Green’s Dictionary of Slang

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Nightmare Alley choose

Quotation Text

[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 169: Tear-ass out of town, ride for hours.
at tear arse, v.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 38: I’d beat the be-Jesus out of any snotnose that went monkeying around Molly.
at bejazus, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 32: I bet that joint is a blind pig.
at blind pig, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 45: We’ve had enough trouble with the wheels pretty near getting shut down for gambling. This is bluenose.
at blue-nosed, adj.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 25: Stan slipped out of the sweat-box.
at sweat-box, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 259: I’ve got to get the roll down on that hay-burner in the third.
at hay burner, n.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 88: You’re real carny, and no mistake.
at carney, adj.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 243: This pile ought to be all five-century notes.
at century note (n.) under century, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 73: Sailor, you been leaving a trail of busted hearts and busted cherries all along the route.
at get one’s cherry busted (v.) under cherry, n.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 277: You done your best to land that girl in a crib house.
at crib-house (n.) under crib, n.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 87: I’ll have to put on a tub of water so they can boil up and get the crums out of their clothes.
at crum, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 281: We were cutting up old times.
at cut up, v.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 27: Hi, Dutchy – wet enough for you?
at Dutchy, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 278: They don’t print you on vag and peddling falls.
at fall, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 81: If I can’t read a Bible-spouting, whoremongering, big-knuckled hypocrite of a church deacon [...] I’m a feeblo.
at feeblo, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 77: Shoo flies, kid. Cops.
at shoo-fly, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 228: The dame and the old guy can be together for ever, frigging like rabbits.
at frig, v.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 20: Frig him, the Bible-spouting bastard.
at frig, v.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 2: The geek had picked up the black snake. [...] How do you ever get a guy to geek? [...] I mean, is a guy born that way – liking to bite the heads off chickens?
at geek, n.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 122: A spook worker never takes a real rap [...] If anybody grabs, the chumps rally around him and start alibi-ing their heads off.
at grab, v.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 72: You haven’t any more sense than to start a Heyrube.
at hey rube, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 257: The rattler high-balled along.
at highball, v.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 72: I could of handled them two jakes.
at jake, n.1
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 66: As if jazzing wasn’t what they all want.
at jazzing, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 87: I heard the kid go into that jerk-’em-to-Jesus routine.
at jerk to Jesus (v.) under jerk, v.2
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 17: There was a Hawaiian dance show, what they called a kooch show.
at kootch, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 252: I’m waiting for another pal of mine. He’s out trying to get a lump.
at lump, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 122: Clothes that will make you look like a million bucks.
at look (like) a million dollars (v.) under million, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 283: McGraw’s a hard cookie, but he ain’t a nickel-nurser.
at nickel nurser (n.) under nickel, n.
[US] W.L. Gresham Nightmare Alley (1947) 229: The chump’s overboard.
at overboard, adj.
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