MalRey Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
British slang (possibly rhyming slang)
From the television show Survivors (1975): In the first episode one of the characters is asked about her son, who is away at boarding school.
Her answer is as follows:
"Well, Peter says there are a dozen or so boys in the school sam, but matron thinks it's some sort of stomach bug."
From the context the "sam" is probably the school infirmary or hospital but I can't find any reference to any rhyming slang that applies.
Keeping in mind that this TV show is forty years old, does anyone know of the source rhyming slang? Is it some other British slang?
Her answer is as follows:
"Well, Peter says there are a dozen or so boys in the school sam, but matron thinks it's some sort of stomach bug."
From the context the "sam" is probably the school infirmary or hospital but I can't find any reference to any rhyming slang that applies.
Keeping in mind that this TV show is forty years old, does anyone know of the source rhyming slang? Is it some other British slang?
Top answer
The word is "san", short for sanatorium. It is (or was) a widely used slang expression in British boarding schools to mean the school's infirmary.
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The word is "san", short for sanatorium. It is (or was) a widely used slang expression in British boarding schools to mean the school's infirmary.
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