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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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khaki
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The cloth which became standard uniform in many armies. It was first worn by certain British regiments during the *Indian mutiny, replacing the bright plumage of the *redcoats. The word means dust-coloured in Hindi. The original *'khaki election' was that of 1900, when the Conservatives benefited from recent successes in the *Boer War; and the phrase was later used of the 1945 election, much influenced by the vote of the troops at the end of World War II.
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