Word.ws English Dictionary

three stops short of Dagenham

Syllables: three stops short of Dag·en·ham/ˌθɹiː stɒps ˈʃɔːt əv ˈdæɡən(ə)m/US/ˌθɹi stɑps ˈʃɔɹt əv ˈdæɡənəm/

three stops short of Dagenham adjective: crazy; mad.

Adjective

three stops short of Dagenham (not comparable)

  1. (UK, humorous, slang) Crazy; mad.
    • If you don't already insist on the word "unrefined" being on your bags of sugar, I am willing to bet that you will from this day forth, unless you: a) suffer from a particularly virulent inability to be influenced for the better by anyone or anything; b) are three stops short of Dagenham (check it...2001 March 15, Tamasin Day-Lewis, “So wonderfully unrefined”, in Charles Moore, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC
    • [...] Floral Highnotes brilliantly combined opera and flower-arranging in what can only be described as a performance that was three stops short of Dagenham. Which is to say, for those not au fait with the London Underground, Barking.2010 April 18, Robert Epstein, “Britain’s got plenty of exhibitionists, but has it got talent?”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04...
    Antonyms:
    sane, balanced, compos mentis, in one's right mind, in possession of one's faculties, lucid, rational, reasonable, sound-minded

Examples of three stops short of Dagenham in a sentence

  • He winked at me. ‘Now, my friend, I’m three stops short of Dagenham.’ / ‘Three stops short of Dagenham?’ I asked. / Bert roared with laughter. ‘Barking, mate,’ he said. ‘I’m fucking barking.’2011, Jimmy Frazier, “Barry’s Nose”, in Nurse! Nurse!: A Student Nurse’s Story, London: Constable & Robinson, →ISBN:
  • If you invest in a business where even they say they won't make money, you're three stops short of Dagenham.2011 May 22, Justin Urquhart Stewart, “Money briefing: May 22”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC:
  • It sounds three stops short of Dagenham (Barking), but, strangely, it works.2014 June 19, Emma Hughes, “Town Mouse on some Cupcakes with a Difference”, in Mark Hedges, editor, Country Life, London: TI Media, →ISSN...
  • If you told even the most loyal residents of Barking that their station was a masterpiece they’d probably think you were three stops short of Dagenham.2019 March 1, “Evening Standard comment: […] Barking is just bellissimo”, in George Osborne, editor, Evening Standard, London: Evening...

Synonyms of three stops short of Dagenham

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

Origin of three stops short of Dagenham

The term refers to the location of Barking station on the District line of the London Underground, which is three stops west of Dagenham Heathway tube station, in allusion to the phrase barking mad.

Questions about three stops short of Dagenham

What does three stops short of Dagenham mean?
Three stops short of Dagenham means crazy; mad.
How do you use three stops short of Dagenham in a sentence?
He winked at me. ‘Now, my friend, I’m three stops short of Dagenham.’ / ‘Three stops short of Dagenham?’ I asked. / Bert roared with laughter. ‘Barking, mate,’ he said. ‘I’m fucking barking.’
What part of speech is three stops short of Dagenham?
Three stops short of Dagenham is an adjective.
How do you pronounce three stops short of Dagenham?
Three stops short of Dagenham is pronounced /ˌθɹiː stɒps ˈʃɔːt əv ˈdæɡən(ə)m/ (UK).

Words near three stops short of Dagenham in the dictionary

  1. three sixty
  2. three skips of a louse
  3. three squares
  4. three stars
  5. Three Stooges
  6. three stops short of Dagenham
  7. three strikes and you're out
  8. Three T's
  9. three thousand
  10. three times a charm
  11. three times three

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: three stops short of Dagenham (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-three stops short of Dagenham.wav.

Cite this entry: “three stops short of Dagenham.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/three_stops_short_of_dagenham. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.