doolally

en-adj

doolally (comparative more doolally, superlative most doolally)

more doolally (comparative)
most doolally (superlative)

From doolally tap (“camp fever; (by extension) eccentricity; madness”), with doolally interpreted as an adjective. Doolally is derived from the Deolali transit camp, a former British army camp about 100 miles (160 kilometres) northeast of Bombay, India, used as a transit station for soldiers awaiting transport back to Britain; while tap (“Indian malarial fever”) is from Persian or Urdu تب (tab, “malarial fever”), ultimately from Sanskrit ताप (tāpa, “fever; heat; pain, torment”).

noncog

"Will you write me an Essay on Corsets?" / "On what?" I asked incredulously—knowing that he had been a distinguished soldier, and suspecting that he had suddenly developed what the soldiers describe as "a touch of the doolally."

[1920, Richard King [pseudonym; Richard King Huskinson], “How I Came to Make ‘History’!”, in Over the Fireside with Silent Friends, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head; New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1921, →OCLC, page 149:

"When you've got any God's amount of brains," said Frobisher, "you can pretend to be doolally;[…]"

1932, James Lansdale Hodson, chapter II, in North Wind, London: Faber and Faber […], →OCLC, page 26:

Doolally tap. It's the strain see – and it gets the doolally lads first.

1965, New English Dramatists (Penguin Plays), number 8, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 40:

They were all doolally of course, except Philomela.

1973, Maureen Duffy, chapter II, in I Want to Go to Moscow: A Lay, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN, page 61:

[H]e took three sleeping-pills in the night, so he says, and he's all doped and doolally now. I need your help to move him.

1993, Blake Morrison, “Foetal”, in And When Did You Last See Your Father?, London: Granta Books in association with Penguin Books, published 1994, →ISBN, page 66:

"Now you're being silly. Promise you'll put me in a home when I get really doolally." / "If you're really doolally you won't know if I have or not." / "So promise."

2000, Patrick Gale, “Blue House”, in Rough Music, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published May 2001, →ISBN, page 54:

The cat scrap at the bridal bash only made him more doolally.

2009, Helen Cross, “Amir”, in Spilt Milk, Black Coffee, London, Berlin: Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2010, →ISBN, page 212:

But then, doolally as this enterprise clearly is, I've had the most pleasant day I can remember having in a long time.

2011 September 10, Simon Beaufoy, 38:50 from the start, in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, spoken by Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor):

(originally military slang) Eccentric; insane, mad.


doolally tap

en-adj

doolally tap (comparative more doolally tap, superlative most doolally tap)

more doolally tap (comparative)
most doolally tap (superlative)
doolally-tap (alternative)

From Deolali (the name of a former British army camp 100 miles north-east of Bombay, used as a transit station for soldiers awaiting transport back to Britain) + tap (from Persian or Urdu تب (tab, “malarial fever”), ultimately from Sanskrit ताप (tāpa, “heat; fever”)).
According to one suggestion, to go doolally tap was to go crazy while waiting.

Going a bit doolally-tap, if you ask me. Getting odd ideas.

1985, John E. Gardner, The Secret Generations, page 294:

The whole family think I've gone doolally-tap; all except Mick, that is.

1993, Catherine Cookson, My Beloved Son, page 355:

Most thought that the prison sentence had sent me doolally tap.

1994, Julia Grant, Just Julia: The Story of an Extraordinary Woman, page 198:

Madam has gone quite definitely doolally tap, if you'll pardon the rather common expression.

If he had not paid her phone bills she would have gone doolally tap, as her mother used to say, without a friendly voice now and then.

2007, Martina Cole, Faces, unnumbered page:


goit

From Middle English gote (“channel, stream”), from Old English *gotu (“channel, gutter, drain”), from Proto-Germanic *gutō (“gutter, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- (“to pour”). Cognate with Scots gote, goit, goate (“trench, ditch, watercourse”), Dutch goot (“gutter”), Middle Low German gote (“ditch”). More at gote.

inh

We use watter as goes daan t'goit yonder for t'grinnelstuns.

(UK, Yorkshire and Lancashire) A small artificial channel carrying water. Usually used with respect to channels built to feed mills.


ICS

en-noun

ICS (countable and uncountable, plural ICSs)

integrated care system
w:integrated care system

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of integrated care system.


backside

backsides (plural)
back-side (alternative)
back side (alternative)

think the sun shines out of someone's backside

The building's backside faced an alley and was covered in grime and graffiti.

The back side of anything, the part opposite its front, particularly:

The back side of an estate: the backyard and outbuildings behind a main house, especially (UK dialect, euphemistic) an outhouse.


thump

en-verb

thump (third-person singular simple present thumps, present participle thumping, simple past and past participle thumped)

thumps (present singular third-person)
thumping (participle present)
thumped (participle past)
thumped (past)

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

onomatopoeic

imitative

These bastard Bretons, whom our fathers / Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd.

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

Kasper Schmeichel brilliantly denied Marouane Chamakh before Bacary Sagna thumped home a second, though Bradley Johnson's screamer halved the deficit.

2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1-3 Arsenal”, in BBC:

(transitive, chiefly UK) To hit (someone or something) as if to make a thump.

tömäyttää

to hit someone or something so as to make a thump


suspender

(British) An item of apparel used to hold up a sock or (now especially) a stocking, such as a garter, or each of the fastening-straps attached to a corset or suspender belt.


hullo

There he is, now. Bang went the front door open and shut. Harry shouted: “Hullo, you people. Down in five minutes.”

1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 126:

“Mr Wooster?” “Oh, hullo, Lady Wickham.”
[...] “Hullo, Bobbie,” I said. “Hullo, Bertie,” she said. “Hullo, Upjohn,” I said. The correct response to this would have been “Hullo, Wooster”, but he blew up in his lines and merely made a noise like a wolf with its big toe caught in a trap.
[...] But as I approached the [telephone] and unhooked the thing you unhook, I was far from being at my most nonchalant, and when I heard Upjohn are-you-there-ing at the other end my manly spirit definitely blew a fuse. For I could tell by his voice that he was in the testiest of moods. Not even when conferring with me at Malvern House, Bramley-on-Sea, on the occasion when I put sherbet in the ink, had I sensed in him a more marked stirred-up-ness. “Hullo? Hullo? Hullo? Are you there? Will you kindly answer me? This is Mr Upjohn speaking.”

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “II, XV, AND XIX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(UK, New Zealand) Alternative form of hello (Greeting.)

Suddenly Sydney gave an exclamation. ‘Hullo! — The front door’s closed!’

"Hullo, there's a monkey's wedding," said my wife's niece, a girl of about twenty, born in South Africa […] She was looking out on the lawn, and it was one of those lovely April mornings with sunshine and rain alternating[…]

1939, Country Life, volume 85, page 290:

(UK, dated, New Zealand) Alternative form of hello (expressing puzzlement or discovery)


hullo

en-verb

hullo (third-person singular simple present hullos, present participle hulloing, simple past and past participle hulloed)

hullos (present singular third-person)
hulloing (participle present)
hulloed (participle past)
hulloed (past)


plucked

en-adj

plucked (comparative more plucked, superlative most plucked)

more plucked (comparative)
most plucked (superlative)

He could scarcely contain his admiration. "What a plucked un!" he muttered; "what a plucked un! No miss," he added, "you needn't fear. Fear, says I? You never feared nothink in your life. […]

1869, George J. Whyte-Melville, M. Or N., volume 1, page 200:

(UK, slang, dated) Having courage and spirit; plucky.


asked

asked (comparative more asked, superlative most asked)

more asked (comparative)
most asked (superlative)

From the close pronunciation to arsed in Received Pronunciation.

(UK, minced oath) Arsed (bothered; willing to make an effort).


polythene

en-noun

polythene (countable and uncountable, plural polythenes)

Well, you should see Polythene Pam, / She's so good looking but she looks like a man. / Well, you should see her in drag, / Dressed in her polythene bag. / Yes, you should see Polythene Pam.

1969, “Polythene Pam”, in John Lennon (lyrics), Abbey Road, performed by The Beatles:

All that was needed [to make a hula hoop] was a bag of high-density polythene dust, a handful of two-inch wooden plugs, half a pound of wire staples, and the help of a man with an extrusion machine, which simply meant anyone who could make a length of plastic hose.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 129:

(organic chemistry, chiefly British) A light thermoplastic used in packaging etc.; polyethylene.


keen on

en-adj

keen on (comparative more keen on, superlative most keen on)

more keen on (comparative)
most keen on (superlative)

I'm not keen on fish with lots of bones.

(UK, parts of North America) fond of; appreciative of


parfait

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

From French parfait (“perfect”). Doublet of perfect, perfecto, and perfectus.

doublet

(UK) A smooth pâté, usually made from liver and flavoured with liqueurs.


prod

(Ireland, UK, slang, sometimes derogatory) Alternative letter-case form of Prod.


air-conditioning

Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent, with the consequences of climate change potentially accelerating the demand.

2013 September-October, Michael Sivak, “Will AC Put a Chill on the Global Energy Supply?”, in American Scientist:

air conditioning
air conditioning#English

(UK) Alternative spelling of air conditioning.


ENSA

(British) Initialism of Entertainments National Services Association.


rate tart

rate + tart i.e., rate, as in "rate of interest", and tart, UK slang for a prostitute, referring to the promiscuity (in the sense of indiscriminate choice) of such a person.

(British, informal, somewhat derogatory) A holder of a credit card or bank account who frequently and intentionally changes providers to take advantage of an offer of a low interest rate established to attract new customers.


credit card tart

en-noun

credit card tart (plural credit card tarts)


I tell a lie

I visited Canada in 1996—no, I tell a lie, in 1997.

(chiefly British, idiomatic) I am mistaken; I thought that what I said (or wrote) was true, but I have just realised that it is not.


vapour trail

vapour trails (plural)
vapor trail (alternative)


imperial pint

(UK, Commonwealth) A unit of liquid volume in the imperial system equal to 0.568 litres and divided into 20 fluid ounces.


moorhen

From Middle English morhen, perhaps from Old English *mōrhenn, an alteration of Old English worhenn (compare coordinate masculine term mōrhana, a possible corruption of worhana (“pheasant”)), equivalent to moor + hen.

(British) A female red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scotica.


RAFA

(British) Acronym of Royal Air Force Association.


Doxbridge

Which university did you go to? ... Doxbridge – well, Durham, if you must know

2012 February 19, Iain Hollingshead, “How middle-class are you? Take this quiz”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(rare, British) The universities of Oxford, the Cambridge and Durham collectively.


