ekker

English

Alternative forms

• eccer, ecker

Etymology

From exercise +‎ -er (“Oxford -er”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɛkə(ɹ)/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkə(ɹ)

Noun

ekker (uncountable)

1. (UK, school slang) Physical activity intended to improve strength and fitness.
   • 1920, Edmée Elizabeth Monica Delafield, The Heel of Achilles, New York: Macmillan, published 1921, page 63:

     "Give me ekker," said Beatrice contemptuously. "There's no ekker in biking that I can see."

   • 1997, Stephen Fry, Moab is My Washpot, page 183:

     I hated sport, ekker, games, whatever they wanted to call it. And it was a fuck sight harder to get off ekker at Uppingham than it had been at prep school.

   • 2013 September 7, Harry Mount, “Public-school slang continues to thrive, particularly in rural boarding schools”, in The Spectator‎^[1], retrieved 2017-06-13:

     New bugs at Winchester can still buy Winchester Notions, which lists the school’s slang. Invaluable if you want to translate something like ‘First-year boys, not in college but keen on exercise, will take part in the cross-house matches after half-term, before evening prep, under the supervision of all masters, the governing body, and the two joint heads of school.’ In Winchester slang, that reads, ‘For Commoners looking for Ekker, Winkies in Cloister Time for the Junior Part will be held after Leave Out, before Toytime, in the presence of all Dons, the Go. Bo., the Aul. Prae and the Sen. Co. Prae.’

2. (UK, school slang) Scholastic activity designed to develop or hone academic skills.
3. (by extension, Ireland and Australia, school slang) Homework.
   • 2015 September 19, hinault, “Chirch membership discussion”, in Boards.ie‎^[2], retrieved 2017-06-13:

     The dog ate my ekker.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:ekker.

Anagrams

• Kerek