“ad fontes!”
Australia, 1953—to flatter someone or to (seek to) ingratiate oneself with someone, to curry favour with someone—cf. 19th-century British phrase ‘to piss down someone’s back’ (to flatter someone)
Read MoreAustralia, 1925—a section of Sussex Street, on the Sydney waterfront, along which, in the 1920s and 1930s, unemployed wharf-labourers trudged, waiting to be handpicked for the few available jobs
Read MoreAustralia, 1957, as ‘a hatful of bronzas’—used in similes expressing notions such as ugliness and silliness
Read MoreAustralia, 1931—extremely silly—the underlying notion is probably that anything is silly that does all the hard work
Read MoreUSA, 1820—with reference to cursive writing: to pay attention to every detail, especially when finishing off a task or undertaking; to be accurate and precise
Read Morethe celebrities of the fashionable literary and show-business world—USA, 1944—blend of ‘glitter’ ((to make) a brilliant appearance or display) and of ‘literati’ (intellectuals)
Read Moreto have something in reserve but ready for use; to have a chance or opportunity remaining—nautical, USA, 1789—‘shot’: a projectile designed for discharge from a firearm—‘locker’: the compartment for keeping ammunition on a ship
Read MoreUK, 1879—when matters become difficult or serious—of obscure origin—perhaps originally in reference to a music-hall song of that title, interpreted from 1870 onwards by Annie Adams
Read Moreearly 1930s—in an anti-climactic, disappointing way (used of something that comes to an end)—alludes to the last line of The Hollow Men (1925), by T. S. Eliot
Read MoreUSA, 1930—used either literally or of something that should not or cannot be named or mentioned—alludes to ‘The Greeks Had a Word for It’, the title of a 1930 stage play by Zoe Akins
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word histories 