certiorari

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɛəɹaɪ/

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɛəɹi/

/ˌsɝʃəˈɹɑɹi/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɛəɹaɪ/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɛəɹi/

/ˌsɜːʃəˈɹɑːɹi/

From the present passive infinitive of Latin certiōrō (“to make certain”), from the words used at the beginning of these writs when they were written in Latin: certiorārī volumus (“[we] wish to be made certain”).

(British, law) A grant of review of a government action by a court with discretion to make such a review.


decigramme

(British) Alternative spelling of decigram


taxi rank

Although she detested her client, the taxi rank system meant she had no choice but to take the case.

(British) The system whereby barristers must accept a brief if they are the first available when one comes up.


stive

en-verb

stive (third-person singular simple present stives, present participle stiving, simple past and past participle stived)

stives (present singular third-person)
stiving (participle present)
stived (participle past)
stived (past)

1796, Amelia Simmons, American Cookery, 1996 Bicentennial Facsimile Edition, page 64,
Let your cucumbers be ſmall, freſh gathered, and free from ſpots; then make a pickle of ſalt and water, ſtrong enough to bear an egg; boil the pickle and ſkim it well, and then pour it upon your cucumbers, and ſtive them down for twenty four hours; […] .

(UK, dialect, transitive, intransitive) To stew; to be stifled or suffocated.


corner shop

After six such encounters in tiny corner shops which normally complained that they were out of sugar, that the cornflakes were late in again and that they couldn't get tomato sauce for love nor money, the Captain, his head reeling, had staggered into the High Street off-licence.

1992, Robert Rankin, The Antipope, page 123:

(UK) A small retail store, often in a residential area, that carries a limited selection of everyday items and is open long hours for the convenience of shoppers.


sprayed

en-adj

sprayed (comparative more sprayed, superlative most sprayed)

more sprayed (comparative)
most sprayed (superlative)

(UK, dialect, obsolete) chapped with cold


cheap and cheerful

cheap and cheerful (comparative more cheap and cheerful, superlative most cheap and cheerful)

more cheap and cheerful (comparative)
most cheap and cheerful (superlative)

There's a cheap and cheerful coffee shop on the next street which sells quite a good selection of sandwiches.

(UK) Not of bad quality, or otherwise enjoyable, despite being cheap.


industrial action

en-noun

industrial action (countable and uncountable, plural industrial actions)

Furthermore, overdue training of crew on the new Class 385 electrics, compounded by industrial action, meant that announcements of train cancellations "due to a member of the train crew being unavailable" became very familiar to passengers across east central Scotland.

2019 November 6, Robert Drysdale, “Wires offer boost to Borders revival”, in Rail, page 42:

(chiefly UK, Ireland) A workplace protest by employees designed to inconvenience or disrupt the business of the employer.


wifie

Dialectal diminutive of wife (“woman”), equivalent to wife + -ie.

(UK, informal, endearing) A woman, who is a best friend of another woman.


rotter

Calvin could be anywhere in this zoo. I hope he at least has the sense to stay put, wherever he is. Where would the little rotter go if he was lost and separated from his stuffed toy?

1988 July 26, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

Some Johnny with brains produces a hypothesis. Everybody calls him a rotter at first. But he remains calm in the face of opprobrium.

1908 August, George A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter VII, in Spanish Gold, 2nd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […], published September 1908, →OCLC, page 76:

(UK, Australia, slang) A despicable, worthless person; a scoundrel.


meself

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

‘True, I haven’t introduced meself.’

1997 June 26, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], chapter IV, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter; 1), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

(slang or dialectal, UK, Ireland, Australia) Alternative form of myself


beer and skittles

Found as early as 1837, in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, where it appears in the form, “It’s a reg’lar holiday to them—all porter and skittles”. The most common form, as a negative admonition, appears to have been popularized by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days (1857, see quotation below).

Well, well, we must bide our time. Life isn't all beer and skittles—but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman's education.

1857, Thomas Hughes, chapter 2, in Tom Brown's School Days:

Being a soldier's wife isn't all beer and skittles.

1911, Anthony Hope, chapter 22, in Mrs. Maxon Protests, page 259:

His plight reveals a truth that's often obscured by the envy of newspaper readers; that it's not all beer and skittles in restaurant-critic land.

2012 March 24, John Walsh, “The perils of reviewing restaurants”, in The Independent:

Such highly intensive deployment left little wriggle room, something with which Dunster is all too familiar. "It hasn't all been beer and skittles," he says dryly.

2022 October 5, Nick Brodrick, “Pendolinos: a huge role to play”, in RAIL, number 967, page 41:

(chiefly UK, idiomatic) Fun times; pleasure and leisure.


resection

en-verb

resection (third-person singular simple present resections, present participle resectioning, simple past and past participle resectioned)

resections (present singular third-person)
resectioning (participle present)
resectioned (participle past)
resectioned (past)

According to Dyson LJ, mental health professionals will be acting unlawfully in resectioning a patient following discharge by a tribunal if 'the sole or principal ground on which they rely is one which in substance has been rejected by the tribunal.'

2002, Legal Action: The Bulletin of the Legal Action Group, page 12:

After just three weeks at home, with yet more 'abuse in the community' I am resectioned, and Helen re-admitted the same night.

2009, Simon Richard Lee, The Fourth Helen of the Apocalypse!, →ISBN, page 28:

He argued that the only way that his client could be retained in the hospital was if she was resectioned altogether. To be assessed for a new section she had to show fresh evidence of mental disorder and risk to others.

2013, Rod Madocks, Ship of Fools, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To readmit involuntarily into a mental hospital.


kenspeckle

en-adj

kenspeckle (comparative more kenspeckle, superlative most kenspeckle)

more kenspeckle (comparative)
most kenspeckle (superlative)

'It [the gold coin] is sae bonny and sae kenspeckle,' said she, 'that I think I'll keep it for the sake of the giver.'

(Scotland, northern British) Easily recognized, distinctive, conspicuous.


mithridatisation

From mithridatise + -ation, in reference to Mithridates VI of Pontus.

(UK, rare) Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of mithridatization.


come-all-you

From the common occurrence in such songs of an exhortation beginning "come all you".

He slapped his thighs and whooped and catcalled, encouraging anyone who knew it to join in the ‘traditional come-all-you’!

2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury, published 2007, page 3:

(dialectal, British, Ireland) A traditional folk or country song.


mackle

en-verb

mackle (third-person singular simple present mackles, present participle mackling, simple past and past participle mackled)

mackles (present singular third-person)
mackling (participle present)
mackled (participle past)
mackled (past)

It's dry and warm and if Jacob and I were to put our heads together I'm sure we could find something in the tack-room, some harness, or a nose band or two that could be mackled together to make a carrying contraption.

1998, Audrey Howard, When Morning Comes:

(UK, dialect, transitive) To assemble in a makeshift manner; to cobble together.


in the reign of Queen Dick

Since Dick is a man's name, it would never be borne by a queen.


TCR

en-noun

TCR (countable and uncountable, plural TCRs)

(UK, utilities) Abbreviation of tariff comparison rate.


miss out

en-verb

miss out (third-person singular simple present misses out, present participle missing out, simple past and past participle missed out)

misses out (present singular third-person)
missing out (participle present)
missed out (participle past)
missed out (past)

DOCTOR (as the TARDIS is showing pictures of his previous companions): Miss out the metal dog, why don't you?

2010 November 8, Meanwhile, in the TARDIS... (mini-episodes included in the fifth season of Doctor Who)

"That's because we recognise these towns do have a significant population who need to travel, and they've been kind of missed out."

2024 December 11, David Stubbings, “Network News: Go-op targets 2026 start for open access to Taunton”, in RAIL, number 1024, page 13:

(chiefly British) To leave out, to omit.


wits' end

The Seamen they
Bestir their stumps, and at wits end do weep.
Wake, Jonas, who saith
Heave me over deck.

1699, Edward Taylor, The Poems of Edward Taylor, published 1989, page 136:

He was so eloquent in drawing the picture of his own neglected merits, and so pathetic in lamenting over it when it was done, that I felt quite at my wits' end how to console him, when it suddenly occurred to me that here was a case for the wholesome application of a bit of Robinson Crusoe.

1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “First Period. The Loss of the Diamond (1848). […]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1868, →OCLC, chapter XXII, page 29:

The frightened women were at their wits' end.

1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XVIII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

Our dozen cabin passengers sorely put to wits' end to pass yesterday without cards in observance of the Sabbath.

c. 1911, John Muir, in John Muir and Michael P. Branch, John Muir's Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa (2002 edition), page 138

Yet years of talks, threats and sanctions have failed to halt the program, and officials are at their wits' end on how to wean Iran off its nuclear habit.

2010 December 10, Leo Cendrowicz, “Talks on Iran's Nuclear Program Produce ... More Talks”, in Time:

(chiefly British) The limit of one's sanity or mental capacity; the point of desperation.


soakaway

These trenches, you know, are much deeper than one's height; you don't see anything. It's like walking along a mud-walled passage. Every now and then some one stumbles into a soakaway for rainwater.

1916, H. G. Wells, chapter 9, in Mr. Britling Sees It Through:

(chiefly UK) A deep hole used for drainage, where rainwater and other wastewater drains directly into the ground, without connection to any mains drainage or sewerage pipes.


gunner

Cebuano: gunner

gonna (non-rhotic, based on the /ˈɡʌn.ə/ pronunciation)

From Middle English gonner; equivalent to gun + -er.

(UK, slang, soccer) A fan of the Arsenal Football Club.

Pagellus bogaraveo
Pagellus bogaraveo#Translingual

(UK, Ireland, dialect) The sea bream, especially Pagellus bogaraveo (blackspot sea bream)


jerry

We used chamber-pots a good deal – ‘jerries’ – cause of much hilarity doe to the hostilities.

1976, Angela Carter, “The Mother Lode”, in Shaking a Leg, Vintage, published 2013, page 3:


fizzog

Thus psychologically broken, they're offered a lifeline: Nicky and Co. offer to shave a decade off their fizzogs courtesy of a haircut, a makeover and a faceload of plastic surgery.

2005 February 26, Charlie Brooker, The Guardian:

(UK, slang, dated) Alternative form of phizog (“the face”).


French knickers

For this reason, any woman would much, much rather receive a pair of silk French knickers trimmed with antique lace that require handwashing in Evian water and which she will never actually wear than the three-pack of tummy-control pants from M&S that she desperately needs.

