‘egg-dance’: meanings and origin
(UK, 1775): a dance blindfold among eggs—hence, figuratively (UK, 1856): an intricate and difficult task—also used as a verb
Read MoreCategory: literature
‘nosism’: meaning and origin
in reference to a group of people: a self-centred attitude (corresponding to ‘egotism’ in an individual)—UK, 1819—from the Latin pronoun of the first person plural ‘nōs’ and the suffix ‘‑ism’ (after ‘egotism’)
Read More‘there’s life in the old dog yet’: meaning and origin
an assertion of continuing competence, strength, etc., notwithstanding evidence to the contrary—from the title of a painting by the British artist Edwin Landseer, first exhibited in 1838
Read More‘bee’s dick’: meaning and origin
Australian slang, 1988—a very small distance or amount—perhaps intended as a humorous variant of ‘bee’s knee’, used of something small, insignificant or weak
Read More‘ugly sister(s)’: meaning and origin
UK, 1851—a person (or persons) or a thing (or things) considered unattractive, inferior or unpleasant, compared to others of the same type or group—alludes to Cinderella’s ugly and unpleasant stepsisters in the fairy tale Cinderella
Read More‘a fly on the wheel’: meaning and origin
a person who overestimates their own influence—1661—alludes to the fable of a fly sitting on the axletree of a moving chariot and saying, “See what a dust I raise”
Read More‘clever clogs’: meaning and origin
a person who behaves as if he or she knows everything—UK, colloquial, 1860—the irony of the expression lies in the fact that clogs are mere functional pedestrian objects
Read Morenotes on ‘to ghostwrite’ and on ‘ghostwriter’
UK, 1907: ‘to ghostwrite’ (to write a book, an article, etc., for another person, under whose name it is then published—USA, 1908: ‘ghostwriter’ (a person who ghostwrites)
Read More‘skin and grief’: meaning and origin
British, 1771—as an adjective: emaciated; weak and starving—as a noun: an emaciated or starving person
Read More‘green about the gills’: meaning and origin
looking or feeling ill or nauseated—1843, in a letter by Charles Dickens—when applied to a person, the plural noun ‘gills’ designates the flesh under the jaws and ears; also the cheeks
Read More
word histories 