|
dirty a OED ~ a 4 (esp 1745, 1836 quots) for sense 2.
1 Of transparent sea-water, abounding in marine organsims
which cling to the nets, but lacking plankton which attract fish and make the water
itself murky; SLUBBY. The antonym is CLEAN.
1966 FARIS 30 'Good
water,' water that is 'clean' is in essence much less clear and much more full of opaque
organisms and miniscule organic life than is the crystal-clear, absolutely transparent
'dirty' or 'bad' water. But it is 'dirty water' or 'bad water,' regardless of its
appearance to an outsider, because most sea creatures cannot be caught in such water.
1975 Evening Telegram 3 July, p. 4 At the beginning of the season ... lobster
fishermen were doing fairly well, but a heavy storm and the subsequent 'dirty' water had
apparently caused the lobster to be scarce. 1979 ibid 8 June, p. 1 A number of other
explanations have been put forward to explain the lack of salmon this year: dirty water,
slub on salmon nets, the fact that caplin haven't begun rolling on the beaches. P 245-80
When the visibility is good, the water is loaded with Oikopleura, the organism
which produces the mucus which is called 'slub.' Thus, clean water is 'dirty,' that is,
contains slub.
2 Of the weather, marked by squalls and
precipitation.
[1779] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 481 A clear morning, a
hazy day, and dirty evening and night. 1887 BOND 121 [We are] in for a breeze from the
north-east, and some real dirty weather. 1891 Holly Branch 12 [They] would examine
the chart or peruse the American Coast Pilot Book to make themselves familiar with the
rocks and shoals, in case they'd be caught out of a 'dirty' night, and have to 'lie to'
or 'run' for a harbor. 1924 ENGLAND 66 Shrieks of storm devils shook the masts and a
ravening madness smudged out the universe. 'Dirty wedder' was about all the sealers would
admit. 'A bit airsome, sir.' Airsome, indeed! [1954] 1972 RUSSELL 37 It wasn't too bad
goin' home. Just a dirty wind lop and a drop of spr'y back in the stern. 1960 FUDGE 19
[We left] for Rose Blanche February 22 in a dirty southerly. T 245/80-66 An' shortly
after he leaved it never come [so] dirty ever since the world was made—rough, black
rough. 1977 Nfld Qtly Winter, p. 18 And the wind come up to easter(ly) just a
little after dark, by the time we got out to Green Island, so it became dirty pretty
quick.
3 Of various objects, etc, hazardous, threatening.
1919 GRENFELL2 174 Now it is 'slob' mixed with snow
born on the Newfoundland coast. This is called 'dirty ice' by the sealers. Even it at
times packs very thick and is hard to get through. P 47-66 A boat is dirty if it ships
much water in rough weather. T 453-67 That's when we took the dirty one, an' the same
[wave] took the works—three dories, binnacle, log, broke the jib-boom off, cable
went up in the middle o' the foresail, broke the fore boom off. C 70-21 [She] mentioned
that we had a dirty moon that evening—an indication of dirty weather. 1975 BUTLER
113 Late in the evening, just before night, we were abreast the Dirty Rocks—an
island rock situated near the southern part of Merasheen Head.
4 Of persons, angry, ill-humoured, vindictive (P 148-60);
CROOKED.
T 54/9-64 She said, 'He got saucy an' dirty and rose a
row here,' she said, 'an' he got beat up, an' he took to his scrapers.' T 55-64 A crowd
of Irishmen come here an' one'd stay a little way down the tickle, another feller lived
somewhere else, an' they couldn't agree any handier than that, they were that jealous an'
dirty. T 84/5-64 'Cause I never gets dirty over a trick, never gets crooked like that.
1977 Evening Telegram 13 June, p. 3 I was on the picket line last night and the
workers said they were dirty with those individuals [who crossed the picket line] but
they just accepted the fact that the people have elected to go back to work.
Go Back
|
