Etymologicon

C: 1. "See." Popularised by the internet, particularly chatrooms.
C: 2. "Christian." Used in single's ad terminology, such as "SWCM" = "Single White Christian Male."
Cabal: "Secret Society." From the French "cabale," of the same meaning. The word ultimately derives from the Hebrew "Qabalah," meaning "received wisdom," and designating a secret doctrine.
Cacodemon: "Evil Demon." A combination of the Greek roots "kako" = "bad" and "daimon" = "god, goddess, deity, divine power."
Cack: "To Shit, Void Excrement." An Indo-European word, related to the Latin "cacare," the Greek "kako," the Czechoslovakian "kakati" and the German "kacken." Its etymology is uncertain and it is argued whether it is native to the Germanic tongues or a borrowing from Latin.
Cack Handed: "Left Handed." An archaic term. It also came to mean "clumsy," in the sense of an unco-ordinated person, or "shitty," in the sense of doing a "shitty" job, i.e., a "cack handed job." The term originates from the days before toilet paper, when people ate with their right hand and wiped their ass with their left hand. In such cultures, left handed people did (and still do in places like Morocco, for example) everything with the hand they wiped their ass with.
Cackhander: "A Left-Handed Person; a Clumsy Person." See "cack handed."
Cacky: "Raunchy, Smutty, 'Dirty'; Shitty, Bad." Literally "shitty." See "cack."
Caco-: "Bad." A Latin prefix, from the Greek "kako-" = "bad," the combining form of "kakos" = "evil."
Cacography: "Bad Handwriting." Combining "caco-" (See "caco-") with the Greek root "graphe" = "writing."
Cajun: "Louisiana Native of French Canadian Descent; Pertaining to Cajun Culture." Cajun is a corruption of Acadian, or someone from Acadia, the French name of Nova Scotia. When the British took over that area, they deported a lot of the French colonists to Louisiana.
Cancer Stick: "Cigarette." From the known carcinogenic properties of smoking.
Cankle: "The Combined Area of the Ankle and Calve When they Blend Together on an Obese Person." A combined form of "calf" and "ankle."
Canophilia: "Sexual Arousal from or Attraction to Dogs." From the word "canine" from the Latin "caninus" and the suffix "-philia." See "-philia."
Cans: "Minority Peoples, Specifically Blacks and Hispanics." This is a racial slur, based on the common ending of the words Africans, Mexicans and Puerto-Ricans.
Cant: 1. "Intonation; To Intone." Cognate to "chant." It probably developed from the Ecclesiastical Latin "canto" and "cantare" = "to sing." See also "chant" and "incantation."
Cant: 2. "A Jargon or Technical Speak of a Specific Craft." Such as "theives cant." This probably developed from the use of the word to denote religious phraseology. See "cant" 1. and "chant."
Cantata: "A Narrative in Verse for a Single Recitant Accompanied by Music; A Choral Piece to Be Accompanied by Music." Italian, from the Latin "cantare." See "incantation" and "cant" 1.
Cantation: "Singing, Incantation." From the Latin "cantationem." See "incantation."
Cantator: "A Male Singer." From "cantation." See also "cantatrice."
Cantatrice: "A Female Singer." From "cantation." See also "cantator."
Canter: "One Who Speaks a Technical Jargon." Applied specifically to users of theives cant and religious terminology." From "cant" 2.
Canticle: "A Small Song." From the Latin "canticulum," diminuative of "canticum" = "song," from "canto" = "sing."
Cantillate: "To Chant or Recite With Musical Tones." From the Latin "cantillare" = "to sing, chant."
Canting: 1. "Singing, Intoning." From "cant" 1.
Canting: 2. "The Practice of Using a Jargon." From "cant" 2.
Cap: "To Shoot; Bullet." To cap someone means to shoot them, specifically with a pistol, as in the urban phrase "I'm-a cap iz ass" = "I am going to shoot him." Another variant of the phrase, "I'm-a bus' a cap in yo' ass" = "I am going to shoot you," treats the bullet as the "cap." The word "cap" is from "cap gun," a toy gun that ignites a powdered charge to simulate a pistol noise.
Capability: "The Quality of Being Capable." See "capable."
Capable: "Having the Ability or Capacity Required." Direct from French, who derived it from the Late Latin "capabilis" of the same meaning, from "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Capacious: "Spacious, Having a Large Capacity." From the Latin "capax" = "able to hold much," related to "capio" and "capere," all thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Capacity: "Ability to Hold or Receive." From the French "capacite" and the Latin "capabilis," both derived from "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Caper: "A Theft." Etymology unknown. This was either derived from the Anglo-Saxon "copian" = "to plunder, steal" or the Latin "capere" = "to seize," both thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Capias: "Warrant for Arrest." Direct from Medieval Latin, derived from "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Capnomancy: "Divination by Smoke." From the French "capnomancie," from the Greek "kapnomanteia," from the roots roots "kapnos" = "smoke" and "manteia" = "mode of divination."
Capric: "Of or Belonging to a Goat." From the French "caprique," From the Latin "caper," meaning "goat." See "-ic."
Caprylic: "Smelling Like a Goat." From the Latin "caper," meaning "goat."
Caption: "A Short Title, Description or Summary." From the Middle English "capcioun" = "an arrest," from the Old French "capcion," from the Latin "captus," past participle of "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Captious: "Inclined to Find Trivial Faults; Intended to Entrap or Ensnare." From the Old french "captieux," from the Latin "captiosus" = "fallacious, deceptive," from "captio" = "siezure," from "captus," past participle of "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Captivate: "To Hold Attraction By Charm or Beauty; To Capture." The archaic meaning of "captivate" is to "capture," but the word has shifted to imply a "fascination." The word comes from the French and Late Latin "captiver" = "to capture," from the Latin "captivare" = "prisoner." See "captive" for further etymology.
Captive: "Prisoner; Held Prisoner." From the Middle English and French "captif" = "captive." The French derves from the Latin "captivus" = "prisoner," from "captus," past participle of "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Captivity: "A State of Bondage." From the French "captivite" and the Latin "captivitas," both of the same meaning. "Captivitas" derives from "captivus" = "prisoner," from "captus," past participle of "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Captor: "One Who Takes Something or Someone Captive." From the Late Latin "captor" = "hunter," from "capere" = "to seize," thought to ultimately derive from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Capture: "To Take Possession Of." This comes directly from French, which derives it from the Latin "captura" = "a taking or seizing (particularly of animals)," from "capio" = "to seize."
Carpet Muncher: "Lesbian." Comparing the female "bush" to carpet. The form "to munch carpet," used for cunnilingus probably came first.
Cat: "Pussy." As in female genitalia. It is an obvious jump from "pussy." See "pussy." This appears in Black Vernacular.
Catamite: "A Young Boy Used in Homosexual Relations." From the name "Catamus," the Latinized version of the mythological "Ganymede," a young boy who Zeus whisked away to Olympus as his young lover. See also "ganymede."
Catapult: "A Device for Firing Projectiles; To Fire As a Projectile (Often Metaphorically)." Generally, "catapult" is often used to specifically denote medieval siege engines such as the ballista, onager and trebuchet. Cannons are technically catapults but are usually excluded from the designation. Mechanical devices for launching aircraft from ships are also termed catapults. The planes are "catapulted" from the ships. When used as a verb, it is more often used in a metaphoric sense, such as "The new single has catapulted them to stardom." "Catapult" derives from the French "catapulte," from the Latin "catapulta," from the Greek "katapaltês" or "katapeltês." All of these, from French back, denote specifically the old artillery siege engines. The component "pult" is from a general root meaning "throw." A "palton" was a missle and "paltos" meant "hurled." This same root gives us the Latin "pultare" = "to hit" and the modern English "propulsion," "propel" and "expel." As "kata-" means "against," the word "katapultês" would literally be translated loosely as "something which throws against."
Catastrophe: "Calamity, Complete Failure or Ruin; Cataclysm, Severe Geological Changes." Literally, catastrophe" means "turning down" or a "downturn." This comes to us from French, who derived it from the Latin "catastropha," which comes from the Greek "katastrophe" = "overturning; subjugation, reduction; end, close, conclusion." It had a particular meaning in drama, where it represented the final act or ending. It still retains its theatrical meaning today. It is a composite of "kata-," which implies a downward direction or motion or hostile influence, and "strophe" = "turning."
