how's your father

how's your father (countable and uncountable, plural how's your fathers)

A popular catchphrase of the 1910s popularised by music-hall entertainer Harry Tate, who used it for comic effect to change the subject away from one about which his character was ignorant (hence sense 1) or a taboo subject (hence sense 2).

(countable, slang, British) A whatsit; a thing which the speaker is unable or unwilling to specify more precisely.

I popped round Mary's for a bit of how's your father.

I mean what a buzz, man, me four fans, an’ I'm on the fookin’ telly! They love it! So suddenly it's knickers off and ’ow's your father.

2002, Ben Elton, High Society, Random House, published 2012, →ISBN, page 226:

(uncountable, slang, British, euphemistic) Sexual intercourse.


flushing

en-noun

flushing (countable and uncountable, plural flushings)

Named after the dated anglicized Dutch city name Flushing (“Vlissingen”) where the wool was made, from Dutch Vlissingen, further etymology is uncertain.

(UK) A heavy, coarse cloth manufactured from shoddy.


digestive biscuit

digestive biscuit (plural digestive biscuits)

The baking soda in the recipe was thought to have antacid properties and thus to aid digestion.

(British, Ireland) A semisweet biscuit; sometimes dunked in tea, or crushed as the base of a cheesecake


dere

From Middle English dere, from Old English dæru, daru (“injury, hurt, harm, damage, calamity; loss, deprivation”), from Proto-West Germanic *daru, from Proto-Germanic *darō (“damage, injury”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰórh₃-eh₂, from *dʰerh₃- (“to leap, spring”).
Cognate with Middle Dutch dare, dere, Low German dere, Old High German tara, Avestan 𐬛𐬁𐬭𐬁 (dārā), Sanskrit धारा (dhā́rā).

She did him dere.


dere

en-verb

dere (third-person singular simple present deres, present participle dering, simple past and past participle dered)

deres (present singular third-person)
dering (participle present)
dered (participle past)
dered (past)

From Middle English deren, derien, from Old English derian (“to damage, injure, hurt, harm”), from Proto-West Germanic *darjan (“to injure, harm”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerh₃- (“to leap, spring”). Cognate with Scots dere, deir (“to harm, hurt, injure”), Saterland Frisian dera (“to injure, damage”), West Frisian deare, derre (“to harm, injure”), Dutch deren (“to injure, damage, scathe”), Middle High German tern (“to injure”). Related to dart.

cog

(transitive, UK, archaic, dialectal) To hurt; harm; injure; wound.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To annoy, trouble, grieve.


the other place

(UK, Oxford University slang, derogatory) University of Cambridge

(UK, Cambridge University slang, derogatory) University of Oxford


last orders

A pint of lager, please. - Sorry, mate, you missed last orders.

(British) A short period of time, which is usually announced by ringing a bell and is between 5 and 15 minutes long, just before closing time. This is normally before the public house is no longer allowed to serve alcoholic beverages due to licensing laws.


aphaeresis

en-noun

aphaeresis (countable and uncountable, plural aphaereses)

(UK, Canada) Alternative spelling of apheresis


get stuck into

en-verb

get stuck into (third-person singular simple present gets stuck into, present participle getting stuck into, simple past and past participle got stuck into)

gets stuck into (present singular third-person)
getting stuck into (participle present)
got stuck into (participle past)
got stuck into (past)

1998, Gary McKay, In Good Company
After pulling our boat up the beach there wasn’t much to do but collapse onto the sand and get stuck into some serious drinking.

But although some timber for the house was eventually delivered, he never got around to the building stage. ‘I′ll hire some help and we'll get stuck into it,’ he would say, but the only thing he ever got stuck into was his vodka.

2002, Gary Nash, The Tarasov Saga: From Russia through China to Australia, page 232:

2005, David Else & Oliver Berry, Lonely Planet: England
If you really want to get stuck into a bit of archaeology, check out the Archaeological Resource Centre ...

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Get busy with; become occupied with; become immersed in.

Dinner's ready! Quick, get stuck into it!

She took a big slurp of wine, and then we all got stuck into the food.

2007, Kevin Brooks, The Road of the Dead, page 92:

‘And get stuck into your breakfast, or I will be forced to relieve you of at least one of those splendid pork sausages.’

2009, Robert Rankin, Retromancer, unnumbered page:

Then get stuck into one of the char-grilled steaks, the sesame-encrusted tuna, or slow-cooked lamb shank.

2011, Pippa de Bruyn, Keith Bain, Frommer's South Africa, unnumbered page:


dead centre

[…] the cemetery – which people of shattering wit like Sampson never tired of calling ‘the dead centre of town’ […]

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section III, page 26:

(British) Alternative spelling of dead center


caravan park

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland) An area containing caravans either for holiday rental, or for holiday use by their owners.


RAC

Royal Automobile Club
w:Royal Automobile Club

(UK, automotive) Initialism of Royal Automobile Club.


RAC

retirement annuity contract
retirement annuity contract#English

(UK, pensions) Initialism of retirement annuity contract.


make a leg

make a leg (third-person singular simple present makes a leg, present participle making a leg, simple past and past participle made a leg)

makes a leg (present singular third-person)
making a leg (participle present)
made a leg (participle past)
made a leg (past)

King Richard II: What must the king do now? must he submit? […]
What says King Bolingbroke? will his majesty
Give Richard leave to live till Richard die?
You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says ay.

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 3, scene 3]:

"I beg pardon," said Mr. Datchery, making a leg with his hat under his arm, as he addressed himself equally to both gentlemen.

1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, chapter 18, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC:

"Father, return thanks; make a leg—no man can do it better. Master Mordacks, you shall have our utmost duty."

1880, R. D. Blackmore, chapter 26, in Mary Anerley: A Yorkshire Tale:

(idiomatic, UK) To make a deep bow with the right leg drawn back.


cagoule

Borrowed from French cagoule. Doublet of cowl.

(UK, Ireland) A lightweight waterproof parka.


assessor

From Middle English assessour, from Old French assessour, from Latin assessor (“assistant judge; assessor of taxes”). Cognate with French assesseur.

der

(UK, Oxford University) An official responsible for student welfare.


mouldy

en-adj

mouldy (comparative mouldier or more mouldy, superlative mouldiest or most mouldy)

mouldier (comparative)
more mouldy (comparative)
mouldiest (superlative)
most mouldy (superlative)

'Go cuddle up to your mouldy old papers,' she shouted at him. 'See how warm they'll keep you.' She slammed the door and made to walk off.

(UK, colloquial) Worthless; lousy; rotten.


twopence

en-noun

twopence (countable and uncountable, plural twopences)

(British, Ireland) A British or Irish coin worth two (old or new) pence.

(British, Ireland) A cost or value of two pence.

(British, Ireland, by extension) A small amount or value.


two-handed

The Baker was a two-handed hitter, and seemed perfectly awake to the business before him.

1845, The Sportsman's Magazine of Life in London and the Country, page 355:

(UK, slang, dated) Good with one's fists; able to fight well.


ha'penny

ha'penny (plural ha'pennies or ha'pence)

The more a shop looks as though it trades in farthings and ha’pennies, the more tenners and twenties you can expect to hand over at the till.

2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

(historical, Ireland, UK) A halfpenny; a former British and Irish coin.


chivvy

en-verb

chivvy (third-person singular simple present chivvies, present participle chivvying, simple past and past participle chivvied)

chivvies (present singular third-person)
chivvying (participle present)
chivvied (participle past)
chivvied (past)

Battle of Otterburn
Cheviot Hills
The Ballad of Chevy Chase
The Complaynt of Scotland

From chivy, chevy (“to chase; to race, scamper”), from chivy, chevy (“a chase, hunt, pursuit”), probably from the title of The Ballad of Chevy Chase, first published in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549); the ballad is about a hunt taking place on a chase (“large country estate where game may be hunted”) in the Cheviot Hills between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, and is thought to allude to the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.

Odd's wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, chivying on the dogs and having a rare morning's sport.

1889, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket”, in Micah Clarke: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co […], →OCLC, page 316:

Some customers could now be relied upon to send in their orders regularly and, apart from having to chivy those who had fallen behind with their payments, this allowed travellers to concentrate their energies on securing new customers and on recovering those who had been lost to competitors.

1973, B. W. E. Alford, “A New Generation and a New Firm”, in W. D. & H. O. Wills and the Development of the UK Tobacco Industry, 1786–1965, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. […], →ISBN; reprinted as Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006, →ISBN, page 55:

He headed for home, walking a little faster now, as if chivied along by some old cold wind that didn't quite reach the sunlit world.

1981 November, Gardner Dozois, Jack C[arroll] Haldeman II, “Executive Clemency”, in Omni, New York, N.Y.: Omni Publications International; republished as Gardner Dozois, Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, October 1992, →ISBN, page 35:

For 11 years now he [Tony Blair] has only one approach – to lead from the front and then to confront, challenge, and chivvy the Labour Party into backing him.

2005 November 10, Nick Robinson, “Robinson’s View: Blair’s Defeat”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2017-06-14:

We don't have time to respond to emails or any attempts to chivvy us up – sorry.

2007 April 24, “The Albert Sessions”, in BBC, archived from the original on 2006-05-29:

She's helpful and rude in equal measure as she chivvies me into insisting that Heather include a particular pair of gold metallic wedges that I really think is representative of Dad's style […]

2014 August, Holly McQueen, chapter 16, in Charlie Glass’s Slippers: A Very Modern Fairy Tale, 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Atria Paperback, →ISBN, page 267:

(transitive, British) To coerce or hurry along, as by persistent request.

He wos allus willin fur to give me somethink he wos, though Mrs. Sangsby she was allus a chivying on me—like everybody everywheres.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Stop Him!”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 447:

So when I was done, and the fishing was as good as the start, I cut a long "staddle," with a bush at the top, and I just went for that school of trout. I chevied, harried and scattered them, up stream and down, until I could not see a fish.

1883, “Nessmuk” [pseudonym; George Washington Sears], Charles F. Orvis and A. Nelson Cheney, compilers, “Trout: Meeting Them on the ‘June Rise’”, in Fishing with the Fly: Sketches by Lovers of the Art, with Illustrations of Standard Flies, Manchester, Vt.: C. F. Orvis, →OCLC, page 167:

"They're chevying that poor animal [a dog] again," he said hotly. "It's scandalous." / "Rupert can take care of himself," said the mate calmly, continuing his meal. "I expect, if the truth's known, it's him 's been doin' the chevying."

