yah boo sucks

Since this is the world of the comics, it seems likely that scientific evidence of the true nature of the phenomenon will not end the debate. If it does, then Yah, boo, sucks!

1971, Dr Martin Sherwood, New Scientist and Science Journal:

These things should be in pockets the world over, saying: 'Made in Britain, so yah-boo-sucks'.

'How do you know?' said the pretend Hamish. 'Nobody can tell the difference. Yah boo sucks!'

2004, Humphrey Carpenter, Mr Majeika and the Haunted Hotel:

(British) A childish expression of derision or scorn.


Brizzle

Imitative of the pronunciation used by some natives of Bristol.

(UK dialectal, West Country, Bristol, informal) Bristol.


how bist

(UK dialect, West Country and West Midlands, informal) How are you? (greeting)


disability sport

en-noun

disability sport (countable and uncountable, plural disability sports)

(uncountable, British) Collectively, all disability sports


shagless

Consequently, as I didn't much fancy shagging someone's granny or risking getting arrested by hitting on a schoolgirl ― indisputably gorgeous though some of them were ― I had gone shagless for the past few months.

2010, Peter Jaggs, Blundering Around Isaan, page 83:

If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete it.

2012, Jack Jacoby, The Biggest Joke Book Ever, page 203:


Suicide Sunday

So called because of the stress and anxiety associated with waiting for examination results.

(informal, UK, Cambridge University) The Sunday immediately after the end of the summer term (known as Easter Term), at which point all students have finished exams but most of the results have not been published.


AGCAS

(UK, education) Initialism of Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.


waps

(chiefly African-American Vernacular and UK, dialectal) Alternative form of wasp.


pay rise

pay rises (plural)
payrise (alternative)

Whelan called the offer "risible", describing it as a "land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiating over the years". He demanded a no-strings pay offer that recognises the "significant cost of living increases" since the last pay rise in 2019.

2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: New action from ASLEF to hit Bank Holiday services”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 14:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, rest of Commonwealth, sometimes Canada) An increase in salary or wages.


J-cloth

From a brand name, short for Johnson & Johnson, the name of the manufacturer.

(UK), (Canada) A kind of absorbent cloth for washing dishes, mopping up spillages, etc.


spanwanned

Possibly from Old English spannan (“to span”) + winnan (“to struggle, to suffer”); from Proto-Germanic *spannaną, *winnaną.

(UK, Potteries, agricultural) stuck astride a wall whilst attempting to climb over it.


oo arr

oh arr (alternative)
ooh arrh (alternative)

Oo arr, that's a good idea.

(UK, West Country) Used to indicate agreement.

Oo arr, you and whose army?

(UK, West Country) Used to introduce a refutation, sometimes sarcastically.

You like peaches? Oo arr.

(UK, West Country) Used to imply innuendo.


oh ar

Oh ar, that's a good idea.

(UK, West Midlands) Used to indicate agreement.

Oh ar, you and whose army?

(UK, West Midlands) Used to introduce a refutation, sometimes sarcastically.


sell up

en-verb

sell up (third-person singular simple present sells up, present participle selling up, simple past and past participle sold up)

sells up (present singular third-person)
selling up (participle present)
sold up (participle past)
sold up (past)

[…] he was never known to give away a shilling or to do a good action, but was of a pleasant, sly, laughing mood, and would cut his joke and drink his glass with a tenant and sell him up the next day […]

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 9, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

(transitive, British) To sell all (of the assets of a company or person), in order to reduce its debts or gain liquid money.


honour guard

honour guards (plural)
honor guard (alternative)
guard of honour (alternative)

Princess Anne inspects the Honour Guard at Rideau Hall.

2014, “Princess Anne takes part in Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.”, in Canada.com:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) a ceremonial assembly of uniformed military personnel performing the duty of escort or exhibition, i.e. accompany a casket during a funeral procession.


do me a favour

You expect me to clean up all this mess for you? Do me a favour.

Debbie remained seated. "Go to bed," she ordered.
"With you here? Why what do you think I'll do, cut my throat with an electric razor? I know this dump's enough to drive anybody nuts but do me a favour."

2012, Keith Blackburn, Changes in a Landscape, page 134:


Mary Ann

Maryann (alternative)
Mary Anne (alternative)

(UK, historical) An imaginary character to whom the Sheffield Outrages were attributed.


get on to

get on to (third-person singular simple present gets on to, present participle getting on to, simple past got on to, past participle (UK) got on to or (US) gotten on to)

gets on to (present singular third-person)
getting on to (participle present)
got on to (past)
got on to (UK participle past)
gotten on to (US participle past)

That pipe is leaking again. I'll get on to the plumber in the morning.

(UK) To contact (someone) in order to raise or discuss a certain matter.


goose club

(UK, historical) A club for working-class people, allowing them to save money towards a goose for Christmas dinner.


kirby grip

kirby grips (plural)
kirby pin (alternative)

After the English manufacturers: Kirby, Beard & Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. Pre-dates the invention of the “bobby pin”. For the etymology of the surname, see Kirby.

(UK, Ireland) A type of double-pronged hairgrip


Slavonic studies

(humanities, UK, Ireland) Alternative form of Slavic studies.


proggins

And the Proggins! Isn't his velvet sleeves like a woman's?

1907, Arthur Stringer, The Loom of Destiny, page 142:

I got hold of his arm to take him to college, steering him with some difficulty. When we were opposite St. Mary's the cry of 'The proggins (proctor) is coming' was raised, and I saw him with the bulldogs about thirty yards in front of us.

1992, Malcolm Graham, Images of Victorian Oxford, page 80:


oi oi

- Hans, is it perhaps time we had a word with Jeremy?
- Oh, yeah. Jez, listen... Oi oi, tequila slammers!

2004, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, “Wedding” (around 6 min 30 sec from the start), in Peep Show, season 2, episode 12:

- Oi oi!
- Sorry mate, we don't serve your kind here.

2007, “Never Drink Alone”, in The Road to Rampton, performed by The Anti-Nowhere League:

Oi oi!

2007, James Corden, Ruth Jones, around 4 min 30 sec from the start, in Gavin & Stacey, season 1, episode 1:

(UK, slang) Hey; look; drawing attention to something.


purveyancing

(British) The requisitioning of goods and services for royal use.


wheatsel

(UK, dialect, dated) The time when wheat is sown.


RIDDOR

w:Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations

(UK) Initialism of Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.


symbol group

(UK, retail) A form of retail franchise company that does not own or operate stores, but acts as a supplier to independent grocers, supermarkets, etc. which then trade under a common banner.


twattery

their ‘I’m a pirate!’ shtick was once mildly amusing[…]but 15 years of cheeseball folk/power metal[…]and general yo-ho-ho-ing twattery have flogged any vestiges of entertainment out of it.

2022 June 24, Dave Everley, “Alestorm's Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum: "all the joyless enthusiasm of a dog licking its balls"”, in Metal Hammer:

(UK, Ireland, slang) obnoxious or antisocial behaviour


dandelion and burdock

During the summer holidays I wait around for him to arrive so that I can get at the dandelion and burdock before my brothers do.

2005, Nigel Slater, Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, Penguin, →ISBN:

We had fizzy dandelion and burdock, because it was pop man day. Dandelion and burdock is like shandy, only nicer.

2006, Zoompad, Tip, Trafford Publishing →ISBN, page 16

Dandelion and burdock is for many people a taste of childhood. I remember becoming a fan one summer and refusing to drink anything else.

2011, Andy Hamilton, Booze for Free, Random House, →ISBN:

"Dandelion and burdock! A local delicacy, I believe. Regrettably, no alcohol." She brought cups from the table in the corner and they tried it.

2012, Wendy Robertson, A Thirsting Land, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(UK) A drink traditionally flavoured with dandelion root and burdock root, sometimes fermented.


expiry date

The expiry date of my debit card is the 30th of April.

You'd better throw that milk out: it's passed the expiry date.

(UK) The date on which something runs out or expires and becomes out of date, in many cases needing renewal.


chartered accountant

en-noun

chartered accountant (plural chartered accountants)

(British) A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales or Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland


sugar mummy

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative form of sugar mama.


sugar mamma

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative spelling of sugar mama.


tyre biter

Referring to their frequent involvement in car chases.

Tyre biters have got our list of members. Don't worry, we'll find the leak, whoever you are.

2013, Sue Williams, Murder with the Lot, page 181:


cammocky

Folklore English farmers certainly disliked restharrow for another reason. Although it was eaten with relish by the cows, it used to taint the taste of the milk, butter and cheese, and ‘cammocky’ butter was a nuisance in counties where restharrow is common.

2006, Jocelyne Lawton, Flowers & Fables: A Welsh Herbal, page 49:

Cammocky butter was a nuisance in Sussex, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. In the north children dug up the root and chewed it.

1975, Geoffrey Grigson, The Englishman's flora, page 141:

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Southern England, of milk, butter or cheese) Having an unpleasant taste or smell because it came from a cow that ate cammock.


Maxwellisation

James Clerk Maxwell
Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution
Robert Maxwell

From Maxwell + -isation (suffix forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing something).
Sense 1 is named after the Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) who first formulated what is now called the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, a probability distribution originally used for describing particle speeds in idealized gases, in 1860. Sense 2 is named after the British media proprietor and fraudster Robert Maxwell (1923–1991) who brought a court case in respect of a 1969 British government report that was critical of his conduct. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales held that he should have been shown the draft final conclusions of the inquiry so that he could respond to them.

suffix

(British, law) A process whereby a person criticized in an official inquiry is given an opportunity to read and respond to the criticisms before the report of the inquiry is published.


UTR

(UK) Initialism of unique taxpayer reference.


gawming

A sniff of strong ammonia could not have revived Martha's drooping spirits more effectually. “Miss him!” she repeated, “don't worry about my missin' that gawming creature. I shall be able to keep things decently clean after he's out o' the way.”

1893, Mrs. O. W. Scott, The Gilead Guards: A Story of War-times in a New England Town:

Yet Nancy's gawming son
Set free more sad and hopeless men
Than any king has done;

1916, Daniel Leavens Cady, Adam Et Ux, in Maize and Milkweed: Fifty-two Stalks

(chiefly UK, dialectal, Rutland, Leicestershire, but also US) Alternative form of gorming.


if'n

iffen (alternative)
ifen (alternative)
effen (alternative)
ef'n (alternative)

Uncertain. The spelling ef'n is attested since at least 1909. Perhaps a compound of if and an (“if”) (a variant, attested since Middle English, of and (“if”); compare an if and gin (“if”)); if an is attested since at least the 1700s. Alternatively, perhaps a compound of if and -in', generalized from conjunctional uses of considering, excepting, and so on, or of if and -en as in offen (“off”), outen (“out”) (which goes back to Old English ūtan), etc. Compare less'n. Lastly, as with the etymology above, it may be a contraction of if (and) when.

