yard of clay
A long pipe for smoking; a churchwarden pipe.
English · UK & Ireland 127
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
yarmouth capon
A bloater, or red herring.
yack
A watch; to "church a YACK," to take it out of its case to avoid detection, otherwise to "christen a YACK."
yaffle
To eat.—Old English.
yahoo
A person of coarse or degraded habits. Derived from the use of the word by Swift.
yam
To eat. This word is used by the lowest class all over the world; by the Wapping sailor, West Indian negro, or Chinese coolie. When the fort, called the Dutch Folly, near Canton, was in course of erection by the Hollanders, under the pretence of being intended for an hospital, the Chinese observed a box containing muskets among the alleged hospital stores. "Hy-aw!" exclaimed John Chinaman, "How can sick man YAM gun?" The Dutch were surprised and massacred the same night.
yannep a time
A penny each. Costermongers say "a time" for many things. They say a "bob a time," meaning a shilling each for admission to a theatre, or any other place, or that certain articles are charged a shilling each. The context is the only clue to the exact meaning.
yannep-flatch
Three halfpence,—all the halfpence and pennies continue in the same sequence, as for instance, OWT-YANNEP-FLATCH, twopence-halfpenny.
yappy
Soft, foolish; mostly applied to an over-generous person, from the fact that it originally meant one who paid for everything. YAP is back slang for pay, and often when a man is asked to pay more than he considers correct, he says, "Do you think I’m YAPPY?" do you think I’m paying mad? Thus slang begets slang.
yarmouth coach
A kind of low two-wheeled cart drawn by one horse, not much unlike an Irish car.
yarmouth pye
A pye made of herrings highly spiced, which the city of Norwich is by charter bound to present annually to the king.
yarn
A long story, or tale; "a tough YARN," a tale hard to be believed; "spin a YARN," to tell a tale.—Sea.
yay-nay
"a poor YAY-NAY" fellow, one who has no conversational power, and can only answer YEA or NAY to a question.
yea and nay man
A quaker, a simple fellow, one who can only answer yes, or no.
yeknod
Or JERK-NOD, a donkey.
yellow
To look yellow; to be jealous. I happened to call on Mr. Green, who was out: on coming home, and finding me with his wife, he began to look confounded blue, and was, I thought, a little yellow.
yellow belly
A native of the Fens of Lincolnshire; an allusion to the eels caught there.
yellow-belly
A native of the fens of Lincolnshire, or the Isle of Ely—in allusion to the frogs and yellow-bellied eels caught there.
yellow-boy
A sovereign, or any gold coin.
yellow-jack
The yellow fever prevalent in the West Indies.
yellow-man
A yellow silk handkerchief.
yellows
A term of reproach applied to Bluecoat and other charity school boys.
yest
A contraction of yesterday.
yid
Or YIT, a Jew. YIDDEN, the Jewish people. The Jews use these terms very frequently.
yoked
Married. A yoke; the quantum of labour performed at one spell by husbandmen, the day's work being divided in summer into three yokes. Kentish term.
yokel
A countryman. Probably from yoke, representative of his occupation. Some fancy, however, that the word was originally YOWKEL, in imitation of the broad tones of country labourers.
yokuff
A chest, or large box.
yorkshire
"to YORKSHIRE," or "come YORKSHIRE over any person," to cheat or cozen him. The proverbial over-reaching of the rustics of this county has given rise to the phrase, which is sometimes pronounced Yorshar. To put Yorshar to a man, is to trick or deceive him. This latter is from a work in the Lancashire dialect, 1757.
yorkshire compliment
A gift of something useless to the giver. Sometimes called a North-country compliment.
yorkshire estates
"I will do it when I come into my YORKSHIRE ESTATES,"—meaning if I ever have the money or the means.
yorkshire reckoning
A reckoning in which every one pays his own share.
yorkshire tyke
A Yorkshire clown. To come Yorkshire over any one; to cheat him.
young one
A familiar expression of contempt for another's ignorance, as "ah! I see you're a young one." How d'ye do, young one?
younker
In street language, a lad or a boy. Term in general use amongst costermongers, cabmen, and old-fashioned people. Barnefield’s Affectionate Shepherd, 1594, has the phrase, "a seemelie YOUNKER." Danish and Friesic, JONKER. In the navy, a naval cadet is usually termed a YOUNKER.
yoxter
A convict returned from transportation before his time.
year in, year out
Happens every year.
you can say that again
That is very true; an expression of wholehearted agreement.
yank someone's chain
to tease or trick someone
Yankee dime
a ten-cent tip, considered stingy
yardarm it
to hang someone or something from the yardarm of a ship
yardarm to
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
yardarm to yardarm
Completely, from one end to the other
ye gods
An expression of surprise or shock
yea and amen
Complete agreement or confirmation
yea or nay
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
yeah, yeah
used to express skepticism or impatience
year dot
a very long time ago
yell silently
to be extremely angry but not express it openly
yellow brick road
A path to success or a way to achieve one's goals
yellow grease
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
yellow journalism
Sensationalized reporting that prioritizes attention over facts
yellow journalist
A journalist who uses sensationalism to attract readers
yellow light
a warning or caution signal
yellow press
Sensationalized or lurid journalism
yellow state
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
yeoman's service
Valuable help or assistance
yes and no
An answer that is both affirmative and negative
yes man
Someone who agrees with everything
yes or no
Requiring a simple yes or no answer
yes to death
completely and utterly agree