meaning and origin of the phrase “’arf a mo’, Kaiser!”
“half a moment, Kaiser!”—1914 as the caption to a drawing by Bert Thomas, published in the Weekly Dispatch (London) to advertise a tobacco fund for soldiers
Read MoreCategory: arts
‘Aunt Edna’ (typical theatregoer of conservative taste)
coined by the English playwright Terence Rattigan (1911-1977) in the preface to Volume 2 of ‘The Collected Plays of Terence Rattigan’ (1953)
Read Morethe cultural background to the plebeian ‘trunkmaker’
UK, 18th and 19th centuries—‘trunkmaker’ was often employed with allusion to the use of the sheets of unsaleable books for trunk-linings
Read Moremeanings and origin of the British phrase ‘(dark) satanic mills’
UK, 1913—industrial mills—working places characterised by dehumanising forms of labour—from ‘And did those feet in ancient time’, by the English poet William Blake
Read Morecolourful English and French phrases denoting a squint
e.g. ‘one eye at St. Paul’s and the other at Charing-cross’, ‘un œil aux champs et l’autre à la ville’ (one eye at the fields and the other at the town)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the term ‘éminence grise’
UK, 1877—a person who wields unofficial power and influence—originally applied to Père Joseph (François Leclerc du Tremblay), French friar, confidential agent of Cardinal Richelieu
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Comstockism’ and ‘Comstockery’
USA—‘Comstockism’ 1878, ‘Comstockery’ 1889—strict censorship of materials considered obscene—after anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock (1844-1915)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘Barmecide feast’
UK, 1823—pretended or illusory generosity or hospitality—from the name of a prince in The Arabian Nights, who gave a beggar a feast consisting of empty dishes
Read Moresome reflections on ‘to Wyatt’
UK 2006—to play recherché music on a jukebox with the intent of irritating pub customers—attributed to Carl Neville in reference to Robert Wyatt’s ‘Dondestan’
Read More‘culture vulture’ (a person who is voracious for culture)
USA, 1931—phrase based on the phonetic similarity of the two words that compose it—implies lack of discrimination
Read More
word histories 