on the nail

Allegedly from the tradition of striking bargains by placing cash on the nails in Bristol, Limerick and Liverpool. The Oxford English Dictionary, however, cites an Anglo-Norman phrase from c. 1360, "payer sur le ungle" to pay on the (finger)nail meaning "to pay immediately and in full", and the Latin "ad unguem", exactly. It quotes parallel usages from 17th century French, Dutch and German sources and adds that "N.E.D. (1906) notes that: ‘the explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question’."

Tell me, have you a mind to anything in the Doctor's book? Speak the word, and I will help you to it upon the nail.

1596, Thomas Nashe, Have With You To Saffron Walden:

You shall have ten thousand pounds on the nail, and I will take you back to London with me besides and teach you what is fortune.

1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, Or, The Two Nations:


kerb

From curb (“raised border or frame”) [from mid-17th c.]. Doublet of curve.

Mobile starting-gates and horse-boxes stand parked along the kerbs, and behind every large house, it seems, is a red brick stableyard, gleaming with fresh black-and-white paint and polished steel.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:

(British, Australia, New Zealand) The raised edge between the pavement and the roadway, typically made of concrete though originally consisting of a line of kerbstones.

縁石

えんせき, enseki, ふちいし, fuchiishi, へりいし, heriishi


kerb

en-verb

kerb (third-person singular simple present kerbs, present participle kerbing, simple past and past participle kerbed)

kerbs (present singular third-person)
kerbing (participle present)
kerbed (participle past)
kerbed (past)

(British, transitive) To damage vehicle wheels or tyres by running into or over a pavement kerb.


caffled

That rope's all caffled.


rhubarb

en-noun

rhubarb (countable and uncountable, plural rhubarb or rhubarbs)

From Middle English rubarbe, from Anglo-Norman reubarbe (modern French rhubarbe), from Late Latin reubarbarum, rheubarbarum, rubarbera, rybarba, probably from Koine Greek ῥῆον βάρβαρον (rhêon bárbaron), from ῥῆον (rhêon, “rhubarb”) + Ancient Greek βάρβαρον (bárbaron), neuter of βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign; barbaric”) (English barbarian).
There is also a Medieval Latin variant rabarbarum, which appears to be influenced by Ancient Greek ῥᾶ (rhâ, “rhubarb”), and gave rise to some of the forms in modern languages. The Ancient Greek variant term appears to have been folk-etymologically influenced by Ancient Greek Ῥᾶ (Rhâ, “the River Volga”), which is in the region from which the plant came to the Mediterranean. The ultimate origin of the Ancient Greek terms is, however, Proto-Iranian *(h)rabā́š (“rhubarb, fennel”).
The word is cognate with Catalan ruibarbre, Italian rabarbaro, Dutch rabarber, German Rhabarber, Old Occitan reubarbe, Portuguese ruibarbo, Spanish ruibarbo.

der

ῥῆον βάρβαρον

cog

On 13 December 1942, Squadron Leader [Brian] Lane made his first flight from Ludham, a local familiarisation flight. That afternoon, he led a section of Spitfires low over the North Sea on a ‘Rhubarb’, a low-level sweep over the Dutch coast, looking for targets of opportunity.

2009, Dilip Sarkar, “Foreword”, in Brian Lane, edited by Dilip Sarkar, Spitfire!: The Experiences of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, →ISBN, page 11:

(British, military, aviation, historical) A Royal Air Force World War II code name for operations by aircraft (fighters and fighter-bombers) involving low-level flight to seek opportunistic targets.


rhubarb

en-verb

rhubarb (third-person singular simple present rhubarbs, present participle rhubarbing, simple past and past participle rhubarbed)

rhubarbs (present singular third-person)
rhubarbing (participle present)
rhubarbed (participle past)
rhubarbed (past)

der

ῥῆον βάρβαρον

(British, military, aviation) Of fighter aircraft: to fire at a target opportunistically.


rhubarb

en-noun

rhubarb (countable and uncountable, plural rhubarbs)

Attributed to the circa 1852 practice by the theatre company of English actor Charles Kean (1811–1868) at the Princess’s Theatre, London, of actors saying the word rhubarb repetitively to mimic the sound of indistinct conversation, the word having been chosen because it does not have harsh-sounding consonants or clear vowels.
The baseball senses are said to have been coined by the American sports writer Garry Schumacher and popularized by the American baseball commentator Red Barber (1908–1992). Barber also claimed to have started using the word in the 1940s, based on the practice in “early radio dramas” (presumably in the US, circa 1930) of actors repetitively voicing rhubarb. However, unlike the UK usage, he felt the practice applied to muttering by an angry mob, and so applied the word to arguments on the baseball field where he could not distinguish the words.

MADAME JOURDAIN: No, it’s all complete rhubarb. MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: Dara dara bastonnara! He begins to dance and chant. MADAME JOURDAIN: Don’t think that’s going to make things any clearer.

1992, Moliere, translated by Nick Dear, Le Bourgeous Gentilhomme: A New Version by Nick Dear, U.K: Bloomsbury Publishing, page 70:

On my second day in the market garden our group spent all day moving empty rhubarb boxes to one side of a courtyard and all afternoon moving them back again. ‘Makes a change from talking rhubarb in the House of Commons I expect,’ said one of my fellow labourers.

2005, Jonathan Aitken, “Difficult days at Stanford Hill”, in Porridge and Passion, U.K: Continuum International Publishing Group, page 97:

People’s minds really serve up a lobar of rhubarb with the inner dialogue they tell themselves.

2009, Michael-ji-ji Mouseman the III, “We the damned”, in Ratology: Way of the Un-damned, Australia: Ladder to the Moon Publications (T/a Vital Aqua), page 68:

Boris Johnson has dismissed new evidence that he ordered the controversial evacuation of dogs and cats from Afghanistan for Pen Farthing’s Nowzad charity as “total rhubarb”…The PM doubled down on Thursday when asked if he had helped to get animals out, telling reporters: “No, that is…this whole thing is total rhubarb”.

2022 January 28, Jon Stone, “‘Total rhubarb’: Boris Johnson again denies he ordered Afghan animal airlift as fresh emails emerge”, in Independent:

(UK, uncountable, by extension) Nonsense; false utterance.


council

From Middle English counseil, conseil, from late Old English cuncile, from Anglo-Norman cuncile and Old French concile, from Latin concilium. Doublet of concelho.

A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).


wicket

From Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wiket, from Old Norse (specifically, Old East Norse) víkjas, diminutive of vik. Compare modern French guichet, ultimately from the same Old Norse source.

Watt climbed the stone steps and stood before the wicket, looking through its bars. He admired the permanent way, stretching away on either hand, in the moonlight, and the starlight, as far as the eye could reach, as far as Watt's eye could have reached, if it had been inside the station.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:

(British, Canada) A service window, as in a bank or train station, where a customer conducts transactions with a teller


dietary

/ˈdaɪəˌtɛɹi/

From Medieval Latin diētārius, from Latin diaetārius, from diaeta + -ārius.

“[…] Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper allotted by the dietary?” “He did, sir,” replied Bumble. “That boy will be hung,” said the gentleman in the white waistcoat; “I know that boy will be hung.” Nobody controverted the prophetic gentleman’s opinion.

1837 February, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 30:


will o' the wisp

will o' the wisp (plural will o' the wisps)

/ˌwɪləðəˈwɪsp/

Will (“male given name”) + of + the + wisp (“bundle of straw or hay used as a torch”)

1988, Michael Weikath, "Keeper of the Seven Keys", Helloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II.
Will o' the wisps / Misguiding your path / You can't throw a curse / Without takin' their wrath

Any of several kinds of pale, flickering light, appearing over marshland in many parts of the world with diverse folkloric explanations and multiple possible scientific explanations including bioluminescence and chemiluminescence.

(British folklore) A flickering light or lantern, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes, held by a supernatural creature who uses it to lure travelers at night to their demise.


braces

(British) A pair of straps crossing one's shoulders and extending down to one's trousers, where a clip or button arrangement allows them to affix to the trousers, ensuring that they will not fall off.


pelt

en-verb

pelt (third-person singular simple present pelts, present participle pelting, simple past and past participle pelted)

pelts (present singular third-person)
pelting (participle present)
pelted (participle past)
pelted (past)
pelt (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English pelt, pelte; further origin uncertain, probably a variant of Late Middle English pilten (“to push, thrust; to strike; to cast down, humble; to incite, induce; to place, put; to extend, reach forward with”) [and other forms], possibly from Old English *pyltan, from Late Latin *pultiare, from Latin pultāre (“to beat, knock, strike”), the frequentative of pellere, the present active infinitive of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to hurl; to banish, eject, expel, thrust out; to beat, strike; to set in motion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive, push”).
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

pilt, pilte, pilton, (chiefly Southwest England, Southwest Midlands) pult, pulte

heitellä päin

to bombard someone or something with missiles continuously

(archaic except British, dialectal) To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something).

барабаня

to repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something)


fam trip

(UK, aviation, travel) A free (or low cost) trip for travel agents or consultants, provided by a travel operator or airline as a means of promoting their service.


mousetrap

en-noun

mousetrap (countable and uncountable, plural mousetraps)

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

From Middle English mouse-trappe, mous trappe, mouse trape, equivalent to mouse + trap. Cognate with Dutch muizetrap, muizentrap (“mousetrap”), German Low German Muustrappe, Muustrapp (“mousetrap”). In the Internet sense, refers to a computer mouse.

(chiefly British, informal, uncountable) Ordinary, everyday cheese.


slammer

I was in Britain, wanting to take a train to Portsmouth, and I only needed a one-way ticket. I did love the English trains; we still had slammers then. A slammer is a train where you got to slam the door shut yourself.

2009, Claude Lambert, On Pets and Men, page 33:


clamour

en-verb

clamour (third-person singular simple present clamours, present participle clamouring, simple past and past participle clamoured)

clamours (present singular third-person)
clamouring (participle present)
clamoured (participle past)
clamoured (past)

From Latin clāmor (“a shout, cry”), from clāmō (“cry out, complain”).

The second argument , against the integrity of the Law from this Omission , has been clamoured by a large Body of Answerers

1738–1741, William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II.1, or II.2), London: […] Fletcher Gyles, […], →OCLC:


social

en-noun

social (countable and uncountable, plural socials)

From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.

der

Fred hated going down to the social to sign on.

(British, colloquial, with definite article) Ellipsis of social security.


MDC

(British, historical) Initialism of Milk Development Council.


stream

→ Finnish: striimi (live stream)

From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic *straum, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum.
Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian strum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).

cog

All of the bright kids went into the A stream, but I was in the B stream.

(UK, education) A division of a school year by perceived ability.


mollydooker

Probably from molly (“(dialect) fussy man who does women's work”) + dook (variant of duke (“fist”)) + -er.

‘G′day,’ Martin says. ‘So who′s who?’ They don′t answer him. Maybe they can′t talk. ‘I reckon you′re Alan, the mollydooker, and you′re Eddy. Am I right?’ They cringe, don′t know what a ‘mollydooker’ is.

2003, Joy Dettman, Henry′s Daughter, page 45:

I thought to myself how remarkably young Emma looked to be twice Penny′s age, which would make her 35 years of age, and a Mollydooker, Emma was (left handed).

2004, John Leonard Spencer, Waving Goodbye To A Thousand Flies, page 90:

In addition to those duels favouring Australia, Michael Kasprowicz was dynamite against left-handers in 2004 (forty-two per cent of his victims) and England's top three are all mollydukers.

2005 January 10, Ian Chappell, Inside Cricket, reprinted 2006, A Golden Age, unnumbered page

There is no doubt he was one of the best shearers I′d ever picked up for when I used to rouseabout. But he was a bloody mollydooker—a left-hander—and it was difficult to pick up his fleece when he finished shearing his sheep.

2007, Barry Heard, The View from Connor's Hill: A Memoir, Large print (16 point) edition, page xi

The fish shed needed drones to do the feeding, kids like Scrubber Higgins – mollydook surfer, fair to average half-forward flanker, Xbox champion, unemployed before becoming an instant aquaculture expert.

2009, Bruce Pascoe, Bloke, unnumbered page:

“Is it harder for a pilot, being left-handed?” she asked, as if adding to an existing conversation.
He glanced down at his left arm, flexed his fingers, now free of plaster. “Been a mollydooker all my life. Reckon I don′t know any different.”

2011, Kristina McMorris, Letters From Home, page 278:

(UK, Australia, slang) A left-handed person.


chapel

→ Japanese: チャペル (chaperu)

→ Korean: 채플 (chaepeul)

From Middle English chapele, chapel, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak; chapel”), diminutive of cappa (“cloak, cape”). Doublet of capelle.
(printing office): Said to be because printing was first carried on in England in a chapel near Westminster Abbey.

der

(UK) A trade union branch in printing or journalism.


boomer

(UK) A Eurasian bittern (subfamily Botaurinae).


rum

en-adj

rum (comparative rummer, superlative rummest)

rummer (comparative)
rummest (superlative)

From the earlier form rome (“good”, slang); possibly of Romani origin; compare rom.

a rum idea; a rum fellow

"Lor, Noah!" said Charlotte, "What a rum creature you are! Why don't you let the boy alone?"

1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

[H]e stared after Pynsent stupidly, and pronounced to the landlord over the counter that he was a rum one.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 27, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

The young men had exchanged few observations; but in crossing Union Square, in front of the monument to Washington—in the very shadow, indeed, projected by the image of the pater patriae—one of them remarked to the other, “It seems a rum-looking place.”
“Ah, very odd, very odd,” said the other, who was the clever man of the two.

1878, Henry James, An International Episode:

"Can't you see him?"
"Well, I almost thought I did—for a moment. It's such a rum light."

"She's as 'appy as Larry, but she'll neither move nor eat. It's a rum 'un, isn't it?" It was very rum indeed.

1976, James Herriot, All Things Wise and Wonderful, page 346:

(UK, informal, dated) Strange, peculiar.


rum

(British, colloquial, dated) Any odd person or thing.


poll

From Ancient Greek πολλοί (polloí, “the many, the masses”), as in hoi polloi.

der

(UK, dated, Cambridge University) One who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.


fellow

From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; money”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)) + lag (“something laid down; right position; arrangement; companionship, fellowship; partnership”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”)).
cognates
* Old Norse filaga, felaka (“partner”, accusative singular), from which the other terms are derived:
* Danish fælle (“companion”)
* Faroese felagi (“member; partner”)
* Icelandic félagi (“companion, comrade, fellow; member; partner”)
* Norwegian felle (“companion”)
* Old Swedish fälaghi (modern Swedish felaga, felaha (“partner”, accusative singular))
* Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, companion, comrade”)

toveri

person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing

About the ſame time he vvent to London, became Fellovv of the Middle Temple, and aftervvards tranſlated from Lat. to Engliſh The five Books of Hieronimus Oſorius, containing a diſcourſe of Civil and Chriſtian Nobility, Lond. 1576. qu[arto].

1691, [Anthony Wood], “WILLIAM BLANDIE”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. […], volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of King Charles I. Dom. 1640), London: […] Tho[mas] Bennet […], →OCLC, columns 147–148:

Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.

A (senior) member of a learned or professional society.

(specifically, British, historical) A senior member of an Inn of Court.

(chiefly British) A scholar appointed to a fellowship, that is, a paid academic position held for a certain period which usually requires the scholar to conduct research.

Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26:

(UK, slang) Synonym of schoolmate (“a student at the same school”)


black-eyed Susan

en-noun

black-eyed Susan (plural black-eyed Susans)

(UK, cooking) A kind of boiled pudding with currants.


mend

en-verb

mend (third-person singular simple present mends, present participle mending, simple past and past participle mended)

mends (present singular third-person)
mending (participle present)
mended (participle past)
mended (past)
mend (infinitive)

PIE word
 *h₁eǵʰs
From Middle English menden (“to cure; to do good to, benefit; to do or make better, improve; to get better, recover; to keep in a good state; to put right, amend; to reform, repent”), the aphetic form of amenden (“to alter, change (especially for the better); to atone; to chastise, punish; to correct, remedy, amend; to cure; to excel, surpass; to forgive; to get or make better, improve; to make ready; to mend, repair, restore; to get well, recover; to relieve”), or from its etymon Anglo-Norman amender and Old French amender (“to cure; to fix, repair; to set right, correct”) (modern French amender), from Latin ēmendāre, the present active infinitive of ēmendō (“to atone; to chastise, punish; to correct, remedy, amend; to cure”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + mendum (“defect; error, fault”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“defect; fault”)) + -ō (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs).

der

Yearly thy Herds in vigour vvill impair; / Recruit and mend 'em vvith thy Yearly care: […]

1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 99, lines 112–113:

We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine at lord treasurer's, but went to see lady Abercorn, who is come to town, and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited lord treasurer this evening. His porter is mending.

1711 September 2 (Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XXVII.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 112:

O, it was a rich scene,—but Sir A—— C——, the best of story-tellers and surgeons, who mends a lame narrative almost as well as he sets a fracture, alone could do justice to it— […]

1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Ellistoniana”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 40:

[H]ot July was drawing to an end, / And August came the fainting year to mend / With fruit and grain; […]

1868, William Morris, “July: The Son of Crœsus”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, parts [I and II], London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, page 551:

If we were making no progress with Haraldsen's business we were at any rate mending his health.

1936 July, John Buchan, “Sundry Doings at Fosse”, in The Island of Sheep, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published July 1938, →OCLC, part I (Fosse), page 112:

(archaic except UK, regional) To restore (someone or something) to a healthy state; to cure, to heal.


moss

en-noun

moss (countable and uncountable, plural mosses)

From Middle English mos, from Old English mos (“bog, marsh, moss”), from Proto-West Germanic *mos (“marsh, moss”), from Proto-Germanic *musą (“marsh, moss”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“moss”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moas (“moss”), West Frisian moas (“moss”), Dutch mos (“moss”), German Low German Moss (“moss”), German Moos (which shows the same polysemy of "moss" and "bog, fen"), Danish mos (“moss”), Swedish mossa (“moss”), Icelandic mosi (“moss”), Latin muscus (“moss”), Russian мох (mox, “moss”), Polish mech. Doublet of mousse.

cypress moss

Hypnum cupressiforme; Lycopodium alpinum

flowering moss (Pyxidanthera barbulata; Portulaca grandiflora;

moss crop

Eriophorum vaginatum; Eriophorum polystachion; Argentina anserina, syn. Potentilla anserina; Eleocharis palustris, syn. Scirpus caespitosus

willow moss

Hypnaceae, possibly Taxiphyllum barbieri

the mosses of the Scottish border

Loynton Moss


Big Bang

Coined by English astronomer Fred Hoyle on the BBC Third Programme, broadcast at 18:30 GMT on 28 March 1949. It is a popular but misinformed belief that this was intended as a derogatory term, Hoyle being a proponent of the opposing steady state theory, but Hoyle himself has rejected that notion.

(UK, finance, historical) The sudden deregulation of financial markets effected by prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986.


poser

(British) A particularly difficult question or puzzle.

труден въпрос

a particularly difficult question or puzzle


derv

Initialism of diesel engine road vehicle.


draughts

(board games, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, uncountable) A board game for two players in which the players each have a set number of pieces (typically 12 or 20, depending on the rule set), known as men, and the object is to capture each of the opponent's pieces by jumping one's own pieces over the opponent's pieces.


motor

From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“I set in motion”).

der

Motor insurance is expensive for youngsters.

(especially British) Relating to motor cars.


clicker

Let Clickers bark on the whole Day

1709, Thomas d'Urfey (lyrics and music), “The Character of a Seat's-man”:

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

(UK, obsolete) Someone who stands by a shop door to invite people to buy; a tout.


spliff

From Jamaican Creole, possibly a blend of split, referring to the ready-made wrap + whiff, referring to the smell of the smoke.

smoke a spliff

Pablo switched off the wipers and struck a match to light the spliff he had just finished building.

1992, Victor Headley, Yardie, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, published 1993, page 167:

Danny takes another toke on the spliff and then passes it over to Griff, who accepts it and draws deep on it and then points with the lit end across the room at Gwenno like some strange weatherman indicating a pocket of high pressure.

2001, Niall Griffiths, Sheepshagger, New York: Thomas Dunne, published 2002, page 104:

“Well, well, well,” Ma Taffy says, sitting back and returning the spliff to her mouth. She exhales a cloud of ganja that envelops herself and the boy.

2016, Kei Miller, “Chapter 1”, in Augustown, New York: Pantheon, pages 14–15:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, Jamaica) A cannabis cigarette.


remove

From Middle English removen, from Anglo-Norman remover, removeir, from Old French remouvoir, from Latin removēre, from re- + movēre (“to move”), equivalent to re- + move. Displaced native Old English āfierran.

(British) (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last


Bedfordshire

From Middle English Bedefordschire, from Old English Bedanfordsċīr, equivalent to Bedford + shire.

I'll be up to Bedfordshire if you two don't mind. I'm on early shift in the morning so I'll have to be up and out by five.

Now come along young lady, up to Bedfordshire.

1998, Mary Sheepshanks, A Price for Everything:


plush

en-adj

plush (comparative plusher, superlative plushest)

plusher (comparative)
plushest (superlative)

From French peluche (“fluff, plush”). The fact that historically (in past centuries) plush upholstery was so expensive as to be socially exclusive undoubtedly connects the senses of "luxurious" and "soft".

Coordinate term: posh

They lived in a plush apartment complex.

(UK) Very expensive, or appearing expensive; opulent, luxurious.


wash up

en-verb

wash up (third-person singular simple present washes up, present participle washing up, simple past and past participle washed up)

washes up (present singular third-person)
washing up (participle present)
washed up (participle past)
washed up (past)

You wash up tonight and I'll dry.

I'm not washing up all these dishes.

(British, transitive, intransitive) To clean the utensils, dishes etc. used in preparing and eating a meal.


morning glory

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

What's the story morning glory? Well? / You need a little time to wake up wake up

1995, “Morning Glory”, performed by Oasis:

Morning Glory (Penis) Would appear to refer to one that stands tall and erect on waking.

2003, Ray Puxley, Britslang: An Uncensored A-Z of the People's Language, Including Rhyming Slang, Robson, published 2003, page 326:

Like any man he wakes up with a morning glory. He precums.

2011, Michael Kantor, Now That You're Out, page 64:

(UK, informal) An involuntary erection present upon waking.


stroppy

en-adj

stroppy (comparative stroppier, superlative stroppiest)

stroppier (comparative)
stroppiest (superlative)

From obstropulous, obsolete slang form of obstreperous, + -y.

In this case, the application of the famous method was a little shaky. To be fair, the director was dealing with a pretty stroppy cast.

1989, Kenneth Branagh, Beginning, London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 64:

Her shape and posture shadowed her daughter′s, though Kerry carried herself with more attitude, a stroppier jutting of the hips than her mother.

2004, Simon Brett, The Hanging in the Hotel, Pan Macmillan UK:

Even today, women who show signs of anger and who express themselves in some assertive way may be labelled stroppy for doing so.

2010, Gillian Bloxham, W. Doyle Gentry, Anger Management For Dummies, UK edition:

The people who actually produced the paper, mainly the printers, were a stroppier lot, with a more aggressive union.

2010, Alexandra Bell, Rising to the Deadline, Trafford Publishing, Canada, page 140:

Davina told me earlier that Luke was the stroppiest patient she'd ever had and that he'd given her a lecture on how inefficient and time-wasting her medical was.

2010, Sophie Kinsella [pseudonym; Madeleine Wickham], Mini Shopaholic, page 341:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Ornery, fractious, belligerent, or obstreperous, and hence difficult to deal with.


district

→ Luganda: disitulikit

From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”). Doublet of Detroit.

дистри́кт

USA and some other English-speaking countries

South Oxfordshire District Council

(UK) An administrative division of a county without the status of a borough.


trance

en-verb

trance (third-person singular simple present trances, present participle trancing, simple past and past participle tranced)

trances (present singular third-person)
trancing (participle present)
tranced (participle past)
tranced (past)

The verb is derived from Middle English traunce, trauncen, trancen (“to move about (?); to prance (?); to trample the ground”) (whence modern English trounce with the same senses, which see for more). The noun is probably derived from the verb.

(obsolete outside British, dialectal, intransitive) To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge.

Trance the world o'er.

1626 February 1 (licensing date), John Fletcher [et al.], “The Faire Maide of the Inne”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

After the flitting of the bats, / When thickest dark did trance the sky, / She drew the casement-curtain by, / And glanced athwart the glooming flats.

1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Mariana”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza II, page 11:

(obsolete outside British, dialectal, intransitive) To pass across or over; to traverse.

(obsolete outside British, dialectal, intransitive) To travel quickly over a long distance.


trance

So saying, he led the way out through halls and trances that were weel kend to my gudesire, and into the auld oak parlour; […]

(obsolete outside British, dialectal) A tedious journey.


gillion

From gi(ga)- + -illion. Modelled after million, billion etc. Compare also jillion.

The internationally agreed symbol for 10^6 is M and this is the initial letter of million. Would it not be logical and convenient to turn this happy accident into a principle and use G, the internationally agreed symbol for 10^9, as the initial letter of the word for 1,000,000,000? That number would thus be called a gillion. Whether the g should be hard or soft is a matter of opinion. I incline to hard because of the derivation from giga.

1968, N. W. Pirie, More About the Units (Nature vol. 220):

(British, rare) A thousand million, proposed as an alternative to the (now little used) British milliard and the (ambiguous, in the UK) US billion.


cobbler

Probably a variant of or related to cob, cobb (“stony fruit kernel; nut used in the game of conkers, conker; game of conkers”), perhaps from Middle English cobbe (“head or leader; gangleader; bully (?); male swan, cob; the head; something rounded or in the form of a lump”): see further at etymology 3.

inh

["A]n' 'e was mad, an' so he snatched my cobbler an' run off with it. An' so I run after 'im, an' when I was gettin' hold of him, 'e dodged, an' it ripped 'is collar. But I got my cobbler—" He pulled from his pocket a black old horse-chestnut hanging on a string. This old cobbler had "cobbled"—hit and smashed—seventeen other cobblers on similar strings. So this boy was proud of his veteran.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Casting Off of Morel—The Taking On of William”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 50:

The shiny, hard seed of the horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum), especially when used in the game of the same name (sense 1.2); a conker, a horse chestnut.

Aesculus hippocastanum
Aesculus hippocastanum#Translingual

(games) Synonym of conkers (“a game for two players in which the participants each have a horse-chestnut (known as a cobbler (sense 1.1) or conker) suspended from a length of string, and take turns to strike their opponent's conker with their own with the object of destroying the opponent's conker before their own is destroyed”)


cobbler

Also river cobbler: basa (Pangasius bocourti), an edible species of shark catfish native to the Chao Phraya and Mekong river basins in Southeast Asia.

Pangas catfish (Pangasius pangasius), an edible species of shark catfish native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan.


trimmings

Don't forget to take the trimmings down by twelfth night.

(British) Domestic decorations for a room, especially Christmas decorations.


trim up

en-verb

trim up (third-person singular simple present trims up, present participle trimming up, simple past and past participle trimmed up)

trims up (present singular third-person)
trimming up (participle present)
trimmed up (participle past)
trimmed up (past)

Have you trimmed up yet?

(British, informal) To put up trimmings, especially at Christmas.


crimper

From crimp + -er (agent noun suffix) or, for the climbing hold, + -er (patient suffix).


lorry

→ Hausa: lori

→ Iban: lori

→ Juba Arabic: lori

→ Malay: lori (“heavy truck”)

→ Chinese: 羅里 (luólǐ), 羅厘 /罗厘 (luólí)

→ Farefare: loore

→ German: Lore

→ Irish: leoraí

→ Malay: lori

→ Moore: lore

→ Scottish Gaelic: làraidh

→ Swahili: lori

→ Telugu: లారీ (lārī)

→ Welsh: lorri, lori

→ Zulu: iloli

Uncertain; perhaps from dialectal English lurry (“to lug or pull about, drag”), or from the forename Laurie. First attested in early to middle 19th century.

cog

But whenever one of the motor-trucks lumbering by bore a big U.S. on its rear panel Troy pushed his light ambulance ahead and skimmed past, just for the joy of seeing the fresh young heads rising pyramid-wise about the sides of the lorry, hearing the snatches of familiar songs—"Hail, hail, the gang's all here!" and "We won't come back till it's over over here!"—and shouting back in reply to a stentorian "Hi, kid, beat it!", "Bet your life I will, old man!"

1918, Edith Wharton, chapter IX, in The Marne, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages 87–88:

The most frequent age for starting in the actual occupation of lorry driving is 17 years. Trampers tend to start later, the mode amongst them being 19 years. The mean average age for beginning in lorry driving in the sample is between 21 and 23 years. The mean average number of years spent in lorry driving varies according to the type of driver.

1968, Peter G. Hollowell, “The Lorry Driver’s Career”, in The Lorry Driver (The International Library of Sociology; 154), London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; New York, N.Y.: Humanities Press, →OCLC; republished Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 1998 (2007 printing), →ISBN, page 61:

Until the main road from Hatfield to Hertford was diverted a few years ago, heavy lorries trundling through the village sometimes knocked chunks off corner buildings, but now the village has regained much of its former tranquillity.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 224, about Hertingfordbury:

Our journey through the streets of Singapore awoke strange emotions. Very little of the structural damage seemed to have been repaired beyond make-shift patchwork. The streets had a dingy and forlorn look. We arrived outside the British American Tobacco building and had our first experience of the shouting and hustlings that accompanied all Japanese supervision of our movements. We were shouted at to get out of the lorry with our baggage and make out way into the building.

1987, Richard Pool, “Prisoner of War”, in Course for Disaster: From Scapa Flow to the River Kwai, London: Leo Cooper, Heinemann, →ISBN, page 164:

The plantain lorry caught up with them in a blind curve. Jeff caught a glimpse of the driver's face in the mirror as he fought to swing the old truck out around the car. At that moment Jeff heard the sound of the horn of a vehicle coming up the road. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the old lorry beside him; its driver desperately trying to avoid the passenger lorry coming up the scarp.

