Word: argot
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...argot of the French underworld, a poulet (chicken) is a cop, a poule (hen) a prostitute, and a maquereau (mackerel) a pimp. What caused the commotion this summer was the invasion of Nice by a band of poules and maquereaux who had left their native Algeria in the exodus of French settlers when the country became independent. The invaders found a friend in Nice-Gangster Ange Bianchini, 48, who dabbles in the manufacture of pastis, the licorice-flavored apéritif, as well as in crime...
...often unsophisticated ways of the heartland. He runs the most modern of corporations from an old-fashioned office in a lower Manhattan building whose Doric columns and tiled floors are defiantly unmodern. In this Parthenon of the William Howard Taft era, Kappel still converses in the slangy, twangy argot of his native Albert Lea, Minn., can still cuss on occasion like the pole-hole digger he once was. One significant term that often salts his conversation is "long-nosed." Says Kappel: "It's a term I use to mean looking ahead, planning ahead. I like to think...
...around St. Germain-des-Prés in the late '40s, Ferre has been the reigning voice of the "Defenders of French Song," a tight little school of contemporary troubadour-poets. He despises literary snobbery, and the lyrics of his 200 songs pulse with the rough and jeering argot of Parisian streets. Legionnaires listened to his records in the crumbling days of French Indo-China. They can still be heard in Hanoi, as well as in New York, Dakar or any place where hypochondriacs have no intention of curing themselves of that bittersweet nostalgia known as the Maladie...
...liberators from 9-to-5 routine. Workers may simply stay home until summoned by closed-circuit TV when something goes wrong with the machine. People will like their jobs more when the drudgery is removed. Although room at the top may be reserved for a small elite speaking an argot no one else understands, much of the current worker-boss strain may vanish as men relate to machines rather than one another. This has already happened to Air Force men tending the SAGE warning system. Ranks seem to blur, says one officer. "All of the interaction seems to be with...
...sources were certain "Field Marshal" John Okello had been trained in Cuba, it was becoming increasingly clear that he wielded little power in the new government. Last week Okello was back at his broadcasting chores, warning civilians to lay down their guns. "Otherwise," he bellowed in his own arresting argot, "you will see how we hang people and burn them like chickens. Others will be executed by being cut into pieces that will be spread on the streets. Still others will be thrown into the sea, while others will be tied to trees and shot by novice marksmen. Anyone...