‘to get one’s act together’: meanings and origin
USA, 1900: to get a stage act ready—Canada, 1961: to organise oneself to undertake or achieve something—from ‘to get together’ (i.e., to organise, put in order, harmonise)
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‘to shoot a traffic-light’: early British uses
also ‘to shoot the red light’, ‘to shoot the amber’, etc.—to drive past a traffic-light when it indicates that one should stop—UK, 1934, as ‘to shoot the lights’
Read More‘to shoot a traffic-light’: early American uses
also ‘to shoot the red light’, ‘to shoot the amber’, etc.—to drive past a traffic-light when it indicates that one should stop—USA, 1926, as ‘to shoot the yellow’
Read More‘like a rat up a drainpipe’: meanings and origin
very quickly; also, very energetically—Australia, 1881, as ‘like a rat up a pump’
Read More‘Jeevesian’: meaning and origin
of, or relating to, or characteristic of, or resembling, Jeeves—UK, 1934—refers to Jeeves, the perfect valet in stories by P. G. Wodehouse
Read More‘Jeeves-like’: meaning and origin
Canada, 1928—resembling Jeeves, the perfect valet in stories by the English author Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975); this fictional character first appeared in 1915
Read More‘milk monitor’: meaning and origin
a schoolchild responsible for distributing servings of milk to other children—USA, 1922—UK, 1935
Read More‘a frog in one’s throat’: meaning and origin
USA, 1808—an irritation in the throat suggestive of an obstruction, producing a temporary croakiness or hoarseness—occasionally associated with the French, probably because ‘frog’ is derogatorily applied to them
Read More‘that’s rich, coming from —’: meaning and origin
UK, 1836—that’s a surprisingly unfair criticism, considering that the person who has just made it has the same fault—here, ‘rich’ means ‘preposterous’, ‘outrageous’
Read More‘a hard act to follow’: meaning and origin
an impressive person or thing, viewed as being difficult to rival or surpass—USA, 1912, in reference to the difficulty faced by an entertainer coming on stage immediately after a popular or successful act
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