1898, W[illiam] W[ymark] Jacobs, “Pickled Herring”, in Sea Urchins, London: Lawrence and Bullen, Ltd. […], →OCLC, page 160:

Toby played the lightly chivvied ‘husband’ very sweetly, and Sophie claimed him in the childish ways of someone experimenting with her power, with little exasperations and innuendos.

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 5, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

(transitive, British) To subject to harassment or verbal abuse.

досажда́ть

to subject to harassment or verbal abuse

(transitive, British) To sneak up on or rapidly approach.

to chivvy the fox

The police were kept out of sight, and the amusements of the mob consisted chiefly in forming bodies which rushed from one end of the Park to the other, to the great injury of other rioters; or in hunting or "chivvying" any footman or remarkable person who should venture among them; some of these unfortunates were much injured.

1855, “Riots in Hyde Park”, in The Annual Register, or A View of the History and Politics of the Year 1855, volume XCVII, London: Printed for F[rancis] & J[ohn] Rivington; [et al.], published 1856, →OCLC, page 107, column 2:

[…] John, before taking his departure, had left the stable door and the front gate open, and that Tartar [a horse], having no halter on, had quietly walked out into the high road, and had been chevied up and down by the boys for the last quarter of an hour.

1868 January, “Miss Sophy’s Crutch”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XIII, number LXXIII, London: Office, 217, Piccadilly, W. [printed by William Clowes and Sons, […]], →OCLC, chapter I, page 76, column 1:

[I]t seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket.

1893 (indicated as 1894), A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Naval Treaty”, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, Limited, […], →OCLC, page 215:

With Mr. [Ernest] Hemingway, we at once enter the front line of modern literary warfare. We are face to face with the largest and wildest of the game that Mr. Wyndham Lewis chivvies through the warrens of the Rive Gauche and with the only one of its fauna on whose tail he has tried to place a pinch of commendatory salt, apparently in vain.

1927 November 26, Cyril Connolly, “[Review of Ernest Hemingway’s Men without Women]”, in New Statesman, volume 30, London: New Statesman Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 208; republished in Jeffrey Meyers, editor, Ernest Hemingway: The Critical Heritage (Critical Heritage Series), London: Routledge, 1997 (2009 printing), →ISBN:

He rode slowly towards them with a sulky expression on his face, chivvying the polo-ball with small strokes.

1934, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 18, in Burmese Days: A Novel (Project Gutenberg Australia; eBook no. 0200051h.html), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, published November 2015, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-04-13:

(transitive, British) To pursue as in a hunt.


chivvy

Although Mr [Paul] Hatcher is not sure how popular the site will be he has designed it to handle up to 10,000 requests an hour. "It's just there to act as a chivvy to London Underground," he said.

2003 September 23, “Web Payback for Delayed Commuters”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2016-03-09:

(British) Something that encourages one to act; a goad, a spur.


twirly

Blend of too + early from the question "Am I too early [to use my pass]?" frequently asked of bus drivers, etc. by holders of OAP/senior citizen or similar travel passes that are not valid before a certain time (usually 9:30am).

Some passengers do try to use passes fraudulently and the time restriction on OAP passes can sometimes lead to arguments (the so-called "twirlies" — "Am I too early?") but seldom to assaults.

1986, Working Group on Violence to Road Passenger Transport Staff, Assaults on bus staff and measures to prevent such assaults, HMSO, page 51:

These are a great hit with "Twirlies" (senior citizens, infamous for using their bus passes "too-early" before rush hour fades).

1986, Rick Steves, Great Britain in 22 days: a step-by-step guide and travel itinerary, →ISBN, page 52:

I once had a twirly get on my bus, well I have had several hundred actually but that's beside the point!

2007 May 14, Daisy Dart, “Re: Passengers say the stupidest things”, in Bus drivers canteen (Usenet), message-ID <1179173999.213616.59880@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>:

He'd been so desperate to go to the toilet that he'd parked the bus, locked the twirlies on it and run through the gully home!

2008, Maureen Harvey, “5 The Breakthrough”, in Pure Evil - How Tracie Andrews murdered my son, deceived the nation and sentenced me to a life of pain and misery, →ISBN:

(British, Ireland, slang, sometimes derogatory) an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport.


goods van

(rail transport, British) An enclosed railway freight car, especially one with a sliding door.


car boot

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) the boot (trunk) of a car

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) a car boot sale


car boot sale

→ Welsh: sêl cist car (calque)

(British) An outdoor market at which people sell things from the boot (trunk) of their car.

baklukeloppis

outdoor market at which people sell things from the boot of their car


sophister

From Middle English shophister, sofister, sofistre, sophister, sophistre, sovyster, from Anglo-Norman sofistre, a variant of Old French sofiste, sophiste.

In the older American colleges, the junior and senior classes were originally called Junior Sophisters and Senior Sophisters. The term is also used at Oxford and Dublin.

1851, Benjamin Homer Hall, College Words and Customs, Cambridge, Mass.: John Bartlett, page 287:

(dated, UK, US, universities) A student who is advanced beyond the first year of their residence.


burgh

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”).
Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort”), Swedish borg. Doublet of borough, Brough, and Bury.

cog

1815, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book Eighth, The Parsonage, lines 95-104, http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww405.html
With fruitless pains / Might one like me 'now' visit many a tract / Which, in his youth, he trod, and trod again, / A lone pedestrian with a scanty freight, / Wished-for, or welcome, wheresoe'er he came— / Among the tenantry of thorpe and vill; / Or straggling burgh, of ancient charter proud, / And dignified by battlements and towers / Of some stern castle, mouldering on the brow / Of a green hill or bank of rugged stream.

This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants.

1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 6, in The Silver Chair, Collins, published 1998:

(UK) a borough or chartered town (now only used as an official subdivision in Scotland).


smoulder

en-verb

smoulder (third-person singular simple present smoulders, present participle smouldering, simple past and past participle smouldered)

smoulders (present singular third-person)
smouldering (participle present)
smouldered (participle past)
smouldered (past)

Lightning may blast and blacken, but it rarely gives rise to widespread fire. Decaying vegetation may occasionally smoulder with the heat of its fermentation, but this again rarely results in flames.

1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter XI, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC:

(intransitive, chiefly British) Alternative form of smolder


forsee

forsee (third-person singular simple present forsees, present participle forseeing, simple past forsaw, past participle forseen)

forsees (present singular third-person)
forseeing (participle present)
forsaw (past)
forseen (participle past)

From Middle English forseen, forsen, from Old English forsēon (“to look down upon, despise”), equivalent to for- + see. Compare Old Saxon farsehan, Old High German farsehan (Middle High German versehen).

inh

Could I forsee the sunken rocks of life?

1882, Victor Roy, A Masonic Poem by Harriet Annie Wilkins:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To neglect; overlook; disregard; despise.

(transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To oversee; superintend; direct.


banyan

From Portuguese baniano, from Arabic بَنِيَان (baniyān), from Gujarati વાણિયો (vāṇiyo, “merchant”), from Sanskrit वाणिज (vāṇijá), from earlier वणिज् (vaṇíj, “merchant, trader”). The name appears to have been first bestowed popularly on a famous tree of this species growing near Bandar Abbas, under which the Bannians or Hindu traders settled at that port, had built a little pagoda. Doublet of bunnia.

Banyan in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

(British, naval slang, dated) A camping excursion on shore, to give a ship's crew a break from shipboard routine.


gade

(UK, dialect, obsolete, Moray Firth) A pike.


skilfully

en-adv

skilfully (comparative more skilfully, superlative most skilfully)

more skilfully (comparative)
most skilfully (superlative)

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

British standard spelling of skillfully.


theirn

From Middle English theiren, compare hern. Displaced in standard speech by the -s form, theirs, which see for more.

“Nothin,” Dilsey said. “You tend to yo business en let de whitefolks tend to deir'n.”

1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury:

(now UK, US, dialect, especially Appalachia, East Midlands) Theirs.


builder's bum

(chiefly UK, New Zealand, slang) The top of the buttocks exposed when trousers are worn too low, or when the wearer bends over.


tew

From Middle English tewen, a variant of tawen (“to taw, prepare”). More at taw.

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A rope or chain for towing a boat.

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A cord; a string.


tew

en-verb

tew (third-person singular simple present tews, present participle tewing, simple past and past participle tewed)

tews (present singular third-person)
tewing (participle present)
tewed (participle past)
tewed (past)

but having received his orders early that morning from the trainer, accompanied with a warning not to suffer himself to be tewed (Yorkshire patois for worried) by anything Mr. Mellish might say, the sallow-complexioned lad walked about in the calm serenity of innocence

1863, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Aurora Floyd - Volume 1, page 201:

After dinner uncle Joe made off to his piggeries; while aunt Dorothy fell asleep in a capacious old arm-chair by the fire, after making an apologetic remark to the effect that she was tired, and had been a good deal "tewed" that morning in the dairy. "Tewed," I understand, is Yorkshire for "worried."

Mr. Parkinson, I have been as ill done by as that young lady; I have been worried, and tewed, and cheated out of my life and senses .

1800, Francis Lathom, Men and Manners, page 33:

My missis and me liv'd i' peace fifty-three years, Peg wur allus a Chapel goer, bud I wur a careless chap and that tewed her.

1881, Alethea M. Huddleston, John Hazlehurst; or, Original sin, page 182:

(UK, Scotland, obsolete, dialect) To tease; to vex or worry.


hit-and-miss

en-adj

hit-and-miss (comparative more hit-and-miss, superlative most hit-and-miss)

more hit-and-miss (comparative)
most hit-and-miss (superlative)

His choice of jokes is rather hit-and-miss.

The upgrade from Channel 4 cult hit to Netflix blockbuster gave Charlie Brooker’s hit-and-miss dystopia anthology Black Mirror bigger stars, a bigger budget and, most notably, a far bigger audience.

2021 March 31, Benjamin Lee, “Made for Love review – Black Mirror-esque comedy needs an upgrade”, in The Guardian:

(now chiefly UK) Alternative form of hit-or-miss.


nolle prosequi

en-noun

nolle prosequi (plural nolle prosequis or nolle prosequies)

nolle prosequis (plural)
nolle prosequies (plural)

/ˌnəʊlɪ ˈpɹɒsɪkwaɪ/

From Latin nolle prosequi (“to not want to pursue”). Cf. prosecute.

bor

(UK law) A declaration from the attorney general ending a criminal prosecution.


ert

en-verb

ert (third-person singular simple present erts, present participle erting, simple past and past participle erted)

erts (present singular third-person)
erting (participle present)
erted (participle past)
erted (past)

From Middle English erten, ertin, from Old Norse erta (“to provoke, incite, tease”), from Proto-Germanic *artijaną (“to excite, tease”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erdi-, *h₂erd- (“sharp point, stinger”). Cognate with Icelandic erta (“to irritate”), Norwegian erta (“to taunt”), Swedish ärta (“to tease, jibe”), Old Irish aird (“point, ord, end point”), Ancient Greek ἄρδις (árdis, “arrowhead”).

cog

(transitive, UK dialectal) To incite; urge on; encourage.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To irritate; grill; provoke.

