English edit

Noun edit

hamsandwich (plural hamsandwiches)

  1. (nonstandard) Alternative form of ham sandwich
    • 1929, Samuel Beckett, Dante...Bruno. Vico...Joyce, quoted in 1992 in Samuel Beckett 1970-1989 (edited by Marius Buning, Sjef Houppermans), page 70:
      carefully folded hamsandwich
    • 1949, [Henry] Mayhew's London: being selections from 'London labour and the London poor' (which was first published in 1851), page 48:
      The hamsandwich men and pig-trotter women will give you notice when the time is come, for with the first clatter of the descending footsteps they commence their cries.
    • 2008, Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window Into Human Nature:
      That's why the waitress or intern would probably not use the hamsandwich / gallbladder construction within earshot of the patron's or patient's spouse.