cat

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

The weather was cat, so they returned home early.

(Ireland, colloquial) Catastrophic; terrible, disastrous.


head

en-noun

head (countable and uncountable, plural heads or head)

heads (plural)
head (plural)
heed (alternative obsolete)
hed (alternative obsolete)
'ead (alternative UK pronunciation-spelling)

→ Japanese: ヘッド (heddo)

Sranan Tongo: ede

Aukan: ede

Saramaccan: hédi

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Proto-Indo-European *káput-
Proto-Germanic *haubudą
Old English hēafod
Middle English heed
English head
From Middle English hed, from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head; top; chief”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput.
The modern word comes from Old English oblique stem hēafd-; the expected Modern English outcome for hēafod would be *heaved (similar to the Middle English word). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, chef, chief, and Howth.
Cognate with Scots heid, hede, hevid, heved (“head”), Old English hafola (“head”), North Frisian hood (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt (“head”), Swedish huvud (“head”), Danish hoved (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Latin caput (“head”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”), Hindi कपाल (kapāl, “skull”).

頭

つぶり, tsuburi, つぃぶる, tsiburu, つぃぶるぃ, tsiburi

pää

principal operative part of a machine or tool

have one's head screwed on the right way

know one's head from a hole in the ground

run around like a chicken with its head cut off

would lose one's head if it wasn't attached

would lose one's head if it wasn't bolted on

would lose one's head if it wasn't glued on

would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on

would lose one's head if it wasn't stuck on

would lose one's head if it wasn't tied on

would lose one's head if it weren't attached

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

you can't put a wise head on young shoulders

At 4pm, the phone went. It was The Sun: 'We hear your daughter's been expelled for cheating at her school exams...' / She'd made a remark to a friend at the end of the German exam and had been pulled up for talking. / As they left the exam room, she muttered that the teacher was a 'twat'. He heard and flipped—a pretty stupid thing to do, knowing the kids were tired and tense after exams. Instead of dropping it, the teacher complained to the Head and Deb was carpeted.

I was called into the head's office to discuss my behaviour.

(social, countable, metonymic) A leader or expert.


on

Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *ana
Old English on
Middle English on
English on
From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-.
Cognate with North Frisian a (“on, in”), Saterland Frisian an (“on, at”), West Frisian oan (“on, at”), Dutch aan (“on, at, to”), Low German an (“on, at”), German an (“to, at, on”), Swedish å (“on, at, in”), Faroese á (“on, onto, in, at”), Icelandic á (“on, in”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up, upon”), Albanian në (“in”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish på, Swedish på, Norwegian på, see upon.

etymon

Southern US, Midland US, Philadelphia, Baltimore

I had a terrible thirst on me.

'[…] the hunger is on me to carry my sword in distant places.' Mynyddog bowed his head.

2013 February 27, Rosemary Sutcliff, The Shining Company, Random House, →ISBN:

“Christ, the thirst on me.” “Sure, it's serious work, all that talk of independence.” The theater's stained-glass doors had first flung open in 1904, all in the hope of “rewriting the Irish identity,” of using culture in the fight[…]

2017 January 24, Ruth Gilligan, Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan, Tin House Books, →ISBN:

“I've got the hunger on me, I do.” Riordan snorted. Hardly a man knew hunger as he did. The prison rations at Point Lookout, spare enough, had been a feast compared to the black years in Ireland.[…]

2017 August 29, Ralph Peters, Judgment at Appomattox: A Novel, Forge Books, →ISBN, page 18:

(especially Ireland) Indicating the person experiencing an emotion, cold, thirst, hunger, etc.


rag week

From rag (“university students society run for charitable fundraising”) + week, possibly from the verb rag (“tease; torment; banter”).

compound

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

This week has been the University College Rag Week. The students are given more or less a free hand all the week. They organize a series of revels culminating in a grand procession and collection this afternoon.

1949 April 10, The Texas Outlook, volume 33, number 4, page 4:

The only acting that looks like anything but rag week at a bad university is by Billy Hartman as a private detective.

1982 January 6, B.A. Young, The Financial Times, section 1, page 9:

Worse than that, too, during Rag Week when the drink flowed quickly and the privy seemes too far to stagger.

In truth the gags seldom rise above the level of an undergraduate Rag Week but speed, quickchange wigs and sheer chutzpah from Russell Bentley, pretty blonde Marianne Levy, Joel Brookes and Teddy Lawrence give wicked twists to such as 'Richard and Judaism', a Who Wants to be a Millionaire? contestant whose phone-a-friend is his argumentative Jewish mother, a wondering 'Wandering Jew' and a savage Shylock rehearsal scene.

2002 December 19, John Thaxter, “Tower of Bagel”, in The Stage, page 15:

(chiefly British and Ireland, university slang) An annual event in many universities where students engage in unusual activities to raise money for charity.


dat

Pronuctiation spelling of that,
representing dialects with th-stopping. Compare Dutch dat, Low German dat, and German das.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(dialectal, nonstandard, African-American Vernacular, MLE, Ireland, foreign accents, or humorous) Pronunciation spelling of that.

African-American Vernacular; foreign accents; African-American Vernacular; foreign accents


dat

Dey vanished...but it wasn't too long ago dat dey did. Dey oughta still be nearby.

2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport:


in

en-adj

in (comparative more in, superlative most in)

more in (comparative)
most in (superlative)
i' (alternative colloquial poetic)

→ Portuguese: in

PIE word
 *h₁en
Preposition and verb from Middle English in, from Old English in, from Proto-Germanic *in.
Adverb, noun and adjective from Middle English in, from Old English inn and inne, from Proto-Germanic *innai.
Sense 1/2 "in"/"into" are from the original PIE prefix, with locative/accusative case respectively. Sense 3/4 "qualification"/"means" are from the PIE metaphor of all infinitives coming from locatives.

Blocks of compressed coal keep the fire in for a long time, but they give out very little heat.

1888, H.C. O’Neill, Edith A. Barnett, Our Nurses and the Work They Have to Do, page 81:

“At all events,” said the Doctor, “the fire’s in, and here’s the camp-oven, too. Somebody will be here soon. I will go in and light my pipe.”

1894, Henry Kingsley, The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn - Volume 2, page 183:

Was there any person in your own house at Renmore to keep the fire in while you were here?.

1901, William Francis Barry, The Wizard’s Knot, page 231:

Normally when they camped in the wild they took turns to sit up and keep the fire in while the others slept, […].

2011, Rosemary Sutcliff, The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles:

He turned and started making up the range to keep the fire in overnight, and heard the front door click and Grant’s motor fire up. Sleep. He needed to sleep.

2019, A.L.Lester, Shadows on the Border:

(of fire or fuel) (British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) Burning; ablaze.


fortnight

fortnights (plural)
fortnith (alternative dialectal obsolete)

From Middle English fourtenyght, fourtene nyght, from Old English fēowertīene niht (literally “fourteen nights"; the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights), equivalent to fourteen + night. Compare sennight.

Near-synonym: halfmonth

On being kicked the girl fell desperately in love with Henri, and for a fortnight they lived together and spent a thousand francs of Henri's money.

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

The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.

1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated in North America) A period of 2 weeks.


be

head

be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)

be (infinitive)
am (first-person present singular)
'm (first-person present singular)
was (first-person past singular)
's (dialectal first-person past singular)
were (dialectal first-person past singular)
are (present second-person singular)
're (present second-person singular)
were (past second-person singular)
is (present singular third-person)
's (present singular third-person)
are (present singular third-person)
're (present singular third-person)
was (past singular third-person)
were (dialectal past singular third-person)
were (past singular third-person)
are (plural present)
're (plural present)
were (past plural)
was (dialectal past plural)
's (dialectal past plural)
be (present subjunctive)
were (past subjunctive)
be (imperative present)
being (participle present)
been (participle past)
be (infinitive)
am (first-person present singular)
'm (first-person present singular)
be (archaic first-person present singular)
was (first-person past singular)
's (dialectal first-person past singular)
were (dialectal first-person past singular)
are (present second-person singular)
're (present second-person singular)
art (archaic present second-person singular)
'rt (archaic present second-person singular)
were (past second-person singular)
wast (archaic past second-person singular)
wert (archaic past second-person singular)
is (present singular third-person)
's (present singular third-person)
beeth (archaic present singular third-person)
bes (archaic present singular third-person)
was (past singular third-person)
were (dialectal past singular third-person)
are (plural present)
're (plural present)
be (archaic plural present)
been (archaic plural present)
were (past plural)
was (dialectal past plural)
's (dialectal past plural)
weren (archaic past plural)
be (present subjunctive)
beest (archaic present subjunctive)
were (past subjunctive)
wert (archaic past subjunctive)
be (imperative present)
being (participle present)
been (participle past)
bee (alternative)

From Middle English been (“to be”).
further etymology of be and its conjugated forms
The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English.
* The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular:
** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of the past participle.
** Now-obsolete use of been as a plural present tense (meaning "are") is from Middle English been, be (present plural of been (“to be”), with the -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive; compare competing forms aren/are).
** Use of been as a past participle is from Middle English been, ybeen, from Old English ġebēon.
* The forms beginning with w- come from the aforementioned Old English bēon, which shared its past tense with the verb wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).
* The remaining forms (am, are, is) are also from Old English wesan (“to be”), Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, the present tense of which comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₁és-ti, from the root *h₁es-.

është

auxiliary: used to form the passive voice

esti + passive participle [-ata, -ita, -ota]

usually translated using the passive form of the active verb

auxiliary: used to express intent, obligation, appropriateness or relative future occurrence

(not translated; use the future tense [-os])

(for future subjunctive, use θα + imperfective past verb form)

(not translated; use a future tense) ibo (I’m to go)

(not translated; use a future tense) ivero (I’m to go)

use present tense or kommer att + infinitive; for subjunctive: use om ... skulle + infinitive or (archaically) use past subjunctive)

يساوى

used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same

(e.g. a future tense is used: бу́дет (búdet))

كَانَ

used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal

كَانَ

used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective

ἔχω (ékhō) + (an adverb equivalent to the adjective)

be off

to be not fresh, of food; to leave, to depart

1996, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk, screenplay of The Nutty Professor
Women be shoppin’! You cannot stop a woman from shoppin’!

