banger

→ Estonian: bänger

→ Finnish: bängeri

From bang + -er. The sausages were so called because of their excess water content and impervious skin, leading to the risk of explosion if not punctured before cooking.

A thing or person which bangs, in any sense.

[…] yet not only was Gok able to tell her that her 'bangers' were amazing: he buried his head in her cleavage. No other man on television would have been able to get away with that.

2010, Emily Herbert, Gok Wan: The Biography:

(British, sexuality, slang) A woman's breast.

(British, sexuality, slang) A man's penis.

Coordinate term: bangers and mash

(British, New Zealand, Australia, food, slang) A sausage.


whoremonger

/ˈhɔːˌmʌŋ.ɡə/

/ˈhɔɹˌmɑŋ.ɡɚ/

/ˈhɔɹˌmʌŋ.ɡɚ/

(UK, Ireland, vulgar) A frequent customer of whores.

(UK, Ireland, vulgar) A procurer of whores; a pimp.


paddle

en-noun

paddle (countable and uncountable, plural paddles)

→ Danish: paddel, padle

Partly from the verb paddle ("to splash, dabble"; see below) and partly from Middle English padell (“small spade”).
Middle English padell is from Medieval Latin padela, itself of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Middle English *spaddle (see also spaddle), a diminutive of spade; or from Latin patella (“pan, plate”), the diminutive of patina, or a merger of the two. Compare Ancient Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder, steering oar”), derived from πηδός (pēdós, “the blade of an oar; an oar”).

cog

(British) A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.


paddle

en-verb

paddle (third-person singular simple present paddles, present participle paddling, simple past and past participle paddled)

paddles (present singular third-person)
paddling (participle present)
paddled (participle past)
paddled (past)

Recorded since 1530, probably cognate with Low German paddeln (“to tramp about”), frequentative form of padjen (“to tramp, run in short steps”), from pad (also in Dutch dialects). Compare also Saterland Frisian paddelje (“to paddle”).

cog

(intransitive, British) To walk or dabble playfully in shallow water, especially at the seaside.

газя

to walk or dabble playfully in shallow water


barrack

en-verb

barrack (third-person singular simple present barracks, present participle barracking, simple past and past participle barracked)

barracks (present singular third-person)
barracking (participle present)
barracked (participle past)
barracked (past)

I knew that he had been barracked at times, but I did not realise that he was so sensitive.

1934, Herbert Chapman, Herbert Chapman on Football, page 140:

Some people stopped concentrating on the piece altogether, some started barracking and heckling, while others began chatting to one another.

2006, Ramsay Burt, Judson Dance Theater: Performative traces, page 192:

Its basic tenet was to say that if those Arsenal supporters who barracked the board at home games could do any better, let them come forward, put some money in the club, and have a go at being directors themselves. In short, ‘Put up or shut up’, which, of course, only encouraged Johnny and One-armed Lou to heckle the Arsenal board even more. Dear old Dennis, he had no idea the barracking he and his fellow Arsenal directors suffered at every home game came from Spurs supporters.

2009, Jimmy Greaves, The Heart of the Game, unnumbered page:

(British, transitive) To jeer and heckle; to attempt to disconcert by verbal means.


mineral

From Middle English mineral, borrowed from Old French mineral, (French minéral), from Medieval Latin minerale, from minera (“ore”), probably ultimately derived from Latin mina (“ore, mine”).


ones

(UK, prison slang) The cells located on the ground floor.


Durex

Condom brand name: 1929, from durability, reliability, excellence.


Durex

en-noun

Durex (countable and uncountable, plural Durexes)

All I know is that you could, if you wanted to, find the answers to all sorts of difficult questions buried in that terrible war-torn interregnum between the first pubic hair and the first soiled Durex.

1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 17:

Pocket full of Durex, body full of Mandrex / Are we gonna have sex? Will you wear your knee socks?

2006, “Rudebox”, in Rudebox, performed by Robbie Williams:


jokes

en-adj

jokes (comparative more jokes, superlative most jokes)

more jokes (comparative)
most jokes (superlative)

this thing is so jokes...i think it would be wack if someone responded to this.. but plz do cause that would be, like, some cool shit.

1998 October 14, Spon842187, “MMMMMM...I taste yummy =:-)”, in alt.personals.teen (Usenet), message-ID <NA>:

Andrew VS Neil and Mike is totally jokes! I love it when Andrew gets pissed, lol. It's so cool!

2008, Zetsu, “Floaters and gravity”, in sci.med.vision (Usenet):

“Nah, fuck it. I've got a condom. It'll be jokes.”

2010, Richard Hoffman, It Always Rains in November, page 199:

Dappy's new tune is jokes, in a good way. Thoroughly entertaining and insightful which is more than I can say for most things on the radio.

Man, that video is bare jokes!


international

[ˌɪɾ̃ɚˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)ɫ]

From inter- + national. Introduced in modern English by Jeremy Bentham in his An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1780.

The United team includes five England internationals.

"The young fellah meant no real harm. After all, he's an International, so if he takes half an hour to describe a game of football he has more right to do it than most folk."

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

(sports, chiefly British, Ireland, Australia) Someone who has represented their country in a particular sport.


git

From Middle English get (“[illegitimate] offspring”). A southern variant of Scots get (“illegitimate child, brat”), related to beget.

inh

Although I'm so tired, I'll have another cigarette / And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git

1968, “I'm So Tired”, in John Lennon (lyrics), The Beatles, performed by the Beatles:

Bit of a flash git, don't you think?

1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

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

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

Eventually God gives the donkey a voice and it says, "why're you beating me you great stupid git? It's the angel with the sword that you gotta be careful of," or words to that effect.

2007, Greg Weston, The Man Upstairs, →ISBN, page 124:

Here we see the common domestic goose, Anser cygnoides domesticus. Found across the British countryside, it is known for its distinctive call; proud, majestic stature; and for being an all-round inconsiderate little git!

2019, The Stupendium (lyrics and music), “What a Fowl Day”:

I'm not being a miserable old git here. I like a laugh as much as anyone, [...].

2020 December 16, Christian Wolmar, “Coverage of little-used stations does the railway no favours”, in RAIL, page 45:

(British, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A silly, incompetent, stupid, or annoying person (usually a man).

blbec

A silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying or childish person


manky

en-adj

manky (comparative mankier, superlative mankiest)

mankier (comparative)
mankiest (superlative)

"He don't want those," his father said, holding a bag of apples at the end of an outstretched arm as if they were a danger to his health, "they're all... manky."

2005, Justin Peter Beaney, Kasdeja's Children:

"Speaking of which—" Fionn starts foostering in the pocket of his manky old jacket—"I've probably got something for you."

2010, Marian Keyes, The Brightest Star in the Sky:

I bet your fanny's fucking minging / Sort out your manky Scouse brow

2016 December 3, Millie B (lyrics and music), “Soph Aspin Send”, performed by Millie B:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Unpleasantly dirty and disgusting.


old man

en-noun

old man (countable and uncountable, plural old men)

From Middle English alde mann, aldman, elde man, oldeman, from Old English eald man.

“Don't mention it, old man,” I responded courteously.

1934 October 5, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins […], →OCLC:

'Coming up, coming up, coming up,' Pop said. 'There you are, Charley, old man. Larkin Special. Don't ask what's in it. Don't stare at it. Don't think. Just drink it down. In ten minutes you'll feel perfick again.'

1958, H. E. Bates, The Darling Buds of May:

(UK, dated) Term of address for a male friend, irrespective of age.


clip

→ Japanese: クリップ (kurippu)

→ Portuguese: clipe

From Middle English clippen, cleppen, clüppen, from Old English clyppan (“to hug, embrace, cherish, clasp”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glemb-, *glembʰ- (“lump, clump, clod, clamp”). Cognate with Old Frisian kleppa, klippa (“to hug, embrace”), Middle High German klimpen, klimpfen (“to contract tightly, constrict, squeeze”).

inh

(fishing, UK, Scotland) A gaff or hook for landing the fish, as in salmon fishing.


APT

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of advanced passenger train.

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of anatomical pathology technologist.


weed

en-noun

weed (countable and uncountable, plural weeds)

From Middle English weed, weod, from Old English wēod (“weed”), from Proto-West Germanic *weud (“weed”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jood (“weed”), West Frisian wjûd (“weed”), Dutch wied (“unwanted plant, weed”), German Low German Weed (“weed”), Old High German wiota (“fern”). See also woad.

(countable, British, informal) A puny person; one who has little physical strength.


flack

en-verb

flack (third-person singular simple present flacks, present participle flacking, simple past and past participle flacked)

flacks (present singular third-person)
flacking (participle present)
flacked (participle past)
flacked (past)

From Middle English flacken (“to palpitate, flutter”), from Old English *flaccian, from Proto-West Germanic *flakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *flakkōną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-, which could be related to Ancient Greek πλάζω (plázō, “to turn away from”).
Akin to Middle Dutch vlacken (“to flicker, flash, sparkle”), Danish flakke (“to wander”), Swedish flacka (“to rove, rove about, ramble”), Icelandic flakka (“to move”). Compare also Icelandic flaka (“to flap, hang loose”), Swedish flaxa (“to flap, flutter”).

cog

(intransitive, UK dialectal) To hang loosely; flag.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To beat by flapping.


ASBO

(British, law enforcement) Anti-Social Behaviour Order

(British, informal) one who has been issued with the above legal order.


ASBO

en-verb

ASBO (third-person singular simple present ASBOs, present participle ASBOing, simple past and past participle ASBOed)

ASBOs (present singular third-person)
ASBOing (participle present)
ASBOed (participle past)
ASBOed (past)

Yes he will probably end up in the criminal justice system in a few years time - but if we ASBO him now he's going to end up there an awful lot quicker because he will breach it.

2005, Andrew Millie, Anti-Social Behaviour Strategies: Finding a Balance, page 31:

"Shut up, both of you. I've got the police here. You'll get asboed," Sally shouted

2008, Harry James, Consequences?, page 65:

The redemptive storyline reminded me of the importance, in my own practice, of continuing to learn from the understanding of others' experiences and interactions in negotiating the new penal landscape of "ASBOing", portrayed so well in Rhodes' novel.

2008, Peter Squires, ASBO Nation: The Criminalisation of Nuisance, page 151:

(British, law enforcement, transitive) To issue an Anti-Social Behaviour Order to.


whilst

From Late Middle English whilst, whilest, qwhilste (Northern England), quilest (Northwest Midlands) [and other forms], from whiles (“during the time that, while; only so long as; provided that; because, since; until”) + -t (excrescent suffix, perhaps due to a combination of -(e)s and the following word the, or influenced by the superlative suffix -est). Whiles is derived from whiles (“period of time, a while”, noun) (probably from the second element of adverbs and conjunctions like otherwhiles and somewhiles), from while (“period of time, a while”, noun) + -s (suffix forming adverbs of manner, space, and time); and while is from Old English hwīl (“period of time, a while”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (“period of time, a while; period of rest, break, pause”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”). The English word can be analysed as whiles + -t (excrescent suffix appended to words suffixed with -s).
cognates
* West Frisian wylst (“whilst”)

nb...

whylest, whylst, (Northwest Midlands) quilist, quylest, quylist

suffix

Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand. ― instruction on a bus stand sign

I ſaw a Smith ſtand with his hammer (thus) / The whilſt his Iron did on the Anuile coole.

c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 16, column 1:

[…] Ile nere be drunk whilſt I liue againe, but in honeſt, ciuill, godly company for this tricke: if I be drunke, Ile be drunke with thoſe that haue the feare of God, and not with drunken knaues.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 40, column 2:

VVell, make your mirth, the whilſt I bear my miſery: / Honeſt minds vvould have better thoughts.

1633 May 21 (licensing date; Gregorian calendar), John Fletcher, [James Shirley], The Night-Walker, or The Little Thief. A Comedy, […], London: […] Andrew Crook[e], published 1661, →OCLC, Act I:

And thus with lame pretences they revive / Thoſe Lines when Dead, he bluſh'd at whilſt alive: / As if Mankind could not diſcern their Evil, / Without a naked Viſion of the Devil.

1703, [Daniel Defoe], More Reformation. A Satyr upon Himself. […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 12:

Elizabeth, as she affectionately embraced her, whilst tears filled the eyes of both, lost not a moment in asking whether any thing had been heard of the fugitives.

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter V, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 92:

The locomotive [...] was quietly "blowing off" on one Ross "pop" valve, whilst the rhythmic clanging of the fireman's shovel, the black smoke pouring from her chimney, and the harsh sound of the blower told of the proximity of departure time.

1942 July-August, Philip Spencer, “On the Footplate in Egypt”, in Railway Magazine, page 208:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, literary or rare in North America) Synonym of while

During the whole, or until the end, of the time that; as long as, at the same time.

[P]ray, step down to the cellar and fetch us a bottle of the Burgundy, 1678—it is the fourth bin from the right-hand turn—And I say, Craigie—you may fetch up half-a-dozen whilst you are about it—Egad, we'll make a night on't.

1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 172:

Within, or before the end, of the time that.

His company must do his minions grace, / Whil'ſt I at home ſtarue for a merrie looke: / Hath homelie age th'alluring beauty tooke / From my poore cheeke?

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 88, column 1:

So then I am not lame, poore, nor diſpiſ'd, / VVhilſt that this ſhadow doth ſuch ſubſtance giue, / That I in thy abundance am ſuffic'd, / And by a part of all thy glory liue: […]

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 37”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

There is a place near St. Paul's in London, called in the old records "Diana's chamber," where, in the days of king Edward I. thousands of the heads of oxen were digged up; whereat the ignorant wondered, whilst the learned well understood them to be the proper sacrifices to Diana, whose great temple was built thereabout.

1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section I. The First Century.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), subsection 2 (Their Principal Idols), page 6:

Whilst her appearance was an utter failure (as her husband felt with a sort of rage), Mrs. Rawdon Crawley's début was, on the contrary, very brilliant.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Brussels”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 253:

Synonym of while
Although; in contrast; whereas.

Modern engine sheds of advanced design have also been built at Radyr, Abercynon, and elsewhere, whilst other depots have been remodelled and re-equipped.

1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 161:

The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.

1963, Margery Allingham, “The Boy in the Corner”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 214:

Synonym of while
Only if; provided that; as long as.


cookie

→ Arabic: كُوكِي (kuki)

→ Cantonese: 曲奇 (kuk¹ kei⁴)

→ Mandarin: 曲奇 (qūqí)

→ Catalan: cookie

→ Cebuano: kokis

→ French: cookie

→ Georgian: ქუქი (kuki)

→ German: Cookie

→ Gujarati: કૂકી (kūkī)

→ Hindi: कुकी (kukī)

→ Italian: cookie

→ Japanese: クッキー (kukkī)

→ Kannada: ಕುಕಿ (kuki)

→ Korean: 쿠키 (kuki)

→ Malay: kuki

→ Polish: cookie

→ Portuguese: cookie

→ Russian: куки (kuki)

→ Spanish: cookie

→ Swedish: cookie

→ Tagalog: kuki

→ Telugu: కుకీ (kukī)

→ Thai: คุกกี้ (kúk-gîi)

Borrowed from Dutch koekie, dialectal diminutive of koek (“cake”), from Proto-Germanic *kōkô (compare German Low German Kookje (“biscuit, cookie, cracker”), Low German Kook (“cake”), German Kuchen (“cake”)). More at cake. Not related to English cook.
The computing senses derive from magic cookie.

koekie

small, flat baked good — see also biscuit

(UK, Commonwealth) A sweet baked good (as in the previous sense) usually having chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, etc. baked into it.

koekie

sweet baked good (as in the previous sense) which has chocolate chips, fruit, nuts etc. baked into it


fragile

en-adj

fragile (comparative fragiler or more fragile, superlative fragilest or most fragile)

fragiler (comparative)
more fragile (comparative)
fragilest (superlative)
most fragile (superlative)

/ˈfɹæd͡ʒaɪl/

Borrowed from Middle French fragile, from Latin fragilis, formed on frag-, the root of frangere (“to break”). Cognate with fraction, fracture and doublet of frail.

(UK) Feeling weak or easily disturbed as a result of illness.

He is a very fragile person and gets easily depressed.


IRA

Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army#English

(Ireland, UK, politics) Initialism of Irish Republican Army.


services

There's a services in 10 miles.


biro

en-noun

biro (countable and uncountable, plural biros)

Genericized trademark of BIRO, named after László Bíró, the inventor of the ballpoint pen.

Massimo's finger was poised above red on his multi-coloured biro like a kangaroo frozen in headlights.

2007, Karen Foxlee, The Anatomy of Wings, page 250:

(by extension, UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) Any ballpoint pen.


dunny

en-adj

dunny (comparative dunnier, superlative dunniest)

dunnier (comparative)
dunniest (superlative)

Probably from dun (“to ring”) + -y (“forming adjectives of lesser degree”).

af

Dunny, somewhat deaf, deafish.

1708, J. Kersey, Dictionary Anglo-Britannicum:

(UK dialect) Somewhat deaf, hard of hearing.

What the devil are you dunny? won't you give me no answer?

(UK dialect, derogatory, euphemistic) Slow to answer: stupid, unintelligent.


dunny

Should a School-boy do so, he'd be whip'd for a Dunny.

1709, British Apollo, Vol. II, No. 29, p. 3

(UK dialect, derogatory euphemistic, obsolete) A dummy, an unintelligent person.


dunny

A clipped form of English cant dunnakin (“outhouse”) + -y (suffix forming affectionate diminutives). Dunnakin, dunnekin, etc. are of uncertain etymology, but probably from some form of English cant danna (“dung”) + ken (“house”, pejorative slang). The Scottish and North English senses may derive from Etymology 4 below, either under influence from English cant or as its original source.

(UK slang, obsolete) Alternative form of danna: shit.


twinge

en-verb

twinge (third-person singular simple present twinges, present participle twingeing or twinging, simple past and past participle twinged)

twinges (present singular third-person)
twingeing (participle present)
twinging (participle present)
twinged (participle past)
twinged (past)
twinge (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English twengen (“to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at”), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *twangijan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-Germanic *twangijaną (“to pinch, squeeze”), the causative form of *twinganą (“to press, squeeze”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to *þwangiz (“belt, strap, thong; pressure, restraint”) or *þwinganą, *þwinhaną (“to constrain; to force”) (whence German zwingen), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to press, pressure, squeeze”). However, the Oxford English Dictionary says there is no evidence for such a relationship.
The noun is derived from the verb.

inh

That ring-dove, who was cooing half-a-mile away, has hushed his moan; that flock of long-tailed titmice, which were twinging and pecking about the fir-cones a few minutes since, are gone; and now there is not even a gnat to quiver in the slant sun-rays.

1858 April, Charles Kingsley, “My Winter-garden”, in Miscellanies […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], published 1859, →OCLC, page 146:

(obsolete except UK, dialectal) To pull and twist.

I tell thee, I do vſe to teare their hair, to kick them, and to tvvindge their noſes, if they be not carefull in auoiding me.

1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signature D2, verso:

Thus Captaine Beſſus, thus; thus tvvinge your noſe, thus kicke, thus tread you.

1612 January 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Francis Beaumont, Iohn Fletcher, A King and No King. […], London: […] [John Beale] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1619, →OCLC, Act V, page 72:

Eaſe his pockets / Of a ſuperfluous VVatch, or geld a ievvell / Of an odde ſtone, or ſo. Tvvinge three or foure buttons / From off my Ladyes govvne. Theſe are the arts / Or ſeuen liberall deadly ſciences / of Pagery, or rather Paganiſme, / As the tides run.

1629 (first performance), B[en] Jonson, The New Inne. Or, The Light Heart. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Thomas Alchorne, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act I, scene iii, signature B4, recto:

[E]ntring into the pores of the ſkin, it [coldness] keeps back and drives in again the little bodies of heat, by oppoſing the bodies of cold, and vvith its little ſharp corners, it tears and tvvingeth all things vvhereſoever it paſſes.

1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[The Doctrine of Epicurus.] Chapter XV. Qualities from Atoms, Considered according to Their Properties, Taken together.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC, 5th part (Containing the Epicurean Sect), 2nd part of philosophy (Physick, or, Of Nature), page 163:

For vvhen a Man is paſt his Senſe, / There's no way to Reduce him thence, / But tvvinging him by th' Ears, or Noſe, / Or laying on of heavy Blovvs, / And if that vill not do the Deed, / To burning vvith Hot Irons proceed.

1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “Canto I”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Simon Miller, […], →OCLC, page 67:

Thou twingest therewith as doth a (pair of) tongs.

1867, Richard Morris, “Notes”, in Specimens of Early English Selected from the Chief English Authors A.D. 1250–A.D. 1400 […] (Clarendon Press Series), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 399:

(except UK, dialectal) To pull and twist (someone or something); to pinch, to tweak, to twitch, to wring.


twinge

(UK, dialectal) Synonym of earwig (“insect of the order Dermaptera”)


toff

Probably an alteration of tuft, referring to the gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.

Now Freddy is young, practically twenty years younger than Higgins: he is a gentleman (or, as Eliza would qualify him, a toff), and speaks like one; […]

1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion. Sequel: What Happened Afterwards.”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, page 194:

“Well, I got Parkes for one, and I got Atkinson for two, and got Ward of Dawson Street. Fine old chap he is, too—regular old toff, old Conservative! ‘But isn’t your candidate a Nationalist?’ said he.

1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC:

I came home first class—up the front end with the toffs—semi-anaesthetised throughout the trip by caviar and free champagne—and to hell with frugality and the conservation of resources.

1972, Donald Gould, “A Groundling's Notebook”, in New Scientist, volume 55, number 812, page 512:

George Martin always seemed to me to be a "toff" and a gentleman even though his roots, like many of us, were in the common people. George has a touch of class that is quite impressive.

1998 April 11, Paul McCartney, Billboard, page 34:

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

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

I like to see the toffs being toffs. The women all glammed up, the blokes in their tails and top 'ats, all braying and flinging their money around. Confirms all my prejudices. Just a reminder of who my enemies are.

2012, John Roberts, How the Dice Fell, page 186:

(UK, Ireland, derogatory) A person of the upper class or with pretensions to it, who usually communicates an air of superiority.

fijne mijnheer

2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it


outdate

en-adj

outdate (comparative more outdate, superlative most outdate)

more outdate (comparative)
most outdate (superlative)

(British, rare) old-fashioned, out of date; outdated


dobber

en:type of undereducated person, derogatorily

(UK, derogatory) A member of the working class in Scotland or Ireland who is seen as undereducated, with poor taste, especially in clothes, and poor social skills.

Nikki is such a dobber, she told the teacher that I hit Karen in the playground.

In awakening us to our powerlessness, whistleblowers produce all sorts of crisscrossed emotions. Should we respond to them as truth-bearing ethical citizens, or spiteful, griping dobbers?

1999, William De Maria, Deadly Disclosures: Whistleblowing and the Ethical Meltdown of Australia, page 16:

‘Not only that,’ Graeme continued, ‘but Simone′s a dobber – and no-one likes a dobber, do they, K?[…]’

2010, Lisa Heidke, What Kate Did Next, page 125:

The question was whether the dobber had simply dobbed or whether he had planted the weapons.

2011, James Morton, Susanna Lobez, Gangland Melbourne, page 95:

(Australia, UK, derogatory) One who dobs (someone) (informs against them or implicates them to authority).

en:any small electronic device that plugs directly into a larger one

(British, informal) Any small electronic device that plugs directly into a larger one, such as a wireless scoring system in fencing or a USB mass storage device.

They were the biggest rosary beads I ever saw, the beads were the size of big marbles or dobbers or taws. Dobbers and taws we used to play with in the channels beside the footpaths, when we used to play the road games.

2004, Austin O'Donovan, O'Donovan from Garryowen, page 37:

(British, Ireland, chiefly dialect) A large marble.

He puts a hand around it, tries to mind what it means, the having of a penis. Nothing's doing but. His dobber's no sure about it either, and the two of them dither there for a while, waiting for something to happen, a connection.

2011 July 7, Ross Raisin, Waterline, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

"Yes, but to jump into bed with another woman right after being with you. That's just plain disgusting. He needs to keep his dobber in his bloody pants.' Caitlin huffed indignantly.

2021 July 8, Lisa Hobman, Under An Italian Sky: Escape to beautiful Italy with bestseller Lisa Hobman, Boldwood Books Ltd, →ISBN:

"You should ha'e cut his dobber off," Inan opined with disgust. "I can'y stand men like that. Tryin' to take what isna on offer."

2023 September 28, Lynsay Sands, Bad Luck Vampire: Book Thirty-Six, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(Ireland, UK, especially Northern England and Scotland, slang) A penis, especially a relatively large one.


diagram

en-verb

diagram (third-person singular simple present diagrams, present participle diagraming or diagramming, simple past and past participle diagramed or diagrammed)

diagrams (present singular third-person)
diagraming (participle present)
diagramming (participle present)
diagramed (participle past)
diagramed (past)
diagrammed (participle past)
diagrammed (past)

From French diagramme, from Italian diagramma, from Ancient Greek διάγραμμα (diágramma).

The timing and diagramming staff, too, were on duty for up to 21 hours devising 80 engine, 60 guards' and 25 carriage working diagrams.

1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 131:

(UK) To schedule the operations of a locomotive or train according to a diagram.


barbie

Clipping of barbecue + -ie (diminutive suffix).

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal) A barbecue (apparatus for grilling).

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal) A barbecue (event: cookout).


dolphin-friendly

(British, of tuna or other seafood) caught using fishing nets that lessen the chances of killing dolphins.


PPG

en-noun

PPG (countable and uncountable, plural PPGs)

(UK, education) Initialism of pupil premium grant.


bespoke

In sense “custom-made”, 1755, from earlier bespoken (c. 1600), form of bespeak, in sense “arrange beforehand” (1580s), a prefixed variant of speak; compare order, made-to-order.

Marc Valeric, a Beverly Hills milliner, sold 125 bespoke hats in two weeks to women desperate to dress properly for royal receptions.

1983 March 7, Kurt Andersen, “Her Majesty in Mellowland”, in Time:

Were Athenian pots bespoke, bearing images requested by Etruscans?

2001, Robin Osborne, “Why Did Athenian Pots Appeal to the Etruscans?”, in World Archaeology, volume 33, number 2, Taylor & Francis, →JSTOR, page 278:

People gathered round, since it was something of an event, their MP, in his bespoke pinstripe and red tie, clutching an old Wellington boot and about to hurl it through the air.

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 10, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

… others are attempting the more ambitious feat of engineering bespoke human organs from scratch.

2012 August 1, Ed Yong, “Replacement Parts”, in The Scientist, retrieved 2012-08-12:

There are 436 escalators in the London Underground, and every one is totally bespoke.

2016, The Tube: Going Underground, season 1, episode 6:

You need to get a nice bespoked suit. "Bespoke" means i's custom-made to fit your specific dimensions and emphasize what's flattering about your shape.

2017, “Elements Part 2: Bespoken For”, in Adventure Time:

[I]t becomes a game of parkour just to change a battery, and when you’re working mostly alone that gets frustrating really fast, and when you get frustrated you get impulsive, and those impulses lead to half measure solutions, and those half measure solutions accumulate into a whole network of bespoke inefficiencies that you just live with because the process of unravelling them feels just so... big.

2024, Dan Olson, 1:06:09 from the start, in I Don't Know James Rolfe:


eh

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”).
The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

onomatopoeic

exclamation

These hot dogs are pretty good, eh?

Well, what dost thou think then of seeing the world? Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it, eh? Can’t ye see the world where you stand?

(informal, chiefly Canada, Northern US, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Commonwealth) Used as a tag question, to emphasise what goes before or to request that the listener express an opinion about what has been said.


sniff

en-verb

sniff (third-person singular simple present sniffs, present participle sniffing, simple past and past participle sniffed)

sniffs (present singular third-person)
sniffing (participle present)
sniffed (participle past)
sniffed (past)

→ Hebrew: הִסְנִיף (hisníf)

→ Italian: sniffare

→ Portuguese: snifar

→ Spanish: esnifar

→ Catalan: esnifar

→ Swedish: sniffa

→ French: sniffer

From Middle English sniffen, of imitative origin.

onomatopoeic

imitative

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

1980, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, directors, Airplane!, spoken by Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges):

(slang, chiefly UK) To inhale drugs (usually cocaine) through the nose, usually in powder form.

ню́хаць

to inhale drugs in powder form through the nose


shirty

en-adj

shirty (comparative shirtier, superlative shirtiest)

shirtier (comparative)
shirtiest (superlative)

From shirt + -y, probably based on the phrase get one's shirt out.

"You ain't shirty 'cause I kissed yer last night?"
"I'm not shirty; but it was pretty cool, considerin' like as I didn't know yer."

1897, W. Somerset Maugham, Liza of Lambeth, chapter 3:

"Well, so help me Bob, you are a shirty old cow, Mudgy."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 92:

(chiefly Australia, UK, informal) Ill-tempered or annoyed.


wild cat

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat.

Felis silvestris
Felis silvestris#Translingual

(uncommon) Alternative form of wildcat, (UK) the Old World wildcats (Felis silvestris) or (US) the bobcat (Lynx rufus) and other New World lynxes.


surf

en-noun

surf (countable and uncountable, plural surfs)

1680s, perhaps from earlier suffe (c. 1590), possibly related to sough, or possibly of Indo-Aryan origin, as the word was formerly a reference to the coast of India.
The verb is from 1917.
The verb referring to "browsing the Internet" was popularized by Jean Armour Polly.


trip

From Middle English tryppe, from Old French trippe. Possibly related to troop.

(obsolete, UK, Scotland, dialect) A herd or flock of sheep, goats, etc.


GNVQ

w:General National Vocational Qualification

(UK, education) Initialism of General National Vocational Qualification.


blimey

A minced oath derived from (God) blind me (either concurrent with or from a clipping of cor blimey or gorblimey), or blame me. Compare crivvens, drat, etc.

Blimey! I didn’t see that!

Blimey! Where did you come from?

I know the chap that started the lie. There ain't no Invisible Man whatsoever—Blimey.

1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “At Port Stowe”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 120:

'But, if there's room, aren't they bound to take me in?' / 'Course they are,—and, blimey, if I was you I'd make 'em. Blimey I would!'

1897 September, Richard Marsh [pseudonym; Richard Bernard Heldmann], “Outside”, in The Beetle: A Mystery, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin […], published August 1907, →OCLC, book I (The House with the Open Window), page 4:

Blimy if I don't believe 'e's taking 'ome 'is washing up his back.

1908 September, Jerome K[lapka] Jerome, “Passing of the Third Floor Back”, in Passing of the Third Floor Back, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, →OCLC, page 2:

If you're the O'Reilly, they speak of so highly, / Why blime me, O'Reilly, you're doing quite well.

1915, Harry S. Miller (lyrics and music), “Blime Me, O’Reilly (You’re Doing Quite Well) [cover title: Blime Me Mr. O’Reilly but You’re Looking Mighty Well]”, New York, N.Y.: The Cadillac Music; Springfield, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.: A. H. Goetting, →OCLC, page 5:

"Blimey," he said, "this is a bit er orl roight! Never thought yer'd be ible to tork our lingo like a blinkin' nitive. Cahm orn—let's 'op it to the kerridge!"

1919, The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women, volume IV, London: Ward, Lock and Bowden, →OCLC, page 99, column 1:

"Blimey!" he says in his rough, shepherd's voice, "blimey, but it's cruel 'ard to be chucked out of one's digs wivout a blarsted word! [...]"

1935, Kenneth [Lewis] Roberts, “For Authors Only”, in For Authors Only: And Other Gloomy Essays, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, →OCLC, page 11:

‘Blimy, Will,’ he said confidentially.

1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 2010, →ISBN:

‘Blimey,’ said Barnaby. ‘Come on, Jack, quick as you can.’ / ‘Blimey,’ said Jack. ‘Blimey blimey blimey.’

1996, Penny Vincenzi, The Dilemma, London: Headline Review, published 2007, →ISBN, page 311:

‘Blimey,’ said Laurie. ‘Is she serious? Was it something I said?’

2009, Duncan Campbell, chapter 5, in If It Bleeds, London: Headline Publishing Group, published 2011, →ISBN:

According to an Australian gunner, 'a nostalgic little new-arrival' among the Tommies asked: 'Is it true all you Aussies are volunteers?' When told that it was, '… he hesitated a moment. Then he blurted out: "Blime, choom, y' must 've 'ad a fair ——— of a 'ome-life!"'

2013, Mark Johnston, “Introduction”, in Anzacs in the Middle East: Australian Soldiers, Their Allies and the Local People in World War II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Port Melbourne, Vic.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 1:

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) Used to express anger, excitement, surprise, etc.

ostres

used to express anger, excitement, surprise, etc.


deshopper

The deshopper is “stealing beauty” and robbing the product of some of its undetectable essence, without losing the quality of newness which is required for the product to remain returnable.

1999, Ruth A. Schmidt et al., “Deshopping – the art of illicit consumption”, in International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, →DOI:

They are the deshoppers - a scam that has cost stores £63million this year.

2004 December 8, “Deshoppers Make Returns”, in Metro:

[…] there is almost no actual control over the behaviour as none of the deshoppers interviewed had ever been caught.

2006, Tamira King, Charles Dennis, “Unethical consumers: Deshopping behaviour using the qualitative analysis of theory of planned behaviour and accompanied (de)shopping”, in Qualitative Market Research, →DOI:

(chiefly UK, social sciences) A person who practises deshopping.


wiener

Clipping of wienerwurst, from German Wienerwurst (“Vienna sausage”), from Wiener (“of Vienna, Viennese”) + Wurst (“sausage”), because sausages were originally made in Vienna, Austria.
In Germany today this sausage is known as Wiener Würstchen (“small sausage from Vienna”), but in Vienna and the Netherlands it is called a Frankfurter or Frankfurter Würstchen (“small sausage from Frankfurt”).

compound

Two figures crossing the windy park. Miss Martin taking Smith's arm over the street. And inside where wieners were being turned on a hot skillet behind the steamed glass. Always wanted to have the constitution to eat these fearlessly, perhaps with a glass of orange.

1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 104:

(Canada, US, UK) A hot dog or frankfurter.

(US, UK, colloquial) An irritating or disliked person.


grunger

(British) Someone who appreciates grunge culture.


goods

(UK, transport) Freight, as opposed to passengers.

An unusual visitor to Leeds on September 26 was Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75042 (17A), on a Class H goods from York; it soon returned on the 6.30 p.m. Leeds-York parcels.

1962 December, “Motive Power Miscellany: North Eastern Region”, in Modern Railways, page 425:

(rail transport, UK) Short for goods train.


RSA

(art, UK) Initialism of Royal Society of Arts.


lait

en-verb

lait (third-person singular simple present laits, present participle laiting, simple past and past participle laited)

laits (present singular third-person)
laiting (participle present)
laited (participle past)
laited (past)

From Middle English laiten, leiten, from Old Norse leita (“to seek, search, inquire”), from Proto-Germanic *wlaitōną (“to look out, see”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk leita (“to search”), Icelandic leita (“to search”), Swedish leta (“to search, hunt, forage”), Old English wlātian (“to gaze, observe, look upon, behold”).

cog

By neeght, o' my bed, I laited him, at my sowl luvs : I laited him, but I dudn't find um.

1862, Song of Solomon, in Twenty-four English Dialects, page 282 (Westmorland dialect)

The other day I heard a girl hailing from the moorlands of Yorkshire remark that she had "laited a long time for the children, but could not find them," evidently meaning she had sought for them. Is this word common to Yorkshire?

1877, John Frances, quoting a girl from the moorlands of Yorkshire, Notes and queries, page 10

(transitive, intransitive, UK dialectal, obsolete) To seek; search for; inquire.


dressing gown

/ˈdɹɛsɪŋ ɡaʊn/

After about ten minutes he got up, and, throwing on an elaborate dressing-gown of silk-embroidered cashmere wool, passed into the onyx-paved bathroom.

1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter VIII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 138:

I was feeling just as I had felt in the old Malvern House epoch when I used to sneak down to [the headmaster]'s study at dead of night in quest of the biscuits he kept there in a tin on his desk, and there came back to me the memory of the occasion when, not letting a twig snap beneath my feet, I had entered his sanctum in pyjamas and a dressing-gown, to find him seated in his chair, tucking into the biscuits himself. [...] She was looking more like Sherlock Holmes than ever. Slap a dressing-gown on her and give her a violin, and she could have walked straight into Baker Street and no questions asked.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VII AND XX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(UK, Ireland) An item of clothing often made from cotton or another absorbent material, in the form of a long open robe with a belt to tie it around the middle and fasten it securely; often worn over pyjamas.


bluefish

en-noun

bluefish (countable and uncountable, plural bluefishes or bluefish)


pikey

Possibly from obsolete pike (“depart or travel”), or possibly from turnpike. The verb is derived from the stereotype that the Romani people or other travellers are thieves.

“They must be the pikeys who live up there. They're a nasty bunch. Shouldn't get mixed up with them.” “Well, we told them to fuck off, they didn't seem that nasty to me! What are pikeys anyway?” “Well, they're like vagabonds.”

2012, Pat Coppard, In Spite of Everything: a Life-story, →ISBN, page 15:

Gipsies and the pikey race generally were a class outside Lord Sandbar's previous experience, and he listened greedily.

(UK, Ireland, ethnic slur, offensive) An itinerant person, especially one of Romani or Irish Traveller heritage.

But if there's one thing he hates more than pikeys, it's posh people.

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, offensive) A working-class (often underclass) person with negative connotations of benefit fraud, theft and living on rundown estates.


pikey

en-adj

pikey (comparative more pikey, superlative most pikey)

more pikey (comparative)
most pikey (superlative)

Blimey. The least pikey place on the planet.

2006 September 9, Huge, “Re: Oh for FU--S sake!”, in uk.rec.driving (Usenet):

> You could try moving somewhere less pikey?

2007 October 18, PC Paul, “Re: Exhaust security bolts help”, in uk.rec.cars.maintenance (Usenet):

>> > No, you're more pikey than a traffic warden.
>> >> Nothing is more pikey than a traffic warden, even an immigrant.
>> >> > Not even a Glaswegian?

2012 March 11, "Lieutenant Scott", Re: Definition of "loading" in a parking space, in uk.rec.driving, Usenet, quoting another user

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) Associated with pikeys.


pikey

en-verb

pikey (third-person singular simple present pikeys, present participle pikeying, simple past and past participle pikeyed)

pikeys (present singular third-person)
pikeying (participle present)
pikeyed (participle past)
pikeyed (past)

>It's getting hold of a copy that isn't pikeyed that I'm having >difficulty with :-(

2004 October 25, Lister, “Re: Monday, Monday, Play, Want, Bin”, in uk.games.video.misc (Usenet):

Agree with Adrian about it being Pikeyed. At least you've a cheque to go buy something else.

2006 September 29, Conor, “Re: Car legally removed or stolen?”, in uk.rec.cars.misc (Usenet):

Rumour has it that you once posting something interesting that was pikeyed straight from scrotexes lame troll book.

2007 August 9, Diablos Rojos, “Re: Special offer to all Scummers”, in alt.sports.soccer.manchester.united (Usenet):

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) To steal.


flatmate

huisgenoot

a person with whom one shares a rental property

It had been weeks since all the flatmates had sat down together for a meal. Communication was breaking down. Written notes had begun to appear all over the house; please don′t touch this food, I bought it especially for Hermione[…].

1993, Beryl Fletcher, The Iron Mouth, page 190:

One night, one of the flatmates (the one who owned the house) was ranting and raving all night about her girlfriend.

2003, Jen Birch, Congratulations! It′s Asperger Syndrome, page 51:

The position may have been different when your client was living in the house with the flatmates.

2007, CCH New Zealand, Top 100 Questions and Answers on Taxing Land Transactions, page 97:

(UK, Ireland, New Zealand) A person with whom one shares any rental dwelling, not necessarily a flat.


mince

en-noun

mince (countable and uncountable, plural minces)

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

From Middle English mincen, minsen; partly from Old English minsian, ġeminsian (“to make less, make smaller, diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *minnisōn, from Proto-Germanic *minnisōną (“to make less”); partly from Old French mincer, mincier (“to cut into small pieces”), from mince (“slender, slight, puny”), from Frankish *minsto, *minnisto, superlative of *min, *minn (“small, less”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”); both from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Old Saxon minsōn (“to make less, make smaller”), Old Dutch minson (“to make smaller”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌶𐌽𐌰𐌽 (minznan, “to become less, diminish”), Swedish minska (“to reduce, lessen”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “slender, slight”). More at min.

cog

That band's new album is total mince.

(UK, slang, uncountable) Something worthless; rubbish.


nimby

Acronym of not in my back yard. More at NIMBY.

(chiefly US, UK) Not in my backyard (in objection to an undesirable structure built locally).


ripper

He [Rafael Nadal] didn't convert that but gained the advantage and launched another ripper of a forehand to force the error from Tsitsipas on the volley. (Thurston, E. November 15, 2019, Rafael Nadal digs deep to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at ATP Finals. Sky UK https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/12110/11862011/rafael-nadal-digs-deep-to-beat-stefanos-tsitsipas-at-atp-finals accessed August 29, 2020)

Martin walked around the vehicle, viewing it from all angles and giggling as he did so. “She's a ripper, Bert, a real ripper!”

2001, Filton Hebbard, Memories of Kalgoorlie: Tales from the Australian Outback, page 334:

Really, the Strauss Ball was in a category of its own, which is why we are making such a fuss about it; an absolute ripper of a ball whatever the hell it should be called in technical terms.

(British, Australia, slang) Something that is an excellent example of its kind.

зачёт

slang: something that is an excellent example of its kind


ripper

2019 Kobe Howard, Coaches Wrap Brisbane Lions, 30 April 2019. Accessed 6 May 2019.
Not only did Lachie Neale have another stand out game with 28 disposals and a ripper goal from outside 50, but Lions debutant Noah Answerth slotted in nicely picking up 5 intercept marks.

(British, Australia, slang) Very good; excellent; fantastic.


homely

en-adj

homely (comparative homelier or more homely, superlative homeliest or most homely)

homelier (comparative)
more homely (comparative)
homeliest (superlative)
most homely (superlative)

From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

cog

With all these men I was right homely, and communed with them long and oft.

1563, John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Chapter on William Thorpe:

(UK dialectal) On intimate or friendly terms with (someone); familiar; at home (with a person); intimate.

(UK dialectal, of animals) Domestic; tame.

(UK dialectal) Friendly; kind; gracious; cordial.


police

en-noun

police pl (normally plural, singular police)

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, South Asia

From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.

Scotland Yard is, technically speaking, only the metropolitan police for Greater London but because of their importance they have special jurisdiction for some crimes across the United Kingdom.

(law enforcement) A public agency charged with enforcing laws and maintaining public order, usually being granted special privileges to do so, particularly

(UK) A branch of the Home Office responsible for general law enforcement within a specific territory.


collection

collection (countable and uncountable, plural collections)

From Middle English colleccioun, collection, from Old French collection, from Latin collēctiō, collēctiōnem, from collēctus, from colligō (“collect together”), composed of con- + legō (“bring together, gather, collect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather, collect”).

der

(UK) The jurisdiction of a collector of excise.


carpenter

From Middle English carpenter, from Anglo-Norman carpenter (compare Old French charpentier), from Late Latin carpentārius (“a carpenter”), from Latin carpentārius (“a wagon-maker, carriage-maker”), from Latin carpentum (“a two-wheeled carriage, coach, or chariot, a cart”), from Gaulish carbantos, from Proto-Celtic *karbantos (“chariot, war chariot”), probably related to Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”). Doublet of carpintero. More at car.
Displaced native Old English trēowwyrhta (literally “tree worker”).

ncog

Eleven names in Laver’s table (just over 6%) are of the “carpenter” type, a name for woodlice also recorded in Shropshire and Warwickshire.[…] Apparently a Newfoundland word for woodlouse is “carpenter” or “cafner” (another is also “boat-builder”). These names clearly relate to the animals’ affinity to wood as will “carpenter’s flea”, “wood-pig”, “wood-bug”, “grampus wood-bug” and, of course “woodlouse”.

2015, A.D. Barber, “Vernacular names of woodlice with particular reference to Devonshire”, in Bulletin of the British Myriapod & Isopod Group, page 58:

(Canada, British, regional) A woodlouse.


ketchup

en-noun

ketchup (countable and uncountable, plural ketchups)

→ Arabic: كَتْشَب (katšab)

→ Belarusian: кетчуп (kjetčup)

→ Bulgarian: кетчуп (ketčup)

→ Cantonese: 茄汁 (ke⁴⁻² zap¹)

→ Catalan: quètxup

→ Czech: kečup

→ Danish: ketchup

→ Dutch: ketchup

→ Finnish: ketsuppi

→ French: ketchup

desctree

→ German: Ketchup, Catchup (obsolete), Ketschup (superseded)
→ Lower Sorbian: ketšup

→ Greek: κέτσαπ (kétsap)

→ Hebrew: קֶטְשׁוֹפּ (ketshop)

→ Hokkien: 茄汁 (kiô-chap) (Singapore)

→ Hungarian: ketchup

→ Irish: citseap

→ Japanese: ケチャップ (kechappu)

→ Korean: 케첩 (kecheop)

→ Marshallese: kōjjeb

→ Persian: کچاپ (kečâp)

→ Polish: keczup, ketchup

→ Portuguese: ketchup

→ Romanian: ketchup

→ Russian: кетчуп (ketčup)
→ Armenian: կետչուպ (ketčʻup)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: кечап

Latin script: kečap

→ Spanish: ketchup, kétchup

→ Swedish: ketchup

→ Tagalog: ketsap

→ Thai: เค็ตชัป (két-chàp)

→ Turkish: ketçap

→ Ukrainian: кетчуп (ketčup)

→ Uzbek: ketchup

→ Welsh: cetsyp

→ Yiddish: קעטשאָפּ (ketshop)

Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, “fish sauce”) via Malay kicap, though the precise path is unclear – there are related words in various Chinese languages, and it may have entered English directly from Hokkien Chinese. Cognate to Indonesian kecap, ketjap (“soy sauce”). Various other theories exist – see Ketchup: Etymology for extended discussion.
First appeared in English in the late 17th century in reference to a Southeast Asian sauce encountered by British traders and sailors. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was commonly used in the 18th century to refer to a variety of similar sauces with varying ingredients—"anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters being particularly popular"—but by the late 19th century the current tomato ketchup became the most popular form.
Catsup (earlier catchup) is an alternative Anglicization, still in use in the U.S.

tomato ketchup

This diner serves ketchup in red bottles, and mustard in yellow ones.

(uncountable, chiefly US, Canada, UK) Ellipsis of tomato ketchup. A tomato-vinegar-based sauce, sometimes containing spices, onion or garlic, and (especially in the US) sweeteners.


quiff

His woolly brown hair shaped into a drooping quiff, he's been sitting poolside all morning, snatching sucks on cigarettes before the waiters can tell him no, and thinking about reworking some incidental music for the band's gig tomorrow.

2012 September 2, Tom Lamont, The Observer:

(UK) A hairstyle whereby the forelock is brushed and/or gelled upward, often associated with the styles of the 1950s.


quiff

en-verb

quiff (third-person singular simple present quiffs, present participle quiffing, simple past and past participle quiffed)

quiffs (present singular third-person)
quiffing (participle present)
quiffed (participle past)
quiffed (past)

(UK) To arrange (the hair) in such a manner.


first violin

(British, music) The leader of the violin section of a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster.


cheerio

/ˈtʃɪəɹ.i.əʊ/

/ˈt͡ʃɪəɹ.i.oʊ/

嗨

translations to be checked: exclamation used when greeting as well as when parting

"In that case," said Archie, relieved, "cheerio, good luck, pip-pip, toodle-oo, and good-bye-ee! I'll be shifting!"

1921, P. G. Wodehouse, Indiscretions of Archie, ch. XIII. Rallying Round Percy:

But we all knew it wasn't the final end of the HST. This wasn't "goodbye", more like a "cheerio, see you someplace soon".

2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The next king of Scotland”, in Rail, page 50:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Goodbye, an interjection said upon parting.


cornhole

en-noun

cornhole (countable and uncountable, plural cornholes)

From corn + hole.
(anus): From the old-fashioned practice of using dried corncobs instead of toilet paper in outdoor privies.

The cornhole was a small, brick room opening off the threshing floor, about six or seven feet high, […] variously known as the cornhole or cornbin, and was designed for flail threshing, holding the grain until it was winnowed.

1969, J E C Peters, The Development of Farm Buildings in Western Lowland Staffordshire up to 1880, page 97:

A small room may be found opening off the threshing floor on one side […] This is the cornhole, a mid-eighteenth-century development so far known only in Staffordshire and Suffolk, with a few in east Sussex.

1981, J E C Peters, Discovering Traditional Farm Buildings, page 17 with illustration:

(UK, dated) A small room connected to a threshing floor.


constable

From Middle English constable, cunstable, constabil, connestable, cunestable, from Old French conestable, from Latin comes stabulī (“officer of the stables”). For the sense-development; compare marshal. Doublet of connétable.

der

(UK, law) A police officer or an officer with equivalent powers.

konstablo

a police officer or an officer with equivalent powers


you what

(idiomatic, Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, colloquial) An intensified version of what or huh.

come again?

polite expression to get someone to repeat


ki

At sea a special cauldron of 'ki,' prepared by the ship's cook, is sent round action stations in 'fannies' or large pitchers.

1917, The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, volumes 34-35, page 217:

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of kye (“cocoa”)


get off with

en-verb

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

gets off with (present singular third-person)
getting off with (participle present)
got off with (participle past)
got off with (past)

He got off with my sister at the party.

"Hero, obviously, has been getting off with a number of young Basques. I hope her parents won't let it go too far."

1934, Rose Macaulay, Going Abroad, London: Collins, page 222:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) To have a sexual encounter with.


tip

From Late Middle English tippen, possibly from North Germanic/Scandinavian (compare Swedish tippa (“to topple over”)), or a special use of Etymology 1.

1972 May 18, Jon Tinker, Must we waste rubbish?, New Scientist, page 389,
As the tip slowly squashes under its own weight, bacteria rot away the organic matter, mainly anaerobically with the generation of methane.

2009, Donna Kelly, 'Don't dump on Hepburn's top tip', The Hepburn Advocate, Fairfax Digital
When I was a kid I used to love going to the tip.

There are two rubbish tips in Rother.

2009, Rother District Council, Rother District Council Website:

2009, Beck Vass, 'Computer collectibles saved from the tip' The New Zealand Herald, Technology section, APN Holdings NZ Ltd
Computer collectibles saved from the tip

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) An area or a place for dumping something, such as rubbish or refuse, as from a mine; a heap (see tipple); a dump.

отвал

area or place for dumping something, such as rubbish or refuse, as from a mine; a heap

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Rubbish thrown from a quarry.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, by extension) A recycling centre.


hump

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?).
Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.

cog

She's got the hump with me.

Go away! You're giving me the right hump.

(British, slang, with definite article) A bad mood.


hood

From Middle English hood, hod, from Old English hōd, from Proto-Germanic *hōdaz (cognate with Saterland Frisian Houd, West Frisian/Dutch hoed, German Low German Hood, German Hut). Cognate with Proto-Iranian *xawdaH (“hat”) (compare Avestan 𐬑𐬂𐬛𐬀 (xåda), Old Persian 𐎧𐎢𐎭 (x-u-d /xaudā/)), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to cover”). More at hat.

kapuç

covering for the head attached to a larger garment such as a jacket or cloak

(automotive, chiefly UK) A soft top of a convertible car or carriage.


hood

Clipping of hoodie, influenced by existing sense “hoodlum”.


dosh

Unknown. Possibly a combination of dough and cash.

I'd like to buy a new car, but I'm short on dosh.

So all that remains is for me to sell this to Eve for as much extra dosh as I can guilt-trip out of her.

2020, Charles Stross, Dead Lies Dreaming: Book 1 of the New Management, A new adventure begins in the world of the Laundry Files, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 154:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Money.


bottle out

en-verb

bottle out (third-person singular simple present bottles out, present participle bottling out, simple past and past participle bottled out)

bottles out (present singular third-person)
bottling out (participle present)
bottled out (participle past)
bottled out (past)

I had really wanted to dive off the 10-metre platform, but in the end I bottled out.

(UK, informal) To fail to perform a promised or planned action due to lack of courage or nerve; to run away or back down from a contest or challenge.

craquer

to fail to perform a promised or planned action due to lack of courage or nerve


lade

From Middle English lad, from Old English lād, from Proto-Germanic *laidō (“a way, course”). Related to lode, lead (“to conduct”).

Every trickling tiny lade, every foaming brook, told its own story.

(UK, dialect, obsolete outside of place names) The mouth of a river.

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A passage for water; a ditch or drain.


rookie

Thought to be an alteration of recruit + -ie, or from rook (“a cheat”) + -ie. Another possible origin is Dutch broekie (short for broekvent (“a boy still in short trousers”)), a common term for a shipmate. Also suggested is Irish rúca (“an inexperienced person”).

(British) A type of firecracker, used by farmers to scare rooks.


nationalism

en-noun

nationalism (countable and uncountable, plural nationalisms)

From French nationalisme. By surface analysis, national + -ism.

sectionalism

any geopolitical group pursuing its own interest

(UK, Ireland) Support for the union of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.


fluster

en-verb

fluster (third-person singular simple present flusters, present participle flustering, simple past and past participle flustered)

flusters (present singular third-person)
flustering (participle present)
flustered (participle past)
flustered (past)

The verb is probably from Middle English *flostren, *flostre (implied in flostring, flostrynge (“agitation; blustering”)) from a Scandinavian (North Germanic) language; compare Icelandic flaustr (“a bustle; a hurry”), flaustra (“to bustle”).
The noun is derived from the verb.

(British, dialectal) To catch attention; to be showy or splendid.

erottua

to catch attention; to be showy or splendid


bulge

From Middle English bulge (“leather bag; hump”), from Old Northern French boulge (“leather bag”), from Late Latin bulga (“leather sack”), from Gaulish *bulga, *bulgos, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag, stomach”). Cognate with bilge, belly, bellows, budget, French bouge, German Balg, etc. Doublet of budge, and from the same root as belly and bellows. See also budget.

der

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.


ten a penny

People with your skills are ten a penny these days.

(idiomatic, UK) So common as to be practically worthless.

二束三文

so common as to be practically worthless


pram

Janet Bird née Ollerenshaw was pushing her pram along Tockley High Street.

1975, Margaret Drabble, The Realms of Gold, published 1977, page 127:

For a start the pram was heavier than it appeared, and also they were pulling it along very uneven ground. The edge of the field was slightly banked which tilted the pram at an angle.

2006, Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale:

Stepping over her, he unbuttoned the pram′s apron and pulled it back.
At first he couldn′t make out what the pram contained. He had to crane himself over, holding his body back from the obscuring light. The pram was full of groceries—cabbage, sprouts, potatoes.

2012, Ramsey Campbell, Dark Companions, page 233:

The Key Train Requirements document, released in July by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), includes a new clause covering people travelling with pushchairs. It highlights the need for space in carriages for unfolded pushchairs or prams, separate from areas for wheelchairs and cycles. It also recommends extending seat reservations to include pram spaces.

2023 August 9, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Family-friendly travel: new standard covers pushchairs”, in RAIL, number 989, page 26:

A small vehicle, usually covered, in which a newborn baby is pushed around in a lying position.

(colloquial, loosely) A pushchair; a buggy.


fillet

From Middle English filet, vylette, felet, filette, flette, from Old French filet, diminutive of fil (“thread”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”).

fillet steak

(UK) A premium cut of meat, especially beef, taken from below the lower back of the animal, considered to be lean and tender; also called tenderloin.


tide waiter

"Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a fish-monger and a tide-waiter."

1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:

Great employments are and will be in the hands of Englishmen; nothing left for the younger sons of Irishmen, but vicarages, tidewaiters places, &c. therefore no reason to make them worse.

1726, Jonathan Swift, Reasons against the Bill for settling the Tithe of Hemp, &c. by a Modus:

(UK, historical) A customs inspector at a seaport who oversees the landing of goods from merchant vessels in order to secure payment of duties.


shiver

From a Germanic word, probably present in Old English though unattested, cognate with Old High German scivaro (German Schiefer (“slate”)).

a shiver of their own loaf

1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A thin slice; a shive.


s-word

(euphemistic, UK, Ireland) The word spastic, regarded as an offensive word.


bleep

en-noun

bleep (countable and uncountable, plural bleeps)

(medicine, UK) A pager, usually one held by a doctor or nurse in a hospital.


bleep

en-verb

bleep (third-person singular simple present bleeps, present participle bleeping, simple past and past participle bleeped)

bleeps (present singular third-person)
bleeping (participle present)
bleeped (participle past)
bleeped (past)

If his condition gets any worse, please bleep the registrar on call.

(medicine, UK) To contact someone by pager.


casket

Probably from Norman cassette. Possibly reformed by analogy with cask, thus analyzable as cask + -et. Doublet of cassette.


mush

From Angloromani mush (“man”), from Romani mursh, from Sanskrit मनुष्य (manuṣya, “human being, man”).

der

Oy mush, come over here and gimme a hand with the motor.

"Hey, Mush!" Tony Pellegrino called to Michael standing on the other side of the street.

2018, Brenda Spalding, Bottle Alley, Heritage Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 1:

(British, slang, chiefly Southern England) (US, slang, chiefly Nonantum) A form of address, normally to a man.

(British, slang, chiefly Northern England, Australia) The face.


troll

→ Spanish: trol

→ Welsh: trol (“cart”)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English trollen, trolle (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”) [and other forms], from Old French troller, trôler (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll”) (modern German trollen (“(informal) to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to *trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). Doublet of trull.
Verb sense 4.2.2 (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl
The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun sense 3 (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1).
cognates
* Middle Low German drullen (“to stroll”) (Low German trullen (“to troll”))

cog

(obsolete)
(except British, dialectal) A trolley.


caul

From Middle English calle, kelle, kalle, kolle (“caul, net, basket”), from Old English cāwl, cāul, cēawl, cēaul (“basket, container, net, sieve”), of uncertain origin. Reinforced by Old French cale (“close-fitting cap”), possibly a borrowing of the Old English term above, or alternatively related to Old French calotte (“headdress”), from Italian callotta, from Latin calautica (“type of female headdress which fell down over the shoulders”), itself of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots kell (“caul”).

ncog

(British, historical, often capitalized, used on maps) An entry to a mill lead taken from a burn or stream (a mill lead (or mill waterway) is generally smaller than a canal but moves a large volume of water).


Jerry

A clipped form of German popularized during the First World War.

Phipps went on: “One of our chaps, out on a reccy over the Bulgarian front, thought he saw something in the snow. Something fishy. He dropped down to have a dekko and nearly had kittens. What d'you think? Jerry's got a mass of stuff there—tanks, guns, lorries, every sort of heavy armament. All camouflaged. White.”

2011 [1965], Olivia Manning, Friends And Heroes (The Balkan Trilogy), Random House, →ISBN:

[…] chucking your towel on the sunbed and making sure Jerry doesn't get there first.

2012, Bill Leckie, Penthouse and Pavement:

(UK, US, ethnic slur, dated) A personification of the German people.


Jerry

But Robert had been cheeriness itself, had told them to buck up and think of England, reminding them that moaning wasn’t going to beat the Jerries.

2012, Margaret James, The Penny Bangle, Harpenden: Choc Lit, →ISBN, page 43:

(British, US, ethnic slur, dated) A German, particularly a male German.


go down

en-verb

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

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

suhtautua (receiving person or party as subject, received thing in illative)

That meal went down a treat.

(intransitive) To be received or accepted.

(intransitive, UK, colloquial) To be pleasant, etc., when eaten or drunk.


slog

en-noun

slog (countable and uncountable, plural slogs)

Probably a variation of slug (“to hit very hard”) or slough.
Possibly related to slag, seen in the North Germanic languages, in association with the third verb and second noun definition.

(countable, uncountable, chiefly British, Australia and Canada) A long, tedious walk or march.

It is as if Mr. Faulks had bled his own prose white, draining it of emotion in order to capture the endless enervating slog of war.

1996 February 11, Michael Gorra, “Tunnel Vision”, in The New York Times:

England's experimental line-up will have realised early on that this would be a long, hard slog against the multi-talented Brazilians with great strength in their starting line-up and on the bench.

2017 November 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0 – 0 Brazil”, in BBC Sport:

There, despite the long slog of the pandemic and all the distracting dramas at headquarters, the schools themselves have mostly kept it together.

2022 February 12, Danny Westneat, “The reason voters see past the terrible headlines with Seattle schools”, in The Seattle Times:

(countable, uncountable, chiefly British, Australia and Canada, by extension) A hard, persistent effort, session of work, or period.


plaster

plaster (countable and uncountable, plural plasters)

From Middle English plaster, plastre, from Old English plaster, from late Latin plastrum, shortened from Classical Latin emplastrum (“a plaster, bandage”); later reinforced by Anglo-Norman plastre.
The verb is from Middle English plastren, from the noun.

(countable, British, New Zealand, Canada) A small adhesive bandage to cover a minor wound; a sticking plaster.


arbour

From Middle English arbere, arber, an alteration of herber, erber (“pleasure garden; herb garden”) influenced by Latin arbor (“tree”).


trotter

From Middle English trottere, equivalent to trot + -er.

One of these proprietors is a magistrate of Oxfordshire, another a justice of the peace for Berkshire, and Stewart, who was a tailor's trotter, originally, was lately high sherriff ^([sic]) of his county.

1830, William Cobbett, Eleven Lectures on the French and Belgian Revolutions, page 8:

(UK, historical) A tailor's assistant who goes around to receive orders.


harvest

harvest (countable and uncountable, plural harvests)

From Middle English harvest, hervest, from Old English hærfest (“autumn, harvest-time; August”), from Proto-West Germanic *harbist, from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz (“harvest-time, autumn, fall”), from *harbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kerp-.
Cognates:
Cognate with Sylt North Frisian Hārefst, West Frisian hjerst, Dutch herfst, German Herbst, German Low German Harvst, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høst, Norwegian Nynorsk haust; further with Latin carpere (“to seize”), Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”), κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”).

inh

Harvest is usually very damp and rainy.

(UK, dialectal) The third season of the year; autumn; fall.


hum

From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.

onomatopoeic

imitative


hum

en-verb

hum (third-person singular simple present hums, present participle humming, simple past and past participle hummed)

hums (present singular third-person)
humming (participle present)
hummed (participle past)
hummed (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

This room really hums — have you ever tried spring cleaning, mate?

(transitive, UK, dated, slang) To flatter by approving; to cajole; to deceive or impose upon; to humbug.


bloke

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

Origin unknown; the following borrowings have been hypothesized:
* From a modern Celtic language, such as Irish bloc (“block”) or Scottish Gaelic ploc (“large, stubborn person”, literally “block of wood”), themselves borrowings from English block
* From Hindustani لوک (lok) / लोक (lok, “people, folk”) or Shelta loke (“man”).

bor

‘The Bloke’ is a certain kind of Australian or New Zealand male. [...] The Classic Bloke is not a voluble beast. His speech patterns are best described as infrequent but colorful. [...] The Bloke is pragmatic rather than classy. [...] Most of all, the Bloke does not whinge.

2000 May 5, Belinda Luscombe, “Cinema: Of Mad Max and Madder Maximus”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-11-27:

Strong, bronzed, attractive, and, above all, incredibly Australian, Bloke’s Blokes bestride the world like colossi, less men than living gods, stepping from the pages of mythology into our hearts, and guiding us like mighty beacons upon the right and proper path of Blokedom.

2012, Ben Pobjie, “Bloke’s Blokes”, in The Book of Bloke, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

My name is Charlie Staunton. I'm a bloke. [...] In Australia, a bloke is the masculine archetype, associated with the country's national identity. [...] And if you're a good bloke, you'll understand what sportsmanship, and life, should be about. A sense of fair play. For me, it's not a prerequisite to be a law-abiding citizen to be a good bloke. It's about social qualities. It's about being reliable, trustworthy, loyal and true to your beliefs.

2019, Charles Staunton, “Cop this Bloke”, in The Good Bloke: An Incredible True Story, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan Australia, →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) An exemplar of a certain masculine, independent male archetype.

Even now he's like this weird guy who comes into my life occasionally and asks me bloke questions. Sport, girls, your future. Even superannuation. Once he even started telling me how important superannuation was. What a dickhead.

1996, Nick Earls, chapter 31, in After January (UQP Young Adult Fiction), St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 127:

[...] Pakeha, and colonial, masculinity is situated in a homosocial environment. This homosociality is both gendered and ethnicized. The kiwi bloke is a Pakeha working man, at home on the football field, in the sands of North Africa, at the pub (but in the public bar). He is a loner, hard, resolute, tall, strong but comradely and supports other men in their toils.

1999, Malcolm MacLean, “Of Warriors and Blokes: The Problem of Maori Rugby for Pakeha Masculinity in New Zealand”, in Timothy J[ohn] L[indsay] Chandler, John Nauright, editors, Making the Rugby World: Race, Gender, Commerce (Sport in the Global Society; no. 10), London, Portland, Or.: Frank Cass, published 2005, →ISBN, page 2:

[H]e is a ‘blokes bloke’. A proper bloke, rather than something feminine or obviously dysfunctional.

2004, Mickey Elias, Ed Seeker, “Jack-off Buddies”, in Men Speak the Unspeakable, London: Michael Elias Networks, →ISBN, page 62:

One week I ask everyone I meet what defines a "bloke." Some of the answers are: Blokes drink beer, not wine. They wear black wool singlets (sleeveless shirts) and dark green shirt-jackets, gum boots, and rugby jerseys with sleeves cut off. They eat stews made with carrots and onions and potatoes and dumplings.

2001, Rita Golden Gelman, “New Zealand via Bali”, in Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World, 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Three Rivers Press, →ISBN, page 273:

It [a television advertisement] opens with a young man lounging on a sofa watching television. The television soundtrack suggests he is watching sport (of course). He wears the standard checked shirt of the Kiwi bloke over a T-shirt and jeans, his hair is longish and unkempt, and he is generally a bit scruffy.

2012, Sue Abel, “Postfeminism Meets Hegemonic Masculinities: Young People Read the ‘Knowing Wink’ in Advertising”, in Karen Ross, editor, The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media (Handbooks in Communication and Media), paperback edition, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, published 2014, →ISBN, part III (Queering the Pitch), page 405:

Now we don't want you thinking I'm someone who isn't a chef pretending to be a chef. That'll just end in a train wreck. No, we want you to trust your bloke DNA and start thinking the way a bloke naturally thinks, and that is like a bloke!

2012, Jim O’Connor, “Brilliant Cooking”, in The Bloke’s Guide to Brilliant Cooking: And How to Impress Women, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, published 29 September 2018, →ISBN, page 22:

The ‘kiwi bloke’ is often represented as a stubbie-wearing, beer-drinking, sheep-shearing, ‘do-it-yourself’ heteronormative masculinity [...] This hypermasculinisation is well-recognised in New Zealand culture. The ‘kiwi bloke’ is celebrated by the nation which leaves little room for the emergence and acceptance of alternative gender identities [...].

2014, Jessica Jean Keppel, “Masculinities and Mental Health: Geographies of Hope ‘Down Under’”, in Andrew Gorman-Murray, Peter Hopkins, editors, Masculinities and Place (Gender, Space and Society), Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 367:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) A man who behaves in a particularly laddish or overtly heterosexual manner.

macho

He accordingly opened it [a letter], and read as follows:– / "Tim put on the tats yesterday and went out a durry-nakin on the shadows, gadding a hoof. He buzzed a bloak and a shakester of a yack and a skin. [..."] [W]e will lay before our readers a translation of the slang document:– / "Tim dressed himself in rags yesterday, and went out disguised as a beggar half-naked and without shoes or stockings. He robbed a gentleman and a lady of a watch and a purse. [..."]

1847, George W[illiam] M[acArthur] Reynolds, “Old Death”, in The Mysteries of London, volume III (volume I, Second Series), London: G. Vickers, […], →OCLC, page 66, column 1:

Now I tell yer straight, I don't call it square for two big bloaks like us to tackle [i.e., steal from] one poor woman, and she a widder, and p'raps as 'ard up as us; it isn't English.

1892, John Pennington Marsden, “A Professional Secret”, in Job Lot: Sketches and Stories, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hallowell & Co., […], →OCLC, page 177:

Half-sheepishly, the mechanic had eased round to nudge his mate to look also at the comical-looking bloke. And the bloke caught them both. They wiped the grin off their faces. Because the little bloke looked at them quite straight, so observant, and so indifferent.

1923, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Torestin”, in Kangaroo, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, page 1:

The door flew open, and there was a bloke with spectacles on his face and all round the spectacles an expression of strained anguish. A bloke with a secret sorrow.

1930 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Jeeves and the Old School Chum”, in Very Good, Jeeves!, London: Herbert Jenkins Limited […], published 20 June 1930, →OCLC, pages 247–248:

Now, she messed around with a bloke named Smoky, / She loved him though he was cokie, [...]

1930 December 23 (recording date), Cab Calloway, Irving Mills, Clarence Gaskill (lyrics and music), “Minnie the Moocher”, performed by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra:

No use, with a bloke like this, cracking up your own merits. Stick to the truth.

1939 June, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter IX, in Coming Up for Air, London: Martin Secker & Warburg, published 1948 (April 1959 printing), →OCLC, part II, page 132:

It was a Cockney bloke who had never seen a cow till he came inside. Cragg said it took some blokes like that, and city fellows are the worse.

1958, Brendan Behan, Borstal Boy, London: Hutchinson, →OCLC, page 281:

[L]ots of blokes have impeccable music taste but don't read, lots of blokes read but are really fat, lots of blokes are sympathetic to feminism but have stupid beards, lots of blokes have a Woody Allen sense of humor but look like Woody Allen. Lots of blokes drink too much, lots of blokes behave stupidly when they drive cars, lots of blokes get into fights, or show off about money, or take drugs. I don't do any of these things, really; if I do OK with women, it's not because of the virtues I have, but because of the shadows I don't have.

1995, Nick Hornby, “Sarah Kendrew (1984–1986)”, in High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 30:

As her current bloke was turning out better than expected, I didn't see much of her lately.

2000, Liz Young [i.e., Elizabeth Young], chapter 1, in Asking for Trouble, London: Arrow Books, Random House, published 2004, →ISBN, page 16:

It was a concert of some sort. Five or so blokes were on stage in a TV studio; [...] The blokes didn't look like any pop group as I knew them. They were multiracial, knotted of brow, their garb was distinctive, involving a lot of what I later found out to be cheesecloth and kaftans along with ripped, faded denims.

2003, Stuart Maconie, “Hocus Pocus”, in Cider with Roadies, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 43:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) A fellow, a man; especially an ordinary man, a man on the street.

A second green chit and then you get your hat for a talk with the bloke.

1989, Rick Jolly, Trugg Willson, Jackspeak: The Pusser’s Rum: Guide to Royal Navy Slanguage […], Torpoint, Cornwall: Palamanando Publ., →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, naval slang) (A lower deck term for) the captain or executive officer of a warship, especially one regarded as tough on discipline and punishment.


apposition

en-noun

apposition (countable and uncountable, plural appositions)

/ˌæpəˈzɪʃn̩/

From Middle English apposicioun, from Middle French apposition, from Latin appositiō, past participle of appōnere (“to put near”).

(UK) A (now purely ceremonial) speech day at St Paul's School, London.


cordial

/ˈkɔɹ.d͡ʒəl/

Inherited from Middle English cordial, from Old French cordial, from Medieval Latin cordiālis (“of the heart”), from cor (“heart”).

der

Both supplement and taste-matched placebo were consumed in 70 ml of fruit cordial and 150 ml of water, which were drunk within a 5-min period.

2024 May 31, Andrew John Chappell, Adrien Parry, Trevor Simper, “The Acute Effect of Citrulline Malate Loading in Resistance Trained Males on: Anaerobic Muscular Endurance, Force Recovery and Muscle Soreness”, in Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, →DOI:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A concentrated non-carbonated soft drink which is diluted with water before drinking.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) An individual serving of such a diluted drink.


gaum

The noun is from dialectal (Northern) English, from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaum, gaumr (“heed, attention”), from Proto-Germanic *gaumō (“attention”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰowe- (“to heed, pay attention”). The verb is from Middle English *gomen, from the noun. Compare native Middle English yemen, from Old English ġīeman (“to care for, heed”), and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, “observe”).

cog

"S'cat! s'cat! — set that cat off that barns knee — it al puzzum it!"
"Ah've tel'd 'em awal abart that tu monny a hunderd times, bud thuh tak no moar gaum o' muh then a stoop."

1862, C. Clough Robinson, The Dialect of Leeds and its Neighbourhood, Illustrated, page 18:

"Good-night, Uncle Nat," he called. Uncle Nat walked on in grim silence, never turning his head, for quite half a dozen paces. Then he came back to the gate to which Adam had also returned. "Tak' no gaum o' my gruntlin', Addy," asked Uncle.

1919, Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, The Taming of Nan, page 31:

"Take no gaum," he said. "I've not heard her. This is between thee and me, Tommy. I'll use but one hand."

1972, William Mayne, The Incline, →ISBN, page 141:


gaum

en-verb

gaum (third-person singular simple present gaums, present participle gauming, simple past and past participle gaumed)

gaums (present singular third-person)
gauming (participle present)
gaumed (participle past)
gaumed (past)

No, bubby, couldn't hev the wax. Gaum him all up so 't mammy 'd hafter nigh abaout skin him tu git him clean ag'in; […]

1894, Rowland Evans Robinson, Danvis Folks, chapter VI, The Paring-Bee, page 117

Isn't it horrible, mamma! One fly produces fifty-two billions of descendants in 60 days in June and July, and they go and crawl over sick people and wade through pus, and sputa, and foul matter exuding from sores, and gaum themselves with every kind of disease-germ, then they go to everybody's dinner-table and wipe themselves off on the butter […]

c. 1908, Mark Twain, “Little Bessie”, in Mark Twain's Fables of Man, published 1972:

Butter became in my eyes a gauge of character and gentility, almost of integrity. I watched these ravenous wretches "gaum" their batter-cakes with it, help themselves to more than they really wanted, leaving great golden chunks of it half melted and wholly useless, mixed as it was with gravy […]

1930, Marietta Minnigerode Andrews, Memoirs of a Poor Relation: Being the Story of a Post-war Southern Girl and Her Battle with Destiny, page 293:

Simply gaum them all over with thick claybank mud and throw them into the fire. The clay will bake hard.

1990, Appalachian Journal, volume 18, page 196:

(US and UK, dialects, chiefly Midlands, Southern US, Appalachia) To smear.


pony

→ Belarusian: по́ні (póni)

→ Danish: pony

→ Dutch: pony
→ Indonesian: poni

→ Finnish: poni

→ French: poney
→ Romanian: ponei

→ Georgian: პონი (ṗoni)

→ German: Pony
→ Estonian: poni

→ Hungarian: póni

→ Irish: pónaí

→ Italian: pony

→ Japanese: ポニー (ponī)

→ Lithuanian: ponis

→ Maltese: poni

→ Norwegian: ponni

desc

→ Portuguese: pónei, pônei (Brazil), poney

→ Russian: пони (poni)

→ Spanish: poni

→ Swedish: ponny

→ Ukrainian: по́ні (póni)

1659 from Scots powny, apparently from Middle French poulenet (“little foal”), ultimately from Late Latin pullanus (“young of an animal”), from pullus (cognate to English foal). Sense “small serving of alcohol” from 19th century, both for small sizes generally and for a quarter pint specifically, from the small size.

uder

“You said a pony,” interposed Clavering; “my dear fellow, you said a pony, and I’ll be eternally obliged to you; and I’ll not take it as a gift—only as a loan, and pay you back in six months. I take my oath, I will.”
“Well—well—there’s the money, Sir Francis Clavering. […] Here’s five-and-twenty for you.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:


sickle cell anaemia

sickle-cell anemia
sickle-cell anemia#English

(medicine, British) Alternative form of sickle-cell anemia


charter

→ Bulgarian: ча́ртър (čártǎr)

→ Dutch: charter

→ Estonian: tšarter

→ French: charter

→ Italian: charter

ja-r

チャーター (chātā)

→ Japanese: チャーター (chātā)

→ Polish: czarter

→ Romanian: charter

→ Russian: ча́ртер (čártɛr)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: ча̏ртер

Latin script: čȁrter

→ Spanish: charter, chárter

→ Swedish: charter

→ Turkish: charter

→ Uzbek: charter

→ Welsh: siarter

From Middle English charter, chartre, borrowed from Old French chartre, from Latin chartula (diminutive of charta). See chart. Doublet of chartula.

In what Derbyshire police say amounts to a "thieves' charter," three judges ruled that because the car's identity had been changed it was impossible to trace the legal owner and therefore the person found in possession of it was entitled to keep it.

2001 March 23, Clare Dyer, “Stolen car ruling 'a thieves' charter'”, in The Guardian, London:

2005 November 30, Stephen Foley, “The market where 'caveat emptor' has become a charter for fraud”, in The Independent, London:

(UK, derogatory, in a noun phrase with another noun which is either an agent or action) a provision whose unintended consequence would be to encourage an undesirable activity


poppy

en-noun

poppy (countable and uncountable, plural poppies)

→ Japanese: ポピー (popī)

Beckwithshaw
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae
Moina Michael

PIE word
 *péh₂wr̥
The noun is derived from Late Middle English poppy, Middle English popy, popi, popie (“plant of the genus Papaver; poppy seeds used as a spice”) [and other forms], from Old English popiġ (“poppy”), Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, popei [and other forms], perhaps from Late Latin *papavum, popauer, from Latin papāver (“poppy”), which may be from a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ (“bonfire”). Doublet of papaver.
Sense 3 (“artificial poppy flower to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts”) reflects the efforts of American professor and humanitarian Moina Michael (1869–1944) to popularize the wearing of artificial poppies in remembrance of those who fought and died in World War I; she was inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915) by the Canadian poet and soldier John McCrae (1872–1918): see the quotation.
The adjective is derived from the noun.

nb...

pape, papie, papy, papye, popẹ̄, poppei, popye, (Early Middle English) papig, popi, popig

blue poppy

Meconopsis, especially Meconopsis betonicifolia

Troops from the garrison town formed a guard of honour for both sets of players, who emerged for the national anthem with poppies proudly stitched into their tracksuit jackets.

2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England under 21 5 Iceland under 21 0: Match report”, in Tony Gallagher, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2011-11-11:

(chiefly Australia, British, Canada) A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Day/Remembrance Sunday.


stash

en-noun

stash (countable and uncountable, plural stashes)

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of stick + cache or stow + cache.

We've now ordered stash for everyone who said they wanted some.

(uncountable, UK, slang) Clothing or other items branded with a particular university club or society's logo.


pluck

en-verb

pluck (third-person singular simple present plucks, present participle plucking, simple past and past participle plucked or (obsolete) pluckt)

plucks (present singular third-person)
plucking (participle present)
plucked (participle past)
plucked (past)
pluckt (obsolete participle past)
pluckt (obsolete past)

From Middle English plucken, plukken, plockien, from Old English pluccian, ploccian (“to pluck, pull away, tear”), also Old English plyċċan ("to pluck, pull, snatch; pluck with desire"), from Proto-West Germanic *plukkōn, from Proto-Germanic *plukkōną, *plukkijaną (“to pluck”), of uncertain and disputed origin.
Perhaps related to Old English pullian (“to pull, draw; pluck off; snatch”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian plukje (“to pluck”), West Frisian plôkje (“to pick, pluck”), Dutch plukken (“to pluck”), Limburgish plógte (“to pluck”), Low German plukken (“to pluck”), German pflücken (“to pluck, pick”), Danish and Norwegian plukke (“to pick”), Swedish plocka (“to pick, pluck, cull”), Icelandic plokka, plukka (“to pluck, pull”). More at pull.
An alternative etymology suggests Proto-Germanic *plukkōną, *plukkijaną may have been borrowed from an assumed Vulgar Latin *pilūc(i)cāre, a derivative of Latin pilāre (“deprive of hair, make bald, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). The Oxford English Dictionary, however, finds difficulties with this and cites gaps in historical evidence.
The noun sense of "heart, liver, and lights of an animal" comes from it being plucked out of the carcass after the animal is killed; the sense of "fortitude, boldness" derives from this meaning, originally being a boxing slang denoting a prize-ring, with semantic development from "heart", the symbol of courage, to "fortitude, boldness".

cog

For arguing that a man will be plucked take the Topics following: for among men likely to be plucked are these for the most part. He that hath no friends, he that hath many friends; the first because he hath none to put him in the right way; the second, because he hath many to draw him therefrom.

1835, Scriblerus Redivivus [pseudonym; Edward Caswall], “Topics Concerning Pluck”, in A New Art Teaching How to be Plucked, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: J. Vincent, →OCLC, page 34:

He went to college, and he got— plucked, I think they call it: and then his uncles wanted him to be a barrister, and study the law […]

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:

Let us hide our heads, and shut up the page. The lists came out; and a dreadful rumour rushed through the university, that Pendennis of Boniface was plucked.

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

He had been a medical student, and got plucked, his foes declared, in his examination.

1850, [Charles Kingsley], Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

"Well, the gooseberry pie is really too deep for me: but 'ploughed' is the new Oxfordish for 'plucked.' O mamma, have you forgotten that? 'Plucked' was vulgar, so now they are 'ploughed.' 'For smalls; but I hope I shall not be, to vex you and Puss.'"

I trust that I have never plucked a candidate in the Schools without giving him every opportunity of setting himself right.

1884 May 8, William Stubbs, “XVII. A Last Statutory Public Lecture”, in Seventeen Lectures on the Study of Medieval and Modern History and Kindred Subjects, published 1887, page 440:

(UK, university slang, transitive, obsolete) To reject (a student) after they fail an examination for a degree.


CCG

clinical commissioning group
w:clinical commissioning group

(UK, medicine) Initialism of clinical commissioning group.


girt

From Middle English girt, gert, a metathetic variant of gret (“great”). More at great.

(UK, rural dialect) Alternative spelling of gurt in the sense 'great'.


nails

Malik shook his head, stirring the coffee. 'Evans is nails, mate.'