public school

public schools (plural)
public-school (alternative)

From public (originally, "communal" and contrasted with personal tutors; later, "state-run" and contrasted with private schools) + school.

All such School-masters as have charge of Children and do instruct them either in Publick Schools, or Private Houses.

1580 June 18, Letters of the Privy Council in John Strype's History of Edmund Grindal (1710), ii.xi.254

No person shall keepe any schoole... except it be in some publike or free Grammer Schoole, or in some such noblemans... or gentlemans... house as are not recusants.

1604, Acts of Parliament 1 under James I, c.4, §8

This worthy Man having observed the imperfect Institution of our public Schools, and the many Vices which Boys were there liable to learn, had resolved to educate his Nephew... in his own House.

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter V, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III, page 184:

Our Public Schools... (by which phrase we never mean real public schools like the Board schools at all, but merely schools for the upper and middle classes) are in their existing stage primarily great gymnasiums.

1893 February 4, Westminster Gazette, section 2:

Who is there who has not jeered at the House of Lords, the military caste, the Royal Family, the public schools, the huntin′ and shootin′ people, the old ladies in Cheltenham boarding houses, the horrors of ‘county’ society and the social hierarchy generally?

1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, section 146:

It turned out she was posh, or posh-ish, having been to a public school somewhere in Hampshire.

2005, Nick Laird, Utterly Monkey, section 223:

(UK, Ireland, India) Certain private schools, particularly (initially) any grammar school operated apart from the personal lands of its students or (from the 19th century) the feepaying secondary schools which developed from or were modelled upon them; a British boarding school

Public School

(in the context of Britain) private grammar school; boarding school

private school

fee-charging private school, offering housing

The Court voted for the erecting a Publick Schooll or Colledge in Cambridge.

1636, Harvard College Records, published 1925, I.171:

The Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order all public Schooles.

1683, Pennsylvania Frame of Government, §10:

By Act of Parliament no school is to be kept within two miles of a publick school.

1702, Henry Paton, Minnigaff Parish Records: the Session Book of Minnigaff, 1694-1750, published 1939:

A subscription... by a great part of the settlers and others to build a Public School at the Green Hills.

1804 August 12, Sydney Gazette, section 1:

Hardly anywhere in France... can the private boys' schools, whether they be lay or congreganist, hold their own in the competition with the public schools.

1861, Matthew Arnold, The Popular Education of France, with Notices of that of Holland and Switzerland, x.105:

Every school under the management of the school board of a parish shall be deemed a parish school, and every school under the management of the school board of a burgh shall be deemed a burgh school, and all such schools are hereby declared to be public schools within the meaning of this Act.

1872, Acts of Parliament 35 & 36 under Victoria (Scotland), c.62, §25

Public Schools... are distinguished from those which until recently were entitled Grammar Schools.

As to the two races involved in this question of public schools the difference is this: the negroes do not wish mixed schools; the white people will not have them.

If our public schools fail to furnish an education fully as good as can be obtained in private schools, intelligent, conscientious, and well-to-do parents will withdraw their children.

Public Schools. Course of Instruction... Class III. To include at least reading, writing, arithmetic, outlines of history and geography, and lessons on natural objects.

1904, Cape of Good Hope C.S. List, section 267:

The term ‘public school’ has a different connotation in New Zealand. It implies the Borough or County school; the school provided by the State.

1932, Nelle Scanlan, Pencarrow, section 256:

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Philippines, formerly Scottish) A publicly funded and administered school; (UK, Ireland) such schools in the context of other countries


multi-billion

(in the old numbering system, chiefly British), more than 1,000,000,000,000; in the old billion range.


octillion

Altogether it takes seven billion billion billion (that’s 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or seven octillion) atoms to make you.

2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), pages 5–6:

(US, modern British and Australia, short scale) A thousand trillion trillion, a billion billion billion: 1 followed by 27 zeros, 10²⁷.

(dated British and Australia, long scale) A trillion quintillion: 1 followed by 48 zeros, 10⁴⁸.

一極 /一极

a trillion quintillion, 1048 — see also quindecillion


side

en-noun

side (countable and uncountable, plural sides)

From Middle English side, from Old English sīde (“side, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ (“side, flank, edge, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Siede (“side”), West Frisian side (“side”), Dutch zijde, zij (“side”), German Low German Sied (“side”), German Seite (“side”), Danish and Norwegian side (“side”), Swedish sida (“side”).
The LGBTQ slang sense was coined by sex therapist and author Joe Kort in 2010 and popularized in 2013. The sense was coined by analogy with top and bottom and based on the metaphor of a box which has a top, bottom, and sides.

coinage

know which side one's bread is buttered on

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Newly promoted, they were top of the First Division and unbeaten when they took on a Manchester United side that had been revitalized by a new manager,[…].

1988, Ken Jones with Pat Welton Crown, Soccer skills & tactics, page 9:

It was no less than Valencia deserved after dominating possession in the final 20 minutes although Chelsea defended resolutely and restricted the Spanish side to shooting from long range.

2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:

Initially, the English, Welsh, Scots and Irish unions refused to send national sides, preferring instead to send touring sides like the Barbarians, the Penguins, the Co-Optimists, the Wolfhounds, Crawshays Welsh, and the Public School Wanderers.

2011, Nick Cain, Greg Growden, Rugby Union For Dummies, 3rd edition, UK, page 220:

I just want to see what's on the other side — James said there was a good film on tonight.

(British, Australia, Ireland, dated) A television channel, usually as opposed to the one currently being watched (from when there were only two channels).


side

en-adj

side (comparative more side, superlative most side)

more side (comparative)
most side (superlative)

From Middle English side, syde, syd, from Old English sīd (“wide, broad, spacious, ample, extensive, vast, far-reaching”), from Proto-West Germanic *sīd, from Proto-Germanic *sīdaz (“drooping, hanging, low, excessive, extra”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch zijd (“wide, vast”), Low German sied (“low”), Swedish sid (“long, hanging down”), Icelandic síður (“low hanging, long”).

inh

But when he perceaved that the sayd Pryest could not pourge himself of the foresayd crime he prively payed him his quarters wages before hande and suffered hym to departe without farther tryall of the sayd cryme: and now he jetteth in london wyth side gown and sarcenet typet as good a virgin priest as the best.

c. 1556, Thomas Cranmer, “That the general counsels withoute the worde of god are not sufficiente to make articles of fayth”, in A Confutation of Unwritten Verities:

Hiz gooun had syde sleeuez dooun to midlegge, slit from the shooulder too the hand, & lined with white cotten.

1575, Robert Laneham, “The auncient Minstrell described”, in F. J. Furnivall, editor, Robert Laneham’s Letter: Describing a Part of the Entertainment unto Queen Elizabeth at the Castle of Kenelworth in 1575, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1907, page 38:

What doe we make dost thou aske? why we make faces for feare: such as if thy mortall eyes could behold, would make thee water the long seames of thy side slops […]

c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [lines 47-50]:

By my troth, ’s but a night-gown in respect of yours: cloth o’ gold, and cuts, and laced with silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side sleeves, and skirts, round underborne with a bluish tinsel […]

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

(UK archaic, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Wide; large; long, pendulous, hanging low, trailing; far-reaching.


BBL

British Basketball League
w:British Basketball League

(basketball, UK, historical) Initialism of British Basketball League.


jambon

→ Irish: siamban

Borrowed from French jambon (“ham”). Doublet of gammon and jamon.

(Ireland, British) A square puff pastry containing ham and cheese.

paniers feuilletés au jambon et au fromage


proctor

proctors (plural)
proctour (alternative obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English procatour, contraction of procuratour; compare proxy. Doublet of procurator.

(UK) An official at any of several older universities.

(British, law) A legal practitioner in ecclesiastical and some other courts.


Christmas

The proper noun is derived from Middle English Cristemasse, Criste-mas (“Christmas Day; season of Christmas; Christmas festivities”) [and other forms], from Old English Cristes mæsse (“Christmas”, literally “Christ’s mass”), from Crist (“Christ”) + -es (possessive marker) + mæsse (“a mass (celebration of the Eucharist)”). The English word is analysable as Christ + -mas (suffix denoting a holiday or sacred day). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kristmisse (“Christmas”), West Frisian Krystmis (“Christmas”), Dutch Kerstmis (“Christmas”), German Low German Karstmis (“Christmas”).
The noun, adjective, and verb are derived from the proper noun.
Adjective sense 1 (“red and green in color”) refers to these colors being traditionally associated with Christmas.

cog

[T]he antient Britons employed for the decoration of their houſes, or, more properly ſpeaking, of their bovvers, branches of ever-green, in invitation to the ſpirits: a cuſtom, vvhich, hovvever the motive may be aboliſhed, is retained to this inſtant. That kind of verdure vvhich is uſed to deck the vvindovvs, and old halls, vve novv, by metonymy, call Chriſtmas.

1766, [John Cleland], “Essay on the Musical Waits at Christmas”, in The Way to Things by Words, and to Words by Things; […], London: […] L[ockyer John] Davis and C[harles] Reymers, […], →OCLC, page 96:

"Vere does the mince-pies go, young opium eater?" said Mr. Weller to the fat boy, as he assisted in laying out such articles of consumption as had not been duly arranged on the previous night. The fat boy pointed to the destination of the pies. "Wery good," said Sam, "stick a bit o' Christmas in 'em.[…]"

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “A Good-humoured Christmas Chapter, […]”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 290:

Two of the girls carry between them on a stick what they call "the garland", […] The "garland" in shape reminds me of the "Christmas" which used to form the centre of the Christmas decorations in Yorkshire some few years ago, except that the latter had a bunch of mistletoe inside the hoops.

1893 September, Percy Manning, “[Folk-lore Miscellanea.] May-Day at Watford, Herts.”, in Folk-lore: A Quarterly Review of Myth, Tradition, Institution, & Custom, volume IV, number III, London: David Nutt, […] for The Folk-lore Society, →OCLC, page 403:

(informal or British, regional) Sprigs of holly and other evergreen plants used as Christmas decorations; also (generally), any Christmas decorations.

oksa joulukoristeena

sprigs of holly and other evergreen plants used as Christmas decorations


chop

en-noun

chop (countable and uncountable, plural chops)

→ Japanese: チョップ

From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic, or a variant of chap (“to become cracked”).
Cognate with Scots chap (“to chop”). Compare also Saterland Frisian kappe, kapje (“to hack; chop; lop off”), Dutch kappen (“to chop, cut, hew”), German Low German kappen (“to cut off; clip”), German kappen (“to cut; clip”), German dialectal chapfen, kchapfen (“to chop into small pieces”), Albanian copë (“piece, chunk”), Old English *ċippian (in forċippian (“to cut off”)). Perhaps related to chip.


apothecary

apothecaries (plural)
apothecarie (alternative obsolete)
appothecarie (alternative obsolete)
apothicarie (alternative obsolete)
apoticary (alternative obsolete)
ypothecar (alternative Scotland obsolete)
ypothegar (alternative Scotland obsolete)
pothecary (alternative)
potycary (alternative)
potycarye (alternative)
poticary (alternative)
poticarie (alternative)
pottecary (alternative)
potticary (alternative)

desc

அப்போதிக்கரி

→ Tamil: அப்போதிக்கரி (appōtikkari)

/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/

/əˈpɑθəˌkɛəɹi/

From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, storehouse”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”), literally “a place where things are put away”. Doublet of boutique and bodega.

af

[T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it [the iris] Irios in the genetiue caſe.

1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e., William Turner], “Of the Herbe Called in Latin Irio”, in The Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman, →OCLC, folio 23, recto:

O true Appothecarie! / Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kiſſe I die.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 75, column 2:

The girls, though their illness was long and dangerous, recovered under Mrs. Palmer's care, who watched over them as if they had been her own; and from that time an affection, as valuable as it was pleasant, sprang up between them. When Lady Anne returned, she called, and talked about every thing but the apothecary's bill.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:

It amused me to see the bustle and the life in the apothecary's shop across the street.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 2:

(archaic in US, dated in UK) Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.


libertarian

libertarians (plural)
Libertarian (alternative)

/ˌlɪb.əˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ən/

Foundation for Economic Education
Joseph Déjacque
Leonard Read
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
William Belsham
lois scélérates

The noun is derived from liber(ty) + -arian (suffix denoting an advocate of or believer in something). The adjective is derived from the noun.
sense development
The word was first attested in English in 1789 in William Belsham’s Essays: see the quotation. This was contrasted with necessitarian, in the context of free will, and was not used in the more frequently encountered modern sense.
Compare French libertaire (“person with extreme left-wing beliefs, anarchist”), from liberté (“freedom”) + -aire (suffix forming nouns). Libertaire is derived from Latin libertas. The French word was first attested in a May 1857 letter by the French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque (1821–1865) to the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), reading: “Anarchiste juste-milieu, libéral et non LIBERTAIRE [A centrist anarchist, liberal and not LIBERTARIAN] […]”. It was popularized as a euphemism for anarchiste in the 1890s, following the French lois scélérates (literally “villainous laws”) under which anarchist publications were banned.
Sense 3.2 (“believer in right-libertarianism”) developed in the United States in the 1940s and was popularized in the 1950s. In the 1940s, Leonard Read (1898–1983), the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, a free-market think tank, began calling himself “libertarian” in contrast with a “classical liberal”. In 1955, Dean Russell also promoted the use of the word, writing: “Let those of us who love liberty trade-mark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word ‘libertarian’.”

cog

[Gustav] Landauer's reorientation of anarchist theory and practice in the direction of idealist and völkisch thought was often incomprehensible to the more traditional libertarians, and in the period of the second Sozialist Landauer no longer felt entirely comfortable with the simple "anarchist" label. For Landauer anarchism and socialism had always been different expressions of the same view; now he regarded anarchism as "merely the negative side of what is positively called socialism."

1973, Eugene Lunn, “The Romantic as Socialist”, in Prophet of Community: The Romantic Socialism of Gustav Landauer, Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.; London: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 200:

While anarchism and socialist libertarians have a rich history of revolutionary thinkers ranging from Emma Goldman to George Orwell, the best-known socialist libertarian thinker of today is probably Noam Chomsky.

2012, Jennifer D. Carlson, “Libertarianism”, in Wilbur R. Miller, editor, The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, →ISBN, page 1008, column 1:

(politics) One who advocates libertarianism (“a political philosophy maintaining that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others that same liberty”); also, a member of a political party supporting libertarianism.

(chiefly Ireland, UK) An antiauthoritarian believer in left-libertarianism, a political doctrine that stresses both individual freedom and social equality, and advocates shared ownership of natural resources.


scarecrow

scarecrows (plural)
scare-crow (alternative)
skarcrow (alternative)

/ˈskɛɚˌkɹoʊ/

The noun is derived from scare (“to frighten, startle, terrify”) + crow (“bird of the genus Corvus”). The word displaced other terms such as bogle (now dialectal, dated), sewel or shewel, and shoy-hoy (perhaps imitative of the cry of crows).
The verb is derived from the noun.

compound

(British, dialectal, obsolete)
The black tern (Chlidonias niger).

Chlidonias niger
Chlidonias niger#Translingual

(British, dialectal, obsolete)
The hooded crow (Corvus cornix).

Corvus cornix
Corvus cornix#Translingual


mate

From Middle English mate, a borrowing from Middle Low German mate (“messmate”) (replacing Middle English mette (“table companion, mate, partner”), from Old English ġemetta (“sharer of food, table-guest”)), derived from Proto-Germanic *gamatjô, itself from *ga- (“together”) (related to German and Dutch ge-) + *matjô (from *matiz (“food”)), related to Old English mete (“food”)). From the same Middle Low German source stems German Low German Maat (“journeyman, companion”), German Maat (“naval non-commissioned officer”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Moat (“friend, buddy, comrade, mate”), Dutch maat (“mate, partner, colleague, friend”). More at Old English ġe-, English co-, English meat. Doublet of maat.

cog

I'm going to the pub with a few mates.

He's my best mate.

(colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) A friend, usually of the same sex.

Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?

(colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.


bitch

en-noun

bitch (countable and uncountable, plural bitches)

bitches (plural)
betch (alternative)
biatch (alternative)
biotch (alternative)
beatch (alternative)
beotch (alternative)
bih (alternative)
binch (alternative)
bish (alternative)
biyatch (alternative)
biyotch (alternative)
beeyatch (alternative)
beeyotch (alternative)
bizatch (alternative)
biz-atch (alternative)
biznatch (alternative)
b-word (alternative)
rhymes-with-rich (alternative)

→ Dutch: bitch

→? German: Betze, Bätze, Petze

→ French: bitch

From Middle English biche, bicche, from Old English biċċe, from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjā, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ (compare Norwegian bikkje (“dog”), Old Danish bikke), from *bikjaną (“to thrust, attack”) (compare Old Norse bikkja (“plunge into water”), Dutch bikken (“to hack”)). More at bicker.

punk

man forced into a homoerotic relationship in prison

[…] seldom gets "a little the worse for liquor," gives no swell parties, runs very little into debt, takes his cup of bitch at night, and goes quietly to bed, and thus he passes his time in a way a Varmint man would despise.

1824, Gradus Ad Cantabrigiam: Or, New University Guide to the Academical Customs, and Colloquial Or Cant Terms Peculiar to the University of Cambridge, Observing Wherein It Differs from Oxford, page 131:

(UK, obsolete, university slang) Tea (the drink).


lemonade

lemonade (countable and uncountable, plural lemonades)

→ Japanese: レモネード (remonēdo)

→ Korean: 레모네이드 (remoneideu)

→ Welsh: lemonêd

From French limonade, equivalent to lemon + -ade.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A clear, usually carbonated, beverage made from lemon or artificial lemon flavouring, water, and sugar.


flue

en-adj

flue (comparative more flue, superlative most flue)

more flue (comparative)
most flue (superlative)

(UK, dialect) Alternative form of flew (“shallow, flat”).


factory

Tok Pisin: faktori

Welsh: ffatri

From factor + y.
Compare Middle French factorie; Spanish factoría, Portuguese feitoria, Dutch factorij.

faktori

colonial-era trading post operated by merchants in a foreign port

The guys all knew each other and we were having a jolly old chinwag as we marched them out of the house in front of their stunned neighbours and into a van we had called to take them all to the Factory (police station).

2010, Harry Keeble, Kris Hollington, Crack House:


punch

en-verb

punch (third-person singular simple present punches, present participle punching, simple past and past participle punched)

punches (present singular third-person)
punching (participle present)
punched (participle past)
punched (past)

From Middle English punchen, partially from Old French ponchonner (“to punch”), from ponchon (“pointed tool”), from Latin punctio, from punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick”); and partially from Middle English punchen, a syncopated variant of punischen ("to punish"; see punish). Also influenced by Middle English punchon ("a punch"; see puncheon). Compare also Middle English bunchen, bonchen (“to punch, deliver a blow, pound, beat”).

gloss

"to punish"; see <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">punish</i>

"a punch"; see <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">puncheon</i>

punch above one's weight
punch above one's weight#English

(intransitive, UK, slang) Ellipsis of punch above one's weight, especially, to date somebody more attractive than oneself.


gear

en-noun

gear (countable and uncountable, plural gears)

→ Japanese: ギア (gia)

From Middle English gere, a borrowing from Old Norse gervi, from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną (“to prepare”). See also adjective yare, yar from the same root via Old English.

der

March 29, 1549, Hugh Latimer, the fourth sermon preached before King Edward
That servant of his that confessed and uttered this gear was an honest man.

