A saucy, impudent person; especially, a pert child.
Nanny breathed fire. 'She called me Nanny, the saucebox!'
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| Sela the Saucebox |
Is this word really British and never used in America? Is it used in both places?
I don't quite know. But I do know that it isn't a Western States word. What might we use instead? (I'm tempted to say saucy minx but we stole that from Mike Meyers doing a Brit spy master in the first place so that doesn't cut it.)
It reminds me of that really not great (but somehow adorable) movie Hello Again (1987) in which Shelly Long chokes on a piece of chicken and meets her eternal reward only to be revived again a year later (and meet the stunningly handsome Gabriel Bryne). One of the characters, attempting to trap a vampy Sela Ward, recounts an off-color story about her marriage to his aged and wealthy father. He does so in a folksy, drawling way that you couldn't possibly take exception to and says the word 'Im.pu.dence.' as though it were three words.
And now that I think of it, the Im.pu.dent. Sela was quite the saucebox.
Chambers -- my go-to dictionary for Brit-speak -- just defines saucebox as an impudent person. If I think of it, I'll check with Betty Ross's other reference books to see what else I can learn about its etymology.
ReplyDeleteI would call someone like that "cheeky." Not sure why. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I said something out of turn, I might be called a smart alec, or I got called 'Lady Jane' by my mother... Not sure why.
ReplyDeleteShe'd call someone who was taking privileges she wasn't offering brassy or forward.