axle tooth

axle teeth (plural)
axeltooth (alternative)
assiltooth (alternative)
axill tooth (alternative)

From Middle English axyltothe, of North Germanic origin, from axyl, from Old Norse jaxl (“a jaw-tooth, grinder”) + Middle English tothe (“tooth”). Cognate with Scots assletuith, asseltuith (“molar, axletooth”). Compare also Danish axeltand (“molar, axletooth”), Swedish oxeltand (“molar, axletooth”).

[…] to loose an axill tooth or an eye, the death of some speciall friend: to dream of bloody teeth, the death of the dreamer […]

1607, Thomas Walkington, The optick glasse of humors:

Many Women would rather endure the Tooth-ach, than their blackness, which not withstanding the Commonalty regard not: yet such a marcour came upon Metrodorus his sons gums, that both his axle teeth, and also his gums, fell out.

1657, Jean de Renou, translated by Richard Tomlinson, A medicinal dispensatory, translation of original in French:

Cynodentes, are those Teeth betwixt the Axel Teeth and the Grinders, called Canini, Columellares, and Oculares, Eye-Teeth, as we say.

1702, Stephen Blancard, The Physical Dictionary:

When the Muscles contract in Length, they swell in Thickness, as may be perceived by laying the Finger upon the Masseter or Muscle of the lower-Jaw, and pressing the Grinders or Axel-teeth together […]

1738, Henry Bracken, Farriery Improv'd: or, a Compleat treatise upon the art of farriery:

The Lamperts in a horse's mouth are known by every person; they are flaps that many do not understand, they are pieces of loose skin that grow in the wicks of their mouths, adjoining the axel teeth, and when they are eating hay or corn, it is apt to get betwixt them, which makes their mouth fore, and they are afraid of eating.

1790, J. Cundall, The School of Arts; Or New Book of Useful Knowledge:

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A molar tooth; molar.


banky

en-adj

banky (comparative more banky, superlative most banky)

more banky (comparative)
most banky (superlative)

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Hilly; sloping.


beclart

en-verb

beclart (third-person singular simple present beclarts, present participle beclarting, simple past and past participle beclarted)

beclarts (present singular third-person)
beclarting (participle present)
beclarted (participle past)
beclarted (past)

From Middle English biclarten, equivalent to be- + clart. Cognate with Scots beclairt (“to soil, splash or cover with filth”).

cog

(transitive, UK dialectal) To besmear; bedaub; bemire; smear all over with dirt.


boat train

In 1906 the cross-channel service was inaugurated between Fishguard and Rosslare Harbour. For this the Great Southern & Western Railway built two boat trains of corridor stock, with a restaurant car (57½ ft. in length), to run between Rosslare and Cork.

1943 July and August, “Restaurant-Car Services in Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 210:

With extra traffic, numerous boat trains to and from Southampton Docks, and working of empty stock, his job, like that of most signalmen, is no sinecure.

1954 September, 'South Western', “Shawford Junction Signalbox”, in Railway Magazine, page 604:

In January BR were attacked by three of the country's major shipping companies for the poor standards of boat train services run from Tilbury and Southampton Docks.

1964 March, “News and Comment: Stormy passage for BR boat trains”, in Modern Railways, page 153:

(UK, Ireland, travel, rail transport) A travel service with a train timed to arrive at a ferry port in time for the onward travel by ferry (or vice versa). Alternatively, a service scheduled to connect with the arrival or departure of an ocean liner.


buddy film

buddy films (plural)
buddy movie (alternative)

(UK) A film where two people of the same sex are paired as the principal characters.


black-jack

en-noun

black-jack (countable and uncountable, plural black-jacks)

(uncountable, obsolete, mineralogy, UK) Sphalerite; zincblende.


arseling

From Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings.

inh

arselings (alternative)
arselong (alternative)

(UK dialectal, especially Scotland, East Anglia) Backwards.


arselong

Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings.

arseling (alternative)
arselings (alternative)

Heave they did, all unopposed, and tumbled arselong when the bar came about. Even as they rolled and cursed, the whistling petered; [...]

(UK dialectal) Backwards; on one's arse.


oddlings

I tell'd 'em t' oddlings on 't.

(UK, Yorkshire, dialect, archaic) The particulars, as leading to a certain outcome.


dush

en-verb

dush (third-person singular simple present dushes, present participle dushing, simple past and past participle dushed)

dushes (present singular third-person)
dushing (participle present)
dushed (participle past)
dushed (past)
doush (alternative Scotland)
duish (alternative Scotland)
doist (alternative Scotland)
doose (alternative Scotland)
doosht (alternative Scotland)

From Middle English dusshen, duschen, perhaps from Old English dwǣsċan (“to put out, extinguish, destroy”) (see Middle English adweschen). Cognate with Middle Low German duschen, German dialectal duschen (“to beat, butt”). Compare also West Frisian dúste (“to push, thrust, poke”).

cog

(transitive, UK dialectal) To strike or push violently; (of an animal) to strike with the horns; butt.

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To fall violently; dash down; move with violence.


durgan

From Middle English *dwerghen, *dwerghin, diminutive of dwergh (“dwarf”), equivalent to dwarf + -en.

(UK, dialectal) A dwarf; any undersized creature.


scraber

(UK, dialect, Hebrides) The black guillemot.


barling

From Middle English *barling, diminutive of Middle English bar, bor (“boar”), equivalent to boar + -ling. Compare Scots bar, bare, bair (“boar”).

(UK dialectal) The smallest pig in a litter; runt.


barling

From Middle English barling, berling, from Old Norse berlingr (“bar, pole”) (found in berlings-áss (“bar, beam, plank, rail”)), a diminutive derived from Proto-Germanic *barō (“beam, bar, barrier”); equivalent to bar + -ling. Cognate with Swedish bärling (“pole, bar”).

der

A tripod can be formed of three hop poles or barlings. The former can be laid in depths up to 2^ metres and the latter in depths up to about 5 metres at low water if the tidal range does not exceed about 3 metres.

1970, Admiralty Manual of Hydrographic Surveying - Volume 2

[...] one pair of fetters, one pair of couplings, 2 barlings [poles], 2s 6d; one saddle, one bridle, one panel, 12s; one corn hutch and 1 chaff bin, 6s 8d; one plough, one pair of harness and one coulter, 2 plough sha-[rest torn] with chains, 14s.

1981, Ann Hughes, W. R. Owens, Seventeenth-century England, a Changing Culture:

On shallow waters they moved upstream using small barlings; [...]

2005, V. D. Golubchikova, Z. Í. Khvtísíashvílí, E. R. Akbalʹi︠a︡n, Severnai︠a︡ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡:

(rare or UK dialectal, Scotland) A pole; (carpentry) the cross rafter of a roof.


welshnut

welshnuts (plural)
Welshnut (alternative)
Welsh-nut (alternative)

From Middle English walsh-note, from Old English wealhhnutu (“walnut”, literally “Welsh-nut”), equivalent to Welsh + nut.

inh

[…] Our tongues do run, O, / Enough to stun, O, / Your head wi' glee by the welshnut tree.

1879, William Barnes, “The Welshnut Tree”, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, page 85:

A wife, a whelp and a Welshnut tree / The more you beat 'em, the better they be.

1912, Country Life, volume 31, page 313:

(UK dialects, West Country, Dorset, Somerset, dated) A walnut (nut or tree).


post-fine

(UK, law, obsolete) A duty paid to the king by the cognizee in a fine of lands, when the same was fully passed; the king's silver.


misregardful

en-adj

misregardful (comparative more misregardful, superlative most misregardful)

more misregardful (comparative)
most misregardful (superlative)

(UK dialectal) Heedless; unmindful; neglectful; uncaring.


duck hawk

duck hawks (plural)
duck-hawk (alternative)


over the odds

Connected with gambling, such as horse racing and card games, where the amount for a price or a payoff depends on the odds (chances).

If you wait til next week, you'll find yourself paying over the odds for the tickets.

This might look like another of those dotcom deals, where a wealthy corporate giant pays over the odds for a business with big user numbers but no concrete business plan.

2013 October 15, Rory Cellan-Jones, “Supercell: Europe’s supercharged games success”, in BBC News:

(UK, informal) More than necessary; too much.


swiftie

Near-synonym: swift half

A bar and clubhouse will be in place at Tallaght for the big kick-off in 2001. Until then there is a modest bar at the Morton Stadium, but Rovers fans tend to have a swiftie at various spots in town before heading to the match.

2000 November, “Dublin”, in Peterjon Cresswell, Simon Evans, edited by Dan Goldstein, The Rough Guide to European Football: A Fans’ Handbook 2000–2001, London: Rough Guides Ltd, →ISBN, page 331:

‘I thought we’d go to Cuba.’ He says it like he’s suggesting we go down the road to the local pub for a swiftie.

2008, Carole Matthews, All You Need Is Love, London: Headline Review, →ISBN, page 79:

(UK, Ireland, informal) An alcoholic drink that is consumed quickly.


common of shack

It's no good exception to a Witness that he hath common per cause of Vicinage in the Lands in question, because its but an excuse of Trespass, and no interest[…]The same of common of Shacke

(UK, law) The right of persons occupying lands lying together in the same common field to turn out their cattle to range in it after harvest.


counter-roll

From counter- + roll; compare control and comptroller.

It consists in making a counter roll, […]or transcript of the annual or Great Roll of the Pipe of the preceding year

1830, George Price, A Treatise on the law of the Exchequer:

(UK, law, obsolete) A duplicate roll (record or account) kept by an officer as a check upon another officer's roll.


portgreve

From Latin portgrevius, from Old English portgerēfa, from port + gerēfa (“reeve”).


frood

frood (comparative frooder or more frood, superlative froodest or most frood)

frooder (comparative)
more frood (comparative)
froodest (superlative)
most frood (superlative)
frewd (alternative)

From Middle English *frood, *frode, *frod, from Old English frōd (“wise, prudent; experienced, old”), from Proto-Germanic *frōdaz (“wise, clever”), from Proto-Indo-European *pret- (“to understand”). Cognate with North Frisian frod, Saterland Frisian frod, Dutch vroed (“wise, knowing”), Swedish frod (“wise, experienced, mature”), Icelandic fróður (“knowledgeable”), Lithuanian prõtas (“mind, reason, understanding”).

cog

To the north of the Airfield the Rabbit Hills still retain heathland vegetation on the sandy soils and are probably the site of the 'frood' warren mentioned in an old survey, being at the time an important source of food.

1973, Stanley Price, George Ruffhead, Newton-on-Ouse Local History Group, Three Yorkshire villages:

(UK dialectal, Northern England) Shrewd; sagacious; wary; cautious.


Starfish site

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Starfish site.wav

Wartime code name derived from the initials SF for special fire.

