Horlicks

From William Horlick, founder. Term extended as euphemism for bollocks (“mess”).

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Horlicks (plural Horlickses)

1. A surname
   • 2012 April 11, Tricia Bennett, Polly Brown: A Modern-Day Oliver With a Twist, Charisma Media, →ISBN:

     “But how can this be, for Mr. Horlicks suffered from such a painful back condition that he could hardly walk?” she informed Hodgekiss. “Not anymore!” said Hodgekiss with a twinkle in his eye.

   • 2017 March 21, Barbara Trapido, Frankie & Stankie, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN:

     ... causing Mr Horlicks to think, in several worried thought bubbles, that She's not the girl I married. She then goes on to take tea in a café with a wise woman friend. Both Mrs Horlicks and her wise friend are always depicted […]

   • 2018 January 9, David Plante, American Stranger: A Novel, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

     And this will go on and on in that way until they are invited to Buckingham Palace to dine with the queen, who they are absolutely sure is the center, and will drop this bit of information when they meet the Horlickses at a reception, […]

   • 2021 September 9, Chips Channon, Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2): 1938-43, Random House, →ISBN:

     The Crown Prince went to the Horlickses. I have hardly seen him and am quietly, tactfully freezing him off. Sent off long letter to the Regent, my child, and to Peter. I feel somehow that the New Year will benefit me and bring […]

Horlicks (plural Horlicks)

1. (chiefly Britain) A malted milk hot bedtime drink.
   • 1990, Barbara Hanrahan, A Chelsea Girl, Ulverscroft Large Print Books, →ISBN:

     When the theatres turned out, people flocked back for their Horlickses and cocoas. Because of the summer visitors, we were open till one o'clock in the morning.

   • 2016 December 6, Jeanette Winterson, Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days, Grove/Atlantic, Inc., →ISBN:

     Kathy, drinking Horlicks and laughing about the impossibility of custard (she could not cook – she could not even stir), and obsessive about everything, found out for me that Dylan Thomas had invented a fantasy […]

   • 2021 March 10, Helen Jones, I Am a Real Person, AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

     It did seem very odd though, drinking Horlicks in the middle of the day. From then on, first thing in the morning, after all meals, and last thing at night, Ruth made me a big mug of Horlicks. Every day, Horlicks. All day, Horlicks.

2. (euphemistic, chiefly UK, slang) Bollocks; a muddle, a mess, a hash or balls-up.

Horlicks (third-person singular simple present Horlickses, present participle Horlicksing, simple past and past participle Horlicksed)

1. (euphemistic, chiefly UK, slang) To make a hash (of something); to make a Horlicks of; to make a mess of.

• Horlicks on Wikipedia.Wikipedia