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To be eager, prone; hurry.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To make as if to strike; argue (with); strive after; try to obtain.

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To strive onward and upward.


dicky

→ Urdu: ڈِکّی (ḍikkī), ڈِگّی (ḍiggī)

→ Pashto: ډِګّۍ (ḍiggay)

From dick + -y (diminutive suffix).
* In cover/apron senses: perhaps from English dialect dick (“leather apron”) + -y; perhaps from Dutch dek (“a cover”).

Oh, she landed at Heathrow all right, like you said, but since then your Miss Ranelagh seems to have vanished as effectively as my overdue promotion. Not used her credit card, her Internet account, her mobile phone. Nothing. Not a dicky.

2013, Michael Dobbs, A Ghost at the Door:

(idiomatic, UK, in negative constructions) An insignificant sound or thing; dicky-bird.

I've heard grandfather say that when Mr. Priest was at his best there was scores o' young gents as used to come to school as day-boys, 'cause there was no room for 'em to board; and they used to come on dickies […]

1896, Augustus Jessopp, Random Roaming, and Other Papers, page 181:


lollipop lady

Because the signs they carry resemble giant lollipops.

school crossing attendant
school crossing attendant

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A female school crossing attendant.

gangbrautarvörður

a female school crossing attendant — see also lollipop man, crossing guard, school crossing attendant


cuddy

Uncertain. Perhaps a contraction from Dutch kajuit (“cabin”).

(UK, mining) A pony that works in a mine.


God Save the Queen

(UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) An expression of one’s patriotism and hope for the long life of the monarch, especially in her presence.

(UK) A formal statement at the end of many proclamations issued by the UK's queen or in her name.

The King is dead! God save the Queen!

(UK) A formal declaration following the death of a reigning monarch when the next monarch is female.


Gunpowder Plot

(British, historical) A failed conspiracy, in November 1605, to kill the Protestant king James I of England and VI of Scotland, and to blow up the House of Lords using gunpowder, annually commemorated on Guy Fawkes Day.


true colours

The organisation was officially concerned with economic development, but after the memo was leaked people began to see them in their true colours.

But I see your true colors / Shining through / I see your true colors / And that's why I love you / So don't be afraid to let them show

1986, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly (lyrics and music), “True Colors”, performed by Cyndi Lauper:

The real character, belief or intent of a person or group who present a dishonest picture of their nature to the world.


up the walls

We were up the walls last week and I got ten hours overtime.

We didn't go to the restaurant as it was up the walls.

(idiomatic, UK, Ireland, regarding a workplace, etc.) Very busy, swamped.


sectioning

Nevertheless, some work reports that black women are overrepresented, comprising up to half of the sectionings […]

2005, Gill Aitken, Pam Alldred, Robin Allwood, Psychology, Discourse And Social Practice: From Regulation To Resistance:

(UK, New Zealand, Australia, mental health) An instance of a person being sectioned.


bleeping

(UK, euphemistic, slang) A generic intensifier which can be substituted for any profane intensifier.


weatherproofing

en-noun

weatherproofing (usually uncountable, plural weatherproofings)

(UK) The practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements/weather and wind or Something protecting the interior of a building or similar from weather and wind


bug-bear

(chiefly British) Alternative spelling of bugbear


centred

UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa spelling of centered


nim

en-verb

nim (third-person singular simple present nims, present participle nimming, simple past nimmed or nam or nom, past participle nimmed or nom or nomen or num)

nims (present singular third-person)
nimming (participle present)
nimmed (past)
nam (past)
nom (past)
nimmed (participle past)
nom (participle past)
nomen (participle past)
num (participle past)

From Middle English nimen, from Old English niman (“to take”), from Proto-West Germanic *neman, from Proto-Germanic *nemaną (“to take”), from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to give or take one's due”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian nieme (“to take”), West Frisian nimme (“to take”), Dutch nemen (“to take”), Low German nehmen (“to take”), German nehmen (“to take”), Danish nemme (“to learn, grasp”). Related to numb and nimble.

der

The old lady does nim along.
1949, Wilfrid J. Halliday, Arthur Stanley Umpleby, The White Rose Garland of Yorkshire Dialect Verse and Local and Folk-lore Rhymes (quoting Irene Sutcliffe), page 111:
Ah had set myself doon where the aums meet aboon,

1856, Thompson, Hist. Boston, page 716, quoted in 1903, Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary: M-Q, page 273

When Jinny jamp oop, and ganned nimming alang

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To walk with short, quick strides; trip along.


builders

(UK) Abbreviation of builders' tea. (builder's tea)


setter

→ Czech: setr

→ Danish: setter

→ Finnish: setteri

→ French: setter

→ German: Setter

→ Italian: setter

→ Russian: сеттер (setter)

→ Swedish: setter

From Middle English settere, equivalent to set + -er. Compare West Frisian setter, Dutch zetter, German Low German Setter, German Setzer.
The hunting dogs are so named because when they scent the game, they set (that is, strike a certain stance).

(UK, slang, obsolete) A shill bidder at an auction.


setter

en-verb

setter (third-person singular simple present setters, present participle settering, simple past and past participle settered)

setters (present singular third-person)
settering (participle present)
settered (participle past)
settered (past)

(UK, dialect, transitive) To cut the dewlap (of a cow or ox), and insert a seton, so as to cause an issue.


chance'd be a fine thing

An ellipsis of even having a chance [to do so / at that] would be a fine thing and similar ideas, in reference to something that is either completely impossible or currently forbidden by circumstances, higher authorities, etc., originally chiefly with regard to opportunities to have sex or get married.

Mrs Hawthon: Why didn't you get wed if you were so curious? There's plenty would have had you.
Fanny: Chance is a fine thing. Happen I wouldn't have had them!
Mrs Hawthorn: Happen you'll be sorry for it before long. There's not so many will have you now, if this gets about.

1912, Stanley Houghton, Hindle Wakes, act I, scene i:

Come on. You're management, Corrigan. Get it sorted.
Right. Chance would be a fine thing. [VO] That's a thing people say, isn't it...
Mark, can't you reset it?
Chance would be a fine thing, Lisa.
I know what you should do. Coffee run. Corrigan, 200 lattes.
Good, good one Jeff. Chance would be a fine thing, a fine thing indeed. [VO] Hmm. Saying that too often now.

2009 September 18, Jesse Armstrong & al., Peep Show, Season 6, Episode 1

Dr Clarkson: Sit down and put your feet up if you can.
Mrs Patmore: Oh, chance'd be a fine thing.

2012 September 23, Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey, Season 3, Episode 2

Me winning the lotto? Chance'd be a fine thing.

(British, idiomatic) Synonym of no chance or fat chance with a somewhat more cheerful attitude.


cop shop

From cop (“police officer”) + shop (“workplace”).

1977-1984, Cop Shop (title of an Australian television series).

Billy Suggs spotted Sam standing outside the cop shop when he still was two blocks away.

“Could you go up the cop shop and bring Paul home again” said Heather.

2007, Rachel Bramble, Stephanie Clover, page 47:

He then drove up to the township and dragged me inside the cop shop.

2011, Robert Watkins, A Face in the Crowd, page 40:

(UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, slang) A police station.


claimant

LL-Q1860 (eng)-عُثمان (Middle river exports)-claimant.wav

From Old French and Anglo-Norman clamant, present participle of the verb clamer and its variants, from Latin clāmō (“to cry out”), equivalent to claim + -ant.

(UK) A person receiving money from the government, in a form of unemployment benefits, disability benefits or similar.


louvre

(chiefly British) Alternative form of louver


sacked

en-adj

sacked (comparative more sacked, superlative most sacked)

more sacked (comparative)
most sacked (superlative)


salesmanship

en-noun

salesmanship (countable and uncountable, plural salesmanships)

(UK, marketing, business) A position as salesman.


worn't

It worn't long befoor he coom // To see ha matters stood;

c. 1872, John Hartley, Yorkshire Ditties, Second Series:

Which on 'em was Oxford? The inside one. No, it worn't—they was outside.

1892 April 9, Punch, or the London Charivari, volume 102:

There worn't nothin' in it but a spinnin' wheel and a stool.

1904, Folk Tales Every Child Should Know:

(largely obsolete, still found in some dialects, particularly in UK) Alternative spelling of weren't

largely obsolete; still found in some dialects; particularly in UK; largely obsolete; still found in some dialects; particularly in UK


overmuch

From Middle English overmuche, overmuchel, from Old English ofermiċel, ofermyċel (“overmuch, excessive”), equivalent to over- + much. Compare overmany and overmore. Doublet of overmickle. Cognate with Scots over-mekill (“overmuch, excessive”), Old Norse ofrmikill (“overmuch, excessive”), Icelandic ofmikill (“overmuch, excessive”).

cog

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

So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 2:7:

If we met with accidents, such as losing canoes and men in the rapids, or losing men in encounters with Indians, or if we encountered overmuch fever and dysentery, the loads would lighten themselves.

1914, Theodore Roosevelt, chapter VII, in Through the Brazilian Wilderness, London: John Murray, page 232:

He had much prudence, much conscientiousness, and there were occasions when these virtues were the cause of overmuch disquietude in him.

1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter I.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

This seemed to me a more important priority in 1959 than overmuch argument about nuclear philosophical heresies of one kind or another.

1990, General Sir William Jackson, Britain's defence dilemma: An inside view (rethinking British defence policy in the post-imperial era), page 78:

(chiefly British) Very much; too much; overly much.


overmuch

From Middle English overmuche, overmuchel, equivalent to over- + much.

Some readers do not care overmuch for poetry.

O, he hath kept an evil diet long, / And overmuch consumed his royal person:

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 7:16:

"[…] Do you be humble, and tempt you the Big Man not overmuch. He is quick to anger."

1915, Caradoc Evans, “The Blast of God”, in My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales, New York: Boni & Liveright, published 1918, page 267:

yet what am i that such and such / mysteries very simple touch / me,whose heart-wholeness overmuch / Expects of your hair pale, / a terror musical?

1922, E. E. Cummings, “Songs, III”, in George J. Firmage, editor, Complete Poems, 1904-1962, New York: Liveright, published 1991, page 13:

All of us were being paid regularly, wined and dined overmuch and had the whole theater world of Moscow for our enjoyment.

1956, Langston Hughes, chapter 3, in Joseph McLaren, editor, I Wonder as I Wander, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, published 2003, page 115:

прекалено много

Being too much, or too often, or in excess


new laddish

en-adj

new laddish (comparative more new laddish, superlative most new laddish)

more new laddish (comparative)
most new laddish (superlative)

(British) Having the characteristics of a new lad.


play the white man

en-verb

play the white man (third-person singular simple present plays the white man, present participle playing the white man, simple past and past participle played the white man)

plays the white man (present singular third-person)
playing the white man (participle present)
played the white man (participle past)
played the white man (past)

(intransitive, British, informal, potentially offensive) To act with honour, decency, and responsibility.


doorstop

(British, proscribed, nonstandard) (in error for doorstep) A thick sandwich.


enterolith

/ˈɛntəɹəˌlɪθ/

/ɛnˈtɛɹəˌlɪθ/

Coined based on Ancient Greek ἔντερον (énteron, “intestine”) + λίθος (líthos, “stone”). By surface analysis, entero- + -lith.


new lad

Modeled on New Man, coined by Northern Irish music and photography journalist Sean O'Hagan in 1991.

coin

What we are dealing with here is the New Lad, a rather schizoid, post-feminist fellow with an inbuilt psychic regulator that enables him to imperceptibly alter his consciousness according to the company he keeps. Basically, the New Lad aspires to New Man status when he's with women, but reverts to Old Lad type when he's out with the boys. Clever, eh?

1991 May/June, Sean O'Hagan, “The Reinvented Man”, in Arena, page 22:

When the economy picked up and men, becoming more confident, realised that women didn't fancy new men... along came the New Lads. Which was refreshing for about two- and-half minutes. But the New Lads had a similar lifespan to the New Man.

2000 November 5, Will Buckley, “New Man is back—again”, in The Observer:

(British) A sexist young man who embraces traditional male attitudes.


brigadier

Borrowed from French brigadier. Equivalent to brigade + -ier.

(military, UK) A field officer of the highest grade, below general officers, NATO grade O7.


dunt

(UK, dialect) The disease gid or sturdy in sheep.


social housing

(UK) Rental housing owned and managed by the government, non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the two, with the aim of providing affordable housing, often focusing on disadvantaged groups such as low-income earners, social-security recipients, the elderly and people with disabilities.

公共房屋

affordable housing provided by public authorities or non-profit organizations

(állami) bérlakás / bérház / lakástámogatás


trunking

en-noun

trunking (countable and uncountable, plural trunkings)

(UK) A system of ducts for cables, heating or ventilation.

(UK) Plastic conduit or duct used to conceal and protect electrical wiring.

conduit

UK: conduit used to conceal and protect wiring


strunt

strunt (countable and uncountable, plural strunts)

Of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots strunt (“spirits, whisky, toddy”).

unk

obscure

Wow, man, that's unco sad! --Is that ye'r jo Has ta'en the strunt!

(UK, dialect, countable) A sulky fit; sullenness.


strunt

Compare Middle High German strunze (“stump”).

The Brain is acknowledged by all, to be the Fountain, from whence Sinews have their rise; particularly, there is derived thence one great Tendon, which passeth through the cavity of Neck and Back-bone, extending it self to the nethermost joint of the Strunt.

1673, Robert Almond, The English Horsman and Complete Farrier, page 46:

A tanner's dog invited another dog of his intimate acquaintance to an entertainment, but the latter dog not being satisfied with his feast, as he came away feloniously stole away the strunt of a tail , and the tanner's dog soon after hearing of the felony, quarrelled with his acquaintance, upon which he lost his life;

1829, Stephen Glover, The History of the County of Derby, page 613:

S a pretty little dog! 's a pretty little doggy! — ay! — yes! — he is, yes! — Wag thy strunt, then! Wag thy strunt, Rexie!

1961, D.H. Lawrence, “Adolf”, in Edward David McDonald, editor, Phoenix: The Posthumous Papers of D.H. Lawrence, page 16:

(UK, dialectal) Anything short or contracted


gazunder

en-verb

gazunder (third-person singular simple present gazunders, present participle gazundering, simple past and past participle gazundered)

gazunders (present singular third-person)
gazundering (participle present)
gazundered (participle past)
gazundered (past)

(British, colloquial) To reduce the offer price of a property after agreeing to a higher one (normally just before contracts are exchanged)


gazunder

Because it "goes under" the bed. Correct - particularly colloquial in north of England - refers to pot for night soil which was kept under the bed, as toilets were outside (or even down the street).

While Frank and Walt and Lou and Tommy had looked on, their mam had filled the guzunder up to its rim with a grotesque and undiscriminating mix of spirits […].

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 318:


scrambles

(British, dated, sports) motocross (racing game)


gammon

en-noun

gammon (countable and uncountable, plural gammons)

Gained popularity in 2017 (in the phrase "Great Wall of Gammon", likening the referents' rosy complexions to gammon (“ham, bacon”)), although the metaphor was in use earlier: the BBC points to a 2016 use of "gammon face". Not related to the "gammon tendency" in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, where the word means "nonsense".

(neologism, derogatory, UK) A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively.


vulgus

So the table was cleared, the cloth restored, and the three fell to work with Gradus and dictionary upon the morning's vulgus.

1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:

(UK, education, historical) A school exercise in which pupils are tasked with writing a short piece of Greek or Latin verse on a given subject.


sufferance

sufferance (countable and uncountable, plural sufferances)

From Middle English sufferaunce, from Anglo-Norman suffraunce, from Late Latin sufferentia.

(British, historical) A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods.


slap-headed

(British, slang) Having a bald or shaven head


wazz

Here was a man who took so much cocaine that he took to keeping his urine in bottles, in the fridge, because he was scared that wizards ‘might steal it’. And yet despite storing his rotting wazz next to his ham, it doesn't stop him being cool.

(chiefly UK, slang) An act of urination, a piss or a leak; urine.


wazz

en-verb

wazz (third-person singular simple present wazzes, present participle wazzing, simple past and past participle wazzed)

wazzes (present singular third-person)
wazzing (participle present)
wazzed (participle past)
wazzed (past)

Both wazzed out their cups. Danny looked at his watch. 23 minutes since he saw them drinking the blue poison. If the stuff he'd read on the Internet was right, in 7 minutes they would be sleeping like babies. This, however, would be of[…]

2008 02, Scott M. Liddell, The Beatle Man, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 67:

The enigmatic old lady had traversed the room with impressive speed and was practically face to face with Mattie when she looked up. 'Sorry?' 'Pardon me for noticing. Only you look like someone wazzed on your chips, love.

2016 October 20, Miranda Dickinson, Searching for a Silver Lining, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 32:

How many people have wazzed in this layby? Must be millions. Billions. Ye olde travellers on the trunk road into the west, unable to wait until the next rest facility. Services: twenty-one miles and twelve miles.

2022 April 28, Tom Cox, Villager, Unbound Publishing, →ISBN:


gazump

gazump (third-person singular simple present gazumps, present participle gazumping, simple past and past participle gazumped)

gazumps (present singular third-person)
gazumping (participle present)
gazumped (participle past)
gazumped (past)

Possibly from Yiddish גזלן (gazlen, “thief, bandit”).

If one believes that morality plays no part in such a transaction, and that the law is all that prevails, then I believe society is the poorer. Clearly no surveyor refuses to act for a client who gazumps — but while the practice is legal it can hardly be described as moral, and the position of the surveyor is far from clear.

1980, The Estates Gazette, volume 256, part 2, page 902:

During the early 1970s however in a period of rapidly increasing house prices it came to appear unfavourable to buyers since it allowed the seller to ‘gazump’, that is to refuse to sign the formal contract unless the buyer would agree to an increased price.

1981, Geoffrey Chevalier Cheshire, M. P. Furmston, Cecil Herbert Stuart Fifoot, Cheshire and Fifoot's Law Of Contract, page 35:

(British, Australia, real estate) To raise the selling price of something (especially property) after previously agreeing to a lower one.

I can disclose that Mrs Blair had an offer of £2,765,000 accepted on a five-storey Georgian house in a fashionable area of central London, which she planned to give to daughter Kathryn.¶ However, actress Talulah Riley, 31, who played spoiled Annabelle Fritton in two St Trinian’s films, gazumped her with an offer of £3 million — a staggering £235,000 more than the asking price.

2017 March 15, Sebastian Shakespeare, “Cherie Blair is gazumped on £3m house by Elon Musk's ex-wife”, in The Daily Mail:

We are first-time buyers going through the process of buying our first home in London. We had previously tried three years ago and were gazumped twice. We lost nearly £4,000 to surveyors and solicitors with no property to show for it at the end.

2017 October 22, Nana Prempeh, quoting Nick Smith, “Gazumping: Your views”, in BBC News:

Birmingham's teen sensation Jude Bellingham is nearing a move to Borussia Dortmund, according to reports in Germany.¶ Manchester United and Chelsea have been strongly linked with the 16-year-old but are set to be gazumped by the Bundesliga giants.

2020 March 4, Marc Mayo, “Dortmund leading race for Jude Bellingham, 16, ahead of Man Utd with Birmingham wonderkid to be their record transfer”, in The Sun:

(British, Australia, real estate) To buy a property by bidding more than the price of an existing, accepted offer.

The tactic was to gazump the Labour Party and the FOL by a major restructuring of the tax system.

1995, Hugh Templeton, All Honourable Men: Inside the Muldoon Cabinet, 1975-1984, page 107:

Just as Whymper effectively gazumps Mr Stone in taking credit for the Knights Companion scheme for ambitious ends, so too does this dangerous, multicultural, overcrowded version of London seem to be displacing the colonial fantasy of England by the novel's conclusion.

2004, John McLeod, Postcolonial London: Rewriting the Metropolis, page 72:

Fianna Fáil lost the 1948 general election to Fine Gael (as Cumann na Gael were now known), who proceeded to gazump the Republican credentials by leaving the British Commonwealth and officially declaring the Free State a republic.