(UK, historical, World War II) Any of the decoy cities built in the British countryside and set on fire during nearby bombing raids to divert German bombers away from their intended targets.


spane

en-verb

spane (third-person singular simple present spanes, present participle spaning, simple past and past participle spaned)

spanes (present singular third-person)
spaning (participle present)
spaned (participle past)
spaned (past)
spean (alternative)
spain (alternative)

From Middle English spanen, probably from Middle Dutch spanen, spenen or Middle Low German spānen, spēnen, spōnen (“to wean”), ultimately from the merger of Proto-West Germanic *spanōn and *spannjan, from Proto-Germanic *spanōną and *spanjaną (“to wean”), from Proto-Germanic *spanō, *spenô (“teat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn (“breast; teat”). Cognate with Dutch spenen (“to wean”), German spänen (“to wean”), Old French espanir (“to wean”) (from Germanic).

der

to spane a child

For quotations using this term, see Citations:spane.

(obsolete, UK, dialect) To wean; to spean.


tiddle

en-verb

tiddle (third-person singular simple present tiddles, present participle tiddling, simple past and past participle tiddled)

tiddles (present singular third-person)
tiddling (participle present)
tiddled (participle past)
tiddled (past)

(transitive, obsolete or UK dialect) To treat tenderly; to pet; to nurse a young animal by hand.

(intransitive, obsolete or UK dialect) To potter about; to do something idly.

Is it a tiger who needed to tiddle?
A wandering wombat who needed to widdle?
A waddling penguin too frozen to piddle?

2007, Jeanne Willis, Who's in the Bathroom?:


undertide

undertides (plural)
underntide (alternative)

From Old English underntid, equivalent to undern + tide.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-undertide.wav

(obsolete) Synonym of undern: originally terce and the morning, later (UK dialect obsolete) noon and the early afternoon.


licensed victualler

en-noun

licensed victualler (plural licensed victuallers)

(British) A person who has a licence to sell alcoholic liquor either on or off the premises; a publican


sport one's oak

en-verb

sport one's oak (third-person singular simple present sports one's oak, present participle sporting one's oak, simple past and past participle sported one's oak)

sports one's oak (present singular third-person)
sporting one's oak (participle present)
sported one's oak (participle past)
sported one's oak (past)
sport the oak (alternative)

From sport (“(archaic) to close or shut (a door)”) and oak (“outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college (especially of the University of Cambridge or University of Oxford) or similar institution, especially one made of oak wood”). Compare French trouver visage de bois (“to find no one at home”, literally “to find a wooden face (that is, the door)”).

noncog

For arguing that a man will be plucked take the Topics following: for among men likely to be plucked [i.e., rejected after failing an examination for a degree] are these for the most part. […] He that sporteth not his oak.

1835, Scriblerus Redivivus [pseudonym; Edward Caswall], “Topics Concerning Pluck”, in A New Art Teaching How to be Plucked, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: J. Vincent, →OCLC, pages 34–35:

One day that he had been writing a letter in Mr. Smalls' rooms, which were on the ground-floor, Verdant congratulated himself that his own rooms were on the third floor, and were thus removed from the possibility of his friends, when he had sported his oak, being able to get through his window to "chaff" him; but he soon discovered that rooms upstairs had also objectionable points in their private character, and were not altogether such eligible apartments as he had at first anticipated.

1853, Cuthbert Bede [pseudonym; Edward Bradley], “Mr. Verdant Green’s Sports and Pastimes”, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, London: Nathaniel Cooke, […], →OCLC, page 104:

My rooms are pleasant enough,[…], and separated from all mankind by a great, iron-clamped, outer door, my oak, which I sport when I go out, or want to be quiet; […]

1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “St. Ambrose’s College”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 11:

The custom of sporting one's oak, which is so popular an institution in the English Universities, is destined apparently to become an exotic in Cambridge. […] In England, to sport the oak is considered an act eminently proper and commendable; but we seem to think it is a habit destructive of our college freedom. If a visitor obtains no response to his tenth kick, cannot he take the hint that his company is not desirable at present and move off quietly, without informing the occupant of the said room that he knows he is there, and that he cannot see the reason why he is refused admittance.

1871 December 8, Auspex [pseudonym], “Sporting the Oak”, in The Harvard Advocate, volume XII, number V, Cambridge, Mass.: Editors of The Harvard Advocate, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 71:

"Goodness gracious," I exclaimed, "why didn't we sport the oak? Perhaps it is your father. But surely he would hardly come at this time of day! Go at once into my bedroom."

1873–1884 (date written), Samuel Butler, chapter LXX, in R[ichard] A[lexander] Streatfeild, editor, The Way of All Flesh, London: Grant Richards, published 1903, →OCLC, page 317:

Blankets were served out to hang in the front of the cubicle [in Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica], in case the inhabitants wanted at any time to "sport their oak."

1909, E[rnest] H[enry] Shackleton, “First Days in Winter Quarters”, in The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907–1909 […], volume I, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 143:

The man who now occupied my room had sported his oak—my oak. I read the name on the visiting-card attached thereto—E. J. Craddock—and went in.

1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, chapter XII, in Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC, page 194:

[H]e recreated something like Balliol on the prairies. He brewed tea each afternoon on his "spirit lamp" (sold at the student co-op as an alcohol burner), kept Scotch-type whisky in his cupboard, "tutored" with a Jewish boy from Brooklyn (actually the boy ghosted all his science and math work), and "sported the oak" when, as Clem conjectured later, he required a session of masturbation to the tune of Beardsley illustrations.

1961, R[onald] V[erlin] Cassill, chapter 4, in Clem Anderson, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 123:

Mrs. Biggs let herself into Zipser's room and sported the oak. She had no intention of being disturbed.

1974, Tom Sharpe, chapter 9, in Porterhouse Blue, 1st American edition, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, page 95:

'And I'd feel particularly vulnerable, if I was on the ground floor like you.' / 'You could sport your oak, I suppose. But sporting your oak is said not to be quite the thing. It's felt not to be on, sporting your oak.'

1975, J[ohn] I[nnes] M[ackintosh] Stewart, chapter III, in Young Pattullo […] (A Staircase in Surrey; 2), London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 76:

We were turned at a slight angle to each other, our shoulders touching and I put my hand on his crotch. Miles seemed to be expecting it. He chuckled, took a pair of compasses and jammed them into the door above the latch. This was called ‘sporting the oak’ and was the recognized way of locking oneself in. Over the next eighteen months we sported our oaks with great frequency.

1984, Hallam Tennyson, “Needful Parts”, in The Haunted Mind: An Autobiography, London: André Deutsch, →ISBN, page 46:

sport timber

[[Inn of Court|Inns of Court]], obsolete

(intransitive, originally and chiefly British, university slang, dated) To close one's door (originally the outer door of one's set of rooms in a college) as an indication that visitors are not welcome.

sulkea ovi

to close one’s door as an indication that visitors are not welcome


two-line whip

(British) A directive from an MP's superiors to attend a vote.


single-line whip

en-noun

single-line whip (plural single-line whips)

(British) A non-binding indication, given to an MP by the MP's superiors, of when a vote is expected to take place, and what outcome the MP's party would like.


Wazza

(UK, Australia) A diminutive of the male given name Warren.


give a stuff

en-verb

give a stuff (third-person singular simple present gives a stuff, present participle giving a stuff, simple past gave a stuff, past participle given a stuff)

gives a stuff (present singular third-person)
giving a stuff (participle present)
gave a stuff (past)
given a stuff (participle past)

(slang, UK, Australia, chiefly in the negative) To care about something; to give a damn.


mental case

(UK, slang, somewhat derogatory) An insane person; a nutcase.


hydrocoele

Hypercorrect spelling of hydrocele, from Latin hydrocele, from Greek ὑδροκήλη, from ὑδρο- ‘water’ + κήλη ‘tumour’.

(chiefly British, hypercorrect) Alternative spelling of hydrocele.


shand

From Middle English shande, schande, schonde, from Old English sċeand, sċand (“shame, disgrace, infamy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skandu, from Proto-Germanic *skandō (“shame, disgrace”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“to cover, hide, conceal”).
Cognate with Dutch schande (“shame, disgrace, reproach, dishonour, scandal”), German Schande (“shame, disgrace, ignominity, dishonour”). Related to shame, shend. Doublet of shanda and shonda.

cog

(UK dialectal, Scotland) Base coin; one with mixed metals.


shand

en-adj

shand (comparative more shand, superlative most shand)

more shand (comparative)
most shand (superlative)
shond (alternative)


blogorrhoea

Daniel respected Gupta's business acumen, but in the unlikely event that his software ever became conscious, the sheer cruelty of having forced it to wade through the endless tides of blogorrhoea would surely see it turn on its creator and exact a revenge that made The Terminator look like a picnic.

2009, Greg Egan, Crystal Nights and Other Stories, Subterranean Press, →ISBN, page 48:

Andrew Bolt has been in the grips of blogorrhoea since hackers broke into the Climatic Research Unit's server at the University of East Anglia, releasing thousands of emails revealing what could politely be called a lack of consensus on global warming.

2009 November 23, James Jeffrey, “Warming to his theme”, in The Australian:

So I need to digitise my “me-ness”, thus making my witless podshout and blogorrhoea uniquely monetisable.

2009 August 22, Giles Coren, “Newspapers, dead? Better monetise me now”, in The Times, UK:

(UK, Australia) Alternative spelling of blogorrhea.


thickie

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) a dimwit or idiot


piepowder

piepowders (plural)
piepoudre (alternative)

From the following:
* Late Middle English pe-poudre, pipouder (“(noun) itinerant; travelling merchant, peddler; court of piepowders; (adverb) summarily”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman pepoudrous, pié poudrous (“having dusty feet; an itinerant”) [and other forms] (compare Middle French pyé pouldreux (“travelling merchant”) (Poitou) (modern French pied poudreux (“one who cannot pay”) (obsolete))), from pé, pié (“foot”) + poudrous, poudrus (“dusty”); pié is derived from Old French pié (“foot”) (modern French pied), from Latin pedem, the accusative singular of pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to stumble; to fall”); while poudrous, poudrus (modern French poudreux (“dusty”)) is from Old French poudre (“dust; powder”) (from Latin pulverem, the accusative singular of pulvis (“dust; powder”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust; flour”)) + -ous (a variant of -us (suffix forming adjectives)); and
* Late Middle English pe-poudrus, pypoudrus (“for itinerants or travelling merchants”, adjective), from pe-poudre (see above).
Cognates
Late Latin pede pulvericatus, pede-pulverosus, pes pulverizatus (“itinerant; travelling merchant”)

nb...

pepouderous, pepoudres, pepoudrous, pepowder, pipoudre, pipoudrous, pipowder, pypowder

col

Cognates

(British, law, historical) In full court of piepowders (also court of piepowder) or piepowder court: an ancient court in England held in conjunction with a fair or a market to administer summary justice over occurrences therein such as disputes between merchants and acts of theft and violence; they were presided over by the mayor and bailiffs of the borough, or by the steward if the fair or market was held by a lord.


my head's a shed

(UK, slang) I am confused, stressed, mentally disoriented, etc.


passported

From passport + -ed, since one benefit is a metaphorical "passport" to the other.