Catastrophic: "Of or Related to a Catastrophe." There is a particular useage of the word to denote an illness or medical problems which are particularly damaging financially. See "catastrophe."
Catastrophism: "The Theory that Geological Changes are Produced by Cataclysm instead of Gradual Change." See "catastrophe."
Catastrophist: "One Who Holds the Theory of Catastrophism." See "catastrophe."
Catch-22: "An Impossible Situation." This term originated in the work of fiction, "Catch-22," by Joseph Heller. The phrase described a particular "catch" in military rules. The first rule was that a pilot could be grounded if he was considered crazy, but he had to ask for that grounding. The "catch" was the rule that anyone who asked to be grounded showed concern for their safety and well-being, which was the sign of a rational mind, and therefore the pilot asking such was not crazy. Heller originally wanted to use "Catch-18," but was asked to change it by his publisher. The term is now used to describe any impossible situation.
Catoptric: "Pertaining to Mirrors or Reflexion." From the Greek "katoptrikos," from "kataptron" = "mirror." See "-ic."
Catoptromancy: "Divination by Way of a Mirror." From the Greek roots "katoptron" = "mirror" and "manteia" = "mode of divination."
Catoptrophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Mirrors." From the Greek root "katoptron" = "mirror" and the suffix "-phobia." See "-phobia."
Cats: "Money." [Cont] Primarily Black vernacular, from "ducats." See "duckets."
'Cause: "Because." [Cont]
CCL: "Concealed Carry License." A permit to carry a handgun. See also "CCW."
CCW: "Concealed Carry Weapon." A legalistic designation for a concealed handgun. See "CCL."
Cf.: "Compare With." Abbreviated from the Latin "confer" = "compare."
Cha: "You." [DV] This word is most prevalent in compounds, such as "chall," "whatcha," "getcha" and "atcha."
Chal: "Child." [DV] From Black Vernacular.
Chall: "You All." [Cont][DV] For example: "What ch'all gonna do know?" and "It's like that ch'all." An example from the letters to XXL magazine reads: "I can't be mad at 'chall."
Chant: 1. "To Sing, Intone or Speak Rythmically." From the French "chanter," from the Latin "cantare" = "to sing."
Chant: 2. "A Series of Words or Syllables That Is Intoned or Sung." French, from the Latin "cantum" = "song."
Chanter: "A Sorceror, Magician." This is a Middle English definition, from the Anglo-Norman "chaunteur." See "chant," "chantress," "chantry" and "enchantment."
Chantment: "An Enchantment." Archaic, from the Old French "chantement." See "chant."
Chantress: "A Sorceress, Female Magician." As with "chanter," this is Middle English, from the Anglo-Norman "chanteresse." See "chanter."
Chantry: "Incantation." From the Middle English "chaunterie," from the Old French "chanterie." See "chant" and also "chanter."
Chapbook: "Booklet." Chapbooks were originally small reprints or excerpts of books, often illicitly without royalties paid to the authors. They were called "chapbooks" because they were sold by peddlars, or "chapmen." See "chapman."
Chapman: "Merchant, Peddler." Middle English, from the Anglo-Saxon forms "ceapman" and "ciepemann," both from "ciepa" = "merchant, trader." It is undoubtedly connected to its Indo-European cousin, the Latin "caupo." See also "cheap."
Charlie, Cholly: "White Guy." A Black vernacular nickname, generally pejorative, for white guts, based on the high number of White men named "Charlie," similar to other ethnic slurs, such as "Dago" based on the commonality of "Diego." It is sometimes slurred to "Cholly," showing the AAVE dropping of the "r" sound.
Cheap: "Inexpensive." This word developed as an adjective late in it's history. The original form of "cheap" was a noun and meant "bargain" or "something obtained cheaply." This useage is still current in England but not America. It derives from the Middle English "chep(e)" = "bargain," from the Anglo-Saxon "ceap" = "purchase, sale." It is closely related to to the German "Kauf" = "a purchase," and also to such words as "chapman," "keep," "capture," etc., all thought to be from a Proto-Indo-European root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Cheddah, Cheddar: "Money." See "cheese."
