Dictionary

high nelly en · NOUN

Etymology

From the high riding position and Nelly, an old-fashioned name

Meanings

1. (Ireland, qualifier:formerly derogatory; now nostalgic; formerly derogatory; now nostalgic) An old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture; a roadster.
   • A HIGH Nellie bike once used by Irish rock icon Phil Lynott is being lovingly restored by a group of Carlovians, who are hoping to auction it to raise funds for a local cancer support group. Philomena Lynott found her much-loved 1930s bicycle rusting away in the garden shed and decided to put it to better use. 2014 April 1, “Philo’s old high nelly to be lovingly restored”, in Carlow Nationalist, archived from the original on 16 Nov 2017:
   • Now Julia Mahon. with two buckets of pigswill slung over the handlebars of her High Nelly, is off again to talk to her mother in St Michael's cemetery. 1989 Fall, Aidan Higgins, “Two from Ronda Gorge”, in Four Quarters, volume 3 [2nd series], number 2, →ISSN, page 53:
   • I don't know what make of bike it was but it was certainly the motor bike version of the High Nelly push bike or the Tin Lizzy car. 1974 July 17, Derry Power, “Spain before it was packaged”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 16:
   • Before the age of the motorcar, practically everyone in Ireland owned a High Nelly. 2014 July 6, Tom Prendeville, “High Nelly bicycles making a comeback on the roads again”, in Sunday Independent:
   • there's an old bike out the back of the barracks. You're welcome to it. It's a bit of a high-nelly, and it needs new tyres, but it will get you around. 1989, Hugh Fitzgerald Ryan, Reprisal: a novel, Wolfhound Press, →ISBN, page 208:
   • Chinese bikes are bigger and heavier than Western ones, they carry number plates and resemble the old "High Nellies" that are now such a rare sight on Irish roads. 1988 October 8, Deaglán de Bréadún, “The Saturday Column; Stephen Roche's slow bike from China”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page Weekend 12:

Forms

Synonyms

sit-up-and-beg