pea-souper meaning (informal): definition

pea-souper

noun

UK /ˈpiːˌsuːpə/ · US /ˈpiˌsupɚ/

Etymology From pea soup + -er (suffix meaning ‘person or thing connected with’); * (dense, yellowish fog”): from the appearance of the fog * (French-Canadian person): may be from the prevalence of pea soup in French cuisine: compare pea soup (“(slang, derogatory) French person”).

Canada, UK, Informal A dense, yellowish fog, often mixed with smoke; a pea-soup fog, a smog.

A man bumped into a lamp post during a pea-souper; he immediately apologised to it, not realising what it was.
I can hear the bell on the buoy, but I can’t see anything in this pea-souper.

1 more example

The dust surrounded us like a London pea-souper.2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 35, in Small Island, London: Review, page 346:

Canada, Derogatory, Slang A French-Canadian person, especially a Francophone from the province of Québec.

Those pea-soupers are the worst drivers on the road!

Related terms: pea-soupy