agony aunt

Coordinate term: agony uncle

You should write in to the agony aunt; she'll sort it out for you.

Pandora has just left my bedroom. I am just about devastated with frustration. I can't go on like this. I have written to Aunt Clara, the Agony Aunt.

1984, Sue Townsend, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Methuen, →ISBN, page 20:

The big difference between agony aunts then and today is that now we have the internet to answer those tricky problems about how to eat an avocado pear (a lot of letters in the 70s were avocado-related)[…]

2021 June 20, Philippa Perry, “Ask Philippa: meet the Observer’s brilliant new agony aunt”, in The Observer:

(informal, British, Ireland) A writer of an advice column in a newspaper or other periodical.

I'm sick of everyone coming to me with their problems—I never wanted to be an agony aunt!

(informal, British, Ireland) Someone commonly consulted for advice about personal problems.

垃圾桶

someone consulted for advice about personal problems


routeing

The department organising the run-out will send its preferred routeing to the relevant NR national planning team, who will then try to deliver the specification as close as possible to the requested routes and times.

2022 December 14, Pip Dunn, “Caroline is ready for inspection...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 52:

(British) A method of finding paths from origins to destinations in a transport network.


Houses of Parliament

Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster

(UK, politics) The House of Commons and the House of Lords within the Palace of Westminster.


blinking

The blinking telly isn't working again.

It's right here in the blinkin' papers! Pictures and all!


Joe Bloggs

(chiefly British) A personification of the general public, or of an average ordinary person.


stuffed

en-adj

stuffed (comparative more stuffed, superlative most stuffed)

more stuffed (comparative)
most stuffed (superlative)

'Well, you talked me into it,' said Cornelius. 'I feel really stuffed. I can tell you that for sure. So I could do with a bloody good sleep.'

2011, Nick Oud, The Hatchling and The Human, Xlibris, page 74:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Very tired.

If the suspension was stuffed already from hitting the concrete base of the fence—and it was—then it was really stuffed by the time we'd gone a kilometre along the railway.

1998, John Marsden, The Night is for Hunting, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2001, unnumbered page:

But if you don't play ball in life, if you don′t go for it with a sincere 'Go, girrrrl' rugby-tackle attitude, you're really stuffed.

2002, Clare de Vries, Of Cats and Kings, page 174:

Although the 14-inch Standard that Yamato targets is stuffed, and maybe the one after that, a prolonged bombardment by a Colorado-class is not gonna do good things to anything - doesn't really matter who you are.

2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 36:17 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 2022-07-04:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) Broken, not functional; in trouble, in a situation from which one is unlikely to recover.


ANA

(UK) Initialism of animal nursing assistant.


hypo

en-noun

hypo (countable and uncountable, plural hypos)

Clipping of various terms beginning with hypo-, from Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”).

(slang, finance, British) Hypothecation.


prevaricate

en-verb

prevaricate (third-person singular simple present prevaricates, present participle prevaricating, simple past and past participle prevaricated)

prevaricates (present singular third-person)
prevaricating (participle present)
prevaricated (participle past)
prevaricated (past)

/pɹɪˈvæɹɪkeɪt/

/pɹɪˈvɛɹɪkeɪt/

From the participle stem of Latin praevāricārī (“to walk crookedly; to play a false or double part”), from prae- + vāricāre (“to stand with feet apart, straddle”), from vāricus (“with feet spread apart”).

der

(law, UK) To undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.


sunder

en-verb

sunder (third-person singular simple present sunders, present participle sundering, simple past and past participle sundered)

sunders (present singular third-person)
sundering (participle present)
sundered (participle past)
sundered (past)

From Middle English sundren (“to separate, part, divide”), from Old English sundrian (“to separate, split, part, divide”), from Proto-Germanic *sundrōną (“to separate”), from Proto-Indo-European *sen(e)- (“separate, without”). Cognate with Scots sinder, sunder (“to separate, divide, split up”), Dutch zonderen (“to isolate”), German sondern (“to separate”), Swedish söndra (“to divide”). More at sundry.

der

Where a fair opportunity offers, and the grass is perfectly dry, the hipples are sundered; that is, broken out into beds in the usual manner, turned, and again got up into cocklets, of such size as the state of dryness requires.

1788, William Marshall, The Rural Economy of Yorkshire:

Except under abnormal conditions, protection can be afforded to a field by cutting a strip half a chain in width all round the field, with a reaper and binder for preference, when the crop is in the best condition for hay, and then ploughing or sunder-cutting the stubble.

1941, The Queensland Agricultural and Pastoral Handbook, page 82:

The trees and shrubs all around us began to show the signs of death; dried branches, leafless gray and molding wood. The ground here was as hard as stone, the dirt and dust dry as bone sundered in the desert scorch.

2010, Stony Stern, Run Past The Hunter, page 143:

The world, a good deal of it, sundered, scorched.

2013, Thomas Glave, Among the Bloodpeople: Politics and Flesh, page 165:

(UK, dialect, dated, transitive) To expose to the sun and wind.


lawks

"Lawks! how uncomfortable," said the cook. "And M. Henri, was he wet too?"

"Your civic pride does you credit," said Hwel. "And now, please, leave the cart. I'm sure you've got some wood to gather. Lawks."

(UK, dialectal) Lord! (especially as an expression of surprise)


Member of Parliament

en-noun

Member of Parliament (plural Members of Parliament)

Members of Parliament (plural)
MPs (plural)

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a house of a parliament.


hop it

en-verb

hop it (third-person singular simple present hops it, present participle hopping it, simple past and past participle hopped it)

hops it (present singular third-person)
hopping it (participle present)
hopped it (participle past)
hopped it (past)

It has been rather misty for several mornings, so I told my pal to get ready and we would hop it the next day.

1918 June 15, Private John A. Scott, “A Prisoner of War”, in The Saturday Evening Post, page 28:

"You stop that!" cried a voice in the passage. "It's that blasted Jewess!" said the woman. She went to the kitchen door. "What the 'ell are you doing in our 'ouse? 'Op it, quick, or it will be the worse for you!"

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

‘[…] But when the others found out about it they got a bit restive, and I had to hop it. One of them pitched a spear at me. […]’

1952, Charlotte Jay, Beat Not the Bones, Wakefield Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 13:

Alan popped round too at lunchtime but I politely told him to hop it and call back later. He was a bit miffed but three was definitely a crowd.

2003, Stephen Walton, Interference, Lulu, published 2007, →ISBN, page 160:

(British, dismissal) To leave; to go away.


backbench

His spacious quarters indicate his transition from backbench upstart to established member of the governing team.

There was no separate back-bench organization ; indeed there were no back-bench caucuses in any Nigerian Legislative House, and any attempt to create one would probably have been regarded by the leadership concerned as a subversive move.

1963, Richard L. Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation, published 2004, page 400:

Both Thatcher's and Major's PPSs developed the role of trying to see that those members considered loyal to the leadership won the main positions on backbench party committees.

1995, R. L. Borthwick, Churchill to Major: The British Prime Ministership Since 1945, page 153:

In fall 1984, Brian Mulroney led a cabinet with far more political experience than the Conservative backbench.

1997, David Campbell Docherty, Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa: Life in the House of Commons:

2009, John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, page 301,
In situations of low ministerial turnover and increased professionalisation of politics, with most TDs regarding politics as a career, Taoisigh could find that impatience on the backbenches leads to calls for leadership turnover to effect promotions.

A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

(politics, UK, New Zealand, often attributive) In a house of legislature following the model of the Westminster system (such as the UK House of Commons), any bench behind either of the front benches and occupied by rank-and-file members.


Down's syndrome

(chiefly British, Canada) Alternative form of Down syndrome


cot death

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

(pathology, British) The unexplained death of a baby, usually while sleeping.


fully fledged

(UK) alternative form of full-fledged (US English)


House of Lords

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-House of Lords.wav

In between you have the Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’ or ‘When you need the House of Lords, it's through there.’

1967 December 21, The Listener, page 802:

(UK, humorous euphemistic slang, dated) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.


mushy peas

(chiefly British) Dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight and then boiled until they form a paste; a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips.


cop on

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

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

(Ireland, informal, UK, dialect) To come to understand; twig, cotton on.


benny

BTW, you might like to see what happens to CM00-01 when one of your sticks of memory decides to have a benny:

2001, Neil Davey, “Sacked Referees”, in alt.games.champ-man (Usenet):

'Like I told the police, I think she's just having a benny.'

"Stop having a benny, Liam." Gwen was getting agitated. Liam was failing miserably at his attempts to get Casey to back down.

2011, Kate Morgan, Wicked Games, page 34:

(UK, slang) Alternative letter-case form of Benny (“tantrum”)


inkling

From Middle English ningkiling, nyngkiling (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), and then either:
* possibly a variant of nikking, nyckyng (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), possibly from nikken (“to mark (a text) for correction (?)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs); or
* more likely from the rebracketing of an inklyng as a ninkiling, from Middle English inklen (“to mention (in a low voice); to tell (the truth)”) [and other forms] + -ing, -inge; inklen may be derived from inca, inke (“dread, fear; doubt; danger, risk (?)”), from Old English inca (“doubt, uncertainty; suspicion; fear; cause for complaint, grievance, grudge, ill-will, offence; quarrel; occasion, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache; grief; regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng-, *yenǵ- (“illness”). The English word would then be analysable as inkle + -ing.
Sense 3 (“desire, inclination”) may have been influenced by incline (“to tend to believe or do something”) or French enclin (“inclined, prone”).

inh

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

I requested brother Weder to come up into the stand and commence the preaching. But, inasmuch as he had his own notion about such things, having an inkling towards Quakerism within him,—that is, not to speak until he felt moved to do so, and this inspiration was wanting,—he refused to preach, and remained on his seat in the congregation.

1870 September 17, “The ‘United Brethren in Christ’”, in W[illia]m J. Allinson, editor, Friends’ Review. A Religious, Literary, and Miscellaneous Journal, volume XXIV, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published at 109 North Tenth Street; Merrihew & Son, printers, […], →OCLC, page 61:

A strong culture maintains the stability of its concepts or doctrines in various ways. One way is to convince its members that their inklings towards change are pathological. But actually the range of health is very broad, and the flexibility of the human mind is great. It is not pathological for belief-systems to change, even continuously, provided we keep them stable enough to allow adequate functioning.

1996, Michael Cavanaugh, Biotheology: A New Synthesis of Science and Religion, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 105:

In the Baathist government in Iraq generally, and Saddam Hussein's regime in particular, the nation-state's inkling towards fascist formation became manifest, undaunted by the necessities of political compromise or niceties of liberal temperance.

2000, Jacqueline S. Ismael, Shereen T. Ismael, “Gender and State in Iraq”, in Suad Joseph, editor, Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East), Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 195:

(British, dialectal) A desire, an inclination.


culprit

From Anglo-Norman cul. prit, contraction of culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) 'guilty: ready (to prove our case)', words used by prosecutor in opening a trial, mistaken in English for an address to the defendant. See culpable. It may have been influenced by Latin culpa (“blame, fault”).

(UK, law) A prisoner accused but not yet tried.


monosyllable

(UK, slang, obsolete) A euphemism for the word cunt


the penny drops

The penny dropped as Fred realised he had been conned.

Suddenly various pennies began to drop; now I understood obscure remarks that had been made in my presence by the Ryans, or by the nuns at school, or by Old Brigid or Tommy's foster-mother.

1979, Dervla Murphy, Wheels Within Wheels, page 56:

AMY: In the time I've known you, when have you shown the slightest interest in a girl?
MELS: Penny in the air!
AMY: I've known you for, what, 10 years? I've seen you practically every day. Name one girl you've paid the slightest bit of attention to? (RORY is flustered, runs from the room.)
AMY: Oh my God! Rory! (AMY runs after RORY.)
MELS: And the penny drops!

2011 August 27 (broadcast date), Doctor Who, series 6, episode 8, Let's Kill Hitler

(UK, informal) Understanding is reached; one comprehends.

der faldt tiøren

understanding is reached, one comprehends

נפל לו האסימון (nafál lo ha'asimón, literally “the token has dropped for him”)

ירד לו האסימון (yarád lo ha'asimón, literally “the token has descended for him”)

دو هزازش جا افتاد meaning "his(/her) two thousand dropped"

дошло́ (došló, literally “[It] reached [him/her]”)


enamoured

en-adj

enamoured (comparative more enamoured, superlative most enamoured)

more enamoured (comparative)
most enamoured (superlative)

UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada spelling of enamored


gawping

gawping faces


upkeep

en-verb

upkeep (third-person singular simple present upkeeps, present participle upkeeping, simple past and past participle upkept)

upkeeps (present singular third-person)
upkeeping (participle present)
upkept (participle past)
upkept (past)

Do you know how to upkeep a boat?

As for the city's buildings, it mostly resembled a town of white spires and cobblestone streets lined with flowerbeds that were upkept by magical means.

2014, James Blackthorne, Meditations of Madness: The Lost Empires Exposed:

(transitive, British) To maintain (something) or keep it in good repair.

поддържам

to maintain (something) or keep it in good repair


dit

dit (third-person singular simple present dits, present participle ditting, simple past and past participle ditted)

dits (present singular third-person)
ditting (participle present)
ditted (participle past)
ditted (past)

From Middle English ditten, dütten, from Old English dyttan (“to stop up, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *duttijan, from Proto-Germanic *duttijaną, from *duttaz (“wisp”), akin to Icelandic dytta. Related to Old English dott (“dot, point”). More at dot.

inh

(UK dialectal, Northern England) To stop up; block (an opening); close (compare Scots dit).


pike

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning.
The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk. It is a doublet of pique.
The diving or gymnastics position is probably from tapered appearance of the body when the position is executed.
The carnivorous freshwater fish is probably derived from the “sharp point, spike” senses, due to the fish’s pointed jaws.
The verb sense “to quit or back out of a promise” may be from the sense of taking up pilgrim's staff or pike and leaving on a pilgrimage; and compare Middle English pī̆ken (“to go, remove oneself”) and Old Danish pikke af (“to go away”).

cog

Short rakes for to gather vp barlie to binde, / and greater to rake vp such leauings behinde: / A rake for to hale vp the fitchis that lie, / A pike for to pike them vp handsom to drie.

1878, Thomas Tusser, “A Digression to Husbandlie Furniture”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 15, page 37:

(obsolete, British, dialectal) A hayfork.


pike

en-verb

pike (third-person singular simple present pikes, present participle piking, simple past and past participle piked)

pikes (present singular third-person)
piking (participle present)
piked (participle past)
piked (past)

Clipping of turnpike (“a toll road, especially a toll expressway; a spiked barrier across a road, originally used to block access to the road until toll had been paid”)
Noun sense 2 (“gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller”) and verb sense 2 (“to depart, travel, especially to flee, run away”) may refer to someone frequently using turnpikes, or may be derived from Middle English pī̆ken (“to go, remove oneself”).

clipping

Joe sold his sand, and cly'd his cole, sir [marginal note: pocketed his money] / While Bess got a basket of rags, / Then up to St. Giles's they roll'd, sir, / To every bunter Bess brags: / Into a booze-ken they pike it, [marginal note: go] / Where Bess was admitted we hear; / For none of the coves dare but like it, / As Joey, here kiddy, was there.

a. 1789, G[eorge] Parker (?), collected and annotated by John S[tephen] Farmer, “The Sandman’s Wedding”, in Musa Pedestris. Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536–1896], [s.l.]: Privately published for subscribers only, published 1896, →OCLC, page 65:

Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degan, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged. [footnote: Kill the fellow, down with him before he opens the door. Stab him, through and through; if he gets off we shall all be hanged.]

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter LXXXIII, in Pelham or Adventures of a Gentleman, New York, N.Y.: The Cassell Publishing Co. […], →OCLC, page 402:

Two hoodlums were "piking" up Woodward Avenue yesterday, when they encountered a boy acquaintance who asked where they were going.

1875 May, “Facts and Fancies”, in Ballou’s Monthly Magazine, volume XLI, number 5 (number 245 overall), Boston, Mass.: Thomes & Talbot, publishers […], →OCLC, page 496, column 2:

"Here, hold Bismarck!" says Aunty, jammin' the brass cage into Mr. Mallory's arm, and with that she pikes straight over to us.

1912, Sewell Ford, “A Long Shot on DeLancey”, in Odd Numbers: Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, publishers, →OCLC, page 77:

(intransitive, obsolete, British, thieves' cant) To depart or travel (as if by a turnpike), especially to flee, to run away.


whinge

en-verb

whinge (third-person singular simple present whinges, present participle whingeing or whinging, simple past and past participle whinged)

whinges (present singular third-person)
whingeing (participle present)
whinging (participle present)
whinged (participle past)
whinged (past)

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

From a northern variant of Old English hwinsian (“to whine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwinisōn (“to whine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwīnan (“to whine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with German winseln (“to whine, whimper”).

der

Argh! He has been whinging about it all night, even though he knows there's nothing we can do.

I know it won't help but sometimes it feels better to whinge about the things that annoy me.

"'D' ye hear what's come ower ye now,' continued the virago, 'ye whingeing Whig carles? D'ye hear wha's coming to cow yer cracks?"

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

You crossed her last wish in death and yet you sulk with me because I don’t whinge like some hired mute from Lalouette’s.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Mostly, they were wingeing about the lousy cook and the same thing served too often

1992, Sky Phillips, Secret mission to Melbourne, November, 1941, page 45:

His wife will winge her bloody head off, but Nev will come good.

1993, Michael Fisher, The Nightmare Man, page 169:

"I'm miserable," Sam proclaimed, plodding behind with his shoelace flapping. "Nobody ever gives me butter-pies when I need them." / "Shut up," said Jonathan. "Stop wingeing."

2002, Diana Wynne Jones, A Tale of Time City, page 41:

2012, John Lyons, The Australian, 1st Dec issue, Action stations as sea giants stay vigilant on the frontline
"You know the problem these days with young people? Get them to carry a 500-pound bomb and within 30 seconds they're making noises," he says, imitating a whingeing sound.

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) To whine; to complain, especially in an annoying or persistent manner.


whinge

Her whinges grew even shriller and more annoying the longer we had to listen to them.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) A cry.

I know you don't like it, but your whinges won't solve the problem!

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) A peevish complaint.


mish

en-noun

mish (countable and uncountable, plural mishes)

Simple spoken contraction of mission, missionary.

I haven't been on a mish in ages. I need some excitement. Do you get mad toey and hungry afterwards?

2015, Marlee Jane Ward, Welcome to Orphancorp:

(British, slang, countable) A mission or task.


leggy

en-adj

leggy (comparative leggier, superlative leggiest)

leggier (comparative)
leggiest (superlative)

Fred preferred leggy blondes.

(UK, US, chiefly of a woman) Having long, attractive legs; long-legged.


Cockney

First attested in Samuel Rowland's 1600 The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine as "a Bowe-bell Cockney", from Middle English cokenay (“a spoiled child; a milksop, an effeminate man”), used in the 16th c. by English country folk as a term of disparagement for city dwellers, of uncertain etymology. Possibly from Middle English cokeney (“a small, misshapen egg”), from coken (“cocks'”) + ey (“egg”) or from Cockney and Cocknay, variants of Cockaigne, a mythical land of luxury (first attested in 1305) eventually used as a humorous epithet of London. Compare cocker (“to spoil a child”).

der

(UK) From the East End of London, or London generally.


Cockney

COCKNEY, a native of London. An ancient nickname implying effeminacy, used by the oldest English writers, and derived from the imaginary fool's paradise, or lubberland, Cockaygne.

1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words, section 22:

Londoners, and all within the sound of Bow Bell, are in reproach called Cockneys.

A Cockney or Cocksie, applied only to one born within the sound of Bow bell, that is in the City of London.

“Charming place, ma’am,” said he, bowing to the widow; “noble prospect—delightful to us Cocknies, who seldom see anything but Pall Mall.”

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 26, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name was Zulu, wasn't it […] and there of course—against type—you played the toff, you played the officer.
Caine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.

2000 December 18, BBC and Bafta Tribute to Michael Caine, 16:43-17:05:

(UK) A Londoner born within earshot of the city's Bow Bells, or (now generically) any working-class Londoner.


CID

(British, law enforcement, initialism) Scotland Yard Criminal Investigation Department


bugger all

You may not like paying taxes, but there's bugger all you can do about it.

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, vulgar) Nothing.


duck's arse

(British, Ireland, informal, vulgar) A hairstyle in which the hair is swept back along the sides of the head to meet in a point at the back, thus resembling a duck as seen from behind.


thermionic valve

en-noun

thermionic valve (plural thermionic valves)

The age of electronics began in 1906 with Lee De Forest's invention of the vacuum tube, or, as the British (led by John Ambrose Fleming, whose work preceded De Forest's) described it, the thermionic valve.

2012, George Dyson, Turing's Cathedral, Penguin, published 2013, page 65:

(chiefly historical) An electronic device incorporating electrons from a glowing cathode inside an evacuated glass tube, functioning as a switch, amplifier etc.


Fanny Adams

From Fanny Adams (1859–1867), a young girl brutally murdered and dismembered. Tins of mutton introduced in the British navy after her death were not liked by the sailors and were humorously said to be her butchered remains. Fanny Adams then came to mean any worthless thing, and eventually, nothing at all ("sweet F A").

The Engineer Lieutenant pushed his head inside his neighbour's cabin: “Come along—come along! You'll be late for dinner. Fresh grub to-night: no more ‘Russian Kromeskis’ and ‘Fanny Adams’!”

1916, Bartimeus [pseudonym; Sir Lewis Ritchie], Naval Occasions, and Some Traits of the Sailor-man, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons:

(UK, naval slang, obsolete, derogatory) Tinned meat.


Fanny Adams

(chiefly British) Nothing (euphemistic version of fuck all).


sweater

→ Catalan: suèter

→ Czech: svetr

→ Danish: sweater

→ German: Sweater

→ Hungarian: szvetter

→ Japanese: セーター (sētā)

→ Korean: 스웨터 (seuweteo)

→ Polish: sweter

→ Portuguese: suéter

desctree

→ Russian: сви́тер (svíter)
→ Crimean Tatar: sviter
→ Georgian: სვიტრი (sviṭri)
→ Uzbek: sviter

→ Spanish: suéter

→ Swahili: sweta

→ Turkish: süveter

From Middle English swētere, equivalent to sweat + -er.

Among them were the "sweaters" who formed a circle round their prisoner and pricked him with their swords until he sank exhausted to the ground, […]

William Lecky, quoted in 1965, Gilbert Geis, Juvenile Gangs (page 6)

(UK, obsolete) A London street ruffian in Queen Anne's time who prodded passers-by with his sword-point.


fuck all

I've learned fuck all.

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, vulgar) Nothing at all or very little.


fuck all

If you can't do this then there's fuck all hope for you.

There was fuck all else he could have done.

There are fuck all decent pubs around here.


naught

From the Middle English naught, nought, naht, nawiht, from Old English nawiht. Cognate with West Frisian neat (“nothing, naught”). Doublet of nought. Equivalent to ne + aught.

This Rolls-Royce saloon does naught to sixty in five seconds.


crib

en-noun

crib (countable and uncountable, plural cribs)

From Middle English crib, cribbe, from Old English crib, cryb, cribb, crybb (“couch, bed; manger, stall”), from Proto-West Germanic *kribbjā, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ (“crib, wickerwork”), from Proto-Indo-European *grebʰ-, *gerbʰ- (“bunch, bundle, tuft, clump”), from *ger- (“to turn, twist”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kräbbe, Krääb, Krääf (“crib”), West Frisian krêbe (“crib”), Dutch krib (“crib, manger”), German Krippe (“rack, crib”), Danish krybbe (“crib”), Icelandic krubba (“crib”). Doublet of crèche. The sense of ‘stealing, taking notes, plagiarize’ seems to have developed out of the verb.
The criminal sense may derive from the 'basket' sense, circa the mid 18th century, in that a poacher could conceal poachings in such a basket (see the 1772 Samuel Foote quotation). The cheating sense probably derives from the criminal sense.

inh

a day or two afterwards I learned that Miss Temple, on returning to her own room at dawn, had found me laid in the little crib; my face against Helen Burns’s shoulder, my arms round her neck. I was asleep, and Helen was -- dead.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “[HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20140811201712/HTTP://ETEXT.VIRGINIA.EDU/ETCBIN/OT2WWW-PUBENG?SPECFILE=%2FTEXTS%2FENGLISH%2FMODSLAENG%2FPUBLICSEARCH%2FMODENGPUB.O2W CHAPTER ?]”, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:

(British) A bed for a child older than a baby.

He had seen so many lean years of faithful service when the enemy held the corner on all the official cribs that, now in the days of his party’s fatness and of his own righteous reward, the habit of good, honest hustling stuck to him, and he lined up an array of pulls and indorsements that made him swell with happiness every time he went over the list.

1904, Forrest Crissey, Tattlings of a Retired Politician:

but if I have lost my crib and get nothing in exchange I shall feel what a soft Johnny I have been.

1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk:

(obsolete) A job, a position; (British) an appointment.

Here's Pannum and Lap, and good Poplars of Yarrum, / To fill up the Crib, and to comfort the Quarron.

1641–42, Richard Brome, A Joviall Crew, or, The Merry Beggars, published 1652, act 2:

(UK, obsolete, thieves' cant) The stomach.


compere

A borrowing of French compère (“partner, accomplice”), from Old French comper, from Late Latin compater (“godfather”), from Latin com- (“with”) + pater (“father”). Doublet of compeer, compadre, and goombah.

doublet

Every year I am the compere for our Church Quiz Night.

The compere came onto the stage holding the gold envelope that contained the winner's name.

2008, Kerry Katona, The Footballer's Wife, →ISBN, page 157:

Not only for his fighting expertise but also reminiscent of a compere in a cabaret show working the crowd, as a build up to the main event.

2012, Steve Taberner, The Wigan Hammer: The Autobiography by Steve Taberner, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 249:

They were barely settled when the final song came to an end; the audience began to applaud and after a few more seconds the voice of the compere came over the PA.

2012, Sue Welfare, One Night Only, HarperCollins, →ISBN, unnumbered page:

master of ceremonies
master of ceremonies

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A master of ceremonies, especially for a television, variety, or quiz show.


paraffin

en-noun

paraffin (countable and uncountable, plural paraffins)

From Latin paraffinum, from parum (too little) + affinis (related, affinity). Therefore low affinity or being chemically neutral.

She poured paraffin on the dry floors and on the pandanus-mats, and then she set fire.

1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 57”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

(UK, Ireland) A petroleum-based thin and colourless fuel oil.


peeler

From the surname of Sir Robert Peel, who established the Irish constabulary and London's police force; compare bobby, from the given name.

A peeler man who heard the din came in to see the show;
He tried to run the bushman in, but he refused to go.
And when at last the barber spoke, and said "'Twas all in fun—
'Twas just a little harmless joke, a trifle overdone."

1892, Banjo Paterson, The Man from Ironbark:

I’d covered pretty nearly two miles before I came across a peeler, — and when I did the man was cracked — and he thought me mad, or drunk, or both. By the time I’d got myself within nodding distance of being run in for obstructing the police in the execution of their duty, […] Holt was out of sight.

I was standin' there and the car came down the street with the two peelers comin' after them and I'm standin' here with [my son] in my arms.

2004, Alice McIntyre, Women in Belfast: How Violence Shapes Identity, →ISBN, page 57:

How do you fight back to get your right back to walk free down the street when your name and address singles you out for every Peeler on the beat?

2004, “Don’t Hand Me Over”, in The Box Set 1964-2004(2004) No.2, performed by Christy Moore:

Special Irish Branch was looking for Fenians in South Kensington; going from there to a Catholic church for Easter Mass was very nearly the stupidest thing Eliza could do, short of walking into Scotland Yard and cursing the peelers out in Irish.

2011, Marie Brennan, With Fate Conspire, →ISBN:

It was Jem and Georgie that was in mortal danger, true, but there was not one of us that wanted the peelers asking us questions.

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


lightning conductor

lightning conductor (plural lightning conductors)

(UK) A metallic conductor that is attached to a high point of a building and leads to the ground and protects the building from damage by lightning.


skint

en-adj

skint (comparative skinter or more skint, superlative skintest or most skint)

skinter (comparative)
more skint (comparative)
skintest (superlative)
most skint (superlative)

The "penniless" sense is attested since 1925 and is derived from a variant of skinned

Mr Grave proceeded to give a stern warning to those “errant pupils” who, against the rules, had been smuggling their mobile phones into school. This was just about everyone, though Zoe was far too skint to even dream of ever owning one.

2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(slang, UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) Penniless, poor, impecunious, broke.


polling station

en-noun

polling station (plural polling stations)

Dastis defended the Spanish police’s actions as they tried to halt the referendum, even though other members of the government have apologised for the violent scenes when officers raided polling stations, charged the crowds with batons and fired rubber bullets.

2017 October 22, Sam Jones, “Catalonia weighs up declaration of independence”, in the Guardian:

(British, Canada, Australia) a place where voters go to cast their ballot in an election or referendum; a voting station


bowl a googly

en-verb

bowl a googly (third-person singular simple present bowls a googly, present participle bowling a googly, simple past and past participle bowled a googly)

bowls a googly (present singular third-person)
bowling a googly (participle present)
bowled a googly (participle past)
bowled a googly (past)

Fred bowled me a googly when he asked me to explain those statistics in the meeting.

