‘to smoke like a chimney’: meaning and origin
to smoke tobacco very heavily —UK, 1824, as “smoking away like the chimney of the King of the Netherlands”
Read More‘ice-cream van’: meaning and origin
USA, 1874 & Britain, 1875: a commercial vehicle from which ice cream is sold, typically at the roadside—originally in Britain: typically at a fair
Read More‘to flap one’s gums’: meaning and origin
to chatter, i.e., to talk continuously about things regarded as trivial or unimportant—USA, 1940
Read More‘bikini body’: meanings and origin
USA, 1961—the type of body, typically slim and shapely, conventionally considered to look attractive in a bikini—hence also, by synecdoche: a woman whose body is of that type
Read More‘behind the bicycle-shed’: meaning and origin
refers to a school’s bicycle-shed as a place of seclusion in which pupils pursue prohibited activities such as fighting, smoking, etc.—1909—‘bicycle-shed’: a shed for storing bicycles when not in use
Read More‘behind the eight ball’: meaning and origin
stuck in a difficult situation, ‘snookered’—USA, 1923—refers to the situation in a game of eight ball in which a ball cannot be pocketed without also pocketing the eight ball
Read More‘the gift that keeps on giving’: meanings and origin
American English, early 20th century—primarily used of a present that delivers repeated enjoyment in the course of time—also sarcastically used of a person or situation constituting a recurring problem
Read Moreoriginal meaning of ‘dead man’s float’
a floating position, used as a survival technique, consisting in lying on one’s back in the water—UK, 1841
Read More‘skull-bucket’: meaning and origin
USA, 1968: colloquial humorous appellation for a crash-helmet—also, USA, 1942: protective head-covering worn by soldiers
Read More‘milk-bar cowboy’: meaning and origin
a young man who, as part of a motorcycle gang, congregates in or around a milk bar—New Zealand, 1951—such gangs congregate there because milk bars stay open long after the shops are shut
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