Shirley
proper nounadverbcommon in dialogue
- //ˈʃɜː(ɹ)li//
An English habitational surname
proper noun
- 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
rareA male given name transferred from the surname.
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)—[…]
"Why a girl like you should be named Shirley is beyond me. You haven't a ruffle or a furbelow anywhere in your nature." "Is that meant for an insult?" she asked, flushing angrily. "No, it's just that it's incongruous. You are the 'give us this day our daily bread' sort of person. Shirley is party stuff."
- 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).
- 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.
adverb
- 1
informalsurely
Shirley the pepper mills are whipped away by the peppier after use, so no danger there. But what about the candles?
Etymology
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."