2010, Fionn Davenport, Ireland, ebook edition, Lonely Planet, page 43:

(British, Australia) To trump or preempt; to reap the benefit underhandedly from a situation that someone else has worked to create.


gazump

(British, Australia, real estate) The act of gazumping.


bluenose

(US, UK, Australia, New Zealand) Antarctic butterfish (Hyperoglyphe antarctica)


icing sugar

en-noun

icing sugar (countable and uncountable, plural icing sugars)

The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […] The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Powdered sugar.


garburator

‘[…] She burped and tried to jam the bottle into the waste-hole of the waste-disposal thing, the thingummy.’
‘Garburator,’ said Pigs Trotter. ‘I think they’re called Garburators.’
‘Garburator, that’s it. She tried to jam the bottle down the Garburator.[…]’

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section III, page 28:

garbage disposal
garbage disposal#English

(Canada, UK) Synonym of garbage disposal.


FIBUA

(military, British, Canada) Acronym of fighting in built-up areas.


Oflot

(British) Acronym of Office of the National Lottery.


No-Mates

Jeff No-Mates spends his evenings on the computer instead of going down to the pub.

(British, informal) A supposed surname for a friendless person.


brewster

Circa 1300, from Middle English brewestere; equivalent to brew + -ster.

(British, Scotland) A brewer (of either sex).


mooli

Borrowed from Hindi मूली (mūlī, “[Indian] radish”) (feminine of मूल (mūl)), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀽𑀮 (mūla), from Sanskrit मूल (mūla).

Fresh vegetables... most in use among natives are—Gájar, carrot... Múlí, radish (Raphanus sativus, L.).

1868, B.H. Powell, Handbk. Econ. Products Punjab, I. iii. 260/1:

Particularly delicious was mooli stuffed paratha—rich, flaky and filled with a fragrant grated radish mixture.

This is thanks to the introduction of a wider range of radish varieties into supermarkets, especially the long-rooted ‘mooli’ types from Japan.

(chiefly UK and India, Indian cuisine) Synonym of daikon, particularly its Indian varieties.


Plastic Paddy

From the sense of plastic as fake, ersatz, inauthentic, etc. and Paddy (“Patrick”) as a generic name for any Irish man.

(derogatory, ethnic slur) An Irish person considered to be inauthentically Irish, especially (UK) recent Irish arrivals to London.


cavie

Dan, Watty, and Bell went to the "cavie" or hencoop, folded back the old bag which had been dropt over the front of it to keep the inmates warm, and Dan saw to his intense delight two little heads peeping from under their feathery covering.

1882, John Strathesk, Bits from Blinkbonny; Or, Bell O' the Manse:


schoolie

From school + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

Arbroath, being a training station for young naval airmen, also housed several ‘schoolies’ (education officers), four of whom lived in an adjacent building to mine. I quickly struck up a close friendship with two of the schoolies, Ron Horner and Vivian Price.

2008, John H. Dunning, Seasons of a Scholar: Some Personal Reflections of an International Business Economist, page 46:


end of terrace

(chiefly UK, Ireland) The houses at each end of a line of rowhouses or terraced houses.


dumb tax

(chiefly British, slang, humorous) The national lottery.


Tippex

Tipp-Ex is originally a trademark, owned since 1997 by Société Bic. Its use in the general sense is an example of trademark erosion. The first component is from the German verb tippen (“to type”), and the second from Latin ex.

If an application form is completed incorrectly or there's Tippex on it or the spelling is incorrect, then frankly I do not have the time or the patience to think that we will recruit that person...

1996, Tamara Goriely, Tom Williams, The Impact of the New Training Scheme: Report on a Qualitative Study:

Perhaps we can manufacture special bottles of Tippex For Unwanted Tummies. Perhaps we can manufacture special bottles of Tippex For Use on Burnt Toast.

1996, Pat Ingoldsby, Laugh without prejudice, →ISBN, page 164:

Overlap between chapters is a difficult issue and while we have exercised the editorial Tippex to the best of our ability, some duplication remains.

2010, David Ames, Alistair Burns, John T. O'Brien, Dementia, 4th Edition, →ISBN, page xxiii:

And all without a safety net, second take, a stroke of Tippex, an editor or producer who knows all the knobs to press, and when, to keep one's shortcomings from wider exposure.

2014, Rob Steen, Floodlights and Touchlines: A History of Spectator Sport, →ISBN, page 238:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A particular brand of correction fluid, or correction fluid in general.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A particular brand of correction tape, or correction tape in general.


scoffer

(UK, slang) One who eats a large amount.


fettling

fettling (countable and uncountable, plural fettlings)

(gerund, UK) Repairing; mending; sorting.

(gerund, UK) A mixture of ore, cinders, etc., used to line the hearth of a puddling furnace.

(gerund, UK) The operation of shaving or smoothing the surface of undried clay ware.


cheese it

Unknown, but lexicographer Eric Partridge speculated that it may be a corruption of cease. Originally thieves' cant.
In his Vocabulary of the Flash Language, author and former convict James Hardy Vaux (1782-?) defined cheese it as synonymous with stash it and stow it, all meaning to desist or leave off.

Cheese it, the coves are fly; be silent, the people understand our discourse.

1811, Francis Grose, Hewson Clarke, Lexicon Balatronicum:

[…] he holds earnest parley with some members of the upper gallery who are beguiling the time by pelting us with nut-shells, and broken pipes. Two or three 'hallos!' and 'now thens!' accompanied by a strong recommendation to 'cheese it' (i. e., act of cessation), cause these trifling annoyances to cease.

1859, George Augustus Henry Sala, “Strollers at Dumbledowndeary”, in Gaslight and Daylight, page 328:

The defence of Mr. Conover was so prompt and admirable that the conflict was protracted until the onlookers unselfishly gave the warning cry of "Cheese it—the cop!" The principals escaped easily by running through the nearest open doors into the communicating backyards at the rear of the houses.

1908, O. Henry, The Voice of the City, page 154:

Knowing that Bobbie would be on sentry-go made all the difference. Any gangster will tell you that the strain and anxiety of busting a safe are greatly diminished if you've a look-out man ready at any moment to say “Cheese it, the cops!”

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII:

(slang, dated, British) An imperative used as a warning to stop, hide, or flee


sin bin

From sin + bin. Apparently Australian. Usage of the panel van sense is influenced by the US trade name.

(UK, education, colloquial) A referral unit or special class for frequent truants.


beetle-crusher

"Think of Arthur, his height! And those great beetle-crushers!"

1903, M. F. Hutchinson, Princess Kiku, New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, page 11:

(dated, British, Australia, slang) A large, flat foot.

The Chinese New Year commenced in Sydney yesterday, the Mongolian Empire, and wherever the beetle-crusher of a native of the Flowery Land hops along beneath a bamboo stick and a pair of baskets.

1888 February 13, The Australian Star, Sydney, page 2, column 3:

[T]he Puddin' merely laughed scornfully, and called Bill a bun-headed old beetle-crusher.

1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 88:

When was first torn from my native; element I was not the grey, worn-out "beetle-crusher" that you see me now.

1922 October 26, The Farmer's Advocate, Melbourne, page 12:

(dated, British, Australia, slang, derogatory) A person with large, flat feet.


bodging

(British) Traditional craft of turning wood for chair legs, braces, etc.


alickadoo

Legend attributes the term to former Irish full back and captain Ernie Crawford, who was rumoured to remark on a book read by a teammate by saying "You and your bloody Ali Khadu." Another possible origin dates from the amateur days of the game, when hard-pressed club helpers, when asked for more balls, players, games and etc., the reply was "it's all I can do". Hence alickadoo.

(British) A non-playing member of a rugby union club who helps in the running of the club by performing various roles, usually on match days. These roles are not committee positions but are essential if the club is to function properly.


on the ladder

When someone has bought their first house, they are said to have got on the ladder.

(idiomatic, British) On a property ladder, owning property.


good egg

Probably a humorous antonym of bad egg (“someone whose behaviour is reprehensible or irresponsible; a rogue”).

The chemist and the bacteriologist gave him the third degree and, like most criminals, it was found difficult to tell just when a good egg began to be bad, and it appeared that it depended largely on how he was handled, especially in his youth, […]

1915, Good Housekeeping, volume 6, New York, N.Y.: Phelps Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 371:

Tom speaks: "I have a girl friend I want you to meet. She's a good egg."

1942, The Texas Outlook, volume 26, Austin, Tex.: Texas State Teachers Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42:

Johnny Parker is in town. I like Johnny. He's a big shot in pictures and he's a good egg.

1944, James T[homas] Farrell, To Whom It May Concern: More Stories, Garden City, N.Y.: The Sun Dial Press, →OCLC, page 23:

In contrast, Saito […] was one of the good eggs … He would let us rest whenever the coast was clear and even shared the odd cigarette.

1997, Brereton Greenhous, “Liberation”, in “C” Force to Hong Kong: A Canadian Catastrophe, 1941–1945 (Canadian War Museum Historical Publication; no. 30), Toronto, Ont., Oxford: Dundurn Press, →ISBN, page 141:

"And the fifth immortal we know tried to kill you." "He is a bad egg. We stick to good''' eggs."

2017 May 26, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, May 26, 2017:

Drogon sniffs Jon [Snow]—and Dany [Daenerys Targaryen] apparently doesn't care enough about Jon's life to get off Drogon so she can witness their interaction on the other side of his fat neck and make sure her son isn't eating his cousin—and seems to sense he's a good egg at the least and quite possibly that he's a Targaryen.

2017 August 13, Brandon Nowalk, “Oldtown Offers One Last Game-changing Secret as Game Of Thrones Goes behind Enemy Lines (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-12-04:

(British, US, idiomatic) A good person, someone to be trusted; a friend.


Chinese whispers

This is no doubt the reason why children play Chinese Whispers. One child whispers a message to another and it travels around the circle of children, only to be revealed by the last member of the chain.

2014, Darian Leader, Introducing Lacan: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books Ltd, →ISBN:

(games, chiefly UK) A game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbor, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase.


attitude indicator

attitude indicator (plural attitude indicators)

(aviation, UK, military) An instrument that displays attitude of an aircraft in pitch and roll.


P-plate

(Australia, UK) A plastic square sticker or sign bearing a large letter P, placed on a vehicle to indicate that the driver only has a probationary driver's licence, for various possible reasons.

(UK) A plastic square sticker or sign bearing a large green letter P - optional not mandatory - placed on a vehicle, probably to indicate that the driver has recently passed his or her driving test.


bung up

en-verb

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

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

He used a piece of putty to temporarily bung up the leaking gutter.

(British, New Zealand, of a person) To close (an opening) with a cork, cork-like object or other improvised obstruction.

The fallen leaves were bunging up the drain.

By dose is bunged up with snot!

(British, New Zealand, of debris) To block or obstruct (an opening or passage).


second class

(UK) A class of postage with delivery times slower than first class.


schoolyard

(chiefly UK) An open field near a school used for recreation by the students.

skolegård

open area connected to school where students can spend recess


baggage reclaim

en-noun

baggage reclaim (plural baggage reclaims)

(British) The designated location for receiving checked luggage such as the baggage carousels at an airport.


bodge

en-verb

bodge (third-person singular simple present bodges, present participle bodging, simple past and past participle bodged)

bodges (present singular third-person)
bodging (participle present)
bodged (participle past)
bodged (past)

Oxford English Dictionary#Second supplement

Inherited from Middle English bocchen (“to mend, patch up, repair”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen (“to repair, patch”) (Dutch botsen (“to strike, beat, knock together”)), related to Old High German bōzan (“to beat”), See beat; or perhaps from Old English bōtettan (“to improve, repair”), Old English bōtian (“to get better”). Compare botch. More at boot.
Perhaps from boggle.
Perhaps from botch (“patch, or a measurement of capacity equivalent to half a peck”). There is a hypothesis that bodges, defined as rough sacks of corn, closely resembled packages of finished goods the bodgers carried when they left the forest or workshop. Another hypothesis (dating from 1879) is that bodger was a corruption of badger, as similarly to the behaviour of a badger, the bodger dwelt in the woods and seldom emerged until evenings.
Other hypotheses include German Böttcher (“cooper (profession)”), a trade that uses similar tools), and similar Scandinavian words, such the Danish bødker. These words have similar origins to butt, as in water butt (“rain barrel”). Or possibly it may have been a derogatory term used by workers in furniture factories, referring to the men who worked in the woods that produced the “incomplete” chair parts. The factory workers would then take the output of that "bodged job" and turn it into a finished product.
The Oxford English Dictionary Supplement of 1972 has two definitions for bodger. One is a local dialect word from Buckinghamshire, for a chair leg turner. The other is Australian slang for bad workmanship. The etymology of the bodger and botcher (poor workmanship) are well recorded from Shakespeare onwards, and now the two terms are synonymous.

inh

We bodged again; as I have seen a swan

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third 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 iv], page 153, column 1:

All the actions of his life are like so many things bodged in without any natural cadence or connexion at all.

1865, A book of characters, selected from the writings of Overbury, Earle, and Butler, Thomas Overbury and John Earle:

Some cars were neglected, others bodged to keep them running with inevitable consequences

2003, Laurence Meredith, Original Porsche 356: The Restorer's Guide:

Do not be satisfied with a bodged job, set yourself professional goals and standards

2007, Enric Roselló, The Restoration Handbook:

(UK, Ireland) To do a clumsy or inelegant job, usually as a temporary repair; mend, patch up, repair.


des res

(British, colloquial) A desirable residence.


mense

en-noun

mense (countable and uncountable, plural menses)

From earlier mensk, from Middle English menske (“courtesy, honour”), from Old English mennisċu (“the human condition, humanity”) and/or Old Norse menska (“humanity”). More at mennish, mensch.

cog

(UK, dialect) manliness; dignity; comeliness; civility


butter-box

The idiom may have derived from the flag of Holland, which at the time had an orange stripe on top.

(archaic, slang, derogatory, British) A Dutch person; used in the era of the Anglo-Dutch Wars.


queer someone's pitch

en-verb

queer someone's pitch (third-person singular simple present queers someone's pitch, present participle queering someone's pitch, simple past and past participle queered someone's pitch)

queers someone's pitch (present singular third-person)
queering someone's pitch (participle present)
queered someone's pitch (participle past)
queered someone's pitch (past)

"Oh, the Mayor's coming, is he?"
"Yes, but he's very little good. Mayors don't draw as they used; nothing don't draw as it used. The game is pretty well up. What with amateur dramatics, choral unions, and local talent of all sorts, your pitch is queered wherever you go."

—no question, global buffeting has queered our pitch for growth in many ways, currency down-down, oil prices up-up—

2002, Nadine Gordimer, The Pickup, Bloomsbury, published 2001, page 45:

(chiefly British, idiomatic, dated) To make a task more difficult for someone.


Y-fronts

Setting a spatted foot on the bench that ran down the middle of the changing-room with elegant distain, Adrian began to flip through a pile of Y-fronts and rugger shorts with his cane.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 6:

I did the latter, so in writing this I have put it on record that I am one of the few men who has spent Christmas Eve running across a Kentish marsh in his Y-fronts with two horses trotting after him in close company.

2013, Mike Peyton, Mike Peyton’s Floating Assets, page 4:

(plural only, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Men's or boys' briefs that have a fly as part of an inverted Y formed by the seams.


Winchester quart

en-noun

Winchester quart (plural Winchester quarts)

(British) a unit of volume equal to half a Winchester gallon, equal to two quarts, or 2.273 litres.

(British) a bottle of that size used in laboratories, commonly holding 2.5 litres.


devo

Sheffield’s devo deal, signed in December, focuses on skill and jobs but also includes new powers for the authority over housing and support for business. There is no mayor, but new ‘Oyster-style’ travelcards are promised. [image caption]

2015 January 23, Susanna Rustin, “The new city centres: the alternative establishment that wants to wrest power from the capital”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly UK, politics, informal) Clipping of devolution (“transfer of some powers and the delegation of some functions from a central government to local government”).


jankers

(British military slang) A form of military punishment which involves being confined to barracks, performing tedious and often pointless tasks, and being subjected to frequent uniform inspections.

(British military slang) Defaulters' drill.


elasticise

en-verb

elasticise (third-person singular simple present elasticises, present participle elasticising, simple past and past participle elasticised)

elasticises (present singular third-person)
elasticising (participle present)
elasticised (participle past)
elasticised (past)

(British) Alternative form of elasticize


Golgotha

* From the Ancient Greek Γολγοθᾶ (Golgothâ) from the Aramaic גּוּלְגּוּלְתָּא (gulgultā).
* (rooms of the heads of the colleges; a hat): Punning on "the place of the skulls/heads".

der

גּוּלְגּוּלְתָּא

Aramaic גּוּלְגּוּלְתָּא (gulgultā)

sense

[…] to the hat-rail; when Wigg went to put it on, it of course resisted, and giving it a spatch, off came the brim. In his fury at the destruction of his “Golgotha,” Wigg rushed to the counter, and seizing a fifty sovereign brass weight, hurled it […]

1879, Thomas Southwell, Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, page 271:

[…] and finally raised his hat and put it on again, cocked back on one side of his head in exact imitation of the manner in which the tall man carried his golgotha.

1887, W. T. Eady, I.D.B. Or, The Adventures of Solomon Davis on the Diamond Fields and Elsewhere, page 165:


tackler

(weaving, dated, British) A person who repairs weaving looms.


tatty bye

Phrase made popular by comedian Ken Dodd in the 1970s, but persisting in the language.


boneless

en-adj

boneless (comparative more boneless, superlative most boneless)

more boneless (comparative)
most boneless (superlative)

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

From Middle English bonles, banles, from Old English bānlēas (“boneless”), from Proto-Germanic *bainalausaz, equivalent to bone + -less. Cognate with Scots baneless (“boneless”), Dutch beenloos (“boneless; legless”), German beinlos (“legless”), Swedish benlös (“boneless”), Icelandic beinlaus (“boneless”).

I'm scared, I'm just boneless with fright.

1916, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 18, in Uneasy Money:

I remember, when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum's circus, which contained an exhibition of freaks and monstrosities, but the exhibit … which I most desired to see was the one described as "The Boneless Wonder." My parents judged that the spectacle would be too revolting and demoralizing for my youthful eyes, and I have waited fifty years to see the boneless wonder sitting on the Treasury Bench.

1931, Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 13 May

Had the Green consortium made a straight bid, boneless fund managers would easily have outvoted private investors.

2006 November 11, Graham Searjeant, “Loyalty pays off for M&S shareholders”, in The Times, London:

In his final years he [John Ogdon] gave an interview to an American journalist who noticed that "his handshake is a boneless fadeaway["].

2014 May 11, Ivan Hewett, “Piano Man: a Life of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk, review: A new biography of the great British pianist whose own genius destroyed him [print version: A colossus off-key, 10 May 2014, p. R27]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

(chiefly British, figuratively) Lacking strength, courage, or resolve.


overling

From over + -ling on analogy with underling, or as a revived or dialectal term from Middle English overling (“a superior”), equivalent to over + -ling.


malted milk

en-noun

malted milk (countable and uncountable, plural malted milks)

(UK) A hot beverage made from a mixture of malted barley, flour, and milk.


swatter

en-verb

swatter (third-person singular simple present swatters, present participle swattering, simple past and past participle swattered)

swatters (present singular third-person)
swattering (participle present)
swattered (participle past)
swattered (past)

Compare Dutch swaddren (“to dabble in water”).

(intransitive, UK, dialect) To spill water about.


rollicking

Thanks for explaining the situation. I'm going to give him the rollicking of his life.

2004. Richard Ayoade as Dean Learner in "Once Upon a Beginning", Garth Marenghi's Darkplace episode 1

He can give someone a right rollicking but it comes over as advice.

2006, James Russell, Fortune and Power, page 143:

That night, back at the billet, Corporal Banks summoned me to his room and there I stood to attention, whilst he gave me a roasting for getting him a rollicking from the sergeant.

2011, Johnny Barrs, From Rags to Rags, page 41:


dandelion clock

en-noun

dandelion clock (plural dandelion clocks)

Dandelion clocks! -- Pray what are they? ... by far the best clock is made by blowing the downy seed of the dandelion.

1841 April 14, “Breakfast Table Science for Young People”, in Parley's Magazine, New York, page 112:

(British) A single stem of a dandelion in its post-flowering state with the downy covering of its head intact. The term is applied when the flower is used, or is thought of as suitable for use, in a children's pastime by which the number of puffs needed to blow the filamentous achenes from a dandelion is supposed to tell the time.


ackers

Probably from Egyptian Arabic قرش (ʔerš, “piastre, Ottoman penny”). See also smackers, smackeroo, smackeroonies.

bor

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


Guards

(UK) Any of several regiments in the Household Division of the British Army


surveyor

From Middle English surveyour, from Anglo-Norman surveour, from Old French sorveor. By surface analysis, survey + -or.

Other costs associated with selling a home include surveyor's fees, legal fees, estate agent's commission, stamp duty and the VAT.

