pea soup meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

pea soup

nounalso spelled pea-soup

Etymology From pea + soup. Doublet of pisupo.

Cooking, Food, Lifestyle A thick soup made with dried peas (often split peas) and various other ingredients.

Ethnic, Slang, Slur A French or French Canadian person.

Slang Thick fog.

A greyish green or dull chartreuse colour, like the colour of pea soup.

adj

Etymology From pea + soup. Doublet of pisupo.

Of the color of pea soup (greyish green or dull chartreuse).

noun

Dated Dated form of pea soup.

“I’m afraid, gentlemen, you will not have a very grand dinner,” observed the captain, as the steward removed the plated covers of the dishes; but when on service we must rough it out how we can. Mr. O’Brien, pea-soup? I recollect faring harder than this through one cruize, in a flush vessel.1833, [Frederick Marryat], “O’Brien’s Good Advice—Captain Kearney Again Deals in the Marvellous”, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 266:
Dinner, Sunday, one bowl of pea-soup, four ounces of bacon, eight of rye bread, and half a bowl of potatoes.1880 August 3, “Prison Life in Norway: A Visit to the Penitentiary of Bergen. […]”, in The New York Times, volume XXIX, number 9017, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 4:

2 more examples

The lumber bosses say they must make zample^([sic]) of those thieving pea-soups, so they give me three year for one hundred dollar what was mine!1933 June 17, Aimee D. Linton, “His Big Tall Trees”, in The Toronto Star Weekly, 24th year, Toronto, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, section 2, page 3, columns 1–2:
The dinner consisted of a bowl of pea-soup. It was very nice, and all the more so because we were so very hungry.1961 February 3, Mary Ann Guesford, quotee, “The Good Old Days? ‘Rubbish’ Says Mary Guesford (84)”, in The Wanstead & Woodford Guardian, volume LXXXIX, number 4743, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 12, column 3: