handbags at dawn

Meanings:

• 1.

  United Kingdomhumorouscolloquialfigurative
  • A petty, catty, or trivial quarrel, often characterized by sharp words or gossip rather than serious violence.

• 2.

  New Zealandinformalfigurativesporting
  • A public altercation between competitors, especially in sport, in which participants threaten or engage in physical confrontation but typically cause little real harm.

• 3.

  United KingdomGlobalhumorousliteral
  • A mock or joking reference to a fight in which handbags are used as improvised weapons, imagined to occur at dawn.