Time has done a number on the English language. Not so long ago, a slur was just mud and being nice meant that you didn't actually know what was going on. But over the years, even some of the most common words we use have done complete 360s. With The Encyclopedia of Modern Meanings, word-lovers can rediscover definitions long-forgotten, including: Thrift, n. personal wealth; Loose, v. to release an arrow; Manufacture, v. to make by hand; Doom, n. a law, judgment, or decree; and, Bimbo, n. tough guy, man's man.