What it means
Means you had an absolute nightmare of a time, not an actual bad dream. You say it when everything went a bit tits-up and you made a mess of it, usually with a bit of self-roasting baked in. Proper common in British chat after a bad shift, a dodgy game, or any day that turned into pure faff and chaos.
Usage examples
"First day at the new gaff, I had a proper mare. Spilled tea on the boss, called him Dave, then my pass wouldn’t scan so I looked well dodgy."
"I had a right mare this morning, missed the train and spilled coffee down my shirt."
"Tried to parallel park outside the chippy and had a proper mare, stalled twice, clipped the kerb, then everyone on the pavement got a free show."
"We'd only gone for one pint and somehow I had an absolute mare, lost my bank card, sent my ex a voice note, then missed the last train home."
"Tried to do the food shop on my lunch break and had a complete mare. Card declined, bag split, apples everywhere, dignity in the bin."
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Where it comes from
It comes from nightmare, with mare clipped off and doing the whole job on its own in British speech. That older mare bit is tied to folklore about a spirit that sat on sleepers and brought bad dreams. In everyday slang, had a mare stopped being about sleep and turned into having a proper disaster of a time.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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