Gauche

Da Merriam-Webster Online (Word of the Day for November 2, 2008):

gauche ·\GOHSH\· adjective 1. lacking social experience or grace; also: not tactful: crude. 2. crudely made or done. “I can’t believe she’d be so gauche as to ask you how much money you earn,” Courtney huffed.

“Gauche” is one of several words that come from old suspicions or negative associations surrounding the left side and use of the left hand. In French, “gauche” literally means “left,” and it has the extended meanings “awkward” and “clumsy.” Presumably these meanings came about because left-handed people could appear awkward trying to manage in a right-handed world — or perhaps because right-handed people appear awkward when they try to use their left hand. In fact, “awkward” itself comes from the Middle English “awke,” meaning “turned the wrong way” or “left-handed.” On the other hand, “adroit” and “dexterity” have their roots in words meaning “right” or “on the right side.”

[Mi sembra piuttosto interessante per una persona che ha sempre votato a sinistra].

Complexion

Dal Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 4th edition (2005):

complexion n 1. [C] the natural colour or appearance of the skin on your face: Drinking water is good for the complexion. | pale/fair/ruddy etc complexion (=a pale, fair, red etc face) | fair-complexioned/smooth-complexioned etc She was fair-complexioned with blonde hair. 2. [singular] The general character or nature of something: Crime has risen under governments of every political complexion. 3. put a different/new/fresh complexion on sth to make a situation or event seem different: This document puts a different complexion on the matter.

Lukewarm

Riprendo la rubrica della parola della settimana, interrotta per qualche tempo.

Dal Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 4th edition (2005):

lukewarm: adj 1. Food, liquid etc that is lukewarm is slightly warm and often not as hot or cold as it should be; = tepid; She sipped some lukewarm coffee from her mug. 2. Not showing much interest or excitement: His idea got only a lukewarm response from the committee.

Bookworm

Da Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1):

bookworm noun 1. A person devoted to reading or studying. 2. Any of various insects that feed on books, esp. a booklouse.

[Origin: 1590-1600; book + worm].

WordNet aggiunge un altro significato al primo riportato da Dictionary.com: a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit (synonim: pedant).

Non per niente, un ulteriore sotto-significato riportato dal Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary è: a reader without appreciation.

Schweizerdeutsch

Sammlung Schweizerdeutscher Dialektwörter und -begriffe: Schweizerdeutsch<->DE.

Schweizerdeutsch: Wikipedia.

Schweizerdeutsch Wörterbuch.

Swiss German Course.

The Alternative Swiss German Dictionary.

Berndeutsch

Berndeutsches Wörterbuch.

Ds Bärndütsch-Lexikon.

Wörterbuch Berndeutsch.

Zürichdeutsch

Wörterbuch.

Slang DE

Alternative German Dictionary: DE-EN, volendo scaricabile come file pdf.

Bundeswehr-Lexikon.

Cyberslang: die Sprache der Internet-Generation.

Dirty Crap to Say in German: DE-EN.

German Slang Dictionary: DE-EN.

MundMische: Gossenslang, Umgangssprache und Sprichwörtern.

Schimpfwort Lexikon: Schimpfwörter aller deutschen Dialekte.

Sprachnudel: Slang der Jetztzeit.

Slang IT

Dizionario LinguaGiovani: a cura del Dipartimento di Romanistica dell’Università di Padova.

Il Gergo Telematico.

Vocabolario della lingua dei giovani italiani.

Idée fixe

Da Merriam-Webster Online (Word of the Day for August 22, 2008):

idée fixe noun an idea that dominates one’s mind especially for a prolonged period : obsession. The fear that he was going to be fired became such an idée fixe for Toby that he could think of nothing else.

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the term “idée fixe” was coined by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830, who used it to describe the principal theme of his Symphonie fantastique. That reference goes on to say that, at about the same time, French novelist Honoré de Balzac used “idée fixe” in Gobseck to describe an obsessive idea. By 1836, Balzac’s more generalized use of the term had carried over into English, where “idée fixe” was embraced as a clinical and literary term for a persistent preoccupation or delusional idea that dominates a person’s mind. Nowadays “idée fixe” is also applied to milder and more pedestrian obsessions.

Mau-mau

Da Merriam-Webster Online (Word of the Day for August 8, 2008):

mau-mau · \MOW-mow (the “ow” is as in “cow”)\ · verb 1. To intimidate (as an official) by hostile confrontation or threats. 2. To engage in mau-mauing someone. Going downtown to mau-mau the bureaucrats got to be the routine practice in San Francisco. (Tom Wolfe, Radical Chic & Mau-mauing the Flak Catchers)

The Mau Mau was a militant secret society that operated in colonial Kenya during the 1950s. The ferocity with which Mau Mau terrorists rebelled against British rule was well-documented by national news sources, like Newsweek and Time, and by 1970 “Mau Mau” had become synonymous with “hostile intimidation,” especially when used for social or political gain. Novelist Tom Wolfe was the first to use “mau-mau” in print as a word for “intimidate.”

Slang EN

UK

Birmigham Slang.

Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Cockney Rhyming Slang Dictionary.

Glesga Glossary: slang from Glasgow.

London Slang: c’è anche il rhyming slang.

Slang Dictionary: English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom.

Slang Dictionary.

Victorian Slang Glossary: 19th century British slang – lower class and underworld.

USA

alphaDictionary.com: historical dictionary of American slang.

AmeriSpeak: expressions of our American ancestors.

Bay Area Hip Hop Dictionary.

Seattle Lexicon.

Silicon Valley Slang.

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Slang Dictionary.

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Slang Dictionary.

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SlangSite.com: with examples.

The Online Slang Dictionary.

Urban Dictionary.

Australia

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Aussie Slang and Sayings.

Aussie Slang Dictionary.

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Dagree’s Great Aussie Slang.

List of Australian Slang Words.

Ireland

Dublin Slang Dictionary and Phrase-book.

Irish Slang.

Irish Slang Dictionary.

Slang Throughout Ireland.

New Zealand

Kiwi Slang.

South Africa

RSA Slang.

Drugs

A Dictionary of Slang Drug Terms: with trade names, and pharmacological effects and uses (file pdf).

Drug Slang and Street Language.

Drug Slang & Terminology Vault.

Methamphetamine Slang Names.

Slang Drug Terms.

Street Drug Slang.

Street Terms: anche in versione pdf.

The Drunktionary: collection of slang terms for “drunk”.

GLBT & Sex

Dictionary of Queer Slang and Culture.

Gay Slang Dictionary.

Glossary of Gay Slang Terms.

Polari: British gay slang language, common in the 1960’s.

Queer Slang in the Gay 90’s.

Starma’s Adult Humor: sexual euphemisms.

Internet

Internet Slang.

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Military

Aviator Slang.

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Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War.

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Various

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Double-Tongued Dictionary: a lexicon of fringe English, focusing on slang, jargon and new words.

English Slang Dictionary.

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Hard Boiled Slang Dictionary.

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The Probert Encyclopedia Slang Dictionary: covers over 16,000 English language slang and dialect terms from around the world.