‘you can’t get the staff these days’: meaning and origin
UK, 1957—humorous—indicates that something has not been done or maintained properly, or that someone’s efforts have failed to meet expectations
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‘mountain dew’: meanings and origin
Britain, 1747: dew of the kind that settles on mountains—Scotland, 1816: whisky or other spirit, especially when home-made or illicit (originally in reference to whisky distilled in the Highlands, i.e., in the mountainous region of Scotland)
Read More‘dinosaur juice’: meaning and origin
USA, 1977—petroleum, and any liquid derived from petroleum used in a vehicle powered by an internal-combustion engine—perhaps from popular association of ‘dinosaur’ with ‘fossil fuel’
Read More‘scrapbook’: meaning and origin
UK, 1817—a blank book in which pictures, newspaper cuttings, and the like are pasted for preservation—hence also (UK, 1821) used as the title of a printed book of miscellaneous contents
Read Moreadditional notes on ‘beer o’clock’
a time at which it is considered acceptable or sociable to start drinking beer—used of various times of the day—USA, 1910
Read More‘sparrowfart’: meanings and origin
British, dialectal, 1828: the break of day, i.e., the dawn chorus, with humorous allusion to a small passerine breaking wind—later also: an insignificant person or thing
Read More‘stupid o’clock’: meaning and origin
UK, late 1980s—the adverb ‘o’clock’ is colloquially and humorously used with adjectives to denote an unreasonably, excessively or inconveniently early or late hour—as in ‘stupid o’clock’, ‘silly o’clock’, etc.
Read More‘glam-ma’: meaning and origin
USA, 2001—a glamorous grandmother, especially one who is relatively young or fashion-conscious—a blend of the nouns ‘glamour’ and ‘grandma’
Read More‘nation of shopkeepers’: meaning and origin
UK, 1759: first applied to Japan—1794 (during the French Revolution): the disparaging use in reference to Britain was popularised by the French phrase ‘nation boutiquière’
Read More‘ankle express’: meaning and origin
one’s feet as a means of travel, humorously represented as a form of public transport—from 1887 onwards in the southeastern states of Georgia and Alabama
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