2003, John C. Kennedy, “The Child”, in Last Lorry to Mbordo: Misadventures in Nation Building: A Novel, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 176:

At the platform in Pathankot, they must have overheard me asking the porter handling my luggage that I wanted to go to the lorry stand for Kashmir. [...] There were no buses then, some primitive contraptions called lorries. A far cry from the spacious and comfortable buses of the present day. They were not only rudimentary and crude, they also travelled very slow.

2005, Nagindra Mohan Kachroo, “Nostalgic Home Fires”, in Moments of Melancholy: (A Basket of Short Stories), New Delhi: S. B. Nangia, A. P. H. Publishing Corporation, →ISBN, page 129:

I know I swing me Volvo all around you market square. I know you think that lorry drivers, we just don't care. But the streets are so narrow, built so many years ago. They were built for horses' carts, not juggernauts you know.

2019, “I love my juggernaut”, in The Pothole Song Album, performed by Richie Kavanagh:

There was also the influx of a third of a million road lorries, sold at giveaway prices after their war roles ceased and used by competing one-man businesses to skim off sundry agricultural freight.

2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:

(British, Ireland, South Asia, Africa) A large and heavy motor vehicle designed to carry goods or soldiers; a truck


helm

From Middle English helm (“helmet; crown of thorns of Jesus; warrior; inn or shop sign”) [and other forms], from Old English helm (“helmet”), from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“protective covering”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelmos, from the root *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of heaume and related to helmet.
cognates
* Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms)
* Old Frisian helm (West Frisian helm)
* Old High German helm (Middle High German helm, modern German Helm; Italian elmo; Old French helme, modern French heaume; Spanish yelmo)
* Old Norse hjalmr (Danish hjelm, Norwegian hjelm, Swedish hjelm)
* Old Saxon helm (Low German Helm, Middle Dutch helm, modern Dutch helm)

inh

(except British, dialectal) The crown or top of something.


pomace

en-noun

pomace (countable and uncountable, plural pomaces)

[Alt: Red grape flesh and seeds]
From Late Middle English pomis, pomys (“cider; pulp of plants pressed to extract their juice or oil”), probably from Medieval Latin pōmācium, pōmātium (“cider”), possibly a variant of pomaceum (although first attested later), from Latin pōmum (“fruit; fruit tree”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *h₁em- (“to take”), in the sense of something taken off a tree) + -āceum (neuter form of -āceus (suffix meaning ‘belonging to; having the nature of’, forming adjectives)). Doublet of pomade, pomate, and pomatum.
Sense 1.1 (“crushed apples”) and sense 1.2 (“residue from grapes”) were possibly influenced by Middle French pommage (“(cidermaking) apple harvest; apple orchards”) and French poma, pomas, pomat (“residue from apples”) (Northern France).

bërsi

pulp or pulplike matter remaining from a substance pressed to extract its juice or oil

(UK, regional, archaic) Synonym of pulp (“a soft, moist mass formed by mashing something”)


funny

en-adj

funny (comparative funnier, superlative funniest)

funnier (comparative)
funniest (superlative)

'Moved in where?' Sam asked Brona in confusion. 'What boyfriend?'
'Glen,' Brona said quietly. 'You met him a while ago, remember? He only moved in last week. I was going to tell you but […] I thought you might be funny about it, that's all.'

Ash would have been happy to sit and stare at Viv all day, but when he saw the other guys staring at his sister, too, he got funny about it.

2012, Jade Varden, The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2):

(UK, Ireland, informal) Showing unexpected resentment.


funny

Perhaps a jocular use of funny. See above.

I myself recollect the funnies at Eton, which were certain little boats, capable of containing one person only, who, like an Indian in his canoe, was constantly obliged to balance himself, with such critical nicety, that the least mistake was certain of producing a ducking.

1810, Letters from a Nobleman to His Son, During the Period of His Education at Eton and Oxford, volume 1, pages 63–64:

As I do not belong to the boat-club, I always row by myself in a funny […] or at least go in a two-oared boat, with some friend with whom I should otherwise be walking.

1841 December 12, William Thomson, “[Letter to father]”, in Silvanus P. Thompson, The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs, volume 1, published 1910, page 33:

We were going to have a go in one of the double scull ‘funnies’ that could be had from the Rowing Club in the harbour, but he is off up the line tomorrow to rejoin his old Battery.

1971, Julian Tyndale-Biscoe, Gunner Subaltern, page 144:

There was a great market for leisure boats, too: no wherries any longer, but whole fleets of punts, rowing gigs, funnies, skiffs, whiffs and randans […]

1999, Patrick Wright, The River: The Thames in Our Time, →ISBN, page 145:

(UK, Ireland, nautical, dated) A narrow, clinker-built double-ender for sculling.


border

en-noun

border (countable and uncountable, plural borders)

Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er.
Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Doublet of bordure. More at board.
Further cognate to English board, Old Norse barð (“edge”), Swedish bård (“edge”), also English beard, German Bart (“beard”) (edge of the face) etc.

cog

(British, uncountable) border morris or border dancing; a vigorous style of traditional English dance originating from villages along the border between England and Wales, performed by a team of dancers usually with their faces disguised with black makeup.


mellow

en-verb

mellow (third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)

mellows (present singular third-person)
mellowing (participle present)
mellowed (participle past)
mellowed (past)

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or
* a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”).
The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective.
cognates
* Dutch murw (“tender”)
* German mürbe (“soft, tender”)
* German Low German möör (“tender”)
* Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”))
* Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”)
* West Frisian murf (“tender”)

nb...

mearewe, mearuw, mereuh, meru, meruwe, meruȝ, meruʒ, merwe, (Early Middle English) mearwe

inh

This City is built of white Sun-burnt brickes, is watered with a ſmall ſtreame, which runs in two parts through the Towne, and meloes moſt of the Gardens and Groues within her, whereby ſhee yeelds a thankfull tribute of ſundry fruits.

1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “Tyroan”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 115:

Having therefore made choice of ſome fit place of Ground, […] let it be Broken up the Winter before you ſow, to mellow it, eſpecially if it be a Clay, and then the furrow would be made deeper; […]

1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “. Chapter II. Of the Seminary.”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 6:

(archaic except British, regional) To soften (land or soil) and make it suitable for planting in.

(archaic except British, regional, of soil) To be rendered soft and suitable for planting in.


northern

en-adj

northern (comparative more northern, superlative most northern)

more northern (comparative)
most northern (superlative)

From Middle English northerne, from Old English norþerne, from Proto-West Germanic *norþrōnī, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrōnijaz. Cognate with Old High German nordrōni and Old Norse norrœnn.
Morphologically north + -ern.

Les Dawson was a famous northern comedian.

(British) Characteristic of the North of England (usually capitalised)


submersible

(British) A small nonmilitary, non-nuclear submarine for exploration.

غَطَّاسَة

(British) A retroactive term used for non-nuclear submarines; nuclear submarines are termed "true submarines".

(British) A term used primarily by some navies for nuclear submarines, termed "true submersibles", because they cannot retroactively declare that their non-nuclear submarines should be called by a different name.


commuter

forens

a person who regularly travels to and from work and home

pendel

transport system or vehicle in such systems

How can an operator be, at the same time, top for overall satisfaction and bottom for value for money? I turned to Anthony Smith for the answer, leaning on his 20 years running Transport Focus and its predecessors.
It's commuters, he explained. "You can't please commuters, you can only not displease them."

2024 October 2, Philip Haigh, “Different types of passengers require different types of fare”, in RAIL, number 1019, page 54:

(transport) A person who regularly travels between two places.

(US, UK, Canada) To and from work and home.


tinkle

en-noun

tinkle (countable and uncountable, plural tinkles)

From Middle English tinclen, equivalent to tink + -le (frequentative suffix).

Give me a tinkle when you arrive.


sucker

From Middle English souker, sokere, sukkere, soukere, equivalent to suck (verb) + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Suuger, West Frisian sûker (“sucker”), Dutch zuiger (“sucker”), German Sauger (“dummy; vacuum”).


dip

dip (countable and uncountable, plural dips)

From Middle English dippen, from Old English dyppan, from Proto-West Germanic *duppjan, from Proto-Germanic *dupjaną; see *daupijaną (“to dip”). Related to deep.

My Dad, God bless him, rarely cooked anything, but if he ever did he would make himself an egg banjo! Fried bread? Or ‘dip’?

2020 May 29, Bocca della Verita (@BocaVerite), Twitter:

(UK, dialect, uncountable, Birmingham) Fried bread.


rear

From Middle English rere, from Anglo-Norman rere, ultimately from Latin retro. Compare arrear. Doublet of retro.

Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!


rear

en-verb

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

rears (present singular third-person)
rearing (participle present)
reared (participle past)
reared (past)

rearing bit

a bit designed to prevent a horse from lifting his head when rearing

(transitive, vulgar, British) To sodomize (perform anal sex)


previous

en-noun

previous (countable and uncountable, plural previouses)

It turned out the shoplifter had a lot of previous.

Simmons had eight previouses: robberies, burglaries, a couple of felonious assaults.

1994, William J. Caunitz, Three complete novels: Black Sand; Suspects; One Police Plaza:

(informal, UK) An existing criminal record (short for "previous convictions")

For that Smalling will have to do his time grazing in the scapegoat’s paddock because his contribution here supplied hard evidence of a player lacking the football intelligence that is needed at the highest level. He has previous on that front and it is difficult to find any mitigation for the way he scythed down James Milner when the first rule for a defender on a yellow card is not to dive in unless it is absolutely necessary.

November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in guardian.co.uk:

Mitigation will be limited given his previous and as he has already attended tackle school he cannot return.

13 August 2023, Gerard Meagher, “Owen Farrell’s red card likely to put England’s World Cup plans in disarray”, in theguardian.com:

(informal, UK) A track record of similar behaviour, especially bad behaviour.

The two players refused to shake hands — there's a bit of previous there.

(informal, UK) A record of previous hostility or conflict (between people).


FOC

freight operating company
freight operating company

(UK, rail transport) freight operating company


taking

taking (countable and uncountable, plural takings)

Fred was concerned because the takings from his sweetshop had fallen again for the third week.

Count the shop's takings.

