buckley
Preserved but no longer current.
"Who struck BUCKLEY?" a common phrase used to irritate Irishmen. The story is that an Englishman having struck an Irishman named Buckley, the latter made a great outcry, and one of his friends rushed forth screaming, "Who struck Buckley?" "I did," said the Englishman, preparing for the apparently inevitable combat. "Then," said the ferocious Hibernian, after a careful investigation of the other’s thews and sinews, "then, sarve him right."
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “buckley” mean?
"Who struck BUCKLEY?" a common phrase used to irritate Irishmen. The story is that an Englishman having struck an Irishman named Buckley, the latter made a great outcry, and one of his friends rushed forth screaming, "Who struck Buckley?" "I did," said the Englishman, preparing for the apparently inevitable combat. "Then," said the ferocious Hibernian, after a careful investigation of the other’s thews and sinews, "then, sarve him right."
Is “buckley” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.