RSHE

(UK, education) Initialism of relationships, sex and health education.


FCDO

w:Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

(UK) Initialism of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.


dole queue

It has taken people off the dole queue, and its online jobseekers board is updated daily.

2021 September 8, “Network News: HS2 jobs boost - but skills shortage a concern”, in RAIL, number 939, page 16:

Wadebridge area railwaymen were reported in the local press as "worried", while National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) Wadebridge branch secretary W J Hambly believed "the rail closures will mean dole queues at the Labour Exchange for many".

2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 38:

unemployment benefit
unemployment benefit

(UK) Historically a queue to receive the dole (unemployment benefit), now used in reference to the number of people who are unemployed and claiming state benefit.


WVS

Women's Voluntary Services
w:Women's Voluntary Services

(UK, historical) Initialism of Women's Voluntary Services.


pantiler

From pantile + -er. Hotten suggests a derivation from the slang pantile (“hat”), because of the distinctive sugar-loaf hats worn by Puritans, or the habit of Quakers and many Dissenters of not removing their hats in a place of worship; or else from pantile (“type of roof tile”) with which the meeting-houses of Dissenters were usually covered.

(UK, religion, slang, obsolete) A preaching Dissenter.


Glasgow magistrate

en-noun

Glasgow magistrate (plural Glasgow magistrates)

Hotten states: "When George IV. visited Scotland, a wag placed some salt herrings on the iron guard of the carriage belonging to a well-known Glasgow magistrate, who made one of a deputation to receive his Majesty."


dinarly

Now a lot of us chaps propose to assist you to-night, as it's the last one, in getting you up a rare full house to help you and your school to some dinarly and mungarly, i.e., money and food.

1876, William Green, Charles Hindley, The life and adventures of a cheap jack, page 170:


buy the rabbit

en-verb

buy the rabbit (third-person singular simple present buys the rabbit, present participle buying the rabbit, simple past and past participle bought the rabbit)

buys the rabbit (present singular third-person)
buying the rabbit (participle present)
bought the rabbit (participle past)
bought the rabbit (past)

According to Hotten: from an old story about a man selling a cat to a foreigner as a rabbit.

This is ruffian-like, by superiority of numbers to endeavor to make honest people buy the rabbit.

1895, Horace White, Money and Banking, page 253:

(UK, slang, archaic) To get the worst of a bargain.


Gospel grinder

(UK, slang, obsolete) A missionary, or distributor of religious tracts.


Dirty Half Hundred

On account of their tattered and soiled appearance during the Peninsular War.

(UK, military, slang, historical) The 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot.


knuller

Alteration of knoller (“one who rings a bell”), from the practice of chimney sweeps going door to door, ringing on doorbells.

(UK, obsolete) A chimney sweep who solicited work by ringing a bell.


give it mouth

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

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

(UK, slang, archaic) Speak loudly; speak up.


grub and bub

Chosen for the rhyme. Note that bub ordinarily referred only to alcoholic drinks; in this phrase it is more general.

(UK, slang, archaic) Food and drink of any kind.


multee kertever

That'll be multee kertever to start the weddin' on.

Well my flying sawney hunter, I think I twigged you on the scaldrum dodge once, and just before that, you were reported to me as being scammered with some multee kertever flue fakers in a flatty ken.

1982, Sue Fabian, Mr. Punch Down Under, page 40:


common recovery

en-noun

common recovery (plural common recoveries)

(UK, law, historical) A legal proceeding in England that enabled lawyers to convert an entailed estate into absolute ownership, fee simple, by means of a legal fiction.


shiny-floor

From the large, brightly-lit studios in which popular entertainment shows are often filmed, which tend to include well-polished or illuminated floors.

Roscoe (2013) describes the trope in talent formats as the big shiny floor moment: You have a factory of formats and each one has to be bigger and better.

2014, Annette Hill, Reality TV, page 75:

Reality television excels at connecting audiences with other people. Shiny-floor shows can connect audiences through the literal representation of live crowds at the venue, participants auditioning and performing on stage, public voting, and live Internet chat.

2016, Laurie Ouellette, A Companion to Reality Television, page 126:

In stark contrast to these 'shiny floor shows' was the very straightforward comedy panel show format, Have I Got News for You, which saw five personalities sitting on a panel in a simple set.

2016, Lucy Brown, Lyndsay Duthie, The TV Studio Production Handbook:

There is more work to be done on the istory of the spectacular as genre (in fact there is relatively little discussion of this programming in this book), particularly in understanding it as a precursor for the contemporary 'shiny floor' show, popular Saturday night TV light entertainment that ranges from the big talent shows (X Factor, ITV1, 2004–; Britain's Got Talent, ITV1, 2007–; The Voice, BBC1, 2012-), celebrity-focused light entertainment shows (Ant and Dec's Saturday Night takeaway, ITV1, 2003-; The Graham Norton Show, BBC1, 2007-), dating programmes (take Me Out, ITV1, 2007-), and the para-sports programmes that Caldwell terms 'trash spectaculars' (1995: 3) (e.g. Gladiators, ITV1, 1992-2000; Ninja Warrior UK, BBC1, 2015-).

2016, Helen Wheatley, Spectacular Television: Exploring Televisual Pleasure, page 13:

By the 1980s, there was still huge appeal for what became known as 'shiny-floor' talent shows, especially during weekend primetime. In the US, Star Search ran for 12 years in its original run, from 1983 to 1995, and as searches went, it did genuinely uncover some A-list talent, including Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morrisette and LeAnn Rimes.

2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC:

A major shiny-floor show in the US market costs more than $2 million per produced episode, sometimes significantly more.

2022, Alex Connock, Media Management and Artificial Intelligence:

(informal, of television, chiefly UK) Highly produced, extravagant, and spectacular in a tightly-controlled, somewhat formulaic way.


whisterpoop

(UK, obsolete, dialectal) A blow; a wherret.


Whitleyism

From Whitley + -ism; the system was proposed by John Henry Whitley (1866–1935), British politician.

(UK, industrial relations) The system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers ("Whitley councils") to deal with issues and take matters to arbitration if necessary.


MAIB

(UK, nautical) Initialism of Marine Accident Investigation Branch.


Irish cockney

(UK, slang, archaic) A person born of Irish parents in any part of the southern counties of England.


Disprin

Trademark genericization, from the brand name Disprin.


dibhole

(UK, mining) The lowest part of a mine, into which the water drains.


loaver

[…] and then they don't mind tipping the loaver (money) […]

1864, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 472:


blue blanket

(UK, slang, obsolete) A rough overcoat made of coarse pilot cloth.


snide pitcher

(UK, slang, obsolete) One who puts counterfeit money into circulation.


fen nightingale

fen nightingale (plural fen nightingales)

Tom Spence is a dom fule and doesn't know a fen nightingale from a natterjack.

1934, Neil Bell, Bredon and Sons, page 15:


surplus to requirements

(UK, formal) No longer needed, redundant.

(euphemistic) Laid off; having one's employment terminated.


banking engine

Speaking of locomotive surefootedness, I was immensely impressed, on a recent journey with the down "Ulsterman" from Euston, when "Royal Scot" 4-6-0 No. 46168, The Girl Guide, cleanly lifted a well-filled 15-coach train of 471 tons tare and 500 tons gross out of the terminus without the service of any banking engine.

1953 November, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 760:

When the widening is complete, the majority of the trains from Tees-side and the North which have hitherto had to be routed via the Leeds Northern line (Ripon, Harrogate and Wetherby) will be diverted over the main line via York. This avoids the necessity to provide banking engines on the Leeds Northern route and will result in speedier transit times and the more efficient and economical use of engines and train crews.

1959 November, “Talking of Trains: Widening north of York”, in Trains Illustrated, page 518:

(rail transport, British) Synonym of banker (“type of railway locomotive”)


flat crossing

(rail transport, UK) A crossing where two railway lines cross each other on the same level.


Keeper of the Privy Seal

Keeper of the Privy Seal (plural Keepers of the Privy Seal)

(politics, UK) The fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, the position is now considered to be sinecure.


tankerabogus

(UK, regional) A bogeyman; a fanciful monster used to frighten children.


anti-jabber

To me, two things are obvious. First, those of us who get the jab should not be held hostage by those who refuse it. The anti-jabbers do so at their own risk, and once we get to the point where all those who actually want the jab in Australia have received it, then it should be game on.

2021 May 23, Peter FitzSimons, “I’ve got a plan to get all the anti-jabbers to get their shots”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, informal, neologism) A person who opposes vaccination or refuses to be vaccinated (especially against COVID-19).


addlins

He din’t heve mich i t’way o addlins but it wor just enuff to get by.

(UK, Yorkshire, dialect, archaic) earnings


candlebeam

(architecture, UK, regional, archaic) A rood beam.


Cenotaph

Top Gear bosses have defended the show after it was criticised for filming scenes near the Cenotaph in central London.

2016 March 14, “Top Gear bosses defend filming near Cenotaph memorial”, in The Guardian, sourced from Press Association, →ISSN:

Never has the Cenotaph, in its 103 years of standing sentry on Whitehall, been “defended” on Armistice Day by a Port Vale fan supping a can of Stella Artois.

2023 November 11, Mark Townsend, “Far-right ‘defends’ the Cenotaph to the echo of home secretary’s words”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(UK) A war memorial in Whitehall, London, England.


star prisoner

Of the remaining 469 wives 256 were wives of star prisoners, and 213 wives of recidivists.

1965, Pauline Morris, Political and Economic Planning (Think tank), Prisoners and Their Families (page 73)

I was a 'Star-Prisoner', so-called because, as a 'First-Timer', I had to wear a red star on the sleeve of my prison jacket.

2010, Ron S. King, The Cuckoo's Nest, page 214:

First, you're classed as a YP (young prisoner) if you're under 21. If it's your first time in prison, they class you as a star prisoner and that separates you from the ones who have been inside before.

(UK, Ireland) A person in prison for the first time.


S level

(UK, historical, education) A public examination taken by the most able A-level students and typically used to support university applications, particularly to Oxbridge.


quoilers

Quoilers for 4 Horses

1874, Isabella James, Memorial of Thomas Potts, Junior, page 87:

(UK, regional, obsolete) The breeching of the harness of a horse-drawn cart.


Retail Price Index

Consumer Price Index
consumer price index

(UK, economics) A measure of inflation based on the changing cost of a representative sample of retail goods and services. Calculated on a slightly different basis to the Consumer Price Index.


red hat

From the red band on the caps they wore.

(UK, military, slang) A senior army officer.


blue job

From the colour of the uniform, and slang job (“thing”).

Coordinate term: brown job

Air force personnel used to distinguish airmen (blue jobs or boys in blue) from army personnel (brown jobs or boys in brown).

2006, David W. Clark, Joe's Letters, page 38:

As Blue Jobs we had to walk behind the sweep line, probably because we would have been a liability had there been a scene. We hadn't quite reached the camp area when we heard the sound of Ray's chopper.

2014, Preller Geldenhuys, Rhodesian Air Force Operations, page 224:

(UK, air force slang, dated) A member of the air force.


brown job

Coordinate term: blue job

[…] The Navy and the R.A.F. combine and throw the Army out of the window. It passes the time...' But that evening, it wasn't the Brown Jobs that were thrown out.

(UK, air force slang, dated) A member of the army.


paybob

A form book about as helpful as the old Greek oracles is thus produced and guides the odds given by the numerous illegal bookmakers who compete with the tote run by the paybobs on each ship.

1979, W. B. Harvey, Downstairs in the Royal Navy, page 60:

Sod all the Shipwrights and CPO Cooks,
Sod all the Paybobs and their bleeding books
For we're saying goodbye to them all
As back to their hammocks they crawl.

2015, Cyril Tawney, Grey Funnel Lines, page 141:


Anor

(UK, law) another, used in case citations


walk-in wardrobe

walk-in wardrobe (plural walk-in wardrobes)

(UK) A small room adjoining a domestic bedroom where people may dress or undress in privacy.


Sindy

From a dialectal pronunciation of Sunday

(UK, slang) The Independent on Sunday, a British newspaper published until 2016.


boot room

* (mudroom): Originally, a foyer for storing boots, between the interior and the outdoors.

(UK, architecture) British standard form of mudroom


camp-ball

(UK, obsolete) An ancient game of football, played in some parts of England.


E+W

England and Wales
England and Wales#English

(UK, law) Abbreviation of England and Wales.


England & Wales

(UK, law) Alternative form of England and Wales.


in the rattle

If you were in the rattle too often, you would be labeled a troublemaker. Once that happened, it was virtually impossible to get back into the Navy's good books, and the chances were high that they would find some way to get rid of you.

2005, Charles Gidley Wheeler, Jannaway's Mutiny:

(UK, naval, slang) Kept in confinement as a disciplinary measure.


statutory instrument

statutory instrument (plural statutory instruments)

delegated legislation
delegated legislation

(UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, law) In some common law jurisdictions, a form of delegated legislation enacted under a power derived from an act of parliament.


crown it all

en-verb

crown it all (third-person singular simple present crowns it all, present participle crowning it all, simple past and past participle crowned it all)

crowns it all (present singular third-person)
crowning it all (participle present)
crowned it all (participle past)
crowned it all (past)

A lovely crisp exhaust: a feeling of almost unlimited power combined with complete freedom of running: and, to crown it all, a most melodious and wholly American chime whistle—these were my immediate impressions as we stormed rapidly out of Göttingen, intent on winning back some of the lost time.

1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 611:

(British) To be the final, or last-mentioned, event or occurrence in a series of particularly favourable / fortunate or unfavourable / unfortunate events.


tanning parlour

en-noun

tanning parlour (plural tanning parlours)

(UK) Alternative form of tanning parlor.


TRA

TRA (countable and uncountable, plural TRAs)

One PFI scheme was developed in an area where formal representative structures (tenant and resident associations (TRAs), tenant liaison committees (TLCs) and community forum) had failed to adapt to the growing ethnic diversity of the area.

2010, Hal Pawson, David Mullins, After Council Housing: Britain's New Social Landlords, page 237:

Just Space also provided support to Tower Hamlets Tenants Federation (THTF) to deliver a programme of events on community planning aimed at Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) in the borough.

2014, Robin Brown, Michael Edwards, Richard Lee, “Just Space: towards a just, sustainable London”, in Rob Imree, Loretta Lees, editors, Sustainable London: The Future of a Global City, unnumbered page:

Brandon berated the lack of 'community cohesion' in the Five Estates, yet went to great length to explain how different community groups and TRAs (Tenants and Residents Associations) could not find agreement with one another.

2017, Luna Glucksberg, “'The Blue Bit, That Was My Bedroom': Rubble, Displacement and Regeneration in Inner-City London”, in Paul Watt, Peer Smets, editors, Social Housing and Urban Renewal: A Cross-National Perspective, unnumbered page:

(UK) Initialism of tenants and residents association.


banker's ramp

The commissions paid on this transaction were high and gave rise to grumblings in Great Britain about a “banker's ramp.”

1990, Randall Bennett Woods, A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941-1946, page 409:

But over the course of the last weekend before the 1997 election, Brown concluded, 'What a release an independent Bank of England would be – a release from a “banker's ramp”!'

2020, Harold James, Making a Modern Central Bank: The Bank of England 1979–2003, page 410:

(UK, politics) An economic crisis engineered by bankers for political ends.


face like the back end of a bus

(UK, Ireland, informal, idiomatic) A very ugly face.


tosserish

en-adj

tosserish (comparative more tosserish, superlative most tosserish)

more tosserish (comparative)
most tosserish (superlative)

Clearly, there are many ways of being less tosserish in life. But, surely, one of those ways involves not farting on and on about how much your standard of living has improved since you 'cut out all the crap and left all that mess behind'.

2011, Steve Lowe, Alan McArthur, The Best Of Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit?:

'He is unfortunately developing tosserish elements,' she said into his ear.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar) Like a tosser (obnoxious person).


gin spinner

(UK, slang, archaic) A distiller or rectifier of gin.


bulge in the onion bag

en-noun

bulge in the onion bag (plural bulges in the onion bag)


fog signal

The layman does not realise the dreadful nightmare of running in fog, especially at night, when the safety of everyone depends on the driver hearing the fog signal detonate.

1943 November and December, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 344:

The last train—a three-coach A.E.C. unit—from Belfast to Crumlin and back, was bade farewell with fog signals as it carried a capacity crowd of last-trip travellers.

1960 November, L. Hyland, “The Irish Scene”, in Trains Illustrated, page 691:

(rail transport, UK) A small explosive charge (detonator) which can be placed on a railway line in fog, to be detonated by a train passing over it as a warning signal to the driver.


girl racer

(UK) A young woman who drives recklessly fast, especially one who participates in gatherings of car-culture enthusiasts and/or in illegal street racing; female equivalent of boy racer.


pot noodle

'Just a pot noodle. Oh - and I found a tin of dog food on the tool shelf.'
Misery hissed through Lister's gritted teeth. 'Well,' he said finally. 'Pretty obvious what gets eaten last. I can't stand pot noodles.'

1990, Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, Better Than Life:


corporation bus

corporation bus (plural corporation buses)

From corporation (“municipal corporation”) + bus.

compound

(UK, informal, dated) A bus service operated by the local municipal corporation or council.


onion bag

From the resemblance to the net bags in which onions are sold.

You ponce, you slag, pop it in the onion bag.

2002, Fat Les (band), Who Invented Fish and Chips? (song)


batchy

1926, U.K. House of Commons, Report from the Select Committee on Nursing Homes (Registration), London: H.M.S.O., p. 195,
I was speaking to the matron about different cases in her home, and she said to me, to use her own expression, that this woman was “batchy”; she meant that she was mentally affected after her operation.

It’s batchy to get married at eighteen.

1962, Alan Sillitoe, Key to the Door, New York: Knopf, Part 4, Chapter 26, p. 386:

“Roll up your sleeve, Alice, and I will make you happier than you’ve ever been.”
She shook her head. “Sod off. I’ve heard of that stuff. Sends you batchy.”

1997, Maureen Jennings, chapter 11, in Except the Dying, New York: St. Martin’s Press, page 127:

(UK, slang) Of unsound mind, crazy; lacking good sense or judgment, silly.


Dicky Sam

Coordinate term: Mary Ellen


Mary Ellen

Coordinate term: Dicky Sam

Young and middle-aged women often caring for large families were known as 'Mary Ellens'. They dressed in a most distinctive fashion with large black shawls draped over their shoulders and fastened at the middle. The shawl formed a large pocket under each arm; often one would hold a baby, the other a bag and perhaps a little food which the Mary Ellen had managed to shoplift. Their men were known as Dicky Sams. […] Typically a Mary Ellen would hock her wedding ring for a barrow and a load of produce. […] At the end of the day she would have enough money to pay for the barrow and retrieve her ring.

2010, Tim Parker, Signalman Jones, page 18:

Luke staggered blindly down the street, almost bumping into an old woman in black with a shawl drawn close about her head and shoulders—a Mary Ellen they called them round here.

Dad had just laughed when Rose said she wouldn't mind being a Mary Ellen but Mam had tightened her mouth and sniffed.

(UK, Liverpool, historical) A working-class woman, typically dressed in a shawl, carrying one or more babies, and working as a market trader.


common sewer

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

A punning allusion to shared drains for sewage. Compare drain (“a drink”).

When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'

(UK, slang, archaic) A communal session of drinking alcohol.


galeny

From the dairy we passed into the poultry-yard; and there I was introduced to a train of milk-white turkeys, and fowls of the same colour, a few bantams, and three galenies, Mrs. Helen's especial favourites, […]

1829, Caroline Bowles Southey, Chapters on Churchyards, page 114:

(UK, archaic, West Country) A guinea fowl.


pen licence

(UK, Australia, education) Permission to use a pen for schoolwork instead of a pencil, granted to a child whose handwriting has reached an acceptable standard.


star up

en-verb

star up (third-person singular simple present stars up, present participle starring up, simple past and past participle starred up)

stars up (present singular third-person)
starring up (participle present)
starred up (participle past)
starred up (past)

So he lost it all when he got starred up: sent to adult prison.

2011, Jonathan Trigell, Boy A, page 189:

Under 18s can occasionally be moved to the adult estate through a process known in the system as 'starring up'. Fewer than ten under 18s were moved each year between 2010 and 2012 and none in 2013.

2016, Yvonne Jewkes, Ben Crewe, Jamie Bennett, Handbook on Prisons, page 534:

(UK, transitive) To transfer (an incarcerated juvenile offender) to an adult prison earlier than the usual age of 18 or 21.


Security Service

In this section […] “intelligence service” means the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service or GCHQ […]

2010, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Other provisions about offences, section 13(6)”, in Bribery Act 2010, page 11:


Secret Intelligence Service

the Secret Intelligence Service (canonical)


closed period

(UK, television) A period of time on a Saturday during which football matches may not be broadcast (so as to avoid reduced attendance in person at other football matches that are not being televised).

(UK, television) A period of time each week that is officially dedicated to religious broadcasting.


News of the Screws

Screws of the World
Screws of the World#English

(slang, humorous, UK, historical) Synonym of Screws of the World (“the News of the World tabloid newspaper”)


Screws of the World

Pun with screw (“act of sexual intercourse”).

(slang, humorous, UK, historical) The News of the World, a weekly tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011, known for its focus on sensational celebrity gossip.


civic society

The plaque, of light-blue hue (a tone favoured by the Wiltshire market town's civic society), can be found on a nondescript structure just outside the station.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chippenham (1841)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 57:

(UK) A voluntary body or society which aims to represent the needs of a local community.


break shins

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

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


two-to-one

“A pawnbroker!” cried Dick, with a loud laugh; whereupon the two-to-one lady blushed up to the eyes and whispered to her friend, “How could they know us?”

1819, Felix Mac Donough, The Hermit in London; or, Sketches of English Manners, page 182:

A song I'm going to sing you, / And presently I'll bring you, / Where your conscience I hope won't sting you, / — At the sign of the Two-to-one!

1877, John Diprose, New standard song book and reciter, page 194:

(UK, slang, obsolete) The pawnbroker's sign of three balls.


running stationer

en-noun

running stationer (plural running stationers)

(UK, slang, archaic) A street hawker of books and newspapers.


Gratin

(UK, education) A course of study at secondary level in which Ancient Greek and Latin are combined into a single timetabled subject.


horse's hoof

(UK, slang) A male homosexual, rhyming slang for poof.


nob jockey

(UK, slang) Alternative spelling of knob jockey


mags court

magistrates' court
magistrates' court#English

(UK, informal) Short for magistrates' court.


CAZ

(UK) Initialism of Clean Air Zone (“an area where targeted action is taken to improve air quality”).


doughnutting

From doughnut. When this method of fare evasion is used on the London Underground, the area covered by the ticket looks like a doughnut, with a hole in the middle.

2006, Carl Bro Group Ltd, FareXChange Scoping Study Final Report v1.0, section 8.6.1, Department for Transport, http://naptan.dft.gov.uk/transxchange/farexchange/FareXChange%20Scoping%20Study%20Final%20Report%20v1.0.pdf,
Particular considerations apply to circumstances such as doughnutting when fare elements do not correspond to controllable elements, so there arises the opportunity for fare evasion.

2012, WickedWolfie, reply to South West Trains. Liars? Thieves? Generally unhelpful., MoneySavingExpert Forum, https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57775841/#Comment_57775841,
The post before you (rightly) says that overriding season tickets is a regular fare con, as is doughnutting (having tickets for the start and the end of the journey with a gap - often large - in the middle), the latter exposes the limitations of ticket gates.....

2014, scottwalds, Re: [Mega Hot tea] Penalty fares on trains, Tony's Non-League Forum, https://nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?post=561451#561451,
There is a technique known as doughnutting, where you buy a ticket covering your first and last stops, to allow you to pass through the ticket barriers at both ends.

(UK) A method of fare evasion by buying tickets only covering the beginning and the end of a journey.


breakfast milk

breakfast milk (countable and uncountable, plural breakfast milks)

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

(UK) A milk with relatively high butterfat content, typically 5% or more; especially Channel Island milk.


IHT

(taxation, UK) Initialism of inheritance tax.


MOWP

making off without payment
making off without payment#English

(law, UK) Acronym of making off without payment.


make off without payment

en-verb

make off without payment (third-person singular simple present makes off without payment, present participle making off without payment, simple past and past participle made off without payment)

makes off without payment (present singular third-person)
making off without payment (participle present)
made off without payment (participle past)
made off without payment (past)

making off without payment
making off without payment

(UK, law, formal) To commit the criminal offence of making off without payment.


making off without payment

en-noun

making off without payment (uncountable)

(UK, law, formal) The criminal offence of bilking.


cricket score

The better teams were beginning to run up cricket scores thanks to the advent of short passing, so eventually this system, shown in Figure 5-2, was introduced to counter it.

2010, Scott Murray, Football For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

International Rugby League winger Noel Pidding – "Football's Bradman" – piled up a cricket score, 34 points, against America yesterday.

2013, Gavin Willacy, No Helmets Required, eBook Partnership, →ISBN:

2–0 is a cricket score in Italian football.

2014, Phil Shaw, The Book of Football Quotations, Random House, →ISBN, page 508:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, sports apart from cricket) A very high score.


granarchist

Blend of gran (“grandmother”) + anarchist.

blend

The anti-live exports campaigns saw animal rights move out of the anarcho-punk ghetto and become a street movement which ranged across generations (the so-called granarchists with their eldritch scream of “Eeeevil”).

2006 May 5, “Dover And Out: They Think It's All Dover...It Is Now”, in Weekly SchNEWs, Brighton, England, page 1:

Joan used her advancing age to her advantage with the media and as one of Cambridge's wonderfully infamous 'granarchists', she staged sit-ins, hunger strikes and chained herself to #railings.

2017, "Obituary: Joan Court", Viva!Life, Spring 2017, page 33

But what if feeding pigeons reveals contours of a large-scale affective militancy among older people in the public space? When as "granarchists" they pursue their publicly condemned practice of feeding the pigeons, old women really do take on joggers, park wardens, and the like.

2020, Fahim Amir, Being and Swine: The End of Nature (As We Knew It), unnumbered page:

(UK, informal) An older woman who espouses radical or militant political views.


summer holidays

(UK, Ireland) Alternative form of summer holiday


summer holiday

en-noun

summer holiday (countable and uncountable, plural summer holidays)

Coordinate term: winter holiday

(UK, Ireland) A school break in summer between school years and the break in the school academic year.


choral scholar

(UK, Canada) A student at a university, school or church who receives a stipend or scholarship for singing in that institution's choir.


spannered

en-adj

spannered (comparative more spannered, superlative most spannered)

more spannered (comparative)
most spannered (superlative)

Several more whiskies later, with them all now wearing matching watches, the old guys felt spannered

2018, Kathryn Austwick, The Gobs: Return of the Wrinkled Rockers:

Drugs at the label was still a huge thing, but they weren’t being done in the office any more because they were trying to protect me and it would been torture to see everyone walking around spannered.

2021 March 20, David Owens, “The lunatic drug addict who released some of the greatest records of all time”, in Wales Online:


waiting staff

en-noun

waiting staff (usually uncountable, plural waiting staffs)

(UK) Collectively, staff employed to wait at tables in a restaurant.


organ scholar

(UK, Canada) A student at a university, school or church who receives a stipend or scholarship for being an assistant organist at that institution.


ballgowning

Ballgowning is quite popular with many roleplayers, but others find it gets on their nerves.

(UK, live action roleplaying games) The act of roleplaying romance as part of a roleplaying game.


physrepping

Physrepping doesn't have to be elaborate if you know how to do it effectively.

(UK, live action roleplaying games) The act of using a prop or visible characterisation to physically represent something that exists in a roleplaying game.


physrep

I want a physrep for my new amulet, but I can't find anything I like.

(UK, live action roleplaying games) A prop or visible characterisation used to physically represent something that exists in a roleplaying game.


physrep

en-verb

physrep (third-person singular simple present physreps, present participle physrepping, simple past and past participle physrepped)

physreps (present singular third-person)
physrepping (participle present)
physrepped (participle past)
physrepped (past)

Are you planning on physrepping that?

(UK, live action roleplaying games) To use a physrep.


cuzzy

We're just cuzzies from down at the marae down the road that are trying to be proactive and look after our whenua, look after our stories, and look after the mauri of our awa, our river.

2021 January 1, “Local hapū to watch over dangerous Omanawa Falls near Tauranga”, in Stuff NZ:

(New Zealand, Bradford UK, colloquial) A close friend; mate.


head tenant

(UK, real estate, informal) Synonym of lead tenant.


lead tenant

(UK, real estate) The tenant nominated to be the primary point of contact for a managed residential joint tenancy.


nominated tenant

en-noun

nominated tenant (plural nominated tenants)

(UK, real estate) Synonym of lead tenant.


Urinal of the Planets

In allusion to the frequent rainy weather.

A writer on British slavery later explained that the denigration was deserved because Ireland's wet climate made her “The Urinal of the Planets.” (For a similar Irish slur on an Englishman, see twiss.) Ireland is perhaps the only[…]

2008, Robert Hendrickson, The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, Facts on File:

'I thought you would have preferred to have been with them in that stinking urinal of the planets, looking for bog-oranges.' Kempe's sympathy towards the plight of the Irish was well known, and he had no sympathisers here tonight.

2015 April 18, Graham Sutherland, Conspiracy of Fate, Knowle Villa Books, →ISBN:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant, derogatory, rare) Ireland.


red button

Coordinate term: blue button

Unauthorized clerks or Blue Buttons can make enquiries in the House and ask for prices but may not enter into any contract, while Red Buttons are clerks entitled to work in the Settling or checking Room.

1954, Margaret Shelly Rix, Stock Market Economics, page 17:

The third and junior category, the Settling Room clerks wear a red badge and are known as "red buttons."

1964, David Eugene Spray, The Principal Stock Exchanges of the World, page 189:

(UK, finance, historical) A clerk employed in the settling room of the stock exchange.


penguin trainer

penguin trainer (plural penguin trainers)

What the penguin trainers lacked in aerodynamic ability was more than made up in weight and strength, for it was their purpose to take all of the heavy shocks and general road work while the pilot was getting the feel of the controls.

1930, Flying Magazine, volume 1, number 1, page 36:

On its return to Hamble in 1930 the machine was equipped with twin metal floats and Mongoose engine as a penguin trainer for Air Service Training Ltd.

1965, Aubrey Joseph Jackson, Avro Aircraft Since 1908, page 184:

(UK, aviation, historical) A machine resembling an aeroplane but unable to fly, used for training pilots.


skip lorry

(British) A commercial vehicle, fitted with a hydraulic hoist, which delivers skips (for rubble, waste and general rubbish) to customers, and collects them once they have been filled for emptying at a landfill site.


FSMA

w:Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

(UK, law) Acronym of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.


made-wine

(UK, taxation) An alcoholic drink made from fermentation, other than grape wine, beer, black beer, spirits or cider, for the purposes of excise tax.


UCTA

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
w:Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

(UK, law) Acronym of Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.


Main Market

Coordinate term: AIM

(UK, finance) The principal stock market of the London Stock Exchange.


seblet cake

(UK, Northamptonshire, obsolete) A seedcake traditionally made as a reward for the agricultural worker who had sown the seeds.


seblet

(UK, Northamptonshire, obsolete) A basket to hold seed corn for sowing.


Lloyd's

(UK) Ellipsis of Lloyd's of London, a British reinsurance market.


Lloyds Bank

(UK) Lloyds Bank, a British retail and commercial bank.

Lloyds Banking Group
w:Lloyds Banking Group

(UK) Ellipsis of Lloyds Banking Group., formerly known as Lloyds TSB Group, the parent company of Lloyds Bank.


Lloyds

Lloyds Banking Group
w:en:Lloyds Banking Group

(UK) Ellipsis of Lloyds Banking Group, formerly known as Lloyds TSB Group.

(UK) Ellipsis of Lloyds Bank, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group.


Consolidated Fund Act

Consolidated Fund Act (plural Consolidated Fund Acts)

(UK, law) A stock short title used for an Act of Parliament that authorises HM Treasury to issue funds out of the consolidated fund.


Appropriation Act

Appropriation Act (plural Appropriation Acts)

(UK, law) A stock short title used for an Act of Parliament that authorises HM Treasury to issue funds out of the consolidated fund, and which also appropriates those funds for particular use.


collective title

collective title (plural collective titles)

(law, UK, Ireland, formerly Hong Kong) A title given to a collection of related acts (or other pieces of legislation) to facilitate citation.

Offences against the State Acts 1939–1998


Representation of the People Acts

Representation of the People Act#United Kingdom

Representation of the People Act
Representation of the People Act

(law, UK) A collective title for a particular collection of Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom relating to the electoral system; not merely equivalent to every Representation of the People Act.


piss-easy

(UK, Australia, slang, vulgar) Very easy.


(UK, rail transport) Initialism of High Speed 2, a branched high-speed railway under construction between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Wigan.


non-gangwayed

[...] and the introduction of standard train formations with the elimination of all trains made up of unrostered or non-gangwayed stock.

1961 January, “The North-East London electrification of the Great Eastern Line”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 17–18:

The arrival of the first Class 313 was a jaw-dropper for long-suffering commuters used to non-gangwayed Class 31 locomotive-hauled rakes of 1950s slam-door coaches, […].

2023 February 22, Howard Johnston, “Southern '313s': is the end now in sight?”, in RAIL, number 977, page 42:

(rail transport, British) Not provided with a gangway between carriages.


HMB

It has taken 22 years for experts to prove His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, renamed Lord Sandwich, was one of 13 ships sunk in Newport Harbour in 1778.

2022, Charis Chang, “How did the HMB Endeavour end up near the coast of Rhode Island in the United States?”, in news.com.a (Usenet):

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, historical) His/Her Majesty's Bark


nawm

NHS Redress (Wales) Measure 2008 (2008 nawm 1)

(UK, law, in citation) Measure of the National Assembly for Wales; a type of legislation passed by the (then) National Assembly for Wales - now the Senedd - between 2008 and 2011; still used despite the change of name.


piss-taker

(British, slang) A person who takes the piss.


plain as Salisbury

Presumably a pun on Salisbury Plain, or perhaps in reference to the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, which can be seen at a distance.

‘Your chummage ticket,’ replied Mr. Roker; ‘you’re up to that?’
‘Not quite,’ replied Mr. Pickwick, with a smile.
‘Why,’ said Mr. Roker, ‘it’s as plain as Salisbury. You’ll have a chummage ticket upon twenty-seven in the third, and them as is in the room will be your chums.’

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

If I can't show you I've come by them honestly, perhaps you'd rather not have them, though, if nicely cooked and dished up, I'll be bound they can be made to prove, as plain as Salisbury, that you've no more right to the estate — nor to the name of Kerr, for all that — than that gentleman yonder.

1893, Egerton Castle, Consequences, page 248:

(UK, simile, informal, dated) Synonym of plain as day.


mummy wars

mummy wars pl (normally plural, singular mummy war)


rannigal

(UK, regional, Cumberland, archaic) A rude, unmanageable person.


poofterism

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, slang, offensive) homosexuality


braffin

A variant form of bargham (“horse collar”), of which other forms include bahfam, barcom, barfing, bariham, barsham, braffam, and (with the morphemes reversed) hamburgh, from Middle English berw-ham, bergham, from Old English beorgan (“shelter”) + ham (“cover”).

One former winner hung up his braffin aged eighty-eight after seven decades of competing. His talents had improved with age.

There were many times when holes had to be dug between the sleepers that held the rails in place to allow the pony to travel, his braffin worn and scrubbed away. These tubs when derailed had to be lifted on with sheer brute strength. The taller pony was used to haul the tubs, usually in two's, three's or even four's from the flat to a much bigger landing […]

2010, Derek Hollows, Voices in the Dark: Pony Talk and Mining Tales, page 79:

(UK, regional) A horse collar, especially as used in girning.


lay vicar

(UK) Synonym of lay clerk in certain choirs.


song man

(UK) Synonym of lay clerk in certain choirs for a male singer.


lay clerk

(UK) A professional, adult singer in a church or university choir.


hush shop

(UK, slang, archaic) A shop that illicitly sells alcoholic drinks without a licence.


wrastler

Is not Gorice a mighty wrastler, and hath he not in his palace in Carcë the skulls and bones of ninety and nine great champions whom he hath vanquished and slain in that exercise?

1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros, London: Jonathan Cape, page 13:

(obsolete or UK, dialect or US, colloquial) A wrestler.


paper trade

(UK, slang, obsolete) The sale of printed song lyrics by street peddlers.


OPD

personality disorder
personality disorder#English

(UK) Initialism of offender personality disorder: applied to a pathway of services for treating criminal offenders with personality disorders.


poofterhood

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, derogatory, slang) The state of being a poofter.


hustlement

hustlement (countable and uncountable, plural hustlements)

From Middle English ostelment, borrowed from Old French ostillement, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *usitilium, from neuter plural *usitilia, from Latin utensilia (“utensils”).

Theye haue allso abundaunce of bed coueryngs in their houses, and of all other wollen stuffe. They haue greate store of all hustlements and implements of houshold.

1567, John Fortescue, chapter 36, in Robert Mulcaster, transl., A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of Englande, London: Richard Tottel:

the minute Bodies and smallest sort of Creatures about us, which have been by them [the ancients] but sleightly and perfunctorily described, as being the disregarded pieces and huslement of the Creation

1664, Henry Power, Experimental Philosophy, London: John Martin and James Allestry, Preface:

(UK, Yorkshire, US, Virginia, law, obsolete) Miscellaneous household items; odds and ends.

(UK, Yorkshire, obsolete) A mixed gathering of persons, or things.


the great and the good

(UK, often humorous or ironic) Worthy, distinguished or important people, especially when gathered together.


airn

en-verb

airn (third-person singular simple present airns, present participle airning, simple past and past participle airned or airnt)

airns (present singular third-person)
airning (participle present)
airned (participle past)
airned (past)
airnt (participle past)
airnt (past)


arsewash

From arse + wash, possibly based on hogwash or eyewash.

I take it you people are just taking the piss and really aren't as dumb as you convey yourselves. Micro$oft great?!? Arse-wash. And turpentine.

1998 July 24, Damien Joyce, “I Think Microsoft Is Just Dandy! What's All The Fuss About?”, in comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy (Usenet), retrieved 2022-02-20:

What a load of unctuous arsewash! He may well choose to argue that the moon is made of green cheese. If he did my disagreement would hardly indicate a failure to understand his argument - it would indicate that it was a jar of mouldy old cock.

2001 October 14, Mr Q. Z. Diablo, “Does Death deter?”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet), retrieved 2022-02-20:

General rule is, if me or I works, use them. Try changing the person in the sentence.
Examples.
"They very kindly invited his sister and himself to the inuaguration"
"He himself doesn't like a heavy meal at lunchtime."
Both clearly complete arsewash.

2004 February 18, Alex, “Here's a question”, in alt.babylon5.uk (Usenet), retrieved 2022-02-20:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) Nonsense.


covered wagon

The advantages of the train ferry in combining through running (without double handling) with speed and relatively large loads are shown in the decision of the Swedish State Railways to build 100 large covered and 50 open wagons for working to Britain by the ferry services, although the route from Sweden to any destination in the U.K. via Zeebrugge/Harwich is comparatively circuitous; the first of the Swedish covered wagons has already run through to London.

1962 February, “Talking of Trains: British-owned ferry wagons”, in Modern Railways, page 83:

(rail transport, British) A covered goods wagon.


mis-shunt

Consequently, the coupler must be designed so that no undue damage is caused should a mis-shunt take place.

1962 February, G. Richard Parkes, “Automatic couplers in Britain and Europe”, in Modern Railways, page 131:

(rail transport, British) An incorrectly made shunting operation, possibly causing a mishap.


Instamum

She marvelled at how lucrative kids-as-content seemed to be. Instamums at Disneyland and on cruises, snaps showing improbably perfect houses filled with improbably perfect children.

2019, Sophie White, Filter This, unnumbered page:

It's little wonder that so many of us struggling with parental burnout became attracted to the rise of imperfect parenting blogs and these 'real' Instamums.

2021, Kate Baily, Mandy Manners, Dawn Nickel, Love Yourself Sober: A Self Care Guide to Alcohol-Free Living for Busy Mothers, unnumbered page:

I never planned to be an Instamum. For a long time, I wasn't sure I'd be a mum at all.

2021, Ellery Lloyd, People Like Her, unnumbered page:


gapfill

gapfill (third-person singular simple present gapfills, present participle gapfilling, simple past and past participle gapfilled)

gapfills (present singular third-person)
gapfilling (participle present)
gapfilled (participle past)
gapfilled (past)

fill in the blank
fill in the blank#English


ingrossment

en-noun

ingrossment (countable and uncountable, plural ingrossments)

(UK, historical, law) Prior to the abolition of inrollment in 1849, the act of preparing a parliamentary bill for royal assent by entering it onto a roll, incorporating any amendments.


sneeze-box

To think of Jack Dawkins—lummy Jack—the Dodger—the Artful Dodger—going abroad for a common twopenny-halfpenny sneeze-box!


teakettle groom

teakettle groom (plural teakettle grooms)

(UK, slang, obsolete) A man employed in a small household, in charge of the coach, garden, and general work.


spinniken

From spinning ken, alluding to one form of work done there.

[…] they all three compared notes on the several workhouses they had been at. One inclined to think that the workhouses in South Wales were the best. Another thought the Yorkshire 'spinnikens' were.

1866, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, page 184:


lobster box

In allusion to the soldiers' red uniforms.

(UK, slang, archaic) A barrack, or military station.


grubbing ken

It was on my tongue, as the saying is, to tell him I was not a frequenter of “grubbing kens,” but I thought better of it; it was the best policy not to offend him, as he might be useful.

1883, George Atkins Brine, The King of the Beggars, page 86:

(UK, obsolete, slang) A place where food may be procured; a workhouse or cookshop.


stand pad

en-verb

stand pad (third-person singular simple present stands pad, present participle standing pad, simple past and past participle stood pad)

stands pad (present singular third-person)
standing pad (participle present)
stood pad (participle past)
stood pad (past)

(UK, slang, obsolete) To beg at the roadside.


thick on the ground

en-adj

thick on the ground (comparative thicker on the ground, superlative thickest on the ground)

thicker on the ground (comparative)
thickest on the ground (superlative)

Although the Netherlands occupy only a seventh of the area of the United Kingdom, the population of 11.5 million is as thick on the ground as 890 people per square mile, whereas the comparable figure for the U.K. is 560 per square mile.

1962 March, J. M. Tolson, “The Netherlands Railways today—I: The economic development of the Netherlands Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 170:

(UK) Existing, or present, in large numbers or amounts.


pals battalion

From pals + battalion, from the sense that one's pals would fight along with them.

(UK, military, historical) A group of men who were friends before being enlisted, all of whom were placed into a single battalion in order to incentivize enlistment in the British Army during World War I.


hinderable

hinderable (comparative more hinderable, superlative most hinderable)

more hinderable (comparative)
most hinderable (superlative)

hinderable weather

(UK, dialect, archaic) Causing hindrance or delay.


aggy

aggy (comparative more aggy, superlative most aggy)

more aggy (comparative)
most aggy (superlative)

From a clipping of aggressive, aggravating, or aggravated, combined with -y. .

But whatever you think of Bieber, the adverts are questionable for reasons other than the singer's reputation for being an aggy teenager with an unfortunate tendency to offend and irritate.

2015 January 7, Ella Alexander, “GLAMOUR debates: Justin Bieber x Calvin Klein pics”, in Glamour UK:

These encapsulate the trio at their modern finest, vocalist Maxim stalking mercilessly while Keith Flint plays the aggy child antagonizing everyone.

2018 November 11, Leigh Sanders, “The Prodigy, Arena Birmingham – review and pictures”, in Express & Star:

“Girl asap I need to get away from Tekey. Before I spit on him he's so aggy lil jealous ass."

2016, Juannikka Callaway, My Life: My Decisions, unnumbered page:

For quotations using this term, see Citations:aggy.

(chiefly African-American Vernacular and UK slang) Aggravating; annoying, irritating, obnoxious.

I got aggie like a motherfucker.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 191:

So he responded with two oversized hits: "Cock Back," which he calls "the aggiest gun tune ever," and "So Sure," a remarkably relaxed and tender tune […]

2010, Andrew Rice, "The Devil Inside", XLR8R, November/December 2010, page 50

I hated curriculum, I hated my tutors, I hated the people. I came to my final year and I realized like, wait... why am I getting so aggy about all this?

2015, Alex B Rowland, “Roxanne Farahmand”, in Re-bel Magazine, page 50:

Ring, ring, rin-
"What!"
"Nice to hear from you too, Spect. Why are you so aggy?"

2018, Tiffany Bolado, The Legacy of Misperception, page 102:

(chiefly African-American Vernacular and UK slang) Aggravated; aggressive, angry.


Scunny

In actuality, I could have been back home in Henry Afrika's in Scunny. Pounding music, bright flashing lights, sticky carpet.

2016, Richard Nuttall, "Oi, watch it Treacle"- The Life and Hard Times of Terry Knacker, page 108:


and no flies

[…] seized by Mr. Stompff, who, scarcely waiting to carry him out of earshot, began, “Well! you've done it up brown this time, my man, and no flies! Your pictures have woke 'em up. They're talking of nothing else. […]

1865, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, page 513:

(UK, slang, archaic) Synonym of and no mistake


skiv

'A sovereign,' she says. 'Make it two, and it's yours,' I says. So, after a little, she give me two skivs, and she took the bill and valked ^([sic]) away vith it.

1865, Edmund Yates, Running the Gauntlet:

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


uncallow

en-verb

uncallow (third-person singular simple present uncallows, present participle uncallowing, simple past and past participle uncallowed)

uncallows (present singular third-person)
uncallowing (participle present)
uncallowed (participle past)
uncallowed (past)

Owners to uncallow and take off the Soil, Mould, Dirt, or Compost […]

1736, William Nelson, The Office and Authority of a Justice of Peace, volume 2:

(UK, regional, obsolete) To remove the upper stratum of earth in order to reach the bed of gravel, chalk, or other substance beneath.


clonker

Get lost, you clonker!

2012 March 14, Herbert Puchta, Günther Gerngross, Matthew Devitt, Get on Stage! Teacher's Book with DVD and Audio CD: 21 Sketches and Plays for Young Learners and Teens (Helbling Photocopiable Resources Series), Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 65:


St. Lubbock's Day

en-prop

St. Lubbock's Day (plural St. Lubbock's Days)

Named after Liberal politician and banker Sir John Lubbock, who was responsible for the Act.

(UK, humorous, historical) Any of the bank holidays officially introduced in the Bank Holidays Act 1871.


get one's breath back

(UK) To start breathing normally again after physical exercise.


situations vacant

(UK) The section of a newspaper or magazine that lists job openings.


arrestable offence

en-noun

arrestable offence (plural arrestable offences)

From arrestable + offence. First defined and introduced in English law by the Criminal Law Act 1967 (c. 58).

(criminal law, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, historical in UK) A criminal offence such that the offender may be arrested without warrant.

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005


Wogland

(UK, offensive, ethnic slur) Africa or the Indian subcontinent.


require improvement

en-verb

require improvement (third-person singular simple present requires improvement, present participle requiring improvement, simple past and past participle required improvement)

requires improvement (present singular third-person)
requiring improvement (participle present)
required improvement (participle past)
required improvement (past)

(stative, UK, meiosis) To be in a state of failing.


expeditation

en-noun

expeditation (countable and uncountable, plural expeditations)

(UK, obsolete, transitive, law, forest law) The process of expeditating.


hangment

But 'twas his grandsire was talked o', not him; and 'twould play the hangment wi' me doun here, if 'twas thought there was stories like that passin' in the George and Dragon.

1871, Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet:

At the same time, a question from him as to what the hangment the men had to do with what he did would have shown that his mind was becoming healthy again, and thus have relieved my anxiety, […]

1919, John Edward Patterson, The Passage of the Barque Sappho, page 243:

(UK, regional, obsolete) The devil; the dickens; mischief.


chinstrapped

Somewhere between Portland and a town called Eugene at the end of August, I am ashamed to say that I cursed at my beloved colonel, which could have resulted in a court martial for me. In my defence, I was absolutely chin-strapped after setting off at 4 a.m. that morning and cycling for ten hours straight in 25 degrees heat.

2016, Chris Graham, Five Minutes of Amazing: My Journey Through Dementia, London: Sphere, →ISBN, page 147:


town councillor

town councillor (plural town councillors)

(UK) An elected member of a town council.


on tick

(dated, informal, British) bought with an agreement to pay later

op krediet

with an understanding that money will be paid back


'Obby 'Oss

From hobby horse, with h-dropping characteristic of West Country English. Compare hoss.

(UK) A male dancer dressed as a horse who cavorts through the town pretending to capture young maidens, as part of a May Day festival in Padstow, Cornwall, England.


pain in one's arse

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, sometimes considered, vulgar) Synonym of pain in the ass


bin off

en-verb

bin off (third-person singular simple present bins off, present participle binning off, simple past and past participle binned off)

bins off (present singular third-person)
binning off (participle present)
binned off (participle past)
binned off (past)

The story described the collapse of a relationship […] 'Yeah, so that was that done then, I binned it off,' he concluded, like he was discussing his latest car breaking down, or the news of a boiler packing up.

(UK, transitive, informal) To throw away, dispose of; (by extension) to get rid of, put away.


goodlike

en-adj

goodlike (comparative more goodlike, superlative most goodlike)

more goodlike (comparative)
most goodlike (superlative)

George Whitehead, who knew him, gives the following account of Robert Hayes: 'He was a very innocent loving man, a goodlike person, of a fresh comely countenance, seemed healthy, and in the prime of his strength when first imprisoned. […]

Quoted in 1833, Luke Howard, The Yorkshireman, a religious and literary journal (page 184)

(UK, dialect, archaic) well-favoured; handsome


measlings

en-noun

measlings pl (normally plural, singular measling)

Unknown, but probably via pluralia tantum Scandinavian words like Danish mæslinger (“measles”), Icelandic mislingar (“measles”) and Norwegian Nynorsk meslingar, combining the Germanic roots related to blood blisters with the suffix -ing.

‘What āals yar barn, Missis?’
‘Shoo’s gotten t’mezlings!’

1862, C. Clough Robinson, The Dialect of Leeds & Its Neighbourhood, page 358:

Measlings, measles.

1890, The New Sydenham Society's Lexicon of Medicine and the Allied Sciences, s.v.:

Measlings... Nf [i.e. Norfolk].

1970, Harold Orton et al., Survey of English Dialects, volume III, page 832:

(UK dialect) Synonym of measles: the disease caused by M. morbillivirus, the red spots caused by the disease.


gorgey

en-adj

gorgey (comparative more gorgey, superlative most gorgey)

more gorgey (comparative)
most gorgey (superlative)


pub grub

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

(UK, slang) pub food; meals typically found in a pub


post-free

All in attractive folders—5/6 per set, post free.

1963 March, “Small advertisements”, in Modern Railways, unnumbered page:

(British) Supplied by post (mail) to a customer without an additional charge for postage.


daftlike

daftlike (comparative more daftlike, superlative most daftlike)

more daftlike (comparative)
most daftlike (superlative)

With that Rhoda gave a laugh among her tears, having a consciousness in her own spirit, what a daftlike thing it was to say, but for all that said it over again; and then she grew quiet for a space of time; […]

1862, Margaret Oliphant, Lilliesleaf, page 396:


knobbish

en-adjective

knobbish (comparative more knobbish, superlative most knobbish)

more knobbish (comparative)
most knobbish (superlative)

(vulgar, slang, chiefly UK, derogatory) like a knob (contemptible person); dickish


by return of post

In mercantile transactions an offer must as a rule be accepted by return of post, or at any rate by a letter posted on the day on which the offer was received.

1909, Hardinge Stanley Giffard, The Laws of England: Being a Complete Statement of the Whole Laws of England Whole, page 353:

B. Gilliat-Smith often said of Dr. Turrill that only two people ever replied to him by return of post, the two being Dr. Turrill, and his Bank Manager.

1973, Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, page 115:

Osborn replied almost by return of post that he agreed with my suggestions if we could get together a competent group to do the work.

1987, Sir Frederick James Osborn, Arnold Whittick, F.J.O. - Practical Idealist: A Biography of Sir Frederic Osborn, page 76:

(UK) Replying in the next available mail delivery.


yellow-shouldered ladybird

en-noun

yellow-shouldered ladybird (plural yellow-shouldered ladybirds)

(UK) Apolinus lividigaster, a species of ladybird (ladybug).


programme parade

programme parade (plural programme parades)

Scottish Programme Parade

Listen to your regional Programme Parade at 8.10 a.m. daily.

[…] various vocal techniques of presentation and delivery as well as how to ad-lib assorted information from programme parades as "fill-ups" at programme junctions.

(UK, archaic or historical) A block of airtime used to list and describe the upcoming programming schedule.


coltpixie

(UK, Hampshire, archaic, folklore) A kind of hobgoblin.


kick in the bollocks

kick in the bollocks (plural kicks in the bollocks)

kick in the balls
kick in the balls#English

(British) Alternative form of kick in the balls


oven chip

(UK, Ireland, mostly plural) A frozen chip/fry intended to be cooked at home in an oven.


flatdom

He drove to Chillesford Mansions in the dusk of the next afternoon full of hope that was only mildly damped by the drab uniformity of West Kensington flatdom.

1930, Clifford James Wheeler Hosken, The Man in the Red Hat, page 16:

(chiefly UK) The realm or sphere of apartment buildings.


trackie bottoms

It's hard to imagine her in her downtime, slobbing around in front of Come Dine With Me in a pair of trackie bottoms, arguing over the remote control

2012, Eleanor Moran, The Last Time I Saw You:


Doughnut

Former hackers as well as government suits roam the curved corridors of “the Doughnut”, as GCHQ’s base is known.

2015 November 19, Steve Rose, “The future is round: why modern architecture turned doughnut-shaped”, in The Guardian:

(informal, UK) The head office of the GCHQ in Cheltenham, UK.


lavat'ry

I cut down trees, I eat my lunch, I go to the lavat'ry. On Wednesdays, I go shopping, and have buttered scones for tea.

1969, Monty Python (lyrics and music), “The Lumberjack Song”:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(British and dialectal) Pronunciation spelling of lavatory.


tip down

en-verb

tip down (third-person singular simple present tips down, present participle tipping down, simple past and past participle tipped down)

tips down (present singular third-person)
tipping down (participle present)
tipped down (participle past)
tipped down (past)


stoated

en-adj

stoated (comparative more stoated, superlative most stoated)

more stoated (comparative)
most stoated (superlative)

The day the act was passed the nation celebrated, perhaps unsurprisingly, by getting completely stoated.

2011, Pete Brown, Man Walks into a Pub, page 123:


first school

For six months in 2015, a class of 9-year-olds from a first school in rural Northumberland (29 children) planned and planted a hay meadow in a local garden […]

2017, David Leat, Enquiry and Project Based Learning, page 171:

(UK, education) In the three-tier education system, a school for children until thee age of eight or nine.


Brompton boiler

en-noun

Brompton boiler (plural Brompton boilers)

In allusion to the peculiar form of the buildings, and the fact of their being mainly composed of, and covered with, sheet iron.

(UK, slang, obsolete, historical, mostly plural) Any of the buildings comprising the Kensington Museum and School of Art.


HMNB

(UK, nautical, military) Initialism of Her (or His) Majesty's Naval Base; prefix used in the names of naval bases of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.


HMP

HMP (countable and uncountable, plural HMPs)

(UK, law enforcement) Initialism of Her/His Majesty's Prison.: The prefix used in the names of prisons in the United Kingdom.


ratheripe

(UK, dialect) A variety of apple that ripens early.


HPA

Health Protection Agency
w:Health Protection Agency

(UK, historical) Initialism of Health Protection Agency.


jolly D

'Jolly D of you, Doctor, to grace the girls' end-of-term carol service.'

2008, Richard Gordon, Doctor Gordon's Casebook, page 155:

Thanks for paying for my drink. Jolly D of you. I think you ought to be in bed.

(UK, colloquial, dated) Thoroughly decent.


Warship

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 41 locomotive, dating from the late 1950s.


Chopper

From chopper (“helicopter”), because of the distinctive beating noise of the engine.

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 20 locomotive.


Bagpipe

In allusion to the subclass' jumper cables, which were installed on both ends to allow push-pull operation.

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 33/1 locomotive.


Baby Deltic

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 23 locomotive.


Teddy Bear

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 14 locomotive.


Baby Warship

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 22 locomotive.


Slim Jim

In allusion to the subclass being 7 inches narrower, due to being constructed for use on the gauge-restricted Hastings line.

(British, rail transport) A British Rail Class 33/2 locomotive.


gauge-restricted

en-adj

gauge-restricted (not generally comparable, comparative more gauge-restricted, superlative most gauge-restricted)

more gauge-restricted (comparative)
most gauge-restricted (superlative)

a gauge-restricted line

(rail transport, UK) Having a restrictive loading gauge, limiting which rail vehicles may be used.


fourth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 50–60 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 320–420, and weighing approximately 1,000 tons burthen.


fourth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A fourth-rate ship of the line.


fifth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 32–44 guns across one or two gun decks, a complement of 200–300, and weighing 700–1,450 tons burthen.


fifth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A fifth-rate warship.


sixth-rate

The Navy classified warships by their number of cannons, and with twenty-eight, she was a sixth-rate–the lowest rank.

2023, David Grann, chapter 1, in The Wager, Doubleday:

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 20–28 guns on one gun deck, a complement of 140–200, and weighing 340–550 tons burthen.


sixth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A sixth-rate warship.


CTT

capital transfer tax
capital transfer tax#English

(taxation, UK, historical) Initialism of capital transfer tax.


Magic Circle

(UK, law, informal) Collectively, the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms: Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May.


arsehood

Thanksgiving week in the US, and list traffic slows to a dribble, but the range of topics is impressive: acrophobia, palsy, Feleki's instrument, business cards, Chomsky's politics, homonymity, the 1942 Cocoanut Grove disaster, the language of arsehood.

1992 November 30, BGRI...@ukcc.uky.edu, “Words-L Weekly Digest”, in bit.listserv.words-l (Usenet), retrieved 2022-06-12:

I think I shall just have to reisng myself to arsehood.

2003 May 29, Lodestone, “[I] Pronounceable Passwords”, in alt.fan.pratchett (Usenet), retrieved 2022-06-12:

No need to explain, old chap; the reason is readily apparent. You do it because you are an arse. It seems that your arsehood is widely recognised.

2003 December 9, Adam Kennedy, “Rotting flesh”, in alt.politics.british (Usenet), retrieved 2022-06-12:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The state or quality of being an arse.


ansafone

(British, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of answerphone


HoC

(UK, Canada) Initialism of House of Commons.


MoJ

Ministry of Justice
w:Ministry of Justice

(UK, government) Initialism of Ministry of Justice.


UKSC

UK Supreme Court
w:Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

(UK, law) Initialism of UK Supreme Court.


SCOTUK

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
w:Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

(UK, law) Initialism of Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.


spunktrumpet

> So why did you buy a GS500, Twatty?
'cos he's a spunktrumpet :)

2009 July 12, Nige, “Changes”, in uk.rec.motorcycles (Usenet), retrieved 2022-06-14:

As many pointed out to him in replies, there is presently a relationship in place! Some of the insults:
...you are one confused bag of mince.
...you boil-in-the-bag rent-a-clown.
...YOU ARSE-CHEEKED BOLLOCK-WAGON
...you incompetent ventriloquist-dummy-faced spunktrumpet
...you reprehensible spam faced tool bag!
...you back stabbing cockwomble!
...You're an absolute wankcrumpet
...you haunted pork mannequin.
...you plonker.
...mate you're a pie
...You gigantic plumb
...Every now and then there is a mix up during circumcisions and they keep the wrong f---ing bit!

2016 July 5, Mack A. Damia, “Brexit Fallout”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-16:

>Douchebag!
Spunktrumpet!
This is fun. How's the duck pond?

2019 August 19, GovShill, “[It's Official!] The Right Wing Experiment Has Failed America”, in aus.politics (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-16:

On 4/6/2020 5:42 PM, Sygmund_F aka FUCKTARD, aka Lying Gerry Binder, aka Sigmund Froyd, aka Walt_M, aka Nurse Ratched, aka waltmitty, aka N=N+1, aka The Joker, aka Foghorn, aka Hurty McButt-Hurt, aka La Cockroach, aka Putin's Bitch, aka Chicken Little, aka Nutsack Ratfuck aka Suckman_Fucktard a communist lying blowhard troll, welfare fraudster fucknut, terrorist sympathizing, dole-bludging, anal retentive limpdick, race-baiting, Net Cop Spider, Wanker Spider, Humourless Git Spider, Control Freak Spider, racist anarchist, cry-bully, village idiot, ass-licking, sperm guzzling, cock snogging, scrotum sucking, bum banging, pig fucking, Fritz admiring, animal fondling, wank cloth, spunk trumpet, thunder cunt, waste-of-rations, spunk bubble horrenda-cunt, terrorist-supporting, spittle-flecked, mean-spirited, bigoted freak, social justice glitter-warrior, fucknugget card carrying member of the Aussie Nazi Party with a GOD complex whined:

2020 April 7, Gerrys Worst Nightmare, “OT - Tinker, Tailor, Mobster, Trump”, in alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-16:

I wonder what names Henderson was called at school. He must have went^([sic]) to some real shithole to learn to behave the way he does. Unless of course he was educated at home, then it all makes sense, he will have gone through full idiot training and came through as a fully fledged spunktrumpet.

2020 May 6, max.it, “All bets are off”, in uk.sport.cricket (Usenet), retrieved 2022-07-16:

(slang, vulgar, UK, Ireland, humorous) An obnoxious or contemptible person.


BCAR

(aviation, UK) Abbreviation of British Civil Airworthiness Requirements.

British Council for Aid to Refugees
w:British Council for Aid to Refugees

(UK) Abbreviation of British Council for Aid to Refugees.


faglighter

I've seen the posh coolboxes that run on 12 volts from the faglighter;

2001 February 8, Andrew Marshall, “Valentine's Day”, in uk.food+drink.misc (Usenet):

(UK, colloquial) A car cigarette lighter.


hagworm

Inherited from Middle English hagworme (“viper”), from Old Norse hǫggormr (“serpent”), from hǫgg (“stroke, blow”) + ormr (“worm, snake”). Cognate with Icelandic höggormur (“poisonous snake, serpent”), Swedish huggorm (“adder, viper”).

cog

(UK, dialectal) A common snake, such as an adder or a viper.


air host

(UK, aviation) A male flight attendant; a steward.


fancy seeing you here

(UK) An informal greeting, expressing that one did not expect to see that person at this location.


PQE

(UK, law) Initialism of post-qualified experience.


cat-lick

en-noun

cat-lick (countable and uncountable, plural cat-licks)


Arse-end Charlie

Arse-end Charlie (plural Arse-end Charlies)

Tail End Charlie
Tail End Charlie#English

(UK, military, slang) Synonym of Tail End Charlie


brother chip

He was saluted by Mr. James Hall, with these words: “Well, brother chip! How many murders have you been committing?”

1853, Talbot Gwynne, The School for Dreamers: A Story of the Present Day, page 208:

(UK, slang, archaic) Term of address for a fellow tradesman, originally a carpenter.


go country

en-verb

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

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

Alternative form: go cunch (clipping)

2016, Allegra Stratton, Going country': ITV News reveals scale of children being exploited and sent around Britain to carry drugs (ITV News) https://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-29/going-country-itv-news-reveals-the-scale-of-children-being-exploited-and-sent-around-britain-to-carry-drugs
Experts think many of the children who go missing every year in this country may have actually have "gone country". In one London borough, Lewisham, the local authority believes half of its missing children have been groomed to carry drugs.

For five days "I didn't know if he was alive", says Jenny. Then she saw on a social media chat group Robbie's friends saying he had "gone country". She discovered it was a phrase often used to describe county lines. "That's when it all clicked," she says, realising he was in an organised crime gang.

2022, Steve Swann, County lines: Inside the complex battle against drug gangs exploiting children, BBC News:

en:participate in cross-jurisdictional drug dealing scheme

(UK, slang) To take part in a county line scheme for drug distribution.


order mark

"If you don't attend, Gwendolen," said the mistress, "and stop looking out of the window, I shall have to give you an order-mark."

1951, C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:

If a child loses five or more points for his House he automatically gets an order mark.

1958, Abdul Hakim, Better Schools, page 47:

(UK, education, historical) A formal black mark given to a pupil for bad behaviour.


RVW

Ralph Vaughan Williams
w:Ralph Vaughan Williams

(UK, music) Initialism of Ralph Vaughan Williams; an English composer.


hand someone their cards

hand someone their cards (third-person singular simple present hands someone their cards, present participle handing someone their cards, simple past and past participle handed someone their cards)

hands someone their cards (present singular third-person)
handing someone their cards (participle present)
handed someone their cards (participle past)
handed someone their cards (past)

To begin with, you were not sacked; it was you who gave notice.[…]Upon which he handed me my cards and my wages.

1950, Miklos Laszlo, And the Snow Falls: A Play in Three Acts, page 29:

Now they say that times are hard and they’ve handed me my cards. They say there’s not the work to go around. And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close. Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down. Then they’ll tear it d-o-w-n

1985, “Ordinary Man”, in Ordinary Man, performed by Christy Moore, produced by Dónal Lunny:

I was handed my cards yesterday and so today I’m looking for a new job.

2020 October 16, Salmi Khan Anmol, The Oldman’s English Lessons: An English Book, page 1667:

(idiomatic, slang, British, Ireland) To dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.


NLU

Every family and every set always had its private vocabulary and syntax and still has. I know people whose terms of condemnation are quite simply NLU and NLO (‘not like us’ and ‘not like one’).

1983 [1955], Evelyn Waugh, “An Open Letter to the Honble Mrs Peter Rodd (Nancy Mitford) … on a Very Serious Subject”, in The Essays, Articles, and Reviews of Evelyn Waugh, Boston: Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 499:


give someone their cards

give someone their cards (third-person singular simple present gives someone their cards, present participle giving someone their cards, simple past gave someone their cards, past participle given someone their cards)

gives someone their cards (present singular third-person)
giving someone their cards (participle present)
gave someone their cards (past)
given someone their cards (participle past)

HEAD WAITER: It’s filthy! Gaston, find out who washed this up and give them their cards immediately!

1969 October 19, J Graham Chapman, John Clees, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, 16:38 from the start, in Monty Python’s Flying Circus (How to Recognise Different Types of Tree from Quite a Long Way Away) (1), episode 3 (TV series), spoken by Head Waiter (Michael Palin):

Her noble husband, in urgent need of an heir, has dispatched her here with instructions to get herself into working order; should this not come to pass, Monica will be given her cards and told to vacate the premises so that Sir John can make alternative arrangements.

1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 80:

I looked up at him as he turned his back and a few minutes later, the foreman brought me up and reluctantly gave me my cards as the boss, the horrid face of capital, had sacked me for not wearing protective boots.

2016, R. Pollard, Invisible Pleasures, page 90:


tip it down

tip it down (third-person singular simple present tips it down, present participle tipping it down, simple past and past participle tipped it down)

tips it down (present singular third-person)
tipping it down (participle present)
tipped it down (participle past)
tipped it down (past)

It's tipping it down out there.

(impersonal, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) To rain very heavily.


come down in stair rods

come down in stair rods (third-person singular simple present comes down in stair rods, present participle coming down in stair rods, simple past came down in stair rods, past participle come down in stair rods)

comes down in stair rods (present singular third-person)
coming down in stair rods (participle present)
came down in stair rods (past)
come down in stair rods (participle past)

(impersonal, UK, idiomatic) To rain heavily in long streaks.


wagwant

en-noun

wagwant (countable and uncountable, plural wagwants)

(UK, regional) Synonym of wag-wanton (“quaking grass”)


VONC

(UK, politics) Initialism of vote of no-confidence.


large it

en-verb

large it (third-person singular simple present larges it, present participle larging it, simple past and past participle larged it)

larges it (present singular third-person)
larging it (participle present)
larged it (participle past)
larged it (past)

(slang, UK) To engage in or seek pleasurable activities with great enthusiasm.


give it large

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

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

Asked what had been said between the pair, Price added: “Nothing. A couple of times he walked by and gave it large as I’m going to throw, and I did it back to him.[…]”

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

(UK, slang) To verbally abuse or intimidate.

[…](Reynolds and Buster Edwards fled, but were later tracked down; two others, including Old Pete, were never caught), but Biggs and the rest were convicted. The names of the others are barely remembered, but then they never escaped from prison and gave it large in Rio.

2004 January 17, Simon Hattenstone, “My beloved dad, the train robber”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


go to Prestwich

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

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

I think I'm going to Prestwich here.


Parliament Hill

From parliament + hill.
* (Ottawa): From being a rise and promontory over the Ottawa River hosting parliament buildings.
* (Quebec): Calque of French Colline parlementaire From being a rise and promontory over the Saint-Lawrence River hosting parliament buildings.
* (London): From being a gathering place for troops of the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) during the English Civil War. Apocryphally, the location where the Gunpowder Plot was planned, to blowup the Palace of Westminster (Parliament).

(UK) A hill in North London, England, United Kingdom


illitisation

en-noun

illitisation (countable and uncountable, plural illitisations)

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa spelling of illitization


restructurisation

restructurisation (countable and uncountable, plural restructurisations)

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa spelling of restructurization


get on at

en-verb

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

gets on at (present singular third-person)
getting on at (participle present)
got on at (participle past)
got on at (past)

She did keep getting on at him a lot.

(British) To scold, to criticize, to complain directly to.


chicken Maryland

(UK) A breaded, deep-fried chicken breast served with a slice of bacon, banana and/or pineapple fritter, and chips (fries).


Gangtide

From gang + -tide, from gang (“to go”), in reference to the processions held at this time.

(Christianity, UK, obsolete) Rogation Week.


knockemdowns

'O, never fear,' carelessly; 'I'll have a turn at the knockemdowns, and one glass of ale in the booth, and then I'm your man.'

1874, Belgravia: A London Magazine, volume 24, page 325:

In knockemdowns and bowls ten pins are used, the centre one being called the king, and the ball has to be grounded before it reaches the frame.

1878, John Henry Walsh, British Rural Sports, page 712:


quisby

en-adj

quisby (comparative more quisby, superlative most quisby)

more quisby (comparative)
most quisby (superlative)

Uncertain; perhaps quiz + -by, or from queer or Queer Street (“difficult circumstances”).

(UK, slang, archaic) Mean; destitute; strange.

[S]he told me as things was a-goin' werry quisby with 'em Wilkses. I says, "I'm sorry for 'er, but he's a party I don't 'old with, as in my opinion deserves to want, only but for others as would want with 'im."
She says, "He's been and got 'isself in a 'ole with them books as he've been lewanted with, and will get two years over it, they say," and so he did, […]

1874, Arthur Sketchley, Mrs. Brown and Disraeli, page 151:

(UK, slang, archaic) In difficult circumstances; in trouble.

"[…] Did you know that my husband came home intoxicated?"
Mrs. Brown laughed.
"Oh, not so bad as that, surely! Only a little 'screwed.' George was 'quisby,' too. But then its Christmas, you know."


intermediate switch

en-noun

intermediate switch (plural intermediate switches)

(British, electricity) A light switch with two pairs of two terminals, which can be switched between straight-through or swapped wiring. Typically used as part of a circuit to control a light or other device from three or more locations. (US): four-way switch.


two-way switch

two-way switch (plural two-way switches)

Named after its use in pairs to control a load from two locations.

(British, electricity) Commonwealth spelling of (US): three-way switch.


controlled drug

controlled drug (plural controlled drugs)

controlled substance
controlled substance#English


Royal Marine

"She had asked at Paddington for a return to Lympstone on the Exmouth branch, where her son was due to pass out as a Royal Marine that afternoon, at the local training camp.
"Presumably, the booking clerk had misheard her and sold her a ticket to Leominster, and other helpful staff had unwittingly helped her on her way.

2022 July 13, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71:

(military, British) A member of the Royal Marines.


barrow-way

From barrow (“small vehicle used to carry a load”) + way.

compound

(UK, historical) A trackway for barrows, historically used in mines.


cauldron arse

(UK, Ireland, mining slang, vulgar, obsolete) Synonym of cauldron bottom.


cauldron bottom

en-noun

cauldron bottom (plural cauldron bottoms)

From cauldron + bottom, in reference to the shape and colour as seen from the perspective of someone in the coal mine. Compare Sicilian campanaru (literally “bell tower”) in sulfur mining.

ncog

(UK, mining slang, obsolete) A large, round mass in a coal seam that forms part of the roof of a coal mine passage (usually being a fossilized root or stump); considered a hazard due to being prone to falling without warning.


through-draught

The only through-draught came from the two Dorade ventilators in the heads compartment but by the time the air from them reached us on our bunks it felt superheated.

2004, Ben Pester, Through the Land of Fire: Fifty-Six South, page 231:

Periodically, of course, the bag has to be removed and emptied, otherwise it will become choked, and the cleaner's efficiency impaired by lack of a strong through-draught of air.

2014, Ian J. Finch, D. F. Bratchell, E. F. Candlin, General Studies: A First Handbook for Technical Students, page 79:

The wind was whistling around the side of the house and there was a through-draught as the kitchen window was open.

2015, Janie Bolitho, Snapped in Cornwall:

(UK) A draught or air current that blows across a space; cross breeze.


milkness

Afore lang days, I hope to see him here, / About his milkness and his cows to speer.

1778, Alexander Ross, Helenore: Or, The Fortunate Shepherdess, page 87:

[…] said she had been in the service of one Jacob Pearson, of Titlington, about three or four years before or thereabouts to the best of her knowledge, and had charge of that gentleman's house and milkness.

1888, The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend, page 396:


English and Welsh

(UK, law) Of or pertaining to England and Wales (the jurisdiction covering England and Wales, which share a legal system).


English and Welsh law

(UK, law) Synonym of English law (“common law legal system of England and Wales”).


take a view

en-verb

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

takes a view (present singular third-person)
taking a view (participle present)
took a view (past)
taken a view (participle past)

Collate together all the information you can, but do remember that Michael's the one who'll take a view, not you.

If the insurer refuses to cover the defect in the policy, the client is just going to have to take a view.

But how can a client assess whether sufficient resources have been allocated to the project? This is obviously subjective but, nevertheless, clients have to 'take a view', if they are to comply with their statutory obligations.

1997, The Structural Engineer: Journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers:

Law Officers have taken a view on the line which the UK should take in future on proposals which the UK supports for policy reasons, even though we consider they use the wrong legal base. The Department of Health will follow this agreed line for this proposal.

2004, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee, Thirty-seventh Report of Session 2003-04: Documents Considered by the Committee on 17 November 2004, Including, Global Satellite Navigation System; Procedure for the Adoption of Measures Relating to Visas, Asylum and Immigration; European Defence Equipment Market, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 36:

(intransitive, UK, business) To form an opinion and take action on an issue which carries the risk of professional or legal liability; particularly where there is no obvious course of action.


North East

(UK) A region of England, consisting of the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and the part of North Yorkshire that was part of the former county of Cleveland or the former county borough of Teesside.


a bob each way

A phrase from gambling. See bob (“shilling”) and the gambling sense at each way.

Of course the member for St. Albans says, both. He likes to have a bob each way, which is in keeping with the statement he made the other day in this debate.

1965, New Zealand. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates. House of Representatives, page 577:

(colloquial, UK, Australia, New Zealand) A situation of hedging one's bets, refusing to commit to either side of a question.


Whitgift

en-proper noun

Whitgift (countable and uncountable, plural Whitgifts)

From either the Old English personal name Hwīta or the Old Norse personal name Hvíti + Old Norse gipt (“gift, dowry”) or Old English ġift (“dowry”).

(UK) Ellipsis of Whitgift School; a prestigious public school for boys in Croydon.


LBC

“No, I wouldn’t approve of it. And no, I don’t think it would get through parliament,” he told LBC.

2022 October 3, Damian Green, quotee, “Tory MPs plot to avert welfare squeeze after humiliating U-turns”, in The Guardian:

(UK, radio) Initialism of London Broadcasting Company, a British phone-in and talk radio station.


IDVA

en-noun

IDVA (countable and uncountable, plural IDVAs)

(uncountable) Acronym of independent domestic-violence advocacy.

(countable) Acronym of independent domestic-violence advisor.


softplay

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

Alternatively the two areas can be combined for both softplay and interactive light and sound usage.

2009, Wendy Bosberry-Scott, Which School? for Special Needs 2009/2010, page xxi:

(UK) A purpose-built play area for children, usually indoors, consisting of padded surfaces, slides, ball pits, etc.


unbonny

en-adj

unbonny (comparative more unbonny, superlative most unbonny)

more unbonny (comparative)
most unbonny (superlative)

An unbonny sight she might have been amid all that slime and stink, a wader in blood with a face blackened by the smoke from the paraffin flares and the bubbly lamps, […]

1990, Douglas Rae, The Fires of Autumn, page 38:

(UK, regional) Not attractive; unpleasant to look at.


CTSFO

(UK, law enforcement) Abbreviation of counter-terrorist specialist firearms officer.


chinwagger

(UK, informal) One who chinwags; a gossip.


yilt

[…] or that when they wished to breed from sows or yilts there would be no boars available.

1918, Live Stock Journal, volume 87, page 359:

(UK, regional) Alternative form of gilt (“young female pig, at or nearing the age of first breeding”)


blow me up

(UK, slang, archaic) An expression of surprise.


wax doll

The flowers are smaller than those of the species last described; they are rose-coloured, and tipped with purple; and children, in many parts of Kent, call them wax dolls.

1855, Anne Pratt, The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain:

(British, dialect) The common fumitory, Fumaria officinalis.


all over bar the shouting

Literally, “it's finished, except for the shouting.”

(UK, idiomatic) Of an activity where the result is known, but may be subject to change, due to it not being officially finished or announced.


nursery nurse

(UK) Someone trained to care for small children; nanny.


incline lift

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A cable railway on an incline; especially one which operates with one vehicle on a single track.


RMMV

(UK, nautical, mail) Initialism of Royal Mail motor vessel. (a ship prefix used for packet ships propelled by liquid fuel combustion engines that carry post for the Royal Mail of the UK)


talk the leg off the Lamb of God

en-verb

talk the leg off the Lamb of God (third-person singular simple present talks the leg off the Lamb of God, present participle talking the leg off the Lamb of God, simple past and past participle talked the leg off the Lamb of God)

talks the leg off the Lamb of God (present singular third-person)
talking the leg off the Lamb of God (participle present)
talked the leg off the Lamb of God (participle past)
talked the leg off the Lamb of God (past)

Near-synonym: talk someone's ear off


unbigged

(archaic, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Of land: on which nothing has been built.


wakken

wakken (third-person singular simple present wakkens, present participle wakkening, simple past and past participle wakkened)

wakkens (present singular third-person)
wakkening (participle present)
wakkened (participle past)
wakkened (past)


Poundland

From the name of the British pound shop chain Poundland, which was in turn named for its original policy, later relaxed, of pricing all items at £1.

Sir Vince Cable has accused Boris Johnson of being a “Poundland Donald Trump”...

2017 September 16, Benjamin Kentish, “Boris Johnson branded 'a Poundland Donald Trump' by Sir Vince Cable in row over 'glorious Brexit' article”, in The Independent:

(UK, informal, attributive) Designating something as low-quality or inferior.


pound-shop

Due to the perception of the goods sold in pound shops as being cheap, low-quality versions of more expensive products found elsewhere.

[…] no rational human being should ever trust a single utterance issued by a pound-shop Trumpian administration.

2021 December 8, Owen Jones, “In Britain’s pound-shop Trumpian administration, rules are for the rest of us”, in The Guardian:

Colum Eastwood, the MP for Foyle and leader of the SDLP, the nationalist party whose founding member, John Hume, won a Nobel prize for his championing of the peace process in Northern Ireland, called Braverman a “pound-shop Enoch Powell”.

2023 November 9, Daniel Boffey, quoting Colum Eastwood, “Braverman clarifies Northern Ireland comments amid angry criticism”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(attributive, British, informal, derogatory) Used to denote that something is low-quality or an inferior imitation.


you alright

The greeting "you alright?" took a long time to get used to. In the US asking someone if they're alright implies that they look like they're not ok.

2022 February 1, Lizzie May, “Immigrants living in the UK reveal the biggest culture shocks they experienced”, in The Daily Mail:


jaxy

(UK, slang) Alternative form of jacksy (“backside; buttocks”)


put someone in hospital

put (someone) in hospital (third-person singular simple present puts (someone) in hospital, present participle putting (someone) in hospital, simple past and past participle put (someone) in hospital)

put in hospital (canonical)
puts (someone) in hospital (present singular third-person)
putting (someone) in hospital (participle present)
put (someone) in hospital (participle past)
put (someone) in hospital (past)

I'll put you in hospital if you don't shut up.

(UK, colloquial) To injure (someone) to the point that they need serious medical attention.


quilkin

And make me eat quilkins and pagetepooes, / And woorship the Devel, and wear 'oaden shoes!

1846, Jan Treenoodle, Specimens of Cornish provincial dialect (page 35)

(UK, obsolete, Cornwall) A frog or toad.


mack out

mack out (third-person singular simple present macks out, present participle macking out, simple past and past participle macked out)

macks out (present singular third-person)
macking out (participle present)
macked out (participle past)
macked out (past)

(UK, slang) To spend time relaxing; to chill out.


bloodlink

(UK, historical) Traceable ancestry to a certain location.


new bread

en-noun

new bread (countable and uncountable, plural new breads)

(UK, historical) Bread prepared on a Sunday morning and consumed within six hours.


VRI

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
w:en:Victoria I of the United Kingdom

(UK) Abbreviation of Victoria Regina et Imperatrix.; the royal cypher of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, queen regnant.


CIIIR

King Charles III of the United Kingdom
w:en:Charles III of the United Kingdom

(UK) Abbreviation of Charles III Rex; the royal cypher of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, king regnant.


box wagon

Greenbrier has completed production of the first JNA-X Box Wagon prototype in Romania. It forms part of an agreement for 50 new box wagons announced in March between the manufacturer, Porterbrook and GB Railfreight.

2022 September 7, “Network News: Box Wagon prototype ready for the UK”, in RAIL, number 965, page 22:

(rail transport, British) A large high-sided box-shaped open wagon mounted on two four-wheel bogies, similar to a North American gondola car.


Andrew Miller

Sometimes said to originate from the name of an 18th-century Lieutenant named Andrew Millar, famed for impressing many people into naval service; however, there is no evidence such a person existed.

He wont do for Andrew Millar, for he's mair like unto a cuckoo clock-maker than a Jack tar.

1826, Matthew Henry Barker, Greenwich hospital, page 2:

Since those days I have met scores of men who have deserted from Her Majesty's Army and Navy, and every one of them, without exception, curses the day he left the service, or, as the seamen term it, ‘Andrew Miller’.

1906, W. H. Blake, The Adventures of a Naval Chief Gunner, page 5:

I'm not a flight sergeant, we don't have 'em in the Andrew Miller.

1984, Kenneth Poolman, Chanter R.N., page 151:

(chiefly UK, naval slang) The Royal Navy; service in the Navy.


Andrew Miller

And what did you know, you bumpkin! before you came on board this Andrew Miller?

1850, Herman Melville, chapter IV, in White-Jacket, published 1850, page 24:

(chiefly UK, naval slang, obsolete) A warship.


in bad bread

(obsolete, dated, UK) In a dilemma; in a state of difficulty.