“ad fontes!”
UK, late 1980s—the adverb ‘o’clock’ is colloquially and humorously used with adjectives to denote an unreasonably, excessively or inconveniently early or late hour—as in ‘stupid o’clock’, ‘silly o’clock’, etc.
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USA, 2001—a glamorous grandmother, especially one who is relatively young or fashion-conscious—a blend of the nouns ‘glamour’ and ‘grandma’
Read MoreUSA, early 1930s—adjectives—‘little-girl-lost’: resembling (that of) a small girl who has lost her way—‘little-boy-lost’: resembling (that of) a small boy who has lost his way
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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 Morea Latin-American television soap opera—from American-Spanish ‘tele-’ (in ‘televisión’) and ‘novela’ (‘a novel’)—1959 in American Spanish, 1961 in American English
Read MoreUK, 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 Morea person’s mouth—U.S. slang, 1983
Read MoreU.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 MoreUSA, 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 MoreAustralia, 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
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word histories 