(transitive, idiomatic, UK, figuratively) to surprise (someone); to introduce (to someone) something unexpected, underhand or requiring a quick reaction or correction.

lyödä ällikällä

to require a quick reaction from by doing something unexpected


heft

en-noun

heft (countable and uncountable, plural hefts)

The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (“heaviness; something heavy, a weight”), from heven (“to lift, raise; to make an effort to lift or raise, heave”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft from weven (modern English weave), etc. (also compare words like cleft from cleave, and theft from thieve, where the development occurred in Old English or earlier languages). The English word is analysable as heave + -t (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
The verb is probably derived from the noun.

inh

The man had been carried out of the yard while the fire was still burning; […] Public opinion was much divided, some holding that it would go hard with a man of his age and heft; but the common belief seemed to be that he was of that sort "as'd take a deal o'killin'," and that he would be none the worse for such a fall as that.

1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “Englebourn Village”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 302:

"Look at the heft of 'n [a baby]," said the proud father, "entirely drags ye down, Miss Sybil, 'e do."

1888–1889, Maxwell Gray [pseudonym; Mary Gleed Tuttiett], “Light and Shade”, in The Reproach of Annesley. […], volume I, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., […], published 1889, →OCLC, part III, page 260:

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages 115–116:

(dated except UK, dialectal and US) The force exerted by an object due to gravitation; weight.

tíha

force exerted by an object due to gravitation — see also weight

The turkey's nest was islanded with a fragrant swath,—the "heft" of the crop noted and rejoiced over,—[…]

1865, [Adeline Dutton Train Whitney], “The Secret at the Hartshornes”, in The Gayworthys: A Story of Threads and Thrums. […], Boston, Mass.: [A. K.] Loring, […], →OCLC, page 49:

He run to South America or somewheres, taking the heft of the firm's money with him.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 7:

(US, informal, dated) The greater part of something; the bulk, the mass.

Deigning no answer, the sturdy parson seized the bigger of the two ash staves, and laying the butt of the other for a fulcrum, gave the stuck wheel such a powerful heft, that the whole cart rattled, and the crates began to dance.

1882, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, “Parson Short”, in Christowell. A Dartmoor Tale. […], volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 35:

It was a tremendous heft to raise the boat on to the wall and push it over, but somehow she managed it; […]

1888, Paul Cushing, “A Gust of the Soul and⸺”, in The Blacksmith of Voe […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1892, →OCLC, page 189:

(UK, dialectal) An act of lifting; a lift.


vermicelli

en-noun

vermicelli (usually uncountable, plural vermicellis)

→ Irish: veirmisilí

From Italian vermicelli, plural of vermicello (“little worm”), from verme (“worm”), from Latin vermis + -cello (“diminutive suffix”).


BOGOF

2002, "Nothing to be Smug About", Alex Brummer, London Evening Standard, 13 November.
At the Big Food Group, the new team headed by Bill Grimsey was quick to discover that turning the company around might be more difficult than it thought because of double counting of revenues as a result of bogof (buy one, get one free) promotions

(chiefly UK) Abbreviation of buy one, get one free. (a retail promotion in which consumers may purchase two items for the usual price of one)

buy one

(chiefly UK) An item promoted in this way.


lax

From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). Doublet of lox.

der

(now chiefly UK dialectal, Scotland) A salmon.


Astronomer Royal

en-proper noun

Astronomer Royal (plural Astronomers Royal)

(British) An honorary title given to a leading astronomer; once the director of the Greenwich observatory.


come a cropper

en-verb

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

comes a cropper (present singular third-person)
coming a cropper (participle present)
came a cropper (past)
come a cropper (participle past)

Possibly from the phrase neck and crop, in which crop may refer to the backside of a horse.

She came a cropper on the stairs and broke her leg.

I should feel certain that I should come a cropper, but still I'd try it. As you say, a fellow should try.

1879, Anthony Trollope, chapter 67, in The Duke's Children:

You couldn't help feeling he'd be caught out one day, and then what an almighty cropper he'd come!

1922, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “At the Bay”, in The Garden Party, London: Constable & Company, page 7:

We are accustomed to seeing Morphy conquer brilliantly against great odds; but this time he comes a cropper.

1951 March, “Chess Caviar”, in Chess Review:

You tried to convey too much and you conveyed nothing. You came a cropper, major.

1953, Mervyn Peake, Mr Pye, William Heinemann:

We had been taught Latin, French and German grammar; but English grammar was something we felt we were expected to infer from our reading – which is doubtless why I came a cropper over “its” and “it’s”.

2003 November 6, Lynne Truss, “Introduction – The Seventh Sense”, in Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, London: Profile Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 15:

Although they were meant to reach the Moon no matter what, cryptocurrencies are also coming a cropper.

2022 May 14, “Tech bubbles are bursting all over the place”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(British, idiomatic) To suffer some accident or misfortune; to fail.


registration

en-noun

registration (countable and uncountable, plural registrations)

/ˌɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪˈstɹeɪ.ʃən/

/ˌɹed͡ʒ.ɪˈstɹæɪ.ʃən/

Did you get their registration?

registration number
registration number#English


winding

winding (countable and uncountable, plural windings)

The noun is derived from Middle English winding, windinge, wyndynge (“directional change, curve, turn; bend of the leg at the knee; meandering course of a river; act of turning and twisting; twisting of things (especially thread) together; wrapping of a cloth around something; wattling of a structure; wattle(s); ornamentation with interwoven patterns; hoisting of something”) [and other forms], and then partly:
* from winden, wynden (“to go, move; to move forcefully or suddenly; to direct, guide, lead; to go along a meandering or twisting course; to move in a circular pattern, revolve, turn; to move restlessly, toss and turn; to wriggle free; to move with a turning or twisting motion, bend, turn, twist; to form or mould (something) in one’s hands; to mix together; to cover; to clothe, dress; to wrap (a baby, a corpse, etc.); to encircle, surround; to bind; to interlace; to winch; (figurative) to conceal, disguise; to embroil, involve”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerund nouns, and the present participle forms of verbs).; and
* from Old English windung (“woven object”), from windan (“to twist, wind; to circle, curl, eddy, spiral”) (from Proto-Germanic *windaną (“to wind; to wrap”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn; to wind”)) + -ung (suffix forming nouns denoting a verbal action or something involved in a verbal action).
The adjective is derived from the verb.
The English word is analysable as wind (“to turn coils of (a cord, etc.) around something; to encircle, enfold, entwist, wrap; to travel in a way that is not straight”) + -ing (suffix forming present participial adjectives and verbs, and nouns denoting an action or the embodiment of an action).

suffix

(British, nautical) The act or process of turning a boat or ship in a certain direction.


pubbing

(British) The practice of frequenting pubs.


goldfinch

From Middle English goldfinch, goldfynch, goldefynch, from Old English goldfinċ, equivalent to gold + finch. Compare West Frisian goudfink (“goldfinch”), Dutch goudvink (“bullfinch”), German Goldfink (“goldfinch”), Danish guldfink (“goldfinch”), Icelandic gullfinka (“goldfinch”).

(UK, slang, obsolete) A sovereign (the coin).


Aga saga

Rhyming phrase, named for the AGA cooker, a type of stored-heat oven popular in British country houses in the early 20th century. Coined in 1992 by novelist Terence Blacker in reference to the work of Joanna Trollope.

2007, Saying that, if Judy does retire and write a rollicking Aga-saga about, say, a middle-aged woman with a loving, ambitious yet utterly frustrating husband, I'd certainly buy it in the three-for-two. — Grace Dent, The Guardian, 22 Jun 2007, G2, p. 3

(British, sometimes derogatory) A kind of popular novel set in a suburban or rural location and featuring domestic and emotional themes involving middle-class characters.


ducks

Hello ducks, how are you today?

(British, chiefly Northern England, used vocatively) Dear (used as a pet name).


specialist

en-adj

specialist (comparative more specialist, superlative most specialist)

more specialist (comparative)
most specialist (superlative)

Borrowed from French spécialiste, equivalent to special + -ist.

This was a highly specialist job, and it has been very carefully carried out so that it is very hard to see that these windows are now modern replacements.

2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: Special Award: Signal Box Restoration”, in RAIL, number 946, page 57:

(British) Specialised, involving detailed knowledge of a restricted topic.


swart

swart (comparative swarter, superlative swartest)

swarter (comparative)
swartest (superlative)

From Middle English swart, from Old English sweart, from Proto-West Germanic *swart, from Proto-Germanic *swartaz, from Proto-Indo-European *swerd-.


glib

A shortening of either English glibbery (“slippery”) or its source, Low German glibberig, glibberich (“slippery”) / Dutch glibberig (“slippery”).

der

Well, Sal, you mum your dubber pretty generally, but when you do slacken your glib you may as well do it civilly.

1857, Hidden Links; Or the Schoolfellows. A Tale (volume 2, page 233)

(UK, slang, obsolete) A person's mouth or tongue.


peckish

en-adj

peckish (comparative more peckish, superlative most peckish)

more peckish (comparative)
most peckish (superlative)

From peck (verb) + -ish. From late 18th century.

After that run, I'm feeling a bit peckish.


poignant

poignant (comparative more poignant, superlative most poignant)

more poignant (comparative)
most poignant (superlative)

From Middle English poynaunt, poynant, borrowed from Anglo-Norman puignant, poynaunt etc., present participle of poindre (“to prick”), from Latin pungō (“prick”). Doublet of pungent.

(chiefly British, dated) Inducing sharp physical pain.


back to basics

(politics, chiefly British) A conscious return to principles such as self-respect, decency and honesty; especially the discredited policy of the Conservative government in the 1990s.


ERA

en-noun

ERA (countable and uncountable, plural ERAs)

(UK, military) Initialism of engine room artificer., a Royal Navy position


welly

From welne, a dialectal variant of well-nigh.

A person exceedingly hungry says, "I'm welly clem'd; I'm almost or well-nigh starved." It is the ordinary appeal of a beggar in the streets, when asking for food.

1853, Notes & Queries, volume 8, page 64:

(obsolete, UK, Ireland, dialect) Almost; nearly.


give it some welly

en-verb

give it some welly (third-person singular simple present gives it some welly, present participle giving it some welly, simple past gave it some welly, past participle given it some welly)

gives it some welly (present singular third-person)
giving it some welly (participle present)
gave it some welly (past)
given it some welly (participle past)

Believe me, if you give it a little welly down a twisty B-road this car feels pretty entertaining

Having put the engineer at ease, I think, it was time to give the car some welly and I was amazed how effortlessly it rocketed up to, er, high speeds, then lost speed almost as rapidly when the powerful brakes came into use.

2007, David Dixon, Richard Noble, “Tom Walkinshaw's Le Mans Effort”, in Watts My Line?: The Life and Work of Editorial Artist, Lawrie Watts, page 72:

I insisted we share the driving and, after we pulled in for a tank of petrol one hour into our drive, she reluctantly let me take over. 'Give it some welly,' she said to me as I eased off the clutch. 'I'm trying,' I said

(UK) To increase fuel or power to an engine, as to a car by depressing the gas pedal.

First they always obey the golden rule ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might’ (Ecclesiastes 9:19), which translates as ‘always give it some welly’.

2008, Mark Salter, Trevor Turner, Community Mental Health Care: A Practical Guide to Outdoor Psychiatry:

I was then given the floor and had already determined that an impassioned rather than a measured delivery was what the occasion called for and as these opportunities do not present themselves very often I thought I would give it some welly.

2008, Ben Barnes, Plays and Controversies: Abbey Theatre Diaries 2000-2005, page 40:

So there I was, the dutiful husband, holding onto my wife's head and shouting words of comfort to her, “Go on love, give it some welly!” I'd completely forgotten all I'd learned from the classes I'd attended prior to our Thomas's arrival.

2008, Andy Thackwray, The Fruits From An Innocent Mind, page 52:

(UK) To apply great physical effort to (something).


NIMBY

Was used in a 1980 article by British writer Emilie Travel Livezey; popularized by British politician Nicholas Ridley, who was Conservative Secretary of State for the Environment.
Prior to that, Joseph A. Lieberman, a member of the US Atomic Energy Commission, gave a keynote address in early 1979 at the Fort Magruder Conference Center in which he reportedly asserted that "the 'nimby' (not in my backyard) syndrome must be eliminated." As reported in the Newport News (Virginia) Daily Press, Tuesday, February 13th, 1979, "Radioactive Waste: National Regulations Needed." Source: WorldHistories.net.

(chiefly US, UK) Alternative letter-case form of nimby


swoop

swoop (third-person singular simple present swoops, present participle swooping, simple past and past participle swooped)

swoops (present singular third-person)
swooping (participle present)
swooped (participle past)
swooped (past)

From Middle English swopen, from Old English swāpan (“to sweep”). Doublet of swaip. See also sweep, which was probably the basis for analogical restoration of /w/ in this word.

He was forever diving into dustbins or swooping on to the ground for cigarette ends.

1989, Michael Bettsworth, Marking Time: A Prison Memoir, page 32:

Swooping is picking up discarded cigarette butts from the exercise yard and anywhere else they can be found.

2015, Noel 'Razor' Smith, The Criminal Alphabet: An A-Z of Prison Slang:

(British, prison slang) To search the ground for discarded cigarette butts that can be made into new cigarettes.


CND

C.N.D. supporters
Their ban the bomb badges beginning to rust
Have scrawled 'I told you so' in the dust

c. 1972, Roger McGough, Icarus Allsorts:

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
w:Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

(British) Initialism of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.


cringe

en-noun

cringe (countable and uncountable, plural cringes)

Charles Reade
The Cloister and the Hearth
zero derivation

The verb is derived from Middle English crengen (“to bend in a haughty manner; to condescend”) [and other forms], from Old English *crenċan, *crenċġan, *crenġan (“to cause to fall or turn”), the causative of crinċġan (“to yield; to cringe; to fall; to die, perish”), from Proto-Germanic *krangijaną (“to cause to fall; to cause to turn”), from Proto-Germanic *kringaną, *krinkaną (“to fall; to turn; to yield”) (from Proto-Indo-European *grenǵʰ- (“to turn”)) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives with the sense ‘to cause to do (the action of the verb)’ from strong verbs). The English word is cognate with Danish krænge (“to turn inside out, evert”), Dutch krengen (“to careen, veer”) and Dutch kring (“circle”), Scots crenge, creenge, creinge, crienge (“to cringe; to shrug”), Swedish kränga (“to careen; to heel, lurch; to toss”), and West Frisian kringe (“to pinch; to poke; to push; to insist, urge”); and is a doublet of crinkle.
The noun and adjective are derived from the verb via zero derivation.

ref

From Charles Reade (1861) chapter XXXIII, in The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages, illustrated library edition, volume II (The Autobiography of a Thief), Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Colonial Press Company, published c. 1900, →OCLC, illustration between pages 312 and 313.

nb...

crenche, crenchen, crenge, *crinchen, crinken

cog

(countable, British, dialectal) A crick (“painful muscular cramp or spasm of some part of the body”).


aubergine

en-noun

aubergine (countable and uncountable, plural aubergines)

Bislama: obesin

Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Persian بادنجان (bâdenjân), from باتنجان (bâtenjân), from Sanskrit वातिगगम (vātigagama, “the plant that cures the wind”), cognate with Malayalam വഴുതന (vaḻutana). Doublet of brinjal.

der

اَلْبَاذِنْجَان

Solanum melongena
Solanum melongena#Translingual

(British, Ireland) An Asian plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its edible purple, green, or white ovoid fruit; eggplant.

(British, Ireland) The fruit of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.


funky

en-adj

funky (comparative funkier or more funky, superlative funkiest or most funky)

funkier (comparative)
more funky (comparative)
funkiest (superlative)
most funky (superlative)

Eight-bit Arkanoid is a funky game — not as sexy as its 16-bit sister, but fun to spend time with. I'm hooked.

I love high heels, and these were totally funky! The coolest part: They actually let me take 'em home!

2001, ELLEgirl magazine (Autumn 2001, page 127)

What every teenage driver desires: a fab, funky car and freedom!

2006, Sue Cook, Claire Crompton, Quick to Stitch Cross Stitch Cards, page 60:

(UK, slang, dated) Relating to, or characterized by, great fear, or funking.


snigger

British variant pronunciation and spelling of snicker.

Here the unfeeling Toad broke into a snigger, and then pulled himself together and tried to look particularly solemn.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 255:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A partly suppressed or broken laugh.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A sly or snide laugh.


snigger

en-verb

snigger (third-person singular simple present sniggers, present participle sniggering, simple past and past participle sniggered)

sniggers (present singular third-person)
sniggering (participle present)
sniggered (participle past)
sniggered (past)

[…]presently the Mole's spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, page 22:

Peter, after the manner of man at the breakfast table, had allowed half his kedgeree to get cold and was sniggering over a letter. Sophia looked at him sharply. The only letter she had received was from her mother. Sophia's mother was not a humourist.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

(intransitive, chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) To emit a snigger.


invalid

invalid (third-person singular simple present invalids, present participle invaliding, simple past and past participle invalided)

invalids (present singular third-person)
invaliding (participle present)
invalided (participle past)
invalided (past)

From Middle French invalide, from Latin invalidus (“infirm, weak”), from in- (“not”) + validus (“strong”).

He was invalided home after the car crash.

Blackadder: Right, Baldrick, this is an old trick I picked up in the Sudan. We tell HQ that I’ve gone insane, and I’ll be invalided back to Blighty before you can say "wibble" — a poor, gormless idiot.

1989, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, “Goodbyeee”, in Blackadder Goes Forth:

The Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin has been hit badly. Shells have sheared off several main guns and virtually disarmed the vessel. In the middle of all this, one Ensign Isoroku Yamamoto loses two fingers to the remains of an explosion. If he'd lost a third, he would've been invalided out of military service. Thus, by the retention of a single digit would there be rather large consequences a few decades later on down the line.

2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 26:33 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..., archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(British, transitive) To exempt from (often military) duty because of injury or ill health.


motor factor

(British, Ireland, chiefly in the plural) A retail supplier of car parts and accessories.


airship

From air + ship.
* (jocular British sense): is in imitation of worship "form of address for magistrates et al., possibly also an oblique reference to Colonel Blimp.

I only make them to add perhaps a little weight to my view that, whether one thinks of Their Lordships of the Admiralty, or of Their Airships of the Air Ministry, or of Their Coalships of Lansdowne House, or of any other governing body, what is vastly more important than the precise theoretical form of the superstructure is the will—and the capacity—throughout the organisation to make the organisation work.

1947, Great Britain. National Coal Board, A Selection of General Addresses Delivered Before the National Coal Board Summer School, Cambridge, 1947, →OCLC, page 10:

Then where does the Navy come in, since it is generally agreed that the primary role of the Navy is the protection of our merchant ships? It is obvious that neither their Lordships of the Admiralty nor their Airships of the Air Ministry will relinquish their power without a struggle.

1953, The Aeroplane, Temple Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 311:

And all the time, ever present but out of sight, "their Airships,” as they called the RAF top brass, were also watching, praying.

1971, Basil Boothroyd, Prince Philip: An Informal Biography, page 217:

But their Airships insisted that we fly there.

2006 June 30, Roy Bagshaw, Alan Pollock, Malcolm Thomas, Ray Deacon, RAF Little Rissington: The Central Flying School, 1946–76, Pen and Sword, →ISBN, →OCLC:

Trespassing on superior ground was frowned upon, and although it was difficult to look serious, and infra dig to salute when wearing only swimming trunks, a deferential nod on passing their Airships was expected and its absence noted!

2006, Kel Palmer, A Roving Commission, iUniverse, published 2013, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 541:

For the Air Council – 'their airships', in counterpoint to the Board of Admiralty – nuclear deterrence and the manned bomber were the overriding concerns of the postwar era.

2010 May 19, R. Moore, Nuclear Illusion, Nuclear Reality: Britain, the United States and Nuclear Weapons, 1958-64 (Nuclear Weapons and International Security since 1945), Springer, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 18:

"Their Airships back in London didn't give a bugger about Malta," he [Tom Neil] says

2013, James Holland, Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege 1940-1943:

An advance party from No 1 Flight had travelled this route some days previously to wherever 'Their Airships' decreed.

2015 April 19, Tony Blackman, Anthony Wright, Valiant Boys: True Stories from the Operators of the UK's First Four-Jet Bomber, Grub Street Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 51:

Still, when their Airships said 'Jump', we minions invariably replied 'How high?'

2019 March 19, Derek J. Sharp, A Cold War Fighter Pilot in Peacetime and War, Fonthill Media, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(British, derogatory, chiefly in the plural) A high ranking official of the RAF, viewed as arrogant and distant.


SOA

Society of Ancients
w:Society of Ancients

(UK) Initialism of Society of Ancients, an international society based in the UK.


SOA

en-noun

SOA (countable and uncountable, plural SOAs)

(UK, census) Initialism of super output area.


waterworks

From water + works (“machine, mechanism; factory or factories”).

compound

/ˈwɔːtəˌwəːks/

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

(British, euphemistic) The genitourinary system.


ardour

en-noun

ardour (countable and uncountable, plural ardours)

I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.

1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 120:

The purpose of my visit, and the frightful abnormalities it postulated struck at me all at once with a chill sensation that nearly over-balanced my ardour for strange delvings.

1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

British, Canada, and Australia spelling of ardor


asp

Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (2009 asp 9)

Act of the Scottish Parliament
w:Act of the Scottish Parliament

(UK, law, in citation) Initialism of Act of the Scottish Parliament.


up to snuff

en-adj

up to snuff (comparative more up to snuff, superlative most up to snuff)

more up to snuff (comparative)
most up to snuff (superlative)

"Dombey," says the Major, with appropriate action, "that is the hand of Joseph Bagstock: of plain old Joey B. . . . a rough and tough, and possibly an up-to-snuff, old vagabond."

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, chapter 31, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

But the people, who prided themselves on being what they called üppen zie schnuffen, or, as we should say, "up to snuff," and equal to every occasion, had already seen a way out of the difficulty.

1904, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in William Tell Told Again:

(chiefly British, dated, slang) Mentally alert, shrewd, savvy.


quilter

(British) A person who uses a hand or machine stitch to decorate a quilt, or to sew together the layers of a quilt.


hospital pass

His first touch was horrid – a hospital pass to Juliano Belletti – but from that moment on his eye-catching football was wonderful to witness.

2009 (23 November), Mark Fleming "Kakuta puts rare talent on display", The Independent (London)

Flood popped out a careless off-load deep in the French 22 to allow a clearing kick to snuff out the danger, and when Nick Easter tried to rumble from deep within his own 22 his hospital pass to Tuilagi triggered another knock-on.

2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France:

Brian Maguire is booked for the challenge on Leo McLoone, who was chasing a hospital pass from Mark McHugh.

2012 (5 August), As It Happened - SFC quarter-finals RTÉ

(figuratively, sports, British, Australia, Ireland) A poorly executed pass to a team-mate, who is likely to lose the ball as a result. (Originally rugby union, where the recipient of a hospital pass is a sitting duck for a hard tackle.)


bonkbuster

However, there would certainly be no Insatiable without Jilly Cooper. The bonkbusters of the 80s were responsible for my sentimental sex education. Like millions of readers, I fell in love with every aspect of the universe Cooper created.

2021 March 31, Daisy Buchanan, “The return of the bonkbuster: how horny heroines are starting a new sexual revolution”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(colloquial, chiefly UK) A popular novel involving frequent explicit sexual encounters, normally in a contemporary setting.


blue box

gray-box testing
white box (software engineering)

(chiefly British and Canada) A blue container used for the collection of household waste (such as tin cans and newspapers) for recycling by a municipal authority.


back of beyond

"and you, wi’ some o’ your auld-warld stories, that the mind o’ man canna resist, whirl’d them to the back o’ beyont to look at the auld Roman camp"

It was a regular outside bush township, and though the distance oughtn't to have much to say to people's honesty, you'll mostly find that these far-out back-of-beyond places have got men and women to match 'em.

1882, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms:

"I thought I should like to go near the sea — to some quite tiny country place at the back of beyond."

1920, Margaret Pedler, The Hermit of Far End:

To the "Sou' West" we owe such jolly little back-o'-beyond stations as Whithorn and Portpatrick.

1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:

We began to take Santa Claus to the kids at the isolated sidings for the same reason men all over Australia on the lines back o' beyond did [...] we didn't want them to miss that magic.

1969, Patsy Adam-Smith, Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen, Melbourne: Macmillan, page 151:

(chiefly British, Ireland and Australia, informal, with "the"; usually with "in", sometimes "at" or "to") A very remote place.


clamp

From Middle Dutch clamp, klampe (“a clamp, hook”), from Proto-Germanic *klampō (“clamp, clasp, cramp”), related to Proto-West Germanic *klammjan.
Cognate with Middle Low German klampe (“hook, clasp”), German Klampfe, Klampe (“clamp, cleat”), Norwegian klamp (“clamp”), Alemannic German Chlempi.

cog

(UK) A parking enforcement device used to immobilise a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.


clamp

en-verb

clamp (third-person singular simple present clamps, present participle clamping, simple past and past participle clamped)

clamps (present singular third-person)
clamping (participle present)
clamped (participle past)
clamped (past)

(UK, obsolete, transitive) To cover (vegetables, etc.) with earth.


top oneself

top oneself (third-person singular simple present tops oneself, present participle topping oneself, simple past and past participle topped oneself)

tops oneself (present singular third-person)
topping oneself (participle present)
topped oneself (participle past)
topped oneself (past)

But Mr Blunkett, in a remarkably frank admission, said his first thought on hearing about the 57-year-old's death was to celebrate. "You wake up and you receive a phone call - Shipman's topped himself. You have just got to think for a minute: is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it."

2004 January 16, “Blunkett admits Shipman error”, in BBC News:


creased

en-adj

creased (comparative more creased, superlative most creased)

more creased (comparative)
most creased (superlative)

"Omfg I'm absolutely crying and laughing at Dean and Joe with this drinking challenge! It's disgusting but I'm creased!" one said.

2023 May 4, Zara Woodcock, “Eagle-eyed I'm A Celeb fans spot moment Joes Swash's fake tan DISSOLVES in grim trial”, in Mirror Online:


lege

(UK, Ireland, slang) A legend; colloquially used to describe a person who is held in high regard.


claret

en-noun

claret (countable and uncountable, plural clarets)

From Middle English claret, from Middle French claret, from Medieval Latin clārātum vīnum, from clārus.
Compare tent (“Spanish red wine”), also from color

The vesper bell had rung its parting note; the domini were mostly caged in comfortable quarters, discussing the merits of old port; and the merry student had closed his oak, to consecrate the night to friendship, sack, and claret.

The New Sporting Magazine (volume 15, page 23)

CLARET JELLY SANDWICH: Soak one box of gelatine in one cup of cold water, then dissolve in one cup of boiling water, add one cup of sugar and strain. When cold, add the juice of half a lemon, and one cup of claret and set in a cool place. When ready for use, cover thin slices of lightly buttered white bread with the jelly, cover with another slice of buttered bread and cut in strips.

1909, Eva Greene Fuller, The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book: 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich, page 155:

(chiefly UK) A dry red wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France, or a similar wine made elsewhere.

Time being called, Johnson rose from his second’s knee with the heart of a lion—the immense size and weight of his opponent seemed lost sight of—not a particle of fear belonged to him; and screwing his courage up to the sticking-place, boldly faced his man, putting all the excellence of his science into action, put in such a tremendous blow on the sensitive plant of Perrins—otherwise his sneezer, or nose—whichever term you like best—that split it all the way down as if cut open with a carving-knife; the claret flowing in torrents; and the Giant floored!

1851, Pierce Egan, Every Gentleman’s Manual: A Lecture on the Art of Self-Defence, page 46:

I then gave him a dig on the head with my fist. He squared up, and pouted like an enraged chameleon, looking savagely at me. I gave him another dig, which sent him staggering. He squared again: I gave him another; till at last, as the claret was flowing, he sulked off, and said he would not serve me any more.

1863, John Hanning Speke, Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, page 271:

Blooded warrior Paul Ince, with his head bedecked in a bandage – if not quite possessing quite the amount of claret spilled by Terry Butcher in Stockholm in 1989 – enforcing order on a patch of green in Rome to help his country triumph in the face of adversity and clear a path to the World Cup finals of 1998.

2017 October 1, “Bygones: Ince gives blood for the cause as he leads from the front in Rome”, in Yorkshire Post:

You play as one of these Revenants, but there’s no feeding on human blood, as instead the most reliable source of claret comes from things called blood beads, which grow on plants.

2019 September 27, “Code Vein review – it's an anime version of Dark Souls”, in Metro:

He was rejuvenated within a week, thanks to a diet of fresh claret direct from the jugular, while the lawyer slept.

2020 January 2, Roxy Simons, “'How the hell am I supposed to sleep tonight, BBC?': Viewers are left terrified by first episode of Dracula with its decapitated nun and blood-thirsty babies (but some are distracted by vampire's quirky accent)”, in Daily Mail:

DeLuca beat the count but Brook had the stench of claret filling his nostrils and he was close to getting the finish before the bell saved the overmatched 31-year-old.

2020 February 8, Wally Downes Jr, “KELL OF A WIN: Kell Brook enjoys triumphant return in Sheffield as he knocks out Mark DeLuca in the seventh round”, in The Sun:


centre of gravity

centre of gravity (plural centres of gravity)

center of gravity
center of gravity#English

(physics) British and Canada standard spelling of center of gravity.


quilt

en-verb

quilt (third-person singular simple present quilts, present participle quilting, simple past and past participle quilted)

quilts (present singular third-person)
quilting (participle present)
quilted (participle past)
quilted (past)

From Middle English quilte, quylte, from Anglo-Norman quilte and Old French coilte, cuilte (compare French couette), from Latin culcita. Doublet of quoit.

I am glad, said Mr. Slick, that cussed critter, that schoolmaster, hasn't yet woke up. I'm most afeerd if he had aturned out afore we started, I should have quilted him, for that talk of his last night sticks in my crop considerable hard.

