social season

By virtue of their position, they were in palaces and situation rooms and oval offices instead of ballrooms and yachts on the Adriatic, involved in national security negotiations, and key members of internationally significant investigations instead of social seasons and fashion weeks.

2022 November 17, Emily Jane Fox, “Inside Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s Gilded Florida Paradise—Far From Donald Trump or 2024”, in Radhika Jones, editor, Vanity Fair, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-03:

(chiefly UK) A traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events.


magnificent seven

the magnificent seven (canonical plural)

After the 1960 Western film The Magnificent Seven.

(colloquial, UK) Seven large private cemeteries established in London in the 19th century.


fitted nappy

The traditional terry nappies could also be considered a two-part system. They are not shaped and require folding prior to use. The main advantages over a shaped and fitted nappy are cost and speed of drying.

2003, Annabel Karmel, Complete First Year Planner, Random House, →ISBN, page 77:

Now there are plenty of fitted nappy designs to choose from and I would try shaped terries, even though I admit to enjoying the ritual of using terry squares (you've got to take your fun where you can get it!).

2010, Lynoa Cattanach, “Nappies”, in Be a Greener Parent, Hachette, →ISBN, page 1 (of chapter):

The wraps come in four sizes, in a wide range of designs or plain colours. The fitted nappies (the inner part) are made from bamboo viscose, which makes them super-absorbent for overnight use.

2023 June 27, Zoe Pickburn, “Best reusable and eco-friendly nappies that are better for the planet”, in Evening Standard:

(UK, Commonwealth) Synonym of fitted diaper.


as clever as a cartload of monkeys

(UK, idiomatic) Very clever, cunning or mischievous.


pill bottle

(British, medicine) a small bottle that pills are kept in


take in hand

en-verb

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

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

Possibly by analogy with a rider or stablehand taking the reins of a horse.

But thinke not thou that takest in hand to striue against God, that thou shalt escape vnpunished.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Maccabees 7:19:

Unruly boys who will not grow up / Must be taken in hand / Unruly girls who will not settle down / They must be taken in hand

1985, “Barbarism Begins At Home”, in Meat Is Murder, performed by The Smiths:

(UK) To take charge, especially for purposes of discipline or improvement.


swag-shop

(UK, slang, obsolete) A warehouse where various cheap trinkets were sold.


hanging out of one's arse

en-adj

hanging out of one's arse (not comparable)

I’m hanging out of my arse. I’m trying to drink to play well but it’s having the wrong effect. I’m just getting pissed again!

2010 August 17, John Skibeat, “TLOBF Interview // Malefice”, in The Line of Best Fit:

‘Mate, I’m hanging out of my arse. But I’ve got to score some runs, because I’ve had a bet with Vaughany and he knows I was pissed last night. […]

2018, Andrew Flintoff, Do You Know What?: Life According to Freddie Flintoff, London: Blink Publishing:

[…] its effects are similar to a combination of alcohol and MDMA, but without the comedown. If you've ever spent a full weekend hanging out your arse, you'll likely be thinking, "Sounds great, please administer this immediately."

2019 December 3, Emma Garland, “The Rise and Rise of GHB, the Most Dangerous Club Drug in the World”, in Vice:

(British, vulgar, slang) Suffering from a severe hangover.


TOTSO

Coined by the Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts.

coinage

(UK, informal) Initialism of turn off to stay on.


good man

(UK, Ireland) Used as a positive response of affirmation towards a male subordinate.


I beg your pudding

(UK, colloquial, humorous) I beg your pardon.


credit account

Coordinate term: debit account


MWA

(UK, historical) Initialism of Mandatory Work Activity (“a workfare programme”).


have a thin time of it

en-verb

have a thin time of it (third-person singular simple present has a thin time of it, present participle having a thin time of it, simple past and past participle had a thin time of it)

has a thin time of it (present singular third-person)
having a thin time of it (participle present)
had a thin time of it (participle past)
had a thin time of it (past)

(UK, idiomatic) To be in a difficult or precarious situation due to one not having enough money.


barrow crossing

en-noun

barrow crossing (plural barrow crossings)

As the ends of the up and down platforms are not opposite each other, it is not possible to provide the ordinary type of barrow crossing, and the full churns were too heavy to be man-handled up and down the stairs of the footbridge.

1951 October, “The Why and the Wherefore: Milk Platform at Beccles”, in Railway Magazine, page 717:

(rail transport, UK) A type of crossing found mainly in railway stations which allows passengers the opportunity to cross between platforms.


Ginger Line

In reference to its orange colour on maps (resembling ginger hair); named as though it were one of the London Underground lines.

[…] take the Ginger Line overground from Canada Water to Penge West. So you'll be getting off the Tube, and taking the train. I know you're American, but can you remember that?

2015, Orren Merton, The Dawning of Firebird Alex:

(UK, humorous, slang) The London Overground railway network.


sloop-of-war

(UK, military, historical) A warship with a single gundeck that carried up to eighteen guns.


registration number

registration number (plural registration numbers)

(UK) Series of letters and numbers on shown on the front and back of a motor vehicle.


MGO

MGO (countable and uncountable, plural MGOs)

Master-General of the Ordnance
w:Master-General of the Ordnance

(UK, military, historical, countable) Initialism of Master-General of the Ordnance.


dimmock

Well, first, to all the dimmocks out there, I have only one thing to say. Please take your felt tips AWAY from the TV screen. Right, now throw them away, you won't be needing them. You see, Pictionary comes complete with a nifty art package, needing only the addition of your fingers and a keyboard to originate the most splendiferous of graphic designs.

1990 January, "Pictionary" (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 48, page 38

"No he wasn't! My dad said he was in Wham."
"What, your dad was?"
"No, Geogre Michael, you spoff. And he wore a little white glove."
"That was Prince, you dimmock!"

2015, Chris Martin, Inky Stevens, For Whom the School-Bell Tolls, page 73:


deavely

en-adj

deavely (comparative more deavely, superlative most deavely)

more deavely (comparative)
most deavely (superlative)

(UK, obsolete, regional) Lonely, unfrequented.


cream bun

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


spenny

spenny (comparative more spenny, superlative most spenny)

more spenny (comparative)
most spenny (superlative)

"Rather a spenny little bundle, I'm afraid," he thought, "but strictly expense account stuff. […]"

1994, Humphrey Drummond, chapter 7, in Nazi Gold: the Search for the Party Treasure, London: The Historical Press Ltd, →ISBN, page 79:

My mate Nick's got a Wild Country Voyager that was pretty spenny and obviously high performance but small (having said that he only paid 80 quid for it from outside cos it'd been a demo at a show).

1999 May 25, Matt Schofield, “liberate the gear freak...”, in uk.rec.climbing (Usenet):

Ibanez will probably be too spenny unless you find one secondhand with an owner who doesn't appreciate its real value.

2000 July 5, tom8...@my-deja.com, “mid-budget archtop jazz choice ?”, in uk.music.guitar (Usenet):

Why bother with spenny cans of aspartame/sugar filled muck, when a bottle of water and a few caffeine tabs will do the job instead, hmmmmmm? Just my pen'north.

2003 May 30, Flora, “Mike's topical tip No 2”, in uk.food+drink.misc (Usenet):

Darling Ray, ¶ Having narrowly escaped being consumed by flesh-eating maggots (spawned by the world of television, rather than the dead-body-munching kind), I’ve fled to Majorca (spa was too spenny). I’m here working as a wedding planner. Please stop laughing!!!

2009, Samantha Scott-Jeffries, “Heels on Wheels” (chapter 6), in I Do, I Do, I Do, London: Little Black Dress, →ISBN, page 98:

Davey would buy these spenny glass jars of food for the baby, but Aidan was lucky if he got chips and scraps.

2017, Tony Williams, chapter 4, in Nutcase, London: Salt Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 15:

A good 'going out top' will see you through many seasons to come. It is arguably the most important half of the classic 'jeans and a nice top' outfit combo. But finding these miracle tops is easier said than done. They can often be quite spenny or, depending on the neckline, impossible to find a bra to wear underneath.

2023 March 6, Natasha Harding, “I've found the perfect 'going out' top, and it's from H&M”, in Cosmopolitan UK, London: Hearst Magazines UK, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2023-07-04:


pull someone's plonker

en-verb

pull someone's plonker (third-person singular simple present pulls someone's plonker, present participle pulling someone's plonker, simple past and past participle pulled someone's plonker)

pulls someone's plonker (present singular third-person)
pulling someone's plonker (participle present)
pulled someone's plonker (participle past)
pulled someone's plonker (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pull someone's plonker.wav

[…] I said, ‘Given that you’ve denied in print that you’re a screaming woofter, how d’you account for the little Filipino back-door boy you’ve had in your trendy mews flat all night?’ And he says ‘Are you pulling my plonker! I don’t know what you’re on about.’

1985, Doug Lucie, “Progress”, in Progress & Hard Feelings, London: Methuen Publishing, →ISBN, act I, scene iv, page 22:

pull someone's leg
pull someone's leg#English

Synonym of pull someone's leg (“to tease or goad someone by jokingly lying to them”)


John Radcliffe

Named for John Radcliffe, an 18th century physician and graduate from Oxford University.

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

John Radcliffe (physician)
Oxford University


scale armour

(UK, Australia) Alternative spelling of scale armor.


wet and warm

Over by the piers a black sea of heads silhouette in the bright rectangle canopied by the upslung front of the tea stall. Cups of wet and warm at fourpence.

1964, quoted in 2014, Ian J. Finch, D. F. Bratchell, E. F. Candlin, General Studies: A First Handbook for Technical Students (page 148)

At least in a short while he'd be back in his warm office with a hot cup of tea. Or at least somebody else's office with a cup of wet and warm.

2015, Geraldine Evans, Asking For It (Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mysteries; 16), unnumbered page:


sling one up

sling one up (third-person singular simple present slings one up, present participle slinging one up, simple past and past participle slung one up)

slings one up (present singular third-person)
slinging one up (participle present)
slung one up (participle past)
slung one up (past)

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

Bayleaf’s eyes met George’s. George, with increasing alarm, said: ‘You ain’t slung one up it, have you?”

1992, John Burke, London's Burning, London: Simon & Schuster, page 131:

That one has fucked everyone. I've slung one up her a few times myself.

2008 May 22, Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, “Caravan Club”, in The Inbetweeners, season 1, episode 5 (television production), spoken by Jay Cartwright (James Buckley), E4:

‘Accident now, was it? I heard different, Jock. I heard that Eddie was slinging one up Bowen’s missus. So Bowen gave him a bullet for his troubles. […]

2016, Chris Ryan, Deathlist, London: Coronet Books, page 30:

(British, vulgar, slang) To have penetrative sex with (a woman).


batshite

en-adj

batshite (comparative more batshite, superlative most batshite)

more batshite (comparative)
most batshite (superlative)

[…] going totally batshite after these mean killer bikers who sort of nonchalantly kill his family, and then he chases them all across the Australian outback with a big black car […]

2011, Sean Beaudoin, You Killed Wesley Payne:

(UK, Ireland) Alternative form of batshit


tinkerman

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

(UK, obsolete) A person who illegally fished with a net in the Thames.


FPDA

Five Power Defence Arrangements
Five Power Defence Arrangements#English

(British, UK, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, politics, military) Initialism of Five Power Defence Arrangements (“British-backed multilateral joint armed force between British commonwealth countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania”).


Five Power Defence Arrangements

en-proper noun

the Five Power Defence Arrangements pl (plural only)

the Five Power Defence Arrangements (canonical plural)

(British, UK, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, politics, military) the British-backed multilateral joint armed force between the British commonwealth countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania (mainly Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom).


SFHEA

Higher Education Academy
w:Higher Education Academy

(UK, education, professional title) Initialism of Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.


meow meow

(UK, slang) Alternative form of meow (“the drug mephedrone”)


yard of satin

'Go on,' Bertie encouraged, holding the box closer. 'It'll make you feel spiffing. It's better than a yard of satin.' Her expression reflected intimate familiarity with a glass of gin.

2014, Richard Gordon, The Private Life Of Jack The Ripper, page 99:


shallow cove

(UK, thieves' cant, obsolete) A beggar who goes around almost naked.


shallow fellow

(UK, thieves' cant, obsolete) Synonym of shallow cove


swarry

A select company of the Bath footmen presents their compliments to Mr. Weller, and requests the pleasure of his company this evening, to a friendly swarry, consisting of a boiled leg of mutton with the usual trimmings.

1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers:

His grimaces on eating hice at a swarry, and the way in which he olds his umbrelli, and vipes his nose, defy all criticism.

1869, Henry Crabb Robinson, Thomas Sadler, Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, page 470:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(UK, archaic) Pronunciation spelling of soiree.


constructive malice

(UK, law, historical) The doctrine that malice aforethought could be attributed to the defendant if death was caused during the commission of another felony (such as robbery or burglary) — abolished in most cases by the Homicide Act 1957.


get a sad on

en-verb

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

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


cank

en-noun

cank (countable and uncountable, plural canks)

From Middle English *cank (compare Middle English cang (“foolish"; also "fool”, adj and noun) > obsolete English cank (“dumb, stupid”)), from Old English canc, ġecanc (“scorn, jeering”), from Proto-West Germanic *kank, from Proto-Germanic *kanką (“laughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *geng-, *genǵ- (“to mock, insult”).


cank

en-verb

cank (third-person singular simple present canks, present participle canking, simple past and past participle canked)

canks (present singular third-person)
canking (participle present)
canked (participle past)
canked (past)

He said that what he had told me wasn't meant to be repeated again, and I ought not to have gone canking it about, especially to the Rymers theirselves^([sic]); […]

1880, Ellen Wood, Johnny Ludlow, volume 1, page 67:

(UK, dialectal) To gossip, prate, chatter.

(UK, dialectal) To talk rapidly; gabble.


time gentlemen please

(UK, idiomatic) Called out to tell customers that it is closing time in a pub.


workplace parking levy

en-noun

workplace parking levy (plural workplace parking levies)

Invariably, the principal object is to improve air quality. But those constraints beg the question: why has no city followed Nottingham's example of a workplace parking levy, which has generated about £10 million a year to finance the city's tram system?

2024 March 6, Steve Edwards discusses with Anthony Lambert, “The bedrock of urban renewal”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 35:

(UK) A charge that can be made by local authorities on parking provided by employers for employees, for the purposes of reducing road congestion, improving air quality and encouraging use of public transport.


plait sawdust

en-verb

plait sawdust (third-person singular simple present plaits sawdust, present participle plaiting sawdust, simple past and past participle plaited sawdust)

plaits sawdust (present singular third-person)
plaiting sawdust (participle present)
plaited sawdust (participle past)
plaited sawdust (past)

One person has described trying to get a group of toddlers to sit on a mat to listen to a story as 'like trying to plait sawdust.'

2003, Laurie Makin, Marian R Whitehead, How to Develop Children's Early Literacy, page 39:

The urinating gentleman in question was a main-scale teacher whose attempts to go therough the performance threshold appeared about as straightforward as trying to plait sawdust.

2007, Brian Carline, How to be a Successful Head of Year: A Practical Guide, page xi:

I can no more read an MRI scanner than “plait sawdust”.

2008, Phillip Taylor, Going Full Circle: My Fight Against Guillain Barre Syndrome, page 56:

If that was a penalty, I'll plait sawdust.

2010, Phil Shaw, Tell Him He's Pelé:, page 46:

Bob Smith who was office manager at Nelson and Colne College once said in a meeting 'We've plaited sawdust for that long all the pigeons have come home to roost'.

2010, Stanley Graham, Naive Occasional Papers. Volume Two, page 220:


knit fog

knit fog (third-person singular simple present knits fog, present participle knitting fog, simple past and past participle knit fog or knitted fog)

knits fog (present singular third-person)
knitting fog (participle present)
knit fog (participle past)
knit fog (past)
knitted fog (participle past)
knitted fog (past)

Identifying where it comes from or who is responsible is almost like trying to knit fog.

2001, Elaine Douglas, Bullying in the Workplace: An Organizational Toolkit, page 43:

Trying to get to the bottom of this feeling is like trying to knit fog.

2012, Gillian Ogilvie, Living without Lucy, page 208:

The first of the metaphors used to describe the working environment at HMP Hull demonstrates the belief that all the elements one might require are present, if only they could be brought together and coordinated in an effective manner—in other words: 'working here is like trying to knit fog!'

2013, Frank A. Stowell, Ray L. Ison, Rosalind Armson, Systems for Sustainability, page 450:

This is like trying to knit fog - it's an impossible dream.

2015, Elizabeth J Tucker, A Matter of Self-confidence - Part I:

James would tell you that all that debate about what you actually know or don't know is a bit like trying to knit fog. And about as useful.

2017, Marcus Weeks, What Would Nietzsche Do?:


gangbo

(UK, informal) A legal injunction against a person because of their gang-related activities.


plait fog

plait fog (third-person singular simple present plaits fog, present participle plaiting fog, simple past and past participle plaited fog)

plaits fog (present singular third-person)
plaiting fog (participle present)
plaited fog (participle past)
plaited fog (past)

From the fact that fog is too insubstantial to be plaited.

The result for the supervisee is an experience like 'plaiting fog', that is, trying to hold together the different strands in a unified whole — and holding the tension between the needs of client, counsellor and organization.

1999, Michael Carroll, Elizabeth Holloway, Counselling Supervision in Context, page 189:

He believed that the project was largely "plaiting fog” and making too much of what it had achieved.

2003, Cathy Davis, Housing associations - rehousing women leaving domestic violence, page 57:

Like my life is one long session of plaiting fog.

'Currently, I'm plaiting fog,' Henry admitted.

(UK, figurative) To perform an action in which the result falls apart immediately or to work on organizing something that cannot be organized.

Just as you can't plait fog, you can hardly have an informed debate about something that means quite different things to different people.

2010, Cath Irvine, Graham Firth, Ruth Berry, Understanding Intensive Interaction, page 19:

I though H had more chance of plaiting fog than coming back with an affirmative to his request.

2011, Philip Serrell, Sold to the Man With the Tin Leg:

"This is like trying to plait fog,” said Robson, now showing his frustration. “You can't have it both ways.”

2015, J.R Stephenson, Barclays - Bankers or Bandits, page 152:

Trying to pin down the meaning of the words themselves— 'spiritual', 'spirituality', 'religious experience'— is like trying to plait fog, but the endeavour is necessary, not least because interviewees will hear and use all these terms in different ways.

2016, David Nixon, Stories from the Street: A Theology of Homelessness:

Never going to 'appen, love. I'll plait fog if it does.

(UK) Used as a metaphor for accomplishing an impossible task.


scatland

en-noun

scatland (countable and uncountable, plural scatlands)

(UK) Land on which scat (Shetland Islands land tax) is paid.


creeping freehold

creeping freehold (plural creeping freeholds)

(law, UK) The freehold of property, such as a basement or cellar, that is located underneath a different freehold; the converse of flying freehold.


flat nappy

They can be safely bleached, soaked, washed and dried for years. They need to be folded and pinned in place correctly to get the best fit and avoid leaks, and then are best covered with pilchers (soft overpants) or waterproof pants to protect outer clothing. Although this takes a bit of practice to get right, flat nappies can work well, and can be particularly useful at night for older babies.

2008, Daniel Allen, Cheryl Benn, Sue Pullon, Margot Schwass, The New Zealand Pregnancy Book, Bridget Williams Books, →ISBN, page 174:

Some flat nappies come with Y-shaped fasteners as well. Terry squares are old-school nappies that are basically cotton towels that are folded around your baby's bottom and fastened with a large safety pin or plastic grip.

2015, Zion Lights, The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting, New Internationalist, →ISBN, unnumbered page:

There are also separate nappy and cover systems including flats (a traditional style of nappy), prefolds (a flat nappy with an absorbent panel in the center) and fitted (where the folding has been done for you). Adding a cover to each of these options makes them waterproof.

2021 April 29, Freya Lucas, “Guidance for services wanting to explore environmentally friendly nappies”, in The Sector:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, uncommon) Synonym of flat diaper (“a makeshift cloth diaper folded from a large piece of square or rectangular absorbent fabric, such as terry (coarse cotton), which is held in place by a diaper pin or other fastener”).


WAHM

(parenting, Internet slang, chiefly UK) A diaper made (sewn) by a work-at-home mother, especially a reusable cloth diaper.


NNR

(UK) Initialism of national nature reserve.


NNR

(UK, parenting, rare) Initialism of not nappy related (used in forums dedicated to nappies (diapers) to signify that the succeeding post is not related to nappies; i.e. it is off-topic).


pig off

en-verb

pig off (third-person singular simple present pigs off, present participle pigging off, simple past and past participle pigged off)

pigs off (present singular third-person)
pigging off (participle present)
pigged off (participle past)
pigged off (past)


arse up

arse up (third-person singular simple present arses up, present participle arsing up, simple past and past participle arsed up)

arses up (present singular third-person)
arsing up (participle present)
arsed up (participle past)
arsed up (past)

Take aim. Throw. If he arsed it up and made the creature angry – ha, well. He didn't look scared though.

2011, Carol Birch, Jamrach's Menagerie, page 110:

(UK, slang, transitive) To mess up; to botch.


muntered

Related to munter (“person often impaired by alcohol”)

'Got a pic of you muntered you feel you need to share with the world? Text it to us from a picture messaging phone.' Online, Mixmag directs you to the Gurner's Gallery, where hundreds of photos of huge pupils[…]

2004, Nick Barham, Dis/connected: Why Our Kids are Turning Their Backs on Everything We Thought We Knew, Vintage:

[…] Today, you can be muntered, mullered,[…]

2009 October 22, Susie Dent, What Made The Crocodile Cry?: 101 questions about the English language, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 3:

It was sad but as Troy said to me once while muntered, at least she went out with a bang.

2015 May 19, Abigail Tarttelin, Flick: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 77:


miaow miaow

(UK, slang) Alternative form of meow (“the drug mephedrone”)


Andrew Millar

(chiefly UK, naval slang) Alternative form of Andrew Miller (“the navy”)


Blimpery

(British, derogatory) Pompous political conservatism.


green-welly

This was green welly country. Lots of people kept horses, goats, chickens and dogs. The Royal Welsh Showground was an easy drive from here.

Marcus is a man of the Right, a besuited man of business during his lucrative banker years, and, since 'retirement', a green-welly country gent as his landowner father had been.

2022, Richard Woolley, Detachment Theory:

(UK, colloquial) Of or relating to the green welly brigade.


drop into

drop into (third-person singular simple present drops into, present participle dropping into, simple past and past participle dropped into)

drops into (present singular third-person)
dropping into (participle present)
dropped into (participle past)
dropped into (past)


county crop

So called because inmates of the county prisons were given such haircuts.

(UK, slang, obsolete) A very short haircut, shaved almost bald.


Saino's

Throw on an oversized denim jacket for those chillier evenings and you’re good to go for that summer bev on Osborne Road, followed by a cheeky trip to Saino’s for a £5 bottle of Echo Falls.

2021 April 2, Jessamie Rattray, “What your go-to Jesmond girl summer look says about you”, in The Tab:

(UK, slang) Sainsbury's (British supermarket chain).


wool-hole

Poor Sam's attenuated form, quite lean, and gone to grass, / Through neglecting his work-house, to the wool-hole came at last, […]

1876, Printers' Circular, volume 11, page 34:


Tizer

(UK, slang, obsolete) The Morning Advertiser newspaper.


tibby

If he comes up here, I'll be one upon his tibby.

1861, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, page 58:


not for

He is not for resuscitation.

After discussion with her family, she was deemed not for ICU admission.

(medicine, UK, Australia, New Zealand) Not to be subjected to (a procedure); indicates that the patient, or relevant carers or next of kin, have specifically requested that the procedure not be carried out.


Everyone has to start somewhere bro, they wouldn't of intimidated you when they first started. Just makes them class A 🛎🔚's

If you're one of the people out there starting to panic buy items like toilet roll again, you my friend are a 🛎🔚

James Daly, minister for massive foreheads and stupid comments.. 🛎🔚 ⤵

(British, Ireland, Internet slang, vulgar, euphemistic) Alternative form of bell-end (“a stupid or contemptible person.”)


wet-un

The sick animals are divided into three classes — "choppers, rough-uns, and wet-uns."

1849, The Farmer's Magazine, volume 19, page 142:

(UK, slang, obsolete) A diseased cow, unfit for human food, but nevertheless sold to make into sausages etc.


spicehead

From spice (“synthetic cannibinoid”) + -head.

(UK, slang, derogatory) A person who is under the influence of, or addicted to a synthetic cannibinoid.


so help my tater

(UK, slang, obsolete, euphemistic) Synonym of so help me God


fusball

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A puffball (type of fungus).


M.R.C.Psych.

w:Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

(UK, psychiatry, postnominal qualification) Initialism of Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.


six-pack of rolls

en-noun

six-pack of rolls (plural six packs of rolls)

Likely by analogy with six pack of abs, the abs exchanged for rolls (“visible folds in the belly caused by obesity”).

(British, idiomatic, colloquial, humorous) A fat belly, as opposed to one with a six-pack. See definitions 1 and 2 of six-pack. Seldom used in the plural.


latte levy

Starbucks is the first UK coffee chain to introduce a national “latte levy” - a 5p charge on single-use paper coffee cups - in a bid to reduce the overuse and waste of 2.5bn disposable cups every year.

2018 July 10, Rebecca Smithers, “Starbucks introduces 'latte levy' of 5p on single-use paper cups”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2024-04-29:

The so-called latte levy aims to incentivise the use of recycled and reusable alternatives to single-use disposable packaging.

2022 July 22, “Disposable cup levy to be introduced in Ireland”, in BBC, archived from the original on 2024-04-29:

Research commissioned by the Irish Paper Packaging Circularity Alliance (IPPCA) calculates that the 20 cent tax, dubbed the latte levy, could cause 4,244 job losses in coffee shops as customers respond by cutting consumption.

2023 July 17, Barry O'Halloran, “Latte levy will hit thousands of jobs and may close businesses, industry says”, in The Irish Times, archived from the original on 2023-07-17:

(Ireland, UK) A proposed tax on disposable coffee cups or paper cups in general, with the purpose of reducing waste.


GWPF

Abbott delivered the annual lecture to the London-based Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate sceptic thinktank on Monday evening.

2017 October 9, Karl Mathiesen, “Tony Abbott says climate change is 'probably doing good'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Global Warming Policy Foundation
w:The Global Warming Policy Foundation

(UK, climate change) Initialism of Global Warming Policy Foundation.


clew up

en-verb

clew up (third-person singular simple present clews up, present participle clewing up, simple past and past participle clewed up)

clews up (present singular third-person)
clewing up (participle present)
clewed up (participle past)
clewed up (past)

(UK, informal) To finish up or to tidy up, as in the tie up a sail on a sailing boat, the clew being a part of the structure holding the sail. Comes from the nautical term "clew".


loo room

(chiefly in the plural) A public toilet.


cost base

(finance, accounting, UK, Australia, New Zealand) The fixed costs, and sometimes all other costs as well, involved in running a company or producing a product.


mobie

(British, informal) Alternative form of moby (“a mobile phone”)


price of admiralty

(UK, military, historical) The cost of maintaining supreme command of the seas.


corridor care

(UK, healthcare) The treatment of patients in spaces not intended for clinical purposes, such as corridors and waiting-rooms, as a result of overcrowding.


KCSIE

(UK, education) Initialism of keeping children safe in education.


blue Smarties

From the British chocolate sweet Smarties. The blue-coloured Smartie was temporarily withdrawn by the manufacturer until a natural blue dye was found – this led to a popular belief that the blue Smartie was withdrawn for causing hyperactivity, although brilliant blue FCF is not one of the food colourings associated with hyperactivity.

.Shearer has an untouchable romance with Tyneside and his appointment seemed to inject the Geordie fans with an overdose of blue Smarties.

(Can we date this quote?), Football Friends Media, Two Left Feet, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 53:

I shot a photographic session based on the beginning part of his act where he dances to the Bee Gees 'Disco Inferno' (a great seventies disco classic by the way) in a style which can best be described as an eight year old overdosed on blue Smarties.

1998, Martin Evening, Adobe Photoshop 5.0 for Photographers: An Illustrated Guide to Image Editing and Manipulation in Photoshop:

'And one for all!' Belle rallied, with a swashbuckling flourish as they stepped out from behind the bush, nearly crashing into Nick and Lettie, who were hurrying past on their way to the Redgrave.
'Whoa! You two been at the blue Smarties again?' Nick joked.

2010 April 29, Isabella Cass, Superstar High: Star Friends, Random House, →ISBN, page 167:

'Have you been eating the blue smarties again, Splinter?' Danny joked.
'I'm telling you, lads, it was mental. I thought my ears were going to explode. I could hear noises getting louder and louder.'

2012 November 15, Joe O'Brien, Tiger Boots, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:

Compared to something like IDW's Infiltration issue #1 from the supposedly ADD 21st century and it seems like everyone at Marvel was off their heads on blue Smarties where this was being put together.

2015 July 25, Stuart Webb, Transformation: A Personal Journey Through the British Transformers Comic Volume 1: 1984-1987, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 11:

(UK, slang) Something that causes great excitement or hyperactivity.


direct grant grammar school

en-noun

direct grant grammar school (plural direct grant grammar schools)

(UK, education, historical) A kind of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976, having one quarter of the places directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted fees, some paid by a Local Education Authority and some by the pupils' parents or guardians.


chog

(UK, dialect, obsolete) The core of an apple.


permissive working

(UK, railways) A system allowing more than one train at a time to be on the same line in a block section, a signal section, or a dead-end platform line.


poor relief

(UK, historical) Governmental and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty.


jigger gun

Officials of Chicago't Cook County Jail watch Ed Stanley, inmate, pick sample locks with a professional "jigger gun."

1935, Science News Letter - Volumes 27-28, page 164:

The jigger gun and nippers would be out of sight down the shaft, and the face of the plate hides the thread.

1936, Clyde B. Clason, The Fifth Tumbler, page 245:

[…] of attack that open practically any padlock — the use of keys, picking of the lock with hand picks or jigger guns, […]

1938, Chain Store Age - Volume 14, page 147:


prosser

[…] swore that he had a vast income of his own and only borrowed money for the pleasure he got out of the process. A man unfleeced was a day lost in the life of Fatty. Seasoned bookies like Charlie Head or Dick Dunn, as shrewd a moneylender as Sam Lewis, or even other prossers, […]

1958, Guy Deghy, Paradise in the Strand: The Story of Romano's, page 164:

(UK, slang, obsolete) One who prosses; a sponger or scrounger.


botty bandit

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) Synonym of arse bandit (“a gay man”)


Her Majesty's Opposition

Coordinate term: His Majesty's Opposition

(politics, UK) A more formal title for the Official Opposition (the largest opposition party) in the House of Parliament, used when there is a queen on the throne.


counterie

He's now in that bright blissful counterie

1838, Thomas Eagles, Brendallah, A Poem, Whittaker & Co., section LIX, page 115:

Now, I can say no more ; to the Law-board I must go, / There to take the last farewell of my friends and counterie ;

1888, “The Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds”, in Henry Halliday Sparling, editor, Irish Minstrelsy: Being a Selection of Irish Songs, Lyrics, and Ballads, Walter Scott, page 381:

She's the fairest young maiden that e’er I did see, / She exceeds all the maids in the north counterie.

1932, “Molly of the North Country”, in The Musical Quarterly, volume 18, G. Schirmer, Inc., page 110:

You shall dry up your milk as a virgin so free, / And pass for a maid in some strange counterie.

2011 [1965], Frank Purslow, “Home, Dearest Home”, in Marrow Bones: English Folk Songs From The Hammond And Gardiner Mss., Read Books Limited, page 91:

(obsolete, UK dialectal) Alternative spelling of country.


tactical contact

tactical contact (countable and uncountable, plural tactical contacts)

(countable) An instance of such ramming.


people's warden

people's warden (countable and uncountable, plural people's wardens)

(UK, Christianity) A type of churchwarden elected annually by the congregation as a whole.


sling up

en-verb

sling up (third-person singular simple present slings up, present participle slinging up, simple past and past participle slung up)

slings up (present singular third-person)
slinging up (participle present)
slung up (participle past)
slung up (past)


Turkey teeth

From Turkey (“country”) + teeth. Turkey is a popular destination for low-price private dental surgery.

