‘it’s baloney, no matter how thin you slice it’
USA, 1926—meaning: it’s utter nonsense, no matter how hard you try to prove the opposite—from ‘bologna’: a large smoked sausage made of seasoned mixed meats
Read MoreCategory: etymology
notes on the phrase ‘don’t hurry, Hopkins!’
addressed to slow persons—1858—said to be from a promissory note in which a Kentuckian named Hopkins wrote it was agreed he was not to be hurried into paying
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to follow the man from Cook’s’
UK, 1899—to comply with someone else’s option—title of a song from musical comedy ‘A Runaway Girl’ (1898) with reference to travel agency Thomas Cook and Son
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Maggie’s drawers’
U.S. Army slang 1936—a red flag waved to indicate a complete miss on a target range—probably from bawdy song ‘Those Little Red Drawers That My Maggie Wore’
Read Morea U.S. Girl Scout word: ‘s’more’
1928—dessert consisting of toasted marshmallows and chocolate between graham crackers—represents a rapid pronunciation of synonymous ‘some more’ (1925)
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘that’s the way the mop flops’
that’s the way the situation is, and it must be accepted, however undesirable—1955, US teenagers’ slang—partially based on identical sounds in ‘mop’ and ‘flop’
Read Morehistory of ‘that’s the stuff to give ’em/to give the troops’
First World War military slang—extended forms of ‘that’s the stuff’—used in approval of what has just been done or said, or to mean ‘that is what is needed’
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire’
‘upstairs to bed’—UK, 1923: title of a song by Nixon Grey—‘Bedfordshire’ jocular extension of ‘bed’ (1665)—‘the wooden hill’ metaphor for ‘the stairs’ (1856)
Read Morehistory of ‘come up and see my etchings’
USA, early 20th century—used as an invitation to sexual dalliance—in 1937, William Hays’s censorship office apparently banned it in cinema films
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘booked any good Reds lately?’
USA, 1941—jocular alteration of the conversational gambit ‘read any good books lately?’ with reference to the investigations into alleged Communist activity
Read More
word histories 