See off like a bride's nightie in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for off like a bride's nightie meaning in English (3.9kB)
{
"etymology_text": "A reference to the supposed eagerness of just-married couples to have sexual intercourse on the night of their wedding. Australian from 1960.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "off like a bride's nightie (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English similes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Just before it was to be his shout, he was off like a bride′s nightie."
},
{
"ref": "1995, James Mitchell, So Far from Home, published 1997, page 216",
"text": "Missing because I′d been happy and didn′t need him, though I went to him fast enough when the happiness was over. Off like a bride′s nightie.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Harry Bowling, As Time Goes By, unnumbered page",
"text": "‘[…]Tell me, are you still intending to join the armed forces?’\n‘Soon as ever I can, judge,’ Joe told him firmly, ‘I′ll be off like a bride′s nightie.’",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Mina Ford, My Fake Wedding, page 154",
"text": "‘S′not that,’ she said, ‘It′s just if I give in so soon he′ll be off like a bride′s nightie. So I have to get it elsewhere, if you know what I mean.[…]’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Making a rapid departure; away."
],
"id": "en-off_like_a_bride's_nightie-en-adj-6NRALJP~",
"links": [
[
"departure",
"departure"
]
],
"qualifier": "simile",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, simile) Making a rapid departure; away."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"not-comparable",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English similes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Horse racing",
"orig": "en:Horse racing",
"parents": [
"Equestrianism",
"Horses",
"Sports",
"Equids",
"Livestock",
"Human activity",
"Odd-toed ungulates",
"Agriculture",
"Animals",
"Human behaviour",
"Mammals",
"Applied sciences",
"Lifeforms",
"Human",
"Vertebrates",
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"All topics",
"Life",
"Chordates",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "42 58",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "39 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "38 62",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Making a rapid departure; away.",
"Moving quickly and resolutely."
],
"id": "en-off_like_a_bride's_nightie-en-adj-VnqEUBtH",
"links": [
[
"departure",
"departure"
],
[
"horse racing",
"horse racing"
]
],
"qualifier": "simile",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, simile) Making a rapid departure; away.",
"(Australia, horse racing) Moving quickly and resolutely."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "43 57",
"tags": [
"verb"
],
"word": "shoot through like a Bondi tram"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "43 57",
"word": "off like a prom dress"
}
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"not-comparable",
"slang"
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"horse-racing",
"horseracing",
"horses",
"lifestyle",
"pets",
"racing",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-off like a bride's nightie.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "off like a bride's nightie"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English prepositional phrases",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncomparable adjectives"
],
"etymology_text": "A reference to the supposed eagerness of just-married couples to have sexual intercourse on the night of their wedding. Australian from 1960.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "off like a bride's nightie (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"related": [
{
"tags": [
"verb"
],
"word": "shoot through like a Bondi tram"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English similes",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Just before it was to be his shout, he was off like a bride′s nightie."
},
{
"ref": "1995, James Mitchell, So Far from Home, published 1997, page 216",
"text": "Missing because I′d been happy and didn′t need him, though I went to him fast enough when the happiness was over. Off like a bride′s nightie.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Harry Bowling, As Time Goes By, unnumbered page",
"text": "‘[…]Tell me, are you still intending to join the armed forces?’\n‘Soon as ever I can, judge,’ Joe told him firmly, ‘I′ll be off like a bride′s nightie.’",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Mina Ford, My Fake Wedding, page 154",
"text": "‘S′not that,’ she said, ‘It′s just if I give in so soon he′ll be off like a bride′s nightie. So I have to get it elsewhere, if you know what I mean.[…]’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Making a rapid departure; away."
],
"links": [
[
"departure",
"departure"
]
],
"qualifier": "simile",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, simile) Making a rapid departure; away."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"not-comparable",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"English similes",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Horse racing"
],
"glosses": [
"Making a rapid departure; away.",
"Moving quickly and resolutely."
],
"links": [
[
"departure",
"departure"
],
[
"horse racing",
"horse racing"
]
],
"qualifier": "simile",
"raw_glosses": [
"(Australia, slang, simile) Making a rapid departure; away.",
"(Australia, horse racing) Moving quickly and resolutely."
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"not-comparable",
"slang"
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"horse-racing",
"horseracing",
"horses",
"lifestyle",
"pets",
"racing",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-off like a bride's nightie.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/En-au-off_like_a_bride%27s_nightie.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "off like a prom dress"
}
],
"word": "off like a bride's nightie"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (e268c0e and 304864d). 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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