(obsolete, UK, dialect) Anything worthless; nonsense; rubbish.


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

(UK, Parliament) A dividing line (physical or notional) in the chamber of a legislature beyond which only members and officials may pass.

(UK, law) The railing surrounding the part of a courtroom in which the judges, lawyers, defendants and witnesses stay.


pyramid

en-noun

pyramid (countable and uncountable, plural pyramids)

pyramids (plural)
piramis (alternative obsolete)
pyramis (alternative obsolete)

From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin pȳramis, pȳramidis, from Ancient Greek πῡραμίς (pūramís), possibly from πῡρός (pūrós, “wheat”) + ἀμάω (amáō, “reap”) or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (“height of a pyramid”), from pr (“(one that) comes forth”) + m (“from”) + ws (“height”). Schenkel and K. Lang proposed hypothetical Coptic *ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲙ (*piram) or *ⲫⲣⲁⲙ (*phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of πῡραμίς (pūramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic هرم although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.

der

(UK, dated) The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot.


detriment

en-noun

detriment (countable and uncountable, plural detriments)

From Old French detriement, from Latin detrimentum (“loss, damage, literally a rubbing off”), from dēterere (“to rub off, wear”), from dē- (“down, away”) + terere (“to rub”).
Detriment is based off the word deter, and built on similar foundations to the word impediment.

der

(UK, obsolete) A charge made to students and barristers for incidental repairs of the rooms they occupy.


juggernaut

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ə.nɔːt/

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ɚ.nɔt/

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ɚ.nɑt/

/ˈd͡ʒʌɡ.ə.nɔːt/

17th century, from Hindustani جگنّاتھ / जगन्नाथ (jagannāth) or Odia ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ (jagannātha), from Sanskrit जगन्नाथ (jagannātha, “Lord of the Universe”) (Jagannatha), a title for the Hindu deity Vishnu's avatar Krishna. English form influenced by suffix -naut (“sailor”). Doublet of Jagannath.
From British colonial era in India, witnessing the Rath Yatra (chariot parade) at Puri, Orissa. The festival features a huge annual procession, with a wagon of the idol of Jagannath. Pulled with ropes by hundreds of devotees, the wagon develops considerable momentum and becomes unstoppable.

I know I swing me Volvo all around you market square. I know you think that lorry drivers, we just don't care. But the streets are so narrow, built so many years ago. They were built for horses' carts, not juggernauts you know.

2019, “I love my juggernaut”, in The Pothole Song Album, performed by Richie Kavanagh:

(British, Ireland, sometimes derogatory) A large, cumbersome truck or lorry, especially an artic.


feckless

en-adj

feckless (comparative more feckless, superlative most feckless)

more feckless (comparative)
most feckless (superlative)

purposeful

antonym(s) of “worthless, irresponsible”

From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less.


tomato sauce

en-noun

tomato sauce (usually uncountable, plural tomato sauces)

A plastic tomato sauce bottle, which could have been cut in half to make a flower pot, was quickly surveyed along with other trophies, and received the death sentence. “In the bin, Bob.”

1979 June, Peter C. Harper, Robert Alexander Falla K.B.E., C.M.G., M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.N.Z.: An Appreciation, page 356:

1980 January-May, Laurence Le Guay, Cruising World, page 98,
I quickly learned that there is a hell of a difference between tomato sauce and ketchup and that there is an even greater difference when it comes to mayonnaise: real American or the pseudo Australian — and I had always believed this to be a French concoction.

The event was a BBQ in the peaceful and picturesque System Garden at the University of Melbourne, Parkville campus. Food was plentifil and included a variety of sausages and veggie burgers, onions, bread and tomato sauce in addition to soft drinks.

2003 March, Microbiology Australia, page 46:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei) Tomato ketchup, used as a condiment.


cross

en-adj

cross (comparative crosser, superlative crossest)

crosser (comparative)
crossest (superlative)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
Cognates
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”)
*Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”)
*West Frisian krús (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)
*German Low German Krüüz (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)

She was rather cross about missing her train on the first day of the job.

Please don't get cross at me. (or) Please don't get cross with me.

1650/1651, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living
He had received a cross answer from his mistress.

(chiefly British, Ottawa Valley) Bad-tempered, angry, annoyed.


cross

en-verb

cross (third-person singular simple present crosses, present participle crossing, simple past and past participle crossed)

crosses (present singular third-person)
crossing (participle present)
crossed (participle past)
crossed (past)
cross (infinitive)
cross (first-person present singular)
crossed (first-person past singular)
cross (present second-person singular)
crossest (archaic present second-person singular)
crossed (past second-person singular)
crossedst (archaic past second-person singular)
crosses (present singular third-person)
crosseth (archaic present singular third-person)
crossed (past singular third-person)
cross (plural present)
crossed (past plural)
cross (present subjunctive)
crossed (past subjunctive)
cross (imperative present)
crossing (participle present)
crossed (participle past)

2022, Andrew Lang, Oxford
The reign of Mary was scarcely more favourable to letters. No one knew what to be at in religion. In Magdalen no one could be found to say Mass, the fellows were turned out, the undergraduates were whipped — boyish martyrs — and crossed at the buttery.

(UK, Oxford University, slang, obsolete, transitive) To mark a cross against the name of (a student) in the buttery or kitchen, so that they cannot get food there.


Oxford

From Middle English Oxenford, Oxneford, from Old English Oxnaford (“Oxford”, literally “oxen's ford”), equivalent to ox + ford. Compare Old Norse Öxnafurða.

inh

Oxford marmalade
Oxford marmalade#English


skin

en-noun

skin (countable and uncountable, plural skins)

skins (plural)
skinne (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), from which derives hide.
Cognate with Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”); also Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish cenn (“covering, shell”), Irish scáin (“to tear, burst”), Latin scindō (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “to split”).

hinasuna

outer protective layer of the body of a person or animal

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

He was a decent old skin.

PAUDI:”I fucking love the pair of ye! You’re good lads. You’re loyal skins”

2019, Joe Murragh, Colin Barrett, 54:50 from the start, in Calm With Horses (film), spoken by Paudi (Ned Dennehy):

(slang, Ireland, British) A person; chap.

[…] and away I scampered with the tiddlywink-table, while Teddy Limber […] frisked the yokel of his yack and skin.

1863, George William MacArthur Reynolds, The Mysteries of the Court of London, volume 3, page 86:


skin

en-verb

skin (third-person singular simple present skins, present participle skinning, simple past and past participle skinned)

skins (present singular third-person)
skinning (participle present)
skinned (participle past)
skinned (past)
skinne (alternative obsolete)

een skin gebruiken

to use a replacement image for the graphical user interface of

The Russian, sometimes out of sorts in recent weeks, was seeing plenty of the ball on the left-hand side up against Hunt, a 20-year-old right-back making his first Huddersfield start. Arshavin skinned the youngster at the first opportunity and crossed for Bendtner, who could not direct his close-range effort on target.

2011 January 30, Kevin Darlng, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Huddersfield”, in BBC:

(UK, soccer, transitive) To use tricks to go past a defender.

финтирам

soccer: to use tricks to go past a defender


pat

pat (third-person singular simple present pats, present participle patting, simple past and past participle patted)

pats (present singular third-person)
patting (participle present)
patted (participle past)
patted (past)

From Middle English *patten, alteration (with loss of medial l) of platten, pletten (“to pat”), from Old English plættan (“to buffet, strike, slap, smack, give a sounding blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch platten, pletten (“to strike, bruise, crush, rub”), German platzen (“to split, burst, break up”), Bavarian patzen (“to pat”), Swedish plätta, pjätta (“to pat, tap”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

cog

Do you want to pat the cat?

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) To stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.


tap

The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tapa.
The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either:
* from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or
* from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above).
Verb sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb sense 1.3.2.

inh

[H]ere has been nothing but canting and praying ſince the fellovv entered the place.—Rabbit him! the tap vvill be ruined—vve han't ſold a caſk of beer, nor a dozen of vvine, ſince he paid his garniſh—the gentlemen get drunk vvith nothing but your damned religion.— […]

1771, [Tobias Smollett], “To Sir Watkin Phillips, Bart. of Jesus College, Oxon.”, in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […], volume II, London: […] W. Johnston, […]; and B. Collins, […], →OCLC, pages 72–73:

Guard emerges from the tap, where he prefers breakfasting, […]

1857, [Thomas Hughes], chapter IV, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 87:

For the rest, both the tap and parlor of the Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters gave upon the river, and had red curtains matching the noses of the regular customers, and were provided with comfortable fireside tin utensils, […]

1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Cut Adrift”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, book the first (The Cup and the Lip), page 47:

(by extension)
(British) :Template:ellisps of.

The system was barely keeping pressure due to all of the ill-advised taps along its length.

