bijou (“small, little”) + problem + -ette
bijou problemette (plural bijou problemettes or bijoux problemettes)
- (UK, originally Polari, informal, humorous) A little fault or problem.
1995 November 29, Nick Thompson, “Re: Eurostar”, in misc.transport.rail.europe[1] (Usenet):A bijou problemette then arose. The conference finished too late for me to catch the northbound Eurostar Connection Waterloo-Edinburgh train.
1999 February 11, Simon Nickerson, “Re: Trivia Quiz -- an announcement”, in alt.fan.eddings[2] (Usenet):There is also the "bijou problemette" (as my old chemistry teacher would say) that members of this consortium can't legitimately enter the quiz, since they wrote some of the questions.
2001 April 6, Peter Bartley, “The PC that runs once a day...”, in uk.comp.peripherals.misc[3] (Usenet):I have a 'bijou problemette' with my PC. It only works after a period of being switched off.
- 2013 October 2nd, “ppint. at pplay” (username), “Re: the balfour declaration” in alt.fan.pratchett, Usenet:
- So Italy had a couple of bijoux problemettes; Mussolini had more, once he’d been dismissed as leader of the Fascist Party, and from leading the government of the country, he was arrested and gaoled by the Italians…
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bijou problemette.