balls about

balls about (third-person singular simple present ballses about, present participle ballsing about, simple past and past participle ballsed about)

ballses about (present singular third-person)
ballsing about (participle present)
ballsed about (participle past)
ballsed about (past)
balls around (alternative)

This is just comfortable. I don't want no ballsing about with rows and noise in flats.

1957, Reports of the Institute of Community Studies - Volume 2:

All that ballsing about for nothing.

If we can render them [ICJP] ineffective now, then we leave the way clear for a direct approach without all the ballsing about.

1990, Padraig O'Malley, Biting at the Grave, page 98:

(chiefly British, vulgar, slang) To engage in a lot of activity with many unwanted or unnecessary details.

'You're on the front page of the Irish News.' 'Are you ballsing about?'

2003, Sam Millar, On the Brinks, →ISBN, page 271:

(chiefly British, vulgar, slang) To bullshit; to speak or act as a joke or with no real point.


shaggability

(UK, slang) The quality of being shaggable; fuckability.


crease up

en-verb

crease up (third-person singular simple present creases up, present participle creasing up, simple past and past participle creased up)

creases up (present singular third-person)
creasing up (participle present)
creased up (participle past)
creased up (past)

He fell flat on his face and everyone just creased up!

The last scene creased me up.

(informal, slang, UK, intransitive) To laugh (or make someone laugh) uncontrollably.


splenisation

British standard spelling of splenization.


brake van

brake vans (plural)
brakevan (alternative)

The provision of sanding-gear on brake vans operating over such lines should be compulsory (this old Highland brake was not so fitted); [...].

1940 November, “Notes and News: A Highland Collision”, in Railway Magazine, page 612:

(British, rail transport, dated) A railway vehicle used to brake a (goods) train, usually placed at the end of the train. These were essential before continuous train braking became universal.


bleedingly

Fitzsimons has been careful to frame his push for change as not a rejection of the Queen or a denial of Australia’s history as a British colony, but as a bleedingly obvious next step in the life of the nation.

2015 September 6, “The Queen marks a milestone, but Australian republicans are regrouping”, in The Observer:

(UK, slang, used as an intensifier) extremely


aircon

en-noun

aircon (countable and uncountable, plural aircons)

→ Central Dusun: iikon

→ Brunei Malay: ekon

→ Indonesian: erkon

→ Japanese: エアコン (eakon)

→ Korean: 에어컨 (eeokeon)

→ Tagalog: erkon

→ Tausug: ilkun/irkun

And when I suggested turning the aircon off to make the battery last longer, he threw back his head and laughed; later I read that the car’s economy driving mode does exactly that, turning off aircon to extend the car’s range.

2015 September 10, Jemima Kiss, “Clean and green, but an electric car can give a driver some shocks”, in The Guardian:

using the aircon at mid-setting or at 25 degrees Celsius for maximum efficiency.

2019 September 9, “Meralco rates down for the fifth straight month”, in Manila Bulletin, archived from the original on 2019-09-22:

(UK, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong, abbreviation, informal) Alternative form of air-con (“air conditioning”).


TOIL

(UK, employment) Initialism of time off in lieu (of monetary compensation for overtime).


Dissenter

Is it not apparent how vigorouſly they aſſail the whole Body of the Diſſenters, Men of Religious, Serious, Upright and moſt Loyal Principles, under the ſcandalous Names of Fanaticks and Whiggs.

1682, Henry Care, “Preface”, in A Perfect Guide for Protestant Dissenters, in Case of Prosecution upon Any of the Penal Statutes Made against Them, London: R. Baldwin:

(UK) A Protestant Christian who does not follow the established church, the Church of England.


holloway

holloways (plural)
hollow way (alternative)

The first pronounced rise in the ridge is succeeded by Oldgate Nick: there isn't even a footpath crossing, but it is recognisable as a holloway. Here crossed a saltway from Cheshire rising from 5altersford Hall in the upper Todd valley

1982, Mark Richards, High Peak Walks, page 158:

Well, I see the road before me; sometimes I can see a bit further because I'm standing on a hill, sometimes I'm at the bottom of a holloway and have no idea even what lies on the other side of the hedge.

2004 August 30, Catja Pafort <greenknight@cix.co.uk.invalid>, “Re: Tight third - an invention of the 20th century?”, in rec.arts.sf.composition (Usenet), message-ID <1gjbv1i.z05lgf1e1xyjmN%greenknight@cix.co.uk.invalid>:

I enjoyed very much last week walking down that sunken track between Symondsbury and North Chideock--is that what one would call a 'holloway'?

2008 December 1, <johngoldfine@gmail.com>, “quarry cross north of Chideock, Dorset”, in uk.rec.walking (Usenet), message-ID <54237f3b-8f48-47b0-9220-9d95208686f7@k39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>:

In different regions they go by different names — bostels, grundles, shutes — but are all holloways. Of course, few are in use now. They are too narrow and too slow to suit modern travel. But they are also too deep to be filled in and farmed over

2010, Bill Bryson, Icons of England, page 240:

Six years later, after Roger Deakin's early death, Robert Macfarlane returned to the holloway with the artist Stanley Donwood and writer Dan Richards. The book is about those journeys and that landscape.

2014, Robert Macfarlane, Dan Richards, Holloway:

(UK) A road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by recent engineering but possibly of much greater age.


liberty bodice

I am seized with an angry resentment against the conventions of twenty years ago, which wrapped up my comely adolescent body in woollen combinations, black cashmere stockings, “liberty” bodice, dark stockinette knickers, flannel petticoat and often, in addition, a long-sleeved, high-necked, knitted woollen “spencer”.

1933, Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth, Penguin, published 2005, page 34:

(UK, historical) A tight, sleeveless underbodice, originally as typically worn by children to allow for more freedom of movement than a corset.


clued up

en-adj

clued up (comparative more clued up, superlative most clued up)

more clued up (comparative)
most clued up (superlative)

(UK, informal) Knowledgeable about a topic or situation; possessing the facts.


Six

(UK) Abbreviation of MI6 (intelligence service).


Free State

(Ireland, UK, historical) The Irish Free State.


Manuelgate

From Manuel + -gate; Sachs famously played Manuel in the TV comedy Fawlty Towers.

(UK, colloquial) A controversy caused by a series of lewd voice messages left as a prank on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs by comedian Russell Brand and TV presenter Jonathan Ross in 2008.


all-through school

en-noun

all-through school (plural all-through schools)

So called because a pupil can go all the way through the education system without changing schools.

(UK, education) A combined primary school and secondary school.


rising three

(UK, education) A child who will turn three years old during the school term, and may therefore count as a three-year-old for the purposes of registering at a school.


SRE

SRE (countable and uncountable, plural SREs)

(education, UK) Initialism of sex and relationship education.


Paxo

He's been telling his army of spinners, and DC and Boy George too, that Radio 4 is for the chattering classes, and only people like Cameron and Miliband tune in to watch Paxo on Newsnight last thing at night.

2011, Larry the Cat, The Larry Diaries: Downing Street - The First 100 Days, page 15:

(British, slang) Jeremy Paxman (born 1950), English broadcaster, journalist and author.


kinchin

From German Kindchen, diminutive of Kind, from Middle High German kint, from Old High German kind, from Proto-Germanic *kindą, *kinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to give birth”).

der

A kynchen co is a young boye, traden vp to suche peuishe purposes as you haue harde of other young ympes before, that when he growth vnto yeres, he is better to hang then to drawe.

1567, Thomas Harman, A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors:

Theſe Kinchins, the firſt thing they do, is to learne how to Cant, and the onely thing they pꝛactiſe, is to créepe in at windowes oꝛ Cellar dooꝛes.

1608, [Thomas Dekker], “A Kinchin Co”, in The Belman of London. […], London: […] [Edward Allde and Nicholas Okes] for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, signature D3, verso:

Me let him escape?—the bastard kinchin should have walked the plank ere I troubled myself about him.

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 219:

"The kinchins, my dear," said the Jew, "is the young children that's sent on errands by their mothers, with sixpences and shillings, and the lay is just to take their money away—they've always got it ready in their hands,—[…]

1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “An Old Acquaintance of Oliver’s, Exhibiting Decided Marks of Genius, Becomes a Public Character in the Metropolis”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 112:


cold as a well-digger's arse

en-adj

cold as a well-digger's arse (not comparable)

colder than a well-digger's arse (alternative)

(simile, UK, colloquial, vulgar, humorous) Very cold.


fratchety

fratchety (comparative more fratchety, superlative most fratchety)

more fratchety (comparative)
most fratchety (superlative)

Apparently from fratch + *-et (frequentative ending) + -y.

af

[…] He hadn't hardly got over his illness and he was fratchety, like, as sick people will be.

1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors:


water ouzel

water ouzels (plural)
water ousel (alternative)
water-ousel (alternative)

white-throated dipper
white-throated dipper

Cinclus cinclus
Cinclus cinclus#Translingual

(UK, Ireland) A white-throated dipper or European dipper, of species Cinclus cinclus.


for England

Suggests that if there was a world championship for the given action, the person under discussion could compete on the national team.

Before Venita, who could chatter for England, had a chance to hand over too much more information, Marty jumped in defensively.

2011, Bernardine Kennedy, Past Chances, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

She always wore the most disgustingly old-fashioned clothes and she could moan and complain for England but the thing that really bugged Sharon about Anne was that, despite having the disposition of a wet weekend in Scarborough, she always signed her departmental notes 'Annie' and she always turned the dot on the 'i' into a flower.

2014, David Menon, Fireflies: Detective Superintendent Jeff Barton #2, David Menon:

She could sleep for England. It's not unusual for teenagers to sleep for England, I know, but I believe Amy experienced depressions in her early teens.

2014, Janis Winehouse, Loving Amy: A Mother's Story, Random House, →ISBN:

(UK, idiomatic) Very well or for a long time.


snuzzle

en-verb

snuzzle (third-person singular simple present snuzzles, present participle snuzzling, simple past and past participle snuzzled)

snuzzles (present singular third-person)
snuzzling (participle present)
snuzzled (participle past)
snuzzled (past)

(UK, dialect) To rub the nose against and snuff.


Bufton Tufton

Coined by Private Eye, based on the former Conservative MP Tufton Beamish.

A new generation is battling through, but there are still too many Sir Bufton Tuftons at the core of the Party organisation.

1998, Crossbow: A Quarterly Journal of Politics:

Many people see it is as the sole preserve of the Bufton Tuftons who sit in their gentleman's clubs complaining about the ills of the modern world while chomping away on a pheasant, mallard duck or partridge.

An old school friend of mine, certainly not a Bufton Tufton, who was visiting London from his home in Italy, was mystified to see commuters standing on the railway station in just T-shirts or cardigans in the middle of a harsh winter.

2008, Peter Whittle, Look at Me: Celebrating the Self in Modern Britain:

He just replaced the Bufton Tuftons with a bunch of people whose only qualification is a hatred of meat and a chip on the shoulder.

2010, Jeremy Clarkson, How Hard Can It Be?: The World According to Clarkson, Penguin UK, →ISBN:


Sue, Grabbit and Runne

A jocular play on the phrase sue, grab it and run, suggesting an unscrupulous, greedy law firm to which Private Eye magazine would usually attribute frivolous libel cases.

1838, Joshington Square'
Messrs Sue, Grabbit and Runn were after Mr Crink, our hero.

I cannot disclose his name for fear of letters from Messrs Sue, Grabbit and Run.

[…] the finger sunk into the cheek like that of some posing philosopher and the general effect being, if I may say so without incurring the wrath of Sue Grabbit and Runne, one of effeminacy.

Needless to say such improbable calumnies will not pass unnoticed by Messrs Sue, Grabbitt and Runne, who have been instructed to use the limits of the law to bring to heel the rumour-mongers and muck-rakers.

A rather pathetic pseudo-apology you might think; as Milne had no evidence for his damaging accusation, he was lucky Douglas-Home did not set Messrs Sue, Grabbit & Runne on him.

I am sure he will agree, after some of his comments, that if we pursue this idea too far, he and I, and indeed your Lordships, might well become entangled with that well-known firm of libel lawyers, Messrs. Sue, Grabitt, and Run, since I shall report swiftly the thoughts of my noble friend to my right honourable friend.

1985 February 27, Lord Lyell, “Government Subsidisation: De Lorean Enterprise”, in parliamentary debates (House of Lords (UK)), page 1000:

Now Messrs Sue, Grabbit & Runne have also written to the editor in a threatening manner to say that their new client His Holiness Shri Chandra Swamiji Maharaj did not, as alleged, act as a broker to any transaction involving Mark Thatcher

It would not be hard to prove as there are published figures for the UK where “Sue, Grabit and Run” has handled many of the placements.

1999 June 22, Dick Roche, “Estimates for Public Services, 1999 - Vote 32 - Public Enterprise (Revised)”, in parliamentary debates (Houses of the Oireachtas (Ireland)):

With Wright anxious to reclaim his Everton place - presently occupied by the rock-solid Nigel Martyn - I suggest he takes counsel from Sue, Grabitt and Run, company motto: Safe Hands Always.

2003 November 9, Len Capeling, “Everton expects; Stars need to deliver”, in Liverpool Daily Post:

We now hear today that we will be cracking down on these solicitors, so that fewer and fewer people — perhaps no people — will end up at the tender mercies of Sue, Grabbit and Runne.

2007, Great Britain. Parliament House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts, Legal Services Commission: Legal Aid and Mediation for People Involved in Family Breakdown, Fifty-first Report of Session 2006-07, The Stationery Office →ISBN, page 12

There are players picking up a hundred grand a week who are like pickpockets, stealing money from the fans. I'm not going to name names 'cos I don't want to make libel lawyers Sue, Grabbitt and Run any richer.

2009, Jimmy Greaves, Ian St John, Saint And Greavsie's Funny Old Games, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Let's hope that now Kate Middleton has got her first taste of cash for "invasion of her privacy" (following an award of £5,000 in damages for a pap snap of her on a Christmas family holiday) she won't be encouraged by Messrs Sue, Grabitt and Runne to censure every single detail that's reported about her.

The wonderful thing about accredited demons is that you can say virtually anything about them and it is unlikely you will hear from Sue, Grabbit and Run.

2010, John Pilger, Distant Voices, Random House, →ISBN, page 224:

Hopefully, a representative of Sue, Grabit and Run, will not be standing by poised to take legal action should anyone scratch themselves.

2010 March 6, Hilarie Stelfox, “Hilarie: Learning to deal with life’s rough and tumble”, in Huddersfield Daily Examiner:

If I sent Messrs Sue, Grabbitt and Runne this well written, cogently argued, literate letter then they would say that I was capable of getting the kind of job I'd had and of earning the same good salary.

2013, Annie Francis-Clark, The Day My Life Changed, Autharium, →ISBN:

Which Ballard should J.G. Ballard sue J.G Ballard for, on grounds of malicious libel? Answers please to Sue, Grabit and Run.

2013, John Sutherland, Curiosities of Literature: A Feast for Book Lovers, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

(UK, humorous) A generic name for a law firm, especially one specializing in libel cases.


Naughty Nineties

(UK) Synonym of Gay Nineties (the 1890s)


Pretendolino

But let's not forget that loco-hauled trains are regularly operated by Arriva in Wales, First Great Western and Northern Rail (Workington to Maryport) and even Tim's beloved Virgin Trains has the Pretendolino set that runs regularly on the WCML, and the Pendolino drag to/from Holyhead.

2010 January 25, Bruce, “Re: EMT Frustration”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

Tonight the Pretendolino is due to work it's regular route, but I saw it working the Birmingham loop of the WCML yesterday, usually when this happens the EUS-PRE service is booked with a 390 or 221, does anybody know which unit is working it tonight?

2010 July 30, Tom, “Pretendolino Workings 30/07/10”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

It is seen here satback at Preston, awaiting departure while working the 5Z41 Kilmarnock–Wembley InterCity depot, dragging the Virgin 'Pretendolino' stock which has been contracted to be moved back south by DRS after maintenance at Hunslet-Barclay.

2015, Ross Taylor, Lancashire Traction, Amberley Publishing Limited, →ISBN:

(rail transport, UK) A British Rail Class 90 train with Mark 3 coaching stock formerly used on services normally operated by Pendolinos.


Marigold

From the flower. The rubber gloves are generally bright yellow in colour.

(UK, genericised brand name, usually in the plural, sometimes with capital) A rubber glove, especially one for use in household cleaning.


cacky

en-adj

cacky (comparative cackier, superlative cackiest)

cackier (comparative)
cackiest (superlative)

(UK, slang) Characterized by or pertaining to excrement.

(UK, slang, vulgar) Worthless or no-good; rubbishy.


brocialism

I think part of the answer might perhaps lie in the nature of the hard left politics which Mr Corbyn embraces. He's been accused of brocialism or bro-socialism if you're struggling to spit that one out. And however much you may choose to ignore it, there does often appear to be something blokey about the new movement he says he's creating.

2015 September 14, Cathy Newman, “Welcome to Jeremy Corbyn's blokey Britain - where brocialism rules”, in The Telegraph:

(slang, derogatory, British) Any form of socialism characterised by blokeishness.


have one's hand in the till

en-verb

have one's hand in the till (third-person singular simple present has one's hand in the till, present participle having one's hand in the till, simple past and past participle had one's hand in the till)

has one's hand in the till (present singular third-person)
having one's hand in the till (participle present)
had one's hand in the till (participle past)
had one's hand in the till (past)

From the most basic form of the crime: a shop assistant removing cash from the register.

Francis Urquhart: You've been a bit of a bad lad, haven't you, Roger?
Roger O'Neill: What?
FU: You've had your hand in the till.
RO: Francis, you're joking!
FU: Your expenses are paid by Central Office, aren't they? But you've been claiming quite large sums from the advertising agency as well. It's a bit naughty, Roger.

1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

(idiomatic, chiefly British) To embezzle, to steal from one's place of business.

uit de kas graaien

to steal money that one has been trusted with


Winchester gallon

en-noun

Winchester gallon (plural Winchester gallons)

(British) a unit of volume equal to two Winchester quarts, equal to four quarts, or around 4.55 litres.


fawny

From Irish fáinne (“ring”). Doublet of fainne.


short a

(linguistics, especially UK) The vowel sound in the English words grass and castle when pronounced with a near-open front unrounded vowel (/æ/); associated with northern England accents.


long a

(linguistics, especially UK) The vowel sound in the English words bath and castle when pronounced with an open back unrounded vowel (/ɑː/); associated with southern England accents.


steaning

steanings (plural)
steyning (alternative)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A ford over a river.


Shipman effect

(UK) A cultural change in the field of medicine sparked by the conviction of Harold Shipman in 2000 for murdering his patients, and the formal recommendations from the subsequent Shipman Inquiry.


plump for

en-verb

plump for (third-person singular simple present plumps for, present participle plumping for, simple past and past participle plumped for)

plumps for (present singular third-person)
plumping for (participle present)
plumped for (participle past)
plumped for (past)

The entire dessert menu was tempting, but I plumped for the cheesecake.


cop off with

cop off with (third-person singular simple present cops off with, present participle copping off with, simple past and past participle copped off with)

cops off with (present singular third-person)
copping off with (participle present)
copped off with (participle past)
copped off with (past)

Who was that bird you copped off with at the pub last night?

(transitive, UK, Ireland, slang) To successfully engage the company of someone for a period of time.


woofter

From poofter. Compare also woof (“noise made by a dog”).


jerque

jerque (third-person singular simple present jerques, present participle jerquing, simple past and past participle jerqued)

jerques (present singular third-person)
jerquing (participle present)
jerqued (participle past)
jerqued (past)

(UK, historical, transitive) To search (a ship) for unentered goods.


kip down

kip down (third-person singular simple present kips down, present participle kipping down, simple past and past participle kipped down)

kips down (present singular third-person)
kipping down (participle present)
kipped down (participle past)
kipped down (past)

(UK, slang) To sleep somewhere other than home, forced to do so by circumstances.


ragger

(British) an annoying person, especially a noisy one, one who rags upon another


holiday park

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A commercial facility that includes various forms of inexpensive accommodation, such as campsites, cabins, caravan or RV parking, and motel rooms, for the use of people on holiday.


Laddies

If Laddies are opening a new betting shop and get McCririck to cut the ribbon, thousands of people will turn up.

2006, michael adams, “Re: The fat oaf”, in uk.sport.horseracing (Usenet):

My deal with Laddies had been signed long before betting opened on the Masterclassics.

2009, Roy Brindley, Life's a Gamble, page 218:

(UK, slang) Ladbrokes, a British-based betting and gambling company.


special measures

The LEA is required to support schools in special measures or with serious weaknesses.

2004, K.B. Everard, Geoff Morris, Ian Wilson, Effective School Management, SAGE, →ISBN, page 228:

Before the 2005 Schools White Paper, schools put into Special Measures have been aware that they might face closure if they did not improve within about two years.

2006, Great Britain. National Audit Office, Improving Poorly Performing Schools in England, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 37:

The governments new proposals intend to make the following changes and introductions: [...] Placing underperforming council planning departments into “special measures” and allowing developers to bypass them if they fail to improve.

2013, Selchouk Sami, The Book on Entrepreneurship and Property: The Guide to Successful Entrepreneurship and Property Investment, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 78:

These organisations were put into special measures and their boards placed under high levels of scrutiny around how they were focusing on quality and patient safety issues.

2015, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), Good Governance Handbook, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) →ISBN, page 22

(UK) External administration for a failing public service such as a school or hospital.


bob-a-job

See bob (“shilling”). The first Bob a Job Week was in April 1949.

(British, historical) The practice of children undertaking to do small jobs around the home, originally for a charge of one shilling, traditionally offered by boy scouts during a designated week of the year.


orfen

en-adv

orfen (comparative more orfen, superlative most orfen)

more orfen (comparative)
most orfen (superlative)

1876, LADY BARKER, EDITOR, evening hours
Sometimes they sets theirselves alight, but not orfen, for it aint much o' a fire aunt leaves in.

Jack's uncommon fond o' theayters, and singing and acting and such like, and as he can't very orfen get the money to pay for 'arf-price in the gallery he follers about all the people as performs in the streets, sometimes for hours an' hours together.

1887, The English illustrated magazine [ed. by J. W. C. Carr].:

He's rarther an ass, but not a bad chap reely, he gives us tips sumtimes but not orfen enuff.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(UK, dated) Pronunciation spelling of often, representing British English.


these islands

Circumlocution to avoid the word British in the phrase British Isles.

Since the Lions only play outside the British Isles or these islands, the opportunity for Irish nationalists to insist that the former description should not be used has not been taken.

2001, John McGarry, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: Post-Agreement Northern Ireland in Comparative Perspective, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 231:

In all documents jointly drawn up by the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is simply referred to as "these islands."

2010, World and Its Peoples, Marshall Cavendish, →ISBN, page 8:

The west coast from Kerry north to Donegal has high cliffs interspersed with sandy beaches and one major estuary, that of the Shannon, the largest river in these islands.

2010, Clive Hutchinson, Birds in Ireland, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 16:

Same-sex marriage proposals have been greenlit in Jersey and Guernsey - meaning that Northern Ireland is the only remaining part of these islands where marriage equality continues to be blocked.

2016 April 26, Nick Duffy, “Isle of Man finally passes same-sex marriage”, in Pink News:

(chiefly Ireland, UK) The archipelago in the North Atlantic comprising Great Britain, Ireland and surrounding islands.


empanoply

en-verb

empanoply (third-person singular simple present empanoplies, present participle empanoplying, simple past and past participle empanoplied)

empanoplies (present singular third-person)
empanoplying (participle present)
empanoplied (participle past)
empanoplied (past)

From em- (prefix meaning ‘on, onto; covered’) + panoply (“complete set of armour”); panoply is derived from Ancient Greek πᾰνοπλῐ́ᾱ (pănoplĭ́ā, “suit of armour”), from πάνοπλος (pánoplos, “in full armour”) (from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all, every’) + ὅπλον (hóplon, “armour; arms, weapons”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).

der

I see, I see, empanoply'd in arms, / (Rapt with prophetic fire, sage Chiron cried), / O'er Phrygian plains wide hurling war's alarms, / Thy son, O Thetis, rise, his country's pride.

1784, William R[obert] Spencer, “Chorus from the Iphigenia in Aulis of Euripides. Written at Harrow School, in the Year 1784.”, in Poems by the Late Hon. William R. Spencer; […], new edition, London: James Cochrane and Co., […], published 1835, →OCLC, strophe III, page 139:

The grand conglomerate hills of Araby, / That stand empanoplied in utmost thought, / With dazzling ramparts front the Indian sea, / Down there in Hadramaut.

1876, “Night the Sixth. [Hadramaut.]”, in The Echo Club, and Other Literary Diversions, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 126:

High hope / Empanoplies the soul. Bright faith / Meets and o'ercomes the victor death, / And trusts the future's grander scope.

1886 May, Robert Brown, Jun., “To Miss Mildred Hope Courtney McDougall”, in A Trilogy of the Life-to-come and Other Poems, London: David Nutt, […], published 1887, →OCLC, page 92:

It didn't appear to Herbert, however, that Mrs. Brooks exhibited any extravagant joy over the occurrence, and she almost instantly retired with her daughter into the sitting-room, linking her arm in Cherry's, and, as it were, empanoplying her with own invulnerable shawl.

1889, Bret Harte, “A Secret of Telegraph Hill”, in The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh and Other Tales, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, chapter II, page 171:

Do not interrupt; a truce to your raillery! It will fall blunted, besides, on the cuirass of an invulnerable will, in which henceforth I am empanoplied.

1901, Henry Murger [i.e., Henri Murger], “Floods of Pactolus”, in Ellen Marriage, John Selwyn, transl., The Latin Quarter: (“Scènes de la Vie de Bohème”), New York, N.Y.: Doubleday Page and Company, →OCLC, page 101:

Oh, lovely are her [Paddington Station's] lean lines, and lovely her poise, / Empanoplying the long, dim frenzy of noise.

1912, Thomas Burke, “Paddington”, in Pavements and Pastures: A Book of Songs, London: Printed by the London and Norwich Press, →OCLC; republished in London Lamps: A Book of Songs, New York, N.Y.: Robert M[edill] McBride & Co.; London: Grant Richards, 1919, →OCLC, page 15:

He was marvelling anew, no doubt, as he was presently to express it to the tribunal, that Satan should be permitted so admirably and deceptively to empanoply his servants.

1928, Rafael Sabatini, “The Holy Office”, in The Hounds of God: A Romance, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 222:

(transitive, British, military, historical, also figuratively) To dress in a full suit of armour; to panoply.


bunk in

en-verb

bunk in (third-person singular simple present bunks in, present participle bunking in, simple past and past participle bunked in)

bunks in (present singular third-person)
bunking in (participle present)
bunked in (participle past)
bunked in (past)

Bunking in had to be abandoned when we reached the age of twelve, not because of any developing sense of civic responsibility, but because we'd grown too big to squeeze through the gents' toilet window at the Red Hall Cinema […]

2004, Harry Turner, Growing Up in Fulham, page 179:

(UK, slang) To enter a venue covertly, without permission.


flakers

[…] was flakers on the sofa, denying Jessica her chance. She yawned.

2011, Patricia Scanlan, Double Wedding, page 33:


squipper

A third significant omission is due to the fact that large numbers of Chinook, Puma and Hercules aircrews [...] together with all the 'loadies', 'sooties', 'squippers' and ground crews that support them, continue, at the time of writing, to be heavily involved in Operation Safe Haven along the northern borders of Iraq.

1991, Charles Allen, Thunder & Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf : Personal Experiences of War, Stationery Office/Tso:

After stripping off all my other kit, I held my rubber- gloved hands behind me, the last bits still in the dirty zone, and the squipper peeled the gloves off.

1995, John Peters, John Nichol, Neil Hanson, Team Tornado: Life on a Front-Line Squadron, →ISBN:

Giving evidence to the inquest in Lincoln Cpl Morris, a Survival Equipment Fitter or “squipper” with the RAF, said he was not far from Flt Lt Cunningham’s jet at the time of the tragedy as the team prepared to fly to RAF Valley in Wales.

2014 January 20, “Red Arrows pilot inquest: Colleague tells how he watched tragedy unfold”, in Coventry Telegraph:

(UK, military, slang) A survival equipment fitter.


-zza

Australian origin. Combination of -z and -er.

Boris → Bozza, Sharon → Shazza, Charlotte → Chazza

(Australia, New Zealand, UK) Forms nicknames, especially of personal names.


sit-upons

But I should advise you, old fellow, to get your sit-upons seated with wash-leather,—just like the eleventh hussars do with their cherry-coloured pants.

1860, Cuthbert Bede, The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, volumes 1-3, page 89:


tipteerer

(UK, Sussex, historical) A Christmas mummer.


euhemerise

euhemerise (third-person singular simple present euhemerises, present participle euhemerising, simple past and past participle euhemerised)

euhemerises (present singular third-person)
euhemerising (participle present)
euhemerised (participle past)
euhemerised (past)


Elsan

From a trade name, formed from the initials of the founder (Ephraim Louis Jackson) and sanitation.


mickey-take

mickey-takes (plural)
mickey take (alternative)

Occasionally they perform in a club act, which is a mickey-take of The Chippendales. They do a strip routine and call themselves The Chipolatas.

2010, Paul Hendy, The Diary Of A C-List Celeb, →ISBN, page 13:

The crowd were packed round the front of the small stage like sardines and the reaction was superb, with the band responding accordingly, especially Tim who was on top form, leaping ups and down on the makeshift stage which was threatening to give way any minute, charging around wielding his guitar in a guitar-hero mickey-take, abusing the audience, hammering Dominic's cymbals, pouring gallons of water over himself and his guitar... brilliant.

2011, Adrian Bell, Aylesbury Bolton Wolverhampton Hove, →ISBN:

If this article is going to be a mickey-take of Barnsley, let's forget the whole thing.

2012, Martin Wainwright, True North: In Praise of England's Better Half, →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland) An act of mockery or parody; a piss-take.


Daily Heil

Referring to the Nazi slogan "heil Hitler". Originated from the newspaper's support of fascism in the early 1930s.

They even made the mistaken assumption, mainly from the title, that the song had some kind of lesbian message. As Heike put it: 'You can't expect the subliterate cockwombles on the Daily Heil showbiz and gossip desks to have read Orwell.'

2015, Chris Brookmyre, Dead Girl Walking:

(UK, slang, derogatory) The Daily Mail newspaper.


cockwomble

en-noun

cockwomble (countable and uncountable, plural cockwombles)

Cockwomble An American lad was annoying the tits off me once so I called him the first thing that came to mind, which was 'cockwomble'. The insult was effective because he did stop winding me up but only to ask me what a cockwomble actually was. I then had to give a detailed explanation about what wombles were and admit that I hadn't really thought that insult through.

2007 October 4, gypsy turnips, “Home » Question of the Week » Insults”, in b3ta.com, archived from the original on 3333-10-10:

Though the clinic alleges that they are devoted to "service to the community", this little cockwomble allowed his bruised arrogance to bother a woman infinitely superior to him just because she was smarter and better than he.

2019, Jennifer S. Chesler, David C. McLean, The Philosophy of Extremism, volume III, page 40:

(UK, Ireland, slang, humorous) A foolish or obnoxious person.


bendy-boy

[…] an equally complicated schedule caters for pretty well all-comers who are meticulously sub-categorised by the marketing department. For example one of Heaven's club nights welcome^([sic]) “gays, strays, straights, bendy boys and girlie girls” to a plethora of “bubblegum pop, disco, trash and house”.

2010, Graham Vickers, Rock Music Landmarks of London:

And then it hit me that I was tricked, and he was saying, “'Course I knew you, bendy-boy. Good luck! Kick their asses and maybe the slut'll let you hold her hand.”

2010, M. T. Anderson, Burger Wuss, page 42:

"Are you saying he might be a bendy-boy?" I asked, and Gloria's mam said, "I'm not saying anything of the sort, William" […]

2015, John Boyne, Beneath the Earth, page 185:

(UK, slang, derogatory) A homosexual man.


vallidom

Sae, if you hae made up your mind to hae his love, and sup sorrow wi' it, heed but ane word I say keep the staff in your ain hand, dinna let him hae power o'er the vallidom o' a thimble.

1887, Amelia E. Barr, A Border Shepherdess: A Romance of Eskdale, page 92:


arse over tip

An unlucky camel increased the confusion by firing one of the many Turkish trip-mines as it entered the yard. The explosion blew it arse over tip, and caused a panic.

1935, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Wordsworth Editions, published 1997, →ISBN, pages 517-518:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, idiomatic, vulgar) Tumbling or falling; upside-down.


RBS

Royal Bank of Scotland
w:Royal Bank of Scotland

(UK, finance) Initialism of Royal Bank of Scotland.


each way

According to the Crown's case, in pursuance of this scheme, a slip was handed in by Humphreys on Saturday, Feb. 6, 1965, for a five shilling each way Yankee bet coupled with a twenty shilling each way bet on one of the horses.

1966, Justice of the peace and local government review reports:

A win bet carries one unit stake, a place bet one unit and an each way bet two units — one for win and one for place.

1973, J. P. Jones, Gambling yesterday and today: a complete history, page 114:

This horse does not achieve the criteria you have laid down, whether it is a win or an each way bet.

2013, Lee Werrell, How To Develop Your Natural Charisma The Easy Way:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, gambling) For either a win or a place in a competition.


each way

At first the shilling each way I put on horses was not my own but the concession allowed me by the street bookmaker for the other bankers' bets I brought him.

1946, Sean O'Faolain, Peadar O'Donnell, The Bell - Volume 12, page 132:

In time it is envisaged that in this State betting will be permitted by way of doubles, quinellas, win, and place, as well as up-the-lot betting, for a win, for a place, and each way.

1960, Great Britain Parliament, Western Australia Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2465:

He would put his 50 pence each way on Crisp or whoever whilst Mum's 50 pence each way went on Red Rum.

2011, Mark Senior, Changing Speed 2, →ISBN, page 84:

I wanted to put sixpence on, each way.


grey pound

(British) the purchasing power of or the business generated by elderly people


come to a sticky end

en-verb

come to a sticky end (third-person singular simple present comes to a sticky end, present participle coming to a sticky end, simple past came to a sticky end, past participle come to a sticky end)

comes to a sticky end (present singular third-person)
coming to a sticky end (participle present)
came to a sticky end (past)
come to a sticky end (participle past)
meet a sticky end (alternative)

Newbery in England and Isaiah Thomas in the U.S.A. insisted that their books for children were of a high moral tone. Children had to be good in order to escape from hell, and most bad children came to a very sticky end.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 139:

(idiomatic, British) To die unpleasantly due to one's actions.


meet a sticky end

meet a sticky end (third-person singular simple present meets a sticky end, present participle meeting a sticky end, simple past and past participle met a sticky end)

meets a sticky end (present singular third-person)
meeting a sticky end (participle present)
met a sticky end (participle past)
met a sticky end (past)
come to a sticky end (alternative)


DHP

(UK) Initialism of discretionary housing payment.


rent-a-gob

rent-a-gobs (plural)
rent a gob (alternative)
rentagob (alternative)

There would either be an obvious candidate for the splash story or you would be desperately scrambling the phones, suggesting interviews with the local rent-a-gobs on the council who you knew would say something controversial, if lacking in substance.

2008, John Stoneman, The Road from Wembley, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 153:

You don't want to be seen too much as a media tart, and as a rent-a-gob, because you just alienate all your colleagues.

2010, Chris Bryant MP, quoted by Aeron Davis, Political Communication and Social Theory, Routledge →ISBN, page 92

Katie Hopkins found fame on reality TV show The Apprentice. But unlike most former reality stars, who fade into obscurity after their 15 minutes in the spotlight, she's gone on to carve herself a successful career as an infamous rent-a-gob.

2014, Sedge Beswick, 140 Ultimate Twitter LOLs, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 94:

(UK, derogatory) Someone who regularly appears in the media, especially to stir controversy or self-aggrandize.


freedom of the city

No, your freedom of the city doesn't allow you to ignore traffic fines or drive sheep through rush-hour traffic.

So what use is being given the freedom of the city?... The 1973 Local Government Act in Scotland allows for persons of distinction to be made "honorary freemen" in a council area. It helpfully adds that the title does not confer any rights or privileges and specifically rules out "grazing rights". The equivalent act of Parliament in England and Wales also stresses that this is a purely "honorary" title, although it does not feel it necessary to rule out grazing sheep.

2012 September 5, Steven Brocklehurst, “Who, What, Why: Does Freedom of the City Allow You to Graze Sheep?”, in BBC:

An honor bestowed by certain cities, towns, and (UK) local councils, including those of rural counties.

Ehrenbürgerschaft

honor bestowed by certain cities, towns, and (Britain) local councils


to bits

2016 January 6, Neil Cameron, Evening Times 'Donald Findlay would be "thrilled to bits" if Cowdenbeath beat Rangers'

2016 January 6, Lara Martin, Reveal 'CBB's Stephanie Davis on boyfriend Sam Reece: "I love him to bits. He's my rock."'

(British, informal) very much (typically describing positive emotions)


tripperish

en-adj

tripperish (comparative more tripperish, superlative most tripperish)

more tripperish (comparative)
most tripperish (superlative)

(UK, colloquial) Characteristic of a tripper or tourist.


brelly

brellies (plural)
brellie (alternative)
brolly (alternative)

(UK, informal) Alternative form of umbrella.


bum burp

Distinguished farts in this category included the Piffy Farts - These were close to silent farts in that their sound was barely audible. As the name illustrates, the sound made was 'piff'. They may be compared to the bum burp of the household cat.

2009, George Same, Yxsy Glyxsy, page 357:


tax disc

(UK) A circular piece of paper, designed to be fixed to the inside of a windscreen, that serves as a record that a vehicle has been properly taxed (no longer used)


SCPHN

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of specialist community public health nursing.


gen up

en-verb

gen up (third-person singular simple present gens up, present participle genning up, simple past and past participle genned up)

gens up (present singular third-person)
genning up (participle present)
genned up (participle past)
genned up (past)

I find the doctors are very surprised when they realise I'm genned up about my condition.

2005, Gervase Phinn, Up and Down in the Dales, →ISBN:

So the heroic infant was able to gen up on all she needed to know about the making of bathtub gin by consulting a selection of large and impressive volumes in the reference section.

2011, Frank Key, Porpoises Rescue Dick Van Dyke, page 19:

With a new EO to train and supervise, his workload was bound to increase, so he put in for overtime and spent his Sundays in the office, alone and undisturbed, so he could gen up on League Cup winners and current affairs.

2011, John Burnside, Waking Up in Toytown, →ISBN, page 40:

Unless you are better genned up than Einstein was, the class will seeth with the rumour that you are not his equal, and you and your pions will be quickly discounted.

2012, A.J. Walton, Lectures, Tutorials and the Like, →ISBN, page 8:

In any case, I need to be genned up for this research.

2012, Wendy Robertson, Family Ties, →ISBN:

(UK, intransitive, informal) To study in detail; to familiarize oneself with all available information.

It was also new to be listening to talk of bribery and corruption in high places, and Michael Murray saw it as his duty to gen me up on this.

2007, Desmond FitzGerald, Many Parts, →ISBN, page 160:

I offered him a deal where he was to gen me up on aerobatics in return for the kudos Of being one Of the first two squadron pilots to aerobat an Anson.

2009, Goronwy Edwards, Flying to Norway, Grounded in Burma, →ISBN, page 50:

She genned him up on all manner of trivialities.

2013, D.M. Samson, Ausländer, →ISBN, page 95:

(UK, transitive, informal) To inform or teach with all relevant details; to brief.


tea card

(UK) A collectible card, like a cigarette card, but distributed in packs of tea.


LNWR

London and North Western Railway
w:London and North Western Railway

(rail transport, British) Initialism of London and North Western Railway.


Dave Spart

Coined by Private Eye, playing on the word Spartacist (“a member of the International Communist League”).

Now every Dave Spart up the commune knows that basically, to his mind, the only, like, real theatre, man, is made by the people, you know, in the street, man, in the street.

1981, Reyner Banham, Design by Choice, London: Academy Editions:

But of course there is no shortage of people with ingenious ideas about how public money should be spent, and Ken is quite right when he warns us about a whole new generation of Dave Sparts currently working up from the grass roots

We don't get many Dave Sparts these days chopping hands, invoking the working class and using the word "total" twice in every sentence.

Like McGuinness, Wark's Left is populated by a cast of grotesques; of Dave Sparts who sleep with copies of Trotsky's Literature and Revolution tucked under their pillows.


hard left

This new hard left includes several interesting social strands. There is the far left, close to the Communist Party, with its naive assumptions about the unity of interest and purpose among working class people

Though the Left is stronger in the party than ever before, it is divided into different factions such as "soft left", led by Michael Foot and Kinnock, "hard left" led by Tony Benn and the Tribune Group, and the "far left" consisting of various groups of Trotskyites.

The debate around 'popular alliances' has come to the forefront of left debate in Britain and it has been suggested that this is giving rise to a radical re-alignment of the left; on the one side groupings devoted to a British 'historic compromise' of popular forces and movements (Eurocommunists in the Communist Party, the Labour Co-ordinating Committee, sections of the women's movement, etc.); on the other side an alliance of old Trotskyist far left, the Labour Party hard left and sectarians within the Communist Party which is committed to an alliance against monopoly capitalled by the (male) industrial working class

2015, Les Johnston, Marxism, Class Analysis and Socialist Pluralism (RLE Marxism): A Theoretical and Political Critique of Marxist Conceptions of Politics, Routledge, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, politics) The section of the left wing that supports traditional socialist policies, distinguished from the social democratic centre-left and the communist and anarchist far left.


emetise

emetise (third-person singular simple present emetises, present participle emetising, simple past and past participle emetised)

emetises (present singular third-person)
emetising (participle present)
emetised (participle past)
emetised (past)


unit of alcohol

en-noun

unit of alcohol (plural units of alcohol)

(UK) 10 millilitres of pure alcohol contained within a beverage.

genstand

various units of alcohol content; possibly defined differently


food hall

(UK, Europe, retail) The part of a department store that sells food.


knifecrime

en-verb

knifecrime (third-person singular simple present knifecrimes, present participle knifecriming, simple past and past participle knifecrimed)

knifecrimes (present singular third-person)
knifecriming (participle present)
knifecrimed (participle past)
knifecrimed (past)

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

Is it just my imagine, or has teh yoof on the left of the top bit just knifecrimed someone?

2008 August 8, Dave Larrington, “Buck Uni spelling”, in uk.rec.sheds (Usenet):

Is this not just another example of racist stereotyping - the little gollies are basically criminals, probably going around doing lots of knifecriming.

2009 February 5, Will, “Summary apology from a celebrity”, in alt.usage.English (Usenet):

Jack: "Oi, don't you talk to my fuckin' bird like that you paedophile bastard or I'll fuckin' knifecrime you."

2009 July 11, alt-f4, “Mansfield Cathokic Comprehensive”, in uk.politics.misc (Usenet):


chapette

chapettes (plural)
chappette (alternative)

(British, informal) A female chap; a woman.


nobhead

The nobhead seems to have slipped on 'is food!

2008, Piers Venmore-Rowland, Latent Hazard, Galleons Green, →ISBN, page 12:

“Some alien nobhead curses me and I'm supposed to just lie back and take it? No sir. Kneel before your god, infidel.”

2013, Peter Ackers, Alien, Inc, Booktango, →ISBN:

'All right, nobhead?' Adam glared at the Beast and his tittering gang of minions.

2014, D. J. McCune, The Mortal Knife: Death & Co. 2, Hot Key Books, →ISBN:

(UK, slang, derogatory) Alternative spelling of knobhead.


why oh why

Are these terrible figures greeted by hysterical "why-oh-why?" letters to the Times demanding a huge shift in resources from road-building to rail-modernisation?

Indeed, a right-wing paper is hardly ready for press without a why-oh-why article on children's failures to identify verbs and nouns.

2005, Fred Sedgwick, How to Teach with a Hangover: A Practical Guide to Overcoming Classroom Crises, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 94:

To mark the introduction of civil partnership in Britain, the Daily Telegraph duly featured a bitter polemic from 'Why-oh-Why' columnist Ferdinand Mount.

2006, Ben Summerskill, The Way We Are Now: Gay and Lesbian Lives in the 21st Century, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 7:

David Starkey and John Casey, a donnish don from Cambridge who cranks out 'why, oh why?' hand-wringing pieces for the Daily Mail, are modern equivalents.

2009, Andrew Marr, My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 27:

... the British health system, once the best in the world, was disintegrating in a welter of underfunding, staff shortages and collapsing morale. A hand-wringing why-oh-why piece appeared in the Daily Mail, an internal investigation was ordered.

2012, Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Random House, →ISBN, page 3:

(UK, sometimes used attributively) A statement of exasperation associated with reactionary viewpoints.


shilling mark

A development of the long s ⟨ſ⟩, an abbreviation of Latin solidus, used to mark the amount of shillings in a sum. Formerly also the slash in all its uses, but this extended sense was taken on by the term solidus.

(UK, typography, historical) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩ in its use to mark the amount of shillings in a sum or (obsolete) in all its uses.

slash in its use to mark the amount of shillings in a sum or


invalid carriage

en-noun

invalid carriage (plural invalid carriages)

(chiefly UK, history) A three-wheeled motor vehicle allowing disabled people to drive on the road, no longer used because of safety concerns.


Motability

(UK) A scheme in the United Kingdom enabling disabled people and their families and carers to lease a vehicle or powered wheelchair using an allowance from the government.


forward stroke

(UK, typography) Synonym of forward slash.


jerrymander

British soldiers in Egypt used to have jerrymander fights, pitting one against another.

1935, Sir John Arthur Thomson, Biology for Everyman, page 367:

My Squadron Leader's crew adopted a family of jerboas and my Troop Corporals chose a black, spider-like monster, about 3 in. long with short legs and enormous jaws, which they called a "jerrymander".

1965, J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson, Desert Life, page 31:

They also are known by the British terms jerrymander and jerrymunglum.

2009, Gary R. Mullen, “Solpugids (Solifugae)”, in Medical and Veterinary Entomology, page 401:

(British, dated) Synonym of camel spider (arachnid of the order Solifugae)


SFO

(UK, New Zealand) Initialism of Serious Fraud Office.


get the dirty water off one's chest

en-verb

get<,,got> the dirty water off one's chest

get the dirty water off one's chest (third-person singular simple present gets the dirty water off one's chest, present participle getting the dirty water off one's chest, simple past and past participle got the dirty water off one's chest)

gets the dirty water off one's chest (present singular third-person)
getting the dirty water off one's chest (participle present)
got the dirty water off one's chest (participle past)
got the dirty water off one's chest (past)

en-au-get the dirty water off one's chest.ogg

'You've got to get the dirty water off your chest some time.'

Why not, I wonder, on my way, / Bored stiff and womanless for months, / To swim among and perv upon / The inaccessible Greek girls / And topless tourists round the bay, / Have random, casual sex and get / The dirty water off my chest?

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

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

(UK, idiomatic, slang) To get sexual satisfaction, especially after a period of abstinence.


niff

Whew, there's a bit of a niff in here. Is that your socks?

Police helicopters blared loudspeaker warnings about the smelly man. Soon afterwards, a nosy motel receptionist noticed a nasty niff from a new guest.

2014, Nick Arnold, Horrible Science: Body Owner's Handbook, page 159:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A bad smell.


uncolourability

We introduce weak oddness #92;omega#95;#123;#92;textrmw#125;, a new measure of uncolourability of cubic graphs, defined as the least number of odd components in an even factor.

2016, Robert Lukoťka, Ján Mazák, “Weak oddness as an approximation of oddness and resistance in cubic graphs”, in arXiv:

British standard spelling of uncolorability.


coalitionology

During the working lunch "between Old Danish [well known aquavit] and matured cheese," as Carl Bildt put it, "comparative coalitionology" was discussed.

1991 October 25, Daily Report. West Europe (United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service) FBIS-WEU-91-207 p.17

But, surely, we and all other media organisations allowed the poll numbers to infect our thinking: there was too much ‘coalitionology’ as a result. The BBC did better than others on this, but, with the benefit of hindsight, we would all have been better off with less discussion of deals and allowed the dissection of policy - that we did from defence to social care, housing to education - to speak for itself.

2015 June 2, James Harding, Speech at VLV Conference:

It led to an explosion of coalitionology, debating hung parliaments, possible coalitions, constitutional process and the 'legitimacy' of various outcomes, as everyone prepared for post-election deals.

2015 December 16, Philip Cowley, Dennis Kavanagh, The British General Election of 2015, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 297:

But his advice was for the party to major on policy issues and avoid what he called "coalitionology".

2016 January 18, Tim Bale, quoted in "'Grand coalition' option cannot be ruled out" Irish Independent

Speaking on the same programme, Harry McGee, Political Correspondent of the Irish Times, said it was all about "coalitionology", with much speculation about combinations.

2016 January 18, Latest polls suggest current Coalition will fall short of majority, RTÉ

It’s been called “coalitionology”: the new parlour and parliamentary game being played all over the country. Leaving aside internal divisions within parties as to whom they would prefer as part[n]ers, here are the combinations that would work mathematically.

2020 February 12, Senan Molony, "Election 2020: ‘Coalitionology’ — your guide to possible partners for a majority" The Times [Ireland edition]

2020 February 15, Pat Leahy, “Coalitionology: Sinn Féin’s most realistic route to power is closed. What now?”, in The Irish Times:

(British, Ireland, politics) (excessive) speculation around the time of a general election about possible coalition governments that might ensue


love heart

love hearts (plural)
loveheart (alternative)
love-heart (alternative)

There were no exclamation points in Miranda's messages. No emojis. No love hearts. Win wasn't surprised; there hadn't been much love between them since the argument over her daughter's sudden pregnancy.

2021, Christina Dalcher, Femlandia, page 168:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) The symbol ♥, used informally to convey the idea of (usually romantic) love.

'Here's your lollies,' she says holding out the grubby packet of lovehearts, Maura's share of the two shillings' worth they had bought with the money from the Barnardos box.

2001, Fiona Farrell, The Skinny Louie Book:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A sweet or candy in the shape of a heart.


I'll go to the foot of our stairs

“Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs,” said Elsie, totally flabbergasted.

2010, Anna Champney, Buried Past, Hidden Secrets, page 540:

“Did you hear that boys, I'm a girl, well I'll go to the foot of our stairs, I would never have known if he hadn't told me” she said, smiling at the Lad and by now enjoying the attention she was getting.

2015, Peter Knowles, Short Story Collection:

(UK, Northern dialect) Expressing astonishment.


triangulation pillar

en-noun

triangulation pillar (plural triangulation pillars)

(UK) A concrete pillar used by the Ordnance Survey as a point for taking theodolite measurements, used in determining the exact shape of the country in a mid-20th-century retriangulation project.


trigpointing

(UK) The recreational activity of searching for trigpoints.


retriangulation

retriangulation (countable and uncountable, plural retriangulations)

triangulation pillar
triangulation pillar

(UK, historical) The use of triangulation pillars to compute a more modern and accurate triangulation of Great Britain.


virgil

An anglicization of French virgule, from Latin virgula.

There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative... it is a slender stroke leaning forward, betokening a little short rest, without any perfectness yet of sentence.

No points were used by the ancient printers, excepting the colon and the period; but, after some time, a short oblique stroke, called a virgil, was introduced, which answered to the modern comma.

1828, Richard Thomson, Illustrations of the History of Great Britain, Vol. II, page 145

Whoever introduced the several points, it seems that a full-point, a point called come, answering to our colon-point, a point called virgil answering to our comma-point, the parenthesis-points and interrogative-point, were used at the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century.

1842, F. Francillon, An Essay on Punctuation, page 9:

Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.

1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20:

(typography, UK, archaic) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩.


admanuensis

(UK, law, historical) In old English law, one taking a corporal oath, that is, by laying the hand on the Bible, in distinction from one taking the oath in other forms, or affirming.


problematisation

problematisation (countable and uncountable, plural problematisations)

British standard spelling of problematization.


it's grim up north

(UK) A phrase suggesting that the standard of life in the north of England is poor compared to that in the south.


polypin

(UK, brewing) A plastic version of the kind of brewery cask called a pin (equal to half a firkin), popular in homebrewing and the off-trade (deliveries for home consumption).


faggery

Was it to be borne, that when the Slaves had been emancipated in the West Indies, and the Factory children had, been relieved from their incessant labour, that they were still to be doomed to the servile condition of Faggery, and be kept six hours a-day in school?

1839, “The Triumvirate”, in The Carthusian: A Miscellany in Prose and Verse, volume 1, page 182:

And, as faggery was an abuse too venerable and sacred to be touched by profane hands, he lodged no idle complaints.

1853, Thomas De Quincey, “Autobiographic Sketches”, in Philip Van Doren Stern, editor, Selected Writings Of Thomas De Quincey, published 1937, The Nation of London, page 190:

(UK, education, historical) The system in boarding schools whereby younger students acted as servants for older students.


yonderly

en-adj

yonderly (comparative more yonderly, superlative most yonderly)

more yonderly (comparative)
most yonderly (superlative)

"Well then, what's do wi' thee ; for thou's lookt o mornin as yonderly as if thou'd lost th' guiders o' thy een ?"

1885, Ben Brierley, Tales and Sketches of Lancashire Life. – Irkdale; or, the Odd House in the Hollow:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) anxious; absent-minded; vacant.


NIBMAR

(UK, politics, historical) Abbreviation of no independence before majority rule: a policy adopted by the United Kingdom requiring the implementation of majority rule in a colony, rather than rule by the white colonial minority, before the colony could be granted independence.


pavement cafe

pavement cafes (plural)
pavement café (alternative)


begrumpled

begrumpled (comparative more begrumpled, superlative most begrumpled)

more begrumpled (comparative)
most begrumpled (superlative)

From be- + grumpled, from grumple. Related to grumpy.

(UK, dialect) Sour, displeased or offended


sandwich cake

en-noun

sandwich cake (countable and uncountable, plural sandwich cakes)


scurrick

I haven't a scurrick left.


cubic decimetre

cubic decimetre (plural cubic decimetres)

cubic decimetres (plural)
cubic decimeter (alternative)

A unit of volume equal to that of a cube having sides each one decimetre in length, equal to 10⁻³ cubic metres and 1 litre. Commonly used in fluid measure and for engine sizes.


chumocracy

chumocracy (countable and uncountable, plural chumocracies)

How thrilling it would have been[…] if [Sadiq] Khan had denounced the [Thames garden] bridge in every way: […] as a symbol of the chummery – the chumocracy, even – that so offends the democratic and egalitarian traditions he is proud to represent.

2016 May 21, Ian Jack, “This garden bridge is an oddity born of the chumocracy”, in The Guardian:

The sums are so vast, the secrecy so shocking, that “chumocracy” doesn’t begin to capture what Britain has become – redolent as we are of banana republics, the Russian oligarchy and failed states.

2021 February 22, Polly Toynbee, “The Covid contracts furore is no surprise – Britain has long been a chumocracy”, in The Guardian:

Mr Hancock secretly appointed her [Gina Coladangelo] to his department as an unpaid adviser on a six-month contract in March last year. It sparked claims of a “chumocracy” when it became public knowledge in November.

2021 June 25, Rob Pattinson, Harry Cole, “Matt Hancock's secret affair with aide exposed after office snogs during Covid”, in The Sun:

(chiefly UK) A form of oligarchy: government characterised by nepotism and the frequent appointment to public office of friends or those of similar social background to those in power.


The S*n

From the name of the UK newspaper The Sun, implying that even referring to it by name is offensive. Used particularly in Liverpool since shortly after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which The Sun falsely attributed to hooliganism by Liverpool FC fans.

Billionaire entrepreneur Lord Sugar has slammed The S*n newspaper for their Hillsborough coverage after they mocked him for falling for a Twitter hoax.

2016 January 1, Dan Kay, “Lord Sugar slams The S*n over Hillsborough and backs Liverpool boycott”, in Liverpool Echo:

(UK, especially Liverpool, sometimes humorous, derogatory) Censored spelling of the Sun, a British tabloid newspaper.

Hillsborough disaster
Liverpool FC
The Sun (United Kingdom)


stepmum

(UK, Australia, Canada, New England, informal) Stepmother.


Cheggers

From Chegwin + -ers; from the BBC's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976–82).

Little Cheggers, his mobile henchman, laughs, gurgles and beats his tiny fists together like a baby on the old-fashioned Cow and Gate tins.

1977 December 9, Michael Church, “Multi-coloured Swap Shop”, in The Times, page 15:

(British, informal) Keith Chegwin (1957–2017), English actor and TV presenter.


Steel

(UK, slang, obsolete, historical) Bridewell Prison in London, England.


EHC

(UK, education) Initialism of education, health, and care.


benefit of clergy

It will be seen that what the defenders of Dali are claiming is a kind of benefit of clergy. That artist is to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding on ordinary people.

1944, George Orwell, Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali:

(UK, law, historical) A legal provision by which clergymen (and, later, anybody who could read) could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ecclesiastical court under canon law.


foundation degree

foundation degree (plural foundation degrees)

(education, UK) A vocational qualification in higher education, intended to give comprehensive knowledge in a subject to enable the holder to go on to employment or further study in that field.


box standard

en-adj

box standard (comparative more box standard, superlative most box standard)

more box standard (comparative)
most box standard (superlative)
box-standard (alternative)
boxed standard (alternative)

Originally in reference to the hollow-tube frames used as cases or mounting in various machines but now usually understood in reference to factory packaging and default standards.

(UK colloquial, used especially in automotive, motorcycling, engineering and technical contexts) Synonym of standard, especially with connotations of plainness and lack of modification.


ravenmaster

(UK) A Yeoman Warder responsible for the feeding and welfare of the ravens of the Tower of London.


parking permit

(UK) A pre-printed card, issued by several local authorities, that a resident (or his visitor) can display in his car when parking in a designated roadside place.


jam penny

Jam pennies were reportedly a favourite food of Queen Elizabeth II.


in with a shout

By halftime Solent trailed 42 - 46 and were still in with a shout, but once the senior players tired there was little to counter the constant Coventry attacks.

2007, Jim Rumsey, A Sporting Rollercoaster, →ISBN, page 263:

He's no taking the redundancy v. well but at 47 he is not exactly in with a shout down the Job Centre.

2012, Ken MacLeod, The Restoration Game, →ISBN:

We might be in with a shout for a fair play award and the club might win a certificate for having the cleanest toilets or best pies, but that's it.

2013, anonymous author, The Secret Player, →ISBN:

I knew and sensed I was in with a shout of a decent part after the success of our first film together — we had a winning formula and we were all brimming with confidence.

2013, Vinnie Jones, It's Been Emotional, →ISBN:

(UK) Having a good chance; likely to succeed.


metric martyr

Did they hold out for their heritage of Ls. Cs and Vs? Did they have their numeral martyrs as we have our metric martyrs?

The directives were implemented in the United Kingdom by a series of subordinate instruments, amending among others the Weight and Measures Act 1985. The 'metric martyrs' had refused to use the new and continental measurements.

2006, Monica Claes, The National Courts' Mandate in the European Constitution, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 238:

He was charged, convicted, and given a criminal record. Other metric martyrs followed in his footsteps, dragged to the dock and made criminals for giving their customers what they wanted.

2012, Michael Dobbs, A Sentimental Traitor, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(UK) A shopkeeper who is penalized for selling goods using the imperial system primarily or exclusively, in violation of the Weights and Measures Acts.


coach driver

(UK, Australia) A person employed to drive a coach (long-distance bus).


little house

(UK dialect, Australia, New Zealand) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.


north of Watford

(UK, informal) north of London and the Home Counties, and thus remote


go down the khazi

en-verb

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

goes down the khazi (present singular third-person)
going down the khazi (participle present)
went down the khazi (past)
gone down the khazi (participle past)

"Whoever the hell is running the place now has made a terrible mess of it," he said... "Not in the sense that it looks different, or that it isn't pretty much permanently full. It's just that the food as gone utterly down the khazi."

2009 February 19, Gareth Lewis, Southern Daily Echo:

go down the toilet
go down the toilet#English

(idiomatic, UK slang) Synonym of go down the toilet: to fail; to degenerate rapidly.


down the khazi

(idiomatic, UK slang) Synonym of down the toilet: wasted; irretrievable.


down the pan

From the former use of pan as a synonym of chamber pot.


chief rent

(British) An annual charge on certain freehold properties in England.


boghouse

boghouses (plural)
bog-house (alternative)

(UK, vulgar slang) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.


K-Mid

Abbreviation of Kate Middleton, a diminutive of Catherine and her maiden name.

K-Mid’s look was completed with grey Rupert Sanderson high heels. Unusually, her hair was curled beneath the brim for the Queen’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.

2016, Joely Chilcott, Fifty shades of K: Duchess shows her greys in drab hat and coat (in The Sun newspaper)

(UK, slang) Catherine, Princess of Wales.


ice cream parlour

en-noun

ice cream parlour (plural ice cream parlours)

ice cream parlor
ice cream parlor#English

British standard spelling of ice cream parlor.


odd bod

odd bods (plural)
odd-bod (alternative)
oddbod (alternative)

Oh I know: you're the odd bod. Of course, that's it, you're the odd bod.

2001, Norman Hampson, Not Really what You'd Call a War, →ISBN, page 111:

They had landed without the odd bod. They worked out that he must have bailed out pretty sharpish when Teddy first ordered them to abandon J-Jig.

2015, Kate Atkinson, A God in Ruins, →ISBN, page 292:

We are being asked for a maximum effort sometime over the next few nights, so if one of the other crew are short, then one of your chaps will have to fill in as an odd bod.

2015, Martin Whittle, Just Another Trip, →ISBN:

(UK, military slang) A temporary crew member who joins a mission with an established crew.

No doubt people sniggered at her. They thought of her as an odd bod. She was an odd bod.

1996, Stevie Davies, Four Dreamers and Emily, page 76:

Ruben was an odd bod. What else could he have been? It's one of life's mysteries how odd bods always find each other.

2000, Malin Lindroth, Night Watch, →ISBN, page 171:


tithead

From tit + head, in the police-officer sense referring to the helmets they wear.

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A fool; an idiot.

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A police officer.


birrova

So I cringe when they are regarded as kitsch and retro, a birrova laff. It's obviously not true.

2014, Jason Winstanley, Media Unfriendly:


Spoons

We took up the recommendation of the Pheasant in Brill, which is a lovely pub but which sadly only did food until 2 which we'd missed, so went to Spoons in Bicester for a late lunch instead, via a quick inspection of the charming little church in Ludgershall.

2007, Sir Benjamin Nunn, “Re: good pubs near brill / verney jct lines?”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

We went to Spoons but it was too busy so went across to The Punch House which I'm glad we did as the food was delicious. I had wild rice, nut and honey bake.

2014, Naomi Rettig, One More Year On Facebook, page 205:

(UK, slang) Any pub belonging to the Wetherspoons chain.


Lobbygate

(UK) A political scandal of 1998 in which lobbyists Derek Draper and Jonathan Mendelsohn were secretly recorded boasting that they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients.


Smeargate

(UK) A political scandal of 2009 in which Derek Draper and Damian McBride plotted to post false rumours on the Internet about the private lives of prominent members of the Conservative Party and their spouses.


arsefucker

arsefucker (countable and uncountable, plural arsefuckers)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative form of assfucker.


Scouse brow

She had a full face of make-up on, a scouse brow and false lashes.

2012, Katie Price, In the Name of Love, Random House, →ISBN, page 83:

She picked up her black eyeliner and worked at her brows to achieve a scouse brow.

2013, Lily-Anne Longjohn, Orange Butterfly, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 27:

This, from a girl who left Heathrow six months ago wearing skinny jeans and a Scouse brow and with her beloved hair straighteners carefully packed in her hand luggage.

2014, Alexandra Potter, The Love Detective, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(UK) A style of eyebrow where the thickness of the brow is exaggerated with a very dark pencil.


in flying colours

in flying colors
in flying colors#English

British standard spelling of in flying colors.


chinny reckon

(UK, slang) An expression of disbelief or doubt at what one has just heard.


unpenalised

British standard spelling of unpenalized.


refeminisation

British standard spelling of refeminization.


faggot voter

(UK, Ireland, historical) A person who qualified to vote in an election with a restricted suffrage only by the exploitation of loopholes in the regulations, typically by holding the title to a subdivision of property.


skinheads on a raft

Because the smooth white haricot beans resemble bald heads.

Before we knew it we arrived at the first control, Rebeck Cafe, Christines Diner or whetever its called now. Shared some road tales with a truck driver who joined us for skinheads on a raft and hit the road again.

2006 May 7, MSeries, “RR: Buttys Brid Trip 300”, in uk.rec.cycling (Usenet):

After all, who wouldn't want an exciting life of endless evenings spent watching the telly alone, tucking into a sumptuous banquet of cheap lager and skinheads on a raft (beans on toast),

2008, Jeff Green, The A-Z Of Being Single: A Survival Guide to Dating and Mating, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

2015, Melanie Hudson (Fiction writer), The Wedding Cake Tree (Choc Lit), Choc Lit →ISBN
'My signature dish,' he answered confidently, 'skinheads on a raft.'


let's be having you

This went on for a while, until one morning I came in about five to eight, not quite due on the shop floor yet, and I stopped outside the tearoom, put on my best Smiler voice: 'Right, lads, come on, let's be having you, let's have you on shop floor now, lads, come on, stop messing around in there with tea, come on, let's be having you.'

2009, Russell Watson, Finding My Voice, →ISBN, page 68:

You've just been volunteered, friend, so let's be having you.

2011, D.G. Compton, Justice City, →ISBN:

Draping a cloak round his crooked figure, he leaned on his cane and shuffled awkwardly to the door. 'Let's be having you!' he grumbled, impatiently donning his top hat. 'Or have you forgot we've a sale to attend?'

2012, Josephine Cox, Don't Cry Alone, →ISBN:

(UK, idiomatic) Expression to encourage someone to hurry up and move somewhere.


purple nasty

purple nasty (countable and uncountable, plural purple nasties)

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

From the drink's typical color, cloyingly sweet taste, and propensity to induce vomiting.

snakebite and black
snakebite and black#English

(UK, slang) Synonym of snakebite and black.


TV pickup

(UK) The situation where a commercial break during a television programme adversely affects electricity generation and transmission as large numbers of people are operating appliances (kettles, refrigerators, etc.) at the same time.


snakey B

snakey B (countable and uncountable, plural snakey Bs)


comprehensivize

en-verb

comprehensivize (third-person singular simple present comprehensivizes, present participle comprehensivizing, simple past and past participle comprehensivized)

comprehensivizes (present singular third-person)
comprehensivizing (participle present)
comprehensivized (participle past)
comprehensivized (past)
comprehensivise (alternative)

comprehensive school
comprehensive school

(UK, education) To adapt the education system to be based on comprehensive schools.


annual ryegrass

en-noun

annual ryegrass (countable and uncountable, plural annual ryegrasses)

Any of various species of ryegrass, including:

(US, UK, Canada) Lolium multiflorum, grown as a cover crop


GER

GOR (alternative)
GŒR (alternative)
GOER (alternative)

Great Eastern Railway
w:Great Eastern Railway

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of Great Eastern Railway.


singing hinny

Hinny (from honey) is a term of endearment in the dialects of the Newcastle area. The "singing" is the sizzling sound of the lard or butter during cooking.

(UK) A kind of bannock or scone with currants, traditional in the north of England.


fat rascal

(UK) A traditional kind of scone or rock cake from Yorkshire, England.


Dad's Army

After Dad's Army, a BBC television sitcom about the British Home Guard during the Second World War.


pavement chalk

pavement chalk (countable and uncountable, plural pavement chalks)


nowmun

(obsolete, UK, Lancashire, dialect, derogatory) A worthless person.


miss oneself

en-verb

miss oneself (third-person singular simple present misses oneself, present participle missing oneself, simple past and past participle missed oneself)

misses oneself (present singular third-person)
missing oneself (participle present)
missed oneself (participle past)
missed oneself (past)

'Shelly McCrindle? Did she go with yous?' Finn pursed her lips in surprise. 'Aye, You really missed yourself.'

2011, Alan Warner, The Stars in the Bright Sky, →ISBN, page 80:

Heh Willie, said a conductor, you missed yourself; best Meeting I've ever been at.

2012, James Kelman, The Busconductor Hines, →ISBN:

'You'll miss yourself. A walk about and a nice fish supper. If we get the sun it'll be lovely.'

2015, Andrew O'Hagan, The Illuminations, →ISBN:

(UK) To miss an enjoyable experience through not being in the right place at the right time.


bifta

He half-stood, keeping his back bent, and extended his left hand and the bifta toward me.

2002, Peter Craven, The Best Australian Stories, →ISBN, page 255:

Such a perfect spot to have lunch, and another bifta. I don't think the rest of the tourists with us were pleased that all the guides were getting high, but it's the end of the season, so no one gives a shit anymore.

2014, Tommy Hawkins, Let's Get Dogs#!t, →ISBN:

'Roll another fat one, Rashid,' Dooley said, looking over. 'Another giant bifta for the tea-break.'

2015, Andrew O'Hagan, The Illuminations, →ISBN, page 94:

'Well, hand relief is fifteen quid, a blow job's twenty, and the full bifta is forty-five quid.'

2009, Martina Cole, The Ladykiller, →ISBN:

Suits, top hats, the full bifta, then we can swan around the owners' enclosure looking the bollocks.

2011, Mark Baxter, Paolo Hewitt, The Mumper, →ISBN:

The full stem to stern bifta, as they said.

(UK, slang, with "full") Everything that is available or possible; the works.


wild marjoram

en-noun

wild marjoram (usually uncountable, plural wild marjorams)

(UK) English oregano, Origanum vulgare subsp. vulgare, which grows wild in the British Isles.


Spec-chum

Blend of spectrum + chum, introduced by Your Sinclair magazine.

In fact it's hardly surprising that plans for downloading it onto the Speccy were received with, erm, mirth to say the very least. I must admit that I myself thought something along the lines of "R-Type? Oh yeah?" Well, Spec-chums - let me tell you something: I've never been more wrong.

1989, Duncan Macdonald, R-Type (video game review in Your Sinclair issue 37, January 1989)

I don't *know* for sure, but I *believe* that hardware pseudo-random bit sequences like this one are often done using shift registers with feedback. Cue some more clued-up Spec-chum who can fill in the gory details...

2000, Robert J. Baker, “AY sound chip information”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet):

YS3 is the essential read for the discerning Spec-chum. Available now, you can either browse online, or download a copy to read at your leisure.

2003, Nat Cross, “nostalgia here we go”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet):

(slang, UK) A user or fan of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer.


meeterly

en-adv

meeterly (comparative more meeterly, superlative most meeterly)

more meeterly (comparative)
most meeterly (superlative)

(obsolete, UK, Northern England) tolerably; comfortably


Smirnoff

Smirnoffs (plural)
Smirnov (alternative)

Derived from Russian Смирно́в (Smirnóv).

I soon regretted drinking three Smirnoffs on an empty stomach.

(UK) A serving of the Smirnoff brand of vodka.


REF

(UK, education) Initialism of Research Excellence Framework: a system for assessing the quality of research in higher-education institutions.


Flakegate

(UK) A controversy of 2000 involving the wedding of TV presenter Anthea Turner to Grant Bovey, where the two were photographed eating Snowflake chocolate bars and the pictures were subsequently used to promote the product, damaging Turner's credibility.


American pondweed

Any of several North American aquatic plants

(UK) Potamogeton epihydrus, in the family Potamogetonaceae.


learning difficulty

en-noun

learning difficulty (plural learning difficulties)

Developmental disability
Learning disability

(UK, euphemistic) Any of a series of medically recognized conditions (as opposed to diseases) that inhibit a person's ability to function in the world.


marriage lines

Then, after the usual Quaker custom, everyone present signed the marriage lines as a witness.

1939, John Bakeless, Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness, →ISBN, page 7:

The traditional version of the story continues that Baabie Pitcairn ran to the body, stooped over it and took a paper from the inside pocket – her marriage lines.

2012, Marsali Taylor, The Story of Busta House, →ISBN, page 19:

But the loss of their marriage lines did not make writing to Mercy any easier, and he decided to write the letter to his mother first.

2013, Jane Aiken Hodge, Wide is the Water, →ISBN:

marriage certificate
marriage certificate


streets ahead

(British, postpositive, idiomatic) Far superior; much better or more advanced.


bargoose

Tadorna tadorna
Tadorna tadorna#Translingual

(dated, UK, dialect, Southern England) The common shelduck, Tadorna tadorna.


daily breader

daily breaders (plural)
daily-breader (alternative)

The early morning crowds [at a railway station] were known as "daily breaders", until the importation of the term "commuter" from the USA.

2000, Vic Mitchell, Keith Smith, Ealing to Slough, including the Heathrow Branch, Middleton Press, →ISBN:


onsetter

(mining, historical, UK, dialect, Northern England) A worker at the bottom of a mineshaft who exchanges the empty and full corves.


SLC

"We continuously strive to improve our processes and indeed have updated our systems accordingly. Ultimately, however, it is for the student to make a proper declaration to SLC [Student Loans Company]^([sic]) to draw down funding," LSST said in a statement.

2014 May 21, Andrew McGettigan, Shiv Malik, John Domokos, “Private sector and students profit at the college they call 'the ATM'”, in The Guardian:

Student Loans Company
w:Student Loans Company

(UK, government) Initialism of Student Loans Company.


good fences make good neighbours

good fences make good neighbors
good fences make good neighbors#English

British standard form of good fences make good neighbors.


slag tag

Our man knew her enough to know she was a sea of flesh, unsightly badly drawn slag tags and a cheap dress two sizes too small.

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, slang) A tattoo on a woman's lower back.


whizzer

In order better to appreciate the use of argot among thieves, a visit to a few public bars of the third-class public houses of Kennington or in the immediate vicinity of the Elephant and Castle would prove of great value, as hoisters, whizzers, tea-leaves, con-heads, broadsmen and brass nobs […]

1931, The Police Journal, volume 4, page 504:

It is doubtful if the Victorian Londoner needed any warning, for the artful mobsmen, toolers, whizzers and dippers, together with their stickman accomplices, were everywhere in the crowds, in the underground, on railway trains […]

1976, Michael Harrison, Beyond Baker Street: A Sherlockian Anthology, page 117:

They were whizzers (pickpockets) but they would also take part in burglaries.

He knew the whizzers – those innocent-looking men who crowd into omnibuses and rob the poor of their bitterly won earnings […]


chawl

From Middle English chaule, chavel, from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, jowl”). More at jowl.

(UK, dialectal, of a person) Jaw or cheek.

(UK, dialectal, of an animal) Jowl; cheek; face.


noncy

en-adj

noncy (comparative more noncy, superlative most noncy)

more noncy (comparative)
most noncy (superlative)
noncey (alternative)

From nonce + -y. Sense 2 is probably after poncy.

Yeah, he’s getting a bit noncy, ain’t he lately? I seen him walking down the high street the other day with his Filofax held up in front of him.

1989 January 8, John Sullivan, “Yuppy Love”, in Only Fools and Horses, season 6, episode 1, spoken by Mickey Pearce (Patrick Murray), London: BBC One:

IN a survey of nine cities, Prima magazine claimed that Geordie men were the least likely to help a damsel in distress. Now, as a native of Newcastle I will not have noncy London magazines casting aspersions on our menfolk.

2001 August 12, Carole Malone, “It’s only a matter of priorities”, in Sunday Mirror, London, →OCLC, page 25:

“On the corner? There’s a Starbucks.” / “I wouldn’t set foot in the place!” Macy was gabbling like a spin cycle on overdrive. “Capitalist pigs! Brainwashed the public into believing that in order to maintain their visibility, they need to sport a cardboard container full of brown water with some noncy Italian name – what happened to a simple cup of coffee?[…]”

2023 June 19, Wendy Salisbury, chapter 51, in Take Two Tablets, London: Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:


poll card

(UK) An informational document sent to all registered voters shortly before an election.


Loyalist

Patriot

antonym(s) of “person during the American Revolution”

republican

antonym(s) of “supporter of Irish unification”

(UK, Ireland) A supporter of keeping Northern Ireland under British rule instead of unification with Ireland, usually from a Protestant background.

Orange

a supporter of keeping Northern Ireland under British rule


vicar choral

vicars choral (plural)
vicar-choral (alternative)

(UK) Synonym of lay clerk in certain choirs.

He managed the property of the dean and chapter, and knew what were the rights, and also what were the wrongs, of prebendaries and minor canons,—of vicars choral, and even of choristers.

(UK, historical) An assistant to a canon or prebendary of a collegiate church having special responsibility for the choir as opposed to the altar.


Nige

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


cock on

Chris has got it cock on, the only way to do it is by using a membraine. Rendering it both sides WILL NOT sort out the damp problem, no mater how much waterproofer you use.

2010 August 21, SB Plastering, “Re: Painting a rendered retaining garden wall.”, in Ultimate Handyman:

As a teenager I wanted a Sigma Wand, but I never got one. I'm definitely having one of these though. The new rod is cock-on!

2012 December 10, Dave Woodmansey, “Wand still waves its magic”, in Improve Your Coarse Fishing, number 266, Bauer Consumer Media, page 82:

what I do is mix a small amount of fast set epoxi resin glue and hold the screen in place with fingers or blue tac, wait for the glue to start going stiff beffor I put a small dab on each end of the back of screen to mod, this way the glue wont run or capillary attract across the front surface, when satisfied ive got it cock on center, I can then seal the whole screen against the mod using the same method.

2015 September 26, davemaxx, “Up/down buttons and screen protection”, in Evolv DNA Forum:

One attempt, nearly there.... I gave up taking photos at this point but it took another two goes to get it 'cock-on'. Now tighten the three 13mm bolts so the outer cam pulley is locked back to the inner pulley.

2016 May 17, ct.p, “PD150 cambelt change, different to 1.8t?”, in UK-MKIVs.net:

(UK, informal) Performed well; excellent; exact; correct.


cock on

Cock-on mate well done!

2010 May 31, Aardvark101, “Indy 500 - Conway Crash”, in Photography on the Net:

Cock on mate. These reports are a bit special

2011 November 5, Silent Hill, “Beelitz heilstatten REPORT 4 (honest ) - Chirurgie. IMAGE INTENSIVE!!!”, in Derelict Places:

(UK, informal) Good work; well done; excellent.


cock on

en-verb

cock on (third-person singular simple present cocks on, present participle cocking on, simple past and past participle cocked on)

cocks on (present singular third-person)
cocking on (participle present)
cocked on (participle past)
cocked on (past)
cock-on (alternative)

(dated, UK, slang) To exaggerate; to overcharge.


go order

(UK) A police order that temporarily bans a perpetrator of domestic violence from the family home, preventing the victim from having to flee.


fussicky

en-adj

fussicky (comparative more fussicky, superlative most fussicky)

more fussicky (comparative)
most fussicky (superlative)

Both teams like to wait, Wales without the ball, Portugal in fussicky possession.

2016 July 6, “Wales’s epic journey comes to an end as Ronaldo gets to run Portugal show”, in The Guardian:


May Week

(UK) The celebratory week at the end of the academic year at Cambridge University, originally in May but now taking place in June.


SENCO

(UK, education) Abbreviation of special educational needs coordinator.


List X

(UK) A list of commercial (non-government) sites in United Kingdom territories that are approved to hold confidential information.


papern

papern (comparative more papern, superlative most papern)

more papern (comparative)
most papern (superlative)

A woodhouse is rightly a house for wood, and a woodenhouse one made of wood; a paper bag, a bag for papers, and a papern bag, one made of paper; an iron tool, one for working in iron, and an ironen tool, one of iron, and so on.

1832, Sylvanus Urban (pseud. van Edward Cave.), Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle:

Put thare ta draw things out a Jan; An thit twis bit a papern wal, Zo thit tha witch cude yer et al, An, wen Jan enter'd tother dore, Cude tul min aul ha'd naw'd avaur ;— [...]

1865, Nathan Hogg, Poetical Letters and a Witch Story, in the Devonshire dialect:

Afore night 'twur the talk o' all the parish, an' folk did run in an' out all day long for a week to look at un. An' I got a basket o 'apples an' a papern bag o' lollipops for the childern to carr' in my pocket. [...] But the lollipops had all a-melted drough the papern bag, an' he wur a-stickt to my pocket.

(rare, chiefly UK dialectal) Made of paper.


qualgo

From the initial letters; modelled on earlier quango.

(British) A quango associated with local government rather than national government.


freepost

There are greater constraints on the complexity and length of the questionnaire: if it is not short, simple and easy to complete the respondent is likely to bin it. A stamped addressed envelope or a freepost number can be used to facilitate return.

2013, Robin Flowerdew, David M. Martin, Methods in Human Geography:

There is a belief that real postage stamps lead to a greater response. This seems to be because respondents see the stamp as money and are less likely to throw it away; in comparison, a freepost or pre-paid envelope is worthless.

2013, Nigel Bradley, Marketing Research: Tools and Techniques:

(chiefly UK) A postal service allowing a person to send mail without affixing postage, the recipient paying when collecting the mail.

Freepost on one election communication

2019, Electoral Commission, European Parliamentary elections (Great Britain):

(UK) A postal service allowing an electoral candidate, political party or government department to send mail wholly paid for by Royal Mail (as the statutory universal postal service provider).


OLHC

(UK) Office of the Leader of the House of Commons


DCMS

w:Department for Culture, Media and Sport

(UK) Initialism of Department for Culture, Media and Sport.


DfE

Department for Education
w:Department for Education

(UK, education, UK politics) Initialism of Department for Education.


swind

en-verb

swind (third-person singular simple present swinds, present participle swinding, simple past and past participle swinded)

swinds (present singular third-person)
swinding (participle present)
swinded (participle past)
swinded (past)


lovie

'Yeah, lovie,' Dermot winked, 'a free flight is exactly what you won.'

2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

(UK) Alternative form of lovey (“term of address”).


knickies

When the kettle boiled I put the warm knickies on.

1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 2:


skeng

Man still money dance in the bando / L1 in the cut two rambos / I love skengs and peds, violence no meds / They say one-fifty but it's one-four-six, true there friend dem dead

2016 June 28, “Hazards”, Loski (lyrics)performed by Loski:

(slang, Caribbean, Jamaica, UK, MLE) A weapon, especially a gun or a knife.


leisure centre

leisure centres (plural)
leisure center (alternative)

(UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada) A building or site open to the public for fitness and sporting activities.


unofficial farthing

en-noun

unofficial farthing (plural unofficial farthings)

(UK, historical, informal) A token, similar in appearance to a real farthing, used for marketing and small change during the latter 19th century.


swack-up

UK c. 1860s. Used at Christ's Hospital School, Sussex.

(dated, British, school slang) A lie; a falsehood.


swack up

en-verb

swack up (third-person singular simple present swacks up, present participle swacking up, simple past and past participle swacked up)

swacks up (present singular third-person)
swacking up (participle present)
swacked up (participle past)
swacked up (past)

(dated, British, school slang) To lie; to deceive; to take in.


ONC

Ordinary National Certificate
w:Ordinary National Certificate

(UK, education) Initialism of Ordinary National Certificate.


wassis

“Wassis? Alligator skin?”' Nussbaum does a Richard Pryor accent. “'No fuckin' class, Whitey!”

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(chiefly UK) Pronunciation spelling of what's this.


bird-nesting

birds'-nesting (alternative)
bird nesting (alternative)

Let's go bird-nesting.

1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 189:

They [the boys] all had catapults […]. In summer they used to go fishing and bird-nesting.

1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air, London: Victor Gollancz, page 56 (Penguin 1962 edition):

(UK, Australia) The, formerly common, hobby of looking for birds' nests, often with the intention of collecting the eggs.


oralise

oralise (third-person singular simple present oralises, present participle oralising, simple past and past participle oralised)

oralises (present singular third-person)
oralising (participle present)
oralised (participle past)
oralised (past)
oralize (alternative)

(chiefly UK) To speak out something that is written, to turn something written into something oral.


oralisation

en-noun

oralisation (countable and uncountable, plural oralisations)

oralisations (plural)
oralization (alternative)

(chiefly UK) The act or an act of oralising; the act or an act of turning something written into something oral.


end-of-the-pier

A reference to the pleasure piers in British seaside resorts, which often featured music hall entertainment and were popular working-class holiday locations.

Meanwhile, that butt of the end-of-the-pier comedian's joke, the mother-in-law as dictatorial hag, has become a figure associated with nostalgia for the days when workingmen's clubs were just that (and, indeed, marking a time when generations were forced to live cheek-by-jowl in the same household).

1999, Andrew Blaikie, Ageing and Popular Culture, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 156:

It seems a simple yes or no question, but actually compresses a complex group of ideas - about sexuality, gender, meaning and the figurative history of sculpture - into something you might expect from an end-of-the-pier comedy routine.

2002, Frieze: Contemporary Art and Culture:

The production employed the John Barry Seven to re-work the songs of Gilbert & Sullivan, setting them against the dancing of Lionel Blair, with eye-rolling, end-of-the-pier jokes from Mike and Bernie Winters and Tommy Cooper.

2009, Christopher Fowler, Paperboy, Random House, →ISBN, page 180:

(UK, usually derogatory) Pertaining to a bawdy, old-fashioned style of broad comedy.


nidgeting

(UK, East Anglia, historical) The visiting of neighbours' houses to summon the midwife and other women to a birth.


restrategise

en-verb

restrategise (third-person singular simple present restrategises, present participle restrategising, simple past and past participle restrategised)

restrategises (present singular third-person)
restrategising (participle present)
restrategised (participle past)
restrategised (past)
restrategize (alternative)

(intransitive, chiefly UK) To form a new strategy.


strategiser

strategisers (plural)
strategizer (alternative)


county court

(UK, except Scotland) A civil court which deals with civil cases, such as divorce.


spanner in the works

en-noun

spanner in the works (plural spanners in the works)

throw a spanner in the works

put a spanner in the works

(chiefly UK) Something that disrupts smooth operation or functioning.