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What's the origin of the phrase 'Knocked up'? The ‘impregnate’ meaning of ‘knock up’ was coined in the USA in the late 19th century. There is of course another meaning to ‘knock up’, which is ‘awaken someone by knocking’.
Jan 24, 2024 · The phrase "knocked up" is an idiom that has been used for centuries to describe a woman who becomes pregnant, usually unexpectedly or out of wedlock. While it may seem like a crude and disrespectful phrase to use, its origins actually stem from a more innocent and literal meaning.
If you knock something up, you make it or build it very quickly, using whatever materials are available. [ informal ] Could you possibly knock me up some scrambled eggs?
Apr 12, 2014 · From "Knocked up" to mean "woken up", it appears that the meanings split somewhere between the 1920s and the 1940s. Does anyone know the history of how the meanings split and exactly why and how it happened?
noun [ C usually singular ] uk / ˈnɒk.ʌp / us / ˈnɑːk.ʌp /. a short time before the start of a game of tennis or a similar sport when players practise by hitting the ball to each other: Let's have a quick knock-up before the game. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases.
to prepare or make something quickly and without much effort. She knocked up a meal in ten minutes. Definition of knock up phrasal verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
Jul 15, 2024 · knocked up (not comparable) (slang, principally American, sometimes offensive) Pregnant, typically outside of marriage. Synonyms: see Thesaurus: pregnant
Meaning. Idiom: knock someone up (knock up someone) to get someone pregnant. Note : This is slang. It's an informal expression that has a negative connotation (it is not a polite way to say something).
Knocked-up definition: (idiomatic, slang) Pregnant , typically outside of marriage .
May 11, 2019 · One obvious answer is to just say pregnant. It’s neutral and physiologically clear. And whereas knocked up can describe something that is defeated or bankrupt, pregnant describes phenomena that...