[...] the woman who keeps the greengrocer’s shop was adding up the day’s takings with her hands in red mittens.

1929, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in A Room of One’s Own, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1931, page 60:

According to T. B. Sands in his history of the M.S.W.J.R. (Oakwood Press: 8s 6d) Fay at first had to await cash takings from stations before he could pay his staff; [...].

1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 586:

The child was not returned to the mother. [...] strangers giving him suck found it easier to display the utter despair in their faces that made for successful begging, whereas if [the mother] had had the pleasure of clasping her little son to her bosom all day, it would have been impossible to keep a spark of joy, however tiny, out of her eyes, which would have adversely affected the takings.

1995, Rohinton Mistry, chapter 12, in A Fine Balance, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, pages 554–555:

(in the plural, Commonwealth, UK, Ireland) Cash or money received (by a shop or other business, for example).


bosh

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوش (boş, “empty, unoccupied”). Entered popular usage in English from the novels of James Justinian Morier.

bor

Tho' hundreds cheer his blatant bosh,
He's but a goose for a' that.

1868, Shirley Brooks, For A' That And A' That:

But you know very well you're talking bosh," exclaimed Abraham, somewhat discomfited. "There must be government, and there must be order, say what you like.

1884, George Gissing, chapter 17, in The Unclassed:

Oliver saw Kit Carson wink at the lieutenant and Lucien Maxwell, as the speech reached them, and it was evident that these three leaders did not believe the Indian tales. Consequently he himself decided that the reports of "evil spirits" awaiting were all bosh.

1912, Edwin L[egrand] Sabin, chapter VIII, in With Carson and Frémont:

"Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."

1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, chapter 5, in The Magician's Nephew, Collins, published 1998:


bosh

"Bosh!" said the Vicar, rejecting the hint altogether.

1904, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 1, in The Food of the Gods:

“The people who wrote the mediaeval ballads,” answered the priest, “knew more about fairies than you do. It isn’t only nice things that happen in fairyland.”
“Oh, bosh!” said Flambeau. “Only nice things could happen under such an innocent moon. I am for pushing on now and seeing what does really come. We may die and rot before we ever see again such a moon or such a mood.”

1911, G. K. Chesterton, “The Sins of Prince Saradine”, in The Innocence of Father Brown:

(chiefly British) An expression of disbelief or annoyance.


bosh

Compare German Posse (“farce, burlesque”), Italian bozzo (“a rough stone”), bozzetto (“a rough sketch”).

to cut a bosh — "to make a figure"

(British, chiefly Norfolk, slang, archaic) A figure.


bosh

An onomatopoeic formation, imitating a sudden blow.

It's a ~3 foot double lead with two 5-pin DIN plugs on one end and a big gameport-sized-n-shaped plug on the other. One end into the gameport, t'other plugs into the back of your keyboard. Bosh, job done.

My father registered with these people a few months ago, and all his calls dried up. He was also of the opinion that he shouldn't need to register not to be disturbed, and he's pretty ruthless on the 'phone when he wants to be . . . but eventually he grew tired of it . . . bosh. Job done.

Wrong, get a LPG diesel. More power than either, better economy than either, bosh, job's done.

(British) An expression of speedy and satisfactory completion of a simple or straightforward task.


bosh

en-verb

bosh (third-person singular simple present boshes, present participle boshing, simple past and past participle boshed)

boshes (present singular third-person)
boshing (participle present)
boshed (participle past)
boshed (past)

We boshed two grams each of the beast 10, and then we went downstairs.

1996, Aidan Macfarlane, Magnus Macfarlane, Philip Robson, The user: the truth about drugs, what they do, how they feel, and why people take them:

People want to make sure they are loaded up well before midnight. It's not like any other party where they might not turn up until eleven. They commence boshing pills straight away […]

2015, Oliver Merlin, Clapham High Way, page 188:

I wasn’t on three (e) pills, I was on 1. So, I remember it. It’s only when you bosh that third pill you start losing it, that’s not really how you take ecstasy. Kids do that, but it’s a bit foolish. Not that I’m saying I haven’t done that!

2017, Jon Boon, James Desborough, The Shamen rapper who sang "Es are good" has revealed he was high on drugs every time he did TOTP (in The Mirror newspaper)

(UK, slang, transitive) To consume (illicit drugs).


excess

en-noun

excess (countable and uncountable, plural excesses)

From Middle English exces (“excess, ecstasy”), from Old French exces, from Latin excessus (“a going out, loss of self-possession”), from excedere, excessum (“to go out, go beyond”). See exceed.

der

(British, insurance) A condition on an insurance policy by which the insured pays for a part of the claim.


travelling salesman problem

(mathematics, UK, Canada) The problem in combinatorial optimization in which, given a number of cities and the costs of travelling from one to the other, it is required to determine the cheapest route that visits each city once and then returns to the initial city.

MathWorld article on the travelling salesman problem


liquorice

en-noun

liquorice (countable and uncountable, plural liquorices)

From licorice by association with liquor.

UK, Ireland, India, and South Africa standard spelling of licorice.


Charlie

Charlie (usually uncountable, plural Charlies)

You look a right Charlie in that clown outfit! — Yes, we make a right pair of Charlies.

He looked a right Charlie in those tails and striped trousers.

2009, Ruth Rendell, The Best Man To Die, page 26:

(countable, chiefly UK, slang, often with "right" and/or "proper") A fool.


innings

innings (plural innings or (rare) inningses)

innings (plural)
inningses (plural rare)

From the old verb inn (“to house corn”).

(British) The time during which any party is in possession of power, or enjoying good luck, etc.; a turn of any kind.

Forty-odd. That's a better innings than Mozart's thirty-five. Only a moderate knock perhaps in an era brimming with space age technology, and transplants, and artificial hips etcet, but still higher than Mozart's.

1994, John Lehmann, Alan Ross, Sebastian Barker, The London Magazine:

My mother-in-law died at 89 years of age, while sad and as you might expect, we used the phrase “she had a good innings”.

2007, Roger F. Peters, Police Under Pressure: A Donkey on the Edge, Roger Peters, →ISBN, page 22:

He was the first of my grandparents to die but none of them made it much past seventy, although that was very much looked on as 'a decent innings' in early-seventies England.

2009, Mark Radcliffe, Thank You for the Days: A Boy's Own Adventures in Radio and Beyond, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

You can only say, she had a good innings, so many times. I suppose seventy nine isn't so bad. It's a damn sight more than I can expect.

2010, Jacqueline James M P, An Ignoble End, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 79:

Like father, like son. Sixty-eight. Not such a bad innings, really, when the old man was gone at fifty-three.

2012, Peter Fitzpatrick, The Two Frank Thrings, Monash University Publishing, →ISBN, page 523:

(British, euphemistic) A person's lifespan.


telly

telly (usually uncountable, plural tellys or tellies)

We've got a new flat-screen telly.

telli

television (medium) — see also television


borough

burgh (Received Pronunciation, Scotland)

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”).
Cognate with Dutch burcht, German Burg, Swedish borg, French bourg, Turkish burç. Doublet of Brough, burgh, and Bury.

inh

(historical, British, law) An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behaviour of each other.


mold

en-noun

mold (countable and uncountable, plural molds)

From Middle English molde, from Old English molde, from Proto-Germanic *muldō (“dirt, soil”) (compare Old Frisian molde, Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, obsolete German Molte, Norwegian Bokmål mold, and Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (mulda)), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥h₂-téh₂.

(UK, dialectal, chiefly plural) Earth, ground.


nominal

From the Middle English nominalle (“of nouns”), borrowed from Latin nōminālis (“of names”), from nōmen (“name”).

(UK, police jargon) A person listed in the Police National Computer database as having been convicted, cautioned or recently arrested.


plimsoll

From Samuel Plimsoll, a Bristol merchant.

“Yes, there are two distinct sets of footprints, both wearing rubber shoes—one I think ordinary plimsolls, the other goloshes,” replied the sergeant.

1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!:

While here, now, a large boy, a famous bully, swaggered to the front to bend, leering, and offer his satirical backside to be ineffectually beaten with a plimsoll by the gentle Scot.

(UK, Ireland) A rubber-soled lace-up canvas shoe for sports or onboard ships; a precursor of trainers.


cowardy

en-adj

cowardy (comparative more cowardy, superlative most cowardy)

more cowardy (comparative)
most cowardy (superlative)


dresser

From Middle English dressure, dressor, dressour, a borrowing from Old French drecëur, drecëure, from the verb dresser.

The pewter plates on the dresser / Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies the sunshine.

1847, Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie:

But it went through her like a flash of hot fire when, in passing, he lurched against the dresser, setting the tins rattling, and clutched at the white pot knobs for support.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 2”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

The other room was a kitchen, with an open fireplace, a safe, a dresser and a tin sink, with a tap from the tank outside.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 29:

(UK) An item of kitchen furniture, like a cabinet with shelves, for storing crockery or utensils.


dresser

From Middle English dresser, equivalent to dress + -er.

Because we were the first by a long way to turn trendy, we're still the only dressers in Scotland and our enemies were easily recognised: denims and DM's, skinheads and parkas.

2015, Jay Allan, Bloody Casuals: Diary of a Football Hooligan:

(UK) A football hooligan who wears designer clothing; a casual.


mmm

Danny: Have you got any food?
I: Mmm! As a matter of fact, got a saveloy.


drum

(slang, chiefly UK) A person's home; a house or other building, especially when insalubrious; a tavern, a brothel.


bimble

(chiefly British) A gentle, meandering walk with no particular haste or purpose.


bimble

en-verb

bimble (third-person singular simple present bimbles, present participle bimbling, simple past and past participle bimbled)

bimbles (present singular third-person)
bimbling (participle present)
bimbled (participle past)
bimbled (past)

Check-in ran like clockwork and after unpacking, we bimbled off to the cycle centre, hired two bikes and a kiddy trailer for the boys and set off to get our bearings.

2007 January 28, Paul Simon, “Surf, snow and city in one break”, in The Observer, UK, retrieved 2009-01-18:

(chiefly British, intransitive) To walk with no particular haste or purpose.


high tea

en-noun

high tea (countable and uncountable, plural high teas)

It was brawn and shape for high tea.

1978, Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks, Abacus, published 2014, page 111:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A late afternoon or early evening meal, typically consisting of a cooked dish with bread and butter and tea.


attitude

attitude (countable and uncountable, plural attitudes)

From French attitude, from Italian attitudine (“attitude, aptness”), from Medieval Latin aptitūdō (“aptitude”) and actitūdō (“acting, posture”), from Latin aptō and actitō. Doublet of aptitude.

der

He doesn't take attitude from anybody.

I asked the waiter for a clean fork and all I got was attitude.

And if a nigga get a attitude / Pop it like it's hot

2004, “Drop It Like It's Hot”, performed by Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell Williams:

(Canada, US, UK, Philippines, informal) Unpleasant behavior.


halt

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

Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train.

2024 June 10, Wikipedia contributors, “Train station”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation:

(British, Ireland) A small railroad station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.


strip

Brill Publishers
en:strip (disambiguation)

From alteration of stripe or from Middle Low German strippe, of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps derived from a lost strong verb Proto-Germanic *strīpaną, with no clear cognates outside of Germanic except for Irish sríab (“line, stripe”).

(UK, soccer) The uniform of a football team, or the same worn by supporters.


clearing

en-noun

clearing (countable and uncountable, plural clearings)

(British, education) The period in which remaining university places are allocated to remaining students.


clever

en-adj

clever (comparative cleverer or more clever, superlative cleverest or most clever)

cleverer (comparative)
more clever (comparative)
cleverest (superlative)
most clever (superlative)

dull

antonym(s) of “smart, intelligent or witty”

ineffectual

antonym(s) of “resourceful, perhaps cunning”

→ German: clever

→ Limburgish: klevver

From East Anglian dialectal English cliver (“expert at seizing”), from Middle English cliver (“tenacious”).
* perhaps from Old English *clifer, clibbor (“clinging”);
* or perhaps from Dutch, Low German, or East/Saterland Frisian (compare kluftich (“clever, prudent”), probably derived from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban (“to cleave, split”));
* or dialectal Norwegian klover (“ready, skillful”), itself borrowed from Middle Low German klever, related to kleven (“to stick”), from Old Saxon klibōn, from Proto-West Germanic *klibēn, related to the Old English word above;
* possibly influenced by Old English clifer (“claw, hand”) (compare clawian (“to claw”)).
Related to cleave. Perhaps influenced by Welsh celfydd (“talented, dexterous, expert”).

cog

But at that moment I knew it was all over for me, I had never thought that this day would come, but it had and I was not feeling too clever. In fact I had to escape to a nearby toilet to be sick.

2010, Colin Ross, Death of the Docks, page 196:

Right, and no, because the solicitor has told her that Walter's legs didn't look too clever, which, apparently, everyone's putting down to a fall, thankfully.

2019, Neil Forsyth, 30:07 from the start, in Guilt, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Jake McCall (Jamie Sives):

(UK, colloquial, chiefly in the negative) Fit and healthy; free from fatigue or illness.


touch cloth

en-verb

touch cloth (third-person singular simple present touches cloth, present participle touching cloth, simple past and past participle touched cloth)

tlb

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand)

touches cloth (present singular third-person)
touching cloth (participle present)
touched cloth (participle past)
touched cloth (past)

(intransitive, slang) To be just on the point of soiling oneself.


tune

From Middle English tune, an unexplained variant of tone, from Old French ton, from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “a tone”). Doublet of tone, ton, and tonus.

You heard the new Rizzle Kicks song? — Tune!

(UK, slang) Used to show appreciation or approval of a song.


arctic roll

(British) A British dessert like a jelly roll, but with ice cream instead of jelly/jam.


busted flush

I thought I'd draw another spade, but I ended up with a busted flush.

(UK, poker) A potential flush which ultimately was not filled.

If this [Tony Blair] is such an utterly busted flush of a leader, why are so many Tories and their outriders so keen to have this Prime Minister gone before he can fight another election?

2004 May 2, Andrew Rawnsley, “Mission not accomplished”, in Guardian online, UK, retrieved 2012-10-14:

"In November last year, at the annual conference, a decision went against me and I took the view that I couldn't carry on. I was a busted flush as the General Secretary, and in a position where I did not have the support of everyone, so it was best that I moved on.

2021 May 19, Paul Clifton asks Mick Cash, “I am retiring on my own terms”, in RAIL, number 931, page 49:

(UK, idiomatic) Anything which ends up worthless despite great potential.

Reinfall

anything which ends up worthless despite great potential


blackjack

en-noun

blackjack (countable and uncountable, plural blackjacks)

→ Polish: blackjack

"Next!" steps gingerly in to confront the medical eye fastened questioningly upon him. "Crook in the guts," he says tersely. The picturesque reports of previously treated and disgusted patients - have left him doubtful, and he casts, an anathematising eye upon the "Black Jack" bottle. "Tabloids and duty!" says the doctor, and the sufferer sighs with relief.

1914 October 11, The Sunday Times, Perth, Australia, page 1, column 9:

I remember Black Jack very well and actually like the smell. It is no longer available with that trade name but glycerine of ichthammol can still be bought in chemists.

2010 October 19, John Davies, birminghamhistory.co.uk:

Used to be called Black Jack think my mom had an ancient jar in her medicine cupboard.

2008 September 19, stef240377, MoneySavingExpert.com:

(pharmacology, UK, Australia, rare) Ammonium bituminosulfonate.


coriander

coriander (usually uncountable, plural corianders)

→ Japanese: コリアンダー (koriandā)

/ˌkɒɹiˈændə/

/ˈkɔɹiˌændɚ/

/ˌkɔɹiˈændɚ/

From Middle English coriandre, from Anglo-Norman coriandre, from Old French corïandre, from Latin coriandrum, from Ancient Greek κορίανδρον (koríandron), of uncertain origin. Doublet of cilantro.
cognates, etc.
Compare Ancient Greek κορίαννον (koríannon), κορίαμβλον (koríamblon), Mycenaean Greek 𐀒𐀪𐁀𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-ha-da-na), 𐀒𐀪𐀊𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-ja-da-na), 𐀒𐀪𐀊𐀈𐀜 (ko-ri-ja-do-no), 𐀒𐀪𐀍𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-jo-da-na), Akkadian 𒌑𒄷𒌷𒌝 (^úḫurium) Aramaic כסברה (kusbara, “coriander”), Classical Syriac ܟܽܘܣܒܰܪܬܳܐ (kūsbartā, “coriander”) and Arabic كُزْبَرَة (kuzbara).
Beekes supposes that cluster -dn- implies a Pre-Greek word, and hypothesizes that *koriaⁿdro- may have dissimilated to *koriaⁿdno-.

cog

Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata

The life of one plant would be affected by another. Rue was definitely hostile to basil, rosemary to hyssop, but coriander, dill and chervil lived on the friendliest of terms[.]

1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 253:

Coriandrum sativum
Coriandrum sativum#Translingual

(UK, Ireland) The annual herb Coriandrum sativum, used in many cuisines.


porker

From pork + -er.
* (obese person; police officer): Carried over from the same senses of pig.
* (a lie): Extension of the rhyming slang pork pie.

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang


Greenwich Time Signal

en-noun

Greenwich Time Signal (plural Greenwich Time Signals)

(British) A time signal transmitted on radio by the BBC every hour and consisting of five short beeps followed by a longer one, with the longer one coinciding with the start of the hour.


orbital

Borrowed from Medieval Latin orbitālis, from orbita (“a track or rut; a circuit, orbit”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix), equivalent to orbit + -al. Doublet of orbitalis.

af

The M25 is an orbital motorway around London.

The rail orbital routes outside of the M25 and South Coast are challenging. The corridors aren't particularly reliable, and in some places they don't exist. [...] But the reliability and journey times, particularly on the orbital routes: one train an hour from Gatwick Airport to Reading? Surely we can do better than that?

(chiefly UK) (of roads, railways) Passing around the outside of an urban area.


orbital

orbital motorway
orbital motorway#English

(chiefly UK) Ellipsis of orbital motorway.


sizing

en-noun

sizing (countable and uncountable, plural sizings)

(UK, Cambridge University, dated) Food and drink ordered from the buttery by a student.


villa

Borrowed from Italian villa, from Latin vīlla (“country house”). Doublet of vill and ville.

They were just ordinary suburban children, and they lived with their Father and Mother in an ordinary red-brick-fronted villa, with coloured glass in the front door, a tiled passage that was called a hall, a bath-room with hot and cold water, electric bells, French windows, and a good deal of white paint, and 'every modern convenience', as the house-agents say.

1905, E. Nesbit, chapter 1, in The Railway Children, page 1:

(UK, plural "villas") A family house, often semi-detached in Victorian or Edwardian style, in a middle class street.


sergeant

From Middle English sergeant, sergeaunt, serjent, serjaunt, serjawnt, sergant, from Old French sergeant, sergent, serjant, sergient, sergant (“sergeant, servant”), from Medieval Latin servientem, accusative of serviens (“a servant, vassal, soldier, apparitor”), from Latin serviēns (“serving”), present participle of serviō (“serve, be a slave to”). Doublet of servant and servient.
The shift from /vj/ > /dʒ/ was a regular development in Old French. Compare cavea > cage, salvia > sage.
The fish is so called because of its stripes, supposed to resemble a sergeant's insignia of rank.
The pronunciation with /ɑɹ/ is due to a widespread development of Middle English er + consonant (see barn, start etc.). In sergeant, the spelling was standardised in one way, the pronunciation in another (compare clerk, derby in Commonwealth English, further parson vs. person, and varsity vs. university).

sergeant surgeon, i.e. a servant, or attendant, surgeon

(UK, historical) A title sometimes given to the servants of the sovereign.


post

→ Bulgarian: пост (post) (Internet)

→ Chinese: po, PO

Cantonese: pou¹

Mandarin: pōu

Min Nan: pho͘

→ French: post

→ Irish: post

→ Italian: post

→ Malay: pos

→ Maori: pōhi

→ Polish: post

→ Portuguese: post

→ Russian: пост (post)

→ Scottish Gaelic: post

→ Spanish: post

→ Swahili: posta

→ Welsh: post

Borrowed from Middle French poste, from Italian posta (“stopping-place for coaches”), feminine of posto (“placed, situated”).

der

sent via post; parcel post

I take it too as an opportunity of sending you the fair copy of the poem on Dullness, which was not then finished, and which I should not care to hazard by the common post.

1707, Alexander Pope, Letter VII (to Mr. Wycherly), November 11

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) An organisation for delivering letters, parcels etc., or the service provided by such an organisation.

Royal Mail worker Evette Chapman gathered a team of 12 colleagues to deliver post in fancy dress and raise money for a nurses' charity and patients in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.

2020 November 18, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 71:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A single delivery of letters; the letters or deliveries that make up a single batch delivered to one person or one address.


post

en-verb

post (third-person singular simple present posts, present participle posting, simple past and past participle posted)

posts (present singular third-person)
posting (participle present)
posted (participle past)
posted (past)

→ Finnish: postata

Mail items posted before 7.00pm within the Central Business District and before 5.00pm outside the Central Business District will be delivered the next working day.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To send (an item of mail etc.) through the postal service.


valet

valet (third-person singular simple present valets, present participle valeting, simple past and past participle valeted)

valets (present singular third-person)
valeting (participle present)
valeted (participle past)
valeted (past)

Borrowed from Middle French valet, from Old French vaslet, from Medieval Latin *vassellittus, diminutive of Late Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).

der

He revealed: “We had been through a lot and I decided the car needed to be cleaned out after Georgina had to deliver the baby in the car.
“You can imagine the scene when I left the car in for valeting. I got some funny looks and I had to explain to the guy that I wasn’t up to anything illegal because it did look a bit like a crime scene.”

2017 March 7, Stephen Maguire, “Hero Irish dad reveals he had to tell car valet he ‘wasn’t up to anything illegal’ after wife gave birth on back seat on Donegal road”, in The Irish Sun:

(transitive, chiefly UK, Ireland) To clean and service (a car), as a valet does.


chicory

en-noun

chicory (countable and uncountable, plural chicories)

From Late Middle English cicoree, cicory, cicorea, sicory, sycory (“common chicory (Cichorium intybus); heliotrope”), from Old French cicoree (modern French chicorée (“common chicory; endive; coffee substitute made from common chicory”)), or directly from its etymon Medieval Latin cicorea, cichorea, *cichōria, from Latin cichorium, cichoreum (“common chicory; endive”), from Ancient Greek κίχορα (kíkhora), κιχόρεια (kikhóreia), neuter plural of κιχώριον (kikhṓrion, “chicory”). The English word is cognate with Italian cicórea, and is a doublet of succory.

cog

I sent you the chiccory seed for trial, as it is so highly spoken of by A. Young and other British writers, [...] In foreign countries an imitation of coffee is made, by grinding the dried and burnt roots, and mixing a little real coffee wih the ground roots.

1815 June, Richard Peters, “Original Letter from Judge Peters of Pennsylvania, with Remarks on the Culture of Chiccory, the Mangel Wurtzel or Scarcity Root, &c. [Addressed to the Hon. Josiah Quincy, Esq.]”, in The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, volume III, number 4, Boston, Mass.: Published by the Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture; printed for the Society, by Ezra B. Tileston, →OCLC, page 350:

In its fresh vegetable state, chicory, or succory—the Cichorium Intybus of botanists, is said to be a good tonic, and to have the effect of an aperient.

1849 April 7, “The Outcry about Chicory”, in William, Robert Chambers, editors, Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, volume XI, number 275 (New Series), Edinburgh: Published by William and Robert Chambers; London: W[illiam] S[omerville] Orr, →OCLC, page 217, column 1:

The Colonial Garden contains plants brought from the Old World by colonists, as well as native plants that were used in colonial times. Planted here are yarrow (Achillea millefolium), chicory (Cichorium intybus), bee balm (Monarda didyma), and sorrel (Rumex acetosa).

1980 June, The National Herb Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum (Program Aid; no. 1261), [Washington, D.C.]: Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, published May 1993 (revised), →OCLC, paragraph 3:

Chicories are a cool-weather salad staple throughout most of Italy. They include the rustic cutting chicories sometimes found growing wild in Italy, the burgundy-colored heading radicchios, and the elegant Belgian endive. All chicories share a mildly bitter taste that can be mitigated by blanching them and soaking them in salted water.

1999, Rosalind Creasy, “Italian Garden Encyclopedia [Chicories (cicorie): Cichorium intybus]”, in The Edible Italian Garden, North Clarendon, Vt., Singapore: Periplus Editions, →ISBN, page 36, column 2:

Chickory and radicchio (Cichorium intybus), which is a red-leafed chickory, can add a slightly bitter tang to a salad. Green chickories can be sown in early spring.

2012, Claire Splan, “Fruits, Herbs, Nuts & Vegetables [Lettuce]”, in California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening: Plant, Grow, and Eat the Best Edibles for California Gardens, Brentwood, Tenn.: Cool Springs Press, →ISBN, page 163:

Cichorium intybus
Cichorium intybus#Translingual

(countable) Either of two plants of the Asteraceae family.

(chiefly British) The common chicory (Cichorium intybus), the source of Belgian endive, radicchio, and sugarloaf.


leapfrog

en-noun

leapfrog (countable and uncountable, plural leapfrogs)

Sam Hood
State Library of New South Wales

The Supreme Court can hear appeals direct from the High Court under the ‘leapfrog’ procedure. This procedure is reserved for matters certified by the Supreme Court to be of general public importance—the type of issue which would ultimately be appealed from the Court of Appeal in any event. There are normally a few of these direct appeals from the High Court each year.

2015, Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, Catherine Shephard, “The Court System of England & Wales”, in Legal Systems & Skills, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 75:

An appeal to the Court of Cassation can be filed against judgments issued on (first) appeal, which means judgments issued in general by a court of appeals, even though the Code provides for judgments issued by courts of first instance that can be reviewed by the Court of Cassation through a sort of ‘leapfrog’ appeal; […]

2017, Elisabetta Silvestri, “The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation: Of Misnomers and Unaccomplished Missions”, in Cornelius Hendrik (Remco) van Rhee, Yulin Fu, editors, Supreme Courts in Transition in China and the West: Adjudication at the Service of Public Goals (Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice; 59), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 234:

(chiefly British, law, usually attributive) The process by which a case is appealed or allowed to be appealed directly to a supreme court, bypassing an intermediate appellate court.


leapfrog

en-verb

leapfrog (third-person singular simple present leapfrogs, present participle leapfrogging, simple past and past participle leapfrogged)

leapfrogs (present singular third-person)
leapfrogging (participle present)
leapfrogged (participle past)
leapfrogged (past)

In Jones v Kaney [2010] EWHC 61 (Q.B.) at first instance, the issue was whether the claimant's psychologist in a personal injury claim was negligent because in a joint written statement with the other side's expert, she had resiled from her diagnosis of PTSD without comment or amendment of her report, greatly damaging the claimant's case. The claimant sued in negligence, the judge was constrained by the authorities, but granted a certificate under s. 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 to leapfrog the case to the Supreme Court.

2012, Lord Justice [Rupert] Jackson, editor, Civil Procedure, volume 1, London: Sweet & Maxwell, Thomson Reuters, →ISBN, paragraph 35.12.4, page 1097:

(transitive, chiefly British, law) To appeal or allow to be appealed (a case) directly to a supreme court, bypassing an intermediate appellate court.


duds

I looked at what I could see of my rough blue duds, which I had plenty of opportunity of contrasting with the gay attire of the citizens we had come across; […]

1890, William Morris, News from Nowhere, in the journal The Commonweal. (First published in book form 1890.)

“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. […]”

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

They grab his duds and his picks as well. They hoy him down to the pit of hell. Down you go and fare ye well. You dirty blackleg miner.

1970 June 14, traditional (lyrics and music), “The Blackleg Miner” (track 4), in Hark! The Village Wait, performed by Steeleye Span:

We were hard-pressed to find anyone who actually skis in these designer duds, but someone's buying the stuff: Hilfiger's ski and boardwear line grosses around $25 million per year […]

JESSE:Badger? Where you been keeping yourself? Nice duds.

2008 October 26, Vince Gilligan,Patty Lin, directed by Tricia Brock, Breaking Bad (Gray Matter) (1), episode 5 (TV), spoken by Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul):

Scavenger: Nice duds. Better watch your back. There's probably already a dozen people planning to kill you for them.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Elaaden:

(US, British, informal, dated) Clothing, especially for work or of rough appearance.

Klamotten

clothing, especially those for work or of rough appearance


jug

en-noun

jug (countable and uncountable, plural jugs)

→ Welsh: jwg, jẁg, siwg

From Middle English jugge, of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant of Middle English jubbe, jobbe, iubbe, geobbe, itself of unknown origin; or perhaps continuing (in altered form) Old English ċēac (“pitcher; jug”). Compare also jug (“a low woman, maidservant”), from Jug, familiar form of Joanna.

the jug goes to the well until it breaks

(UK, informal) A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.


Hooray Henry

Hooray Henry (plural Hooray Henrys or Hooray Henries)

Hooray Henrys (plural)
Hooray Henries (plural)

It was a nice pub, down by the river, but full of Hooray Henrys.

(UK, colloquial, derogatory) An offensively loud-mouthed upper class man.


make an exhibition of oneself

en-verb

make an exhibition of oneself (third-person singular simple present makes an exhibition of oneself, present participle making an exhibition of oneself, simple past and past participle made an exhibition of oneself)

makes an exhibition of oneself (present singular third-person)
making an exhibition of oneself (participle present)
made an exhibition of oneself (participle past)
made an exhibition of oneself (past)

She had far too much to drink and made an exhibition of herself by flirting with everyone.

(idiomatic, UK) To embarrass oneself or others in public by behaving foolishly.


pantomime

en-noun

pantomime (countable and uncountable, plural pantomimes)

Circa 17th century, from Latin pantomīmus, from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), from πᾶς (pâs, “each, all”) + μιμέομαι (miméomai, “I mimic”).

With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.

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

(UK) A traditional theatrical entertainment, originally based on the commedia dell'arte, but later aimed mostly at children and involving physical comedy, topical jokes, call and response, and fairy-tale plots.

Pantomime

traditional theatrical entertainment, mostly for children


reit

reit (countable and uncountable, plural reits)

The Squillae[…]live in marine[…]places: their meat is oisters, and reites.

1661, Robert Lovell, ΠΑΝΖΩΟΡΥΚΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ [PANZŌORYKTOLOGIA]. Sive Panzoologicomineralogia. Or A Compleat History of Animals and Minerals, Containing the Summe of All Authors, both Ancient and Modern, Galenicall and Chymicall, …, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Hen[ry] Hall, for Jos[eph] Godwin, →OCLC:


exempt

From Middle French exempt, from Latin exemptus, past participle of eximō.

(UK) One of four officers of the Yeomen of the Royal Guard, having the rank of corporal; an exon.


postman

The total of their members amounts to 342,723 for 1875. Among these number … 6,968 male and sixty-three female postmen, imperial railway, telegraph, and post officials, railway workmen, dependent boatmen, waiters, &c.; …

1876–1877, Benjamin Homans (ed.), The Banker's Magazine and Statistical Register. Volume thirty-first, or, Volume eleventh of the third Series. From July, 1876, to June, 1877, inclusive, p. 283

A single narrow iron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. On this our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like rat-tat.

1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 72:

The headmistress entered and told the girls "I want you to do everything you can to help the war effort—you are old enough to do it now." The girls changed into women postmen, head waiters, soldiers, landgirls, butchers and carpenters.

1971, J. P. Gallagher, Fred Karno: Master of Mirth and Tears, page 119:

Postmen, binmen, dock workers, even barristers are now on strike. Where will all this end?

2022 September 7, Philip Haigh, “Comment: More strikes and poor morale”, in RAIL, number 965, page 3:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) someone who delivers the post (mail) to, and/or collects the post from, residential or commercial addresses, or from public mailboxes.


extend

en-verb

extend (third-person singular simple present extends, present participle extending, simple past and past participle extended)

extends (present singular third-person)
extending (participle present)
extended (participle past)
extended (past)

From Middle English extenden, from Anglo-Norman extendre, estendre, from Latin extendō (“I stretch out”).

(UK, law) To value, as lands taken by a writ of extent in satisfaction of a debt; to assign by writ of extent.


mum

mum (third-person singular simple present mums, present participle mumming, simple past and past participle mummed)

mums (present singular third-person)
mumming (participle present)
mummed (participle past)
mummed (past)

From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).

onomatopoeic

reminiscent

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

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

(UK, slang, obsolete, transitive) To silence.


fringe

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”, plural), of uncertain origin. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse. Eclipsed native Middle English fnæd (“fringe”), Middle English byrd (“fringe”), Middle English fasel (“fringe”) from Old English fæs (“fringe”), and Old English fnæs (“fringe”). Doublet of fimbria.

der

Her fringe is so long it covers her eyes.

In a few minutes Mrs. Athelny appeared. She had taken her hair out of the curling pins and now wore an elaborate fringe.

1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “Chapter LXXXVIII”, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

Fayne in the photograph had a fringe, hair frizzed over hidden ears, sleeves over-ornate, the whole thing out of keeping.

1981, Hilda Doolittle, HERmione, page 155:

Ingeborg knew she wasn′t ready for fringes or short hair like some of the women she′d seen, and she hoped her daughter wasn′t either.
“No.” Astrid′s tone dismissed Sophie and the fringe as she galloped off to a new topic.

2007, Lauraine Snelling, Sophie's Dilemma, page 16:

Set against the seductive visual and textual imagery of these soft-focus fantasy worlds, the stock list details offer the reader a very real solution to achieving the look themselves, ‘Hair, including coloured fringes (obtainable from Joseph, £3.50) by Paul Nix’ (Baker 1972a: 68).

2009, Geraldine Biddle-Perry, Sarah Cheang, Hair: Styling, Culture and Fashion, page 231:

(UK) Synonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle where it is cut straight across.


custom

en-noun

custom (countable and uncountable, plural customs)

PIE word
 *ḱóm
 PIE word
 *swé
From Middle English custume, borrowed from Anglo-Norman custume, inherited from Latin consuētūdinem, a noun derived from cōnsuēscō, from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). Doublet of costume and consuetude.
Adjective form circa 1830.

klandizie

habitual buying of goods from one same vendor

Let him have your custom, but not your votes.

1710 September 28, Joseph Addison, The Whig Examiner, number 3:

(dated outside UK) Habitual buying of goods from one same vendor.

(collectively) The habitual patrons (i.e. customers) of a business; business support.


phonograph

/ˈfəʊnəˌɡɹɑːf/

/ˈfoʊnəˌɡɹæf/

(British, historical) A device that records or plays sound from cylinder records.


bunker

→ Catalan: búnquer

desctree

→ German: Bunker
→ Polish: bunkier
→ Romanian: buncăr

The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Early Scots bunker, bunkur, bonker (“a chest or box, often serving as a seat”), probably from Old Norse bunki (“a heap”) (probably whence bunk (“sleeping berth in a ship, train, etc.”)), from Proto-Germanic *bunkô (“a heap, pile; a bump, lump, a crowd”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick”) or *bʰeg- (“to billow, swell; to arch, bend, curve (?)”). Compare Middle Low German bunge (“drum, container”), Middle High German bunge (“drum”). Sense 1 (“hardened shelter designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks”) was derived from German Bunker during World War II, which was itself from bunker (“large bin or container for storing coal”) (sense 5).
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

(British, chiefly historical) A large bin or container for storing coal, often built outdoors in the yard of a house.


bunker

en-verb

bunker (third-person singular simple present bunkers, present participle bunkering, simple past and past participle bunkered)

bunkers (present singular third-person)
bunkering (participle present)
bunkered (participle past)
bunkered (past)

попадам в пясъчника

to hit (a golf ball) into a bunker; to place (a golfer) in the position of having a golf ball in a bunker

Proteus. Or we resign and tell the country that we cant carry on the King's Government under conditions which destroy our responsibility. / Balbus. Thatll do it. He couldnt face that. / Crassus. Yes: thatll bunker him.

1928 December (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza, London: Constable and Company, published 1930, →OCLC, Act I, page 18:

(transitive, golf) To hit (a golf ball) into a bunker; (chiefly passive voice) to place (a golfer) in the position of having a golf ball in a bunker.

(idiomatic, UK, informal) To place (someone) in a position that is difficult to get out of; to hinder.


bunker

From bunk (“to fail to attend school or work without permission, to play truant”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns indicating a person or thing that does an action).

suffix

(British, slang) One who bunks off; a truant from school.


stinker

The barely-released stinker Dark Tide continues Stockwell’s fetishistic pattern, coming alive whenever it’s paddling among the sharks off the South African coast and settling in for a long snooze once it gets back on the boat or reaches dry land.

2002 April 19, Scott Tobias, “Dark Tide”, in AV Club:

Steven Pinker, Rational Thinker: His new book is a stinker. [title]

2021 September 30, Ted McCormick, “Steven Pinker, Rational Thinker”, in Slate:

Now it’s over, let’s come out and say it: The Rings of Power was a stinker [title]

2022 October 17, Stuart Heritage, “Now it’s over, let’s come out and say it: The Rings of Power was a stinker”, in The Guardian:

(British, slang) Something of poor quality.


verge

Borrowed from Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”), of unknown origin. Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c.1400). Modern sense is from the notion of 'within the verge' (1509, also as Anglo-Norman dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the royal court, which sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Doublet of virga.

bor

A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.

(UK, historical) The stick or wand with which persons were formerly admitted tenants, by holding it in the hand and swearing fealty to the lord. Such tenants were called tenants by the verge.

The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.

2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 129:

(UK, Western Australia, New Zealand) The grassy area between the footpath and the street; a tree lawn; a grassed strip running alongside either side of an outback road.

accotement

grassy area between the sidewalk and the street


antipodes

From Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀντίποδες (antípodes), from ἀντί (antí, “opposite”) + πόδες (pódes), plural of πούς (poús, “foot”).

(UK, now rare) Australia and New Zealand.


roo

From Middle English roo, ro, from Old English rō, rōw (“quietness, quiet, rest”), from Proto-Germanic *rōō (“quiet, rest”), from Proto-Indo-European *ere(w)-, *rē(w)- (“quiet”). Cognate with Scots ro, ruve (“peace, repose”), German Ruhe (“rest, peace, tranquility”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish ro (“rest, peace, tranquility”), Icelandic ró (“tranquility, quietness”).

cog

(UK dialectal or obsolete) Peace; quietness.


diary

→ Indonesian: diari

From Latin diārium (“a daily allowance for soldiers, in Late Latin also ‘diary’”), neuter of *diārius, from diēs (“a day”) (whence also journal). Cognate with Spanish diario (“daily; diary”).

der

It is recommended that teachers and pupils are issued with homework diaries to help implement and monitor the homework timetable.

2004, Victoria Kidwell, Homework, page 29:

(British, Canada) A personal organizer or appointment diary.


cloakroom

(British, Ireland, India) A room intended for holding luggage, as at an airport.

(British, Ireland, euphemistic) A lavatory, now particularly a small secondary lavatory or a men's room.


dogfish

From dog + fish. Compare Greek σκυλόψαρο (skylópsaro, “dogfish”), Latin canicula (“dogfish”, literally “little dog”), Italian pescecane (“dogfish”), French chien de mer (literally “dog of the sea”), German Meerhund (literally “seadog”) and Hundfisch (“dogfish”), and English seadog. For non-Indo-European cognates, see Maltese kelb il-baħar (literally “dog of the sea”) and Turkish köpek balığı (“shark”), likely calques from Indo-European languages.

Dornhaiartige

small sharks of the Scyliorhinidae, Dalatiidae and Squalidae families

dogfish orientalis

a grunt native to coral reefs of the western Pacific Ocean

Plunket's dogfish (Centroscymnus plunketi

rasptooth dogfish (Etmopterus sheikoi

alternately known as Miroscyllium sheikoi

Scyliorhinus canicula
Scyliorhinus canicula#Translingual

Scyliorhinus stellaris
Scyliorhinus stellaris#Translingual

(UK) Scyliorhinus canicula or Scyliorhinus stellaris