‘any man who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad’
used in 1939 by Leo Rosten about U.S. actor W. C. Fields—has been wrongly attributed to the latter—but first used by U.S. journalist Byron Darnton, according to an article of 1937
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an offensive phrase: ‘bingo wings’
USA, 1992—the folds of loose skin or fat which hang from the undersides of a person’s upper arms—so named because they are common in older women, who are regarded as the type of person most likely to play bingo
Read More‘six-hat and fifty-shirt’ (strong back and a weak mind)
U.S. underworld phrase, 1931—The image is of a man whose hat is only a six-incher, but who needs a fifty-inch chest measurement in shirts.
Read More‘amour fou’: meaning and origin
uncontrollable or obsessive passion—French phrase introduced in the 1960s as a theme of drama, prose narrative and cinema
Read More‘I resemble that remark’: meaning and early occurrences
a deliberate malapropism punning on ‘I resent that remark’—USA, 1940
Read Moremeaning of the phrase ‘awkward turtle’
U.S. slang, 2005—a gesture consisting in placing one hand on top of the other and wiggling the thumbs, made to reduce embarrassment
Read More‘take me to your leader’: meaning and early occurrences
the demand that an extraterrestrial makes to the first human being or animal it encounters after alighting from its flying saucer—USA, 1956—from a cliché in science-fiction stories
Read More19th-century nicknames for London newspapers
The Times: nicknamed Thunderer—the Morning Advertiser: Gin-and-Gospel Gazette, Tap-tub—The Morning Post: Jeames—The Morning Herald and The Standard: respectively Mrs Harris and Mrs Gamp
Read More‘nice but dim’: meaning and early occurrences
a person regarded as good-natured but also not ‘bright’ intellectually—UK, 1981—Australia, 1982—USA, 1986
Read More‘Torygraph’, and other newspaper nicknames
‘The Daily Telegraph’: nicknamed ‘Torygraph’ for its adherence to Conservative Party—the ‘Daily Mail’: nicknamed ‘Daily Heil’ for its support for Fascists in the 1930s
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word histories 