Arse-end Charlie

Arse-end Charlie (plural Arse-end Charlies)

Tail End Charlie
Tail End Charlie#English

(UK, military, slang) Synonym of Tail End Charlie.


go country

en-verb

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

goes country (present singular third-person)
going country (participle present)
went country (past)
gone country (participle past)

2016, Allegra Stratton, Going country': ITV News reveals scale of children being exploited and sent around Britain to carry drugs (ITV News) https://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-29/going-country-itv-news-reveals-the-scale-of-children-being-exploited-and-sent-around-britain-to-carry-drugs
Experts think many of the children who go missing every year in this country may have actually have "gone country". In one London borough, Lewisham, the local authority believes half of its missing children have been groomed to carry drugs.

For five days "I didn't know if he was alive", says Jenny. Then she saw on a social media chat group Robbie's friends saying he had "gone country". She discovered it was a phrase often used to describe county lines. "That's when it all clicked," she says, realising he was in an organised crime gang.

2022, Steve Swann, County lines: Inside the complex battle against drug gangs exploiting children, BBC News:

en:participate in cross-jurisdictional drug dealing scheme

(UK, slang) To take part in a county line scheme for drug distribution.


brother chip

He was saluted by Mr. James Hall, with these words: “Well, brother chip! How many murders have you been committing?”

1853, Talbot Gwynne, The School for Dreamers: A Story of the Present Day, page 208:

(UK, slang, archaic) Term of address for a fellow tradesman, originally a carpenter.


order mark

order marks (plural)
order-mark (alternative)

"If you don't attend, Gwendolen," said the mistress, "and stop looking out of the window, I shall have to give you an order-mark."

1951, C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:

If a child loses five or more points for his House he automatically gets an order mark.

1958, Abdul Hakim, Better Schools, page 47:

(UK, education, historical) A formal black mark given to a pupil for bad behaviour.


RVW

Ralph Vaughan Williams
w:Ralph Vaughan Williams

(UK, music) Initialism of Ralph Vaughan Williams; an English composer.


give someone their cards

give someone their cards (third-person singular simple present gives someone their cards, present participle giving someone their cards, simple past gave someone their cards, past participle given someone their cards)

gives someone their cards (present singular third-person)
giving someone their cards (participle present)
gave someone their cards (past)
given someone their cards (participle past)
hand someone his cards (alternative)

HEAD WAITER: It’s filthy! Gaston, find out who washed this up and give them their cards immediately!

1969 October 19, J Graham Chapman, John Clees, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, 16:38 from the start, in Monty Python’s Flying Circus (How to Recognise Different Types of Tree from Quite a Long Way Away) (1), episode 3 (TV series), spoken by Head Waiter (Michael Palin):

Her noble husband, in urgent need of an heir, has dispatched her here with instructions to get herself into working order; should this not come to pass, Monica will be given her cards and told to vacate the premises so that Sir John can make alternative arrangements.

1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 80:

I looked up at him as he turned his back and a few minutes later, the foreman brought me up and reluctantly gave me my cards as the boss, the horrid face of capital, had sacked me for not wearing protective boots.

2016, R. Pollard, Invisible Pleasures, page 90:

(idiomatic, slang, British, Ireland) To dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.


hand someone their cards

hand someone their cards (third-person singular simple present hands someone their cards, present participle handing someone their cards, simple past and past participle handed someone their cards)

hands someone their cards (present singular third-person)
handing someone their cards (participle present)
handed someone their cards (participle past)
handed someone their cards (past)
give someone his cards (alternative)

To begin with, you were not sacked; it was you who gave notice.[…]Upon which he handed me my cards and my wages.

1950, Miklos Laszlo, And the Snow Falls: A Play in Three Acts, page 29:

Now they say that times are hard and they’ve handed me my cards. They say there’s not the work to go around. And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close. Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down. Then they’ll tear it d-o-w-n

1985, “Ordinary Man”, in Ordinary Man, performed by Christy Moore, produced by Dónal Lunny:

I was handed my cards yesterday and so today I’m looking for a new job.

2020 October 16, Salmi Khan Anmol, The Oldman’s English Lessons: An English Book, page 1667:


NLU

Every family and every set always had its private vocabulary and syntax and still has. I know people whose terms of condemnation are quite simply NLU and NLO (‘not like us’ and ‘not like one’).

1983 [1955], Evelyn Waugh, “An Open Letter to the Honble Mrs Peter Rodd (Nancy Mitford) … on a Very Serious Subject”, in The Essays, Articles, and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh, Boston: Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 499:


come down in stair rods

come down in stair rods (third-person singular simple present comes down in stair rods, present participle coming down in stair rods, simple past came down in stair rods, past participle come down in stair rods)

comes down in stair rods (present singular third-person)
coming down in stair rods (participle present)
came down in stair rods (past)
come down in stair rods (participle past)
rain stair rods (alternative)

(impersonal, UK, idiomatic) To rain heavily in long streaks.


tip it down

tip it down (third-person singular simple present tips it down, present participle tipping it down, simple past and past participle tipped it down)

tips it down (present singular third-person)
tipping it down (participle present)
tipped it down (participle past)
tipped it down (past)
tip down (alternative)

It's tipping it down out there.

(impersonal, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) To rain very heavily.


wagwant

en-noun

wagwant (countable and uncountable, plural wagwants)

(UK, regional) Synonym of wag-wanton (“quaking grass”).


VONC

(UK, politics) Initialism of vote of no-confidence.


large it

en-verb

large it (third-person singular simple present larges it, present participle larging it, simple past and past participle larged it)

larges it (present singular third-person)
larging it (participle present)
larged it (participle past)
larged it (past)

(slang, UK) To engage in or seek pleasurable activities with great enthusiasm.


give it large

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

gives it large (present singular third-person)
giving it large (participle present)
gave it large (past)
given it large (participle past)

Asked what had been said between the pair, Price added: “Nothing. A couple of times he walked by and gave it large as I’m going to throw, and I did it back to him.[…]”

2021 December 27, Gerwyn Price, quotee, “Gerwyn Price beats Kim Huybrechts in fiery clash to keep title defence alive”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, slang) To verbally abuse or intimidate.

[…](Reynolds and Buster Edwards fled, but were later tracked down; two others, including Old Pete, were never caught), but Biggs and the rest were convicted. The names of the others are barely remembered, but then they never escaped from prison and gave it large in Rio.

2004 January 17, Simon Hattenstone, “My beloved dad, the train robber”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


go to Prestwich

go to Prestwich (third-person singular simple present goes to Prestwich, present participle going to Prestwich, simple past went to Prestwich, past participle gone to Prestwich)

goes to Prestwich (present singular third-person)
going to Prestwich (participle present)
went to Prestwich (past)
gone to Prestwich (participle past)

I think I'm going to Prestwich here.


Parliament Hill

From parliament + hill.
* (Ottawa): From being a rise and promontory over the Ottawa River hosting parliament buildings.
* (Quebec): Calque of French Colline parlementaire From being a rise and promontory over the Saint-Lawrence River hosting parliament buildings.
* (London): From being a gathering place for troops of the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) during the English Civil War. Apocryphally, the location where the Gunpowder Plot was planned, to blowup the Palace of Westminster (Parliament).

(UK) A hill in North London, England, United Kingdom.


illitisation

en-noun

illitisation (countable and uncountable, plural illitisations)

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa spelling of illitization.


restructurisation

restructurisation (countable and uncountable, plural restructurisations)

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa spelling of restructurization.


get on at

en-verb

get on at (third-person singular simple present gets on at, present participle getting on at, simple past and past participle got on at)

gets on at (present singular third-person)
getting on at (participle present)
got on at (participle past)
got on at (past)

She did keep getting on at him a lot.

(British) To scold, to criticize, to complain directly to.


chicken Maryland

(UK) A breaded, deep-fried chicken breast served with a slice of bacon, banana and/or pineapple fritter, and chips (fries).


Gangtide

From gang + -tide, from gang (“to go”), in reference to the processions held at this time.

(Christianity, UK, obsolete) Rogation Week.


knockemdowns

'O, never fear,' carelessly; 'I'll have a turn at the knockemdowns, and one glass of ale in the booth, and then I'm your man.'

1874, Belgravia: A London Magazine, volume 24, page 325:

In knockemdowns and bowls ten pins are used, the centre one being called the king, and the ball has to be grounded before it reaches the frame.

1878, John Henry Walsh, British Rural Sports, page 712:


quisby

en-adj

quisby (comparative more quisby, superlative most quisby)

more quisby (comparative)
most quisby (superlative)

Uncertain; perhaps quiz + -by, or from queer or Queer Street (“difficult circumstances”).

(UK, slang, archaic) Mean; destitute; strange.

[S]he told me as things was a-goin' werry quisby with 'em Wilkses. I says, "I'm sorry for 'er, but he's a party I don't 'old with, as in my opinion deserves to want, only but for others as would want with 'im."
She says, "He's been and got 'isself in a 'ole with them books as he've been lewanted with, and will get two years over it, they say," and so he did, […]

1874, Arthur Sketchley, Mrs. Brown and Disraeli, page 151:

(UK, slang, archaic) In difficult circumstances; in trouble.

"[…] Did you know that my husband came home intoxicated?"
Mrs. Brown laughed.
"Oh, not so bad as that, surely! Only a little 'screwed.' George was 'quisby,' too. But then its Christmas, you know."


two-way switch

en-noun

two-way switch (plural two-way switches)

Named after its use in pairs to control a load from two locations.

(British, electricity) Commonwealth spelling of (US): three-way switch.


intermediate switch

intermediate switch (plural intermediate switches)

Named for being connected between a pair of two-way switches.

(British, electricity) A light switch with two pairs of two terminals, which can be switched between straight-through or swapped wiring. Typically used as part of a circuit to control a light or other device from three or more locations.


controlled drug

controlled drug (plural controlled drugs)

controlled substance
controlled substance#English

(UK, Ireland, Singapore) Synonym of controlled substance.


Royal Marine

"She had asked at Paddington for a return to Lympstone on the Exmouth branch, where her son was due to pass out as a Royal Marine that afternoon, at the local training camp.
"Presumably, the booking clerk had misheard her and sold her a ticket to Leominster, and other helpful staff had unwittingly helped her on her way.

2022 July 13, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71:

(military, British) A member of the Royal Marines.


barrow-way

From barrow (“small vehicle used to carry a load”) + way.

compound

(UK, historical) A trackway for barrows, historically used in mines.


cauldron bottom

en-noun

cauldron bottom (plural cauldron bottoms)

From cauldron + bottom, in reference to the shape and colour as seen from the perspective of someone in the coal mine. Compare Sicilian campanaru (literally “bell tower”) in sulfur mining.

ncog

(UK, mining slang, obsolete) A large, round mass in a coal seam that forms part of the roof of a coal mine passage (usually being a fossilized root or stump); considered a hazard due to being prone to falling without warning.


cauldron arse

(UK, Ireland, mining slang, vulgar, obsolete) Synonym of cauldron bottom.


through-draught

through-draughts (plural)
through-draft (alternative US)
through draft (alternative US)
throughdraft (alternative US)
through draught (alternative)
throughdraught (alternative)

The only through-draught came from the two Dorade ventilators in the heads compartment but by the time the air from them reached us on our bunks it felt superheated.

2004, Ben Pester, Through the Land of Fire: Fifty-Six South, page 231:

Periodically, of course, the bag has to be removed and emptied, otherwise it will become choked, and the cleaner's efficiency impaired by lack of a strong through-draught of air.

2014, Ian J. Finch, D. F. Bratchell, E. F. Candlin, General Studies: A First Handbook for Technical Students, page 79:

The wind was whistling around the side of the house and there was a through-draught as the kitchen window was open.

2015, Janie Bolitho, Snapped in Cornwall:

(UK) A draught or air current that blows across a space; cross breeze.


milkness

Afore lang days, I hope to see him here, / About his milkness and his cows to speer.

1778, Alexander Ross, Helenore: Or, The Fortunate Shepherdess, page 87:

[…] said she had been in the service of one Jacob Pearson, of Titlington, about three or four years before or thereabouts to the best of her knowledge, and had charge of that gentleman's house and milkness.

1888, The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend, page 396:


English and Welsh law

(UK, law) Synonym of English law (“common law legal system of England and Wales”).


English and Welsh

(UK, law) Of or pertaining to England and Wales (the jurisdiction covering England and Wales, which share a legal system).


take a view

en-verb

take a view (third-person singular simple present takes a view, present participle taking a view, simple past took a view, past participle taken a view)

takes a view (present singular third-person)
taking a view (participle present)
took a view (past)
taken a view (participle past)

Collate together all the information you can, but do remember that Michael's the one who'll take a view, not you.

If the insurer refuses to cover the defect in the policy, the client is just going to have to take a view.

But how can a client assess whether sufficient resources have been allocated to the project? This is obviously subjective but, nevertheless, clients have to 'take a view', if they are to comply with their statutory obligations.

1997, The Structural Engineer: Journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers:

Law Officers have taken a view on the line which the UK should take in future on proposals which the UK supports for policy reasons, even though we consider they use the wrong legal base. The Department of Health will follow this agreed line for this proposal.

2004, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee, Thirty-seventh Report of Session 2003-04: Documents Considered by the Committee on 17 November 2004, Including, Global Satellite Navigation System; Procedure for the Adoption of Measures Relating to Visas, Asylum and Immigration; European Defence Equipment Market, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 36:

(intransitive, UK, business) To form an opinion and take action on an issue which carries the risk of professional or legal liability; particularly where there is no obvious course of action.


North East

administrative regions
administrative region

(UK) One of nine official administrative regions of England, comprising Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham as well as a small part of North Yorkshire.


a bob each way

A phrase from gambling. See bob (“shilling”) and the gambling sense at each way.

Of course the member for St. Albans says, both. He likes to have a bob each way, which is in keeping with the statement he made the other day in this debate.

1965, New Zealand. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates. House of Representatives, page 577:

(colloquial, UK, Australia, New Zealand) A situation of hedging one's bets, refusing to commit to either side of a question.


Whitgift

en-proper noun

Whitgift (countable and uncountable, plural Whitgifts)

From either the Old English personal name Hwīta or the Old Norse personal name Hvíti + Old Norse gipt (“gift, dowry”) or Old English ġift (“dowry”).

(UK) Ellipsis of Whitgift School, a prestigious public school for boys in Croydon.


LBC

“No, I wouldn’t approve of it. And no, I don’t think it would get through parliament,” he told LBC.

2022 October 3, Damian Green, quotee, “Tory MPs plot to avert welfare squeeze after humiliating U-turns”, in The Guardian:

(UK, radio) Initialism of London Broadcasting Company, a British phone-in and talk radio station.


IDVA

en-noun

IDVA (countable and uncountable, plural IDVAs)

(uncountable) Acronym of independent domestic-violence advocacy.

(countable) Acronym of independent domestic-violence advisor.


softplay

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

Alternatively the two areas can be combined for both softplay and interactive light and sound usage.

2009, Wendy Bosberry-Scott, Which School? for Special Needs 2009/2010, page xxi:

(UK) A purpose-built play area for children, usually indoors, consisting of padded surfaces, slides, ball pits, etc.


unbonny

en-adj

unbonny (comparative more unbonny, superlative most unbonny)

more unbonny (comparative)
most unbonny (superlative)

An unbonny sight she might have been amid all that slime and stink, a wader in blood with a face blackened by the smoke from the paraffin flares and the bubbly lamps, […]

1990, Douglas Rae, The Fires of Autumn, page 38:

(UK, regional) Not attractive; unpleasant to look at.


CTSFO

(UK, law enforcement) Abbreviation of counter-terrorist specialist firearms officer.


chinwagger

(UK, informal) One who chinwags; a gossip.


yilt

[…] or that when they wished to breed from sows or yilts there would be no boars available.

1918, Live Stock Journal, volume 87, page 359:

(UK, regional) Alternative form of gilt (“young female pig, at or nearing the age of first breeding”).


blow me up

(UK, slang, archaic) An expression of surprise.


wax doll

The flowers are smaller than those of the species last described; they are rose-coloured, and tipped with purple; and children, in many parts of Kent, call them wax dolls.

1855, Anne Pratt, The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain:

(British, dialect) The common fumitory, Fumaria officinalis.


all over bar the shouting

Literally, “it's finished, except for the shouting.”

all over but the shouting (alternative)
all over but the crying (alternative)

(UK, idiomatic) Of an activity where the result is known, but may be subject to change, due to it not being officially finished or announced.


nursery nurse

(UK) Someone trained to care for small children; nanny.


incline lift

incline lifts (plural)
inclined lift (alternative)

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A cable railway on an incline; especially one which operates with one vehicle on a single track.


RMMV

(UK, nautical, postal) Initialism of Royal Mail motor vessel, a ship prefix used for packet ships propelled by liquid fuel combustion engines that carry post for the Royal Mail of the UK.


talk the leg off the Lamb of God

en-verb

talk the leg off the Lamb of God (third-person singular simple present talks the leg off the Lamb of God, present participle talking the leg off the Lamb of God, simple past and past participle talked the leg off the Lamb of God)

talks the leg off the Lamb of God (present singular third-person)
talking the leg off the Lamb of God (participle present)
talked the leg off the Lamb of God (participle past)
talked the leg off the Lamb of God (past)

Near-synonym: talk someone's ear off


unbigged

(archaic, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Of land: on which nothing has been built.


wakken

wakken (third-person singular simple present wakkens, present participle wakkening, simple past and past participle wakkened)

wakkens (present singular third-person)
wakkening (participle present)
wakkened (participle past)
wakkened (past)


pound-shop

Due to the perception of the goods sold in pound shops as being cheap, low-quality versions of more expensive products found elsewhere.

[…] no rational human being should ever trust a single utterance issued by a pound-shop Trumpian administration.

2021 December 8, Owen Jones, “In Britain’s pound-shop Trumpian administration, rules are for the rest of us”, in The Guardian:

Colum Eastwood, the MP for Foyle and leader of the SDLP, the nationalist party whose founding member, John Hume, won a Nobel prize for his championing of the peace process in Northern Ireland, called Braverman a “pound-shop Enoch Powell”.

2023 November 9, Daniel Boffey, quoting Colum Eastwood, “Braverman clarifies Northern Ireland comments amid angry criticism”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(attributive, British, informal, derogatory) Used to denote that something is low-quality or an inferior imitation.


Poundland

From the name of the British pound shop chain Poundland, which is in turn from pound + -land, named for its original policy, later relaxed, of pricing all items at £1.

Sir Vince Cable has accused Boris Johnson of being a “Poundland Donald Trump”...

2017 September 16, Benjamin Kentish, “Boris Johnson branded 'a Poundland Donald Trump' by Sir Vince Cable in row over 'glorious Brexit' article”, in The Independent:

(UK, informal, attributive) Designating something as low-quality or inferior.


you alright

The greeting "you alright?" took a long time to get used to. In the US asking someone if they're alright implies that they look like they're not ok.

2022 February 1, Lizzie May, “Immigrants living in the UK reveal the biggest culture shocks they experienced”, in The Daily Mail:


jaxy

(UK, slang) Alternative form of jacksy (“backside; buttocks”).


put someone in hospital

put (someone) in hospital (third-person singular simple present puts (someone) in hospital, present participle putting (someone) in hospital, simple past and past participle put (someone) in hospital)

put in hospital (canonical)
puts (someone) in hospital (present singular third-person)
putting (someone) in hospital (participle present)
put (someone) in hospital (participle past)
put (someone) in hospital (past)

I'll put you in hospital if you don't shut up.

(UK, colloquial) To injure (someone) to the point that they need serious medical attention.


quilkin

And make me eat quilkins and pagetepooes, / And woorship the Devel, and wear 'oaden shoes!

1846, Jan Treenoodle, Specimens of Cornish provincial dialect (page 35)

(UK, obsolete, Cornwall) A frog or toad.


bloodlink

(UK, historical) Traceable ancestry to a certain location.


mack out

mack out (third-person singular simple present macks out, present participle macking out, simple past and past participle macked out)

macks out (present singular third-person)
macking out (participle present)
macked out (participle past)
macked out (past)

(UK, slang) To spend time relaxing; to chill out.


new bread

en-noun

new bread (countable and uncountable, plural new breads)

(UK, historical) Bread prepared on a Sunday morning and consumed within six hours.


CIIIR

King Charles III of the United Kingdom
w:en:Charles III of the United Kingdom

(UK) Abbreviation of Charles III Rex; the royal cypher of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, king regnant.


VRI

V.R.I. (alternative)
V. R. I. (alternative)

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
w:en:Victoria I of the United Kingdom

(UK) Abbreviation of Victoria Regina et Imperatrix; the royal cypher of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, queen regnant.


Andrew Miller

Sometimes said to originate from the name of an 18th-century Lieutenant named Andrew Millar, famed for impressing many people into naval service; however, there is no evidence such a person existed.

He wont do for Andrew Millar, for he's mair like unto a cuckoo clock-maker than a Jack tar.

1826, Matthew Henry Barker, Greenwich hospital, page 2:

Since those days I have met scores of men who have deserted from Her Majesty's Army and Navy, and every one of them, without exception, curses the day he left the service, or, as the seamen term it, ‘Andrew Miller’.

1906, W. H. Blake, The Adventures of a Naval Chief Gunner, page 5:

I'm not a flight sergeant, we don't have 'em in the Andrew Miller.

