oil n.
1. as a bodily fluid.
(a) vaginal secretions.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | ‘In Praise of Chocolate’ in Merry Drollery Compleat (1875) 50: Nor need the women longer grieve, / Who spend their Oyl, yet not conceive. | |
| Bacchanalian Mag. 97: And found [...] / When he opened her case her verge wanted oil. | |
| [ | | Bagnio Misc. 17: Out came a flood of sweet liquor from my maiden cunny [and] we both oiled her both before and behind]. |
 | ‘Hard Driving Blues’ 🎵 ’Cause your oil is leaking, mama, and I’d like to work for you / Yes, your oil is leaking mama and I’d love to work on you. | |
| ‘Drill Daddy Drill’ 🎵 Drill, drill, drill, daddy / Drill, drill, drill, daddy / He keeps drilling ‘til the oil has flowed away / [. . .] / Keep on drillin’ and don’t you stop / bring my oil from the bottom to the top. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Tattoo of a Naked Lady 190: Her sex oil tasted sharp as brass as it flooded my mouth. |
(b) semen.
| Mercurius Fumigosus 42 14–21 Mar. 331: They presently fall backward, lying as in a trance for a quarter of an houre; but having a little Oyle of Man administered to them, they in Threequarters of a year after grow perfectly cured. | |
| ‘The Imperfect Enjoyment’ in Sel. Lyrics and Satires (1948) 86: Only too hasty Zeal my Hopes did foil, / Pressing to feed her Lamp, I spilt my Oil. | |
| Rosa Fielding 44: My good gracious! What a flood of hot oil you have injected into my bowels! | |
| Venus in India II 209: Certainly Fanny was well anointed with the holy oil that first time. | |
| Town-Bull 33: My prick [...] was soon pouring oil on her well-watered insides. | |
| ‘Boring For Oil’ in Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (1995) 162: I hadn’t bored more than six inches I know, / And the oil from my auger so freely did flow; / ‘My character you’ve ruined, my garments did soil, / You’ve bursted the bedrock while boring for oil.’. | |
| Nocturnal Meeting 138: Three more times did I extract his essential oil from him that afternoon [...] and now we are suppoed to be lovers. |
2. in fig. senses, i.e. that which ‘greases the wheels’.
(a) (US) flattery, sweet talk.
| Letters of Major J. Downing (1835) 201: The crittur waent on and talk’ right up to the gineral—and there warn’t a lump of sugar, or a drop of ile in the hull on’t. | |
| Dly Press (Newport News, VA) 29 Apr. 5/2: ‘You’re there with the oil all right,’ replied Mr Jobson, somewhat appeased. | |
| Amer. Mag. Nov. 39/2: ‘Why dearie!’ I remarks, kissin’ her; ‘You know I –’. ‘Easy with the oil!’ she cuts me off. ‘ "Get on your hat and coat’ . | |
| in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 80: Watching a cinder dresser as he slips the oil to the coffee joint boss in a tank town. | |
| Tragedy of Z 36: ‘The old oil,’ growled Father, tossing the carbon aside. | |
| I Can Get It For You Wholesale 302: Aah, stop the oil, will you? Who do you think you’re talking to, a kid? | |
| Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: giving the oil . . . smooth talk to whiteash transgression. | |
| I, Mobster 94: Then it came out that some of the micks from Tammany had been giving him a little oil about being a faithful party man. | |
| Indep. Rev. 17 July 20: The manager [...] applied the old oil. |
(b) graft, bribery, and the money for paying it.
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Mar. 4/1: We have ‘shoddy’ enough in the Corporation, and now that ‘ile’ is to be added in profusion, our Corporation will possess the two essential elements of wealth, that will enable it to snap its fingers at the Government. | |
| Boss 121: The sooner we get th’ oil, th’ sooner we’ll begin to light up. | |
| Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 144: Oil—Money. | |
| Pimp 125: Ain’t but a ‘C’ a day for a girl in ‘oil’ to the heat. |
(c) (Aus./N.Z.) information, which oils the wheels of communication.
| Aussie (France) 12 Mar. 6/1: Seeing that thers an Armistice on I thort I’d give yer a little oil. | |
| Mail (Adelaide) 16 Feb. 1/4: I’m givin’ yer the Believer Moyle (oil) that I’m goin’ to the Sydney Harbour (barber)’. | |
| ‘College Sl.’ in AS III:2 131: If an individual (a ‘date’) is entertaining or interesting such terms as: ‘knows her oil,’ ‘is full of vinegar,’ ‘has a line,’ will be used in praise. | |
| (con. 1914–18) Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier. | |
| Press (Canterbury) 2 Apr. 18: ‘Oil’ is significant information. | |
| Syndey Morn. Herald 11 Dec. 7/2: Accurate information is either ‘the griff,’ ‘the gen,’ or the ‘good oil’. | |
| We Were the Rats 79: I’ve gotta give ya the dinkum oil. | |
| Jimmy Brockett 25: Joan had rung and given me the oil on Ziegler. | |
| Ridgey-Didge Oz Jack Lang 37: Oil Good information. | |
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 255: [T]o be travelling so far to attend a meeting way out in wombat country, the boys must’ve been privy to some oil of the triple-refined variety. | |
| Lingo 55: The term [oil] is related to the earlier use of oil for alcohol — and still current as throat-oil or neck-oil. At a time when alcohol was often adulterated, good oil meant the genuine full-strength brew. | |
| Big Ask 75: He put his plate down [...] parked his elbows on the table, and gave me the oil. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988]. |
(d) facility, ability.
| Kia Ora Coo-ee 15 Aug. 5/2: Later, while we were burying him, we learned that the Hun had the oil for money making right through, his ‘personal property’ including a crown and anchor board complete with a bag of about 500 Turkish coins. |
(e) lies, misinformation.
| Iron Man 57: It’s a shame to give a cute kid like that the oil. | |
| ‘No Place Like Homicide’ in Popular Detective Apr. 🌐 Latest dope on the rubout of the bank messenger was that the police [...] would make an arrest shortly. ‘The old oil,’ Willie said. |
3. in senses of drink or drugs.
(a) (later US black) alcohol, esp. wine.
| ‘The Slap-Up Cracksman’ in Swell!!! or, Slap-Up Chaunter 42: Here’s the cove with oil and white. | |
| St Louis Globe-Democrat 19 Jan. n.p.: They nominate ‘bottled electricity,’ ‘lemonade with a stick in it,’ ‘jig-water,’ ‘budge,’ ‘bilge-water,’ ‘bug-juice,’ ‘rat-poison,’ ‘fusel-oil,’ ‘red-eye,’ ‘liquid ointment,’ ‘cut nails,’ ‘hard head,’ ‘benzine,’ ‘nitro-glycerine,’ ‘oil,’ ‘tea,’ ‘eye-water,’ ‘chain- lightning.’ [...] they all want the same article, alcohol, more or less diluted. | |
| Pink Marsh (1963) 124: Yes, seh, ’at’s what made me dange’ous—wuz ’at oil o’ distuhb’ance. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Sept. 15/2: I struck Paul’s camp at dusk, being welcomed with a wealth of joyous profanity and many invitations to take an ‘oil.’. | |
| Phila. Eve. Bulletin 5 Oct. 40/4: Here are a few more terms and definitions from the ‘Racket’ vocabulary: [...] ‘oil,’ whisky. | |
| ‘A Word List From Southeast Arkansas’ in AS XIII:1 6: ‘He’s in his oil tonight.’ That is, he is drunk tonight. | |
| ‘Shoulder Straps’ in Thrilling Detective Feb. 🌐 ‘Where’s your oil?’ he called in to the girl. ‘Look in the top of the ice-box. There should be a couple of bottles of ale.’. | |
| Walking the Beat 67: I think he wanted to go in [to the bar] himself. . . . You know he likes his oil.’ ‘I know. I know how much he likes his oil. I had to drive him home a few times’. | |
| S.R.O. (1998) 16: It’d been that goddam oil that made me curse out the manager of the [Hotel] Rex. | |
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 187: Hard liquor also had its own vernacular labels – oil, ignite oil, do-it fluid. |
(b) (Irish) a drink.
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Plough and the Stars Act II: Oh, here’s the two gems runnin’ over again for their oil! | |
| (con. 1940s) Confessions 119: I didn’t hear [bad language] at home, except when my father had a few oils on him. |
(c) (US) coffee.
| Amer. Thes. Sl. |
(d) (drugs) hashish oil or purified hashish.
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). | |
| et al. Recreational Drugs. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 16 July [Internet] She offered me and Kari some oil and we all smoked up. Then we went to the store and talked to a few people. I wasn’t very stoned. |
(e) (drugs) heroin.
| ONDCP Street Terms 16: Oil — Heroin; PCP. |
(f) (drugs) phencyclidine.
| ONDCP Street Terms 16: Oil — Heroin; PCP. |
4. (US Und.) nitroglycerin; gelignite.
| ‘The Marionettes’ in Rolling Stones (1913) 74: Opening his medicine case he took out the vial containing the nitroglycerine — ‘the oil,’ as his brethren of the brace-and-bit term it. | |
| How I Became a Detective 93: Oil – Nitro-glycerine. | |
| Bulldog Drummond 242: Gelignite; or, as the boys call it, the oil. | |
| ‘Und. and Its Vernacular’ in Clues mag. 158–62: oil Nitroglycerin. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
5. see oiler n.2 (1)
In compounds
(Aus.) privileged or restricted information.
| Great Aust. Gamble 154: They inevitably declare the writer has the genuine ‘inside oil’. | |
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers xxi: [T]he ‘lapel-tugger’ who would not wait for prospective clients to approach and instead would indicate that he was privy to ‘inside oil’ by signalling said ‘mark’ with a little tug on his own coat lapel. |
(US) a flatterer or a swindler.
| et al. DAUL 148/2: Oil merchant. 1. A confidence man; a clever swindler who disarms his victims by a smooth line of talk. [...] 2. A liar. | |
| (con. 1940s) Dark Sea Running 109: ‘You’re quite an oil merchant, kiddo,’ she said. |
(Aus.) selling racecourse tips.
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 44: [T]he cluey but chancey form of one Gerald ‘Gerald The Fox’ Franks who was down at the big ’un for some oil-selling. |
(Aus.) the honest truth, the facts.
| Grafter (1922) 49: ‘I can guarantee that hes trying, because I got the right oil about it’. | |
| Graphic (Melbourne) 31 Dec. 5/2: He has been given the straight oil by ‘a friend of the trainer’. | |
| Sport (Adelaide) 7 Jan. 5/5: I’ve ’eard of the stable oil and the straight oil and the right oil and the dinkum oil; but wotinell sort is this ere gargoyle? | |
| Sydney Mail 25 Apr. 36/1: The time is ripe [...] for the reading public to be given the ‘straight oil’ regarding writers who [...] rush into print as authorities on the Outback. | |
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. | |
| I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 240/1: straight oil (straight wire, straight stuff) – the ‘true’ facts. | |
| (con. 1959) Up the Cross 38: McGruder claimed it was the real oil. |
(Aus.) irrefutable information.
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 267: I was down a motza but I hung onto this score note which I ended up plonking on the nose of this dead-set top-oil cert Tulloch. |
In phrases
(US tramp) to be aware, to know what is going on.
| ‘Vocab. of Bums’ in AS IV:5 343: Oil—’Knowing your oil’ — capable, qualified. |
(orig. US) drunk.
| Country-man's Conductor Preface A3: You shall seldom hear them speak Latin but in Ale-houses, or when they are well-oil’d. | |
| Pennsylvania Gazette 13 Jan. 2: He’s Oil’d . | |
| A Pink ’Un and a Pelican 53: Peter Denny, who made no attempt to deny the fact that he was ‘oiled’. | |
| Houndsditch Day by Day 83: Sometimes, when they comes back ‘oiled up,’ they wants to fight yer for the ’ire. | |
| ‘A Consistent Consort’ Sporting Times 13 June 1/4: He has made it a rule not to work when he’s ‘oiled,’ / And when sober the same rule applies. | |
| Treat ’Em Rough 137: I don’t know where they got it but everybody was oiled up and celebrating about beating Camp Custer in the football game. | |
| Damsel in Distress 🌐 Ch. xx: She has confided to me since that it was seeing me in my oiled condition that really turned the scale. | |
| Bulldog Drummond 71: Both were quite obviously what in the vernacular is known as ‘oiled’. | |
| On Broadway 19 Aug. [synd. col.] Some mamma, and can she neck! She’s plenty oiled and doesn’t know what she’s doing . | |
| Don’t Call Me a Crook 280: I’ was still half oiled or I’d have known there was bound to be trouble. | |
| Sudden Takes the Trail 160: I was oiled and overplayed my hand. | |
| Catcher in the Rye (1958) 189: You could tell he was a little oiled up. | |
| (con. 1950) Band of Brothers 282: I am not tight or plastered, polluted, greased, blind, sozzled, ossified or atomized. I am only a very little bit oiled. | |
| ‘Spare’ in Cockade (1965) I i: We know you keeps slightly oiled. | |
| Rolling Stone 22 Sept. 11: The guards at the mansion were not exactly falling over with delight at seeing a well-oiled Jimmy Buffett entourage bearing down on them. | |
| Grass Arena (1990) 149: I was pleasantly oiled. Couldn’t remember where I got the drink. | |
| Between the Devlin 71: [A]s Les got oiled up she started to get very horny-looking. | |
| in (ed) Land of the Permanent Wave ix: For years, Shrake and writing buddy Gary Cartwright, when well oiled, talked broken English. |
see separate entry.
1. (US) flattery, insincere charm.
| Indoor Sports 24 Apr. [synd. cartoon] ‘Oh yes — yes. I’ve heard of that car quite often.’ The old oil. He’ll shoo his wife in for a ride soon. | |
| Smile A Minute 141: The lady yegg that run the place was there with the old oil and went ravin’ insane over every dress Jeanne put on. | |
| Big Town iv: Finally she cut it out and give him the old oil and by the time we got to the clubhouse he’d tossed in the sponge. | |
| Right Ho, Jeeves 87: You will have to haul up your slacks and give her the old oil. | |
| High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 421: I was beginning to got to thinking that Art and Max were giving me the old oil. | |
| Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 1: It was imperative that they be given the old oil. | |
| Much Obliged, Jeeves 16: Aunt Dahlia tells me you are staying with her [...] in Market Snodsbury while giving the electors there the old oil. | |
| Indep. Rev. 17 July 20: The manager [...] applied the old oil. |
2. (US) nonsense.
| Two and Three 13 Feb. [synd. col.] This two per cent stuff is the old oil. The bunk. |
on a drinking bout.
| City Of The World 263: When a screwsman’s got a job on, he daren’t go on the oil the night before. | |
| N&Q 12 Ser. IX 384: Oil (On The). A drinking bout. |
to flatter.
| Amer. Thes. Sl. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
(US black) the buttocks.
| ‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2. |
1. (US) a useless person, a good-for-nothing.
| Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL) 14 Sept. 4/4: The Flappers’ Dictionary [...] Oil Can: Unsophisticated young man. | |
| ‘Zone of Quiet’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 67: Poor sis! She married a terrible oil can! | |
| (con. 1918) Red Pants 159: The poor oil-can got it from a bootlegger in the Black Belt. | |
| Und. and Prison Sl. |
2. (US) a derog. term for an automobile.
| (con. 1946) Big Blowdown (1999) 57: Shit, Joe, can’t you control this oil can? |
In phrases
(US black) to beat up; to kill.
| Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 47: That Square, Iago, put the oil act on him. |
see under strike v.
(US) to make oneself memorable, to leave an impression.
| A Thousand and One Afternoons [ebook] ‘Ho you remember my name?’ [...] ‘"Oh, there are some Johns who tip over the oil can right from the start. And you never forget them’. |