A-Z Database
see Beat/scare the living daylights out of someone
see Out of one’s wits
see Shitless
An unduly fearful person; children’s slang from c. 1930.
A scarlet woman is a sexually promiscuous harlot and the expression has been in use since the late 16th century. The source is the New Testament where...
British Slang meaning to run off or run away. There are two theories about its origin. One is rhyming slang Scapa Flow/go. Scapa Flow is a remote Roya...
US slang for go away dates from the mid-19th century, an abbreviation of scatter.
see Shotgun approach/strategy
Scatty is British informal for silly and disorganised and dates from the early 20th century. It is an abbreviation of scatterbrain or scatter-brained,...
This is 19th century American slang for an imbecile or a clumsy, awkward person. Its origin is Yiddish shlemiel meaning bungler.
Meaning a long and tedious task or journey is early 20th century slang from America. James Joyce makes use of the word in his 1922 novel Ulysses. As w...
American slang for penis dates from the mid-20th century, from the Yiddish shlang meaning snake.
American word for excessive, banal sentimentality dates from c. 1935 and derives from the Yiddish shmalts, which means melted fat. (The modern German...
see Schmuck
Talk intimately or ingratiatingly, or one who does so, an American expression from the late 19th century, from the Yiddish schmues to chatter idly.