meaning (and origin?) of the obsolete noun ‘quoz’
UK, circa 1780—an odd or ridiculous person or thing—synonym – and apparently fanciful variant – of ‘quiz’
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meanings and origin of the phrases ‘dry/wet behind the ears’
USA, 1802 and 1851—translations from German—apparently from the idea that the area behind the ears is the last part to become dry after birth
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘weasel word’
USA, 1900—a word which takes away the meaning of the concept expressed—weasels are said to suck eggs out without breaking the shells
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘the silly season’
coined in The Saturday Review (London, 13 July 1861) about the shortage of important news in autumn in The Times of London
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘nothing to write home about’
USA, 1905—unremarkable or mediocre—based on the image of something that is worth writing to one’s friends or family at home about
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘you ain’t seen/heard nothing yet’
USA—‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’, 1897—‘you ain’t heard nothing yet’, first used by singer and actor Al Jolson in 1916
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to grasp the nettle’
from the idea that it takes some pluck to put to the test the belief that a nettle stings less painfully when seized tightly than when touched lightly
Read Moreorigin of the phrase ‘the bitch goddess’ (material success)
11 September 1906 in a letter addressed to the English novelist H. G. Wells by the American philosopher and psychologist William James
Read Moreorigin of ‘armed to the teeth’: French ‘armé jusqu’aux dents’
1735, as ‘armed up to the very teeth’ in a translation of Alain-René Lesage’s Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘alarums and excursions’
confused activity and uproar—alludes to the frequent collocation of ‘alarum’ and ‘excursion’ in stage directions in Shakespearean drama
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