wog

wog (third-person singular simple present wogs, present participle wogging, simple past and past participle wogged)

wogs (present singular third-person)
wogging (participle present)
wogged (participle past)
wogged (past)


mutton dressed as lamb

A metaphorical sense of mutton (“unattractive older woman”) being dressed (clothed) as lamb (“a younger attractive woman”) and also a pun on mutton (“meat from old sheep”) being dressed (prepared) as lamb (“meat from young sheep”), related to obsolete lamb-fashion.

In one of the rare cinematic depictions of an older woman as sexually attractive and active, Moreau also contributes to the end of Syl′s innocence by seducing him in the summer house. No mutton dressed as lamb could have done better!

2003, Elizabeth W. Markson, “Chapter Three: The Female Aging Body Through Film”, in Christopher A. Faircloth, editor, Aging Bodies: Images and Everyday Experience, page 85:

Elegant, slightly chic, but not mutton dressed as lamb. It was important to present a professional appearance to her former employer.

2007, L. H. Maynard, M. P. N. Sims, Demon Eyes, New York: Dorchester Publishing, page 224:

South African women are also so scared of looking like mutton dressed as lamb that we have plenty of women looking like lamb dressed as mutton!

2009, Dr John Chibaya Mbuya, Bulelwa Muphela, Grooming and Ettiquette for Corporate Men and Women, unnumbered page:

2009, Jah Wobble, Memoirs of a Geezer: Music, Mayhem, Life, Serpent's Tail (Profile Books), UK, page 65,
I thought that the American side of punk was generally full of mutton-dressed-as-lamb degenerates, most of whom were smack heads, who could do with acquainting themselves with a bit of soap and some hot water.

(UK, derogatory) A middle-aged or elderly woman dressed in a style more suited to a young woman, especially if in a deliberate attempt to appear young.

老來俏 /老来俏

karitsaksi pukeutunut lammas (literal translation)


surround

From Middle English sourrounden (“to submerge, overflow”), from Middle French souronder, suronder, from Late Latin superundō, from super + undō (“to rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”).

inh

He drifted through the room, avoiding the furniture by instinct, closed the door that led to the passage, and only then flicked on his flashlight.
It swept around the room, picking out a desk, a telephone, a wall of bookshelves, and a deep armchair, and finally settled on a handsome fireplace with a large surround of red brick.

1972, Frederick Forsyth, The Odessa File, Viking, SBN 670-52042-x, chapter 15, page 283

(British) Anything, such as a fence or border, that surrounds something.


tea towel

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

From tea + towel. Attested from the middle 19th century. Compare earlier tea-cloth from the late 18th century.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A cloth, made from cotton or linen, for drying dishes and glassware.


postmaster

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

(British) A kind of scholar at Merton College, Oxford; portionist.


flannelled fool

en-noun

flannelled fool (plural flannelled fools)

(British, idiomatic) A cricketer (from the white flannel trousers they traditionally wear).


Sod's law

It's Sod's law that it will rain when going for a picnic.

It was amazing and typical of Sod's Law, the moment I turned for home, the wind direction would not only change, but be the complete reverse.

2013, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony

ley de la indefectible mala voluntad de los objectos inanimados


tanker

Nor is the government facing a strike by tanker drivers, as was the case in early 1979 during the winter of discontent.

2021 September 23, Larry Elliott, “Petrol disruption will fuel fears of new winter of discontent”, in The Guardian:

(automotive, UK) A fuel tanker, petrol tanker, road tanker.


dollymop

(slang, British) An amateur, often part-time, female prostitute in 19th-century London.


scrubber

What did you think, it was happy ever after with a Woodlands Road scrubber in a seaside resort?

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 267:

(UK, Ireland, slang) A prostitute or a slovenly woman.

(UK, Ireland, slang) A dirty or unhygienic person.


toyboy

I'm out with my toy boy, toy boy / And when I get to take him home / I know he's gonna love me right

1987, Stock Aitken Waterman (lyrics and music), “Toy Boy”, performed by Sinitta:

But Ahlamalik Williams, 25, is just the latest in a long line of toyboys 61-year-old Queen of Pop Madonna has been linked to since her spilt from long-term partner Guy Ritchie, after which she decided she 'wanted to have fun'.

2019 December 18, Sophie Jane Evans, “How Madonna is falling for increasingly younger toyboys”, in The Sun, retrieved 2021-03-15:

(UK, Australia, sometimes derogatory, sometimes humorous) A young male partner for a woman or man.


piddle

Unknown, although possibly originally paw + -le (suffix forming verbs involving continuous or repeated movement). In later use, a euphemistic diminutive of piss. The noun derives from the verb.

The spunk with his piddle comes bubbling.

(British, Australia, euphemistic slang) Piss: urine.

Piddle, urine; occ. the act of making water.

1937, Eric Honeywood Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, page 625:

On the way out to the gardens, he had to stop for a piddle but was so weak he couldn't maintain his balance while lifting his rear leg.

2013, Angela Lemanis, Contemplating Life from the Back Step, page 84:

(British, Australia, euphemistic slang) A piss: an act of urination.

It's the alteration of the little words that makes all the difference between Poetry & piddle.

(British, figurative) Nonsense or a trivial matter.


piddle

en-verb

piddle (third-person singular simple present piddles, present participle piddling, simple past and past participle piddled)

piddles (present singular third-person)
piddling (participle present)
piddled (participle past)
piddled (past)

Ha, ha, ha, Paddy shit in his breaches, ha, ha, ha, I shall laugh till I piddle myself.

1784, cited in Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, Vol. VI, p. 128

(UK, Australia, South Africa, Namibia, euphemistic slang, intransitive or reflexive) To urinate.


cause célèbre

From French cause (“cause, case”) + célèbre (“famous”), in the title of an 18th-century compilation of famous legal cases, Causes célèbres.

Getting iced out by the tech giants turned Parler into a cause célèbre for conservatives who complained they were being censored, as well as a test case for the openness of the internet.

2021 February 15, Jack Nicas, “Parler, a Social Network That Attracted Trump Fans, Returns Online”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(chiefly UK) An issue or incident (originally, a legal case) arousing widespread controversy or public debate.

引起轟動的事件 /引起轰动的事件

issue or incident arousing heated public debate


monger

monger (third-person singular simple present mongers, present participle mongering, simple past and past participle mongered)

mongers (present singular third-person)
mongering (participle present)
mongered (participle past)
mongered (past)

/ˈmʌŋ.ɡə(ɹ)/

From Middle English mongere, mangere, from Old English mangere (“merchant, trader, dealer”), from Proto-West Germanic *mangārī, from Latin mangō (“dealer, trader”), perhaps from Ancient Greek μάγγανον (mánganon, “contrivance, means of enchantment”), from Proto-Indo-European *mang- (“to embellish, dress, trim”).

der

(transitive, British) To sell or peddle something.


pisser

From Middle English pissere; equivalent to piss + -er (agent noun). The sense referring to a urinal formed from piss + -er (patient suffix).

(UK, Ireland, slang, mildly vulgar) A disappointing or frustrating situation or event.


scupper

en-verb

scupper (third-person singular simple present scuppers, present participle scuppering, simple past and past participle scuppered)

scuppers (present singular third-person)
scuppering (participle present)
scuppered (participle past)
scuppered (past)

Of unknown origin; possibly verbized form of Etymology 1, but this is unlikely.

unk

unknown

Coordinate term: scuttle

The bad media coverage scuppered his chances of being elected.

]The only chance was to get the guns and try a rescue. Of course they may scupper them at once in revenge.[

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

This is the face of American exceptionalism[…] threatening to scupper both the court and, failing that, UN peace-keeping operations in Bosnia and anywhere else the US might have forces deployed on such work.

2002 July 2, Hugo Young, “We can't allow US tantrums to scupper global justice”, in The Guardian:

Anthony Watson’s late interception and Owen Farrell’s 100% kicking contribution also helped scupper the Wallabies, despite the promise of their exciting new centre Jordan Petaia and the roadrunner pace of winger Marika Koroibete.

2019 October 19, Robert Kitson, “England into World Cup semi-finals after bruising victory over Australia”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media:

Pacers should have all been withdrawn by now, but that has been scuppered by a failure to deliver new trains on time and delays to infrastructure projects. The most high-profile withdrawals were to be Northern's Class 142s and '144s' (the latter by the end of 2018, and the '142s' by the end of last year).

2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone... but never forgotten”, in RAIL, page 62:

(transitive, UK) To thwart or destroy, especially something belonging or pertaining to another.


victualler

From Middle English vitailler, from Old French vitaillier; equivalent to victual + -er.


roundabout

From round + about [from early 20th c.].

what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

(chiefly UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, Australia and sometimes US) A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.

دَوَّار

(chiefly British) A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus.

въртелѐжка

children's play apparatus which rotates around a central axis when pushed


boob tube

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

* (television): An allusion to the idiocy of television programming and the supposed audience for such (boobs) and that the televisions of that era used cathode ray tube (CRT) vacuum tube displays. First use appears c. 1959, in the The Herald Journal.
* (clothing): Due to the clothing resembling a tube-like garment that covers the breasts (boobs) of a woman. First use appears c. 1977, in the Daily Mail.

At the same time, Tara puts her arms into her boob tube.

2015, Oscar Phoenix, This Hostage to Fortune:

(British, informal) A type of woman's upper body garment consisting of a taut band of cloth around the breasts and back.


ploughman's lunch

en-noun

ploughman's lunch (plural ploughman's lunches or ploughmen's lunches)

ploughman's lunches (plural)
ploughmen's lunches (plural)

Originally devised by a marketing executive of the Dairy Council in a 1960-61 advertising campaign to sell English cheese and beer.

(British) A light meal of bread, cheese, and pickled onions (or cucumbers), etc., especially one served in a pub at lunchtime.


pongo

(British, slang) A lazy, good-for-nothing person.


red lemonade

red lemonade (usually uncountable, plural red lemonades)

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

(UK, Ireland) Lemonade coloured with natural food colouring, giving it a red appearance and a slightly sweeter taste.


MLA

Wanglin Lowangdong, incumbent MLA of Borduria Bogapani trails in the constituency.

