Dictionary

do someone brown en · VERB

Etymology

A play on two senses of do: to cheat, and to cook food, which may be brown when cooked thoroughly.

Meanings

1. (dated, slang) To deceive someone thoroughly; to take in completely.
   • James Howden dropped into an upholstered wing chair. “They certainly did us brown last night,” he remarked. “You’d think if they are making a switch, being considerate and so on, they’d be a bit more subtle.” 1961, Arthur Hailey, “Chapter Eleven: The White House”, in In High Places (fiction; e-book, hardcover, paperback):
   • His only defeats were sustained in the Caulfield Guineas, when Malt King put him down, and the same horse “did him brown”– over a mile only each time, mark you—in the All Aged Stakes at Flemington. 1919, Pastoral Review, volume 29, page 723:
   • How could he be safe against Master Dickey doing him brown? 1848, William Hamilton Maxwell, Brian O'Linn: Or, Luck is Everything, page 164:

Forms

Relateds

do it up brown · done brown