rum go
nounUK /ˈɹʌm ˌɡəʊ/
Etymology UK dialectal (chiefly Cockney); rum (“strange, peculiar”) + go (“incident, occurrence”).
- ‘Here’s rayther a rum go, sir,’ replied Sam. / ‘What?’ inquired Mr. Pickwick. / ‘This here, Sir,’ rejoined Sam. ‘I’m wery much afeerd, sir, that the properiator o' this here coach is a playin' some imperence vith us.’1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXXV, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:
- “Well, who's a better right?” growled the gamekeeper. “A pretty rum go if squire ain't to talk for Dr. Livesey, I should think.”1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Go to Bristol”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 55:
3 more examples
- There they are, Strawberry—Fledge, I should say. This is a rum go.1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC:
- Bert: Life's a rum go, Guv'nor, and that's the truth.1964, William Crozier Walsh et al., Mary Poppins:
- Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’1991, Stephen Fry, chapter III, in The Liar, London: William Heinemann, →ISBN, page 26: