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in the pudding club

in the pudding club

9.9
Pregnant and expecting a baby
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : embarazada
  • She's in the pudding club and due in October.

Examples

  • After she started craving unusual foods, her mother suspected she was in the pudding club.

  • Rumors spread through the office that Maggie was in the pudding club.

  • He winked knowingly when asked if his wife was in the pudding club.

  • Are you sure she's in the pudding club?

  • After she started craving unusual foods, her mother suspected she was in the pudding club.

  • He winked knowingly when asked if his wife was in the pudding club.

  • Rumors spread through the office that Maggie was in the pudding club.

Synonyms

up the duff
vsin the pudding club
  • Slang
1 9.9

A woman who is expecting a baby

is the same meaning but is more euphemistic and playful
preggers
vsin the pudding club
  • Slang
1 9.4

Having a baby growing inside you

is the same meaning but expresses it more indirectly and playfully

Antonyms

nonpregnant
  • Specialized
2.9

Not carrying a baby inside the body

Surface Forms

Morphology

in + the + pudding + club

The meaning 'pregnant' is not compositionally derivable from the literal parts 'in', 'the', 'pudding', and 'club'—there is no clear semantic link between 'pudding' or 'club' and pregnancy. This is a culturally specific euphemism/idiom used in British English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words but has not seen the expression would not be able to predict its meaning.

Etymology

In the pudding club comes from a playful image: people imagined a small pudding growing inside a woman's belly, like a secret dessert. That's why it became a light, joking way to say 'pregnant'.