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McCririck's unlucky Laundress's definitions

offie

Noun: Short form of 'off licence'.
A British pub has an 'on' licence (licenced to sell intoxicating liquor for consumption ON the premises). They used to also have a little hatch where you could buy drink to take away and this had an 'off' licence. All such purchases had to be consumed off the premises.
Nowadays Britons buy their take-out booze in a shop which is unconnected to any pub. These shops have to apply for the same 'off licences' from local magistrates and have retained the name.
Look at the time! It's wifebeater o'clock. Should I go and drink sociably and responsibly with mature friends in the pub and then return home in a quiet, orderly fashion without vandalising or vomiting; or shall I go down the offie and buy some dangerous-looking lager, go home and get wankered - all sorry and lonesome; vandalise my own home and vomit in every room?
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blige

Interjection: A Bristolian form of the mild expletive blimey.
Drops Ming vase off Clifton Suspension Bridge:
"Oh blige!"
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Pomgolia

New Zealand term of abuse for Britain, reflecting the terrifying, dangerous wasteland that it has become. Used by British expatriates who have moved to NZ. Pom = Australian & NZ slang for a British person + suffix suggesting Mongolia, windblown desert area of Asia, renowned for its banditry, unpleasant climate and remoteness from civilisation.
An Auckland conversation I overheard:
Gregg: Do you think you'll ever go back to the UK, Dad?
Gregg's dad: What? Pomgolia? Not fucking likely, not after last time. I'm leaving that disgusting shit hole behind me.
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Prima donald

Noun: A male exhibiting the behaviour of a prima donna.
Terence is having a tantrum over the Perrier not being room temperature.
Typical prima donald.
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near beer

Noun: London police slang for a crummy dive in which unwitting male tourists are promised a good time with a hot babe. They must order a drink from these unlicenced premises but get charged hundreds of pounds for a soft drink. Victims are often frog-marched to cash machines by heavies. Needless to say, the babe doesn't provide any action, just sits there.
Drink your tea, were going to bust a near beer in Brewer Street.
OK, Shall I grab a Transit van and 2 Serbo-Croat translators?

The Kinks classic 'Lola' is set in a near-beer.
I Met her in a club down in old Soho
Where they drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola...
...Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lola.
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Sherman

Noun: An American. Cockney rhyming slang: Sherman Tank - Yank. Real Cockney rhyming slang only uses the first word, which sounds nothing like the thing being referred to in the rhyme so secrecy is preserved.
I went to fight the sausage munchers and when I came back with my legs blown off my bird had been stolen by a fuckin' Sherman.
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black man's pinch

Noun: A bubble of blackened blood trapped under the skin, as is caused when one traps a web of skin in a mousetrap, hits it with a hammer or similar. White kids in the 1970s said it.
Adult: "Ouch! I've given myself a black man's pinch in the edge of that drop-leaf dining table."
Child: "That phrase is outdated and pejorative to black people. Please don't use it again."
Adult: "You're right. I'm sorry. What should I say instead."
Child: "Subcutaneous haematoma would be both the medically and politically correct term for such a contusion."
Adult: "Thank you for making me a better human being. By the way, what would be the medically and politically correct term for such a contusion as would be caused by a hefty clip round the ear?"
Child: "You appear to be condoning an act of physical abuse toward a minor. I'm calling Social Services."
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