Harvey Nicks

7.9

A famous British department store that sells expensive clothes and accessories

proper noun

Informal

: Harvey Nicks

I bought my designer shoes at Harvey Nicks.

Examples

Whenever she's in London, she makes sure to visit Harvey Nicks for some shopping.
Have you ever been to Harvey Nicks in London?
He bragged about buying his suit from Harvey Nicks on Bond Street.
She found the perfect pair of shoes at Harvey Nicks during the summer sale.
He bragged about buying his suit from Harvey Nicks on Bond Street.
She found the perfect pair of shoes at Harvey Nicks during the summer sale.
Whenever she's in London, she makes sure to visit Harvey Nicks for some shopping.

Surface Forms

Harvey Nicks main

Morphology

Harvey + Nicks

This is a culturally specific nickname for the proper name Harvey Nichols; the constituents are names/surnames and do not transparently indicate a department store. The reduced form 'Nicks' and the informal nickname require prior cultural or lexical knowledge, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Harvey Nicks is a friendly, shortened form of the store's real name Harvey Nichols, made by dropping and changing the end to sound casual. That's why Harvey Nicks is used today as an informal name for the famous 'luxury department store'.