Niggas be tellin' these bitches 'bout business

(African-American Vernacular, Caribbean, Ireland, auxiliary, not conjugated) To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.


cunt

en-noun

cunt (countable and uncountable, plural cunts)

cunts (plural)
c**t (alternative)
c*nt (alternative)
c-word (alternative euphemistic)
C-bomb (alternative euphemistic)

From Middle English cunte, queynt, queynte, from Old English *cunte, from Proto-West Germanic *kuntā, from Proto-Germanic *kuntǭ. Cognate with West Frisian kunte, Middle Dutch conte (Dutch kont (“butt”)), dialectal Swedish kunta, dialectal Danish kunte, and Icelandic kunta. A relationship to Latin cunnus has not been conclusively shown. Lexicographer Partridge suggests cuneus (“a wedge”).

Fix the car? I’ll sort the cunt out at the weekend.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, countable, vulgar) An objectionable object or item.

The lines were up past the frozen food now; people had to cut through to get what they wanted and there was much excuse-me-ing and pardon-me-ing. “This is going to be a cunt,” Norton said morosely, and I frowned a little.

Certain situations just cry out for it – keys breaking in the lock, not being able to find the starting point in a roll of sticky-tape, running out of bin-bags. The kind of everyday annoyances that Alanis Morissette would define as irony are actually cunts as far as I’m concerned.

2016 July 11, Rachel Braier, The Guardian:

(Ireland, UK, Commonwealth, countable, vulgar) An unpleasant or difficult experience or incident.

Yes, I do remember Dave; he was one funny cunt.

Tom's a good cunt: he fixed my car and didn't even charge me for it!

—Happy New Year, ya wee cunt! Franco wrapped his arm around Stevie’s head.

1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 41:

(Ireland, UK, Commonwealth, vulgar, positive, countable; with words funny, good) A person (mostly between male friends); compare bastard.


cod

en-verb

cod (third-person singular simple present cods, present participle codding, simple past and past participle codded)

cods (present singular third-person)
codding (participle present)
codded (participle past)
codded (past)

Origin unknown. Attested in reference to a person (though not always a stupid or foolish person) from the end of the 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary (1891) notes that a suggested link to codger is unlikely, as cod appears much earlier.

I'm only codding!

(intransitive, Ireland, slang) To joke; to kid


pissed

en-adj

pissed (comparative more pissed, superlative most pissed)

more pissed (comparative)
most pissed (superlative)

From Middle English pissed, pissede, pyssyd, pisside, equivalent to piss + -ed.

The waiters would send us up beer onstage as well as food, so now and again we'd end up getting pissed while we were playing.

1996, Hunter Davies, The Beatles, page 79:

We finished the bottle off and I was more pissed than ever, I was a fucking mess, and Johnny carried me to bed.

2006, Dean Riley, The Reveller: Every Lie Has Eighty Percent Truth, page 201:

We drank, getting more and more pissed, and as we did, these four birds were growing more and more attractive, so we all sat down with them, but none of them wanted to know us, just Peter, dirty fucking bastard he was.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, mildly vulgar, colloquial) Drunk.


railway

That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

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

(chiefly UK, Ireland and Commonwealth) A transport system using rails used to move passengers or goods.

His interest in railways is not the quality that marks Pearson out. Everyone was interested in railways. Over a thousand miles of them opened between 1837 and 1845, most of what would become the national network. [...] You needed an Act of Parliament to build a railway; but that wasn't very hard to obtain if you could give the appearance of adequately funded competence.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 14–15:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Philippines and Commonwealth) A track, consisting of parallel rails, over which wheeled vehicles such as trains may travel.


bumf

bumph (alternative)
bumpfh (alternative)
bumpf (alternative)

(British, Ireland, obsolete) Toilet paper.


weapon

From Middle English wepen, from Old English wǣpn, from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”), of unknown origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wēbnom. Cognate with Scots wapyn, wappen (“weapon”), West Frisian wapen (“weapon”), Dutch wapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Low German wapen (“weapon”), German Waffe (“weapon”) and Wappen (“coat of arms”), Danish våben (“weapon; coat of arms”) Swedish vapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Norwegian Bokmål våpen (“weapon”), Icelandic vopn (“weapon”).

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) An idiot, an oaf, a fool, a tool; a contemptible or incompetent person.


bollocks

en-noun

bollocks pl (normally plural, singular bollock)

bollock (singular)
ballocks (alternative)
ballicks (alternative Northern-Ireland)
ballix (alternative Northern-Ireland)
bullocks (alternative)
b******s (alternative)
b****cks (alternative)

From Middle English ballokes (plural of ballok), from Old English beallucas (nominative plural of bealluc). By surface analysis, bollock + -s. Compare cullion.

inh

plural of <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">ballok</i>

nominative plural of <i class="Latn mention" lang="ang">bealluc</i>

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar) The testicles (sometimes used in the singular)

That's a load of bollocks, mate!

All the dealers would steam into his cabin for a few sherbets after work, and to listen to his bollocks.

2014, Peter Smith, Confessions of a Dice Dealer, page 105:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar) Nonsense or information deliberately intended to mislead.

放屁

slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead

Don't mind him; he's only an oul' bollocks!

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, used as singular) An idiot, an ignorant or disagreeable person.

the dog's bollocks
dog's bollocks#English

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar) Ellipsis of the dog's bollocks.


bollocks

en-verb

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

bollockses (present singular third-person)
bollocksing (participle present)
bollocksed (participle past)
bollocksed (past)
b******s (alternative)
b****cks (alternative)

The telly's bollocksed.

(transitive, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) To break.

I bollocksed that exam.

(transitive, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) (also bollocks up) To fail (a task); to make a mess of.


bollocks

b******s (alternative)
b****cks (alternative)

Oh bollocks, I'm late for work!

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) An expression of anger, frustration, etc.

Bollocks! That never happened!

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) An expression of incredulity.


mobile

→ Japanese: モバイル (mobairu)

→ Kurtöp: མོ་བ་འིལ (mobail)

→ Persian: موبایل (mobâil)

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōbilis (“easy to be moved, moveable”), from moveō (“move”).

der

Mobiles squerking, mobiles chirping / Take the money and run

2000, “Idioteque”, in Kid A, performed by Radiohead:

(telephony, UK, Ireland) Ellipsis of mobile phone.


Asian

From Latin āsiānus. The popular American definition referring to East and Southeast Asians collectively seems to be a shortened form of "Asian American", a term whose origins activists and academics trace back to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley (UCLA) students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, who, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War, founded the "Asian American Political Alliance" as a way to unite Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino American students on campus. It replaced the term "Mongoloid", but still continued the racial grouping of "Mongoloid". South Asians are also sometimes called "Asian" in the English settler colonies (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) but rarely (if ever) Near Easterners and Central Asians. The British term exclusively referring to South Asians was due to South Asians forming a majority of immigrants from the continent of Asia in the United Kingdom.

Asiër

person from or descended from people from the Indian sub-continent

One of a supernational region within Asia

One of a transcontinental nation partially within Asia

One of a partially-recognized or unrecognized country or nation within Asia

One of a former country or nation within Asia

If radio and television programmes are anything to go by, Asians in Britain get up early on a Sunday.

1987 May, Paul Oliver, “Movie Mahal: Indian cinema on ITV Channel 4”, in Popular Music, →DOI, page 215:

Were there Taliban beheading people? I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.

A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially:

(UK, Ireland, South Africa) A person from or with ancestry in South Asia.


full stop

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The punctuation mark "." (indicating the end of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).


current account

en-noun

current account (plural current accounts)

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

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, banking) An account at a bank which is used for daily transactions.


LOL

LOLs (plural)
lol (alternative)
lawl (alternative)
lel (alternative)
lul (alternative)
lols (alternative)
LOLS (alternative)
lolsies (alternative)
LOLsies (alternative)
lolzies (alternative)
lulz (alternative)

Acronyms. Laugh Out Loud abbreviation apparently coined by Canadian Wayne Pearson in the early-to-mid 1980s and first attested in 1989.

coinage

(US, Commonwealth, Ireland) Loyal Orange Lodge, a prefix given to all branches of the Loyal Orange Order. For example, LOL 1 is Portadown branch.


cow

en-noun

cow (countable and uncountable, plural cows or cattle or (archaic or dialectal) kine)

cows (plural)
cattle (plural)
kine (archaic dialectal plural)

bull

antonym(s) of “female domesticated ox or other bovine”

Sranan Tongo: kaw

Tok Pisin: kau

q

from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">cows</i>

→ Abenaki: kaoz (from cows)

→ Maori: kau

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws
Proto-Germanic *kōz
Proto-West Germanic *kō
Old English cū
Middle English cou
English cow
Inherited from Middle English cou, cu, from Old English cū (“cow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kō, from Proto-Germanic *kōz (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”).
Cognate with Sanskrit गो (go), Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Persian گاو (gâv)), Latvian govs (“cow”), Proto-Slavic *govędo (Serbo-Croatian govedo, Russian говядина (govjadina, “beef”), Scots coo (“cow”), North Frisian ko, kø (“cow”), West Frisian ko (“cow”), Dutch koe (“cow”), Low German Koh, Koo, Kau (“cow”), German Kuh (“cow”), Swedish ko (“cow”), Norwegian ku (“cow”), Icelandic kýr (“cow”), Latin bōs (“ox, bull, cow”) (whence English beef), Armenian կով (kov, “cow”). Doublet of beef.
The plural kine is from Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye + -en, or inherited from Old English cūna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”).

etymon

the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it

why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free

[…] the worst insult to a woman, either in London or Paris, is "cow"; a name which might even be a compliment, for cows are among the most likeable of animals.

