Phrase guide

beer and skittles

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Fun times; pleasure and leisure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, idiomatic, plural, plural-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: peaches and cream, bed of roses, bowl of cherries, sunshine and rainbows, beatitude, bliss, delectation, delight, ecstasy, euphoria, lust, nirvana, pleasure, rapture, ravishment, transport

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Found as early as 1837, in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, where it appears in the form, “It’s a reg’lar holiday to them—all porter and skittles”. The most common form, as a negative admonition, appears to have been popularized by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days (1857, see quotation below).

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: flors i violes — fun times
  • Dutch: rozengeur en maneschijn — fun times
  • Finnish: hauskanpito — fun times
  • French: bon temps — fun times
  • Icelandic: jólin — fun times
  • Polish: zabawa — fun times
  • Polish: przyjemność — fun times
  • Spanish: no todo el monte es orégano — fun times
  • Swedish: dans på rosor — fun times