1884, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, The Clockmaker, page 113:

(UK, slang, obsolete) To beat or thrash.


sky blue

en-noun

sky blue (countable and uncountable, plural sky blues)

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

Hence, Suffolk dairy wives run mad for cream,
 And leave their milk with nothing but the name;
 Its name derision and reproach pursue,
 And strangers tell of three-times-skimm'd sky-blue.

1800, Robert Bloomfield, The Farmer's Boy:

(UK, slang, obsolete) Milk excessively diluted with water, or from which the cream was too closely skimmed.


wellies

wellies pl (normally plural, singular welly or wellie)

(UK, New Zealand, informal) Wellington boots


welly whanging

(British) A humorous sport in which the aim is to throw a Wellington boot as far as possible.


fill in

en-verb

fill in (third-person singular simple present fills in, present participle filling in, simple past and past participle filled in)

fills in (present singular third-person)
filling in (participle present)
filled in (participle past)
filled in (past)

The findings emerged from questionnaires filled in by 2,211 staff in 145 wards of 55 hospitals in England and Wales and 105 observations of care of dementia patients. Two-thirds of staff said they had not had enough training to provide proper care, 50% said they had not been trained how to communicate properly with such patients and 54% had not been told how to handle challenging or aggressive behaviour.

2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:

(transitive, chiefly British) To complete a form or questionnaire with requested information.


smellies

I bought my mother some smellies for her birthday.

(informal, UK) Pleasant-smelling toiletries.

(informal, British, as "the smellies") Cinema enhanced with odours.


grizzle

grizzle (third-person singular simple present grizzles, present participle grizzling, simple past and past participle grizzled)

grizzles (present singular third-person)
grizzling (participle present)
grizzled (participle past)
grizzled (past)

[Wilfred:] In tears, eh? What a plague art thou grizzling for now?

1888, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, The Yeomen of the Guard […] , London: Chappel & Co., […], published c. 1911:

R. J. Tizard — What are you grizzling about now?

1976, New Zealand House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, page 4850:

The pin-thin girl is grizzling, whining that she has sand in her eyes.

2009, Judy Waite, Game Girls, unnumbered page:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To whinge or whine.

New mothers frequently complain that their partner won't get up to change a wet nappy or comfort a grizzling baby.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To fuss or cry


bung

From Medieval Dutch bonge, bonne or bonghe (“stopper”), or perhaps from French bonde, which may itself be either of Germanic origin or from Proto-Celtic *bunda—either way probably from puncta (“hole”), the feminine singular form of Latin punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō (“pierce into, prick”).

"Well, sir, I haven't got one," said the landlord, "or you should have it directly." […] "Could you oblige me with such a thing as a postage stamp?" "No," said the Bung; "don't keep 'em!"

(UK, slang, obsolete) The landlord of a public house.


bung

bung (third-person singular simple present bungs, present participle bunging, simple past and past participle bunged)

bungs (present singular third-person)
bunging (participle present)
bunged (participle past)
bunged (past)

Of course, the weird thing is that he found Marianne Faithfull at the same time and bunged it onto her, and it was a fucking hit, so already we're songwriters.

1996, Stanley Booth, quoting Keith Richards, Keith, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN:

And to sustain us while we watch or read, we go to the freezer, take out a frozen pizza, bung it in the microwave and make do.

2004, Bob Ashley, Food and cultural studies:

(UK, Australia, transitive, informal) To put or throw something without care; to chuck.


bung

From bouget (“wallet, purse or bag”), from Middle English bogett, bouget, bowgette (“leather pouch”), from Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge (“leather bag, wallet”), from Late Latin bulga (“wallet, purse”), from Gaulish bolgā, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag, stomach”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰólǵʰ-os (“skin bag, bolster”), from *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”).

der

Oft thsi crew of mates met together, and said there was no hope of nipping the boung because he held open his gowne so wide, and walked in such an open place.

1592, Robert Green, The Thirde & Last Part of Conny-catching, Bodleian Library (Malone 575), London: John Lane. Reprinted in 1923, Harrison, G. B. (ed.), The Bodley Head Quartos III, Plainstow, Great Britain: Curwen Press, p. 22

Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.

1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:


meths

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, informal) methylated spirits.


New Age traveller

en-noun

New Age traveller (plural New Age travellers)

(British) A member of a community of people, many of whom hold New Age beliefs, who travel among fairs and music festivals.


scunner

en-verb

scunner (third-person singular simple present scunners, present participle scunnering, simple past and past participle scunnered)

scunners (present singular third-person)
scunnering (participle present)
scunnered (participle past)
scunnered (past)

Borrowed from Scots scunner, skunner, from Old Scots skunnyr, skowner (“to shrink back; flinch”), from Middle English skoneren (“to feel sick or disgusted”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative of shun. If so, etymologically shun + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare also Middle English scurnen (“to flinch”), English scare, English scorn.

der

But maybe she'd just got scunnered with Glasgow, fucked off to try her luck someplace else.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 123:

(UK, Scotland, dialect) To cause to loathe, or feel disgust at.


paedophilic

en-adj

paedophilic (comparative more paedophilic, superlative most paedophilic)

more paedophilic (comparative)
most paedophilic (superlative)

British standard spelling of pedophilic.


take the mickey

en-verb

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

takes the mickey (present singular third-person)
taking the mickey (participle present)
took the mickey (past)
taken the mickey (participle past)

Possibly from Cockney rhyming slang “to take the Mickey Bliss” (for take the piss).

Are you takin’ the mickey? You’ll get yer ’ead bashed in.

For the last eight years, taking the mickey out of George Bush has been great, victimless fun. Like taking candy from babies or shooting aquatically-challenged fish in size-challenged barrels.

2008 November 15, Kenneth Nguyen, “Who's laughing now?”, in The Age newspaper:

(intransitive, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, idiomatic) To ridicule or mock.


mitching

As soon as she was out of the front gate, my father would say, ‘Come along, son: let's go mitchin'!’ and we'd go out to the shed at the back [...].

1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 6:


salamander

/ˈsæləˌmɑːndə/

From Middle English salamandre, from Anglo-Norman salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra), of uncertain origin (per Beekes, likely Pre-Greek); possibly of Iranian origin, see Persian سمندر (samandar) for more information.

Multitudes had little Tin Kettles in their Houses, with Small-coal kindled, to light their Pipes withal; though in some places they use Candles, in others Salamanders

1698, William King, A journey to London […] , translation of original by Samuel Sorbière:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(UK, slang, obsolete) A fire-eater (performer who pretends to swallow fire).


benevolence

en-noun

benevolence (countable and uncountable, plural benevolences)

Circa 1400, original sense “good will, disposition to do good”, Old French benivolence from Latin benevolentia (also directly from Latin), literally “good will”, from bene (“well, good”) + volentia, form of volēns, form of volō (“I wish”), components cognate to English benefit and voluntary, more distantly will (via Proto-Indo-European).

(UK, historical) A kind of forced loan or contribution levied by kings without legal authority, first so called under Edward IV in 1473.


scrooge

en-verb

scrooge (third-person singular simple present scrooges, present participle scrooging, simple past and past participle scrooged)

scrooges (present singular third-person)
scrooging (participle present)
scrooged (participle past)
scrooged (past)

So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged, then he scrooged again[.]

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 12:

(UK, US, dialect) To crush or press; to squeeze (past, into, together, etc.).


street urchin

A term originating in Victorian England.

She ran to the door and there beheld the ragged street urchin calmly playing his organ.

1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 84:

On many occasions, groups of street urchins were seen climbing up large trees for squabs of Rose-ringed Parakeets[.]

2020, Raju Kasambe, Indian Grey Hornbill: Unravelling the Secrets, page 94:

(British, dated) A child who lives, or spends most of their time, in the streets; sometimes a petty thief or pickpocket.

беспрытульнік

child living or spending most of their time in the streets


assistant referee

en-noun

assistant referee (plural assistant referees)

Maccabi's Yoan Ziv also saw red in the second half for kicking a boot at the assistant referee.

2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport:

association football
association football

(soccer, British): One of the two officials at an association football match, previously known as linesmen, who assist the referee.


honeypot

From Middle English hwny pott; equivalent to honey + pot.

Superb Roman remains, Georgian architecture and countless museums justify Bath's position as a tourist honeypot.

2004 March 13, Bernice Davidson, “England 2004: Bright lights on the water”, in Telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 2008-06-28:

ES's original intention was to run beyond Berlin to the tourist honeypots of Dresden and Prague, but a lack of suitable train paths means that won't be possible until March 2024.

2023 December 13, Ben Jones, “Night train dreams struggle to overcome railway realities”, in RAIL, number 998, page 24:

(figuratively) Something or someone similarly sweet or enticing, particularly:

(chiefly British) A draw: a place which attracts visitors.


muppet

Sally is such a muppet, the way she always misses the train.

Some muppets parked a car at the bus stop.

You impudent muppet, diu lay! You may be able to hoodwink people over in the UK, but not those of us over here.

1996 April 18, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

'Honestly, Ellie, I don't know why you bother.' 'Err, because I need to squeeze my size twelve self into a size eight wedding dress?' She rolls her eyes. 'You're such a muppet. Why didn't you just buy a bigger size? Dieting is pointless.'

2011, Ruth Saberton, Ellie Andrews Has Second Thoughts, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

There was a silence while Miranda tried to form a sentence that wouldn't antagonise her friend. Or was she a friend? Would a proper friend have set her up with such a – such a muppet?

2011, Penny Smith, Summer Holiday, HarperCollins UK, →ISBN:

The truth was I'd love to be in the school team but I wouldn't get picked anyway: most of the kids think I'm a real muppet, a gormo who's into bird-watching and if I tried to join in, they would just rib me, so I don't bother to show any interest.

2012, Diane Perry, Red Kite, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 29:

Scrappy set off to run out through the dog flap, but Katie caught hold of him (as he was such a muppet he'd be in danger – as usual – of ending up under the wheels of whoever's Chelsea tractor was scrunching its way up the gravel driveway).

2012, Jane Reynolds, Just Good Friends?, eBook Partnership, →ISBN:

Anyway here was a message now, from 'Geordie', sent to Jack and cc-ed to the rest of his male colleagues. Subject line: 'You've been replaced with a real muppet.'

2020, Dan Brotzel, Hotel du Jack: And Other Stories, Sandstone Press Ltd, →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, derogatory) An incompetent or foolish person.


fixing

(UK, usually in the plural) Something to aid attachment during construction (screws, wall plugs, etc)


spring greens

(plural only, chiefly British) the dark green leaves of the borecole plant, Brassica oleracea acephala, used as a vegetable; collard greens


pearly

pearly (countable and uncountable, plural pearlies)

(countable, British, slang, especially in plural) A tooth.


stammel

stammel (usually uncountable, plural stammels)


chiack

en-verb

chiack (third-person singular simple present chiacks, present participle chiacking, simple past and past participle chiacked)

chiacks (present singular third-person)
chiacking (participle present)
chiacked (participle past)
chiacked (past)

Jack soon learnt that it was not politic to attack big snakes, which included the adult black, brown, and the death-ader, though he might "chiack" them to his heart's content.

1912 March 1, Edward S. Sorenson, “The Biography of a Kookaburra”, in The Lone Hand, volume 10, page 366:

They were cheerful enough, liked a bit of chiacking, and the women enjoyed the bawdy undertones of their jokes.

1987, Sheila Anderson, “End of the Season”, in Anna Gibbs, Alison Tilson, editors, Frictions, An Anthology of Fiction by Women, page 45:

Will you look at us by the river! The whole restless mob of us on spread blankets in the dreamy briny sunshine skylarking and chiacking about for one day, one clear, clean, sweet day in a good world in the midst of our living.

1991, Tim Winton, 'Cloudstreet', Picador UK Paperback edition 1992 (Chapter 1, at page 1: the book's opening lines)

Most poignantly of all, though, when I get fed up with working alone, I remember Victorian high school staffrooms of the sixties and seventies: the rigid hierarchy with its irritations, but also the chiacking, the squabbles, the timely advice from some old stager with a fag drooping off his lip.

2008, Helen Garner, “The Art of the Dumb Question”, in True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction, page 13:

We believed Melbourne′s two most extraordinary institutions were those of chiacking – taking the piss – and larrikinism. Although the latter would develop derogatory connotations, and chiacking was already beginning to die a slow death, sometimes perceived as offensive in its more alcoholic forms, especially by the women in our group.

2008, Graeme Blundell, The Naked Truth: A Life in Parts, published 2011, unnumbered page:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, transitive) To taunt or tease.


chiack

Indeed, the man was less brute than boor; he also spoke the truth. He had not seriously exceeded the limits of legitimate “chiack.”

1900 May, E. W. Hornung, “The Jackeroo on G-Block”, in The Strand Magazine, volume 19, number 113, page 368:

I felt as if I couldn't go that fur, An' start to sling off chiack like I used...

1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, page 16:

It was, Janet thought, a symbol of male religion: there they all were, yappings stilled as they attended League mass, quaffing their communion Tooheys, joining in the votive prayers of groan, chiack, cheer.

Dennis captured the speech rhythms and humour of ordinary Australians, their gift of 'chiack', and their deflection of adversity with a ready joke.

2004, Eugene Benson, L.W. Conolly, Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English:

I took some chiack from the drivers: Was that the schottische you was dancing on them logs?

2007, Les A. Murray, Fredy Neptune, page 76:

(Australia, New Zealand, British) Taunting or teasing.


recess

en-noun

recess (countable and uncountable, plural recesses)

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”).
Sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends.
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
cognates
* Catalan recés
* Italian recesso
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
* Portuguese recesso
* Spanish receso

syvyys

hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place

فُسْحة

temporary stoppage of an activity — see also break, pause

Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess.

(countable) A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.

(Australia, British, Canada, US, Philippines, education) A time away from studying during the school day for a meal or recreation.


sweet F A

(chiefly British, slang) Alternative spelling of sweet FA


red diesel

The fuel is coloured with red dye to prevent illegal use on public roads.

(British, Ireland) Untaxed diesel fuel intended to be used on private property.


brill

en-adj

brill (comparative more brill, superlative most brill)

more brill (comparative)
most brill (superlative)

That song is totally brill, innit!

So what makes a brill baguette? For Mr Paluel-Marmont and Mr de Rovira, a star French stick can usually be identified merely by its appearance.

2004 April 22, Jon Henley, “Guides show Parisians where their best bread is buttered”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, slang) Clipping of brilliant; wonderful, amusing; cool.


take something in one's stride

en-verb

take<,,took,taken> something in one's stride

take something in one's stride (third-person singular simple present takes something in one's stride, present participle taking something in one's stride, simple past took something in one's stride, past participle taken something in one's stride)

takes something in one's stride (present singular third-person)
taking something in one's stride (participle present)
took something in one's stride (past)
taken something in one's stride (participle past)

En-au-take something in one's stride.ogg

(idiomatic, UK) Not to allow oneself to be set back, daunted, upset or embarrassed by unpleasant or undesirable circumstances.


immersion

en-noun

immersion (countable and uncountable, plural immersions)

From late Middle English, borrowed from Late Latin immersiō, immersiōnem (“dipping”).

потапяне

the act of immersing or the condition of being immersed

She left the immersion on all the time, while I had been reared under pain of death to turn it off as soon as the bathwater was heated.

2020, Kathleen MacMahon, Nothing But Blue Sky, Penguin, →ISBN:

(British, Ireland, informal) An immersion heater.


traditional county

en-noun

traditional county (plural traditional counties)

Traditional counties of the British Isles

administrative counties
administrative county

(UK) any of the historic divisions of Great Britain no longer used for administrative purposes in favour of ceremonial counties and administrative counties


red route

(chiefly British) A system of traffic management, marked by red lines along the edge of the road, where parking, loading or picking up passengers is restricted.

(UK) A route that has a higher-than-average rate of traffic accidents.


Heinz

From the H. J. Heinz Company's "57 Varieties" slogan.

(UK, gambling, slang) A full-cover bet of doubles and upwards, consisting of six selections in 57 bets.


all right

All right, mate, how are things with you and the missus?

(UK, informal) Term of greeting, equivalent to how are you or hello.

mitäs sä

a greeting, roughly equivalent to how are you (6)


safe seat

(chiefly British, Australia, New Zealand) A seat in a legislature that is traditionally held by one political party because of the make-up of the local electorate.


appal

en-verb

appal (third-person singular simple present appals, present participle appalling, simple past and past participle appalled)

appals (present singular third-person)
appalling (participle present)
appalled (participle past)
appalled (past)


kiss of life

The lifeguard pulled the man out of the lake and gave him the kiss of life.

(idiomatic, UK) Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.


scrape

en-noun

scrape (countable and uncountable, plural scrapes)

From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian (“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skrebʰ- (“to engrave”).
Cognate with Dutch schrapen (“to scrape”), schrappen (“to strike through; to cancel; to scrap”), schrabben (“to scratch”), German schrappen (“to scrape”), Danish skrabe (“to scrape”), Icelandic skrapa (“to scrape”), Walloon screper (“to scrape”), Latin scribō (“dig with a pen, draw, write”).

cog

1972, in U.S. Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Abuse of psychiatry for political repression in the Soviet Union. Hearing, Ninety-second Congress, second session, United States Government Printing Office, page 127,
It’s quite possible, in view of the diagnosis ‘danger of miscarriage’, that they might drag me off, give me a scrape and then say that the miscarriage began itself.

In expert hands abortion nowadays is almost the same as having a scrape (D & C) and due to improved techniques such as suction termination, and improved lighter anaesthetic, most women feel no worse than having a tooth out.

1980, John Cobb, Babyshock: A Mother’s First Five Years, Hutchinson, page 232:

The loss is significant to the woman and will be stated as such by her. For her it is not “nothing,” “just a scrape,” or “not a life.” It is the beginning of a baby. Years later, she may recall it not just as a miscarriage but also as a baby that was lost.

1985, Beverley Raphael, The Anatomy of Bereavement: a handbook for the caring professions, Routledge,, →ISBN, page 236:

17.Have you had a scrape or curettage recently?

1999, David Jenkins, Listening to Gynaecological Patients\ Problems, Springer,, →ISBN, page 16:

(British, slang) A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.

A'm goin to the barber's for a scrape.

1945, Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, page 66:

(uncountable, UK, slang, obsolete) Cheap butter.

“Got a nice bit of haddock for tonight. Thought I might do it with a poached egg, bit of pepper, bread and scrape”

2018 February 11, Colin Dexter, Russell Lewis, 31:48 from the start, in Endeavour(Cartouche), season 5, episode 2 (TV series), spoken by DS Jim Strange (Sean Rigby):

(uncountable, UK, slang, obsolete) Butter laid on bread in the thinnest possible manner, as though laid on and scraped off again.


protector

From Middle English protectour, from Anglo-Norman protectour, protector, from Latin prōtēctor, from prōtegō (“shield, protect”). Displaced native Old English sċildend.

My Lord Protector, ’tis his Highnes pleaſure, You do prepare to ride vnto S. Albons, / Where as the King and Queene do mean to Hawke.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 122, column 2:

(UK, historical) One having the care of the kingdom during the king's minority; a regent.


rotten borough

/ˌɹɒtn̩ ˈbʌɹə/

/ˌɹɑtn̩ ˈbʌɹoʊ/

From rotten (“in a state of decay”) + borough (“type of administrative district”), because such boroughs were regarded as having “decayed” due to their voters moving away to other places.

compound

[…] Queen's Crawley was no longer so populous a place as it had been in Queen Bess's time—nay, was come down to that condition of borough which used to be denominated rotten–yet, as Sir Pitt Crawley would say with perfect justice in his elegant way, "Rotten! be hanged—it produces me a good fifteen hundred a year."

[1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Crawley of Queen’s Crawley”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 57:

(historical) A parliamentary borough that was represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly that they were largely controlled by the main landowner; such boroughs were abolished in the 19th century.

burgu usteldu

parliamentary borough represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly they were largely controlled by the main landowner; parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation