the British phrase ‘bless my—or another’s—cotton socks’
1930 ‘bless my cotton socks’: exclamation of surprise, consternation, etc.—1935 ‘bless another’s cotton socks’: expresses affection, benevolence or gratitude
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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘to come to Hecuba’
to come to the point—in Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, the title role urges an actor to go straight to Hecuba’s reaction to her husband’s killing
Read More‘Charlie’s dead’ (your petticoat is showing)
UK, 1950s—used among schoolgirls when one’s petticoat was showing (origin unknown)—synonyms: ‘it’s snowing again’, ‘you’re showing next week’s washing’
Read Morethe cultural background to the plebeian ‘trunkmaker’
UK, 18th and 19th centuries—‘trunkmaker’ was often employed with allusion to the use of the sheets of unsaleable books for trunk-linings
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘jam and Jerusalem’
UK, 20th century—the Women’s Institutes—‘jam’, from jam-making as a typical activity practised by members—‘Jerusalem’, the hymn that members sing at meetings
Read Morethe Australian phrase ‘to kill a brown dog’: meanings, origin
1950—used of a substance causing death or illness, and by extension of something powerful or disastrous—refers to red kelpie sheep dogs, who can ingest anything
Read Moremeanings of the British phrase ‘vicarage tea-party’
20th century—denotes something mild, innocuous or uneventful—but those notions have been associated with vicarage tea-parties since the 19th century
Read More‘wallflower’ | ‘faire tapisserie’: on the fringes of a dance
UK 1801 ‘wallflower’—France 1806 ‘faire tapisserie’ (= ‘to do tapestry’)—in both cases because the person keeps their seat at the side of a room during dancing
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘like a bride’s nightie’
Australia, 1969—used to denote a fast-moving person or situation—alludes to the quickness with which a bride’s nightdress comes off on the wedding night
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘not Pygmalion likely’
euphemistic jocular variant of ‘not bloody likely’—UK, 1914—from the sensation caused by the use of the expletive ‘bloody’ in George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’
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