See handbags at dawn on Wiktionary
{ "etymology_text": "1980s UK. Jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase \"handbagging\" meaning \"a verbal dressing-down\", in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch “The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor” (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.", "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "-", "head": "handbags at dawn" }, "expansion": "handbags at dawn (uncountable)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "senses": [ { "categories": [ { "kind": "other", "name": "British English", "parents": [], "source": "w" } ], "derived": [ { "_dis1": "88 12", "word": "handbags" } ], "glosses": [ "A catty squabble." ], "id": "en-handbags_at_dawn-en-noun-zRpFdFuE", "links": [ [ "humorous", "humorous" ], [ "catty", "catty" ], [ "squabble", "squabble" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(British, humorous, idiomatic) A catty squabble." ], "related": [ { "_dis1": "93 7", "word": "the handbags come out" } ], "tags": [ "British", "humorous", "idiomatic", "uncountable" ] }, { "categories": [ { "kind": "other", "name": "New Zealand English", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "_dis": "25 75", "kind": "other", "name": "English entries with incorrect language header", "parents": [ "Entries with incorrect language header", "Entry maintenance" ], "source": "w+disamb" }, { "_dis": "15 85", "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with 1 entry", "parents": [], "source": "w+disamb" }, { "_dis": "11 89", "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with entries", "parents": [], "source": "w+disamb" } ], "glosses": [ "Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; looking threatening but not really doing any damage." ], "id": "en-handbags_at_dawn-en-noun-XgBtCbL3", "raw_glosses": [ "(New Zealand, informal) Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; looking threatening but not really doing any damage." ], "tags": [ "New-Zealand", "informal", "uncountable" ] } ], "sounds": [ { "audio": "en-au-handbags at dawn.ogg", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/12/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg" } ], "wikipedia": [ "Margaret Thatcher", "Monty Python" ], "word": "handbags at dawn" }
{ "categories": [ "English entries with incorrect language header", "English lemmas", "English multiword terms", "English nouns", "English uncountable nouns", "Pages with 1 entry", "Pages with entries" ], "derived": [ { "word": "handbags" } ], "etymology_text": "1980s UK. Jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase \"handbagging\" meaning \"a verbal dressing-down\", in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch “The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor” (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.", "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "-", "head": "handbags at dawn" }, "expansion": "handbags at dawn (uncountable)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "related": [ { "word": "the handbags come out" } ], "senses": [ { "categories": [ "British English", "English humorous terms", "English idioms" ], "glosses": [ "A catty squabble." ], "links": [ [ "humorous", "humorous" ], [ "catty", "catty" ], [ "squabble", "squabble" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(British, humorous, idiomatic) A catty squabble." ], "tags": [ "British", "humorous", "idiomatic", "uncountable" ] }, { "categories": [ "English informal terms", "New Zealand English" ], "glosses": [ "Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; looking threatening but not really doing any damage." ], "raw_glosses": [ "(New Zealand, informal) Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; looking threatening but not really doing any damage." ], "tags": [ "New-Zealand", "informal", "uncountable" ] } ], "sounds": [ { "audio": "en-au-handbags at dawn.ogg", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/12/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/En-au-handbags_at_dawn.ogg" } ], "wikipedia": [ "Margaret Thatcher", "Monty Python" ], "word": "handbags at dawn" }
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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