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 More19th-century nicknames for London newspapers
The Times: nicknamed Thunderer—the Morning Advertiser: Gin-and-Gospel Gazette, Tap-tub—The Morning Post: Jeames—The Morning Herald and The Standard: respectively Mrs Harris and Mrs Gamp
Read More‘storm on Channel—Continent isolated’: meaning and early occurrences
satirical of British insularity (describes Continental Europe as being cut off from the British Isles)—UK 1930, USA 1931—allegedly originated in a newspaper headline, but this is probably apocryphal
Read More‘teeth like stars’, i.e., false teeth
USA, 1893—the phrase ‘teeth like stars’ is applied to false teeth, the image being that they ‘come out’ at night
Read More‘to tap the Admiral’: meaning and early occurrences
applied to someone who will drink anything—UK, 1790—from the tale of the sailor(s) who stole spirits from the cask in which a dead Admiral was being preserved for interment in England
Read More‘to talk a glass eye to sleep’: meanings and early occurrences
applied either to a wearisome talker or to a persuasive talker—first occurs in the latter sense and in connection with boxing: Australia 1952, UK 1954
Read More‘stop the world, I want to get off’: meaning and early occurrences
I’m tired of life (but intended serio-ironically, not in genuine despair)—USA 1951, UK 1956—popularised by ‘Stop the World—I Want to Get Off’, a 1961 British musical
Read More‘svengali’: meaning and early occurrences
1894—(depreciative) someone who has a controlling influence over another—from the name of the hypnotist under whose spell Trilby falls in ‘Trilby’ (1894), by George Du Maurier
Read More‘it’s raining in London’: meaning and origin
a jibe at a man wearing trousers with turn-ups—USA, 1885—from an anecdote about a man who was affecting the manners and eccentricities of upper-class English people
Read More‘Richard’s himself again’: meaning and origin
indicates that a person has returned to normal after an illness or similar episode—from The Tragical History of King Richard III (1700), an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III by Colley Cibber
Read Morenotes on the phrase ‘social distancing’
21st century: the practice of maintaining a certain distance between oneself and other people in order to prevent infection with a disease—20th century: the practice of maintaining a degree of remoteness or emotional separation from another person or social group
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