2019 May 23, The Hindu Net Desk, “Arunachal Pradesh Assembly results live updates | BJP wins 7 Assembly seats, leads in both LS seats”, in The Hindu, archived from the original on 2022-11-12:

MLAs past and present gathered for an event at Stormont on Friday to mark the agreement's 25th anniversary.

2023 April 7, Chris Andrews, “Good Friday Agreement: Use courage and vision of 1998, says George Mitchell”, in BBC News:

(British, Canada, India, politics) Initialism of member of the legislative assembly.


shandy

shandy (countable and uncountable, plural shandies)

(uncountable, UK, Ireland) A drink made by mixing beer and lemonade.


lunchbox

The campaign tagline, 'I've got a tiny packet', is written across [Linford] Christie's trademark impressively muscled upper body. 'Tiny packet' makes us remember that Linford is known for his 'lunchbox' from his heyday as a sprinter because of the bulge apparent in his lycra shorts. His lunchbox and now his tiny packet allude to the diminishing of black men to just their genitals[…]

2015, Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Shirley Anne Tate, Creolizing Europe: Legacies and Transformations, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 109:

(slang, UK) The male genitals when enclosed in clothing.


hophead

(British, slang) A beer enthusiast or homebrewer.


donk

(British, uncountable) A sub-genre of Scouse house music containing distinctive percussion sounds.


flannel

flannel (countable and uncountable, plural flannels)

zh-l

法蘭絨／法兰绒 (fǎlánróng)

⇒ Chinese: 法蘭絨／法兰绒 (fǎlánróng)

→ Danish: flannel

desctree

→ French: flanelle
→ Catalan: franel·la
→ Dutch: flanel
Afrikaans: flanel

→ German: Flanell
→ Danish: flonel

→ Italian: flanella
→ Luxembourgish: Flanell
→ Portuguese: flanela
→ Spanish: franela
→ Tagalog: pranela
→ Egyptian Arabic: فنلّة

→ Swedish: flanell

→ Japanese: フランネル (furaneru)

From Middle English flaunneol, from Anglo-Norman flanelle (compare Norman flianné), diminutive of Old French flaine, floene (“coarse wool”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *wlānos, *wlanā (“wool”) (compare Welsh gwlân, Breton gloan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. More at wool.

"The Witch of Endor was a fool to her, sir: bless you, she would make no more of raising every gentleman in the Bible out of these here beastly tombs than I should of growing cress on an old flannel."

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

(New Zealand, British, countable) A washcloth.


odd and curious

For the odd and curious of us, to fly like a bird is a not an easy thing.

The odd and curious is born good and pure. The society corrupts.

(idiomatic, British) On the Isle of Man, the common or general man.


gill

From Middle English gille, from Old French gille (“a wine measure”), from Medieval Latin gillo (“earthenware jar”).

der

(archaic, British) A measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint.


gill

From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil.


zip

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A zip fastener.


God botherer

(UK, slang, derogatory) A person who persistently promotes religious beliefs to others, even when unwelcome.

(UK, slang, derogatory) An excessively pious person.

(UK, military slang) A military chaplain.


bummer

From bum (“engage in anal sex”) + -er (agent noun suffix).

af

You know, the kind of guy who would, if he wasn't gay, probably be shouting ‘Oi, gay boy!’ or ‘You bummer!’ or even ‘Oi, paki!’ or what have you. They're not enlightened.

Matt (interviewee) quoted in 2021, Laura Dixon, Gender, Sexuality and National Identity in the Lives of British Lifestyle Migrants in Spain (page 108)

(UK, slang, derogatory, offensive) A gay man.


townie

cocky ()

antonym(s) of “person who lives in a city or town or has an urban outlook”

Professional gamblers have a cushy racket in college football because old grads and even townies of college localities are sentimental bettors and easy to separate from their money.

1947 November, “College football business”, in Kiplinger Magazine, page 36:

School is an ivory tower on the hill; it nestles in the gated groves of academe. It’s residents do not mix with “townies.”

1994, Terry O'Banion, A Learning College for the 21st Century, page 11:

In Spike Lee's movie School Daze you play a townie who's very hostile to the college students from out of town.

2004, Terry Gross, All I Did Was Ask, page 336:

(UK, US) A person living in a university area who is not associated with the university.

[Hamlet] was only repeating the phrase of an ordinary English rustic when jeering at a “townie”—whom he suspected of being a gutter-snipe—that “He don’t know a hawk from a hernshaw”.

1914 June 6, Roper Lethbridge, “Village Words”, in The Saturday Review, page 737:

From being a born-and-bred townie from north London, to a 36-year-old part-time farmer and full-time businessman is no mean achievement.

1998, Ken Ashton, “Preface”, in Graham Irwin, A Farm of Our Own, page 8:

The term cockney originally meant cock’s egg or misshapen egg such as a young hen might lay, in other words a lily-livered townie as opposed to a strong countryman.

2003, Rob Humphreys, The Rough Guide to London, page v:

(UK) A person who has moved from a town or city to a rural area. Especially, one who is perceived not to have adopted rural ways.

(UK) A person familiar with the town (urbanised centre of a city) and with going out on the town; a street-wise person.

Here I parted with my fellow-townies, whose home shed at Millhouses covers fields where I played as a child.

1949 March and April, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–2”, in Railway Magazine, page 83:

The modern Aussie is a townie through and through. Australia is the least densely populated country on earth; it is also among the most highly urbanised.

1999, Richard D. Lewis, When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully Across Cultures, page 191:

In the 1940′s, a social survey of Victorian country towns found a similar gap between the interests and outlooks of farmers and townies, and an underlying fear on the part of the townsfolk.

2002, Graeme Davison, “Rural Sustainability in Historical Perspective”, in Chris Cocklin, Jacqui Dibden, editors, Sustainability and Change in Rural Australia, University Of New South Wales Press, page 40:

In that sense, the townies, not the farmers, were the inheritors of a pioneer capacity for hard work.

2005, Marc Brodie, “Chapter 9: The Politics of Rural Nostalgia between the Wars”, in Graeme Davison, Marc Brodie, editors, Struggle Country: The Rural Ideal in Twentieth-Century Australia, page 9.9:

Earlier, there would probably have been a grudge match between two townies, or locals.

2008, Jim Sharman, Blood & Tinsel: A Memoir, Melbourne University Publishing, page 18:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A person who lives in a city or town, or has an urban outlook.


SBS

Special Boat Service
w:Special Boat Service

(UK, military) Initialism of Special Boat Service, an elite unit of the British Royal Marines, similar to the SAS but operating in a naval environment.


ozone

From German Ozon, coined 1840 by Christian Friedrich Schönbein, from Ancient Greek ὄζον (ózon), neuter participle of ὄζω (ózō, “I smell”), in reference to its pungent odour.
The “fresh air” sense is from an erroneous former belief that seaweed contains and releases ozone.

A patent obtained in England, and specified far from clearly, for obtaining ozone by boiling seaweed,†† may be mentioned as a curiosity, and also the credulity with which ozone-baths, prepared in this manner, find a ready sale, in spite of, or perhaps rather on account of, their high price.

1875, William Crookes, The Chemical News, page 99:

To Ramsgate baths she sped, in quest / Of seaweed and ozone ; / For seaweed and ozone were best, / They said, to give her tone.

1888, L. T. Meade, A. Balfour Symington, Edwin Oliver, Atalanta, volume 1, page 674:

It's got the lot: fresh sea air, ozone, seaweed. You could cut the air with a knife.

2007, Robert Douglas, Tales of the Unexpected: Somewhere to Lay My Head, unnumbered page:

(British, informal) Fresh air, especially that breathed at the seaside and smelling of seaweed.


copper-bottomed

en-adj

copper-bottomed (comparative more copper-bottomed, superlative most copper-bottomed)

more copper-bottomed (comparative)
most copper-bottomed (superlative)

From the copper sheathing applied to the bottom of a wooden ship to prevent damage from marine organisms. In literal sense 18th century, in figurative sense attested since at least 1807. The British idiomatic use comes from the fact that with Britain being a major naval power, there was always a ready market for copper in ship construction, making it a reliable commodity to invest in.

The copper-bottomed angel at Messrs. Paff’s in Broadway.

(British, idiomatic) Thoroughly reliable; secure.


Easter

en-noun

Easter (countable and uncountable, plural Easters)

→ Chickasaw: Iista'

The noun is derived from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”).
The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(UK, Ireland, law, education) Ellipsis of Easter term.


scuffer

(slang, British, archaic) A London policeman (of the Victorian era).


SAS

The SAS are absolutely charming. Ruthless trained killers are just a phone call away.

2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by Prime Minister (Hugh Grant):

He was the last original member of the SAS, whose exploits were dramatised in the BBC series SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022), based on the 2016 book of the same name by Ben Macintyre.

2024 January 14, Michael Smith, “Mike Sadler obituary”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Special Air Service
Special Air Service#English

(British, Australia, New Zealand, military) Initialism of Special Air Service.


daft

en-adj

daft (comparative dafter, superlative daftest)

dafter (comparative)
daftest (superlative)

From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₂ebʰ- (“fitting; to fit together”). Related to Old English dafnian, dafenian (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), Russian до́брый (dóbryj, “good”).
Compare silly which originally meant “blessed; good, innocent; pitiful; weak”, but now means “laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance; mentally simple, foolish”.
Unrelated to, though perhaps influenced by, daff (“fool (n.); to be foolish (v.)”) (past form daffed).

der

a daft idea

Thou art the daftest fuill that ever I saw. / Trows thou, man, be the law to get remeid / Of men of kirk? Na, nocht till thou be deid.

1602, David Lyndesay [i.e., David Lyndsay], Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, in Commendation of Vertew and Vitvperation of Vyce (in Scots), Edinburgh: Printed be Robert Charteris, →OCLC; republished as Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, in Commendation of Vertew and Vitvperation of Vyce (Early English Text Society, Original Series; no. 37), [London]: [Published for the Early English Text Society, by N[icholas] Trübner & Co.], [1869], →OCLC, page 451, lines 2008–2010:

You are the daftest fool that ever I saw. / Trust you, man, by the law to get a remedy / From men of the church? No, not till you are dead.

