bone-idle

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See also: bone idle

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Laziness that penetrates the very bones. Attested 1836.[1] Similar terms (bone-lazy, bone-sore, bone-tired) pre-dated it in The Vocabulary Of East Anglia, 1830, Robert Forby.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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bone-idle (not comparable)

  1. (British, Ireland, Commonwealth, idiomatic) Utterly lazy.
    • 1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters:
      For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gary Martin (1997–) “Bone idle”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.

Anagrams

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