I’m not sure about the spelling of “kipper”, but I heard that in a movie a couple of weeks ago. What does it exactly mean, and what is “kipper” in this sense?

Eyehawk - 17 June 2007 07:32 PM

I’m not sure about the spelling of “kipper”, but I heard that in a movie a couple of weeks ago. What does it exactly mean, and what is “kipper” in this sense?

A little more context would help Eyehawk, but I would guess it is a reference to a fish. Was the movie Notes on a Scandal by any chance?  Variations on this phrase is “done up like a kipper”, “Stitched up like a kipper”, “gutted like a kipper.”

That was the movie, Oecolampadius. I had forgotten to write down the title, but you must have seen it also. A very interesting movie.

Still, why a kipper?

What was it the boy did to her?

Offhand “kipper” would seem most likely to mean “kippered fish [probably herring]”. The verb “kipper” means “cure by splitting, cleaning, salting, and smoking” (MW3). “Kippers” = “kippered herring” is a conventional food item, I think more usual in UK but readily available in US etc.

I don’t believe the boys relationship with the girl was shown in the movie to that extent, so I assumed it meant that he was very mean to her.

I felt that “kipper” was a fish or was fish related, but didn’t understand exactly how it was meant in the phrase. At least I thought it was the fish related term.

I guess I’ll have to watch the movie again to see if there are any other clues.

D Wilson - 17 June 2007 09:02 PM

but readily available in US etc.

I don’t believe I have ever seen an actual kipper in the Southern US (just the little canned things).  There’s no scale on this picture:Kipper on Wikipedia but The Two Fat Ladies had some that were big enough that they soaked them in a large pitcher with the tails hanging out - something like .
Recipe for Jugged Kippers

done up like a kipper Phrs. 1. Caught in the act, caught red-handed.
2. Put in a position of no hope.

Related phrase:

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE STICHED UP LIKE A KIPPER?

“There are a lot of theories out there on ‘stitched up like a kipper,’ but from what can be gatherered no one knows for sure which one is correct.

This is not an expression we use in the U.S., but from what I can gather it means that one has been manipulated, used, and betrayed. The image I see is that one has been sewn up and as we say in the U.S. “left hung out to dry,” which is similar but not quite the same - since it perhaps has a bit more to do with abandonment than manipulation....

(more at linked webpage)

I believe that comes close to what was meant in the movie, LH. I’ll definately have to watch the movie again.