word histories

‘to box Harry’: meaning and origin (opens in new tab)

UK, 1802—to go without food, or have a meagre meal, in order to save money—perhaps from the verb ‘box’, meaning: to strike with the fist, and from the male forename ‘Harry’, designating the Devil…

Read the original article
Sign in to keep reading the full article.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

Next / previous post
j/k
Open post
oorEnter
Preview post
v

Post Actions

Love post
a
Like post
l
Dislike post
d
Undo reaction
u
Save / unsave
s

Recommendations

Add interest / feed
Enter
Not interested
x

Go to

Home
gh
Interests
gi
Feeds
gf
Likes
gl
History
gy
Changelog
gc
Settings
gs
Discover
gb
Search
/

General

Show this help
?
Submit feedback
!
Close modal / unfocus
Esc

Press ? anytime to show this help