(British, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering) A connection made to an electrical or fluid conductor without breaking it; a tapping.

electrical engineering
electrical engineering

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering


tap

en-verb

tap (third-person singular simple present taps, present participle tapping, simple past and past participle tapped)

taps (present singular third-person)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)
tapped (past)
tap (infinitive)
tap (first-person present singular)
tapped (first-person past singular)
tap (present second-person singular)
tappest (archaic present second-person singular)
tapped (past second-person singular)
tappedst (archaic past second-person singular)
taps (present singular third-person)
tappeth (archaic present singular third-person)
tapped (past singular third-person)
tap (plural present)
tapped (past plural)
tap (present subjunctive)
tapped (past subjunctive)
tap (imperative present)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)

The verb is derived from Middle English tappen, teppen (“to give (something) a knock or tap; to hit (something) lightly, pat, tap”), either:
* imitative of the making of a tapping sound; or
* from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”) (modern French taper), from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”), or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to rap, strike, tap”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike; to stun; to be speechless”). Doublet of dab.
Verb sense 1.1.1 (“to arrest (someone)”) and sense 1.6 (“to choose or designate (someone) for a duty, etc.”) allude to a police officer or other person tapping someone on their shoulder to catch their attention or to select them.
The noun is derived from Middle English tap, tappe (“light blow or hit”), and then either:
* from Middle English tappen (verb) (see above); or
* from Old French tape (“light slap or touch, pat”) (modern French tape), from tapper, taper (verb) (see above).
Cognates
* German tappen (“to fumble; to grope”)
* Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”)

der

to tap shoes

(British, dialectal or US) To repair (an item of footwear) by putting on a new heel or sole, or a piece of material on to the heel or sole.


tap

en-noun

tap (countable and uncountable, plural taps)

She had a good figure, was twenty-one, five-feet-five, hair probably brown (dyed blond), brown cloth coat, rabbit-skin collar, cotton print dress, brown calf shoes (heel taps a little run over), scuff on the right toe.

1954 June 10, John Steinbeck, “Enter Suzy”, in Sweet Thursday, 1st British edition, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 33:

(British, dialectal or US) A piece of leather or other material fastened upon the bottom of an item of footwear when repairing the heel or sole; also (England, dialectal) the sole of an item of footwear.


trout

trout (countable and uncountable, plural trout or trouts)

Tok Pisin: traut

From Middle English troute, troughte, trught, trouȝt, trouhte, partly from Old English truht (“trout”), and partly from Old French truite; both from Late Latin tructa, perhaps from Ancient Greek τρώκτης (trṓktēs, “nibbler”), from τρώγω (trṓgō, “I gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, to turn”). The Internet verb sense originated on BBSes of the 1980s, probably from Monty Python's The Fish-Slapping Dance (1972), though that sketch involved a halibut.

der

Look, you silly old trout, you can't keep bringing home cats! You can't afford the ones you have!

(British, derogatory) An objectionable elderly woman.


screed

From Middle English screde [and other forms], a variant of shrede (“fragment, scrap; strip of cloth; strip cut off from a larger piece; band or thread woven into fabric; element, streak”) (whence shred (noun)), from Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“a piece cut off; paring, shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a cut, crack”), from *skraudaną (“to cut up, shred”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). The English word is cognate with Old Frisian skrēd. Doublet of escrow, scroll, and shred.

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-screed.wav

ферман

piece of writing or speech, especially if long

And it be further Enacted, That in all Caſes where any of the Lands and Grounds by this Act intended to be divided and incloſed ſhall adjoin on any Freeboard, Screed, or Parcel of Land left on the Outſide of the Fences of any adjoining Pariſh, Townſhip, or Place, which ſhall run into any of the Lands intended to be incloſed by virtue of this Act, ſuch Freeboard, Screed, or Parcel of Land ſhall be deemed and taken to be Parcel of the Lands hereby directed to be divided and incloſed, [...]

[1795], An Act for Dividing, Allotting, Inclosing, Draining, and Improving the Commons and Waste Grounds, within the Several Parishes of Epworth, Haxey, Belton, and Owston, in the Isle of Axholme, in the County of Lincoln; […] (35 George III, chapter 107), [London]: [Parliament of Great Britain], →OCLC, pages 25–26:

(chiefly regional British, Scotland, dated) A piece of land, especially one that is narrow.


sandwich

en-noun

sandwich (plural sandwiches or (rare) sandwichs)

sandwiches (plural)
sandwichs (plural rare)
sammich (alternative slang)
Sandwich (alternative obsolete)

desc

سَانْدَوِيتْش

→ Arabic: سَانْدَوِيتْش (sandawitš)

→ Armenian: սենդվիչ (sendvičʻ)

→ Bengali: স্যান্উইজ (sênuij)

→ Bulgarian: са́ндвич (sándvič)

→ Burmese: ဆန်းဒဝစ် (hcan:da.wac)

→ Catalan: sandvitx

→ Chinese: 三明治 (sānmíngzhì), 三文治 (sānwénzhì)

→ Czech: sendvič

→ Danish: sandwich

→ Dutch: sandwich

→ Esperanto: sandviĉo

→ Finnish: sandwich, sänkkäri

→ French: sandwich

→ Galician: sándwich

→ Georgian: სენდვიჩი (sendviči)

→ German: Sandwich

→ Greek: σάντουιτς (sántouits)

→ Hawaiian: kanauika

→ Hindi: सैंडविच (saiṇḍvic)

→ Hungarian: szendvics

→ Ido: sandwicho

→ Japanese: サンドイッチ (sandoitchi)

→ Korean: 샌드위치 (saendeuwichi)

→ Latvian: sendvičs

→ Marshallese: jāānwūj

→ Malay: sandwic

→ Norman: sannouiche

Norwegian:

→ Norwegian Bokmål: sandwich

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: sandwich

→ Persian: ساندویچ (sândevič)

→ Occitan: sandoich, sandwich

→ Polish: sandwicz

→ Portuguese: sanduíche (Brazil), sandes (Portugal)

→ Romanian: sandviș, sandvici

→ Russian: са́ндвич (sándvič), сэ́ндвич (sɛ́ndvič)

Serbo-Croatian:

→ Cyrillic script: се̏ндвич

→ Latin script: sȅndvič

→ Sinhalese: සැන්ඩ්විච් (sænḍwic)

→ Slovene: sendvič

qualifier

→ Spanish: sándwich, sánduche (Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela), sánguche (Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela)

→ Swedish: sandwich

desc

→ Thai: แซนด์วิช (sɛɛn-wít)

→ Thai: แซนด์วิช (sɛɛn-wít)

→ Tibetan: སན་ཊ་ཝིཆི (san ṭa wichi)

→ Turkish: sandviç

→ Urdu: سینڈوچ (saiṇḍavic)

→ Vietnamese: xăng duych

→ Volapük: sändvig

[ˈsæmˌwɪt͡ʃ]

[ˈsæ̃ˌwɪt͡ʃ]

Named after its supposed inventor, the Earl of Sandwich (see Sandwich).

[…] our local agricultural fair in Warwickshire even has a category for Victoria sandwiches baked by male bakers.

2016, Alysa Levene, Cake: A Slice of History:


village

From Middle English village, from Old French village, from Latin villāticus, ultimately from Latin villa (English villa).
Broadly overtook Old English wic, þorp, and ham.
The Philippine sense is due to its frequent use in the names of gated communities.

(British) A rural habitation that has a church, but no market.

kostelec

a rural habitation that has its own church


hamlet

From Middle English hamlet, hamelet, a borrowing from Old French hamelet, diminutive of Old French hamel, in turn diminutive of Old French ham, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *haim, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (whence English home). Equivalent to Middle English ham (“home, village”) + -let (“small”).

(British) A village that does not have its own church.


lad

From Middle English ladde (“foot soldier, servant; male commoner; boy”), from late Old English *ladda (attested in Old English personal byname Ladda), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse ladd (“hose, woolen stocking; sock”), which may have undergone semantic shift to mean a term of abuse (e.g. foolish youth, youngster of lower social status, etc.); thence by connotative amelioration coming to mean any young fellow. Compare Norwegian ladd (“rough sock, woolen or felt slipper”) and the -ladd in compounds Askeladd/Askeladden (a nickname in fairy tales, "Ash Lad") and tusseladd (“nincompoop”). See also Swedish ladder (“old shoes”), lodde (“Frisian shoe”), lädder (“socks”), all said to be related to Old Norse loðinn (“hairy, shaggy, woolly”), loddi (“shaggy dog”).

cog

I think he reckons he’s a bit of a lad.

Last night I was out drinking with the lads.

(British) A hedonistic or irresponsible young man; A Jack the lad.


infamous

en-adj

infamous (comparative more infamous, superlative most infamous)

more infamous (comparative)
most infamous (superlative)

From Middle English enfamouse, in-fames, infamous, from Medieval Latin īnfāmōsus, from Latin īnfāmis; by surface analysis, in- + famous. Displaced native Old English unhlīsful.

(UK, historical, of a person) Subject to a judicial punishment depriving (the person) of certain rights (e.g. the rights to hold public office, exercise the franchise, receive a public pension, serve on a jury, or give testimony in a court of law).


glass

en-verb

glass (third-person singular simple present glasses, present participle glassing, simple past and past participle glassed)

glasses (present singular third-person)
glassing (participle present)
glassed (participle past)
glassed (past)
glasse (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English glas, from Old English glæs, from Proto-West Germanic *glas, from Proto-Germanic *glasą, possibly related to Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to shine”) (compare glow), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”).
Cognate with West Frisian glês, Dutch glas, Low German Glas, German Glas, Swedish glas, Icelandic gler.

JUDD. Any trouble last night?
LES. Usual. Couple of punks got glassed.

I often mused on what the politicians or authorities would say if they could see for themselves the horrendous consequences of someone who’d been glassed, or viciously assaulted.

2002, Geoff Doherty, A Promoter's Tale page 72

One night he was in this nightclub in Sheffield and he got glassed by this bloke who’d been just let out of prison that day.

(transitive, UK, colloquial) To strike (someone), particularly in the face, with a drinking glass with the intent of causing injury.


beach

→ Japanese: ビーチ

→ Punjabi: ਬੀਚ (bīc)

→ Zulu: ibhishi

From Middle English bache, bæcche (“bank, sandbank”), from Old English beċe (“beck, brook, stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *baki, from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“flowing water”).
Cognate with Dutch beek (“brook, stream”), German Bach (“brook, stream”), Swedish bäck (“stream, brook, creek”). More at batch, beck.

der

(UK dialectal, Sussex, Kent) The loose pebbles of the seashore, especially worn by waves; shingle.


swede

From the earlier term Swedish turnip, because the Swedes introduced the plant to the English in the 1700s.

Brassica napus
Brassica napus#Translingual

(chiefly British) The fleshy yellow root of a variety of rape, Brassica napus var. napobrassica, resembling a large turnip, grown as a vegetable.

Gotta be so careful nowadays; local copper's no problem but the cow from the council done me 'cos this almost brained a punter when it fell on his swede.

2005, The Spectator, volume 299, page 49:


Ugandan

Back-formation from Ugandan discussions.

Margaret, Duchess of Argyll...depicts this charming old gentleman, who often kisses young girls outside Annabel's, as a narrow-minded, boring Ugandan expert.

1975, Private Eye, numbers 340–366, page 161:

Eight ladies with Ugandan associations had ascended the fire escape and were making their way through his room.

1975, Private Eye, numbers 340–366, page 198:

They have a bit of a 'how was it for you' session referring to the night and/or evening before, and we are left not knowing whether they enjoyed Ugandan Relations between the sheets or not.

1998 August 19, Peter Dewhirst, “Dewey's Monday update for 3rd August.”, in rec.arts.tv.uk.coronation-st (Usenet):

I'm in serious need of some ugandan activities. Any of you birds out there at a loose end and want to get the dirty water off your chest?

2000 January 25, Baz, “Any birds want a good seeing to?”, in uk.local.birmingham (Usenet):

Serif's question: where is Mister? The Eagle's answer: engaged in Ugandan practices.

2001, Gerald Seymour, The Untouchables, →ISBN, page 345:

I recall her once snatching a copy of the hated Private Eye, in which I'd been reading about the Ugandan activities of a prominent member of her party.

2013 April 8, Lord Powell, “The Margaret Thatcher I knew”, in The Guardian:

Jones denied last week that he was in a Ugandan situation with Morris, but did say "I am very fond of anyone who helps me lose six and a half stone..."

2015, Rotten Boroughs, “Going for the Burn”, in Private Eye, number 1407:

(UK, informal, euphemistic) Sexual, highlights a double entendre.


tie

From Middle English teye (“cord, chain”), from Old English tēag, tēah (“cord, chain”), from Proto-West Germanic *taugu, from Proto-Germanic *taugō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. Compare Danish tov, Icelandic taug.

The FA Cup third round tie between Liverpool and Cardiff was their first meeting in the competition since 1957.

(sports, British) A meeting between two players or teams in a competition.

eliminatoria

sports: a meeting between two players or teams in a competition


where is the toilet

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-where is the toilet.wav

(British, literal) Direct me to the restroom (US) or WC (British).

屎礐佇佗落？ /屎𬒈伫佗落？

sái-ha̍k tī tó-lo̍h? / sái-ha̍k tǐr tó-loh? / sái-ha̍k tǐ tó-loh? / sái-ha̍k tī tah-lo? / sái-ha̍k tī tá-lo?

便所佇佗位？

piān-só͘ tī tó-uī? / piān-só͘ tū tó-uī? / piān-só͘ tī toh-ūi? / piān-só͘ tū toh-ūi?

廁所佇佗落？ /厕所伫佗落？

chheh-só͘ tī tó-lo̍h? / chhè-só͘ tǐr tó-loh? / chhè-só͘ tǐ tó-loh? / chhek-só͘ tī tah-lo? / chhek-só͘ tī tá-lo?

礐廁佇佗落？ /𬒈厕伫佗落？

ha̍k-chhè tī tó-lo̍h? / ha̍k-chhè tǐ tó-loh?

染蠻佇佗落？ /染蛮伫佗落？

jiám-bân tī tá-lo̍h? / jiám-bân tī tó-lo̍h / liám-bân tī tó-lo̍h / liám-boân tī tó-lo̍h?


score

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru (“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“incision; tear; rift”), which is related to *skeraną (“to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“cut”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear.
For the sense “twenty”: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.

der

DEVLIN:You know the apple and core. Head might cost you a score, or more if you want a meat show on all fours.

2012 September 9, “Deepest Shame (New Machine Remix)”, performed by Plan B,Chip,Devlin:

(British, slang) Twenty pounds sterling.

Above the harbour, steeply up the hill, run The Bolts, narrow stepped passages, equivalent of The Scores of Lowestoft and The Rows of Great Yarmouth.

1975, John Seymour, The Companion Guide to the Coast of North-east England, page 206:

(UK, regional) In the Lowestoft area, a narrow pathway running down a cliff to the beach.


shadow

en-noun

shadow (countable and uncountable, plural shadows)

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sċeaduwe, sċeadwe, oblique form of sċeadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots scaddow, schaddow (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad (“shade, shadow”), Dutch schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shadow, shade”), Norwegian skodde (“fog, mist”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-).

cog

(UK, law enforcement) A trainee, assigned to work with an experienced officer.


turn

→ Japanese: ターン (tān)

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

دَوْرَة

movement about an axis ending up with the same orientation

360° turn

movement about an axis returning to the original orientation

the first turn of the screw pays all debts

There are usually at least two jobbers who specialise in the leading stocks, and this acts to keep the jobber's turn to a reasonable amount […]

1977, Michael Arthur Firth, Valuation of Shares and the Efficient-markets Theory, page 11:

(UK, finance, historical) The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.

siivu

finance: profit made by a stockjobber, difference between the buying and selling prices


turn up

en-verb

turn up (third-person singular simple present turns up, present participle turning up, simple past and past participle turned up)

turns up (present singular third-person)
turning up (participle present)
turned up (participle past)
turned up (past)

Thirty-six were cast for death, and only one was ‘topped’ (hanged), the very one that expected to be ‘turned up’ (acquitted) for highway robbery.

1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:

(transitive, UK, slang, obsolete) To acquit.


trial

From Middle English trial, triall, from Anglo-Norman trial, triel, from trier (“to pick out, cull”) + -al. More at English try.

An occasion on which a person or thing is tested to find out how well they perform or how suitable they are.

(UK) An internal examination set by Eton College.


lathe

lathe (third-person singular simple present lathes, present participle lathing, simple past and past participle lathed)

lathes (present singular third-person)
lathing (participle present)
lathed (participle past)
lathed (past)
laith (alternative)

From Middle English lathen, from Old English laþian (“to invite, summon, call upon, ask”), from Proto-West Germanic *laþōn, from Proto-Germanic *laþōną (“to invite”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēy- (“to want, desire”). Cognate with German laden (“to invite”), Icelandic laða (“to attract”).

der

(transitive, UK dialectal) To invite; bid; ask.


banjo

English: benjo

→ Esperanto: banĝo

→ Irish: bainseo

→ Japanese: バンジョー

→ Macedonian: бенџо (bendžo)

→ Mongolian: банжо (banžo)

→ Russian: банджо (bandžo)

→ Thai: แบนโจ (bɛɛn-joo)

→ Welsh: banjô

→ Yiddish: באַנדזשאָ (bandzho)

From the pronunciation of African slaves, of unknown ultimate origin. Possibly a corruption of bandore (from Spanish bandurria), alternatively from a West African language such as Mandinka banjul, or Kimbundu mbanza.

They all came back here — we cleared the room and put up tables for the reception — and then we went to another house on the banjo for a "knees-up".

1963, Peter Willmott, The Evolution of a Community, page 75:

Billy Tower lived in the far left house in the banjo that was Dagenham's version of cul de sacs. The trouble was you could be seen from the house and, in the time it took to walk along the Banjo, drugs could be flushed away.

2013, M. C. Dutton, The Godfathers of London:

The banjo format is not an unalloyed success these days: kids playing noisily on the quite narrow common green […]

2013, Martin Crookston, Garden Suburbs of Tomorrow?:

(UK, Dagenham) A cul-de-sac with a round end.


banjo

en-verb

banjo (third-person singular simple present banjos, present participle banjoing, simple past and past participle banjoed)

banjos (present singular third-person)
banjoing (participle present)
banjoed (participle past)
banjoed (past)

Admitting the assault, the husband said that he had given her a 'banjoing' but that she had asked for it.

1989, Susan S. M. Edwards, Policing 'domestic' Violence: Women, the Law and the State, page 95:

Madar was turfed out on a final misdemeanour of banjoing one of his teammates in training before a big game

1998, "Fergie's world just gets Madar" (Sport), Sunday Mail, Jan 4, 1998

"Me and other folk were just trying to get the boot in and some other guy banjoed [decked] him”.

2007 July 31, “Return of Smeato, the extraordinary hero”, in Times Online:

(transitive, slang, British) To beat, to knock down.

Riding reported that on the day Mayne had asked for DZ coordinates, their base had been banjoed by the Germans.

2008, Michael Asher, The Regiment: The Definitive Story of the SAS, page cxxx:

(transitive, slang, British, military) To shell or attack (a target).


banjax

banjax (third-person singular simple present banjaxes, present participle banjaxing, simple past and past participle banjaxed)

banjaxes (present singular third-person)
banjaxing (participle present)
banjaxed (participle past)
banjaxed (past)
banjack (alternative)
bandjax (alternative)

Unknown, perhaps originally Dublin slang. According to Green’s Dictionary of Slang, may be a euphemism for bollocks.

I hoofed his backside till he went down all of a heap. That banjaxed his little game. You should have heard his hullabulloo.

1922, Darrell Figgis, The House of Success, The Gael Co-operative Publishing Society, Ltd., page 146:

Indeed, it seemed that the army was hopelessly banjaxed.

1928, Eimar O'Duffy, The Spacious Adventures of the Man in the Street, Macmillan, page 370:

Emma had suggested that you hide, said your presence might banjax her position.

1970, Edna O'Brien, A Pagan Place, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2001, page 91:

Fraser was looking at the flat, wet countryside and thinking about the French policeman who had banjaxed him with the truncheon.

2006, Craig Ferguson, Between the Bridge and the River, Chronicle Books, page 252:

For quotations using this term, see Citations:banjax.

(UK, originally Ireland, slang) To ruin or destroy.


banjaxed

en-adj

banjaxed (comparative more banjaxed, superlative most banjaxed)

more banjaxed (comparative)
most banjaxed (superlative)

Here is his black heart sitting there as large as life in the middle of the pulp of his banjaxed corpse.

1939, Flann O'Brien [pseudonym; Brian O'Nolan], At Swim-Two-Birds:

Then it got banjaxed, at a supper party to which he brought me.

1972, Edna O'Brien, Night, published 2001:

Lindsay again waxes approving over Ballard’s hymn to the banjaxed landscape of the Heathrow environs, with its choked arterial roads, light industrial units and warehousing entrepots.

2011, Will Self, “The frowniest spot on Earth”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.9:

Part of the strategy is to dramatically increase the number of electric cars but people in rural areas are proving hesitant because of cost and lack of charging points. “If you were in the countryside you’d be banjaxed. You can’t plug it into a ditch, you can’t plug it into a cow,” said Derek Desmond, 50, a handyman from Tipperary.

2022 July 29, Rory Carroll, quoting Derek Desmond, “Fare deal: Ireland joins Europe-wide efforts to coax people out of cars”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(British and Ireland, slang) Broken, ruined, shattered; confounded.

I'm completely banjaxed!

(British and Ireland, slang) Tired, sleepy, cream crackered.


knock

en-verb

knock (third-person singular simple present knocks, present participle knocking, simple past and past participle knocked)

knocks (present singular third-person)
knocking (participle present)
knocked (participle past)
knocked (past)

From Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian, ġecnocian, cnucian (“to knock, pound on, beat”), from Proto-West Germanic *knokōn, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną (“to knock”), a suffixed form of *knu-, *knew- (“to pound on, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnew-, *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (“to hit”), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (“to pound, knock”), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (“to squeeze”), Swedish knocka (“to hug”)).

knock someone into the middle of next week

(transitive, British, slang, dated) To impress forcibly or strongly; to astonish; to move to admiration or applause.


knock off

knock off (third-person singular simple present knocks off, present participle knocking off, simple past and past participle knocked off)

knocks off (present singular third-person)
knocking off (participle present)
knocked off (participle past)
knocked off (past)

→ Dutch: afnokken (calque)

In the verb sense of stopping work, said to be from the practice aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers by knocking on a block or drum; when he stopped, the rowers could rest.

faligi

to remove by hitting, to hit (something) off

I took her down to Basin Street and to a movie, then took her to my room and knocked her off.

1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land:

(transitive, slang, vulgar, British) To have sex with (a woman).


knock out

knock out (third-person singular simple present knocks out, present participle knocking out, simple past and past participle knocked out)

knocks out (present singular third-person)
knocking out (participle present)
knocked out (participle past)
knocked out (past)

→ Macedonian: нокаут (nokaut)

→ Portuguese: nocaute

→ Russian: нокаут (nokaut)

→ Serbo-Croatian: нокаут

→ Spanish: nocaut

→ Turkish: nakavt


ginger

en-adj

ginger (comparative more ginger or (rare) gingerer, superlative most ginger or (rare) gingerest)

more ginger (comparative)
gingerer (comparative rare)
most ginger (superlative)
gingerest (rare superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/

He’s going to get an interview about ten o’clock, making the old gentleman predict war, and we’ll get out the gingerest kind of a special on the strength of it!

1899 April 1, Richard Stillman Powell [pseudonym; Ralph Henry Barbour], “The President and Tom Collins”, in The Saturday Evening Post, volume 171, number 40, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 626, column 2:

Wherefore, although for my own car I want the “gingerest” possible engine, I realise that it has shortcomings for the general market and I would commend to designers the ideal of an engine that shall be as “woolly” as possible, so long as its artificially restricted dimensions shall not cause its owner to find himself unable to tackle respectable gradients.

1921 January 29, W. Harold Johnson, “[The Automobile World.] My Ideal Small Car Specification”, in Country Life: The Journal for All Interested in Country Life & Country Pursuits, volume XLIX, number 1277, London, page lxvi, column 1:

“Coney Island” is by far the best picture the Hip has had. That says very little for a house that has held the worst, but this F. B. O. [Film Booking Offices] will do business this week for the Hip because it more than makes good under one of the gingerest of names. And a name that should draw by itself.

1928 February 15, “Coney Island”, in Variety, volume XC, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Variety, Inc., →ISSN, page 27, column 3:

They, the Rabbis, for better or for worse, were very ginger with this question.

2006, John W. McGinley, About the King’s Choice to Build His Palace Right on Top of a Dunghill: (Or, How to Conceptualize Jewishly), Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 540:

After a very ginger landing, everyone aboard was able to see up close how lucky they had been to reach base.

Moving very slowly, taking extremely ginger steps, the woman felt beads of sweat dripping down from her body.

2009, Franklin Newman, The Prophetess of Bromfryel: The Knights of Callistor, page 509:

My face hurt like a son of a bitch every time I placed even the gingerest of fingertips on it, but from what I could see from my reflection in the broad blade of my letter opener, it still hadn’t swollen.

2011, Craig Russell, chapter 5, in The Deep Dark Sleep (Lennox; 3), London: Quercus, →ISBN, page 106:

To walk, each crutch he kinda hopped forward a little and used his torso to drag his legs after, using them as the gingerest element of a tripod.

2013, T. D. Badyna, chapter 4, in Flick, Whistle-Bit Books, →ISBN, page 44:

Silence settles once more between us all, filled only by the gingerest of clinks of forks reluctantly hovering over flesh.

2015, James Hannah, “Rib”, in The A to Z of You and Me, London: Black Swan, Transworld Publishers, →ISBN, page 221:

(chiefly British, regional, Canada, US) Very careful or cautious; also, delicate, sensitive.


ginger

Cockney rhyming slang: ginger beer, queer.

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) A homosexual.


ginger

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/


cheque

→ Albanian: çek

→ Amharic: ቼክ (ček)

→ Arabic: شِيك (šēk, šīk)

→ Gulf Arabic: چيك (cek)

→ Armenian: չեկ (čʻek)

→ Asturian: cheque

→ Azerbaijani: çek

→ Belarusian: чэк (ček)

→ Bengali: চেক (cek)

→ Breton: chekenn

→ Bulgarian: чек (ček)

→ Burmese: ချက် (hkyak)

→ Catalan: xec

→ Czech: šek

→ Danish: check

→ Dutch: cheque

→ Estonian: tšekk

→ Finnish: sekki, šekki, shekki

→ French: chèque

→ Galician: cheque

→ Georgian: ჩეკი (čeḳi)

→ German: Scheck

→ Hebrew: צֵ׳ק (chéq), שֵׁיְק (shéq)

→ Hindi: चेक (cek), चैक (caik)

→ Hungarian: csekk

→ Icelandic: tékki

→ Irish: seic

→ Japanese: チェック

→ Kazakh: чек (çek)

→ Kyrgyz: чек (cek)

→ Lao: ເຊັກ (sek)

→ Latvian: čeks

→ Lithuanian: čekis

→ Macedonian: чек (ček)

→ Malay: cek

Indonesian: cek

→ Marathi: चेक (cek)

→ Mongolian: чек (ček)

→ Norman: chèque

→ Northern Kurdish: çek

→ Norwegian: sjekk

→ Occitan: chèc

→ Odia: ଚେକ୍ (cek)

→ Persian: چک (ček)

→ Polish: czek

→ Portuguese: cheque

→ Punjabi: ਚੈੱਕ (caikka)

→ Romanian: cec

→ Russian: чек (ček)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: чек

Latin script: ček

→ Slovak: šek

→ Slovene: ček

→ Spanish: cheque

→ Swahili: cheki

→ Swedish: check

→ Tajik: чек (ček)

→ Telugu: చెక్కు (cekku)

→ Thai: เช็ค (chék)

→ Turkish: çek

→ Turkmen: çek

→ Ukrainian: чек (ček)

→ Urdu: چیک (cek)

→ Uzbek: chek

→ Vietnamese: séc

→ Welsh: siec

A variant of check, probably influenced exchequer. First attested in the 1790s.

I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a cheque for the amount.

They do not, however, all deal with the same banker, and when A gives a cheque to B, B usually pays it not into the same but into some other bank.

1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, published 1920, page 62:

1999, Sam Seunarine, Office Procedures for the Caribbean, 2nd edition, reprinted 2001, page 126,
Sometimes abbreviations are used (which would be explained on the statement) and only the last three figures of the cheque number may be given. ‘Sundries’ are cash or cheques paid into the account.

You can avoid dealing with paper cheques — written or printed — by paying your bills online.

2007, Eric Tyson, Tony Martin, Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies:

2009, R. Rajesh, T. Sivagnanasithi, Banking Theory Law & Practice, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, page 206,
The daily cheque clearings began around 1770 when bank clerks met at the Five Bells (a tavern in Lombard Street in the City of London) to exchange all their cheques in one place and settle the balances in cash.

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) A written order directing a bank to pay money to a person or entity.

tjek

a note promising to pay money to a named person or entity


bergen

Shortened from Bergen rucksack, possibly named after their creator, Norwegian Ole F. Bergan, combined with the name of the Norwegian city of Bergen.

Their bergens were already stuffed almost to bursting point, as were their belt kits, with rations, water, radios and spare batteries, ammunition, personal equipment, sleeping bags, waterproofs, medical packs, survival kits, and much more.

