nutty slack
nounUK /ˌnʌti ˈslæk/ · US /ˌnʌti ˈslæk/
Etymology From nutty (“containing nuts”) + slack.
1
UK, Historical A cheap fuel consisting of slack (“coal dust”) and nuts (“small lumps of coal”); unlike other solid fuels it was not rationed during the period after World War II.
- Mr. Nabarro asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the calorific value of nutty slack currently being marketed to domestic consumers, ration-free, by the National Coal Board, compared with normal house coals; what quantity of nutty slack is to be available, in total, during the present coal-winter; the market response to date; how much nutty slack it is estimated will be sold this winter; and whether nutty slack is to be a permanent, ration-free feature of our domestic fuel economy.1953 February 2, Gerald Nabarro, Member of Parliament for Kidderminster, “Nutty Slack”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume 510, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, columns 1460–1461: