strike a light

Cor, strike a light! Did you see him jump into the river?

(UK, informal, dated) Expressing surprise.


crocodile clip

(UK, Ireland, Africa, Australia) An alligator clip.


PCO

Parliamentary Counsel Office
Parliamentary Counsel Office#English

(government, UK) Initialism of Parliamentary Counsel Office.


rubbish in, rubbish out

garbage in, garbage out
garbage in, garbage out#English

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Alternative form of garbage in, garbage out


sack barrow

(UK) A two-wheeled vehicle used for moving sacks and other heavy items.


technicoloured

en-adj

technicoloured (comparative more technicoloured, superlative most technicoloured)

more technicoloured (comparative)
most technicoloured (superlative)

From technicolored, with the spelling revised to accord with British English coloured.


ethinyloestradiol

/ˌɛθ.ɪ.nɪlˌiː.stɹəˈdʌɪ.ɒl/

/ˌɛθ.ɪ.nɪlˌɛ.stɹəˈdʌɪ.ɒl/

(pharmacology) UK spelling of ethinylestradiol.


cuddly toy

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Synonym of soft toy


command paper

So called because they are presented to Parliament formally "by Her Majesty's Command".

(UK) A document issued by the government and presented to Parliament.


mort cloth

en-noun

mort cloth (countable and uncountable, plural mort cloths)

(UK, obsolete) A pall for a coffin; a casket saddle


mort stone

Oh me ! the mortstone ! No it is not here!

(UK, obsolete) A large stone by the wayside on which the bearers rest a coffin.


declinatory plea

declinatory plea (plural declinatory pleas)

(UK, law, obsolete) The plea of sanctuary or of benefit of clergy, before trial or conviction.


scot and lot

(UK, historical) A parish tax laid on subjects according to their ability.


ton-up

(UK, slang) fond of travelling at high speeds


soc and sac

From Old English sōcen and sacan, equivalent to the Anglo-Norman oyer and terminer.

King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of frankenpledge, and assize of bread and ale, of all their tenants […]

1806, Francis Bloomfield, An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, Vol. IV, p. 517

(UK, law, historical) The right of a lord to hear and decide legal cases on his estate without recourse to other courts.


lift shaft

Installing lift shafts in station buildings which were not originally designed to accommodate them can be a fraught exercise, but a necessary one if the legitimate aspiration of the travelling public for step-free access is to be achieved. At Sudbury Hill, on London Underground's Piccadilly Line extension out to the north-western suburbs, Transport for London has achieved this with aplomb.

2022 December 14, Robin Leleux, “A royal occasion as heritage projects honoured: Sudbury Hill”, in RAIL, number 972, page 57:


odds and sods

Perhaps it's for the best, if this is what his recording career has sunk to: a slapdash assortment of odds and sods from all parts of his career.

1993 Dec. 16, Andy Gill, "Rock Albums: Up Until Now" by Art Garfunkel, Independent (UK) (retrieved 20 Dec 2013)

The new News Corp (unkindly referred to as “crap co”) will consist of around 130 newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, an education business and other odds and sods.

2013 June 22, “The News Corp split: Murdoch 2.0”, in The Economist, retrieved 2013-12-20:

(chiefly UK, informal) Miscellaneous items.

"I suddenly found that, although my proposals had been accepted at the very highest level, they were not accepted at the lower levels . . . I mean, the aristocrats who appointed the Italian painters or the Viennese musicians didn't have to get agreement from all the odds and sods around, did they?"

1994 September 12, Tony Jones, “Yorkshire lad who reached for the stars: Tony Jones talks to Fred Hoyle”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2013-12-20:

But as the smartly dressed Kim arrived covered in mud from her foray across the pig yard, Tina took the opportunity to sneer, “Now we know how the odds and sods feel when Princess Diana turns up.”

1997 June 29, Sarah Lyall, “Arts: On British Soaps, the Poor and the Jobless”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-12-20:

. . . the pervasive need of all those new to hard service discipline to put down those in authority who are making life miserable for all the lowly odds and sods of this world.

1997, George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Victory: A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, 1944-45, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, informal) Ordinary people who lack distinction.


graduate tax

(UK, Ireland) A proposed method of financing higher education, whereby graduates would pay their tuition costs as additional income tax.


city technology college

city technology college (plural city technology colleges)

(UK) A state-funded all-ability secondary school that charges no fees but is independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education. They mainly specialise in science and technology.


argue the toss

en-verb

argue the toss (third-person singular simple present argues the toss, present participle arguing the toss, simple past and past participle argued the toss)

argues the toss (present singular third-person)
arguing the toss (participle present)
argued the toss (participle past)
argued the toss (past)

Possibly derived from the toss of a coin to decide something, such as before a cricket or football match.

(especially UK) To dispute a decision already made, when inappropriate to do so.


clapped out

en-adj

clapped out (comparative more clapped out, superlative most clapped out)

more clapped out (comparative)
most clapped out (superlative)

Accusations of letting a service run down deliberately will always be made if, to quote one local case, a mostly empty mid-day train continues to run, while in the same service an early morning train is discontinued, causing: (a) six men to lose their jobs; (b) four men to go on to permanent night shift by the grace of their employer; and (c) four others to buy a clapped-out van between them to get to work.

1964 November, E. N. Bellass, “Some questions for Mr. Mugliston”, in Modern Railways, pages 329–330:

For now, the intensive Valleys services remain in the hands of increasingly clapped-out Class 150/2s.

2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 49:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Exhausted, worn out.


canary girl

Exposure to toxic TNT could turn the skin an orange-yellow colour reminiscent of the plumage of a canary.

(UK) A female worker making TNT shells during World War I.


munitionette

Since they all had a slightly yellow tinge to their skin, he assumed they were munitions workers. Munitionettes, as the newspapers liked to call them.

1991, Pat Barker, Regeneration (The Regeneration Trilogy), Penguin, published 2014, page 119:

(UK, colloquial, now historical) A female worker in a munitions factory, especially during the First World War.


starrer

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused to certify Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer 'Haraamkhor' objecting to its theme which deals with a student-teacher romance.

2016 June 19, “Another Anurag Kashyap film faces trouble”, in The Times of India:

Although the selection appears noticeably short of major Hollywood names – with studios clearly preferring to hedge their bets and keep product back till the post-pandemic situation is clearer – Cannes has the Kate Winslet/Saoirse Ronan starrer Ammonite, directed by British film-maker Francis Lee.

2020 June 3, Andrew Pulver, “Cannes selects lineup for 2020 edition after 'physical' festival shelved”, in The Guardian:

(UK, India) A film featuring a particular movie star.


tartan tax

Coined by Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, in reference to the tartans traditionally worn by Scottish clans.

(UK, derogatory) An addition to income tax payable only by those in Scotland as a result of the Scottish variable rate.


wazzed

wazzed (comparative more wazzed, superlative most wazzed)

more wazzed (comparative)
most wazzed (superlative)


m'lud

1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1.3: "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away"
Mr. Larch, you heard the case for the prosecution. Is there anything you wish to say before I pass sentence?
Well... I'd just like to say, m'lud, I've got a family... a wife and six kids... and I hope very much you don't have to take away my freedom... because... well, because, m'lud, freedom is a state much prized within the realm of civilised society.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(British) Pronunciation spelling of m'lord


pantech

(UK, informal) A pantechnicon; a large removal van.


income support

(UK) A financial benefit for people on a low income.


dumb as a sack of hammers

dumb as a sack of hammers (not comparable)

dumb as a bag of hammers
dumb as a bag of hammers#English

(British, derogatory) Synonym of dumb as a bag of hammers


knock down ginger

In reference to a traditional poem. See Knock, knock, ginger.

(UK) The prank of knocking on somebody's front door and running away before it is opened.


crem

The rest of it's the same: £7.00 for sanitizing and robing, £13.00 for the crematorium which includes the minister but I don't think I can get a rebate even if there's no service, 50p gratuity for the chappie at the crem.

2000, Russell Hoban, The Turtle Diary, page 175:

[…] many funeral services in the UK take place at “the crem” where there are chapel-type rooms for services.

2015, Pamela A. Brown, Britain Unravelled: A North American Guide to the UK:


jactitation of marriage

en-noun

jactitation of marriage (usually uncountable, plural jactitations of marriage)

Jactitation of marriage, or the boasting of the existence of a marriage , which never actually took place

1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

(UK, law, historical) A false assertion of being married to another person.


bound bailiff

The sheriff being answerable for the bailiff's misdemeanours, the bailiff is usually under bond for the faithful discharge of his trust.

(UK, law) A sheriff's officer who serves writs, makes arrests, etc.


suck it and see

en-verb

suck it and see (third-person singular simple present sucks it and sees, present participle sucking it and seeing, simple past sucked it and saw, past participle sucked it and seen)

sucks it and sees (present singular third-person)
sucking it and seeing (participle present)
sucked it and saw (past)
sucked it and seen (participle past)

THE old maxim for testing wild schemes is summed up in the immortal phrase “suck it and see”.

1980 August 21, “Suck it and see”, in New Scientist, volume 87, number 1215, →ISSN, Forum, page 609:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Try it out.


banana skin

(UK) The outer skin of a banana, especially once removed from the rest of the banana, which may be slippery if stepped on.

The subject is becoming a political banana skin.

(UK) A cause of difficulty, or potential embarrassment.


what do you want, a biscuit

Policeman: I've ascertained the time of death as 9:15.
Monkfish: Have you really? What do you want, a biscuit?

what do you want, a cookie?
what do you want, a cookie#English

(British, rare) Synonym of what do you want, a cookie?


bedside table

(UK, US, Australia) Synonym of nightstand


bag snatcher

(UK, Australia) A thief who snatches a handbag, shoulder bag, rucksack, etc., from the person carrying it.


Snr

His father, Barack Obama Snr, was a visiting foreign student at university in Hawaii where he met and married Ann Dunham, the corn-fed product of Kansas parents, who was also studying at the college.

2006, Barack Obama: New kid on the political block, BBC:

Ricky Hatton's ex-coach Floyd Mayweather Snr believes it is inevitable the former world champion will be forced into making a ring comeback.

2010, “Mayweather Snr feels Hatton will fight again”, in ESPN:

(UK) Abbreviation of senior; a title used after a father's name when his son is given the same name.


academy school

(UK, education) A kind of state-funded school in England that is independent of direct control by local government and has a curriculum specialism.


Euro-rebel

(UK, politics) A politician who goes against the party line by opposing European integration.


care in the community

(UK) The treatment and care of physically and mentally disabled people in their own homes, rather than in an institution.


Sir Humphrey

From the fictional character Sir Humphrey Appleby, a self-important, Oxford-educated civil servant first depicted in the 1980 premiere of the BBC television series Yes Minister.

Wanted: a Sir Humphrey for funds to hide behind
[...]
Key skills required:
— Ability to move head vertically rather than horizontally when asked to promote anything desired by the fund management companies who pay your salary
— Ability to confuse fact with fiction via misleading random statistics (a mathematics skill would be helpful here)
— Ability to pull wool over the regulators’ eyes while maintaining a straight, poker-like face
— Ability to come up with new reasons à la Humphrey from Yes Minister, as to why any progressive change that might help the consumer is currently unworkable.

2012 May 22, Simon English, “Wanted: a Sir Humphrey for funds to hide behind”, in The London Evening Standard:

Among the most senior honours, the dominance of Sir Humphreys and courtiers is striking. There are gongs galore for the deputy director of this Whitehall department and the head of strategy group at that one, to say nothing of the pile of baubles handed to those who serve the Windsors.

2013 December 31, Jonathan Freedland, “New Year honours should reward achievement, not cronyism”, in The Guardian:

Obsessed only with cost, 'Sir Humphrey' saw that Transport for London 'got away' with ticket office closures on the Tube with only minor public pushback and miscalculated that it could do the same on the national network. This assumption backfired spectacularly.

2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:

(UK) A high-ranking bureaucrat, particularly one who is elitist and deliberately obscure.


mock fish

(UK) A concoction of rice, margarine, flour, onion, and anchovy paste, which was made into a porridge and then pan-fried into a cake resembling fish.


skiddies

Finally, everything else I was wearing came off, apart from my skiddies, and was quickly placed on top of the jacket.

2011, Andy McNab, Crisis Four, page 257:


popular beat combo

en-noun

popular beat combo (plural popular beat combos)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-popular beat combo.wav

From popular + beat + combo (“small musical group”).

compound

I thought it was a bit odd that the world's most popular beat combo should choose a golf tournament at Waldviertel for their reunion concert.

1999 June 12, Lawrence Donegan, Maybe It Should Have Been a Three Iron: My Year as Caddie for the World's 438th Best Golfer, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 199:

An early indication of crabbitness can be identified in teenage years by an inability to move either hips or shoulders no matter what popular beat combo are playing.

2006 October 5, John K. V. Eunson, Crabbit Old Buggers!, Black & White Publishing, →ISBN:

When I was younger, I was quite an adherent of the popular beat combo known as The Moody Blues.

2020 April 10, Brian Taylor, “Coronavirus: 'A question of balance' over lockdown exit”, in BBC News:

(British, music, humorous or ironic) A pop group.


BME

Coordinate term: BAME

"I challenge all my colleagues in the Conservative Party and in Westminster: Don't label me as a BME. I've said that to people in the cabinet. I've said that to civil servants. I think it's patronising and insulting."

2018 March 9, “BME label insulting, says ex-minister Priti Patel”, in BBC.co.uk:

(UK) Initialism of black and minority ethnic.


rumminess

"Tut!" said old Bittlesham. "Tut is right," I agreed. Then the rumminess of the thing struck me. "But if you haven't dropped a parcel over the race," I said, "why are you looking so rattled?"

1923, P. G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves:

(UK, colloquial, dated) The quality of being rummy, or odd.


disabled sport

en-noun

disabled sport (countable and uncountable, plural disabled sports)

(uncountable, British) collectively, disability sport


front bum

(British, slang, euphemistic) The vagina or vulva.


Curry Mile

(UK, informal) The part of Wilmslow Road running through the centre of Rusholme in south Manchester, England, known for its large number of restaurants specialising in South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine.


quarter-bloke

‘A private is ordered to complete some deficiency in his kit, and he goes to the quarter-bloke for it and gets nothing but abuse for his trouble.’

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 128:

quartermaster sergeant
quartermaster sergeant

(UK military slang, now rare) A quartermaster, or quartermaster sergeant.


pleasure centre

pleasure centre (plural pleasure centres)

UK and Canada spelling of pleasure center


Scotch mist

Scotch mist (countable and uncountable, plural Scotch mists)

(UK) A cold and penetrating mist, verging on rain.

Scotch mist, the R.A.F. term for something imaginary. […] The joke of it is that Scotch mist is as wetting as English rain.

1945, Eric H Partridge, “Words Get Their Wings”, in College English, volume 7, number 1, page 29:

(UK, dialect, chiefly Lancashire and Yorkshire, idiomatic) Something that is hard to find or does not exist.

(World War II) Something imaginary, nonexistant, or overlooked.

chiefly Lancashire and Yorkshire; World War II; World War II


lorry driver

(British, Ireland, India, Pakistan) A person employed to drive a lorry (truck).


give the bird

en-verb

give the bird (third-person singular simple present gives the bird, present participle giving the bird, simple past gave the bird, past participle given the bird)

gives the bird (present singular third-person)
giving the bird (participle present)
gave the bird (past)
given the bird (participle past)

The crowd was giving the bird to the warm-up act.

(UK) To boo and jeer (at someone), especially to express displeasure at a performer.


indecent assault

en-noun

indecent assault (plural indecent assaults)

(criminal law, Hong Kong, historical in UK) Sexual contact with another person, who does not want it, that does not result in, or is not considered to be, rape.


polling booth

(British, Ireland, Canada, Australia) A voting booth.


job master

Coordinate term: jobmistress

(UK, historical) A keeper of a livery stable who lets (rents) out horses and carriages by the week or month.


Palestinianisation

(British) The process of Palestinianising.


Chiantishire

1980s, first seen in The Independent. From Chianti + -shire, treating the Tuscan wine region as if it were an English county.

(humorous, chiefly UK) An area in Tuscany, Italy, favoured by upper-class British citizens.


lad mag

Coordinate term: ladymag

FHM and Zoo are to close by the end of the year, marking the end of the lads’ mag era that dominated UK magazine publishing in the late 90s and early 2000s.

2015 November 17, Jasper Jackson, “FHM and Zoo closures mark end of lads' mag era”, in The Guardian:

(UK, informal) A magazine aimed at young men, typically containing suggestive photographs of female models and articles about cars, tools, music, film, sport, and sexual encounters.


chig

en-verb

chig (third-person singular simple present chigs, present participle chigging, simple past and past participle chigged)

chigs (present singular third-person)
chigging (participle present)
chigged (participle past)
chigged (past)


chig

(UK, dialect) A piece of chewing tobacco; a quid.


stauling-ken

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A house that will receive stolen goods


RIPA

w:Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

(UK, law) Initialism of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.


shoeing-horn

...some of "the general rules and inventions for drinking, as good as printed precepts or statutes by act of parliament, that go from drunkard to drunkard; as... to have some shoeing-horn to pull on your wine, as a rasher on the coals or a red herring..."
Shoeing-horns, sometimes called gloves, are also described by Bishop Hall in his "Mundus alter et idem." "Then sir, comes me up a service of shoeing-horns of all sorts; salt cakes, red herrings, anchovies, and gammon of bacon, and abundance of such pullers on." ... And yet a drawer-on too; i.e.an incitement to appetite: the phrase is yet in use. This drawer-on was also technically termed a puller-on, and a shoeing-horn in drink.

1838, Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature:

(UK, obsolete, Elizabethan English) Anything that induces or "draws on" thirst.


petition of right

en-noun

petition of right (plural petitions of right)

(UK, law, historical) A remedy available to subjects to recover property from the Crown.


keeping room

The keeping room became less utilitarian as kitchens, storage area, and bedrooms were added onto homes.

1998, Lisa Skolnik, ADL: American Country, page 31:

The keeping room, with its large, open-hearth fireplace, served as her kitchen and main living area.

2004, Carla Neggers, Night Scents, page 10:

The keeping room, where most of the cooking and living was once done, has five doors: one on either side of the fireplace, opening into each of the front parlors, one to a borning room on the west, one to a weaving room on the east, and one to a summer kitchen in back.

2006, Blue Balliett, Nantucket Ghosts, page 17:

Taking to her bed is Baby Suggs's act of surrender; the keeping room becomes her final enclosure—she only leaves it after her death.

2011, Annette R. Federico, Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic After Thirty Years:

(dated, dialect, UK, US, New England) The main room of a house.


FCUM

F.C. United of Manchester
w:F.C. United of Manchester

(UK, soccer) Initialism of F.C. United of Manchester.


rubbered

Bobby laughed. 'She's away out for a meal with her pals. What are you lot up to the night, anyway?'
'Eh, getting rubbered, I suppose,' said Drew.
'Then hitting some disco,' added Gus.

1991, Gordon Legge, In Between Talking about the Football, page 63:

Steve celebrated his return to The Scotsman by getting rubbered that Friday night.

2011, Giulio Saggin, Deep Fried Pizza, page 95:


footplateman

The circular attacks the policy of ASLEF, the principal footplatemen's union, for its opposition to pay differentials between main-line drivers and other footplate men, claiming that it destroys ambition and enterprise.

1964 May, “News and Comment: Breakaway footplate union”, in Modern Railways, page 293:

Footplatemen, organised not by the NUR but by ASLEF, had threatened to strike in August 1917 in demand of an eight-hour day.

2020 January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, in Rail, page 51:

(UK, rail transport) A railway worker who is either a locomotive engineer or a fireman.


snocksnarls

Jordan sat tight against Mom's legs, the nightly position for her mandatory hundred strokes, because time, tide and snocksnarls wait for no man.

2006, Dorothy Palmer, When Fenelon Falls, page 145:

(UK, dialect, obsolete, rare) intertwistings and entanglements of thread, string, etc. when carelessly handled


polygonise

en-verb

polygonise (third-person singular simple present polygonises, present participle polygonising, simple past and past participle polygonised)

polygonises (present singular third-person)
polygonising (participle present)
polygonised (participle past)
polygonised (past)


gingerphobia

Last night, Tate staged a nice running gag on racism by creating a world in which the majority had an irrational hatred of "gingers", meaning redheads. Women of that persuasion were forced to hide from gingerphobia in Russet Lodge, a "ginger refuge".

2005 July 22, Ian Bell, “Those who pay the PR rarely get to call a tune as perfect as this one”, in The Herald, Glasgow:

There is a phenomenon called "gingerism" (prejudices against red-headed people) and "gingerphobia" (fear of red-headedness) in Scotland today.

2007 August 9, “Genetics Gets to the Roots of Why It Is Better to Be Red Than Dead in Cold Climates”, in Cape Times, South Africa:

Although Western civilisation needs new categories of thought-crime like a hole in the head, the idea of gingerphobia as a hate crime is probably no more absurd than many other categories.

