noun General Slang

Feeb

/fiːb/ · noun · slang

Butchers' back-slang for 'beef' — prime cut of the 'rechtub kelp' trade.

0

Definitions

1

Beef. From 'beef' reversed to 'feeb', a core word of East End butchers' back-slang, the trade that gave the whole craft its name 'rechtub kelp' (butcher talk).

“Best feeb in the shop, fresh in this morning, won't last till close.”
by community
0
2

Used by butchers among themselves to talk quality, weight and price of beef in front of customers.

“That feeb's past its best — mark it down before the nammow notices.”
by community
0
3

Loosely, a beef meal or a beef purchase, the staple of a working family's Sunday.

“Saved all week for a bit of feeb for the Sunday table.”
by community
0

Feeb In A Sentence

He weighed the feeb heavy and charged it light for a regular.
A pound of feeb and some kay-rop, that's the order.
The apprentice learned to call feeb and kay-rop before he could bone a joint.

Origin & Usage

East End butchers' back-slang ('beef' reversed), part of the trade argot known as 'rechtub kelp' ('butcher talk' reversed), a 19th-century coded speech akin to the costermonger back-slang recorded by Mayhew (1851) and Hotten (1859).

Variants feb
Tags #cockney#back-slang#british#uk#butcher#food

People Also Ask

What does feeb mean?

It means beef — 'beef' spelled backwards in butchers' back-slang.

What is 'rechtub kelp'?

It's 'butcher talk' reversed — the name butchers gave their own back-slang trade language.

Why did butchers speak backwards?

To discuss quality, pricing and dodgy stock among staff without the customer understanding the conversation.

Comments 0