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Definition 2024


drive_Irish_tandem

drive Irish tandem

English

Verb

drive Irish tandem

  1. (Britain, dated) To walk; to go by foot.
    • c. 1848, Thomas Francis Meagher, Meagher of the Sword: Speeches of Thomas Francis Meagher in Ireland, 1846-1848, his narrative of events in Ireland in July 1848, personal reminiscences of Waterford, Galway, and his schooldays, page 287,
      “Mr. Mayor and fellow citizens,” it was thus he addressed the meeting the morning I returned to Waterford, “I came to attend this meeting, driving Irish tandem — that is one foot before the other.”
    • 1901, Jack Mathieu, ‘That Day at Boiling Downs’, Australian Ballads & Short Stories, Penguin 2003, page 263,
      He was driving Irish tandem, but perhaps I talk at random – / I'd forgotten for a moment you are not all mulga-bred; / What I mean's he had his swag up through his having knocked his nag up

References