on the Pat and Mick en · ADP
Etymology
Rhyming slang for on the sick. Pat and Mick are stereotypical Irish names.
Meanings
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(Cockney, slang) Sick; out of commission due to being unwell.
Things are very different when you are off on the sick. . . . For a start, when you are on the Pat and Mick you no longer go to work.
1981 October 2, Jack McLean, “Limping along the road to recovery”, in Glasgow Herald, Scotland, retrieved 10 Aug 2015:While lifting the SD1's battery the handle came off. . . . [I]t then bounced and landed on my foot—good job I was wearing my toetectors otherwise I would have spent Christmas on the pat and mick.
2013 Dec. 8, Bren, "Dropped car battery," autoshite.com Motoring chat forum (UK) (retrieved 10 Aug 2015)I'm on the pat and mick at the mo. Only went to town to see my mother off on the train, as she'd come down for the weekend to cheer me up.
2008 July 22, Daisy Dart, “Re: Fatal bus accident in Leeds”, in Bus and Coach Forum, UK, retrieved 10 Aug 2015:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| on the pat and mick | alternative | lexicographic |