the queen’s cushion, a Scottish makeshift seat
‘queen’s’, or ‘king’s’, ‘cushion’: a seat made by two people who cross arms and hold each other’s hands to form a support for another person—Scotland and northern England, 19th century
Read MoreCategory: arts
meaning and origin of ‘Mrs Grundy’
from Speed the Plough (1798), by Thomas Morton; Dame Ashfield is constantly fearing to give occasion for the sneers of Mrs Grundy, her unseen neighbour
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘famous for fifteen minutes’
apparently misattributed to Andy Warhol in the book published for the first European retrospective of his work at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, in 1968
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘old school tie’
UK, 1929—the attitudes, loyalties, values, etc., associated with British public schools—from the distinctive tie that indicates which school the wearer attended
Read Moreorigin of ‘bedlam’: the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem
late Middle English—early form of ‘Bethlehem’, originally referring to the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London, used as an institution for the insane
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘like watching paint dry’
USA, 1959—‘like watching paint dry’ or ‘as —— as watching paint dry’:used to denote an extremely dull activity or experience
Read Moreorigin of ‘Linus blanket’ (security blanket)
US, 1958: security blanket—from ‘Linus’, the name of a small boy who carries a blanket for comfort in the comic strip ‘Peanuts’, by Charles M. Schulz
Read Moreorigin of ‘to take time by the forelock’
Opportunity was represented as woman completely bald except for a forelock: she can only be seized as she runs towards someone, not be caught thereafter.
Read Moremeanings of ‘the answer to a maiden’s prayer’
‘the answer to a maiden’s prayer’—primary meaning (USA, 1926): ‘an eligible bachelor’—hence, in extended use, ‘a miracle solution’
Read Morea Lancashire phrase: ‘the full monty’
something in its entirety—UK, 2nd half of 20th cent.—the sense of striptease performance involving full nudity was popularised by the 1997 film The Full Monty.
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