odds and sods

odds and sods

English

Noun

odds and sods pl (plural only)

1. (chiefly Britain, idiomatic) Miscellaneous items.
   • 1993 Dec. 16, Andy Gill, "Rock Albums: Up Until Now" by Art Garfunkel, Independent (UK) (retrieved 20 Dec 2013):

     Perhaps it's for the best, if this is what his recording career has sunk to: a slapdash assortment of odds and sods from all parts of his career.

   • 2013 June 22, "The News Corp split: Murdoch 2.0," The Economist (retrieved 20 Dec 2013):

     The new News Corp (unkindly referred to as “crap co”) will consist of around 130 newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, an education business and other odds and sods.

2. (chiefly Britain, idiomatic) Ordinary people who lack distinction.
   • 1994 Sep. 12, Tony Jones, "Yorkshire lad who reached for the stars: Tony Jones talks to Fred Hoyle," Independent (UK) (retrieved 20 Dec 2013):

     "I suddenly found that, although my proposals had been accepted at the very highest level, they were not accepted at the lower levels . . . I mean, the aristocrats who appointed the Italian painters or the Viennese musicians didn't have to get agreement from all the odds and sods around, did they?"

   • 1997 June 29, Sarah Lyall, "Arts: On British Soaps, the Poor and the Jobless," New York Times (retrieved 20 Dec 2013):

     But as the smartly dressed Kim arrived covered in mud from her foray across the pig yard, Tina took the opportunity to sneer, “Now we know how the odds and sods feel when Princess Diana turns up.”

   • 1997, George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Victory: A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, 1944-45, →ISBN, (Google search result):

     . . . the pervasive need of all those new to hard service discipline to put down those in authority who are making life miserable for all the lowly odds and sods of this world.

Synonyms

• (miscellaneous items): odds and ends; see Thesaurus:hodgepodge
• (ordinary people without distinction): commoners, hoi polloi, unwashed masses

See also

• all and sundry
• bits and bobs

References

• odds and sods at OneLook Dictionary Search