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  1. What is the etymology of "dope" meaning excellent, great ... - slang

    Jan 5, 2016 · Dope is a rather new slang word that is used to define someone or something excellent, great, impressive. OED says that it is originally in African-American usage and chiefly among rap …

  2. Etymology: Dope - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Sep 8, 2017 · Dope in the sense of information, particularly information that isn’t widely known or easily obtained, came directly from this practice. A whisper from the stables or some confederate telling a …

  3. etymology - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Jul 11, 2018 · Fire as a slang adjective appears to be the bleeding-edge version of "cool." To some extent, the word appears to be interchangeable with dope. One thing that seems odd to me is that it …

  4. What do you call slapping someone at the back of their head

    Jan 22, 2014 · Dope slap is the most common expression I know for striking someone in the back of the head with an open palm. The b -expression, which I will not repeat, usually refers to a different kind …

  5. How did 'phat' come to be used in music as slang?

    Jun 26, 2019 · most prominently things like ''phat bass line'', meaning a bassline rich in texture ie has a full sound. Appears to have originated in African American use?

  6. idiom requests - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Jun 1, 2016 · Rope-a-dope is a strategy Mohammed Ali (boxer) used to outfox his opponent, George Foreman, in a match called the Rumble in The Jungle. He pretended to be beaten, falling on the …

  7. etymology - Origin of phrase "put one over on"? - English Language ...

    Mar 22, 2022 · The exact phrase "put one over on" in the sense of "get the better of"—through superior skill, superior strategy (or trickery), or the element of surprise—appears to have caught on quickly in …

  8. idioms - Origin of shooting the breeze? - English Language & Usage ...

    Jul 25, 2024 · Instances of "shoot the bull [con]" appear as early as 1906. From " Dope of the Day," in the Minneapolis [Minnesota] Journal (August 25, 1906): Is it loyalty to the club that represents their …

  9. etymology - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Aug 17, 2010 · Headline writers seized on the middle inital of the younger Bush's name, both because it differentiated him from his father and because the irreverent, drawling "Dubya" came with him from …

  10. When and from where did "guns" become slang for biceps?

    Both the Straight Dope commenter and ghoppe note the 1973 instance from Andrews & Owens as the first cited occurrence of guns in the sense of "the biceps and triceps." Google Books has a copy of …