Fanny Adams

English

Etymology

From Fanny Adams (1859–1867), a young girl brutally murdered and dismembered. Tins of mutton introduced in the British navy after her death were not liked by the sailors and were humorously said to be her butchered remains. Fanny Adams then came to mean any worthless thing, and thence nothing at all.

Pronunciation

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Noun

Fanny Adams (uncountable)

1. (UK, naval slang, obsolete, derogatory) Tinned meat.

   Synonym: Harriet Lane

   • 1916, Bartimeus [pseudonym; Sir Lewis Ritchie], Naval Occasions, and Some Traits of the Sailor-man‎^[1], Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons:

     The Engineer Lieutenant pushed his head inside his neighbour's cabin: “Come along—come along! You'll be late for dinner. Fresh grub to-night: no more ‘Russian Kromeskis’ and ‘Fanny Adams’!”

Pronoun

Fanny Adams

1. (chiefly British) Nothing (sanitized version of fuck all).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nothing

Alternative forms

• sweet Fanny Adams, SFA