“ad fontes!”
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read Moremania for holding public office—USA, 1829—a borrowing from Spanish ‘empleomanía’, from ‘empleo’ (i.e., ‘employment’) and the suffix ‘‑manía’ (i.e., ‘-mania’)
Read More1974: a person who tries to fit into a particular cultural scene—1970: an actor who performs a minor role in a stage play—from ‘scene’ and the suffix ‘‑ster’, forming agent nouns
Read Morea menagerie of demons—UK, 1848—a blend of the nouns ‘demon’ and ‘menagerie’
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foul-smelling breath caused by smoking—USA, 1931, in advertisements for Old Golds, a U.S. brand of cigarettes
Read MoreUSA, 1969—the action or process of becoming or being made plain, ordinary, uninteresting or insipid—from the adjective ‘bland’ and the suffix ‘‑ification’, forming nouns of action
Read MoreUK, 1833: a small castle-like structure made of wet sand, as by children on a beach—UK, 1837: a plan or idea with little substance
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UK, derogatory—a male van driver, often of a white van, whose driving is selfish and aggressive—1997, in a report issued by the Freight Transport Association
Read Moreis used of waterlogged land—USA,1859—Australia, 1874—now chiefly Australian
Read MoreUK, 1793—a drink made from an egg yolk whisked into warm water, used as a remedy for colds—loan translation from French ‘lait de poule’ (1746)
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word histories 