(UK) A person charged with inspecting something for the purpose of determining its condition, value, etc.


railings

(British) railing (a horizontal rail with vertical supports)


galosh

From Middle English galoche, from Old French galoche (“shoe with a wooden sole”), but further history is uncertain.
further theories
* From Vulgar Latin *galopium or Late Latin calopedia (“a wooden shoe; a shoe with a wooden sole”), from Ancient Greek κᾱλοπόδιον (kālopódion), diminutive of κᾱλόπους (kālópous, “shoemaker's block”), compound of κᾶλον (kâlon, “wood”) and πούς (poús, “foot”). (More at holt and foot.)
* From Late Latin gallicula, diminutive of Latin gallica (solea) (“Gallic (sandal)”).
* From Old French galette (“flat round cake”), from galet (“pebble”).

der

An overshoe or boot worn in wet weather:

(British) A waterproof overshoe used to provide protection from rain or snow.


my word

My word! What is that!?

(idiomatic, Australia, New Zealand, UK, dated, US, Canada) An expression of surprise.

(idiomatic, Australia, New Zealand, UK, dated, US, Canada) Indeed.


garfish

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

From Middle English garfysche, equivalent to gar (“spear”) + fish.

Belone belone
Belone belone#Translingual

(especially UK, Ireland) Any fish of the needlefish family Belonidae, with a long narrow body and needle-shaped jaws, especially the European species Belone belone.


guardsman

(British) A member of a Guards regiment.


FIA

Institute of Actuaries
w:Institute of Actuaries

(British) Initialism of Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (professional qualification)


reheat

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

(aeronautics, chiefly British) An afterburner.


decider

Four years on, France […] will meet Ireland again in the probable decider for their World Cup pool in September 21 in Paris.

2007 February 10, William Fotheringham, “France aim to end four years of regret with seven-week sacrifice”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

[…] when the Welshman laid on the 74th-minute decider.

2007 February 22, Kevin McCarra, “Liverpool show of unity recalls old magic”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Tensions threatened to boil over before the defending champion Gerwyn Price eventually overcame Kim Huybrechts in a sudden-death decider to reach the last 16 of the PDC World Championship.

2021 December 27, “Gerwyn Price beats Kim Huybrechts in fiery clash to keep title defence alive”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(chiefly British, Australia, sports) An event or action which decides the outcome of a contested matter.

Entscheidungsspiel

an event or action which decides the outcome of a contested matter


compulsory purchase

(law, UK, Ireland) The power of a state to expropriate private land within its jurisdiction for public use.

onteigening

government's right to expropriate private land

expropriation pour cause d’utilité publique


Eeyorish

en-adj

Eeyorish (comparative more Eeyorish, superlative most Eeyorish)

more Eeyorish (comparative)
most Eeyorish (superlative)

From the character Eeyore (in Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne) + -ish.

More important for Brienne than the king's disengagement and eeyorish bad temper, however, was the consistency of the queen's favour.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 384:

We all know how that particular story ended, of course, and while Her late Majesty never had to suffer the indignity of opening up the accounts from which the project was funded, it could be argued that the occasional brush with realism - however aesthetically distasteful - would do our Eeyorish prince no harm.

2006 October 28, Marina Hyde, The Guardian:

The Great Exhibition and the Festival of Britain, declared one Eeyorish historian in the Daily Mail, had been ‘celebrations of the best in education, art and design, temples to technology and industry’.

2015, Dominic Sandbrook, The Great British Dream Factory, Penguin, published 2016, page xxi:

(chiefly UK) Very gloomy or pessimistic.


Jobseeker's Allowance

(British) A means-tested government benefit available to jobseekers.


flob

Uncertain; possibly imitative. Possibly a Blend of phlegm + gob

(UK, slang) Spittle or phlegm, especially a piece of spittle or phlegm that has been spat out.


flob

en-verb

flob (third-person singular simple present flobs, present participle flobbing, simple past and past participle flobbed)

flobs (present singular third-person)
flobbing (participle present)
flobbed (participle past)
flobbed (past)

Every day she would flob on Zoe’s head from the flats as the little girl walked to school. And every day Tina would laugh, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

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

I pointed out that they both looked equally unhappy, and that he was essentially kicking himself. He contemplated this for a moment, then flobbed at me and kicked the weakling slightly harder.

27 September 2010, Charlie Brooker, The Guardian:


donkey jacket

A standard type of donkey jacket made of white milled flannel is being introduced by British Railways for the use of staff working in tunnels where there are conditions of extreme cold, dampness and draught.

1953 November, “Notes and News: New Clothing for Tunnel Workers”, in Railway Magazine, page 783:

(British) A type of thick jacket, usually dark blue, often worn by men who work outside (though originally worn by donkeymen)


bin man

Back then, in an unspecified period between 1950 and 1980, the binmen were stronger, more hardworking and more polite.

2022 November 15, Dan Hancox, “‘Who remembers proper binmen?’ The nostalgia memes that help explain Britain today”, in The Guardian:

(British) A man with the job of collecting refuse from people's homes and transporting it to a refuse tip for processing.


old boy

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

(chiefly British) An alumnus, especially of a public school.

I got talking to an old boy in the pub, and he told me what the village used to be like in the old days.

Listen, old boy, I've got some news.

(UK, dated) A familiar term of address for a man of any age.


jobseeker

(British) An unemployed person who needs to prove he/she is looking for work in order to obtain government benefits.


common-and-garden

It's just a common-and-garden fridge, but it works fine.

(idiomatic, British) ordinary, standard.


common-or-garden

An extension of the practice of naming domestic – and therefore non-exotic – plants as common or garden, such as common lavender/garden lavender (Lavandula angustifolia).

It's just a common-or-garden fridge but it works fine.

It is to do away entirely with both the magicians and their magic and run our civilization according to practical and comprehensible rules, dedicated to non-legal justice, to common-or-garden fairness that the ordinary man can understand, in the regulation of human affairs.

1939, Fred Rodell, Woe to You Lawyers, Form #11.402, page 74:

Comparing Quantum Mechanics to Common-or-Garden Mechanics.

2010, Martin Cohen, Philosophy For Dummies, →ISBN, page 354:

For what was objective existence in the long run but a series of common-or-garden situations?

2012, Wilson Harris, Black Marsden, →ISBN:

(chiefly British, Ireland) ordinary, standard.


purler

He came a purler on the icy path.

1869, “Stonehenge” (editor), The Coursing Calendar for the Autumn Season 1868, Containing Returns of All the Public Courses Run in Great Britain snd Ireland, page 172,
Dilston and Savernake: the latter led, and turned, but in trying to kill came down a purler, which completely knocked all the go out of him; Dilston took possession of the hare, and kept it, winning the course in hollow style.

Her French-speaking table in the dining-room is a riot of second-rate behaviour and dexterously aimed bread-pellets; the stairs outside her bedroom are relentlessly buttered and she comes purler after purler.

1954, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Listener, volume 51, page 67:

1986, Judith Saxton (Katie Flynn), Family Feeling, 2012, unnumbered page,
Yet he was very sure that he had tripped and gone a purler just as he was leaving the Other Place . . . had that made him gash his forehead, once he was back in the pit?

‘You could hold the ladder,’ Mart said, ‘see I don′t come a purler.’

2003, Susan Hill, The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read: The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read: And Other Stories, published 2011, unnumbered page:

(UK, colloquial) A headlong fall or tumble.

[The horse] falling with a mighty crash, gave him a purler on the opposite side, and was within an ace of striking him dead with his hoof in frantic struggles to recover.

1867, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “The End of a Ringing Run”, in Under Two Flags: A Story of the Household and the Desert. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 119:

(UK, colloquial) A knockdown blow; a blow that causes a person to fall headlong.


market gardening

(British) The relatively small-scale growing of vegetables for market.


land bridge

His reference to waves of lorries on the A55 that match ferry schedules may become dated. Until very recently, the A55 formed part of a land bridge between Ireland and continental Europe. However, when Britain left the European Union, ferries started to ply a direct sea link from Ireland, [...].

2021 December 29, Philip Haigh, “Rail's role in unifying Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in RAIL, number 947, page 25:

(Ireland, British, travel) Travel by ferry from one country, via another country by road, then by another ferry crossing to a third country. An example is from Ireland by ferry to the UK, by road to the opposite coast, then ferry to France.


go to ground

go to ground (third-person singular simple present goes to ground, present participle going to ground, simple past went to ground, past participle gone to ground)

goes to ground (present singular third-person)
going to ground (participle present)
went to ground (past)
gone to ground (participle past)

The fox escaped from the hounds by going to ground.

I heard them on the other bank, and then saw a man on a horse crossing the river, and went to ground like a jackal.

1912, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 19, in Marie:

(intransitive, especially of an animal, chiefly UK) To escape into a burrow, hole, etc. when being hunted.

It was more than enough for my fugitives to clear out of the Lausanne station and make some new move, to hide away in an out-of-the-way spot, go to ground in fact, or travel in another direction.

1906, Arthur Griffiths, chapter 11, in The Passenger from Calais:

Kerviel's identity was revealed on the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph websites, but was not confirmed by bank officials, who admitted on Thursday that the rogue trader appeared to have gone to ground and that they had no idea where he was.

2008 January 24, Vivienne Walt, “France's $7.2 Billion Hit”, in Time:

(idiomatic, by extension, chiefly UK) To hide from public view or sequester oneself, especially when authorities, members of the news media, or others are looking for one.

There can never have been a more blatant voluntary tackle than the way the Saints captain Chris Joynt went to ground on the penultimate play of the game, to deny Bradford any chance of regaining possession after Sean Long's drop goal 30 seconds or so earlier.

2002 October 21, Andy Wilson, “Lowes rages as Saints clinch title thriller”, in The Guardian:

He defends well and his recovery is good, meaning he can get up and get back at people if he goes to ground.

2004 May 10, Andy Gray, “The pace, power and desire to conquer all”, in The Guardian:

The sort of tackle which continues to be questioned is the bulldozing type which often occurs when a defender goes to ground as he makes the challenge.

2013 January 18, David Lacey, “FA has made dealing with dangerous lunges harder for refs to tackle”, in The Guardian:

Wilfried Zaha has dismissed suggestions he goes to ground too easily and accused those who brand him a diver of “jumping on the bandwagon” as the Ivory Coast winger seeks to edge Crystal Palace closer to safety with victory in the derby against Brighton on Saturday.

2018 April 12, Dominic Fifield, “Those who call me a diver are jumping on the bandwagon, says Wilfried Zaha”, in The Guardian:

(intransitive, sports, chiefly UK) To fall to the ground, lose one's footing, come off one's feet, whether by design, accident, or foul

Ireland get the next put in. They could, and probably should, put the screws on the US now as their fitness and technique begins to tell. [...] Instead, the ball goes to ground as it wings its way down the Irish line. It doesn't go forward though, so they keep on pushing up the pitch.

2011 September 11, Tom Bryant, “Rugby World Cup 2011: Ireland 22-10 USA - as it happened”, in The Guardian:

What was, in truth, a pretty dreadful first half came to life in the final minute when a wayward pass from De Klerk went to ground behind Tuilagi, who gathered, spun, spotted a gap left by overzealous Racing defenders and breezed under the posts.

2022 May 8, Gerard Meagher, “Finn Russell’s stunner for Racing 92 knocks Sale out of Champions Cup”, in The Guardian:

Iftikhar slams the next but it goes to ground just short of Jordan at long on.

2024 May 30, Tanya Aldred, “England v Pakistan: fourth men’s T20 cricket international – as it happened”, in The Guardian:

(intransitive, sports, chiefly UK) (of the ball) to touch the ground; to be dropped


mithered

en-adj

mithered (comparative more mithered, superlative most mithered)

more mithered (comparative)
most mithered (superlative)

He didn't seem that mithered with the cold.

(UK, regional) Feeling very cold; freezing.


all over the shop

While witness was in the shop, a gentleman came running in, and retched all over the shop. He cried out to the boy, "What have you given me here?"

1823, Edmund Burke, “Chronicle, March 1822”, in The Annual Register, or a view of the history, politics, and literature, of the year 1822, volume 64, page 52:

When Cummings was asked if he blamed MPs for the abuse, he replied: “The MPs said we will have a referendum, we will respect the result and then they spent three years swerving all over the shop.

2019 September 26, “Dominic Cummings: delivering Brexit only way to solve abuse of MPs”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

All over the place
all over the place#English

(UK, Australia, informal) All over the place.


hostage to fortune

en-noun

hostage to fortune (plural hostages to fortune)

/ˌhɒstɪd͡ʒ tə ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn/

-ɔː(ɹ)t͡ʃuːn

From hostage (“one who is compelled by something, especially something that poses a threat”) + to + fortune (“destiny”).

He was very cautious with his words and gave no hostages to fortune.

He that hath VVife and Children, hath giuen Hoſtages to Fortune; For they are Impediments to great Enterpriſes, either of Vertue, or Miſchiefe. Certainly, the beſt vvorkes, and of greateſt Merit for the Publike, haue proceeded from the vnmarried, or Childleſſe Men; vvhich, both in Affection, and Meanes, haue married and endovved the Publike.

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Marriage and Single Life. VIII.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 36:

VVife and Children are Hoſtages given to Fortune.

[1732, Thomas Fuller, compiler, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British, London: […] B. Barker […]; and A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, […], →OCLC, paragraph 5742, page 253:

1982 July 1, Mr. M. O’Leary, Dáil Éireann, volume 337, Houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland https://web.archive.org/web/20121110193054/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0337/D.0337.198207010005.html
As I say, there are no answers to date on these serious issues.... It is understandable in human terms that a Government would wish to survive, to do better things perhaps, but so far this House has been left in total ignorance of the policy package to be offered by this Government and their day-to-day operation on which this vote of no confidence is based, on their mishandling of the economy. We can give no hostage to fortune. On their work so far they do not deserve a vote of confidence here today.

2001 November 13, John O'Donoghue, Dáil Éireann, volume 543, Houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland https://web.archive.org/web/20121125140855/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0543/D.0543.200111130010.html
I hope the other report will be completed at a very early date, but to put a timescale on it would be to give hostage to fortune and I am not prepared to do that.

(chiefly British) An action, promise, or remark that is considered unwise because it could be difficult to fulfil or could cause trouble later on.


city boy

(British) A man who works in the financial sector (often capitalised).


Christmas cracker

Christmas cracker (plural Christmas crackers)

(British, Canada, New Zealand) A table decoration, in the form of a large paper sweet wrapper, constructed around a cardboard tube typically containing a paper hat, silly joke and a small novelty or toy; a pair of people pull the ends of the cracker causing an embedded device to make a crack sound as the cracker breaks in two and the contents are released.


slushy

From slush + -y. In the sense of a cook, from the sense of slush meaning to refuse grease and fat collected in cooking.


ovest

From Middle English ovet (likely from metathesis of the plural *ovetes, ofvetes, ofetes (“fruits”, pl)), from Old English ofett (“fruit, legume”), from Proto-West Germanic *obaet (“fruit, produce, increase”), from a compound whose first element represents Proto-Indo-European *obʰi-, *ebʰi-, *bʰi- (“on, toward, from, by”), and whose second element is Proto-Germanic *at-, *ēta- (“edibles, food”), from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with West Frisian oefte (“something tasty to eat, goodies”), Dutch ooft (“fruit”), German Low German Ooft, Aaft (“fruit”), German Obst (“fruit”).

cog

(UK dialectal) The mast and acorns of the oak; the turn-out.


bluestone

en-noun

bluestone (countable and uncountable, plural bluestones)

Any of several bluish-grey varieties of stone used for construction:

(UK) A form of dolerite which appears blue when wet or freshly broken.

(UK) Any of the several (massive) kinds of non-local stone (particularly dolerite) used to construct Stonehenge.


Barry boy

(slang, British) A man denoted by his taste for loud clothing and flashy cars.


hooky

en-adj

hooky (comparative hookier, superlative hookiest)

hookier (comparative)
hookiest (superlative)

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

Start a thing in the street and attract attention to bags full of hooky gear? No. She was smarter than that.

2015, Marnie Riches, The Girl Who Wouldn't Die:

So I decided to put on my seediest voice and leer, and go round offering the traders the Cole line in cheap hooky goods.

2016, Alan Tootill, Cole and the Clairvoyant, page 45:


demeanour

By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Commonwealth spelling of demeanor


old bean

Possibly from playful mid-word substitution of "boy" in "old boy"

[…] it is really an uncommon piece of exaggerative imagination which we find in the description of this old bean's elaborate costume, with its pads, straps, strings […]

1876, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 37, page 238:

When this here old Bean told me, you could have knocked me down with a feather.

(British, slang, dated, sometimes as a term of address) An old friend; an old chap or fellow.


incept

en-verb

incept (third-person singular simple present incepts, present participle incepting, simple past and past participle incepted)

incepts (present singular third-person)
incepting (participle present)
incepted (participle past)
incepted (past)

* Originally borrowed from Latin inceptus, past participle of incipio. The term is marked "obsolete" in the first edition of the OED (1905); newer usage is a back-formation from inception.
* (put an idea into someone's mind): Inspired by the film Inception (2010).

(UK) To be accepted to the Master of Arts degree at Oxford or Cambridge University.


no-account

en-adj

no-account (comparative more no-account, superlative most no-account)

more no-account (comparative)
most no-account (superlative)

"There are ten or fifteen hound-dogs around the yard, and they are actually too no-account to scratch the fleas off."

1898, Joel Chandler Harris, Tales of the Home Folks in Peace and War, page 48:

"Well, I'm sorry to have had to be the one to give you the bad news," he says.
What bad news would that be? I'm wondering. That's just one more no-account Carter for me not to have to think on.

2001, Charles De Lint, The Onion Girl, page 274:

You see, corporal, the human race is getting worse all the time. Each year we know less than we did in the preceding. We're more no-account now than we were five hundred years ago.

2004, John Horne Burns, Paul Fussell, The Gallery, page 124:

(US, British, colloquial) Of no value or merit; good-for-nothing; of no account.


Rosie

en-noun

Rosie (countable and uncountable, plural Rosies)

Alternative forms: Rosy, Rosey, rosie, rosy

Now for a quick lamp over the slag. Ever had someone put some snout ash in your rosie? Makes you put on that wry face, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what the slag does.

1962, Derek Raymond [Robin Cook], The Crust On Its Uppers, London: Serpent's Tail, published 2000, →ISBN, page 21:

(uncountable, UK, slang) Ellipsis of Rosie Lee (“tea”).


stop up

en-verb

stop up (third-person singular simple present stops up, present participle stopping up, simple past and past participle stopped up)

stops up (present singular third-person)
stopping up (participle present)
stopped up (participle past)
stopped up (past)

stop down

antonym(s) of “increase the aperture of a photographic lens”

(UK, law) To permanently close or block (a road or path); to legally extinguish a right of way.


snorter

The maths problem is a real snorter, isn't it?

(UK, slang) Something that is extremely difficult.


spinney

From Middle English spenné, from Middle French espinoye (“thorny thicket”), espinaye, from Latin spīnētum (“thorny thicket”), from Latin spīna (“thorn”).

uder

“H'm !" he said, "so, so — it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

I've never hunted myself, but I understand that half the battle is being able to make noises like some jungle animal with dyspepsia, and I believe that Aunt Dahlia in her prime could lift fellow-members of the Quorn and Pytchley out of their saddles with a single yip, though separated from them by two ploughed fields and a spinney.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Freda, the German undermatron, once discovered him sunbathing nude in the spinney.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 16:

(UK) A small copse or wood, especially one planted as a shelter for game birds.


botty

There once was a soft luscious botty,
That was spanked very hard and a lotty.
Until one day,
In the month of May,
It was black and blue and looked grotty.

2010, Zorba Tocks, The Taming of the Twins and a Selection of Illustrated Limericks:


grundies

* As Grundies, an underwear brand name.
* Possibly an abbreviated form of Reg Grundies, rhyming slang for undies, after media magnate Reg Grundy.

So I shrugged and shifted like my grundies were too tight.

2003, Ken Catran, Bloody Liggie, page 95:

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, slang) Underpants.


fuck-off

en-adj

fuck-off (comparative more fuck-off, superlative most fuck-off)

more fuck-off (comparative)
most fuck-off (superlative)

He was a fuck-off brute.

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, vulgar, slang) Vicious, aggressive, intimidating.

My dog got scared by a fuck-off rat in my basement.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) Dissuasively or intimidatingly large; massive.


fuck-off

He was fuck-off smashing it out of the park.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) An intensifier.


sherbet

en-noun

sherbet (countable and uncountable, plural sherbets)

From Turkish şerbet, from Ottoman Turkish شربت (şerbet), from Arabic شَرْبَة (šarba, “drink”).
Doublet of sorbet and sharbat, related to syrup.

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

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

(UK, Australia, slang) An alcoholic drink, especially beer.


grundy

Backformation from Grundies, an underwear brand name.

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, slang) A pair of underpants


mucky pup

(British, colloquial) A typically messy or dirty child or (humorously) adult.