“ad fontes!”
people who meet for a short time, by chance, and then do not see each other again—people who, although living together, are unable to see very much of each other—coined in 1873 by the U.S. poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Read Morethe clichéd literary topos of a young woman who is in trouble and needs a man’s help—1694, in a text by Joseph Addison
Read Moregrim and ironical humour—UK, 1860, in reference to the practice of public executions—UK, 1870, as a loan translation from German ‘Galgenhumor’, in the context of the Franco-Prussian War
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UK, 1929—a small camera for taking informal photographs of persons, usually without their knowledge—earlier occurrences (UK & USA, from 1907 to 1924) are often of unclear meaning
Read MoreAustralia, 1918—to get selected for a task, to gain recognition or approval, to succeed—the image is of getting selected in a sporting team (‘guernsey’: a shirt worn by soccer or rugby players)
Read MoreUSA, 1914—origin unknown—a long rambling joke ending in a deliberate anticlimax, such as an absurd or irrelevant punchline
Read Morein the phrases ‘(as) regular as pig tracks’ (1853) and ‘(as) common as pig tracks’ (1854), the plural noun ‘pig tracks’ is an intensifier—Southern United States
Read MoreUSA, 1859—humorous—the quality or condition of being a fish—from the prefix ‘pisci-’ (of, or relating to, fish) and the suffix ‘-ity’ (after the noun ‘humanity’)
Read MoreUSA, 1943—a mattress, a pillow, pyjamas, etc., advertised as ensuring a good night’s sleep
Read MoreU.S. College slang, 1985—the effects of alcohol thought of metaphorically as a pair of goggles that alter a person’s perceptions especially by making others appear more attractive than they actually are
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word histories 