So that if a boor complains of a broken-head, or a beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak loud enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour shall be dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge of and punish his demerits, but before a base mechanical burgo-master, who shall menace him with the rasp-house, the cord, and what not, as if he were one of their own mean, amphibious, twenty-breeched boors.

1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 188–189:

In case you haven't heard of them [the Taipings], I must tell you that they were another of those incredible phenomena that made China the topsy-turvey mess it was, like some fantastic land from Gulliver, where everything was upside down and out of kilter. Talk about moonbeams from cucumbers; the Taipings were even dafter than that.

1985, George MacDonald Fraser, chapter 1, in Flashman and the Dragon: From the Flashman Papers, 1860, London: Collins Harvill, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Plume, 1987, →ISBN:

You haven't exactly been playing the master tactician through all this, but that seems the daftest course you could possibly have taken.

1990, Iain Pears, The Raphael Affair, London: Gollancz, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Harper, 2014, →ISBN, page 22:

(chiefly British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Foolish, silly, stupid.

неразумен

foolish, silly — see also foolish, silly

"Ow, he is just a wood harum-scarum creature, that wad never take to his studies;—daft, sir, clean daft." / […] / "[W]owff—a wee bit by the East-Nook or sae; it's a common case—the ae half of the warld thinks t'other daft. I have met with folks in my day, that thought I was daft mysell;[…]" / "I cannot make out a word of his cursed brogue," said the Cumbrian justice; "can you, neighbour—eh? What can he mean by deft?" / "He means mad", said the party appealed to, thrown off his guard by impatience of this protracted discussion.

1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Darsie Latimer’s Journal, in Continuation. Sheet 2.”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 143–144:

The boy gathered himself up, shook his shaggy head, and, said, in a piteous tone: 'Davie's daft!' 'Davie's daft!' He then kicked the poor idiot till his cries attracted the attention of the guests, some of whom immediately came to the spot: […]

1843 April, “The Vale of Glencoe: A Tale of Scotland”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XXI, number 4, New York, N.Y.: Published by John Allen, […], →OCLC, page 339:

‘It’s a lee [lie],’ says the man; ‘she’s either drunk or daft.’ / ‘Me drunk, you ill-tongued vagabond!’ says my Auntie Kirsty, who couldna bear such a reproach on her good name, ‘I’m a’ but blackfasting this day from either meat or drink; you had better no meddle wi’ my character.’

1876, S[arah] R. Whitehead, “On the Wrong Coach”, in Daft Davie and Other Sketches of Scottish Life and Character, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 220:

(chiefly British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Crazy, insane, mad.

побъркан

crazy, insane — see also crazy, insane, mad


reservation

en-noun

reservation (countable and uncountable, plural reservations)

/ˌɹɛzəˈveɪʃən/

/ˌɹɛzɚˈveɪʃən/

From Middle French reservation, equivalent to reserve + -ation.

A vehicle crashed through the central reservation into the path of oncoming traffic.

A three-lane motorway can be up to (or even more than) 35 metres wide, with a hard shoulder on either side and a central reservation.

2023 August 23, Chris Howe, “Green screen: HS2's route through the shires”, in RAIL, number 990, page 34:

(UK) The area which separates opposing lanes of traffic on a divided motorway or dual carriageway; see also central reservation.

median

central reservation, motorway lane separator


knob

en-verb

knob (third-person singular simple present knobs, present participle knobbing, simple past and past participle knobbed)

knobs (present singular third-person)
knobbing (participle present)
knobbed (participle past)
knobbed (past)

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knudaną (“to knead”).
Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop. For the sense of a rounded hill, see nab and knab.

der

One morning, maybe three weeks after my last grapple with Penny, Thomson came roaring into our form room. ‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’

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

Had Jack knobbed her as well? Molly wondered.

2013, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Finding Tom Connor:

(British, slang, vulgar, transitive, of a man) To have sex with.


faff

From a dialect word meaning "blow in gusts".

Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff.

God it must be a faff having to get nigh-on naked every time your bladder runneth over, and imagine how much worse it must be if you only have a 20-second break to run off stage to the loo.

2007 November 27, Hadley Freeman, “Miaow!”, in The Guardian:

Breakfast in bed at the royal household is a massive faff. A page boy must carry the tray upstairs, but he's banned from actually serving it. So he leaves it on the floor by the bedroom door, whereupon a housemaid picks it up and knocks on said portal.

2011, Patrick Kingsley, “Life with the Queen Mum revealed”, in The Guardian:

The fuss and faff meant Christmas had long since been drained of any joy and excitement.

The show is a carefully curated manifesto of “social success without faff”.

2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.


faff

en-verb

faff (third-person singular simple present faffs, present participle faffing, simple past and past participle faffed)

faffs (present singular third-person)
faffing (participle present)
faffed (participle past)
faffed (past)

Stop Faffing And Just Do It

2009, Steven Aitchison, 100 Ways to Develop Your Mind, page 131:

(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) To waste time on an unproductive activity.


ITU

(British) Initialism of intensive treatment unit, called intensive care unit in the United States.


twunt

Sorry for being kind of a twunt about other matters, but it's because of posts like this that I don't want to write you off or lose you as a friend.

2003 August 13, David Watson, “the UN in anime”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

Let the pub-dodging twunt embarrass himself with his primitive, witless and repetitive insults.

2003 October 29, Farlie A, “Peter 'Heather' Thomas!”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet):

Is that the twunt who looks like Bill Bailey's younger brother?

2003 November 29, Thanatos, “Annoying ads”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

I note that in a recent New Scientist some twunt was advocating the use of C02 pressure washers and acidic/caustic cleaning foams instead of the usual disinfectant approach.

2005 February 25, David Marshall, “Re: Election Campaign”, in alt.dur.general (Usenet):

It is completely normal to harbour desires to batter these smug twunts about the head with a hot MacBook Air.

2011 July 8, Grace Dent, The Guardian, 8 Jul 2011:

“You're so perfect at everything, deal with it yourself. I'm outta here.” [glass shattering] “Okay. That sounded expensive. Terry, Terry, don't be a twunt. What did you break?”

2023 August 14, May Darmon, “The Re-Visibility Bouillabaisse” (9:01 from the start), in Solar Opposites, season 4, episode 10, spoken by Korvo (Dan Stevens):

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar) A fool; an extremely objectionable person.


impeachment

en-noun

impeachment (countable and uncountable, plural impeachments)

→ Polish: impeachment

→ Portuguese: impeachment

desctree

→ Russian: импи́чмент (impíčment)
→ Kazakh: импичмент (impiçment)

→ Spanish: impeachment

Richard Nixon
United States Senate
Watergate scandal

From Middle English empechement (“hindrance, impediment, obstacle, obstruction; legal accusation or charge; act of calling into question or discrediting; challenge to a claim or right”), and thence either:
* from Middle English empechen, empeschen, empesche, enpechen, impechen (“to cause to get stuck; of a ship: to run aground; to block, obstruct; to hinder, impede; to prevent; to interfere with, harm; to criticize, disparage; to bring charges against; to formally accuse of treason or another high crime”) (from Anglo-Norman empecher, Old French empechier, empeechier) + -ment (suffix forming action nouns, concrete nouns, and nouns indicating a result or a condition or state); or
* from Old French empechement, empeechement, empeschement (“obstacle”) (modern French empêchement (“impediment, obstacle”)), from empeechier (“to fetter; to hinder”), empescher (“to inhibit, prevent”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
The English word is analysable as impeach + -ment.
Old French empechier, empeechier and empescher (compare modern French empêcher) are derived from Late Latin impedicāre (“to catch; to entangle”), present active infinitive of Latin impedicō (“to entangle; to fetter”), from im- (variant of in-) + pedica (“fetter, shackle; snare, trap”) (from pēs (“foot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”)) + -ō.
In senses 1.2 (“accusation that a person has committed a crime”) and 1.3 (“act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct”), the word has been used in place of Latin impetere, the present active infinitive of impetō (“to assail, attack, rush upon”).

Abqualifizierung

He [William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford] is charged in the Articles of Impeachment with Contriving the Death of the King, and being at ſeveral Meetings and Conſults about the King's Death, and Hiring Perſons to kill the King; And are theſe no Overt Acts? [...] My Lords, another Exception that is taken, is, That there is no Indictment. I conceive that an Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons is more than an Indictment. And there cannot be any doubt of that, the Impeachment of the Houſe of Commons having always been received and proceeded on by your Lordships.

1680 December 4, “The Fifth Day”, in The Tryal of William Viscount Stafford for High Treason, […], Dublin: Reprinted by Jos[eph] Ray, […], and are to be sold by S. Helsham, Joh. North, Jos[eph] Howes […], published 1681, →OCLC, page 243:

Backed by the Treasurer's bitterest enemies he brought charges against Danby. Impeachment followed. There was fresh uproar in the House.

1923, Georgette Heyer, “The Revenge”, in The Great Roxhythe, Boston, Mass.: Small, Maynard and Company, →OCLC, page 325:

calling into question
call into question

(countable) The act of calling into question or challenging the accuracy or propriety of something.

(countable, law, British) An accusation that a person has committed a crime against the state, such as treason.


sycamore

en-noun

sycamore (countable and uncountable, plural sycamores)

Circa 1350 as Middle English sicamour, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Ancient Greek σῡκόμορος (sūkómoros, literally “fig-mulberry”), from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) + μόρον (móron, “mulberry”). Possibly influenced by Hebrew שִׁקְמָה (shikmá, “fig-mulberry”).
In the 16th c. applied to the European maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), in the early 19th c. to various plane tree species introduced to North America, perhaps in analogy to their shadiness.

ncog

The thronged boughs of the shadowy sycamore / Still bear young leaflets half the summer through

1899, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “The Day-Dream”, in Pictures & poems:

Acer pseudoplatanus
Acer pseudoplatanus#Translingual

(British) A large British and European species of maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, known in North America as the sycamore maple.


giro

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

Via German, from Italian giro (“circulation”), from Latin gyrus (“circle”), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, to bend”).

der

His Sheperd's Bush giro was in doubt now, because he had declined the exciting career opportunity to work in the Burger King in Notting Hill Gate.

1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “The First Shag in Ages”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 146:

(UK, Ireland, informal) An unemployment benefit cheque.


matey

en-adj

matey (comparative matier, superlative matiest)

matier (comparative)
matiest (superlative)

You've been very matey with that new bird.

She asked in what sort of accident I had broken my back, and when I told her that I had been shot down she became much more matey.

1948, Dennis Wheatley, The Haunting of Toby Jugg, published 2007, page 148:

We decided that it would be more matey to have communal meals, so all the guests and hosts foregathered at the hotel for lunches and dinners, and at every sitting there were about 40 of us, all in high spirits.

1995, Gwynneth Latham, Michael C. Latham, Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa, page 140:

2002, Jon Latimer, Alamein, page 128,
he wrote: ‘They took a bit of getting used to. I was dressed as a general and they treated me in the most matey way, but despite this it was easy to see that there was nothing wrong with their battle discipline.’

His opening salvo, “If you didn′t care what happened to me, and I didn′t care for you,” gives way to a more matey mood at the end: “You know that I care what happens to you. And I know that you care for me.”

2002, Alan Di Perna, Guitar World, Guitar World Presents: Pink Floyd, page 29:

Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was his full name, but he insisted on being called Egerton Ryerson, under the mistaken conviction that this was much more matey than Adolphus.

2005, Donald H. Akenson, An Irish History of Civilization, volume 2, page 293:


fawce

fawce (comparative more fawce, superlative most fawce)

more fawce (comparative)
most fawce (superlative)


cottager

From cottage (“small hut; public lavatory”) + -er; compare cotter.

suf

(British, slang) One who engages in sex in public lavatories; a practitioner of cottaging.


cost centre

(UK, accounting, management) Alternative form of cost center


stig

Referred to in the book Piccadilly Jim by PG Wodehouse in 1917 :
You never know what is waiting for you around the corner. You start the day with the fairest prospects, and before nightfall everything is as rocky and ding-basted as stig tossed full of doodlegammon.
Also referenced as the eponymous character in the book Stig of the Dump (Clive King, Puffin, 1963, →ISBN.

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

(UK, slang, derogatory) Someone from a poor background, with poor dress sense.


beget

en-verb

beget (third-person singular simple present begets, present participle begetting, simple past begot or (archaic) begat, past participle begotten or (rare) begot)

begets (present singular third-person)
begetting (participle present)
begot (past)
begat (archaic past)
begotten (participle past)
begot (participle past rare)

From Middle English begeten [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")], from Old English beġietan (“to get”), from Proto-Germanic *bigetaną (“to find, seize”), equivalent to be- + get. Cognate with Old Saxon bigetan (“to find, seize”), Old High German bigezan (“to gain, achieve, win, procure”).


flatter

From flat (“dwelling, apartment”) + -er (residency suffix).

af

(British, New Zealand, slang) Someone who lives in a rented flat.


spack

Possibly a contraction of spastic (as a term of abuse).

unk

Possibly

(UK, slang, derogatory, offensive) A person with cerebral palsy.

You spilt beer on your shirt, you spack!

For quotations using this term, see Citations:spack.

(UK, slang, derogatory, offensive) An incompetent or physically uncoordinated person.


oil painting

en-noun

oil painting (countable and uncountable, plural oil paintings)

"Very lovely!" he said, staring her straight in the face.
"You needn't try and be funny!" she said. "If you mean me, I'm no oil-painting, and I know it!"

1920, Henry St. John Cooper, “Sunny Ducrow”, in Putnam's, page 117:

Wayne Swan: All I can say is that she's a much more attractive person than the Prime Minister.
George Brandis: You're not exactly an oil painting yourself, Wayne.

2007 "Virginia Trioli talks to George Brandis and Wayne Swan" Lateline ABC (Australia) 14 September 2007

(British, humorous, litotes, chiefly in the negative) A physically attractive person.


do a Reggie Perrin

en-verb

do a Reggie Perrin (third-person singular simple present does a Reggie Perrin, present participle doing a Reggie Perrin, simple past did a Reggie Perrin, past participle done a Reggie Perrin)

does a Reggie Perrin (present singular third-person)
doing a Reggie Perrin (participle present)
did a Reggie Perrin (past)
done a Reggie Perrin (participle past)

From the name of the main character in the British sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, who faked his own suicide.

1998, "Whispering Bob", "There must be more to life than this!", uk.local.southwest, Usenet,
Anyway, I went to Weymouth Yesterday, and sat on the beach thinking I could do a Reggie Perrin, so I took off all my clothes, and ran into the sea. I had planned to fake my own death, but for those of you who don't know, Weymouth's beach is a tad shallow, and is so for a considerable distance, well I ran as far as I could before my gonads rested in my throat cos of the cold and decided...THERE HAS TO BE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2003, Anthony Hulse, Insanity Never Sleeps, Mediaworld PR Ltd, →ISBN, page 20,
“Bloody hell, can’t you do a Reggie Perrin luv? Leave your clothes on Redcar beach and when I receive the dosh I’ll meet you in Australia?”

2007, Anthony Rosen, An UnOrdinary Life: Memoirs of Anthony Rosen, Roundtuit Publishing, →ISBN, page 135,
Following a mental breakdown in 1973, he did a “Reggie Perrin”, but was arrested in mistake for Lord Lucan (the peer wanted for murder) in Australia on Christmas Eve 1974.

(British, slang) To fake one's own suicide.


Kevin

→ Breton: Kevin

→ Cebuano: Kevin

→ Danish: Kevin

→ Dutch: Kevin

→ Estonian: Kevin

→ French: Kevin, Kévin m

French: Kevine f

→ German: Kevin

→ Lithuanian: Kevinas

→ Norwegian: Kevin

→ Polish: Kewin

→ Portuguese: Kevin

→ Spanish: Kevin

→ Swedish: Kevin

→ Tagalog: Kevin

Name of a seventh-century Irish saint, from Irish Caoimhghin or Caoimhín, from Old Irish Cóemgen (literally “dear birth/person”). It first became popular outside Ireland in the mid-twentieth century.

der

(British, derogatory, slang) A working-class male.


gutter

Sranan Tongo: gotro

From Middle English gutter, guttur, goter, from Anglo-Norman guttere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”).


snort

From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.


NEET

→ Italian: NEET

→ Japanese: ニート (nīto)

Abbreviation of not in education, employment, or training, originally British government jargon, first attested in the late 1990s. Currently, outside of Britain is largely due to its use in Japanese — especially from anime-related culture — which spread globally online.

abbrev

Studies have shown that NEETs are usually between the ages of 18 to 40 years and may be the victims of family breakdown and mental illness, lack of discipline also contributes to the problem.

2006, Suvendrini Kakuchi, “Turning to 'NEETS' to Cover Labour Shortages”, in Inter Press Service, archived from the original on 2006-12-27:

The NEET population in 2003, according to a Ministry of Health and Labor estimate last September, was 520,000.

(chiefly UK or Internet slang) A person not in employment, education, or training.

ni-ni

person not in employment, education or training

ei työssä eikä koulutuksessa eikä asevelvollisuutta suorittamassa


fumble

(British) A dessert similar to a cross between a fool and a crumble.


hobble

From Middle English hobblen, hobelen, akin to Middle Dutch hoblen, hobbelen (Modern Dutch hobbelen).

(dialect, UK and Newfoundland) An odd job; a piece of casual work.


lie-in

Since I didn't have to go to work, I decided to have a lie-in.

‘But the only thing I need now is a taxi and a bed to lie in.’ ‘Yeah, go on home, Frankie. Sleep it off, have a lie-in, forget the bloody woman. […]’

2009, K. O. Dahl, The Fourth Man: A Thriller, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 59:

(UK) A period spent lying in bed for longer than usual after one has woken up.


toodeloo

→ Dutch: toedeloe

Unknown. Possibly from French à tout à l’heure (“see you later”) or from toot.

der

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated) goodbye, farewell, see you soon


sig

From Middle English sige. Cognate with Middle Dutch seic, seike, Middle Low German seyche. Related also to sink (“to fall”).


Ordnance Survey

So called because in earlier days the survey was carried out under the direction of the Master-general of the Ordnance.

Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey Ireland
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland

(British) Originally the branch of government that produced maps for the military, now a civilian organisation that produces maps worldwide.


optician

(UK) A person trained and skilled in examining and testing the eyes for defects, in order to prescribe corrective lenses or treatment; an optometrist.


Queen's Counsel

head

Queen's Counsel (plural Queen's Counsel or Queen's Counsels, abbreviation QC)

Queen's Counsel (plural)
Queen's Counsels (plural)
QC (abbreviation)

Archibald was one of two Queen’s Counsels on Tortola, a distinguished title that permitted attorneys to be seated at the lead defense table when arguing a case before the court.

2003, Lisa Pulitzer, Murder in Paradise: The Mystery Surrounding the Murder of American Lois Livingston McMillen, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 166:

Barr’s three Queen’s Counsel absorbed Kawashima as they pored over reports from both sides.

2020, Brian Deer, “Unblinded”, in The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Andrew Wakefield’s War on Vaccines, Brunswick, Vic.: Scribe Publications, →ISBN:

(UK, Canada, New Zealand, occasionally Australia) An honorific status officially conferred on senior or meritorious barristers (and occasionally other kinds of lawyer) during the reign of a queen.

(UK, historical) A barrister or advocate appointed by the Crown during the reign of a queen.


skip

From Middle English skep, skeppe, from Old English sceppe, from Old Norse skeppa (“basket”).

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland) A large open-topped container for waste, designed to be lifted onto the back of a truck to remove it along with its contents. (see also skep).

(UK, Scotland, dialect) A skep, or basket, such as a creel or a handbasket.


gaslight

en-noun

gaslight (countable and uncountable, plural gaslights)

From gas (“flammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel”) + light.

compound

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

He was renovated and refreshed, his soul was strengthened, and his countenance waxed cheerful, and he began to feel like himself again, under the brown canopy of metropolitan smoke, and among the cabs and gaslights.

[1871], J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Captain Lake Looks in at Nightfall”, in Wylder’s Hand: […] (Select Library of Fiction; 178), new edition, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 118:

Open the windows once in awhile and give the air a chance to circulate in and out. In the evening, do not forget that the lamps and gaslights are using up a goodly supply of oxygen also—so freshen things up a little, once in awhile.

1904, Yogi Ramacharaka [pseudonym; William Walker Atkinson], “Fresh Air”, in Hatha Yoga: Or The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-being […], Chicago, Ill.: Yogi Publication Society […], →OCLC, page 222:

A lamp which operates by burning piped illuminating gas (or town gas).


dekko

Borrowed from Hindustani देखो / دیکھو (dekho), imperative of देखना / دیکھنا (dekhnā, “to see, to look”).

But now there was a listlessness about her, not the listlessness of the cat Augustus but more that of the female in the picture in the Louvre, of whom Jeeves, on the occasion when he lugged me there to take a dekko at her, said that here was the head upon which all the ends of the world are come.

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

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

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


optic

Borrowed from Middle French optique or Medieval Latin opticus, from Ancient Greek ὀπτῐκός (optĭkós, “of or for sight”), from ὀπτός (optós, “visible”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, “-ic”, adjectival suffix).

af

They were neatly lined up on three shelves between the optics of martini, vodka, whisky and gin.

They pulled up two bar stools and looked around the room as the barman relieved the whisky optic of its contents.

(trademark in UK) A measuring device with a small window, attached to an upside-down bottle, used to dispense alcoholic drinks in a bar.


trinket

Origin uncertain, possibly:
* from trinket (“small, showy ornament; thing of little value”) (see etymology 1); or
* borrowed from Welsh trànked.

Mrs. Bargrave asked her, vvhether ſhe vvould not drink ſome Tea. Says Mrs. Veal, I do not care if I do: But I'le VVarrant this Mad Fellovv (meaning Mrs. Bargraves Husband,) has broke all your Trinckets.

1706, [attributed to Daniel Defoe], A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal, the Next Day after Her Death: […], London: […] B. Bragg, […], →OCLC, page 7:

(UK, dialectal, chiefly Cheshire, Lancashire, obsolete) A small vessel for drinking from; a cup, a mug, a porringer.

chiefly Cheshire; Lancashire; chiefly Cheshire; Lancashire


innit

Innit dolphins are a type of whale?

You were dissing my girl, innit?

(British, informal) Used as a replacement for any other negative tag question, irrespective of person, number, or verb. May precede the statement.

I like pop music, innit.

discourse marker
discourse marker#English

(British, informal) Used as a discourse marker.


roly-poly

en-noun

roly-poly (countable and uncountable, plural roly-polys or roly-polies)

roly-polys (plural)
roly-polies (plural)

/ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/

The noun is apparently derived from roll (“to turn over and over”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. Compare rolly (“having the ability to roll, rolling”, adjective), which is attested since the 19th century.
Sense 1.7 (“mischievous or worthless person”) is possibly influenced by poll (“head; (archaic) scalp; (by extension) person”).
The adjective and adverb are attested later than the noun, and so are probably derived from it.

rolly-pooly

game in which balls are rolled or bowled into holes

[page 135] "Fanny has made the roly-poly pudding," says he; "the chops are my part. Here's a fine one; try this, Goldmore." […] [page 137] The three mutton-chops consumed by him were best of the mutton kind; the potatoes were perfect of their order; as for the roly-poly, it was too good.

1846 February 28 – 1847 February 27, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “Snobs and Marriage”, in The Book of Snobs, London: Punch Office, […], published 1848, →OCLC, pages 135 and 137:

And he hates rabbit, and never touches roly-poly, and I must say the beef isn't over tender; […] Dinner began and proceeded till the last piece of the roly-poly pudding was consumed, though not by Cyril; […]

1869, Emma Jane Worboise, “Mrs. Matthews’ Family”, in The Fortunes of Cyril Denham, London: James Clarke & Co., […]; Hodder & Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 190:

This is, indeed, an awful meal, and we have as yet only reached the joint, and there is a detestable, indigestible, unswallowable jam roly-poly to follow.

1873 March 26, “Rose Anna: Regina: Henry is Troubled in His Conscience”, in C[harles] H[enry] Ross, editor, Judy, or The London Serio-comic Journal, volume XII, London: Published by the proprietor […], →OCLC, page 233, column 1:

(British, also attributively) A baked or steamed pudding made from suet pastry which is spread with fruit or jam (or occasionally other fillings) and then rolled up.

kääritty hillotäytteinen ihrasta tehty kohokas


kitbag

Besides, whilst he had been in hospital, practically the whole of his equipment had disappeared from his kitbag – including Sylvia's two pair of sheets! – and he had no money with which to get more.

1925, Ford Madox Ford, No More Parades (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 371:

Others have abandoned their vehicles and have set off back towards the Russian border on foot, lugging their weapons and kitbags, videos suggest.

2022 March 4, Luke Harding, “Demoralised Russian soldiers tell of anger at being ‘duped’ into war”, in The Guardian:

(military, UK) A large cylindrical holdall.


Sam

(UK, informal) Synonym of Dicky Sam (“a man from Liverpool”)


reader

From Middle English reder, redar, redere, redare, from Old English rēdere, rǣdere (“a reader; scholar; diviner”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādāri, equivalent to read + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Räider (“advisor”), Dutch rader (“advisor”), German Rater (“advisor”).

(chiefly British) A university lecturer ranking below a professor.


clodhopper

Compound of clod + hopper (agentive form of the verb hop). Perhaps affected by analogy with grasshopper. Attested in the sense of "peasant" since the seventeenth century; the extended sense of "boot" or "shoe" dates from the nineteenth century.

All guess-work exploits shrivel up a good yard, or sometimes two, when brought to the measure, and the champion of the county dwindles into a clumsy clod-hopper.

1826 August, P.H. Clias, “Gymnastics”, in Blackwood's Magazine, volume XX, number CXV:


wem

From Middle English wem, wemme, from Old English wamm (“stain, spot, scar, disgrace, defect, defilement, sin, evil, crime, injury, loss, hurt, misfortune”), from Proto-Germanic *wammaz (“stain, spot”), from Proto-Indo-European *wemh₁- (“to spew, vomit”). Cognate with Icelandic vamm (“loss, damage”), Latin vomō (“vomit”, verb) (whence English vomit), Ancient Greek ἐμέω (eméō, “I spew”) (English emesis), Lithuanian vemti (“to vomit”), Sanskrit वमति (vamati, “to vomit”). The sense development would be "vomit" > "stain", "fault".

der

"It is even so," he added, as he gazed on the Sub-Prior with astonishment; "neither wem nor wound — not so much as a rent in his frock!"

1822, sir Walter Scott (bart [novels, collected]), Historical romances of the author of Waverley, page 513

The lawe of the lord is without wem, and conuertith soulis : the witnessyng of the lord is feithful, and gyueth wisdom to litle children.

1846, William Maskell, Monumenta ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae, page 8:

That "whole art" consisted in putting together about six strophes of poesy so that the words and the tune should be welded together without joint and without wem.

1934, Ezra Pound, ABC of reading, page 39:

[…] but it is a perfect illustration of the vision which haunted Blake all his days,—the vision of Paradise, an earthly Paradise in which there is neither wem nor wrinkle, which basks in the radiance of its own innocence.

1936, Blanche Mary Kelly, The Well of English:

(UK dialectal) A spot, stain, or mark; (by extension) a (moral) blemish or fault.


bum bag

There is no queue at Burger King in Gibraltar. To lure customers, they give you a free plastic bum bag with every Whopper Meal.

1995, Vitali Vitaliev, Little is the Light: Nostalgic Travels in the Mini-States of Europe, page 226:

Don′t confuse money belts with bum bags. A bum bag is a larger and an altogether more ostentatious item; it′s worn over your clothes and can usually hold a small camera as well as sunscreen and sunglasses. As a security item the bum bag is useless and may as well be inscribed with flashing lights announcing “Valuable items inside, help yourself”.

2003, Lesley Reader, Lucy Ridout, First-Time Asia, page 230:

Berichon: I proceeded to pull the pistol out of the bum bag. I flicked the safety switch off the pistol and I fired upon the police officer.

2007, Poul Anderson, Shocking Australian True Crime Stories, unnumbered page:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A small pouch attached to a belt that is worn on the outside of clothing around the waist and used for holding small personal items.


knickers

en-noun

knickers pl (plural only, attributive knicker)

The debate here is not over whether raising £26,000 (and counting) for our troops is a wonderful thing – it unarguably is – but over whether, whenever times are tough and money must be found, our default reaction as women should be to take off our knickers to help out?

2010 April 24, Sali Hughes, “Calendar girls galore”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Women's underpants.


knickers

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) A mild exclamation of annoyance.


knitting

knitting (countable and uncountable, plural knittings)

From Middle English knyttynge; equivalent to knit + -ing.

Fair point. Instead of tearing down the knitting and using diesel, tear down the knitting and use turbines.

2002 April 26, David Stevenson, “Re: Diesel vs Electric”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <B8EF5604.1C7F1%hoagy@cix.co.uk>:

It also helps, if: [...] the knitting is aligned with the track below, or rather vice versa, something else that went after 1996.

2007 October 19, "Capt. Deltic", “Re: GNER knitting down (again)”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <1192811754.580518.56340@e34g2000pro.googlegroups.com>:

My suggestion would be to electrify the uphill bits only, in each direction, and to use diesel traction when coming down the other side. Massive savings on posts and knitting for a start.

2016 December 9, Andrew Clarke, “Re: Great Western Railway warns of slower journeys on new trains”, in uk.railway (Usenet), retrieved 2018-04-10, message-ID <111f6d4a-e880-4b12-89f3-04250296ea7d@googlegroups.com>:

(rail transport, informal, UK) overhead electrification wires, OHLE


yellow card

→ Japanese: イエローカード (ierōkādo)

→ Korean: 옐로카드 (yellokadeu)

/ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/

(medicine, UK) a form to record safety concerns and adverse reactions to medicinal drugs.


full monty

full monty (countable and uncountable, plural full monties)

Unknown. First appeared in print in 1980s, but probably existed before that. The most common theory for its origin is that a purchase (especially that of a full three-piece suit) from Montague Maurice Burton (1885–1952), founder of Burton Menswear, was known as a "full Monty". According to the OED, this etymology is "perhaps the most plausible". The nudity definition comes via the movie The Full Monty, in which it is used as a euphemism for removing all one's clothes when stripping.

I thought he was only going to buy the basic kit, but he bought the full monty.

(British, colloquial, countable) Everything; the whole package.

It is just as well the letter was tightly sealed, because there were photographs in it showing me and others in Full Monty. That is to say we were all buck naked.

2002, Gene Amole, The Last Chapter: Gene Amole on Dying, Big Earth Publishing, →ISBN, page 153:


full monty

Becoming male strippers and appearing full monty provides the connection.

2008, George McClendon, Heaven's Call to Earthy Spirituality, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 63:

Her breasts were always a surprise to men the first time she went full monty. Because she was so tall and slim and athletic, they probably expected pancakes.

2009, Sandra Hill, Viking Heat, Penguin, →ISBN:

“And she went full monty on film and everything has gone pear shaped for her.”

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


yah

An alternative pronunciation, equivalent of yeah and yes.

Yah, we did go along but it turned out the wedding was a load of nonsense.

(US, UK, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia) Yes.


yah

From the pronunciation of “yes” which such people use.

(British, informal) An upper-class person, especially a Sloane Ranger.


obscene

en-adj

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene)

obscener (comparative)
more obscene (comparative)
obscenest (superlative)
most obscene (superlative)

From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obscēnus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwo-).

der

For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

1959 August 29, Obscene Publications Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. II, chapter 66), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-04, section 1(1):

The tract was far more political and religious than sexual, but Cockburn [Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet] found it obscene because it would suggest to young persons (of either sex) "impure and libidinous" thoughts.

2006, Philip A. Dynia, “Obscenity”, in edited by Paul Finkelman, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, volumes 2 (G–Q), New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1116, column 1:

The principle that obscene material must have more serious effects than arousing feelings of revulsion leads to the doctrine that material that in fact shocks and disgusts may not be obscene, since its effect is to discourage readers from indulgence in the immorality so unappetizingly portrayed.

2009, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, Sonia M. Livingstone, “Annex II: The Legal Framework of English Law Regulating Media Content”, in Harm and Offence in Media Content: A Review of the Evidence, 2nd edition, Fishponds, Bristol, Chicago, Ill.: Intellect Books, →ISBN, pages 282–283:

An article is not obscene simply because it is repulsive or filthy. The prosecution must prove that its tendency is strong enough actually to deprave and corrupt a significant proportion of its likely audience; in other words, to pervert or corrupt their morals sufficiently for it to constitute a public menace. [...] Anything tending to deprave or corrupt may be obscene, including material encouraging the taking of dangerous drugs or glorifying violence, particularly if it is expressly targeted at children or adolescents.

2016, Hugh Jones, Christopher Benson, “Defamation and Other Risks”, in Publishing Law, 5th edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part IV (Publish and Be Damned), page 228:

(chiefly British, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.


blink

en-noun

blink (countable and uncountable, plural blinks)

From Middle English blynken, blenken, from Old English blincan (suggested by causative verb blenċan (“to deceive”); > English blench), from Proto-Germanic *blinkaną, a variant of *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”).
Cognate with Dutch blinken (“to glitter, shine”), German blinken (“to flash, blink”), Danish blinke (“to flash, twinkle, wink, blink”), Swedish blinka (“to flash, blink, twinkle, wink, blink”). Related to blank, blick, blike, bleak.

cog

Not a blink of light was there.

1835, William Wordsworth, Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle:

this man vanished away […]as he had been a blink of the sun

1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:


on the blink

Presumably from an appliance with poor electrical connection blinking from intermittent connection.

My toaster is on the blink, making either charcoal or cold bread.

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink / I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink

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

(UK, Australia, informal) functioning erratically, malfunctioning; not working or not working well. Usually refers to a mechanical or electrical device.

kaputt sein

to be malfunctioning (device), the state of being out of order


walkabout

Deverbal from walk about; the Australian aboriginal word wokabat is also derived therefrom.

While the world altered dramatically during the course of her reign, the monarchy did too, though rather more imperceptibly: the walkabouts that increasingly characterised royal appearances, the pop concerts at Buckingham Palace, the throwing open of the royal palaces to visitors – even the paying of income tax, and royal podcasts – would have been inconceivable as innovations at the time Elizabeth came to the throne.

September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian:

(British) A public stroll by some celebrity to meet a group of people informally.


top shelf

* (US: best, or high quality): Possibly from the higher quality, thus more expensive, thus less often used liquors being stored on the less accessible top shelf behind a wet bar.
* (British: material with adult content): Such material is often stored on the top shelf in a newsagent's shop, where it is both less visible and harder to reach without being seen.

Most of the band used to buy Autotrader to read on the various bus and plane journeys, but Barry would always turn up with a copy of Underwear Unlimited or some other seedy little top-shelf mag.

2008, Rick Wakeman, Martin Roach, Grumpy Old Rock Star, →ISBN, page 83:

(British, idiomatic) Describing books, magazines, or movies that have adult content or softcore pornography.


warehouseman

(UK, obsolete) One who keeps a wholesale shop for woollen goods.


kipper

From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.

inh

As she was only crawling along I aimed my first ‘kipper’ just a fraction ahead of her bows.

I evaluate its firing power at eighteen torpedoes—I think kipper is a distressing piece of naval slang—in thirty minutes.

'Fancy running the risk of getting a kipper [a torpedo] to go with his grub.'


kipper

Short form of UKIP + -er, influenced by kipper, the type of fish.

(UK, informal, humorous, often with capital) A member or supporter of UKIP (UK Independence Party).


kipper

en-adj

kipper (comparative more kipper, superlative most kipper)

more kipper (comparative)
most kipper (superlative)

Perhaps akin to Old Norse kjapt (“briskly; impetuously”), kippa ("to snatch; pull; jerk" > Middle English kippen (“to seize”)), kipra (“to wrinkle; draw tightly”), Norwegian kjapp (“fast; brisk”), Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch; grip”). More at kip.

gloss

"to snatch; pull; jerk" > Middle English <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">kippen</i> (“to seize”)

Thus he goes on, from morn till eve, from season to season, year in and year out, semingly impervious to the weather, being altogether too kipper and grievous to be taken with anything worse than a ' snivelly cold . '

1900, Harvey Buxon, Our Remarkable Fledger, page 180:

There's others won't come up so kipper if they daon't easy orf a bit.

1929, Geoffrey Dell Eaton, Senator George W. Norris, General William Mitchell, Don C.Seltz, Elisabeth W. Smith, Plain Talk - Volume 5, page 63:

Nay—heaw—so—Tummus; goo theaw an smeawtch Seroh o' Rutchot's iv yo bin so kipper.

2014, John Collier, Tim Bobbin's Tummus and Meary:


knock up

en-verb

knock up (third-person singular simple present knocks up, present participle knocking up, simple past and past participle knocked up)

knocks up (present singular third-person)
knocking up (participle present)
knocked up (participle past)
knocked up (past)

However, by dint of beating about a little in the dark, and now and then knocking up a peaceable inhabitant to inquire the way, we at last came to something which there was no mistaking.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 15”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

“Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,” said he, “but it's the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, and I on you.”

1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, page 1:

‘I didn't knock you up when I came in,’ Peregrine said. ‘There seemed no point. It was getting light. I just thought I’d leave the note to wake me at seven. And oddly enough I did sleep. Heavily.’

1966, Ngaio Marsh, Death at the Dolphin, page 160:

(British) To awaken (someone) as by knocking at the door; rouse; call; summon; also, to go door-to-door on election day to persuade a candidate's supporters to go to the polling station and vote. See also knocker up.


tig

Dialectal variant of tick, from Middle English ticken, tiken. More at tick.

One evening when playing tig she had put her hands over his eyes: long and white and thin and cold and soft.

1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter I, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 36:

(Ireland, UK) The children's game of tag.


minnow

The noun is derived from Late Middle English menew, menowe (“small fish; (specifically) common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus); or stickleback (possibly the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus)”), from Old English *mynwe, an oblique form of *mynu, a variant of myne (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *muniwu (“minnow; small fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“small”). Possibly influenced by Anglo-Norman menu (“small”) and Old French menu (“small”), and English minim (“anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like”).
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
cognates
* Middle Low German mone, möne (Dutch meun, West Frisian meun)
* Old High German muniwa, munuwa, munewa (modern German Münne (“minnow”))
* Latin mēna (“small sea-fish”)

cog

In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the stickleback is locally called, makes its nest by the bank. […] On these fibres the ova are deposited, and they are then either purposely partly covered with sand by the minnie, or else the particles that are brought down by the current gather over the bundle of fibres and conceal it, excepting one small spot.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter XIX, in Wild Life in a Southern County […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 356:

(British, regional) Synonym of stickleback (family Gasterosteidae).


washing day

(historical, UK) Synonym of Monday, from the custom of doing laundry on that day of the week.


knap

The verb is derived from Late Middle English knappen (“to strike (something)”); further etymology uncertain, probably related to Middle Dutch knappen, cnappen (“to break (something) with a sharp sound, snap; to crack or crackle”) (modern Dutch knappen), probably ultimately onomatopoeic.
The noun is derived from Late Middle English knap, knappe (“sharp blow, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from the verb (see above), or related to an ancestor of Danish knep and Swedish knäpp (“a flick, rap, snap”), probably ultimately onomatopoeic.

inh

(chiefly archaic or obsolete except UK, dialectal)

A sudden, sharp blow, knock, or slap; a rap, a whack.

Foot Stomp […] The sole of the attacker's foot covers the victim's foot without actually touching it. The sounds of the attacker's heel striking the floor creates the knap. The victim adds vocal and physical pain reactions.

1982, J. D. Martinez, “Kneeing, Kicking, and Stomping”, in Combat Mime: A Non-violent Approach to Stage Violence (A Burnham Publishers Book), Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, published 2001, →ISBN, page 148:

Pulling the punch straight back to its initial starting position, sometimes referred to as "snapping it back," is the most effective way of selling the straight punch. It tells the audience the punch was thrown, they hear a knap, and the victim is 'injured.' […] The knap sound, like all punches, is crucial to the effect of selling the punch, but the technique used to get the knap sound has to be well hidden.

2012, Andrew Ashenden, “The Straight Punch”, in Basics of Stage Combat: Unarmed, Boca Raton, Fla.: Universal-Publishers, →ISBN, page 63:

The sound made by such a blow, knock, or slap.

napsaus

(agriculture) Synonym of chattering damsel (“a component of a traditional mill which creates a vibratory motion to impel portions of grain toward the millstone; a clapper”)

chattering damsel
chattering damsel#English


gasp

From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

I'm popping out for a gasp.

(British, slang): A draw or drag on a cigarette (or gasper).


washing-up

I’ll do the washing-up if you put it all away.

(British) The act of washing dishes etc; dishwashing.


min

From Middle English min, from Old English min (“less; small, mean”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Scots min (“less, lesser”), West Frisian min (“small, bad”), Dutch min (“less, small”), Low German minn (“small, low, lean”), German minder (“less”), Icelandic minna (“less”), Latin minus (“less”).

der

The more and the minne

(obsolete or UK dialectal, Scotland) less


takeover

(economics, UK) The acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.


fanning

2013, John Gardner, Moriarty
[…] he found himself facing these four grim coves, big as bull-beef, demanders by trade and ready to give him a fanning, which they did, advising him to keep out of the Professor's way in future and never to speak with any from Idle Jack's family again. Within fifteen minutes, Carmichael had three broken ribs, a broken arm, a cracked cheekbone, a badly swollen eye, and was minus five teeth.


steeplechase

Compound of steeple + chase, from horse races in 18th century Ireland in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple.

(chiefly British, equestrianism) A horse race, either across open country, or over an obstacle course.


grundle

(UK, dialect) A holloway; a kind of ancient road or track.


yeoman

From Middle English yoman, yeman, from Old English *ġēamann, from Proto-West Germanic *gauwjamann (compare Old Frisian gāman (“villager”), Middle Dutch goymann (“arbiter”)), compound of Proto-West Germanic *gawi (“shire, district”) (compare Old English -ġē, -ġēa (“district, region”) (in ælġē, Sūþriġēa), West Frisian gea, goa, Dutch gouw, German Gau) + *mann (“man”).

m+

(UK) An official providing honorable service in a royal or high noble household, ranking between a squire and a page. Especially, a yeoman of the guard, a member of a ceremonial bodyguard to the UK monarch (not to be confused with a Yeoman Warder).


sheriff

From Middle English shirreve, from Old English sċīrġerēfa, corresponding to shire + reeve. There is no etymological connection to Sharif (شَرِيف (šarīf)), an Arabic title of honour that has cognates in other languages including Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, etc.

(British, except Scotland) (High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties.


water closet

→ French: water-closet

Coordinate term: earth closet


room for a pony

From the British television comedy series, Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995), wherein social climber Hyacinth Bucket constantly and variously describes her sister Violet, who married well, as “the one with the […] and room for a pony”.

Eventually he fell in love, and by age twenty was living in a gay couple, complete with house, garden, swimming pool, and room for a pony.

1996, Gary W. Dowsett, Practicing Desire: Homosexual Sex in the Era of AIDS, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 264:

“ […] In the back yard, we have a screened terrace, a swimming pool, a swing set and room for a pony.” His grin was boyish as she, too, smiled at the oblique reference to the popular British comedy ‘Keeping up Appearances’.

2002, E. T. Rishe, Timeless Acres, iUniverse, 978-0-595-25068-4, page 47

One craves the excitement of being right downtown, while the other wants an up-county farmette with a swimming pool and room for a pony.

2006, Patricia Kennedy, The Irreverent Guide to Real Estate: Buying, Selling and Making Money, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 5:

(chiefly British, humorous) minimum trappings of the minor landed gentry


casualty

en-noun

casualty (countable and uncountable, plural casualties)

From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

der

casualty department
casualty department#English

(British) Clipping of casualty department: the accident and emergency department of a hospital providing immediate treatment.


washing

en-noun

washing (countable and uncountable, plural washings)

From Middle English waschynge, weschynge, from Old English *weasċing, *wæsċing (attested in weasċingweġ), from Proto-West Germanic *waskingu, equivalent to wash + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Waaskenge (“washing”), West Frisian wasking (“washing”), Dutch wassing (“washing”), German Waschung (“washing”).

[…] Hazel telling about how she liked a good woodpile, especially when she used to take in washing to earn a little extra. She needed a goodly pile to fuel her washtubs.

2013, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1st edition, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 74:

My mother used to do the washing on a Monday

(uncountable, chiefly British, New Zealand, Australia) Clothing, bedlinen or soft furnishings that have been, are currently being, or are to be washed; laundry.

լվացք

textiles that have been or are to be washed

laundry

articles that have been or are to be washed


tramline

(tennis, British) Either of the two pairs of sidelines marked on a tennis court which mark the outside of the singles and doubles playing areas.


Pancake Day

Coordinate term: Waffle Day

(chiefly British and Ireland) Shrove Tuesday, when pancakes are traditionally made; in some traditions the day for pancake races for charity.


gerrymander

en-verb

gerrymander (third-person singular simple present gerrymanders, present participle gerrymandering, simple past and past participle gerrymandered)

Elkanah Tisdale
Nathan Hale (journalist)
gerrymandering

gerrymanders (present singular third-person)
gerrymandering (participle present)
gerrymandered (participle past)
gerrymandered (past)

/ˈdʒɛɹiˌmændə/

/ˈd͡ʒɛɹiˌmændɚ/

Blend of Gerry + salamander (named after Elbridge Gerry), from the similarity in shape to a salamander of an electoral district created when Gerry was the governor of Massachusetts. Coined by editors of the Boston Gazette 26 March 1812, in text likely written by Nathan Hale and Benjamin and John Russell, and accompanying a cartoon by Elkanah Tisdale.

coin

Westminster City Council has been accused by the District Auditor of using public money to gerrymander marginal wards for the 1990 Borough elections. The strategy of attempting to 'gentrify' eight key wards, selling off council homes and hostels for the homeless to move out potential Labour voters and attract in more Conservative voters, was in conflict with the council's statutory duty to homeless people

2000, Hugo de Burgh, Investigative Journalism: Context and Practice, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 207:

Fermanagh Council even went so far as to create the new village of Donagh in an attempt to move Catholics out of Newtownbutler, four miles away, so unionists could gerrymander a majority.

2022 December 1, Trevor Birney, Quinn, Merrion Press, →ISBN:

(transitive, derogatory, by extension, chiefly UK and Ireland) To deliberately bring in voters of one's own party or displace voters of another party from a voting district in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.


gubbins

Ante 1553. From gobbon (“piece, portion, slice”), from Old French gobon, gobet (“piece”). Cognate with English gobony (“line of alternating squares”).

cog

I had to memorise so much dialogue that never makes it into the movie so I always have a plethora of extra gubbins I can't remember.

2017 summer, Milla Jovovich, “My Movie Masterming: Resident Evil Special”, in Empire, number 337, page 135:

(British, informal) Assorted stuff, especially if of little value; tat.


gubbins

"Silly gubbins," she said. "You told me twice, and I was interested even the second time. […]"

1916, Edward Frederic Benson, David Blaize, page 146:


streak

en-verb

streak (third-person singular simple present streaks, present participle streaking, simple past and past participle streaked)

streaks (present singular third-person)
streaking (participle present)
streaked (participle past)
streaked (past)

From Middle English streke, from Old English strica, from Proto-Germanic *strikiz, from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“line”). Related to North Frisian strijck, Old Saxon striki, Middle Low German streke, Low German streek, Danish streg, Swedish streck, Norwegian Bokmål strek, Icelandic stryk, strykr, Dutch streek, Afrikaans streek, Old High German strih, German Strich, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃 (striks).

(obsolete, UK, Scotland) To stretch; to extend; hence, to lay out, as a dead body.


fettle

From Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself) to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms], which possibly:
* from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”), from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz, further etymology unknown; or
* from Old English fetian (“to fetch”), from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”).
Compare Old English ġefetelsod (“provided with a belt; trimmed, polished, ornamented”).

nb...

fatelen, fetel, fetele, fetelen, fetle, fettel, fettil, fetyl, fitelen


washout

en-noun

washout (countable and uncountable, plural washouts)

huuhtoutuminen

erosion of a relatively soft surface by a sudden gush of water; channel produced by this action

(British, air force slang) A destroyed aeroplane.

(British, originally air force slang) A trainee who drops out of a training programme.


knock-on

(chiefly UK) Resulting as an indirect effect.


banter

en-verb

banter (third-person singular simple present banters, present participle bantering, simple past and past participle bantered)

banters (present singular third-person)
bantering (participle present)
bantered (participle past)
bantered (past)

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

unk

unknown

(UK, dialect) To haggle; cheapen the price.


wallet

From Middle English walet (“bag, knapsack”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from an assumed Old Northern French *walet (“roll; bag; knapsack”), from Proto-Germanic *wal- (“to roll”). More at walk, well, wallow.

der

The thief stole all the money and credit cards out of the old man's wallet.

Master leathercrafter does handcrafted wallets, belts, purses, handbags etc., supporting self and helpers. Good enough to carve fantst art and portraits into leather.

1987 August 15, Robert Benitez, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 5, page 14:

(US, UK) A small case, often flat and often made of leather, for keeping money (especially paper money), credit cards, etc.


bollock

From Middle English ballok, from Old English bealluc (“testicle”, literally “little ball”). By surface analysis, ball + -ock.

inh

You've got a bollock hanging out of your shorts.

(British, Ireland, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) A testicle.


bollock

en-verb

bollock (third-person singular simple present bollocks, present participle bollocking, simple past and past participle bollocked)

bollocks (present singular third-person)
bollocking (participle present)
bollocked (participle past)
bollocked (past)

The boss bollocked me for coming in late.

The goalkeeper gave his defenders a bollocking when they made a mistake.

(British, transitive, vulgar, slang) To reprimand severely and grossly.


dort

From Middle English dort (found in compound cankerdort), of unknown origin.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A sulky or sullen mood; the sulks.


crusty

From Middle English, equivalent to crust + -y.

(chiefly British, informal) A tramp or homeless young person with poor cleanliness.

The Spirals are part of the crossover between the rave scene and the ‘crusty’ subculture—crusties being squat-dwelling anarcho-hippy-punk types named after their matted dreadlocks and post-apocalyptic garb.

