the Romany origin of the British ‘chav’
UK, 1990s—either from Romany ‘čhavo’, an unmarried Romani male, a male Romani child, or from English or Anglo-Romany ‘chavvy’, a baby, a child
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the probable origin of the word ‘posh’
One of the earliest instances of posh is from a cartoon in Punch, or The London Charivari of 25th September 1918. An RAF officer is talking to his mother: “Oh, yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there.” “Whatever do you mean by ‘posh,’ Gerald?” “Don’t you know? It’s slang for […]
Read Moreorigin and history of the word ‘shoplifting’
Tyburn’s triple tree Illustration, said to be from about 1680, of the permanent gallows at Tyburn, which stood where Marble Arch in London now stands. This necessitated a three-mile cart ride in public from Newgate prison to the gallows. Huge crowds collected on the way and followed the accused to Tyburn. They were used […]
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘donkey’s years’
Gipsy Girl – original illustration for In Gipsy Tents (1880), by Francis Hindes Groome MEANING donkey’s years: a very long time ORIGIN This expression is inseparable from donkey’s ears. In fact, these two expressions were originally a single one, donkey’s years being simply a dialectal pronunciation of donkey’s […]
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