British English A to Z - past 3

Damper is used as well in the various senses in which it is used in America in connection with fireplaces, pianos, etc., and figuratively in the sense of a ‘wet blanket.’ Inf.. Membersh

Inf Used in the expression to be a dab at, sometimes lengthened to be a dab hand at,

meaning to ‘be especially adept at.’

dabbly, adj wet

Slang A dabbly summer is one with frequent rain Most people think that dabble is

used only in the expression to dabble in, i.e., ‘engage in superficially,’ as to dabble

in the market or in a hobby But its primary meaning is to ‘moisten

intermit-tently’—hence a dabbly summer.

dab in the hand, Slang bribe

dabs, n pl., Inf fingerprints

And the singular dab means ‘fingerprint.’

In Britain, a daddy-longlegs is a crane fly, an insect of the family Tipulidae of the order

Diptera, resembling an enormous mosquito and popularly called the mosquito hawk

In America called also harvestman, but not identical with the British insect.

daggerplate See sliding keel.

Inf Often shortened to just daily Sometimes daily help See also char, 1.

Inf About food; a term applied to young children who are hard to please at

meal-time See also faddy.

In May 1943, Lancaster bombers from an elite RAF squadron audaciously

attacked dams on the Ruhr River of Germany Using specially designed

‘bounc-ing bombs’ designed to be launched from a low height, they aimed to breach the

dams and flood the industrial areas lying below them The raid had limited

suc-cess, but tremendous propaganda value; it went into the language as a synonym

for any brave and successful enterprise The job went like dambusters.

A woman who is knighted becomes a Dame A Dame should not be confused with

a Lady See also Lord for other titles.

Slang This expression is in fairly wide use and would not be considered improper

in normal company, even mixed Americans might hesitate for a moment before

d

h

saying, I can’t find a damned thing The British would say, “I’ve got damn all,” or

more commonly, "bugger all" or "fuck all."

A damp course or damp-proof course is a layer of tarred felt, slate, etc., placed above

the house foundation to prevent deterioration in the walls of a building caused

by rising damp, a troublesome phenomenon in Britain.

Slang Made of flour and water, usually by Boy Scouts, and not recommended

for gourmets Damper is used as well in the various senses in which it is used in

America in connection with fireplaces, pianos, etc., and figuratively in the sense

of a ‘wet blanket.’

Inf One of those things, like a Church Bazaar or a Charity Ball that was going to

be a howling success, but A squib literally is a firework, giving us all we need

to understand ‘damp squib.’

Slang Handcuffs The British term is said to be derived from the expression Father

Darby’s bands or bonds, a particularly rigid form of debtor’s bond invoked by

usu-rers in the good old days

Inf This sentimental nickname for any loving couple of advanced years is

sup-posed to have originated from an allusion in a ballad that appeared in 1735 in a

publication called Gentleman’s Magazine The poem, entitled “The Joys of Love

Never Forgot,” went:

Old Darby, with Joan by his side,

You’ve often regarded with wonder

He’s dropsical, she’s sore-eyed,

Yet they’re never happy asunder

Membership in Darby and Joan Clubs all over Britain is open to those whom

Americans so tactfully call Senior Citizens and Golden Agers and the British Old

Age Pensioners, usually shortened to O.A.P.s.

Slang Milder than damned in expressions like dashed good, dashed bad, and the like

Also heard in Well, I’m dashed, where Americans would say, Well, I’ll be damned!

Dashed may be on the way out as language becomes freer in a more permissive

society

A company owned by another company The family relationship of the

subsid-iary is recognized in the American expression parent company, but the Americans

keep the sex of the subsidiary a secret

In America this word means ‘large sofa.’

davenport 99

daylight robbery Inf highway robbery

Inf Figure of speech, like holdup, meaning ‘unashamed swindling,’ an ‘exorbitant

price or fee.’

day return See return.

day sister See sister.

day tripper See tripper.

Inf Sometimes dead-and-alive Of a person, ‘unspirited’; of work or a place,

‘monotonous, boring.’

Slang Cert is short for certainty.

dead keen on See keen on; mad on.

This rather grim phrase describes something that somebody is waiting to inherit

or succeed to, for example, his boss’s job

Inf Exactly right See bang on for synonyms.

dead set at See make a dead set at.