1998, Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash, Soft Skull Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 135:

Many of them, dressed in raggedy black combat gear, with haircuts that matched and mismatched punk, Rasta and Native American styles - a look which would later be codified as 'crustie' - began to join the travellers on the road. This influx from the cities changed the travelling scene, and after the Battle of the Beanfield, sections of the downcast and disillusioned travelling community began to seek oblivion through Special Brew superlager or even heroin as the dream of rural liberation turned sour.

2010, Matthew Collin, Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House, page 202:

The predictable complaints began as soon as Extinction Rebellion launched its fortnight of protest in London, part of an international campaign of civil disobedience in as many as 60 cities worldwide. Politicians have moaned that the police are being too passive, and Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, labelled the protesters – who include a former Metropolitan police detective – “uncooperative crusties”.

2019 October 10, “The Guardian view on the Extinction Rebellion protests: of course they’re an inconvenience”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly UK and Ireland, informal) A member of an urban subculture with roots in punk and grebo, characterized by antiestablishment attitudes and an unkempt appearance.


about-turn

From the imperative phrase used in the military.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.


rosser

(UK, slang) Alternative form of rozzer (“police officer”)


sod off

sod off (third-person singular simple present sods off, present participle sodding off, simple past and past participle sodded off)

sods off (present singular third-person)
sodding off (participle present)
sodded off (participle past)
sodded off (past)

Why don't you just sod off and leave me alone?

He was here a minute ago but now he's sodded off.

(UK, Ireland, idiomatic, vulgar, colloquial, dismissal) Go away.


flag day

(British, Ireland) A day on which a registered charity raises money, usually by selling small lapel flags.


torpid

Coordinate term: slogger

In our first year I had seen him coming away from Blackwell's clutching a great textbook of chemistry with an air of anticipatory delight, and also on the river as cox of one of the Lincoln torpids.

1978, R. V. Jones, chapter 4, in Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945, London: Hamish Hamilton, page 37:

(UK, Oxford University slang) An inferior racing boat, or one who rows in such a boat.


engaged

/ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/

/ɛnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/

I tried calling, but she (or her phone) was engaged.

(British) (of a telephone) Already involved in a telephone call when a third party calls.


gribble

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

The study also reveals that Wigan likely calls excess batter bits ‘Scraps’ or ‘Bits’, compared to the south west and east of the UK who are more likely to order ‘Gribbles’ or ‘Scrumps’.

[2020 September 4, Ben Butler, “REVEALED: UK’s brutal verdict on these Wigan chip-shop favourites”, in Wigan Today:

Margaret also played her part in filling our hungry mouths by working at the local fish and chip shop in the village and by bringing home all the leftovers which we devoured ravenously—gribbles, the odd faggot etc. etc.—delicious.

2023, Sheila M. Hutchings, Humble Beginnings, →ISBN:

Went to a Chippy as a Kid.
Me "do you have Pigs Feet?"
Lass Behind Counter "Yes I do".
Me "Well give us a bag of GRIBBLES then Porky!!!"

2023 August 17, Pssstu2021, “What does everyone call these from the chippy?”, in Reddit, r/CasualUK:

(UK, Devon, in the plural) A piece of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold with chips.


weighbridge

/ˈweɪbɹɪd͡ʒ/

(UK) a platform, flush with the roadway, having a mechanism for weighing vehicles, wagons, livestock, etc.


stour

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”).
Cognates
Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

cog

(UK dialectal, Ulster) A blowing or deposit of dust; dust in motion or at rest; dust in general.


designate

Borrowed from Latin designatus, past participle of designare. Doublet of design.

King designate

1619, George Buck, The History of King Richard the Third:

(UK) Used after a role title to indicate that the person has been selected but has yet to take up the role.


greengrocer

/ˈɡɹinˌɡɹəʊs.ə(ɹ)/

(chiefly British, Commonwealth, Ireland) A person who sells fresh vegetables and fruit, normally from a relatively small shop.


hitch

en-verb

hitch (third-person singular simple present hitches, present participle hitching, simple past and past participle hitched)

hitches (present singular third-person)
hitching (participle present)
hitched (participle past)
hitched (past)

Probably from Middle English hicchen, hytchen, icchen (“to move; to move as with a jerk”), of obscure origin. Lacks cognates in other languages. Compare itch, hike.

Stolen[…]A brown Gelding[…]all his paces, and hitches a little in his pace.

(intransitive, UK) To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.


Wellington boots

en-noun

Wellington boots pl (normally plural, singular Wellington boot)

Named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who wore and popularised a similar style of boot, if not made of rubber.

named-after

(British) Waterproof rubber boots, intended to be worn in wet or muddy conditions. Short forms: wellies (singular welly or wellie)


birra

All the screaming in the night that gets in your head and it's not like you're getting your end away no more neither cause she's too shagged for fancy knickers and a birra cut and thrust, now that you've got the kid.

(UK, dialect, informal) Contraction of bit of.


crèche

Unadapted borrowing from French crèche (“manger”), from Frankish *krippija, *kribbija, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. Doublet of crib.

ubor

They drop their two-year-old off at the crèche in the morning before they go to work.

If you leave the kids in the creche for one morning on your week's holiday, and they are OK with that, then it's fine.

2012, Roni Jay, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Do For Your Children:


uncommon

‘Is Suffolk your county, sir?’ asked William.
‘Yes,’ I said, with some importance. ‘Suffolk’s my county.’
‘I’m told the dumplings is uncommon fine down there,’ said William.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

'The Squire's pretty springe, considering his weight,' said Mr Macey, 'and he stamps uncommon well.'

1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner, London: Penguin Books, published 1967, page 159:

(archaic, UK, dialect) Exceedingly, exceptionally.


tuck

en-noun

tuck (countable and uncountable, plural tucks)

From Middle English tuken, touken (“to torment, to stretch (cloth)”), from Old English tūcian (“to torment, vex”) and Middle Dutch tucken (“to tuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *teuh-, *teug- (“to draw, pull”) (compare also *tukkōną), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Akin to Old High German zucchen (“to snatch, tug”), zuchôn (“to jerk”), German Low German tuken (“to tug, pluck, grab and pull towards”), Old English tēon (“to draw, pull, train”). Doublet of touch.

cog

(British, dated, school slang, India, uncountable) Food, especially snack food.


rafter

en-verb

rafter (third-person singular simple present rafters, present participle raftering, simple past and past participle raftered)

rafters (present singular third-person)
raftering (participle present)
raftered (participle past)
raftered (past)

From Old English ræfter, of Germanic origin, related to the origin of raft.

/ˈɹɑːftə(ɹ)/

(UK, agriculture) To plough so as to turn the grass side of each furrow upon an unploughed ridge; to ridge.


sward

en-noun

sward (countable and uncountable, plural swards)

The noun is derived from Middle English sward (“rind; skin; calloused skin; leather strap; sod, turf”) [and other forms], from Old English sweard, swearð (“rind; skin”), from Proto-Germanic *swarduz (“rind; tough skin; turf”); further etymology unknown.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

sard, sart, sarth, sarthe, suerd, swad, swarde, swarffe, swarth, swarthe, swerd, swerde, sworde, sworte

inh

(countable, obsolete except British, dialectal) The rind of bacon or pork; also, the outer covering or skin of something.


thru

American English
Merriam-Webster
Middle English

Modern use originated in American English as a phonetic and simplified spelling of through around 1839. The spelling had previously been one of several used in Middle English.

(UK, rare, regional or dialectal) Eye dialect spelling of through.


piece of piss

Rollerblading is a piece of piss if you know how to roller-skate.

(vulgar, British, New Zealand, Australian slang) Something easy to achieve.


green 'un

(slang, chiefly British) A newspaper supplement or edition concerning sport, especially football, printed on green newsprint.


pink 'un

When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the "Pink 'un" protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet.

1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle:

(slang, chiefly British) A newspaper supplement or edition concerning sport, especially football, printed on pink newsprint.


windcheater

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

(chiefly British) A heavy weatherproof jacket


wrong 'un

We might not have had that much to pinch, but they'd still have your brass candlesticks off the mantelpiece. There's always wrong 'uns, in every walk of life, who'll have whatever you've got from under your nose.

2000, Gilda O'Neill, My East End: Memories of Life in Cockney London:

Some reasons why Naseem Hamed might have been stripped of his MBE for speeding, where acknowledged wrong 'uns Jeffrey Archer, Shirley Porter and Mark Thatcher kept their honours.

(UK, derogatory, slang) A dishonest or disreputable person; a crook or rogue.


runt

The OED classifies this word as "of obscure origin". Some see a connection to Middle Dutch runt (“ox”), but the OED considers this to be unlikely.

unk

obscure

Neither young poles nor old runts are durable

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVI.]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A hardened stem or stalk of a plant.


windscreen wiper

en-noun

windscreen wiper (plural windscreen wipers)

(automobiles, British, Australia, New Zealand) A device used to clear rain and dirt from a windscreen; normally a pivoting arm with a rubber blade; a windshield wiper.


windscreen

Oh no! A vandal has just smashed our windscreen! Susan, can you go and call the insurance company?

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A transparent screen made of glass, located at the front of a vehicle in order to protect its occupants from the wind and weather.


bell-end

(UK, Ireland, slang, vulgar) The glans penis.

I don't care who he is: he's acting like a bell-end.

is that onion badgies, you meant. or perhaps you are referring to that infamous collection of bellends, known as w.b.a. (win bugger all). it seems they are doing quite well, although they are playing against part-timers. quit

1992 September 28, A. Dowson, “Re: West Bromwich Albion”, in rec.sport.soccer (Usenet), retrieved 2017-08-03, message-ID <92272.160610ADOWSON@ESTEC.BITNET>:

(UK, Ireland, slang, offensive, vulgar) A stupid or contemptible person.


whiz

whiz (countable and uncountable, plural whizzes)

And I don't quite understand just what this feeling is / But that's okay cause we're all sorted out for E's and wizz

1995, “Sorted For E’s and Wizz”, in Jarvis Cocker (lyrics), Different Class, performed by Pulp:

This type of pickpocket, it should be noted, is passing from the scene; most class cannons now operating are old-timers. “The only youngsters I see breaking in on the whiz are jigs, and they are coining a bebop lingo that is something. […]

2003, David W. Maurer, Whiz Mob, page 40: