nelly
See also: Nelly
English
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editShortened from Nelly Duff, for puff, i.e. breath of life.
Noun
editnelly (plural nellies)
- (Cockney rhyming slang) A person's life.
Usage notes
edit- Used principally in the phrase not on your nelly.
Etymology 2
editFrom the woman's name Nelly.
Noun
editnelly (plural nellies)
- (derogatory, slang) An effeminate homosexual man. [1]
- (British, slang) A silly person.
- A giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus and Macronectes halli.
Hyponyms
edit- (petrel): Antarctic giant petrel, northern giant petrel, southern giant fulmar, southern giant petrel
Derived terms
editTranslations
editpetrel
|
Adjective
editnelly (comparative nellier, superlative nelliest)
- (slang) Unmanly; effeminate.
- 1979 April 21, Greg Jackson, “He Looks Like Tarzan But He Talks Like Jane”, in Gay Community News, page 17:
- From Christopher Street to Castro Street, these men are peddling the same message. I'm butch, a macho man. Well, it ain't necessarily so. In fact, as a general rule of thumb, the butcher the get-up, the nellier the wearer.
- 2012, Lee Lynch, The Raid:
- Some of the nelliest boys unable to get or keep a job, some of the toughest girls breaking their bodies trying to do men's work.
References
editCategories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛli
- Rhymes:English/ɛli/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Cockney rhyming slang
- English derogatory terms
- English slang
- British English
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- en:LGBT
- en:Tubenose birds