“ad fontes!”
USA—‘squillion’ (1879): an extremely large but unspecified number, quantity or amount; arbitrary and humorous alteration of ‘million’, ‘billion’, etc.—‘squillionaire’ (1895): a person who has an extremely large but unspecified amount of money
Read More
UK, 1899—derogatory—a foreigner; a personification of foreign people—‘Johnny’ is used with modifying word to designate a person of the type, group, profession, etc., specified
Read Morejocular—denotes ‘one who peels potatoes’—also used as a verb meaning ‘to peel potatoes’—1915, USA—other early occurrences, Australia
Read Moremilitary slang, 1944—a medal awarded to all members of a force—especially the 1939-1945 Star, awarded to British service personnel who took part in WWII—refers to the ubiquitousness of Spam as a foodstuff
Read More
UK, 1975—an upper-class and fashionable, but conventional, young woman in London—blend of ‘Sloane Square’, the name of a square located in an affluent area of London, and ‘Lone Ranger’, the name of a well-known hero of western stories and films
Read More
USA, 1929—UK, 1933—in the phrase ‘a spare tyre around the waistline’, and its variants, the noun ‘spare tyre’ denotes a roll of fat
Read MoreUK, 1920—an Arab man—‘Johnny’, a pet form of ‘John’, is used, with modifying word, to designate a person, especially a man, of the type, group, profession, etc., specified
Read MoreUK, 1912—humorous: a Jewish person—refers to the Crossing of the Red Sea, as recounted in the Book of Exodus—coined on various occasions by different persons, independently from each other
Read Morea standard or device for the measurement of foolishness or folly—coined by the British author Sydney Smith (1771-1845) in ‘Second Letter to Archdeacon Singleton, Being the Third of the Cathedral Letters’ (London, 1838)
Read More
USA, 1978—a young woman or teenage girl who is regarded as sexually attractive, but unintelligent or frivolous—from ‘bimbo’ and the suffix ‘-ette’
Read More
word histories 