‘croque-madame’: meanings and origin
1932—coined after ‘croque-monsieur’—a toasted or fried sandwich filled with ham and cheese and topped with a poached or fried egg—but originally denoted any of various types of toasted or fried sandwich
Read MoreCategory: United Kingdom & Ireland
‘well, I’ll go to the foot of our stairs’: meaning and early occurrences
UK (Midlands), 1939—exclamative phrase used to express astonishment or incredulity—the reason that this metaphor was chosen is unknown
Read More‘brothel-creepers’: meaning and origin
1943—‘brothel-creepers’ (also ‘brothel-creeper shoes’ and ‘creepers’): denotes soft-soled shoes—refers to the stealthiness that those shoes permit
Read More‘powfagged’: meaning and origin
meaning: ‘extremely tired’—origin (Lancashire, England, 1859): from the noun ‘pow’, variant of ‘poll’, denoting ‘a person’s head’, and the adjective ‘fagged’, meaning ‘extremely tired’
Read Morenotes on the noun ‘Goddam’
designates an Englishman—originated among the French, from the fact that they regarded the exclamation ‘God damn’ as characteristic of the English—the Middle-French synonym ‘godon’ may be etymologically unrelated
Read More‘mother’s ruin’: meaning and origin
UK, 1904—denotes gin (i.e., a clear alcoholic spirit distilled from grain or malt and flavoured with juniper berries)—‘mother’s ruin’ alludes to the evils caused by the consumption of gin
Read MoreSpanish ‘costa’ in invented place names
In reference to the names of various stretches of the Spanish Mediterranean coast which are popular with British holidaymakers, the Spanish noun ‘costa’ is used humorously as the first element in various invented place names.
Read More‘God slot’: meaning and origin
UK, 1970—colloquial expression denoting a period in a broadcasting schedule regularly reserved for religious programmes
Read More‘bovver boy’ & ‘skinhead’: meaning and origin
UK, 1969—a young man of a working-class subculture, characterised by close-cropped hair, heavy boots and functional clothing, and behaving in an aggressive or violent way—‘bovver’ represents a nonstandard pronunciation of ‘bother’
Read More‘Londongrad’: meaning and origin
a nickname given to London, which has, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, attracted Russian oligarchs—also used earlier in reference to Communism—modelled on Russian city names such as ‘Leningrad’ and ‘Stalingrad’
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