NI

Over 60% of NI people opposed to paying for water supply, survey reveals [title]

2023 August 22, “Over 60% of NI people opposed to paying for water supply, survey reveals”, in Belfast Telegraph, →ISSN:

Campaigners say the Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the UK, which supplies nearly half of NI’s drinking water, is “dying in plain sight” because of vast algal blooms.

2023 October 13, Rory Carroll, “Northern Ireland: four key areas in crisis”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland#English

(UK, finance) Acronym of national insurance.


sixth form

sixth form (countable and uncountable, plural sixth forms)

sixth forms (plural)
6th form (alternative)

Earlier educational naming conventions in public schools termed every two years of education "forms" (itself sometimes said to be from form (“bench”), where students of certain ages would sit together, though disputed, or alternatively from form (“established method of expression or practice”)), where Years 12 and 13 (i.e. ages 16 to 18) was the "sixth" and final form. State schools adopted the term "sixth form" and retained it when the rest of the form structure was dropped.

Nathaniel: Maister, there is nobody to teach in the sixth form.
Maister: What a thing is this?
N: He is sick in bed.
M: How do you know?
N: One of the scholars in his house told me so.

1653, Corderius, Colloquia scholastica Anglo-Latina, […] 1653, page 220:

(UK except Scotland, education) The final two years of secondary education, during which students of about 16 to 18 years of age prepare for their A-level examinations or equivalent qualifications.


scallywag

scallywags (plural)
scalawag (alternative)
scalliwag (alternative)

(derogatory, dated, chiefly UK) A disreputable fellow, a good-for-nothing, a scapegrace, a blackguard

(informal, chiefly UK) A badly behaved person, especially a child; a mischief-maker; a rascal


lich

lich (plural liches or (with Scots pronunciation) lichs)

liches (plural)
lichs (plural)
lych (alternative)
lytch (alternative)
litch (alternative)
lyke (alternative)

From Middle English lich, from Old English līċ, from Proto-West Germanic *līk, from Proto-Germanic *līką, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-. Cognate with Dutch lijk, German Leiche, Norwegian lik, Swedish lik, Danish lig.

[…] and that, as the chronicle states, a lich-way would be made through then, assembled his servants, and attempted to stop its progress as it was carried over a bridge. A scuffle ensued, and the body was thrown into the water. The lich-way as not made ; but the Bishop of Exeter amply revenged himself for the proceedings.

1845, Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, page 35:

She saw him again that eventide, but then he was a reddened lich.

1983, Poul Anderson, Time Patrolman (Sci-Fi), →ISBN:


non-U

From non- + U (“characteristic of the upper classes”), coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in an article in 1954, and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).

prefix

I may also note here that the U-demarcation is of two types: – (1) a certain U-feature has a different, non-U counterpart as non-U wealthy / U rich; (2) a certain feature is confined to U-speech and it has a counterpart which is not confined to non-U speech e.g. the pronunciations of girl as [ɡɛl], (? [ɡjɛl]), [ɡæl], [ɡɛəl] are U, but many (perhaps most male) U-speakers, like all non-U-speakers, use the pronunciation [ɡəːl].

1954, Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross, “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications], volume 55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-04-15, page 24:

Pudding when used to mean all sweet dishes at the end of a meal is Non-U; the U expression is sweet. Similarly greens for vegetables is a Non-U expression.

1956 February 25, Thought, volume 8, Delhi: Siddhartha Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16, column 1:

A wedding is a great occasion for u/non-u indicators. The u mother will be quietly dressed; the non-u one will be more ostentatious and have a corsage. The u father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation. The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.

1968 August 21, “U and Non-U Today: 2. Actions”, in New Society: The Social Science Weekly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 267, column 2:

The U/non-U priority rule will be in accord with servant master-type rules if masters are U and servants are non-U, for then the rules support each other. But since a master who cannot command is not a master, a non-U sergeant must take priority over a U-recruit, the same with impoverished aristocratic chauffeurs working for nouveau-riche plebeian millionaires.

1976, J[an] T. J. Srzednicki, “Structure of Beliefs and Group Structure”, in Elements of Social and Political Philosophy (Melbourne International Philosophy Series; 2), The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →DOI, →ISBN, page 135:

Was it all a huge joke … this U and non-U business? Yes and no. John Betjeman assured me that it was. But some jokes have an element of cruelty and a great many sensitive people, particularly women, must have suffered agonies of embarrassment because they were uncertain as to what was 'done,' and what was not.

1977, Beverley Nichols, “Toilet-training”, in The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume 238, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15, column 3:

The concept of U (for upper-class British usage, as opposed to non-U, or everything else) was introduced by Alan S. C. Ross (1954) and was taken up by Nancy Mitford (1956), becoming for a time something of a parlor game in which the participants tested themselves and everyone else for signs of U and non-U status.

1992, John Algeo, “Sociolinguistic Attitudes and Issues in Contemporary Britain”, in Tim W[illiam] Machan, Charles T. Scott, editors, English in Its Social Contexts: Essays in Historical Sociolinguistics (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 165:

To speak of lavatories is U, of bathrooms non-U; to lay cloth napkins at table is U, to lay paper napkins non-U; and so on through a myriad of equally trivial examples. I assume that there is something distinctively collusive in the way Sloanes use the U-concept: that as they individually decide whether something is U or non-U they look over their shoulders to make sure they stay in step—the community is the authority—rather than looking to the thing itself to see what profile it displays.

1993, Philip Pettit, “For Holism, against Atomism”, in The Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology, Society, and Politics, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; 1st paperback edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1996, →ISBN, part II (Mind and Society), pages 205–206:

For this we must turn to speculations such as those offered in connection with U and non-U English.

2001, Stephan Gramley, The Vocabulary of World English (English Language Series), London: Arnold; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 205:

Eventually, as we now know, the present-day use of lunch and dinner became established among the fashionable classes. As the 20th century dawned, the pages of Punch magazine are full of references to business lunches and evening dinner parties. Meanwhile, the lower orders of society continued to use dinner for their midday meal, and so the U/non-U distinction was born. But the story of lunch and dinner is not over yet. Expressions such as lunch-box and packed lunch have reinforced a change of usage among many non-U children, so that they now happily talk about school lunches (though still served by dinner ladies).

2011, David Crystal, “65: Lunch: U or Non-U (19th Century)”, in The Story of English in 100 Words, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 171:

(chiefly British, colloquial, dated) Not U; not characteristic of the upper classes, particularly regarding language.


gambol

en-verb

gambol (third-person singular simple present gambols, present participle (UK) gambolling or (US) gamboling, simple past and past participle (UK) gambolled or (US) gamboled)

gambols (present singular third-person)
gambolling (UK participle present)
gamboling (US participle present)
gambolled (UK participle past)
gambolled (UK past)
gamboled (US participle past)
gamboled (US past)

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

From earlier gambolde, from Middle French gambade (modern gambade).

(British, West Midlands) To do a forward roll.


scatty

en-adj

scatty (comparative scattier, superlative scattiest)

scattier (comparative)
scattiest (superlative)

(UK, Liverpool, slang) messy; filthy; disgusting


neurone

(chiefly British) Alternative spelling of neuron.


naff all

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Nothing (variant of fuck all).


bit of alright

en-noun

a bit of alright (plural bits of alright)

a bit of alright (canonical)
bits of alright (plural)
bit of all right (alternative)

2017 Bob McCabe: Masterpiece
“Simon's a bit of alright Mum,” she teased, “isn't he?”
Susan couldn't help being amused by Jane's playfulness.
“Yea, he's a bit of alright, alright,” she laughed.
“Wouldn't kick him out of bed on a cold Saturday night?” Jane retorted and the two women laughed together.

(chiefly British, Australia, Ireland) an attractive or sexy person.

1907 Alexander Macdonald: In The Land of Pearl and Gold
"That's a bit of all right," said the guard, cutting off a piece of the stem and putting it in his mouth. "Try it." I cut another piece and did so, and at once agreed with him.

(chiefly British, Australia) a gratifying or pleasing development or object, typically hoped-for or exciting.


beasting

beasting (usually uncountable, plural beastings)

(UK, military, slang) The imposition of arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.


backchat

backchat (countable and uncountable, plural backchats)

backchats (plural)
back chat (alternative)
back-chat (alternative)

Old Pete would have had some smart gay backchat to deal with an awkward moment like this.

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 6, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:

(British) Cheeky or impertinent responses, especially to criticism.


colourisation

colourisations (plural)
colorization (alternative)
colourization (alternative)


bullfinch

bullfinches (plural)
bull-finch (alternative)

Young Hurrell turned them on the right; the officer on the polo pony and Mr. Westall, between them, dissected a "bullfinch" on the left, but the ditch and the briars took toll of the former.

1900, H. B. Yerburgh, Leaves from a hunting diary in Essex, page 180:

(UK, archaic, hunting, slang) A large, thick quickset hedge.


oik

Unknown, early 20th century. Possibly onomatopoeic, in imitation of uncultivated speech.

The other three were gifted metal oiks, but Cliff was a musician, schooled in theory, transmitting from a private universe of inspiration and expertise.

2011, James Parker, “Rediscovering Metallica with a new bio”, in The Boston Phoenix:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) a member of the lower classes.


OK yah

(British, upper class) an affirmative response


Sloane Ranger

Blend of Sloane Square + Lone Ranger. Popularized by Ann Barr and Peter York in The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook (1982).

Come summer, the brasserie terraces teem with stereotypical blonde Sloane Rangers sipping rosé; an artier crop of whatever's stylishly edgy will have taken up residence outside the Royal Court Theatre.

2012, Time Out Shortlist London 2012 […] , Random House, →ISBN:

(British, informal) A fashionable young woman of the London upper classes.


Old Dart

Possibly from the river Dart in Devonshire which enters the sea at Dartmouth, location of a Royal Navy College. Royal Navy officers who were returning to England at the end of a foreign tour of duty referred to going back to the "Old Dart" for further training.
Alternatively a variation of "old dirt" (compare old sod).

(colloquial, UK, naval) Dartmouth Royal Navy College.


flotation

flotation (countable and uncountable, plural flotations)

flotations (plural)
floatation (alternative)

(British, finance) The launching onto the market of a tranche of stocks or shares, usually a new issue.


air hostess

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

(UK, aviation) A female flight attendant; a stewardess.


