on tag

The prisoner was released on tag.

(UK) Under judicial surveillance by means of an electronic tag worn on the ankle etc.


out of the ark

to be out of the ark, to come out of the ark


debobble

en-verb

debobble (third-person singular simple present debobbles, present participle debobbling, simple past and past participle debobbled)

debobbles (present singular third-person)
debobbling (participle present)
debobbled (participle past)
debobbled (past)

Your sweater will be sent to Scotland to be cleaned, reconditioned and debobbled at a cost of £20.

2005, Ismay Atkins, Time Out London Shopping Guide, →ISBN, page 86:

Has anyone ever managed to debobble a jumper, one wonders, with a 'Defuzzer'?.

2007, Nick Inman, The Optimist's Handbook, page 91:

Shorts and a jumper I still can't bring myself to wash and debobble, because the last person to wear it was Sarah.

2018, Rosie Walsh, The Man Who Didn't Call:

(UK) To remove pilling from (a garment).


de-bobble

de-bobble (third-person singular simple present de-bobbles, present participle de-bobbling, simple past and past participle de-bobbled)

de-bobbles (present singular third-person)
de-bobbling (participle present)
de-bobbled (participle past)
de-bobbled (past)

All they'd have to do is give me a hand with the de-bobbling.

2009, Jill Mansell, Rumour has it, page 276:

Close up they look very bobbly. They need to be de-bobbled.

2012, Amy Jenkins, Funny Valentine, →ISBN:

I understand why it happens but my advice is – just refuse to recognise the court; don't get involved with fancy dress at all; don't go to the party, de-bobble a jumper instead, anything.

2013, Richard Wilson, Those Were the Days ... My Arse!, →ISBN:


at short notice

This was first introduced on November 7, 1960, but suspended on December 17 because of defects which caused explosions, and a steam service substituted at short notice, as described in our July issue.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: "Blue trains" run again”, in Trains Illustrated, page 644:

(chiefly UK) With very little warning or preparation time.


for a laugh

(UK, informal) For no reason other than to be amusing.


even-down

(UK, dialect) Of rain: pouring straight down.

(UK, dialect) Of a person: forthright; honest.


floush

floush (third-person singular simple present floushes, present participle floushing, simple past and past participle floushed)

floushes (present singular third-person)
floushing (participle present)
floushed (participle past)
floushed (past)

(UK, dialect) Alternative form of flouse (“to splash”)


fighting fit

We felt fighting fit after this as we went outside to prepare the engine for the return journey.

1961 March, Balmore [pseudonym], “Driving and Firing Modern French Steam Locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 151:

We were all fighting fit, but still hadn't learned to conquer the desert's khamsins: scorching, unbearable winds that blew through the sands.

2016, Paddy Rochford, Caroline Rochford, In a Guardsman’s Boots: A Boy Soldier’s Adventures from the Streets of 1920s Dublin to Buckingham Palace, WWII and the Egyptian Revolution, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, →ISBN:

(UK) Sufficiently fit to participate in fighting; hence, in top physical condition.


pascuage

(UK, law, obsolete) The grazing or pasturing of cattle, or a fee paid for this.


victor ludorum

(UK, sports) The overall champion in a sports contest, typically at a public school


broadsman

From broad + -s- + -man, from broad (“a playing card”).

In order better to appreciate the use of argot among thieves, a visit to a few public bars of the third-class public houses of Kennington or in the immediate vicinity of the Elephant and Castle would prove of great value, as hoisters, whizzers, tea-leaves, con-heads, broadsmen and brass nobs […]

1931, The Police Journal, volume 4, page 504:


wedge up

wedge up (third-person singular simple present wedges up, present participle wedging up, simple past and past participle wedged up)

wedges up (present singular third-person)
wedging up (participle present)
wedged up (participle past)
wedged up (past)

They both wedged up in his cell and refused to come out. They were hurling abuse at the screws on the other side of the door. As a result they were both shipped out to another jail the following day.

(intransitive, UK, prison slang) To barricade oneself in one's cell.


weigh off

weigh off (third-person singular simple present weighs off, present participle weighing off, simple past and past participle weighed off)

weighs off (present singular third-person)
weighing off (participle present)
weighed off (participle past)
weighed off (past)

If he is a prisoner from one of the Higher Courts he will probably arrive some time after 5 p.m.; if he has been 'weighed off' at 'the Bailey' or London Sessions he will probably come in a police van […]

2013, Terence Morris, Pauline Morris, Pentonville: A Sociological Study of an English Prison, page 102:

(transitive, UK, slang) To sentence (a prisoner).


off-roll

off-roll (third-person singular simple present off-rolls, present participle off-rolling, simple past and past participle off-rolled)

off-rolls (present singular third-person)
off-rolling (participle present)
off-rolled (participle past)
off-rolled (past)

(UK, education, transitive) To remove (a pupil) from the list of those enrolled at a school, for illegitimate reasons such as improving the school's examination rankings.


spraid

en-adj

spraid (comparative more spraid, superlative most spraid)

more spraid (comparative)
most spraid (superlative)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Alternative form of sprayed (“chapped with cold”)


scart

(UK, dialect) Alternative form of scarf (“cormorant”)


fight like cat and dog

en-verb

fight like cat and dog (third-person singular simple present fights like cat and dog, present participle fighting like cat and dog, simple past and past participle fought like cat and dog)

fights like cat and dog (present singular third-person)
fighting like cat and dog (participle present)
fought like cat and dog (participle past)
fought like cat and dog (past)

(UK, simile) To fight frequently or irreconcilably.


in funds

From in + funds (“financial resources”).

[H]e knew from experience the imprudence of letting Zeena think he was in funds on the eve of one of her therapeutic excursions.

1911 October, Edith Wharton, chapter III, in Ethan Frome (The Scribner Library; SL8), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 71:

(chiefly British, dated) Having enough money to spend.


Big Three

(UK, World War II) The World War II military alliance consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The leaders of that alliance: Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.


go cunch

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

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


cunch

[Verse 2:Kano]:If you've been shotting in the manor from way back when and you ain't on a kilo ting, I don't wanna hear about cunch and food and tings, man don't do those tings.

2016 March 4, “3 Wheel-Ups” (track 4), in Made in the Manor, performed by Kano (British musician),Giggs (rapper),Wiley (musician):

(UK, MLE, slang) The countryside; another urban district.


Special Branch

(UK, Commonwealth) A unit, typically part of the police, that is responsible for matters of national security and intelligence.


Thomasing

(UK, historical) The former custom of going from house to house on St Thomas's day (December 21) to beg for small gifts.


cushy number

From cushy (“making few demands, comfortable, easy”) + number (“activity, assignment, job”).

compound

At this rate Wednesdays [PMQs] could become a cushy number for the Labour leader.

2018 May 16, John Crace, “Corbyn finds the formula to fire up the Maybot. Just ask after Brexit”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

And they knew who the winners were: those refugees on the other side of the city; the next-door neighbour who’d got a cushy number on benefits.

2019 August 6, Aditya Chakrabortty, “The super-rich have made Britain into a nation of losers”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The band’s ascent is exciting and bewildering – until it isn’t. When Nirvana ends, he turns down a cushy number playing drums for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to record Foo Fighters’ terrific debut album in a makeshift home studio, playing every instrument himself.

2021 October 17, Kitty Empire, “The Storyteller by Dave Grohl – a Foo Fighter pulls his punches”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(British, informal) A job or task that is easy to do; a position that requires little work or is undemanding; a sinecure.


public orator

(UK) A traditional university representative who gives public speeches on special occasions.


peg-fiched

(UK, obsolete) A West Country game played with sharp-pointed stakes: one is thrust into the ground and the others are thrown in an attempt to dislodge it. If this succeeds, the player who planted the stake attempts to run a certain distance and back before the others can beat it all the way into the ground.


unmenseful

en-adj

unmenseful (comparative more unmenseful, superlative most unmenseful)

more unmenseful (comparative)
most unmenseful (superlative)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) unmannerly, indecent, disorderly


shuftiscope

(UK, military, slang, dated) An invasive medical instrument used to test a patient for dysentery.


staff corps

(UK, military, historical) A body of officers and soldiers who performed engineering and siege duties, made reconnaissances, etc. during the wars of Wellington.


dispersal prison

en-noun

dispersal prison (plural dispersal prisons)

So called because criminals can be "dispersed" or moved between such prisons as required.

(UK) A secure prison for dangerous criminals.


Boris bus

Named after Boris Johnson, mayor of London from 2008–2016.

Sadiq Khan has dumped the "Boris bus", a key part of the now foreign secretary's legacy as London mayor, because it is too expensive to produce.

2016 December 31, Daniel Boffey, “London's 'Boris bus' reaches end of road as Sadiq Khan halts purchases”, in The Guardian:

The new Routemaster (dubbed the “Boris Bus”) was a hybrid diesel-electric double-decker that retained the “hop-on, hop-off” rear open platform of the original Routemasters but with updated features that made it fully accessible.

[2022, Victoria R. Williams, London: Geography, History, and Culture, Bloomsbury, →ISBN:

(UK, informal) A particular type of double-decker bus used in London, as popularized by mayor Boris Johnson; New Routemaster.


do you know the Bishop of Norwich

Traditionally, after a vintage port has been decanted, the decanter is passed clockwise around the table until everyone has poured some. If the decanter should stall en route, it is considered poor etiquette to ask for it directly, so one must request it in a roundabout way:
:— Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?
:— No.
:— He's a terribly good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port.

(UK, wine) Can you pass the port, please?


Jimmy the One

By custom of the Navy the first lieutenant, or "Jimmy the One" as he is called, is in charge of cables and cablework on the forecastle.

1943, Sir Reginald Bacon, Britain's Glorious Navy, page 28:

He looks up and greets me in the bluff good-natured way that makes him popular with everyone from Jimmy the One down to our newest ordinary seaman.

2017, Martin Mace, The Royal Navy at Dunkirk:

(UK, military, slang) A first lieutenant in the navy.


jam roll

(UK) A kind of pudding, a roly-poly with jam filling.

What a fucking place this is! Giant nonces trying to get famous for helping Huntley to die. He's even admitted it! That's how brain dead Andrews is. That's fucked up his jam roll (parole).

2011, Charles Bronson, Loonyology: The Autobiography of Britain's Most Notorious Prisoner:


spark out

I steamed in and was promptly knocked spark out by one of them. I came round just in time to see them running for the exit.

2008, Michael Lutwyche and Steven Fowler, Hardcore, VHC Publishing, "Birmingham City Vs Aston Villa Division 2 12th December 1987"

You were asleep. I came home from work and saw you. I thought you might not have intended to spend the whole night spark out in the car.

2011, Val McDermid, The Retribution, Atlantic Monthly Press, page 7:

This ended in tears for him, the wrong person was one of our friends, Errol, who was then serving in the army, the husband attacked him at Ken's flat and Errol knocked him spark out, having no clue what this guy was going on about.

2012, Thomas Appleby, Life in the Harsh Lane: The Nine Lives, Mishaps, and Adventures of a No-Body, Xlibris, page 125:

(UK, slang) Completely asleep or unconscious.


porter's lodge

[H]e walked across Hawthorn Tree Court on his way to the porter's lodge. […] At the lodge he cleared his pigeon-hole.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 39:

(UK, Canada) An equivalent room near the gate of a college, chiefly used as a mailroom.


Government House

(UK) The official residence of the Governor of a British dependency.


ongoer

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to introduce the outgoer and ongoer elements of the pig industry restructuring scheme; and what projection has been made of the funds to be allocated to each element in each of the three years of the overall scheme.

1999, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Commons official report:

We heard about the PIRS (the Pig Industry Restructuring Scheme); about its importance 'to both outgoers and ongoers'; we even heard about 'classical swine fever'.

2001, Matthew Parris, Off message: new Labour, new sketches, page 299:

Includes Pig Welfare Slaughter Scheme and Foot and Mouth (non-capital) compensation and Pig Industry Restructuring Scheme (Ongoers) payments.

2005, Northern Ireland Annual Abstract of Statistics - Issue 23:

(UK) A pig farmer who receives assistance in restructuring his or her business as part of The Pig Industry Restructuring Scheme, announced on 30 March 2000 as part of The Action Plan for Farming.


Jambo

Diminutive of jam, from another nickname for the club, Jam Tarts, as rhyming slang for Hearts.

(UK, slang) A member or fan of Heart of Midlothian F.C., a Scottish football club.


managed motorway

managed motorway (plural managed motorways)

(UK, transport) Former name of smart motorway.


smart motorway

(UK, transport) A section of motorway that uses active traffic management (ATM) techniques to increase capacity by use of variable speed limits and hard-shoulder running at busy times.


imshee

(imperative, UK, slang, dated, India) go away


slip lane

(UK, Australia, transport) A short one-way lane allowing traffic to turn onto the cross street at an intersection without entering the intersection.


pixie-stool

(UK, dialect, archaic) A toadstool or mushroom.


keep one's end up

en-verb

keep one's end up (third-person singular simple present keeps one's end up, present participle keeping one's end up, simple past and past participle kept one's end up)

keeps one's end up (present singular third-person)
keeping one's end up (participle present)
kept one's end up (participle past)
kept one's end up (past)


tin fish

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of tinfish (“torpedo”)


New Commonwealth

(UK, dated) Recently decolonized countries, especially non-white developing countries.


do a never

do a never (third-person singular simple present does a never, present participle doing a never, simple past did a never, past participle done a never)

does a never (present singular third-person)
doing a never (participle present)
did a never (past)
done a never (participle past)

The Chief Buffer has got a howl on now because he got a blast from Torps, as so many of the part of ship hands were doing a never on the messdecks instead of working the main derrick.

1943, Robert Burgess, Roland Blackburn, We Joined the Navy:

(UK, naval, slang, dated) To mess about; to idle instead of working.


Noddy cap

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

(UK, military, slang) A rubber cap protecting the nose cone of a missile.


no-crime

no-crime (third-person singular simple present no-crimes, present participle no-criming, simple past and past participle no-crimed)

no-crimes (present singular third-person)
no-criming (participle present)
no-crimed (participle past)
no-crimed (past)

Nevertheless, if the recommendations of the Working Party had been strictly observed, no reported cases in 1986 should have been 'no-crimed' on the basis of the victim withdrawing her complaint.

1989, Lorna J. F. Smith, Great Britain. Home Office. Research and Planning Unit, Concerns about rape, HMSO Books

Gregory and Lees (1999) suggest that, in contrast, the high rates of 'no criming' for rape and sexual assault demonstrate the low priority attached by the police to these offences.

2004, J. Jordan, The Word of a Woman?: Police, Rape and Belief, Springer, →ISBN, page 63:

According to these figures, in Lincolnshire, for example, 26% of all reported rapes were no-crimed in 2012–13 and 20% were no-crimed in 2011–12. This contrasts with Merseyside, where 4% reported rape crimes were no-crimed in 2012–13 ...

2014, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee, Caught Red Handed: Why We can't Count on Police Recorded Crime Statistics - HC 760, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 16:

Of cases reported, half to two-thirds are “no-crimed” or, in US parlance, “unfounded” or determined to be “baseless” by the police (Brown, 2010; Kelly et al., 2010).

2014, Karen Rich, Interviewing Rape Victims: Practice and Policy Issues in an International Context, Springer, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) To determine that an alleged crime, especially a sexual assault or rape, should not be prosecuted as a crime (e.g. because the victim has withdrawn their complaint).


cabbage moth

Pieris brassicae
Pieris brassicae#Translingual

(UK, informal) The common white and black butterfly, Pieris brassicae, of the family Pieridae.


as was

(UK) As it was; in a former state or condition.


sick club

(UK, formerly) A benefit society that looked after its members when sick and made provision for their funerals.


open boarding

(UK) A system of bus operation where passengers may enter through various doors along the vehicle's length without having to pass the driver to buy or show a ticket.


land with one's bum in the butter

land with one's bum in the butter (third-person singular simple present lands with one's bum in the butter, present participle landing with one's bum in the butter, simple past and past participle landed with one's bum in the butter)

lands with one's bum in the butter (present singular third-person)
landing with one's bum in the butter (participle present)
landed with one's bum in the butter (participle past)
landed with one's bum in the butter (past)

Likely a calque of Dutch met zijn gat in de boter vallen.

calque

Margaret and Eric, the brother and sister who moved out of our house really landed with their bum in the butter. They were fostered out to a family that had a car which meant they were rich, as only rich people had cars.

2011, Bill Green, Billy: One Boy's War, page 56:

Once again, we'd landed with our bums in the butter. We spent the next couple of months in New York at shows, listening to music and meeting a dazzling array of artists, musicians, playwrights, actors and others […]

2012, Roger Lucey, Back in from the Anger, page 151:

(chiefly South Africa, also British and Australia, informal) To find oneself in fortunate circumstances.


Jack Strop

'So as not to have jack strops like you, Butcher boy,' Adams said. 'If some cowson Jerry battlewaggon's coming at me, I'd sooner someone who knew his job were at the helm, and I tell you that straight.'

1986, Alan Ross, Blindfold Games, page 211:

They were probably surprised that Jack had etiquette at all, but despite the skates and Jack Strops and their various highly dubious shore activities, when on board, Jack had enormous pride and respect for RN tradition.

2011, Rick Jolly, Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang & Usage, page 259:

(UK, naval slang) A conceited, argumentative or swaggering sailor.


notarisation

en-noun

notarisation (countable and uncountable, plural notarisations)

(British) Alternative spelling of notarization


box junction

(originally UK) A junction designed to prevent congestion and gridlock. Vehicles may only enter the box-shaped area (usually marked with crossing diagonal lines) if their exit from the junction is clear, or in some cases if they intend to make a turn.


hen-mould

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A black, spongy soil.


skeleton in the house

skeleton in the house (plural skeletons in the house)


make the best of a bad job

en-verb

make the best of a bad job (third-person singular simple present makes the best of a bad job, present participle making the best of a bad job, simple past and past participle made the best of a bad job)

makes the best of a bad job (present singular third-person)
making the best of a bad job (participle present)
made the best of a bad job (participle past)
made the best of a bad job (past)

(UK, informal) To accept an unfortunate or unpleasant situation and do the best one can.


bottle it

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

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

From Cockney rhyming slang bottle and glass, originally meaning arse. lose one's nerve was vulgarly lose one's arse, euphemised to lose one's bottle, clipped to bottle and subsequently given a dummy pronoun. See bottle.

To suppress an action or expression, especially when due to lack of courage.

To run away, especially when due to lack of courage.

For a while, it was a three-horse race and, if anything, it looked like José Mourinho's Chelsea were the team to beat. Chelsea bottled it, Liverpool beat Manchester City and the title was theirs to lose ... which they did in that match against Chelsea.

2022 October 6, James Richardson, The Totally Football Book, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

If you want to win Wimbledon, you have to be controlled mentally, but he's too volatile. He's just not a level-headed guy out there. He's had many chances and he's always bottled it.

2024 June 20, Katherine Reilly, Match Point: an enemies to lovers tennis romance perfect for fans of Wimbledon, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

(especially sports) To fail in an embarrassing way in a crucial situation, especially due to nerves.


do bird

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

does bird (present singular third-person)
doing bird (participle present)
did bird (past)
done bird (participle past)

Originally Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from bird-lime for "time".

(UK, dated, informal) to do time (to serve a prison sentence).


Snoopers' Charter

Named for their alleged invasion of privacy by the government.

(UK, informal, derogatory) The Draft Communications Data Bill, proposed legislation that would require ISPs and mobile phone companies to store records of each user's Internet browsing activity.

intelligence service
intelligence service

(UK, informal, derogatory) The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, an act of parliament that regulates electronic surveillance by the police and intelligence services.


live rough

live rough (third-person singular simple present lives rough, present participle living rough, simple past and past participle lived rough)

lives rough (present singular third-person)
living rough (participle present)
lived rough (participle past)
lived rough (past)

(chiefly British) To live and sleep outdoors or in a rough or makeshift shelter, not having a proper home or abode.


Tom Trot

(UK, archaic) A kind of toffee made with treacle, sugar, and butter.


best pleased

Satisfaction levels among performers might be generally high, but there are whispers from old-school theatre folk that they're not best pleased about Hollywood coming in and stealing the limelight.

2010 June 14, Carrie Dunn, “Tony awards: Hollywood invasion provokes Broadway stage whispers”, in The Guardian, London:

Can't say we'd be best pleased if the terrifying sound of explosives was going on underneath our bedroom window, but the assembled crowd seem to enjoy it.

2014 December, “Bosnian family sets off 15,000 firecrackers in weird Christmas tradition”, in entertainment.ie:

They said: “I'm hardly best pleased to receive this and neither, I presume, are all the others whose confidentiality has been breached by this.”

2017 August 29, Gayle McDonald, “Council investigation after it accidentally reveals email addresses of 200 Plymouth residents”, in Plymouth Herald:

(British, idiomatic, with negative) displeased, upset, disgruntled


old-age pensioner

en-noun

old-age pensioner (plural old-age pensioners)

(British) A person in receipt of an old age pension, a senior citizen.


elf-shot

The malicious elves did not confine their attacks to human beings; references to elf-shot cattle are numerous.

1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, page 16:

Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot.

(Anglo-Saxon and British mythology and folklore) Maliciously wounded or sickened as a result of having been shot by an elf.


die on one's arse

en-verb

die on one's arse (third-person singular simple present dies on one's arse, present participle dying on one's arse, simple past and past participle died on one's arse)

dies on one's arse (present singular third-person)
dying on one's arse (participle present)
died on one's arse (participle past)
died on one's arse (past)

He explains: "Labour still has its historic competitive advantage – people. Tory party membership is dying on its arse and no one is joining the Liberal Democrats."

2013, Andrew Grice, “Michael Dugher on Labour's 2015 election strategy: This will be the most personal election ever”, in The Independent:

[...] the record failed miserably to chart. "That album died on its arse, to be honest," admits Shane.

2014, Ian Glasper, Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984, PM Press, page 18:

(British, Ireland, idiomatic, vulgar slang) To fail completely.

[...] this was very far from being my best bits. It was me, in various venues, dying on my arse, over and over again.

2008, Frank Skinner, Frank Skinner on the Road: Love, Stand-up Comedy and The Queen Of The Night, Arrow Books, published 2009, page 55:

The worst thing you can say to a comedian right after they come off stage is: "Did you enjoy that?" If somebody says that, I know I’ve died on my arse.

2018, Romesh Ranganathan, “Romesh Ranganathan: 'If someone says "did you enjoy that?" I know I've died on my arse'”, in The Guardian:

KEY: I've been known to get up on that stage and deliver a bad, um...
HORNE: Poem. I've seen you deliver some bad poems...
KEY: Yeah, I've seen you die on your ass.

2021, 00:60 from the start, in No More Jockeys, season 4, episode 4, spoken by Tim Key:

(British, Ireland, idiomatic, vulgar slang, of a comedian) To be very poorly received by an audience.


cry stinking fish

cry stinking fish (third-person singular simple present cries stinking fish, present participle crying stinking fish, simple past and past participle cried stinking fish)

cries stinking fish (present singular third-person)
crying stinking fish (participle present)
cried stinking fish (participle past)
cried stinking fish (past)

From cry in the sense of offering wares for sale.

(UK) To disparage oneself; to say things that make oneself look bad.


blind bit

not to take a blind bit of notice

not to make a blind bit of difference

(UK, informal) The slightest bit; any amount at all.


Whites

1996, S. Greenfield, "When the Whites Go Marching In? Racism and Resistances in English Football", Marquette Sports Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, Art. 7, p. 315: #*: "When the Whites go Marching In" is a version of the hymn "When the Saints Go Marching In" and has been sung by football fans whilst attending "away" matches in other countries... In this context the reference is to English supporters indicating their disapproval of black players.

When the Whites go marching in, oh, when the Whites go marching in, oh, I wanna be in that number when the Whites go marching in!

(sports, historical) Any of several sports teams whose uniform is predominantly white, particularly

(soccer, UK) The away team during international matches.


in the sales

(UK) At a time when many stores are holding sales.


conker tree

/ˈkɒŋkə ˌtɹiː/

(British, informal) The horse chestnut tree, Aesculus.


school dinner lady

en-noun

school dinner lady (plural school dinner ladies)

The action is in support of schooldinner ladies who have been told by the county council that their holiday pay is being stopped.

[1982 May 25, “Pupils may be sent home”, in Herald Express, page 2:

Jill Bennett recreates her superb characterisation of a school-dinners’ lady with an appetite more for a bit of roly-poly than jam.

[1986 June 27, The London Standard, page 21:

(UK) A woman employed to prepare, serve or supervise school dinners.


stickyweed

Galium aparine
Galium aparine#Translingual

(British) A creeping plant of species Galium aparine, covered in small hooked hairs, known for clinging to clothing.


p way

(rail transport, UK) Abbreviation of permanent way.


as you please

bold as you please, calm as you please, cool as you please, charming as you please, casually as you please

(UK, informal) intensifier for a preceding adjective.


like fury

(UK, dated, informal) Furiously; energetically.


dog-stone

(UK, obsolete) Any of various British species of orchid.


off-reckoning

(historical, UK, military) An allowance formerly made to certain British officers from the money appropriated for army clothing.


charitable organisation

charitable organisation (countable and uncountable, plural charitable organisations)

charitable organization
charitable organization#English

British standard spelling of charitable organization.


ram-cat

Tom very gravely replied, that he did suppose the food was wholesome enough, for he had seen the skin and feet of a special ram-cat, new flea'd, hanging upon the door of a small pantry adjoining to the kitchen.

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:


washing bin

/ˈwɒʃɪŋ ˌbɪn/

(chiefly British) A bin or container used to store dirty clothes and other items before they are washed.


last chance saloon

Said to be from the name of a former type of bar or saloon in the United States in the 19th century that offered customers the final opportunity to drink alcohol before passing into an area where alcohol was prohibited or scarce.

Unless we find a million pounds by Monday, the company will go bust. We really are in the last chance saloon.

(chiefly British, figuratively) A place that one is said to inhabit when facing an imminent disaster with diminishing or limited remaining opportunities to avoid it; a last chance to take action.


bad up

en-verb

bad up (third-person singular simple present bads up, present participle badding up, simple past and past participle badded up)

bads up (present singular third-person)
badding up (participle present)
badded up (participle past)
badded up (past)

(slang, UK) To make (someone) paranoid or messed up, e.g., emotionally or from drugs.


rumgumptious

en-adj

rumgumptious (comparative more rumgumptious, superlative most rumgumptious)

more rumgumptious (comparative)
most rumgumptious (superlative)

(UK, dialect, archaic) forward or pompous in one's manner


nimpingang

(UK, dialect, Devon, archaic) A whitlow.


rumgumption

(UK, dialect, archaic) rough and homely common sense

(UK, dialect, archaic) shrewdness of intellect


NOVA

(UK) Initialism of notification of vehicle arrival.


my learned friend

(law, Australia, British, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada) A barrister on the opposing side of a dispute; a member of opposing counsel.


pop on

en-verb

pop on (third-person singular simple present pops on, present participle popping on, simple past and past participle popped on)

pops on (present singular third-person)
popping on (participle present)
popped on (participle past)
popped on (past)

Pop that light on, will you?


ADRT

(UK, medicine) Initialism of advance decision to refuse treatment.


bugger me

bugger me backwards
bugger me backwards#English

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland) Synonym of bugger me backwards


Carle Sunday

From carle, variant spelling of carl, see Carling Sunday for more.

(British, dated or dialectal) Synonym of Carl Sunday: the fifth Sunday in Lent.


Carl Sunday

(British, dated or dialectal) Synonym of Carling Sunday: the fifth Sunday in Lent.


CrASBO

(British, law enforcement) Acronym of criminal antisocial behaviour order: a restriction like an ASBO, but where the forbidden behaviour constitutes a crime.


a pound to a penny

"I'll lay you a pound to a penny that proud Miss Nelly marries John Ormandy in the end."

c. 1872, Holme Lee (pseudonym of Harriet Parr), “Too Prudent by Half; or, Proud Nelly Kingsland”, in Country Stories, Old and New. In Prose and Verse, volume 1, Smith, Elder & Co., published 1872, page 265:

...and where was out boy? ...Discharged early from the National Service in Cyprus! A pound to a penny he was home with Mum...

2010, P. F Bonneton, The Seeds of Time, →ISBN, page 150:

Mrs. Seaton raised her eyebrows. "What does she think will happen? She might respect what you have to say, but I'll put a pound to a penny no one else at that table will."

2015, Rachel Brimble, chapter 17, in What a Woman Desires, →ISBN, page 160:

(UK, idiomatic) Very likely; almost certainly.


Brookie

(British, informal) Brookside, a British television soap opera.


ripon

After the city of Ripon, famous for their manufacture.

(obsolete, UK, slang) A spur (goad for a horse etc.).


wickie

(sports, cricket, colloquial, British) A wicketkeeper.


bus stand

(transport, UK, e.g. in London) a type of bus stop, usually at the terminus of a route, where a bus can wait between journeys. Buses normally do not pick up passengers there, boarding takes place at a designated stop nearby.


thruppenny

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal, dated) threepence


slobland

en-noun

slobland (countable and uncountable, plural sloblands)


inner bar

(UK, law) The legal profession as practised by Queen's Counsel.


Backstop

(UK) A proposed seamless border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of Brexit.


outer bar

(UK, law) The legal profession as practised by junior barristers.


take the rough with the smooth

en-verb

take<,,took,taken> the rough with the smooth

take the rough with the smooth (third-person singular simple present takes the rough with the smooth, present participle taking the rough with the smooth, simple past took the rough with the smooth, past participle taken the rough with the smooth)

takes the rough with the smooth (present singular third-person)
taking the rough with the smooth (participle present)
took the rough with the smooth (past)
taken the rough with the smooth (participle past)

(chiefly UK, figuratively) To accept both the positive and negative elements in a situation.


chicken-in-a-basket circuit

the chicken-in-a-basket circuit (canonical)

From the ubiquity of chicken served in a basket in entertainment venues in the 1970s.

(UK, informal) Relatively small venues offering evening entertainment such as music and comedy, from the point of view of the entertainers who find work there.


get it in the neck

get it in the neck (third-person singular simple present gets it in the neck, present participle getting it in the neck, simple past and past participle got it in the neck)

gets it in the neck (present singular third-person)
getting it in the neck (participle present)
got it in the neck (participle past)
got it in the neck (past)

[…] or the 400% increase in the regressive social security payroll tax the average-income family has had to take over the last twenty years just to support it now. (I can't claim my lover as spouse either—another example where gays get it in the neck from our present tax syntem).

1976 August 21, A. Nolder Gay, “Another View”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 4:

(UK, informal) To receive severe criticism or punishment for something one has done.


tea fight

Most of those unfortunate women are the victims of religious dementia. In early youth they were taught to butter scones at tea fights and sing hymns, and pray for the spiritual welfare of the poor Pagan, and they wind up by ministering to his carnal pleasures.

1903 February 8, The Truth, Sydney, page 3, column 4:

(UK, slang) Synonym of bun fight (“formal tea party”)


saddler-corporal

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(UK, historical) A non-commissioned officer in the Household Cavalry, responsible for the saddles.


pretzelise

pretzelise (third-person singular simple present pretzelises, present participle pretzelising, simple past and past participle pretzelised)

pretzelises (present singular third-person)
pretzelising (participle present)
pretzelised (participle past)
pretzelised (past)


pillocky

en-adj

pillocky (comparative more pillocky, superlative most pillocky)

more pillocky (comparative)
most pillocky (superlative)

(UK, mildly derogatory, slang) annoyingly stupid


Marmageddon

(see title)

2016 October 13, “'Marmageddon' called off as Marmite returns to UK shelves”, in The Journal:

The Sun called it Marmageddon while the Daily Mail condemned "marmite whingers" and urged patriotic consumers to boycott Unilever and switch to Bovril (oblivious to the fact that Bovril is also owned by you-know-who).

2016 October 14, Phil Teer, “Marmitegate will mark the moment that Brexit got real”, in Campaign:

It was dubbed Marmageddon: a very public spat between two of the giants of the grocery business – Tesco and Unilever – that saw the supermarket giant refuse to accept price rises on hundreds of Unilever products and that resulted in Marmite disappearing from Tesco’s shelves and website.

2016 October 28, Sarah Butler, Julia Kollewe, “Morrisons puts Marmite price up 12.5%”, in The Guardian:

From Westminster, we hear the cry that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, a phrase which is devoid of any real semantic meaning; while from the tabloids, we are given a taster of the early effects of Brexit on our favourite products – a potential marmageddon or toblerone doom.

2016 December 27, Carol Silveira, “On the brink of Brexit: Scotland's future in Europe”, in The New Federalist:


whip-around

After revealing a bizarre money trail of whip-arounds from friends, unsolicited payment for a Manchester dinner, wins on the horses, cash savings for property investments, bags of cash and a lack of bank accounts, Mr Ahern’s evidence was turned on its head by his former secretary, Grainne Carruth.

2012 March 23, Sinead O'Carroll, “Gambling, lies, whip-arounds and the Teflon Taoiseach: how the world read Mahon”, in TheJournal.ie:

BERTIE Ahern's explanation that he received an envelope stuffed with £8,000 in cash following a whip-around by a group of Manchester-based businessmen was branded untrue by the Mahon Tribunal.

2012 March 23, Colm Kelpie, “Claim of 'whip-around' by friends rubbished”, in Irish Independent:

(Ireland, UK, Commonwealth) Alternative form of whip-round


that's your lot

Hendrix is hilarious, as ever, explaining new song Izabella is “about a cat, blah blah, woof woof …” It’s a real shame they wouldn’t keep this lineup together. Hendrix repeatedly comments on the “patience” of the crowd. He plays the national anthem, his guitar dive-bombs at the end of Hey Joe and, that’s your lot. The applause dies away surprisingly quickly.

2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian:

(UK, colloquial, idiomatic) That is the end; there is no more; that's it; that's all


on the blob

Apparently a reference to the blobbing (i.e. dripping) of menstrual blood, likely following the model of on the rag.

I have no problems fucking wimin on the blob. But some of them do

1993 April 19, Sean McAfee, “The Great a.t. IRC Party, part III”, in alt.tasteless (Usenet), message-ID <1993Apr19.224852.14466@mtu.edu>:

Sweet's heroines are – well, unskinny; they eat lard, drink, smoke, ponce off the state, have huge dumps and go on the blob at inconvenient times.

1997 July 3, Nicholas Lezard, “Paperbacks”, in The Guardian, page A14:

Katie Can you stop staring at my tits please? […]
Jay She must be on the blob.

2012, Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, The Inbetweeners: The Complete Scripts with Added Extras, Random House, page 285:

Personally CW can think of no tampon in the world it would trust while wearing a white dress, on the blob, at a glamorous media event.

2015 February 13, Caitlin Moran, “Celebrity Watch”, in The Times:

(British, slang, vulgar) Menstruating; on one's period.


good cess

Uncertain, and also apparently varied, depending on context. Apart from the etymology of cess, as being from "success", "access" etc, some of the usages of good cess appear to refer to cesspool, as a place of suitable disposal.

Güde cess tü his sawl, poor blid! He hadden much ov thease world's güdes yer. He died game, 'e did, arter awl!

1892, Sarah HEWETT, The Peasant Speech of Devon:

Midland has had good cess with using minute commercials eight television stations, cited as one example of modernizing its advertising.

1962, News for Farmer Cooperatives, Information Office, Farm Credit Administration:

(British) Good luck, favourable outcome, happiness

"It be nawbody," said John, "vor us to make a fush about. Belong to t'other zide o' the moor, and come staling shape to our zide. Red Jem Hannaford his name. Thank God for him to be hanged, lad; and good cess to his soul, for craikin' zo."

1869, R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, →ISBN:

(British) Good riddance, a suitable dismissal or disposal of something worthless or harmful.


state of play

(UK) The current situation (typically in sports)


ponger

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Anything that has a bad smell.


Bristol pound

(UK, historical) A local currency (not legal tender) in Bristol, England, tied to the pound sterling, introduced in 2012 to promote local business and retired in 2021. Symbol £B.


CASC

(UK) Acronym of community amateur sports club.


Sloaney

Sloaney (comparative Sloanier, superlative Sloaniest)

Sloanier (comparative)
Sloaniest (superlative)

"There are Asian women who have adopted a 'Sloaney' Lady Helen Windsor style of interpreting their Punjabi salwaar-kameez suits, precisely because they share a similar consumption niche or emulate the 'Sloaney' style through its popularization and commoditization through upmarket fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and by its famous 'Super Sloane' icon, the late Princess Diana."

2004, Philip Crang, Claire Dwyer, Peter Jackson, Transnational Spaces, Routledge, →ISBN, page 97:

"Nestled just off the Kingis Road in Chelsea and known locally as the Sloaney Pony for its extremely uber-posh local clientele, the White Horse is to first-rate beer experiences what Shergar is to mysterious equine whodunits."

2006 July 14, Wine & Spirit, William Reed Publishing, page 73:

"The Sloaney woman organising the event gives us each a name badge and a glass of nasty wine, and directs us to our chairs."

2011 December 1, Amy Appleton, Kate Harrison, The Bride Hunter, Orion, →ISBN, page 131:


cheers, big ears

(UK, slang, humorous) Synonym of cheers (“thank you; or a drinking toast”)


power lead

(British, electricity) a power cable or power cord which connects an appliance or other electrical device to the mains.


lightning strike

en-noun

lightning strike (plural lightning strikes)

lightning never strikes twice in the same place

(British) A (sometimes unofficial) strike by workers with little or no warning.


dippy eggs

dippy eggs pl (normally plural, singular dippy egg)

(UK, Pennsylvania) Eggs cooked over easy or soft-boiled.


job's a good 'un

Attested in 1968, but probably popularised by footballer Robbie Fowler who, after scoring four goals in a Premier League match against Middlesbrough on 14 December 1996, revealed a T-shirt with the phrase written on it in marker pen. He explained to the press that it was Happy Mondays percussionist Bez's catchphrase in his segment "Science with Bez" on BBC Two's The Sunday Show (1995–97).

We've cracked it Ginge! Showed out for a cock and hen and drew for a flag. There’s one born every minute. Let this one go for now and the job’s a good un. Hello, there’s a jam role there. And diamonds is a roles best friend. They love em! See me cop off this.

1968, Robert Roberts, Imprisoned Tongues, Manchester University Press, page 210:

‘The job’s a good ’un. Ahm getting a word put in and it’ll all be fixed up.’

1975 August, Michael Foley, “The Wrassler: A Bit of Strange”, in Fortnight, number 109, →JSTOR, page 14:

‘Well, if that's what you want,’ he says, sounding a touch ratty, ‘I’ll stop everything else and you can have the entire A350 budget to turn up at the bookshop tomorrow.’ ‘Job's a good ’un,’ I tell him. ‘Oh, and one other thing. Cash, please.’

1998 October 16, "Darren Tackle" [Jim White], “Brought to book by the Fraud squad”, The Guardian, page 16

A traffic jam made up of normal cars will be twice as long as one made up of these Japanese “kei” cars. And a kei jam will clear more quickly, because in a car the size of a bacterium you don’t have to drive round and round the block looking for somewhere to park. You just pop it in your pocket and the job’s a good ’un.

2008, Jeremy Clarkson, “The problem is ... it's out of this world”, in The Sunday Times, page 20:

‘What do you need new stuff for? Just do the stuff you did on The T Factor – that had them rolling in the aisles! Bish bash bosh! Job’s a goodun’! You get paid! And more importantly so do I!’ said Dickie with a smirk.

2018, Harry Hill, Matt Millz Stands Up!, Faber & Faber:

(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner.

BBC Two
Happy Mondays
Premier League
Robbie Fowler
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Show


car-sticker

Crucially, this means the arch Remainer Speaker, who proudly showed off a ‘b******s to Brexit car-sticker, could still be in position for next month’s votes on leaving the EU.

September 9 2019, Alex Matthews, "B******s to Bercow", The Sun

(UK) Synonym of bumper sticker: a large sticker intended for use on the rear end of a car.


Johnsmas

(UK, dialect, archaic, Christianity) The feast of John the Baptist, celebrated on 24 June.


excise glass

(UK, historical) A small decorative glass object, often hollow-stemmed, manufactured in the mid-1700s when glass was taxed by weight.


DOO

driver-only operation
driver-only operation#English

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of driver-only operation.


corporation tax

corporation tax (plural corporation taxes)

(British, taxation) synonym of corporate tax


thin sandwich degree

thin sandwich degree (plural thin sandwich degrees)

(UK, education) A sandwich degree involving multiple short placements or internships rather than one that lasts a whole year.


thick sandwich degree

thick sandwich degree (plural thick sandwich degrees)

(UK, education) A sandwich degree where the placement or internship takes up a whole unbroken year.


take a flutter

en-verb

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

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

Hughes takes a flutter on the nearest six, nickel bets on thirty-one to thirty-six.

Although they aspired, like all natural-born gamblers, to taking a flutter and beating that system (they all loved the idea of tips, of course), they were sufficiently cynical to know it's a mug's game and that it was largely bound to fail.

2012, David Stevenson, FT Guide to Exchange Traded Funds and Index Funds:

I was ridin' the horses then, you understand, and maybe known to take a flutter or two on the bangtails while I was about it.

You'd hardly believe how difficult it was to interest the public and make them take a flutter on the old boy.

In the next general election in 2007 the Liberals hung on to only a couple of these ridings: most of their voters took a flutter with the ADQ.

In time Getz took up the slack left by the dearth of commercial presenters and took a flutter on big-name artists in mid-career, often in the Orpheum.

2019 August 28, David Gordon Duke, “Classical music: Vancouver Recital Society celebrates 40 years going strong”, in Vancouver Sun:


livers and lights

From the most prominent organs, the liver and the lights (lungs); probably influenced by alliteration.

Helpless, the riders are borne into the Marsh, or a freshwater lake or even, so it is said in Grïmnørsland, the salt sea. After the waters close over their heads they are not seen again, although sometimes their livers and lights are found cast up on the shore.

2007, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Iron Tree:

The livers and lights of sheep, cattle, &c. were well boiled, chopped fine, seasoned with pepper and salt, and filled into the small intestines of those animals; and a piece from seven to nine inches long, sold to us for sixpence, York currency;

2009, Andrew Sherburne, Memoirs of Andrew Sherburne, page 113:

(UK) Offal; The internal organs of an animal, especially when used as food.


ozæna

en-noun

ozæna (countable and uncountable, plural ozænas)

The fœtor, as we say, was subjective, not objective, in which respect it differed from that of another historical personage, Benjamin Disraeli to wit, who was the subject probably of the disease known as ozæna.

1923, Dan McKenzie, “Smell in Folk-Lore, Religion, and History”, in Aromatics and the Soul: A Study of Smells, William Heinemann (Medical Books), Ltd., page 78:

(UK, rare) Nonstandard spelling of ozaena.


booking office

The NYMR [North Yorkshire Moors Railway] runs the booking office in Whitby, selling national rail tickets alongside those for the steam services.

2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 78:

Traditionally, 'ticket office' seems to have been the preferred term in America, with Britain using the term 'booking office' (as an 1881 edition of The Railway Age Monthly and Railway Service Magazine explains). Today, the two are often used interchangeably (as the recent 'Save our ticket offices' campaign shows), with the term 'ticketing' perhaps capturing more of the point-of-sale transaction and issuing of tickets within stations.

2024 March 6, Dr Joseph Brennan, “England's booking offices of distinction”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 56:

(British) A place where tickets are sold, e.g. at a railway station or theatre.


educational visit

educational visit (plural educational visits)

The purpose of an educational visit was to tell the trader what the tax was and what he had to do […]

1975, Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command:

In practice, this is not always possible, but an educational visit should be paid to every trader not later than six months after VAT starts.

1988, Alan A. Tait, Value Added Tax: International Practice and Problems, page 176:

Nor can they expect to rely on the lack of an educational visit from an officer of Customs and Excise. If everyone were able to rely on that it would be too easy a way out of getting the tax return wrong.

1991, Value Added Tax Tribunals Reports, page 161:

(UK, finance) An official visit by a government representative to a person or company registered for VAT (value added tax) to ensure they understand their tax obligations.


bus replacement service

bus replacement service (plural bus replacement services)

... - just a decade ago, Robin Gisby, then operations supremo at Network Rail, told me enthusiastically of a 'seven-day railway' enabled by widespread signalling improvements that would do away with the dreaded bus replacement services within a couple of years. Instead, most people in the know now avoid travelling at weekends because of the proliferation of such services, fewer and fewer of which are advertised in advance.

2019 October, Alan Williams, Modern Railways, page 98:

(British, transport) A special bus service which replaces a train service when engineering work is carried out, or when the train service is temporarily suspended for other reasons such as flooding, track damage etc.

autobus sostitutivo

a special bus service which replaces a train service


hybrid bill

'Similarly, I intend to continue to progress the next stages of the hybrid bill for Phase 2a, West Midlands to Crewe, in the House of Lords while the review is ongoing'.

2019 October, Dan Harvey, “HS2 costs rise as schedule slips”, in Modern Railways, page 9:

(government, UK) A parliamentary bill that combines the characteristics of a private bill and a public bill.


private bill

(government, UK) A parliamentary bill promoted by an organisation such as a local authority or company in order to obtain powers to do something.


bye-letter

(UK, historical) A postal letter carried only part of the way to the central post office, and delivered to its destination along the way.


blue button

Coordinate term: red button

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

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

Then a blue button dashed to the box to pick up the call.

1987, The Director, volume 41, number 3, page 118:

When the market closed at 3.30 pm, the entire jobbing community exited the Stock Exchange, walking in procession back to their offices, followed by a file of blue buttons struggling to carry cumbersome dealing books.

1998, John Littlewood, The Stock Market: 50 Years of Capitalism at Work, page 333:

(UK, finance, historical) An unauthorized clerk in the stock exchange.


ROSCO

Until the mid-2010s, the ROSCOs 'made hay while the sun shone', taking advantage of growing passenger demand and expanding services to find homes for their rolling assets - in some cases, well beyond their expected design lives.

2023 June 28, Ben Jones, “Are we getting rid of our (still useful) rolling stock too early?”, in RAIL, number 986, page 28:

(rail transport, UK) Abbreviation of rolling stock (leasing) company.


one and nines

When Tomorrow Comes was probably some sort of weepy love story which always got him laughing like a drain, often leading to his physical removal from the one and nines.

(UK, historical) Cheap seats in a theatre, costing one shilling and nine pence.


kicking kuh

/ˈkɪkɪŋ ˈkə/

From the shape of the letter (resembling a person kicking).

Or did it start as Kill It Bang before they decided to soften it slightly by changing the kicking kuh to a curly cuh?

2014, Dave Gorman, Too Much Information, Random House, page 181:

(Sometimes these are spelt with a kicking ‘kuh’ rather than a curly ‘cuh’ as ‘homoskedasticity’ and ‘heteroskedasticity’.)

2018, Alan R. Jones, Best Fit Lines & Curves: And Some Mathe-Magical Transformations, Routledge, page 174:

(British, childish) The letter K, as distinct from the letter C ("curly cuh").


curly cuh

(British, childish) The letter C, as distinct from the letter K ("kicking kuh").


conversation lozenge

conversation lozenge (plural conversation lozenges)

(UK, archaic) A form of confectionery consisting of a sweet lozenge with a flirtatious message printed on it.


gownie

(UK, slang) A person living in a university town who has some academic connection with the university.


shedmaster

It is impossible not to feel sympathy with shedmasters in the difficulty they experience in obtaining cleaners.

1953 October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 686:

Much earlier than that, in the small hours, taxis had been sent out to collect key officers, shedmasters and traffic staff for an immediate start on the reorganisation.

1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 130–131:

(rail transport, UK) The person in charge of an engine shed (or locomotive shed).


until the pips squeak

Originally coined by the First Lord of the Admiralty and Unionist election candidate Eric Geddes in an election promise to "squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak", made during a speech in Cambridge on 10 December 1918 and reported the next day by the Cambridge Daily News.

Churchill was looking back to a statement made in 1918 by the British politician and businessman Eric Campbell Geddes. A Unionist candidate in the General Election of that year (seen as a 'khaki' election), he was pressed to make clear his position on war reperations to be extracted from Germany. An account of his speech at Cambridge, 10 December 1918, appeared in the Cambridge Daily News of the following day. According to this report, Geddes said: 'The Germans, if this Government is returned, are going to pay every penny; they are going to be squeezed as a lemon is squeezed - until the pips squeak.

2006 October 26, Elizabeth Knowles, What They Didn't Say: A Book of Misquotations:

Martyrs are desperate to demonstrate their self-flagellatory capabilities in the hope that someone out there actually cares. If they think their peers or bosses really do, then they are seriously deluding themselves; I'm afraid the Martyr will be exploited until the pips squeak.

2011, Andrew Holmes, Pains in the Office: 50 People You Absolutely, Definitely Must Avoid at Work!:

It's also possible that this Dennis is based on the real-life Labour firebrand, Denis Healey (b. 1917), the shadow of Chancellor of the Exchequer 1972-1974. In the run-up to the 1974 general election, Healey was particularly on point, promising that when Labour took back the government ten days later (Febrary 28), he'd “squeeze property speculators until the pips squeak,” as well as “wring the neck of the Housing Finance Act.”

2015, Darl Larsen, A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, page 101:

I’m no fan of the Labour leader, but if you take a look at the supposedly Marxist plans he and John McDonnell have put forward, they’re not exactly planning to tax the rich until the pips squeak.

2019 May 11, James Moore, “Sod the Rich List, we should be publishing a 'Tax Contributor' list that can be a badge of honour”, in The Independent:

In the meantime he will continue to squeeze the Iranian economy until the pips squeak because clearly it is bothering them.

2019 September 22, Tim Newark, “Trump strikes right tone in necessary face-off with Iran”, in The Express:

(UK) Until the maximum amount has been extracted.


cloth cap

Our relief at Paris was a mécanicien looking like a Darnall "Grinder" in his cloth cap with a button on top - and no goggles either.

1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 148:

Each operator (usually a young man bearing the PPE of the day - a cloth cap) would send the hook down, enabling the parcel-filled basket to be hauled up, then whisked overhead and above carriage-roof height.

2020 December 30, Tim Dunn, “The railway's mechanical marvels”, in Rail, page 55:

(UK) A man's flat woollen cap with a peak.


gender-critical

en-adj

gender-critical (comparative more gender-critical, superlative most gender-critical)

more gender-critical (comparative)
most gender-critical (superlative)

As a gender critical feminist and an attorney, I have been analyzing the legal and medical conflation of gender with sex for years.

2013 August 2, Elizabeth Hungerford, “Sex Is Not Gender”, in CounterPunch, retrieved 2022-12-06:

I don’t believe that all, or even most, ‘gender-critical’ editorials genuinely set out to make our lives harder: more that their writers don’t realise the impact they can have in the structure outlined above.

2014 August 6, Juliet Jacques, “On the ‘Dispute’ Between Radical Feminism and Trans People”, in New Statesmen, London, retrieved 2022-12-06:

This sort of mistreatment reflects the ideologies of trans-exclusionary radical feminism, popular amongst certain gender-critical lesbian groups.

2016 June 29, Polly Anna Rocha, “Pride & Prejudice”, in San Antonio Current, San Antonio, Texas: Euclid Media Group, retrieved 2022-12-06, page 32:

Selina Todd, professor of modern history at Oxford University, agrees. Recently one delegate cancelled their place at a humanities conference she was due to speak at when they saw her name on the agenda. “It was because the person was concerned that ‘transphobic’ views would be expressed. I assume that this referred to my gender-critical stance.”

2018 October 30, Anna Fazackerley, “UK Universities Struggle to Deal with ‘Toxic’ Trans Rights Row”, in The Guardian, London, retrieved 2022-12-06:

Maya Forstater, a former researcher and writer for a thinktank, is likely to appeal against a ruling that her gender-critical feminist beliefs could not be protected, Chilton suggested.

2020 January 3, Damien Gayle, “After Tribunal’s Ethical Veganism Ruling, What Is a Protected Belief?”, in The Guardian, London, retrieved 2022-12-06:

gender-critical feminism
gender-critical feminism

(originally UK, neologism) Espousing, characteristic of, or relating to gender-critical feminism.


refreshment room

en-noun

refreshment room (plural refreshment rooms)

But when his slender, big-wheeled engine had brought him as far as York, in a non-corridor compartment, his inside had begun to make urgent representations. So, to this day, the York refreshment room is extraordinary; the dining room is a regular banqueting hall.

1941 August, C.Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 356:

While we were waiting, Eugène suggested a drink in the refreshment room; I assumed this would be more wine, but Eugène marched in and demanded two Cognacs.

1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 147:

There were no waiting rooms. [...] But there were licensed refreshment rooms, provided by those pioneers of station dining Messrs Spiers and Pond.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, The Metropolitan Railway, pages 38–39:

Calling at Stalybridge, I cast one eye at the refreshment rooms and one eye at my watch, but 'beer o'clock' it isn't! Besides, I have a long way to travel!

2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 58:

British Commonwealth
British Commonwealth

(UK) A room that was once common at larger railway stations in Britain and the British Commonwealth for the purpose of serving food and drink to travellers.


well wagon

(rail transport, British) An open goods wagon with a well (depressed loadbed) between the bogies or axles.


downdrins

(UK, dialect, plural only) An afternoon drinking session.


special saloon

The failure of a new Brush 1,600 h.p. diesel on the down "Fenman" when it was conveying the Queen in a special saloon was an unfortunate piece of bad publicity for B.R.

1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 135:

After the war, the GWR restored its royal train, in reality special saloons provided for its directors and important guests, but the SR had finally discarded its ancient train, employing Pullman-cars where necessary.

2014, Bill Horsfall, London Midland & Scottish, Author House, page 75:

(rail transport, UK) A special railway carriage reserved for royalty and other dignitaries.


kid on

en-verb

kid on (third-person singular simple present kids on, present participle kidding on, simple past and past participle kidded on)

kids on (present singular third-person)
kidding on (participle present)
kidded on (participle past)
kidded on (past)

Are you kidding me on?

(UK, colloquial, transitive) To trick or deceive deliberately; to play a prank on.

Boatman says she kidded him on to try a nice big cigar.

(UK, slang, obsolete) To entice or incite.


box van

(rail transport, UK, Australia) An enclosed railway goods wagon, typically with a sliding door.


tube train

Probably named after the shape of the tunnels; the Tube is an informal name for London Underground which has been trademarked.

I took a tube train through the subway systems / I rode those tunnels like a six-foot mole

1979, The Boomtown Rats (lyrics and music), “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:

(rail transport, UK) A smaller-profile underground train which operates through the tube tunnels under London, which have a small cross section.


think<,,thought> the sun shines<shines,shines,shone:shined> out of someone's arse

think the sun shines out of someone's arse (third-person singular simple present thinks the sun shines out of someone's arse, present participle thinking the sun shines out of someone's arse, simple past and past participle thought the sun shone out of someone's arse or thought the sun shined out of someone's arse)

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, figuratively) To think so well of someone that one cannot imagine anything wrong with them.

think the sun shines out of someone's ass

think the sun shines out of someone's backside

think the sun shines out of someone's butt


smoking carriage

en-noun

smoking carriage (plural smoking carriages)

The trains then still had smoking carriages, and I would sit in these because their passengers seemed the friendliest - and I would smoke in the smoking carriage, because it seemed the done thing.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page xiii, Preface:

(rail transport, British) Synonym of smoking car.


start a hare

en-verb

start a hare (third-person singular simple present starts a hare, present participle starting a hare, simple past and past participle started a hare)

starts a hare (present singular third-person)
starting a hare (participle present)
started a hare (participle past)
started a hare (past)

From the once common practice of hunting rabbits for sport.

(UK, dated) To introduce a conversational topic.


parliamentary train

en-noun

parliamentary train (plural parliamentary trains)

He [Gladstone] also required the operators to run 'Parliamentary Trains' - one each day calling at every station at a fare of not more than a penny per mile for Third Class.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 34:

1885, W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, Act II, in The Mikado, and Other Plays, New York: Modern Library, 1917, p. 42, https://archive.org/details/mikadootherplays00gilb
The idiot who, in railway carriages, / Scribbles on window panes, / We only suffer / To ride on a buffer / In Parliamentary trains.

(rail transport, UK, chiefly historical) Originally a requirement in the Railway Regulation Act 1844 for railways to run at least one train a day each way, at a cost to passengers of no more than one penny a mile, on every railway line in the country. Presently the term is used for passenger trains that serve a line or station only once a day or week to avoid the cost of applying for closure.


like buggery

hurt like buggery

run like buggery ― run like a bat out of hell

sell like buggery ― sell like hot cakes


open-topper

(UK) A double-deck bus with an open, or partially open, top deck.


open-top bus

At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704:

(vehicles, UK) A double-deck bus with an open, or partially open, top deck.


model railway

(UK) A railway in miniature built as a hobby.


Kate and Sidney pie

Kate and Sidney pie (plural Kate and Sidney pies)

steak and kidney pie
steak and kidney pie


neocolonise

en-verb

neocolonise (third-person singular simple present neocolonises, present participle neocolonising, simple past and past participle neocolonised)

neocolonises (present singular third-person)
neocolonising (participle present)
neocolonised (participle past)
neocolonised (past)

British standard spelling of neo-colonize.


neo-colonise

neo-colonise (third-person singular simple present neo-colonises, present participle neo-colonising, simple past and past participle neo-colonised)

neo-colonises (present singular third-person)
neo-colonising (participle present)
neo-colonised (participle past)
neo-colonised (past)


heritage railway

en-noun

heritage railway (plural heritage railways)

The heritage railway [Isle of Wight Steam Railway] argued that passenger numbers on both operators would increase, bringing economic benefit to a deprived area of the town [of Ryde].

(rail transport, UK) A railway operating a line with preserved and restored locomotives, trains and infrastructure, and usually providing train services for visitors; in effect a working open-air museum.


sideboarded

en-adj

sideboarded (comparative more sideboarded, superlative most sideboarded)

more sideboarded (comparative)
most sideboarded (superlative)

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

White in the deck, black-tarred her hull, a leviathan of a ship of two hundred tons, stalwart, braced in the bows for ploughing Atlantics, with pigtailed Plymouth men manning her and her captain with the face of Neptune himself, bearded and sideboarded and a gold-buttoned tunic.

1960, Alexander Cordell, Robe of Honour, page 345:

One of the international symbols of revolt was a hairstyle, long (for the time), greasy, curly and sideboarded.

1978, Peter Lewis, The Fifties, page 120:

Every possible facial type seemed to be represented among the men sitting and shouting on the benches, clean-shaven, sideboarded or bearded; every hue from workmens'^([sic]) nut-brown weatherbeatenness to the pallor of late-stage tuberculosis; every gradation from sobriety to near-paralytic drunkenness.


sunlit uplands

From sunlit (“illuminated by sunlight”) + uplands (“areas in the interior of a country with a generally higher elevation”) (evoking a pleasant, happy place), popularized by its use in the “This was their finest hour” speech delivered by Winston Churchill (1874–1965), the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to the House of Commons on 18 June 1940: see the quotation.

We find in the nation as a whole, the people chosen of God to preserve his name and worship throughout many generations, moving on the sunlit uplands, while the world sat in shadow beneath.

1857, Scottish Society for the Conversion of Israel, “To the Jew first”, in The Friend of Israel, volumes III: January 1856 — February 1867, Glasgow: Thomas Murray and Son, page 305:

A man, to see far, must climb to some height, and I was too much upon the plain in those days to catch even a glimpse of distant sunlit uplands of triumphant achievement that lie beyond the valley of self-sacrifice.

1898, Ralph Connor, Black Rock, a Tale of the Selkirks, Toronto: The Westminster Co., page 94:

[Adolf] Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him all Europe may be free, and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands; but if we fail then the whole world, including the United States, and all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more prolonged, by the lights of a perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

1940 June 18, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister, “War Situation”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume 362, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-04-23, column 61:

Whatever the misgivings might be, the future that these projects paint is bright. That just leaves the challenge of bridging the gap between today's rather gloomy situation and tomorrow's sunlit uplands.

2023 August 9, Philip Haigh, “Get the product and price right to tempt back commuters”, in RAIL, number 989, page 54:

(British, figuratively) A wished-for place or time of happiness and prosperity.

This was their finest hour
Winston Churchill


freight wagon

ROL saw a potential market for the movement of intermodal traffic at speeds of up to 100mph, which would be easier to path alongside passenger services, using a new design of freight wagon.

