‘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’
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‘soft Mick’: meaning and origin
Lancashire, England, 1939—used in similative and comparative phrases such as ‘as —— as soft Mick’ and ‘more —— than soft Mick’, the noun ‘soft Mick’ (also ‘Soft Mick’) indicates a great quantity or degree
Read More‘vinegar trip’: meanings and origin
Lancashire, England, 1973—a wasted journey; a weird way of behaving; a fit of ill temper—origin unknown—one hypothesis is that when wine boats from the Mediterranean arrived in Liverpool, the wine was occasionally sour and therefore useless
Read More‘savoury duck’: meaning and origin
Lancashire, England, 1833—a faggot, a meatball, “a compound of onions, flour, and small pieces of pork” (The Liverpool Echo, 20 August 1880)—probably one of the common dishes humorously named after daintier items of food
Read More‘knuckle-sandwich’ | ‘knuckle-butty’: meanings and origin
‘knuckle-sandwich’ USA, 1940—‘knuckle-butty’ UK, 1972—a punch to the mouth (or to the stomach)—the image is of a sandwich of knuckles being forced into the mouth (or into the stomach) of the person who is punched
Read More‘every Preston Guild’: meaning and origin
UK, 1892—very rarely—refers to the fact that Preston Guilds are held only once every twenty years—Preston is the administrative centre of Lancashire, a county of north-western England, on the Irish Sea
Read More‘Liverpool gentleman’: meaning and origin
UK, 1839—a Liverpudlian, especially as opposed to a Mancunian—from the 19th-century distinction between the Liverpudlians, who were involved in trading, and the Mancunians, who were involved in manufacturing
Read More‘God help those who are caught helping themselves’
addition to proverb ‘God helps those who help themselves’—USA, UK and Australia, late 19th century—originated as a warning to shoplifters
Read Morea British phrase: ‘(there’s) trouble at t’mill’
1955—originated in stage plays purporting to depict life in northern England, particularly in Lancashire—‘mill’: a factory
Read Morenotes on the British phrase ‘some mothers do have ’em’
1941—expresses exasperation or derision at a clumsy, erratic or idiotic person—popularised by Jimmy Clitheroe in his radio programme The Clitheroe Kid (1958-72)
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