‘to get one’s panties in a bunch’: meaning and origin
also ‘in a wad’, ‘in a knot’, etc.—to become unduly agitated or angry—the plural noun ‘panties’ refers to short underpants worn by women or girls—American English, 1975
Read MoreCategory: media
‘telenovela’: meaning and origin
a Latin-American television soap opera—from American-Spanish ‘tele-’ (in ‘televisión’) and ‘novela’ (‘a novel’)—1959 in American Spanish, 1961 in American English
Read More‘cackle-cutting’: meaning and origin
UK, 1904—refers to the action of making someone stop chattering—from the colloquial imperative phrase ‘cut the cackle (and come to the horses)’, meaning: stop talking (and get to the heart of the matter)
Read More‘piehole’: meaning and origin
a person’s mouth—U.S. slang, 1983
Read More‘perp walk’: meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 1986—a march into or out of a police car, courthouse, etc., that a person in police custody is made to perform for the benefit of the news media—‘perp’: shortening of ‘perpetrator’
Read More‘infotainment’: early meaning and origin
USA, 1937—informative material presented in an entertaining way at working-meetings (and later at other types of gatherings) organised by Shell Oil Company—a blend of ‘information’ and ‘entertainment’
Read More‘shipping forecast’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1890: an analysis of the state of the weather at sea—UK, 1926: the BBC-radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles
Read More‘Mrs Mop’: meaning and origin
a charwoman, a cleaning lady—UK, 1940—popularised in 1942 by the charwoman’s name in the BBC radio comedy series ‘It’s That Man Again’
Read More‘Mrs Dale-ish’: meaning and origin
conventionally middle-class—UK, 1953—from ‘Mrs Dale’, the name of a conventional middle-class woman in Mrs Dale’s Diary, a BBC radio serial broadcast from 1948 to 1969
Read More‘grumpy-drawers’: meaning and origin
a bad-tempered, sullen person—UK, 1981—here, the noun ‘drawers’ means ‘underpants’
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