
What does done up like a dog’s dinner mean? Back in 1993, readers wondered what the phrase meant when the New York Times published a story with the sentence, “Aides repackaged a dog’s breakfast of White House trade and fiscal policies into an ‘agenda for American renewal. It’s British slang that means “a confused mess or mixture,” according to Merriam-Webster. Where did the phrase dogs breakfast come from? : something that is messy or poorly done It was a dog’s breakfast of a match, and our coach was understandably upset. What does dog’s breakfast mean?ĭefinition of a dog’s breakfast British, informal. : to make (someone, such as a child) secure in bed by tucking the edges of sheets, blankets, etc. What does stitch up mean in British slang?ĭefinition of stitch up 2 British, informal : to make (an innocent person) appear to be guilty of a crime : frame They stitched him up for murder.ĭefinition of tuck up chiefly British.

Similarly, the English kipe denotes a basket used to catch fish. What is the kippers origin? The Old English origin of the word has various parallels, such as Icelandic kippa which means “to pull, snatch” and the Danish word kippen which means “to seize, to snatch”. Kippers, an iconic British breakfast dish consisting of herring that has been cured via kippering-split open, cleaned, salted, and smoked-and then usually grilled, broiled, or sautéed. the whole house had been done up for Halloween. What does it mean to be done up?ġ to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming. The dog’s dinner version refers to someone whose dress is flashy and containing many colours and accessories. This is an adaptation of the earlier related phrase ‘a dog’s breakfast’. It is largely used in the UK, where it originated in the early 20th century. Where does the expression done up like a dog’s dinner come from? The phrase “to stitch up,” first appearing in the late 16th century, initially meant “to put together by sewing,” with the implication that the work is done in a hurry. Where does the phrase stitched up come from?

2 a male salmon during the spawning season. a herring, that has been cleaned, salted, and smoked. informal an adult who cannot afford to move away from his or her parents’ home. But a longer version done up like a kipper starts to appear in the record in 1981, in a script of the BBC television comedy show Only Fools and Horses. Where does the saying done up like a kipper come from?Įric Partridge suggested that the plain verb, kipper, had been used from the 1920s in the sense of having one’s chances ruined.
