“ad fontes!”
originally in reference to rural life as opposed to urban life—American English, 1907—the influence of a particular place or situation on the character of a person or thing cannot be eradicated by removing the person or thing from the place or situation in question
Read Morethe alleged duty of the white peoples to bring their civilisation to other peoples regarded as backward—USA, 1865—in early use, often referred to the relations between European Americans and African an Americans
Read MoreSierra Leone, a former British colony in West Africa, and, by extension, equatorial West Africa in general—UK, 1833—refers to the high mortality rate among white colonisers of the region
Read More1945—originally referred to anti-fascist committees in Germany at the end of, and immediately after, World War II—from German ‘Antifa’, shortened from ‘Antifaschismus’ (i.e., anti-fascism) and from ‘antifaschistisch’ (i.e., anti-fascist)
Read Morealso ‘hopeium’—a notional drug supposed to have been ingested by a person who maintains an unrealistically optimistic outlook—UK, 1864—a blend of ‘hope’ and ‘opium’
Read Moreany mistaken or illegitimate legal action—Australia, 1881—a punning variant of the phrase ‘the long arm of the law’ (also ‘the strong arm of the law’)
Read Morethe far-reaching power or effect of coincidence—coined in 1888 by the Australian playwright Charles Haddon Chambers in Captain Swift
Read Morethe far-reaching, inescapable or punitive power and influence of the law—UK, 1788—from ‘strong arm’, designating far-reaching power and influence
Read Morethe far-reaching, inescapable or punitive power and influence of the law—UK, 1767, in a text by Jonas Hanway—from ‘long arm’, designating far-reaching power and influence
Read Moreit is snowing—UK, 1842—snowflakes are likened to white feathers—goose-plucking seems to have been associated with old women
Read More
word histories 