Often seen on traffic signs meaning as slow as possible In both countries,

ship-board signal from bridge to engine room

The term dead stock is occasionally used to mean ‘unemployed capital’ or

‘unsal-able merchandise.’ However, it has a special use in connection with the sale of

country property One sees signs advertising an auction of such and such a farm

property, sometimes with livestock and sometimes including dead stock

Undoubt-edly, an echo of the common term livestock.

dead to the wide See to the wide.

deals, n pl lumber

For British meaning of lumber, see lumber, n.

See under head, 1.

The estate tax levied on property after the owner’s death

Slang Literally, debag means to ‘pull somebody’s pants off,’ bags being slang for

‘pants,’ or as the British say, trousers Figuratively, it means to ‘deflate’ a person.

100 daylight robbery

debus, v.t., v.i get out of an automobile

(Accent on second syllable: dee-bus, em-bus.) Embus is to get in See detrain and

entrain Military terms Also applied to unloading ammunition etc from a vehicle.

Increasing the number of so-called permanent jobs in a nation’s economy,

per-haps by abolishing casual labor See casual labourer.

decillion See Appendix II.D.

decoke, v.t decarbonize

To do a ring job on a car.

decorate, v.t paint

In context, decorating a room or a house means ‘painting’ it, and house painters are

sometimes referred to as decorators The word has nothing to do with decoration in

its general sense, nor with interior decorating

A legal term describing a document signed by a single party Poll is an old verb

meaning to ‘cut evenly,’ as for instance, the edge of a sheet A deed-poll is

writ-ten on a polled sheet, one that is cut evenly and not indented The common use

of a deed-poll nowadays is as a document by virtue of which one changes one’s

name

This is a university term and has nothing to do with weather measurements, as

in America

In America, 20°F is 20° above zero, or simply 20 above, or even more simply, 20 In

Britain, 20°F is announced as 12° of frost Formula: X° of frost in Britain = (32 – X)°

above 0 in America

A look: She asked to have a quick dekko.

Between unions, or between different departments in a company At risk is the

work available

(Rhymes with sahara.) Raw cane sugar, light brown, frequently served with

cof-fee Imported from Demerara, in Guyana See also coffee sugar.

Musical term See Appendix II.F.

demister, n defroster

Automotive term See Appendix II.E.

demo, n demonstration

Inf A street demonstration, or a demonstration of something the demonstrator wants

you to buy In the U.S., a sample recording by a musician

demo 101

demob, v.t discharge

Inf (Accent on the second syllable.) Short for demobilize and demobilization A

mili-tary term See bowler-hatted.

At an academic institution

2 dune

3 wooded vale

A denture, in America, is usually understood to denote a set of upper or lower

false teeth It is used that way in Britain, too, but the term is also used for any

removable bridge, whether one or more teeth are involved Bridge means ‘fixed

bridge’ only Dentures, in the American sense, are occasionally referred to in

Brit-ain, especially by older people, as dentacles or dentals.

Cf current account, running account.

(Pronounced ‘Darby’) The famous annual horse race held at Epsom Downs

every June It is a flat race for three-year-old horses, run over a distance of

one-and-a-half miles

For many years there were no speed limits on British country roads Now the

government has imposed an overall speed limit of 70 m.p.h However, as one

approaches a city, town, or village there are signs reading “30” or “40” restricting

the driver to those limits while passing through those areas Once beyond the

geographical limits, you find a de-restriction sign, which means that you are back

on the overall speed limit of 70 m.p.h

A popular, long-running radio program on BBC Radio 4 in which a guest chooses

eight pieces of music that he or she would like to have if stranded, alone, on an

island The guest talks about his or her life, both generally and with reference to

the music, and an excerpt from each piece is played on air The phrase ‘Desert

Island …’ has entered common usage as describing any favorite in any category:

Desert Island dish, Desert Island book, etc

102 demob

dessert, n fruit course at end of meal

In Britain dessert is a fresh fruit course (sometimes also nuts and/or trifling

sweetmeats) served at the end of a meal either after, or in place of, what the

British call a sweet British dessert can be any fresh fruit Dessert in America is a

generic term for the last course of the meal whether it consists of fruit, pudding,

ice cream, or whatever In spite of the aforementioned restricted use of dessert

in Britain, the British use dessert plates, dessert knives, dessert forks, and dessert

1 Often used in this sense in America Three men were detained in connection with

the shooting of a policeman A man was detained after a raid on a bank See also

assist-ing the police.

2 Used commonly about people kept in the hospital after an accident, as opposed

to those whose injuries were superficial In American you would be kept in the

hospital; in Britain you would be detained in hospital (no article) See also

Appen-dix I.A.2.

detained during the Queen’s (King’s) pleasure sentenced to an

indeterminate term

Sometimes, during His/Her Majesty’s pleasure Predictably, there is the story of the

woman so sentenced during the reign of a male monarch: “I thought I was too

old for that sort of thing.”

Used by itself, in Britain and in America, the term describes a person engaged in

the purchase of land and the erection of buildings on it It sometimes appears in

the phrase property developer In both countries developer also means ‘photographic

developing solution.’

An area suffering from temporary or intermittent severe unemployment

2 literary hack

Americans may be familiar with the old-fashioned term printer’s devil meaning

‘printer’s errand boy’ or ‘junior apprentice.’ In Britain devil has two additional

meanings

1 Assistant to junior legal counsel in the chambers of a leader.

2 Hack, or ghostwriter To devil is to act in either of these lowly capacities, often

underpaid in the literary field, and not only unpaid, but a privilege usually paid

for, in the legal field

One of many different types of savoury, served on a small piece of toast

Some-times an oyster replaces the prune See also angel on horseback.

devil on horseback 103

devilry, n black magic

The British say deviltry as well to refer to this diabolical art.

(The e is long in British English, short in American.) Governmental

decentraliza-tion A term that has lately come into vogue in political discussion A

devolution-ist is one who urges decentralization of government

Devonshire cream (clotted cream) See clotted cream.

Sir James Dewar was a British physicist who invented the ‘dewar’ or ‘Dewar

ves-sel,’ a double-walled glass container with the air between the walls exhausted to

prevent conduction of heat in either direction Rarely heard nowadays

dhobied, adj washed

Inf From dhobi, meaning ‘washing.’ Usage restricted to retired India hands.

2 see comment

In sense 2, as an intensifier meaning lamentable It’s a diabolical shame that she

didn’t get into Oxford.

diamante, n rhinestone

The usual meaning in Britain is ‘sixtieth anniversary,’ though it occasionally

means ‘seventy-fifth,’ as in America

Lolly is more usual See brass.

Slang A term based on the figurative aspect of the throw of the dice Applied to

the weather in the perennial British problem of whether or not to plan a picnic

and similar games of chance A somewhat less common British slang equivalent

is dodgy.

Slang Also given as dicky This was the familiar name in the old days for the

servant’s seat in the rear of a carriage

Slang In the sense of ‘fleece’ or ‘gouge,’ i.e., to ‘do somebody out of something.’

Somewhat close to Graham crackers, and very tasty Sometimes shortened to

digestives See also Bath Oliver.

104 devilry

digs, n pl place (rooms; lodging)

Inf Short for diggings A Briton speaks of his digs in the way an American speaks

of his place, or his pad Mostly actors’ and students’ terminology See drum.

Slang Short for dim-witted See also as dim as a Toc H lamp.

2 noisy party

ding dong, n Inf a noisy argument

dingle, n dell

Sometimes combined as dingle-dell Usually a deep hollow, shaded with trees.

Inf This word is the equivalent of the American term cute or cunning in the sense

of ‘sweet’ or ‘adorable,’ not in the sense of ‘sly.’ The word dinky in America has

the pejorative meaning of ‘ramshackle’ and is more or less synonymous with the

American slang term cheesy which, however, in Britain can mean ‘swanky.’

dinner-jacket, n tuxedo

Americans say dinner jacket too, but tuxedo is never used in British English

Com-monly shortened to D.J

A woman employed to prepare and serve school lunches

diplomatist, n diplomat

The shorter form is almost universal nowadays

Immediately after: Directly he left the room, she began to talk freely.

To the British layman director means about the same thing in the context of

busi-ness epithets as executive would mean to an American layman Directorships in

British companies and American corporations (see chairman; company;

man-aging director) amount roughly to the same thing, although their duties and

prerogatives (as a matter of law) and their functions differ in some respects in

the two systems In both countries important personages are frequently elected

to membership on boards of directors as window-dressing and don’t participate

actively in the affairs of the company But the general connotation of director in

Britain is that of an ‘operating executive’ whose American opposite would be the

company’s vice-president-in-charge-of-something-or-other.

directory enquiries See enquiries.

Inf A few days spent with one’s lover, with the implications of all those

circum-spect arrangements

dirty week-end 105

dish, n serving dish; platter

Although both countries use dishes generically, dish in Britain usually has the

nar-rower meaning of ‘serving dish’ and platter is considered archaic.

Inf Often carrying the meaning of ‘defeated through illicit means.’

dish-washer See wash up.

Slang Usually applied to people, but also to inanimate objects, such as sports cars.

A person eager always to see the negative side of anything, no matter how

posi-tive

Cricket term One doesn’t get or put the batsman (batter) out He (and when he

is last in the batting order, his side) is said to be dismissed when he is run out,

caught, etc

A term applied to noncommissioned soldiers and sailors alike A naval officer

would be dismissed with ignominy, an army officer cashiered.

As in Price £1 + 40p for dispatch See also posting (postage) and packing.

dispensary See dispenser.

In America a dispenser usually means a container that feeds out some substance

in convenient units, or a vending machine The British use the word dispenser

that way, too, but primarily it means in Britain what Americans would call a

pharmacist, a person in the profession of making up medical prescriptions

Dis-pensing Chemist is a sign commonly seen on the store front of a British drugstore

(chemist’s shop) The related word dispensary means the ‘drug department’ of a

drugstore, hospital or doctor’s office (surgery).

A member of a Protestant sect that has split off from the established church, i.e.,

the Church of England See also chapel.

A common and fatal infectious disease of cats and dogs

Divan is not nearly so frequent in America as in Britain: couch is rarely used in this

connection by the British

106 dish

diversion, n detour

A traffic term All too frequently one sees a road sign reading diversion leading

one away from the main road and only sometimes back onto it

divi; divvy, n dividend

Slang Short for dividend, especially that distributed periodically As used in

Brit-ain, dividend, which in America applies only to shares of stock, can refer as well

to bond interest

2 see comment

1 Area represented by a Member of Parliament: corresponds to Congressional

District (see constituency; Member).

2 A term used in sentencing convicted criminals Preceded by first, second, or

third, it means ‘lenient,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘severe’ treatment in prison, as prescribed

by the sentencing judge

divvy See divi.

When we’ve finished trick-or-treating, we’ll divvy up the sweets.

DIY abbrev Do It Yourself

The abbreviation is used for an approach to home improvements and, more

gen-erally, for any job you do yourself rather than paying someone else to do it

Build-ing-supply stores aimed at the domestic market are sometimes called DIY stores

Notice given by the D-notices Committee, representatives of government and press,

to newspapers, ordering them to omit mention of material that might endanger

national defense The D stands for defence A wartime institution, now rare.

2 The nasty transaction by which one is done.

3 Americans would be likely to say ruckus or hoax.

do, v.t offer

In America a shop does or doesn’t have, sell, keep, stock, or make a particular item

The British often substitute do in those cases A stationer may do daily

newspa-pers but not the Sunday edition An upholsterer may do hangings but not

slipcov-ers (which he would call loose covslipcov-ers) A certain restaurant will be recommended

because, though their soups are indifferent, they do a good mixed grill.

do a runner See runner.

Slang In prison Bird here is short for birdlime (the sticky stuff people spread on

twigs to catch birds) which is cockney rhyming slang for time See Appendix

II.G.3.

do bird 107

do (someone) brown Slang take (someone) in

Slang To fool someone, to pull the wool over his eyes.

2 see comment

1 The British use dock to denote the water between what Americans call docks

and the British call wharves But note the expression dry dock which means the

same thing in both countries

2 A prisoners’ detention area in the courtroom In the dock means ‘on trial.’

dock brief See brief; dock.

docker, n longshoreman

In British legal parlance a docket is a register in which judgments are entered, but

the term can be narrowed to mean an ‘entry’ in such a register In America, also

meaning a list of causes for trial or persons having causes pending

Applied to animals of both sexes Not in America Both countries also use the

verb neuter, which is now more common in Britain.

doddle, n., Slang cinch

Anything easily accomplished In a narrower sense, doddle can mean ‘money

eas-ily obtained.’

Slang That’s my dodge, meaning ‘That’s my racket,’ can be used, somewhat

impu-dently, to mean nothing more than ‘That’s the business I’m in.’ More generally, a

dodge is any shrewd device or sly expedient.

Slang To shirk one’s duty The British expression, taken from the military, may be

thought to have a somewhat more elegant sound

dodgy, adj tricky

Risky; doubtful; uncertain See dicey.

Synonymous with do (someone) in the eye.

Inf No precise American colloquial equivalent When a British housewife tells

you that Mrs Harris does for her, she means that Mrs Harris is acting as her

house-keeper, or is what the British call her daily help (see char; daily woman): I will be

sure to do for my son Can be applied also to one’s children and to outside helpers,

like gardeners, handymen, and others performing similar functions

108 do (someone) brown

dog-end, n cigarette butt

Slang Vagrants’ cant See also end; stump.

doggo See lie doggo.

Slang This quaint term was originally British nautical slang Dog’s body, in that

idiom, means a ‘dish of dried peas boiled in a cloth.’ For reasons apparently lost

in history, it also means ‘junior naval officer.’ As a matter of obvious practical

extension, it came to mean ‘drudge,’ hence an errand boy (in the slang sense)

or in an even slangier sense a prat boy, or gofer Also spelled dog’s-body and

dogsbody.

dog’s bollocks Slang, vulgar Slang the bee’s knees

Inf Unlike a dog’s dinner (see like a dog’s dinner).

dog’s dinner See like a dog’s dinner.

Said of an annoying problem or behavior That loud music from next door is

doing my head in His constant complaining does my head in

Slang To play (someone) a dirty trick Synonymous with do (someone) down.

Inf Common term, somewhat pejorative, for unemployment compensation The

equivalent of welfare and/or unemployment compensation under the British

system, with its own rules, regulations, arithmetic, and heartbreaks

2 cover with a large quantity

Inf From the noun dollop, meaning a blob of something In meaning 1, it is usually

found in the expression dollop out In meaning 2, it is usually seen in the passive

voice, as in dolloped in mud.

The arts of cooking and sewing—the study of household management—are

euphemized by the educational terminology of both countries In the UK,

how-ever, both are now taught (along with other practical subjects) under the heading

of Design and Technology

Adjective used as a noun; short for domiciliary visit Used especially by doctors to

designate what has become a practically obsolete practice

A don (contraction of dominus, Latin for ‘lord’) is a teacher, whether a Head

(dean), a Fellow (assistant), or tutor (adviser) at a college, primarily at Oxford

and Cambridge, but also at other old universities like Edinburgh and Durham

don 109

The derivation from dominus is clearly seen in dominie, which is Scottish for

‘schoolmaster.’

2 prosecuted

Almost always seen in a phrase like he was done for theft.

Slang In the sense of taken advantage of, or even cheated See do, 2.

done and dusted, adj finished

That project is done and dusted now.

done to the wide See to the wide.

A woolen three-quarter-length coat, usually dark blue, with a waterproof panel

across the shoulders

Inf Both expressions mean ‘a very long time,’ although donkeys usually live

lon-ger than dogs See also moons.

donkey-work, n drudgery

Slang Like clearing the weeds under the hedges.

See under Kilkenny cats.

Slang Hitler’s V-1 rocket, the ‘flying bomb’ sent over southern England in World

War II

Slang Deolali was a sanitorium in Bombay to which British soldiers were sent

when their time of service expired, and where time hung heavily on their

hands while waiting for a troopship to take them home The boredom in the

camp produced all sorts of peculiar behavior, for which the expression the

Doolally tap was coined, tap being East Indian for ‘fever.’ See synonyms under

bonkers.

A doom may also be a sculptural group depicting the Final Day.

2 blow one’s top

Synonymous with knocker.

Slang In jail Synonymous with do bird See also porridge.

110 done