 4 Nov. 9/6: Sydney's "plonk" has been known under many aliases. ‘Pinkie,’ ‘Red Ned,’ ‘Biddy,’ ‘Snake Juice,’' and ‘Bottled Dynamite’ are only a few of them.
1933		Argus (Melbourne) 17 Feb. 4/6: [heading] Drunk on ‘Red Ned’. Larkins said that he [...] had drunk four or five pints of ‘Red Ned’ at the Rising Sun Hotel.
1941		Baker N.Z. Sl. 62: Such terms for strong drink as [...] red Ned.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 21: You’ll be back again before you know where you are, and me and you’ll split a bottle of red ned.
1953		T.A.G. Hungerford Riverslake 35: Hey, Uncle! There’s a bottle of Red Ned in my room – slip down and hit it.
1969		A. Buzo Rooted I iii: There were all these incredibly tactile people throwing down Red Ned.
1972		B. Wannan Folklore of the Aus. Pub.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 90: red ned is cheap red wine and a tyrone power is a shower.

red nightcap (n.)

(US) a scalping.

1861

R.F. Burton City of the Saints 3: I resolved to risk the chance of the ‘red nightcap’ from the bloodthirsty Indians.

red noise (n.)

(US short order) tomato soup.

1916		Day Book (Chicago) 8 Sept. 17/1: ‘One order of pea soup,’ a customer will say. ‘Splash of split peas,’ cries the waiter. [...] ‘I want a bowl of tomato soup,’ ordered another, [...] ‘One splash of red noise.’.
1922		Carson City Dly Appeal (MV) 26 May 2/3: ‘I want a bowl of tomato coup,’ ordered one man [...] ‘One splash of red noise’.

red-nose (n.)

1. a drunkard.

1630		T. Randolph Muses’ Looking Glass IV iv: A bots take all the red-nose tribe of ’em for Agroicus!
1638		R. Brathwait Barnabees Journal III V8: Down the staires, ’tis truth I tell ye, / To a knot of brave Boyes fell I; / All red-noses, no dye deeper.
1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 5 Mar. n.p.: The red-noses decreed they must suck a little to walk straight.
1873		Western Times 25 Dec. 2/5: Blue devils, blue ruin, red noses, red tape.
1903		Gloucs. Echo 25 Mar. 1/4: The landlord [...] Has a red nose — Is a secret drunkard.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 192: Old dad was dresser to a red-nose bill-topper, which meant that he didn’t finish work until two o’clock in the morning.
1998		K. Sampson Awaydays 33: Them bell-ends. Been caning it down Who are they? A few fucken rednoses. Fucken plazzy gangsters, the lot of them.

2. (US) cheap whisky.

1911

J. Lomax Cowboy Songs 305: Whoop-ee! drink that rot gut, drink that red nose.

red nugget (n.) [ety. unknown; ? the name of a specific saloon]

(US) an illicit saloon.

1931		A. Hardin ‘Volstead English’ in AS VII:2 86: Places of business for illegal traffic in liquor: [...] Red Nugget.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.

red oil (n.)

(US drugs) hashish oil.

1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 338: red oil: Hash oil.

red one (n.)

1. (UK black) a £50 note [its colouring].

2004

Chester P & Ramson Badbones [untitled lyrics] Stick you for a twenty, split you for a red one.

2. (N.Z. prison, also red, redback) a $100 note.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: red n. 1 (also red one) a $100 note [...] redback n. = red sense 1.

3. see redcap n. (1)

red paint (n.)

1. (US) cheap red wine.

1903

S.F. Chron. 25 oct. 6/1: ‘Garcon, some more red paint, please.’ Or: ‘I presume you have some more of this foot-juice, waiter’. Or again [...] ‘Another quarter of Dago red’. And so they make merry lver the cheap red wine.

2. (US) tomato ketchup.

1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 54: red paint, n. Tomato catsup.
1936		H.W. Bentley ‘Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker’ in AS XI:1 45: RED PAINT. Catsup.

red pants (n.) [euph. red ass n. (3)]

irritation, bad temper.

1975

G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 65: Coach Matthews has got the red pants today.

red penny (n.)

1. see red cent n.

2. see red shilling

red petticoat (n.)

a prostitute.

1608

Pennyless Parliament of Thread-bare Poets 83: Men must have Care, lest, conversing too much with red petticoats, they banish their Hair from their Heads* (*i.e. be poxed).

red quid (n.)

see red bob

red ribbon (n.) [ribbon n.¹]

brandy.

1811		Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: Red Ribbin. Brandy.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.

red rock (n.) [the brown grains of the cheap Chinese heroin] (drugs)

1. heroin.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1977		S.N. Pradhan Drug Abuse.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red rock — Heroin.

2. methadone.

1996		Emmett & Nice Understanding Street Drugs 165: Methadone: doll, dolly, red rock, tootsie roll.
2007		R.H. Rassool Dual Diagnosis Nursing 41: Methadone is also known as doll, red rock, juice or ‘script’.

red rum (n.) [from the graffito drawn on a door in the movie The Shining (1980; ‘red rum’ reversed = murder)]

(UK black/gang) murder; a murderer.

2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/2: redrum n. a murderer, a lifer.
2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Redrum, red rum - murder.

red sail-yard docker (n.) [? the identification of such goods with a red mark]

a criminal dealer who specialized in goods and stores stolen from the Royal Navy’s dockyards.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

redshank (n.)

see separate entry.

red shanks (n.)

see redleg

red shilling (n.) (also red deener, red penny) [ety. unknown; ? fig. use of SE red, i.e. scarlet meaning sinful + SE shilling/deener n./penny n.]

(Aus.) money that has been earned by a prostitute and passed to her pimp; thus red penny man, a pimp.

1967		Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxix 4/4 red deener: any money earned from ‘cracking it’.
1975		Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Apr. 44/3: Among them were gamblers, thieves (tea leaves), hoons or red penny men (pimps) [...].
1977		J. Ramsay Cop it Sweet 76: red deener, money earned from Prostitution.
1988		Canberra Times 7 Sept. 3/2: Yesterday, he said Sir Terence earned a ‘red shilling’ - a police slang term meaning he accepted money from prostitution.

red shower (n.)

the act of bleeding onto another person for sexual purposes.

2006		Urban Dict. 🌐 In BDSM a red shower is the act of bleeding on oneself or someone else. This is considered highly erotic and often times done ritualistically. This is not inclusive of menstual blood. Menstrual blood is a ‘Ruby Shower’.
2008		phonesex employees’ handbook, cited at www.thesmokinggun.com 🌐 Under no circumstances, are any of the following subjects to be discussed during your fantasy calls [...]. No brown or red showers.

red snapper (n.) [play on the fish name (fish n.¹ (1a)) + ref. to the mythical vagina dentata]

(US) the vagina.

1992

Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 62: Red Snapper The vagina.

red stuff (n.)

1. whisky.

1877		Bolivar Bulletin (Hardeman Co., TN) 12 Apr. 3/1: I wanted to ask you not to drink that red stuff, for it will kill you just as it killed my father.
1894		L.A. Herald 19 Nov. 8/3: The tramp panhandles money out of you for a meal [...] white line (alcohol) or red stuff (whisky).

2. (US) red wine.

1895		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 6 Oct. 11/7: There was a lot of dirty bottles ful of red stuff [...] down the cellar.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 211: Any man who can stand Little Rock red stuff without eating anything [etc.].
1907		Dly Public Ledger (Maysville, KY) 7 Oct. 3/2: Begging for money for his mother to buy drink with; ‘red stuff’ [...] that is in a bottle.
1922		M.E. Smith Adventures of a Boomer Op. 59: Oh, Red is honest, and a good pal, if he would just lay off that red stuff.

3. blood.

1888		‘Jack the Ripper’ letter Sept. to ed. of Central News Agency in Evans & Skinner Jack the Ripper (2001) 16-17: I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha.ha. [...] yours truly Jack the Ripper [Ibid] 256: Curse the Red Stuff it clogs so thick on me good bye till you hear from me again.
1922		N.Y. Tribune 21 Jan. 11/1: In the sixth [round] Nate gave Christiarlo a drink of red stuff [...] It was a tough fight.
1931		R.E. Howard ‘Texas Fists’ Fight Stories May 🌐 Slim wiped off the red stuff and looked kinda worried.
1981		(con. 1900s) A. Harding in Samuel East End Und. 129: He went in for boxing [...] The ‘Wonderland’ was the first place where he boxed, used to get 10s for six rounds. But they had to have plenty of red stuff flying about otherwise they didn’t get paid.

red tag (v.)

(US prison) to confine an inmate to their cell.

1965		H. Williamson Hustler 84: [H]e yelled, ‘Lock him up!’ [...] I stayed there thirty-two days! We ain’t in the hole, now. We in a cell. They called it ‘red-tag.’ That mean you get one meal a day, you don’t shave, and you don’t take no bath.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Red Tag: Confine to a cell.
2005		Prison Slang Mommyblogger mydogharriet.blogspot.com 23 Sept. 🌐 Its time to rack in and red tag until she can learn how to be on the one.

red tape (n.) [tape n.¹]

1. gin.

1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: tape Red or White; Geneva, Aniseed, Clove-Water, &c. so called by Canters and Villains, and the Renters of the Tap, &c. in Newgate, and other Prisons.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725].
1873		Western Times 25 Dec. 2/5: Blue devils, blue ruin, red noses, red tape.
1891		(ref. to 18C) Birmingham Dly Post 23 Dec. 8/5: Red ‘tape’ was a Newgate phrase for Genever [...] and ‘red fustian’ meant claret.

2. brandy.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Tape, red, white, or blue tape, gin, or any other spirituous liquor.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1830		Lytton Paul Clifford I 222: A tumbler of blue ruin fill, fill for me, / Red tape those as likes it may drain.
1840		Flash Mirror 19: Rummy red tape at a flag and a mag.
1859		‘Scene in a London Flash-Panny’ Matsell Vocabulum 99: Thereon there was a demand for max, oil of barley, red tape, blue ruin, white velvet, and so forth, that kept all the tapsters in the establishment in a state of restless activity for the next half-hour.
1862		E. de la Bédollière Londres et les Anglais 318/1: tape, [...] Red tape, eau-de-vie.

3. red wine.

1833

‘A Chaunt by Slapped-up Kate and Dubber Daff’ in Swell!!! or, Slap-Up Chaunter 47: He’s as tall and as straight as a nutcracker’s post, / His cheeks too, are like red-tape.

4. a lawyer, a solicitor.

1907

D. Stewart Shadows of the Night in Illus. Police News 29 June 12/3: ‘I shall want my fair share of those golden eggs [...]’ ‘You would be no lawyer if you didn’t, old red Tape’.

red tennis shoes (n.)

see red boots

red tide (n.)

(US) the menstrual flow.

1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 red tide n 1. menstrual period.
2016		Guardian G2 10 May 11/1: Maybe periods wouldn’t be so frightening if we didn’t refer to them as ‘red tide’ or ‘shark week’.

red top (n.)

1. a redhead, the adj. red-topped.

1843		Boston Satirist (Boston, MA) Mar. n.p.: Roxbury Wants to Know [...] How much red top would give to know who put him in [the] Satirist?
1843		Gleaner (Manchester, NH) 13 May n.p.: [T]he little red topped schoolmaster.
1947		J.P. Marquand Polly Fulton 128: You never leave off, you red-top.
1948		T. Thursday ‘Movie Stuff’ Detective Story Apr. 🌐 ‘Who’s crying?’ said a red-topped fellow.

2. (US gay) a lesbian who prefers blondes.

1965		K. Worthy Homosexual Generation Ch. xvi: Red Top: A female who loves only white blondes.
1972		(ref. to early 1950s) B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 170: red top (les sl, early ’50s) female homosexual who is attracted to blondes.

3. a tabloid newspaper [the logo is usu. printed white reversed out of a red block].

1999		Indep. on Sun. 1 Aug. 16: Red top: A tabloid newspaper.
2010		T. Rachman Imperfectionists 179: ‘Look how the Brits do it. They print pretty girls, offer weekends in Brighton. And they sell a hell of a lot more copies than we do. Now, I'm not saying we turn this into a red top ’.

red ’un (n.)

1. a match with a red tip.

1932

F. Jennings Tramping with Tramps 147: A packet of stinkers and a red ’un!

2. (Aus.) the erect penis.

1945

‘Cats on the Rooftops’ in Mess Songs & Rhymes of RAAF 1939-45 1: The labours of the poofter find but little favour here / [...] / As he dreams he rips a red ’un up some dirty urchin’s rear.

red-up (adj.) [one’s red eyes]

(W.I.) intoxicated by marijuana.

2000

‘Trick Daddy’ ‘Tryin’ to Stop Smokin’ 🎵 on Book of Thugs Chapter AK Verse 47 [album] Done smoked fo’ Joe’s and got three mo’ already rolled / I shouldn’t drive my shit when I’m high, I might tear it up / Shit got my eyes all red up, nigga can’t even hold they head up.

red wagon (n.)

see little (red) wagon under little adj.

red wings (n.) [orig. Hell’s Angels, where those who achieved this were awarded a patch in the shape of a pair of red wings]

cunnilingus with a menstruating woman.

1967		Reynolds & McClure Freewheelin Frank 7: He used to brag how he liked to scarf pussy [...] he thought I was a pretty good one at scarfin it too. I was going to get my red wings.
1971		J. Mandelkau Buttons 91: All those who haven’t got their red wings, come and get it!
1997–2002		Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 red wings Performing cunnilingus during menses. To earn your ‘red wings’ would be to eat pussy during menstration. The ‘eater’ would then have a ‘blood mustache’.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: red wings n. The honour bestowed upon someone who consumes a haddock pastie (qv) during rag week (qv).

In phrases

get red (v.)

(US) to become angry or embarrassed.

1907

Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) 10 Mar. 53/1: ‘There, now, don’t get red. What harm is there in being found out?’’.

red knight on a white horse

see red dog on a white horse n.

red-on-red (adj.)

(US black) referring to a bright red garment.

1955

Babs Gonzales ‘The Be-Bop Santa Claus’ 🎵 He wore a red-on-red shirt and a white mink tie.

red sails in the sunset [the 1935 song ‘Red Sails in the Sunset’, a hit for Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole etc; however nothing in the lyrics implies a link to menstruation, other than the red of menstrual blood]

menstruation.

1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 24: What’s up, Blanchie, are yous red sails in the sunset or something?
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 102: I would have done better to have just chucked a towel on the bed […] and knocked off Meredith, red sails in the sunset and all.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.