rat hunter
n.— «Rat hunter. Delirium tremens patient who imagines he sees hundreds of rats.» —“Hospital Workers’ Slang and Jargon” by Hospital Workers in New York City. Also, Virginia and Arkansas. in New York City Lexicon of Trade Jargon , 1938-39. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A listener in Newport News, Virginia, says that sometimes, just for fun, he answers the phone with a homophonous I’m here to hear. You have my ear! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Homophonous Phone Greeting: I’m Here to Hear, You...
The Merriam-Webster.com dictionary now includes an entry for TL;DR, also rendered as TLDR. It’s a speedy way of dismissing overlong text or introducing a shortened version of something. This useful locution also inspired AI;DR, short for AI;didn’t...