We'll^([sic]) I'm try'n to cooperate and let you know where I'll be if n you need me!

2007, Robert H. Henry, Bowden's South Pass Justice, page 311:

(chiefly Southern US, South Midland US, and some dialects in British) If.


gormed

(British, dialect, euphemistic) Damned, in the sense of "I'll be damned if...", expressing utter certainty.


gaumy

en-adj

gaumy (comparative more gaumy, superlative most gaumy)

more gaumy (comparative)
most gaumy (superlative)
gormy (alternative)

From gaum + -y, from gaum (“to smear”), which see for more.

The narrow, dark stairs are gaumy with paste, and everywhere open barrels of the mixture gave out the sickening, sour odor that is always in the nostrils of the workers.

1914, Edwin Markham, Children in Bondage: A Complete and Careful Presentation:

And Fothergil Finch, rather gaumy
With Cosmic cosmetics, was there,
But the Swami went just as the Swami,
After oiling the kinks in his hair.
I said to Hermione: "Goddess! You're graceful, you're Greek, you're a rose, […]"

1916, Don Marquis, Hermione and Her Little Group of Serious Thinkers, page 164:

Far from being gaumy with pitch, they looked rather remarkably smooth and well manicured.

1946, Jessie Scott, The Charity Ball, page 259:

(US and UK, dialects) Sticky; smeared with something sticky.


begaum

en-verb

begaum (third-person singular simple present begaums, present participle begauming, simple past and past participle begaumed)

begaums (present singular third-person)
begauming (participle present)
begaumed (participle past)
begaumed (past)

Honest toil! The kind that bedews a guy's brow with honest sweat and also begaums it with what came from the crank case and off the axle; […]

1926 January 2, Kennett Harris, “Onward and Upward Led”, in The Saturday Evening Post, volume 198, number 27, page 6:

He was wearing jeans and a blue shirt too, but they wasn't all begaumed, the shirt had been clean afore he sweated it out clumbing up the hill.

1963, Dorothy B. Hughes, “The Granny Woman”, in Gamma, volume 1, number 2, page 5:

(rare, US and UK, dialects, chiefly in the past tense) To smear (with something sticky or messy).


gaumish

Those who happen to be deficient in that particular quality come in for no unfrequent reproofs and warnings from their more ‘gaumish’ fellows.

1898, Richard Blakeborough, Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, page 218:

An assistant in a grocer's establishment at Middlesbrough — a gaumish young fellow — told me that when he was in a shop at Whitby they had engaged the services of an assistant who was totally unaccustomed to their mode of speech.

1901, Charles Frederick Morris, Vowel-sounds of the East Yorkshire Folk-speech, page 19:

Dan, a gaumish, freckled youth, grinned sheepishly and said 'Tank ye' at intervals for no apparent reason.

1938, Mary Manning, Mount Venus, page 193:

(UK, dialectal, rare) Intelligent, perceptive.


Dyson

Genericized trademark of the brand name used by Dyson, a company known for their range of cyclonic vacuum cleaners, named after its founder James Dyson (born 1947). Compare Hoover.

cyclonic vacuum cleaner
cyclonic vacuum cleaner

(UK, informal) A cyclonic vacuum cleaner.


the biter bit

the biter, bit (alternative)
the biter bitten (alternative)

In a case of “the biter, bit”, ex-News of the World journalist, Andrea Vance, had her emails accessed and her movements tracked by the civil service.

2013 August 6, Malcolm Wright, “Snooping scandal shows disconnect between ranks of civil service”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

There was a bit of a Twitter storm recently after a bordeaux producer suggested that half the wine critics who rated the en primeur releases didn’t know their fundaments from their elbows. Well, fair enough, the biter bit and all that – chefs often have a go at restaurant critics, too.

2018 July 6, Fiona Beckett, “Four wines that don't need to make a point”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(British) A hurt person who has hurt others in the past.

pilkattu pilkkaaja

a hurt person who has hurt others in the past


home farm

The produce of the home farm was mostly consumed in his own household. The rents, which he received from his tenants, did not exceed £100 per annum[.]

1854, “The Old English Hall”, in The Illustrated Magazine of Art, volume 4, number 22, page 247:

(UK) Part of a country estate that is farmed by the landowner or an employed farm manager, while most of the estate is rented out to tenant farmers.


wierangle

(obsolete, UK, dialect, North of England) The butcherbird.


Fred Karno's army

/fɹɛd ˈkɑːnəʊz ɑːmiː/

From the First World War marching tune "We're Fred Karno's Army", ultimately from the slapstick music hall entertainer Fred Karno.

Karno's army (alternative)
Fred Carno's army (alternative)
Carno's army (alternative)

Whatever any hon. Member in any part of the Committee thinks about the advisability of this Bill, they all wish the Force that eventually is created to be an efficient one and not a Fred Karno's army.

1951 November 28, Anthony Head, “New Clause.—(ENROLMENT.)”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), volume 494, column 1656:

It was like bloody Fred Karno's army out there. They were sods. Drunk as lords. Been to a wedding party or something.

1973, John Pellow, With a Little Help from My Friends, page 156:

'Honest, Marian — it's a right Fred Karno's army setup . . .'

1997, Craig Thomas, A Different War, page 221:

(UK, slang) A chaotic, poorly-managed group.


motor trade

en-noun

motor trade (countable and uncountable, plural motor trades)

(UK) Those businesses involved in the buying and selling of motor vehicles, supply of spare parts, and the repair of vehicles.


bog paper

Derived from the reference to a toilet as "the bog".


cybernat

Clipping of cybernationalist as a play on cybernaut, said to have been coined by British politician George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock (born 1942): see the 5 July 2012 quotation.

He [Iain Gray] added: “Back in May I asked Alex Salmond to get a grip of these ‘cyber nats’ bloggers. At the time they were spreading rumours about me and other politicians as well. I think Alex Salmond has to come to parliament, apologise, and explain just exactly what has gone on.”

2009 November 29, “Parties Demand Salmond Holds Blog Smear Inquiry”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2009-12-02:

The time could not be more crucial, with the referendum on Scottish independence only two years away, and fears emerging that the war of words between so-called ‘cybernats’ and ‘cyberbrits’ could distort or even stifle mainstream political discourse. Labour peer Lord Foulkes claims crediting for coining the term cybernat to describe Nationalists and supporters of independence who conduct rhetorical guerrilla warfare on Twitter, Facebook and the comment threads of newspaper websites. Rather than initiating discussions about policy or ideas, cybernats demonise those opposed to the SNP and independence and dismiss them as, inter alia, cowardly, unpatriotic, and even traitorous.

2012 July 5, “Cybernats and Cyberbrits: How Do They Affect Mainstream Political Debate?: Scotland Tonight Discusses the Phenomenon of Abusive Online Comments and Attacks”, in STV, archived from the original on 2016-10-27:

Currently, he [Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan] openly presents himself as a 'vauntie cybernat, former ambassador, and human rights activist', keeping him in sync with the alternative diplomatic culture he always practised, though he now freely engages in the everyday ambassadorship he once struggled to legitimate among his peers.

2015, Jason Dittmer, Fiona McConnell, editors, Diplomatic Cultures and International Politics: Translations, Spaces and Alternatives (Routledge New Diplomacy Studies), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:

The much-vaunted phenomenon of the "cybernat", spraying online vitriol from a dingy bedroom, does indubitably exist, but so does its exact equivalent on the opposite side.

2016, Mike Parker, “Caledonia Dreaming: September – December 2014”, in The Greasy Poll: Diary of a Controversial Election, Talybont, Ceredigion, Wales: Y Lolfa, →ISBN:

(British, informal) A Scottish nationalist who takes part in Internet activism.


Ulster Says No

(Ireland, UK, historical) A unionist mass protest campaign against the provisions of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement which gave the government of the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in Northern Ireland's government.


four thieves' vinegar

From the story that thieves, by using it, were enabled to plunder, with impunity to health, in the great plague at London. Possibly originally a corruption of "Forthave's vinegar", Richard Forthave being the publisher of an early recipe.

(UK, archaic) Vinegar mixed with camphor and essential oils, formerly used as medicine.


octochamp

octochamps (plural)
octo-champ (alternative)

From octo- (“eight”) + champ (short form of champion).

prefix

short form of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">champion</i>

For quotations using this term, see Citations:octochamp.

(UK, informal) A winner of eight consecutive heats of the British television game show Countdown.


fingertip search

en-noun

fingertip search (plural fingertip searches)

fingertip searches (plural)
finger-tip search (alternative)

Several media liaison officers placed particular emphasis on the use of photo opportunities of elements of the investigation to gain or revive press interest (fingertip searches, house-to-house visits, underwater searches and so on).

1999, Andy Feist, The effective use of the media in serious crime investigations, London: Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, →ISBN:

Police search teams led by Police Constable Franklin and Police Constable Sawyer conducted a thorough fingertip search of the common approach path of the area surrounding the body and of the area on either side of the approach path.

2004, Lord Brian Hutton, Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons Dated 28th January 2004 for the Report of the Inquiry Into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly C.M.G., The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 87:

If the crime scene is small enough, SOCOs may carry out a fingertip search for evidence. Kneeling shoulder-to-shoulder and moving forward together, officers search the ground in front of them so that every inch of the crime scene is examined.

2007, Carey Scott, Crime Scene Detective, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, →ISBN, page 9:

(UK) A fastidious forensic search of a crime scene, usually performed by investigators crawling along the ground.


RSE

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


see someone right

en-verb

see someone right (third-person singular simple present sees someone right, present participle seeing someone right, simple past saw someone right, past participle seen someone right)

sees someone right (present singular third-person)
seeing someone right (participle present)
saw someone right (past)
seen someone right (participle past)

Throw those curtains wide; one day like this, a year would see me right.

2008, Elbow (band), One Day Like This (song)


Baker day

After Kenneth Baker, the minister who introduced them in 1988 as part of a series of education reforms.


INSET day

(UK, education) A day during term-time on which pupils do not attend school, but staff take part in training or complete administrative tasks.


Big Four

the Big Four (canonical plural)
Big 4 (alternative)

In several respects, the conditions which prevailed when this great venture was begun differed greatly from those in which the "Big Four" companies had embarked upon their previous regime in 1923.

1951 April, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, pages 223-224:

Any group of four major or largest corporations in a given industry, especially when such a small group has oligopoly or near-oligopoly.

