Reduplication
Brum brum
Meaning
Child’s play idiom expressing the sound of a vehicle.
Examples
Mummy, my toy train goes chuff, chuff, chuff and my car goes brum, brum.
Where is it used?
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Easy-peasy
Meaning
Something that is extremely easy. Often used by children. Sometimes used by adults to demote an achievement that was accomplished with little apparent effort.
Examples
Jenny must have loosened the jar lid. She couldn’t get it off but when she gave it to me it just screwed right off. Easy-peasy.
Where did it originate?
Britain, mid-20th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but most common in Britain.
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Fuddy-duddy
Meaning
An old-fashioned and foolish type of person.
Examples
He irons his socks. He’s a real fuddy-duddy.
Where did it originate?
USA, 19th century.
Where is it used?
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Gee gee
Meaning
Childish term for a horse.
Examples
Now Jimmy, whats that picture? Is it a bar lamb or is it a gee-gee?
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
Widely used, but more in the UK than elsewhere and mainly in conversation with small children.
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Gender bender
Meaning
A person who adopts a deliberately androgynous appearance, by use of uni-sex make-up, hair-style and clothing. Probably influenced by ‘bender’ being an earlier slang term for homosexual.
Examples
With his eye-liner and lurex catsuits, David Bowie was the archetype gender bender.
Where did it originate?
USA, 1970s.
Where is it used?
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Hocus pocus
Meaning
A term used to denote magic or trickery.
Examples
He claimed to have evidence of the Loch Ness Monster, but it turned out to be a lot of hocus pocus.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 17th century.
Where is it used?
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Jelly belly
Meaning
An overweight person.
Examples
I wish I could cut down on the cakes and get some more exercise – I’m turning into a real jelly belly.
Where did it originate?
Britain, late 19th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but not common everywhere. Most used in Britain and Australia.
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Mellow yellow
Meaning
Dried banana peel, used as an intoxicant.
Examples
He’s tried everything else – grass, acid, speed, magic mushrooms. Now he’s started on mellow yellow.
Where did it originate?
USA, 1960s. Referred to in the Donovan song of the same name, as ‘electrical banana’.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, as the song title although few are aware of the drug connection.
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Mumbo jumbo
Meaning
Nonsense or meaningless speech.
Examples
His speech about magical phenomenology seemed to make sense at the time but now I realise it was just mumbo-jumbo.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 18th century. Deriving from an African source.
Where is it used?
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Nip slip
Meaning
The inadvertent exposure of a womans nipple.
Examples
Wearing a low cut dress like that, a nip slip was almost inevitable.
Where did it originate?
USA, late 20th century.
Where is it used?
Mostly USA and UK and not amongst the older generations.
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Nitty-gritty
Meaning
The important aspects of a situation; the heart of the matter.
Examples
The solicitor spent ages listing the business details of Grandad’s will. We were all waiting for him to get to the nitty-gritty when we found out how much money we would inherit.
Where did it originate?
USA, mid 20th century.
Where is it used?
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The heebie-jeebies
Meaning
A state of nervous anxiety or fear.
Examples
I didn’t like staying in that old house overnight. The creaks and bumps gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Where did it originate?
USA, 20th century. The origin isn’t known but heebie-jeebie was formerly the name of a dance.
Where is it used?
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Toy-boy
Meaning
A woman’s much younger male lover.
Examples
Julia took us all by surprise after the kids left home. She left too and set up house with a 19-year old toy-boy.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 1980s.
Where is it used?
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Whipper snapper
Meaning
A child or impertinent youth.
Examples
The fourth form have challenged the teachers to a tug of war. We can’t lose against a bunch of kids – let’s show those whipper snappers how it’s done.
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
Widely used but a little old fashioned.
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