Cheese: "Money." This is sort of like the British use of "bread" for "money." The term comes from the government's practice of doling out cheese as welfare. By this theory, welfare money is likened to "government cheese."
Chicken: "Penis, Cock." Heard most often in the idiom "choking the chicken" = "masturbating." This is an extension of the idea of a penis as a "cock." See "cock."
Chickenhead: "A Stupid Person, Idiot; A Stupid Woman; A Woman that Plays Men for Money; A Woman Who Gives Head." This word has various uses, and it is uncertain if one etymology could apply to all uses. The current usage in Black Vernacular slang is a woman who gives head or one who plays men for money. The implication is that a woman would be using sexual favours or enticements to string along a man and get his money. Various glossaries hold that the word derived from the similarity of the up-and-down motion of a woman's head during sex and the motion of a chicken's head when it walks. This etymology is probably untrue. More likely, it refered to somebody with the intelligence of a chicken. Black Vernacular does hold to it being a female. Geneva Smitherman defines "chickenhead," in Black Talk, as "Lightheaded, dumb female."
The word appears in 1968 in the science fiction story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick. In the story, the word is used to describe people of substandard intelligence due to radiation. "He had been a speial now for over a year, and not merely in regards to the genes he carried. Worse still, he had failed to pass the minimum mental faculties test, which made him in common parlance a chickenhead."
Chigger: "Chinese Nigger." A derogatory word used to refer to ethnic Chinese who adopt African-American "gangsta" rap style. It is apparently based on wigger, meaning "white nigger." See also "wigger," "jigger" and "korigger."
Chill: "Relax." A slang word derived from the variant ideas of "cool," as in "cooling off," "cooling down," being cool," etc. See also "chilling."
Chillaxin: "Relaxing." A slang composite of "chillin" and "relaxin."
Chillin': "Being Cool." See "chill."
Cholly: "White Guy." See "Charlie."
Chronic, Kronik: Ebonic term for chronic marijuana smoker, later applied to the marijuana itself. The term comes from medical terminology, chronic versus acute.
Chu: (pn) "You." [DV] For example, there is the title "What Chu Want" by Da Brat. The word is often compounded with other words, as in "whatchu" and "meetchu."
Cleptophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Stealing, Theives or Loss by Theft." A variant of "kleptophobia." From the Greek root "klepto" = "to steal" and the suffix "-phobia." See "-phobia."
CMA: "Covered My Ass; Covering My Ass." An internet abbreviation.
CMIIW: "Correct Me If I'm Wrong." An internet abbreviation.
CNP: "Continued Next Post." An internet abbreviation.
Cobweb: "Spider's Web." This comes from the Middle English form "copweb." This comes from the Middle English word "coppe" = "spider." This is related to the Middle Dutch "koppe" = "spider" and Low German "kobbe" = "spider."
Cock: 1. "Male Chicken." There were many Middle English forms of this word, including "coc," "cock," and "cok." These derive from the Anglo-Saxon versions "coc" and "cocc." Its ultimate etymology is uncertain, though there is an Old French word "coc" and also an Old Norse word "kokr" both with the same meaning. The word is ometimes used in compounds to designate the male of a bird species, as in "peacock" = "male peafowl."
Cock: 2. "Penis." The word "cock" in this useage is a euphemism for "male chicken." The connection between "penis" and "cock" goes back to at least ancient Greece, if not linguistically. We see many Greek talismanic statues that consist of a cock or a cock's head with a penis for a beak. See "cock" above. See also "chicken" and "pecker."
Cock: 3. "To Ready the Firing Mechanism of a Gun." This term is derived from the old appellation of the matchlock hammer, which resembled a chicken-head and was called a "cock." See "cock" 1.
Coffeeholic, Coffeholic: "Caffiene Addict, Excessive Coffee Drinker." Modelled after "alcoholic," an improper but extremely descriptive construction substituting "coffee" for part of, but not all of the component "alcohol" in "alcoholic."