2004 December 3, Jess Cartner-Morley, “Present perfect”, in The Guardian:

(UK) A type of full-fitting women's underwear.


levered firm

(UK, business, finance) A company that funds its operations by taking out loans.


Bazza

From Barry (or any personal name starting Ba-) + -zza.

“Barry, you've been on the Coast too long. Tomorrow morning I'm going to organize a job for you elsewhere. I'd start packing if I were you.”
However, Bazza wasn't put off that easily.

(British, Ireland, Australia) A diminutive of the male given name Barry.

‘I′m standing at me own door, Bazza. Nothing illegal in that, is there?’
‘Do you want a lift, Basil?’ I asked him.

2001, Kerryn Higgs, All That False Instruction, page 181:

(British, Ireland, Australia) A diminutive of the male given name Basil.


fent

From Old French fente, from Latin findēre (“to cleave”).

(UK, dialect) A remnant; an odd piece left over.


-metre

(nonstandard, British) Alternative form of -meter (suffix used to form the names of measuring devices).


mamaw

Probably an affectionate alteration of mama or reduplication of mother.

(UK, dialect, Scottish lowlands) One's mother.


dawk

dawk (third-person singular simple present dawks, present participle dawking, simple past and past participle dawked)

dawks (present singular third-person)
dawking (participle present)
dawked (participle past)
dawked (past)

Ultimately from Old English dalc (“pin”). More at dalk.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To drive a sharp instrument into; incise with a jerk; puncture.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To dig up weeds.


windhover

From wind + hover, due to the bird’s habit of hovering by beating the wind with its wings; compare the earlier word windfucker.

Falco tinnunculus
Falco tinnunculus#Translingual

(British) The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).


rule OK

rule OK (third-person singular simple present rules OK, present participle ruling OK, simple past and past participle ruled OK)

rules OK (present singular third-person)
ruling OK (participle present)
ruled OK (participle past)
ruled OK (past)

Yet nationalism rules OK across most public management.

2006 May 31, David Walker, “Beware leadership by syringe.”, in The Guardian:

(idiomatic, British, informal) To be popularly accepted, or supported by the general majority of people.


degen

"Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degen, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter XXVIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, volume 1, New York: J. & J. Harper, page 228:


patchery

(UK, India, military, historical) Living quarters for married soldiers.


haul someone over the coals

haul someone over the coals (third-person singular simple present hauls someone over the coals, present participle hauling someone over the coals, simple past and past participle hauled someone over the coals)

hauls someone over the coals (present singular third-person)
hauling someone over the coals (participle present)
hauled someone over the coals (participle past)
hauled someone over the coals (past)

In reference to a punishment once meted out to heretics.

The teacher hauled him over the coals for not doing his homework.

in no uncertain terms
in no uncertain terms

(chiefly UK, idiomatic) To express anger with someone in no uncertain terms when they do something wrong.


grace and favour

In 1986 a fire began in a grace-and-favour apartment above the King's Apartments in the south Wren wing.

2005, Nigel R. Jones, Architecture of England, Scotland, and Wales, page 127:

In the days before she formally stepped down, Truss held farewell parties for her supporters at the prime ministerial grace-and-favour mansion of Chequers.

2023 September 1, Aubrey Allegretti, “‘She’s totally lost it’: inside story of the unravelling of Liz Truss’s premiership”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(British, as a modifier to a form of accommodation) Owned by the sovereign or government and granted free of rent to a person as an expression of gratitude or obligation.


get on someone's wick

get on someone's wick (third-person singular simple present gets on someone's wick, present participle getting on someone's wick, simple past and past participle got on someone's wick)

gets on someone's wick (present singular third-person)
getting on someone's wick (participle present)
got on someone's wick (participle past)
got on someone's wick (past)

His silly questions are really getting on my wick.

(UK, colloquial) To annoy or upset someone, especially by repeated disagreeable actions.


divi

(British, informal, dated) The dividend paid out by the Co-op


Nissen hut

Named after Canadian engineer Peter Norman Nissen (1871–1930).

named-after

A group of six men could erect a Nissen hut in just four hours. Its design could be easily modified for a range of uses such as hospitals, kitchens, drying rooms and bathhouses.

2015, James Campbell et al., editors, Studies in Construction History, →ISBN, page 244:

A row of original, large and life-expired MoD 'wriggly tin' Nissen huts close to the Rail Live entrance haven't simply been reskinned, they have been replaced with new, modern equivalents to the original design.

2023 May 31, Nigel Harris, “The Rail Live story...”, in RAIL, number 984, page 36:

(UK, Ireland) A prefabricated building, formerly used by the military, having a semicircular roof of corrugated iron.


candidature

en-noun

candidature (countable and uncountable, plural candidatures)

/ˈkændɪdət͡ʃʊɚ/

/ˈkændɪdət͡ʃɚ/

From French candidature, equivalent to candidate + -ure.

(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK) The condition of becoming a candidate; candidateship.


an Englishman's home is his castle

a man's home is his castle
a man's home is his castle#English

(British) Synonym of a man's home is his castle


jolly well

You jolly well deserved it.

We never had a Christmas in the country before. It was simply ripping. And the long-lost love—her name was Miss Ashleigh, but we were allowed to call her Aunt Margaret even before the wedding made it really legal for us to do so—she and her jolly clergyman brother used to come over, and sometimes we went to the Cedars, where they live, and we had games and charades, and hide-and-seek, and Devil in the Dark, which is a game girls pretend to like, and very few do really, and crackers and a Christmas-tree for the village children, and everything you can jolly well think of.

1904, Edith Nesbit, The New Treasure Seekers, Chapter 1:

"Oh, I shall pull it off. I shall jolly well have to succeed," said Michael light-heartedly; feeling unusually confident.

1920, Eric Leadbitter, Rain Before Seven, page 122:

Adrian thought it worth while trying out his new slang. […] ‘That’s beastly talk, Thompson. Jolly well take it back or expect a good scragging.’

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section III, page 26:

For most main lines, that's one or two extra trains every hour. "We jolly well ought to be able to encompass that on a lot of lines," he suggests.

2022 April 6, Philip Haigh, “Passenger numbers increase... and freight must follow”, in RAIL, number 954, page 51:

(UK, dated, emphatic, sometimes humorous) Certainly, very well.


a bit

That hat seems a bit small for him.

It rained a bit last night.


a bit

Q: How much trouble did you stir up last night? A: Just a bit.

(especially UK, meiosis) A large amount.


plea of the crown

plea of the crown (plural pleas of the crown)

(British law) A legal action against a criminal.


barley water

barley water (countable and uncountable, plural barley waters)

Large quantities of barley water were consumed constantly, but in the old days, a special boy was kept to run out for beer.

1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14:

(British) A soft drink made by boiling pearl barley with water, and adding flavouring and sugar.

χυλός

a drink made by boiling pearl barley with water


rivage

rivage (countable and uncountable, plural rivages)

From Anglo-Norman rivage, Middle French rivage, from Late Latin rīpāticum.

(law, UK, historical) A duty paid to the crown for the passage of vessels on certain rivers.


gizzing

From Arabic غَزَلَ (ḡazala, “to display amorous behavior, to court”).

der

Nay then; but you're a gizzing at me, maister.

1875, The Gentleman's Magazine, page 253:

She sang the flirtiest song, something about “But I knew dear, somebody else was gizzing you”.

2004, Patricia Page, Across the Magic Line: Growing Up in Fiji, page 197:

(dialect, UK, archaic, transitive, intransitive) To grin and laugh at someone.


shop-walker

Small trades-folk, male and female shop-walkers, better class artisans, lower middle-class women worn with household cares, occasional young folk in search of a sensation—these were the impressions which the audience conveyed to the trained observation of Malone.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Which Describes an Evening in Strange Company”, in The Land of Mist, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published 1926, →OCLC, page 25:

The shop-walkers behaved curiously, too. As the little group passed they bowed to Maia as though she were a Queen.

1934, P[amela] L[yndon] Travers, “Christmas Shopping”, in Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins; 1), London: Gerald Howe Ltd […], →OCLC, page 185:

(British) A retail store floor supervisor.


ironmongery

en-noun

ironmongery (countable and uncountable, plural ironmongeries)

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

"He came in. He had a gun. He was crazy. You can see he was crazy; look what he did to Ricky. He thought Ricky was me. He wanted to steal my adjustables. Look."
Sonny smiled and tilted the steel case so Henry could look at the jumble of rusty ironmongery inside.

(dated, UK, Ireland, uncountable) Tools and other hardware that can be bought in an ironmonger's shop.

(UK, Ireland, uncountable) The trade of an ironmonger.

(UK, Ireland, countable) An ironmonger's shop.


ghost train

(UK) A rail service which does not appear in the public timetables.

(UK) A supernatural manifestation of a railway locomotive or passenger cars.


serialisation

serialisation (countable and uncountable, plural serialisations)

(British) Alternative spelling of serialization


do exactly what it says on the tin

en-verb

do<does,,did,done> exactly what it says<says,said,said> on the tin

do exactly what it says on the tin (third-person singular simple present does exactly what it says on the tin, present participle doing exactly what it said on the tin, simple past did exactly what it said on the tin, past participle done exactly what it said on the tin)

does exactly what it says on the tin (present singular third-person)
doing exactly what it said on the tin (participle present)
did exactly what it said on the tin (past)
done exactly what it said on the tin (participle past)

Based on the slogan from a series of UK television commercials for Ronseal (sealant products), beginning in the 1990s.

[The Erotic Art Museum] does exactly what it says on the tin: presents erotic art […]

2004, Andrea Schulte-Peevers, Germany, Lonely Planet,, →ISBN, page 689:

“That update is doing exactly what it says on the tin,” Jack started, demonstrating the date of birth restriction. It only returned the day and month now, holding back the year, causing some of Jack's regression tests to fail.

2013, Stephen J. Sweeney, Firmware, volume 1:

"Until we get a train that performs to specification, it's difficult to put a timeline on it. The train does not do what it says on the tin.

2022 January 26, Paul Clifton, “Network News: ... and Arterio woes could mean more cascades”, in RAIL, number 949, page 10:

The solutions to this crisis are clear. We must keep fossil fuels in the ground and deliver a clean, green and affordable energy system. We need publicly owned utilities to do what they say on the tin, rather than simply siphon off obscene profits to shareholders.

2022 August 12, Caroline Lucas, “As drought blights the UK, our politicians have their heads buried in the sand”, in The Guardian:

(idiomatic, British, Ireland) To do what is described or what one would expect, with no further explanation needed.


toe rag

“ […] Look what it's all driven me to!—a beggar, a tramp, a toe-rag commercial. […] ”

1896, Walter Frith, In Search of Quiet: A Country Journal, May–July (novel), Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 156

Bamforth: Flipping toe-rag! He wants carving up. It’s time that nit got sorted out. […]

1959, Willis Hall, The Long and the Short and the Tall, Heinemann, published 1994, 978-0-435-23302-0, page 5:

Where I come from, the word ‘reptile’ is a term of endearment, used in much the same way as ‘toe rag’ or ‘moosh’.

2001, Eric Clapton, liner notes to Reptile”, quoted in William Ruhlmann, “Reptile / Mar. 13, 2001 / Reprise”, Vladimir Bogdanov et al., All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues, Third Edition, Hal Leonard Corporation, page 116

(British, slang, derogatory) Alternative spelling of toerag (“tramp”)


abstractor

(dated, historical, UK) A clerk of a certain title or grade in the British civil service.


ablings

(British, dialectal) Alternative form of aiblins


petrol filling station

en-noun

petrol filling station (plural petrol filling stations)

(British) filling station, especially one attached to a supermarket


napoo

en-verb

napoo (third-person singular simple present napoos, present participle napooing, simple past and past participle napooed)

napoos (present singular third-person)
napooing (participle present)
napooed (participle past)
napooed (past)

World War I British and ANZAC army slang, probably a corruption of French “il n′y a plus” (“there is no more”).

He will napoo the rations.

“The general says that if you are wise you will leave before the cannons come. Otherwise you′ll get ‘napooed,’ ” and he made an expressive gesture. “Compris?”

1918, Roland Pertwee, The Little Landscape: Everybody′s Magazine, volume 38, page 35:

I thought a man was lucky if he did not get napooed first trip in.

1918, Hereward Carrington, Psychical Phenomena and the War, page 68:

1984, John Masters, Man of War, 1984, US title High Command, page 230,
“No,” Merton said shortly. “We sit tight, they find us. If we both go wandering about looking for each other in the middle of the night, we′ll start a battle and the whole plan for tomorrow will be napooed.”

German planes had not only carried out a raid behind our lines, but a long-range shell had actually hit one of the Battalion cookers and “napooed” it completely.

1988, Sidney Rogerson, Twelve days, page 19:

(UK, army, slang) To finish; to put an end to; to kill.


napoo

“[…]Finish! Napoo!” and he spread his hands expressively, holding the cup upside down with the cloth hanging out of it, before he went on: “But it hasn't come to that yet.[…]”

1939, Ruthven Todd, Over the Mountain, published 1978, page 216:


moreish

en-adj

moreish (comparative more moreish, superlative most moreish)

more moreish (comparative)
most moreish (superlative)

More-ish. This wine has but one fault, and that is, it is more-ish: i.e. more of it is wanted, or there is too little of it.

1788, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, page 322:

Tell you what, that crack is really moreish.

2004, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, David Mitchell, Robert Webb, “Peep Show - Jeremy Makes It”, in IMDB, YouTube:

Although surprisingly moist, thanks to the stock (indeed, the contrast between the crisp exterior and the squidgy middle is horribly moreish), the combination of parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs reminds me of a very fancy loaf of garlic bread – and all but overpowers the sweet flavour of the cashews.

2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in The Guardian:

The Rogers name carries a lot of weight in the Rogers family, I thought to myself with moreish resentment each time I saw him from then on.

2021, Megan Nolan, Acts of Desperation, Random House, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, informal, of food, drink, or other consumable) Causing one to want to have more, addictive.

drink; or other consumable; drink; or other consumable


Potteries

(British) An area in the West Midlands of England based around Stoke-on-Trent, a centre of the pottery industry.


where there's smoke, there's fire

en-au-where there's smoke, there's fire.ogg

with a grain of salt
with a grain of salt

(UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) If there is a hint of something occurring it could indeed be true, but such rumors should be taken with a grain of salt.

لَا دُخَانَ بِلَا نَار

if there is a hint of something occurring it could indeed be true, but rumors should be handled with skepticism


air marshal

(British, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, military) A military rank between that of air vice-marshal and air chief marshal, equivalent to an army lieutenant general.


chokey

Borrowed from Hindi चौकी (caukī) and Urdu چَوکی (caukī, “post, police station, etc.”).


nicked

en-adj

nicked (comparative more nicked, superlative most nicked)

more nicked (comparative)
most nicked (superlative)

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Stolen.

Get yer trousers on, you're nicked.

1974, Ian Kennedy Martin, Regan, spoken by Jack Regan (John Thaw):

"Mr Punch," I said. "You're nicked."

2011, Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London, Gollancz, published 2011, page 324:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Captured (by police); arrested.


embuggerance

It didn’t matter for them, the course was just a three-week embuggerance and then they’d go home for tea and medals.
…
We were sleeping with most of our kit on anyway, but it was a major embuggerance to have to pull on your boots, flak jacket and helmet and leg it down to the slit trenches.

1993, Andy McNab, Bravo Two Zero, from, published 2008, →ISBN, pages 27 and 80:

Jackrum stared at him blankly for a moment, and then said: ‘Well, now … it looks like what we have here is an embuggerance which, my lads of the Cheesemongers, is defined as an obstruction in the way of progress. I propose to deal with it in this wise!’

2003, Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment:

(British, military, slang) Any obstacle (natural or artificial) that gets in the way of progress.


snaggy

snaggy (comparative snaggier, superlative snaggiest)

snaggier (comparative)
snaggiest (superlative)

I couldn't live wi' a snaggy man like him if I was paaid^([sic]) for it.

1889, English Dialect Society, Publications, numbers 59-64, page 501:

(UK, dialect, archaic) Bad-tempered; crotchety.


arr

Blackbeard the Pirate
Indiana University Press
Long John Silver
Robert Newton

Possibly from aye.
The pirate-imitation form was derived from the West Country dialect after its use by West Country-born actor Robert Newton (1905–1956) in the films Treasure Island (1950) and Blackbeard the Pirate (1952)—and the former’s spin-off media—in which he played, respectively, the fictional pirate Long John Silver and the historical pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (c. 1680 – 1718; also a West Country native).

(British, West Country, West Midlands, Yorkshire) Yes.


slag off

en-verb

slag off (third-person singular simple present slags off, present participle slagging off, simple past and past participle slagged off)

slags off (present singular third-person)
slagging off (participle present)
slagged off (participle past)
slagged off (past)

There’s pressure to be a brand. I’m even locked out of my social media because I just get drunk and slag people off.

2023 February 24, Michael Segalov, quoting Will Young, “Will Young: ‘I’m locked out of my social media because I get drunk and slag people off’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, transitive) To talk insultingly to or about someone or something; usually one who is not present.

mollata

to talk insultingly to or about someone or something


slaggy

en-adj

slaggy (comparative slaggier or more slaggy, superlative slaggiest or most slaggy)

slaggier (comparative)
more slaggy (comparative)
slaggiest (superlative)
most slaggy (superlative)

2005, Maria Beaumont, MissFit, Arrow Books, UK, page 175,
This evening I′ve been the cheapest, slaggiest slag ever.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, derogatory) Resembling or characteristic of a slag; slutty, promiscuous.


little-go

en-noun

little-go (plural little-gos or little-goes)

little-gos (plural)
little-goes (plural)

"Oh," said Mr. Charles Larkyns, "they give you no end of trouble at these places; and they require the vaccination certificate before you go in for your responsions, - the Little-go, you know. You need not mention my name in your letter as having told you this. It will be quite enough to say that you understand such a thing is required."

1853, Edward Bradley, chapter 7, in The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green:

At school they never flogg'd him, / At college, though not fast, / Yet his little-go and great-go / He creditably pass'd, / And made his year's allowance / For eighteen months to last.

1856, William Makepeace Thackeray, The King of Brentford's Testament:

Let's see, this is only his third term? I'll give him, perhaps, two more to make the place too hot to hold him. Take my word for it, he'll never get to his little-go.

1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1883, page 128:

[…] the interrogators were able to recognize this as, “There was a question just like that on my little-go.”

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 801:

(historical, British) Alternative form of little go (“university exam”)


Rachmanism

From Rachman + -ism, from Peter Rachman, accused of being an unscrupulous British landlord.

(British) The exploitation of tenants of slum properties by unscrupulous landlords

(UK) The exploitation of tenants of slum properties by unscrupulous landlords

intimidation de locataires par des propriétaires sans scrupules


cotter pin

(UK) A pin or wedge inserted through a slot to hold machine parts together; a cotter.


shopwalker

(British) Alternative form of shop-walker


draughtsmanship

draughtsmanship (usually uncountable, plural draughtsmanships)


logmaker

So, on the alert for any sound which might enable him to locate logmaker or roadcutter who would put him on the track of Angus, he tramped along and it was not long before his attention was rewarded.

1922, Canada Lumberman and Woodworker - Volume 42, page 50:

Log making exhibited a workload which could be classified as moderate to heavy because the logmaker used a chainsaw on the landing.

1993, John Galbraith, Managing New Zealand's Forests for Future Markets:

A poor logmaker who managed to achieve 70% of the optimum would be loosing^([sic]) $60 per tree which is $30 per tonne or $18,000 per hectare.

(UK) One who cuts trees at a tree farm and prepares logs for further processing; lumberman.


dodgem

What better way to let off a little steam, than by zipping around on the dodgems, or flying high on the Cosmic Typhoon roller coaster?

2007 December 19, “Special Offer”, in North Devon Gazette, UK:

(UK, Ireland) A bumper car in an amusement park.


autotest

(British) A motor race, especially one that takes place off-road


autojumble

(British) A sale of second-hand spare parts for old cars


puttock

From Middle English puttock, puttok, potok, puttoc, of uncertain origin; perhaps representing an unattested Old English *putta (“hawk”) + -ock; or perhaps from Old English *pūthafoc (literally “pout-hawk”), equivalent to pout (“a kind of fish”) + hawk. Compare also pout (“a young bird”), poult.

inh

Some like to hounds, some like to Apes, dismayd, / Some like to Puttockes, all in plumes arayd: / All shap't according their conditions […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Who finds the partridge In the puttock's nest, But will suspect 'twas he that did the deed? " But then Shakespeare knew the habits of partridges and puttocks as well as Milton knew his Bible or his Tacitus.

1873, Appletons' Journal - Issues 224-249, page 724:

(now British regional) Any of several birds of prey including the red kite, buzzard and marsh harrier


QBD

Queen's Bench Division
w:Queen's Bench Division

(British) Initialism of Queen's Bench Division.


QPM

Queen's Police Medal
w:Queen's Police Medal

(British) Initialism of Queen's Police Medal.


camp bed

(chiefly UK) A lightweight portable bed used by the military, campers, etc.


new lease of life

en-noun

new lease of life (plural new leases of life)

The latest developments in drugs to treat patients with bipolar disorders have given many a new lease of life.

(figuratively) An opportunity for an improved quality of life, due to some change in circumstances.


textphone

(British) A telephone with a simple keyboard and a small screen, used by the deaf.


leave over

en-verb

leave over (third-person singular simple present leaves over, present participle leaving over, simple past and past participle left over)

leaves over (present singular third-person)
leaving over (participle present)
left over (participle past)
left over (past)

The family leaves over enough food from Sunday dinner for Monday lunch and dinner.

(British) To allow a portion to remain unused or unconsumed.


move house

move house (third-person singular simple present moves house, present participle moving house, simple past and past participle moved house)

moves house (present singular third-person)
moving house (participle present)
moved house (participle past)
moved house (past)

I haven’t got any mail since I(’ve) moved house.

(idiomatic, UK, Ireland) To change one's place of residence.


rawk

Rawks o' muck dahn't side on his faace.

1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words:

'At drew all them rawks.

When the piece is on shade, cool down gradually and thoroughly to avoid “rawks” […]

1943, Textile Colorist: A Monthly Journal Devoted to Practical Dyeing, Bleaching, Printing and Finishing, Dyes, Dyestuffs and Chemicals as Applied to Dyeing, volume 65, page 241:

(UK, dialectal, possibly obsolete) A mark.


slyboots

But Truth is such a flyaway, such a slyboots, so untransportable and unbarrelable a commodity, that it is as bad to catch as light.

1838 July 24, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Literary Ethics. An Oration Delivered before the Literary Societies of Dartmouth College, July 24, 1838”, in J[ames] E[lliot] Cabot, editor, Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Emerson’s Complete Works; I), Riverside edition, London: The Waverley Book Company, published 1883, →OCLC, page 166:

"Oh, you sly-boots!" says the Countess. "Guess you come after the old lady's money!"

1858–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “Troubles and Consolations”, in The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume II, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1859, →OCLC, page 283:

You're such a slyboots, old cocky. I could kiss you.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 15]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Peter: All we gotta do is tell a little white lie. Just go with it. [dials phone] Is this the Grant-a-Dream Foundation? My son Chris is dying!
Chris: Holy crap, no! Oh, my God!
Peter: That was the lie.
Chris: Oh, you slyboots.

2000 April 4, Chris Sheridan, “If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin'”, in Family Guy, season 2, episode 9:

This slyboots took me for a ton of money, made me do whatever she wanted.

2004, Umberto Eco, Geoffrey Brock, transl., The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, New York, N.Y.: Harvest/Harcourt, page 54

Cruz was obviously analogizing Bernie Sanders to the Bolsheviks and Hillary Clinton to the Mensheviks. The oleaginous Texan is an erudite slyboots, but his history is off-kilter.

2015 November 1, Hendrik Hertzberg, “That G.O.P. Debate: Two Footnotes”, in The New Yorker:

(chiefly British) A person who is clever or shrewd, especially one who is stealthy, manipulative, and rather charming.


old stick

He's a funny old stick but I think you'll like him.

(idiomatic, colloquial, British) A person.


approved school

en-noun

approved school (plural approved schools)

youth detention center
youth detention center

(British, Ireland, historical) A former institution for the care and education of young offenders; a reformatory, reform school, youth detention center


sneezer

He has been lagged for beaker hunting, was a mushroom faker, has been on the steel for snamming a wedge sneezer; […]

1859, Snowden's Magistrates Assistant, page 497:

Some person has deprived me of my East Indian silk handkerchief. — What, have you lost your sneezer?

1835, Charles Mathews, Mathews's New Budget of Fun, etc, page 156:


babby

→ Irish: babaí

Phonetic writing of a dialectic form of baby. Popularized in online usage by the "How is babby formed?" meme from the mid-2000s.

(UK and US dialects, also Internet slang) A baby (human infant).


metalled

(UK, of a road) Surfaced, tarred, covered in stone or crushed rock (usually tar-coated).


threety

He hath threety-six votes of the greatest barrons of the shyre to ninteen very mean ones, wherof syv have no right to vote; there is not so much as doubt of that matter heir.

1690, Letters and state papers chiefly addressed to George, Earl of Mellville

Kecept Paid to Andrew Marshall Smith in Gorballs for Threety howes and tuo Axes at 12"1 p. pss. p.

1696-1707, Papers relating to the ships and voyages of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies

To James Jaffray for threety young plantin bought at Monimusk at 3/4 per piece.

… who made shose of Neill Campbell, servitor to Collin Campbell younger of Glendarule, to be his clark compeared personally Archibald McKellar now in Glenlean of the age of threety years …

1705-1742, The Justiciary Records of Argyll and the Isles

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland, obsolete or nonstandard) Thirty.


ne'er cast a clout till May be out

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ne'er cast a clout till May be out.wav

Ne’er is a contraction of never; while clout is an archaic or dialectal word for a (worthless) piece of cloth or a rag, and is used to refer to clothing in a derogatory manner.

Leave not off a Clout, / Till May be out.

[1732, Thomas Fuller, compiler, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British, London: […] B. Barker […]; and A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, […], →OCLC, paragraph 6193, page 276:

There is another ungracious rhyme about this favourite month of the poets— / Till May be out / Change na a clout: / That is, thin not your winter-clothing till the end of May—a good maxim if we are to put faith in the great father of modern medicine, [Herman] Boerhaave, who, on being consulted as to the proper time for putting off flannel, is said to have answered, "On Midsummer night, and—put it on again next morning!"

[1834 February 8, “Popular Rhymes. The Weather.”, in William Chambers, Robert Chambers, editors, Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal, volume III, number 106, Edinburgh: William and Robert Chambers, […]; [William Somerville] Orr and Smith, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 16, column 2:

Of old it was said,— / "Ne'er cast a clout / Till May is out." / More recently the version is, / "No garment cast / Till May be past." / The advice is the same, but how different the style!

1849 May 4, “To Correspondents. [Poetry.]”, in The Liverpool Mercury, and Lancashire, Cheshire, and General Advertiser, volume XXXIX, number 2088, Liverpool: Thomas Rogerson, […], and John Smith, […], at the Mercury and General Printing Establishment, […], →OCLC, page 286:

The defenses against him [the month of March] should be more carefully watched than those of the depth of Winter. Fires are left to smolder down in the warmth of the day until the house is thoroughly chilled, and a sudden damp wind springs up in the afternoon and carries disease and death into the open windows. "Till May be out, Ne'er cast a clout," is counsel as good as homely.

[1875 March 9, “March”, in New-York Tribune, volume XXXIV, number 10,588, New York, N.Y.: [s.n.], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6, column 5:

In this sense the Boeotian poetry may be taken to have its germ in maxims similar to our English / "Till May be out, ne'er cast a clout," / or / "A rainbow in the morning / Is the Shepherd's warning."

[1914, Hugh G[erard] Evelyn-White, “Introduction”, in Hesiod, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica […] (Loeb Classical Library; no. 57), London: William Heinemann; New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Co., →OCLC, page xi:

Proverbs emphasise the protective function of clothes, which are valued more highly if they protect from heat or cold, rain or sun: […] It was better to wear too much than too little, and one should not be in too much of a hurry to shed one's winter clothes at the first sign of fine weather: ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out.’

1994, Daniel Roche, “Caring for Clothes: From Propriety to Cleanliness”, in Jean Birrell, transl., The Culture of Clothing: Dress and Fashion in the ‘Ancien Régime’ (Past and Present Publications), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 1999, →ISBN, part 3 (Producing, Selling and Stealing: The Distribution of Appearances), page 377:

The well-known phrase ‘Cast ne’er a clout [or ‘Ne’er cast a clout’] till May is out’ cautions people not to cast off their winter clothes until they are sure that summer is with us. In recent years it has been commonly stated that the phrase does not refer to the month of May but rather to the blossoming of the hawthorn, which in many parts is referred to as ‘may’, but many earlier references to the phrase make it perfectly clear that the month is what is meant. The saying was often extended to include other months, as in […] a rhyme printed in Notes & Queries in 1870 but claimed to be current in Yorkshire a hundred years before: / Don’t change a clout / Till May is out; / If you change in June / ’Twill be too soon.

2006, Steve Roud, “May”, in The English Year: A Month-by-month Guide to the Nation’s Customs and Festivals, from May Day to Mischief Night, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, published 2008, →ISBN, pages 200–201:

May 31st is the day to look out and iron summer dresses, as our grandmothers used to say. / "Ne'er cast a clout / Till May be out."

2020, Elizabeth Wood, “May”, in Pancakes and Plum Pudding: A Pathway to the Past (Looking at Customs, Cooking, Saints’ Days and Superstitions), Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 87:

(UK, dialectal) Do not change from winter clothes to summer clothes until June, as there is often a sudden cold snap in May.

do not change from winter clothes to summer clothes until June (many are not direct translations but convey a similar sentiment)

the weather at the end of March bodes the weather when May begins

mitä Mariana katolla, sitä vappuna vaolla

en avril ne te découvre pas d’un fil, en mai fais ce qu’il te plaît

april, aprilone, non mi rifai metter giù il pelliccione

aprile, non ti scoprire; maggio, adagio adagio; giugno, allarga il pugno

kwiecień plecień, bo przeplata trochę zimy, trochę lata

первая ла́сточка весны не делает (pervaja lástočka vesny ne delajet, literally “the first swallow does not mean spring has come”)

si quieres criarte gordito y sano, la ropa del invierno gasta en verano


cheap as chips

From being inexpensive, similar to chips (“French fries”).

(British, New Zealand, Australia, simile) Very cheap, not costing much.


happy as a pig in shit

He's "happy as a pig in shit". "This is what I really enjoy, working with film-makers," he says.

1998 March 6, Nick Hasted, “Film: Will movies kill the soundtrack star?”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-06:

And he pays generous tribute to Noble who, he says, actively encouraged him . . . to venture further into the classics with Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Henry IV. "Speaking purely as a director, I was happy as a pig in shit."

2002 January 12, Michael Billington, “Culture: ‘It's like being in love’”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2014-08-06:

"I am as happy as a pig in shit—you can quote me on that—doing what I'm doing at the moment."

2013 September 6, David Wroe, “Abbott adviser handed new paid role as envoy”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 2014-08-06:

Beauty products are the one thing that I waste my money on. Give me a hundred bucks and plop me in the nearest Duane Reade, and I’m happy as a pig in shit.

