Brassic

[ieatbees]

where does the saying i'm brassic come from and why does it mean poor?

[Loosehead]

It's rhymming slang, Boracic Lint, Skint. Do you remember that tin of cloth like stuff your dad used to polish things, it was known as "Duraglit" the material the tin contained was Boracic Lint.

[nfn]

Well done Loosehead. I only popped in here to find out the answer x

[Beatrice]

Cockney Rhyming slang, Boracic Lint = skint

[gen2]

I don't think it had anything to do with Duraglit.  In my youth, Boracic lint was found in the first aid cabinet.  It was a pink lint dressing used to cover minor wounds before wrapping with a bandage.

[gen2]

In fact a google search for

"boracic lint" duraglit

comes up with zero matches.

[Hippy]

Boracic Lint is a now old fashioned wound dressing. It is a pad of pink material placed on the wound before a bandage applied. The lint does not shred into fibres so can be removed later easily without bits sticking to the wound. It is impregnated with a compound of boric acid, a mild disinfectant, to prevent infection of the wound. The name is derived from Borax (disodium tetraborate  B4 H20 Na2 O17) that is easily converted to boric acid.

The origin of the name is traceable to the Persian word b�rah

[Loosehead]

Is this your hobby Gen ? Ok I confused the source but I was right with the Rhymming slang.

[Kingaroo]

You know this doesn't really help those of us who don't know what "skint" means.....
Assuming it's casual pronunciation of "skinned"? and therefore maybe "broke," out of cash?

[brassique1]

I've read that it may be from the Latin term Brassicus meaning "to be poor" or the old French Brassique meaning "a lower class person". Coincidentally there is a type of cabbage with the Latin name Brassicus. Suppose that's what a Brassique could afford to eat:-D Try the Urban Dictionary for more:-)

[feorag]

It's generally used as cockney rhyming slang, being as in Boracic lint - skint. So no money, but it's always pronounced brassic rather than borasic.

It's also often used for feeling freezing cold.