‘housemaid’s knee’: meaning and origin
inflammation of the bursa over the kneecap (prepatellar bursa), typically induced by kneeling on hard floors—UK, from 1824 onwards in medical publications
Read MoreCategory: literature
‘California toothpick’: meaning and origin
USA, 1851—a bowie-knife—apparently coined in relation to the California Gold Rush, which began in 1848
Read Morenotes on the phrase ‘to walk Spanish’
early 19th century—chiefly U.S.—to be forced by another to walk on tiptoe—to walk cautiously—to be discharged or dismissed—to discharge or dismiss (someone)—origin unknown
Read More‘magic pudding’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
Australia, 1934—an inexhaustible supply of something, especially money—alludes to The Magic Pudding (1918), by Norman Lindsay, in which a pudding instantly renews itself as it is sliced or eaten into
Read More‘cameo’ (a minor role in a play, film): origin and early occurrences
UK, 1924, as ‘cameo part’, used of two small roles in Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar
Read More‘pig’s breakfast’: meaning and origin
New Zealand, 1917—a mess, a muddle; something unattractive or unappetising—alludes to the jumbled nature of a pig’s meal
Read More‘snow angel’: meanings and early occurrences
Canada, 1857: an angelic being imagined as being the source of a fall of snow—USA, 1893 (?): an impression in the snow resembling an angel, made by lying on one’s back and moving one’s arms and legs back and forth in an arc along the ground
Read More‘bed and breakfast’ (lodging establishment): origin and early occurrences
1937—a shortened form of expressions such as ‘bed-and-breakfast place’ (first recorded in 1881)
Read More‘dog in a blanket’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1827—a rolled jam pudding or currant dumpling—also (Sussex): a roly-poly suet pudding made with slices of bacon
Read More‘to turn in one’s grave’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1801—said of a dead person: to be likely to have reacted with horror to something if they were still alive to experience it
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