‘over a barrel’: meaning, early instances and probable origin
USA, 1890—at someone’s mercy—probably alludes to the practice of binding a person over an overturned barrel in order to beat them
Read MoreCategory: literature
meaning and origin of the British phrase ‘a racing dog’s bollocks’
UK, 1988—used in similes to denote something that protrudes—originated in British military slang
Read Morethe history of ‘dog’s breakfast’ and ‘dog’s dinner’
UK—a confused mess—alludes to the jumbled nature of a dog’s meal—‘like a dog’s dinner’: over-elaborately or ostentatiously dressed
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Procrustean bed/Procrustean remedy’
a means of enforcing conformity—Greek mythology: Procrustes was a robber who made his victims fit a bed by either stretching them longer or cutting them shorter
Read Moremeaning and possible origin of ‘to push the boat out’
UK, 1915—to be lavish in one’s celebrations or spending—Army and Navy slang: to buy a round of drinks—’a boat’ might be metaphorical for ‘a glass’ (i.e., ‘a drink’)
Read Morethe military origin of the adjective ‘last-ditch’
UK, 1845: made as a last desperate attempt—from the 18th-century phrase ‘to die in the last ditch’, ‘ditch’ denoting a defensive entrenchment
Read Morehistory of the terms ‘man Friday’ and ‘girl Friday’
USA—‘man Friday’ 1802: alludes to the name of Robinson Crusoe’s servant in Daniel Defoe’s novel—‘girl Friday’ 1929: coined on the pattern of ‘man Friday’
Read Moreorigin of the term ‘brass monkey’ (extremely cold weather)
USA, 1838—used with reference to extreme cold, extreme heat and other notions such as ridiculousness—from jocular allusions to brass statuettes of monkeys
Read Morethe figurative use of ‘bowler (hat)’: civilian life
UK, 1925—symbol of civilian life as opposed to service in the armed forces and of demobilisation or dismissal from the army
Read Morethe long history of the phrase ‘blood, sweat, and tears’
current use seems to allude to a speech by Winston Churchill in May 1940—but the metaphor goes back to the early 17th century
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