I or O? (n.): Irish or Orange? (Catholic or Protestant). ‘I or O (Irish or Orange; the challenge to strangers on St. Patrick's Day’ (O'Mara 1934: 86). ‘“I or O?” Now we all know what that meant – “Irish or Orange?”’ (Unwin 1984 [1920s–30s]: 76). ‘“I or O?” – I standing for Irish and therefore Catholic, and O for Orange’ (Lees 2013: 96). *NR; derivation is clear.

If they had any brains they’ d be dangerous (phr.): Recorded as a phrase used to refer to ‘the clerks at the Social’ (the Department of Social Security) in Liverpool in the early 1980s (Beale 1985 s.v. brains).

Ignorance (n.): bad manners. ‘Bad manners is always described as Ignorance (“’E wuddin bid yuh duh time er day; its only ‘is ignorance”)’ (Shaw 1958d: 16). ‘I jes’ can't stan’ that feller, ‘e's plain bloody ‘iggerant’ (Lane 1966: 49). Recorded from m.20c.; an extension of l.19c. dialectal ‘ignorant’, ‘ill-mannered’ (‘she said of him, “he's ignorant”’ Kerr 1958: 107).

Ikey (adj.): smartly dressed; cheeky, rude. ‘Yer very ikey. You are dandified’ (Shaw et al. 1966: 36). ‘Yer very ikey! You are somewhat over-dressed’ (Spiegl 2000b: 76). ‘Ikey fuckin balloonhead’ (Griffiths 2003: 85). Recorded from m.19c.; an Americanism; used pejoratively to refer to a Jewish man; from ‘Ikey’ for ‘Isaac’. The nuanced sense of ‘smart dresser’ was reinforced in Liverpool by the fact that tailoring and the rag trade were main occupations of the city's Jewish community.

Improver (n.): (modern) intern. ‘Frankie Roza now an “improver” [one grade above an apprentice] engineer’ (O'Mara 1934: 259). Recorded from m.19c.; someone who accepted an opportunity to ‘improve’ trade skills wholly or partly in lieu of wages.

In bits (adj.): very emotional or upset. ‘It's damned hard … I feel all in bits myself’ (Hanley 2009 [1940]: 347). ‘“All upset about Roger was he?” “In bits, yeh”’ (Griffiths 2001: 191) ‘Women and family in bits’ (Sampson 2002: 4). Recorded from m.20c.; an extension of ‘bit’, ‘piece’ (‘broken to bits’).