2014 August 5, Megan Reynolds, “Tried & Tested: 10 Hippie Beauty Treatments”, in The Frisky, US, retrieved 2014-08-06:

(chiefly UK and Ireland, idiomatic, vulgar, simile) Extremely happy; obviously satisfied and carefree.

cieszy się, jakby mu kto w kieszeń nakakał


aggrandisement

aggrandisement (countable and uncountable, plural aggrandisements)

Evelyn was but one of many. Reckless, loving pleasure and ease; with much of worldly wealth and aggrandisement to tempt him on the other side of the question; yet was he heart and soul devoted to the Stuarts...

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 174:

What is clear is that Chelsea will live a different reality without Abramovich and there is a strong chance that it will not be as exciting. In football terms, he was the ideal owner: no money constraints; an individual motivated purely by aggrandisement, to succeed year after year.

March 11 2022, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, in The Guardian:

(British) Alternative form of aggrandizement


ropy

en-adj

ropy (comparative ropier or more ropy, superlative ropiest or most ropy)

ropier (comparative)
more ropy (comparative)
ropiest (superlative)
most ropy (superlative)

From Scots roupy (“husky; hoarse”), from Scots roup (“hoarseness, huskiness, any inflamed condition of the throat”).

bor

The very poultry in the coop / Began to pine away and droop— / The cock was first to go; / And glad we were on all our parts, / He used to damp our very hearts / With such a ropy crow.

Although Britain’s migration figures are ropey, other data point in the same direction.

2012 September 8, “Emigration: On The Road”, in The Economist:

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) Of poor quality; in poor health.


cupset

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

Gary: It'll Be Cupset for Andy

[…] a landmark point of the season, with fans and commentators alike eagerly awaiting a 'cupset'.

2014, Lee Price, Turning My Back On the Premier League:

(sports, British, slang) An upset in a Cup competition.


come down

en-verb

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

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

It's coming down heavily now.

Raju had got a job with a law firm in Singapore after coming down from Oxford.

2008, Preeta Samarasan, Evening is the Whole Day, Fourth Estate, page 24:

(intransitive, UK) To graduate from university, especially an Oxbridge university.


elfin safety

Rendering of health and safety with Th-fronting and H-dropping.

2007, Jonathan Ray, "My new best cellar", The Spectator, Spectator (8 December 2007),
Heaven knows what Elfin Safety would say.

occupational health and safety
occupational health and safety

(British, informal, derogatory, humorous) occupational health and safety, or the Health and Safety Executive


SQEP

(British) Acronym of suitably qualified and experienced person/personnel.


bakehouse

→ Welsh: becws, bacws, becos

From Middle English bakhows, bakhous, bachous, from Old English bæchūs (“bakery, bakehouse”), from Proto-West Germanic *bakahūs (“bakehouse”), equivalent to bake + house. Cognate with Scots bake-hous (“bakehouse, bakery”), Saterland Frisian Bakhuus (“bakehouse”), West Frisian bakkhûs (“bakehouse”), Dutch bakhuis (“bakehouse”), German Low German Backhuus (“bakehouse”), German Backhaus (“bakehouse, bakery”).


gobstopper

“Everlasting Gobstoppers!”’ cried Mr. Wonka proudly. “They're completely new! I am inventing them for children who are given very little pocket money. You can put an Everlasting Gobstopper in your mouth and you can suck it and suck it and suck it and suck it and suck it and it will never get any smaller!”

1964, Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, New York: A. A. Knopf, page 95:

Hence, gobstopper—something that stops the mouth. If you want to stop someone from prattling on, simply stuff a gobstopper in his or her mouth. The Everlasting Gobstopper, a jawbreaker that changes colors and flavors, was the brainchild of Roald Dahl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964.

2014, Richard W. Hartel, AnnaKate Hartel, Candy Bites: The Science of Sweets, Springer, →ISBN, page 183:

(British, Ireland) A type of hard long-lasting candy, usually spherical in shape.


Munro

From Scottish Gaelic
* (mountains): Named after Scottish mountaineer Sir Hugh Thomas Munro.

named-after

(British) Any Scottish mountain having a height of more than 3,000 feet; named after Sir Hugh Thomas Munro, Scottish mountaineer


EE

(UK, historical) Initialism of English Electric.


jacket potato

The "jacket" is the tough outer skin formed by baking.


UA

en-noun

UA (countable and uncountable, plural UAs)

unitary authority
unitary authority#English

(countable, UK, government) Initialism of unitary authority.


VN

But in addition, he adds to the tags of certain assistants the designation, “V.N.,” meaning veterinary nurse.

1963, American Veterinary Medical Association, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, volume 143, page 179:

Veterinary nurse applicants wanting to work for the Society have to follow the VN course (see Chapter One for details).

1999, Victoria Pybus, Working with Animals: The UK, Europe and Worldwide:

Alison Young joined a small animal practice in 1998 as a student veterinary nurse and whilst there gained her VN qualification.

2006, British Small Animal Veterinary Association, BSAVA Congress 2006: Scientific Proceedings, page 20:

(veterinary, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) Initialism of veterinary nurse.


JR

John Radcliffe Hospital
w:John Radcliffe Hospital

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of John Radcliffe Hospital; a large hospital in Oxford in the United Kingdom.


egg and spoon race

egg and spoon race (plural egg and spoon races)

(chiefly British, games) A race in which competitors must carry an egg on a small spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg.


shoegazing

/ˈʃuːɡeɪzɪŋ/

From shoe + gazing, because of the tendency of such performers to look down rather than at the crowd and the heavy use of effect pedals.

"[…]Anyway, correct me if I'm wrong here, Danny, but wasn't it you who told me that true shoegazing began and ended with Slowdive's 12-inch debut: the imaginatively titled, 'Slowdive'?”
“You're taking me out of context here, dude. What I meant was that it was the epoch of the genre. The other bands still made a valid contribution, they just didn't define the moment."

2006, James Buckley, Celebrate Myself, page 12:

Johansson and Sitek started out in more faithful lo-fi style before filtering the songs through an indie-rock sensibility that's equal parts postpunk-gothic, 4AD dreampop, shoegazing drone, and TV on the Radio epicness.

2011, Barney Hoskyns, Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits, page 491:

Then in 2003, they released Still Electric only on their website; with this album, they'd taken on more of a shoegazing style of rock, similar to Chapterhouse or Catherine Wheel.

2013, Pete Crigler, Majorlabelland And Assorted Oddities, page 91:

(British, music) A subgenre of alternative rock music popularised in early 1990s, characterised by a dreamlike sound making much use of effect pedals, and by a detached or introverted performance style.


mincer

(British, slang, derogatory) A homosexual male.


lucky dip

(UK) A game in which prizes are covered up and mixed together in a container, so that contestants can dip their hand into the container and randomly pull out a prize.


tell tales

en-verb

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

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

(UK) To report someone for a wrongdoing.


high road

On Wednesday, the 27th, we arrived at a place called Tʻien-chin. Here we were not on the high road to Pekin, hence the excitement created by our arrival was greater than I had ever before witnessed.

Nov. 1, 1878, Rev. Miles Greenwood, “North China”, in The Mission Field, number 275, page 544:

There, a few yards before them, was the high road from Risingham to Shoreby, lying, at this point, between two even walls of forest.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 6, in The Black Arrow:

The highroad on the other side was frequented by few, for a nearer-hand way to the west had been made through the lower Moss.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(chiefly British) A main road or highway.


swingeing

en-adj

swingeing (comparative more swingeing, superlative most swingeing)

more swingeing (comparative)
most swingeing (superlative)

/ˈswɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/

/ˈswɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/

From swinge + -ing. Swinge is derived from Middle English swengen (“to strike”), from Old English swengan (“to dash, strike; to cause to swing”).

swinger

one who swinges; anything very large, forcible, or astonishing

And when Occaſion did require, / In midſt of Houſe a mighty Fire, / Of black dry'd Earth and ſwingeing Blocks / Was made, enough to roaſt an Ox; […]

1716, W[illiam] M[offat], Hesperi-neso-graphia: Or, A Description of the Western Isle. In Eight Canto’s, 4th edition, London: Printed and sold by J. Baker, at the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row, →OCLC, canto II, page 7:

"Let him pursue his own course," said Diggs, taking up a pen, and making some hasty memoranda on a sheet of paper. "We shall have swingeing damages—swingeing damages."

1855, William Harrison Ainsworth, “Abel’s Interview with the Miser—Unexpected Appearance of Randulph and Cordwell Firebras—Result of the Meeting”, in The Miser’s Daughter: A Tale, London, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] Routledge & Co., Farringdon Street; New York, 18, Beekman Street, →OCLC, page 123:

A shock for passengers by the Dover-Dunkerque "Night Ferry" is the swingeing increases in berth rates for those who are not travelling in the sleeping cars.

1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: European timetables: The winter train services”, in Modern Railways, page 413:

Every day produces more evidence that this hard Tory Brexit is a disaster in the making. Carmakers and other export manufacturers, fearing swingeing tariffs, are demanding special protections and exemptions or else they leave.

2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50: As Britain hurtles towards the precipice, truth and democracy are in short supply”, in The Observer, London, archived from the original on 2017-05-17:

After petrol rationing ended in 1952, the BTC was aware that more swingeing cuts had to be made, and a sinister message was conveyed by the loss of the meandering 38-mile route from Blisworth to Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1952, and the 25-mile Abergavenny-Merthyr Heads of the Valleys line in January 1958.

2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:


Mediterranean Irishman

en-noun

Mediterranean Irishman (plural Mediterranean Irishmen)

Bart Blandino . . . refers to himself as a Mediterranean Irishman—an expression which never fails to amuse us.

1956 December 27, “Visiting Your Newspaper”, in Oswego Valley News:

(originally British, humorous, sometimes offensive) A person belonging to an Eastern Mediterranean national group, especially one which was subjected to a period of British rule or occupation, such as the Greeks or Italians.


greats

(UK, slang, universities, dated) The great go examination.


PAYE

(British, finance) Initialism of pay as you earn.


pay as you earn

(British) The national system whereby income tax and national insurance is deducted by an employer from the salary or wages of an employee.


highflier

(UK, slang, obsolete) A writer of begging letters.


shed a tear

en-verb

shed a tear (third-person singular simple present sheds a tear, present participle shedding a tear, simple past and past participle shed a tear)

sheds a tear (present singular third-person)
shedding a tear (participle present)
shed a tear (participle past)
shed a tear (past)

Now, in coming down here, I journeyed part of the way with a jolly old cock, who shed a tear with me every time the coach stopped […]

1848, Thomas Frost, Paul the Poacher, page 118:

(UK, Ireland, slang, obsolete) To take a dram, or glass of spirits.


toppo

(British, colloquial, dated, used by the upper classes) top, great, the best


dressing room

/ˈdɹɛsɪŋ ɹʊm/

/ˈdɹɛsɪŋ ɹuːm/

Going into a dressing-room full of established players was not easy. It was like Lancashire all over again only more so.

2005, Andrew Flintoff, “England Debut”, in Being Freddie: The Story So Far, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:

As half-time approached with Everton desperate to get into the dressing room and regroup, Liverpool were awarded a penalty for [Phil] Jagielka's rash challenge on [Luis] Suarez. This time there was no disputing [Martin] Atkinson's decision, but [Tim] Howard rescued Everton by diving low to his left to keep out [Dirk] Kuyt's spot-kick.

2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 – 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 2016-03-07:

A room used for dressing or changing clothes.

(UK) A changing room at a recreational or sports venue.


hoppings

(British) An traditional annual fair, usually at Whitsuntide, formerly associated with livestock markets.


blind man's buff

From blind man's + an obsolete sense of buff, coming from Old French buffe (“blow”). First known usage from 1854.

That was a further clue; and here, indeed, young Mr. Dowse was getting "warm," as children say at blind-man's-buff, although, as a matter-of-fact, she had now been talking of George Miller at all.

1876, William Black, “An Encounter”, in Madcap Violet. […], volume III, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 74:

Smithsonian Books
w:Smithsonian Institution

(British, games) A game where one person is blindfolded and tries to catch the other players.

blindemol

game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others


non-league

Crawley missed two penalties but still edged out League Two Torquay to become the first non-league side to reach the FA Cup fifth round for 17 years.

2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC:

(British, soccer) Playing in a division below The Football League, being amateur or semi-professional teams.


takeover bid

(British) An attempt to buy a controlling share in a business.


cludge

‘Listen, hen, I better get going. Just need to visit the old cludge first.’

1994, Gordon Legge, I Love Me (Who Do You Love?), page 10:

Should I ever coin it in with a series of bonkbusters, I reflect, looking at the draughty – doubtless rat-infested – cludge, I should like to erect a similar statue, to all the nameless women throughout time who died on the toilet of cystitis.

2012, Caitlin Moran, Moranthology, Ebury Press, published 2012, page 48:


strapline

(British) A memorable slogan attached to a commercial brand.


WTT

working timetable
working timetable#English

(rail transport, UK) Initialism of working timetable.


HMCS

Her Majesty's Courts Service
w:Her Majesty's Courts Service

(UK, historical) Initialism of Her Majesty's Courts Service.


HMCS

(UK, nautical, military, historical) Initialism of His (or Her) Majesty's Colonial Ship.


HMAS

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) His Majesty's Auxiliary Ship

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) Her Majesty's Auxiliary Ship

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) His Majesty's Armed Schooner

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) Her Majesty's Armed Schooner


meat and two veg

(British, Ireland, colloquial) A stereotypical standard dinner, with a meat and two kinds of vegetable.


duck-arsed

en-adj

duck-arsed (comparative more duck-arsed, superlative most duck-arsed)

more duck-arsed (comparative)
most duck-arsed (superlative)

All the girls, with the exception of May Callan, were squat, and as the country phrase had it—"duck-arsed." They were made for work, for breeding.

1949, Patrick Kavanagh, Tarry Flynn: A Novel, Devin-Adair Co., page 78:

I'm delighted that you should admire Beecham. A pompous little duckarsed bandmaster who stood against everything creative in the art of his time.

1963, John Fowles, The Collector, Pan Books paperback ed. (1965), p. 178

(slang, chiefly British, indelicate, sometimes insulting, vulgar) Having or pertaining to broad hips and large, bulging buttocks.

indelicate; sometimes insulting; indelicate; sometimes insulting

(chiefly British, informal) Having or pertaining to a hairstyle of the type called a duck's arse.


sizar

An alteration of sizer, from size (“fixed portion”) + -er.

(British) An undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge who receives an allowance for his college expenses or tuition, sometimes in return for doing a defined job.


white paper

→ Malay: kertas putih (calque)

→ Polish: biała księga (calque)

(British, Ireland, European Union, government, politics) A parliamentary document announcing or proposing a government policy or action.


ammonium sulphate

ammonium sulfate
ammonium sulfate#English

(British) Alternative spelling of ammonium sulfate


dilling

(UK, dialect, obsolete) The runt of a litter.


set square

Descartes extended this classification by introducing his set-square compass. This is mechanism of sliding set squares that "push" each other... .

2008 January, Michel Serfati, “A Note on the Geometry and Descartes's Mathematical Work”, in Notices of the American Mathematical Society, volume 55, number 1, pages 50–51:

(UK) A flat triangular piece of plastic or other material, having corners of precise angles, used in technical drawing

триъ́гълник

flat triangular piece of plastic or other material used in technical drawing


blighter

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, often disrespectful) A person, usually male, especially one who behaves in an objectionable or pitiable manner.


cock-eyed

cock-eyed (comparative more cock-eyed, superlative most cock-eyed)

more cock-eyed (comparative)
most cock-eyed (superlative)


thruppence

en-noun

thruppence (countable and uncountable, plural thruppences)

"For thruppence you can buy one, full right to the brim."

1971, Richard Sinclair with Caravan (lyrics and music), “Golf Girl”, in In the Land of Grey and Pink:

(British, informal, dated) Threepence (in pre- or post-decimalisation currency)


when it's at home

en-adv

when it's/he's/she's at home (not comparable)

when it's (canonical)
he's (canonical)
she's at home (canonical)

Who is Nelson Mandela when he's at home?

(idiomatic, British) (of a person) In reality; in fact; when it comes down to it.

Feng shui? What on earth is that when it's at home?

(idiomatic, British) (of a topic) Plainly; in plain English; at its most basic level.

qu'est-ce que ça mange en hiver?

intensifying a question about something unfamiliar


tich

After the music hall comedian Harry Relph (1867–1928), who used the stage name Little Tich. This referred to a supposed resemblance to the claimant in the Tichborne Case.

(British, colloquial) A very small person.


shopping centre

en-noun

shopping centre (plural shopping centres)

The streets radiated out from the new shopping centre like the spokes of a wheel.

1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 20:

(British, Australia) A large retail outlet consisting of several shops.


police blotter

(US) A register, maintained by the desk sergeant, of people arrested or brought in for questioning to a police station; (UK) charge sheet.


holiday camp

The history of these televised contests can be, in part, traced back to holiday camps, according to Annette Hill, professor of media and communication at Lund University, Sweden: "The best talent shows are great entertainment, full of warmth and empathy," she says. "If you look back at Butlins in the UK in the 1930s and 1940s, it was mainly a working-class holiday camp that offered a whole entertainment experience and at the heart of it were the people known as the Red Coats, who had to provide a warmth of atmosphere."

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

(British) An enclosed resort providing accommodation (often in chalets) and entertainment, generally aimed at families.

camp de vacances

Enclosed resort providing accommodation and entertainment, generally aimed at families


flotation cost

(British, finance) The selling cost or distribution cost of issuing new securities.


CRB

Criminal Records Bureau
w:Criminal Records Bureau

(UK) Initialism of Criminal Records Bureau.


collective investment scheme

collective investment scheme (plural collective investment schemes)

The definition of primary importance is of course the definition of "collective investment scheme" itself. That is to be found in s.235 of FSMA 2000.

2003, Jonathan Fisher, Jane Bewsey, The Law of Investor Protection:

If a fund is structured as a collective investment scheme, it cannot be marketed to the general public unless it is authorized.

2003, Theodor Baums, Andreas Cahn, Hedge Funds:

(British, finance) A way of investing money with other people to participate in a wider range of investments than may be feasible for an individual investor, and to share the costs of doing so.


arsey

en-adj

arsey (comparative more arsey, superlative most arsey)

more arsey (comparative)
most arsey (superlative)

First few months in, I was arsey as hell. Thought they were a right bunch of wankers.

2000, Peter Billingham, Sensing the City Through Television: Urban Identities in Fictional Drama, page 50:

"Oh, we had that singer in the other day and they were really arsey with us, and we only kept them waiting half an hour' - and I go, 'Hang on a minute, that's a long time and they've probably been doing lots of work that day and I think that it's actually justified for them to get annoyed.'"

2002 October 28, Simon Hattenstone, quoting Sophie Ellis-Bextor, “Sophie's world”, in The Guardian:

Work experience as an arsey teenager is pretty straightforward: disappear into the storeroom, smoke a few cigarettes, text your mates and watch the minute hand tick slowly by. If there's nowhere suitable to hide, all you need is a vacant computer and you can chat to your skiving associate in the building next door.

2007 April 30, Jon Bentham, “How to...... do work experience”, in The Guardian:

Maybe Hanna Frost, for all of her arsey mannerisms, really did know what she was doing.

2011, Lotte Daley, Faking It, Penguin, →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Unpleasant, especially in a sarcastic, grumpy or haughty manner.


planning permission

en-noun

planning permission (countable and uncountable, plural planning permissions)

/ˈplænɪŋ pəˈmɪʃən/

/ˈplænɪŋ pɚˈmɪʃən/

The term was possibly introduced by the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 (10 & 11 George VI, chapter 51) of the United Kingdom.

If I am not sure whether what I want to do needs planning permission, how can I find out? You can write to your Local Planning Authority and ask them to give you a ruling (or, as the Act [the Town and Country Planning Act 1947] calls it, a 'determination') whether you need planning permission or not, and if you disagree with their ruling you can appeal to the Minister.

1949, Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Central Office of Information (Great Britain), Town and Country Planning: The 1947 Act; 144 Questions and Answers, number 9, London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, question 15, page 8:

At the Newcastle end, the first intention was to erect a steel lattice tower above the platforms at Newcastle Central station, immediately over an existing telecommunications apparatus room, but planning permission for a tower of the required height could not be obtained.

1964 August, “The NER's microwave radio-telephone begins work”, in Modern Railways, page 129:

The real wealth of information that could be drawn from planning permissions and refusals concerning housing, offices, industry, shops, etc., remains a largely untapped source and a number of assertions appear in the daily press and elsewhere about delays in granting planning permissions which only too often cannot be either confirmed or refuted, let alone be judged against statistics showing the wider context of the implementation of planning permissions.

1978, J[ohn] T[erence] Coppock, L[eonard] F[rank] Gebbett, “Review No. 15: The Statistics of Town and Country Planning”, in W[ynne] F[rederick] Maunder, editor, Land Use […] and Town and Country Planning […] (Reviews of United Kingdom Statistical Sources; VII), Oxford: Published for the Royal Statistical Society and the Social Science Research Council by Pergamon Press, →ISBN, section 1.4 (Survey for Plans), paragraph 1.4.1, page 113:

Difficulties arise when a use is abandoned and resumed. The question is whether planning permission is needed for resumption. Where a new planning permission is granted and implemented, the old use rights are lost. Planning permission runs with the land once implemented; cessation of use does not prevent resumption later on (this is particularly important in mineral working). Whereas a planning permission may be replaced by another planning permission, which is implemented, it is normally only uses that did not originally have planning permission that can be abandoned.

1997, Keith Thomas, “Legal Aspects of Development Control”, in Development Control: Principles and Practice, London, Bristol, Pa.: UCL Press, →ISBN, page 46:

The UK has possessed a land-use planning system since 1948 which allows substantial discretion in the consideration of the environmental implications of new development. It is possible for local planning authorities (LPAs) to prepare plans in which environmental policies are emphasised and to refuse development, or to impose conditions for planning permissions, for environmental reasons.

2003, Christopher Wood, “EIA [Environmental Impact Assessment] in the UK”, in Environmental Impact Assessment: A Comparative Review, 2nd edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, published 2013, →ISBN, page 52:

Northumberland County Council will need to grant itself planning permission to build the stations in its area (Ashington, Bedlington, Bebside, Newsham and Seaton Delaval) and will need to receive planning permission from North Tyneside Council for Northumberland Park station.

2021 June 16, Philip Haigh, “North East passenger plans take an important step forward”, in RAIL, number 933, page 28:

(British, construction, law) Legal permission granted by a government authority to construct on one's land, or to change the use of the land.

George VI
Sandleford
Town and Country Planning Act 1947
West Berkshire Council

omgevingsvergunning

legal permission granted by a government authority to construct on one's land, or to change the use of the land


Mumping Day

(British, historical) December 21st, St. Thomas's Day, a day for begging before Christmas.


chiselled

en-adj

chiselled (comparative more chiselled, superlative most chiselled)

more chiselled (comparative)
most chiselled (superlative)

But I thought he looked beautiful, and also like a man. He was tall and blond, chiselled and muscular.

2022, Rosie Brooks, Flo, Grosvenor House Publishing, →ISBN:


tink

'Most have white eyes, which ain't natural in any beast, tame or wild, and they are considered unlucky - the tinks calls 'em moonpies, and most will avoid settling on farms where they are kept.

2000, David Brian Plummer, Merle: The Start of Dynasty, →ISBN, page 11:

Her family had a name that marked them out as tinks, only they weren't tinks anymore.

2014, Alastair Macleod, The Traveller's Tale, →ISBN:

'Well, you should feel right at home,' Flannigan said. 'You love a bit of thieving, you and the rest of the fucken tinks you grew up with in the Emerald Toilet.'

2015, Andrew O'Hagan, The Illuminations, →ISBN, page 47:

(chiefly British and Ireland, offensive) A member of the travelling community. A gypsy.


mind you

These shirts are very expensive. Mind you, they are excellent quality.

Mind you, it was not an outing I would recommend as relaxing.

1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 47:

Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.

1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:

(idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly UK) Used to introduce a qualification or contrastive statement, especially when toning down or rectifying

ceci dit

introducing a qualification or contrastive statement


driving licence

en-noun

driving licence (plural driving licences)

The unnamed driver appeared before the South East Traffic Commissioner in late November, to receive a six-month HGV driving ban. It followed an earlier court appearance when he was fined a means-tested £715 and given six points on his driving licence for driving without due care and attention.

2022 December 14, “Network News: HGV driver banned after Coulsdon bridge bash”, in RAIL, number 972, page 7:

(UK, Ireland) A driver's licence; an official identification document which states the recipient may drive a motorised vehicle.


front yard

natad

area with greenery to the front of the house

(UK) An enclosed and often primarily utilitarian area to the front of a house or similar residence, typically having a hard surface or paving.

forgård

enclosed hard-surfaced area to the front of the house


piss artist

He pulled over to the roadside the policeman walked up to the door Goth had got the window wound down by now, all the copper said to him “get out the van Goth” he just fell out the van laughing, the policeman saying what’s funny Goth. He then said I am painter and decorator by trade and you said it get out the van Goth, Van Goth is a famous Dutch artist, so the policeman replied this you are a piss artist, he then said to Goth get the rear light sorted out, because next time I’ll charge you with a defective rear light.

2006, James T. Long, Knights of the Far East, page 144:

“Yeah, but I’m no drinker, I’m a drunk. A piss artist, a tosspot. I’m sloshed 24/7. Last week I had to use a rope to keep my trousers up, because I was trembling so hard each morning that I couldn’t be arsed with a belt.”

2014, T.M.Simmler, In Vino Veritas:Shaking Frenzy, page 73:

I despised people who got drunk, I referred to them as ‘piss artists, and I had nothing but contempt for them, nothing but contempt for these people, who fell around drunk, who were incoherent when they spoke.

2015, Mary Addenbrooke, Survivors of Addiction: Narratives of Recovery, page 77:

(Australia, British, Ireland, slang) Someone who is frequently drunk (pissed).

Just as aspirant poets are weighed down with the weight of prior aesthetic achievements and are driven by an Oedipal desire to supersede their literary forebears, so too todays band of offensive advertisers are beset by the saprogenic accomplishments of the promotional piss artists of times past, P.T.Barnum in particular.

2001 June 7, Stephen Brown, Marketing: The Retro Revolution, page 218:

Piss-artists all of them, charlatans who'd rather paint a cold fish than a ripe peach.

2009, Siriol Troup, Beneath the Rime, page 83:

[…]the strap-line on the neon sign set over the entrance of the three-storey mock Art Deco building proclaims. Lit up there, in glowing red and yellow, is a cheese-ball that looks like a piss artist's impression of the HIV retrovirus.

And to create a diversion you have been suing Thomas Ferreira for torture and barbarous acts, on the simple grounds that he supposedly, I quote 'hung your client upside-down above a toilet bowl full of excrement, wrists and ankles bound with scotch tape, wrapped in high-tension electric cables corroded by acid?' Facts for which there is no proof, other than a photograph of the toilet bowl […]He logged in as administrator but couldn't identify Juliette's computer. Impossible to get his hands on it. And yet she had to be connected to the network? The junior piss-artist had managed, therefore, to set up her own firewall, she was undetectable, a regular submarine.

2015, Pascale Pujol, Little Culinary Triumphs:

(British, slang) Someone who frequently ridicules or shows contempt for others (takes the piss).


money scrivener

money scrivener (plural money scriveners)

(finance, British) A person who produces the loan of money to others.


Scouserati

From a blend of Scouser (“person from Liverpool”) + literati (“well-educated people, intellectuals”).
Usage is noted in 2007, then gained acceptance by a supplement to the Liverpool Echo newspaper on 1 January 2008, the day Liverpool began its year as European Capital of Culture. The supplement listed 366 people as "The Scouserati - the 366 most influential Scousers on the planet".

blend

(UK, colloquial, neologism) Notable or influential people whose place of birth or residence is in the city of Liverpool or its surrounding region.


yank off

en-verb

yank off (third-person singular simple present yanks off, present participle yanking off, simple past and past participle yanked off)

yanks off (present singular third-person)
yanking off (participle present)
yanked off (participle past)
yanked off (past)

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

(UK, Ireland, vulgar) To jack off, to masturbate.


reauthorise

reauthorise (third-person singular simple present reauthorises, present participle reauthorising, simple past and past participle reauthorised)

reauthorises (present singular third-person)
reauthorising (participle present)
reauthorised (participle past)
reauthorised (past)

(British) To authorize again; to give new authority to.


autocue

From auto- + cue, originally a trademark.

(trademark, UK) Any of several devices that display words for a person to read aloud


wark

From Middle English werk, warch, from Old English wærc, wræc (“pain, suffering, anguish”), from Proto-Germanic *warkiz (“pain”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to make, work, act”). Cognate with Swedish värk (“ache, pain”), Icelandic verkur (“pain”). Related to work.

der

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Pain; ache.


-lings

From Middle English -linges, variant (with genitive -es) of Middle English -ling (adverbial suffix), equivalent to -ling + -s. Compare Dutch -lings (adverbial suffix), German -lings.

(now UK dialectal) forming adverbs, generally of condition or situation


repopularise

en-verb

repopularise (third-person singular simple present repopularises, present participle repopularising, simple past and past participle repopularised)

repopularises (present singular third-person)
repopularising (participle present)
repopularised (participle past)
repopularised (past)

(British, transitive) To make popular again.


genericise

genericise (third-person singular simple present genericises, present participle genericising, simple past and past participle genericised)

genericises (present singular third-person)
genericising (participle present)
genericised (participle past)
genericised (past)

/dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪˌsaɪz/


penny stock

Coordinate term: blue chip

Every so often, the practice reappears in the trading of “penny stocks”—cheap, rarely traded, shares. Years ago when volume was thinner, it was said to be common in blue chips too.

2000 August 10, “The price is wrong”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(finance, UK, US) A highly speculative stock selling for less than one dollar/pound per share and quoted in cents or pence.


footmuff

(British) A cover for a baby's feet or legs which attaches through the harness of a pushchair, stroller, or travel system.


market garden

Descending a narrow tree-lined lane the carriage passed into a leisurely winding road, bounded by market-gardens and the River Val.

1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 5

(chiefly UK) A garden whose produce is mostly intended for sale.

horta

a garden in which vegetables are raised for sale at a market

pleasure ground

section of a large garden not intended for edible plants

vegetable garden

garden or section of garden for edible plants intended for personal or household use

orchard

farm, garden, or section of garden for trees bearing edible fruit


body snatcher

From body + snatcher. Later use highly influenced by the 1955 novel The Body Snatchers and its repeated adaptation into film, wherein aliens begin replacing humans with pod people.

ligrøver

One who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave

No men could have behaved more admirably than my Imperial bearer companies, or 'body snatchers,' as the men used to call them.

1917, General Buller, quotee, Military Medicine, volume 40, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 341:

Freezing conditions in the hills make essential the quick evacuation of wounded, and their regimental mates are full of praise for the sterling job done by the cheerful, tireless “body-snatchers” of the Battalion.

1951, Great Britain. Army. Royal Army Medical Corps, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, volumes 96-97, J. Bale, Sons & Danielson, Limited, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 410:

Tom dismounted and led Toby toward a group of men standing by a stack of stretchers. “Hey, you body snatchers,” he called out. “I have a wound that needs dressing.” He tied Toby to a stretcher.

2011, Robert W. Mackay, Soldier of the Horse, TouchWood Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 185:

(British, military, slang) A stretcher-bearer.


tallage

en-noun

tallage (countable and uncountable, plural tallages)

From French taillage, from tailler (“to cut”).

The land tax, in its modern shape, has superseded all the former methods of rating either property, or persons in respect of their property, whether by tenths or fifteenths, subsidies on land, hidages, scutages, or tallages

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

(UK, law, obsolete or historical) A certain rate or tax paid by barons, knights, and inferior tenants toward the public expenses.


cadgy

en-adj

cadgy (comparative more cadgy, superlative most cadgy)

more cadgy (comparative)
most cadgy (superlative)

(UK, Scotland, dialect) cheerful or mirthful, as after good eating or drinking

(UK, Scotland, dialect) frolicsome; wanton


wibble

Unclear; possibly originates in the British Roger Irrelevant comic strip, then popularised by Your Sinclair magazine and the comedy Blackadder.

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

(British, slang) Meaningless or content-free chatter in a discussion; drivel, babble.


wibble

en-verb

wibble (third-person singular simple present wibbles, present participle wibbling, simple past and past participle wibbled)

wibbles (present singular third-person)
wibbling (participle present)
wibbled (participle past)
wibbled (past)

(British, Internet slang) To make meaningless comments.


notelet

(British) A notecard; a small folded sheet of notepaper, often with a decorative design on the front, intended for a short letter or note.


pot plant

Pot-plants on spindle-legged stands lurked in wait for an incautious gesture.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 60:

Then there was the sound of transport, too heavy a sound for a private car, and headlights showed up the withered pot-plants in Crabbe's porch.

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 494:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A plant growing in a flowerpot; a houseplant.


paddling pool

(UK) A pool, often inflatable, only able to contain enough water to paddle as opposed to swim; a kiddie pool.


pip emma

From pip (“P”) + emma (“M”) in RFC WWI signalese.

On the spot, ready to the last button, at twelve pip emma.

1938, P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters:

(British) Expansion of p.m.: in the afternoon or evening.


gasper

Standing on the corner like a just-got-in-town jasper / I'm on a street corner with a gasper

1975, “Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)”, in Nighthawks at the Diner, performed by Tom Waits:

The engineer shivers in the bright chill and lights a gasper of his own and tells Madame Psychosis through the intercom that the whole range of levels is fine.

1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 183:


radial tyre

(British) Alternative spelling of radial tire


approvement

en-noun

approvement (countable and uncountable, plural approvements)

The whole learning of approvements (i. e. trial by the evidence of an approver) is now obsolete being superseded by the modern practice of allowing an accused person to turn evidence for the Queen without confessing the indictment.

1861, John Henry Willan, A Manual of the Criminal Law of Canada, page 7:

(UK, law, obsolete) A confession of guilt by a prisoner charged with treason or felony, together with an accusation of his accomplices and a giving evidence against them in order to obtain his own pardon.


superfund

A blend of superannuation (“retirement”) and fund

(British, Australia, finance) A investment vehicle for superannuation assets.


Gherkin

After the shape of the building, which is like that of a gherkin.

(UK, informal) The building at 30 St Mary Axe, a distinctively-shaped skyscraper in London, England


sneap

en-verb

sneap (third-person singular simple present sneaps, present participle sneaping, simple past and past participle sneaped)

term-label

(transitive, archaic or British, dialectal)

sneaps (present singular third-person)
sneaping (participle present)
sneaped (participle past)
sneaped (past)

The verb is a variant of snape, from Middle English snaipen (“to injure; of sleet or snow: to nip; to criticize, rebuke, revile”) [and other forms], from Old Norse sneypa (“to disgrace, dishonour; to outrage”), from Proto-Germanic *snaupijaną, from Proto-Germanic *snūpaną, *snūbaną (“to cut, snap”); further origin unknown.
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

To bite, nip, or pinch (someone or something).

Nay, I am gone. I'm a man quickly sneaped.

1611, Thomas Middleton, The Lady's Tragedy:

That vvee doe enough hate our corruptions, vvhen (at our ſharpeſt) vve doe but gently ſneape them, […]

1623 February 12 (Gregorian calendar), Jos[eph] Hall, The Great Impostor, Laid Open in a Sermon at Grayes Inne, Febr. 2. 1623, London: […] J. Haviland for Nath[aniel] Butter, →OCLC, page 21:

But life that's here, / VVhen into it the ſoul doth cloſely vvind, / Is often ſneep'd by anguiſh and by fear, / VVith vexing pain and range that ſhe no'te eaſly bear.

1642, H[enry] M[ore], “ΑΝΤΙΨΥΧΟΠΑΝΝΥΧΙΑ [Antipsychopannychia], or A Confutation of the Sleep of the Soul after Death”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, →OCLC, canto 3, stanza 18, page 26:

John, the correct one, who could make you feel sneaped. John never felt sneaped. If you were a dog, being sneaped would be the same as going off with your tail between your legs. If you were Topaz, people tried to sneap you, but you were hard to sneap. Even the pround gentle Annie, the eldest, could be sneaped by a look, but never John.

2008, Ethel Wilson, P.K. Page, The Innocent Traveller, page 6:

(also figuratively) To check or abruptly reprove (someone); to chide, to rebuke, to reprimand.

Some days after he, in a civil manner, sent a captain with them and other soldiers to Owthorpe, to inquire into their misdemeanours before their faces; which being confirmed to him, and he beginning to rebuke them, they set him at light, even before Mrs. Hutchinson's face, and made the poor man retire sneaped to his colonel;

1906, Lucy Hutchinson, Julius Hutchinson, Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson, page 315:

And moreover she was convinced that her mother, secretly very flattered and delighted by the visit, was adopting a derisive attitude in order to 'show off' before her daughter. Parents are thus ingenuous! But she was so shocked and sneaped that she found it more convenient to say nothing.

As I have often had causee to remark before, my hon. Friend, though appearing to be a hard-boiled member of the Committee is in fact very tender, and, as we say in north Staffordshire, easily sneaped or upset. He has been sneaped by the Government Whip's elevation.

1983, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Official Report of the Standing Committees, page 683:

(informal) To offend (someone); to put (someone's) nose out of joint.


sneap

My Lord I will not vndergoe this ſnepe vvithout reply, […]

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 26:


megagramme

(rare, British) Alternative spelling of megagram: a metric ton or tonne.


hectogramme

(rare, British) Alternative spelling of hectogram


advocation

en-noun

advocation (countable and uncountable, plural advocations)

From Latin advocātiō. Doublet of advowson.

(UK, law) The right of presenting to a vacant benefice or living in the church.


dishonourably

en-adv

dishonourably (comparative more dishonourably, superlative most dishonourably)

more dishonourably (comparative)
most dishonourably (superlative)

(British) Alternative spelling of dishonorably


sea rover

Compare Danish sørøver, German Seeräuber, Norwegian sjørøver, Swedish sjörövare.

(British, colloquial, archaic) A herring.


twopenny

en-noun

twopenny (countable and uncountable, plural twopennies)

When the Gauls attacked Rome, he hit upon the plan of pelting the soldiers with twopennies to make them believe they had plenty to eat.

1852, Edward Litt L. Blanchard, Freaks and follies of fabledom, page 93:

(British, countable, dated) A coin or stamp worth two pence.

(British, uncountable, obsolete) Ale sold for two pence per quart.


ninepence

His wits were sent him for a token, \ But in the carriage crack'd and broken. \ Like commendation nine-pence, crookt \ With—to and from my love—it lookt.

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

(obsolete, British) A former British silver coin, worth nine old pennies.

I had sold it to her that morning for ninepence; the real price was a shilling, but it was somewhat shopworn.

1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 137:


ring road

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, UK) A circumferential highway around a town, city, or other conurbation.


chundering

[…] – you don't get through the average possession without the odd gastric fiesta – but previous chunderings were picnics compared to the . . . the surrealist free-for-all to which I gave myself over that evening in my bathroom.

2007, Glen Duncan, I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, slang) The act of vomiting.


slank

Compare dialectal slonk (“depression, hollow, slough”), slunk (“slough, hollow; mud”).

[…] The board of health had prohibited the sale of ice cut from the "slank," because water in the "slank" was said to be polluted. The ice dealers, however, contend that the city of Patterson has no right to pollute the river and thus hurt their business, […] stopping the sale of "slank" ice, […]

Van Zaun says that the fishing stopped 15 or 16 years before he testified - that would be about 1890. Mr. Shriner, one of the city's witnesses, says that he caught fish in one of the slanks in 1883 or 1885.

Passaic, N. J. - The storm will cause great delay in filling in the slank. The dirt which the workmen have been throwing in was washed away into the river.

1913, Municipal Journal, volume 35, page 506

(US and UK, dialectal) A depression, a low place in the ground, especially one at the side of a river, lake, or cove which is filled with water during freshet(s).


sleeving

sleeving (countable and uncountable, plural sleevings)

Pull up the sleeving along the cable, including the copper wire, then using a cigarette lighter heat the sleeving to make it shrink.

1996, A.L. Brown, Vehicle Security Systems: Build Your Own Alarm and Protection Systems, page 50:

(UK) Hollow flexible tube used as insulation for wires and cables.


smitham

Perhaps compare English smeddum (“fine powder, lump ore, etc.”).

cog

(UK, obsolete) Small lumps of ore which free miners scavenged because small quantities were exempt from payment of taxes. The practice ended in 1760 when the Duke of Devonshire challenged the tax exemption.


calyculus

(botany, British) A group of bracts resembling an outer calyx.


chip shop

(UK, Ireland) A fast food outlet which sells fish and chips.

asklotti

UK: a fast food outlet which sells fish and chips


dialled

(British), (Canada), simple past and past participle of dial


have a bone in one's leg

en-verb

have a bone in one's leg (third-person singular simple present has a bone in one's leg, present participle having a bone in one's leg, simple past and past participle had a bone in one's leg)

has a bone in one's leg (present singular third-person)
having a bone in one's leg (participle present)
had a bone in one's leg (participle past)
had a bone in one's leg (past)

"Jimmy, run along to the shop and get some potatoes." / "I can't: I've got a bone in my leg."

(British, informal) Used as a fatuous excuse to avoid doing something.