"Fred Karno's army" meaning in English

See Fred Karno's army in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

IPA: /fɹɛd ˈkɑːnəʊz ɑːmiː/ [UK]
Etymology: From the First World War marching tune "We're Fred Karno's Army", ultimately from the slapstick music hall entertainer Fred Karno. Head templates: {{en-proper noun}} Fred Karno's army
  1. (UK, slang) A chaotic, poorly-managed group. Tags: UK, slang Synonyms: Karno's army, Fred Carno's army [misspelling], Carno's army [misspelling]
    Sense id: en-Fred_Karno's_army-en-name-2JCvqw08 Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "From the First World War marching tune \"We're Fred Karno's Army\", ultimately from the slapstick music hall entertainer Fred Karno.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Fred Karno's army",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1951 November 28, Anthony Head, “New Clause.—(ENROLMENT.)”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), volume 494, column 1656:",
          "text": "Whatever any hon. Member in any part of the Committee thinks about the advisability of this Bill, they all wish the Force that eventually is created to be an efficient one and not a Fred Karno's army.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1973, John Pellow, With a Little Help from My Friends, page 156:",
          "text": "It was like bloody Fred Karno's army out there. They were sods. Drunk as lords. Been to a wedding party or something.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Craig Thomas, A Different War, page 221:",
          "text": "'Honest, Marian — it's a right Fred Karno's army setup . . .'",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A chaotic, poorly-managed group."
      ],
      "id": "en-Fred_Karno's_army-en-name-2JCvqw08",
      "links": [
        [
          "chaotic",
          "chaotic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, slang) A chaotic, poorly-managed group."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Karno's army"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "misspelling"
          ],
          "word": "Fred Carno's army"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "misspelling"
          ],
          "word": "Carno's army"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɹɛd ˈkɑːnəʊz ɑːmiː/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Fred Karno's army"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the First World War marching tune \"We're Fred Karno's Army\", ultimately from the slapstick music hall entertainer Fred Karno.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Fred Karno's army",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proper nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1951 November 28, Anthony Head, “New Clause.—(ENROLMENT.)”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), volume 494, column 1656:",
          "text": "Whatever any hon. Member in any part of the Committee thinks about the advisability of this Bill, they all wish the Force that eventually is created to be an efficient one and not a Fred Karno's army.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1973, John Pellow, With a Little Help from My Friends, page 156:",
          "text": "It was like bloody Fred Karno's army out there. They were sods. Drunk as lords. Been to a wedding party or something.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Craig Thomas, A Different War, page 221:",
          "text": "'Honest, Marian — it's a right Fred Karno's army setup . . .'",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A chaotic, poorly-managed group."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "chaotic",
          "chaotic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, slang) A chaotic, poorly-managed group."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɹɛd ˈkɑːnəʊz ɑːmiː/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Karno's army"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "misspelling"
      ],
      "word": "Fred Carno's army"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "misspelling"
      ],
      "word": "Carno's army"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Fred Karno's army"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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