(UK, historical) The four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947: the Great Western Railway (GWR); the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER); and the Southern Railway (SR).


log-burner

2014 June 17, Shelley Robinson, “Anger over state-home log-burner upgrades" The Government is facing criticism for upgrading log-burners in Christchurch state houses while other people are being pushed into using alternative heating options.”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A woodburning stove, especially one used to heat a house.


sweet as

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

His new car is sweet as.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Wonderful, extremely good.


pizza parlour

pizza parlours (plural)
pizza parlor (alternative)

(Australia, Canada, UK) a pizzeria (a pizza restaurant)


wrongtake

wrongtake (third-person singular simple present wrongtakes, present participle wrongtaking, simple past wrongtook, past participle wrongtaken)

wrongtakes (present singular third-person)
wrongtaking (participle present)
wrongtook (past)
wrongtaken (participle past)
wrong-take (alternative)
wrong take (alternative)

(transitive, UK, Yorkshire, dialectal, obsolete) To misunderstand or mistake


naughty step

Jo Frost
Oxford English Dictionary
Supernanny

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 2 (“state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment”) is attested earlier than sense 1 (“place where a child is sent to sit as a punishment”), though logically sense 2 follows from sense 1. The term was popularized by the professional nanny and author Jo Frost (born 1970) in the British television show Supernanny (first broadcast in 2004).

She is still talking to them at length about bringing up children without naughty steps.

2007, Lucy Cavendish, “Tuesday”, in The Invisible Woman, Rearsby, Leicester: W. F. Howes, →ISBN, page 375:

I use the naughty step technique. Harvey understands that if he throws something he has to pick it up. say sorry and go and sit on the naughty step and count to thirty.

2008, Katie Price, “Harvey’s Progress”, in Jordan: Pushed to the Limit, London: Arrow, Random House, published 2009, →ISBN, page 90:

I know someone who uses and uses and uses the naughty step and threat of same, so much so that the phrase sets my teeth on edge. Her daughter's not even "naughty" – her mother just doesn't want her to behave like a child, just a mini adult.

2011, Natasha Joffe, Justine Roberts, “You Don’t Have to Have a Naughty Step but the Odd Star Chart Never Killed Anybody: Modern Disciplinary Systems and What to Do with Them”, in Why Did Nobody Tell Me?, paperback edition, London, New Delhi: Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2012, →ISBN, page 179:

When I am on the naughty step I can see into the family room. It used to be the kitchen but someone who lived here turned the other room into the kitchen and now the kitchen is the family room. […] I am on the naughty step a lot.

2011, “The Naughty Step”, in Stephen Jones, editor, Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead, Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, →ISBN:

Warn once, then follow through with the Naughty Step. […] And yes, you can discipline more than one child at once. I've had triplets on three Naughty Steps. If that's too hard for you, do it one at a time.

2014, Jo Frost, “Good Behaviour SOS”, in Jo Frost’s Toddler Rules: Your 5-step Guide to Shaping Proper Behavior, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 229:

She [Tanya Byron] implicitly referenced [Jo] Frost’s most infamous Supernanny technique, stating that she was ‘not a fan of naughty steps’ (see Mumsnet, 2007). Her co-clinician on Little Angels (BBC Three, 2004), Stephen Briers, repeated this in his book Superpowers for Parents (2008), promising that ‘you won’t find any naughty steps here’.

2018, Tracey Jensen, “The Cultural Industry of Parent-blame”, in Parenting the Crisis: The Cultural Politics of Parent-blame, Bristol, Chicago, Ill.: Policy Press, →ISBN, page 73:

A place, such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment.

skammekrog

place such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment

porras, jolle lapsi laitetaan istumaan rangaistuksena

When David Cameron moved into Downing Street he probably thought that he would only ever banish his children to the naughty step. But a member of the cabinet [Liam Fox] has been placed on the Downing Street naughty step after weeks of bad behaviour which has tested the prime minister's patience to its limits.

2010 July 13, Nicholas Watt, “Liam Fox is placed on the Downing Street naughty step after testing David Cameron’s patience”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-20:

Two of English rugby's more troublesome individuals – the London Irish full-back Delon Armitage and the former Wasps outside-half Danny Cipriani – found themselves on the naughty step once again yesterday as the union game's reputation, comprehensively battered after recent incidents involving big-name international players, suffered another bruising.

2011 May 4, Chris Hewett, “Armitage and Cipriani latest to be put on naughty step”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2011-05-08:

Most other players, after such a prolonged spell on the naughty step, would have made ostentatious yardage from their goal, running around, pointing to the name on the back of their shirt, making a gesture to the bench, high-fiving the fans. Not Mario [Balotelli].

2015 February 11, Jim White, “Mario Balotelli: Why we missed him at Liverpool”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-02-12:

(figuratively) A state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment as a result of a misdemeanour.


Plebgate

In government, meanwhile, Theresa May is the first home secretary in memory not to have appeared petrified of the police, while for many in her party, Plebgate was the moment at which the scales fell from their eyes as far as the cops were concerned.

2015 August 7, Marina Hyde, “Forget law and order: today’s police officers dream of going viral”, in The Guardian:

(UK, informal) A 2012 scandal in which Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell was accused of swearing at Downing Street police officers and calling them "plebs"; subsequent to Mitchell's resignation, CCTV and other evidence was revealed which appeared to call into question some of the evidence against him.


Beds

(UK, in postal addresses) Abbreviation of Bedfordshire.


snagging list

From snagging (“the practice of checking for problems during construction work”), ultimately from snag (“a problem; something that causes delay”).

Let the electrician know at the outset that you are keeping a snagging list. Then, if you spot, for example, a number of crooked sockets, some badly fitted covers, fittings that should really have been better placed, pendant lights that are& obviously too low, a chipped switch or a light that doesn't always work you switch it on, you have a couple of choices.

2004, Julian Bridgewater, Home Electrics, New Holland Publishers, →ISBN, page 22:

By this I mean, for example, that if the onus for preparing a snagging list lies with the contractor, he may only have to produce the list and demonstrate that he has cleared it, to demand the completion certificate.

2008, Malcolm Taylor, Avoiding Claims in Building Design: Risk Management in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 266:

The clerk of works seldom intends that to be the case and, even if that was the case, those intentions would be irrelevant. Merely complying with a clerk of work's snagging list can never take the place of compliance with the contract.

2014, David Chappell, The JCT Standard Building Contract 2011, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 132:

(UK) The list of repairs and finish work required to complete a project, such as the construction of a building; a list of problems to correct.


tea break

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

(British, Australia) A short break or rest period during the day when a cup of tea or coffee is drunk.

اِسْتِرَاحَة

a short break or rest period during the day when a cup of tea or coffee is drunk


capsise

capsise (third-person singular simple present capsises, present participle capsising, simple past and past participle capsised)

capsises (present singular third-person)
capsising (participle present)
capsised (participle past)
capsised (past)

Hypercorrection by analysis of capsize as caps + -ize, which is then converted to the British English -ise.

... he observed at some distance an Esquimeaux paddling up and down, as if for amusement: having made a sign to him to come over, he told him he would give him a knife and a few needles, in case he would capsise himself in his canoe.

1819, Thomas MacKeevor, A Voyage to Hudson's Bay: During the Summer of 1812. Containing a Particular Account of the Icebergs and Other Phenomena which Present Themselves in Those Regions; Also, a Description of the Esquimeaux and North American Indians; Their Manners, Customs, Dress, Language, &c ..., page 32:

“Please, sir,” said Jem, who was barefooted, as well as bareheaded, touching the lock of hair on his forehead, “the cook has capsised the kettle—but he has put more on.”

1836, Frederick Marryat, Clarkson Stanfield, The Pirate, and the Three Cutters, page 251:

Q. How long is that ago ? A. Three weeks ago. They told us if we came alongside they would capsise us.

1863, Mersey Docks, Harbour Board, Evidence: taken before the Marine Committee, under an appointment of the board, of the 2nd April, 1863, to enquire into the necessity for the establishment of a river police, and to report thereon to the board, page 82:

No nautical man now is surprised at her capsising. Her great faults seemed to be topweight, from various causes, a very low freeboard (far too little), and hence the extraordinary height of her centre of gravity ; the consequences of all of which were her utter inability to recover herself on going over her angle of safety, and her ultimate capsising.

(UK, dated) Nonstandard spelling of capsize.


MJDF

(UK, dentistry) Initialism of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties: an examination taken by dentists.


workshare

en-noun

workshare (countable and uncountable, plural workshares)

(UK, Ireland) A cooperative funding arrangement between multiple governments whereby the costs of a contract are divided between several governments who benefit from that contract.


bottom drawer

(UK) A lady's storage box containing items saved for her wedding or married life.


tramshed

We walked the length of the tramshed and into a yard. It held trams of every description, many decrepit and obviously out of use […]

2003, William Newton, The Two Pound Tram:

(UK, dated) a building where trams are housed; a tram depot.


have been in the wars

en-verb

have been in the wars (third-person singular simple present has been in the wars, present participle having been in the wars, simple past and past participle had been in the wars)

has been in the wars (present singular third-person)
having been in the wars (participle present)
had been in the wars (participle past)
had been in the wars (past)

I can see that battered old hat of yours has been in the wars.

(UK, Australia, humorous) To have been seriously hurt, or greatly damaged.


students' union

en-noun

students' union (plural students' unions)

(UK) A student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizational activities, and representation.

(UK) A student organization to provide services to students, especially of higher education (in this sense only US English, and then almost always "student union")

(UK) The building where the union provides such services. (in this sense only US English, and then almost always "student union")


foresnatch

en-verb

foresnatch (third-person singular simple present foresnatches, present participle foresnatching, simple past and past participle foresnatched)

foresnatches (present singular third-person)
foresnatching (participle present)
foresnatched (participle past)
foresnatched (past)

Friends of the people! — glorious name, indeed, If these bestow, not you foresnatch, the meed — Your motive, not your means, the Muse admires, Whom kindred aims — congenial zeal inspires; [...]

1803, Josiah Walker, The defence of order, a poem:

[...] at once reach the objects of her infant admiration and draw them nearer to her eagerness, then ran with pouting lips to foresnatch her father's kisses.

1825, Mac-Erin O'Tara (pseud.), Thomas Fitz-Gerald: the Lord of Offaley:

Hoar Pindus, from his rocky barriers, Looks on thy ranks of gay-plumed warriors, And sees an ominous sight : The leafy tent for victory graced, Foresnatching fate with impious haste From gods that rule the fight.

(transitive, very rare, UK, dialectal) To snatch in advance.


