bone-idle

See also: bone idle

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Laziness that penetrates the very bones. Attested 1836.[1] Similar terms (bone-lazy, bone-sore, bone-tired) pre-dated it in The Vocabulary Of East Anglia, 1830, Robert Forby.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Adjective

bone-idle (not comparable)

  1. (Britain, idiomatic) utterly lazy
    • 1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters:
      For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle.

Translations

See also

References
  1. “Bone idle” in Gary Martin, The Phrase Finder, 1997–, retrieved 26 February 2017.
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