2023 July 26, David Clough, “Technology progression defines Class 93”, in RAIL, number 988, page 52:

(rail transport, UK) A railroad car used to carry freight.


borough council

en-noun

borough council (plural borough councils)

Coordinate term: boroughmaster

metropolitan borough
metropolitan borough

(UK) A body of people elected to manage the affairs of a local government district with borough status, metropolitan borough or London borough; e.g. Spelthorne Borough Council.


cudgel one's brain

en-verb

cudgel one's brain (third-person singular simple present cudgels one's brain, present participle (US) cudgeling one's brain or (UK) cudgelling one's brain, simple past and past participle (US) cudgeled one's brain or (UK) cudgelled one's brain)

cudgels one's brain (present singular third-person)
cudgeling one's brain (US participle present)
cudgelling one's brain (UK participle present)
cudgeled one's brain (US participle past)
cudgeled one's brain (US past)
cudgelled one's brain (UK participle past)
cudgelled one's brain (UK past)

(UK, dated, figuratively) to think hard and try to remember something.


lower orders

(UK, dated, derogatory) the lower classes in society


tram-train

One million passengers have used the Sheffield tram-train in the first year of its trial, according to South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE). [...] Tim Bilby, Stagecoach Supertram Managing Director, said passenger numbers and customer satisfaction had exceeded expectations, showing that tram-trains offer an affordable and efficient way to connect Sheffield city centre and Rotherham.

2019 November 6, “Sheffield lays groundwork for tram-train schemes”, in Rail, page 24:

(rail transport, UK) A design of tram which can operate over standard railway track as well as tram track.

tren tramvia

Verknüpfung zwischen Straßenbahn und Eisenbahn


trading estate

(UK) An area of land used by a number of businesses for commercial and industrial purposes.


Stokie

Stoke are a decent club fallen behind, League Cup winners back in 1971. […] My mate Alec, a Stokie, suggests later that in earlier times good professionals would have stopped at, say, five in a game like this: […]

(UK, slang) A person from Stoke-on-Trent, England.


sexvigintillion

(rare, US, modern British and Australia, short scale) 10⁸¹.

Previous: quinvigintillion: short scale 1078

Next: septenvigintillion: short scale 1084


octovigintillion

(rare, US, modern British and Australia, short scale) 10⁸⁷.

Previous: septenvigintillion: short scale 1084

Next: novemvigintillion: short scale 1090


septenvigintillion

(rare, US, modern British and Australia, short scale) 10⁸⁴.

Previous: sexvigintillion: short scale 1081

Next: octovigintillion: short scale 1087


novemvigintillion

(rare, US, modern British and Australia, short scale) 10⁹⁰.

Previous: octovigintillion: short scale 1087


real nappy

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


mumfluencer

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

Blend of mum + influencer, equivalent to mum + -fluencer.

She'd spent the weekend replying to the PRs offering money for branded content, setting up meetings and feverishly researching the 'mumfluencer' thing.

She is a UN Global Ambassador for Gender Equality, writes a column for Mother & Baby magazine, and was recently crowned the Number 1 Mumfluencer in the magazine.

(UK, informal, neologism) A mother who is an influencer on social media, typically using this platform to promote consumer products, offer parenting advice, or document her child's upbringing.


red flag law

(UK, US, historical) A law enacted in the late 19th century, requiring drivers of early automobiles to take certain safety precautions, including waving a red flag in front of the vehicle as a warning.


notchel

to cry notchel; the practice of notchel crying

(obsolete, UK, dialect, Lancashire) The repudiation of a wife by her husband, who thereby refuses to pay her debts.


slog one's guts out

slog one's guts out (third-person singular simple present slogs one's guts out, present participle slogging one's guts out, simple past and past participle slogged one's guts out)

slogs one's guts out (present singular third-person)
slogging one's guts out (participle present)
slogged one's guts out (participle past)
slogged one's guts out (past)

sweat one's guts out
sweat one's guts out#English


Network Rail

(rail transport, UK) The government-owned company that owns and manages the infrastructure on the railway network in Britain used by TOCs (train operating companies).


Truronian

(UK) A person from the city of Truro, Cornwall.


PIPCU

w:Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit

(UK) Initialism of Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.


top-slicing

(UK, education) An arrangement whereby part of an educational institution's income is set aside to fund operational costs.

(UK, television) A proposed system whereby part of the television licence fee would be used to fund the rollout of superfast broadband.


pin one's ears back

pin one's ears back (third-person singular simple present pins one's ears back, present participle pinning one's ears back, simple past and past participle pinned one's ears back)

pins one's ears back (present singular third-person)
pinning one's ears back (participle present)
pinned one's ears back (participle past)
pinned one's ears back (past)


French coffee

en-noun

French coffee (countable and uncountable, plural French coffees)

Also the first-named component has to be in excess of a given percentage (e.g. in the UK so-called French coffee has to contain at least 51% roasted coffee, the remainder being roasted chicory).

1987, R.J. Clarke, R. Macrae, Coffee: Related Beverages, page 150:

In the old days, “French Coffee" (with Chicory mixed) used to be in green Colour, and pure Coffee used red Colour.

2002, Indian Coffee: Bulletin of the Indian Coffee Board:

Everything was very simple—typically French coffee, served in a bowl and strongly flavored with chicory, along with a piece of bread—yet I was received as an old friend.

2014, Dietrich von Hildebrand, John Henry Crosby, My Battle Against Hitler:

Emile has a taste for chicory-infused French coffees, a taste Alex doesn't share.

2014, Maddox Kent, The Writing Class, page 184:


dodge the column

en-verb

dodge the column (third-person singular simple present dodges the column, present participle dodging the column, simple past and past participle dodged the column)

dodges the column (present singular third-person)
dodging the column (participle present)
dodged the column (participle past)
dodged the column (past)

From column in the sense of "a body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road."

(chiefly UK, informal, figuratively) to avoid doing work.


chicken shop

(UK) A restaurant or takeaway serving fried chicken.


MAPPA

w:Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement

(UK, law) Acronym of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement: an arrangement for the management of violent and sexual offenders who pose a serious risk to the public.


Godwilling

(UK, obsolete, business) A printed circular sent in advance by a travelling salesman to customers, naming the dates on which he hoped to visit them.


Johnny no mates

en-noun

Johnny no mates (plural Johnny no mates)

(British, slang) Synonym of Billy no mates (“a person with few or no friends”)


hanaster

No trade gild might be started without the consent of the whole body of hanasters, who would insist that the regulations were not harmful to the burgesses as a whole; […]

1920, H. E. Salter, Munimenta Civitatis Oxonie, volume 71, page xxviii:

(UK, historical) A person paying the entrance fee of the guild merchant, and admitted as a freeman of the city of Oxford.


omnishambolic

en-adj

omnishambolic (comparative more omnishambolic, superlative most omnishambolic)

more omnishambolic (comparative)
most omnishambolic (superlative)

(UK, informal, rare) Being or relating to an omnishambles; utterly mismanaged.


pac-a-mac

Originally a brand name coined in 1949 as a shortening of "pack a macintosh".

And there she was - wearing a dark blue pac-a-mac over a blue brushed-nylon nightdress, topped off with a hairnet. It was as though Death itself had just walked into the kitchen. She always wore the pac-a-mac because a dressing gown would have taken up valuable space in her suitcase.

2003, Eric Goulden, A Dysfunctional Success: The Wreckless Eric Manual, page 20:

It was raining hard when the girls came back into the Brownie circle for vespers, and the gaggle of mums gathered in the Drill Hall porch, sweating in their pac-a-macs and listening to the water swishing down the guttering.

2011, Kate Harrison, Brown Owl's Guide To Life:

I am the only customer in the Perch in possession of a backpack and wearing a pac-a-mac, which I've yet to take off despite the sun coming out.

2017, Tom Chesshyre, From Source to Sea:

(British) A lightweight rainjacket that can be compressed into a small pocket-sized bag.


tit up

en-verb

tit up (third-person singular simple present tits up, present participle titting up, simple past and past participle titted up)

tits up (present singular third-person)
titting up (participle present)
titted up (participle past)
titted up (past)

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

She let me tit her up over her jumper.

Top Spot was here. Here somewhere. Giant ballroom with chandeliers and red velvet curtains. We'd snog and kiss, be fingered, titted up.

2004, Tracey Emin, Top Spot, Tracey Emin (actor), BBC Three:

You had to tit the girl up for about a year! You had to tit her up round the flats! [...] You titted her up over the jumper, over the jumper. Then you got under the jumper!

2011, Micky Flanagan Live: The Out Out Tour, Micky Flanagan (actor), Channel 4 DVD:

[...] I knew modern feminism and myself were deeply estranged during last month’s outcry over young women being ‘groped at gigs’, as my first thought was that when I was sixteen, getting titted up wildly in the melee at the Glasgow Barrowlands really was the best part.

2016 May 16, Grace Dent, “You won't part me from my high heels - if this is millennial feminism, I’m joining the patriarchy”, in The Independent:

(British, vulgar slang, transitive) To fondle or grope the breasts of.


take post

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

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

(intransitive, archaic, figurative) To begin to serve any position, particularly (UK military, historical) to be named a post-captain.


pay-to-stay

In 1979, 42% of Britons lived in council homes. Today that figure is just under 8%. Now, by scrapping secure tenancies and bringing in a pay-to-stay scheme, the government’s new housing bill could mark the end of a century-old dream[.]

2016 January 4, John Harris, “The end of council housing”, in The Guardian:

Under the so-called “pay to stay” plans, families or individuals with a total annual income of £30,000 outside London or £40,000 in the capital will have to pay rents “at market or near-market levels”.

2016 March 23, Nigel Morris, “Pay to stay: Moves to impose increases on rents paid by better-off council tenants set to be thrown out by peers”, in The Independent:

(UK) A United Kingdom government policy, due to come into effect in April 2017 but never implemented, whereby council tenants earning £30,000 (£40,000 in London) would have to pay "market or near market rents".


randle-balk

(UK, dialect, obsolete) The horizontal bar in an open chimney on which cooking vessels are hung.


tell the time

tell the time (third-person singular simple present tells the time, present participle telling the time, simple past and past participle told the time)

tells the time (present singular third-person)
telling the time (participle present)
told the time (participle past)
told the time (past)


NGCI

(UK) Initialism of no gluten-containing ingredients.


sick to the back teeth

"Passengers are sick to their back teeth of paying for boardroom largesse and eye-watering fares."

2019 December 18, Andrew Roden, “Rail fares to rise by an average of 2.7% in January”, in Rail, page 17:

(British, idiomatic) Extremely annoyed about, fed up, tired of.


red judge

So called because in most cases their dress code would include a red robe or sash or tippet of some kind.

The fact is that ever since the piece appeared in The Times about Leonard being appointed to the High Court bench and becoming a Red Judge, things have been more than a little slow.

2006, John Mortimer, chapter 26, in Rumpole and the Reign of Terror:


purple judge

So called because in most cases their dress code would include a purple or lilac robe or sash or tippet of some kind.

The criminal defendant sees a difference between a 'red judge' and a purple judge.

2012, David Kelly, Gary Slapper, Sourcebook on English Legal System, page 174:


Gillick competence

Based on the 1985 decision of the House of Lords in Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority.

(UK, law) The capacity of a child to consent to medical treatment without parental permission or knowledge.


OTS

The chancellor has asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to report on how CGT rates compare with other taxes, and how the present rules may distort behaviour. […] The OTS is likely to consider a lot of tinkering around the edges.

2020 July 15, Patrick Collinson, “Capital gains tax review: your questions answered”, in The Guardian:

Office of Tax Simplification
w:Office of Tax Simplification

(UK, taxation) Initialism of Office of Tax Simplification.


big light

Who put the big light on? It's like Blackpool Illuminations in here!

(UK, informal) The main, usually central, light of a room in a house.


like Blackpool Illuminations

In reference to Blackpool Illuminations, an annual festival of light founded in 1879.

Turn all those lights off. It's like Blackpool Illuminations in here!

(informal, British, simile) Very brightly lit.


mineral wagon

(rail transport, UK) An open goods wagon with relatively high sides for the transport of minerals such as coal or iron ore.


Beeching

Topographic surname from either Old English bæc (“stream, brook”) or bēċe (“beech”).

Nationally, there were relatively few closures after Beeching and more recently some lines have reopened to passenger traffic, such as the Cannock Chase line, which for a number of years had been freight only.

2014 March 31, Geoff Cryer, Shropshire Railways, Crowood, →ISBN:

(UK, rail transport) The Beeching Axe; the closure of many branch lines in the UK in the mid-20th century.


lobby fodder

Alluding to the division of the assembly, in which MPs walk through one of the two division lobbies on either side of the House in order to vote for or against.

Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament

(UK, politics, colloquial, derogatory) Members of Parliament who vote according to the party line but otherwise contribute little or nothing.


reversing siding

en-noun

reversing siding (plural reversing sidings)

Help could also come from adding reversing sidings east of Victoria. This would cut the number of trains running on towards Rochdale or Stalybridge, which might ease the contraints of those single-ladder junctions.

2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 23:

(rail transport, UK) A siding provided for terminating passenger trains, usually at a through station, where a train can lay over between journeys before heading back in the opposite direction.


polac

An accident involving a police car is known as a 'polac', and is investigated 'independently' by the area traffic department rather than by the division to which the driver belongs.

1990, Robert Chesshyre, Force: Inside the Police, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

Before getting out of his van, he sent out a Polac (police accident) bulletin on his radio.

2001 February 12, John Sutherland, The Guardian:

Two weeks in my opinion cant surely be enough.¶ Oh well, whatever saves money. (they way to stop Polacs is apparently to create an initial phase pursuit course (1 to 2 days)! mmmm I think perhaps the way might be to stop decreasing the length of the course and to give drivers some appropriate vehicles, but thats another thread!

2007 January 2, magoo, “Standard Driving Test for Special Constables”, in Police Community, archived from the original on 2021-02-05, Roads Policing:

(UK, law enforcement) A road-traffic accident that occurs due to presence of a police vehicle.


tide surveyor

(UK, historical) A customs inspector ranking above the tide waiters.


sye

Thank yer kindly for mi comfortable tea. That's what you was about to sye, eh'!
No, 'tain't.

[…] is nicely depicted in the following literary picture of Sir Douglas Haig by a London Tommy: “Aig, 'e don't sye much, 'e don't; 'e don't, so to sye, sye nothink, sye nothink; but what 'e don't sye don't mean nothink, not 'arf; and when 'e do sye anythink—my Gawd!"

1917, The Minneapolis District Dental Journal, page 50:

It was a terrible thing to sye of one that's everythink in the world to me, but seein' 'im there, all crumpled up, with one leg one wye, and the other leg another wye, […]

(UK, dialectal or eye-dialectal, dated) To say.


POLAC

I doubt that the organisation is going to be terribly concerned that you arrive at that call thirty seconds later than you would have done otherwise but can be pretty sure that they would have something to say had you smashed up your police car on the way there. I doubt also that CPS would be satisfied with the defence of '...It was my first night duty … and I was rather tired...' after your high profile POLAC gets splashed all over the national newspapers and television news.

2019, Darren Moor, How To Survive Your Police Career, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN:

And it really brought it home to me when I was involved in my own POLAC (police accident) in March 2012.

2015 January 14, Jessica Davies, “Pc moved into office role 'after telling bosses blue-flashing lights on police cars don't work'”, in The Telegraph:

First, a woman goes missing, and leaves her things and a mysterious note in her car. Now a POLAC with a DCI in the passenger seat.

2015, Martin Edwards, The Dungeon House, Allison & Busby, →ISBN:

When you have an at fault POLAC on camera!

2018 February 1, StopFightingTheDog, “That moment you have a POLAC . . . in the middle of the day in town . . . whilst being recorded for a television programme”, in Reddit, r/PoliceUK:

(UK, law enforcement) Alternative letter-case form of polac


down tools

en-verb

down tools (third-person singular simple present downs tools, present participle downing tools, simple past and past participle downed tools)

downs tools (present singular third-person)
downing tools (participle present)
downed tools (participle past)
downed tools (past)

But when railway workers downed tools almost a year later, on September 26 1919, Britain was in many ways still a country at war.

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

In Coventry, 300 GMB members plan to down tools over long hours, bad management and a 50p-an-hour pay rise[.]

2023 January 22, Heather Stewart, “First industrial action at Amazon UK hopes to strike at firm’s union hostility”, in The Guardian:

(informal, UK, idiomatic) To stop work, especially when taking industrial action.


glebe-farm

(chiefly British) A home farm for a rectory, used for the parish priest, vicar, pastor, or rector, usually at church expense.


purser's crabs

(UK, naval slang) Boots issued by the navy.


Rule 43

Solitary confinement
solitary confinement

(UK) Solitary confinement imposed to protect a vulnerable prisoner from other inmates.


Guzz

Uncertain; there are various speculative theories. See HMNB Devonport § Nickname on Wikipedia.Wikipedia


play someone at their own game

en-verb

play someone at their own game (third-person singular simple present plays someone at their own game, present participle playing someone at their own game, simple past and past participle played someone at their own game)

plays someone at their own game (present singular third-person)
playing someone at their own game (participle present)
played someone at their own game (participle past)
played someone at their own game (past)

beat someone at their own game
beat someone at their own game#English

(UK) Alternative form of beat someone at their own game


RAOC

Royal Army Ordnance Corps
w:Royal Army Ordnance Corps

(UK, military, historical) Initialism of Royal Army Ordnance Corps.


sitting tenant

(UK) A tenant who is already in occupation of a premises, especially when there is a change of owner. The tenant is not evicted when the property is sold to a new owner.


do the honour

do the honour (third-person singular simple present does the honour, present participle doing the honour, simple past did the honour, past participle done the honour)

does the honour (present singular third-person)
doing the honour (participle present)
did the honour (past)
done the honour (participle past)

(UK) Alternative spelling of do the honor


filing clerk

(UK) An office worker whose chief responsibility is filing documents.

архивар

an office worker whose chief responsibility is filing documents


pilotman

However, as soon as they are inside the dock territory, at the Canute Road crossing in the case of the Old Docks and Millbrook in the case of the New Docks, incoming main line trains must slow down to take on a pilotman, who directs the train on the instructions of Operational Control, either to one of the yard reception roads, or, if it is a boat train, to the appropriate quayside.

1959 February, G. Freeman Allen, “Southampton—Gateway to the Ocean”, in Trains Illustrated, page 92:

These points will be padlocked, a green hand-signal will be shown and the keys handed to the pilotman, who will be expected to make a periodical examination of the points to see that they are secure and that the hand-signal is still properly displayed.

1963 September, “Change of single-line rules”, in Modern Railways, page 147:

Alongside its vital role of maintaining and reviewing each of the rail industry's 294 technical and safety standards, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is about to turn its attention to how to make the term 'pilotman' gender-neutral.

2022 April 20, “Network News: RSSB to explore new terms to replace 'pilotman'”, in RAIL, number 955, page 16:

(rail transport, UK) A railway employee who directs operations over a section of railway line temporarily reduced to single track, e.g. during maintenance work, or within an unsignalled area.


ABU

(UK, soccer, slang) Initialism of anyone but United: a fan who dislikes Manchester United and will support any team that is playing against them.


flying freehold

en-noun

flying freehold (plural flying freeholds)

From the idea that the "ground" on which the freehold estate stands is above the actual ground, and hence that the freehold is flying.

These flying freehold rights are more trouble than they are worth because all sorts of complicated covenants and easements have to be confirmed to ensure that there are no doubts over who is responsible for roof repairs and to guarantee that there are no arguments over access.

1994, Justice of the Peace & Local Government Law:

We have made a modification whereby we have 'taken' part of the loft of one to give to next door (this enables us to gain easy access to loft space and therefore create another bedroom). This now protrudes over next door by about 5ft. I understand this has created a situation known as 'flying freehold', which apparently makes a property difficult to sell and to mortgage.

2004, Sarah O'Grady, The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Property:

This approach to the freehold estate seems, however, to be an unnecessary complication and it has been pointed out for centuries that there is no real justification for the view that there is some difficulty involved in creating a flying freehold.

2018, Judith-Anne MacKenzie, Aruna Nair, Textbook on Land Law, page 618:

(law, UK) The freehold of property in an upper storey above a lower storey that belongs to a different freehold; the converse of creeping freehold.


NCS

National Crime Squad
w:National Crime Squad

(UK, historical) Initialism of National Crime Squad.


COBR

Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
w:en:Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms

(UK, politics) Initialism of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms.