horlicks

1. countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of Horlicks.

   McDonald & Dodds is back, with episode one so deliberately hammy and meta that, technically, it should have been a complete horlicks. In one scene, when they were all hanging on to the balloon ropes, Mr Bean-like, to stop Jason Watkins flying away, it sort of was.

   2021 March 1, Carol Midgley, “McDonald & Dodds review – cheerful escapism and filth-free distraction”, in The Times

present singular third person horlickses · participle present horlicksing · participle past horlicksed · past horlicksed

1. Alternative letter-case form of Horlicks.

   Not the groundsman's fault Australia horlicksed it all up in the space of a couple of hours on Friday.

   2009 August 23, Ben Dirs, “Strauss's England worthy winners”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 09 Jan 2021

alternative horlicks

1. UKcountableuncountableA hot bedtime drink made with malted milk.

   When the theatres turned out, people flocked back for their Horlickses and cocoas. Because of the summer visitors, we were open till one o'clock in the morning.

   1990, Barbara Hanrahan, A Chelsea Girl, Ulverscroft Large Print Books, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Kathy, drinking Horlicks and laughing about the impossibility of custard (she could not cook – she could not even stir), and obsessive about everything, found out for me that Dylan Thomas had invented a fantasy[…]

   2016 December 6, Jeanette Winterson, Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days, Grove/Atlantic, Inc., →ISBN

   It did seem very odd though, drinking Horlicks in the middle of the day. From then on, first thing in the morning, after all meals, and last thing at night, Ruth made me a big mug of Horlicks. Every day, Horlicks. All day, Horlicks.

   2021 March 10, Helen Jones, I Am a Real Person, AuthorHouse, →ISBN

2. UKcountableeuphemisticslanguncountableBollocks, a mess or balls-up.

   McDonald & Dodds is back, with episode one so deliberately hammy and meta that, technically, it should have been a complete horlicks. In one scene, when they were all hanging on to the balloon ropes, Mr Bean-like, to stop Jason Watkins flying away, it sort of was.

   2021 March 1, Carol Midgley, “McDonald & Dodds review – cheerful escapism and filth-free distraction”, in The Times

   Synonyms: hash, mess-up, muddle

3. UKcountableeuphemisticslanguncountableBollocks, nonsense, false statements.

   As sleep patterns come unstuck and more and more people complain of not getting enough shuteye, so businesses have spotted an opportunity. […] And beware any consumer product which claims it will transform your slumber: it’s probably a load of Horlicks.

   2018 October 8, Hannah Devlin, “Sleep: how much do we really need?”, in The Guardian

   1 more example

   “I don’t condone any abuses of human rights anywhere. But if we’re not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, I wouldn’t even be able to perform in my kitchen.” Which is total Horlicks, clearly, but did at least bless us with this cheering reply: “Robbie, what are you doing in your kitchen?”

   2022 December 23, Archie Bland, “Friday briefing: The Crown discourse, Elon Musk tweets and 15 more things to leave behind in 2022”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls

present singular third person Horlickses · participle present Horlicksing · participle past Horlicksed · past Horlicksed · alternative horlicks

1. UKeuphemisticslangTo make a mess of (something); to bollocks.

   Not the groundsman's fault Australia horlicksed it all up in the space of a couple of hours on Friday.

   2009 August 23, Ben Dirs, “Strauss's England worthy winners”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 09 Jan 2021

   4 more examples

   I have seen a priest massacred in charge of a Mass, experienced schoolmasters carbonated in charge of a class and felt hairdressers Horlicksed in charge of hair clippers. / On a more lasting level, it is possible for surprisingly long periods of time to be drunk in charge of a relationship.

   1993 September 25, Stuart Wolfendale, “Column Eight”, in South China Morning Post

   Mr O'Brien has admitted that he was tempted to pay £100,000 to Mr Lowry, out of his own personal generosity, because he had heard pub talk that Mr Lowry's Streamline Enterprises was "Horlicksed"[—]that's a word the Irish Independent has to use as an "intermediary" because the real word is too rude.

   2001 June 28, Senan Molony, “Inquiry a training ground for linguistic acrobatics”, in Irish Independent

   One does wonder how the history books will treat Gordon if, as it now looks, he won't even still be PM by the time the next election comes along. / Indeed, if he hadn’t horlicksed the economy with nuclear abandon would they have even mentioned him at all?

   2009 April 15, alland...@live.co.uk, “SKY News - Dead Man Walking”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet)

   Assuming the Citroen engineers haven’t really Horlicksed things up, which I suspect they haven’t, electric should be the neatest of fits for the comfy, untaxing C4.

   2022 March 14, Sam Philip, “Citroen C4 PureTech 130 – long-term review”, in Top Gear

plural Horlickses

1. A surname.

   “But how can this be, for Mr. Horlicks suffered from such a painful back condition that he could hardly walk?” she informed Hodgekiss. “Not anymore!” said Hodgekiss with a twinkle in his eye.

   2012 April 11, Tricia Bennett, Polly Brown: A Modern-Day Oliver With a Twist, Charisma Media, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   ... causing Mr Horlicks to think, in several worried thought bubbles, that She's not the girl I married. She then goes on to take tea in a café with a wise woman friend. Both Mrs Horlicks and her wise friend are always depicted[…]

   2017 March 21, Barbara Trapido, Frankie & Stankie, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN

   And this will go on and on in that way until they are invited to Buckingham Palace to dine with the queen, who they are absolutely sure is the center, and will drop this bit of information when they meet the Horlickses at a reception,[…]

   2018 January 9, David Plante, American Stranger: A Novel, Open Road Media, →ISBN

   The Crown Prince went to the Horlickses. I have hardly seen him and am quietly, tactfully freezing him off. Sent off long letter to the Regent, my child, and to Peter. I feel somehow that the New Year will benefit me and bring[…]

   2021 September 9, Chips Channon, Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2): 1938-43, Random House, →ISBN

1. pluralplural of Horlick