RPI

Retail Price Index
Retail Price Index#English

(UK, economics) Initialism of Retail Price Index.


jacky

en-noun

jacky (countable and uncountable, plural jackies)

I've snuff, and tobacky, / And excellent jacky.

1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC:


goozer

And then there's the visiting, with a million mad cartrips all around Dublin to the uncles and aunties who, right up until your eighteenth birthday, always seek you out by the peanut bowls and the 7-Up, and give you a pressie and a big goozer on the cheek for your troubles.

(chiefly British, slang) A kiss, a smooch.


goozer

en-verb

goozer (third-person singular simple present goozers, present participle goozering, simple past and past participle goozered)

goozers (present singular third-person)
goozering (participle present)
goozered (participle past)
goozered (past)

So your best bet to win is to spend your money in the boozer. / There you have a chance to win some merry maiden's goozer. / And then begins the greatest, riskiest lottery of your life, / Will the maiden you have goozered be the best choice for a wife?

2004, Tony Dawson, A to Z of Comical Poems and Jokes, →ISBN:

(transitive, chiefly British, slang) To kiss.


all Sir Garnet

/ɔːl sɜː(ɹ)ˈɡɑː(ɹ)nət/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-all Sir Garnet.wav

From Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833–1913), a popular and successful general in the British Army during the second half of the 19th century.

Righto; that’s all Sir Garnet. I like to see you civvies act up to your name.

1905, Longman's Magazine, volume 46, page 152:

Yes, Harry was all Sir Garnet on handles: butt-end loaded with lead, inlaid in all sorts of fancy-work — hearts, shamrocks, monograms and that sort of thing.

1907, The Lone Hand, volume 2, page 554:

“That’s all Sir Garnet, and don’t you make no mistake. Don’t you — make no mistake.” Here Mrs. Frith gave a very loud hiccup and waved her arms and did not even say “beg pardon” for the offensive noise.

1913, Compton Mackenzie, Youth's Encounter, Bell & Cockburn:

(British, slang, dated) In order; perfect.

British Army
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley


fairy butter

(UK, dialect) Certain gelatinous fungi, the tremellas.


old ale

en-noun

old ale (countable and uncountable, plural old ales)

(UK) Any dark, malty, relatively strong beer.


ben-joltram

(UK, obsolete) A traditional ploughboy's breakfast of brown bread in milk.


sodcast

en-verb

sodcast (third-person singular simple present sodcasts, present participle sodcasting, simple past and past participle sodcasted or sodcast)

sodcasts (present singular third-person)
sodcasting (participle present)
sodcasted (participle past)
sodcasted (past)
sodcast (participle past)
sodcast (past)

From sod (“contemptible person”) + -cast, from broadcast. Possibly influenced by podcast.

Unlike American gangsta rap, which was well-produced and cinematic and had an element of exotic remoteness, grime was always going to remind non-converts, people from outside the scene itself, of hooded youths on the top deck of buses sodcasting tinny music at top volume out of their mobiles.

2010 January 20, Simon Reynolds, “Simon Reynolds' Notes on the noughties: Grime and dubstep – a noise you could believe in”, in The Guardian:

Rapper Giggs is said to be the most sodcasted artist, though quantifying this is very difficult.

2011 June 11, Alex Hudson, “Why do people play music in public through a phone?”, in BBC News:

Thou shalt not sodcast […] There’s a clear positive correlation between how awful music is and the likelihood of it being sodcasted - chewed-and-spat from a phone speaker; landing on your eardrums with all the clarity and soothing of mud splatter.

2014 September 22, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “Six steps to perfect mobile phone etiquette”, in The Guardian:

(UK, slang, derogatory, neologism) To play music on a mobile phone or other portable device in public, without regard for those around.


sodcasting

With mobile phones in many a teenager's pocket, the rise of sodcasting - best described as playing music through a phone in public - has created a noisy problem for a lot of commuters.

When times are good, a community can just about cope: lack of empathy leads to nothing worse than the rudeness of sodcasting on buses, the discharging of one’s nostrils on to a pavement, the casual dropping of a takeaway food container into the doorway of someone else’s flat.

2011 December 9, Graeme Archer, “Empathy has fled the inner city, and it’s time for me to follow”, in The Telegraph:

Take, for example, the following passage from Dan Hancox's blog post about sodcasting and note in particular how Hancox names a variety of technologies — from filesharing software limewire to mobile phones—and the way their traces seem to issue from the crunchy timbres and impoverished (bass) frequencies of the music itself, qualities which have come to periodize these recordings for the author and his cohorts.

2014, Wayne Marshall, “Treble Culture”, in The Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 61:

(UK, slang, neologism) Playing music on a mobile phone or other portable device in public, without regard for those around.


cotton bud

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Synonym of cotton swab.


alpha paper

The sheets of alpha paper which have been grained are first dipped in soft acetate remaining there for three minutes. They are dried in an oven and made ready for impregnation with hard acetate.

(UK, dated, photography) A sensitized photographic paper for obtaining positives by artificial light. It is coated with gelatin containing silver bromide and chloride.


out-tray

(British, Ireland) A desktop organizer; outbox.


Auntie Beeb

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, affectionate nickname) The BBC.


Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

en-noun

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells (plural Disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells)

An invented pseudonym of the supposed writer of a letter to a local newspaper in the archetypal Middle England town of Tunbridge Wells. Possibly first coined 1944 in the BBC radio series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh.

The Post Office bitterly resents the criticism that is constantly voiced in the British press, both by "Disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells" and journalists.

1979, Adrian Hope, “Kept Incommunicado”, in New Scientist, page 1048:

It was refreshing that what raised the hackles of Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells had nothing to do with a colourful range of jumpers, nor a flighty Italian art director/photographer.

Of course 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' was never a Labour voter.

2003, Colin Leys, Market-driven Politics: Neoliberal Democracy and the Public Interest, Verso, →ISBN, page 216:

The Sussex Weald is all small towns and villages, 99 per cent white, gravel-drived, car-owning, the sort of place Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells would move to if he found Tunbridge Wells a bit too bustling.

2007, Jeremy Paxman, The Political Animal, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

The inanity of the British attack is obvious from some of the words the early Disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells complained about.

2011, Justin Webb, Notes on Them and Us: From the Mayflower to Obama – the British, the Americans and the special essential relationship., Short Books, →ISBN:

(UK, idiomatic) A stereotypical vocal conservative curmudgeon.


lounder

en-verb

lounder (third-person singular simple present lounders, present participle loundering, simple past and past participle loundered)

lounders (present singular third-person)
loundering (participle present)
loundered (participle past)
loundered (past)

"But Father," said Jenny, "if they come to lounder ilk ither as they did last time, suld na I cry on you?”

1821, Sir Walter Scott, Tales of my Landlord: Old Mortality:

Why is all this shame loundered on my head?

And they a' laughed thegither, and I up wi' the belt, and I loundered them round the house and round the house, till one screamed and another screamed, and even their mother got to squeel loudest.

1835, John Mackay Wilson, Wilson's Historical, Traditionary, and Imaginative Tales:

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Northern England, archaic) To beat; to deal a heavy blow; to whack


lounder

Deed, my bonny lass, I'll hae a kiss for a' my trouble at least,' and he caught her by the waist ; but she geed him sic a lounder o' the side o' the heed, that she garr'd him reel again

1822, Ronald M'Chronicle (pseud.), Legends of Scotland:

When he rose the third time, she struck him a lounder of the stick; the stick stuck to the dead man, and the hand stuck to the stick; and out they were.

1890, John Francis Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands: Orally Collected, page 222:

He gave his lunzie sic a lounder As did the sillie man dumfounder.

1827, William Tennant, Papistry storm'd: or, The Dingin' down o' the cathedral, page 14:

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Northern England, archaic) A heavy blow


loundering

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Northern England, archaic) A beating.


lunzie

Filling his glass, and calling him by name, “Lang life," said he, “to the wylie loon that gangs afield with a toom poke at his lunzie, and comes hame with a sackful o' siller."

1771, Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker:

Solace, sure that sall be no sunzie, Beir ye that bag upon your lunzie, Now sirs, win weill your wage

1871, Sir David Lindsay, The Poetical Works of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, page 14:

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Northern England, archaic) Waist.


matinée jacket

matinée jackets (plural)
matinee jacket (alternative)

“I just can't see you with wool and needles,” she said in amusement one day on the phone when Kerry told her she was halfway through a tiny white matinée jacket.

2007, Cathy Kelly, Best of Friends, →ISBN, page 440:

She gestured to her knitting. "I'm just running her up a little matinée jacket." .

2010, Madeleine Wickham, Cocktails For Three, →ISBN:

It was meant to be a matinée jacket but it bore a far stronger resemblance to a string vest, so many and various were the holes where the inexpert knitter had dropped stitches.

2012, Judith Saxton, Nobody's Children, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A short coat for a baby, similar to a cardigan.


moorn

Wheea is she that leuks forth as the moorn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun […]

1860, The Song of Solomon in the North Yorkshire Dialect, page 15:


Genoa cake

en-noun

Genoa cake (countable and uncountable, plural Genoa cakes)

From its origins in 16th-century Genoa as a Christmas cake.

(chiefly UK) A fruitcake consisting of sultanas, currants or raisins, glacé cherries, almonds, and candied orange peel or essence, cooked in a batter of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar.


panel beater

McGee was one of three siblings, born in 1959 and raised in Glasgow's Mount Florida area. His father, John, was a panel-beater.

2003, John Harris, The Last Party, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 105:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) One who repairs vehicle bodywork; an auto body mechanic (US).


panel beaters

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A business that repairs bodywork damage to vehicles; a body shop.


builder's

He got a custard danish that had sat around too long and a cup of builder's, ate the cake while he waited on hold for the bank.

2001, Nicholas Blincoe, Matt Thorne, All Hail the New Puritans:

More often it's the simple rituals of drinking that give the most pleasure: the rhythm of the morning cup of tea, whether a mug of builder's or a calming lemon-balm infusion, that helps you out of bed to start the day

2011, Victoria Moore, How To Drink, Granta Books, →ISBN:

'Just a decent cup of builder's with milk would do me. And a biscuit or two.'

2014, Fanny Blake, With A Friend Like You, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(UK, informal) Abbreviation of builder's tea.


posh wank

Mark bought a packet of condoms so that he could have a posh wank.

(slang, vulgar) An act of male masturbation with a condom placed over the penis.


mainswear

en-verb

mainswear (third-person singular simple present mainswears, present participle mainswearing, simple past mainswore, past participle mainsworn)

mainswears (present singular third-person)
mainswearing (participle present)
mainswore (past)
mainsworn (participle past)

(UK dialectal, Northern England, transitive) Alternative form of manswear.


ooh, matron

A catchphrase of Kenneth Williams' characters in the Carry On film series, said in response to comments from Hattie Jacques' hospital matron characters.

