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Glite Dictionary
ex-lax fish

ex-lax fish

9.9
A fish dish that people think makes them need the bathroom quickly
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : pescado laxante
  • After eating the ex-lax fish, several people needed to rush to the bathroom.

Examples

  • Locals warn tourists to avoid the infamous ex-lax fish at that seaside restaurant.

  • The restaurant serves a special ex-lax fish dish.

  • He joked that the ex-lax fish gave him the fastest stomach relief of his life.

  • I tried some ex-lax fish at the party last night.

  • Locals warn tourists to avoid the infamous ex-lax fish at that seaside restaurant.

  • After eating the ex-lax fish, several people needed to rush to the bathroom.

  • He joked that the ex-lax fish gave him the fastest stomach relief of his life.

Surface Forms

ex-lax fish singular
ex-lax fishes plural

Morphology

ex-lax + fish

The first constituent 'ex-lax' is a cultural/brand reference to a laxative (and is not a transparent lexical combination), so the humorous meaning 'fish that causes laxative effects' cannot be derived from the literal words. A B1 learner who only knows the literal constituents (and no background knowledge of the brand/joke) would not predict the idiomatic laxative sense, making the expression non-compositional.

Etymology

Ex-lax fish comes from a joking comparison to the laxative brand Ex-Lax: people said eating the fish felt like taking Ex-Lax and made them 'rush to the bathroom'. So it now means a fish thought to 'cause digestive problems'.