2012, Peter Ratcliffe, Eye of the Storm:


lawyer

lawyers (plural)
lawer (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: loya

→ Malay: loyar

→ Maori: rōia

→ Yiddish: לויער (loyer)

→ Yoruba: lọ́yà

From Middle English lawiere, lawier, lawer, equivalent to law + -yer.


farmer

desc

→ Kashubian: farmôrz (Canada, United States)

→ Yiddish: פֿאַרמער (farmer)

From Middle English fermour (“a steward, bailliff, collector of taxes”), from Old French fermier (“a farmer, a lessee, husbandman, bailliff”), from Medieval Latin firmarius (“one to whom land is rented, a collector of taxes, deputy”), from firma; equivalent to farm + -er. Compare Old English feormere (“a purveyor of a guild, a supplier of food, a grocer, farmer”). More at farm.

inh

(agent noun) Someone or something that farms, as:

(strictly, especially British) More specifically, a farm owner, as distinguished from a farmworker or farmhand as a hired employee thereof.


wheel

we'll (one pronunciation along with the wine–whine merger)

From Middle English whel, from Old English hwēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hwehwl, from Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą, *hweulō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlóm, *kʷékʷlos, *kʷékʷléh₂, reduplication of *kʷel- (“to turn”) and a suffix (literally "(the thing that) turns and turns"). See also West Frisian tsjil, Dutch wiel, Danish hjul; also Tocharian B kokale (“cart, wagon”), Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “cycle, wheel”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 (caxra), Sanskrit चक्र (cakrá); and Latin colō (“to till, cultivate”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B käl- (“to bear; bring”), Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō, “to come into existence, become”), Old Church Slavonic коло (kolo, “wheel”), Albanian sjell (“to bring, carry, turn around”), Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (caraⁱti, “it circulates”), Sanskrit चरति (cárati, “it moves, wanders”). Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cycle, and cyclus.

агьежь

a circular device facilitating movement or transportation

peix gros

person with a great deal of power or influence


panda

→ Malay: panda

→ Japanese: パンダ (panda)

→ Korean: 판다 (panda)

→ Tagalog: panda

→ Thai: แพนด้า (pɛn-dâa)

Borrowed from French panda, of unclear ultimate origin but probably from the second element of nigálya-pónya, a local name for the red panda recorded in Nepal and Sikkim by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800 or 1801 – 1894), an ethnologist, naturalist and the British Resident of Nepal, possibly from Nepali निँगाले (nĩgāle, “relating to a certain species of bamboo”) (the adjectival form of निँगालो (nĩgālo), a variant of निङालो (niṅālo, “Drepanostachyum intermedium, a species of bamboo”)) + a regional Tibetan name for the animal (compare regional Tibetan ཕོ་ཉ (pho nya, “messenger”)).
Attributive uses of sense 2 (“giant panda”) generally refer to that animal’s distinctive black and white coat colour.

der

Before the confrontation, the youth sighted a police personnel carrier, two dog patrol vans, a motorway style car, at least two pandas and one unmarked police car.

1975, Darcus Howe, editor, Race Today, London: Race Today Collective, →OCLC, page 279:

(British, law enforcement, colloquial) Ellipsis of panda car (“a black-and-white police car”).


sick

en-adj

sick (comparative sicker, superlative sickest)

sicker (comparative)
sickest (superlative)

→ Dutch: sick

→? Navajo: sxih

From Middle English sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”).
See also West Frisian siik, Dutch ziek, German siech, Norwegian Bokmål syk, Norwegian Nynorsk sjuk, Danish syg; also Middle Irish socht (“silence, depression”), Old Armenian հիւծանիմ (hiwcanim, “I am weakening”).
The "very good, excellent" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "in poor health". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and wicked.

cog

She was sick all day with the flu.

We have to care for the sick.

Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.

a1420, The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056, “Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone”, in Robert von Fleischhacker, editor, Lanfranc’s “Science of cirurgie.”, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, translation of original by Lanfranc of Milan, published 1894, →ISBN, page 63:

‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(less common in the UK and Ireland) In poor health; ill.

бо́лен

ill, used as a substantive: sick people, collectively


sick

take a day's sick leave for some other purpose. go down like a cup of cold sick / go down like a cup of sick

often implying some level of deceit as in

[…] they're spitting and belching chunks of lentilly gunk. Looks like sick.

2003, Lynsey Calderwood, Cracked: Recovering After Traumatic Brain Injury, page 132:

The bogan, true to form, laps it up like a dog does its own sick.

2010, Michael Jayfox, E. Chas McSween, Intravenus DeMilo, Enron Hubbard, Hunter McKenzie-Smythe, Flash Johnson, Things Bogans Like, Sydney: Hachette, page 80:

(British, colloquial) (especially in the phrases on the sick and on long-term sick) Any of various current or former benefits or allowances paid by the Government to support the sick, disabled or incapacitated.


sick

en-verb

sick (third-person singular simple present sicks, present participle sicking, simple past and past participle sicked)

sicks (present singular third-person)
sicking (participle present)
sicked (participle past)
sicked (past)

I woke up at 4 am and sicked on the floor.

(British, Australia, colloquial) To vomit.


reception

en-noun

reception (countable and uncountable, plural receptions)

/ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/

Borrowed from Middle French reception, from Latin recipiō(n) (“the act of receiving; reception”), from recipiō (“receive”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“I hold”).

der

(UK, education) The school year, or part thereof, between preschool and Year 1, when children are introduced to formal education.


flag

en-noun

flag (countable and uncountable, plural flags)

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape.
Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(British, uncountable) The game of capture the flag.

Suppose you try a different tack, / And on the square you flash your flag?

1887, William Ernest Henley, Villon's Straight Tip to All Cross Coves:


monkey

en-noun

monkey (plural monkeys or (obsolete) monkies)

monkeys (plural)
monkies (obsolete plural)

→ Chukchi: маӈкы (maṇky)

→ Coeur d'Alene: moonki

→ Irish: moncaí

→ Navajo: mágí

→ Scottish Gaelic: muncaidh

→ Tumbuka: munkhwele

→ Welsh: mwnci

Uncertain. May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of a personal name or surname; hence, nickname, literally “miniature man”).

gl

whence Modern French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">mone</i> (“monkey”)

der

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

you can take the monkey out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey

A thousandth of a million squid or two monkeys
Or a whole fifty scores

2004, The Streets, “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy”, in A Grand Don’t Come for Free:

(slang) Synonym of five hundred, especially (British) 500 pounds sterling or (US, dated) 500 dollars.


fare

en-noun

fare (countable and uncountable, plural fares)

From Middle English fare, from a merger of Old English fær (“journey, road”) and faru (“journey, companions, baggage”), from Proto-Germanic *farą and *farō (“journey, fare”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“a going, passage”).

der

(countable, UK, crime, slang) A prostitute's client.


sort

From Middle English sort, soort, sorte (cognate Dutch soort, German Sorte, Danish sort, Swedish sort), borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from Latin sortem, accusative form of sors (“lot, fate, share, rank, category”).

(British, Australia, informal) A good-looking woman.


sort

en-verb

sort (third-person singular simple present sorts, present participle sorting, simple past and past participle sorted)

sorts (present singular third-person)
sorting (participle present)
sorted (participle past)
sorted (past)
sort (infinitive)
sort (first-person present singular)
sorted (first-person past singular)
sort (present second-person singular)
sortest (archaic present second-person singular)
sorted (past second-person singular)
sortedst (archaic past second-person singular)
sorts (present singular third-person)
sorteth (archaic present singular third-person)
sorted (past singular third-person)
sort (plural present)
sorted (past plural)
sort (present subjunctive)
sorted (past subjunctive)
sort (imperative present)
sorting (participle present)
sorted (participle past)

From Middle English sorten, from Old French sortir (“to allot, sort”), from Latin sortīre (“draw lots, divide, choose”), from sors.

der

‘Does rewilding sort climate change? Yes!’: UK expert says nature can save planet and not harm farming [title]

2024 February 25, Donna Ferguson, “‘Does rewilding sort climate change? Yes!’: UK expert says nature can save planet and not harm farming”, in The Observer:

(British, colloquial, transitive) To fix (a problem) or handle (a task).

If he comes nosing around here again I'll sort him!

(British, colloquial, transitive) To attack physically.


steel

I was lugged before the beak, who gave me six doss in the steel. [...] six months in the Bastille (the old House of Corrections), Coldbath Fields.

1862, Havelock Ellis, The Criminal, page 162:

He said he had been in the “steel” (Coldbath Fields Prison) eight times.

1866, George Augustus Sala, Edmund Hodgson Yates, Temple Bar, volume 16, page 507:

This time I got two moon for assaulting the reelers when canon. For this I went to the Steel (Bastile^([sic]) — Coldbath Fields Prison), having a new suit of clobber on me and about fifty blow in my brigh (pocket).

1879, Macmillan's Magazine, volume 40, page 502:

(UK, crime, slang, obsolete) Coldbath Fields Prison in London, closed in 1877.


prep

en-noun

prep (countable and uncountable, plural preps)

(UK, chiefly private schools, uncountable) Homework; work set to do outside class time.


tea

tea (countable and uncountable, plural teas)

Gullah: tea

Jamaican Creole: tea

→ Abenaki: ti

→ Chickasaw: tii'

→ Cocopa: ṭi·

→ Cornish: té

→ Cree:

Canadian syllabic script: ᑎᕀ (tiy)

Latin script: tiy

→ Inuktitut: ᑏ (tii)

→ Irish: tae

→ Maori: tī

→ Malecite-Passamaquoddy: ti

desc

→ Mikasuki: ti'g'tlo'q, ji'gitlo'q (“kettle”) (from "tea kettle")

→ Panamint: tii

→ Scottish Gaelic: tì, teatha

→ Tamil: டீ (ṭī)

→ Tashelhit: atay

→ Telugu: టీ (ṭī)

→ Unami: ti

→ Welsh: te

Amoy
Amoy dialect
Dutch East India Company
Macao
Álvaro Semedo

First appears c. 1655, in the writings of Álvaro Semedo. From Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê) (Amoy dialect), from Old Chinese, ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la (“leaf, tea”). Introduced to English and other Western European languages by the Dutch East India Company, who sourced their tea in Amoy; compare Malay teh along the same trade route. Doublet of chai and cha (and, distantly, the first element of lahpet), from same Proto-Sino-Tibetan root; see discussion of cognates.
Cognates
The word for “tea” in many languages is of Sinitic origin (due to China being the origin of the plant), and thus there are many cognates; see translations. These are from one of two proximate sources, reflected in the phonological shape: forms with a stop (e.g. /t/) are derived from Min Nan tê, while forms with an affricate (e.g. /tʃ/) are derived from other Sinitic languages, like Mandarin chá or Cantonese caa4 (all written as 茶). Different languages borrowed one or the other form (specific language and point in time varied), reflecting trade ties, generally Min Nan tê if by ocean trade from Fujian, Cantonese caa4 if by ocean trade from Guangdong, or northern Chinese chá if by overland trade or by ocean trade from India.
Thus Western and Northern European languages borrowed tê (with the exception of Portuguese, which uses chá; despite being by ocean trade, their source was in Macao, not Amoy), while chá borrowings are used over a very large geographical area of Eurasia and Africa: Southern and Eastern Europe, and on through Turkish, Arabic, North and East Africa, Persian, Central Asian, and Indic languages. In Europe the tê/chá line is Italian/Slovene, Hungarian/Romanian, German/Czech, Polish/Ukrainian, Baltics/Russian, Finnish/Karelian, Northern Sami/Inari Sami. tê was also borrowed in European trade stops in Southern India and coastal Africa, though chá borrowings are otherwise more prevalent in these regions, via Arabic or Indic, due to earlier trade. The situation in Southeast Asia is complex due to multiple influences, and some languages borrowed both forms, such as Malay teh and ca.
Sense 10 (“information, especially gossip”) is originally from T standing for truth, which evolved into tea.

茶水

cheap or free tea in Chinese restaurants

紅茶 (こうちゃ, kōcha) (black tea, lit.: "red")

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

I won't make it to the breakfast event, but I'll see you at the tea.

But the gorge of the Rush was not at all a nice place for travelling either. I mean, it was not a nice place for people in a hurry. For an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful.

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

Tea was a very special institution, revolving as it did around the ceremony and worship of Toast. In a place [public schools] where alcohol, tobacco and drugs were forbidden, it was essential that something should take their place as a powerful and public totem of virility and cool. Toast, for reasons lost in time, was the substance chosen.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 16:

(uncountable, UK) A light midafternoon meal, typically but not necessarily including tea.


minor

en-adj

minor (comparative more minor, superlative most minor)

more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

antonym(s) of

serious, grave, severe, dangerous, fatal, life-threatening, acute (informal)

From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.

der

He whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes minor,

c. 1593, Henry Chettle, Kind-harts Dreame, sig. C2

And he whipt her with a foxes taile, Barnes maior.

Espionage... was a field that had sophisticated itself since the distant time when Patullo Minor... had enthralled his school-fellows with his hazardous escapades.

1978, John Innes Mackintosh Stewart, Full Term, page 250:

Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly:

(UK, dated) The younger of two pupils (or the middle of three) with the same surname.


minor

minors (plural)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

Let my minor pass, you fellows!... Here, Chudleigh, just make room there.

(UK, rare, obsolete) The younger brother of a pupil.


major

en-adj

major (comparative more major, superlative most major)

more major (comparative)
most major (superlative)
majour (alternative obsolete)

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ(ɹ)]

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

[ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

(UK, dated) Indicating the elder of two brothers (or the eldest of three), appended to a surname in public schools.


cos

Clipping of cos lettuce, variously derived from the Greek island of Kos and from Arabic خس (ḵass, “lettuce”).

(chiefly UK) Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce.


cos

Taking the shortcut through the alleyway by the Jobcentre Plus, just cos I can, we arrive at my flat within minutes.

2021, Isabel Waidner, Sterling Karat Gold, Peninsula Press, page 161:

(UK, Ireland, South Africa, African-American Vernacular) Informal spelling of 'cause (“because”).


defenestration

en-noun

defenestration (countable and uncountable, plural defenestrations)

Holy Roman Emperor
Johann Philipp Abelin
Theatrum Europaeum

From New Latin defenestratio, from dē (“from; out”) + fenestra (“window”) + -atio (suffix indicating an action or process); compare Middle French défenestrer (modern French défenestrer), défenestration, Italian defenestrazione and
German Fenstersturz. The verb defenestrate was formed later.

Be that as it may, his defenestration was coldly abrupt, and in his place, the Football Association resurrected a veteran manager and former England star in Joe Mercer for seven games.

2005 September 4, The Sunday Times, London:

With Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid gone from the cabinet, it could all be over for Boris Johnson – although quite how long it will take his enemies to finish him off is not at all clear and his defenestration does not look immediate.

2022 July 5, Andrew Sparrow, “As Sunak and Javid quit cabinet, is it all over for Boris Johnson?”, in The Guardian:

(British) The high-profile removal of a person from an organization.


barrow

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg (“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”), from Proto-West Germanic *berg, from Proto-Germanic *bergaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos, from *bʰerǵʰ-. Doublet of berg and bergh.
Cognate with Scots burrow (“mound, tumulus, barrow”), Saterland Frisian Bäirch, Bierich (“mountain”), West Frisian berch (“mountain”), Dutch berg (“mountain”), German Low German Barg (“mountain”), German Berg (“mountain”), Danish bjerg (“mountain”), Swedish berg (“mountain”), Norwegian berg (“rock, mountain, hillock, rock bottom”), Icelandic berg (“mountain”), bjarg (“rock”), Northern Luri برگ (berg, “mountain,hill”), Polish brzeg (“bank, shore”), Russian бе́рег (béreg, “bank, shore, land”).


barrow

barrows (plural)
barra (alternative Geordie)

From Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe, from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”), from Proto-West Germanic *barwā, *barwijā, from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere (“wheelbarrow”)), from *beraną (“to bear”). More at bear.

cog

The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

In contrast, the Westminster Gazette in 1912 was much more positive about railway staff, praising the "...army of porters hustling and bustling hither and thither with barrows groaning under the weight of bags and baggage and... the ever-patient and long-suffering guards, courteously giving information and advice to the querulous passengers... to the porter the Christmas season means a continuous round of heavy labour, extremely tiring to both nerves and temper, and this fact the public too often seem either to forget or ignore."

2022 December 14, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35:

(British) A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.


bracket

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

kllapë

generically any of “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, etc.

Any of the characters “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, or the like, used in pairs to enclose parenthetic remarks, sections of mathematical expressions, etc.

(UK) “(” and “)” specifically, the other forms above requiring adjectives for disambiguation.


proper

From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.

propa (alternative Geordie)
propre (alternative obsolete)

'I thought it was the American Associated Press.' 'Oh, they are on the track, are they?' 'They to-day, and the Times yesterday. Oh, they are buzzing round proper.'

1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:

“Christmas Eve,” said Nabby Adams. “I used to pump the bloody organ for the carols, proper pissed usually.”

1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 202:

The kid towelled him up proper.

1957, Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Sydney: Fontana Books, published 1974, page 32:

Don't you think you must have looked proper daft?

1964, Saint Andrew Society (Glasgow, Scotland), The Scots magazine: Volume 82

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) properly; thoroughly; completely.


front

en-noun

front (countable and uncountable, plural fronts)

Tok Pisin: fran

→ Japanese: フロント (furonto)

→ Korean: 프런트 (peureonteu)

From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.


video

en-verb

video (third-person singular simple present videoes, present participle videoing, simple past and past participle videoed)

videoes (present singular third-person)
videoing (participle present)
videoed (participle past)
videoed (past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.
Proto-Italic *widēō
Latin videōbor.
English video
From the root vide of Latin videō (“I see”) + -o, formed in analogy to audio.

etymon

(British) To record using a video camera, to videotape

(British) To record a television program


carry

From Middle English carien, from Anglo-Norman carier (modern French charrier); from a derivative of Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”), ultimately of Gaulish origin.


farm

en-verb

farm (third-person singular simple present farms, present participle farming, simple past and past participle farmed)

farms (present singular third-person)
farming (participle present)
farmed (participle past)
farmed (past)

From Middle English fermen, from Old English feormian (“to clean, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *furbēn (“to clean, polish, buff”). Doublet of furbish.

inh

Farm out the stable and pigsty.

(UK, dialectal) To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out


producer

→ Azerbaijani: prodüser

→ Danish: producer

→ Dutch: producer

→ Hungarian: producer

→ Japanese: プロデューサー (purodyūsā)

desctree

→ Russian: продю́сер (prodjúser)
→ Kazakh: продюсер (prodüser)

/pɹəˈdʒuːsə/

(UK, Ireland, slang) An arrest for speeding after which the driver is allowed seven (in the UK) or ten (in Ireland) days to produce his/her driving licence and related documents at a police station.


random

en-adj

random (comparative more random, superlative most random)

more random (comparative)
most random (superlative)

→ Armenian: ռանդոմ (ṙandom)

→ French: random

→ German: random

→ Hungarian: random

→ Polish: random

→⇒ Russian: рандо́мный (randómnyj)

→ Spanish: random

→ Turkish: random

→ Vietnamese: random

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *randiju (“a run, race”) or Old Norse rend (“a run, race”), both from Proto-Germanic *randijō, from *rinnaną (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r̥-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). Cognate with Middle Low German uprinden (“to jump up”), Danish rende (“to run”). See run.

cog

That's a rather random fact!

I can't believe he would say that. That's so random!

out of the ordinary
out of the ordinary#Adjective

(UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.


reference

en-noun

reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

verwysing

academic writing: identification of a source

(UK, Ireland) A person who provides this information; a referee.