SHAGGY DOGS:This week Shaggy Dogs looks at laugh like a drain, buckshee, having a yen for something and below the belt
TO LAUGH like a drainmeans to laugh out loud in an uncontrollable manner. The phrase is British in origin, dating to just after the second World War, and reflects the echoing gurgle often heard emanating from the sewers and drains beneath the city of London.
When you are offered something that is buckshee,you should be quite pleased as it means it is free of charge. Some authorities believe this to be a piece of cockney rhyming slang for "free", although in fact the word is lifted from the days when English soldiers served in India under the British Raj. The original Persian word, baksheesh, can be translated as "gratuity" or "tip".
Having a yenfor something is an American phrase - although often used in the British ports of London, Liverpool and Glasgow - which expresses a great desire or longing.
The yen in question is surprisingly not the Japanese currency, but a reference to Chinese opium, a drug freely available in Britain and the US during the late 1800s, and the opium dens that proliferated in Victorian backstreets and were frequented by Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of the famous detective.
The phrase comes from the Chinese word yan, which can be translated as "craving".
A remark below the beltcan be considered a little offensive, insensitive and not in keeping with the spirit of matters. In 1867, the marquis of Queensberry produced a set of rules to govern the sport of boxing, as prior to this "professional" fights were nothing more than a lawless brawl. One of the rules Queensberry introduced was that "no boxer must ever aim a blow at an opponent below the level of his trouser belt". If a boxer did, it would be considered an unsporting gesture and the victim would be given "as much time as he needs to recover".
Presumably, before 1867, all fighters were allowed to punch opponents in the Bow Locks area.
Extracted fromShaggy Dogs and Black Sheep by Albert Jack (Penguin Books)