deelo, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

deelo adj.

also delo, dillo, dlo

[backsl.]

old.

1859		implied in deelo nammo
1885		Edinburgh Eve. News 26 Dec. 3/5: ‘Delo,’ as sounded, proper spelt, is ‘old’ and by ‘deloes’ is designated poultry of an uncertain age, otherwise in [Smithfield] market called ‘widders’.
1885		Edinburgh Eve. News 26 Dec. 3/5: Back-slang [...] still lingers in the Farringdon Poultry Market [...] ‘Delo’, as sounded, proper spelt, is ‘old’ and by ‘deloes’ is designated poultry of uncertain age.
1896		‘Thieves’ Sl.’ Gent.’s Mag. CCLXXXI Oct. 348: ‘Cool the delo gum’ would, if used by a coster to another, convey a friendly warning to keep an eye on a person who is ‘no good’ from a business point of view. Literally translated it is ‘Look at the old mug’.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 180: Delo [...] Dillo Old (backslang).
1980		(con. 1930s) Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 35: ‘Dlo’ (pronounced ‘dee-lo’) for old.
1992		R.G. Barrett Davo’s Little Something 13: If something wasn’t fresh, they [i.e. butchers] would say ‘it’s deelo’.
1998		R. Puxley Fresh Rabbit 106: In backslang, ‘old’ becomes ‘delo’, a word commonly heard in the fish market for rank goods.

In compounds

de(e)lo diam (n.)

an old maid.

1883		press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era (1909) 106/2: When a bloke’s hard up it’s the delo diam who is his friend. When a poor girl goes wrong it is the delo diam who gives her shelter until the kid is born. Delo diams are angels on this muddy earth, and if there is a heaven delo diams will take a front seat there.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
2001		J. Burkardt ‘Back Sl.’ Wordplay 🌐 delo diam: old maid.

de(e)lo nam of the barrack (n.) [nam n. (1) + SE barrack]

the master of the house.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 107/1: Delo nam o’ the Barrack (Thieves’) ‘Old man’, which is back spelling, and ‘Master of the house’ – barrack, used for house; probably being obtained from soldiers on furlough.

deelo nammo (n.) (also delonammon, delo nammow, dillo namo, dillo nemo ) [nammo n.]

an old woman; thus one’s wife.

1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 125: DILLO-NAMO, an old woman.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 23/2: Cool ta the dillo nemo ... Look at the old woman.
1867		Berks. Chron. 7 Dec. 7/1: The Language of Costers. We’ve a slang, sir, and it is only know to ourselves. It puzzles the Irish and bothers the Jews [...] For look at the old woman, ‘cool ta the dillonemo’.
1873		Sl. Dict. 353: Delo nammow an old woman.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 11: Delo Nammow - An old woman.
1891		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 15 Oct. 6/4: Blow me, I’m no dillo namo (old woman).
a.1909		press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 107/1: If he doesn’t pay that delo nammow eighteen-pence for washing there will be a bankruptcy at his door.
1953		J. Franklyn Cockney 297: The cry of ‘Cool ta the dillo nemo!’ (Look at the old woman) enabled one’s next-door-stall neighbour to join in a quiet laugh at the customer.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 180: Delonammon Wife (backslang, ‘old woman’).
1999		G. Seal Lingo 41: Thus the police became esclops, delo nammow is an old woman and a bad sort became a dob tros.