red adj.
1. golden, made of gold.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Wily Beguiled 5: O this red chink, and silver coine, it is the consolation of the World. | |
| 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). | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| Child of the Jago (1982) 71: You found the watch, an’ it was a red ’un, on a bit o’ ribbin. | |
| Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life II 117: Then red ’uns? | |
| Other Half 278: Red, gold. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | ‘Burglar Cops’ in Men of the Und. 117: I saw a mark whom I immediately nicked for his red super. | |
| 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].
| Illus. London News 1 July 1/2: The working classes, or ‘Red Republicans,’ were imbued with the doctrines of Communism . | |
| Harry Coverdale’s Courtship 72: Chartists, levellers, red-republicans, and all that is dangerous and subversive of morality and security of property. | |
| ‘’Arry on Ochre’ in Punch 15 Oct. 169/1: They talks of ‘the Masses and Classes,’ — old Collars is red on that rot. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | ‘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. | |
| 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. | |
| letter Oct. in Mitgang (1968) 169: I am an I.W.W. but I don’t carry a red card. | |
| Black Gang 283: That man Waldock who runs two or three of the worst of the Red papers. | |
| 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. | |
| Battlers 112: If you think you can come here stirring up trouble with your Red ideas. | |
| Diaries 13 Jan. 69: I learned that Don was as Red as I am! madly Socialist in his outlook. Good. | |
| (con. 1930s) 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? | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Confessions 248: I have a brother who is an anarchist [...] which means singing red songs to the amused tolerance of the police. | |
| Requiem in Utopia 89: ‘[H]e’s a red-assed Commie who is right this minute hatching trouble’. | |
| 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. | |
 | Republican (Waterbury, CT) 21 Jan. n.p.: Red newspaper won’t be read in town library [R]. | |
| (con. early 1950s) L.A. Confidential 176: He ain’t queer, he ain’t Red. | |
| (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 525: He’s horny, he’s impetuous, he’s as Red as they get. | |
| Hilliker Curse 6: Aunt Leoda married a Catholic. My dad thought she was Red. | |
| Guardian 6 July 12/5: He is nicknamed ‘Red Len’ by the media. | |
| 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.
| Houndsditch Day by Day 29: The unwashed horde, who always drew it ‘red’ and tried it, piece by piece, between their teeth. | |
| ‘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)
| 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. | |
| Sport (Adelaide) 30 Oct. 5/4: J.B. said Sporty was a red liar. |
5. (Aus./Irish) having red or ginger hair.
| Flag of Ireland 13 Dec. 4/6: Red Jack and Red Jim. | |
| Shearer’s Colt 17: I’d put the word on this red bloke if I was you, trooper. | |
| Derry Jrnl 16 July 6/1: The outstanding display given by ‘Red’ Jack Gallagher. | |
| ‘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].
| 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. | |
| Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 7 June 7/2: We’re too dark to be a ‘red’. | |
| Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 21: With thy chops so red and mellow, / Kissed by chicks so fine and yellow. | |
![[WI]](/static/img/flags/wi.png "West Indies") | A House For Mr Biswas 242: ‘Spanish,’ Jagdat said. Mr Biswas knew this was a euphemism for a red-skinned Negro. | |
| Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 81: I wished I had called him Mr. Red instead of asking what I did. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| Little Boy Blue (1995) 74: The other black was lighter-skinned than the average Sicilian [...] his name was Red Barzo. | |
| 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. | |
| Deadmeat 237: Some red-skinned fly-girl in a right micro-mini. | |
| 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)].
| 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. | |
| ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 64: red adj Rural or country, and thereby regarded as socially unacceptable. | |
| 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.
| 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].
| Official Dancehall Dict. 43: Red [...] 2. stoned. | |
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red — Under the influence of drugs. |
Pertaining to gold
In compounds
(UK und.) offcuts of gold.
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red apple parings: Scraps of gold. |
a gold watch, thus red clock and slang, a gold watch and chain.
| 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’. | |
| Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 2: Red clock, a gold watch. | |
| Child of the Jago (1982) 58: I done a click! I got a clock — a red ’un! | |
| in Advertiser (Adelaide) 12 Apr. 24/8: ‘Red clock and slang’ means gold watch and chain. | |
| Framlingham Wkly News 8 Dec. 3/7: Thieves’ Dialect [...] ‘Red clock and slang,’ gold watch and chain. | |
| Framlingham Wkly News 4 Jan. 2/6: The lingo of Cockney criminals [...] ‘red clock and slang’. |
(UK und.) a gold watch.
| 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. |
(UK Und.) a gold watch or watch chain.
| 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)’. | |
| 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. | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 79: Sporting a Red Jerry, exhibiting a gold chain. | |
| 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. |
see red toy
a gold watch and chain, thus gold in general (see cite 1914).
| Manchester Courier 24 Feb. 6/3: At the police station Finney said, ‘We were after a red lot’ (meaning a gold watch and chain). | |
| 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. | |
| Hackney Gazette 15 Sept. 3: Here comes the German with a red lot. | |
| Gloucs. Echo 25 Feb. 6/5: In thieves’ backslang [sic] ‘white horse ’ means silver goods, ‘red lot’ gold goods, ‘elephants’ diamonds [...] and ‘groney’ ring . | |
| 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. | |
| Farewell, Mr Gangster! 280: Slang used by English criminals [...] A red lot – gold watch and chain. | |
| Indiscreet Guide to Soho 118: Those who value their ‘red lots’ (gold watches). | |
| No Hiding Place! 191/2: Red Lot. Gold chain. |
(UK und.) a gold watch.
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red one: Gold watch. |
UK und. a goldsmith’s shop.
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red place: Manufacturing jeweller’s shop. |
a gold coin.
| Mad Lover V iv: There’s a red rogue, to buy thee handkerchiefs. |
(UK und.) a gold watch case (the works having been removed).
| 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. |
(UK/US Und.) a gold watch chain.
| letter 30 Jan. in Law Jrnl NS 37 84/1: 1 Red Case [...] 1 Red Slang. | |
| 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)’. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.’. | |
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red slang: A gold chain. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
1. money, presumably golden sovereigns.
| Pitcher in Paradise 183: He [...] turned up in the club nearly every night an’ never seemed at all short o’ the red stuff. | |
| Hand-made Fables 60: He could side-step the Red Stuff. |
2. (UK Und.) gold; esp. jewellery.
| 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’. | |
| London and its Criminals 159: There are ‘fences’ who deal in nothing but ‘red stuff’ (jewellery) and plate. | |
| Eve. Herald (Dublin) 9 Dec. 4/6: ‘Red stuff’ is a miscellaneous collection of gold jewellery. | |
| (con. 1910–20s) Hell’s Kitchen 120: Red stuff ... gold. | |
| 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. | |
| Phenomena in Crime 253: Red stuff. Gold. | |
| Und. Nights 169: Quite a bit of ‘red stuff’ (gold), all old-fashioned and rather heavy. | |
| Signs of Crime 198: Red stuff Gold. |
(US Und.) a gold watch.
| Vocabulum 73: red super A gold watch. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 21 Sept. n.p.: He had appropriated the cases to his own use, and ‘fenced the red supers’. | |
| Men of the Und. 324: Red super, A gold watch. |
(UK Und.) a gold chain.
| ‘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. | |
| ‘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. | |
| Argot 54/1: Bridaukil (thieves’), gold watch chain, ‘redge slang,"’or ‘red tackle’. | |
| ‘English Und. Sl.’ in Variety 8 Apr. n.p.: Red tackle—Gold chain. |
a gold watch.
| ‘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. | |
| Aberdeen Peoples’ Jrnl 5 Dec. 3/4: ‘You see [...] picking pockets [...] I generally got two or three “red kettles” a week’. | |
| ‘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. | |
| ‘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.’. | |
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Red kettle: Gold watch. | |
| You’re in the Racket, Too 119: ‘Well, these here red kettles,’ Snowey pointed to the watches. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| No Hiding Place! 191/2: Red Toy. Gold watch. |
1. a gold coin, a sovereign.
| Sporting Times 24 Apr. 1/5: We trust all good Pink ’Uns will continue to shell out the red ’uns for this deserving case. | |
| Sporting Times 25 Jan. 5/5: If we only had a couple of red ’uns, [...] we might dine. | |
| 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.
| Sl. Dict. 268: Red un a gold watch. | |
| ‘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. | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 66: Red ‘Un, a gold watch. | |
| 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. | |
| 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]. | |
| ‘English Und. Sl.’ in Variety 8 Apr. n.p.: Red thing—Gold watch. |
Other uses
1. a left-winger, an agitator, a militant.
| Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 45/2: The Maoriland Federation of Labor (the Red Feds.) has received another wallop. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | 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. | |
| 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]. | |
| 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. | |
| 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]. | |
| (con. 1930s) Power of Joy 213: To the well-off it seemed that all who worked for wages were dolies or red-feds. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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]. | |
| 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’.
| 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]. | |
| 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]. | |
| 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. | |
| letter in Baxter (1990) 195: It is not ‘Marxist’ or ‘Red-fed’–it is a certain kind of love [DNZE]. | |
| 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]. |
Communist Russia, the USSR.
| Amer. Thes. Sl. |
the Red Onion supermax state prison located in Wise County, VA.
| Razorblade Tears 17: I did a nickel at Red Onion. Some hard fellas out that way. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
see also under relevant n.
see also separate entries.
(Aus.) a £10 note.
| 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. | |
| Drum. | |
| 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. |
(US) a fast freight train.
| Brownsville Dly Herald 22 Nov. 1/4: A section of a red ball freight got to the top of Glorietta Pass. | |
| Topeka Star (KS) 31 July 6/2: Perishable goods and other freight which require quick shipment are known as redball freight. | |
| Iron Co. Register 4 Apr. 5/4: ‘Red ball’ is [a] fast freight. | |
| Negro Workaday Songs 132: Lawd, lissen, I believe I go to town / An’ ketch the Red Ball. | |
| ‘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. | |
| 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. | |
| ‘Wise Egg’ in et al. Life (1976) 114: I’d [...] Tapped spikes beside the spics, / And caught redball freights on the fly. | |
| Railroad Avenue 2: ‘Redball’ is a fast freight. | |
| Pop. 1280 in Four Novels (1983) 390: Ken [...] caught the Red Ball freight to Pottsville. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | (con. 1920s) Legs 6: You don’t piss around with way freights. You ride redballs. |
a watchman, a constable, poss. a young man.
| Northward Hoe III i: White haires may fall into the company of drabs as well as red beardes into the society of knaues. |
(US drugs) barbiturates, esp. Seconal.
| Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction. | |
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). | |
| Vulture (1996) 88: John carried Red Birds, Yellow Jackets, Purple Hearts, and Blue Heavens in quantity. | |
| et al. Recreational Drugs. |
(Aus. prison) A$20.
| Doing Time 195: red bit: twenty dollars. |
(Aus.) a pimp, thus (see cit. 1967) the money he extorts.
| 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’. | |
| 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. | |
| ‘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. | |
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Red quid. To live off the proceeds of prostitution. As in ‘to cop the red quid’. |
(drugs) secobarbital (Seconal).
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 168: Identifications that ranged from the literal to the metaphoric – [...] red boots, red tennis shoes. |
(US black) Christian Louboutin’s which feature a trademark red sole.
| ‘Summer Sixteen’ 🎵 Her shoe game is broke! I’m wearing red bottoms. |
(N.Z. prison) 1 a M?ori skinhead.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: red boy n. 1 a M?ori skinhead. |
(N.Z. prison) a macho walk adopted by ‘hard’ prisoners.
| 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. |
1. (Aus.) a can of Emu Export beer.
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.
| Macquarie Dict. Aus. Sl. 166/1: red can a can of Melbourne Bitter beer. | |
| 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. | |
| 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). | |
| 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. |
(US) a membership card of the Industrial Workers of the World.
| 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! | |
| ‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 460: Red card, An I.W.W. membership card. |
(US gay/prison) the tongue.
| Queens’ Vernacular 170: red carpet tongue. red carpet treatment 1. to lick out the ass. |
(Aus.) the central areas of Australia.
| Newcastle Morn. Herald (NSW) 14 Dec. 16/5: [headline] NEW BOOKS / ‘THE RED CENTRE’ / Life in Central Australia. | |
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. | |
| 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. | |
| I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 238/1: red center or centre – the interior desert country of Australia. |
see redleg
(drugs) Chinese heroin.
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). | |
| ‘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. | |
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red chicken — Heroin. |
1. (US) a bedbug [its colour; presumably an anglophobe insult].
| 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].
| You Can’t Win (2000) 239: A ‘redcoat,’ as the Mounted Police are called, was killed by a drunken Indian. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. |
(UK Und.) of a prisoner, privileged.
| Police Sergeant C 21 252: He was drafted into the ‘red-collar’ men gang – a privileged one – and set to work on the farm. | |
| Maidstone Jrnl 23 Sept. 7/1: There are very few men at each prison who are called ‘Red-collar’ men. | |
| Sheffield Wkly Teleg. 13 Oct. 14/1: ‘Red-collar’ men, the best-behaved, most trusted convicts. | |
| Sussex Agric. Exp. 28 Mar. 6/5: A convict named Day, who as a red-collar man, was entitled to special privileges. | |
| ‘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’. | |
| Lag’s Lex. 177: red collar. The forerunner of the redband. |
see red cent n.
1. (drugs) morphine.
| ‘Terms used in the Drugs Trade’ in DN V 181: Terms for Morphine [...] Red Cross – As differentiated from White Cross, or cocaine, above. | |
| 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. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| Traffic In Narcotics 314: Red Cross. Morphine. | |
| Narcotics Lingo and Lore 157: Red Cross M – Morphine. | |
| World’s Toughest Prison 815: red cross – Morphine. |
2. marijuana.
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red cross — Marijuana. |
1. prison-cooked barbecue beef or pork.
| Choirboys (1976) 142: We wake our prisoners up at five A.M. and serve them meals of red death. | |
| Prison Sl. 67: Red Death Barbeque beef or pork. |
2. jam (jelly in the US).
| Silent Terror 67: The mess-hall slang for Salisbury steak, hot dogs and breakfast jelly was respectively, ‘Gainesburgers,’ ‘donkey dicks’ and ‘red death’. |
see red shilling
1. (drugs) any form of barbiturate available in a red capsule, e.g. Seconal.
| cited in Sl. and Jargon of Drugs and Drink (1986). | |
| Hell’s Angels (1967) 223: The next step up the scale is Seconal (‘reds’ or ‘red devils’). | |
| Street Players 74: I had dropped some red devils earlier tonight. | |
| 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. | |
| Workin’ It 183: Vanessa gave me my first pill. It was a red devil. That’s a sleeping pill. | |
| Dead Men’s Wages (2003) 222: Seconal were the Red Devils he rode till he made it over the Tuinal Rainbow. | |
| Widespread Panic 70: [I] found her Seconal stash [...] I chased five fat red devils with Lee’s double martini. |
2. (Aus. prison) amphetamines.
| 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’. | |
| Sharky’s Machine 230: It’s a red devil all right. Seventy percent speed, thirty percent nitroglycerine. | |
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Red devils. Psychoactive pills, eg amphetamines. |
3. phencyclidine.
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red devil — Depressants; PCP. |
see red cent n.
(US drugs) marijuana that is or has been growing in the wild.
| [story title] Red-Dirt Marijuana. | |
| Drugs from A to Z (1970) 219: red dirt marijuana marijuana growing wild. | |
| Underground Dict. (1972) 160: red dirt mariuana [...] Marijuana that is growing wild and uncultivated. | |
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red dirt — Marijuana. |
(US) whisky.
| Western Words (1968) 246/1: red disturbance. A cowboy’s term for whiskey. Some of it [...] ‘would make a muley cow grow horns.’. |
(N.Z. prison) a member of the Devil’s Henchmen gang.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/1: red dog n. a Devil’s Henchman Gang member. |
(N.Z. prison) a powerful species of marijuana.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/2: red dwarf n. see skunk. |
a general term of derision.
| in Meine Crockett Almanacks (1955) 92: Said I, stranger you are a damn red eel. |
see red-letter day
1. port or claret.
| Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Red fustian Clarret or red Port-Wine. | |
| New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. | |
| , , , | | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. |
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Red fustian, port wine. |
| Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785]. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| (con. 1737–9) Rookwood (1857) 48: Famous wine this [...] better than all your red fustian. | |
| Vocabulum. | |
| (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.
| Sl. and Its Analogues. |
see red lattice
(US black) blood.
| Jive and Sl. |
see gut n. (1g)
(US prison) a whip made of red leather.
| 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. |
(US) menstruation.
| 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. |
a soldier.
| 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’. | |
| ‘Slang’ in Household Words 24 Sept. 75/2: A soldier [is] a swaddy, a lobster, a red herring. | |
| Huddersfield Chron. 10 Mar. 3/1: The common soldier is the red-herring, and the officer is the bloater. | |
| Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn). | |
| Sl. Dict. | |
| 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. | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 66: Red Herring, a soldier. | |
| 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’ . |
(US) an inhabitant of Kentucky.
| Clockmaker II 264: There’s the hoosiers of Indiana, the suckers of Illinoy, the pukes of Missuri [...] the red horses of Kentucky. | |
| 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. |
(US milit.) a psychiatric institution.
| Sarjint Larry an’ Frinds 39: It was only by de gratest piece of luck [...] that I escaped de ‘red-house’ entoirely. | |
| 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’]. |
a whipping (the blood drawn).
| 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. |
(drugs) Seconal, a barbiturate.
| 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. | |
| Underground Dict. (1972). |
see red man
a brothel, also attrib.
| 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 . | |
| (con. 1914–18) Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier. | |
| Penal Battalion 279: Gomar winked at me, indicated the café with a wave of his hand, and said: ‘Red Lamp, Bakker’. |
an inn; often doubling as a brothel; also attrib.
| Merry Wives of Windsor II ii: Your cat-a-mountain looks, your red-lattice phrases and your bold-beating oaths. | |
| Wits Private Wealth in Grosart (1879) 11/2: The world goes hard with pride, when a Lady lyes at a red Lattice. | |
| ‘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. | |
| 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. | |
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
1. (US) jam, jelly (US).
| ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 31/1: RED LEAD. Packing-house jelly included in the mess on Sundays and holidays. | |
| et al. DAUL 176/1: Red lead. (P) Jelly served in prison mess-hall. |
2. tomato ketchup, catsup (US).
| Our Navy at Work 6: ‘Red lead’ is catsup, which it hugely resembles. | |
| ‘Vocab. of Bums’ in AS IV:5 344: Red lead—Catsup. | |
| ‘Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker’ in AS XI:1 44: RED LEAD. Catsup. | |
| S.F. Chronicle 15 June 5/4: ‘Red Lead’ is tomatoes, tomato sauce or ketchup. | |
| Onionhead (1958) 105: Half a bottle of catchup, known locally as ‘red lead’. | |
| World’s Toughest Prison 815: red lead – Catsup. | |
| On Coast 76: Red-lead: Tomato sauce. |
3. (Irish) luncheon meat.
| Slanguage. |
4. (Aus.) Emu Export beer.
| 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’. | |
| 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’. |
1. (US) a guerilla fighting for the Union during the US Civil War; based in Kansas and Missouri.
| 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. | |
| Eve. Teleg. (Philadelphia, PA) 16 Nov. 4/2: Colonel Jennison, the notorious ‘jayhawker’ and ‘red-leg’. | |
| 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].
| letter 31 Oct. in Splete Sel. Letters (1988) 109: So you are a ‘bloomin’ artillery man – a red leg. | |
| 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’. | |
| N.Y. Tribune 19 May 8/5: [headline] Infantryman, Engineer, Redleg, Marine, Each Speaks Individual Language. | |
| Phila. Eve. Ledger 20 July n.p.: ‘Gravel agitator’ and ‘red leg’ – artillerymen. | |
| 365 Days 291: Red Legs – Slang for Artillery. In the Civil War Union Artillery men had red stripes on their pants. | |
| (con. 1954) 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].
| Notes for Gloss. of Barbadian Dial. 95: Red leg. A poor white. | |
| Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage 469/2: red chenke [...] poor-white. [Ibid.] 470/1: red leg poor-white. [Ibid.] 470/2: red shanks . |
(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)].
| ‘Misc.’ AS XXIX:4 298: Reference to the Color Red [...] fly the bean flag or the red flag. | |
| in DARE. | |
| et al. CUSS 183: Red flag day Be menstruating. | |
| ‘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. |
a Roman Catholic.
| Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Red-letter-man a Roman-catholic. | |
| New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. | |
| , , , | | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. |
| , , | | 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. |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
(Aus. prison) a warning to alert prisoners to the nearby presence of a prison officer.
| Doing Time 195: red light: a verbal warning when a prison officer is nearby. |
(US) alcohol, primarily whiskey.
| St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 3 Dec. 17/7: ‘There are a great many terms for drink [...] ‘red liquor’ for all sort of spirits. | |
| 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. | |
| Light of the Western Stars 102: Why, Danny was a fish fer red liquor. |
methylated spirits mixed with cheap port .
| 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’. | |
| Notingham Eve. Post 17 Jan. 1/3: [headline] ‘Red Lizzie’ Drove Him Mad. | |
| 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. |
(drugs) secobarbital (Seconal).
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 168: Identifications that ranged from the literal to the metaphoric – [...] red man, red lady. |
(Aus.) a bush fire.
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 59: Red steer, the, fire, esp. a bush-fire. | |
| 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. |
(US black) a menstrual period.
| 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. |
(Aus./N.Z.) cheap red wine.
| 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. | |
| 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’. | |
| 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’ . | |
| 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). | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| N.Z. Sl. 62: Such terms for strong drink as [...] red Ned. | |
| 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. | |
| Riverslake 35: Hey, Uncle! There’s a bottle of Red Ned in my room – slip down and hit it. | |
| Rooted I iii: There were all these incredibly tactile people throwing down Red Ned. | |
| Folklore of the Aus. Pub. | |
| Lingo 90: red ned is cheap red wine and a tyrone power is a shower. |
(US) a scalping.
| City of the Saints 3: I resolved to risk the chance of the ‘red nightcap’ from the bloodthirsty Indians. |
(US short order) tomato soup.
| 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.’. | |
| Carson City Dly Appeal (MV) 26 May 2/3: ‘I want a bowl of tomato coup,’ ordered one man [...] ‘One splash of red noise’. |
1. a drunkard.
| Muses’ Looking Glass IV iv: A bots take all the red-nose tribe of ’em for Agroicus! | |
| 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. | |
| Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 5 Mar. n.p.: The red-noses decreed they must suck a little to walk straight. | |
| Western Times 25 Dec. 2/5: Blue devils, blue ruin, red noses, red tape. | |
| Gloucs. Echo 25 Mar. 1/4: The landlord [...] Has a red nose — Is a secret drunkard. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.
| Cowboy Songs 305: Whoop-ee! drink that rot gut, drink that red nose. |
(US) an illicit saloon.
| ‘Volstead English’ in AS VII:2 86: Places of business for illegal traffic in liquor: [...] Red Nugget. | |
| Amer. Thes. Sl. |
(US drugs) hashish oil.
| Underground Dict. (1972). | |
| Bk of Jargon 338: red oil: Hash oil. |
1. (UK black) a £50 note [its colouring].
| [untitled lyrics] Stick you for a twenty, split you for a red one. |
2. (N.Z. prison, also red, redback) a $100 note.
| 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)
1. (US) cheap red wine.
| 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.
| ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 54: red paint, n. Tomato catsup. | |
| ‘Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker’ in AS XI:1 45: RED PAINT. Catsup. |
irritation, bad temper.
| ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 65: Coach Matthews has got the red pants today. |
1. see red cent n.
2. see red shilling
a prostitute.
| 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). |
see red bob
brandy.
| Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: Red Ribbin. Brandy. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| Vocabulum. |
1. heroin.
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). | |
| Drug Abuse. | |
| ONDCP Street Terms 18: Red rock — Heroin. |
2. methadone.
| Understanding Street Drugs 165: Methadone: doll, dolly, red rock, tootsie roll. | |
| Dual Diagnosis Nursing 41: Methadone is also known as doll, red rock, juice or ‘script’. |
(UK black/gang) murder; a murderer.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 152/2: redrum n. a murderer, a lifer. | |
| (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Redrum, red rum - murder. |
a criminal dealer who specialized in goods and stores stolen from the Royal Navy’s dockyards.
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
see separate entry.
see redleg
(Aus.) money that has been earned by a prostitute and passed to her pimp; thus red penny man, a pimp.
| Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxix 4/4 red deener: any money earned from ‘cracking it’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Apr. 44/3: Among them were gamblers, thieves (tea leaves), hoons or red penny men (pimps) [...]. | |
| Cop it Sweet 76: red deener, money earned from Prostitution. | |
| 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. |
the act of bleeding onto another person for sexual purposes.
| 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’. | |
| 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. |
(US) the vagina.
| Prison Sl. 62: Red Snapper The vagina. |
1. whisky.
| 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. | |
| 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.
| Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 6 Oct. 11/7: There was a lot of dirty bottles ful of red stuff [...] down the cellar. | |
| Tales of the Ex-Tanks 211: Any man who can stand Little Rock red stuff without eating anything [etc.]. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.
| 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. | |
| N.Y. Tribune 21 Jan. 11/1: In the sixth [round] Nate gave Christiarlo a drink of red stuff [...] It was a tough fight. | |
| ‘Texas Fists’ Fight Stories May 🌐 Slim wiped off the red stuff and looked kinda worried. | |
| (con. 1900s) 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. |
(US prison) to confine an inmate to their cell.
| 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. | |
| Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Red Tag: Confine to a cell. | |
| mydogharriet.blogspot.com 23 Sept. 🌐 Its time to rack in and red tag until she can learn how to be on the one. |
1. gin.
| 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. | |
| , , , | | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725]. |
| Western Times 25 Dec. 2/5: Blue devils, blue ruin, red noses, red tape. | |
| (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.
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Tape, red, white, or blue tape, gin, or any other spirituous liquor. |
| Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785]. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| Paul Clifford I 222: A tumbler of blue ruin fill, fill for me, / Red tape those as likes it may drain. | |
| Flash Mirror 19: Rummy red tape at a flag and a mag. | |
| ‘Scene in a London Flash-Panny’ 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. | |
| Londres et les Anglais 318/1: tape, [...] Red tape, eau-de-vie. |
3. red wine.
| ‘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.
| 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’. |
see red boots
(US) the menstrual flow.
| Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 red tide n 1. menstrual period. | |
| 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’. |
1. a redhead, the adj. red-topped.
| 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? | |
| Gleaner (Manchester, NH) 13 May n.p.: [T]he little red topped schoolmaster. | |
| Polly Fulton 128: You never leave off, you red-top. | |
| ‘Movie Stuff’ Detective Story Apr. 🌐 ‘Who’s crying?’ said a red-topped fellow. |
2. (US gay) a lesbian who prefers blondes.
| Homosexual Generation Ch. xvi: Red Top: A female who loves only white blondes. | |
| (ref. to early 1950s) 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].
| Indep. on Sun. 1 Aug. 16: Red top: A tabloid newspaper. | |
| 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 ’. |
1. a match with a red tip.
| Tramping with Tramps 147: A packet of stinkers and a red ’un! |
2. (Aus.) the erect penis.
| ‘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. |
(W.I.) intoxicated by marijuana.
| ‘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. |
cunnilingus with a menstruating woman.
| 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. | |
| Buttons 91: All those who haven’t got their red wings, come and get it! | |
| 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’. | |
| 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
(US) to become angry or embarrassed.
| Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) 10 Mar. 53/1: ‘There, now, don’t get red. What harm is there in being found out?’’. |
(US black) referring to a bright red garment.
| ‘The Be-Bop Santa Claus’ 🎵 He wore a red-on-red shirt and a white mink tie. |
menstruation.
| Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 24: What’s up, Blanchie, are yous red sails in the sunset or something? | |
| 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. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. |