an Australian use of ‘bottom of the harbour’
1980—a tax evasion scheme in which a company and its records vanish completely (figuratively to the bottom of the harbour, originally Sydney Harbour) with an unpaid tax bill
Read More“ad fontes!”
1980—a tax evasion scheme in which a company and its records vanish completely (figuratively to the bottom of the harbour, originally Sydney Harbour) with an unpaid tax bill
Read Morecolloquial—USA, 1949—a female employee who works at a supermarket checkout counter—is also occasionally applied to males
Read Morea person who struggles for a livelihood, and who displays great determination in so doing—Australia, 1974—originally applied to the Australian television host, radio presenter and singer Ernie Sigley
Read MoreAustralia, 1879—the noun ‘pannikin’ has been used figuratively in the sense of ‘the head’ in the dated slang phrase ‘off one’s pannikin’, meaning: ‘off one’s head’, ‘out of one’s wits’, ‘crazy’
Read Moreto attack or punish someone with great vigour; to reprimand someone severely—USA, 1862; New Zealand, 1863
Read MoreAustralia, 1946—an imaginary nerve that reacts whenever demands are made on one’s money, especially in the context of government proposals to increase taxes—first used, if not coined, by Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945-49)
Read MoreUSA, late 19th century—to give up, to retire, also, occasionally, to die—from the image of a billiard-player putting the cue back in the rack when the game is over
Read MoreAustralia, 1938—an indignant response to someone who is taking the speaker for a fool—alludes to the condescending way in which townspeople treated people from the country during bush week (i.e., a festival held in a town or city, celebrating bush produce, activities, etc.)
Read Morethe targeting of a potentially controversial message to specific voters while avoiding offending those voters with whom the message will not be popular—Canada, 1995—the image is that, like the sound made by a dog whistle, the message is only fully audible to those at whom it is directly aimed
Read Morehumorous variant of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’—Australia, 1872—used in particular of the opposition between flesh-eating and fish-eating in relation to the religious observance of fasting
Read More