Teddy boyn.
/ˈtɛdi bɔɪ/ colloquial.
A youth affecting a style of dress and appearance held to be characteristic of Edward VII's reign, typically a long velvet-collared jacket and ‘drainpipe’ trousers (see drape suit at drape n.1 d) and sideburns; in extended use, any youthful street rowdy.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [noun] > action or behaviour of gangs of hooligans > member of gang of hooligans
whitecap1607
shrove-prentice1638
Mohock?1711
sweater1712
highbinder1806
hoodlum1871
hooligan1898
hood1930
skolly1934
tear-away1938
gunsel1942
Teddy boy1954
hell's angel1956
angel1965
bikie1967
skinhead1969
bovver boy1970
boot-boy1977
casual1980
1954 A. Heckstall-Smith Eighteen Months x. 118 Craig was just such a fellow. Ronald Coleman, the leader of the ‘Edwardians’ or the ‘Teddy Boys’, the gang of young hooligans who ran amok on Clapham Common, was another.
1955 Times 27 July 5/1 Young soldiers are now forbidden to ‘walk out’ when off duty in plain clothes of unorthodox pattern, particularly the so-called Edwardian or ‘Teddy boy’ style... The forbidden style is not specifically defined in the order but is understood to be that of the long, draped-fronted jacket with velvet collar, and tight trousers shortened to show white socks at the ankles.
1962 Times 13 Apr. 6/4 Worthing Museum..is asking for a Teddy boy costume, ‘with narrow trousers, fancy waist~coat, three-quarter jacket, Slim Jim tie and thick-soled crepe sneakers’.
1977 Daily Tel. 19 July 15/4 A group of about 40 ‘punk rockers’ being chased by Teddy boys.
Derivatives
ˈTeddy-boyish adj. characteristic of a Teddy boy.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of hooligans
hoodlumish1883
hooliganesque1899
hooliganic1902
Teddy-boyish1960
1960 Guardian 7 May 6/6 Looking back with teddy-boyish anger.
ˈTeddy-boyism n. the state or condition of being a Teddy boy; group behaviour of a kind associated with Teddy boys.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [noun] > action or behaviour of gangs of hooligans
sweating1785
mohawking1825
Mohockism1855
hoodlumism1872
hoodluming1892
hooliganism1898
Teddy-boyism1959
bovver1969
wilding1989
1959 Times 9 Oct. 15/7 The growing tide of teddy-boyism, chiefly in the Athens-Piraeus area, forced the authorities to act.
Teddy girl n. a girl who associates with or behaves like Teddy boys.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > unruliness > disorder or riot > [noun] > action or behaviour of gangs of hooligans > member of gang of hooligans > female
widgie1950
Teddy girl1955
bovver bird1970
1955 in I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. (1959) vii. 106 Slip-on shoes and a rainbow tie, Kissing his Teddy girl goodbye!
1957 Sunday Times 17 Feb. 4/4 The girls who are an integral part of the gangs—the so-called Teddy-girls—are probably the worst influence of all.
1960 News Chron. 9 June 9/1 We should not consider them as Teddy boys or Teddy girls, but potential customers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1954