“Done [or stitched] up like a kipper”: now there’s a quaint British expression — meaning “fitted up or framed”, “used or betrayed” — that you probably won’t often hear on the other side of the Atlantic, which Mr. … Cowell has a habit of crossing.
Where does the phrase done up like a kipper come from?
Eric Partridge suggested that the plain verb, kipper, had been used from the 1920s in the sense of having one’s chances ruined. 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.
Are kippers stitched up?
Stitched up is 20th century slang. You probably know it means swindled or ‘to have been the victim of false evidence’. Eric Partridge has an entry for it in his Dictionary of Slang, but there’s no mention of kippers. It sounds as though it ought to mean something.
What is a kipper in slang?
The sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy use the term kippers as a slang for members of the Royal Navy. The term kippering is used in slang to mean being immersed in a room filled with cigarette or other tobacco smoke. In recent years “Kipper” has become a nickname for a member of the British political party UKIP.
What is the meaning of stitched up?
1 : to use a needle and thread to close a large cut or wound The doctor stitched up his wound. The doctor stitched him up. 2 British, informal : to make (an innocent person) appear to be guilty of a crime : frame They stitched him up for murder.
What does tuck up mean?
chiefly British. : to make (someone, such as a child) secure in bed by tucking the edges of sheets, blankets, etc. under the mattress.
What does done like a dinner mean?
[mainly Australian] to be completely defeated, often unfairly, in a contest or competitive situation. The fact is, you were done like a dinner by a superior team.
What does done up like a dog’s dinner mean?
UK informal. wearing very formal or decorative clothes in a way that attracts attention.
What does dithering mean?
intransitive verb. 1 : shiver, tremble the dithering of grass— Wallace Stevens. 2 : to act nervously or indecisively : vacillate dithering about what to do next There’s no time to dither.
What does bloater mean?
(Entry 1 of 2) : a large fat herring or mackerel lightly salted and briefly smoked.
What does Kipper taste like?
A kipper is a fat herring (caught in season) that has been split through the back, gutted, opened flat, salted or brined to reduce its water content and then cold smoked. This is a process that cures and dries the fish while imparting a smoky flavour, without exposing it to heat.
What does stitch mean on Tik Tok?
Stitch is TikTok’s new editing feature: allowing users to clip and use scenes from other videos in their own (while retaining credit per video creator).
What is the meaning of stitched?
/stɪtʃ/ [ I or T ] to sew two things together, or to repair something by sewing: This button needs to be stitched back onto my shirt.
What is a Stichup?
/ˈstɪtʃ.ʌp/ a situation in which someone is deliberately made to look guilty of doing something that they did not do: a police stitch-up. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases.