origin of ‘castles in Spain’ and ‘castles in the air’
In French medieval chansons de geste ‘castles in Spain’ denoted fiefs that had to be conquered from the Saracens by the knights to whom they had been granted.
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the authentic origin of ‘once in a blue moon’
‘Once in a blue moon’ is a development from ‘once in a moon’, meaning ‘once a month’, hence ‘occasionally’—‘blue’ is merely a meaningless fanciful intensive.
Read Moreorigin of ‘quiz’ (“Vir bonus est quis?”)?
Originally meaning ‘person of ridiculous appearance’, ‘quiz’ (students’ slang, late 18th century) was jocularly derived from the Latin interrogative pronoun ‘quis’ in “Vir bonus est quis?” (“Who is a good man?”)—a good, ingenuous, harmless man being likely to become an object of ridicule or even of harassment.
Read Morethe nonsensical origin of ‘Kilkenny cats’
‘To fight like Kilkenny cats’ means ‘to engage in a mutually destructive struggle’.—from the tale of two cats fighting until only their tails remained (early 19th century), which was originally meant to be nothing but amusing nonsense.
Read Morethe authentic origin of ‘a pretty kettle of fish’
The phrase ‘a pretty kettle of fish’ originally referred to a net full of fish, which, when drawn up with its contents, is suggestive of confusion, flurry and disorder—‘kettle’ being a form of ‘kiddle’, a noun denoting a dam or other barrier in a river, with an opening fitted with nets to catch fish.
Read Morethe authentic origin of ‘to rain cats and dogs’
First recorded circa 1629 as ‘to rain dogs and cats’, this phrase is based on a cat-and-dog fight as a metaphor for a storm or hard rain; the theory that Jonathan Swift coined the phrase is ludicrous.
Read Moreorigin of ‘Indian summer’ and French ‘l’été sauvage’
In ‘Indian summer’, ‘Indian’ merely denotes something other than that denoted in Europe by the simple noun ‘summer’—as in ‘Indian corn’ (‘maize’).
Read Morehistory of ‘all right, you heard a seal bark’
refers to “All right, have it your own way—you heard a seal bark”, the caption to a drawing by James Thurber, originally published in The New Yorker of 30th January 1932
Read More‘thrown out of better places than this’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1909—a derogatory description of a specific place or occupation, typically used by somebody who is getting expelled from this specific place or occupation
Read Moreorigin of ‘I’ve got the time if you’ve got the inclination’
Seems to have originated in a joke, first recorded in 1955, in which the Tower of London says to the Leaning Tower of Pisa: “I’ve got the time and you’ve got the inclination.”
Read More‘if you want to get ahead, get a hat’: meaning and origin
one must wear a hat in order to become successful in one’s life or career—originally the slogan for an advertising campaign organised in 1948 by the British hat-manufacturers when hat-wearing began to decline
Read More‘(as) dim as a Toc H lamp’: meaning and origin
dim-witted—UK, 1963—refers to the oil lamp that is symbolically lit at the beginning of the meetings of each section of the international movement Toc H
Read More‘one from column A (and) one from column B’
alludes to the menus in Chinese restaurants, which list the dishes in two columns, column A and column B—USA, 1956—first in reference to comedian Buddy Hackett’s routine on a Chinese waiter taking an order
Read More‘good field, no hit’: meaning and purported origin
(baseball) a good fielder, but a poor hitter, i.e., batter—USA, 1925—purportedly coined in 1924 by Miguel Gonzales to describe Moe Berg in a telegram to Mike Kelley
Read More‘stand and grow good’: meanings and origin
UK, 1862—originally said to children in order that they develop an upright posture—came to be humorously used when declining a proffered seat
Read More‘kiss cam’: meaning and early occurrences
a live video feed in a sports arena showing images of selected couples in the audience in the expectation that they will kiss—USA and Canada, 2001
Read More‘God help those who are caught helping themselves’
addition to proverb ‘God helps those who help themselves’—USA, UK and Australia, late 19th century—originated as a warning to shoplifters
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