And, finally, here we have our groovy little DataSet, just ready to be pumped silly with information. Ooh, matron!

2002, Karl Moore, Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials, Apress, →ISBN, page 175:

'God, you've got a big head.'
'It's not the only big thing I've got.'
'Ooh, matron,' she giggled and then there was silence for a while until she gasped, 'Please don't stop.'

2012, Julia Llewellyn, Ten Minutes to Fall in Love, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

Once Tukaal had confirmed that all was well, we made our way out towards the perimeter fence and, following a quick flash of his Multi-Tool (ooh, Matron), scrambled through the hole he'd cut in the fence.

2013, Andy Ritchie, The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read: Part 2, Autharium, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) Highlights a statement which contains a double entendre or appears sexually forward.


mismove

mismove (third-person singular simple present mismoves, present participle mismoving, simple past and past participle mismoved)

mismoves (present singular third-person)
mismoving (participle present)
mismoved (participle past)
mismoved (past)
mismave (alternative dialectal)

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England) To disturb; trouble; to disconcert; alarm; flurry.


CPOM

(Earth science, UK) Initialism of Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, a centre for research into polar region processes.


Johnny Hopper

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang

(UK, Cockney rhyming slang) A police officer.


picture palace

From the romantically decorated facades and interiors of the theaters.

After tea, the bright boys wash, clean their boots, and change into their “second-best” attire, and stroll forth, either to a picture palace or to the second house of the Balham Hippodrome; […]

1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 75:

(UK, dated, historical) An elaborately decorated motion picture theater, principally constructed from 1910 to 1950.


in the pudding club

* Possibly derived from the round shape of a pregnant abdomen, resembling that of a traditional boiled pudding.
* An alternative suggestion is an association with dialectal English pod (“belly”), German puddig (“swollen”), Westphalian Low German Puddek (“lump, pudding”).

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, colloquial, slang) Pregnant.


at a stretch

He worked for fifteen hours at a stretch.

Clara's father, a trollish ne'er-do-well who spent most of his time in brothels and saloons, would disappear for days and weeks at a stretch, leaving Clara and her mother to fend for themselves.

2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 26:

(chiefly UK) In one continuous period of time; at a time.


wager of battle

en-noun

wager of battle (plural wagers of battle)

wagers of battle (plural)
wager of battel (alternative)

(British, law, historical) The giving of gage, or pledge, for trying a cause by single combat, formerly allowed in military, criminal, and civil causes, and finally abolished in 1819. In writs of right, where the trial was by champions, the tenant produced his champion, who, by throwing down his glove as a gage, thus "waged", or stipulated, battle with the champion of the demandant, who, by taking up the glove, accepted the challenge.


stabilisable

en-adj

stabilisable (comparative more stabilisable, superlative most stabilisable)

more stabilisable (comparative)
most stabilisable (superlative)

British standard spelling of stabilizable.


NOID

(UK, medicine) Initialism of notification of infectious disease.


mad minute

Then the Major got into the game and launched rockets at them, and we all had a few mad minutes having target practice on the Lionel train set.

(UK, military) A test of marksmanship with fifteen aimed shots at a twelve-inch target at 200 yards within one minute.


two-line brevier

(printing, UK, dated) A size of type between English and great primer, standardized as 16-point.


double pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 22- or (US) 24-point.


double small pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 21- or (US) 22-point.


two-line pica

(printing, UK, historical) A large size of type, standardized as 24-point.


two-line English

two-line great primer
two-line great primer

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line pica and two-line great primer, standardized as 28-point.


two-line great primer

two-line double pica
two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line English and two-line double pica, standardized as 36-point.


two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.


Continental

Synonym of European (including insular Europe, such as Britain, Ireland)

(UK) Alternative form of continental, continental European.

(UK) Alternative form of continental (pertaining to the European Union).

British North America
British North America

Continental Congress
Continental Congress

(historical, US, UK) Pertaining to the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.


Continental

Synonym of European (a denizen of Europe)

(historical, US, UK) A denizen of the colonies of British North America covered by the Continental Congress.


brolly dolly

From the umbrellas (“brolly”) they carry; chosen for the rhyme.


court circular

(UK) An official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch and Royal Family of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and appointments to their staff and to the court.


stonkingly

Go to your local superstore, and count the number of really, stonkingly, floor-creakingly fat women wearing horribly tight clothing. You will see lots of them within ten yards of where you stand.

2007, Robert MacGregor, I Can't Take Any More Crap!, page 71:

He turned in a wonderful comic performance in Mr. Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and he enjoyed playing Lord Voldemort, once Martha explained who the “Harry Potter” villain was and told him it was a “stonkingly vast, mega, mega part.”

2022 October 22, Maureen Dowd, “Ralph Fiennes, Master of Monsters”, in The New York Times:

(chiefly British) To an impressive extent or degree; very.


clean-handedness

All in all, the Mubarak leadership has adopted a low-key, businesslike style, and, in addition to its reputation for honesty and clean-handedness, it has been quite careful and discreet in its approach to issues and problems.

2005, Lillian C Harris, Egypt: Internal Challenges and Regional Stability, →ISBN, page 54:

(chiefly UK) The quality of being clean-handed; honesty and freedom from wrong-doing.


weather-gaw

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

Probably borrowed from Scots weather-ga, weather-gaw, weather-gow, possibly from English weather-gall, from weather + gall (“blister, swelling; (figurative) something exasperating or galling”).
cognates
* Dutch weergal
* German wettergalle

They asked Wattie, who was a very religious man, what could have induced him to gather his sheep on the Sabbath day? He answered, that he had seen an ill-hued weather-gaw that morning, and was afraid it was going to be a drift.

1819 April, James Hogg, “Snow-storms”, in The Shepherd’s Calendar. […], volume II, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, published 1829, →OCLC, page 258:

[S]ee how much heavier the clouds fall every moment, and see these weather-gaws that streak the lead-coloured mass with partial gleams of faded red and purple.

1822, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Pirate. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 59:

‘The weather-gaw’ he scans above the hill, / Wherein the rainbow's hues with watery sheen / Gleam beautiful upon the grey-dark sky, / Yet ominous of storm; […]

1875, John Veitch, “The Growth of Nature Feeling”, in The Tweed and Other Poems, Glasgow: James Maclehose, publisher to the University; London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 50:

Weather-gaw, part of a rainbow seen, the greater part of the bow being intercepted.

[1894 April 20 (date delivered), James Shaw, “Words, New to Me, Collected from the Dumfriesshire Dialect during the Last 30 Years”, in The Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. […] Session 1893–94, number 10, Dumfries, Dumfriesshire: […] Standard Office, published 1895, →OCLC, page 158:

The weather's taking up now, / For yonder's the weather gaw; / How bonny is the east now! / Now the colours fade awa'.

1898, Richard Inwards, compiler, “Rainbow”, in Weather Lore: A Collection of Proverbs, Sayings, and Rules Concerning the Weather […], 3rd edition, London: Elliot Stock, […], →OCLC, page 135:

After supper I'll take you home—if the weather keeps good-humoured. Those weather-gaws aren't out for nothing. It'll rain cats and dogs to-morrow.

1929, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Marigold Entertains”, in Magic for Marigold, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →OCLC, section 4, page 190:

An instance of some phenomenon in the sky said to signal bad weather, such as an incomplete or secondary rainbow, or a parhelion or sun dog; a weather-gall or water-gall.


back lane

Near-synonym: bylane

(British, Canada) An alleyway that runs behind a row of houses, or between rows of houses.


dench

dench (comparative more dench, superlative most dench)

more dench (comparative)
most dench (superlative)

Disputed. Purportedly coined by rapper Lethal Bizzle in 2010. Attested from around that time. Compare slang term hench (“muscular”).

‘Oh God I got it so wrong last night when DS2 was being an arse. I told him he was “Dench” and got a beaming smile and a “Thanks mum”!’ – Smoothieooo

2013 June 25, Richard Moynihan, “Top 14 teenage slang translations according to Mumsnet users”, in Metro:

Some may think it is ridic but the evolution of language means that Scrabble has to keep up to stay dench - obvs.

2015, “Scrabble stays dench with new words”, in The Independent:

They just don't realise that the t-shirt line they designed, the festival they had on the grounds of their family castle and those alcoholic lollies they are desperately trying to fire up wouldn't exist if it wasn't for that dench inheritance fund.

2018 March 1, Annie Lord, “There are thirteen types of posh and I am about to tell you which one you are”, in The Tab:

(UK, slang) Excellent; impressive; awesome.

This is my final Dench update for 2019. I will continue the bulk into 2020 but will also incorporate a short shred at some point during the year.

2019 July 27, A Side of Miso, “Final Dench in Japan”, in YouTube:

(UK, slang, of a man) Well-built, muscular, attractive.


home-and-home

The USA won the home-and-home series with the Italians, entering the World Cup through a side door

2012 January 17, Vicki Michaels, “After 'humbling' loss, U.S. women's soccer team is cautious”, in USA Today:

(Canada, US, sports) (British, obsolete) Of a series of two games: having one game played at each competitor's home ground.


palaeolimnological

Alternative spelling of paleolimnological.


spack attack

We had some small touristy spack attacks here as our hotel was rubbish (even Istvan thought so) so relocated a few times until we were happy […]

2011, Shirley Castley, One Eye Crying, One Eye Laughing, page 265:

She left jobs because she had “meltdowns from the stress” or had “spack attacks.”

2009, Niall McLaren, Humanizing Psychiatry: The Biocognitive Model, page 169:

(UK, slang, derogatory) A fit of foolish rage; a tantrum.


donkey's

I knew Bogs, like, that's how I got this job, knew him for donkey's, but didny work for him.

2012, John Callaghan, My Name Is Never Was, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 319:

'Known her for donkey's. Why –got your eye on her?'

2015, Anthony Quinn, Curtain Call, Random House, →ISBN:

Site's been closed for donkey's, but CCTV's got Merrick heading in there at 1.35 p.m.

2015, Sarah Hilary, No Other Darkness (DI Marnie Rome 2), Hachette UK, →ISBN:


bank of mum and dad

the bank of mum and dad (canonical)
Bank of Mum and Dad (alternative)
bank of Mum and Dad (alternative)

underwritten by the Royal Bank of Mum and Dad.

1998, Sara Sheridan, Truth or Dare, page 79:

The fees might be higher, but they're going to be repaid out of the earnings of the student after they've left university or college, rather than borrowed from the Bank of Mum and Dad.

2005, Sean Coughlan, The Student Finance Guide: Fees, Grants and what it Costs, page 24:

That means that those with access to the bank of mum and dad can get on the property ladder... while those who do not are locked out.

(UK, humorous) One's parents, regarded as a source of financial support.


Mr Plod

Mr Plods (plural)
Mr. Plod (alternative)

(UK, Australia, slang) A law enforcement officer.


nice-but-dim

From nice + but + dim, popularised by the character Tim Nice-But-Dim on Harry Enfield's Television Programme.

[…] he was worried that Michael Parkinson might ask him questions with long words that he wouldn't understand, no doubt fearing a resurgence of the “nice-but-dim” taunts that had all too often come his way.

2001, Andrew Morton, Posh & Becks, page 190:

While there was always a touch of the caricature about the Sandhurst cadet as the nice-but-dim public schoolboy, there was also a significant measure of truth.

The main difference in Hong Kong was that 1997 witnessed a transition from colonial rule to government by tycoon, as the nice-but-dim shipping heir Tung Chee-hwa became the territory's first chief executive.

2007, Joe Studwell, Asian Godfathers, page 169:

(UK, colloquial) Good-natured, while also being rather unintelligent.


on song

Alex (not on) Song as ITV pundit in Berlin -- West Ham's former Barcelona player endured a tough evening in ITV's Champions League final studio. https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/alex--not-on--song-as-itv-pundit-192922810.html

(UK, informal) Playing or performing well.


bufferdom

Sometime in the late autumn of 1977, I went to a book party that was held in the Rosebery Room of the House of Lords. Why I went I can’t think – the volume was some piece of unreadable bufferdom extruded by Lord Butler […].

1994, Christopher Hitchens, ‘On Spanking’, London Review of Books, volume 16, number 20:

Her predecessors, Stephen Tumim and David Ramsbotham, pillars of establishment bufferdom with impeccable social consciences, had enraged the Home Secretaries to whom they reported.

2002 August 5, Mary Riddell, The New Statesman:

It would be tempting to see in Malcolm McLaren's final years the descent into amiable bufferdom of a once free spirit, and to conclude that the ---- Establishment always wins in the end.

2010 April 11, William Langley, The Telegraph:

(UK) The state of being an ‘old buffer’, or a conservative, somewhat foolish old man.


gaum-like

gaum-like (comparative more gaum-like, superlative most gaum-like)

more gaum-like (comparative)
most gaum-like (superlative)
gaumlike (alternative)

She had been farm-servant to my mother's brother--James Hepburn, thy great-uncle as was; she were a poor, friendless wench, a parish 'prentice, but honest and gaum-like, till a lad, as nobody knowed, come o'er the hills one sheep-shearing fra' Whitehaven; [...]

2014, Elizabeth Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers:

(UK, dialectal) Sensible; understanding.


for two pins

He doesn't, but he's a man with an eye in his head, and he knows what we are, a boneless lot without organization. I say it myself, I said it only last night in this here bar, and I say it again, for two pins I'd chuck my party. I would so.

2009, H. DeVere Stacpoole, The Man Who Lost Himself, →ISBN, page 202:

For two pins he really would slap a glove in each of their faces.

2010, Mary Balogh, Seducing An Angel, →ISBN:

But for two pins I'd hand in blank papers and tell school where to shove Pythagoras triangles and Lord of the Flies and their life cycles of worms.

2014, David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks, →ISBN, page 4:

(British, idiomatic) Readily, with only the slightest encouragement.


bakstone

(UK, Lancashire, Yorkshire) Obsolete form of bakestone.


riddlebread

(UK, Northern England) A kind of oatcake cooked on a baking stone or griddle.


groaning cheese

en-noun

groaning cheese (plural groaning cheeses)

groaning refers to the travails of childbirth.

(UK, historical) A large cheese traditionally divided among the members of a household when a childbirth took place. It was cut from the middle so that the baby, when born, could be passed through it.


non-dom

Without that non-dom status she could have been liable for more than £20m of UK taxes on these windfalls, it was reported. After a public outcry, her spokesperson announced she would start paying UK taxes on her overseas earnings to relieve political pressure on her husband.

2022 October 24, Caroline Davies, “Spotlight on Rishi Sunak’s family as they prepare to enter No 10”, in The Guardian:

(taxation, UK) One who has their domicile in another country, allowing them to avoid paying UK tax on non-UK earnings.


side-handed

... with side-handed or expanding batons, so as to provide police officers with better protection against assaults by criminals.

1993, Great Britain Parliament House of Lords, The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Official Report:

However, Strathclyde has always said that, while it has stepped up security for officers, through the introduction of ``quick cuffs, side-handed batons, and knife-resistant vests, CS sprays were not on its ``menu.

1996 August 22, “Force is the only one willing to follow English lead in use of canisters Grampian may arm officers with CS spray”, in Herald Scotland:

Michael Howard will be given a demonstration of the use of the extended baton and the more controversial side-handed baton at the Home Office.

2015 June 14, Colin Brown, “Howard to approve longer police baton: Home Secretary urges more effective protection”, in The Independent:

(UK, of a baton or nightstick) Expanding.


bollocks up

en-verb

bollocks up (third-person singular simple present bollockses up, present participle bollocksing up, simple past and past participle bollocksed up)

bollockses up (present singular third-person)
bollocksing up (participle present)
bollocksed up (participle past)
bollocksed up (past)

The webpage didn't display properly because I bollocksed up the formatting.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) To fail to do correctly; to make a mess of.


bants

From banter + -s (“diminutive suffix”); first used in the early 21st century.

Top bants, says Twitter's master 'Target Smasher'

2012 September 22, "Complete Ledge", “TV OD with Complete Ledge: Doomsday Preppers”, in The Guardian:

In my office, bants come thick and fast, but when other departments blare out video clips, I can’t help thinking wistfully of a headphones-only zone.

2013 September 1, Rebecca Armstrong, “Office noise: put up or shut up”, in The Independent:

It’s St Patrick’s day on Monday so, hey you guys, like, put on a green wig and drink some Guinness, yeah? Yeah. Top bants, you guys.

2014 March 15, "Thinking Drinkers", “A beginners guide to Irish whiskey”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(UK, slang) Banter, particularly among men.


WEEE

From the title of the European law: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2003).

You may wish to ensure that your WEEE is stored in a safe, secure area.

2007, Department of Health: Estates and Facilities Division, The Treatment, Recovery, Recycling and Safe Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, The Stationery Office →ISBN, page 16

Further improvements to the system should include better enforcement for retail outlets, as some major supermarket chains that sell electrical and electronic products do not accept WEEE.

2011, OECD, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Norway 2011, OECD Publishing →ISBN, page 180

To establish a better understanding on recovery/remanufacturing flows is therefore paramount for enterprises to apply sensible recovery/remanufacturing strategies to recover diverse WEEE.

2013, Weidong Li, Jörn Mehnen, Cloud Manufacturing: Distributed Computing Technologies for Global and Sustainable Manufacturing, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 125:


eyeable

en-adj

eyeable (comparative more eyeable, superlative most eyeable)

more eyeable (comparative)
most eyeable (superlative)

(UK, dialect) Pleasing to look at; visually appealing; attractive.


squirty cream

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

It's my birthday. I have been egged. I have also covered Miss Durnley in squirty cream.

2003, Suzi Rose, Accidental Heroine: Diary of an Attention Seeker:

Anna Thomas is said to have got high on nitrous oxide - aka laughing gas - from more than a dozen canisters of squirty cream before she got behind the wheel

2015, Christopher Bucktin, Daily Mirror, Woman 'crashed into postbox while driving under the influence - of squirty cream':

(UK, informal) Whipped cream from an aerosol can.


hear tell

en-verb

hear tell (third-person singular simple present hears tell, present participle hearing tell, simple past and past participle heard tell)

hears tell (present singular third-person)
hearing tell (participle present)
heard tell (participle past)
heard tell (past)

I've heard tell that there used to be highwaymen in this part of the country.

Listen closely, we, the Gardanes, heard tell of the glory of the nation-kings, how those nobles performed deeds of valor!


guard's van

(UK, Ireland, rail transport, historical) The last carriage on a passenger train which was occupied by the guard, consisted of storage space for parcels, bicycles, etc, and sometimes had an emergency brake.


constructive dismissal

en-noun

constructive dismissal (countable and uncountable, plural constructive dismissals)

Gingerism in the workplace could form the basis of formal grievances or constructive dismissal cases, an employment lawyer has warned.

2007 June 14, “Red hair bullying cases could end up in court”, in The Register:

After a series of warnings regarding his administrative errors and failings, the employee left and claimed constructive dismissal.

2008, Arthur Brown, The Practice Manager's Law Handbook, →ISBN:

In fact, if she were an employer and I her employee, I would have strong grounds for suing her for constructive dismissal.

2014, David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks, →ISBN, page 300:

It is a common assumption that a constructive dismissal is automatically unfair. This view is wrong. All that a finding of constructive dismissal does is to show that the employee (despite having resigned) was in fact dismissed.

2014, James A.. Holland, Stuart Burnett, Employment Law, →ISBN, page 272:

(chiefly UK) The act or practice of forcing an employee to resign by creating a hostile work environment.


set out one's stall

en-verb

set out one's stall (third-person singular simple present sets out one's stall, present participle setting out one's stall, simple past and past participle set out one's stall)

sets out one's stall (present singular third-person)
setting out one's stall (participle present)
set out one's stall (participle past)
set out one's stall (past)

Probably a reference to someone setting out a stall (“bench or table for the sale of merchandise; small open-fronted shop”) and publicly displaying the goods they intend to sell.

John has obviously set out his stall for the Green Party.

This interview is at RDG [the Rail Delivery Group]'s request: it wants to set out its stall for the most challenging of years ahead.

2021 January 27, Paul Clifton, “What is the Future of the RDG?”, in Rail, number 923, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40:

To make publicly clear one's position with reference to a particular idea or philosophy, or what one can do.

asettua jollekin kannalle

to make publicly clear one’s position with reference to a particular idea or philosophy, or what one can do

To do something which creates a favourable impression.

tehdä vaikutus

to do something which creates a favourable impression

(sports, originally cricket) To (decide to) play (especially to defend) in a determined manner.

puolustaa päättäväisesti

to (decide to) play (especially to defend) in a determined manner


Yorkshire pie

A young servant-girl then brought in a Yorkshire pie and some cold beef; which, being set upon the table, the boy called Smike appeared with a jug of ale.

1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:

(UK, historical) A very large, tall pie filled with mixed meats.


black and white village

en-noun

black and white village (plural black and white villages)

(UK) Any of several old English villages characterised by timbered and half-timbered houses with black oak beams and white walls.


wrongously

(UK dialectal, Scotland, especially law) Wrongfully; in a wrongous (wrongful) manner.


bizen

bizens (plural)
byzen (alternative)
byzont (alternative)

From Middle English bysen, partly from Old English bȳsen (“example, pattern, model, similitude, parable, parallel, rule, command, precept”), and partly from Old Norse býsn (“a wonder, a portentous thing”), both from Proto-Germanic *būsniz (“command, precept”), from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to ask, beg”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, perceive fully”).

der

She's a shem and a bizen to all the heale town.

1823, Robert Anderson, Ballads in the Cumberland Dialect, page 155:

[…] and a bizen like this.

1866, Eliza Lynn Linton, Lizzie Lorton of Greyrigg, page 97:

It'll be a sham an' a bizen, if we cannot find him a menseful of a dinner.

c. 1874, E. Waugh, Jannock ii. 13, as quoted in The English Dialect Dictionary and in the quotation, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1887), of J. H. Nodal and G. Milnar's Gloss[ary of the] Lancashire Dial[ect] (1875)

(UK dialects, Northern England, Scotland, rare, obsolete) Something monstrous or portentous; a shocking sight; sorry spectacle; disgraceful thing.

(UK dialects, Northern England, Scotland) Something serving as a warning or an example to be avoided.


paedophobe

I'm no paedophobe, but I'm quite relieved that the children are back at school.

2009 September 6, Mike Carter, “Mike's big British bike adventure”, in Guardian:


pross

en-verb

pross (third-person singular simple present prosses, present participle prossing, simple past and past participle prossed)

prosses (present singular third-person)
prossing (participle present)
prossed (participle past)
prossed (past)

Clipping of prostitute, with a doubled s as a pronunciation spelling.

He will ask for a bank-note as one asks for a cigarette […]
Now and again in the dingy, dreary desert of "prossing" one finds an oasis of humour wherein the weary lender may obtain some solace for his ills.

1896, The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, volume 14, page 231:

(UK, slang, obsolete) To sponge or scrounge; to take advantage of a person's generosity.


cherry pie

en-noun

cherry pie (countable and uncountable, plural cherry pies)

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

(dialectal, UK) Any of various willowherbs


cruiseway

(UK) A waterway designated for the use of recreational boat traffic.


clacket

en-verb

clacket (third-person singular simple present clackets, present participle clacketing, simple past and past participle clacketed)

clackets (present singular third-person)
clacketing (participle present)
clacketed (participle past)
clacketed (past)

You'm no better than a baby when they've clacketed at ye for an hour or two without a word of sense from beginnin' to end.

(intransitive, UK, regional) To chatter or prattle.


Restoration

(history of UK) The events of 1660 when English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II.

(history of UK) The era of Restoration (1660 to 1685) under Charles II, or to 1688 when James II was king.


holiday pay

(UK) A basic wage paid to an employee while they are on holiday. It can be paid for as many weeks' holiday as an employee is entitled to, although an employee can spread their complete holiday entitlement over the whole year.


pub rock

So called because bands rejected stadium venues and returned to the small pubs and clubs of the early years of live rock music.

(music, UK, Australia) A kind of popular bluesy rock music, specifically unrelated forms of British and Australian music with a similar sound.


ballet shoe

(chiefly UK) A flexible shoe without a heel and fastened by a strap or ribbon, designed for dancing.


dutyman

dutymen (plural)
duty-man (alternative)
duty man (alternative)

The recruit eventually graduates to become a trained soldier and dutyman, with his place in a troop.

1985, Donald John Smith, Horses at Work, page 30:

It has often been claimed that the Household Cavalry's mounted dutymen have a busier routine than any other soldiers in the Army.

1997, J. N. P. Watson, Through Fifteen Reigns, page 165:

(UK, military) A fully trained soldier who has a specific role.

Some stations were connected directly to the automatic fire alarms of important premises and to call boxes in the street which all had to be tested. So the role of dutyman was complicated and as he had to stay awake all night, this was called a wakeful watch.

2006, Ray Chilton, Underfire: The Dramatic Life of a London Fireman, →ISBN, page 18:

On two occasions during the night, usually around 1.30am and 4.30am, divisional control would circulate a test message. This was done ostensibly to make sure the telephone line was in good order, but really to ensure the dutyman was awake.

2007, Dave Wilson, To Ride a Red Engine, →ISBN, page 50:

Some time later the dutyman heard a guttural screeching and whooping of a phonation that was quite clearly not Christian, and already at that point he felt the desire to cross himself, but was too idle (let us add, from ourselves, that this was a mistake).

2010, Boris Akunin, Pelagia and the White Bulldog, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, military or quasi-military organizations such as police or fire departments) A man who is on duty in a particular setting.


grey power

The outstanding example of grey power in action is the AARP—once known as the American Association of Retired Persons. This is probably the most influential lobbying set-up in the world.

2002 September 15, Luke Johnson, “The silver revolution is here”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2015-07-28:

Grey power is increasing its influence over the world's tourism industry—and with a new nickname. If you're over 60 and have the time, the inclination and the funds to travel, you're now a "bloomer", according to a British holiday company.

2004 March 20, “Late 'bloomers' catch travel bug”, in Illawarra Mercury, Australia, retrieved 2015-07-28:

If you needed any proof that grey power rules Maritime politics, check out the party platforms in the Nova Scotia provincial election. . . . Sure, dead people don’t vote, the party reasons. But pensioners do.

2009 May 21, “It’s 1 a.m. Do you know where your kids are?”, in Macleans magazine, Canada, retrieved 2015-07-28:

(chiefly UK, Canada, Australia, idiomatic) The collective political, economic, and social influence of senior citizens, especially when they are mobilized by a common interest.


slagfest

If, actually your conversation was supportive rather than a slagfest, the only thing you have to be ashamed of is your indiscretion.

2007, Nicole Banerji, How to Gossip, page 71:

(UK, slang) An event or situation characterised by slagging off, or denigrating.


Beetle

Beetles (plural)
beetle (alternative uncommon)

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and since 2011).


superhead

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

They want regular emails, not league tables, and the right to call a teacher, not a new superhead.

2009 March 22, Amelia Hill, “Manners matter more than grades, say parents”, in The Observer:

(informal, UK, education) A specialist headteacher sent, by government or other authority, to reorganise and improve a school that is perceived to be failing.


full point

(UK, typography) full stop, period (British printers' term)


scorchio

* scorch (as in scorcher, scorching) + pseudo-Romance suffix -io (see for example, Italian -io, Portuguese -io, Spanish -iego). Coined for The Fast Show, a BBC comedy series, in the "Chanel 9 News" sketch: the TV news in a fictional Mediterranean country delivered in a Romance-sounding gibberish supposed to be the local language. The weather map was always very hot and sunny, described as "scorchio".

In "scorchio" heat, I trudge along the waterfront for a last visit with the crew.

2002, Shirley Hewett, The People's Boat: HMCS Oriole : Ship of a Thousand Dreams, Heritage House, →ISBN, page 159:

Pork and poultry (and this goes for geese and turkeys too): aim for the hotter side of warm, but not as far as scorchio.

2011, Allegra McEvedy, Big Table, Busy Kitchen: 200 Recipes for Life, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 281:

The climate of the British Isles will be probably the mildest in Europe, and therefore the most desirable, but in the south temperatures, especially in cities, will be scorchio, to use the technical term

2011 July 7, Nicholas Lezard, "Turned Out Nice by Marek Kohn – review" (The Guardian: London)

It was a scorchio weekend and yesterday we saw the warmest day of the year so far, 29.7C recorded in Bournemouth, closer to home, 29.5C at Heathrow.

2013 July 8, Manali's weather blog (ITV: London)

2015 July 2, Zoe Forsey, “It’s scorchio outside and hotter in the bus station”, in Daily Gazette, Colchester:

(British, Ireland, slang, humorous) scorching hot (originally and especially of weather)

TV is very scorchio: a parade of go-go girls in bikinis mouthing songs as they prance around the studio.

1999 November 21, Tobias Jones, “Insider's guide to... Milan”, in The Independent, London:

If the Kerry footballers find themselves filling the time between league and championship next spring with a little less scorchio in their lives, they will only have themselves to blame.

2015 June 15, Malachy Clerkin, “Kerry start slowly but have plenty to spare against wasteful Tipp”, in The Irish Times, Dublin:

The Mambista crew are hosting hip upbeat jazzsters, Alice in Grooveland, who will be dreaming up a set of originals from their debut album ‘Skyline,’ alongside a scorchio mix of jazz, funk and Latin tunes with latex-tight grooves, catchy riffs and punchy solos.

2015 July 24, Mike Urban Weekender – What’s on around Brixton, Fri 24th – Sun 26th July (BrixtonBuzz)

(British, Ireland, slang, humorous, by extension) Sizzling, exciting, cool; sexy, racy.


tower block

(UK) A tall residential or office building.


pancrack

It is Pancrack day or so they call it. Dole money or social security which is often more for those who have done no work at all . . . .

1971, Delta: A Literary Review from Cambridge, Issues 49-54, p. 38 (Google snippet view)

She had saved it out of her social security money: the "pancrack" as she contemptuously called it.

"I'll go on the pancrack," I told the foreman, but when I got to the dole office they told me I wouldn't need to sign on.

2012, Roy Chubby Brown, chapter 6, in Common As Muck, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) Social security, especially as paid to the unemployed; the dole.


fellermelad

fellermelads (plural)
feller-me-lad (alternative)
fellow-me-lad (alternative)

"Now then, young fellermelad," said S.P.C. Charles, "you comerlongerme. Best come quiet." He made a grab with the handcuffs.

1916, W.A. Darlington, “A Dress Rehearsal”, in Punch, volume 161, page 80:

"Well, young fellermelad, we'll present you all the Order of the Gallows, and set you on the road to—"

1926, Arthur Douglas Howden Smith, A Manifest Destiny:

"Ullo," I ses to meself, "ere's another o' these 'ere dratted young fellermelads lorst 'is way,' I ses.

1936, H.F.E, Punch, volume 190, page 146:

"Well, young fellermelad," said the expression, "we've just heard a lot of talk from you, but now what d'you do about this one?"

1941, Bruce Bairnsfather, Ian Dalrymple, Old Bill & son:

“This is somewhat different, my fine fellermelad, from our time in Hinjanchung.”

2008, Alan Burt Akers, Scorpio Invasion: Dray Prescot 40, Mushroom eBooks, →ISBN:

(humorous, UK, Ireland, usually with "young") A term of address for a young man.


Pre-U

(UK, education) A school-leaving qualification that is an alternative to A levels.


COSHH

(UK, law) Initialism of control of substances hazardous to health.


half term

half terms (plural)
half-term (alternative)

I have just visited him at his mother's home where he is spending half term and we reminisced while looking at his photo album.

Georgia's not a very good correspondent, which is perfectly reasonable at her age, but she didn't come down for half term and then she didn't come for Easter either.

2011, Marcia Willett, Hattie's Mill, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

“Good idea. The boy seems to be coping quite well, although I had a feeling he wasn't too happy about spending half term in Crete with his old grandpa."

2011, Patricia Fenn, Poseidon's Trident, Andrews UK Limited, →ISBN:

"We had an extraordinary February half term - I think we had 22,000 visitors in the seven days. Which actually is a bit like bedlam at times."

2020 June 3, Sam Mullins OBE discusses with Stefanie Foster, “LTM: a new chapter begins at 40”, in Rail, page 54:

(UK) A short school holiday in the middle of the term.


half-term

The Roystones took advantage of the long half-term break and went to Paris.

1992, John Penn, Mortal Term, Ulverscroft Large Print, →ISBN:

Before 1974 the children of Lincoln were given an annual day's holiday for the mayor's birthday, but this is now calculated as part of the school Spring half-term holiday, so this seems the best location at which to place it.

1997, Maureen Sutton, A Lincolnshire Calendar:

The half-term trip to Nethercombe had to be postponed because of her funeral and John felt a new guilt.

2012, Marcia Willett, The Courtyard, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

The cartoon dog made its debut in half-term week in October, featuring on promotional children's tickets as well as fun children's activities such as colouring sheets and spot the difference.

2022 November 30, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 971, page 87:

(UK) Pertaining to the half term school holiday.


walking dustbin

en-noun

walking dustbin (plural walking dustbins)

In reference to the fact that left-over scraps of food may be thrown away.

(UK, humorous) A person or animal that will eat almost anything.


badarse

en-adj

badarse (comparative more badarse, superlative most badarse)

more badarse (comparative)
most badarse (superlative)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Standard spelling of badass.


sarkiness

But the adult joke or insight about drugs in The Magic Roundabout, seriously meant or not, only works if it is kept separate from the action itself. Putting it explicitly in the script is ham-fisted and breaks the butterfly of imagination on the wheel of obtuse sarkiness.

2005 February 11, Peter Bradshaw, “The Magic Roundabout”, in The Guardian:

(UK, informal) the quality of being sarky (sarcastic).


yoldring

But you heed me no more than a goss-hawk minds a yellow yoldring.

1820, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in The Abbot. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 43:

(British, dialectal, obsolete) A bird, the yellowhammer.


carnapper

(Philippines, sometimes UK) One who engages in grand theft auto; one who steals an automobile.


Derbyshire neck

It is contained in a letter from near Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, of which the following is a copy:--Dear Sir, Idiotism and the Derbyshire neck prevail much in the small village of Ireton-wood, near to where I reside; there are very few females free from the full neck, and as many as seven or eight Idiots.

1824, Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, volume 4:


slim jim

(UK, historical) A narrow necktie worn by teddy boys.


veteran car

(British) A car built before 1919, or, even more strictly, before 1905.


shag bandit

shag bandits (plural)
shag-bandit (alternative)

“I suppose this ‘friend’ of yours is some biker shag-bandit?”
“I wish. Sugar daddies are more my line these days.”

2010, Ronald Wright, Henderson's Spear, →ISBN:

Rather than arch-villain or "shag-bandit" Willoughby (Wills) impregnating then abandoning a teenager, as in the original, he introduces "Little Eliza" to drugs, and she languishes in a crack den.

2013 October 27, Paula Byrne, “Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope – review”, in The Guardian:

(UK, slang) A man who has many sexual partners, especially while cheating on his spouse.


Yorkshire caviar

A hovering bar zips around the restaurant while foodie-types dig in to the cultured food, from corn-fed chicken to fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar.

2008, Oliver Berry, Belinda Dixon, Devon, Cornwall and Southwest England, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 86:

2009, 24 April, Oldfield Restaurants, Passion for Real Food, quoted in "Fishcakes with Yorkshire Caviar", The Journal
To serve, spoon a reheated dollop of Yorkshire caviar alongside.

Downstairs in the kitchen Phil always had a box or two of Batchelors marrowfat dried peas soaking in a bucket together with a sodium tablet, which he would transform the next day into a grey-green lumpy mass of 'Yorkshire caviar', the humble but delicious mush of peas served with mint sauce and vinegar.

2012, Paul O'Grady, Still Standing: The Savage Years, Random House, →ISBN, page 55:


gumshield

(UK) A mouthguard to protect the teeth and gums during physical activity.


lavvy

From lav (“clipped form of lavatory”) + -y (“forming affectionate diminutives”).

af

clipped form of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">lavatory</i>

It must be great getting up during the night and not having to put a coat on over your jammies to visit the lavvy on the half-landing – especially in the winter when it's below zero.

2011, Robert Douglas, Whose Turn for the Stairs?, →ISBN:

When I had to go to the lavvy there I always had to use that stiff, scratchy, smelly, lavvy paper she always said she 'put for the 'young ladies' - sniff'.

2012, Glynis Dunnitt, Hidden History, →ISBN, page 61:

Cousin Anna and other traveller kids were playing over by the lavvy, and as I ran to join them, something monumental loomed on my horizon – the lavvy roof

2013, Jess Smith, Sookin' Berries, →ISBN:

And she doesn't have to keep going to the lavvy like poor Mr Thomas and Miss Welch and so many of them.

2013, Eileen Dewhurst, Whoever I Am, →ISBN:

(UK slang) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.

(UK slang) A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.


alienise

en-verb

alienise (third-person singular simple present alienises, present participle alienising, simple past and past participle alienised)

alienises (present singular third-person)
alienising (participle present)
alienised (participle past)
alienised (past)


alienisation

British standard spelling of alienization.


ginger minger

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)ˈmɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

(UK, slang, vulgar, derogatory) A person who has red hair.

His hair's a bit thinner and slightly receding: baldness is a curse for a lot of ginger mingers.

2002, Irvine Welsh, Porno, Vintage, published 2013, →ISBN, page 168:

'Is the girl really a ginger minger?' Dannie asked Deirdre.
'She is anything but,' Deirdre told her.

2008, Kate Thompson, Love Lies Bleeding, New Island, →ISBN, page 175:

He knocks back the last of his beer and goes, 'Better text Kathleen,' who's the ginger minger I'm talking about. He's seeing her, when he's not trying to worm his way into my bird, that is.

2012, Paul Howard, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, PS, I Scored The Bridesmaids, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:

(UK, slang, vulgar, derogatory) A person who has red pubic hair.


wunch

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

Spoonerism by transposing the first letters of bunch of wankers to produce the phrase wunch of bankers.

Today, we learn that Douglas Hurd, in a couple of months' time, is set to join those providers of financial services, collectively known as a "wunch of bankers", NatWest, from a bunch of MPs.

1995, Trades Union Congress, Report of Annual Trades Union Congress:

That particular wunch of bankers may be mortified to know that Hamm had no connection any company called Dow, and was rather one of a group of anti-capitalist pranksters accidentally invited to the conference.

2005 August 17, “Feedback”, in New Scientist:

Apparently, I also removed my shirt as if performing a malcoordinated strip routine and then introduced bemused spectators to a dance move that was out of place when first revealed at university and was certainly not appropriate at a reasonably formal party surrounded by a wunch of bankers.

2010, Geraint Anderson, Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Meanwhile in the more conventional 'Men Seeking Women' column [of the Financial Times], the guys go to great lengths to make themselves sound utterly loathsome. They're tall and muscular, exceptionally handsome and attractive, loyal, sincere, genuine, sensitive, educated, rich and modest. What a wunch!

2011, Andrew Hicks, My Thai Girl and I: How I found a new life in Thailand, Monsoon Books, →ISBN:

Well fuck me sideways with a wooden stake, I realize dismally, I've fallen in a wunch of vampires.

2014, Charles Stross, The Rhesus Chart, Penguin, →ISBN:

(British, humorous, derogatory) A group of unpleasant people, especially bankers; a supposed collective noun for bankers.


Maccies

en-noun

Maccies (countable and uncountable, plural Maccies)

Clipping of McDonald's + -ie, suffixed with -s either per the root noun's possessive or as an analogy of other British fast food chains, such as Greggs. Compare chippies and brekkies.

She texted sayin' to put on my best trackies / Forget pot noodle ... time for Maccies!

2011, Alexandra Elkington, The Tunnel at the Beginning of the Light, Chipmunkapublishing ltd, →ISBN, page 95:

We had five quid between us to get home and grab a Maccies or Wimpy at Lime Street on the way.

2012, Steven Gerrard, Steven Gerrard: My Story, Random House, →ISBN, page 30:

He'd bring me a Maccies in the car, too, which was sweet of him, but it's also the reason I started piling on the weight.

2015, Holly Hagan, Holly Hagan - Not Quite A Geordie, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) McDonald's, or McDonald's food.


tenfoot

(UK, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Hull) A ten-foot-wide alleyway, usually behind one's house.


away from home

(UK, sports) Away; at the venue of an opposing team or competitor.


shirtiness

(chiefly UK, informal) The state or characteristic of being shirty.


give a bugger

en-verb

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

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


SCBU

(UK, medicine) Initialism of special care baby unit.


caravaner

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) One who travels or stays in a caravan (furnished vehicle used as a dwelling).


selectorate

(UK) The members of a political party with voting rights.


kenspeck

Apparently from Old Norse kennispakr (“quick at recognizing persons or things”), from kenna (“know, recognize”) + spakr (“wise”). Compare Swedish kännspak.

der

(UK, dialect, Northern England, obsolete) Easily known or seen; obvious; apparent.


balls on

en-verb

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

ballses on (present singular third-person)
ballsing on (participle present)
ballsed on (participle past)
ballsed on (past)

“Can you tell me why it is,” said Ian in an aggressive way, “every time we go into a fucking pub you go ballsing on about bleeding Lance Platt. Can you tell me that?”

2010, Ruth Rendell, Portobello: A Novel, →ISBN, page 250:

Here was Oswald, trying to make the business a bit of money, to go out and find a few pictures to sell and a few clients to sell them to; and here was this youth ballsing on about Chatsworth and his weekends with Lady Lindisfarne.

2013, Philip Hook, The Stonebreakers, →ISBN:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar, intransitive) To blather.