Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

horse's doovers en · NOUN

Etymology

Fanciful corruption of hors d'oeuvres. Apparently British/Australian prison or POW slang.

Meanings

  1. (Australia, UK, humorous, plural, plural-only, slang) hors d'oeuvres
    • 2009, Glenn Ickler, A Deadly Vineyard, StirlingHouse Publisher, Pennsylvania, page 109, “ […] He wants us there by 6:30 for cocktails and, as he said it, horse′s doovers.”
    • 1982, George MacDonald Fraser, 1993, HarperCollins, page 290, “How! We eat now, together. Horse′s doovers and large snow puddings that make the tongue dead. Joll-ee good!”
    • None of us is likely to stray so far from the correct pronunciation as the legendary new-rich oil millionaire who demanded “horses′ doovers”... 1962, William Morris, Mary Morris, Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins:
    • On a couple of our little occasional tables - we′ve got three - they′ve got horse′s doovers set out. Things on cracker biscuits. 1973, John O'Grady, Survival in the Doghouse, page 86:
    • As we were all sampling the horse′s doovers, one of the guests, evidently thirsting for a deep philosophical discussion, asked me for my views on the meaning of life. 2004, Gene McDougall, My Letters to David Letterman, Texas: Virtualbookworm.com, page 38:
    • ...everyone throws their hats in the air and shouts “hoorah!” and then it′s all over bar the drinks and horses′ doovers and findin′ your own hat. 2000, Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum: