noun General Slang

Lionel Blairs

/ˌlaɪənəl ˈblɛːz/ · noun · slang

Cockney for flares — 'Lionel Blairs' rhymes with flares, clipped to 'Lionels'.

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Definitions

1

Flared trousers. 'Lionel Blairs' rhymes with 'flares', and is clipped to 'Lionels', dropping the rhyme.

“He turned up in a pair of massive Lionel Blairs.”
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2

By extension, dated wide-legged fashion in general.

“Those Lionels make you look straight out of 1974.”
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3

Clipped to 'Lionels', bell-bottoms or flared jeans, especially of the 1970s.

“Dust off your Lionels, it's a disco night.”
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Lionel Blairs In A Sentence

My dad still swears by his old Lionel Blairs.
You can't dance properly without a decent pair of Lionels.
She found Grandad's purple Lionels in the loft.

Origin & Usage

Later-twentieth-century Cockney rhyming slang named for the British entertainer and dancer Lionel Blair (1928-2021), coined to rhyme with the 'flares' of 1970s fashion; celebrity-name rhymes are a modern extension of the classic Cockney device documented since Hotten 1859.

Variants Lionels
Tags #cockney#rhyming#british#uk#clothing

People Also Ask

What does Lionel Blairs mean?

It's Cockney rhyming slang for flares (flared trousers). 'Blairs' rhymes with 'flares', shortened to 'Lionels'.

Who was Lionel Blair?

A well-known British entertainer and dancer; his name was borrowed for the rhyme on 'flares'.

Can Lionel Blairs mean something else?

Yes — in some cheekier usage it also rhymes with 'hairs', but the trousers sense is the common one.

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