Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

handbags at dawn

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.15 in modern English

Syllables
hand-bags at -dawn
IPA
25
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A catty squabble.

British usage; Humorous; Uncountable

noun

Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; appearing threatening but not really causing any damage.

New Zealand usage; Informal; Uncountable

Etymology

First appears in the UK in the 1980s. A jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase handbagging meaning a verbal dressing-down, in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.

Usage

Derived Forms

handbags

Phrases

the handbags come out like rats in a sack the girls are fighting

Frequently Paired Words

the handbags come out like rats in a sack the girls are fighting

Questions

What does handbags at dawn mean?
A catty squabble.
Where does handbags at dawn come from?
First appears in the UK in the 1980s. A jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase handbagging meaning a verbal dressing-down, in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.

How to pronounce handbags at dawn

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