1984, Kenneth Poolman, Chanter R.N., page 151:

(chiefly UK, naval slang) The Royal Navy; service in the Navy.


Andrew Miller

Andrew Millers (plural)
Andrew Millar (alternative)

And what did you know, you bumpkin! before you came on board this Andrew Miller?

1850, Herman Melville, chapter IV, in White-Jacket, published 1850, page 24:

(chiefly UK, naval slang, obsolete) A warship.


box wagon

Greenbrier has completed production of the first JNA-X Box Wagon prototype in Romania. It forms part of an agreement for 50 new box wagons announced in March between the manufacturer, Porterbrook and GB Railfreight.

2022 September 7, “Network News: Box Wagon prototype ready for the UK”, in RAIL, number 965, page 22:

(rail transport, British) A large high-sided box-shaped open wagon mounted on two four-wheel bogies, similar to a North American gondola car.


in bad bread

damned if one does and damned if one doesn't

(obsolete, dated, UK) In a dilemma; in a state of difficulty.


in good bread

You are at present in good bread, but were you out of place, I could expect nothing from such a one as you, but to become a burden to my family.

1754, John Breues, Fortunate Lovers: Or, the Most Successful Arts Used in Honourable Courtship […], page 23:

By these Means I established myself in good Bread, and a numerous Set of good Acquaintance of both Sexes.

1755, Peter Drake, The Memoirs of Capt. Peter Drake: Containing, An Account of many Strange and Surprising Events […], volume 2, page 229:

This mode of life suited me exceedingly: I found myself in good bread, and resolved to go on; but the caprice of my stars never suffered me to be what I wished.

1791, [William Beckford], transl., Popular Tales of the Germans […], volume 2, page 176:

(obsolete, British, Ireland, slang) In a fortunate or favorable position.


cheggie

(UK, regional) A conker (horse-chestnut used in a game).


rageous

en-adj

rageous (comparative more rageous, superlative most rageous)

more rageous (comparative)
most rageous (superlative)


zero prefix

(UK, telephony) The digit 0 that begins all telephone numbers in the United Kingdom, which is substituted for the country code in the event of international calls.


wirelessless

I've been stranded, utterly abandoned, left wireless—rather, wirelessless.

We are wirelessless, or probably we should have enjoyed de la Mare's aperçu of Keats tonight.

Quoted in: 2020, Carol Z. Rothkopf, Selected Letters of Siegfried Sassoon and Edmund Blunden, 1919–1967

She also reflected that a jumpy, wool-gathering wireless operator might cause less confusion ashore. But the fact remained that the yacht was wirelessless.

2022, William J. Locke, Ancestor Jorico:


shitehead

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, very uncommon) Alternative form of shithead.


Millwall brick

In reference to Millwall F.C., a football club with a reputation for hooliganism.

(UK, slang) An improvised club-like weapon made of tightly rolled and bent newspaper, allegedly used by football hooligans.


CRIII

(UK) Abbreviation of Charles Rex III; the royal cypher of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, king regnant.


monkey parade

monkey parades (plural)
monkeys' parade (alternative)

These twilight parades of young people[…]—unkindly critics, blind to the inner meanings of things, call them, I believe, Monkeys' Parades—the shop apprentices, the young work girls, the boy clerks and so forth, stirred by mysterious intimations, spend their first-earned money upon collars and ties[…] and come valiantly into the vague transfiguring mingling of gaslight and evening, to walk up and down, to eye meaningly, even to accost and make friends.

1911, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 3, in The New Machiavelli, London: John Lane; The Bodley Head […], →OCLC, book the first (The Making of a Man), page 66:

1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 76:

(British, dated slang) Synonym of monkey run.


monkey walk

monkey walks (plural)
monkeywalk (alternative)

In pre-war Britain, for example, younger people had mainly gained introductions to the opposite sex through the ‘evening walk’, with many British cities having well-known routes along which groups of young women and men would walk […]. Known colloquially as ‘monkeyruns’ or ‘monkeywalks’, these provided a relatively informal and regulated space for sexual performance and display […]

[2013, Phil Hubbard, Cities and Sexualities, Routledge, →ISBN, page 137:


hannit

Contraction of hasn't it. Compare innit.

It's kinda killed comedy a little bit, hannit?

(UK, informal) Contraction of hasn't it.


Treason Day

In reference to the American Revolutionary War.

I have a British colleague who, at the end of our writing group meeting, wished us all a "happy treason day" 😂

2020 July 3, margaret_emma, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-09-27:


WYO

WYO tonight?

(UK, US, text messaging) Initialism of what you on (“what are your plans? what are you up to?”).


WUO

(UK, text messaging) Alternative form of WYO (“what you on”).


windy pasty

(UK) A pasty made from left-over pastry, usually served with jam and cream.


tiddy oggy

In fact, we shared many a hot tiddy oggy as we sat and talked about all my inner struggles, as well as the many overwhelming challenges I regularly faced.

2012, Tricia Bennett, The Trouble With Polly Brown, page 486:

(UK, dialect, Cornwall, Devon) Synonym of oggy (“a Cornish pasty”).


ploughman's sandwich

en-noun

ploughman's sandwich (plural ploughman's sandwiches)

(British) A sandwich based on the ploughman's lunch, with fillings including cheese and pickle.


mistetch

en-verb

mistetch (third-person singular simple present mistetches, present participle mistetching, simple past and past participle mistetched)

mistetches (present singular third-person)
mistetching (participle present)
mistetched (participle past)
mistetched (past)

(UK, Yorkshire, obsolete) To misteach; teach badly or wrongly.


Kamikwasi

Kamikwasi Kwarteng and Librium Liz were paralysed with terror. They had waited years for their chance to wreck the economy and now couldn’t bear to deal with the consequences.

2022 September 28, John Crace, “Labour parties like it’s 1997 as Tories descend further into chaos”, in the Guardian, retrieved 2022-09-30:

Those spending plans allied with the tax cuts sent sterling plunging to its lowest-ever value against the dollar earlier this week, as critics decried the government's "KamiKwasi" economics.

2022 September 28, “'KamiKwasi' economics: Baptism of fire for UK's new finance minister Kwarteng”, in The Straits Times, retrieved 2022-09-30:

You might have thought that the first Truss cabinet row would have been over the tax and spend implications of what has become known as the KamiKwasi budget.

2022 September 28, David Aaronovitch, “Truss is right: we need migrants to prosper - Comment”, in The Times, retrieved 2022-09-30:

(UK, politics, derogatory) Kwasi Kwarteng; used to characterise Kwarteng's term as the Chancellor of the Exchequer as reckless.


KamiKwasi

(UK, politics, derogatory) Alternative spelling of Kamikwasi.


jarbird

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A bird of family Sittidae; a nuthatch.


jaypie

The magpie and jaypie inhabit the woods, and commit depredations on gardens.

1813, Great Britain. Board of Agriculture, Agricultural Surveys: Angus (1813) (page 460)

Loud screams the jaypie as he sounds retreat, / And turtles hurry from their latent seat: […]

1838, J. Hazel, The British Farmer; or, Sketches [in verse] of a country life, page 42:


shathead

(UK, Ireland) Alternative form of shithead.


booking lad

This will provide a permanent automatic record of all train movements in the area of each box and eliminate the manual recording at present done by booking lads.

1964 November, “The Electrification of BR: 5 The Southern's Bournemouth scheme”, in Modern Railways, page 320:

(rail transport, dated, British) A young male employee in a signal box who records the movement of trains past the box.


sprackness

The Saxon's mind, and above all in the young, is destructive, and his sprackness wants the guidance of refined thought, […]

1869, William Barnes, Early England and the Saxon-English, page 64:

She smoked in silence for a minute or two while Lady Shore sat and blinked at her, struck as always by her friend's personality, by her wonderful, shining sprackness. Her dark hair shone, especially on the temples, […]

(UK, dialectal) The quality of being sprack, lively, full of energy.


polly

(UK, slang) A prefect at Uppingham School in Rutland, England.


leavelooker

(UK, historical) A market inspector in the region of Chester in England, responsible for licensing foreign traders, checking the quality of meat, etc.


nagnail

Perhaps from a rebracketing of "an 'angnail".


underfoud

From the twelfth century Shetland had been administered directly by the Norwegian crown through the 'foud', rather than forming part of the patrimony of a great aristocratic estate. The foud appointed 'underfouds' and the Shetlands evolved their own elected officers, a 'lawman' and parish 'lawrightmen', who adjudicated and negotiated the collection of customary taxes and fines on behalf of the local population.

1983, Paul Thompson, Tony Wailey, Trevor Lummis, History Workshop Series, Living the Fishing, Routledge & Kegan Paul:

(British, Shetland and Orkney) A lower-ranking foud; a subbailiff.


PRU

pupil referral unit
pupil referral unit#English

(UK, education) Initialism of pupil referral unit.

pupil reintegration unit
pupil reintegration unit#English

(UK, education) Initialism of pupil reintegration unit.


RVI

Royal Victoria Infirmary
w:Royal Victoria Infirmary

Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne#English

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of Royal Victoria Infirmary; a large hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom.


pept

en-adj

pept (comparative more pept, superlative most pept)

more pept (comparative)
most pept (superlative)

been offered a^([sic]) apprenticeship but the wage is absolutely pept

2015 October 21, @sam_hunter7, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-10-17:

It's all backwards, I just don't get these niggas / Dumb ballers, its like they're all pept these niggas

2016 July 28, “(Freestyle)”, in Daily Duppy, performed by Aystar, GRM Daily:

Have you heard your bars? They're fucking pept / Fucking pept, yeah, that's what they are

2016 December 3, “Soph Aspin Send”performed by Millie B:

Must be pept to be a stuck up cunt. Down to earth are my kinda people

2017 March 12, @MitchellmusicUk, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-10-17:


guttlesome

guttlesome (comparative more guttlesome, superlative most guttlesome)

more guttlesome (comparative)
most guttlesome (superlative)

From guttle (“to swallow (something) greedily; to gobble; to guzzle; to eat voraciously; to gorge”) + -some (“characterized by some specific condition or quality, usually to a considerable degree”).

suffix

'What one of those guttlesome parsons who came every year to our dinners?' A momentary sadness passed over the company; on my mind the impression lingered; the talking, eating, evangelical parson, always going out to dinners, was dead.

1861 February 2, “The Sinfulness of Balls”, in Saturday Review, volume 11, number 275, page 115:

Since when I've cleared the table to feed these guttlesome swans—on the best cake, too, which is simply immoral.

1919, Lucas Malet, The Tall Villa, George H. Doran Company, →OCLC, page 95:

(British, dialect) Greedily eating and gorging oneself; gluttonous.


blokette

(Australia, British, New Zealand, informal) A woman (female bloke).


wazzbag

“Yeah, we know what that wazzbag, Kevin is up to, that little wretch. How dare you strike Rachel? I'll skin you alive,” Anthony said and slapped him across his face. Kevin looked unmoved and just smirked. Chandler's men wrestled the two[…]

2020 June 4, Rayna Arora, The Royal Blood, Notion Press, →ISBN:

Tyler says, “Stop being such a wazzbag and live for once. We're gonna be fine.” Octavia walks midway and sits down with the grass bestowed between her knees. Kierra asks, “What are you doing?” Octavia replies, “Everyone come over.

2022 June 17, Lis Frimpong, Forbidden Entries, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, slang, derogatory) A detestable or stupid person.


wazzocked

en-adj

wazzocked (comparative more wazzocked, superlative most wazzocked)

more wazzocked (comparative)
most wazzocked (superlative)

It'll be so nice to see them again, and have a might of not bothering about anything domestic and just getting on with the serious business of getting utterly wazzocked.

2011, Sam Holden, Diary of a Hapless Househusband, page 196:


bicycle monarchy

en-noun

bicycle monarchy (plural bicycle monarchies)

bicycle monarchies (plural)
bicycling monarchy (alternative)

From press images of members of the Dutch and Danish royal families riding bicycles.

(UK, informal) A relatively informal and modest style of monarchy, as found in Scandinavia and the Low Countries.


gap yah

From stereotypical pronunciation by the privileged upper class. Compare yah (“an upper-class person”). Gap Yah was the name of a comedy sketch of this kind, published on YouTube in February 2010.

I was at university in Paris for three months and I missed my friends desperately. I'd gone away without them on my gap yah but being in the Caribbean alone was fun, and people there were friendly and made me feel safe.

2020, Grace Campbell, Amazing Disgrace: A Book About "Shame":

I pushed a strawberry sweet into my mouth, bagged up the afternoon's rubbish and thought about what my gap-yah girl would be called, what her favourite colour was, her favourite food.

The sneers about my gap yah. The eye-rolling whenever I mentioned Exeter. Full of posh pricks, you said once. I thought I wasn't cool enough for you.


jack-up-the-orchard

I'll give you jack-up-the-orchard if I catch you!

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Used as an unspecified threat.


meal deal

(UK, retail) A sales promotion consisting of a main (often a sandwich), a drink, and a snack (often crisps) for a fixed price.


wartern

(UK, regional, historical) An amount of wool, usually around six pounds, processed at one time.


wauve

(UK, regional, obsolete) The dish of a wheel; the angle at which spokes are fixed in its nave.


mustn't grumble

(UK, humorous) Not bad; implying that life is not bad and one should not complain about it.


curl one out

en-verb

curl one out (third-person singular simple present curls one out, present participle curling one out, simple past and past participle curled one out)

curls one out (present singular third-person)
curling one out (participle present)
curled one out (participle past)
curled one out (past)

I searched for a place to empty my bowels and found an empty compound. As much as I frowned on the way these people lived, I wasn't going to curl one out on their pillow.

2017, Dean Bailey, Crawling Out of Hell, Fonthill Media, →ISBN, page 117:


par off

par off (third-person singular simple present pars off, present participle parring off, simple past and past participle parred off)

pars off (present singular third-person)
parring off (participle present)
parred off (participle past)
parred off (past)

Christopher suggested being "open" with the person you are parring off which will provide a "good grounding" for future tricky situations you want to weasel out of.

2017 February 20, Lucy Woodham, “We asked a therapist how to stop overthinking things”, in The Tab:

What they were like on Love Island: Cringe, and when he told her he loved her the day before the final and she parred him off, it was clear it wasn't going to work.

2017 December 4, Diyora Shadijanova, “Kem and Amber might be over, but which Love Island couples are still together?”, in The Tab:

"Nice to see eclectic sets being celebrated as they should ... except the part where the most brilliantly eclectic DJs are constantly being parred off by promoters," tweeted Josey Rebelle late last year.

2018 March 15, Josey Rebelle (quoted), Patrick Hinton, “Stop calling DJs 'eclectic'”, in Mixmag:

When good boy Grant suddenly drops good girl Cassidy for Tayla, and everybody feels sorry for Cassidy, before she does the exact same thing to lovable puppy dog Josh by parring him off for newcomer Mich.

2018 June 22, Georgie Wright, “We Compared the British and Australian 'Love Island'”, in VICE:

(UK, slang) To reject, ignore, or spurn.

When you broadly look at what’s going on in the Pokemon universe, it’s pretty questionable. Masses of beautiful wild creatures roam the hills, and it’s your task to encase them all in balls for use in battles or to par them off in a safe deposit box for your creepy collection.

2016 February 26, Adam Starkey, “8 important life lessons we’ve learned from 20 years of Pokemon”, in Metro:

That’s why, on Tuesday, I was uncharacteristically excited to see that I had an acai bowl – actual food! – but, sadly, it wasn’t to my taste, and neither was Wednesday’s Spinach, Apple and Matcha smoothie, which I happily parred off to my boyfriend in favour of, you guessed it, a chicken caesar wrap from the shop.

2022 August 20, Ella Glover, “Is this vegan food subscription worth your time and money? I tried it for a week”, in Metro:

I said to the guy, "Listen, I want a vindaloo, but I want it hot, OK? Don't par me off with any of this little spice thing." He said, "OK, yeah, you want it hot?" So, I said, "Yeah," so he went away and ordered it and he came back and clunked it in front of me and I started to eat it and it was unbelievably hot.

2016 March 14, Phil Collins (quoted), Scott Lapatine, “Easy Lover Easy Rider: Action Bronson Interviews Phil Collins”, in Stereogum:


Brexitish

en-adj

Brexitish (comparative more Brexitish, superlative most Brexitish)

more Brexitish (comparative)
most Brexitish (superlative)

The Brexitish notion that nation states can just withdraw from the rest of the world and wall in their own production is a cultural fantasy as delusional as any who punch “Australia first!”, “America first!”, “Britain first!” statements into the keypad of a Chinese-assembled mobile phone.

2017 May 1, Van Badham, “Worker exploitation: without an international minimum wage, we're all worth 10 bucks”, in The Guardian:

(UK, informal) Resembling or characteristic of Brexit, or the attitudes thought to underlie it.


casualty department

en-noun

casualty department (plural casualty departments)

casualty departments (plural)
casualty (alternative)

(British) (also casualty ward) the department of a hospital providing immediate treatment for emergency cases.


jiffle

en-verb

jiffle (third-person singular simple present jiffles, present participle jiffling, simple past and past participle jiffled)

jiffles (present singular third-person)
jiffling (participle present)
jiffled (participle past)
jiffled (past)

(intransitive, UK, regional) To fidget; to act restlessly.


Brasian

(UK, slang) A British person of South Asian-extraction/heritage/ethnicity.


snap-tin

(UK, regional, dated) A metal lunchbox (food container).


Friday face

Perhaps from Friday being a day of meagre fare among Catholics and High Church Protestants.

(UK, slang, obsolete) A gloomy or melancholy face.


shaler

(UK, slang, obsolete) A girl or young woman.


spec up

spec up (third-person singular simple present specs up, present participle speccing up, simple past and past participle specced up)

specs up (present singular third-person)
speccing up (participle present)
specced up (participle past)
specced up (past)

The mech side of this is a tinkerer's paradise, allowing you to spec up your squad's weapons and armour to your heart's content, at least once you have built up the confidence to move away from stock setups.

2018 June 21, “BattleTech review – initially ponderous, then glorious”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, UK, informal) To improve, optimize, or maximize the attributes of (something).


Brindian

Indian Subcontinent
Indian Subcontinent#English

(UK, slang) A British person of Indian Subcontinent-extraction/heritage/ethnicities, or of India, British India.


engine cleaner

Driver Langdale entered the service of the L.N.W.R. as an engine cleaner at Camden on April 25, 1898, at the age of 17, and has been stationed in the London area ever since.

1943 September and October, “Top Link Drivers”, in Railway Magazine, page 293:

(rail transport, dated, British) An employee who cleans railway locomotives, especially steam locomotives in the days of steam.


born sleeping

(UK, euphemistic) Stillborn; having died in utero in the middle to late part of a pregnancy, usually after 20-28 weeks.


scrunty

en-adj

scrunty (comparative more scrunty, superlative most scrunty)

more scrunty (comparative)
most scrunty (superlative)


meat sceptre

Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and UK standard spelling of meat scepter.


bodgy

bodgy (comparative more bodgy, superlative most bodgy)

more bodgy (comparative)
most bodgy (superlative)

A bodgy eighties removal of all the picture rails had left the walls with a serious case of the lumps.

2014 August 27, Darren Palmer, Easy Luxury: An expert guide to creating your perfect home, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 14:

It must have taken the robot hours of painstaking labour, and the only remaining problem was the panels themselves, which were a bodgy mis-match of advertising hoardings, street signs and flattened-out garbage cans.

2018 August 7, Simon Haynes, Harriet Walsh Omnibus One: Books 1-3 in the Harriet Walsh series, Bowman Press:

(UK, Australia, slang) Sloppy or makeshift; bodged.


brassish

brassish (comparative more brassish, superlative most brassish)

more brassish (comparative)
most brassish (superlative)


bumsucker

(UK, slang, derogatory) A sycophant or toady.


spreathe

en-verb

spreathe (third-person singular simple present spreathes, present participle spreathing, simple past and past participle spreathed)

spreathes (present singular third-person)
spreathing (participle present)
spreathed (participle past)
spreathed (past)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) To make chapped, as with cold.


spreathe

Urrell's own face smarted with dirt, exposure and cold-spreathe. He touched his nose and cheek, felt the crust of grime and chapped skin, and wondered how Agaratz showed no signs of the cold they had been through together.

(UK, dialect, obsolete) The condition of being chapped, as with cold.


keep tryst

keep tryst (third-person singular simple present keeps tryst, present participle keeping tryst, simple past and past participle kept tryst)

keeps tryst (present singular third-person)
keeping tryst (participle present)
kept tryst (participle past)
kept tryst (past)

Mr. Venus undertook to produce it again in the morning, and to keep tryst with Mr. Wegg on Boffin's doorstep as the clock struck ten.

1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

(UK, dialect, archaic) To wait for a person at the appointed place and time.


Regulo mark

From a brand name of thermostatic controls for cookers.


baby milk

en-noun

baby milk (countable and uncountable, plural baby milks)

Panic buying continued to sweep parts of the country over the weekend, with many shoppers buying many everyday essentials in excess as they prepared for periods of isolation during the coronavirus crisis. […] In Birmingham worried mothers took to social media begging others not to buy supplies of baby milk and formula.

2020 March 15, Nazia Parveen, “Panic buying sweeps stores despite appeal for responsible shopping”, in The Guardian:

The baby finger food category, such as the pouches, is anticipated to grow the fastest by volume. Baby milks remained the largest category in value terms, followed by baby wet meals and baby finger foods.

2022 July 9, Laura Onita, “Luxury baby foods that are 'sweeter than Coke' give middle class parents food for thought”, in The Telegraph:

(chiefly UK) Infant formula, especially that sold in liquid form.


upper school

(UK, education) A school found within secondary education.


dragon's teeth

dragon's teeth pl (normally plural, singular dragon's tooth)

The new line markings – known internationally as dragon's teeth – are designed to make sure motorists know they are entering a 40kmh school zone. […] "It's our aim to get these new dragon's teeth out on our streets as quickly as possible, which is why we'll be enlisting the help of several different crews around the state to get started on this massive rollout."

2009 May 24, Lisa Carty, “Dragon's teeth to guard school zones”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

Dragon's teeth are distinguished by a stretch of road marked by triangles on each side of the lane and have been used in Australia for over a decade, while they can also be found in places like New Zealand, the UK and Spain. (...) In a 2021 Qatar University report, researchers said that visual road markings like dragon’s teeth are one of the most effective road safety measures due to their “perceptual road-narrowing effect” that “stimulates drivers to reduce their speed limit”.

2025 January 30, Ethan Cardinal, “‘Never seen them before’: The little-known road marking found in Australia”, in drive.com.au:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, road transport) A series of triangular road surface markings painted on each side of a traffic lane, used for traffic calming or to alert drivers to a speed limit.


meltith

(UK, Scotland, dialect, obsolete) A meal.


emancipation waist

emancipation waist (plural emancipation waists)

(UK, historical) Synonym of liberty bodice.


perfect cadence

perfect cadence (plural perfect cadences)

(music, chiefly UK) A cadence involving the resolution of the dominant chord (V) to the root chord (I).


trig pillar

There are several prominent boundary stones close to the path which soon merges into a broad track as it heads towards the trig pillar on Round Hill.

2019, Alan Staniforth, Cleveland Way, page 64:

triangulation pillar
triangulation pillar


triangulation station

triangulation station (plural triangulation stations)


no further action

(law enforcement, criminal law, UK, Malaysia) A potential formal outcome for a suspect from a police investigation, indicating that no action will be taken.


deculvert

en-verb

deculvert (third-person singular simple present deculverts, present participle deculverting, simple past and past participle deculverted)

deculverts (present singular third-person)
deculverting (participle present)
deculverted (participle past)
deculverted (past)

(UK) To remove a culvert from (a waterway) so that it flows openly.


have a thick head

have a thick head (third-person singular simple present has a thick head, present participle having a thick head, simple past and past participle had a thick head)

has a thick head (present singular third-person)
having a thick head (participle present)
had a thick head (participle past)
had a thick head (past)


neighbourlike

en-adj

neighbourlike (comparative more neighbourlike, superlative most neighbourlike)

more neighbourlike (comparative)
most neighbourlike (superlative)
neighborlike (alternative US)

(British, Canada) Synonym of neighbourly.


cotted

cotted (comparative more cotted, superlative most cotted)

more cotted (comparative)
most cotted (superlative)

a cotted fleece


proto-forester

(UK, historical) An officer appointed chief of Windsor, to hear all causes of death or maim, or of the slaughter of the king's deer.


magic roundabout

en-noun

magic roundabout (plural magic roundabouts)

From roundabout (“circular road junction”) and in reference to the children's television series The Magic Roundabout.


tenpence to the shilling

The British shilling was worth twelve pence, so tenpence would be a deficient exchange.

I knew that chap; but he never was more nor tenpence to the shilling. He was one of the men, we say, who fell out of his cradle and knocked his head.

1909, Edward R. Hartley, Train Talks, page 4:

He felt no curiosity about news or daily events, and was getting to be looked on as 'tenpence to the shilling' in the head.

1951, Crichton Porteous, Wild Acres, page 203:

Whenever he did manage to engineer a meeting she always treated him as if he was only tenpence to the shilling, a few bricks short of a load, as if he needed another brain cell to qualify as a plant.

2011, Ruth Hamilton, A Whisper To The Living:


in prime twig

(UK, slang, obsolete) In good order and high spirits.


two-handed game

two-handed game (plural two-handed games)

"Mr. Pillow, Sir, none of your impertinence, or I will chastise you as well as this fellow." "That's a two handed game, by thunder," said Long Tom, "[…] I dare you to deadly combat. […]"

1849, Masonic Signet and Literary Mirror, volume 1, page 379:

get as good as one gives
give as good as one gets

(UK, slang, archaic) A game or proposal in which the chances are fairly even; a situation where one will get as good as one gives.


wet the other eye

en-verb

wet the other eye (third-person singular simple present wets the other eye, present participle wetting the other eye, simple past and past participle wetted the other eye or wet the other eye)

wets the other eye (present singular third-person)
wetting the other eye (participle present)
wetted the other eye (participle past)
wetted the other eye (past)
wet the other eye (participle past)
wet the other eye (past)

(UK, slang, obsolete) To have another alcoholic drink.


toss the pieman

toss the pieman (third-person singular simple present tosses the pieman, present participle tossing the pieman, simple past and past participle tossed the pieman)

tosses the pieman (present singular third-person)
tossing the pieman (participle present)
tossed the pieman (participle past)
tossed the pieman (past)

(UK, obsolete) To gamble with a pieman by means of a coin toss, either winning a free pie or forfeiting the coin.


codlins and cream

en-noun

codlins and cream (plural codlins and creams)

(dialectal, UK) Epilobium hirsutum, a water-loving willowherb native to Europe.


health visitor

(chiefly UK, healthcare) A healthcare professional engaged in offering public health advice to people in their homes.


lad lit

Modeled on lad mag and perhaps chick lit.

ladlit (alternative)
lad-lit (alternative)

Publishers have been trying for years to find a winning formula for men's fiction. From lad lit to dad lit to bad lit, men have been barraged with an array of reading matter since Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary stormed up the bestseller lists and into our lives in 1997.

2004 June 6, Jonathan Heawood, “You couldn't make it up”, in The Observer:

Just Like You could stand alone as the ladlit-meets-mumlit social satire that it is, its vicious wit paradoxically interwoven with tenderness and empathy.

2020 September 18, Joanna Briscoe, “Just Like You by Nick Hornby review – ladlit meets mumlit”, in The Guardian:

(British) Male-authored popular novels about young men and their emotional and personal lives.


from home

From Middle English fram home, from hame, from hom.

men are merriest when they are from home

c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act I, Scene 2:

the old Gentleman being from Home, or out of the way when my Messenger came, my Letter came directly to my Sons Hand

1722, Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, London: W. Chetwood and T. Edling, page 411:

I cannot bear the thoughts of a Christmas spent from home

1847, Anne Brontë, chapter 8, in Agnes Grey, volume 3, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, page 133:

He had excuses. His family difficulties, his long stay from home.

1969, John Fowles, chapter 21, in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, London: Panther, published 1971, page 156:

(idiomatic, dated, chiefly UK) Away from home, not at home; away, out.


committee rooms

committee rooms pl (normally plural, singular committee room)

Hats were thrown in the air at the west end committee rooms when when victory seemed certain and the crowds surged up and down the stairs in the west end committee rooms to offer congratulations to the victorious candidate.

a. 1946, The Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers Journal, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers:

One of the factors in the success of the party in Verdun in polling a sizable vote was the role played by these voluntary workers in canvassing, distributing literature, and staffing committee rooms.

1946, Herbert F. Quinn, The Quebec Provincial Election of 1944: An Analysis of the Role of the Election in the Democratic Process (master’s thesis), Montreal: McGill University, →OCLC, retrieved 2022-12-07, page 44:

With the party candidate in Winnipeg North, he shared a cramped committee room in the northern district, across the street from the Conservative auxiliary office.[…]

1964, T. Peterson, I. Avakumovic, “A Return to the Status Quo: The Election in Winnipeg North Centre”, in John Meisel, editor, Papers on the 1962 Election: Fifteen Papers on the Canadian General Election of 1962, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, →JSTOR, pages 94–95, 100:

COMMITTEE ROOMS:
1915 Osler Street

1975, NDP... Keeping Saskatchewan Alive, Regina, Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan NDP; republished Quebec City, Quebec: Centre for Public Policy Analysis, c. 2006, retrieved 2022-12-06, page 17:

When I came to Moosomin 30 years ago, the Liberals, NDP and Conservatives all had active local constituencies, all had well known supporters, all would set up committee rooms during the election, get their lawn signs out and work for their candidate.

2019 October 7, Kevin Weedmark, “Canadian Politics Is No Longer Right Versus Left, It’s Urban Versus Rural”, in The World-Spectator, Moosomin, Saskatchewan, retrieved 2022-12-06:

(Canada, UK, dated) One or more election campaign offices.


mizzler

Presumably mizzle + -er, from mizzle (“abscond, scram, flee”).

(UK, slang, obsolete) A person who is clever at effecting an escape, or getting out of a difficulty.


floating academy

floating academy (plural floating academies)

(UK, obsolete, slang) Those ships on which criminals were subjected to transportation or (later) to hard labor.


burker

Science was in league with the "burkers" and "body-snatchers," […]

1877, Dutton Cook, Doubleday's Children, page 90:

(UK, slang, historical) One who burkes; one who murders in order to sell the body to an anatomist, surgeon, etc.


broady

That referred to the circumstance of Dannelly having , on the preceding evening gone to Mr. Poole's cloth shop. He said he had been on the screw, (that is, lifting the latch of a door,) and sneaked out a piece of broady […]

1816, George Vaughan (Bow-Street officer), The Whole Four Trials of the Thief Takers (page 26)


four-and-nine

From the price of four shillings and ninepence, at which a once noted advertising hat-maker sold his hats.

Around me young and old, / Take this advice of mine, / When you want a hat, / Don't buy a four and nine.

1850, William Mark Clark, Clark's Orphean Warbler (page 424): Four and Nine Tile (song)


arse antlers

(UK, Australia, derogatory, slang) A tattoo on a person's lower back, especially one with a horizontally spreading design.


putter up

The thieves never take the putter up with them, nor do they allow him to know when they intend to crack the house.

1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 353:

Should the "put-up job" succeed, the putter-up comes in for his share of the criminal spoil.

(UK, slang, archaic) A person who seeks out information of use to burglars, for example by ingratiating himself with the members of a household, and in return receives payment after the burglary is committed.


gandergoose

(UK, regional, obsolete) The plant ragwort.


easse

Apparently a variant of ees (“bait for fishing”).

'E swallows yis an' button-crawlers, / wears ewe's-muff cologne an' goat perfume.

2022, PJ Harvey, Orlam, Picador, page 201:


club tape

Originally the receiving tape machines were installed in gentlemen's clubs.

(UK, historical) a ticker tape service for news or stock reporting


wet play

wet play (countable and uncountable, plural wet plays)

You should stay in since it's wet play.

It was a rainy day, so at breaktime, we had to stay in for wet play.

2017, Jennifer Killick, Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink, Firefly Press:

Wet Play poses challenges to the school day. We know that children are happier and more focused on learning if they have time to run around and play outside. Unfortunately, sometimes (and quite often recently) the weather doesn’t allow this. At these times we have ‘Wet Play’.

2022, “Wet Play | Willow Lane Primary School”, in Willow Lane Community Primary School, archived from the original on 2022-12-22:

(UK, education, uncountable) Structured play activities for young schoolchildren during inclement weather.


froughy

en-adj

froughy (comparative more froughy, superlative most froughy)

more froughy (comparative)
most froughy (superlative)

froughy, unseasoned oak

2017, David Hoseason Morgan, Harvesters and Harvesting 1840-1900, page 23:

(UK, dialect, archaic) Loose, spongy, or easily broken.


bang on the money

bang on the money (comparative more bang on the money, superlative most bang on the money)

more bang on the money (comparative)
most bang on the money (superlative)

Combination of bang on and on the money.

Apple's official Q2 figures now available and it turns out Kuo was bang on the money.

2016 April 25, Gordon Kelly, “New iPhone 7 Details Reveal Bad News For Apple”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 2022-07-05:

But portraying a person with a disability comes with its own responsibility. "You need to get it all bang on the money," said Garfield, who spent significant time with the disabled to prepare for the part.

2017 November 30, Gary Goldstein, “To portray a paralyzed polio patient in ‘Breathe,’ Andrew Garfield relied on his voice and expressions”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 2020-08-12:

After all, if you visit McIlroy’s Twitter page, his profile reads: "I hit a little white ball around a field sometimes." It's tongue-in-cheek, sure, but it's bang on the money.

2019 July 20, Gavin Newsham, “It’s ridiculous that golfers are being paid like rock stars”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 2022-01-23:

(UK, colloquial) Exactly right, accurate, or precise; spot on.


zero-hours

The pay penalty directly associated with zero-hours work amounted to 6.6% or 93p an hour. For a typical zero-hours worker doing 21 hours a week, it amounts to £1,000 a year.

2016 December 30, Phillip Inman, “Zero-hours workers '£1,000 worse off a year' than employees”, in The Guardian:

I’d always heard about other people getting bullied in zero-hours jobs. But I didn’t take it seriously until it happened to me.

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

Journalist James Bloodworth’s story of being ‘embedded’ for six months as a zero-hours worker is vital reading for all[.]

2018 March 11, Nick Cohen, quoting James Bloodworth, “Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain – review”, in The Guardian:

At the moment, she’s a youth worker with the local council, primarily dealing with teens who’ve got into trouble. “I think I can save them,” she says. “Open their eyes to uni or a job.” But she can’t save any money on two contracts, one of which is zero-hours and the other guaranteeing only nine hours’ pay a week.

2023 August 17, Aditya Chakrabortty, “Can’t pay and they really do take it away: what happens when the bailiffs come knocking”, in The Guardian:

(UK) Relating to a zero-hour contract or employment.


peartly

en-adv

peartly (comparative more peartly, superlative most peartly)

more peartly (comparative)
most peartly (superlative)


gooner

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

(British, footballing slang) Alternative letter-case form of Gooner.


axiophyte

(botany, UK) A plant of special interest to botanists.


DORA

Defence of the Realm Act 1914
w:Defence of the Realm Act 1914

(UK, historical) Acronym of Defence of the Realm Act 1914.


dog in a blanket

en-noun

dog in a blanket (plural dogs in blankets)

(UK, obsolete, slang) Synonym of roly-poly (“kind of steamed pudding”).


single-driver

A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.

1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:

(rail transport, British, obsolete) A steam locomotive with a single driving axle.


boxhead

(UK, military, slang, dated) A German person.


missment

'Tes but a missment in the naame ^([sic]).

1860, John Tabois Tregellas, 3 Cornish Tales, page 69:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A mistake; an error.


uplong

Well, I did belong to keep a piece of soap, but six weeks back the woman uplong the next farm, 'er sent down and borrowed it.

1963, Reginald Harrison Smythe, Healers on Horseback, page 107:

Located in a direction considered up, such as toward a central place or up the road.


WILTY

Would I Lie to You? (game show)
w:Would I Lie to You? (game show)

(UK, informal) Acronym of Would I Lie to You? (game show).


sabb

(UK, slang) Alternative form of sab (“sabbatical officer”).


sabbatical officer

sabbatical officer (plural sabbatical officers)

(UK) A full-time officer elected by the members of a students' union or similar body, and usually serving as a trustee.


black-coated

From black + coated, from the black coats traditionally worn by clergy, lawyers, and other professional and clerical workers.

Morrison, son of a policeman and a housemaid, is a born politician. He controls the city administration of London. Says he, “Labor must attract the black-coated worker” (i.e., white-collar worker).

1945 June 25, “The British Begin Election Battle”, in Life, page 22:

Briefly, it limited the number of persons of Jewish religion to be admitted to the professions of the Press, the Theatre (including Films), the Law, Medicine and Engineering, and to black-coated employments both in these professions and in financial, commercial or industrial enterprises employing more than ten persons to 20 per cent.

1956, Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945, volume 1, page 219:

Although the largest segment of the membership, category III, included other skilled workers, the vast majority in this segment—about 90 percent—came from the expanding ranks of the black-coated workers.

2008, Timothy G. McMahon, Grand Opportunity: The Gaelic Revival and Irish Society, 1893–1910, →ISBN, page 107:

(chiefly UK, dated) White-collar, relating to office workers or office work.


doorsteppy

en-adj

doorsteppy (comparative more doorsteppy, superlative most doorsteppy)

more doorsteppy (comparative)
most doorsteppy (superlative)

In my experience, the more doorsteppy the sandwiches, the better.

My porridge was followed by toast, thick, doorsteppy chunks of it, and I tried to be polite with the amount of butter I slathered on them.

2021, Vivienne Bennett, The Meanderings of a Serial Goat Keeper:

(UK, informal) Of bread: sliced very thick.


pre-lash

en-noun

pre-lash (countable and uncountable, plural pre-lashes)

From pre- + lash. Compare on the lash, lash back.

Pre-lash at mine, the text from Terence had read. She hadn't realised it was already eight o'clock. She finished the notes for her essay, backed them up, shut down her Mac, and rushed over to Terence's room with what was left of her vodka and a bottle of lime cordial. Pre-lash; that was how most evenings began.

2014, Peter Crawley, Boarding House Reach, Kibworth Beauchamp: Matador, →ISBN, page 144:

Look, my flat's having a pre-lash later, before everyone goes Oceana on Watford. Flat 77, any time before seven, and maybe you can bring everyone some tampons.

2022 May 26, Jack Rooke, “I Wanna Take You To A Gay Bar!”, in Jim Archer, director, Big Boys, season 1, episode 2, spoken by Leisa (Kristy Philipps), via Channel 4:


pre-lash

en-verb

pre-lash (third-person singular simple present pre-lashes, present participle pre-lashing, simple past and past participle pre-lashed)

pre-lashes (present singular third-person)
pre-lashing (participle present)
pre-lashed (participle past)
pre-lashed (past)

Plus, the 'land lords' blame the supermarkets and 'pre-lashing' (the term for drinking before going to the pub/night club). People are going out with the intention of drinking to excess.

2013 September 2, Brian Reay, “Re: Supermarket powers”, in uk.food+drink.misc (Usenet):

A haven for drinking & dining alfresco, a dilapidated old building with a small bar & a large car park – where people usually sit. As in all these kinds of bar throughout Sri Lanka, it's male dominated so female travellers/drinkers should be accompanied by men. The staff are friendly, & the drinks & bites relatively cheap. […] A great place to pre-lash before a club!

2014 [2002], Rehan Mudannayake, “Colombo: Downbeat Bars”, in Royston Ellis, Sri Lanka: the Bradt Travel Guide, 5th edition, Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides, →ISBN, page 84:


goon baiting

(UK, slang, historical) In Nazi Germany, the practice among prisoners of war of deliberately annoying the guards, for example by allowing them to eavesdrop on misleading conversations.


scrimpt

He gangs about sornen frae place to place, As scrimpt of manners as of sense and grace.

1808, John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language ... to which is Prefixed, a Dissertation on the Origin of the Scottish Language:

A scrimpt quorum

1857, Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, Containing Words from the English Writers Previous to the Nineteenth Century ... and Words which are Now Used Only in the Provincial Dialects, Volume 2, page 832:


banger race

From the slang sense of banger (“an old, worn-out car”).

Trouble began when he moved in permanently after having building work done and set up a banger race track.

2003 August 31, Renee Mickleburgh, “Lotto lout gives neighbours hell by racing bangers round garden”, in The Daily Telegraph:

He made his neighbours' lives a misery earlier this year by staging late-night banger races on the three-acre field where he held the bonfire.

2003 November 7, David Sapsted, “Lottery winner puts 40ft mobile home on bonfire”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Fed up with Formula One? Rebecca Feiner recommends an evening at the Banger races

2003 December 6, Rebecca Feiner, “A smashing night out”, in The Daily Telegraph:

A much-dented Ford Fiesta with broken windows serves as a reminder of the row with neighbours and council officials earlier this year over Carroll's habit of inviting friends round for late-night banger races on a three-acre field he bought at the rear of the house.

2003 December 19, David Sapsted, “£10m 'lotto lout' arrested in police raid”, in The Daily Telegraph:

This DVD is a showcase for several of those - including banger races featuring everything from caravans to Austin FX4 taxis via Ford Transits and Reliant Robins.

2005 December 3, Simon Arron, “Flights of fancy”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The couple sought action after Mr Robinson's son and his friends allegedly staged banger races in old cars on the land surrounding their own smallholding.

2009 June 1, “Man called German neighbour Schweinhund, court told”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Relations apparently became frosty after Hurst complained about Robinson's son's banger races in a nearby field and the family was served with a noise abatement order.

2009 June 2, Rowan Pelling, “Oh for those days of catfights and sequinned G-strings”, in The Daily Telegraph:

But reasonable assumptions count for nothing in the world of Ian Brown: he just ploughs through it, with the reckless abandon of a man piloting a battered Datsun in a banger race.

2009 September 24, Alexis Petridis, “Ian Brown: My Way”, in The Guardian:

This is not the late Sixties or early Seventies, but 2011 at Arlington Stadium, near Hailsham, in East Sussex, where perhaps more than 100 classic Westminsters will be ground into scrap metal before the night is over in the most controversial banger race to be staged in England.

2011 October 1, Rob Daines, “Banger racing: the crashes and the controversy”, in The Daily Telegraph:

I started going to banger races at the age of three with my dad, uncle and cousin. They're all race bangers and that is how I got into it.

2012 November 22, Lucy Ridgard, quoting Jade Creese, “The Girls Who Love Smashing Each Other Up In Cars”, in VICE:

The contrite duo managed to fix The Overtaker enough to take part in the final event: a no-holds-barred banger race against pro driver Sabine Schmitz.

2019 June 30, Michael Hogan, “Top Gear, episode 3, review: Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall play wacky races as the show comes back from the dead”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The craziest, most extraordinary banger race on the planet: 10,000+ miles from Prague to Siberia.

2020 January 8, Nikhil Krishnan, “Six of the world's most thrilling road trips for 2020”, in The Daily Telegraph:

There it was pulling out of the repair shed after the mother of all MOTs when a 50-ton juggernaut ploughed straight through the side of it, a smash-up that would grace the most savage of banger races.

2020 March 31, Matthew Lynn, “Aston Martin not out of the woods yet as outbreak hits”, in The Daily Telegraph:

"She gave me pointers on how to drive a Ferrari very fast and hunted me down in a banger race," the current presenter Paddy McGuinness noted on Twitter.

2021 March 17, Jim White, “Sabine Schmitz: Motorsport mourns the Queen of the Nürburgring who won a nation's hearts on Top Gear”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(chiefly UK) A motorsport event in which cars race around a track while trying to damage one another.


banger racing

Even when he excelled at his favourite hobby of banger racing he attracted little attention and earned the reputation of being shy and introverted.

2001 December 12, Staff and agencies, “A loner with a deadly secret”, Child protection, in The Guardian:

Our daughter's problem has taken its toll on our relationship, but Tony has been understanding throughout. I would like to treat Tony to a day at banger racing followed by a slap-up meal of steak and chips.

2002 February 11, Richard Mann, quotee, “Your Valentine pleas”, in The Guardian:

Banger racing, for the uninitiated, is exactly like formula one. Except that it's not really, really, really boring, the cars cost about £200, and they're allowed to deliberately smash into each other.

2002 November 14, Steven Wells, “Crash, bang, wallop, what a sport”, in The Guardian:

Adams didn't mind the work involved. "I used to go banger racing and smash up cars..."

2002 December 28, Martin Gurdon, “Now for something different...”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The yellow street lights are wreathed in a wintry mist as we approach Wimbledon's Plough Lane Stadium for what is billed as the biggest night in the national Banger racing calendar, the 2003 Championship of the World.

Suitable pastimes for those who can't: banger racing; bull-fighting; playing central midfield for Birmingham City.

2004 December 4, Simon Arron, “Goodwill to all motorists...”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Chelsea have all the appeal of a lottery-winning slob who pulls out a huge wad of cash, buys the best house in the area, and then stages banger racing in the back garden.

2005 June 6, John Rawling, “Premier League needs an Asbo to control Chelsea”, in The Guardian:

Breakspear talks about the few pleasures she had before prison in the past tense. "I wanted to learn banger racing. I used to love fast and furious [car chase] films."

2005 August 16, “'I took all my anger out on him'”, in The Guardian:

There were so many crashes it might have been American motor sport - banger racing, even.

2008 March 17, “Hamilton drives McLaren beyond past troubles”, in The Guardian:

Banger Racing caught my interest a couple of years ago. I was attracted by the inherent contradictions within it – the creativity and imagination in contrast with the wild need for destruction.

2010 March 12, Chloe Dewe Matthews, “Banger Boys of Britain”, in The Daily Telegraph:

People seem to think that I have called for banger racing to be banned, which I have not. I am not worried about people smashing up disposable modern cars, but they should think a bit more about the older and rarer cars

2011 October 1, Rob Daines, quoting Nick Larkin, The Daily Telegraph:

There is no marquee mode that the game builds itself around, instead offering a compendium of snacky events focussed on variety. A grab bag of bolshy banger racing recalling 90s knockabouts like Destruction Derby.

2012 May 24, Tom Hoggins, “Dirt Showdown review”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Billed as the mutant child of basketball, ice hockey and rugby – in wheelchairs – murderball at first looks more like banger racing, with dangerously pimped-up wheelchairs bristling with protuberant metal cages and bumpers designed to upend rivals.

2012 September 5, Patrick Barkham, “'Wheelchair rugby is the glamour sport. We are the Paralympics' rock stars'”, in The Guardian:

This is the mutant child of rugby, basketball, handball and ice hockey, writes Patrick Barkham, although it looks a bit like banger racing with the souped up – and completely battered – wheelchairs.

2012 September 5, Paul Owen, “London Paralympics 2012 – day seven as it happened”, in The Guardian:

The string-glove driving brigade was once again puce-faced with rage for this latest event, with the arch enemy of classic banger racing, Classic Car Weekly, vowing that it would not devote a column inch to discuss the race's pros and cons.

2012 September 24, Robert Daines, “Banger racing with classic Rovers”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Banger racing, once predominantly the preserve of weird-looking guys with anger issues, is being taken up by an increasing number of girls.

2012 November 22, Lucy Ridgard, “The Girls Who Love Smashing Each Other Up In Cars”, in VICE:

A new two-part BBC Two documentary explores the adrenaline-fuelled sport of banger racing, and it makes for exhilarating TV, says Rebecca Smith

2014 March 7, Rebecca Smith, “Banger racing: a cross between Formula One and bumper cars”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The first episode of this documentary focused on the racers who flock to the Arena Essex Raceway in Purfleet to take part in banger racing where old, reconstructed cars speed around a dirt track.

2014 March 9, Ben Lawrence, “Fast and Fearless: Britain's Banger Drivers, BBC Two, review”, in The Daily Telegraph:

At the time rusty Mark IIs were two a penny, scrapyards were full of them, they were stripped for spares, cut up for Modsports and Banger racing – no one gave a stuff for originality.

2014 September 1, Andrew English, “Jaguar Mk2 reimagined by Ian Callum”, in The Daily Telegraph:

I'm doing my bit preserving them for posterity, and saving nicer ones from the ravages of banger racing."

2016 January 2, Andrew B Roberts, quoting Jon Culshaw, “Jon Culshaw: Why I love old Fords”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Yet every Sunday upwards of 2,000 spectators pay £15 to watch five hours of stock car and banger racing across wildly different formulae.

2016 April 1, Andrew B Roberts, “London's last racing track”, in The Daily Telegraph:

It was a smart move to start with banger racing, as the crashes, prangs and wallops caused genuine needle.

2016 April 5, Michael Hogan, “Drive, review: Vernon Kay's sexed up Top Gear entertains”, in The Daily Telegraph:

They started with banger racing, and it was clear the producers knew they were in trouble early doors, as the first five minutes were a breathless series of cut shots of the action that was coming later on.

2016 April 6, John Crace, “Drive review – even Top Gear fans will be bored silly”, in The Guardian:

Drive wasn't the first celebrity sporting reality show (they tried banger racing, buggy racing and Formula 4, among other pursuits) and it won't be the last.

2016 May 4, John Plunkett, “Car-crash TV: six celebrity sports flops”, in The Guardian:

But most of the rest of his fortune was wasted on high-living, parties and cars which he enjoyed smashing up on his own banger racing track in a field beside a house which he bought on the outskirts of Swaffham.

2016 July 12, Martin Evans, “Lotto Lout's former uncle dies in Norfolk 'murder-suicide' shooting”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Combine harvester banger — actually I've done that: banger racing up in Red Deer [in Alberta, for his 1998 doc series Extreme Machines].

2016 December 16, Jessica Wong, quoting Jeremy Clarkson, “'Holidays for three 12-year-old men': Jeremy Clarkson returns with The Grand Tour”, in CBC News:

The venue closes its doors forever on Saturday night after 89 years of greyhound, speedway and, latterly, banger racing.

2017 March 24, Paul Macinnes, “Gone to the dogs: how time has run out for greyhound racing in Wimbledon”, in The Guardian:

That was my first proper car, when I was 17, although the first car I owned was when I was 12. It was a Ford Anglia 105E, which I took banger racing.

2017 March 24, Adam Hay-Nicholls, quoting Martin Brundle, “My first car - Martin Brundle: 'It felt like I was doing 150mph with a Picasso under my arm'”, in The Daily Telegraph:

What are you guys going to miss about the track? / Tom: The whole experience of it all – the dogs and the banger racing.

2017 March 27, Jake Lewis, “In the Queue for the Last Night of the Wimbledon Dog Races”, in VICE:

When we did banger racing, which is where you race round a track, I literally crashed into a wall. I mean I had a full-on car crash.

2017 October 17, Jack Whitehall, quotee, “Jack Whitehall says 'life flashed before my eyes' during high-speed crash with Freddie Flintoff”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The vehicle, which might look more at home in banger racing, had extensive damage to all areas of its bodywork.

2017 December 30, “Police pull over battered car being driven on the roads without any windows or mirrors”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Robinson is a self proclaimed car lover, competing in 'banger racing' competitions with team mates he calls 'the bomb squad'.

2019 October 24, Jamie Johnson, “Lorry driver arrested over the death of 39 migrants 'passed out' when he discovered his human cargo, it's claimed”, in The Daily Telegraph:

We also used to spend quite a lot of time at the dog track and go banger racing there as well on Saturday nights, which is where the new ground is.

2020 November 3, Ed Aarons, “AFC Wimbledon's Plough Lane return: 'There was just an irresistible pull'”, in The Guardian:

But in banger racing, ramming your vehicle into a competitor's is not only tolerated, it might win you an award.

2021 March 11, Romain Vennekens, “What is Banger Racing? Inside One of the World's Most Dangerous Motorsports”, in VICE:

Many of the original Westminsters ended their days on the banger racing circuit but Dickens never quite forgot the Portland Beige Austin he saw "when I was five or six years old".

2021 June 10, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1956 Austin A90 Westminster, one of only 28 left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The main chassis was solid enough, explaining why many ended up on the banger racing circuit, but panels corroded without protection and maintenance.

2021 August 7, Richard Webber, “Classic cars with anniversaries in 2021”, in The Daily Telegraph:

When it comes to entertainment, Great Yarmouth is still rich with the sorts of curious and yesteryear pastimes you might have assumed died out years ago. From full-contact banger racing (at the Yarmouth Stadium) to end-of-the-pier sing songs, you won't be short of options.

2021 August 11, Robert Jackman, “Why now is the time to follow Banksy to Great Yarmouth”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Her solo exhibition Showtime runs from 23 October at Messums Wiltshire, and explores the realms of street car culture, banger racing and Gypsy fairs

2021 October 21, Sarah Gilbert, “The eccentricities of British subcultures – in pictures”, in The Guardian:

Production ended in 1972; survivors are now scarce due to various fuel crises, rust and their fatal attraction to the banger racing fraternity.

2021 November 19, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1967 Vauxhall Cresta PC – an estate car fit for HM The Queen”, in The Daily Telegraph:

In the UK, a combination of rust, banger racing and general neglect helped to diminish the number of Ventoras.

2022 April 29, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1972 Vauxhall Ventora, one of only 30 left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph:

The Mk4 replaced the Mk3 in early 1966 and by the following decade many examples had fallen prey to a combination of banger racing and rampant corrosion.

2022 July 8, Andrew B Roberts, “Don't mention Z-Cars: Ford Zodiac Mk3 at 60”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Corrosion was one major problem, in addition to many Laurels ending their days on banger racing circuits.

2022 December 16, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1977 Datsun Laurel, one of only five left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(chiefly UK) The act of participating in a banger race ("a motorsport event in which cars race around a track while trying to damage one another").


shut one's gob

shut one's gob (third-person singular simple present shuts one's gob, present participle shutting one's gob, simple past and past participle shut one's gob)

shuts one's gob (present singular third-person)
shutting one's gob (participle present)
shut one's gob (participle past)
shut one's gob (past)

Why don't you just shut your gob? I'm tired of listening to you.

(idiomatic, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) To stop talking; to be quiet.


mother and baby unit

en-noun

mother and baby unit (plural mother and baby units)

(UK, healthcare) An inpatient unit for women who have mental health issues around the time of pregnancy or childbirth.


M-way

I've been out of town, spinning like segways / Break down the shh, flying up M-ways

2015, “3 the Hard Way”, in The End of the Beginning, performed by Skrapz, Nines, and J Man:

I'm tweakin', tweakin' / 120 on the M-way, speedin'

2019, “Professor X”, in Top Boy (A Selection of Music Inspired by the Series), performed by Dave:

Hit the M-Way with two phones up (uh-huh) / Now I'm tryna come back with guala

2020, “If Only You Knew”, in Dutch from the 5th, performed by Dutchavelli:

I mean, I just seen feds on the M-way

2021, “Money Talks”, in Money Can't Buy Happiness, performed by Fredo and Dave:


hard word

The other thing that happened in 1969 was that José put the hard word on his brother again. This time José wanted him to join his slate for the elections to the local leadership of the metalworkers' union.

2003, Peter Robb, A Death in Brazil, Bloomsbury, published 2005, page 97:

What do we do? We go and see them. Put the hard word on Glasgow's so-called hard men.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 125:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A persistent or rude request, especially for money.


bit of homework

bit of homework (plural bits of homework)

"And that little bit of homework you've got with you?" / "Miss Kolin, you mean? She's an interpreter."

1953, Eric Ambler, The Schirmer Inheritance, Alfred A. Knopf, page 177:

The last time I made love was quick and casual, with a short dark handsome theological student called Harry Lloyd, who reminded me a bit of my glamorous Uncle Bert, prize-winning dancer and lady-fancier who referred to attractive women as nice bits of homework.

1996, Barbara Hardy, London Lovers, Peter Owen Publishers, →ISBN, page 85:


homework diary

homework diary (plural homework diaries)

Several readers rued their unfinished sticker albums (perhaps we should set up a swapsies group) and Tiffany shared a photograph of her old homework diary, which had glued to it, beneath carefully written reminders to do her German exercises, a picture of two England cricketers. "I also painted a massive portrait of Allan Donald for GCSE art," she said.

2016 April 18, Emma John, “Confessions of a teenage cricket fan: share your memorabilia”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2016-06-22:

A note in his son's homework diary asked children to "find out some information or background knowledge" on the murder.

2020 February 3, “School withdraws James Bulger homework after complaints”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2022-01-30:

I sometimes find street art fairly humdrum – all cheesy symbolism, with female portraits resembling perfume ads and far too many skulls and aliens, the sort of stuff I scribbled all over my homework diary at school.

2021 September 30, Anna Hart, “I've found the secret to being the best kind of house guest”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 2021-12-16:

(chiefly UK) A journal given by a teacher to a student to keep track of homework to be completed, often requiring a parent or guardian to sign their name at regular intervals.


coorie

From Scots coor (“cower”) + -ie (frequentative).

(UK) A lifestyle involving hearty cuisine (such as Cullen skink) and invigorating outdoor activities, popularized in the late 2010s by a book and tourism campaign which incorrectly presented it as a traditional Scottish concept. (Compare hygge.)


noncery

The nonces abided, trading photographs of their victims like soccer stars. […] They saw themselves as avuncular – and had often introduced one another to children as ‘uncle’; they were generous, and had frequently been apprehended by the police, carrying toys, looking for a child to give them to. […] The nonces abided, plotting certain revolutionary acts that would enable them to advance the cause of noncery. They factored in social hypocrisy, but on the whole still considered that things would have changed by the time they got out, attitudes would have matured. Their ‘liberation’ of certain youthful citizens would be seen as just that: the freeing of tender souls into the warmth and bonhomie of a full relationship with someone older. Much older.

1998, Will Self, Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, pages 217–218:

Reformed paedophile Wishbone Fencefold, who gave up noncery when the practice was outlawed in the early 90s, has claimed that offenders just don’t fancy fat kids.

2006 May 8, “Mr Chuffy Investigates… Why obesity is phat”, in Quench, volume 3, number 38, Cardiff University Students’ Union:

He might eventually have as much as fifty per cent of previous erectile function, though it’ll take a while. — Bit naive of him, wasn’t it? Very trusting. Didn’t he whiff set-up? — Nah, cause this bird knew this geezer’s MO. Book a high-class escort girl and a suite at somewhere tasty, like the Ritz or the Savoy; in this case it was the Savoy. […] — Agreed. Sounds like high noncery to me, mate. — Noncery of the highest bleedin order, Hollis booms, as a nearby couple briefly turn round. — Well, I ain’t gonna shut up and play foot soldier for cover-up wankers!

2022, Irvine Welsh, The Long Knives, Random House, →ISBN:

Noncery is not just the domain of the paedophile, but by deﬁnition of the word it is the domain of anyone attempting to deprive the British public of an innocence they can’t get back.

2022 February, Dan Bennett, “E-Girls, Dear Boy, E-Girls; How Streamers Nearly Brought Down British Parliament”, in The Lemon Press, number 51, University of York, page 16:

(UK, Ireland, slang) The behaviour of a sex offender; paedophilia.


open evangelicalism

(Christianity, chiefly UK) An approach that attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality while also being inclusive of others.


open evangelical

open evangelical (plural open evangelicals)

(Christianity, chiefly UK) A person who takes the approach of open evangelicalism.


sweem

en-verb

sweem (third-person singular simple present sweems, present participle sweeming, simple past and past participle sweemed)

sweems (present singular third-person)
sweeming (participle present)
sweemed (participle past)
sweemed (past)

From Middle English swemen, from Old English *swǣman, from Proto-West Germanic *swaimijan, from Proto-Germanic *swaimijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- (“to move, sway”). Cognate with Scots sweem, soom (“to spin at high speed; float”), Icelandic sveima (“to float, hover; wander, roam”).

cog

(UK dialectal) to swoon, faint; be giddy


sweem

(UK dialectal) a swoon, fainting; a state of giddiness or faintness


garburate

en-verb

garburate (third-person singular simple present garburates, present participle garburating, simple past and past participle garburated)

garburates (present singular third-person)
garburating (participle present)
garburated (participle past)
garburated (past)

Back-formation from garburator,
equivalent to garbage + -ate.

(Canada, UK, transitive, rare) To use a garburator (on).

(Canada, UK, intransitive, rare) To undergo the process of a garburator.


pantomime villain

en-noun

pantomime villain (countable and uncountable, plural pantomime villains)

The pantomime villain of British politics has exited stage right - leaving for a third and presumably final time, with the crowd booing. [...] From the moment of his appointment, Sir Gavin's third act in government irritated colleagues. After a divisive tenure as chief whip, difficult time as defence secretary and deeply troubled time as education secretary. Bluntly, he is unpopular.

9 November 2022, Sam Coates, “Gavin Williamson's departure is about more than just the messages”, in Sky News:

The 'pantomime villain' he was labelled by the BBC commentary team, Abrial collected his medal [...] to a chorus of boos from those inside the Manchester Centre.

19 November 2022, Callum Walker, “Referee causes controversy in Wheelchair World Cup Final with bizarre actions as England defeat France”, in Rugby League World:

The news will likely please many, as Mateu Lahoz has become something of a pantomime villain over the festive period. That is, until a controversial decision goes against their team with another official.

5 January 2023, “Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz put 'in the fridge' for card-happy performances”, in OneFootball:

Pantomime villain [...] We all have those rugby players that just we dislike for whatever reason. It's hard to forget those specific moments in matches that had us raging. An injury to your star player? Moaning to the referee? World class rugby players don't take losing well, but some take it worse than others. But who are the players that rugby fans just love to hate, and why?

2023 February 10, “Every home nations most hated player by rival fans in the Six Nations”, in RUCK:

With Owen Farrell returning to the England XV this weekend, who are rugby's greatest "pantomime villains" in world rugby. Though it's a relatively subjective term when applied to rugby players, in this context, we use it to identify big names who, despite their undoubted quality, have earned a reputation—rightly or wrongly—as something of a villain.

2023 March 16, “Fans Rank Rugby's Top 5 Pantomime Villains”, in RUCK:

This week, though, away from City on international duty, Rodri has been firmly on the radar. He's riled two opposition fanbases, added a new dimension to the Premier League title race, and emerged as the Blues' unlikely pantomime villain going into the last two months of the campaign.

30 March 2023, Joe Bray, “Rodri has become Man City's unlikely pantomime villain”, in Manchester Evening News:

Let's begin with the pantomime villain that everyone seemingly loves to hate, Elon Musk. Just a few weeks after he switched the [Twitter brand] logo away from the blue bird for shits'n'giggles he was actually demonstrating a smart comms move.

2023 April 12, “Good and Bad PR: Pantomime villain Musk does good! Unilever, not so much...”, in PR Moment:

(British, figurative) A person who has become a designated villain, often seen as cartoonishly villainous; someone people "love to hate".

In contrast, the best of the Pantomime villains are even entitled to misbehave, overact, and be disdainful of the audience.

2020 February 3, “The Best of the Pantomime Villains”, in Blackpool Grand Theatre:

(British) A character archetype in pantomime entertainment.


SMMT

“A drop of that magnitude is a concern,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, as he warned the government needed to provide “urgent clarity” on a transitional Brexit deal so that companies could press ahead with crucial spending decisions.

2018 January 31, Angela Monaghan, “UK car production falls for first time since 2009 as Brexit fears hit sales”, in The Guardian:

w:Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

(UK, automotive) Initialism of Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.


ploat

en-verb

ploat (third-person singular simple present ploats, present participle ploating, simple past and past participle ploated)

ploats (present singular third-person)
ploating (participle present)
ploated (participle past)
ploated (past)