come the raw prawn

1 definition

0—

#1·5h ago

(Australia, informal, intransitive) To attempt to deceive or impose upon (someone).

1951, Dymphna Cusack, Florence James, 1957, Come In Spinner, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=PNzPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22come+the+raw+prawn%22|%22comes+the+raw+prawn%22|%22coming+the+raw+prawn%22|%22came+the+raw+prawn%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inau…

Origin: From World War II military slang. Construction obscure; suggestions are: * From act the part of + the + naive + (slang) fool — thus, to attempt to deceive by feigning ignorance. * From (putatively) perpetrate + the + raw prawn = something hard to swallow. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Was this helpful?

Comments (0)

No comments yet — say something.

Have a better definition?

Add your own interpretation of "come the raw prawn".

Add definition

🗺️About Regional & Other slang

Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.

See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.