‘a horse’s head in one’s bed’: meaning and origin
USA, 1972—a chilling warning given to somebody—from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), in which the severed head of a horse is left as a warning in a film producer’s bed
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‘how can you sleep at night?’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1806—‘to be able to sleep at night’: to be untroubled by the moral consequences of one’s actions, or by the risks and responsibilities of one’s situation
Read More‘éclair’ (cake): early occurrences and notes on its origin
French, 1848; English, 1861—a small, oblong cake made of choux pastry, filled with cream, and typically topped with chocolate icing—literally ‘lightning’—origin unknown
Read MoreHow French borrowed ‘sentimental’ from English
French, 1769, in Voyage sentimental, a translation by Joseph-Pierre Frenais of A Sentimental Journey (1768) by Laurence Sterne
Read More‘pas ce soir, Josephine’ : meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1935—jocular—is used by a man to defer his sexual duties to a wife or lover; is also applied to any postponement—translation of the earlier phrase ‘not tonight, Josephine’
Read More‘to pee on a stick’: meanings and origin
USA & UK, 1995—to take a pregnancy test of a type involving urinating on a disposable plastic stick which immediately indicates the result—also, more generally: to take any of various other diagnostic tests of this type
Read More‘Rasputin’: meaning and origin
a person exercising an insidious or corrupting influence, especially over a ruler, government, etc.—UK, 1917—refers to Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (circa 1869-1916), mystic and influential favourite at the court of Tsar Nicholas II
Read More‘omniverbivorous’: meaning and origin
having a large or inexhaustible appetite for words—USA, 1858—coined by the U.S. physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
Read More‘clogdogdo’: meaning and origin
a term of abuse or disparagement, especially for a man’s wife or female relative—1616 in Epicœne, or The Silent Woman, by Ben Jonson—perhaps in reference to an encumbrance, like a clog (i.e., a heavy piece of wood) tied to a dog
Read More‘chatmate’: meaning and origin
1599—a person with whom one chats, a partner in informal or friendly conversation—now, more specifically: a person with whom one communicates via online chat or messaging
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