R.I.F., more stuff

David K. Barnhart dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM
Sun Mar 8 15:29:20 UTC 2009


RIF appears in MW3 as a n.  MW2 does not have RIF.



As a verb it does not appear to have been recognized by dictionary editors.

MW11 (+ n.)

RHDU (+ n.)

RHWC (+ n.)

OED (+ n. on-line edition [eq = 1966])

NOAD (- n.)

WNW (+ n.)

AHD (- n.)

Encarta (-n.)

WBD (+ n.)

TBCDD [Thorndike Barnhart Comprehensive Desk, the first dictionary with
Sputnik) (- n.)

Dictionary of United States Military Terms For Joint Usage (w/Nato glossary
section) (1964) (- n.)

Dictionary of United States Army Terms (TM 20-205, 18 January 1944) (-n.)

United States Air Force Dictionary (Air University Press, 1956) (+ n.)

--all are minus the verb function.



Dickson, Paul. War Slang (New York: Pocket Books, 1994) has an entry for
riff, v., meaning "to let go before retirement" in the section for Vietnam
War (p 286).

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