Free school meals are a passported benefit: children are eligible for these meals if their parents are receiving Income Support or certain other benefits.

(UK, of a benefit) For which one is automatically eligible if receiving certain other benefits.


mizzly

en-adj

mizzly (comparative more mizzly, superlative most mizzly)

more mizzly (comparative)
most mizzly (superlative)
misly (alternative)

From mizzle (noun) + -y (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense ‘behaving like, or having natures typical of [the nouns]’).

suffix

suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense ‘behaving like, or having natures typical of 􂀿the nouns􂁀’

As late as it was, yet Rolt and Harris would go home to-night, and walked it, though I had a bed for them; and it proved, dark, and a misly night, and very windy.

1667 February 3 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “January 24th, 1666–1667”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 146:

A mizzly, drizzly rain set in before the poor people got home that evening with the body of Clayton Nowell.

1865 May – 1866 August, Richard Doddridge Blackmore, chapter XXII, in Cradock Nowell: A Tale of the New Forest. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1866, →OCLC, page 211:

Today is a very mizzly day. Damp in the air, but not actually raining. That's the worst for driving trains in the leaf fall season.

2021 December 15, Paul Clifton, “There is Nothing You can Do: A Scotrail Driver”, in Rail, number 946, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 35–36:

(British, chiefly dialectal) Raining in the form of mizzle (“misty rain; drizzle”); drizzly.

tihkuinen

raining in the form of mizzle — see also drizzly


goldin

(UK, dialect, archaic) The golding, or corn marigold.


highgate

highgates (plural)
he-gate (alternative)
heigait (alternative)

From Middle English hiȝe gate, heiȝe gate, heie gate, equivalent to high + gate (“way, road, path”).


ribby

en-adj

ribby (comparative more ribby, superlative most ribby)

more ribby (comparative)
most ribby (superlative)

Darbishire glanced at the first manuscript. "This one’s pretty ribby for a kick-off. It’s Binns’ famous effort.”

1952, Anthony Buckeridge, Jennings and Darbishire:


great go

en-noun

great go (plural great gos or great goes)

great gos (plural)
great goes (plural)
great-go (alternative)

Though for Great Go and for Small, I teach Paley, cram and all.

Yes, Mr. Lowe has been plucked for his Great Go.

(UK, university slang, dated) The final examination for a degree.


little go

little go (plural little gos or little goes)

little gos (plural)
little goes (plural)
little-go (alternative)

(UK, university slang, dated) The preliminary examination for a degree.


bollock naked

(UK, vulgar, emphatic) Not wearing clothes.


'low

en-verb

'low (third-person singular simple present 'lows, present participle 'lowing, simple past and past participle 'lowed)

'lows (present singular third-person)
'lowing (participle present)
'lowed (participle past)
'lowed (past)

But louing well, and meaning not amisse, / He lowde him scope, without suspect of ill, / To come and goe, to vse the house as hys, / A perfect showe of very great good wyll.

1587 (edition of 1837), George Turberville, Tragical Tales: And Other Poems, page 139

[…] and so with - drew / That freedome from her lookes (least they should 'low / More then her heart might meane) as they reflect / A narrower and a carefuller aspect.

1609 (edition of 1885), Samuel Daniel, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose, page 320

It be time I got in a word, I 'low.

1900 June, Windsor Magazine, section 64:

The Stranger: They call Los Angeles the City of Angels. I didn’t find it to be that exactly. Though I'll 'low there are some nice folks there.

(US, UK, dialectal or colloquial) To allow; to acknowledge or admit.


lerky

She raced wildly at lerky with the other young wild-cats of the Bottoms.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 4”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(UK, Nottinghamshire) A variation of the kick the can game.


Poll

From Polly, by rhyming with Molly, from Mary.

(UK, slang, obsolete) A disreputable woman.


on the club

Then he crept up the stone stairs behind the drapery shop at the Co-op., and peeped in the reading-room. Usually one or two men were there, either old, useless fellows, or colliers "on the club".

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 5”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(UK, slang) Temporarily away from work, usually due to sickness, supported by sickness benefit.


by a long chalk

/ˌbaɪ‿ə ˌlɒŋ ˈt͡ʃɔːk/

/ˌbaɪ‿ə ˌlɔŋ ˈt͡ʃɔk/

A reference to the practice of writing the scores of games on boards using chalk.

[A]s regards the body of water discharged, the absolute payments made into the sea's exchequer, and the majesty of column riding downwards from the Himalaya, I believe that, since Sir Alexander Burnes's measurements, the Indus ranks foremost by a long chalk.

1854, Thomas De Quincey, “System of the Heavens as Revealed by Lord Rosse’s Telescopes”, in Miscellanies: Chiefly Narrative (De Quincey’s Works; III), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, footnote *, page 171:

Bowring was a man of few words; he said, "Blaze away, my boy." And I tried to. But it was no use; I had got out of the style; my writing was too literary by a long chalk.

1891, George Gissing, “The Lonely Man”, in New Grub Street […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 82–83:

The world's a stage, they say; but the show ain't always amusing, by a long chalk, and sometimes I wish I didn't have a reserved seat.

1906, Edith Van Dyne [pseudonym: Lyman Frank Baum], “The Other Niece”, in Aunt Jane’s Nieces, Chicago, Ill.: The Reilly & Britton Co., →OCLC, page 153:

"My boy, remember you're taking your life in your hands," said Mrs. Morel. "Nothing is as bad as a marriage that's a hopeless failure. Mine was bad enough, God knows, and ought to teach you something; but it might have been worse by a long chalk."

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Death in the Family”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 132:

He [Mohamed Salah] is, by a long chalk, the world's favourite living Egyptian, and [has] been heralded as a role model in his adopted city of Liverpool.

2021 October 25, Magdy Samaan, “Mohamed Salah added to school curriculum in Egypt”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-11-30:

(British, Australia, informal) To a great extent; by far.


on the blanket

(historical, UK, Ireland) Wearing a blanket instead of prison clothes (as a protest by political prisoners who wanted to distinguish themselves from criminals).


scrattle

scrattle (third-person singular simple present scrattles, present participle scrattling, simple past and past participle scrattled)

scrattles (present singular third-person)
scrattling (participle present)
scrattled (participle past)
scrattled (past)


chimley

"Mr. Gibbs come in just now," said Mrs. Blewett, "and left his ticket over the chimley. There 'tis. I haven't touched it."

1899, The Leisure Hour: An Illustrated Magazine for Home Reading:

‘She bloodywell must believe in Santa Claus the way she hangs round that chimley.’

1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 106:

(UK, dialect, New England, Appalachia, Caribbean) Alternative form of chimney.


English as apple pie

(UK, simile) Having characteristics considered quintessential to English or British life.


dandy-horse

dandy-horses (plural)
dandy horse (alternative)

In 1817 and in 1818, France and Germany both claimed they had come up with the first mechanism for a bike. It was a piece of wood with a wheel at one end and a wheel at the other, and you walked it along. In England, they called it a dandy horse.

1998 November 29, Eric Epstein, “A Passion for Old Bicycles Spun Into a Museum”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-05-31:

Because these riders preferred smooth pavements to rough roads, they tended to travel on pavements and on park footpaths, where inevitable collisions with pedestrians resulted in such practices being outlawed. The dandy horse went out of fashion nearly as quickly as it came in.

2015, Chris Boardman, The Biography of the Modern Bike: The Ultimate History of Bike Design, Hachette, →ISBN, page 10:

(UK, historical) A two-wheeled foot-propelled vehicle with no pedals or brakes; a draisienne.


sound as a pound

(UK, informal) wholesome; reliable; in good condition


bishy barnabee

On finding a ladybird, a girl would place it on the back of her hand and gently blow it away after reciting the rhyme:
Bishy, bishy Barnabee
Tell me when my wedding will be, […]

“Bishies...bishy barnabees, them's called hereabouts. Some say the name is ladybird, but them's more likely to be eaten by a bird.”

2010, Clodagh Chapman, Very Curious and Capricious Agent, page 14:

(dialectal, Norfolk, UK, archaic) A ladybird.


IGMC

No probs, although I dunno why you'd want to go in there in the first place...bunch of weirdos in there....whaddya mean I've been seen there? Ah..erm...IGMC.

1999, [TAA]GreyJackal, “Quake2.uk.ng ... Hello...anyone there?”, in uk.games.computer.quake2 (Usenet):

The Indian brave [1] inherited a wigwam. This left him in a bit of a quandary. Which to use? His old Tepee, or his new Wigwam? He was sorely vexed by his dilemma, so much so that he couldn't get to sleep. He went to see the medicine man. "I know what your problem is" said the medicine man "Your two tents" IGMC

2002, No Sheds, “Native American Corner...”, in uk.rec.humour (Usenet):

As no-one else seems to have pointed it out, I will. LICENCE is perfectly good English spelling. In England we tend to use LICENSING and LICENCE wheras^([sic]) LICENSE is regarded as an Americanism. IGMC.

2012, Mike Brown, “Radio mic frequency.”, in uk.tech.broadcast (Usenet):

I'll get my coat
I'll get my coat#English

(Internet slang, UK, humorous) Initialism of I'll get my coat (“admission that one has embarrassed oneself and should leave”).


comprint

comprint (third-person singular simple present comprints, present participle comprinting, simple past and past participle comprinted)

comprints (present singular third-person)
comprinting (participle present)
comprinted (participle past)
comprinted (past)

After the wars, the University Printers did, for some time, continue to comprint privileged books at Oxford, as well as those at London, but soon after came to their former agreement, but for lower payments.

1781, John Gutch, Collectanea Curiosa, page 280:

Aug. 24 [1671, letter of] Dr. Thomas Yates to Sir Leoline Jenkyns. [...] My endeavour is to place our power of printing here on the same foot that the late King's great charter doth; that is, upon our prescription and usage, which if we can, then we have a right before all patents of restraint and reservation of the sole printing of some books, and then we shall not be restrained by the patents granted to the King's printers, the Stationers, and others, but shall be at liberty to comprint with them all their books, which is all we shall desire, for we are resolved to print better and with more care than those that now print, and to sell cheaper, which is the proper and best use we can make of such a privilege.

1895, Mary Anne Everett Green, Francis Henry Blackburne Daniell, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles II, Volume 11, page 445:

Proclaiming himself the trade's equivalent to Luther, he [Elizabethan printer John Wolfe] and a band of colleagues began systematically to comprint patented books.

2009, Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making, page 256:

And in 1685, the Bishop of Oxford, John Fell, similarly noted that authors granted copyrights to booksellers. Writing to John Bellinger, one of the Wardens of the Company, the Bishop stated that the University of Oxford would not 'comprint the Books that the Company have in their Patents, or belong by way of Coppyright from the Authors of Books'.

