Fanny Adams

English

Etymology

From Fanny Adams (1859-1867), a young girl brutally murdered and dismembered. Tins of mutton introduced in the British navy after her death were not liked by the sailors and were taken to be her butchered remains. Fanny Adams then came to mean any worthless thing, and thence nothing at all.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Pronoun

Fanny Adams

  1. (chiefly Britain, idiomatic) Nothing (sanitized version of fuck all).

Alternative forms
  • sweet Fanny Adams; SFA

Synonyms
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.