A tall, spindly man gaily swept into the room, his gleaming white Turkey teeth lighting the way ahead of him, a beacon in the mood lighting of the boutique.

2023, Gina Kirkham, Murders at the Rookery Grange Retreat: A brand new unmissable humorous cozy crime mystery, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

Veneers like that cost a fortune. They are understated, no Turkey teeth for him, but the upper canine left is missing, not extracted by somebody with a dental degree.

2024, Caro Ramsay, Out of the Dark, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN:

He flashed his warrant card at a receptionist with "Turkey teeth" - they were all over the bloody place; had folk stopped looking in mirrors? - and false eyelashes.

2024, O. J. Mullen, The Wrong Woman, Boldwood Books Ltd, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) Unnaturally white, straightened teeth, especially from an overseas dentist.


start on at

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

starts on at (present singular third-person)
starting on at (participle present)
started on at (participle past)
started on at (past)

(informal, UK) Synonym of start on (To criticize).


harden up

harden up (third-person singular simple present hardens up, present participle hardening up, simple past and past participle hardened up)

hardens up (present singular third-person)
hardening up (participle present)
hardened up (participle past)
hardened up (past)

(nautical, UK) To tighten up a sailboat's sheets in order to prevent luffing.


sling for

sling for (third-person singular simple present slings for, present participle slinging for, simple past and past participle slung for)

slings for (present singular third-person)
slinging for (participle present)
slung for (participle past)
slung for (past)

(dated, colloquial, transitive, UK) To pay for (something); to spring for (something).


sling out

sling out (third-person singular simple present slings out, present participle slinging out, simple past and past participle slung out)

slings out (present singular third-person)
slinging out (participle present)
slung out (participle past)
slung out (past)

(slang, transitive, UK) To kick out, eject or throw out (something)..


be on

be on (third-person singular simple present is on, present participle being on, simple past was on, past participle been on)

is on (present singular third-person)
being on (participle present)
was on (past)
been on (participle past)

The Tories are on twenty-five percent in that constituency.

(UK, transitive, literally) To be ranked at (something), based on polling.


sling in

sling in (third-person singular simple present slings for, present participle slinging for, simple past and past participle slung for)

(dated, colloquial, transitive, UK) To arrive (somewhere).


land with

land with (third-person singular simple present lands with, present participle landing with, simple past and past participle landed with)

lands with (present singular third-person)
landing with (participle present)
landed with (participle past)
landed with (past)

My boss landed me with dozens of assignments.

(transitive, UK) To assign extra work or burdensome work to (someone).


push along

push along (third-person singular simple present pushes along, present participle pushing along, simple past and past participle pushed along)

pushes along (present singular third-person)
pushing along (participle present)
pushed along (participle past)
pushed along (past)


close with

close with (third-person singular simple present closes with, present participle closing with, simple past and past participle closed with)

closes with (present singular third-person)
closing with (participle present)
closed with (participle past)
closed with (past)

(UK) To fight in a battle with (someone).


kirkmaster

From Middle English kirkmaster, kyrkmaster, equivalent to kirk + master.

(obsolete, Christianity, Northern UK) Alternative spelling of kyrkmaster


kenspecked

Yynge Heraudyn al bie the grene Wode sate, / Hereynge the swote Chelandrie ande the Oue, / Seeinge the kenspecked amaylde flourettes nete, / Envyngynge to the Birds hys Love songe true.

1803, Thomas Chatterton, “Heraudyn”, in The Works of Thomas Chatterton […], volume II, London: Biggs and Cottle, page 135:

A piece of money is sworn to after a robbery,—it has a hole in it —a sheep upon a similar circumstance is identified,—it is peculiarly coloured;—and prabably the thief himself, from a peculiar physiognomy, is pointed out,—as kenspecked.

1841, Richard Winter Hamilton, “On the Yorkshire Dialect”, in Nugæ Literariæ: Prose and Verse, London, Leeds: Hamilton, Adams & Co.; Smith, Elder & Co.; Jackson & Walford; J. Y. Knights; John Cross, page 336:

Ewes can be souted (diseased), sheep can be kessen (on their backs and unable to rise), and various animals kenspecked (branded, marked).

1979, Peter Wright, Cumbrian Dialect, Dalesman Books, page 11:

(UK, dialect, Northern England, obsolete) Marked and easily recognized; kenspeck.


lilly-low

Likely from Scots lilly (“lovely”) + low (“flame”). The first term might also directly come from liefly.

Should any pretend to quibble at the little eſcapes of ſuch men, the bulk of the world would know no more of it than of the Anatomiſts interſcapularia, and the reſt would conſider it as a north-country Lilly-Low, that is, a mere ſtraw-fire.

1782, Robert Robinson, “The Preface”, in Arcana: in VIII. Letters to a Friend, London: […] W. Lepard and J. Buckland, page xv:

Then she arranged the logs in a more scientific manner, blew one long, well-directed breath, causing what Yorkshire folk call "a lilly-low," then nodded her head significantly, with another broad smile.

1868, J. Reynard, “The Victoria Mission: From the Journal of the Rev. J. Reynard, 1866-67”, in Ninth Annual Report of the Columbia Mission for the Year 1867, London: Rivingtons, page 21:

For lily-lows is nought to it for burning.

1890 January 14, Walter Adams Wallace, Only a Sister?: A Tale of To-day^(Quote https://www.google.com.sv/books/edition/The_English_Catalogue_of_Books/ZZBIAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22W.+A.+Wallace%22+%22only+a+sister%22&pg=PA1031&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com.sv/books/edition/The_Speaker/545NAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22only+a+sister%22&pg=PA324&printsec=frontcover), London: Roper & Drowley, page 360:

Lilly-low, lilly-low, set up on end,
See little baby go out at town end.

1906, Lina Eckenstein, “Riddle-rhymes” (chapter X), in Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes, London: Duckworth & Co., page 113:

Winter, disputing every inch of ground, at last retreated beaten. The sun burst through the sullen clouds, and flung his lusty beams about the house. The dust-motes caught their radiance, and danced in shimmering lilly-lows, which played about the kitchen.

1912, Louis Pergaud, “Margot”, in Douglas English, transl., Tales of the Untamed: Dramas of the Animal World, New York: Outing Publishing Company, pages 192-193:

Occasionally at evenglome one of the Gillie Girls would come and sit on a Rock offshore and sing to me by the light of the lilly-lows, accompanying herself on her long golden hair, which should not have sorted very well with her scaly green skin but somehow did.

1975 January 14, Evelyn E. Smith, Unpopular Planet, Dell Publishing, page 331:

(obsolete, UK, Scotland, dialect) A flame, especially a bright, small or lovely one.


toss it in

toss it in (third-person singular simple present tosses it in, present participle tossing it in, simple past and past participle tossed it in)

tosses it in (present singular third-person)
tossing it in (participle present)
tossed it in (participle past)
tossed it in (past)

I've been at this long enough, so I'm ready to toss it in.

(slang, Australia, UK, intransitive) To quit doing something.


throw wobblies

throw wobblies (third-person singular simple present throws wobblies, present participle throwing wobblies, simple past threw wobblies, past participle thrown wobblies)

throws wobblies (present singular third-person)
throwing wobblies (participle present)
threw wobblies (past)
thrown wobblies (participle past)

(UK, idiomatic, colloquial) To throw tantrums (habitually have temper tantrums).


route-one

en-adj

route-one (comparative more route-one, superlative most route-one)

more route-one (comparative)
most route-one (superlative)

From route one football, a very direct association football strategy.

They were blindingly primitive, powered by Clark's anti-jazz drums, relentless two-note saxophone and Mike Smith's raw bellowed vocals. Unlike the early-sixties Spurs team that Clark watched from the terraces, this was route-one stuff.

2013 September 13, Bob Stanley, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 9:

It was a calculated route-one strategy, but would it work? If they dragged these unsuspecting punters in with the music, the album's content would certainly make them think.

2019 March 14, Sara Hawys Roberts, Leon Noakes, Withdrawn Traces: Searching for the Truth about Richey Manic, Foreword by Rachel Edwards, Random House, →ISBN:

You are less likely to drop dead, because lack of exercise is the second-biggest killer of middle-aged men after smoking. It's all really simple, route-one stuff.

2020 September 10, Matt Rudd, Man Down: Why Men Are Unhappy and What We Can Do About It, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) Direct, basic, unsubtle, brute force.


spank out

en-verb

spank out (third-person singular simple present spanks out, present participle spanking out, simple past and past participle spanked out)

spanks out (present singular third-person)
spanking out (participle present)
spanked out (participle past)
spanked out (past)

He spanked out of town.

(intransitive, dated, UK, New Zealand) To depart.


thrutch up

thrutch up (third-person singular simple present thrutches up, present participle thrutching up, simple past and past participle thrutched up)

thrutches up (present singular third-person)
thrutching up (participle present)
thrutched up (participle past)
thrutched up (past)

(intransitive, UK, dialectal) To scoot over to make room in a crowded space; to press or push together to make room.


reverse the charges

reverse the charges (third-person singular simple present reverses the charges, present participle reversing the charges, simple past and past participle reversed the charges)

reverses the charges (present singular third-person)
reversing the charges (participle present)
reversed the charges (participle past)
reversed the charges (past)

(intransitive, British) To make a telephone call for which the party who is called agrees to pay.


churchmaster

From Middle English chirche maister, equivalent to church + master. Piecewise doublet of kyrkmaster.

(obsolete, UK dialectal) A churchwarden.


Acacia Avenue

acacia (“A flowering shrub often grown ornamentally”) + avenue (“a broad tree-lined street”). Streets named after trees are common on planned housing estates.

To Paul Hubbard of 11 Acacia Avenue, Anytown, Anyshire I give the residue of my estate.

2011 February 14, Julian Knight, Wills, Probate, and Inheritance Tax For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 284:

(UK) A placeholder name for a residential street.

In company lines intricate fences have sprung up around fantastic gardens. The officers' lines have begun to acquire an “Acacia Avenue” aspect.

1948, Alon Kadish, quoting Lt. Whidborne, The British Army in Palestine and the 1948 War: Containment, Withdrawal and Evacuation, Routledge, →ISBN:

Nor, however, is the 'bourgeois' the Acacia Avenue accountant with two children in boarding-school education.

2004 January 1, David A. Reisman, Schumpeter's Market: Enterprise and Evolution, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 107:

A woman worked a garden behind a neat whitewashed fence, a real Acacia Avenue kind of scene.

2013 June 20, Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett, The Long War: (Long Earth 2), Random House, →ISBN, page 117:

(UK) An archetypal middle-class suburban residential street.


melonious

en-adj

melonious (comparative more melonious, superlative most melonious)

more melonious (comparative)
most melonious (superlative)

From melon + -ious, likely as a pun on melodious.

Only occasionally, jacketless in her customary brown or gray silk blouse and ramrod straight in her typing chair, did she reveal superb melonious breasts cantilevered over a trim waist.

1987, Thomas B. Morgan, Snyder’s Walk, page 59:

“But what about all those women? That awful woman with a bottom you said was melonious?”

1987, Henrietta Garnett, Family Skeletons, page 26:

She is clearly taking in my visible panty line, lack of melonious chest and bottom like a bagful of walnuts. I knew I would hate this bloody place the minute I arrived.

2004, Carole Matthews, The Sweetest Taboo, page 80:

Or do you reconsider at, say, 65? Then you weigh up having melonious gazongas that seem to belong to a much younger lady against, I’m guessing, sad, empty bags of skin. (Or by then will you have had your face done to match your boobs?)

2012 January 7, Janice Turner, “Like the financial bubble, implants will burst”, in The Times, number 70463, London, page 25:

(euphemistic, by extension, chiefly UK) Curvaceous.

(of body parts, especially breasts) Very large.

I have had several letters of complaint from the Haringey Women’s Lesbian Kalashnikov Training and Mouth Painting Centre saying that this column has been prejudiced in favour of girls with enormous breasts to the detriment of their less melonious sisters.

1991, Ed Knox, “World of Nookie”, in Men Only, volume 56, number 6, Paul Raymond, page 34:

(of a woman) Very buxom; having large breasts.

Curvaceous.
Very buxom; having large breasts.


comb out

en-verb

comb out (third-person singular simple present combs out, present participle combing out, simple past and past participle combed out)

combs out (present singular third-person)
combing out (participle present)
combed out (participle past)
combed out (past)

The government combed out some people from the compulsory action.

(figurative, UK, dated) To exempt (someone) from a military draft.


waterfunk

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *wed-
Proto-Indo-European *-r̥
Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥
Proto-Germanic *watōr
Proto-West Germanic *watar
Old English wæter
Middle English water
English water
English funk
English waterfunk
Compound of water + funk (“a coward”).

etymon

We remember in ancient times, when William IV. was king, on a magnificent sheet of brownish water, gracefully named Duck Puddle, a select little coterie of waterfunks (the title sufficiently explains itself—Etonicè frousts) would be unjustifiably but carefully placed on two old punts, or on a punt and an unhinged door, massive as that of Gaza, and on those treacherous rafts committed like Danae to the mercy of the waves.

1861 September 7, “Tale of the Tub”, in The Living Age, volume XIV (third series), number 901, Boston, M.A.: Littell, Son, & Co., →OCLC, page 613, column 1:

"'Twasn't fair—remindin' one of bein' a water-funk. My first term, too. Heaps of chaps are—when they can't swim."

1898 December, Rudyard Kipling, “Stalky”, in The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women, volume IX, London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited […], →OCLC, page 190, column 2:

'Very well. I'm no waterfunk,' and as though she feared that her courage might ooze away, she rose and drew the curtain that divided the hut from the door to the back. 'Who wants to bathe?'

1933 December, R[alph] H[ale] Mottram, “A Trip to the Seaside. III. The Beach”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume 148, number 888, London: John Murray, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 647:

Normally, I am a grade A waterfunk and the initial process of getting wet is agony but this was sheer bliss.

1999, Henry Blofeld, It's Just Not Cricket! Henry Blofeld's Cricket Year, London: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 196:

(British, colloquial, dated) Someone who is afraid to go into water; a hydrophobe.


dunnarf

A reduction of do not half or does not half. See not half.

I dunnarf feel ill.

1971, Ian Curteis, Long Voyage Out of War: A Trilogy of Television Plays, published 1971, page 175:

I knock it every time we kneel for prayers, it dunnarf hurt.

2013, Phillipa Bowers, The Secrets Of The Cave, published 2013, page 41:

FRANKIE presents her hands. BRIDIE holds them – checking the feel of them. You lot dun'narf get the pretty ones duncha? Don't know how you brood of ugly bastards do it.

2013, Rikki Beadle-Blair, Gutted, published 2013:

(British, colloquial) do/does to a great extent.


fucking oath

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, colloquial, vulgar) Alternative form of bloody oath


swift half

Near-synonym: swiftie

(chiefly UK, Ireland, informal) An alcoholic drink, usually half the usual amount (e.g. a half-pint of beer), that is intended to be consumed quickly.


grey club-rush

en-noun

grey club-rush (countable and uncountable, plural grey club-rushes)

The only other identifiable plant macrofossil present was a nutlet of club-rush that was morphologically most similar to grey club-rush (Schoenoplectus cf tabernaemontani). This form of club-rush is most often found near the sea, although it also grows in marshes and dune-slacks.

2017 January 9, Dan Garner, Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 253:

(chiefly UK, Ireland) Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, a species of bulrush.


CLC

CLC (countable and uncountable, plural CLCs)

(countable, UK) Initialism of city learning centre.


originating summons

originating summons (plural originating summonses)

(UK, Hong Kong) A legal document that starts a civil action, typically used when there is significant legal dispute instead of factual dispute.


dimmit

dimmit (countable and uncountable, plural dimmits)

“ My Billy is out with his boat in the bay.
To snare the bright herring for me,
And I, with my arms, in the dimmit of day,
Will snare the bold son of the sea.”

1858, Edward Capern, “Kitty Lile; or, Mazed Kate of Clovelly”, in Ballads and Songs, London: W. Kent & Co., page 132:

The following account of the same custom, as practised at Bideford, North Devon, has been communicated to me by J. G. Cooper, Esq., of that town “ The custom appears to have been immediately at the end of the day when the reapers had completed their cutting, usually in the twilight of the autumn evening (‘ in the dimmit ’ : Devonice), for the whole party to gather in a circle, […]

1867 August 14, L. Gidley, “A Harvest Custom in Devonshire”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume IV, number 186, page 215:

If you choose to carry the girl about in your cart, to Polworthy an' back, 'tis no account o' mine ; nor if you're a mind to waste your time in the dimmit (twilight), hangin' round Gridge's cottage, as I do hear ; but you won't drag me into it, and that's final.

1888, G. B. Stuart, “Poppy”, in Charles W. Wood, editor, The Argosy, Summer edition, volume XLV, London, page 81:

‘Punch 'll mind the door, and bark if any one comes nigh. Then in the dimmits’ (twilight) ‘you can go.’

1893, Sabine Baring-Gould, “In the Smoke” (chapter VIII), in Mrs. Curgenven of Curgenven, volume III, Methuen & Co., page 93:

When she left the Hall she went by the lower path across the park, not by the church and the sea. It was the gloaming of a November afternoon—the " dimmits," as we call it in Cornwall—and "gloaming," as you know, at that time means almost the dark.

1894, W. J. Knox Little, chapter VI, in The Waif from the Waves, London: Chapman & Hall, page 53:

'Twas getting on vor the dimmits, and I hitched up the mare and went vore tii the back entrance. As I passed the kitchen winder I seed Albertina sitting there all alone, because 'er master and missus was well-to-do, and sat in the parlour evenings ; and I zim tü go all of a treemor like.

1896 June 14, Mary Hartier, “An Evening with Hodge”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, number 153, page 259:

And now, as the evenings were so light, she would have time to walk, perhaps, even so far as Quarry Point, and still get back before the dusk—the ‘dimmits’ as Sarah called it—came.

1950 February 14, Doreen Idle, chapter 11, in The Last Knot, London: Hodder & Stoughton, page 137:

(UK dialectal, Devon, Cornwall, West Country) Alternative form of dimmet (Twilight; dusk; crepusculum)


TOLATA

w:Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996

(UK, law) Acronym of Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.


bird off

en-verb

bird off (third-person singular simple present birds off, present participle birding off, simple past and past participle birded off)

birds off (present singular third-person)
birding off (participle present)
birded off (participle past)
birded off (past)

(slang, transitive, UK) To sentence (someone) to prison.


bell up

bell up (third-person singular simple present bells up, present participle belling up, simple past and past participle belled up)

bells up (present singular third-person)
belling up (participle present)
belled up (participle past)
belled up (past)

He belled me up last week.


fabric conditioner

en-noun

fabric conditioner (countable and uncountable, plural fabric conditioners)

(British, Philippines) Synonym of fabric softener


blast up

en-verb

blast up (third-person singular simple present blasts up, present participle blasting up, simple past and past participle blasted up)

blasts up (present singular third-person)
blasting up (participle present)
blasted up (participle past)
blasted up (past)

(transitive, slang, UK) To beat up (someone).


bull up

bull up (third-person singular simple present bulls up, present participle bulling up, simple past and past participle bulled up)

bulls up (present singular third-person)
bulling up (participle present)
bulled up (participle past)
bulled up (past)

(UK, slang, military) To polish (boots) thoroughly; by extension, to prepare other military kit, e.g. firearms or uniforms; to clean or organize more generally.


cack on

cack on (third-person singular simple present cacks on, present participle cacking on, simple past and past participle cacked on)

cacks on (present singular third-person)
cacking on (participle present)
cacked on (participle past)
cacked on (past)

(slang, UK, childish) To shit on; to disparage or harshly criticize.


kak on

kak on (third-person singular simple present kaks on, present participle kakking on, simple past and past participle kakked on)

kaks on (present singular third-person)
kakking on (participle present)
kakked on (participle past)
kakked on (past)

(slang, UK, South Africa) To shit on; to disparage or harshly criticize.


bung out

bung out (third-person singular simple present bungs out, present participle bunging out, simple past and past participle bunged out)

bungs out (present singular third-person)
bunging out (participle present)
bunged out (participle past)
bunged out (past)

Just bung it out in the trash can.

(UK, Australia, literally) To throw away (something); to dispose of or get rid of.


run about with

run about with (third-person singular simple present runs about with, present participle running about with, simple past ran about with, past participle run about with)

runs about with (present singular third-person)
running about with (participle present)
ran about with (past)
run about with (participle past)


base wallah

(UK, slang, derogatory) A person employed at a military base, or with a job far behind the front lines.


big beast

But business has become less keen both on Europe and on him, while the erstwhile Tory big beasts, such as Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine, Douglas Hurd and Chris Patten, have been strident critics of his Iraq policy.

Despite the reluctance of New Labour big beasts such as Charles Clarke, Stephen Byers, or Alan Milburn, and the hesitations of David Miliband and Alan Johnson, Gordon Brown was elected unopposed.

2010 February 12, Florence Faucher-King, Patrick Le Galés, The New Labour Experiment: Change and Reform Under Blair and Brown, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 153:

If his purpose was to re-ignite Tory passions, he was successful, ending up with the Tory 'big beasts' fighting among themselves.

2021 August 19, Christopher Booker, Richard North, The Great Deception: The True Story of Britain and the European Union, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 336:

Michael Portillo’s election defeat in 1997, unseated on a swing of 17.4 percentage points shortly after 3am on 2 May that year, has become synonymous with the shock moment that a major political big beast loses their seat.

2024 July 5, Alexandra Topping, “The 2024 election’s ‘Portillo moments’: which ‘Big Beasts’ have lost their seats?”, in The Guardian:

(UK, politics) A prominent and influential politician, especially one seen as a leader or major player within a party or faction.


gentry cove's ken

en-noun

gentry cove's ken (plural gentry cove's kens)

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A gentleman's house.


bend one off

en-verb

bend one off (third-person singular simple present bends one off, present participle bending one off, simple past and past participle bent one off)

bends one off (present singular third-person)
bending one off (participle present)
bent one off (participle past)
bent one off (past)

(UK, Australia, colloquial, vulgar) To defecate.


English basement

en-noun

English basement (plural English basements)

(British) An apartment on the lowest floor of a building.


go forth and multiply

Alteration of the biblical phrase 'be fruitful and multiply', a commandment to have many offspring.

(UK, euphemistic or humorous, idiomatic) go fuck oneself; fuck off.


shove up

en-verb

shove up (third-person singular simple present shoves up, present participle shoving up, simple past and past participle shoved up)

shoves up (present singular third-person)
shoving up (participle present)
shoved up (participle past)
shoved up (past)

Shove up, so I can fit in next to you.

(informal, UK) To move over so as to make room for another.


jib out

jib out (third-person singular simple present jibs out, present participle jibbing out, simple past and past participle jibbed out)

jibs out (present singular third-person)
jibbing out (participle present)
jibbed out (participle past)
jibbed out (past)

She jibbed me out of the money.

(slang, UK) To swindle, cheat or con (something) from someone.


turn in on oneself

turn in on oneself (third-person singular simple present turns in on oneself, present participle turning in on oneself, simple past and past participle turned in on oneself)

turns in on oneself (present singular third-person)
turning in on oneself (participle present)
turned in on oneself (participle past)
turned in on oneself (past)

(UK) To become inwardly focused, withdrawn and preoccupied.


sten do

(UK) A party where the bride and groom decide to celebrate their final night of being single together.


go to earth

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

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

(UK) Of a hunted animal, to hide underground.

(UK, figurative, by extension) Of a person, to hide from someone or something, to escape.


kip out

kip out (third-person singular simple present kips out, present participle kipping out, simple past and past participle kipped out)

kips out (present singular third-person)
kipping out (participle present)
kipped out (participle past)
kipped out (past)

(slang, UK) To sleep outside; to camp; to sleep rough.


kip in

kip in (third-person singular simple present kips in, present participle kipping in, simple past and past participle kipped in)

kips in (present singular third-person)
kipping in (participle present)
kipped in (participle past)
kipped in (past)

Kip in and get to sleep!

(slang, UK) To quiet down, such as to get ready for bed; to go to bed.


kip up

kip up (third-person singular simple present kips up, present participle kipping up, simple past and past participle kipped up)

kips up (present singular third-person)
kipping up (participle present)
kipped up (participle past)
kipped up (past)

She's kipping up above the shop.


puffhead

Johnny Archibald was a pisshead, a puffhead, and one of life’s losers. In fact, he was the ideal person to help Billy return to his old ways.

2009, Kimberley Chambers, Born Evil, London: HarperCollins Publishers, published 2017, →ISBN, pages 171–172:

(slang, derogatory, chiefly UK) A person who smokes cannabis regularly.


Boy's Own

Isn't the sense of selflessness a bit Boy's Own?

2001 April 23, Simon Hattenstone, “In love and war”, in The Guardian:

Once upon a time Robert Falcon Scott was the epitome of a Boy's Own hero.

2008 January 4, Finlo Rohrer, “What makes a modern hero?”, in BBC:

As a lifelong Spurs supporter and a regular MOTD viewer, this is Boy’s Own stuff, and it’s a struggle to retain my journalistic cool.

2011 February 7, Theo Hooper, “Gary Lineker: "Players are role models whether they like it or not"”, in Big Issue:

However, a lot of women who agree with Class War's aims and principles, think the organisation is too Boy's Own to become involved with.

1997, Alice Nutter, “Make Your Own Tea: Women’s Realm and Other Recipes and Patterns”, in Class War, number 73:

Look at the Boy’s Own shit of Prince Harry as a hero in an imperialist war. We still live in Victorian times. [spoken by Pat Mills]

2013 January 20, Steve Earles, “Veterans Of The Trenches: A Look Back At Battle Comic”, in The Quietus:

(UK, derogatory) chauvinistic; out of date.


in a real state

en-adj

in a real state (comparative more in a real state, superlative most in a real state)

more in a real state (comparative)
most in a real state (superlative)

in a right state
in a right state#English

(British, idiomatic) Synonym of in a right state


examining justice

en-noun

examining justice (plural examining justices)

(British, Wales, law) A judge deciding whether there is enough evidence for a case to be brought before the Crown Court.


LTD.

limited liability company
limited liability company#English

(British, Canada, Ireland) Abbreviation of limited liability company.


inquest of office

inquest of office (plural inquests of office)

(UK, law, historical) An inquest undertaken on occasions when the Crown claimed the right of possession to land or property.


deady

From Deady, the last name of David Deady and his brother James Deady, distillers in London in the early 1800s.

Nor took a punch nor given a swing, / But just soaked deady round the ring / Until their brains and bloods were foul / Enough to make their throttles howl, […]

1911, John Masefield, The Everlasting Mercy, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., page 7:

(British, slang, obsolete) (A nickname for) gin, or a particular kind of gin.


Money-Mae

(UK, slang, derogatory) The British reality television personality Molly-Mae Hague (born 1999).


junior doctor

I was attended to by a junior doctor.

(UK) A qualified, practicing doctor who has completed graduate medical education and is undergoing postgraduate training.

British Medical Association
junior doctor


note-bash

en-verb

note-bash (third-person singular simple present note-bashes, present participle note-bashing, simple past and past participle note-bashed)

note-bashes (present singular third-person)
note-bashing (participle present)
note-bashed (participle past)
note-bashed (past)

From note + bash, as an allusion to bashing the keys of a piano in an unmusical fashion when first learning a piece.

I hate note-bashing - we've been doing it all afternoon!

(chiefly intransitive, UK, music, informal) To learn the most basic aspects of a piece of music (such as the notes and rhythm) via rote repetition, without regard for tempo, dynamics, style or musicality; typically done when first learning a new piece, as a way to understand it and build muscle memory.


sixth form college

en-noun

sixth form college (countable and uncountable, plural sixth form colleges)

(UK) An educational establishment consisting solely of a sixth form.


lower sixth

(UK except Scotland) Year 12, the first year of sixth form for 16 to 17 year olds, in which some students sit AS-levels.


upper sixth

(UK except Scotland) Year 13, the second year of sixth form for 17 to 18 year olds, in which students sit A-levels.


murderise

en-verb

murderise (third-person singular simple present murderises, present participle murderising, simple past and past participle murderised)

murderises (present singular third-person)
murderising (participle present)
murderised (participle past)
murderised (past)

(rare, UK) Alternative form of murderize


get rounds

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

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

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

I'm proving them wrong when I'm making these songs. I'm gunna get rounds. Ima blow g.

2022 March 15, JJ Denny, If i had a verse on Lil Tjay- “In My Head”:

(slang, British, chiefly MLE) To succeed; to cook.


shitcock

He's losing support because even the shitcocks who were worshipping his prune nuts earlier in the race are now waking up and seeing the skewed reality of this wretched brown-eye's shtick. Then again, there are still some shitcocks doing a jig for this tyrannosaurus dick.

2014, Rob Rimes, Scalping Jackals, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 59:

"You stuck-up, self-centered shitcock! You think all I'm good for's fucking things up? You want me to beat people down on your schedule? Is it okay when you order me to?"

2015 December 15, Owen B. Greenwald, Too Much Action #5 (Big Bet), ABDO, →ISBN, page 94:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, derogatory, vulgar) Term of abuse.


arse lift

“I’m still thinking about having my bottom done. But it hasn’t been a good time to not sit on it for 2 weeks” - Chloe on her arse lift (TOWIE [The Only Way Is Essex])

2012 February 13, Jim Shelley, “Loving the Prisoners' Wives is not a crime”, in Mirror:

(informal, vulgar, chiefly UK) Synonym of butt lift.


lay system

They farmed this whole valley on the lay system back then, and the lord kept the horses and ploughmen busy.

(agriculture, archaic, especially British) A certain system of fallow farming with a certain crop rotation and rotation of arable and pasturage.


to be going on with

It's not much but it'll do to be going on with.

I can't take on this job right now. I've already got plenty to be going on with.

[…] while not a super-goof like some of the female goofs I'd met, she was quite goofy enough to be going on with.

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter III:

(UK) For now; provisionally; to begin with.


godmum

(UK, Ireland, Canada, New England, South Africa, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, informal) Godmother.


godmummy

(UK, Ireland, Canada, New England, South Africa, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, usually childish, less common) Godmother.


benz

Clipping of benners, an alteration of tenners, plural of tenner (“a £10 banknote”).

What's that smell in the chеst of drawers? / Young boy sellin' them benz and scores / Gotta get rich in desperate cause / Talk about drill, gotta mention moi

2024 September 5, Central Cee, Einer Bankz, Raye (lyrics and music), “Moi”, performed by Central Cee and Raye, Columbia Records:

(slang, UK) Clipping of benners (“a bag of cannabis worth £10”).


benners

Probably an alteration of tenners, plural of tenner (“a £10 banknote”).

I'll give your gran a benners for a blowjob / Another ten for her clothes off / She's stiff like a robot / But there ain't nothing I won't want

2007 June 8, Ghetts (lyrics and music), “Menace” (track 5), in Ghetto Gospel, performed by Ghetts:

Coordinate term: scores

"On the phone you said you want a scores, you think I would come all the way here for a benners you prick!!!"

You sold a benners now you think your the best weed man on road 😂

I live a hood life but make it look nice / Come a long way from linking benners on my pushbike

2016 November 20, Trizzy Trapz, Kojo Funds (lyrics and music), “Say My Grace”, performed by Trizzy Trapz ft. Kojo Funds:

(slang, UK) A bag of cannabis worth £10.


tonker

"It's all just hot air and posing isn't it? The political equivalent of 'my tonker is bigger than your tonker'," said CMOTdibbler, adding, "I'm all for free social care – but it needs to be high quality, consistent care, not patched together by private companies who are all trying to make money out of it."

2009 November 18, Helen Pidd, “Queen's Speech gets the Mumsnet treatment”, in The Guardian:

The blackbirds and robins and and^([sic]) tits and finches shout at each other, chups and warbles and chirrups that, loosely translated, mean “Fancy a shag?”, “Get OFF my land” or “I’ve got a great big tonker.”

2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian:


Polski sklep

From Polish polski sklep (“Polish shop”). Polski is usually capitalised in English as all national demonyms are, although in Polish it would be written in lower case.

Charity shops, pound shops and discount stores fill a large number of the units, with at least six Polski skleps among them.

2016 December 6, Rebecca Woods, “Brexit six months on: How do Birmingham's Polish expats feel now?”, in BBC News:

On the high street, he spots a Polski sklep next to a Tesco Express - a new addition judging by the fresh paint job.

2017 October 5, Sophie Hannah, Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

Jess was pushing her way into the Polski Sklep on the corner to top up her depleted alcohol supplies.

2022 July 7, Rosie Mullender, The Time of My Life, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

The flora and fauna of that trip have now invaded my memories, my guts and my skin just as - for nearly half a century French cheeses, Italian cappuccini, Danish flooring, Swedish furniture, Spanish banks, Polski skleps, German domestic goods, have invaded and changed our country for good.

2022 March 17, Hardeep Matharu, Wokelore: Boris Johnson's Culture War and Other Stories, Unbound Publishing, →ISBN:

(UK) A shop selling Polish and Eastern European groceries; typically a small high street corner shop that also sells everyday products.


side return

(UK) An outdoor passage alongside a house or other building, forming part of the property and typically leading to the back garden.


Chelsea chop

So called because it coincides with the period of the Chelsea Flower Show.

(UK, horticulture, informal) The practice of pruning herbaceous plants around the end of May.


mylonisation

UK standard spelling of mylonization (“mylonitization”).


private ambulance

en-noun

private ambulance (plural private ambulances)

From private + ambulance, due to such vehicles being privately-owned, rather than under the ownersnip of the UK's National Health Service.

(strictly) A privately-owned non-emergency vehicle, generally used for scheduled patient transport or the transportation of the deceased to a mortuary.

(loosely) Any vehicle which is not a hearse that is used to transport dead bodies for legitimate reasons.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see private, ambulance.


searchroom

(British) A room where the public can access archives.


Chocolate Factory

Humorous nickname of Google, coined by the UK technological newspaper The Register.

The Chocolate Factory has appealed the Epic verdict and also plans to challenge the DoJ's victory.

2024 August 15, Thomas Claburn, “Google is a monopoly. The fix isn't obvious”, in The Register:


God's minstrel

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Synonym of Abraham man


Tom of Bedlam's man

Tom of Bedlam's man (usually uncountable, plural Tom of Bedlam's men)

(UK, thieves' cant, obsolete) Synonym of Abraham man


Cos lettuce

From the supposed origin of cos lettuce with reference to the Greek island of Kos.

(chiefly UK) Alternative letter-case form of cos lettuce, romaine lettuce.


meet me at McDonald's

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-meet me at McDonald's.wav

A secondary school in Norfolk has banned pupils from donning a popular haircut known as the "Meet me at McDonald's". The trendy, 80s-inspired hairstyle typically features short sides with a floppy, tousled mop of hair on top.

2018 February 22, Olivia Petter, “'Meet me at McDonald's' haircut banned in Norfolk school”, in The Independent:

In 2018, "Meet me at McDonald's" isn't an invitation; bizarrely, it's the name some young people have given a fashionable haircut that involves a closely shaven back and sides with an unruly mop on top.

[2019 August 13, Gyles Brandreth, Have You Eaten Grandma?: Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Grammar, and Good English, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 6:

(UK, Ireland, humorous) The broccoli haircut.


meet me at McDonald's haircut

meet me at McDonald's haircut (plural meet me at McDonald's haircuts)

@joe_weller_ the meet me at McDonald's haircut.
..lethal..

Barry Smith, head teacher of Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, has risked the wrath of parents in the past by banning the tousle-topped 'meet me at McDonald's' haircut and telling pupils when to go to bed and get up.

2018 October 19, Joel Adams, “Strict school that banned 'Meet Me At McDonald's' haircuts and ordered pupils to go to bed at 9.30pm angers parents again by bringing in experts to measure girls' skirts”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-09-25:

In the five-minute interval, a boy came in with a Meet Me At McDonald's haircut, otherwise known as a short back and sides with a perm sat on top, like a Heston Blumenthal attempt at a taxidermy soufflé. He was about six foot,[…]

2021 February 28, Samuel Elliott, ASBO Teacher: An irreverent guide to surviving in challenging classrooms, Crown House Publishing, →ISBN:

meet me at McDonald's
meet me at McDonald's#English

(UK, humorous) Synonym of meet me at McDonald's.


BSAC

British Sub-Aqua Club
w:British Sub-Aqua Club

(underwater diving, UK) Initialism of British Sub-Aqua Club.


mud sticks

(UK, informal) It is very difficult to modify a negative or unfavorable impression or opinion that a person holds about someone, even if it is later disproved.


piece of shite

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, very uncommon) Alternative form of piece of shit


shiteface

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, very uncommon) Alternative form of shitface


NPCC

(UK) Initialism of National Police Chiefs' Council.


and I claim my five pounds

After newspaper competitions, such as Lobby Lud, where readers were offered money for spotting a certain figure in public and accosting him with a passphrase, such as "you are Lobby Lud, and I claim my five pounds". (However, the Lobby Lud competition did not involve this phrase.)

"You are John Rigor Mortis Doe and I claim my five pounds!"

2008 June 15, Al Ewing, I, Zombie, Abaddon Books, →ISBN:

'You are the one... known as the Doctor...' said the vagrant, tottering towards him.
 'And I claim my five pounds,' Felicia heard Percy say bitterly.

2015 February 12, Gareth Roberts, Doctor Who: The English Way of Death: The History Collection, Random House, →ISBN, page 186:

'You are Mr Joscelyne,' they heard her joke, waggling her ring finger under his nose, 'and I claim my five pounds.'

2015 August 11, Elizabeth Cooke, You Belong to Me: A Novel, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

(UK, humourous) Used to intensify a statement of someone's identity, particularly to make a humourous comparision between two unrelated people or entities.


three-legged mare

three-legged mare (plural three-legged mares)

The original three-legged mare was the Tyburn tree, which stood near a major road junction in Middlesex (present-day Greater London); another well-known example was the York Tyburn at Knavesmire, Yorkshire.

They call a thing a three-legged mare, // Where they will fit each neck with a nooze, / Then with our beads to say our last prayer, // After all this to die in our shoes.

c. 1882-98, Unknown author, “The Reading Skirmish”, in Francis James Child, editor, English and Scottish Ballads, Volume IV, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, page 247:

Few, however, quitted the highway^([i.e., the life of the highwayman]) except for the "three-legged mare" at Tyburn, and the one- or two-legged mares of other places; and he held on his way.

1908, Charles G. Harper, Half-Hours With the Highwaymen: Volume 2, Outlook Verlag, published 2020, page 147:

"Here, now," someone close to her carriage shouted, "let the bad 'un ride the three-legged mare."

1982, Kathryn Atwood, Renegade Lady, Jove, page 2:

(historical, UK) A type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public hangings.


Spursy

en-adj

Spursy (comparative more Spursy, superlative most Spursy)

more Spursy (comparative)
most Spursy (superlative)

From Spurs + -y. Tottenham Hotspur consistently finish near the top of the Premier League but have won no trophies in recent years.

In the 1978-79 season, Chelsea, who had come up the year before, finished dead last in the first division and were relegated again. But no worries, I still had my Robins in the top flight. But then they did something more Spursy than anything the Spurs could ever dream of. They were relegated in successive seasons between 1980 and 1982[…]

2018 May 15, Roger Bennett, Michael Davies, Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica: A Suboptimal Guide to Soccer, America's "Sport of the Future" Since 1972, Knopf, →ISBN, page 27:

Rice has a solid tournament for England. He is excellent in the quarter-final against France, until it all goes a bit Spursy for Harry Kane who uncharacteristically misses a penalty in the 2-1 defeat.

2024 January 30, Pete May, Massive: The Miracle of Prague, Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:

Then came the hammer blow as Pennant stated: "England are Spursy."

2024 March 26, Joe Brophy, quoting Jermaine Pennant, “Gareth Southgate’s record and ‘Spursy’ England worry me – we may have to play Italy, France and Spain to win Euros”, in talkSPORT:

(UK, soccer, humorous, informal) Having a promising team, but losing in an embarrassing way.

(UK, soccer, humorous, informal) Unpredictable.


Green Cross Code

(UK) A brand created by the National Road Safety Committee to raise awareness of pedestrian road safety.


candy-arsed

en-adjective

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

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

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, often humorous, somewhat endearing, slang, sometimes vulgar) Alternative spelling of candy-assed


posh nosh

en-noun

posh nosh (countable and uncountable, plural posh noshes)


milk voucher

(UK) A voucher serving the same purpose as a milk token.


milk card

(UK) A payment card serving the same purpose as milk tokens.


milk token

(UK) A token given by the state to a pregnant woman or mother of a young infant for the purchase of milk and related supplies.


beat someone's arse

en-verb

beat someone's arse (third-person singular simple present beats someone's arse, present participle beating someone's arse, simple past and past participle beated someone's arse)

beats someone's arse (present singular third-person)
beating someone's arse (participle present)
beated someone's arse (participle past)
beated someone's arse (past)

beat someone's ass
beat someone's ass#English

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, idiomatic, sometimes considered, vulgar) Alternative form of beat someone's ass


foreyear

(UK dialectal, Scotland) The early part of the year; spring.


Sainsbo's

(UK, slang) Sainsbury's, a British supermarket.


chat shite

chat shite (third-person singular simple present chats shite, present participle chatting shite, simple past and past participle chatted shite)

chats shite (present singular third-person)
chatting shite (participle present)
chatted shite (participle past)
chatted shite (past)

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, slang, very uncommon) Alternative form of chat shit


plough a lonely furrow

plough a lonely furrow (third-person singular simple present ploughs a lonely furrow, present participle ploughing a lonely furrow, simple past and past participle ploughed a lonely furrow)

ploughs a lonely furrow (present singular third-person)
ploughing a lonely furrow (participle present)
ploughed a lonely furrow (participle past)
ploughed a lonely furrow (past)

(UK, idiomatic) To carry out an action in isolation, or in an original way, without any help or support from others.


connie-onnie

Then Cathy had made connie-onnie sandwiches from condensed milk for them both before they went to bed.

We used to wrap dried tea leaves in a bit of muslin with a spoon of connie-onnie (condensed milk), tied with a bit of cotton, and then we'd take it down in the caddy to your grandad […]

2018, Crissy Rock, Scouse, Choppers & Space Hoppers, page 223:


deuseaville stampers

(obsolete, British, thieves' cant) Members of a criminal gang who traverse the country roads and often visit country inns in the hope of gathering information about possible robberies.


gonk out

gonk out (third-person singular simple present gonks out, present participle gonking out, simple past and past participle gonked out)

gonks out (present singular third-person)
gonking out (participle present)
gonked out (participle past)
gonked out (past)

He gonked out on the bed.


sticklebag

(British, regional) Synonym of stickleback


beer-off

He turns on the radio and sends one of the gang up to the beer-off near the crossroads at the top of the lane to have an enamel bucket filled with ale.

2014, Richard Benson, The Valley: A Hundred Years in the Life of a Family:


have a monk on

have a monk on (third-person singular simple present has a monk on, present participle having a monk on, simple past and past participle had a monk on)

has a monk on (present singular third-person)
having a monk on (participle present)
had a monk on (participle past)
had a monk on (past)

'That's not what bothers me.'
'Really? You've had a monk on ever since you got home last night ... stomping around like a little kid. You're worse than that little deviant.'

2019, H. A. Dawson, Stumbling in a Smoky Haze:

(UK, slang) To be sullen or bad-tempered.


cheap-arse

en-adj

cheap-arse (comparative more cheap-arse, superlative most cheap-arse)

more cheap-arse (comparative)
most cheap-arse (superlative)

(UK, Ireland, slang) Alternative form of cheapass


vlother

Regarded by the English Dialect Dictionary as a dialectal form of flother; see that entry for more.

"What, in the fiend's name, be the meaning of all this vlother? " peevishly exclaimed the miller, though still keeping his voice within the prescribed pitch […]

1839, Windshaw, The Wizard of Windhsaw, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century, page 204:

"'Od's nonsense and vlother! How did he account for 't ? Cows short o' water, I'll be bound. Thic be a likely tale, when we gets short milk, an' poor milk, skimmed to death.[…]"

1912, W. H. Kersey, The Darksome Maids of Bagleere: A Somerset Tale, page 166:

Zecond thing: what 'st think volk 'ud want to bide and hark to such vlother vor! Hear enough o't daylight, I count, 'thouse buttowling about down round there, darkynight, a-gaping at a stage! Thee bissen gwain thee ownzelf, bist, Farmer?" "I gwain!" said Farmer Boggis."

1922, Samuel Robinson Littlewood, Somerset and the Drama, page 89:

[…] all of a vlother; 'e couldn' get no sleep 'count of its hollerings and carryings on.[…]

2016 October 4, Joan Aiken, The Weeping Ash, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN:

(UK, dialectal) Nonsense; incoherent or nonsensical talk.


lobby correspondent

en-noun

lobby correspondent (plural lobby correspondents)

So called from journalists who were given access to the private members' lobby in the House of Commons, later becoming a more generic term for all such journalists in Parliament.

Another paper reported that the GMB's decision to cut back the cash it gives to the Labour Party was all down to Gordon Brown. The evidence for this was that a lobby correspondent saw the GMB boss, Kevin Curran, talking to Douglas Henderson MP, a Brown supporter, on the Commons terrace bar. The hack probably didn’t even realise that Doug was a GMB member.

2004 July 19, Charlie Whelan, New Statesman, Don't believe it: "Blair declares war – on Gordon Brown", page 26:

(UK) A journalist who reports on political and parliamentary affairs, especially through unattributed sources from politicians or other government officials.


arsemuncher

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, humorous, slang, sometimes vulgar) Alternative form of assmuncher


slack bob

(UK, slang, dated) A schoolboy who does not take part in sports.


Billy Big Bollocks

I suppose I was acting like Billy Big Bollocks, but if you're doing the business on the park, as I had done for Newcastle in the past two seasons, then you deserve to be rewarded.

2011 December 31, Mick Quinn, Oliver Harvey, Who Ate All The Pies? The Life and Times of Mick Quinn, Random House, →ISBN, page 136:

Among my circle of cocaine users, I stood out, not because I was Billy Big Bollocks and flash, that was something I never was, and not even because I played for Arsenal and England, because I never behaved as if.

2021 September 16, Paul Merson, Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Every now and then MTV would call and I'd have to film, like, a trailer or something or do some bit of promotion for the show, which only added to my overall feeling of being Billy Big Bollocks.

2023 December 5, Ashley Cain, Strong: Life, Loss, and Eternal Love for My Daughter, Mango Media, →ISBN:

throws his weight around
throw one's weight around

(UK, vulgar, slang) A person, usually a man, with an inflated ego who arrogantly throws his weight around.


droke

Off the main thoroughfare of West Street were a number of small roads and alleys, which were often called 'drokes', although this rather archaic description quite passed me by at the time. […] One of the aforementioned drokes — or call it what you will — still exists today, at Adelaide Place, […]

2015, Michael Stephenson, Fareham Revisited:


jumpers for goalposts

From the idea that children, in the absence of a proper pitch, will mark one using items of clothing (such as jumpers).

There is a strong, and understandable, tendency to romanticise a jumpers-for-goalposts golden age when football pitches looked like the battlefields of Flanders, assorted firms and crews spent their Saturday evenings trashing railway carriages and multi-millionaire players, bloodsucking investors and a globalised Manchester United had yet to ruin our lives.

2011 July 7, Anthony Clavane, Promised Land: A Northern Love Story, Random House, →ISBN, page 130:

In the next section we discuss the notion of 'jumpers for goalposts' in the United Kingdom, and how the modern notion of this, under different constraints, has emerged through activities such as cage football, mixed groups, playing against different ages, and so on.

2021 June 27, James Rudd, Ian Renshaw, Geert Savelsbergh, Jia Yi Chow, Will Roberts, Daniel Newcombe, Keith Davids, Nonlinear Pedagogy and the Athletic Skills Model: The Importance of Play in Supporting Physical Literacy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 45:

Fortunate to have open fields in front of her house , Paula and the boys from the estate would gather for the timeless routine of 'jumpers for goalposts', team selections, and games that only paused when mothers called them in for tea.

2024 September 26, Gail Emms, The Lost Lionesses: The incredible story of England’s forgotten trailblazers, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

association football
association football

(chiefly UK) Informal association football as played by children, especially as a romantic or old-fashioned ideal contrasted against the commercialism and cynicism of modern professional football.


futanarisation

futanarisation (countable and uncountable, plural futanarisations)

British standard spelling of futanarization.


half-a-dollar

(British, slang, historical) Half-crown (in pre-decimalisation currency)


I'm a Dutchman

Likely dates to the 17th century Anglo-Dutch wars, along with other uncomplimentary terms for the Dutch.

(British, humorous) Statement said after describing or hearing something obviously false.


knack-kneed

en-adj

knack-kneed (comparative more knack-kneed, superlative most knack-kneed)

more knack-kneed (comparative)
most knack-kneed (superlative)

Knack-kneed and bent twa fauld; / He had a wife, and by my faith, / She was baith big and bauld.

1891, Andrew Wanless, Sketches and Anecdotes, page viii:

This filly race made the folks round them to flock, / But knack-kneed Mall Trollop came in for the smock.

1891, Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings, page 137:

Otway was knack-kneed and according to village folk, cute and a dapster farmer, terms that Fane had taken to be scurrilous.

2011, Michael Sellers, An Outside Man, page 9:

(UK, dialect) Alternative form of knock-kneed


Numberwang

number + wang, from a 2006 That Mitchell and Webb Look comedy sketch about a nonsensical game show in which contestants shout random numbers and the host replies "That's Numberwang!"

Out of the window went the idea that perhaps children are humans with emotions and background and psyche and dream, and instead in rushed labelling and tracking and spreadsheets and monitoring and failure and rapid progress and interventions and scores and you-can-but-you-over-there-can't, and here's a test and here's another one and, oh, here's another one, and all the time in this great big educational Numberwang comes one thing, sneaking in inside the Trojan Horse of accountability: FEAR.

2020 February 24, Greg Bottrill, School and the Magic of Children, SAGE, →ISBN, page 54:

Only English (180) and French (55) players have won more than their 29 titles, with more Brazilian players (16) having won the Premier League than Irish (five), Welsh (four), Scottish (four) and Northern Irish (two) put together. That's numberwang!

2021 April 5, David Broome, Little Fella, eBook Partnership, →ISBN:

But there is a partial antidote to this numberwang, and it's context, which locates numbers in our world, the human world. Quite simply, it's what brings them to life, and once they are alive and less abstract, we can make better sense of them.

2023 August 17, Michael Blastland, Thinking in Pictures: Adventures in Trying to be Smart, Atlantic Books, →ISBN:

When viewed through a severely skeptical monocle it can look like occult numberwang. At that time, gematria appeared to me to be little more than a form of numerology.

2023 November 28, Bethsheba Ashe, Behold!: The Art and Practice of Gematria, Aeon Books, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) A situation involving a bewildering succession of numbers.

Digital Radio Working Group: It must be Numberwang !

2010 September 1, Grant Goddard, DAB Digital Radio: Licensed To Fail, Radio Books, →ISBN, page 4:

So, as you consider the four million must-read insight pieces that come across your desk tomorrow (again perhaps a slight numberwang), consider whether their insights would last as long as Vitruvius or Ehrenberg's advice.

2020 January 4, Karen Nelson-Field, The Attention Economy and How Media Works: Simple Truths for Marketers, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 26:

At a time when the prison population was at an all-time high of over 85,000, a new operational structure was imposed – with the full endorsement of the biggest union, the Prison Officers' Association (POA) – that divested frontline supervisors of managerial responsibility, made them essentially mobile across prison establishments instead of being tied to a wing and provided a voluntary exit package for experienced staff. That's Numberwang!

2024 April 11, Ian Acheson, Screwed: Britain's Prison Crisis and How to Escape It, Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) The manipulation of statistics.


mark one's own homework

en-verb

mark one's own homework (third-person singular simple present marks one's own homework, present participle marking one's own homework, simple past and past participle marked one's own homework)

marks one's own homework (present singular third-person)
marking one's own homework (participle present)
marked one's own homework (participle past)
marked one's own homework (past)

Aware that his organisation was to be found guilty on at least four charges, he had tried to mark his own homework by submitting a 500-page dossier to the EC attempting to rebut its conclusions before they were even published.

2023 November 2, James O'Brien, “Matthew Elliot”, in How They Broke Britain, Ebury Publishing:

(UK) To assume the role of evaluating one's doings when a disinterested party is required.


kerb drill

en-noun

kerb drill (usually uncountable, plural kerb drills)

(UK) A series of instructions telling pedestrians how to cross the road safely, a forerunner of the Green Cross Code.


car breaker

Coordinate term: shipbreaker

(UK, Commonwealth) One who works in car breaking.


car breaking

Coordinate term: shipbreaking

(UK, Commonwealth) The breaking up of cars and other light vehicles for scrap recycling.


REUL

(UK, law) Abbreviation of retained EU law, European Union law that are retained by the United Kingdom after Brexit.