2017, Jose Bellido, Landmark Cases in Intellectual Property Law, page 52:

(UK, law, obsolete) To reprint without permission a work belonging to another.


pepper-pot

pepper-pot (third-person singular simple present pepper-pots, present participle pepper-potting, simple past and past participle pepper-potted)

pepper-pots (present singular third-person)
pepper-potting (participle present)
pepper-potted (participle past)
pepper-potted (past)

In a government office not so long ago, we read an understandable petition from Europeans asking that these 'pepper-potted' people be removed, or they were going to move.

1982, Hans Mol, The fixed and the fickle: religion and identity in New Zealand, page 70:

Although these would be of a maximum of 12 houses, he would prefer to pepper-pot rather than create the risk of "mini ghettos".

1997, Institute of Housing (Great Britain), Housing (volume 33, page 22)

Residential surveyors also say pepper-potting reduces the marketability of a house.

2008, Barry Goodchild, Homes, Cities and Neighbourhoods, page 222:

(UK, New Zealand) To intersperse privately-owned houses and social housing.


white heat

en-noun

white heat (countable and uncountable, plural white heats)

Wilson's white-heat strategy continued down the same path; its potency as a vote winner in its own right offset by the attention ministers themselves gave to modernising rhetoric.

1997 June 30, Kevin Jefferys, Retreat from New Jerusalem: British Politics, 1951-64, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 194:

The Internet revolution had been one of the trends which for all Blair's white-heat futurology he had underestimated in Opposition.

2013 June 20, John Rentoul, Tony Blair: Prime Minister, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

We had moved from being the party of ‘white heat’ to the party of sepia-tinged nostalgia. We had become a party squabbling over its own past, rather than one focused on the future of the country.

2021 September 23, Peter Walker, quoting Keir Starmer, “Keir Starmer’s words – and what they mean for Labour”, in The Guardian:

(UK, politics) A strategy for economic growth through technological development, especially associated with the government of Harold Wilson.


nickable

en-adj

nickable (comparative more nickable, superlative most nickable)

more nickable (comparative)
most nickable (superlative)

Meanwhile, the trade will have to make them [laptops] much, much cheaper, without compromising the screen: even at £500 a time they would be too nickable to walk home from school with.

2007, Libby Purves, A Little Learning, page 65:


astro-boffin

Perhaps while confirming the diminution of Pluto's status, the astro-boffins might like to consider a name change for the U-planet.

2006 August 19, Jonathan Green, “Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em”, in The Age:

Space travel turns into a journey to hell. 'I created the Event Horizon to reach the stars!' burbles Sam Neill's astro-boffin. 'But she's gone much further than that - to a dimension of pure chaos, pure evil!'

2007 March 25, Mark Kermode, “2007: a scorching new space odyssey”, in The Observer:

'The birth of new galaxies' - I'll produce unlimited copy, that'll leave the entire astro-boffin community scratching their heads in disbelief as they're forced to re-evaluate the whole time/space continuum...

2008 April 10, Andy McNab, “Let's make-up”, in 4men:

(UK, Australia, informal) An expert in a field relating to the stars, especially astronomy.


the full shilling

It served her well, as her husband Bill, a small, quiet man, sustained shell-shock in the war and although pleasant, was not the full shilling. Whenever he wandered over to me to start a conversation I would always feel very uncomfortable.

2006, Chris Sullivan, Broad Soldiers: Tom Grove Goes Naked, page 39:

She shook her head, sighing deeply. 'There are times when I wonder is he the full shilling at all?[…]

2008, Geraldine O'Neill, Tara's Destiny:

(UK, Ireland, chiefly in the negative) In control of one's mental faculties; sane; all there.


Rosebud

(British, historical) A member of the most junior division of the Girl Guides Association, now called a Brownie.


wersh

wersh (comparative wersher, superlative wershest)

wersher (comparative)
wershest (superlative)
warsh (alternative)
werche (alternative)

(UK dialectal, Scotland) Insipid; tasteless; delicate; having a pale and sickly look.


Hookey Walker

UK early 19th century. Etymology unknown.

unk

Etymology unknown

(UK, archaic, slang) Expressing scornful rejection or disbelief.


liberty taker

Jimmy: Oh, all right, all right. How much?
Ferdy: Quid.
Jimmy: You're a fucking liberty taker.

(UK, colloquial) a person who takes liberties; a disrespectful person.


slack Alice

(colloquial, UK, chiefly North Country and Yorkshire) A slovenly woman.


drinamyl

There I found a selection of slimming pills, and without thinking I swallowed several of the drinamyl tablets.

2000, J. G. Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 125:

(pharmacology, UK) A stimulant made from dextroamphetamine and amobarbital.


ECML

East Coast Main Line
w:East Coast Main Line

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of East Coast Main Line.


WCML

West Coast Main Line
w:West Coast Main Line

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of West Coast Main Line.


GWR

Great Western Railway
w:Great Western Railway

(UK, rail transport, historical) Initialism of Great Western Railway.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
w:Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.


smittle

en-verb

smittle (third-person singular simple present smittles, present participle smittling, simple past and past participle smittled)

smittles (present singular third-person)
smittling (participle present)
smittled (participle past)
smittled (past)

Frequentative from Middle English smitten (“to smear; smudge; stain; taint”), from Old English smittian (“to defile; pollute; befoul”). Cognate with German schmitzen (“to pollute”), Danish smitte (“to infect”). Related also to smite.


fanny batter

We goes intay the chippy asks the girl for a pokeay chips. She says what? We says wer wantin a poke hen. Then we goes what kinday batters that cooked in? Fannybatter? Me mark jason total endin ourselves heh heh. Fannybatter! Check the cheek on us. Wearin ma new freshlynicked rangers top, i am the boy.

2005, Alan Bissett, The Incredible Adam Spark, ebook edition, London: Tinder Press, published 2016, →ISBN, no pagination:

Atlus, I told you last time: you and Persona aren’t welcome here again until you’ve got an actual mainline instalment for me. That means no spin-offs with experimental combat mechanics, no pachinko machines, and definitely – let me take a moment to pick the right swear word to emphasise this – no fannybatter-fried dancing sims!

2024 February 14th, Benjamin Richard “Yahtzee” Croshaw, “Persona 3 Reload”, in Fully Ramblomatic, Second Wind, via YouTube, 0:18–0:31:

(UK, vulgar slang) The vaginal discharge of a sexually aroused woman.


wind-up merchant

en-noun

wind-up merchant (plural wind-up merchants)

Jay: He's such a wind-up merchant.

2010, "The Gig and the Girlfriend," episode 2 of series 3 of The Inbetweeners

(UK, colloquial) One who enjoys winding others up in the sense of making fun of them or playing practical jokes.


council housing

Living in council housing made life more affordable for her family.

(UK, Ireland) Housing provided (and usually built) by the local authority at a low rent, typically intended for those on low incomes.


lubish

en-adj

lubish (comparative more lubish, superlative most lubish)

more lubish (comparative)
most lubish (superlative)
lupish (alternative)

From Middle Low German lübsch or Middle Dutch lubesch, both ("of Lübeck"). Compare German lübisch (“of Lübeck”).

(UK dialectal) Genuine; authorised; sterling.


streal

streals (plural)
strale (alternative dialectal)
streale (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English strele, stral, from Old English strǣl (“beam, ray, arrow, shaft, dart, missile”), from Proto-West Germanic *strālu (“arrow, ray, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēl- *strēlā- (“arrow, beam”). Cognate with West Frisian striel (“arrow, dart, shaft”), Dutch straal (“radius, ray, beam, stream”), German Strahl (“beam, ray, spurt”), Swedish stråle (“beam, ray”), Icelandic strjál (“arrow”), Lithuanian strėlė (“arrow, dart, jib”), Russian стрела (strela, “arrow, dart”). See also streel.

cog

With streals all wounded, with streals was I all wounded.

1896, The Scottish Review, volume 27, page 299:

(UK, Scotland) Anything thrown or cast; a missile.


unpissed

en-adj

unpissed (comparative more unpissed, superlative most unpissed)

more unpissed (comparative)
most unpissed (superlative)


Smoke

I'm heading down to the Smoke later this week.


dindle

en-verb

dindle (third-person singular simple present dindles, present participle dindling, simple past and past participle dindled)

dindles (present singular third-person)
dindling (participle present)
dindled (participle past)
dindled (past)
dinnle (alternative)
dinle (alternative)

From Middle English dyndelen (“to tinkle; tingle; tremble”), perhaps equivalent to din + -le (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Scots dinnle (“to shake; tremble; to cause to shake or tremble”), Old Scots dyndill (“to cause to resound or vibrate”). Compare dandle, din.

cog

(UK, intransitive) to shake; vibrate; tremor


arsebreath

arsebreaths (plural)
arse breath (alternative)
assbreath (alternative)
ass-breath (alternative)
ass breath (alternative)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, often vulgar, offensive) An annoying or contemptible person with bad breath.

Hey arsebreath, I am on my own site its^([sic]) only because one of your lot, Paul Crichton started this thread with a cross post that you are seeing my messages.. If you want to have a go at someone, then have a pop at that twat..

2000 January 30, Steve Crooks, “Re: Biassed referee”, in alt.sports.soccer.manchester.united (Usenet):

That you had to go to the bother of explaining what you would call humour does nothing for the way you attempted to convey it, does it, arsebreath, eh?

2005 February 10, Gloria Goitre, “Re: Don't fuck with me, boys!!”, in 24hoursupport.helpdesk (Usenet):

Tiny correction:
 It is between THE NEWSGROUP and you, arsebreath.

2007 April 22, Jos Flachs, “Re: What Are They Praying For At VTech?”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, often vulgar, offensive) Any annoying or contemptible person.


arse breath

Stop spamming to ahww or prepare to pay the price, arse breath.

1998 January 21, MozzWolF [username], “Re: Hessian Studies Center - The Jewel of L.A.”, in alt.fan.karl-malden.nose (Usenet):

Like it or not, arse breath, Wenger knows how to pick up players unknown to others and guide them to world class form.

2001 June 26, Muppet [username], “Re: Arsenal Sign Inamoto”, in alt.sports.soccer.manchester.united (Usenet):

Nothing to do with my parents, arse breath.

2008 August 7, nofarkenway [username], “Re: Labor's Grocery watch website launched”, in aus.politics (Usenet):

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, often vulgar, offensive) Alternative form of arsebreath.


bain't

"I aint afeard at all, I thank God!" said Christian strenuously. "I'm glad I bain't, for then 'twon't pain me... I don't think I be afeard—or if I be I can't help it, and I don't deserve to suffer. I wish I was not afeard at all!"

1871, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native:

"Bain't you glad that we've become gentlefolk?"

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 51:


MACOS

(US, UK, Australia, education) Man: A Course of Study. A controversial education programme in the 1970s.


wraple

en-verb

wraple (third-person singular simple present wraples, present participle wrapling, simple past and past participle wrapled)

wraples (present singular third-person)
wrapling (participle present)
wrapled (participle past)
wrapled (past)
wrapple (alternative)

It is a country of vast expanse and wonderful fertility, and its people are only now awakening from that Rip Van Winkle sleep in which all South America has been wrappled for so long a period.

1901, Revista Del Río de La Plata, volume 14, page 29:

[…] age the tightly locked can wrappled in plastic bag and containing the three hundred thousand shillings.

2001, John G. Nderitu, Nun in Tragedy, page 181:

(transitive, UK dialectal) To wrap up, entangle; warp.


warple

warple (third-person singular simple present warples, present participle warpling, simple past and past participle warpled)

warples (present singular third-person)
warpling (participle present)
warpled (participle past)
warpled (past)
warpel (alternative)

(transitive, UK dialectal) To intertwine; twist; entangle.

(transitive, UK dialectal, figuratively) To confuse.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To twist or wind around.

(transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To wrestle; tumble; wriggle.

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To stagger; go in a zig-zag course; move with difficulty; struggle through.


muryan

From Cornish moryon. Cognate with Breton merien and Welsh myrion.


geddock

From a diminutive of gade, a dialectal form of goad, equivalent to goad + -ock.

(UK dialectal, Scotland) A small staff or goad.


perfick

en-adj

perfick (comparative more perfick, superlative most perfick)

more perfick (comparative)
most perfick (superlative)

'Coming up, coming up, coming up,' Pop said. 'There you are, Charley, old man. Larkin Special. Don't ask what's in it. Don't stare at it. Don't think. Just drink it down. In ten minutes you'll feel perfick again.'

1958, H. E. Bates, The Darling Buds of May:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling


ill-scathe

Then said Geitir: "I think you have much more excuse for considering this an ill scathe than you had the last time; for the other seemed to me of little moment. [...]"

1918, “Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow - Volume 49 - Page 114”, in Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow:


seatworm

Strongyloides stercoralis
Strongyloides stercoralis#Translingual

(UK, Australia, India) Strongyloides stercoralis


NATFHE

w:National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education

(UK) Initialism of National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education.


DHSS

w:Department of Health and Social Security

(UK) Initialism of Department of Health and Social Security.


best bitter

en-noun

best bitter (countable and uncountable, plural best bitters)

(UK) A bitter ale of a strength between 4.2% and 4.7% ABV.


top and tail

en-verb

top and tail (third-person singular simple present tops and tails or top and tails, present participle topping and tailing or top and tailing, simple past and past participle topped and tailed or top and tailed)

tops and tails (present singular third-person)
top and tails (present singular third-person)
topping and tailing (participle present)
top and tailing (participle present)
topped and tailed (participle past)
topped and tailed (past)
top and tailed (participle past)
top and tailed (past)

All services to Rhymney were top and tailed by locos that had been associated with the line over the years; namely, Classes 33, 37, 47 and 50.

2018, Nicholas Wilcock, Arriva Trains Wales:

Railway Support Services repaired the damaged drawgear to enable the unit to be top-and-tailed to Peel Ports' Alexandra Dock (Liverpool) by Rail Operations Group 57310 and 57312, [...].

2021 October 6, “News in pictures: Final journey for damaged Class 507”, in RAIL, number 941, page 30, photo caption:

(transitive, rail transport, UK) To provide (a train) with a locomotive at each end, for ease of reversal.


top and tail

The Class 50s headed the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Cornwall and back to Bristol, running top and tail on the Cornish branches.

2022 May 5, Peter Green, English Electric Class 50 Diesels: From the Western Region to Preservation, Pen and Sword Transport, →ISBN, page 129:

(rail transport, UK) With a locomotive at each end.


mumruffin

(UK, dialect, Gloucestershire) long-tailed tit


priest hole

priest holes (plural)
priest's hole (alternative)

(UK) A secret compartment in a large house, used as a hiding place for priests during the times when Catholicism was forbidden.


wankette

From wank + -ette, by analogy with wanker.

Exactly. Hate her if you will, but I can't stand it when she gets lumped in with Sheryl Crow, Heather Nova, and all of the other wankettes, because, like you said... there's an element of sincerity, and I can't say it differently.

1997 February 20, Hal Phillips, “Re: The Almighty Alanis”, in alt.music.nin (Usenet):

Remember the wall to wall wankettes in navy blue pullovers, collars turned up, frosted hair and button earings^([sic]) who went to the same school that mummy did, and married a wanker who went to the same school daddy did, And who have never lived more than a mile from the house they were bought up in?

2002 December 10, Alan Brennan, “Re: State of emergency in Dunedin”, in nz.reg.dunedin.general (Usenet):

There is always one wanker or wankette who is so completely drunk that they ruin the fun for everyone else.

2009, Therese Raft, "Conception Day Do's and Don'ts", Grapeshot (Macquarie University), Issue 8, 14 September 2009, page 22

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar, derogatory) A stupid or annoying woman.


oggy

I was given them by a delightful Cornish lady who was quite taken with me and used to make the most delicious tiddy oggy pasties.

2004, Keith Heller, The Woman Who Knew Gandhi, page 81:

Miners ate oggies down the Cornish mines, and one of Henry VIII's wives wrote a letter mentioning Cornish pasties[…]

2012, Max Cryer, Curious English Words and Phrases, page 257:

(UK, dialect, Cornwall, Devon) A Cornish pasty.


oggy

Phonetic reading of OG, or OG + -y (diminutive suffix).

A more recent City centre-half scored two 'oggies' in only 5 league appearances during the early 2000s.

2012 January 31, David Collins, Gareth Bennett, Never Mind the Bluebirds: The Ultimate Cardiff City Quiz Book, The History Press, →ISBN, page 2:

'Dad, there's been an oggy!' The own goal, prized as it is, is something of a rare species at training grounds.

2019 October 17, Peter Crouch, I, Robot: How to Be a Footballer 2, Random House, →ISBN:

Euro 2024 was one own goal short of the all-time record for the most "oggies" at a single European Championship!

2024 September 26, MATCH, Match Annual 2025: The UK's Best-selling Football Annual!, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 82:


ill humour

en-noun

ill humour (countable and uncountable, plural ill humours)


blim

Last night I went out driving in my car. I sparked up a fat spliff of fucking soap bar. A blim-burn burned right down to my dick and while I was distracted I fucking crashed into a brick wall, the car was fucking battered. The bonnet flipped up and the windscreen shattered. You're better of smoking the green instead cause it don't blim-burn and it's better for your head.[…]Lying in your bed dropping blims on your pubes. Selling draw to your mates but it's really Oxo cubes.[…]Well anyway, I think it's better myself to lean forwards when smoking soap bar because you are less likely to blim-burn.

2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto, performed by Goldie Looking Chain:

Getting stoned in Afghanistan was an extreme sport, a very long way indeed from the polite blims of hash that middle-class Londoners sometimes consume at parties.

2005, James Fergusson, Kandahar Cockney, page 322:

Have those chaps nothing better to do than to bust me for a blim?

2008, Dhivan Thomas Jones, Green Eros, page 114:

It's when you get a blim of hash and get it between two really hot knives, and then honk it up through a bottle or something … I think.

2010, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Peep Show, season 7, episode 5, spoken by Dobby (Isy Suttie):

— Can anyone spair us a blim? Mags sez.

(slang, UK) A small piece of cannabis resin.


boot boy

boot boys (plural)
boot-boy (alternative)

(C19 British) A boy who cleans boots and shoes.

He's [Enda Kenny] acting like a political thug and a political boot boy in a party political fashion.

2013 June 28, Fiach Kelly, Lise Hand, Fionnan Sheahan, quoting Niall Collins, “Shatter urges ex-FF ministers to reveal contacts with Anglo”, in Irish Independent:

(1970s British slang) One of a gang of violent hooligans who usually wear short-cropped hair and bovver boots.

Among Bryan Gunn's myriad incarnations, from Alex Ferguson's babysitter through Scotland goalkeeper to Norwich manager, boot boy to Alex McLeish was one of the less successful. Once, just before a Scottish Cup final, McLeish discovered his size 10s were still in Aberdeen.

2009 March 22, Phil Shaw, “Gunn peppers Birmingham's automatic promotion hopes”, in The Guardian:

(British, soccer) A boy who cares for a footballer's boots.


bovver boy

(UK) A hooligan who creates bother (trouble), specifically a member of a skinhead gang.


bovver bird

(UK, slang) The female counterpart of a bovver boy.


fourses

fourses (usually uncountable, plural fourses)

The harvestmen who board in the farm-houses fare sumptuously during the month of harvest.— […] at eleven o'clock in the morning, and four in the afternoon, they have each a large light plum-bun, with a pint of ale a piece, carried into the field, to encourage them to work cheerfully. These extra refreshments they call, in their provincial language, their "elevenses" and "fourses." I could not at first imagine what the servants meant by talking of carrying the harvestmen their elevenses and fourses, till Mrs. Henley explained that it was a vulgar abbreviation of the four-o'clock and eleven o'clock meals.

1837 February, Anna Lee, “The Pinch of Salt”, in The Ladies’ Companion: A Monthly Magazine, Embracing Literature and the Arts, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: Published by William W. Snowdon, →OCLC, page 162, column 2:

(British, dialectal, historical) A light meal taken out to agricultural labourers in the afternoon.


narrative verdict

narrative verdict (plural narrative verdicts)

(UK) A verdict, given by a coroner, in which the cause of death is described, but not attributed to a named individual.


data controller

data controller (plural data controllers)

(UK, law) A nominated person who determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data is to be processed. (under the Data Protection Act)


self-certification

self-certification (countable and uncountable, plural self-certifications)

(UK) The act of an employee certifying their absence from work due to sickness, and the eligibility for statutory sick pay.


RUSI

Royal United Services Institute
w:Royal United Services Institute

(UK, sciences) Initialism of Royal United Services Institute.


still got one's communion money

Implying that the person still has the small monetary gift they were given for their First Communion in their youth.


resizeable

en-adj

resizeable (comparative more resizeable, superlative most resizeable)

more resizeable (comparative)
most resizeable (superlative)

(computing, UK) Alternative form of resizable.


re-sizeable

re-sizeable (comparative more re-sizeable, superlative most re-sizeable)

more re-sizeable (comparative)
most re-sizeable (superlative)

(computing, formal, UK) Alternative form of resizable.


Nikon choir

Nikon choirs (plural)
Nikon chorus (alternative)

From Nikon (a brand of camera often used by professional photographers) + choir. The brand Nikon, which dates from 1946, is a blend of Japanese 日本光学 (Nippon Kōgaku, “Japan Optical”) (from 日本光学工業株式会社 (Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha, “Japan Optical Industries Corporation”)) and Ikon, a camera brand owned by Carl Zeiss AG.

And with television, radio, the "Nikon choir" of photographers and 10 daily newspapers in London, there's plenty to manipulate. The Chuck and Di show opened to smash reviews and, 10 years later, has evolved into a thriving industry.

1991 July 28, Roxanne Roberts, “State of the union, ten years after”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 2016-08-25, page F01:

[A]fter drinking vodka and cranberry juice at the Pangaea nightclub in the West End, he came out at to be confronted by the "Nikon choir" of paparazzi.

2004 October 24, “Harry: ‘Spare heir’ with a tendency to snap”, in The Times of India (reprinted from The Sunday Times, London), retrieved 31 August 2016

Fortunately, the Royal baby has sensible parents. […] I congratulate them on how they managed to arrive at St Mary's hospital without the Nikon Choir outside getting sight of them.

2013 July 23, Michael Cole, “Thinking of the late Princess Diana as her first grandchild is born”, in East Anglian Daily Times, archived from the original on 2016-08-31:

(chiefly British, idiomatic) A large group of photographers simultaneously capturing images of a celebrity, producing numerous photographic flashes along with an accompanying din of clicking camera shutters.


breakdown lorry

en-noun

breakdown lorry (plural breakdown lorries)


breakdown truck

breakdown truck (plural breakdown trucks)


sit upon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sit upon.wav


War

Preceded by the: designating a particularly notable war.

(chiefly British, informal) World War II.


hygge

Borrowed from Danish hygge or Norwegian Nynorsk hygge.

According to this now vast popular literature, the creation of an atmosphere of hygge is aided by gløgg (mulled wine), meatballs and cardamom buns.

2016 November 22, Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian:

(chiefly UK) Cosiness, comfort, contentment, conviviality.


hygge

‘So, where are they all? What's everyone doing?’
‘They're getting hygge,’ she tells me, making a noise that sounds a little like she has something stuck in her throat.

2015, Helen Russell, The Year of Living Danishly, Icon Books Ltd, →ISBN:


battels

Every boy had a shilling a week pocket-money, which we called battels, and which was advanced to us out of the pocket of the second master. On one awful day the second master announced to me that my battels would be stopped.

1880, Anthony Trollope, “My Education”, in An Autobiography, volume 1, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1883, page 13:

(obsolete, UK, school slang) A small sum of money given to pupils.


earn one's crust

en-verb

earn one's crust (third-person singular simple present earns one's crust, present participle earning one's crust, simple past and past participle earned one's crust or earnt one's crust)

earns one's crust (present singular third-person)
earning one's crust (participle present)
earned one's crust (participle past)
earned one's crust (past)
earnt one's crust (participle past)
earnt one's crust (past)
earn a crust (alternative)

Their substitutes featured two players from League One clubs and Miller, who earns his crust these days with Vancouver Whitecaps.

2013 August 14, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:

(UK, idiomatic) To earn money, to do something as a job.


back of the net

From the position of the ball when a goal is scored in football.

Alan Partridge: My girlfriend's thirty-three. I'm forty-seven. She's fourteen years younger than me. Back of the net!

(British, colloquial) A smug expression of triumph or happiness.


fullam

fullam (plural)
fullams (plural)
fullan (alternative)
fullom (alternative)
fulham (alternative)

From Fulham, a London suburb, which during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I was the most notorious place for blacklegs in all of England. Loaded dice were supposed to have been chiefly made there.

Captaine, you perceiue how neere both of vs are driuen, the dice of late are growen as melancholy as a dog, high men and low men both prosper alike, langrets, fullams, and all the whole fellowshippe of them will not affoord a man his dinner, some other means must be inuented to preuent imminent extremitie.

1594, Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller:

Let vultures gripe thy guts! For gourd and fullam holds / And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.

a. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 3:

Who! he serve? 'sblood, he keeps high men, and low-men, he! he has a fair living at Fullam.

1599, Ben Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour, act 3, scene 1:

(archaic, UK, slang) A false die; a die intentionally loaded, or unevenly weighted, so that it always rolls a specific number.

(archaic, UK, colloquial, by extension) A sham; a hoax; a make-believe.


ice cream van

ice cream vans (plural)
ice-cream van (alternative)
icecream van (alternative)

(Australia, UK) A vehicle from which ice cream is sold at the roadside, mostly to children.


zero-hour contract

en-noun

zero-hour contract (plural zero-hour contracts)

zero-hour contracts (plural)
zero-hours contract (alternative)

But being on a zero-hour contract meant there was no way to defend himself when things took a turn for the worse.

2017 March 27, Martin Williams, “The bullying and fear at the heart of zero-hour contracts”, in The Guardian:

(UK) A contract of employment that creates an on-call arrangement in which the employee agrees to be available for work as and when required, without any particular number of hours or times of work being specified or guaranteed.


forbyland

From forby + land, or perhaps from for- (“fore-”) + byland (“a side or adjoining piece of land”).

prefix

(UK dialectal, Northern England) A tract of arable land lying outside a common field.


rough music

Seventeen villagers of Lincolnshire have been fined for ‘rantanning’ […] the ‘rough music’ of kettle and pan, in which the rustic moralist conveys his sense of outraged propriety.

Apart from making presentments in the Church courts, villagers had many informal ways of expressing their disapproval of the way a married couple comported themselves: by playing ‘rough music’ under their window, for example […]

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 507:

The most common form of punishment was ‘rough music’, or charivari, as it was known in southern Europe, where the villagers made a rumpus outside the house of the guilty person until he or she appeared and surrendered to the crowd, who would then subject him or her to public shame or even violent punishment.

1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society, published 2013, page 108:

People suspected of adultery, whoredom, or the like could expect to be awakened in their beds by their peers, making ‘rough music’ outside by clanging pots and pans.

2012, Eric Berkowitz, Sex and Punishment, Westbourne Press, published 2013, page 203:

(UK, now historical) Improvised noise created by banging saucepans, scrap metal etc., especially as a way for communities to express outrage or displeasure at someone's behaviour.


mouth-friend

(obsolete, UK) A superficially friendly person, who is otherwise not a friend.


Mondeo Man

After the Ford Mondeo, a family car, popularised by a phrase used by Tony Blair at the Labour Party conference in 1996, though the vehicle Blair mentioned was actually a Ford Sierra.

(UK) A stereotypical male identified as the sort of voter the Labour Party needed to attract to win the 1997 election.


farty

en-adj

farty (comparative fartier, superlative fartiest)

fartier (comparative)
fartiest (superlative)

If the bloody basic bill wasn't bad enough, he discovered all the ironing services she had charged to the room, and she had just wasted another fifteen quid on coffee and farty little chocolate truffles[…]

2008, Milly Johnson, The Birds and the Bees:

(chiefly British, informal) Small and insignificant; petty.


Imbolc

Uncertain; common explanations include the following:
* From Old Irish i mbolg (“in the belly”), referring to pregnant ewes.
* From Old Irish imb-fholc (“to cleanse or wash oneself”), referring to a ritual cleansing.
* Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to milk; milk”), though the connection between the milking of animals and the festival is not clear. Some descendants of this root have meanings related to cleansing (for example, Persian مالیدن (mâlidan, “to rub, smear”), Sanskrit मर्जति (marjati, “to clean, wipe”)), so the root could also have the sense of purification.

noncog

[T]hat the ancient Irish, at some remote period, did divide the year into the three seasons of Samh, summer, Gamh, winter, and Imbolc, spring (omitting the Foghmhar, or autumn), is quite evident from the fact, that Cormac Mac Cuileannain and the other old glossarists, explain Samhain, or November eve, by Samh, summer, and fuin, the end; that is, the end of Samh, or summer.

1862 June 10, Eugene O’Curry, “Lecture XXX. [Of Music and Musical Instruments in Ancient Erinn.]”, in W. K. Sullivan, editor, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. A Series of Lectures, volume III (Lectures, Vol. II), London, Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate; Dublin: W. B. Kelly; New York, N.Y.: Scribner, Welford, & Co., published 1873, →OCLC, page 217:

Invite, but never command, friendly spirits, faeries, or elementals to join you as you wish. In some traditons it is common to invite ancestors to join you, especially during the dark days from Samhain to Imbolg when it is believed that the portal between our dimensions is at its thinnest.

1994, Edain McCoy, “Appendix Three: Outline for Ritual Construction”, in A Witch’s Guide to Faery Folk: How to Work with the Elemental World: […], St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, published 2004 (13th printing), →ISBN, page 354:

In the Celtic world many celebrations were built around the ancient calendar of events or great feasts. The four great feasts of the year were Samhain (1st November), Imbolg (1st February), Bealtaine (1st May) and Lughnasa (1st August). Notice that each of the feasts begins each of the four seasons of the year – winter, spring, summer and autumn.

2002, Liam Lawton, “How Can I Repay the Lord”, in Song of My People, Dublin: Veritas Publications, →ISBN, page 28:

The Festival of Imbolc commences on February eve, or January 31, and usually concludes on February 2. Imbolc has three major associations: the veneration of fire and water, the quickening of new life in the womb, and the lactation of ewes. The association of Imbolc with fire comes from its place as the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.

2007, Judy Ann Nock, “Season Three: Imbolc: First Light in the Dark of Winter”, in The Provenance Press Guide to the Wiccan Year: Spells, Rituals, Holiday Celebrations, Avon, Mass.: Provenance Press, Adams Media, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:

Never leave incense, candles, or anything else burning when you are not in the room to ensure you will be around for many more Imbolcs to come.

2015, Carl F. Neal, Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for Brigid’s Day (Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials), Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, →ISBN:

Brigid has also been described in relation to the different cycles as the Earth Mother. […] In another version of the Threshold Rites, a sheaf of wheat from the Samhain harvest was placed outside doors of homes on the eve of January 31. Some believed that the Goddess was present in the sheaf in her winter Cailleach form. Upon Imbolc, the sheaf becomes the infant Goddess Brigid once again, marking the fragile beginnings of the new agricultural cycle.

2015, Courtney Weber, “Imbolc: Brigid the Springtime Goddess, the Mother, and the Midwife”, in Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, San Francisco, Calif.: Weiser Books, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 149:

(British, Ireland) A Gaelic and Wiccan festival celebrated on 1 or 2 February which marks the beginning of spring.

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Penguin Books
University of Wales Press

聖布里吉德節 /圣布里吉德节

Gaelic and Wiccan festival which marks the beginning of spring

Yule • Imbolc • Ostara • Beltane • Litha • Lammas


apols

Apols for TMI but that really is all that has happened.

2008, Susie Day, serafina67 *urgently requires life*, Scholastic, published 2008, →ISBN, page 105:

On the other, the self was also confirmed as authentic via a process of interaction, whereby Fry answered and apologised to his critic for the subsequent abuse he received on Twitter – 'Pls accept my apols ... I feel more sheepish than a sheep'.

2011, James Bennett, Television Personalities: Stardom and the Small Screen, Routledge, →ISBN, pages 173–174:

Apols if this letter is a disarray, but my head is like a drum made of cymbals.

2013, Robert Hudson, The Dazzle, Jonathan Cape, published 2013, →ISBN, page 68:


mug off

en-verb

mug off (third-person singular simple present mugs off, present participle mugging off, simple past and past participle mugged off)

mugs off (present singular third-person)
mugging off (participle present)
mugged off (participle past)
mugged off (past)

(UK, slang, transitive) To cheat, swindle, dupe (someone).


lookee-likee

lookee-likees (plural)
lookee likey (alternative)
lookee-likey (alternative)
lookey likee (alternative)
lookey-likee (alternative)
lookey likey (alternative)
lookey-likey (alternative)
lookee like (alternative)
lookee-like (alternative)
lookey like (alternative)
lookey-like (alternative)

(British) an article that looks very similar to or the same as the genuine article


Btss

(British) Abbreviation for Baronetess, the feminine form of Baronet. It is a post-nominative title; the pre-nominative is Dame (e.g. Dame Jane Smith Btss). A more progressive form is for the holder of the honor to use Bt as a post-nominative (e.g. Dame Jane Smith Bt), as it does not refer to the recipient's gender (though the title "Dame" still does).


home zone

(UK) A street or group of streets designed primarily to meet the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, children and residents, and where motor traffic is limited.


spongebags

For festive occasions, the waistcoat and gloves can be grey, buff or patterned - a grey top-hat is usually worn in preference to black and spongebags can be worn instead of striped trousers.

1967, Mary Bosticco, Etiquette for the businessman at home and abroad, page 7:


fondleslab

From fondle + slab, introduced by the IT news site The Register.

Seagate wants to get the UM HDD into Android-powered fondleslabs pronto, though the drive would be just at home in Ultrabooks and other skinny laptops.

Fondle-slab to be miniaturised, gain killer voice app ... Our secret reader poll in past weeks suggested that the likeliest names for the iPad would be the Fondle-Slab™ or iStroke™. In the event those predictions turned out to be wrong, but we feel that Steve Jobs may not overlook such marketing gold in future. It seems a racing cert that legions of Apple fans will enjoy full satisfaction from their fondle-slabs and pocket stroker devices for many years to come. ®

2010 January 28, Team Register, “Next from Apple: The Pocket iPad. Fondle-slab to be miniaturised, gain killer voice app”, in The Register, retrieved 2013-09-14:

What with Apple's iOS leading the tablet pack and a herd of Android-based fondleslabs poised to enter the market, it's enticing to read of an Ubuntu-based tablet that's rumored to hit the market in early 2011.

2010 December 28, Team Register, “Ubuntu tablet rumored for early 2011 launch: Another OS to enter fondleslab fray?”, in The Register, retrieved 2013-09-16:

Fondleslab A touchscreen device, particularly a tablet computer, to which its owner appears unnaturally attached.

2011 October 12, Peter Groves, “Fondleslab”, in Dictionary of Intellectual Property Law, retrieved 2013-09-16:

Fondleslab Selfie

2013 August 20, Matt Jones, “Fondleslab Selfie”, in Magical Nihilism, retrieved 2013-09-16:

(British, slang) A large, portable touchscreen device, particularly a tablet computer.


turdis

(vulgar, slang, UK) A place to defecate, shaped like a police box; an outhouse; a portable toilet.


Portugeezer

Here he established trading posts, and in less than a year or so all the Portugeezers were eating chutney on their beefsteaks, and calling it an Indian meal.

1904, Frank C. Voorhies, Twisted History, G. W. Dillingham Company, page 38:

For a while Redknapp tried to pair Dowie, who possessed all the speed of a steamroller, with the sublimely fast Portugeezer Hugo Porfirio — Porfirio's permanent expression of bemusement and sometimes downright amazement at his strike partner is still vivid.

2002, Pete May, West Ham: Irons in the Soul, Mainstream Publishing Company, →ISBN:

This liberating relinquishing of control seemed to chill everybody right out – the Germans took to canoodling and beachcombing, the Portugeezer shared out the last of his biscuits, I spent a couple of hours listening to the waves then idly chatting with the Belgians about Joey Dunlop and Manx Nortons.

2008, Dan Walsh, Endless Horizon: A Very Messy Motorcycle Journey Around the World, Motorbooks, published 2009, →ISBN, page 25:

(UK, slang, sometimes derogatory) A Portuguese person.


see how the land lies

see<,,saw,seen> how the land lies<lies,lies,lay>

see how the land lies (third-person singular simple present sees how the land lies, present participle seeing how the land lies, simple past saw how the land lay, past participle seen how the land lay)

sees how the land lies (present singular third-person)
seeing how the land lies (participle present)
saw how the land lay (past)
seen how the land lay (participle past)

(UK) To wait for all the information about something before taking action.


GOAT

GOATs (plural)
G.O.A.T. (alternative)
G. O. A. T. (alternative)
GoAT (alternative)
GoaT (alternative)
Goat (alternative)
goat (alternative)

The best talents; of course he was a GOAT.

2009, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee, Good government: eighth report of session 2008-09, volume 2

Lord Jones of Birmingham, aka Digby Jones, the former director general of the CBI, said that in his year in the government as a so-called GOAT (a member of the Government Of All The Talents) he found the civil service to be 'honest, stuffed full of decent people who work hard'.

2011, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee, Bernard Jenkin, Smaller Government: Report, Together with Formal Minutes
One of the problems with the GOATs was that the parliamentary and political role was undersold to them.

(UK, politics, informal) A member of the "government of all the talents" proposed by British prime minister Gordon Brown.


bumtastic

en-adj

bumtastic (comparative more bumtastic, superlative most bumtastic)

more bumtastic (comparative)
most bumtastic (superlative)

Leaving the dramas and protests of Wentworth, Bea seems in paradise at the Barnhurst rural retreat, happily getting to know the charming Mrs Roberts, Barnhurst's version of Vinegar Tits played by Gerda Nicolson with auburn hair and a funny accent, and reacquainting herself with the bumtastic Marie Winter and with her new cell-mate Tracey Morris (Wow! Continuity!!)

1999 October 10, PCBH Digest, “PCBH Digest V2 Edition 1008 - 10 Oct 1999”, in alt.tv.cell-block-h (Usenet):

[…] exposés of domestic British fascism and pictures of bumtastic Kylie Minogue in her underwear advertising free pop CD giveaways.

2003, Chris Horrie, Tabloid Nation: The Birth of the Daily Mirror to the Death of the Tabloid, André Deutsch, published 2003, →ISBN, page 221:

Phillips performed as a clown in the circus show, and introduced the company's Russian gymnasts to a new word, describing his costume as a cross between bumtastic singer Jennifer Lopez and an Oompa Loompa from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

2008 August 4, Emily Dunn, Elicia Murray, “Bigger and bigger beat at the bay”, in Brisbane Times:

(UK, Australia, slang) Having shapely and appealing buttocks.


granny flat

Hundreds of people have built houses, granny flats, apartments and log cabins without planning permission across Ireland in the last 15 years.

2023 August 5, Amy Molloy, “Hundreds build houses, granny flats and log cabins without permissions”, in Irish Independent, page 5:

AARP, the research and advocacy behemoth, has begun aggressively promoting the spread of these units, often referred to as casitas or, more cheekily, granny flats.

2023 September 6, Michelle Cottle, “The Magic of the Granny Flat”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A dwelling detached from a primary residence, traditionally designated for a member of an extended family to live in.


NASUWT

w:National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers

(UK) Initialism of National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers.


go for your life

en-verb

go for your life (third-person singular simple present goes for your life, present participle going for your life, simple past went for your life, past participle gone for your life)

goes for your life (present singular third-person)
going for your life (participle present)
went for your life (past)
gone for your life (participle past)

(Australia, UK, imperative) An expression of encouragement.


monophthongisation

en-noun

monophthongisation (countable and uncountable, plural monophthongisations)

British standard spelling of monophthongization.


three halfpence

head

three halfpence (sometimes a plural noun with the singular three halfpenny, sometimes singular, plural three halfpences)

three halfpences (plural)
three-halfpence (alternative)
three ha'pence (alternative)
three-ha'pence (alternative)
three halfpennies (alternative)
three-halfpennies (alternative)
three ha'pennies (alternative)
three-ha'pennies (alternative)
three halfpenny (alternative)
three-halfpenny (alternative)

(dated, UK) A money of account equal to 1½d.


freshers' flu

From fresher (“a new student”) and flu (“disease”), an abbreviation of influenza.

(UK, informal) A cold or similar illness contracted by new students at a university, caused by gathering people (and the diseases they carry) from a wide variety of places in a confined area, allowing the diseases to spread to those without immunity.


cattle crush

(UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) An enclosure for livestock to keep them from moving while being examined, marked, or given veterinary treatment.


WRVS

Women's Royal Voluntary Service
w:Women's Royal Voluntary Service

(UK, historical) Initialism of Women's Royal Voluntary Service.


geolocalisation

(UK) Alternative form of geolocalization.


rumpty-tumpty

This female was clearly not up for any rumpty tumpty in the grass, and she bopped her suitor a few times before he got the message and sulkily sloped back to his corner of the field.

2012, Ellie Bennett, Mud, Sweat and Gears, →ISBN:


outcome delivery

en-noun

outcome delivery (countable and uncountable, plural outcome deliveries)

(business, UK) The process of achieving an outcome of change or transformation through activities, performance measures and targets. Typically used by local authorities and other organisations when developing business plans.


Calabrese

Calabrese (countable and uncountable, plural Calabresi)

From the Italian calabrese (“Calabrian”).


rippingness

(UK, dated, slang) Quality of being ripping.


wet Nelly

Wet Nelly (alternative)
wet nelly (alternative)


steel-blue

(UK, dated) Alternative form of steel blue.


strike a light

Cor, strike a light! Did you see him jump into the river?

(UK, informal, dated) Expressing surprise.


crocodile clip

(UK, Ireland, Africa, Australia) An alligator clip.


PCO

Parliamentary Counsel Office
Parliamentary Counsel Office#English

(government, UK) Initialism of Parliamentary Counsel Office.


rubbish in, rubbish out

garbage in, garbage out
garbage in, garbage out#English

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative form of garbage in, garbage out.


sack barrow

sack barrows (plural)
sackbarrow (alternative)

(UK) A two-wheeled vehicle used for moving sacks and other heavy items.


sack truck

sack trucks (plural)
sacktruck (alternative)


technicoloured

en-adj

technicoloured (comparative more technicoloured, superlative most technicoloured)

more technicoloured (comparative)
most technicoloured (superlative)

From technicolored, with the spelling revised to accord with British English coloured.


ethinyloestradiol

/ˌɛθ.ɪ.nɪlˌiː.stɹəˈdʌɪ.ɒl/

/ˌɛθ.ɪ.nɪlˌɛ.stɹəˈdʌɪ.ɒl/

(pharmacology) UK spelling of ethinylestradiol.


cuddly toy

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Synonym of soft toy.


command paper

So called because they are presented to Parliament formally "by Her Majesty's Command".

(UK) A document issued by the government and presented to Parliament.


mort stone

mort stones (plural)
mortstone (alternative)

Oh me ! the mortstone ! No it is not here!

(UK, obsolete) A large stone by the wayside on which the bearers rest a coffin, or a huge stone placed on a coffin or grave to dissuade body snatchers from defiling the corpse.


mort cloth

en-noun

mort cloth (countable and uncountable, plural mort cloths)

mort cloths (plural)
mortcloth (alternative)

(UK, obsolete) A pall for a coffin; a casket saddle


declinatory plea

declinatory plea (plural declinatory pleas)

(UK, law, obsolete) The plea of sanctuary or of benefit of clergy, before trial or conviction.


scot and lot

(UK, historical) A parish tax laid on subjects according to their ability.


ton-up

(UK, slang) fond of travelling at high speeds


soc and sac

From Old English sōcen and sacan, equivalent to the Anglo-Norman oyer and terminer.

socan and sacan (alternative)
sake and soke (alternative)
sac and soc (alternative)

King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of frankenpledge, and assize of bread and ale, of all their tenants […]

1806, Francis Bloomfield, An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, Vol. IV, p. 517

(UK, law, historical) The right of a lord to hear and decide legal cases on his estate without recourse to other courts.


lift shaft

Installing lift shafts in station buildings which were not originally designed to accommodate them can be a fraught exercise, but a necessary one if the legitimate aspiration of the travelling public for step-free access is to be achieved. At Sudbury Hill, on London Underground's Piccadilly Line extension out to the north-western suburbs, Transport for London has achieved this with aplomb.

2022 December 14, Robin Leleux, “A royal occasion as heritage projects honoured: Sudbury Hill”, in RAIL, number 972, page 57:


odds and sods

Perhaps it's for the best, if this is what his recording career has sunk to: a slapdash assortment of odds and sods from all parts of his career.

1993 Dec. 16, Andy Gill, "Rock Albums: Up Until Now" by Art Garfunkel, Independent (UK) (retrieved 20 Dec 2013)

The new News Corp (unkindly referred to as “crap co”) will consist of around 130 newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, an education business and other odds and sods.

2013 June 22, “The News Corp split: Murdoch 2.0”, in The Economist, retrieved 2013-12-20:

(chiefly UK, informal, idiomatic) Miscellaneous items.

"I suddenly found that, although my proposals had been accepted at the very highest level, they were not accepted at the lower levels . . . I mean, the aristocrats who appointed the Italian painters or the Viennese musicians didn't have to get agreement from all the odds and sods around, did they?"

1994 September 12, Tony Jones, “Yorkshire lad who reached for the stars: Tony Jones talks to Fred Hoyle”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2013-12-20:

But as the smartly dressed Kim arrived covered in mud from her foray across the pig yard, Tina took the opportunity to sneer, “Now we know how the odds and sods feel when Princess Diana turns up.”

1997 June 29, Sarah Lyall, “Arts: On British Soaps, the Poor and the Jobless”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-12-20:

. . . the pervasive need of all those new to hard service discipline to put down those in authority who are making life miserable for all the lowly odds and sods of this world.

1997, George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Victory: A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, 1944-45, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, informal, idiomatic) Ordinary people who lack distinction.


graduate tax

(UK, Ireland) A proposed method of financing higher education, whereby graduates would pay their tuition costs as additional income tax.


city technology college

city technology college (plural city technology colleges)

(UK) A state-funded all-ability secondary school that charges no fees but is independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education. They mainly specialise in science and technology.


argue the toss

en-verb

argue the toss (third-person singular simple present argues the toss, present participle arguing the toss, simple past and past participle argued the toss)

argues the toss (present singular third-person)
arguing the toss (participle present)
argued the toss (participle past)
argued the toss (past)

Possibly derived from the toss of a coin to decide something, such as before a cricket or football match.

(especially UK) To dispute a decision already made, when inappropriate to do so.


clapped out

en-adj

clapped out (comparative more clapped out, superlative most clapped out)

more clapped out (comparative)
most clapped out (superlative)
clapped-out (alternative)

Accusations of letting a service run down deliberately will always be made if, to quote one local case, a mostly empty mid-day train continues to run, while in the same service an early morning train is discontinued, causing: (a) six men to lose their jobs; (b) four men to go on to permanent night shift by the grace of their employer; and (c) four others to buy a clapped-out van between them to get to work.

1964 November, E. N. Bellass, “Some questions for Mr. Mugliston”, in Modern Railways, pages 329–330:

For now, the intensive Valleys services remain in the hands of increasingly clapped-out Class 150/2s.

2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 49:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Exhausted, worn out.


canary girl

Exposure to toxic TNT could turn the skin an orange-yellow colour reminiscent of the plumage of a canary.

(UK) A female worker making TNT shells during World War I.


munitionette

Since they all had a slightly yellow tinge to their skin, he assumed they were munitions workers. Munitionettes, as the newspapers liked to call them.

1991, Pat Barker, Regeneration (The Regeneration Trilogy), Penguin, published 2014, page 119:

(UK, colloquial, now historical) A female worker in a munitions factory, especially during the First World War.


starrer

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused to certify Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer 'Haraamkhor' objecting to its theme which deals with a student-teacher romance.

2016 June 19, “Another Anurag Kashyap film faces trouble”, in The Times of India:

Although the selection appears noticeably short of major Hollywood names – with studios clearly preferring to hedge their bets and keep product back till the post-pandemic situation is clearer – Cannes has the Kate Winslet/Saoirse Ronan starrer Ammonite, directed by British film-maker Francis Lee.

2020 June 3, Andrew Pulver, “Cannes selects lineup for 2020 edition after 'physical' festival shelved”, in The Guardian:

(UK, India) A film featuring a particular movie star.


tartan tax

Coined by Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, in reference to the tartans traditionally worn by Scottish clans.

(UK, derogatory) An addition to income tax payable only by those in Scotland as a result of the Scottish variable rate.


wazzed

wazzed (comparative more wazzed, superlative most wazzed)

more wazzed (comparative)
most wazzed (superlative)


m'lud

1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1.3: "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away"
Mr. Larch, you heard the case for the prosecution. Is there anything you wish to say before I pass sentence?
Well... I'd just like to say, m'lud, I've got a family... a wife and six kids... and I hope very much you don't have to take away my freedom... because... well, because, m'lud, freedom is a state much prized within the realm of civilised society.

(British) Pronunciation spelling of m'lord.


pantech

(UK, informal) A pantechnicon; a large removal van.


income support

(UK) A financial benefit for people on a low income.


dumb as a sack of hammers

dumb as a sack of hammers (not comparable)

dumb as a bag of hammers
dumb as a bag of hammers#English

(British, derogatory) Synonym of dumb as a bag of hammers.


crem

The rest of it's the same: £7.00 for sanitizing and robing, £13.00 for the crematorium which includes the minister but I don't think I can get a rebate even if there's no service, 50p gratuity for the chappie at the crem.

2000, Russell Hoban, The Turtle Diary, page 175:

[…] many funeral services in the UK take place at “the crem” where there are chapel-type rooms for services.

2015, Pamela A. Brown, Britain Unravelled: A North American Guide to the UK:


knock down ginger

In reference to a traditional poem. See Knock, knock, ginger.

(UK) The prank of knocking on somebody's front door and running away before it is opened.


jactitation of marriage

en-noun

jactitation of marriage (usually uncountable, plural jactitations of marriage)

Jactitation of marriage, or the boasting of the existence of a marriage , which never actually took place

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(UK, law, historical) A false assertion of being married to another person.


bound bailiff

The sheriff being answerable for the bailiff's misdemeanours, the bailiff is usually under bond for the faithful discharge of his trust.

(UK, law) A sheriff's officer who serves writs, makes arrests, etc.


suck it and see

en-verb

suck it and see (third-person singular simple present sucks it and sees, present participle sucking it and seeing, simple past sucked it and saw, past participle sucked it and seen)

sucks it and sees (present singular third-person)
sucking it and seeing (participle present)
sucked it and saw (past)
sucked it and seen (participle past)

THE old maxim for testing wild schemes is summed up in the immortal phrase “suck it and see”.

1980 August 21, “Suck it and see”, in New Scientist, volume 87, number 1215, →ISSN, Forum, page 609:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Try it out.


what do you want, a biscuit

Policeman: I've ascertained the time of death as 9:15.
Monkfish: Have you really? What do you want, a biscuit?

what do you want, a cookie?
what do you want, a cookie#English

(British, rare) Synonym of what do you want, a cookie?.


banana skin

(UK) The outer skin of a banana, especially once removed from the rest of the banana, which may be slippery if stepped on.

The subject is becoming a political banana skin.

(UK) A cause of difficulty, or potential embarrassment.


bedside table

(UK, US, Australia) Synonym of nightstand.


bag snatcher

(UK, Australia) A thief who snatches a handbag, shoulder bag, rucksack, etc., from the person carrying it.


Snr

His father, Barack Obama Snr, was a visiting foreign student at university in Hawaii where he met and married Ann Dunham, the corn-fed product of Kansas parents, who was also studying at the college.

2006, Barack Obama: New kid on the political block, BBC:

Ricky Hatton's ex-coach Floyd Mayweather Snr believes it is inevitable the former world champion will be forced into making a ring comeback.

2010, “Mayweather Snr feels Hatton will fight again”, in ESPN:

(UK) Abbreviation of senior; a title used after a father's name when his son is given the same name.


academy school

(UK, education) A kind of state-funded school in England that is independent of direct control by local government and has a curriculum specialism.


Euro-rebel

(UK, politics) A politician who goes against the party line by opposing European integration.


care in the community

(UK) The treatment and care of physically and mentally disabled people in their own homes, rather than in an institution.


Sir Humphrey

From the fictional character Sir Humphrey Appleby, a self-important, Oxford-educated civil servant first depicted in the 1980 premiere of the BBC television series Yes Minister.

Wanted: a Sir Humphrey for funds to hide behind
[...]
Key skills required:
— Ability to move head vertically rather than horizontally when asked to promote anything desired by the fund management companies who pay your salary
— Ability to confuse fact with fiction via misleading random statistics (a mathematics skill would be helpful here)
— Ability to pull wool over the regulators’ eyes while maintaining a straight, poker-like face
— Ability to come up with new reasons à la Humphrey from Yes Minister, as to why any progressive change that might help the consumer is currently unworkable.

2012 May 22, Simon English, “Wanted: a Sir Humphrey for funds to hide behind”, in The London Evening Standard:

Among the most senior honours, the dominance of Sir Humphreys and courtiers is striking. There are gongs galore for the deputy director of this Whitehall department and the head of strategy group at that one, to say nothing of the pile of baubles handed to those who serve the Windsors.

2013 December 31, Jonathan Freedland, “New Year honours should reward achievement, not cronyism”, in The Guardian:

Obsessed only with cost, 'Sir Humphrey' saw that Transport for London 'got away' with ticket office closures on the Tube with only minor public pushback and miscalculated that it could do the same on the national network. This assumption backfired spectacularly.

2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:

(UK) A high-ranking bureaucrat, particularly one who is elitist and deliberately obscure.


mock fish

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-mock fish.wav

(UK) A concoction of rice, margarine, flour, onion, and anchovy paste, which was made into a porridge and then pan-fried into a cake resembling fish.