Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

until the pips squeak

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.61 in modern English

Syllables: un-til the pip-s squeak
IPA

38

Scrabble Score

18

Letters

3

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Until the maximum amount has been extracted.

British usage

Example Sentences

"Churchill was looking back to a statement made in 1918 by the British politician and businessman Eric Campbell Geddes. A Unionist candidate in the General Election of that year (seen as a 'khaki' election), he was pressed to make clear his position on war reperations to be extracted from Germany. An account of his speech at Cambridge, 10 December 1918, appeared in the Cambridge Daily News of the following day. According to this report, Geddes said: 'The Germans, if this Government is returned, are going to pay every penny; they are going to be squeezed as a lemon is squeezed - until the pips squeak."
"Martyrs are desperate to demonstrate their self-flagellatory capabilities in the hope that someone out there actually cares. If they think their peers or bosses really do, then they are seriously deluding themselves; I'm afraid the Martyr will be exploited until the pips squeak."
"It's also possible that this Dennis is based on the real-life Labour firebrand, Denis Healey (b. 1917), the shadow of Chancellor of the Exchequer 1972-1974. In the run-up to the 1974 general election, Healey was particularly on point, promising that when Labour took back the government ten days later (Febrary 28), he'd “squeeze property speculators until the pips squeak,” as well as “wring the neck of the Housing Finance Act.”"
"I’m no fan of the Labour leader, but if you take a look at the supposedly Marxist plans he and John McDonnell have put forward, they’re not exactly planning to tax the rich until the pips squeak."
"In the meantime he will continue to squeeze the Iranian economy until the pips squeak because clearly it is bothering them."

Etymology

Originally coined by the First Lord of the Admiralty and Unionist election candidate Eric Geddes in an election promise to "squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak", made during a speech in Cambridge on 10 December 1918 and reported the next day by the Cambridge Daily News.

Usage

British usage

Questions

What does until the pips squeak mean?: Until the maximum amount has been extracted.
Where does until the pips squeak come from?: Originally coined by the First Lord of the Admiralty and Unionist election candidate Eric Geddes in an election promise to "squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak", made during a speech in Cambridge on 10 December 1918 and reported the next day by the Cambridge Daily News.

How to pronounce until the pips squeak

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