origin and early instances of ‘honky-tonk’ (cheap entertainment venue)
USA—probably a reduplication based on ‘honk’—appeared in Texas as the name of a theatre (1889) and of a variety show (1890)
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meaning and early instances of ‘to wake up and smell the coffee’
USA, 1927—to face up to the realities of an unpleasant situation—popularised by American advice columnist Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Lederer – 1918-2002)
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘nothing to write home about’
USA, 1905—unremarkable or mediocre—based on the image of something that is worth writing to one’s friends or family at home about
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘you ain’t seen/heard nothing yet’
USA—‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’, 1897—‘you ain’t heard nothing yet’, first used by singer and actor Al Jolson in 1916
Read Moreorigin and meanings of ‘shotgun wedding’, or ‘shotgun marriage’
USA, 1878—an enforced wedding—from the fact that, on occasions, men were actually coerced at gunpoint into marriage
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to grasp the nettle’
from the idea that it takes some pluck to put to the test the belief that a nettle stings less painfully when seized tightly than when touched lightly
Read Morethe birth of some 19th-century advertising catchphrases
the origin of some famous catchphrases used in 19th-century advertising campaigns
Read Moreorigin of the catchphrase ‘Alas! my poor brother’
from an advertisement for the concentrated beef extract Bovril, showing a bullock lamenting over a jar of the product
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘(and) the best of British luck’
UK, 1957—an expression of encouragement, but often used ironically with the opposite meaning—origin unclear
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘Benjamin’s portion’
UK, 1753—the largest share—alludes to Genesis, 43:34, where Benjamin receives the largest portion of food from his brother Joseph
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