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Shirley
Definitions
- 1 surely humorous, informal, not-comparable
"Shirley the pepper mills are whipped away by the peppier after use, so no danger there. But what about the candles?"
- 1 An English habitational surname
"Hold vp they head, vile Scot, or thou art like / Neuer to hold it vp againe! the spirits / Of valiant Sherley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my Armes;"
- 2 A male given name transferred from the surname. rare
"Shirley Blythe was with Una Meredith and both were rather silent because such was their nature. Shirley was a lad of sixteen, sedate, sensible, thoughtful, full of a quiet humour."
- 3 A female given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1920s to the 1950s.
"Shirley Keeldar (she had no christian name but Shirley: her parents, who had wished to have a son, finding that, after eight years of marriage, Providence had granted them only a daughter, bestowed on her the same masculine family cognomen they would have bestowed on a boy, if with a boy they had been blessed)—[…]"
- 4 Various places in England:; A village and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire (OS grid ref SK2141).
- 5 Various places in England:; A suburb of the borough of Croydon, Greater London (OS grid ref TQ3565).
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- 6 Various places in England:; A hamlet in Sopley parish, New Forest district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SZ1798).
- 7 Various places in England:; A suburb of Southampton, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU4013).
- 8 Various places in England:; A suburban town in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, historically in Warwickshire (OS grid ref SP1278).
- 9 Various places in the United States:; A town in Van Buren County, Arkansas.
- 10 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Kings County, California.
- 11 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in El Paso County, Colorado.
- 12 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in McLean County, Illinois.
- 13 Various places in the United States:; A town in Hancock County and Henry County, Indiana.
- 14 Various places in the United States:; A town in Piscataquis County, Maine.
- 15 Various places in the United States:; A town and census-designated place in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
- 16 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Polk County, Minnesota.
- 17 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Washington County, Missouri.
- 18 Various places in the United States:; A hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York.
- 19 Various places in the United States:; A hamlet in Erie County, New York.
- 20 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Charles City County, Virginia.
- 21 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia.
- 22 Various places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Brown County, Wisconsin.
- 23 A suburb of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Etymology
English place name from Old English sċīr (“county”) + lēah (“meadow”). Equivalent to shire + -ley (“lea”). More at shire, leigh.
A pun on surely and the name Shirley; probably inspired by the 1980 comedy film Airplane!, which has the exchange: "Surely you can’t be serious." "I am serious — and don’t call me Shirley."
See also for "shirley"
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