“ad fontes!”
UK, 1774—just printed, newly published; hence: novel, exciting, sensational—since the 16th century, ‘hot’ has been used to mean: (of news or information): arriving soon after the event; hence: novel, exciting, sensational
Read Moredo not to discard winter clothes too soon—Britain, 1668—‘clout’: any piece of clothing—the original reference is to the end of the month of May and not to the appearance of spring blossom
Read MoreUK, 1802—to go without food, or have a meagre meal, in order to save money—perhaps from the verb ‘box’, meaning: to strike with the fist, and from the male forename ‘Harry’, designating the Devil
Read Morethe smaller, perceptible part of something which is evidently much larger—USA, 1912—refers to the fact that floating ice has about 88 per cent of its mass submerged—does not seem to refer to the sinking of the Titanic
Read MoreUK, 1935—a humorous self-contradictory phrase which includes the clichéd phrase ‘to avoid like the plague’ in order to express the necessity of avoiding clichés—as a piece of advice for writers, has itself become a cliché
Read MoreUSA 1920: ‘to have the brains of a goldfish’ (to have limited intelligence)—USA, 1958: ‘to have the memory of a goldfish’ (to be unable to retain information or memories for any significant length of time)
Read MoreBritain, 1747: dew of the kind that settles on mountains—Scotland, 1816: whisky or other spirit, especially when home-made or illicit (originally in reference to whisky distilled in the Highlands, i.e., in the mountainous region of Scotland)
Read MoreUSA, early 1930s—adjectives—‘little-girl-lost’: resembling (that of) a small girl who has lost her way—‘little-boy-lost’: resembling (that of) a small boy who has lost his way
Read MoreBritain, 1782—to evoke or recreate a previous time, state or condition; to make it seem as if no time has passed
Read Moreone who sews up wounds, i.e., a surgeon—also, in later use, a plastic surgeon—first recorded in ’Tis Pitty Shee’s a Whore (1633), by the English playwright John Ford
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word histories 