recruiting service
Robbing on the highway.
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
Red Baron
A person who is very skilled or accomplished in a particular field
Red Biddy
A noisome and highly intoxicat- ing concoction of which cheap port is the basis, much favoured by old crones in very low-class English life.
Red Book
A directory relating to the court, the nobility, and the "Upper Ten" generally. The Royal Calendar, published from 1767 to 1893, was known by this name, as also Web- ster's Royal Red Book, a similar work, first issued m 1847.
Red Button
In the Chinese Empire a man- darin of the first class wore one of these as a badge of honour in his cap. Cp. PANJANDRUM.
Red Comyn
Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, nephew of John Balliol, king of Scotland, so called from his ruddy complexion and red hair, to distinguish him from his kinsman "Black Comyn," who was swarthy and black- haired. He was stabbed by Robert Bruce (1306) in the church of the Minorites at Dumfries, and afterwards dispatched by Lindesay and Kirkpatrick.
Red Cross
The badge adopted by all civilized nations (except those who use the Red Crescent, etc.), in accordance with the Geneva Conven- tion of 1864, as that of military ambulance and hospital services, hospital ships, etc.
red face test
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
red flag
a warning signal or indicator of a potential problem
Red Flag
The emblem of Bolshevism, Com- munism, and revolution generally. English Communists have a "battle hymn" with this title. The red flag was used during the French Revolution as the symbol of insurrection and terrorism, and in the Roman Empire it sig- nified war and a call to arms.
Red Hackle
The nickname of "The Black Watch," the regiment officially known as "The Royal High- landers." They are easily recognized by the small bunch of red feathers, known as the red hackle, which they wear on their bonnets in lieu of a regimental badge.
red herring
A soldier.
red horse
corned beef
Red Indians
The North American Indians; so called because of their copper-coloured skin; also called Redskins and red men.
red ink
Financial loss or deficit
red lane
The throat.
red letter day
A special or memorable day
red light
a signal to stop or warning of danger
Red Light District
That quarter of a large city where brothels are located, these houses being frequently indicated by a red light out- side.
red man
A term of the old alchemists, used in conjunction with "white woman" to express the affinity and interaction of chemicals. In the long list of terms that Surface scoffingly gives (Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, II, iii) "your red man and your white woman" are mentioned.
red meat
A provocative issue that triggers strong emotions or reactions
red pipe
An artery.
red rag
The tongue. Shut your potatoe trap, and give your red rag a holiday; i.e. shut your mouth, and let your tongue rest. Too much of the red rag (too much tongue).
red rider
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
red sail-yard dockers
Buyers of stores stolen out of the royal yards and docks.
Red Sea
So called by the Romans (Mare rubrum) and by the Greeks, as a translation of the Semitic name, the reason for which is un- certain; also formerly called the "Sedgy Sea," because of the seaweed which collects there.
red shank
A Scotch Highlander.
red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning
A red sky indicates fair weather at night but bad weather in the morning
red snow
Snow reddened by the presence of a minute alga, Protococcus nivalis, in large numbers. It is not at all uncommon in arctic and alpine regions, where its sanguine colour formerly caused it to be regarded as a portent of evil.
red tape
Official formality, or rigid ad- herence to rules and regulations, carried to excessive lengths; so called because lawyers and government officials tie their papers to- gether with red tape. Charles Dickens is said to have introduced the expression; but it was the scorn continually poured upon this evil of officialdom by Carlyle that brought it into popular use.
red-lattice phrases
Pot-house talk. A red lattice at the doors and windows was formerly the sign that an ale-house was duly licensed; see the page's quip on Bardolph in 2 Henry IV, ii, 2 — " 'a calls me e'en now, my lord, through a red lattice, and I could discern no part of his face from the window.
red-letter day
A lucky day; a day to be recalled with delight. In almanacs, saints* days and holidays are printed in red ink, other days in black; and only the former have special services in our Prayer Book.
redcoat
A fox.
Rede Lectureships
Sir Robert Rede (d. 1519) Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, founded three public lectureships at Cam- bridge.
redeem oneself
To regain respect or make up for a mistake
redge
gold; money
rediscover fire
to reinvent something that already exists
redtape
Official routine. A term which was much in vogue during the Crimean campaign, so famous for War Office blunderings.
reduce someone to tears
To cause someone to cry
reductio ad absurdura
A proof of inference arising from the demonstration that every other hypothesis involves an absurdity. Thus, suppose I want to prove that the direct road from two given places is the shortest, I should say, "It must either be the shortest or not the shortest. If not the shortest, then some other road is the direct road; but there cannot be two shortest roads, therefore the direct road must be the shortest.
reeb
Beer. "Top o’ REEB," a pot of beer.
reefer
A marijuana cigarette.
reel in
to successfully attract or persuade someone
reel off
Recite or list something quickly and easily
reel out
To unreel.
refer to somebody
talk or write about someone
refer to somebody as something
Call somebody by a particular name or title
reflect upon
Think carefully about something
refresh someone's memory
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
refrigerator mom
A mother who is emotionally distant or unresponsive
refrigerator mother
A mother who is emotionally distant or unresponsive
Reg Grundys
Undies.
regarded as something
Considered to be a certain thing
Regiment de la Calotte
A society of witty and satirical men in the reign of LQUIS XIV.
regimental colours
The flags peculiar to Regiments, once earned into battle, on which they are entitled to embroider their battle- honours — the names of actions in which they distinguished themselves, and associated with the unit by permission of the King. These flags are now laid up on the outbreak of war in the Cathedral or great church of the territory from which the Regiment is raised.
reginalds
undies.
Regius Professor
One who holds in an English university a professorship founded by
regulars
Share of the booty. The coves cracked the swell's crib, fenced the swag, and each cracksman napped his regular; some fellows broke open a gentleman's house, and after selling the property which they had stolen, they divided the money between them.
regulars
A thief’s fair share of plunder.
reheat someone's nachos
to revive or rekindle a past romantic relationship
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