A man met his tailor in the street and stopped him.
"I quite forgot to pay for the suit which I have on now," he said. "Why didn"t you remind me?"
"I never ask a gentleman for money," the tailor replied.
"Then what do you do if he doesn"t pay?"
"Well, after some time I no longer think he is a gentleman and then I ask him."
n. (pl. -s) 1 paved usu. Roofless area adjoining a house.
- inner roofless court in a spanish or spanish-american house. [spanish]
PATNA
rice n. Rice with long firm grains. [from patna in india]
PATTY
n. (pl. -ies) little pie or pasty. [french *pAte, after *pasty1]
PAUSE
—n. - temporary stop or silence.
- mus. Mark over a note or rest that is to be lengthened. —v. (-sing) make a pause; wait. give pause to cause to hesitate. [greek pauo stop]
PEACE
dividend n. Public money which becomes available when defence spending is reduced.
- n. - a quiet; tranquillity. B mental calm; serenity.
- a (often attrib.) Freedom from or the cessation of war (peace talks). B (esp. Peace) treaty of peace between states etc. At war.
- freedom from civil disorder. at peace 1 in a state of friendliness.
- serene.
- euphem. Dead. Hold one's peace keep silent. Keep the peace prevent, or refrain from, strife. Make one's peace (often foll. By with) re-establish friendly relations. Make peace agree to end a war or quarrel. [latin pax pac-]
PEACH
melba n. Dish of peaches, ice-cream, and raspberry sauce.
- n. - a round juicy fruit with downy yellow or pink skin. B tree bearing this.
- yellowish-pink colour.
- colloq. A person or thing of superlative quality. B attractive young woman. peachy adj. (-ier, -iest). [latin persica persian (apple)]
- v. (usu. Foll. By against, on) colloq. Turn informer; inform. [from obsolete appeach: related to *impeach]
PEAKY
adj. (-ier, -iest) 1 sickly; puny.
- white-faced.
PEARL
barley n. Barley ground to small rounded grains.
- bulb n. Translucent electric light bulb.
- button n. Mother-of-pearl button, or an imitation of it.
- —n. - a (often attrib.) Rounded usu. White or bluish-grey lustrous solid formed within the shell of certain oysters, highly prized as a gem. B imitation of this. C (in pl.) Necklace of pearls.