Black Friday

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

From black (“bad; ill-omened; marked by disaster”). Friday is an ill-omened day according to ancient superstition, so a Friday that was darkened by another ill-omen (such as being the 13th) or an actual disaster became known as "Black Friday". Philadelphia police applied the term to the day after Thanksgiving because the large number of people out shopping made traffic chaotic. Later, PR efforts purposely invented the incorrect, more positive "etymology" (which is a very popular urban legend and false etymology that was even in Wiktionary from 2008 to 2015) that the name was given because this day is supposedly the first day of the year on which retailers typically posted profits ('in the black') rather than losses ('in the red').

en:day after US Thanksgiving, a busy shopping day

(US, Canada, UK, business, retailing) The day after US Thanksgiving Day, generally regarded as the first day of the Christmas season, and the busiest shopping day of the year. Observed in the US, Canada, and more recently to an extent, the UK.


tapping up

(UK, Ireland, of a rival football club) Making an approach to a player, under contract to another club, in order to attempt to negotiate a transfer.


tap up

en-verb

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

taps up (present singular third-person)
tapping up (participle present)
tapped up (participle past)
tapped up (past)

In earlier years, the intelligence services would often recruit agents by tapping them up.

(transitive, British) To make a specific approach to a person considered to be suitable for a professional position.

(transitive, British, sports) To make an approach to a player, under contract to another club, in order to attempt to negotiate a transfer.


titch

From the stage name Little Tich; see tich. Attested since the 1880s.

I ain't afraid of a titch like you.

We called him Titch because he was a tiny little man, and he had a mop of black hair.

1995, Philip Mitchell, One Moonlit Night, translation of Un Nos Ola Leuad by Caradog Prichard, page 106:

(British, colloquial) A very small person; a small child.


SR

Southern Railway
w:Southern Railway (UK)

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of Southern Railway.


a little

It's a little big, don't you think?

It could do with a little work, that's for sure.


arsy varsy

Alteration of arsy versy, from arse + vice versa

arsey varsey (alternative)
arsy varsey (alternative)
arsey varsy (alternative)
arsy versy (alternative)

(idiomatic, British, vulgar) Tumbling upside down; head over heels; backwards.


bit by a barn mouse

bitten by a barn mouse (alternative)
bitten by a barn weasel (alternative)
bit by a barn weasel (alternative)

(UK, obsolete, dialect, idiomatic) tipsy; slightly drunk


whitey

whiteys (plural)
whities (plural)
whitie (alternative)
whity (alternative)
yt (alternative)
YT (alternative)

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

From white (“bright and colorless; a white-skinned person”) + -y (“forming diminutives”).

af

(Drug users consuming this much alcohol are either slumpped in the corner having a whitey or already on their way to casualty in an ambulance.)

2002 April 11, mi...@emgee.demon.co.uk, uk.politics.drugs (Usenet):

'Youths' happily do both and they're almost seen as weird if they don't smoke themselves into a whitey with their mates.

2007 February 13, Baroness Edwina Frogbucket, “Cameron calls for harder line on cannabis use”, in uk.legal (Usenet):

Ocasionaly^([sic]) things don't work quite as expected but seriously i can't remeber^([sic]) last time i had a "whitey" not for many years that a certainty.

2007 April 29, Mark Whiteley, uk.politics.drugs (Usenet):

'Dead bodies. Up in trees,' I said.
I handed him the crisps.
'I'm gonnae have a whitey,' he said and fucked off up to the toilet to be sick.

2012, Jenny Fagan, The Panopticon, page 233:

Tristan: I'm having a whitey.
 He seems about to be sick.
 Connie: You're on a placebo, Tristan, you're not on the drug.

2013, Lucy Prebble, The Effect, page 75:

(British, slang) A state or bout of sickness, especially induced by cannabis use.


diagonalisation

en-noun

diagonalisation (countable and uncountable, plural diagonalisations)

diagonalisations (plural)
diagonalization (alternative)

(UK, mathematics) In matrix algebra, the process of converting a square matrix into a diagonal matrix, usually to find the eigenvalues of the matrix.

proof by contradiction
proof by contradiction

(UK, mathematics) An argument used in proof by contradiction by constructing a supposedly exhaustive list of all members of a class, and then subsequently constructing a new member which differs from each existing member in at least one place and therefore cannot belong to the list.


doorstep

I cut myself a doorstep of bread with masses of butter and went along to see Romanov while I was eating it.

2003, Diana Wynne Jones, The Merlin Conspiracy, P 241, →ISBN:

(UK, informal) A thick slice, especially of bread.


trug

(chiefly British) A shallow, oval basket used for gardening


vachery

From French vacherie, from vache (“a cow”), Latin vacca. Compare vaccary.

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A dairy, a vaccary.


blackcap

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

Other times the cat would run off to the hunting grounds, either the swamps or the Astroni, and when the hunters shot down an oriole or a great tit or a blackcap [translating capofuscolo], she collected them and presented them to the king with the same message.

2007, Giambattista Basile, translated by Nancy L. Canepa, Tale of Tales, Penguin, II.4:

black-capped chickadee
black-capped chickadee

(obsolete, UK, US, dialectal) Any of various species of titmouse (of the family Paridae), including the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus, syn. Parus atricapillus).


drum up

en-verb

drum up (third-person singular simple present drums up, present participle drumming up, simple past and past participle drummed up)

drums up (present singular third-person)
drumming up (participle present)
drummed up (participle past)
drummed up (past)

(transitive, UK, slang) To prepare food or drink with improvised implements, e.g. while camping; especially, to make tea in something other than a tea kettle.


go over

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

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

That's who went over the butcher.

(transitive, slang, dated, UK) To pat down (someone) and then rob them.


beanfeast

beanfeasts (plural)
bean feast (alternative)
bean-feast (alternative)

(chiefly British) A dinner party given to the employees of a firm.

(chiefly British) Any similar social occasion.


hud

Almondes[…]blanched or made cleane from their skinnes or huddes.

1578, Henry Lyte, A niewe Herball or Historie of Plantes:

(UK, dialect) A huck or hull, as of a nut.


akether

Possibly from the phrase “ah,” quoth he. First appears in the 1867 work Jim an' Nell.

"Us wur betwitting Bob to-day,
Vor gieing all es things away,
Begummers, us wur cort,
Akether, 'bin ma kit's ago,
I can't work w'e'r I wull or no,
I'll maunch an' drink vor nort.'

1867, William Frederick Rock, Jim and Nell: a dramatic poem in the dialect of North Devon, page 20:

Then she walked away, not even stopping to listen to the servant's fearless denunciation of her as "a chittering, raving, rixy, louching, haggaging moil, an nor a bent th' worserer nar hot sh' art ter be, th' wapper-eed deave-nort. Giggling akether!" shrieked the old woman, wild with resentment […]

1876, Oliver Madox Brown, chapter 1, in The Dwale Bluth, volume 1, pages 57–58:

(UK, West Country, Devon, obsolete) quoth he.


fossilisation

en-noun

fossilisation (countable and uncountable, plural fossilisations)

British standard spelling of fossilization.


pear-shaped

en-adj

pear-shaped (comparative more pear-shaped, superlative most pear-shaped)

more pear-shaped (comparative)
most pear-shaped (superlative)

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

(slang, Commonwealth, UK, Ireland) Wrong, awry, usually in the phrase go pear-shaped.


go pear-shaped

en-verb

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

goes pear-shaped (present singular third-person)
going pear-shaped (participle present)
went pear-shaped (past)
gone pear-shaped (participle past)
go pearshaped (alternative)
go pear shaped (alternative)

/ɡəʊ ˈpɛəʃeɪpt/

/ɡoʊ ˈpɛɚʃeɪpt/

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:
* From the image of a solid rectangle “slipping down” into a pear shape, thus “the bottom drops out”.
** Similar thoughts about the work of either glassblowers or potters involve a theme of the work trending toward a sagging shape; such speculations may be only folk etymology.
* From the image of a balloon or football losing its spherical shape after being punctured.
* From an idea that people who shoulder the work — who have the responsibility on their shoulders — may descend into shirking, in which case their broad shoulders diminish as their body becomes pear-shaped.
Apparently the term was originally Royal Air Force slang, but came into common use by the 1990s.

nb...

A Dictionary and Reference to the Slang Euphemisms, Idiom and Usage—Past and Current—of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines

After the third attack run I was letting back down to low level, passing through about 100 feet on the way down, when there were two bangs very close together. The whole aircraft shook and things went "pear-shaped" very quickly after that.

1983, Jeffrey Ethell, Alfred Price, quoting Bob Iveson, “To Goose Green and Beyond, 26 May – 7 June”, in Air War: South Atlantic (The Air Combat Trilogy; 3), New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 158–159:

Now the whole world economy seems to be going pear-shaped all at once[…].

1991 January 7, Tim Power, quoting David Coles, “The business of survival”, in Evening Post, Reading, Berkshire: Thames Valley Newspapers, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 2:

Patsy dwells on this, as though on the last ordinarily weird thing she ever experienced, the last moment of sanity before it all went pear-shaped.

1993 October 16, Sally Vincent, “Lost boys”, in Peter Preston, editor, The Guardian Weekend, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 1:

If you are asking people to make decisions, then it's very important that you support them when things go wrong, otherwise they'll never make one again … when things go pear-shaped, and occasionally they do, we try to treat it as a learning experience.

1998, Michael Armstrong, quoting Tina Mason, “Team Building”, in Managing People: A Practical Guide for Line Managers, London: Kogan Page, published 2001, →ISBN, part 2 (Managing People – the Basic Skills), page 39:

I hope you understand me / I ain't no preaching fucker and I ain't no do-goody-goody either / This is about when shit goes pear-shaped

2002 March 25, “Stay Positive”, in Mike Skinner (lyrics), Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:

Once you've acknowledged that things have gone pear-shaped, you need to re-take control and move on.

2008, Nicholas Bate, “What to Do if It Goes Awry”, in Have It Your Way: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Getting Everything You Want, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Infinite Ideas Company, →ISBN, page 38:

[Gordon] Strachan was an experienced Scottish international who, under Alex Ferguson, had won European honours with Aberdeen and an FA Cup with Manchester United, but his relationship with his former mentor had gone pear-shaped.

2012, Dave Simpson, “Gary Speed – ‘Speedo’”, in The Last Champions: Leeds United and the Year that Football Changed Forever, London: Bantam Press, →ISBN, part 1 (The Rise), page 24:

They call for the economics syllabus to be rewritten to reflect the chasm between the confident mechanistic models they are still taught and the real economy which went pear-shaped.

2013 December 21, Malcolm Brown, “Without morality, the market economy will destroy itself”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-11-12:

There are a few cases that need to be covered, as they fall under the general umbrella of "what grids do when things go pear-shaped."

2017 November, Eric A. Meyer, Estelle Weyl, edited by Meg Foley, CSS: The Definitive Guide: Visual Presentation for the Web, 4th edition, Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media, published 22 January 2022, →ISBN, page 697:

(intransitive, especially UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, idiomatic) To go awry; to go wrong.

Bloomsbury Publishers
Bloomsbury Publishing
Royal Air Force
Weidenfeld & Nicolson


DVLC

(British) Initialism of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre.


DVLA

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
w:Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

(British) Initialism of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.


colly

en-adj

colly (comparative collier, superlative colliest)

collier (comparative)
colliest (superlative)

From Middle English coly, from Old English *coliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *kolig, equivalent to coal + -y. Doublet of coaly.

four colly birds

1780, unknown author, Twelve Days of Christmas:


colly

From Middle English *colien, variant of *colwen (attested in Middle English colwed and colwinge), from Old English *colgian. More at collow.

besmeared with soot , colly

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:


napkin

From Middle English napkyn, equivalent to nape (“cloth”) + -kin.

(British, South Africa) A nappy (UK), a diaper (American).


trump

From Middle English trumpe, trompe (“trumpet”), from Old French trompe (“horn, trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa, *trumba (“trumpet”), from a common Germanic word of imitative origin. Doublet of tulumba and tromp.
Akin to Old High German trumpa, trumba (“horn, trumpet”), Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”), Middle Low German trumme (“drum”). More at trumpet, drum.

onomatopoeic

imitative

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


trump

en-verb

trump (third-person singular simple present trumps, present participle trumping, simple past and past participle trumped)

trumps (present singular third-person)
trumping (participle present)
trumped (participle past)
trumped (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

And without warning me, as he lay there, he suddenly trumped next to me in bed.

Who trumped?

(intransitive, UK, colloquial, euphemistic) To fart.


redwood

Pinus sylvestris
Pinus sylvestris#Translingual

(uncountable, British, obsolete) Wood of the species Pinus sylvestris.


gorm

en-verb

gorm (third-person singular simple present gorms, present participle gorming, simple past and past participle gormed)

gorms (present singular third-person)
gorming (participle present)
gormed (participle past)
gormed (past)
gawm (alternative)

A variant of gaum (from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaumr, from Proto-Germanic *gaumō; compare Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, “observe”)), with the ‘r’ being a vowel-lengthening device common in non-rhotic dialects of English. See gaum for more.

Passing through St. George's Square, Lupus Street, Chichester Street, he scarcely saw a soul; then, quite suddenly, he struck a dense crowd, kept back by the police, standing gorming at a great jagged hole in a high blank wall, a glimpse, the merest glimpse of more broken walls, shattered chimneys.

1922, Elinor Mordaunt, Laura Creichton, page 110:

"Tell Sannah to bring some coffee," said the young woman to a diminutive Kaffir boy, who stood gorming at us with round black eyes.

They would stand in silence, mindlessly gorming at each other, […]

1990, Jean Ure, Play Nimrod for him, →ISBN, page 96:

In particular, we like to emphasize that, far from wasting our childhoods (not to mention adulthoods) mindlessly gorming at The Virginian and The Avengers, we spent those couch-potato years in rigorous preparation for our chosen career.

2005, Lynne Truss, The Lynne Truss Treasury: Columns and Three Comic Novels, →ISBN:

(UK and US, dialects) To gawk; to stare or gape.


lippy

en-noun

lippy (countable and uncountable, plural lippies)

term-label

(originally Australia, now also British, New Zealand, colloquial)

From lip(stick) or lip (gloss) + -y (diminutive suffix).

Like some kind of masonic handshake, Collie passed Vanya a tube of black lippie. She smeared it carelessly across her wide mouth and handed it to me. My parents would have a hissy fit if they knew I put on lipstick but they weren't around.

2007, D. M. Ross, chapter 12, in The Holy Bad, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Vanguard Press, →ISBN, page 52:

I'm worried I'm turning into a 1950s housewife: the other day I found myself tidying up the sitting room and putting on some lippie before Tony got home from work!

2008, Lynn Bertram, “The World of Motherhood”, in Supporting Postnatal Women Into Motherhood: A Guide to Therapeutic Groupwork for Health Professionals, Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Radcliffe Publishing, →ISBN, page 11:

'Sorry—just trying on new lippies for tonight,' she confessed, flashing a crimson smile.

2008, Rachel Power, “Emma Matthews—Opera Singer”, in The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood, Fitzroy, Vic.: Red Dog Books, →ISBN; republished Fitzroy, Vic.: Red Dog Books, 2012, →ISBN, page 159:

A russet shade of sheer lippy proved the finishing touch to Meghan's latest make-up look. It wasn't a full gloss, but appeared to have a balm-like finish, a pretty touch of shine.

2020 January 9, Annie Vischer, “Meghan Markle’s Latest Make-Up Look Decoded”, in Grazia, London: Bauer Consumer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-01-10:

(uncountable) Lip gloss or lipstick; (countable) a stick of this product.


clanger

From clang (“loud ringing sound”) + -er.

In his speech, the best man got the bride's name wrong. What a clanger!

He dropped a real clanger when he criticized the paraplegic for not standing.

When a woman heckler at Rayleigh shouted, “No more clangers!” Brown proudly rejoined: “Now listen, dear. My latest clanger was to say that people should be allowed to buy houses at lower rates of interest than you can get them for at the moment. I stand by that.”

1965, Anthony Howard, Richard West, The Road to Number 10, page 215:

Furthermore if a person drops even a little clanger not only will he know but the others will know and the offender will certainly know that they know!

1976, Musical Opinion, volume 100, page 244:

‘I say,’ he added, changing the subject completely and leaning closer, ‘sorry to hear about that Riding-Hood debacle. Don′t let it get you down, eh? We all drop a serious clanger sooner or later.’

2006, Jasper Fforde, The Fourth Bear, published 2009, unnumbered page:

(chiefly UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, informal, often in the phrase drop a clanger) A very noticeable mistake; an attention-getting faux pas.


foetoscope

(chiefly British) Alternative spelling of fetoscope.


slum

en-verb

slum (third-person singular simple present slums, present participle slumming, simple past and past participle slummed)

slums (present singular third-person)
slumming (participle present)
slummed (participle past)
slummed (past)

First attested in 1812. originally slang, in the sense "room", especially "backroom", of unknown origin.

(intransitive, UK, slang, dated) To saunter about in a disreputable manner.


slum

And this, without more slum began, / Over a flowing pot-house can, / To settle, without botheration, / The rigs of this here tip-top nation.

1820, Thomas Moore, W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, Jack Randall's Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius:


pig in a blanket

en-noun

pig in a blanket (plural pigs in a blanket or pigs in blankets)

pigs in a blanket (plural)
pigs in blankets (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pig in a blanket.wav

(UK) A (generally pork) sausage wrapped in bacon, most common at Christmas.


have someone's guts for garters

en-verb

have<has,,had> someone's guts for garters

have someone's guts for garters (third-person singular simple present has someone's guts for garters, present participle having someone's guts for garters, simple past and past participle had someone's guts for garters)

has someone's guts for garters (present singular third-person)
having someone's guts for garters (participle present)
had someone's guts for garters (participle past)
had someone's guts for garters (past)

en-au-have someone's guts for garters.ogg

By metaphor from the way that humans use animal intestines as catgut for various tensile applications; compare have someone's hide.

If you go out and play and get your clothes dirty, I'll have your guts for garters!

(idiomatic, British, Ireland, Commonwealth) To reprimand severely.


go out

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

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

The first episode of the show goes out on Saturday.

(intransitive, UK, broadcasting) To be broadcast.


yarrow

Origin unknown. Perhaps imitative of the bird's cry; compare yaffle, hewhole.

Picus viridis
Picus viridis#Translingual

(UK) A green woodpecker, of species Picus viridis.


rocker

From Middle English rokker, rockere, rokkere, equivalent to rock + -er.

(UK) A member of a British subculture of the 1960s, opposed to the mods, who dressed in black leather and were interested in 1950s music.


CAB

Citizens Advice Bureau
w:Citizens Advice Bureau

(UK) Initialism of Citizens Advice Bureau.


take a shit

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

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

I had to use the stairs because the lift took a shit this morning.

(idiomatic, vulgar, colloquial, UK) To fail or malfunction.


cantaloupe

cantaloupes (plural)
cantaloup (alternative)
canteloupe (alternative)
cantelope (alternative)

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From French cantaloup, from Italian Cantalupo (a place name), from Italian canto + lupo, literally "howl of the wolf".
Named after a former Papal summer estate near Rome, where the melons were first grown after being introduced to Europe.

Cucumis melo Cantalupensis Group, a cultivar group melon with sweet aromatic orange flesh, including two main types:

(UK, Ireland) Cantalupensis Group sensu stricto, with non- or slightly netted rind, also known as true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe, found in the Middle East and Europe.


backroom boy

Holonym: backroom staff

(chiefly British) Someone who has an anonymous support role in an organization, especially a technician or scientist; a boffin.


balti house

(British) A curry house in which balti food is served.


curry house

Part surf shack and part Thai curry house — small, yet full of energy and life — order anything from the menu and watch it being cooked right in front of you, often in large woks.

2017, Gareth Kelly, 100 Things to Do in San Luis Obispo County Before You Die (page 10)

The smell of fresh asphalt hangs heavy in the air at Dore & Totley station. It's even powerful enough to overcome the usual delightful aromas emanating from the well-known curry house which occupies the original platform building.

2024 May 1, Tom Ingall, “Hope springs eternal for better services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 52:

A restaurant serving curries, especially (British) an Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi restaurant of this kind.


bouncy castle

(UK, Canada, New Zealand) Synonym of bouncing castle.


chattering classes

en-noun

chattering classes pl (normally plural, singular chattering class)

Those advocating permanent WFH [working from home] most vocally tend to be salaried, with 'nice houses', gardens, partners and families, and probably a home office. They are the same chattering class which will crucially decide, how others (who maybe live in small flats, laptop on a kitchen table, 23 floors from the ground) will work.

2021 April 7, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Challenge traditional beliefs”, in RAIL, number 928, page 3:

(chiefly British) Educated people with liberal opinions and attitudes.


Crimble

Crimbles (plural)
Chrimble (alternative)


gas mark

Roast potatoes need 25 minutes at gas mark 7.

(chiefly British) Any of the measurements on a scale of temperatures in domestic gas cookers.


handbags at dawn

1980s UK. Jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase "handbagging" meaning "a verbal dressing-down", in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch “The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor” (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.

(British, humorous, idiomatic) A catty squabble.


her indoors

(British, slang) One's wife, especially a domineering one.


made-up

en-adj

made-up (comparative more made-up, superlative most made-up)

more made-up (comparative)
most made-up (superlative)
made up (alternative)

I was made-up when the local team won.

(UK, regional) Delighted, pleased, thrilled.


minted

minted (comparative more minted, superlative most minted)

more minted (comparative)
most minted (superlative)

Marcus: We're very sorry.
Stylax: No, we're not. For all this guy knows, we could be mega-minted poshos in disguise.
Shopkeeper: It will be a superb disguise.
Stylax: Cheers.

2016 May 2, Sam Leifer et al., “Jugball”, in Plebs:

(chiefly British, Ireland, slang) wealthy


nit nurse

Earliest written mention appears c. 1942 in The Lancet.

(British, dated) A nurse who periodically checked schoolchildren's hair for lice.


Old Bill

(British, slang, law enforcement) A police officer.


on the pull

They're at that new nightclub, on the pull.

Rebecca was on the pull. An air of desperation hung over her like Dior's Poison.

2004, Julia Llewellyn, The Love Trainer:

Everyone was on the pull, determined to have a bit of a holiday fling.

2016, Louie O'Brien, Hasta La Flip Flops!:

(British, slang) Out seeking a sexual partner.


pop one's clogs

en-verb

pop one's clogs (third-person singular simple present pops one's clogs, present participle popping one's clogs, simple past and past participle popped one's clogs)

pops one's clogs (present singular third-person)
popping one's clogs (participle present)
popped one's clogs (participle past)
popped one's clogs (past)

The old man has finally popped his clogs.


bavin

en-noun

bavin (countable and uncountable, plural bavins)

The concretions […] are called 'bavin,' the shale associated with them being termed 'rotch.'

1839, Roderick Murchison, The Silurian System, i. xxxvi. 484:

(UK, dialect, uncountable) Impure limestone.


university of life

university of life (plural universities of life)

I learned all I need to know from the university of life, not from books.

[BEAUFOY:] We are considerably out of pocket over this bally pressman johnny, this jackdaw of Rheims, who has not even been to a university.
BLOOM: (Indistinctly) University of life.

1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

(idiomatic, chiefly UK and Ireland) The real world as a source of instruction, as opposed to a formal education.


stone the crows

Originally Australian English of 1910s, "referring to the former occupation of watching over cornfields and stoning crows that attempt to plunder the crop."

“Why, stone the crows! I′ll look yous up,” sez ′e. / “I need some friends: I ain′t got wife nor chick.”

1924, C. J. Dennis, “Rose Of Spadgers”, in Sentimental Bloke and Other Verses, published 1988, page 86:

The he pinched himself to make sure he was really awake, "Stone the crows!" he said softly. "Stone the crows!"

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 141:

So I says to meself: stone the crows, I′m a doomed man, might as well shoot through. It was cyclone time, see, and there′s been flash floods and this rock as big as a house has gone.

1988, Janette Turner Hospital, Charades, page 63:

‘Stone the crows,’ I whispered in sheer relief.

2008, Norman Jorgensen, Jack′s Island, ReadHowYouWant, published 2011, page 170:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) Generalized expression of surprise or amazement, or just for emphasis.


bang out

en-verb

bang out (third-person singular simple present bangs out, present participle banging out, simple past and past participle banged out)

bangs out (present singular third-person)
banging out (participle present)
banged out (participle past)
banged out (past)

As Hill left, his colleagues on the foreign desk started to bang him out – the traditional printers' farewell that involves thumping the desk as loudly as possible. According to reports the whole of the Telegraph's vast multimedia newsroom, said to be the largest in Europe, was shaking as staff banged out yet another colleague.

2008 June 26, “Hill and Dryden off with a bang”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, British, printing) To celebrate (a fellow printing or newspaper industry worker) to mark their completion of an apprenticeship or their retirement by (formerly) hitting metal furniture in the printing room or (more recently) hitting one's desk in the newsroom.


second-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 80–98 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 700–750, and weighing approximately 2,200 tons burthen.


second-rate

second-rates (plural)
second rate (alternative)

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A second-rate ship of the line.


tandoori

Borrowed from Hindustani तन्दूरी (tandūrī) / تندوری (tandūrī), from Classical Persian تنوری (tanūrī).

Call me when you get in and invite me out for a tandoori — Oh, and by the way, Jude e-mailed to say she's still having a ball with Marcus and everything's as sweet as a nut.

2004 10, Terence Strong, Cold Monday, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 135:

Having a relaxing stress-free pint with my fiancée, going for a tandoori afterwards and hoping that she'll come back to my place for B and B, or who knows, maybe even invite me to hers.'

2010 January 7, Quintin Jardine, Gallery Whispers (Bob Skinner series, Book 9): A gritty Edinburgh crime thriller, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 64:

'Let's go down the Shahbag for a tandoori!'

2013 February 4, Jacky Hyams, White Boots & Miniskirts - A True Story of Life in the Swinging Sixties: The follow up to Bombsites and Lollipops, Kings Road Publishing, →ISBN:

He's done those lads at a tandoori when they started giving him grief.

Now, of course, there is a tandoori in every high street (and a balti and a Thai takeaway as well); proving, if proof were needed, that people's tastes even in conservative Britain are nothing like so conservative as is often supposed.

2004 August 26, Colin Tudge, So Shall We Reap: What's Gone Wrong with the World's Food - and How to Fix it, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

A sandwich at three, and dinner out at a tandoori this evening.

2014 September 11, Stanley Middleton, An After-Dinner’s Sleep, Random House, →ISBN:

(UK, informal) An Indian restaurant, especially one with a tandoor.


soaked

en-adj

soaked (comparative more soaked, superlative most soaked)

more soaked (comparative)
most soaked (superlative)

(slang, British) Very drunk; inebriated.


togs

'Look at his togs, Fagin!' said Charley, putting the light so close to his new jacket as nearly to set him on fire. 'Look at his togs! Superfine cloth, and the heavy swell cut! Oh, my eye, what a game! And his books, too! Nothing but a gentleman, Fagin!'

1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter 16, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

And the costumes looked like workout togs.


nitre

en-noun

nitre (countable and uncountable, plural nitres)

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 2:22:


Premiership

/ˈpɹɛmɪəʃɪp/

(British, soccer) the Premier League of English association football

(British, rugby) Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union


playoff

playoffs (plural)
play-off (alternative)

Deverbal from play off; by surface analysis, play + -off.

2023 May 27, Raj Singh Mahil, “EFL Championship playoff final result: Luton defeat Coventry on penalties to clinch Premier League promotion”, in THe Sporting News:

(UK) A short series of games to select the last team to be promoted (to elevate to a higher league).


who ate all the pies

Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies? You fat bastard, you fat bastard, you ate all the pies. Loser!

(British, soccer, colloquial, derogatory, rhetorical question) Used pejoratively against a fat person.


featherbed

featherbeds (plural)
feather bed (alternative)

There are mires, bogs, and 'featherbeds' or quaking bogs. With the first two, look for the tussocks of heavy grass or rushes around the edges, which offer a relatively firm footing, but if you see a stretch of bright green sphagnum moss, for God's sake stay away from it. The moss is a mat covering a pit of wet ooze; […]

2014 March 17, Laurie R. King, The Mary Russell Series Books 1-4: The Beekeeper's Apprentice; A Monstrous Regiment of Women; A Letter of Mary; The Moor, Macmillan, →ISBN:

[…] bog. The writers and the old fellows you meet in pubs will tell you to look out for grass or 'bright green areas', and to fear the land that looks the easiest; but bogs - 'featherbeds', the locals call them - might be marked[…]

2014 May 13, William Atkins, The Moor: Lives Landscape Literature, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

[...] a featherbed bog of moss and cotton grasses. Much of their effort has just burned away to nothing — the peat giving[…]

2023 March 28, Rebecca Schiller, A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention: Discovering the Beauty of My ADHD Mind - A Memoir, The Experiment, LLC, →ISBN:

(especially UK, Dartmoor) An area of bog where a layer of moss covers a pool of water or mud, presenting a hazard to walkers who may fall through it. (Also in UK and Irish placenames.)


Billy no mates

(British, slang) A person who has few or no friends.


gunge

gunge (usually uncountable, plural gunges)

First attested around 1935–40. Probably an alteration of gunk.

Have I got trails of gunge on these frills?

1978, A. S. Byatt, The Virgin in The Garden, Vintage International, published 1992, page 390:

(UK, Ireland) A viscous or sticky substance, particularly an unpleasant one of vague or unknown composition; goo; gunk.


gunge

en-verb

gunge (third-person singular simple present gunges, present participle gunging, simple past and past participle gunged)

gunges (present singular third-person)
gunging (participle present)
gunged (participle past)
gunged (past)

I've been gunged on children's TV, hung out with some actors off that soap Dad used to watch, done a photoshoot for a major highstreet fashion outlet and now here we are on the red carpet, outside the cinema in Leicester Square […]


aluminium foil

en-noun

aluminium foil (usually uncountable, plural aluminium foils)

aluminium foils (plural)
aluminum foil (alternative)

(Australia, British, New Zealand) A very thin, pliable, easily torn sheet of aluminium used for cooking, packaging, cosmetics, and insulation.

鋁箔 /铝箔

very thin, pliable, eaily torn sheet of aluminium


miffed

en-adj

miffed (comparative more miffed, superlative most miffed)

more miffed (comparative)
most miffed (superlative)

(UK, regional) Confused; unable to understand.


Hessian

en-noun

Hessian (countable and uncountable, plural Hessians)

(chiefly British) Ellipsis of Hessian cloth or Hessian fabric (“burlap, jute”).


engaol

en-verb

engaol (third-person singular simple present engaols, present participle engaoling, simple past and past participle engaoled)

engaols (present singular third-person)
engaoling (participle present)
engaoled (participle past)
engaoled (past)
enjail (alternative)

(transitive, British, archaic) To imprison in a gaol.


offence

en-noun

offence (countable and uncountable, plural offences)

British, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada standard spelling of offense.


nosy

I might wander down to the construction site for a nosy at what they're building.

(UK, slang) A look at something to satisfy one's curiosity.


balls

That's a load of balls.

(uncountable, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, Hawaii, vulgar, colloquial) Synonym of bollocks, nonsense.

Don't make a balls of it!

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, Hawaii, vulgar) A balls-up; a botched job.


CTC

City Technology College
city technology college#English

(British, education) Initialism of City Technology College.


by the way

First appeared in the 10th century with literal meaning "by the side of the road", from Old English weġ (which became "way") meaning "road". Soon afterward (circa 1000) it came to mean "during one's journey". The figurative meaning developed in the mid-16th century, with the first instance of the modern meaning being from 1614.

(UK, idiomatic) Irrelevantly, off-topic.


Winterval

(UK) A period of holidays in midwinter, including both secular and religious holidays (i.e. not just the specifically Christian and Western festivals of Christmas and New Year's Day).


popinjay

/ˈpɑpənˌd͡ʒeɪ/

From Middle English popinjay, popyngeay, popingay, popejay, from Anglo-Norman papegai, papejoie et al., (northern) Old French papejai (“parrot”), probably from Old Occitan papagay (compare Occitan papagai, Catalan papagai), ultimately from Arabic بَبْغَاء (babḡāʔ, “parrot”), of imitative origin.

(UK) The green woodpecker, Picus viridis.


jelly baby

(chiefly British) A piece of gelatine confectionery designed to approximate the shape of a human baby.


planning

planning (countable and uncountable, plural plannings)

My neighbours were going to build an extension but they didn't get planning.

(informal, British) Planning permission.


clothes peg

clothes pegs (plural)
clothes-peg (alternative)
clothespeg (alternative)

(British, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) An object (usually made of wood or plastic) used to attach wet laundry to a clothesline so that it (the laundry) can dry.

مِشْبَك مَلَابِس

an object used to attach wet laundry to a clothesline


drip

en-verb

drip (third-person singular simple present drips, present participle dripping, simple past and past participle dripped)

drips (present singular third-person)
dripping (participle present)
dripped (participle past)
dripped (past)

From Middle English drippen, druppen, from Old English drypan, from Proto-Germanic *drupjaną (“to fall in drops, drip”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop”). Akin to West Frisian drippe (“to drip”),
Dutch druipen, druppelen (“to drip”), German Low German drüppen (“to drip”), German tropfen, tröpfeln (“to drip”), Norwegian Bokmål dryppe, Norwegian Nynorsk drypa (“to drip”).

inh

The Women's Royal Naval Service was integrated with the Royal Navy in November 1993. […] Men interviewed by Public Eye (April, 1994) said they should 'stop dripping about it' and that women should learn to 'take it like a man […]

1995, Sue Innes, Making it work: women, change and challenge in the 1990s, page 21:

The government had been slowly running down the Royal Navy Organisation to save money on various peoples' budgets, so now we had to sub-contract ships to go to war! So stop dripping and "make it so", all those admirals can't be wrong!

2012, I. H. Milburn, Falklands War - Get STUFT:

(UK, naval slang, intransitive) To whine or complain consistently; to grumble.


bonkers

en-adj

bonkers (comparative more bonkers, superlative most bonkers)

more bonkers (comparative)
most bonkers (superlative)

Unknown. Perhaps from bonk (a blow or punch on the head), perhaps related to earlier bonce.

[A]nd we should remind ourselves that it is absolutely bonkers that we elect judges at all; that system is used almost nowhere else on earth[.]

2021, Paul Waldman, Opinion: The Supreme Court won’t stand up for voting rights. But some state courts will, in: The Washington Post, July 6 2021 (emphasis in original)

"They are turning people off travelling. And the removal of catering on such a long-distance route is just bonkers."

2021 December 29, Paul Clifton, “"Crisis" on the West of England line”, in RAIL, number 947, page 35:

(informal, especially British) Mad; crazy.


licence

en-noun

licence (countable and uncountable, plural licences)

In some areas they have attempted to decasualize certain types of employment and to control street-trading by a local licensing system requiring juveniles to obtain their licences through the committees.

1944, The Labour Gazette, volume 44, page 720:

Serlio criticises the artistic licence taken by both ancient and contemporary architects, here specifically related to the confusion created by the rich decoration of the arch–in his illustrations, he stripped the monument of most of its beautifully […]

2017, Allison Sherman, Artistic Practices and Cultural Transfer in Early Modern Italy: Essays in Honour of Deborah Howard, Routledge, →ISBN:

UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore standard spelling of license.


licence

en-verb

licence (third-person singular simple present licences, present participle licencing, simple past and past participle licenced)

licences (present singular third-person)
licencing (participle present)
licenced (participle past)
licenced (past)

(UK, Canada, South Africa, nonstandard) Misspelling of license.


duodecillion

From duo- + decillion; or from Latin duodecim (“twelve”) + -illion.

Previous: undecillion. Next: tredecillion.

(rare, US, British, Australia, short scale) 10³⁹.

(rare, dated, British, Australia, long scale) 10⁷².


tredecillion

From Latin trēdecim (“thirteen”) + -illion.

(rare, dated, British, Australia, long scale) 10⁷⁸.

Previous: duodecillion. Next: quattuordecillion.


quattuordecillion

From Latin quattuordecim (“fourteen”) + -illion.

af

Previous: tredecillion. Next: quindecillion.

(US, British, Australia, rare, short scale) 10⁴⁵.

(dated, British, Australia, rare, long scale) 10⁸⁴.


quindecillion

From Latin quīndec- (“fifteen”) + -illion or quin- + decillion.

Previous: quattuordecillion. Next: sexdecillion.

3 quindecillion, 657 quattuordecillion, 262 tredecillion; which is to say the figures 3,657,262 followed by 42 ciphers. Operators of the key punch machines transfer a code symbol from the Census ….

1946: United States Department of Commerce, The United States Department of Commerce: How it serves you on land and sea and in the air, U. S. Government Printing Office (1946)

One supernova, in 1054, was thought by many to herald the biblical Day of Judgment. We have reached an energy level of 10 quindecillion ergs, or 10⁴⁹ ergs.

1978, D. Wallechinsky, I. Wallace, A. Wallace, The People's Almanac Presents The Book of Lists, Bantam:

(rare, US, modern British and Australia short scale) 10⁴⁸.

(rare, dated, British and Australia, long scale) 10⁹⁰.


tatt

"Oh," said Killigrew, "you had the wit not to give yourselves out for sharpers?"
"Yes, sir; we used common dice; not tatts."
"You'd best keep the tatts till he's drunk," said Killigrew drily, "for I think you'll find my lord has a head on his shoulders when he's sober."

1897, Frances Heath Freshfield, The Wrothams of Wrotham Court, page 73:

(UK, gambling, slang, archaic) A die, especially one that is loaded.


retread

en-verb

retread (third-person singular simple present retreads, present participle retreading, simple past and past participle retreaded)

retreads (present singular third-person)
retreading (participle present)
retreaded (participle past)
retreaded (past)

From re- + tread (“grooves carved into the face of a tire”, noun).

affix

There was no evidence to suggest that the fact that both tyres had been retreaded 3 times was a factor in the failure occurrence. This type of aircraft tyre (Type VII) is routinely retreaded 6 times or more before being taken out of service.

1993 June, Presidency of Civil Aviation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “1.12.13.6.3 Visual and Microscopic Examinations”, in McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-61, C-GMXQ, accident at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 11 July 1991, archived from the original on 2022-05-14:

(chiefly UK) To renew the tread of a tyre, providing a cheaper alternative to buying a new tyre, but potentially introducing a risk of premature failure if performed improperly.


cellar

cellars (plural)
seller (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English celer, seler, from Anglo-Norman celer, Old French celier (modern cellier), from Late Latin cellārium, from Latin cella. Doublet of cellarium.

Most of my tools and hardware are in the garage, but I keep some tools in the cellar, too, mainly for convenience.


trumps

(British) The suit in a game of cards that outranks all others.


spirits

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-spirits.wav

(chiefly UK) Distilled alcoholic beverages.

كُحُول

strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation


corny

en-adj

corny (comparative cornier, superlative corniest)

cornier (comparative)
corniest (superlative)

From Middle English corny, equivalent to corn + -y. In the "hackneyed" sense, from "corn catalogue jokes", reputedly low-quality jokes that were formerly printed in mail-order seed catalogues.

Yen day when aw was corney.

1850, Joseph Philip Robson, France's Songs of the Bards of the Tyne:


posting

(chiefly British) The place where a soldier or airman is posted for duty; the time spent there.


permanent way

permanent (contrasted with the temporary way of a contractor) + way (as in railway)

Holonym: right of way

Meronyms: railbed, railroad track

The term "permanent way" arose to differentiate between the rough track laid by railway contractors for the constructional purposes of new lines, and the final ballasted track upon which the regular service of trains was to run. The former being purely temporary, qualification of "permanent" was applied to the latter.

1941 September, “The Why and the Wherefore: Temporary and Permanent Way”, in Railway Magazine, page 432:

Watt climbed the stone steps and stood before the wicket, looking through its bars. He admired the permanent way, stretching away on either hand, in the moonlight, and the starlight, as far as the eye could reach, as far as Watt's eye could have reached, if it had been inside the station.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:

No. 320 finally drew into Paris one minute early, having run the 78.3 miles from Longueau in 65½min, inclusive of a permanent way slack and the usual tortoise-like progress from St. Denis.

1961 December, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 749:

The paid permanent way staff prepare and refettle the track during the week and at weekends volunteer gangs of some 30/40 people are engaged on relaying — [...].

1979 August, Michael Harris, “A line for all reasons: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway”, in Railway World, page 412:

(rail transport, British, Australia) The track and ballast (bed) of a railway.


scallop

scallops (plural)
scollop (alternative British rare)

From Old French escalope (“shell”). Doublet of escalope. Related to scale and shell.

(cooking, UK, Ireland, Australia, regional) A battered and deep-fried round potato slice.

(cooking, UK, regional, rare) A sautéed potato (a shallow-fried round potato slice).


third class

en-noun

third class (countable and uncountable, plural third classes)

Mail trains are limited to first and second class passengers, but on the mixed trains third class is also provided, and this is patronised exclusively by natives.

1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640:

Mayhew's survey found that 69 per cent of Met travellers went by third class, 20.5 per cent second, 10.5 per cent first. The Met would abolish second class in 1905 at the time of electrification.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 46:

Allport's decision in 1872 to abolish Second Class on the Midland and effectively upgrade Third Class to the standards of Second, most notably with upholstered seating, sent shockwaves through the Victorian railway.

2023 February 8, Conrad Landin, “Bon appetit: 150 years of railway dining”, in RAIL, number 976, page 47:

(British, historical) The cheapest accommodation on a train or ship.


third-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 64–80 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 500–650, and weighing approximately 1,750 tons burthen.


third-rate

third-rates (plural)
third rate (alternative)

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A third-rate ship of the line.


marker

marker (countable and uncountable, plural markers)

marker interface → marker interface pattern

So, in his end of term report, what marks would Brown award himself for his time at TfL?
"8½," he replies.
Why?
"I'm a hard marker! […]

2020 July 15, Mike Brown tells Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 47:

(UK) Someone who assigns marks on tests, examinations, etc.; a grader.


jacktar

jacktars (plural)
jack-tar (alternative)
Jack Tar (alternative)
Jack tar (alternative)
Jacktar (alternative)

From jack (“common man or sailor”) + tar (“tarpaulin”), used for a common sailor dating back to the 1600s.

af

O! the next that steps up is a jolly Jack tar, / He sailed with Lord [Nelson]^([sic]), during last war: / He’s right on the sea, Old England to view: / He’s come a pace-egging with so jolly a crew.

1857, “The Masker's Song”, in Robert Bell, editor, Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England:

I am a jolly Jack Tar, / My star, / And you are the fairest, / The richest and rarest / Of innocent lasses you are, / By far

1887, “Ruddigore”, W. S. Gilbert (lyrics), Arthur Sullivan (music), Act II:

(chiefly British) A sailor; especially, one in the Royal Navy.


civvy street

From civvy (“(informal) civilian”, adjective and noun) + street.

You might have been in Civvy Street / Instead of in the fight; / But it serves you right, / You shouldn't have joined [the navy], / It jolly well serves you right.

1943 November, Desmond Cox, Harold Elton Box, “It Serves You Right (You Shouldn’t Have Joined)”, in Bell-Bottom George (released 7 February 1944; soundtrack), performed by George Formby:

In civvy street he had been a bus cleaner.

2002, Sam Smith, Vera and Eddy’s War, Nibley, South Gloucestershire: BeWrite Books, →ISBN:

(chiefly British, military slang) The condition or status of a civilian; civilian life.


Tunis cake

(chiefly British) A sponge cake topped with a thick chocolate layer.


caramelisation

en-noun

caramelisation (countable and uncountable, plural caramelisations)

(chiefly British) Alternative spelling of caramelization.


yack

I have got the Yacks, so do not come it. Fight cocum.

1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 498:

[…] 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:

(UK, thieves slang, obsolete) A watch (timepiece).


pecker

From Middle English pekker, equivalent to peck (“to pick at something in the manner of a bird”) + -er (“forming agent nouns”).

af

He's a rare pecker.

1862, C.C. Robinson, The Dialect of Leeds & Its Neighbourhood, page 383:

Peck... A hearty eater is generally called ‘a rare pecker’.

But I've been better iver since, an' beginnin' to eat my vittles, too, though I'm never no great pecker.

1894, Mrs. H. Ward, Marcella, II. iv. v. 476:

Someone who or something that pecks, striking or piercing in the manner of a bird's beak or bill, particularly:

(UK regional, obsolete) An eater, a diner.

Pecker, a bird's bill

1891, G. Sweetman, A Glossary of Words used by the rural population in the parish and neighbourhood of Wincanton, Somerset:

Q. What does a bird peck its food up with?... [Wiltshire] Beak, pecker.

1967, H. Orton & M. F. Wakelin, A Survey of English dialects B, volume 4:

(UK colloquial, by extension of the sense ‘beak’) A nose.

Mr. King... misstated the fact in saying that he had put a piece of lighted paper to the master's nose while asleep in that house; it was his hot pipe that he applied to the sleeper's nostrils, at the same time crying: Come, old chap, keep your pecker up.

Pecker, ‘keep your Pecker up’,... literally, keep your beak and head well up, ‘never say die’.

Be firm, my moral pecker.

1875, W.S. Gilbert, Trial by Jury, section 4:

... he had every facility given him to remain under lock and key, with a chair, a table, a mattress in a corner, and a litter of fallen plaster on the floor, in an irrational state of funk, and keeping up his pecker with such tonics as Mariani dispensed.

1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 5, in Lord Jim:

Fred and I managed to keep our peckers up somehow.

2003, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page xii:

keep one's pecker up
keep one's pecker up

(UK colloquial, by extension, from the expression ‘keep one's pecker up’) Spirits, nerve, courage.


keep one's pecker up

en-verb

keep one's pecker up (third-person singular simple present keeps one's pecker up, present participle keeping one's pecker up, simple past and past participle kept one's pecker up)

keeps one's pecker up (present singular third-person)
keeping one's pecker up (participle present)
kept one's pecker up (participle past)
kept one's pecker up (past)

From pecker, meaning "nose", by analogy with beak.

“Of course you will,” said Wraysford, cheerily; “it’s hard lines at first. Keep your pecker up, young ’un.” The young ’un, despite this friendly advice, felt very far from keeping up his pecker. But he did his best, and worked his face into a melancholy sort of a smile.

1880, Talbot Baines Reed, The Fifth Form at Saint Dominic's:

, Episode 12, The Cyclops
--Keep your pecker up, says Joe. She'd have won the money only for the other dog.

"Nerves a bit dicky, eh? Playing a tune to keep your pecker up?"

1977, W. Somerset Maugham, Collected short stories:

All you need is a box of goodies to keep your pecker up, ...

2003, Janet Floyd, Laurel Forster, The recipe reader: narratives, contexts, traditions:

(chiefly British, idiomatic) To remain cheerful; keep smiling.


fanciable

en-adj

fanciable (comparative more fanciable, superlative most fanciable)

more fanciable (comparative)
most fanciable (superlative)

[…] I wondered where the poor soul had seen a less fanciable maiden than herself in our village, or any other.

1929, Eden Phillpotts, “Mother’s Misfortune”, in The Torch and Other Tales, New York: Macmillan, page 105:

she’s only been on one date at uni, which involved sitting at a bar with a male specimen she’d thought was an interesting person, who was obviously swiping his phone to see if someone more fanciable was in the vicinity before making his pathetic excuses about having to do revision

2019, Bernardine Evaristo, “Yazz”, in Girl, Woman, Other, London: Hamish Hamilton:

(UK, informal) Worthy or likely to be fancied; sexually attractive.


kick arse

en-verb

kick arse (third-person singular simple present kicks arse, present participle kicking arse, simple past and past participle kicked arse)

kicks arse (present singular third-person)
kicking arse (participle present)
kicked arse (participle past)
kicked arse (past)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative spelling of kick ass.


thicko

(chiefly British, derogatory, slang) A dimwit or idiot.


trolley

trolleys (plural)
trollies (plural)
trolly (alternative)

→ Catalan: tròlei

→ French: trolley

→ Romanian: troleu

→ German: Trolley

→ Welsh: troli

Early 19th century (1823) meaning "cart", of dialectal origin (Suffolk), probably from troll (“to trundle, roll”) + -ey (diminutive ending).

af

About a shopping trolley, I thought I'd let ye know. Ya'd try to push it straight but it never seems ta go. Ya'd wobble through the car park, hopping off the cars. Anyone would think ya had a few auld jars.

2013 March 15, “The Shopping Trolley” (track 10), in Horsing Around, performed by Richie Kavanagh:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, Ireland) A cart or shopping cart; a shopping trolley.

(British) A gurney, a stretcher with wheeled legs.


regions

/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənz/

Tom Clancy of Elan Recruitment thinks that staff shortages in the regions could be as severe as in Dublin.

2000 November 7, Emer Hughes, “Fair city losing out to the regions”, in Sunday Business Post:

Three government departments may be named for a move from London to the regions.

2003 September 10, Peter Hetherington, “Study points civil servants towards the regions”, in The Guardian:

(Ireland, British, definite: the regions) the rest of the country excluding the capital city or metropolitan region


noradrenaline

en-noun

noradrenaline (countable and uncountable, plural noradrenalines)

noradrenalines (plural)
noradrenalin (alternative)

/nɔːɹəˈdɹɛnəlɪn/

Ranicide in rats was found to be reduced by injection of noradrenaline into the hypothalamus, as was muricide behaviour (Bandler, 1970).[…]Other sites in the unspecified ‘ventral midbrain’ were also found (Bandler, 1971) at which noradrenaline administration in crystalline form served to facilitate predatory aggression (ranicide and muricide).

1984, Stephen T. Mason, “Catecholamines and vegetative behaviour”, in Catecholamines and Behaviour, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, section “Aggression”, page 333:

(biochemistry, chiefly UK) Synonym of norepinephrine.

noradrenalina

the compound norepinephrine — see also norepinephrine


hoity-toity

hoity-toity (countable and uncountable, plural hoity-toities)

hoity-toities (plural)
hoitytoity (alternative)
hoity toity (alternative)

Probably from hoit (“to behave frivolously and thoughtlessly; to play the fool”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. The noun is attested earlier than the adjective.

suffix

Whily Kate the Brown, the Plump, / The Frowzy Browzy, / Hoyty Toyty, / Covent-Garden Harridan, / Soon made poor Jockey’s Head to Ake, / And spoyl’d him for a merry Man.

1719, [Thomas] d’Urfey, “The Scotch Cuckold: A New Song to a Northern Tune”, in Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive; […], volume I, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 19th century, →OCLC, page 255:

(countable, British, dialectal) A young woman regarded as flighty, giddy, or silly.


merchant banker

en-noun

merchant banker (plural merchant bankers)

(chiefly British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, rhyming slang) A wanker.


sticky wicket

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A difficult or unpredictable situation.


crumbs

(chiefly British) An expression of mild surprise.


unmade

en-adj

unmade (comparative more unmade, superlative most unmade)

more unmade (comparative)
most unmade (superlative)

[E]ven when it turned off the unmade road and went steeply upwards along an even more unmade track, I was still exhilarated […].

It was an unexpected benefit to early rail investors that passengers had an appetite for travel, which up to then had been a tortuous experience on largely unmade roads and involving stays at coaching inns that provided variable amenities.

2021 September 22, Industry Insider, “A new way of thinking”, in RAIL, number 940, page 92:

(UK, of a road) Without a hard, smooth, permanent surface.


hoarding

Making inquiries she came to a hoarding, within which were excavations denoting the foundations of a building; and on the boards without one or two large posters announcing that the foundation-stone of the chapel about to be erected would be laid that afternoon at three o’clock by a London preacher of great popularity among his body.

1894 December – 1895 November, Thomas Hardy, chapter VIII, in Jude the Obscure, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1896, →OCLC:

A hoarding is a legal requirement for the safety of the public on a building site. There are rules about its height and construction. But of course it is also the perfect opportunity: a blank canvas on which to show a vision of the life soon to be lived behind it.

2014 September 25, Hugo Macdonald, “Could those utopian hoardings for new developments get any more nauseating?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

They’re a familiar sight to many: the eye-roll-inducing, over-the-top development hoardings and adverts that celebrate the (inevitably luxury and, to most people, unaffordable) developments soon to be added to the city skyline.

2015 October 2, Francesca Perry, “What are the most ridiculous property development adverts you've seen?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The west side is one massive building site, although it's hard to appreciate what's going on behind all the hoardings.

2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 57:

(construction, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A temporary fence-like structure built around building work to add security and prevent accidents to the public.

Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born.

1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001:

Today, by radio, and also on giant hoardings, a rabbi, an admiral notorious for his links to Masonry, a trio of cardinals, a trio, too, of insignificant politicians (bought and paid for by a rich and corrupt Anglo-Canadian banking corporation), inform us all of how our country now risks dying of starvation.

1994, Georges Perec, translated by Gilbert Adair, A Void, London: Harvill Press, page vii:

But holidaymakers arriving this weekend in Positano, on the Amalfi coast, are more likely to find their gaze captured by a vast Volkswagen Golf. The car, pictured on a giant hoarding, has launched the latest row over intrusive advertising in Italy's historic towns and cities.

2004 June 25, John Hooper, “Uproar in Italy over hoardings in historic vistas”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A billboard.


gegger

(slang, UK, derogatory) Someone who does not conform to "chav" or "goth" stereotypes.


tombstone

en-verb

tombstone (third-person singular simple present tombstones, present participle tombstoning, simple past and past participle tombstoned)

tombstones (present singular third-person)
tombstoning (participle present)
tombstoned (participle past)
tombstoned (past)
tomb-stone (alternative archaic)

(UK, intransitive) To take part in tombstoning: to jump into the sea, etc. from a cliff or other high point so as to enter the water vertically straight.


tara

Possibly from Irish tabhair aire (“take care”).

ta-ra (alternative)
turrah (alternative)

2004: Metro in This is London (website of London Evening Standard), Jolie says ta-ra to Lara - Pssst...Actress Angelina Jolie's days as Tomb Raider action hero Lara Croft are over.

(UK, Ireland, Northern England, Midlands or informal) Goodbye.


nought

noughts (plural)
naught (alternative)
nowt (alternative)

From Middle English nought, noght, noȝt, from Old English nōwiht, nāwiht, which in turn comes from ne-ā-wiht, which was a phrase used as an emphatic "no", meaning "not anything". Equivalent to ne + ought or ne + a + wight. Doublet of naught and not.

0.335 cm is nought/zero point three three five of a centimeter.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Not any quantity of number; zero; the score of no points in a game.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The figure or character representing, or having the shape of, zero.


JJ

(British) A male given name, often short for Jacob or Joshua.


blooth

en-noun

blooth (countable and uncountable, plural blooths)

All that blooth means heavy autumn work for him and his hands. If no blight happens before the setting the apple yield will be such as we have not had for years.

1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

'Are you afraid?'
'Oh no, sir ... not of outdoor things; especially just now when the apple-blooth is falling, and everything is so green.'

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:

(UK, dialect) Alternative form of blowth (“blossom; bloom”).


yar

en-adj

yar (comparative more yar, superlative most yar)

more yar (comparative)
most yar (superlative)


haberdasher

From Middle English, 13th century. Uncertain but may derive from Anglo-Norman habertas (“small goods”).

(British) A member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, a livery company.


dizzy

dizzy (comparative dizzier, superlative dizziest)

dizzier (comparative)
dizziest (superlative)
dizzie (alternative)

From Middle English dysy, desy, dusi, from Old English dysiġ (“stupid, foolish”), from Proto-West Germanic *dusīg (“stunned; dazed”), likely from the root of Proto-Germanic *dwēsaz (“foolish, stupid”).
Akin to West Frisian dize (“fog”), Dutch deusig, duizig (“dizzy”), duizelig (“dizzy”), German dösig (“sleepy; stupid”).

der

Them as diz ’at is dizzy.

1952, Albert Lyon Hoy, An Etymologal Glossary of the East Yorkshire Dialect:

(UK dialectal, Yorkshire) simple, half-witted.


sweet pepper

en-noun

sweet pepper (countable and uncountable, plural sweet peppers)

Capsicum annuum
Capsicum annuum#Translingual

(UK) The fruit of a nonspicy cultivar of pepper, Capsicum annuum, marketed in green-, red-, yellow- and orange-skinned varieties.


touch wood

en-verb

touch wood (third-person singular simple present touches wood, present participle touching wood, simple past and past participle touched wood)

touches wood (present singular third-person)
touching wood (participle present)
touched wood (participle past)
touched wood (past)

Touching wood possibly has reference to (a) the cross, or (b) the altar rails in days when criminals could take sanctuary in churches.

1930, John D. Stephenson, chapter I, in The Structure of English from Sentence to Essay, page 105:

Very few patients for whom I provided psychiatric treatment ended their lives by suicide, but I became increasingly convinced that my residency instructor who touched wood because none of his patients had killed themselves had not been treating many seriously mentally ill patients for any extended period of time.

2003, Chester Schneider, The Making of a Christian Psychiatrist, US: Xulon Press, page 193:

Examples of rituals include touching wood, repeating phrases in your mind, wearing lucky clothes or jewellery, and avoiding unlucky numbers, out of a faulty belief that these rituals will stop unfortunate or tragic events befalling yourself or your loved ones.

2010, Rhena Branch, Rob Willson, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies, 2nd edition, UK: John Wiley & Sons, page 102:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) To make contact with wood to avert bad luck, in accordance with a folk practice.


touch wood

And the reds are going to avoid relegation this year, touch wood.

If it′s ever me (Jesus Christ, touch wood!), I don′t want you bringing me flowers.

1988, Janette Turner Hospital, chapter I, in Charades, page 314:

The English press has been very good to me, touch wood.

2008 March, Anna Friel with Deanna Kizis (interviewer), “A Conversation with: Anna Friel”, in Women′s Health, page 88:

I know I have my faults and one of them is my impatience and I also cannot tolerate people who are ill, mainly because I am so very rarely ill—“Touch wood,” I said out loud and touched my head at the same time.

2009, Lee Hobin, chapter I, in The Male Survival Guide to Pregnancy, page 59:

(idiomatic, UK, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India) Hopefully; said while touching something wooden, to avert superstitious bad luck from what has just been said.


pooh

en-noun

pooh (countable and uncountable, plural poohs)

poohs (plural)
poo (alternative)
puh (alternative)
poogh (alternative)
pugh (alternative)

Originally onomatopoeic ("perhaps ancient" according to Online Etymology Dictionary) for a puff of air, after earlier poh and similar to later pew, phew, pho, phoo, poof. Later influenced by poop, onomatopoeic for the sound of flatulating and defecating, and by interjections of disgust similar to phew, pee-ew. Interjection for an unpleasant smell possibly linked to French puer (“to stink”).

(countable, chiefly UK, childish) Alternative form of poo: A piece of feces; an act of defecation.


nosey parker

nosey parkers (plural)
nosy parker (alternative)
nosey-parker (alternative)
nosy-parker (alternative)

Yer a lotta nosey parkers.

1991, Kathleen Dayus, Where There's Life, London: Virago Press Ltd:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) An overly inquisitive or prying person.


Established in the United Kingdom as the first emergency service number in the world, initially chosen because of its suitability at a time of rotary-dial telephones.

nine nine nine (alternative)
triple nine (alternative)

(UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, colloquial, metonymic) Emergency services; emergency service personnel.


dago

Alteration of diego (“Spaniard”), from Spanish Diego (common Spanish name) by law of Hobson-Jobson.

And all foreigners to him were "dem bloody dagoes"—for, according to his theory, foreigners were responsible for unemployment.

1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

(UK, Ireland, slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, or other Mediterranean or Latin descent.


wop

From Neapolitan guappo (“dude, stud”), a greeting borrowed from Spanish guapo (“bold, handsome”). Contrary to popular belief, the term is not an acronym of without passport or working off passage, which are backronyms derived from the term.

(UK, US, Australia, slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Italian descent.


dusty

en-adj

dusty (comparative dustier, superlative dustiest)

dustier (comparative)
dustiest (superlative)

From Middle English dusty, dusti, from Old English dūstiġ, dystiġ, dȳstiġ (“dusty”), equivalent to dust + -y. Cognate with Dutch donzig (“cottony, downy, woolly”), German dunstig (“hazy, misty”).

...the toilet-glass on the table...had probably reflected few such faces as that of the lady calling herself Mrs. Lloyd, who looked attentively into it when she found herself alone and decided that she was not so very dusty, considering

1868, Edmund Yates, The Rock Ahead: A Novel, page 21:

One morning, I said to a patient: "How are you today, Mrs. White?" And she replied "Not so dusty - quite well brushed."

1967, “Jewish Affairs”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 22, page 30:

"Never mind," she ventured, "but thanks for the compliment. You're not so dusty yourself!"

2011, Media Lawson-Butler, Thistle in the Wind, page 205:

(British, slang, chiefly in negative constructions) Ugly, unwell, inadequate, bad.


labourer

This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.

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

By the mid-19th century, the typical village was sharply divided between the landowning class and the landless, voteless and largely illiterate labourers.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 392:


earmark

en-verb

earmark (third-person singular simple present earmarks, present participle earmarking, simple past and past participle earmarked)

earmarks (present singular third-person)
earmarking (participle present)
earmarked (participle past)
earmarked (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-earmark.wav

слагам настрана

to specify or set aside for a particular purpose

(transitive, by extension) To specify or set aside for a particular purpose, to allocate.

(transitive, finance, UK) To designate part of a pension to be payable to the holder's former spouse or partner at its time of payment.


Dusty

Derived from dusty, from the tendency of persons engaged in the milling of flour to become covered with flour dust.

(British) a nickname for someone with the surname Miller


Carling Sunday

From the carling peas traditionally eaten on the day, themselves named for Care Sunday.

(British, dated or dialectal) Synonym of Passion Sunday: the fifth Sunday in Lent.


sulph-

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

(chemistry, UK) Alternative spelling of sulf-.


sulpho-

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

(UK, chemistry) Alternative spelling of sulfo-.