brolly
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English
Etymology
From umbrella, by contraction, + -y (diminutive).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɹɒli/
Audio (General Australian): (file) Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒli
Noun
brolly (plural brollies)
- (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Umbrella.
- It's going to rain today – you'd better take your brolly.
- 1887, George Bernard Shaw, chapter III, in An Unsocial Socialist:
- “The young lady’s hi,” he said suddenly, holding out the umbrella, “is fixed on this here. I am well aware that it is not for the lowest of the low to carry a gentleman’s brolly, and I ask your ladyship’s pardon for the liberty. I come by it accidental-like, and should be glad of a reasonable offer from any gentleman in want of a honest article.”
- 2010, “Hawaii”, performed by Tom Felton:
- The only brolly that's in sight / Is the mini one that's in my drink / JD, coke and lime / This is how I want to spend my time
- 2023, A. C. MacDonald, Twistwood Tales (comic), Andrews McMeel, →ISBN, page 116:
- Look! The Gnome Girl believed the letter you sent and brought the magic brolly! […] Now, we just wait for the Wretch to eat her and we can finally grab it!
Derived terms
References
- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
- “brolly n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present