Disapprove of having very brief word with Yankee? Tough! (6,3)
I believe the answer is:
bovver boy
'tough' is the definition.
(both can mean a hooligan)
'disapprove of having very brief word with yankee?' is the wordplay.
'disapprove of' becomes 'boo' (to boo someone is to show disapproval of them).
'having' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'very brief' becomes 'v' (abbreviation; 'brief' suggests a short form).
'word with' becomes 'verb' (verb is a kind of word. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'yankee?' becomes 'Y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'v'+'verb'='vverb'
'boo' placed around 'vverb' is 'bovverbo'.
'bovverbo'+'y'='BOVVER BOY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for bovver boy that I've seen is " Hobnail-booted yob".)