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

Greville Preston: You've been set up, you silly cow. Now, don't let me hear any more about this unless you have absolute stand-up-in-court proof it's kosher...
Mattie Storin: Pig.

1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:

By the time of my third, five months ago, I was a right bossy cow about what I wanted because I knew the drill. For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream.

2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian:

(derogatory, UK, Ireland, informal) A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.


fuck

en-verb

fuck (third-person singular simple present fucks, present participle fucking, simple past and past participle fucked)

fucks (present singular third-person)
fucking (participle present)
fucked (participle past)
fucked (past)
fuck (infinitive)
fuck (first-person present singular)
fucked (first-person past singular)
fuck (present second-person singular)
fuckest (archaic present second-person singular)
fucked (past second-person singular)
fuckedst (archaic past second-person singular)
fucks (present singular third-person)
fucketh (archaic present singular third-person)
fucked (past singular third-person)
fuck (plural present)
fucked (past plural)
fuck (present subjunctive)
fucked (past subjunctive)
fuck (imperative present)
fucking (participle present)
fucked (participle past)
f##k (alternative)
f#$k (alternative)
f#%k (alternative)
f#*k (alternative)
f*** (alternative)
f**k (alternative)
f*ck (alternative)
f--k (alternative)
fck (alternative)
fk (alternative)
fsck (alternative)
fu#k (alternative)
fu$k (alternative)
fu*k (alternative)
fu-k (alternative)
fu...k (alternative)
fu©k (alternative)
fvck (alternative)
f—k (alternative)
f&!k (alternative)
f...k (alternative)
f…k (alternative)
fu…k (alternative)
fuxk (alternative)
F-bomb (alternative euphemistic)
F-word (alternative euphemistic)
fuk (alternative)
fuq (alternative)
phuck (alternative)
uckfay (alternative)

Flen flyys
Slate.com
University of Minnesota Press

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ-
Proto-Germanic *fukkōną
Old English *fuccian
Middle English *fukken
English fuck
From Middle English *fukken, probably of Germanic origin: either from Old English *fuccian or Old Norse *fukka, both from Proto-Germanic *fukkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to strike, punch, stab”). Compare windfucker and its debated etymology.
Possibly attested in a 772 C.E. charter that mentions a place called Fuccerham, which may mean "ham (“home”) of the fucker" or "hamm (“pasture”) of the fucker"; a John le Fucker in a record from 1278 may just be a variant of Fulcher; compare Fucher, Foker, etc. The earliest unambiguous use of the word in a clearly sexual context, in any stage of English, appears to be in court documents from Cheshire, England, which mention a man called Roger Fuckebythenavele (possibly tongue-in-cheek or directly suggestive of a depraved sexual act) on 8 December 1310. It was first listed in a dictionary in 1598. Scots fuk or fuck is attested slightly earlier, probably reinforcing the Northern Germanic/Scandinavian origin theory. From 1500 onward, the word has been in continual use, superseding jape and sard and largely displacing swive. See windfucker and fuckwind for more information.
A range of folk-etymological backronyms, such as "fornication under consent of the king" and "for unlawful carnal knowledge", are all demonstrably false.
Sense 10 from related sense feck.

der

He fucked the dirty cloth out the window.

She fucked her mobile at his head in anger.

(transitive, Ireland, UK) To throw, to lob something. (angrily)


fuck

f##k (alternative)
f#$k (alternative)
f#%k (alternative)
f#*k (alternative)
f*** (alternative)
f**k (alternative)
f*ck (alternative)
f--k (alternative)
fck (alternative)
fk (alternative)
fsck (alternative)
fu#k (alternative)
fu$k (alternative)
fu*k (alternative)
fu-k (alternative)
fu...k (alternative)
fu©k (alternative)
fvck (alternative)
f—k (alternative)
f&!k (alternative)
f...k (alternative)
f…k (alternative)
fu…k (alternative)
fuxk (alternative)
F-bomb (alternative euphemistic)
F-word (alternative euphemistic)
fuk (alternative)
fuq (alternative)
phuck (alternative)
uckfay (alternative)

Do I want to? Do I fuck!

They're your friends, aren't they? – Are they fuck my friends.

(UK, Ireland) Used after an inverted subject pronoun and auxiliary verb or copula to emphatically negate the verb.


close

en-adj

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

closer (comparative)
closest (superlative)

open

antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Compressed, restricted, constrained, etc.

(Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.


after

Northern England, other non-rhotic without the trap–bath split

From Middle English after, from Old English æfter, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar, from Proto-Germanic *after, *aftiri, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epoteros (“further behind, further away”), from *h₂epo (“off, away”).
Cognate with Scots efter (“after”), North Frisian efter (“after, behind”), West Frisian after, achter, efter (“behind; after”), Low German/Dutch achter (“behind”), German after- (“after-”), Swedish/Danish efter (“after”), Norwegian Nynorsk/Norwegian Bokmål etter (“after”), Icelandic eftir (“after”), aftur (“back, again”).
The Irish usage to indicate recent completion of an activity is a calque of the Irish collocation Táim tar éis... (“I have just...”, literally “I am after...”).

уашҭан

subsequently; following in time; later than

-rraar- (postbase used with subordinative mood endings)

close the barn door after the horse has bolted

close the stable door after the horse has been stolen

close the stable door after the horse has bolted

lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen

lock the stable door after the horse has bolted

shut the stable door after the horse has bolted

I was after finishing my dinner when there was a knock on the door. [= I had just finished my dinner when ...]

He was after walking on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before, all the way from the County Limerick, where his brother, Father John, has a parish; and you may believe, the poor man was tired

1875, Patrick Kennedy, Evenings in the Duffrey, page 283:

Mother: Let him get away out of this now, himself and his share of songs. Look at the way he has your bib destroyed that I was after washing in the morning!

1906, Lady Gregory, “A Miracle Play”, in The Shanachie, volume 1:

When I woke up it was black-dark and the music was after stopping. I could taste the bread I was after eating in the dream, as sweet and luscious as any I ever knew

2004, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, page 40:

He asked directions to the dairy those milk cans had shown up late at. Corrigan pointed back the way he'd come and explained, “You'd have been after riding past their loading platform because they don't have their sign overlooking where the train would be after stopping.

2004, Tabor Evans, Longarm and the Great Milk Train Robbery:

"Yes. And where were you when the flood broke loose?" / "I would be most of the way to the Old House then. O'Loughlin was after running in wild to tell me he was hearing the Banshee out at The Old House, […]."

2008, M. P. Shiel, The Black Box, page 45:

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

(Ireland, Newfoundland, usually preceded by a form of be, followed by an -ing form of a verb) Used to indicate recent completion of an activity.


here

From Middle English her, from Old English hēr (“at this place”), from Proto-West Germanic *hēr, from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r, from *hiz + *-r, from Proto-Indo-European *kís, from *ḱe + *ís.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian hier, West Frisian hjir, Dutch hier, German Low German hier, German hier, Danish her, Swedish här, Norwegian her, Faroese her, Icelandic hér. Also related to the English pronoun he (“this/that person”), and the words hither (“to this place”) and hence (“from this place”).

Here, I'm tired and I want a drink.

(Ireland, British, slang) Used for emphasis at the beginning of a sentence when expressing an opinion or want.


banana

en-noun

banana (countable and uncountable, plural bananas)

→ Japanese: バナナ

→ Korean: 바나나 (banana)

→ Maori: panana

→ Tok Pisin: banana

→ Zulu: úbhanána

Borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Specific derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana), possibly from Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip, banana”). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana.
The racial slur derives from the notion that they are “Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, but White (Westernized) on the inside”.

der

banánový (corresponding to English attributive use)

(corresponding to English attributive use) banánový

An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.

(Canada, US, UK, Ireland) In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.


smalls

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

He's in the garden hanging his smalls on the washing line.

The smalls he was wearing were tight.

Unkempt, bearded to the eyes, there he stood clutching his shapeless old cabbage-tree, in mud-stained jumper and threadbare smalls—the very spit of the unsuccessful digger.

1917, Henry Handel Richardson, Australia Felix, Echo Library, published 2007, page 31:

[…]there are also some great B&Bs and guesthouses where you can unpack a toothbrush and fresh set of smalls for the morning.

2008, Donna Wheeler, Melbourne & Victoria City Guide, Lonely Planet, page 198:

They billowed in the sticky summer breeze, curved and enormous like the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
Just when did my smalls become so impossibly large?

2008, Shauna Reid, The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl, page 7:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Underwear.


mental

en-adj

mental (comparative more mental, superlative most mental)

more mental (comparative)
most mental (superlative)

Borrowing from Middle French mental, from Late Latin mentālis, from mēns (“mind, disposition; heart, soul”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

Audio (US)

He is the most mental freshman I've seen yet.

He went mental on us.

Of, relating to, or affected by a psychiatric disorder.

(colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated in the US, Canada, comparable) Mentally disordered; insane, mad, crazy.

That was a mental party last night.

(colloquial, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, comparable) Enjoyable or fun, especially in a frenetic way.


black

en-adj

black (comparative blacker or more black, superlative blackest or most black)

blacker (comparative)
more black (comparative)
blackest (superlative)
most black (superlative)
blacke (alternative obsolete)
Black (alternative)
blk (alternative)
blak (alternative)

Bislama: blak

Sranan Tongo: blaka

Aukan: baaka

→ Caribbean Hindustani: blaaka

Tok Pisin: blak

Torres Strait Creole: blaik

→ Dutch: black

→ French: black

→ Greek: μπλάκης (blákis)

From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”)).
Sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).

sort

of coffee or tea, without milk or other whitener

Green’s Dictionary of Slang
w:Green's Dictionary of Slang

the Black North

the Royal Black Institution

There is a district, comprehending Donegal, the interior of the county of Derry, and the western side of Tyrone, which is emphatically called by the people "the Black North," an expression not meant, as I conceive, to mark its greater exposure to the westerly winds, but rather its dreary aspect.