Coffin Nail: "Cigarette." A name given to cigarettes both because of their shape and size (approximating a nail) and the fact that they are known to cause all manner of deadly illnesses.
Communis: "Growing in Common, General." Botanical Latin. The Latin "communis" = "shared together, common to several or all" from "com-" = "together" and "munus" ="function." This should be interepreted as "sharing common functions" and describes a connected, multi-stemmed, plant system, as in a group of plants connected by stolons or rhizomes. It is seen in such binomial designations as "Phragmites communis," "Commelina communis" and "Juniperus communis."
Concubinacy: "Concubinage." An archaic form.
Concubinage: "Cohabitation of Unmarried Persons." From the Old French "concubinage." See "concubine."
Concubinal: "Related to Concubinage or a Concubine." See "concubinage" and "concubine."
Concubinarian: "Concubinary." Another form, with both adjective and substantif meanings. See "concubinary."
Concubinary: "Related to Concubinage or a Concubine; One Living in Concubinage." See "concubinage" and "concubine."
Concubine: "A Woman Who Cohabits with a Man She is Not Married To." It also has an archaic form meaning "male paramour." Concubine came to Middle English from Old French, which got it from the Latin "concubina," which in turn is based on "concumbo" = "to lie with, have sex with." Other Latin form of note are "concubinus" = "one who lives in concubinage," "concubitus" = "sexual intercourse" and "concubinatus" = "cohabitation without marriage."
Concubitus: "Sexual Intercourse." From the Latin "concubitus" of the same meaning. Its intermediary steps are uncertain. See "concubine."
Concupiscence: "Lust, Irregular Desire." This retained the same form from Old French through Middle English. The Old French comes from "concupiscentia" from the Latin "concupiscens," from the root "cupio" = "to desire." We also know this root from "cupid" and his arrows.
Concupiscent: "Libidinous, Lecherous." See "concupiscence."
Concupiscential: "Of or Related to Concupiscence." See "concupiscence."
Concupiscentios: "Concupiscent." An archaic form. See "concupiscent."
Concupiscible: "Concupiscient, Lustful." See "concupiscent" and "concupiscence."
Cond: "Condition."
Congrats, Congratz: "Congratulations." [Cont]
Convesatin: "Conversing." [DV] This is more the spoken form of the more regularly spelled "conversating." See "conversating." The r is rarely pronounced, as I hear it, but I have only seen this form written in a web posting of Wu Tang Clan lyrics.
Conversating, Conversatin: "Conversing." [DV] Common in Black Vernacular. I had originally only made an entry as "convesatin'," in which I commented that I heard in almost daily speech, but had yet to see in any print form. I first spotted a form on a gospel e-list, where a member said "it is one of the things that botha me bout conversating with you..." This led me to search the web. I found that this form is quite widespread, along with he form "conversatin." See "convesatin." Someone summed it up on a message board: "If I state an opinion and someone responds to my post then I am only guilty of doing what all you other morons do which is a little thing called conversating. Maybe you've heard of it." Their opponent in the debate chose to ignore the vernacular, responding: "THAT is not conversing you little maggot!" The first poster responded in kind, ignoring the subtle correction: "Whether or not you think arguing is not conversating is your opinion." Somebody with a really badly designed website once wrote that they "seriously hate conversating with people who talk about things like how they sexually arouse themselves." A web search even showed it turning up in the Yeshiva University website, the Berkley website, along with numerous other college and university sites. One online article reporting abuses of the English language wrote: "Mike saw a TV interview with a woman following the crash of American flight 587, who told the reporter that she was in LaGuardia Airport "conversating" when the plane went down in Queens. I can find no such word in my dictionary."
Convo: "Conversation." [cont] As in "I didn't hear the convo."
Coochie, Cootchie, Coochie-Coo, Hooch, Hoochy, Hootchy, Hootchie, Hootchie-Coo, Hootchie-Cootchie, etc.: "Pussy, Sex." Both in the sense of the female parts themselves and as in having sex, or "getting some..." The word is derived from an older form "couchee," meaning a "bed-time visit." It is derived from the French "couche," past participle of "coucher" = "to lay down." and is similar to such archaic English words as "couchant" = "lying down," "couch-fellow," = "bed-fellow" and the modern "couch" as a place to lie down (from the French "couche.") and the verb form meaning "to lie down." A "hoochie-momma" is a sexually promiscuous female in Black Vernacular. "The hootchy-cootchy" is a dance where the woman rotates her hips in a sexually suggestive manner. See also "cooch."
Cooch: "Sexual Dance." Derived from "coochie." See "coochie." It also appears as an adjective modifier as in "cooch dance." This is the origin and older version of the term "couch dance."
Cop, Copp: 1. "Steal, Obtain." Popular in such phrases as "cop a feel" and "cop some dope." The variant with a doubled final p is Ebonic, where final consonants are often doubled. For instance, it was seen in an ad reading "You might wanna copp this." The word derives from the same root as "capture," "keep," "coupon," "chapman," etc. It is often thought to derive from the Latin "capere" = "to sieze, grasp," through the Old French "capere." It seems equally probable that it derives from the Anglo-Saxon "copian" = "to plunder, steal." Both etymologies would ultimately lead back to the same Proto-Indo-European origin, the theoretical root "*kap" = "to grasp."
Cop: 2. "Police Officer." It is usually agreed that the etymology of "cop" = "police officer" is not related to the word "cop" = "steal." However, all that we know for sure is that "cop" is, in this instance, a shortened form of "copper." It is not sure what "copper" was meant to signify. Many theories have been put forth, including copper badges, buttons, etc. This etymology is strained, by any account. There is a high probability that the word "copper" is simply a noun form of "cop," derived from the meaning "capture" as in the Latin "capere." By this etymology, we derive "cop" as one who "captures."
Cop: 3. "To Have Sex With." Contracted from "copulate."
Copious: "Abundant." From the French "copieux," which, along with the Iberian "copioso," derives from the Latin "copiosus" = "being in abundance," from "copia" = "abundance, supply, stock." The ultimate root is thought to be a Proto-Indo-European "*kap" = "to grasp."
Copr-, Copro-: "Shit, Shit Related." This takes the form of "copro-" before a consonant and "copr-" before a vowel. It derives from the Greek "kopr-" and "kopro-," combining forms of "kopros" = "excrement, dung."
Coprastasophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Constipation." A variant of "coprostasophobia." See "coprostasophobia."
Copremesis: "The Condition of Being so Constipated that One Vomits One's Own Excrement." From the Greek roots "kopros" (see "copr-") and "emesis" = "vomiting"
Copremia, Copræmia: "Blood Poisoning from Fecal Contamination." Combines the roots "copro-" (See "copr-") and "aima" = "blood."
Coprolagnia: "Sexual Pleasure Derived from Handling or Smelling Excrement; Sexual Activity Involving Excrement." From Greek root "kopros" (see "copr-") and "lagneia" = "coition, intercourse."
Coprolalia: "Pathological, Uncontrolable Indecency of Language; Also Sexual Gratification from Indecnt Language." Usually associated with tourettes syndrome. It combines "copro-" (See "copr-) with "lalia," from the Greek "laleo" = "talk, chatter, prattle."
Coprolite: "Fossilized Shit." See "copr-" and "-lite."
Coprology: "Scatology; the Study of Pornography in Art and Literature." Combines "copro-" with "-ology," implying either the study of (literally) shit or (metaphorically) filth. See "copr-" and "-ology."
Coprophageous: "Feeding on Excrement." From the Greek "coprophagos" of the same meaning. See "copr-."
Coprophilia: "Attraction to Excrement; Preoccupation With Obscenity or Fondness for Pornography." This is a combination of the roots "copro-" and "-philia," literally translating to "loving shit." Both roots are Greek. In it's secondary sense, only a metaphorical "filth" is implied. See "copr-" and "-philia."
Coprophiliac: "A Sexual Deviant with an Abnormal Interest in Excrement." See "coprophilia."
Coprophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Excrement." See "copr-" and "-phobia."
Coprostasis: "Constipation." Combines the roots "copro-" (see "copr-") and "-stasis" meaning "stoppage" from the Greek "stasis" = "standing still."
Coprostasophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Constipation." Combines "coprostasis" with "-phobia." See entries for each."
Cor Blimey: General Expletive. Primarily British use. Derived from "God blind me" or "God blight me," depening on who you ask. It is also seen as "Gor blimey" or just "blimey."
Cotton-Picking: A general adjective of abuse, the word comes from the noun "cotton picker," which was generally a racist term meaning someone of the lowest social stature. It refered to the cotton picking duties of slaves. We have Bugs Bunny to thank for the term "cotton-picking" as an adjective, or at least its popularity. It was first recorded in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it may, of course, be older.
Coulda': "Could Have." [Cont]
Coupla: "Couple Of." [Cont] For example "...did a coupla tracks..."
Coz: "Because." [Cont][DV] Popular in Southern Dialect and Black Vernacular among other dialects. See also "cuz" and "becoz."
Cracker, Cracka, Craka, Kraka, Kracka, Krackah: 1. "White Person." A pejortive against White people, thought to be refering to whip cracking slave drivers. Other etymologies, such as "corn cracker" have been suggested. Public Enemy wrote a song about miscegenation called "Pollywanacraka." See "crackery" and "cracker barrel."
Cracker: 2. "One Who Cracks Computer Security Codes." A computer jargon term, distinct from "hacker." The etymology should be evident from the definition.
Cracker Barrel: This phrase resembles "white bread," in its modern meaning. Originally, "cracker barrel" meant conversing like one would at the general store, i.e., gossipy. It has been adapted into Black Vernacular in comparison to the term "cracker" (see above) It was trademarked as a brand name of a cheddar cheese, which adds the connotation of "cheesy."
Crackery: "Pertaining to white folk." See "cracker."
Crackers: British Slang denoting insanity, from "cracked." Note the progression from "He's cracked!" to "He's gone crackers!" which are both essentially the same sentence.
Crack-Ho: "Crack-Using Junky Prostitute." Self explainitory, someone who prostitutes for money to get crack. See "ho."
Crackitute: "Crack-Using Junky Prostitute." An interminglung of "crack" and "prostitute."
-cracy: "Rule By." From the the French "-cratie," from the Latin "-cratia," from the Greek "krateo" = "to rule, hold sway."
Craft: "Skilled Trade; A Special Art or Skill; Cunning, Art or Skill; Skill or Dexterity in Deception." Craft originally meant "power" or "strength," a meaning which still survives in the German "Kraft" = "strength, power." Its development into meaning "skill" is akin to our use of the term "strength" in the sense of "English is his strong point, but math is his weakness." All of the current meanings, however, did exist in the Anglo-Saxon version "cræ:ft," but are secondary to the meaning of "strength." An additional meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word, which was lost over time was that of "courage." An important meaning of the word was its association with deception, trickery and magic. A "cræ:ft" could mean a "curse," "hex," "fraud" or "deceit." Even in earlier modern English, "to craft" is an obsolete word meaning "to deceive." "Crafty" still carries the meaning of "deceitful." The first entry in the American Heritage 4th ed. is "Skilled in or marked by underhandedness, deviousness, or deception."
"Craft" has many cognates across the Germanic spectrum, mostly meaning "strength, power." It existed in Old Saxon as "craft." Old Frisian as "kreft," Dutch as "kracht," Old High German as "kraft," "khraft," "chraft," "hcraft," "craft," "cheraft," "chrapt" and "crhaft," Old Norse as "kraptr," Icelandic as "krafr" and Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and New High German as "kraft." The word has many possible cognates throughout the Indo-European spectrum. There is a thread of words for "strong" through the Slavic tongues, for instance, the Serbo-Croatian "krepak," the Polish "krzepski" and the Russian "krepkij." Greek has "kratos" = "strong, mighty." These connections cannot, however, be established for certain.
-craft: "Skill At; Trade Of." From "craft."
Craftsman: "One Who Practices a Craft or Trade." From the Middle English "craftmon." In Anglo-Saxon, this would have been two separate words. See "craft."
Crafty: "Skilled, Clever; Deceitful." Middle English "crafti" and "crefti," from the Anglo-Saxon "cræ:ftig," akin to the Old High German "chreftig." The Anglo-Saxon "cræ:ftig," however, generally meant "powerful." The modern meaning took over in Middle English. See more details under "craft."
Cream: "Money." An acronym meaning "cash rules everything around me," from a Wu Tang Clan song. It is now popular in Rap culture.
Crib: "Room, Apartment, Home." A Black Vernacula term for place of living, like the British "flat." It generally denotes a place where one sleeps, as in a baby's crib.
Cru: "Crew." [DV] Though pronounced the same as "crew," this spelling appears in Black Vernacular. It is similar in connotation to "posse." See also "krew."
Crunk: "Worked Up; 'Heavy'; Cool, 'Phat'." From Black Vernacular. This is a formation of "cranked," as in "cranked up," which can have either reference to wind-up toys or methamphetamine. As a word formation, it may be compared to such dialectical versions as "brung" and "thunk."
Cryptogam: "A Non-Flowering, Spore Reproducing Plant," or, a plant of the cryptogamia division. From the Greek roots "crypto" = "hidden" and "gam" = "marriage." See "agamic" and "gamic."
CU: "See You." A phonetic abbreviation. Popular in internet use.
Cuck: "to Shit, Void Excrement." Basically from the same IE root as "caco-" and "cack." This word came into English from the Scandinavian "kuka" = "feces."
Cuckle: "To Commit Adultery." A non-standard variant from "cukoldize." See "cuckold."
Cuckold: "A Man Married to an Unfaithful Wife." This word ultimately derives from the habits of the female cuckoo bird, which lays its eggs in the nest of others so as to trick them into caring for them. The word is akin to sayiong that one has been "cuckooed" by his wife. The word has various Middle English forms, such as "cokewold," "cukeweald," "cukeweld" and "kukewald." All of these forms are trisyllabic. They are all developments of the Old French "cucuault" = "cuckold," after the Latin "cuculus" = "cuckoo." See also "wittol."
Culcha: "Culture." [DV] Mostly Jamaican. It refers primarily to rastafarian culture. See also "kulcha."
Cum: "Come, Orgasm; Semen." "Cum" and its derivatives "cumming," etc. are recent derivations of the word "come." This spelling has only come into useage within the last few decades. The word "come," used in relation to sexual orgasm can be traced back to at least 1650, when the word "came" is seen used in this context. Interestingly, German uses "kommen" = "to come" in the same context.
Cupidity: "Passionate Carnal Desire; Avarice, Greed." From the French "cupidite" = "cupidity, desire," from the Latin "cupiditas" = "desire, passion" from "cupio" = "to desire."
Cupido: "Sexual Desire, Lust." This word is unadulterated Latin. It isn't common in English, but sometimes appears, as in Kraft-Ebbing's 1938 classic Psychopathia Sexualis.
Curse: 1. "To Call Evil Misfortune On Someone or Something; A Calling of Evil Misfortune." Middle English, from the Anglo-Saxon "curs" of the same meaning.
Curse: 2. "To Swear, Use Foul Language; A Word Considered Foul Language." From "curse" 1, when religious curses, such as "damn" and vain uses of "God" and "Jesus" were considered the height of foul language.
Cuss: "To Curse, Swear." A Black Vernacular permutation. See "curse."
Cussin: "Cursing, Swearing." A Black Vernacular permutation. See "cuss."
Cut the Cheese: "To Fart." From the stench of certain "stinky cheeses" and the manner in which the smell is released when they are cut.
Cuz, Cuzz: 1. "Because." [Cont][DV] Popular in Southern Dialect and Black Vernacular among other dialects. For example: "I do it cuz I wanna" or "not cuz I need to." See also "coz" and "becuz.
Cuz, Cuzz: 2. "Cousin," contracted. It connotes a good friend, as in "Yo cuz, wassup?"
C-ya!: "See Ya!" See "c."
Cymophobia: "An Irrational Fear of Waves." Also "kymophobia." From the Greek "kumo-" a combining form of "kuma" = "wave" and the suffix "-phobia." See "-phobia."

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