2013 January 9, Ed West, “Why is gingerism so common in Britain?”, in The Telegraph:

(UK, informal) Fear, dislike, or hatred of people with red hair.


unchuffed

en-adj

unchuffed (comparative more unchuffed, superlative most unchuffed)

more unchuffed (comparative)
most unchuffed (superlative)

(British, informal) Not chuffed; not pleased or satisfied.


colour coordination

color coordination
color coordination#English

British standard spelling of color coordination.


pew-opener

Her entrance into church on Sunday is always the signal for a little bustle in the side aisle, occasioned by a general rise among the poor people, who bow and curtsey until the pew-opener has ushered the old lady into her accustomed seat.

1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC, chapter II:


spurrings

(UK, dialect, Northern England) banns of marriage


pork scratching

en-noun

pork scratching (plural pork scratchings)

(British) A snack food, normally available in pubs, made from cured pork skin that has been salted and deep-fried.


paling board

(UK) One of the slabs sawn from the sides of a log to fit it to be sawn into boards.


Colemanballs

From Coleman + balls (“nonsense”), from the football commentator David Coleman. Originally the title of a column in Private Eye magazine collecting mistakes in sports commentary.

On a point of order, Miss Fookes. Is it in order for my hon. Friend to use a Colemanballs in this Committee?

1984, Brian Sedgemore, “Official Report of the Standing Committees: Session 1983–1984”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons, Parliament of the United Kingdom), volume 2, page 95, column 1:

British TV viewers may think themselves lucky that all they got for commentary on the last Olympics was the usual load of Colemanballs

1987 October 16, Rayner Banham, “On the Wings of Wonder”, in New Society, volume 82, number 1294, pages 18–20:

It is footballers though, rather than commentators, presenters or pundits, who when interviewed have provided some of the best Colemanballs.

2004, George Best, Scoring At Half-Time: Adventures On and Off the Pitch, →ISBN, page 259:

I read out a quote from Harry Cavan, who was Northern Ireland's FIFA representative. He had made a Colemanballs with "The Scots are still refusing to meet us in Belfast, so we may have to compromise on this and meet them halfway."

2011, Bob Bevan, Nearly Famous: Adventures of an After-Dinner Speaker, →ISBN:

(UK) A malapropism, mixed metaphor or other humorous misspeaking, especially in sports commentary.


cross and pile

One side of the coin bore a cross; the other was called the pile.

(UK, obsolete) The game of wagering money on heads or tails.


tin penny

He further said, that the plaintiff had sometimes at Easter, when he received his Easter dues, received some payment for some kinds of small tithes in respect of those tenements which were no part of the Demesne Lands, viz. for every milch cow, three halfpence ; […] and a tithe penny, otherwise tin penny, otherwise tithing penny, as a modus in lieu of all other small tithes and vicarial dues in kind,

1798, Hutton Wood, A Collection of Decrees by the Court of the Exchequer in Tithe-Causes, from the Usurpation to the Present Time, volume the third, page 526:

(UK, historical) A duty paid to tithingmen.


omnibus box

You and he yawn together out of the same omnibus-box every night; you fancy yourselves men of pleasure; you fancy yourselves men of fashion; you fancy yourselves men of taste

1856, William Makepeace Thackeray, Novels by Eminent Hands: And Character Sketches:

(UK, dated) A large box in a theatre, level with the stage and having communication with it.


sterilisable

en-adj

sterilisable (comparative more sterilisable, superlative most sterilisable)

more sterilisable (comparative)
most sterilisable (superlative)

(UK) Alternative spelling of sterilizable


other some

some have sleeves, other some have none; some have hoods to pull up over the head, some have none

1842, Joseph Strutt, A Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England:

Other some said, that a man which was married and had children was unmeet for such a charge.

1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:

Other some were found to staie in the riuer, couring downe his bodie vnder the root of some willow tree

1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Some other people or things.


Fleet parson

(UK, historical) A clergyman based in or near the Fleet Prison, who performed Fleet marriages (a kind of clandestine marriage). The practice continued up to the 18th century


printer's ream

(UK, printing, dated) Twenty-one and a half quires of paper.


droit of admiralty

en-noun

droit of admiralty (plural droits of admiralty)

(UK, law) Any of certain customary rights or perquisites relating to enemy ships and property found at sea, including flotsam, jetsam, lagan, deodand, etc.


appropriate adult

appropriate adult (plural appropriate adults)

(UK, criminal law) An adult, such as a parent, guardian, or social worker, whose role is to safeguard the interests of young or handicapped people detained by the police, and who must be present at such interviews.


woodmote

(UK, historical) A court, presided over by verderers and the warden, that dealt with those who had broken the laws of the forest.


bowbearer

(UK, historical) An underofficer of the forest who dealt with trespassers.


cos lettuce

cos lettuce (countable and uncountable, plural cos lettuces)

Uncertain. Variously derived from Cos, an alternative spelling of the Greek island of Kos, or from Arabic خس (ḵass, “lettuce”).

(chiefly UK) Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce.


ragged school

So called because of the ragged clothing of the children.

(UK, historical) A free school for poor children, where they were taught and in part fed.


clack box

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

(UK, slang, obsolete) A garrulous person; a chatterbox.


flash for cash

First sense drives from the UK practice of flashing lights at another car to indicate they can proceed, + cash. Second sense derives from the flash of the camera's light.

(UK, informal, idiomatic, automotive) Pertaining to a scam where a motorist flashes their headlights to indicate to another driver to proceed against normal give-way rules, then runs into them and sues for damages.


drink link

Humorously suggesting that it is a convenient source of money for alcoholic drinks.

This particular ATM was known as the 'drink-link'. It was good to know she would get money any time, for an extra round or a taxi home — assuming she could still remember her PIN number.

2000, William Cullen, Doris Lehniger, B for Business, page 91:

'Yes, and CCTV on the drink link and at Fabio's chipper.'


Babygro

From the trademark Babygro, itself from baby + grow.

(chiefly British) An all-in-one suit for a baby made from a stretchy fabric; rompers.


coast waiter

(UK, historical) A custom house officer who superintends the landing or shipping of goods for the coast trade.


marine store

(UK, historical) A store where old canvas, ropes, etc., are bought and sold; a junk shop.


tax cart

(UK, historical) A spring cart subject to a low tax.


parrot coal

So called from the crackling and chattering sound it makes as it burns.


moor buzzard

(UK, dialect) A bird, the marsh harrier.


whip the cat

en-verb

whip the cat (third-person singular simple present whips the cat, present participle whipping the cat, simple past and past participle whipped the cat)

whips the cat (present singular third-person)
whipping the cat (participle present)
whipped the cat (participle past)
whipped the cat (past)

Originally from reference to a prank played on country bumpkins, in which they were encouraged to show their strength by whipping a cat that was harnessed to a load that was too heavy for it. This led to the sense of attempting to get more than can be provided, and by extension, to practice extreme parsimony. From there, it possibly evolved to the other senses, which tend to reflect the connotations of poverty and/or uselessness.

He kept school within six miles of Cooperstown, on the Burlington road, whipping the cat, just as young Munro did!

1850, James Fenimore Cooper, The Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper, page 152:

I "whipped the cat” a bit, the first twenty miles or so, but then, I thought, what did it matter? What was the use of grinding to save money until we were too old to enjoy it.

1901, Henry Lawson, Joe Wilson and his Mates:

I've shanked across the Old Man Plain, after busting up a cheque, And "whipped the cat" once more again, though I haven't met it yet.

circa 1905, Anonymous Australian folk song, "The Ramble-eer"

(UK, Australia, obsolete, idiomatic) To practice extreme parsimony.


drift of the forest

en-noun

drift of the forest (plural drifts of the forest)

/ˌdɹɪft‿əv ðə ˈfɒɹɪst/

/ˌdɹɪft‿əv ðə ˈfɔɹəst/

From drift (“act of driving or herding cattle”) + of + the + forest.

It ſeemeth by the Aſſiſes of the Forreſt of Pickring and Lancaſter, that the Officers of the Forreſt there, did vſe to make two driftes of their Forreſt euery yeare, the firſt of thoſe driftes was made yearely fifteene daies before Midſomer, at the beginning of the Fence moneth, becauſe that in that moneth, no man might haue any beaſtes commoning within the waſt ſoile of the Forreſt, and then by that drift, the forreſt was cleane emptied and auoided of all beaſts and cattell, during the fence moneth onely: […]

1598, John Manwood, chapter XV, in A Treatise and Discourse of the Lawes of the Forrest: […], London: […] [Adam Islip (?) for] Thomas Wight and Bonham Norton, →OCLC, section 2 (At what Time of the Yeare the Forrest shall be Driven), folio 86, recto:

The drifts of the foreſts are ſaid to be when all the Cattle as well of Commoners as of Strangers are driven by the Officers of the foreſt to ſome certain Pound or place incloſed, and the end hereof is threefold, viz. Firſt, to ſee whether thoſe that ought to common doe common with ſuch kind of Cattle as by preſcription or grant they ought. Secondly, if they common with ſuch Cattle as they ought, whether they doe ſurcharge or no. Thirdly, if the Cattle of any Stranger be there, which ought not to common at all.

1644, Edw[ard] Coke, “Of the Forests, and the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the Forest”, in The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee, and D[aniel] Pakeman, →OCLC, page 309:

[T]he swainmote, held three times a year, when the agistors came together to take agistment; at which time the drift of the forest was made, that is, all the animals were to be driven together into one pound, to see that those who commoned did so with such kind of cattle, as they, by prescription or grant, ought to do.

1829, George Crabb, “Henry III”, in A History of English Law; or An Attempt to Trace the Rise, Progress, and Successive Changes, of the Common Law; […], London: Baldwin and Cradock, →OCLC, page 148:

And every three years there was a special Drift of the forest, which was a sort of census of the venison.

1895, Francis Watt, “The Law of the Forest”, in The Law’s Lumber Room, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, […]; Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., →OCLC, page 70:

(British, law, historical) The act of driving or herding cattle in a forest to a particular place in order to determine who they belong to and whether the owners have a right to common or pasture them in the forest, and whether any fines should be paid by those without such a right.

metsän eläinten ajo tarkistusta varten

act of driving or herding cattle in a forest to a particular place in order to determine who they belong to, etc.


jack rafter

(UK) One of the shorter rafters used in constructing a hip or valley roof.


yellow metal

(UK, auctions) Gold (or some alloy of gold) that cannot be labelled as gold in the UK because it does not bear an Assay Office mark.


break gates

en-verb

break gates (third-person singular simple present breaks gates, present participle breaking gates, simple past broke gates, past participle broken gates)

breaks gates (present singular third-person)
breaking gates (participle present)
broke gates (past)
broken gates (participle past)

(UK, universities, idiomatic, dated) To enter a college enclosure after the hour to which a student has been restricted.


escutcheon of pretence

en-noun

escutcheon of pretence (plural escutcheons of pretence)

(heraldry, UK) An escutcheon used to display the arms of the bearer's wife; not commonly used unless she is an heiress.


ticket of leave

ticket of leave (plural tickets of leave)

(UK, historical) A licence or permit given to a convict or prisoner to go out and work before the expiration of his sentence, subject to certain conditions.


lichway

(UK, dialect) The path by which the dead are carried to the grave.


enter on the boards

en-verb

enter on the boards (third-person singular simple present enters on the boards, present participle entering on the boards, simple past and past participle entered on the boards)

enters on the boards (present singular third-person)
entering on the boards (participle present)
entered on the boards (participle past)
entered on the boards (past)

1834, author not stated, possibly Alfred, Lord Tennyson???, Preface to Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam
having been entered on the boards of Trinity college

(UK, Cambridge University, transitive, idiomatic, archaic) To inscribe the name of (a student) on a board or tablet in a college.


bee moth

(UK) Any yellow and black hawk moth, especially genus Hemaris, that resembles a bumblebee, a bumblebee moth.


up sticks

up sticks (third-person singular simple present ups sticks, present participle upping sticks, simple past and past participle upped sticks)

ups sticks (present singular third-person)
upping sticks (participle present)
upped sticks (participle past)
upped sticks (past)

up + sticks, plural of stick (“a mast or part of a mast of a ship; a yard”).

(UK, Ireland, sailing, slang) To put up the mast of a ship in preparation for sailing.

Both of these conquered more and more of India, till at length the Rajput city of Delhi was captured, and then the disgusted Rajputs ‘upped sticks’ and fled before Islam and the Turk, and finally settled amid the inaccessible mountains and jungles and occasional fertile valleys of what is known as Rajputana or Rajasthan.

1934, George Fletcher MacMunn, The Living India: Its Romance and Realities, London: George Bell & Sons, →OCLC, page 17:

If a doctor had to do an operation in a sailing ship, you upped sticks and went before the wind, he said.

1945, James Lansdale Hodson, The Sea and the Land: Being some Account of Journeys, Meetings, and What Was Said to Me in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Holland between March 1943 and May 1945, London: Victor Gollancz, →OCLC, page 24:

Once she starts playing that infernal instrument all hours of the day and night, she can think of nothing else and sooner or later she ups sticks and is gone.

2012, Jane Rusbridge, Rook, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 154:

For such a strategy to work we needed thousands of contractors to up sticks and leave and I never thought that was going to happen.

2012 November 2, Philip Ross, Freedom to Freelance: Beginning the Fight against IR35, 3rd edition, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 158:

There are too many examples of successful entrepreneurs who have upped sticks and gone elsewhere.

2013 February 2, “If in doubt, innovate”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 2016-03-18:

For Paddy Groggy, upping sticks and moving elsewhere wasn't a viable option at this stage in his life.

2014, William Forde, “Author's Foreword”, in The Life and Times of Joe Walsh (Tales from Portlaw; 8), [s.l.]: William Forde, published July 2016, →ISBN, page 12:

(UK, Ireland, figurative, colloquial) To prepare to move; to pack up; to go and live in a different place.


keep term

keep term (third-person singular simple present keeps term, present participle keeping term, simple past and past participle kept term)

keeps term (present singular third-person)
keeping term (participle present)
kept term (participle past)
kept term (past)

(UK, universities, dated) To reside during a term.

(UK, law, dated) To eat a sufficient number of dinners in hall, at the Inns of Court, to make the term count for the purpose of being called to the bar.


Partridgean

en-adj

Partridgean (comparative more Partridgean, superlative most Partridgean)

more Partridgean (comparative)
most Partridgean (superlative)

From Partridge + -an. From the fictional character Alan Partridge, a self-obsessed radio DJ.

Speaking of glaring faults, howsabout Rio Ferdinand’s for starters? This, at least, is one properly footballing ‘Hot Topic’ the Partridgean hacks have managed to find room for, though I note it took him cocking up in an England shirt for them to do so.

2009 October 14, Richard Kurt, “Fergie frenzy hides the faults”, in Irish Examiner:

Paul Sexton, presenting The Queen of Soul: the Legend of Aretha (Radio 2), had a bouncy introduction that bordered on the Partridgean. Over two nights, he explained, the programmes would explore Franklin's move "from the church to the charts". They would, he added, "say RESPECT to a true original".

2011 August 1, Elizabeth Mahoney, “Radio Review: The Queen of Soul: the Legend of Aretha”, in The Guardian:

He was less revolted by squatting by the end of the film, but for most viewers the unintentional Partridgean comedy would have been the best reason for watching. “You can’t film me pissing,” he said indignantly to the camera crew when using the facilities in one squat.“You can listen.”

2012 December 7, Tom Sutcliffe, “Television review: A Young Doctor's Notebook - Daniel Radcliffe is innocent and Jon Hamm is knowing in this hamfisted show”, in The Independent:

Forde proved his point across the Bank Holiday weekend, tweeting snaps of such Partridgean gems as Blackburn's clarfication that his son Simon was NOT named after Simon Bates.

2013 May 7, Jack Seale, “Tony Blackburn's Alan Partridge-style memoir gains cult status on Twitter”, in Radio Times:

Well, it's wet and it's miserable on the day that Leicester City's footballers have been dreading for weeks, for this is the day that they have to tackle this: "The Hill," intones a somewhat Partridgean local TV news reporter in the early 1980s, on an old clip of the players in question embarking on their pre-season training. The camera promptly pulls back to reveal our man on the spot in a decidedly elevated position; the "this" in question is one of three giant mountains of muck and rubble on a patch of waste ground.

2013 July 26, Barry Glendenning, “How Sunderland's Paolo Di Canio is reviving the pre-season pain principle”, in The Guardian:

And so to the meat of You Have Wives?, whose Partridgean dedication page reads: "Written at the Villa Francia, Lanzarote, Canaries. The authors would like to thank Villa Plus for helping with the difficult internet connections."

2013 August 8, Marina Hyde, “Is it Dynasty or the BBC weather centre? It's sometimes hard to tell”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Ireland) Self-important but bathetic; unable to distinguish the meaningful from the trivial and therefore prone to absurdity.


black cattle

(UK, dated) Any bovine cattle reared for its meat, as opposed to dairy cattle.


house of call

(UK, historical) A place, usually a public house, where journeymen connected with a particular trade assembled when out of work, ready for the call of employers.


king's cushion

in this garb he was now mounted on the hands of two of the rioters, clasped together, so as to form what is called in Scotland, "The King's Cushion ."

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC:

(UK, dialect, idiomatic) A four-handed seat made by two people crossing their hands and holding their own wrist with one hand, and holdin the wrist of the other person with the other hand


play hob with

en-verb

play hob with (third-person singular simple present plays hob with, present participle playing hob with, simple past and past participle played hob with)

plays hob with (present singular third-person)
playing hob with (participle present)
played hob with (participle past)
played hob with (past)

From Middle English Hob (a diminutive of Robin, from Old French [Term?], a diminutive of Robert) in its connection with Robin Goodfellow and (subsequently) the devil. Compare hobgoblin.

They say it's playing hob with the fellers in these here parts.

The revolutionists who are playing hob with our generation are really masters of the obsolete.

1940, D.A. Lord, Our Lady in the Modern World, iii. 141:

It'll play hob with my sleep schedule but I suppose it can't be helped. Please let the house elves know that if I ask for an early breakfast at, say, three A.M. tomorrow morning, I'm to receive it.

2010, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, §62:

(idiomatic, dated UK, rustic US) mess with, cause trouble for


life buoy

From the way it can save someone's life by buoying them up so that they do not drown.

A spherical life buoy having an air chamber formed therein, an entrance opening communicating with the interior of said life buoy, air inlet and exhaust pipes extending exteriorly therof, a perforated housing for each of said pipes, a dome secured to teh periphery of said life buoy and covering said housings, said dome being perforated, and means for supporting said life buoy upon the deck of a vessel.

1910, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office:

At least four approved ring life buoys shall be placed on each manned platform.

1981, Compilation of Regulations Related to Mineral Resource Activities:

Also, a life buoy was attached to the fuselage.

2007, Daniel E. Blaney, Old Orchard Beach:

He had on a life buoy and a life preserver. He clung there a moment and then he slid off again.

2012, Jay Henry Mowbray, Sinking of the Titanic: Eyewitness Accounts:

(British) A buoyant object (most commonly torus-shaped) that is used as a life-saving device by keeping a person afloat.

Fearing that he might become permanently sewn into the Air France uniform he put on every morning, Manuel regarded Mario's faith in him as a life buoy.

2001, Suzanne Jill Levine, Manuel Puig and the Spider Woman: His Life and Fictions, page 166:

Above all, the Marshall Plan was a life buoy for the then sinking French economy.

2006, Peter van Kemseke, Towards an Era of Development, page 43:

I but pity him, who, losing me, found the bright stars dimmed, And frantically seized you as a life buoy.

2008, Fleur Yano, Collected Writings of Flora Belle Jan, page 89:

I was so exhausted and weak that several times, I nearly collapsed in the store. My shopping cart became my life buoy as I hung on to it and stubbornly kept going.

2012, Holly Reese, Rising from the Abyss, page 116:

(British, figurative) Something that rescues one from difficulties.


Hendo's

(UK, informal) Henderson's Relish, a spicy and fruity condiment.


keyworker

(UK) A social worker who helps to coordinate a patient's care and their social welfare, finances, career, etc.

(UK, education) A childcare worker who monitors a child's development and participation in activities and discusses these with the child's parents or carer.

(UK) A worker in any industry who is considered indispensable and expected not to strike.


zummet

A thawt, an if a war alive,

1825, James Jennings, Observations on Some of the Dialects in the West of England, Particularly Somersetshire, page 119

(British, dialectal, obsolete) Alternative form of summat


zummat

Thee musn’t lumber the room, if thee’l not drink zummat.

1826, “First Love”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 20, number 115, page 158:


zumat

If I could a lugged back the oss, that mought a bin wuth zumat.

1839, Benson Earle Hill, Home Service; or, Scenes and Characters from Life, I.282:


summut

"Lawk, what sinifies what the play was," said Miss Grimshaw, "'tweren't that; I was going to mention summut by way of proof poz; and there —" [some narrative omitted]

1808, Orton Smith, Sketches of Character, or Specimens of Real Life, II.130:


zummut

[…] besides, he az been always doing zummut for her ever zince her feather died—zo he as.

1813, Patience and Perserverance; or, the Modern Griselda, volume 1, page 60:


summot

Is it not ſent to make a Mon to ſwear
Summot abaoot the King, and his reet Heir?

1773, John Byrom, Miscellaneous Poems, page 164:

And yet it may mean summot

1849, William Harrison Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches, I.117:


toshy

en-adj

toshy (comparative toshier, superlative toshiest)

toshier (comparative)
toshiest (superlative)

The poor public […] is driven back to toshy novels about problems, written by cooks.

1902, H. Belloc, Path to Rome, section 163:

(British, slang) rubbishy, trashy; worthless


'ad

“’Ere y'are, the best rig-out you ever ’ad. A tosheroon [half a crown]^([sic]) for the coat, two ’ogs for the trousers, one and a tanner for the boots, and a ’og for the cap and scarf. That's seven bob.”

1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXIX, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC, pages 214–215:

(British, dialectal or slang) Alternative form of had


black hog

(UK, historical, obsolete slang) The Irish shilling of 13 pence, as opposed to the English 'white hog' shilling of 12 pence


'og

(UK, slang or dialectal) Nonstandard spelling of hog, particularly in its slang sense of shilling.


white hog

(UK, historical, obsolete slang) The English shilling of 12 pence, as opposed to the Irish 'black hog' shilling of 13 pence


know backwards

en-verb

know backwards (third-person singular simple present knows backwards, present participle knowing backwards, simple past knew backwards, past participle known backwards)

knows backwards (present singular third-person)
knowing backwards (participle present)
knew backwards (past)
known backwards (participle past)

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

Suggesting such familiarity with something that one could recite or list it even in reverse order.

(UK, transitive) To have very thorough knowledge of.


madza caroon

A corruption of the Sabir and Italian mezzo corona (“half-crown”).

Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.

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

(UK, obsolete slang) A half-crown coin; its value, 30 pence.


caroon

A corruption of the Sabir and Italian corona (“crown”).

(UK, obsolete slang) A crown (coin); its value, 5 shillings.


furtle

Then he looked back at his glossy, had a furtle with something in his pocket, and then looked back at me.

2005, Chloe Richards, Oops!, →ISBN, page 226:

“Let me just have a quick furtle.” He dug his hand elbow-deep into the bag.

2008, Iain M. Banks, chapter 8, in Matter, →ISBN:

It was so unusual that I went for another furtle in the 1881 census to find her family.

2010, Stanley Challenger Graham, Stanley's View, Volume 6, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) A cursory examination of the contents or details of something.


furtle

furtle (third-person singular simple present furtles, present participle furtling, simple past and past participle furtled)

furtles (present singular third-person)
furtling (participle present)
furtled (participle past)
furtled (past)

A burly mechanic wheeled in a bright yellow battery charger on a trolley, furtled under the bonnet and gave the car the full benefit of its volts.

2005, Carole Matthews, You Drive Me Crazy, →ISBN:

Needham was already half-heartedly furtling about in the kitchen, opening cupboards without bothering to search them, letting his left hand trail over objects as though he was thinking with his fleshy fingers

2008, Peter Helton, Rainstone Fall, →ISBN:

Furtling amongst the loose change and accumulated junk, he finally found what he was looking for.

2011, Mark R. Faulkner, Flux, →ISBN, page 4:

(chiefly UK, intransitive) To gently delve; to probe or rummage tentatively.


nestle-cock

From nestle + cock. Compare nest-cock & nest-cockle.

(UK, dialectal) The last-hatched chick of a brood, the weakling of a brood.

Indeed, my mother was wont to call me your Nestle-cock, and I love you as well as she did.

c. 1621, Thomas Middleton, John Webster, Anything for a Quiet Life, act 4, scene 1:

I meet with a double sense of this word Cockney: some taking it for, 1. One coaks'd or cocker'd (made a wanton or nestlecock of, delicately bred and brought up), so that when grown men or women they can endure no hardship, nor comport with pains-taking. 2. One utterly ignorant of husbandry or housewifery […]

1662, Thomas Fuller, “Worthies of London”, in The History of the Worthies of England, volume 2, London: Thomas Tegg, published 1840, page 342:

You ignorant incompetent whey-faced nestlecock.

1986, Patrick O'Brian, The Reverse of the Medal, page 161:

(UK, dialectal, by extension) A mama's boy, a delicate child; a spoiled brat.


coachwheel

(UK, historical, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.


thick-un

"That's a good yarn. Now you can't fool me. Tom, I'm not one o' those duds that pay you a thick 'un for an hour in the dark."

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

(UK, historical, obsolete, slang) A crown coin; its value, five shillings.

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


beacon school

From the figurative sense of beacon, since such schools were supposed to serve as an example to others.

(UK, education) A primary school or secondary school designated as outstanding under a government scheme that ran from 1998 to 2005.


rep by pop

representation by population
representation by population

(UK, politics) representation by population


my Lord Duke

(UK) Used in direct address to dukes, now chiefly in correspondence.


my Lord Bishop

Church of England
Church of England#English

(UK, Christianity) Used in direct address to 24 bishops of the Church of England comprising the Lords Spiritual, apart from the archbishops of Canterbury and York.

your Grace

to archbishops; to bishops outside British English


your Grace

Forms of address
Forms of address in the United Kingdom

Lord High Commissioners
Lord High Commissioners#English

(UK) Used in direct address to dukes and to Lord High Commissioners.

my Lord Bishop

to bishops of the Church of England comprising the Lords Spiritual


Gunpowder Treason Day

(UK, historical) Synonym of Guy Fawkes Day.


Firework Night

Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night#English


Guy Fawkes Day

(UK) November 5, a celebration in England since the 17th century commemorating the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.

A number of towns in East Sussex, and on the borders of Kent and Surrey, make a special feature of huge bonfires and torchlight processions with fireworks on Guy Fawkes day or an early November Saturday.

1953 January, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 68:

(UK) Synonym of Guy Fawkes Night, the associated revelry, traditionally including bonfires, fireworks, and the burning in effigy of the pope, Guy Fawkes, and/or the Devil.


last but one

(now chiefly UK) Penultimate, next to last, immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.


window swallow

(UK, dialect) The common European martin.


pocket-sheriff

(UK, law, historical) A sheriff appointed by the sole authority of the Crown, without a nomination by the judges in the exchequer.


scrike

scrike (third-person singular simple present scrikes, present participle scriking, simple past and past participle scriked)

scrikes (present singular third-person)
scriking (participle present)
scriked (participle past)
scriked (past)

From Middle English skriken, shrichen, scrichen, from the fusion of Old English scriccettan (“to screech”) and Old Norse skríkja (“to shriek”); both from Proto-Germanic *skrik- (“to cry; shriek”). Cognate with Icelandic skríkja (“to chirp; twitter”), Danish skrige (“to shriek”). Related to shriek.

inh

(UK dialect, Northern England) To shriek; to screech.


fanny flaps

Ewwwww, just hope to God she had plastic surgery on her fanny flaps.

2002 March 8, Wobblemetits [username], “Re: Party Party Party”, in alt.sports.soccer.manchester.united.scum-haters (Usenet):

'This is where Lady Luck parts her fanny flaps and lets you dip your fingers in her pudding, if you get my drift. […]

2013, Chris Ryan, Most Wanted Mission 2, Coronet, →ISBN:

On the train there, it was dark because at one point I saw her fanny flaps in full view. I swear she wasn't wearing no knickers.

2014, Robb Peters, D. A. Diary, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 40:


badly packed kebab

en-noun

badly packed kebab (plural badly packed kebabs)

From a likening of the appearance of the external female genitalia to that of a messy doner kebab (with the pita representing the labia majora and the meat representing the labia minora).

> What was the url for that webpage you found, with the naked woman called
> Tinkerbell? She was big!
>
>
LOL, she had a badly packed kebab too. I can't find it, she was on blueyonder though if anyone wants to google for it.

2005 August 28, PMD [username], “Re: Has anybody seen”, in alt.talk.bollocks (Usenet):

Babs? Urgh no! Mebee^([sic]) 25 years ago, but she'd have a 'badly packed kebab' by now!

2006 January 12, bobby [username], “Re: Can I just make a public service announcement here”, in alt.sports.soccer.sunderland (Usenet):

In brief, with the expletives deleted (which also served to make the story considerably shorter), it involved various quantities of cider, alcho-pops and shots, going to the kebab shop, getting said kebab, walking home, stopping to answer the call of nature on the grass and falling asleep mid-pee. Her badly packed kebab had been on view for all to see.

2011, John Donoghue, Police, Crime & 999: The True Story of a Front Line Officer, Matador, →ISBN, page 107:

(UK, slang, vulgar) The vulva, especially one with wrinkly, protruding labia.


Glos

(UK, postal abbreviation) Abbreviation of Gloucestershire.


labour law

(UK, Canada) The body of statute law that regulates the relationship between employer, employee, labour union and government.

የሰራተኞች ሕግ

yäsäratäñoč ḥəg


in bits

Rudi went flying up into the air and landed flat on his back - his ligaments nearly landed in Old Trafford. Well, their team was in bits! We were in bits! Even the ref couldn't stop laughing!

2010, Eamonn O'Keefe, I Only Wanted to Play Football, page 40:

By this time I was in bits. I was livid. I was half going to run up to them and have it out right there and then.

2011, Brian Conaghan, The Boy Who Made it Rain, page 58:

He clapped his huge hands together and let out a roar of laughter. We started laughing, too. By the time he reached us, for no reason I could fathom other than he was laughing and we were following, we were in bits.

Some women's cycles don't return for years after they get off heroin. The withdrawal was so bad I wanted to die. I was in bits and I couldn't do anything. It was like everything caught up on me at once — emotionally, mentally and psychologically.

(UK, slang) In a state of extreme emotion, such as hilarity or rage.


Banglatown

(UK, informal) Part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with a large Bangladeshi population.


skinnymalink

Clad in yellow oilskins, and with a bulbous black helmet lodged on his grapefruit-sized head, he looked like a pencil I'd once owned. This skinnymalink was riding an equally emaciated-looking motorbike; […]

1992, Jeff Torrington, Swing Hammer Swing!, Minerva, published 1993, →ISBN, page 370:

One must remember that not only was loan no skinnymalink but this was the time immediately after the war when rationing still meant a fair amount of hunger.

2013, Christopher Andreae, Joan Eardley, Lund Humphries, →ISBN, page 53:

Another skinnymalink, thought Jana. Were all journalists thin by nature, or did chasing after stories keep the pounds off?

2013, Betsy Woodman, Love Potion Number 10, Henry Holt, →ISBN, page 83:


murdrum

Borrowing from Medieval Latin murdrum, a Germanic borrowing from Frankish *murþr, *morþr, from Proto-Germanic *murþrą (“murder”). More at murder.

Death by misadventure or starvation might be a 'murdrum' if there was no presentment of Englishry.

1873, Luke Owen Pike, A History of Crime in England:

If the person slain be unknown, then in such case it belongs to the coroners to enter a murdrum on their rolls, according to the statute of King Knut, made on setting out for Denmark, who, for the preservation of his Danes whom he left in England, ordained that whenever an unknown man was slain all the hundred should be in the mercy of the king under a judgment of murdrum. Four things relieve from the judgment of murdrum: the first if the felon be known or the person killed; for if the felon be known then he can be attainted for the felony. The second, if the felon be taken or has fled to a church. The third, if the killing were not felonious but by misadventure. The fourth, where a man is felo de se. Since of a man who is known no murdrum can be committed, it is the duty of the coroner in these felonies to inquire into the lineage of such persons who are killed, so that one may know from their kinsmen whether they were of English birth.

1895, William Joseph Whittaker, The Publications of the Selden Society - Volume 7, page 35:

In 1160 ten marks were paid for a "murdrum" and the pardon given to the Bishop of Winchester. A "murdrum" was in all cases a secret murder, and if the town was too poor to pay the fine, it was assessed, as in this case, on the whole hundred.

1897, The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine:

Wherefore, in these days, almost every secret manslaughter is punished as murdrum, except those of whom (as I have said) it is certain that they are of servile condition.

1918, G.G. Coulton, Social Life in Britain, page 26:

Under the law of William the Conqueror if a Norman was slain and the slayer was not produced, the district (the hundred) had to pay a fine, and the name murdrum was given both to the homicide and to the fine in such a case.

2013, J. W. Cecil Turner, Kenny's Outlines of Criminal Law, →ISBN, page 141:

(UK, historical) A secret killing, distinguished from simple homicide in that the victim and the killer are unknown.

In the case of the murdrum, to which chapter IX. relates, it is customary to consider that because this fine was originally intended to hold communities responsible for order within their boundaries, therefore its enforcement harmed the feudal lords only in so far as it lessened the paying power of their tenants.

1910, John Franklin Jameson, Henry Eldridge Bourne, Robert Livingston Schuyler, The American Historical Review, page 39:

By the beginning of the thirteenth century the murdrum was being imposed for all cases of sudden or unexpected death, irrespective of whether it was caused by violence or not, unless the complex proof of Englishry could be given.

1960, J. D. J. Havard, The detection of secret homicide: a study of the medico-legal system of investigation of sudden and unexplained deaths, page 12:

By the thirteenth century the collection of murdrum was primarily for the benefit of the Exchequer and significantly added to the burden of the eyre on the localities.

2006, Susan Stewart, The 1263 Surrey Eyre, page lxxii:

(UK, historical) A fine imposed by the Crown on a manor or district in which such a secret killing had been committed.


monged

en-adj

monged (comparative more monged, superlative most monged)

more monged (comparative)
most monged (superlative)

(UK, Ireland, slang) intoxicated; under the influence of alcohol or other drugs


more than someone has had hot dinners

She's had more boyfriends than you've had hot dinners!

more than someone has had cooked dinners

食鹽多過食米

(Cantonese) to be experienced; to have eaten more salt than (you) have eaten rice


live at Her Majesty's pleasure

en-verb

live at Her Majesty's pleasure (third-person singular simple present lives at Her Majesty's pleasure, present participle living at Her Majesty's pleasure, simple past and past participle lived at Her Majesty's pleasure)

lives at Her Majesty's pleasure (present singular third-person)
living at Her Majesty's pleasure (participle present)
lived at Her Majesty's pleasure (participle past)
lived at Her Majesty's pleasure (past)

From the legal phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure.

'I treat patients who are living at Her Majesty's pleasure. They come to the hospital from Full Sutton prison and they are treated in the same way as anyone else.'

1999 January 3, John Arlidge, quoting Professor Alan Roberts, “Yakuza given a helping hand by 'Mr Fingers'”, in The Observer:

I wrote to Charlie Bronson in prison, 'cos Charles sends me letters and amazing drawings; my mate Warwick, who is also banged up, and numerous others living at Her Majesty's pleasure

2003, Dave Courtney, The Ride's Back On, →ISBN, page 174:

The look he gives me makes me realise I've lost him. 'Why would my uncle steal from his own brother for fifteen years? I've never found the reason, but I've heard every single excuse, courtesy of my friends living at Her Majesty's Pleasure.'

2008, Kate Harrison, The Secret Shopper's Revenge, →ISBN:

But the quest to make our jails a less pleasant place in which to live at Her Majesty’s pleasure must never translate into a lack of care, or a slipping of basic standards.

2014 April 25, “Star comment: Youths in prison still need care”, in Shropshire Star (UK):

(UK, colloquial) To spend time in prison or jail.


you're all right

Alternative form: you're alright

Would you like another pint, mate?
Nah, you're all right.

(UK, informal) Used to politely reject an offer.


canteen culture

So called because of informal discussions between staff in the canteen.

(UK) Unofficial beliefs and values held by members of the police force, such as institutional racism.


make a move

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

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

He swallowed hard on his tea. —Well, ah must be making a move. Thanks again.

1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “The First Shag in Ages”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 149:

“We'll give you a lift, darling,” Lady Genevieve said languidly, rising. “It's time we made a move.”

2000, Carola Dunn, Rattle His Bones (2011 Macmillan ed.), p. 173 (Google preview)

"Do you want to stay for another or shall we make a move?"
He looks at his watch. "Yeah, let's go."

2006, Roberta Kray, The Debt, paperback edition, →ISBN:

“Should we make a move?” she asked over the music. “We could find a place to dance. or we could go back to our place.”

2009, Dan Katz, Dave the Detective: Book #2 Identity Crisis, →ISBN, page 150:

(idiomatic, chiefly UK and India) To depart from a place; to set off.


have a word with oneself

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

has a word with oneself (present singular third-person)
having a word with oneself (participle present)
had a word with oneself (participle past)
had a word with oneself (past)

He thinks that everything revolves around him; he needs to have a word with himself.

(UK, idiomatic, informal) To consider one's attitudes or behavior with a view to reform.


torpids

From torpid + -s, since the boats used were slower than those in other races.

(UK, Oxford University) A series of annual boat races held at Oxford University in Hilary Term.


pigeon post

(UK, Oxford University slang) The university's internal mail system.


post town

Post towns rarely correspond exactly to administrative boundaries and their associated physical features.

(UK) A locality for the purpose of classifying postal mail by delivery area.


look as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence (third-person singular simple present looks as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence, present participle looking as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence, simple past and past participle looked as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence)

In pre-decimal British money, a sixpence was worth half a shilling.

(idiomatic, UK) To look very disappointed.


roller bolt

(UK, historical) The bar in a carriage to which the traces are attached; a whiffletree.


fire teaser

(UK, historical) The fireman of a steam engine.


harris

* (rhyming slang): Ellipsis of harris tweed.; Harris tweed = weed; from Harris tweed

I'd rather stay in with some harris than go to the pub after work tonight.

(UK, slang) A dried preparation of the flowering tops or other parts of the cannabis plant used as a psychotropic drug.


dry rent

Rent-Seek, or dry Rent, is where a Man passeth his Estate to another, and reserves to him and his Heirs a certain Rent

1722, Gilles Jacob, A New Law Dictionary:

(UK, law) A rent reserved by deed, without a clause of distress.


the handbags come out

Coined 2004, circa March 2nd, by Jeremy St. Louis on the radio show Fox Sports World Report. From women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight; compare earlier handbags, handbags at dawn.

"I'm ready to take the blame for all the problems of English football, if that is what he wants."
The handbags come out early doors when Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger responds to Ferguson's dig about the Gunners' foreign contingent.

2008, Chris Charles, BBC Sport, 12 May 2008, “Premier League quotes of the season”

The handbags have come out after a diplomatic argument between Israel and Brazil got, well, very personal.

2014, Oliver Wheaton, Metro, 26 Jul 2014, “Handbags: Israel has dig at Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup defeat after diplomatic row over Gaza bombing”

(UK, idiomatic, soccer, rare) A row intensifies; a dispute becomes heated.


lap of honour

(sports, UK) A victory lap (celebratory extra lap).


good folk

(colloquial, UK) Fairies, brownies, pixies, etc.; magical humanoid creatures.


widow's chamber

(UK, law, historical) In London, the apparel and furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she was formerly entitled.


dress shirt

Meronyms: bib, double cuff, placket, pleat, ruffle, wing collar

First off, you certainly wouldn’t want to rock up to work sporting a dress shirt. Not unless you’re the Queen’s butler or one of those gents who holds the doors open at posh department stores. No, a dress shirt is to be worn exclusively as part of a black-tie outfit, most commonly a tuxedo.

2024 July 30, “The Complete Guide To Men’s Dress Shirts”, in FashionBeans:

(UK) A formal, eveningwear shirt with buttons, often worn as part of a black tie or white tie dress code.


you beauty

(UK, Australia, by extension) A general exclamation of happiness and joy.


winter sun

(UK, Ireland, travel) The off-season holiday market, typically to destinations in North Africa and Southern Europe.


orchet

Till he comes to the orchet, when crooping thereright
In the lewth of a codlin-tree, bivering wi’ fright,
Wi’ on’y her night-rail to screen her from sight,
His lonesome young Barbree appears.

1898, Thomas Hardy, 'The Fire at Tranter Sweatley's' in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Harper & Brothers (1899), page 188


compo ration

(British, World War II, historical) A composition ration; a crate containing food, tea, soap, toilet paper etc. for 14 men for one day.


luvviness

(UK) A narcissistic, pretentious attitude associated with actors.


gattered

en-adj

gattered (comparative more gattered, superlative most gattered)

more gattered (comparative)
most gattered (superlative)

Probably from gatter, old British slang for "beer".

People would have to be completely gattered to think anything nice about you.

2000 October 3, Thermostat [username], “Re: sabu424 looking for an efed”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling.fantasy (Usenet):

spilling sangria on white trousers when you are gattered is bad tho'.

2001 July 23, Steve Robertson, “Re: I got a really bad fucking haircut”, in alt.music.mansun (Usenet):

PS Do they put meths in the beer up there? We always arrive in the vaults about 10.30 absolutely gattered :-p

2004 February 20, Dave Herbal, “Re: West Brom”, in alt.sports.soccer.sunderland (Usenet):


in the nip

/ɪn ðə ˈnɪp/

The streaker ran across the playing field in the nip.

Father Dougal: Those women were in the nip!

1998, Graham Linehan & al., "Speed 3", Father Ted Series 3, Episode 3, Channel Four

(Ireland, UK, idiomatic, informal) Nude.


uphill gardener

en-noun

uphill gardener (plural uphill gardeners)

From a likening of the mechanics of anal sex – which may involve pushing "dirt" (i.e., fecal matter) back up the rectum – to a gardener moving soil uphill.

I notice he is quite muscular and very hairy – not at all like your typical uphill gardener.

2000, Martin Knight, Common People, Mainstream Publishing, →ISBN:

At least that's when the lovely uphill gardeners who live above me are the friskiest.

2012, Eric Jerome Dickey, An Accidental Affair, Dutton, →ISBN:

'Oh yeah, he's a fully-paid-up member of the uphill gardeners club, huge fan of musical theatre and interior design'

2013, B. T. Gorman, Underclass, Roundfire Books, →ISBN:

(UK, slang, derogatory) A homosexual man.


ring spanner

(especially (British)) a spanner with a ring-shaped jaw with internal serrations which grip onto a nut or bolt.


red man

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

In reference to Native Americans, generally accepted to have originated as a reference to their skin color; see redskin for more.

Coordinate term: green man

(chiefly UK, Ireland) A small figure of a standing man illuminated in red on a traffic light at a pedestrian crossing, indicating that it is not safe to cross the road.


deoxycortone

In 1951, when many people, both patients and doctors, thought that the newly discovered cortisone of Philip Hench was the therapeutic answer to this disease but were for one reason or another unable to obtain it, a paper from Sweden stated that similar results could be obtained by injections of deoxycortone (Doca) and ascorbic acid.

1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 763:

(pharmacology) UK form of desoxycortone.


blackgrass

(UK) Alopecurus myosuroides, a weed that harms wheat crops.


roof tax

(UK) A tax based on house prices, proposed as an alternative to the poll tax in the 1990s.


Noddy suit

Named after a character who wore a pointed hat in children's books by Enid Blyton.

(UK, military, informal) A kind of NBC suit with a pointed hood.


Darlo

From Darlington + -o, Darlinghurst + -o.


gizza

"It's just more money down the drain. Gizza beer, will ya?"
"It's not shite," replies Ronnie sullenly, "it's just good business sense, something neither of you two have. What do you think, Terry?"


brown pound

MUCH has been said about the value of the pink pound, the grey pound and the brown pound'.

It's only a matter of time before marketers collide in the scrabble for the pink grey brown pound.

(British) the perceived purchasing power of Britain’s Black and Asian minorities as a group


resistant materials

This is clear, for example, in the case of GCSE D&T, where students have to follow a core course in resistant materials but can gain a GCSE by combining this with another course in food technology or textiles technology

2000, Carrie Paechter, Changing School Subjects, →ISBN, page 43:

We heard of a school that distributed timetables one week before the end of term; a boy who had been studying resistant materials throughout year 10 had food technology on his timetable.

2004, Adrian Percival, Susan Tranter, How to Run Your School Successfully, →ISBN, page 112:

There is some evidence that this may be the case with girls taking electronics, and systems and controls, and this is also the case in the advanced-level examinations but it does not hold for those girls choosing to study resistant materials or for those boys choosing to study textiles and food technology.

2013, Patricia Murphy, “Gender and Technology”, in Defining Technological Literacy: Towards an Epistemological Framework, →ISBN, page 224:

design and technology
design and technology

(education, UK) A school subject combining elements of woodwork, metalwork and plastic-work, sometimes a module of a larger design and technology syllabus.


chutney ferret

From chutney (as a euphemism for excrement) + ferret (“diligent searcher”), a reference to anal sex.

'They warned me off you and Lawrence because they reckoned you were a couple of chutney ferrets after my arse. […]

1997, Minette Walters, The Echo, Pan Books, published 2008, →ISBN, page 163:

"A chutney ferret. No one likes one of those and you shouldn't either. You ever find yourself with an arse-bandit like that you get your back to the wall and if he gives you any trouble you break his nose."

2000, Patrick Gale, Rough Music, Ballantine Book, published 2002, →ISBN, page 138:

“Jeremy? Hardly my friend. As you said yourself, an overbearing lackey, not to mention a flaming chutney ferret.”

2010, Joseph Alexander, Faded Acts of Love, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 140:

(derogatory, UK, slang) A homosexual man.


fox in the box

(soccer, UK, informal) A player with good finishing and movement inside the penalty area; a poacher.


bun fight

... a party - afternoon bunfight, you know. A lot of young men in long frock-coats glued to the door-posts, so limp, poor things, and all the women drinking tea by themselves and longing for the young men.

1892, Campbell McKellar, “Judy on Society”, in A Jersey Witch, page 87:

[T]he cineastes […] will descend on that shabby little seaside town in the south of France for the 50th Cannes bun fight.

1997 February 20, Geoffrey Macnab, “Film Review: Africannes...”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-21:

"Most people don't bother to go to those big ‘bun fight’ receptions anymore," said the spouse of an administration official.

2002 August 17, Elizabeth Becker, James Dao, “A Washington Must: Embassies With Élan”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-08-21:

(chiefly UK, slang) A formal tea party or other social gathering, especially one at which food is served.


cucumber time

cucumber time (countable and uncountable, plural cucumber times)

(UK, historical) A period of the year when there was little work for tailors.


gross indecency

gross indecency (countable and uncountable, plural gross indecencies)

(UK, Canada, law) Any of various sexual criminal offences, including sex with a child and (formerly) male homosexuality.

grobe Verletzung des Anstandes f (unofficial translation)


word-perfect

en-adj

word-perfect (comparative more word-perfect, superlative most word-perfect)

more word-perfect (comparative)
most word-perfect (superlative)

The oldest actor in the company was word-perfect before any other actor and speaking at twice the rate and getting laughs from his fellow actors, the younger actors, in rehearsal!

1992, Mary Zenet Maher, Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies, page 67:

(UK, theater) Having memorized one's lines perfectly.


Crown land

en-noun

Crown land (countable and uncountable, plural Crown lands)

Aboriginal groups could apply to jointly manage all Crown land under the most radical overhaul of native title settlement proposed in Victoria.

2009 January 6, Jewel Topsfield, “Native title reform bid”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Crown Estate confirmed today they would allow shooters taking part in one of two pilot culls to access Crown land in west Somerset. . . . The Crown Estate manages the Queen’s property portfolio but revenues go to the Treasury.

2013 September 21, Charlie Cooper, “Crown Estate permits badger cull on its land”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-26:

LINZ administers three million hectares of Crown land or eight percent of New Zealand's land area.

2014, “LINZ's Crown Property Role”, in Land Information New Zealand, Government of New Zealand, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Province of Alberta recognizes its obligation under the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (Constitution Act 1930) to transfer provincial Crown land back to the federal government to allow the settlement of aboriginal land claims.

2014 July 10, Lorne Beloud, “Opinion: In wake of decision, who owns Canada?”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2014-08-26:

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, land that is owned by the state, nominally titled to the reigning King or Queen of England, and whose use and disposition is controlled by a government within that Commonwealth country or by an official representative of the monarch.


debt of honour

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative form of debt of honor


pigsticker

(UK, India) A horse well-suited to hunt wild boar.


seatearth

(UK, mining) The layer of sedimentary rock underlying a coal seam.


minibudget

Unions have reacted with fury to the prospect of the government scrapping a cap on bankers’ bonuses, as ministers geared up for a return to near-normal politics next week, topped by an emergency mini-budget on Friday.

2022 September 15, Peter Walker, Matthew Weaver, Aubrey Allegretti, “Kwarteng plan to lift cap on bankers’ bonuses infuriates unions”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly UK, politics, finance) A budget statement proposed by a government between annual budgets, involving special economic measures.


e-confidence

information technology
information technology

(UK, education) Confidence in the use and teaching of information technology.


e-confident

en-adj

e-confident (comparative more e-confident, superlative most e-confident)

more e-confident (comparative)
most e-confident (superlative)

In these e-confident schools, the school workforce will also have potential access to the whole of the profession and be in a position to benchmark their practices, share ideas, critique and build new knowledge and professional practice […]

2004, Martin Coles, Geoff Southworth, Developing Leadership: Creating The Schools of Tomorrow:

(UK, education) Confident in the use and teaching of information technology.


HEA

Higher Education Academy
w:Higher Education Academy

(UK, education) Initialism of Higher Education Academy.


brishings

The first wood down is sere and small, / From the hills, the brishings off the hills; / And then come by the bats and all / We cut last year in the hills; […]

1917, Rudyard Kipling, “The Floods”, in A Diversity of Creatures:

The fire our friend, that symbol since the cave, / Which on a wintry morning, still half dark, / In roadside fireside when our days are stark / But bonfire brishings of the hedges spark / Touches our childish heart, and makes us brave.


devo max

Clipping of devolution maximum. First attested in 2009http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Qa9DAQAAIAAJ&q=%22devo+max%22&dq=%22devo+max%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=xoQRVJbvE4T07Ab604G4Bg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBTge.

We will know soon enough whether Cameron's was a masterly piece of nerve keeping, or the fatal blunder that broke the union of 1707. In 2012, Salmond gave some listeners the impression that devo max is what he really wanted. Whatever the outcome, Fleet Street's introspective pundits will say: "I told you so", and make dire predictions for the future, which are likely to be off the mark.

2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian:

(UK, politics) Full fiscal autonomy for Scotland.


single-decker

From single + decker, from deck (“floor, level”).

I travelled home on a crowded single-decker - over half of the passengers were schoolchildren.

(especially UK) a single-deck bus, which has only one level for passengers, unlike a double-decker.


prattish

prattish (comparative more prattish, superlative most prattish)

more prattish (comparative)
most prattish (superlative)


tart card

(UK, slang) A card advertising the services of a prostitute.


ratchelly

ratchelly (comparative more ratchelly, superlative most ratchelly)

more ratchelly (comparative)
most ratchelly (superlative)

(UK, dialect) Resembling or containing ratchel.


rubby-dubby

(UK, dialect) chum thrown into the water to attract sharks


ethynodiol

/ˌɛθ.ɪn.oʊˈdaɪˌɔl/

(pharmacology) UK and US spelling of etynodiol.


puffa

From a British brand name, presumably from puff.


mates' rates

I looked at him quizzically. ‘It's Rose's place. She says pop in anytime for a hairdo. Mates' rates.’ I must have looked wary because he added, ‘She's good.’ I nodded politely.

2014, Jonathan Harvey, The Girl Who Just Appeared, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 94:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal, chiefly in the plural) Discounted prices offered to friends.


Nasa

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson criticised Beijing on Saturday, saying the failure to share the details of the rocket’s descent was irresponsible and risky.

2022 July 30, “Nasa criticises China after space rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative letter-case form of NASA (not used in North America)


bell end

(UK, Ireland, vulgar) Alternative spelling of bell-end


off one's box

Say, if you call that acting well, you're off your box.

1896, Surgical Journal, volume 2, page 227:

"The conditions are disgusting aren't they?," he continued. "I don't know how people can. I mean, you'd have to be off your box to stay there for three days wouldn't you?

2008 April 24, Gary Flockhart, “These Modfathers aren't all they're cracked up to be”, in The Scotsman:

Annie: Anthony! Anthony! Don't you know what's happened here? Sir Jonathan has asked for our daughter's hand in marriage.
Belcher: Marry our Mary? Are you off your box, woman?

2012, Deborah McAndrew, A Government Inspector, Methuen Drama (2012), →ISBN, page 83:

(UK, slang) Crazy; unhinged; irrational.

The 44-year-old has admitted to cleaning up his act of late, kicking well-publicised drug addictions and now leading a healthier lifestyle with regular exercise and a passion for fruit smoothies.
He told the M.E.N. last week: "Innit just natural that when you're a kid you're off your box and when you're a grown up, you're not? It seems totally normal to me, that."

2007 July 11, Dianne Bourne, “Ryder happy to toe smoking line”, in Manchester Evening News:

Oh yeah, much happier, darling. I saw her smiling yesterday, a real smile and all. Not one of those weird ones she does, when she's off her box on the pills …

2010, Martina Cole, The Family, Headline, →ISBN:

So you know when you're off your box and you're dancing to this tune and the tune is one of your favourites, yeah? But because you're off your box, it's better than banging.

2012, Mike O'Leary, Misfits, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:


geezerish

geezerish (comparative more geezerish, superlative most geezerish)

more geezerish (comparative)
most geezerish (superlative)

He wore old-fashioned boxers, she knew (because of the few times his washing machine had been on the fritz and she'd let him do laundry at her place), which should have been geezerish but was actually kind of mysterious and sexy.

2008, Lisa Plumley, Home For The Holidays:

(slang, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Resembling or characteristic of a geezer, or common man.


whizzo

whizzo (comparative more whizzo, superlative most whizzo)

more whizzo (comparative)
most whizzo (superlative)

"Oh, whizzo!" said the young man, springing to his feet. He led the way across the grass.

1955, Margaret Erskine, Old Mrs. Ommanney is dead:

But I didn't tell them about what you gave me. It was whizzo, super-bang-on. Thanks.

(UK, informal, dated, school slang) great; super; wonderful


Wayleen

Whether Wayleen were aware of the showers or not, remains to be seen, as they travelled under tight security in vehicles with blacked-out windows to the venue.

2008 June 12, Corinne Abrams, Adam Sherwin, “Rain puts a damper on Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin wedding”, in The Times:

Whilst all appears well for the Wayleen partnership, it appears Wayne's dad, who's also called Wayne isn't having such good fortune.

2009 November 23, “And baby Roo comes too - Wayne Rooney's son enjoys his first visit to Old Trafford”, in Daily Mail:

If her family and strong Catholic upbringing in Croxteth has helped her through the 'Wayleen' sagas, Coleen goes into 2011 in the knowledge that while she is one half of a famous footballing couple, she has developed a lucrative brand identity in her own right and, this week, she fronts three magazine covers

2010 December 10, Bairbre Power, “Coleen -- still smiling despite Wayne's away games. . .”, in Irish Independent:

(UK, slang) The couple consisting of celebrities Wayne Rooney and Coleen Rooney (née McLoughlin).


hum and ha

en-verb

hum and ha (third-person singular simple present hums and ha's, present participle humming and ha'ing, simple past and past participle hummed and ha'ed)

hums and ha's (present singular third-person)
humming and ha'ing (participle present)
hummed and ha'ed (participle past)
hummed and ha'ed (past)


civic centre

(UK) a building or building complex within a town, borough or city which houses municipal offices. Civic centres have generally replaced town halls in this role, though old town halls are often still in use.


disjaskit

en-adj

disjaskit (comparative more disjaskit, superlative most disjaskit)

more disjaskit (comparative)
most disjaskit (superlative)


trunk road

North of Tain [...], the line reaches the southern shore of Dornoch Firth. Here, the railway and the A9 trunk road, which have hitherto run close together, diverge.

2021 October 20, Paul Stephen, “Leisure and pleasure on the Far North Line”, in RAIL, number 942, page 49:

(UK) An important main road used by long-distance traffic, as well as heavy lorries.


quidsworth

It seems an eternity since I sprinted through the scrub, bullets zipping past like tin bees, slid down the crater, and there he was, ten quidsworth of NCO.

1977, Alan Coren, The lady from Stalingrad Mansions:

'Bit o' fun?' spat Mike. 'That's £150 quidsworth of drums you nearly buggered up. My snare's all split and the bass pedal's packed up. Bloody lunatic.'

“Hey, nearly six hundred quidsworth between us,” Dai yelled as he drove at speed along the winding busy road to Hamsley. “Money when we need it, eh?” When they'd actually get the cash was another matter.

2012, Keith Blackburn, Changes in a Landscape:

(UK, slang) pounds' worth, in terms of money


sneerocracy

While the media sneerocracy only came round to Oliver because of his pro bono project, the huge number of people buying his books and wheeling their Sainsbury's trolleys in his wake had already responded to his charisma.

2002 December 5, Mark Lawson, “The fall and rise of Jamie”, in The Guardian:

The sneerocracy, however, are appalled to even countenance that such an uncool character could attract any woman.

2010 December 1, “Actually, Lembit's in the swim”, in Belfast Telegraph:

Only the Cameroons, paralysed as they are by the fashionable prejudices aired at metropolitan dinner tables and the terror of getting on the wrong side of the BBC sneerocracy.

2011, Melanie Phillips, "The election of Australia's new PM Tony Abbott is clear evidence that genuine conservative policies can win elections", Daily Mail, 8 September 2013

(UK, derogatory) Openly critical and condescending people viewed collectively.


mongtard

From mong (“person with Down syndrome”) + -tard.

suffix

And no-one say ask AOL because we all know that their help desks are populated by 12 year old mongtards

2004 January 9, Tricky Dicky [username], “OT:Anyone Know If AOL Use NAT (Network Address Translation)?”, in uk.media.dvd (Usenet):

How many groups have you posted this drivel to, you spamming mongtard?

2005 November 13, neil h, “Re: What Amazon doesn't want you to know.”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

Anyway, as I said up there, if the census points were properly run there would be no real holdups for the vast majority of drivers, but since they are apparently thought up and run by utter mongtards who have no appreciation of the disruption they cause for miles down the road, they can go take a flying fuck to themselves until they sort themselves out.

2008 November 9, Grimly Curmudgeon [username], “Re: OT: Censuses”, in uk.rec.motorcycles (Usenet):

(UK, slang, derogatory) An extremely stupid person.


barrow boy

From barrow + boy. First use appears c. 1939. See cite below. The slang usage dates from the 1980s.

I pointed out to him that it was impossible for him to do that ... barrow boys to take him back to Manchester.

1939, John Worby, Spiv's Progress, page 72:

...at a London magistrate's court a young coster — a barrow boy — was summoned before me for selling rhubarb without a licence.

1948, "Is rhubarb a fruit?", The Listener, page 650:

Operation London Bridge, also from 1975, tells the story of the busy station's redevelopment. Cutting neatly from the barrow boys of Borough Market to an aerial view of Borough Market Junction, the film uses time lapse photography to show the congestion rife in the area during the morning rush hour.

2021 March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, in RAIL, number 926, page 48:

(UK, dated) A boy or man who sells goods, especially fruits or vegetables, from a barrow; a costermonger.

The "barrow boy" commodities trader may well have no aspirations to old-style middle class tastes.

1992, Leslie Budd, Sam Whimster, Global Finance and Urban Living, page 326:

(UK, slang, derogatory, by extension) A financial industry worker from a working class or lower middle class family background.


woolly hat

(UK) an item of knitted headwear, without a brim or peak, made from wool or other fabrics.


pobbies

(UK, dialect) bread and milk given to babies or people who are unwell


bollock sack

[…] slit open the bollock sack, got hold of the slippery eggs and pulled them out, first one, then the other, then snipped the cords and flung them from him.

1974, Richard Gardner, Richard Cummings, The Adventures of Don Juan, page 87:

“I seem to recall it was late one night, after considerable wine, and you said his wife had the face of a horse's bollock sack?”


senior school

The plaque is dedicated to Sir Henry Fowler (1870-1938), locomotive engineer and Chief Mechanical Engineer at both the Midland (from 1909) and LMS (from 1925). He was born and raised in the town, and attended the same senior school (Prince Henry's) as I did.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Evesham (1870)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 59:


yam yam

en-noun

yam yam (countable and uncountable, plural yam yams)

From the local use of "yow am" (or "yow'm") instead of "you are".

(countable, UK, informal, sometimes derogatory) A person who speaks the Black Country dialect.

(UK, informal, uncountable, sometimes derogatory) The dialect spoken in the Black Country.


olds

From old + -s; compare old folks, old man.


stovec

I think it is because if a garage get a stovec and no one claims it, they dont^([sic]) get paid, not only that, they have to pay AADL too.

2008 July 16, Chocolate boy, “Re: Heavy Recovery”, in PrisonOfficer.org.uk, retrieved 2014-10-26:

If there's a car on your drive when you get home, and you can't get onto the drive yourself, there's no obstruction as such. However, it would be worth a phone call to the police (non emergency number) as you never know, the car might be an outstanding stovec, in which case we will come, and it will be removed.

2010 March 4, Damsel, “Parked on a private driveway without permission”, in PoliceSpecials.com, archived from the original on 2014-11-22:

(UK, law enforcement) A stolen car, van, lorry or other motor vehicle.


faggot vote

(UK, Ireland, historical) The vote granted to a faggot voter, exploiting loopholes in the regulations.


mag book

(UK) A book in the format of a magazine.


Harvey Smith salute

Harvey Smith salute (plural Harvey Smith salutes)

Harvey Smith sign
Harvey Smith sign#English

(British) Alternative form of Harvey Smith sign.


Harvey Smith sign

Harvey Smith sign (plural Harvey Smith signs)

After Harvey Smith, a British show jumping champion, who made a V sign to the judges in 1971 after a near perfect round. Smith had previously been in an argument with one of the judges, who had said that he (Smith) would not win. Having proved the judge wrong, Smith made the insulting gesture, although in the ensuing controversy he claimed that it had been a V sign of victory. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/aug/15/harvey-smith-shows-v-sign

(British) V sign (of contempt or insult)