1812, Edward Wakefield, An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, volume 2, page 737:

Even in the "black North"—in " Protestant Ulster"—Catholicity is progressing at a rate that must strike terror into its enemies, and impart pride and hope to the professors of the faith of our sainted forefathers.

1841 March 20, "Intelligence; Catholicity in Ulster" Catholic Herald (Bengal), Vol. 2 No. 1, p. 27

To the southern Nationalist the north was chiefly known as the home of the most rabid religious and political intolerance perhaps in the whole Christian world; it was designated by the comprehensive title of the 'Black North.'

1886, Thomas Power O'Connor, The Parnell Movement: With a Sketch of Irish Parties from 1843, page 520:

Now April's brother, once also holding a commission in that regiment, was an Ulster Volunteer, her father a staunch, black Protestant, her family tremulously "loyal" to the country whose Parliament was turning them out of its councils.

1914 May 27, "Review of The North Afire by W. Douglas Newton", The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, volume 86, page t

He [Sir John Henry Biggart] was personally amused at having once been called "a black bastard".

1985 April, J. A. Weaver, “John Henry Biggart 1905-1979 - A portrait in respect and affection”, in Ulster Medical Journal, volume 54, number 1, page 1:

He had been playing Gaelic football for Lisnaskea Emmets, his local team in County Fermanagh, against a team from nearby Brookeborough, when someone from the opposing team called him a ‘black cunt’. ‘Black’, in this case, was a reference not to the colour of his skin but to his religion. It is short for ‘Black Protestant’, a long-standing term of sectarian abuse.

2007 September 6, Fintan O'Toole, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, volume 29, number 17, page 35:

(Ireland, now derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)


red

en-noun

red (countable and uncountable, plural reds)

From Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-.
Cognates
See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rood, rot, rod, Dutch rood, German rot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rød, Norwegian Nynorsk raud; also Welsh rhudd, Latin ruber, rufus, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Albanian pruth (“redhead”), Russian ру́дый (rúdyj) ("red", "redhaired"). Czech rudý, Lithuanian raúdas, Finnish rauta, Estonian raud, Serbo-Croatian riđ ("reddish", "red"), Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬙𐬀 (raoidita), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, “red, bloody”).

sekobarbitaali

slang: secobarbital — see also secobarbital

(Ireland, UK, beverages, informal) Red lemonade


soccer

→ Afrikaans: sokker

→ French: soccer

→ Irish: sacar

→ Japanese: サッカー (sakkā)

→ Kannada: ಸಾಕರ್ (sākar)

→ Manx: soccar

Originally British English; as an abbreviation for association football, via abbreviation assoc. + -er (suffix); earlier socker (1885), also socca (1889), with soccer attested 1888.
Compare contemporary rugger, from Rugby. Similarly constructed coinages from the same period include: brekker (“breakfast”), fresher (“freshman”) and footer (“football”). See Oxford -er.

socker (alternative)
socca (alternative)

The 'Varsity played Aston Villa and were beaten after a very exciting game; this was pre-eminently the most important "Socker" game played in Oxford this term.

1885 December 10, “Our Oxford Letter”, in The Oldhallian, page 171:

Golf is perhaps seven or eight years old in Oxford, ... football, seu Rugger, sive Soccer, not more than sixteen or seventeen.

1888 February 15, “Charley Symonds”, in The Oxford Magazine, page 224:

Those who play under the "Socker" (Association) rules in the North of England, the Midlands, and Scotland take no heed of the warmness of the weather

1889 September 16, “Football Prospects in the West of England”, in The Western Daily Press, volume 63, number 9757, Bristol, page 7:

Socker (public schools), football played according to the Association Rules

1890, Albert Barrère, Charles Leland, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant, volume 2, Ballantyne, page 275:

1987, Charles Hughes, The Football Association Coaching Book of Soccer: Tactics and Skills, London: BBC, →ISBN:

Association football
association football

ball

in all varieties of English and in all games called "football"

(originated, late 19th C, now often US, Australia, Ireland, Philippines, and other countries; see usage notes) Association football.

originated; late 19th C; and other countries; originated; late 19th C; and other countries


football

football (countable and uncountable, plural footballs)

footballs (plural)
foot-ball (alternative dated)
foot ball (alternative dated)

⇒ Azerbaijani: futbol

desc

→ Bengali: ফুটবল (phuṭbol) (transliteration)

→ Bulgarian: фу́тбол (fútbol)

→ Czech: fotbal

desctree

→ Dutch: voetbal (calque)
→ Caribbean Hindustani: futbál khele

→ French: football

desc

→ Georgian: ფეხბურთი (pexburti) (calque)

→ German: Football

desctree

→ German: Fußball, Fussball (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, sometimes Luxembourg, South Tyrol) (calque)
→ English: foosball
⇒? Luxembourgish: Foussball

desc

→ Greek: ποδόσφαιρο (podósfairo) (calque)

→ Hebrew: כדורגל (calque)

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: फ़ुटबॉल (fuṭbŏl)

→ Hungarian: futball

→ Japanese: フットボール (futtobōru)

→ Korean: 풋볼 (putbol)

→ Latvian: futbols

→ Latvian: kājbumba (calque)

→ Lithuanian: fùtbolas

→ Macedonian: фу́дбал (fúdbal)

→ Maori: whutupōro

→ Maltese: futbol

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: fotball (calque)

desctree

→ Ottoman Turkish: فوتبول
Turkish: futbol

→ Polish: futbol

→ Polish: piłka nożna (calque)

→ Portuguese: futebol

→ Romanian: fotbal

→ Russian: футбо́л (futból)
→ Armenian: ֆուտբոլ (futbol)
→ Kazakh: футбол (futbol)

⇒ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: фу̏дба̄л

Latin script: fȕdbāl

→ Spanish: balompié (calque)

→ Spanish: fútbol, futbol (Mexico), fúbol
→ Guaraní: húvol
→? Tagalog: putbol

→ Swedish: fotboll (calque)
⇒ Finnish: futis

→ Thai: ฟุตบอล (fút-bɔn)

⇒ Tok Pisin: soka

⇒ Ukrainian: футбо́л (futból)

[ˈfʊʔt̚bɔːl]

[ˈfʊʔtʰbɔːl]

[ˈfʷʊʔt̚bɑɫ]

From Middle English fotbal, footbal, equivalent to foot + ball, which may refer to the act of kicking a ball with the feet or to the fact the game was played on foot (as opposed to on horseback or with players in fixed positions). The name for the briefcase is a play on “dropkick”, the code name of an early version of the nuclear war plan.

ավստրալական ֆուտբոլ

game in Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

ball

in all varieties of English and in all games called "football"

(Ireland, uncountable) Gaelic football: a field game played with similar rules to hurling, but using hands and feet rather than a stick, and a ball, similar to, yet smaller than a soccer ball.

(Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, uncountable) rugby union.


your

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

non-rhotic, show–sure merger, African-American Vernacular

yaw (non-rhotic, paw–poor merger or dialectal)

From Middle English your, youre, ȝour, ȝoure, from Old English ēower, īower (“your”, plural), from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jou (“your”), Dutch jouw (“your”), German Low German jo, jos (“your”), German euer (“your”, plural), Danish jeres (“your”).

ur (alternative Internet informal)
ya (alternative informal)
yer (alternative informal)
yr (alternative informal)
yo (alternative)
yo' (alternative)
yur (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

don't count your chickens before they've hatched

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun

including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete

archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.

Your man just bought a new car.

Have you seen what your one over there is doing?

(Ireland) That; the specified (usually used with a human referent)


Saxon

→ Korean: 색슨 (saekseun)

→ Welsh: Sacson

Partially from Middle English Saxe, Sax; from Old English *Seaxa (attested in plural Seaxan), and Saxoun, from Old French *Saxoun, Saxon (“Saxon”), from Late Latin Saxōnem, accusative of Saxō (“a Saxon”), both from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“rock, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of Sais.
Cognates
Cognate with Middle Low German sasse (“someone speaking Saxon, i.e. (Middle) Low German”), Old English Seaxa (“a Saxon”), Old High German Sahso (“a Saxon”), Icelandic Saxi (“a Saxon”), Estonian saks (“lord; German”), Finnish Saksa (“Germany”). Also cognate to Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”); more at sax.

cog

Then came the call to arms, love, the heather was aflame / Down from the silent mountains, the Saxon strangers came.

(Ireland, Wales, poetic) An English/British person.


Saxon

en-adj

Saxon (comparative more Saxon, superlative most Saxon)

more Saxon (comparative)
most Saxon (superlative)

He was a large, very Saxon type of man; that is to say, an English one, having shed the vices and cruelties and developed the patience and cool-headedness.

1987, Idries Shah, Adventures, Facts and Fantasy in Darkest England, London: The Octagon Press, →ISBN, page 325:

(Ireland, Wales, poetic) Of, relating to, or characteristic of England, typically as opposed to a Celtic nationality.


fifteen

fifteens (plural)
fiveteen (alternative obsolete)
fifteene (alternative obsolete)

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fiftene, from Old English fīftīene, fīftēne, from Proto-Germanic *fimftehun. Cognate with West Frisian fyftjin, Dutch vijftien, German fünfzehn, Danish femten. Equivalent to five + -teen.

(Ireland, mostly in plural) An Irish traybake made with crushed digestive biscuits, marshmallows and glacé cherries combined with condensed milk and desiccated coconut.


cock

en-noun

cock (countable and uncountable, plural cocks)

Sranan Tongo: kaka

Tok Pisin: kok

→ Thai: ก๊อก (gɔ́k, “tap”)

From Middle English cok, from Old English coc, cocc (“cock, male bird”), from Proto-West Germanic *kokk, from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz (“cock”), probably of onomatopoeic origin.
Cognate with Middle Dutch cocke (“cock, male bird”) and Old Norse kokkr ("cock"; whence Danish kok (“cock”), dialectal Swedish kokk (“cock”)). Reinforced by Old French coc, also of imitative origin. The sense "penis" is attested since at least the 1610s, with the compound pillicock (“penis”) attested since 1325.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

gloss

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, derogatory, slang) A stupid, obnoxious or contemptible person.

The running patterer cares less than other street-sellers for bad weather, for if he "work" on a wet and gloomy evening, and if the work be "a cock," which is a fictitious statement or even a pretended fictitious statement, there is the less chance of any one detecting the ruse.

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

"You used to talk an awful lot of cock."

That Hitler's armies can't be beat is just a load of cock, / For Marshal Timoshenko's boys are pissing through von Bock […]

2013, M. J. Trow, Swearing Like A Trooper: Rude Slang of World War Two:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory, slang, uncountable) Nonsense; rubbish; a fraud.

All right, cock?

Now, in coming down here, I journeyed part of the way with a jolly old cock, who shed a tear with me every time the coach stopped […]

1848, Thomas Frost, Paul the Poacher, page 118:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, especially as term of address) A man; a fellow.


cock

en-verb

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

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

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

Foster's Lager TV commercial, 1980s
"Please tell me the way to Cockfosters." ... "Drink it warm, mate."

(British, Ireland, transitive, slang) To copulate with; (by extension, as with fuck) to mess up, to damage, to destroy.


cock

onomatopoeic

2006, Vamp, “oh cock i should have kept with a toyota!”, in uk.rec.cars.modifications (Usenet):

(UK, Ireland, slang) Expression of annoyance.


tick

From Middle English *tik, tek, tyche (“light touch, tap”), from the verb (see Etymology 3 below). Compare Dutch tik (“a pat, tap”), Middle High German zic (“a slight touch”).

cog

Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box

Kate's choice to don her pink suit again now, at the height of the Barbiecore trend, shows the royal really does have her finger on the pulse. That, paired with her statement belt and the fact pearls are having a real fashion moment (courtesy of the Met Gala) is three big ticks from us.

2023 May 26, Natasha Harding, Alexandria Dale, “Kate Middleton just re-wore her Alexander McQueen baby pink trouser suit”, in Women's Health:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, Ireland) A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement.

oikein-merkki (note that a different sign is used in Finland to indicate correctness)


shit

en-verb

shit (third-person singular simple present shits, present participle shitting, simple past shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit, past participle shat or (rare) shitted or (US) shit or shitten)

shits (present singular third-person)
shitting (participle present)
shat (past)
shitted (past rare)
shit (US past)
shat (participle past)
shitted (participle past rare)
shit (US participle past)
shitten (participle past)

From Middle English schiten, shiten, from Old English sċītan, from Proto-West Germanic *skītan, from Proto-Germanic *skītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skéydt, from *skeyd-, *skeh₁i-d (“to cut”) (compare *skey-).
Cognate with West Frisian skite, Low German schieten, Dutch schijten, German scheißen, Danish skide. More at shed.

you can't put the shit back in the horse

I saw red and smashed a plate and a bowl. […] I swept up the mess. I bawled a lot as I swept […] I also thought, I am about to get my period. It absolutely shits me that this should explain anything.

1983, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 70:

(transitive, vulgar, colloquial, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland) To annoy.


animal

From Middle English animal, from Latin animālis, from either anima (“breath, spirit”) or animus. Originally distinct from the noun, it became associated with attributive use of the noun and is now indistinguishable from it.

Wiktionary appendix of terms relating to animals


naff

en-adj

naff (comparative naffer, superlative naffest)

naffer (comparative)
naffest (superlative)

Perhaps from Polari, 1960s. Further etymology unknown; perhaps a conscious corruption of either fanny or eff (off) (see naff off).

That tie is a bit naff, don’t you think?

She was an ordinary woman in her dress style; she didn't wear a leather bodice or naff over-knee plastic spiky-heeled boots.

1998, Robert Llewellyn, The Man on Platform Five, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 291:

I mean ten years ago a bit of charlie was for pop stars or a celebrities birthday bash. It was demonized by Daily Mail Readers getting drunk in naff wine bars.

2004, J. J. Connolly, Layer Cake, spoken by XXXX (Daniel Craig):

Remember, “tacky” means “cheap or glitzy”, whereas “naff” is about stylistic shortcomings which are horrifyingly average and pathetically ordinary. The Jersey Shore is tacky, but The Bachelor is naff.

2012, Simon Doonan, Gay men don't get fat, New York: Blue Rider Press, →ISBN, page 206:

A mere seven years after her tragic death, isn’t it grim and tasteless to send her hologram off on some naff tour?

2019 February 24, Barbara Ellen, “Amy Winehouse could belt out a tune – her naff hologram can’t”, in The Guardian:

Note that last phrase: what actually emerged was a virtual-reality platform called Horizon Worlds, accessible only via naff and clunky Oculus headsets (think an uncomfortable version of Zoom) […]

2023 May 13, John Naughton, “A moment’s silence, please, for the death of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

Did you see Elon Musk apologise for some tweets this week? (Please don’t be naff and call them “X posts”.)

2025 June 13, Marina Hyde, “So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(British, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial, Polari) Bad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable.


at

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Germanic *at
Old English æt
Middle English at
English at
From Middle English at, from Old English æt (“at, near, by, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, near, to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“near, at”). Cognate with Scots at (“at”), North Frisian äät, äit, et, it (“at”), Danish at (“to”), Swedish åt (“for, toward”), Norwegian åt (“to”), Faroese at (“at, to, toward”), Icelandic að (“to, towards”), Gothic 𐌰𐍄 (at, “at”), Latin ad (“to, near”).

em

not distinct from the senses expressed in English by in or on

a (unproductive; only used with a few words, as in à mesa: at the table)

(no preposition is used, e.g.:) 五點鐘 /五点钟 (wǔ diǎnzhōng) or 五點 /五点 (wǔ diǎn, literally “at five o'clock”)

balance as at 20th March 1999

n.d., quoted in Longmans Business Dictionary

Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, especially finance) (also as at; before dates) On (a particular date).

I think ‘Jesus, my back is at me’. Then I get the ball. Off you go for 10 yards and you don’t feel a thing. Then you stop and think: ‘Jesus, it’s at me again’[.]

1995 Keith Wood, quoted in David Hughes, "Wood odds-on to take one against the head", in The Independent (London) 18 January

He seems to be saying. “Ah, go on, you’re making the other lads feel bad.” But the 4th fella says, “No. Don’t be ‘at’ me. I’m just not in the form right now, I’ll stay where I am, thanks.”

2014 Marian Keyes "Antarctic Diary - Part 2" personal website (January 2014)

(Ireland, stressed pronunciation) Bothering, irritating, causing discomfort to


dear

en-adj

dear (comparative dearer or more dear, superlative dearest or most dear)

dearer (comparative)
more dear (comparative)
dearest (superlative)
most dear (superlative)

From Middle English dere, from Old English dīere (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious, expensive”). Cognate with Scots dere, deir (“of great value or worth, highly valued, precious, beloved”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Dutch duur (“costly, precious”), German teuer (“costly, precious”), German Low German düür, Danish dyr (“expensive”), Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Norwegian dyr (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Yiddish טייַער (tayer, “precious, expensive”).

cog

(used in translations) 親愛なる (しんあいなる, shin'ai-naru)

tcher (often under French-borrowed "chér")

عَزِيز

an informal way of addressing the recipient in a letter's opening line

(used in translations) 親愛なる (しんあいなる, shin'ai naru)

(mijn) beste

an ironic way to start (often after my) addressing an inferior

The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.

There's more depends on this than on the value.
The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation:
Only for this, I pray you, pardon me.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

This water is sold for 50 cents per ton, which is not dear under the circumstances.

1902, Briquettes as Fuel in Foreign Countries (report of the United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce)

Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.

1966, The Beatles, “When I'm Sixty-Four”:


mind

en-verb

mind (third-person singular simple present minds, present participle minding, simple past and past participle minded)

minds (present singular third-person)
minding (participle present)
minded (participle past)
minded (past)
mind (infinitive)
mind (first-person present singular)
minded (first-person past singular)
mind (present second-person singular)
mindest (archaic present second-person singular)
minded (past second-person singular)
mindedst (archaic past second-person singular)
minds (present singular third-person)
mindeth (archaic present singular third-person)
minded (past singular third-person)
mind (plural present)
minded (past plural)
mind (present subjunctive)
minded (past subjunctive)
mind (imperative present)
minding (participle present)
minded (participle past)

→ Chinese: mind, MIND

From Middle English minde, münde, ȝemünde, from Old English ġemynd (“memory”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundi, *gamundi, from Proto-Germanic *mundiz, *gamundiz (“memory, remembrance”), from Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”) (compare also mantis, via Greek), from the root *men- (“to think”).
Cognate with Old High German gimunt (“mind, memory”), Danish minde (“memory”), Swedish minne (“memory”), Icelandic minni (“memory, recall, recollection”), Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (munds, “memory, mind”), Latin mēns (“mind, reason”), Sanskrit मनस् (mánas), Ancient Greek μένος (ménos), Albanian mënd (“mind, reason”). Doublet of mantra. Related to Old English myntan (“to mean, intend, purpose, determine, resolve”). More at mint.

cog

would you mind putting on your seat belt

I'm not very healthy. I do eat fruit sometimes, mind.

