▪ I. Ted, n.1 Services' slang.
(tɛd)
[Abbrev. of tedesco n.]
A German soldier. Disused.
| 1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 193 D'you know what those bloody Teds have been up to? They've been bloody well shelling us. |
▪ II. Ted, n.2
(tɛd)
Also with small initial.
Short for Teddy boy. Cf. Teddy 4.
| 1956 in I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. (1959) vii. 119 Joined the Teds when he was only three, Coshed a cop when he was only four. 1956 Time 24 Sept. 28/1 The Ted's notion of sartorial splendor ranges from a caricature of Edwardian elegance to the zoot padding of a Harlem hepcat. 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 44 Appearing in a telly programme on the Ted question. 1968 New Scientist 11 July 64/3 The gangs [of baboons] appeared to carry out his orders, roaming through the troupe like a bunch of leather-jacketed teds. 1977 Daily Tel. 19 July 15 A Metropolitan magistrate complained yesterday that he had inadequate power to deal with gangs of ‘punk rockers’ and ‘Teds’ who clashed in the King's Road, Chelsea. 1980 Daily Mirror 10 Apr. 12/2 The term Ted is a little less popular nowadays, and Rockabilly is Eighties style. |