officer's mess
1
6.9
- noun
- /ˈɔfɪsərz mɛs/
- Jargon
:
comedor de oficiales
- Do you have any idea, the ribbing I've had to endure in the officer's mess, to the effect that the Enterprise is a flying deathtrap?
Examples
-
Mr. Wallace, I would like you to join me for dinner in the officer's mess.
-
We're going to the officers' mess for dinner.
-
Could you get me something from the officers' mess?
-
Andrew returned to the officers' mess, and he could see that the men were waiting for him.
Fiction book (1990) -
- I don't want to go to the officers' mess.
-
I believe you also consumed Romulan ale at the officers' mess on the night in question, Doctor?
Fiction book (1991) -
He came into the officers' mess dripping and swearing.
Fiction book (1996) -
We're going to the officer's mess for dinner.
-
Could you get me something from the officer's mess?
Synonyms
51
5.8
A place where soldiers eat together
27
3.4
A large room where people in the military eat
9
9.9
A room on a navy ship where officers, except the captain, eat and relax
A room where people in the military eat meals together
How Exclusive
Surface Forms
Morphology
officer's + mess
The phrase is compositional: 'officer's' marks possession by officers and 'mess' denotes a military dining room, so the meaning 'dining facility for officers' follows directly from the constituents. This structure and concept are common across languages and standard in military contexts, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Officer's mess comes from old military life where a mess was the group of people who ate together and the room where they ate. A officer's mess was the separate dining room for officers, so officer's mess means 'a dining place reserved for officers'.