(UK, Ireland) Take note; used to point out an exception or caveat.


brekkie

en-noun

brekkie (countable and uncountable, plural brekkies)

brekkies (plural)
brekky (alternative)
breakie (alternative)
breaky (alternative)

→? Maori: parakuihi

What's for brekkie, Dad?

For quotations using this term, see Citations:brekkie.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Breakfast.


bird

→ Esperanto: birdo

From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century.
The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.

inh

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

And by my word! the bonny bird / In danger shall not tarry.

1809, Thomas Campbell, Lord Ullin's Daughter:

After tea, the bright boys wash, clean their boots, and change into their “second-best” attire, and stroll forth[…]; sometimes to saunter, in company with others, up and down that parade until they “click” with one of the “birds.”

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

The usual visual grammar was in place – a carpet in the street, people in paddocks awaiting a brush with something glamorous, blokes with earpieces, birds in frocks of colliding colours that if sighted in nature would indicate the presence of poison.

2013 September 13, Russell Brand, The Guardian:

“All these fantastic birds, long hair, made up, false eyelashes and things, crowding round this group of scabby, spotty teenagers,” marveled Anderson.

2017, David Weigel, The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock, W. W. Norton & Company:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.

Mike went out with his bird last night.

But all of a sudden though, just through the smoke / It's your bird laughing and joking with a bloke / Ain't just that either, as she moves closer / In a shape what looks like they're lovers, he's tonguing her!

2002, “Geezers need excitement”, in Mike Skinner (lyrics), Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial, by extension) A girlfriend.


hole

→ Japanese: ホール (hōru)

→ Korean: 홀 (hol)

Sranan Tongo: olo

Inherited from Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol, from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow.

отво́р

orifice (see anus etc. for specific body cavities)

know one's ass from a hole in the ground

know one's head from a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground


bold

en-adj

bold (comparative bolder or more bold, superlative boldest or most bold)

bolder (comparative)
more bold (comparative)
boldest (superlative)
most bold (superlative)

From Middle English bold, bolde, bald, beald, from Old English bald, beald (“bold, brave, confident, strong, of good courage, presumptuous, impudent”), from Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz (“strong, bold”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰlē- (“to bloat, swell, bubble”).
Cognate with Dutch boud (“bold, courageous, fearless”), Middle High German balt (“bold”) (whence German bald (“soon”)), Swedish båld (“bold, dauntless”). Perhaps related to Albanian ballë (“forehead”) and Old Prussian balo (“forehead”). For semantic development compare Italian affrontare (“to face, to deal with”), sfrontato (“bold, daring, insolent”), both from Latin frons (“forehead”).

cog

All of her children are terribly bold and never do as they are told.

(Ireland) Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.


tortoise

From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, “holder of Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.

der

Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.


tin

en-noun

tin (countable and uncountable, plural tins)

From Middle English tin, from Old English tin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin, from Proto-Germanic *tiną.

a tin of baked beans; a tobacco tin; a tin of shoe polish

Several tins of paint were needed to paint the house.

empty tins, cans, and plastic containers are recycled in the blue bins.

When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line.

1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:

(New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, British, countable) An airtight container, made of tin or another metal, used to preserve food, or hold a liquid or some other product.


scarlet

en-adj

scarlet (comparative more scarlet, superlative most scarlet)

more scarlet (comparative)
most scarlet (superlative)

From Middle English scarlet, scarlat, borrowed from Old French escarlate (“a type of cloth”), from Medieval Latin scarlatum (“scarlet cloth”), of uncertain origin. This was long thought to derive from Classical Persian سقرلات (saqirlāt, “a warm woollen cloth”), but the Persian word (first attested in the 1290s) is now thought to be from Arabic سِقِلَّات (siqillāt), denoting very expensive, luxury silks dyed scarlet-red using the exceptionally expensive dye, first attested around the ninth century. The most obvious route for the Arabic word siqillāt to have entered the Romance languages would be via the Arabic-speaking Iberian region of al-Andalus, particularly Almería, where kermes was produced extensively; compare especially the dialectal form سِقِرْلَاط (siqirlāṭ). The word then came to be used of woollen cloth dyed with the same dye. The Arabic word may itself be derived from Byzantine Greek σιγιλλᾶτον (sigillâton), from Latin sigillātum (“a type of fabric”, literally “sealed; sealing”) .

der

He signed off our correspondence, “Well thank God for facemasks, cos I’m scarlet”.

26 October 2021, Aisling Marron, I brought the baby to her first vaccinations. Her look said: why have you betrayed me?, The Irish Times

(Ireland) Blushing; embarrassed or mortified.


rice

From Middle English ris, rys, from Old English hrīs (“branch; twig”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīsą (“bush; twig”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreys- (“to turn; bend; wind; move; shake”). Cognate with Scots reise, rice (“twigs; brushwood”), West Frisian riis, rys, Dutch rijs (“little branch; twig; osier; whip”), German Low German Ries, German Reis (“twig; sprig; shoot”), Swedish ris (“twigs; brush; rod”), Icelandic hrís.

cog

To guard the bank from the impression of the water, a fence, OF STAKE AND RICE, may be made along the bottom of it next the sea, which will last till the surface on that side is sufficiently swarded, and the mound properly consolidated.

1834, John Johnstone, A systematic treatise on the theory and practice of draining land:

Another form of dead-hedge is the stake-and-rice, and it is formed of the branches of forest trees; and where these are plentiful and thorns scarce, it is an economical dead fence.

1851, Henry Stephens, The Book of the Farm, volume 1:

"Gilbert White, the well-known naturalist, in a letter dated Selborne, Oct. 4th, 1775, says, 'Our people here, you know, call coppice-wood or hedge-wood rice or rise. Is this word still in use in that neighbourhood? And is it also known in Surrey?"

1881 July 16, Notes and Queries (6), volume 6:

(now chiefly, dialectal, Scotland, Ireland) A twig or stick.


colour

en-noun

colour (countable and uncountable, plural colours)

Commonwealth and Ireland standard spelling of color.


colour

en-verb

colour (third-person singular simple present colours, present participle colouring, simple past and past participle coloured)

colours (present singular third-person)
colouring (participle present)
coloured (participle past)
coloured (past)
color (alternative US)


posh

en-adj

posh (comparative posher or more posh, superlative poshest or most posh)

posher (comparative)
more posh (comparative)
poshest (superlative)
most posh (superlative)

Unknown.
Most likely derived from Romani posh (“half”), either because posh-kooroona (“half a crown”) (originally a substantial sum of money) was used metaphorically for anything pricey or upper-class, or because posh-houri (“half-penny”) came to refer to money generally.
A period slang dictionary defines "posh" as a term used by thieves for "money : generic, but specifically, a halfpenny or other small coin". An example is given from James Payn's The Eavesdropper (1888): "They used such funny terms: 'brads,' and 'dibbs,' and 'mopusses,' and 'posh' ... at last it was borne in upon me that they were talking about money."
Evidence exists for a slang sense from the 1890s meaning dandy, which is quite possibly related.
A popular folk etymology holds that the term is an acronym for "port out, starboard home", describing the cooler, north-facing cabins taken by the most aristocratic or rich passengers travelling from Britain to India and back. However, there is no evidence for this claim.
It could also possibly be a clipping of polished.
See also the articles mentioned in the References section below for additional discussion.

We have a right posh git moving in next door.

(usually offensive, especially in Ireland, Scotland, Northern England) Snobbish, materialistic, prejudiced, under the illusion that one is better than everyone else.


NT

The departure of Mr Thomas Butler N. T. to take up an appointment as principal teacher in Cushinstown National School in succession to Mr M. Murphy N. T. who has retired on pension, has caused general regret in Tullicanna where he has been teaching for some years past.

1941 January 7, “Forth and Bargy notes”, in Wexford People:

The death has occurred of Mary Corr NT (née Sherry) Goatstown, Dublin[.] Former teacher at Holy Cross School, Dundrum.

2024 March 7, “Death notices: Mary Corr NT”, in RIP.ie:

national-school
w:national school (Ireland)

(Ireland, dated, chiefly post-nominal) Initialism of national-school teacher


bap

Originally Scottish English, of unknown origin.

(British, Ireland, slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.

He lost the bap.

Mrs Dudley came bouncing back, hand swinging, big stain on her right bap like she'd been shot or Da had got at her in an alleyway.


NS

→ French: NS

(Ireland, usually as part of a name) Initialism of National School.


sound

sound (comparative sounder, superlative soundest)

sounder (comparative)
soundest (superlative)
soune (alternative obsolete)
sownd (alternative obsolete)
sowne (alternative obsolete)

→ Volapük: saun

From Middle English sound, sund, isund, ȝesund, from Old English sund, ġesund (“sound, safe, whole, uninjured, healthy, prosperous”), from Proto-West Germanic *sund, from Proto-Germanic *gasundaz, *sundaz (“healthy”), from Proto-Indo-European *sunt-, *swent- (“vigorous, active, healthy”).
Cognate with Scots sound, soun (“healthy, sound”), Saterland Frisian suund, gesuund (“healthy”), West Frisian sûn (“healthy”), Dutch gezond (“healthy, sound”), Low German sund, gesund (“healthy”), German gesund (“healthy, sound”), Danish sund (“healthy”), Swedish sund (“sound, healthy”). Related also to Dutch gezwind (“fast, quick”), German geschwind (“fast, quick”), Old English swīþ (“strong, mighty, powerful, active, severe, violent”). See swith.

cog

How are you? —I'm sound.

That's a sound track you're playing.

See that man over there? He's sound. You should get to know him.

(British, Ireland, slang) Good; acceptable; decent.


sound

soune (alternative obsolete)
sownd (alternative obsolete)
sowne (alternative obsolete)

I found my jacket. — Sound.

(British, Ireland, slang) Yes; used to show agreement or understanding.


piece

pieces (plural)
peece (alternative obsolete)

Belizean Creole: pees

Sranan Tongo: pisi

→ Finnish: biisi

→ Irish: píosa

→ Japanese: ピース (pīsu)

→ Scottish Gaelic: pìos

From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion, quota”); doublet of English fit, fytte, fytt (“musical piece, chapter”), Icelandic fit (“web”), German Fitze (“skein”), from Old High German *fitjâ. Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza, Italian pezza, Italian pezzo.

der

My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game.

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 46:

(Scotland, Ireland, UK, US, dialectal) A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.


twit

PIE word
 *h₂éd
The verb is an aphetic form of atwite (“(obsolete) to blame, reproach”), from Middle English atwiten (“to attribute (something) to someone; to blame (something) on someone; to accuse or charge (someone) with something; to speak ill of; to taunt”), from Old English ætwītan (“to blame, reproach; to censure, upbraid; to taunt”), from æt- (prefix meaning ‘at, near; toward’) + wītan (“to accuse; to blame, reproach”) (from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to punish; to torment; to know; to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)).
The noun is probably derived from the verb, although it is attested in print earlier.

inh

Young Strephon he has Woo'd me long, / And Courted me with Pipe and Song; / But I a silly, silly peevish Twit, / For want of Sense, for want of Wit, / Have phoo'd, and cry'd, / Have pish'd, and fy'd, / And play'd the fool, and lost my Time, / And almost slipp'd, and almost slipp'd, / And almost slipp'd my Maiden Prime.

1720, Thomas d’Urfey, compiler, “A Song. Set by Mr. Henry Purcell.”, in Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy; […], volume VI, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1720 (2nd printing; republished 19th century), →OCLC, page 241:

(British, Ireland, dialectal, archaic) A person who chatters or gossips inanely; a chatterer, a gossip or gossiper; also, a person who divulges private information about others or is indiscreet; a tattletale.


banshee

banshees (plural)
banshie (alternative dated)
benshee (alternative obsolete)

desc

→ Arabic: بَانْشِي (bānšī)

→ Arabic: بَانْشِي (bānšī)

→ Catalan: banshee

→ Dutch: banshee

→ Esperanto: banŝio

→ Finnish: banshee

→ French: banshee, banshie

→ German: Banshee

→ Japanese: バンシー (banshī)

→ Korean: 반시 (bansi)

→ Northern Kurdish: banşî

→ Portuguese: banshee

→ Russian: ба́нши (bánši), банши́ (banší), ба́ньши (bánʹši), баньши́ (banʹší)

→ Spanish: banshee

Borrowed from Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (literally “woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.

der

Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, / The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream […].

1810, The Lady of the Lake, Walter Scott, 3.VII:

(Scotland, Ireland, folklore) A female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death.


me

There don't seem much to say just now. / (Yer what? Then don't, yer ruddy cow! / And give us back me cigarette!)

a. 1918, Wilfred Owen, “The Letter”, in Douglas Kerr, editor, The Works of Wilfred Owen, page 54:

I want me money back!

1994, John Hodge, Shallow Grave, spoken by Alex Law (Ewan McGregor):

Get off me cheese! Get off! Get off!

"What have I ever done to prove me worth, or where I could at least say as I'd made a difference?"

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, page 99:

(UK regional, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of my.


foot

en-verb

foot (third-person singular simple present foots, present participle footing, simple past and past participle footed)

foots (present singular third-person)
footing (participle present)
footed (participle past)
footed (past)
foote (alternative obsolete)
feets (alternative dialectal)
foots (alternative nonstandard)

From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes, pie (“Spanish unit of length”), and pous.

doublet

(Ireland, transitive) To spread out and stack up (turf sods) to allow them to dry.


mongrel

From Middle English mongrel, equivalent to mong (“mixture”) + -rel (pejorative diminutive); from Old English ġemang (“mingling”) (whence Modern English among), from Proto-Germanic *mang- (“mix”).

suffix

"Yanto bloody Evans!" Jack stuttered with rage. "Yanto bloody Evans! That... that... bloody mongrel! D'you know who he is? He's the one who knocked me back for a bit of extra timber before the roof fell in on me!"

2008, Jim Brigginshaw, Over My Dead Body, page 77:

But somebody's got to tell these mums and dads why their kids died, why this mongrel thinks he can wipe them out like a dirty rag.

2019 October 27, Natalie Wolfe, “Australia's worst serial killer's affairs with sisters-in-laws”, in New Zealand Herald:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; (often preceded by "poor") a pitiable person.


slim

Borrowing from Low German or Dutch slim (“bad, sly, clever”), from Middle Dutch slim (“bad, crooked”), from Old Dutch *slimb, from Proto-West Germanic *slimb, from Proto-Germanic *slimbaz (“oblique, crooked”). The sense development would have been "slanting, cunning" (Dutch) > "insignificant, slight" and then "thin, graceful" in English, a shift that Liberman calls an "incredible amelioration" of word meaning.
The pejorative sense found in Low German and Dutch is also found preserved in the archaic English noun slim (“worthless or lazy person”), also comparable to the South African use of the adjective as "crafty, sly."
Compare Dutch slim (“smart, clever, crafty”), Middle High German slimp (“slanting, awry”), German schlimm (“bad”), West Frisian slim (“bad, dire”).


heel

From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock.
Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

the heel of the white loaf

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

Boiled mutton was in one, and the heel of a damper in another.

1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 32:

`Have ye seen,' said Uncle Jobson with basilisk severity, `what's become of the heel of to-day's loaf?'

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 42:

(US, Ireland, Scotland, Australia) A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread.


motorway

All the R. R.'s of America will have to be furnished with a biking way and a motor way on each side of the rails.

1895 October, “Real Estate”, in California Banker's Magazine, page 429:

Work of constructing the Texas Motorway, a stone highway which when completed will extend from Fort Worth to Del Rio, Tex., a distance of 500 miles, has been commenced and a section between 18 and 20 miles long running out from Glenrose, the county seat of Somervell County, has been completed.

1913 September 20, Good Roads, page 137:

It is presumed that in the working out of the program the motor trucks will automatically have the major use of the local low-speed highways paralleling the motorway.

1925 December, C. L. Norton, “Our Industrial Highways”, in Trade Winds, volume 4, number 10:

In 1959, Ernest Marples became the new Minister of Transport. His business career had been as a road builder and he saw the future in a network of motorways, whereas he believed there was serious overcapacity in the railway network.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:

One national agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the national motorway system, which typically is a small fraction of the entire roadway network. (page 8)

2001 June 10, Jim Brewer, John German, ..., “Geometric Design Practices for European Roads”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Office of International Programs, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington:

An alternative transit route that bypasses the metropolis’ traffic-filled streets, the 400-kilometer (248.5-mile) North Marmara Motorway starts on the western side of Istanbul and ends in the eastern Marmara province of Sakarya.

2021 May 21, “Turkey opens last section of new highway connecting Asia to Europe”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Daily Sabah:

Charging stations for electric vehicles must be placed along the main European motorways at least every 60 kilometres from 2026, the European Parliament decided on Tuesday.

2023 July 12, “Electric vehicle charging stations to be installed every 60 km on European motorways”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Brussels Times:

freeway

in parts of Australia, Canada and the U.S.

(UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales) A highway with grade-separated crossings (rather than level crossings) and designed (and only permitted) for high-speed motor-traffic (in Europe motor vehicles with a higher speed limit than 40 km/h) running in two directions on one separate carriageway each.

snelweg

highway designed for high-speed motor-traffic

αυτοκινητόδρομος υπερταχείας κυκλοφορίας


gangway

From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang + way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”).

jet bridge

enclosed corridor between an airport and plane


pavement

en-noun

pavement (usually uncountable, plural pavements)

From Middle English pament, from Anglo-Norman pavement and reinforced by Middle French pavement; both from Latin pavīmentum (“paved surface or floor”), from pavīre (“to beat, to ram, to tread down”). Morphologically pave + -ment.

насти́лка

interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings

pol, výložennyj figúrnoj plítkoj, mozáikoj

пол, вы́ложенный фигу́рной пли́ткой, моза́икой

It was a cold and rainy afternoon as Ethel Churchill sat at the window of their new abode, a house in one of the streets leading from the Strand to the river. It was the day after their arrival, and nothing could well be more gloomy than the view: the pavement was wet, and a yellow mist obscured every object,...

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Meeting of Old Friends”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 194:

Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, South Africa, Mid-Atlantic US) A paved path, for the use of pedestrians, located at the side of a road.


Down syndrome

tlb

(chiefly US, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand)

Named after John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), an English physician who first described the condition as a distinct form of mental disability in the 1860s.

(neurology, medical genetics) A genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21 (a chromosomal excess), whereby the patients typically have a delay in cognitive ability and physical growth, as well as a small head and tilted eyelids.

مُتَلَازِمَة دَاوْن

genetic disorder caused by a chromosomal excess

唐氏綜合症 /唐氏综合症

tong⁴ si⁶ zung³ hap⁶ zing³, tong⁴ si⁶ zung¹ hap⁶ zing³


braid

braids (plural)
brade (alternative)
brad (alternative)
bread (alternative)
bred (alternative)
breid (alternative)
breyd (alternative)

From Middle English brede, bræd, bred, from Old English bred (“board, plank, tablet, table”), from Proto-West Germanic *bred, from Proto-Germanic *bredą (“board, plank”), e-grade byform of *burdą (“board, plank”). Cognate with Scots bred, braid, brad (“board, plank, wooden tablet”), Saterland Frisian Brääd (“board, plank”), West Frisian bret (“board, plank”), Dutch bred, berd (“plank, table”), German Low German Bredd (“board, plank”), German Brett (“board, plank”), Danish bræt (“board, plank”)..

cog

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) A shelf or board for holding objects.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) A board to press curd for cheese.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) A flat board attached to a beam, used for weighing.


tuition

en-noun

tuition (countable and uncountable, plural tuitions)

/t͡ʃʉːˈɪʃən/

From Old French [Term?], from Latin tuitiō (“guard, protection, defense”), from tuēri (“to watch, guard, see, observe”). Compare intuition, tutor.

обучение

Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16.[…]There are no inspectors, no exams until the age of 18, no school league tables, no private tuition industry, no school uniforms. […]

2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:

(Ireland, UK) The training or instruction provided by a teacher or tutor.

tuition classes

Tuition in the past was like taking medicine and you sent children for it only if they were doing poorly in a subject.

2021 August 18, Qiu Guanhua, “Forum: Heavy reliance on tuition to boost performance is not healthy”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, archived from the original on 2022-12-28:

(India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia) Paid private classes taken outside of formal education; tutoring. (also used attributively)


get

Kylie: Oi, Bono! You lazy get! Have you finished my song yet?

1990 January 13, David Quantick, Steven Wells, “Is It Rock Art Or Is It Nart?”, in New Musical Express:

(UK, Ireland, regional) Synonym of git (“contemptible person”).


hang

From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.

(Ireland, informal, derogatory) Cheap processed ham (cured pork), often made specially for sandwiches.


have

en-verb

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

has (present singular third-person)
having (participle present)
had (participle past)
had (past)
have (infinitive)
have (first-person present singular)
had (first-person past singular)
have (present second-person singular)
hast (archaic present second-person singular)
had (past second-person singular)
hadst (archaic past second-person singular)
has (present singular third-person)
have (dialectal present singular third-person)
hath (archaic present singular third-person)
had (past singular third-person)
have (plural present)
had (past plural)
have (present subjunctive)
had (past subjunctive)
have (imperative present)
having (participle present)
haveing (archaic participle present)
had (participle past)
haue (alternative alternative obsolete)
hae (alternative)

From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“to have”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have”), durative of *habjaną (“to lift, take up”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyéti, present tense of *keh₂p- (“to take, seize, catch”). Related to heave.
Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verb have (notice that Latin habeō is not etymologically related to English have), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked the have structure. Instead, the third person forms of be were used, with the possessor in dative case, compare Latin mihi est / sunt, literally to me is / are.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian hääbe (“to have”), West Frisian hawwe (“to have”), Dutch hebben (“to have”), Afrikaans hê (“to have”), Low German hebben, hewwen (“to have”), German haben (“to have”), Danish have (“to have”), Swedish hava (“to have”), Norwegian Nynorsk ha (“to have”), Icelandic hafa (“to have”), Albanian kap (“I grab, catch, grip”), Latin capiō (“take”, verb), Russian хапать (xapatʹ, “to seize”).

we have always been at war with Eastasia

I have no German.

(dated outside Ireland, transitive) To be able to speak (a language).


codswallop

Codd-neck bottle
Galton and Simpson
Hancock's Half Hour
Hiram Codd

Unknown. Attested from a 1959 episode of the UK TV series Hancock's Half Hour. The writers (Galton and Simpson) state that the phrase was in general use when the show was broadcast. A national TV appeal in the UK in 2006 failed to find earlier references, though a humorous newspaper column from 1947 does use the fictional name "Sir Aubrey Codswallop". Originally written (1963) codswallop; the spelling cod's wallop is later.
Various etymologies are proposed from some sense of cod, such as from cod (“joke, imitation”) + -s- + wallop (“beer”) (slang), hence “imitation beer” (with interconsonantal -s- to ease pronunciation of -dw-), or from cod (“scrotum, as in codpiece”) + -s- + wallop (“to hit”), hence “to hit (with) the testicle bag,” or from cod (“fish”), hence perhaps some part of the fish, as used in the fishing industry.
A frequently given etymology, although widely rejected as a folk etymology, derives it from Hiram Codd, British soft drink maker of the 1870s, known for the eponymous Codd-neck bottle, with the suggestion that codswallop is a derisive term for soft drinks by beer drinkers, from Codd’s + wallop (“beer”), thus sarcastically “Codd’s beer”. There is no evidence that early uses had this sense; the slang term wallop (“beer”) appeared after Codd’s lifetime, initial spellings (in print from 1963) do not reflect such a derivation (*Codd’s wallop and *coddswallop with -dd- are not found), and there is an 80-year gap between the proposed coinage and attestation.
This is also the name given to the wooden device placed over the neck of a codd bottle and given a push (wallop) to dislodge the marble in the neck of the bottle. The word has also been used to describe the process of opening a codd bottle.

af

scrotum, as in <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">codpiece</i>

cod's wallop (alternative)
cods wallop (alternative)

Tony: I was not.
Sidney: Don’t give me that old codswallop. You were counting your money.

1959, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Hancock’s Half Hour:

Just branding a programme as ‘rubbish’, ‘tripe’, or—there are a lot of these—‘codswallop’, gives little indication of what moved the viewer to write.

An interviewer from a Warsaw radio station stopped a citizen in the street. Was the recent demonstration necessary? “History will tell.” But what did he think? “I am not a historian.” Likewise Lumsden′s and Wilson′s book. If it is not a load of codswallop, it will turn out to be very important. If it is not a load of codswallop. Faites vos jeux!

1981 October 1, John Turner, “Review: Autumn Books: Prometheus bounded?”, in New Scientist, page 41:

1993, J. Neville Turner, The One-Day Game – Cricket or Codswallop?, in 2001, David John Headon, The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection.

“I′ve told you all I know,” Rosa Armaz told Boarski and Yermin, “I don′t know what my husband has been doing. He′d mentioned going to Mars with the children but I thought it was a load of codswallop.”

2010, Grahame Howard, The Wishing Book 3 – Extermination, page 66:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Senseless talk or writing; nonsense; rubbish.


codswallop

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Used to express disbelief: nonsense!; rubbish!


make

makes (plural)
meck (alternative Scotland)

the last we shall have, I take it; for a make to a million, but we trine to the nubbing cheat to-morrow.

1826, Sir Walter Scott, Woodstock; Or, the Cavalier:

Only as he climbed the steps did he mind that he hadn't even a meck upon him, and turned to jump off as the tram with a showd swung grinding down to the Harbour […]

1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), page 606

(Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, now rare) A halfpenny.


bog

bogs (plural)
bogg (alternative)
bogge (alternative)
boghe (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos.
The frequent use to form compounds regarding the animals and plants in such areas mimics Irish compositions such as bog-luachair (“bulrush, bogrush”).
Its use for toilets is now often derived from the resemblance of latrines and outhouse cesspools to bogholes, but the noun sense appears to be a clipped form of boghouse (“outhouse, privy”), which derived (possibly via boggard) from the verb to bog, still used in Australian English. The derivation and its connection to other senses of "bog" remains uncertain, however, owing to an extreme lack of early citations due to its perceived vulgarity.

der

I'm on the bog

I'm in the bog

Fearing I should catch cold, they out of pity covered me warm in a Bogg-house.

1665, Richard Head et al., The English Rogue Described in the Life of Meriton Latroon, volume I:

...That no dirt... be thrown out of any window, or down the bogs...

a. 1789, Verses to John Howard F.R.S. on His State of Prisons and Lazarettos, published 1789, page 181:

Bog, or bog-house, a privy as distinguished from a water-closet.

1864, J.C. Hotten, The Slang Dictionary, page 79:

Our lodger had our upstairs, use of the stove, our tap, and our bog.

1959, William Golding, chapter I, in Free Fall, page 23:

(UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, slang) A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.


rake

en-verb

rake (third-person singular simple present rakes, present participle raking, simple past and past participle raked)

rakes (present singular third-person)
raking (participle present)
raked (participle past)
raked (past)
rake (infinitive)
rake (first-person present singular)
raked (first-person past singular)
rake (present second-person singular)
rakest (archaic present second-person singular)
raked (past second-person singular)
rakedst (archaic past second-person singular)
rakes (present singular third-person)
raketh (archaic present singular third-person)
raked (past singular third-person)
rake (plural present)
raked (past plural)
rake (present subjunctive)
raked (past subjunctive)
rake (imperative present)
raking (participle present)
raked (participle past)

The verb is partly derived from rake (“tool with a row of pointed teeth”) (see etymology 1) and from Middle English raken (“to rake; to gather by raking; to rake away (debris); to cover with something; (figurative) to conceal, hide; to destroy”) [and other forms], from Old Norse raka (“to scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *raką, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, right oneself”).
Cognates
The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch rāken (modern Dutch raken (“to rake”) (regional)), Middle Low German rāken, Old Danish raghæ, rakæ (modern Danish rage (“to shave”)), Old Swedish raka (modern Swedish raka (“to rake; to shave”)).
The noun is derived from the verb.

يجمع الحشائش

to act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake

kulkea edestakaisin

to move across (something) with a long side-to-side motion

tulittaa edestakaisin

to use a weapon to fire at (something) with a side-to-side motion

To act upon with a rake, or as if with a rake.

(transitive, chiefly Ireland, Northern England, Scotland, also figurative) To cover (something) by or as if by raking things over it.


rake

Jim has had a rake of trouble with his new car.

(chiefly Ireland, Scotland, slang) A lot, plenty.


ye

From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, ge, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”), Latvian jūs (“ye”). See also you.

My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:

Queſtion me then no more; whate'er ye want, / Ask in my Name, and God ſhall ſurely grant. / You've asked nothing yet for Jesus sake : / Ask and receive, and of my joyes partake.

1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 6, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church:

Know Ye that We have declared and by these Presents do declare our Will and Pleasure as follows—[…]

1995, Elizabeth II, “Legal Notice 247 of 1996”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette, page B1096:

(archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland, Ottawa Valley) You (the people being addressed).

archaic outside Northern England; Ottawa Valley; archaic outside Northern England; Ottawa Valley