semesterisation

Extra-curricular activities in Galway have also taken a body blow with the recent introduction of a semesterisation system into the Arts faculty. This American-inspired structure means second and third year students sit exams shortly after Christmas and in May/June.

1988 August 29, Eilis Ward, “Changing times in the West”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 17 (Lifestyles Supplement: Going to College):

Semesterisation, for those unfamiliar with such matters, is the division of the academic year into two equal periods, called semesters. Semesterisation's "fellow-traveller" is modularisation, the division of a subject into components or modules. A certain number of modules are taken each semester and are examined at the end of the semester.

1997 March 18, John Connolly, “Colleges still trying to do things by halves”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 4 (Education & Living):

The move to semesterisation has the potential to allow faster degree routes for students. Three semesters can be fitted into one academic year and thereby facilitate two-year degree programmes.

2006, Dorothy Moss, Gender, Space and Time: Women and Higher Education, Lexington, →ISBN, page 158:

Semesterisation will result in a more even distribution of the student workload where exams will happen before Christmas and before the summer meaning that modules can be wholly taught and assessed in a single teaching period.

2014 June 13, “Semesterisation sees early start for UCC students”, in UCC News Archive^(https://www.ucc.ie/en/news/archive/2014andbeyond/2014-(jan-june)/semesterisation-sees-early-start-for-ucc-students.html), University College Cork:

(Ireland, UK, education) the division of the academic year into (typically two) semesters with exams after each, as opposed to (typically three) terms with exams only after the final term of the year


RMAS

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
w:Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

(UK, military) Initialism of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.


warm store

en-verb

warm store (third-person singular simple present warm stores, present participle warm storing, simple past and past participle warm stored)

warm stores (present singular third-person)
warm storing (participle present)
warm stored (participle past)
warm stored (past)

Ackroyd points towards the section we are standing on: "We are electrifying these two roads from August, because we want to be able to warm store electric trains from the middle of the year."

2025 June 11, Richard Wilcock, “Helping to shape rail's future”, in RAIL, number 1037, page 25:

(rail transport, UK) To place in warm storage, electric trains in particular.


gdn

(chiefly UK, in street addresses) Abbreviation of garden.


grdn

(chiefly UK, in street addresses, uncommon) Synonym of gdn.


Jimmy O'Goblin

Jimmy O'Goblins (plural)
jimmy-o-goblin (alternative)
jimmy o' goblin (alternative)
Jimmy-o-goblin (alternative)
Jemmy O'Goblin (alternative)

He had won five Jimmy-o-goblins at ten to three at Chester.

(UK, Australia, rhyming slang) A sovereign coin; a pound.


kamikaze shoplifting

(UK, neologism) The unconcealed theft of goods from a shop in the presence of staff and customers.


Greenwich pensioner

en-noun

Greenwich pensioner (plural Greenwich pensioners)

(UK, historical) A pensioner of the Royal Hospital for Seamen in Greenwich, London.


dolly tub

And when he came into the scullery, he found her there, with the little wringer fixed on the dolly-tub, turning blissfully at the handle […] .

1915, D. H. Lawrence, The Rainbow, Vintage 2011, p. 122


Christmas come early

Referring to the imaginary situation of Christmas occurring before the usual date, and thus one enjoying the festivities and receiving Christmas presents early.

It is true, Ma? Is it true? A Thanksgiving basket? […] It's like Christmas come early! [She joins her sisters at the table. All three sisters sit, stare hungrily at the basket]

1982, Tim Kelly, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch: Or, A Page from the Book of Life […], Schulenburg, Tex.: I. E. Clark Publications, →ISBN, Act I, page 20:

It is Christmas come early, unfortunately for Members of Congress, unfortunately for those who are willing to sell out their vote for their districts, for something in their districts. It might be Christmas come early for those Members of Congress, but it is not Christmas for the American people.

1993 November 16, Sherrod Brown, “Opposition to NAFTA”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 103d Congress, First Session (United States House of Representatives), volume 139, part 10, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29312, column 3:

"If this gets any better," Sangster confessed, "I won't be able to stand it." October, so far, had been Christmas come early for the engineers.

1996, Ivan Doig, Bucking the Sun, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, published 2003, →ISBN, page 122:

Sultry songbird Deborah Cox says Christmas came early for her this year and all of her wishes have already come true. The talented songstress is riding the charts with her second hit album, One Wish with the smash ballad Nobody's Supposed To Be Here.

1998 December 28 – 1999 January 4, “Christmas Comes Early for Hit Singer Deborah Cox”, in Robert E[dward] Johnson, editor, Jet, volume 95, number 5, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 55:

Christmas come early, that sounds like to me.

2003, Ivan Doig, Prairie Nocturne, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 188:

So to be in Peter Jackson's house, just a couple of weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin, sharing dinner and conversation with Ian McKellen, well, that was like Christmas coming early for me.

2004, Sean Astin, with Joe Layden, chapter 9, in There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 169:

Christmas came early this year when our PX rations arrived in November. This is one day every soldier overseas looks forward to.

2007, Robert Lynch, “Italian Mountain Campaign”, in A Letter Marked Free: A Powerful and Gripping Account of a Combat Soldier in WWII, Indianapolis, Ind.: Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 51:

Then he [Viserys I Targaryen] turns to Rhaenys, who, he reasonably argues, is the best authority on what her husband would want. And Christmas comes early for Rhaenyra, because not only has her dad come out to support her family, but her aunt also backs Luke [Lucerys Velaryon]'s claim—and accepts her niece’s offer of a Targaryen-Velaryon double wedding.

2022 October 10, Jenna Scherer, “House of the Dragon Drops Its Best Episode Yet”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2025-06-19:

(chiefly Ireland, UK, idiomatic) Something very delightful or fortunate is happening or has happened, especially earlier than expected.

joulu tuli etuajassa

something very delightful or fortunate is happening or has happened, especially earlier than expected

think all one's Christmases have come at once


Esperantisation

Esperantisation (usually uncountable, plural Esperantisations)

British standard spelling of Esperantization.