What it means
Means to have a quick sleep or nap, basically to have a kip when you’re hanging. You’ll hear it used as a verb or a noun, like going for a caulk after work or before a night out. Confusingly, it’s spelt the same as the DIY stuff, so outsiders think you’re off to seal a bath, not shut your eyes.
Usage examples
"I’m off for a caulk on the sofa, butt, work’s done me in. Give us a nudge in an hour or I’ll miss the lot."
"Right, I am off for a quick caulk before the rugby kicks off, butt. Wake me up at three or I am going to miss the anthem and the missus will have my head for sleeping through the second half too."
"Took a proper caulk on the sofa after the shift down the valleys, woke up two hours later with the dog on my lap and the kettle whistling, half the family already in the kitchen waiting for tea."
Where it comes from
Same root as the DIY caulk, from the Latin calx for lime, originally the lime mortar used to seal boat hulls. Welsh English picked up the verb sense of sealing yourself shut for a nap, the sleeper closed off from the world like a freshly caulked boat in dry dock at the Cardiff Bay yard waiting for the next tide.
Other ways to say it
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