notes on various acceptations of the term ‘rat pack’
USA—derogatory appellation for a group of persons—1950 Los Angeles’s gangs of hoodlums—1955 self-designation of a group of Hollywood celebrities
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history of the phrase ‘(but) some — are more equal than others’
USA—from 1848 onwards in contrast to ‘all men are equal’—now often alludes to ‘but some animals are more equal than others’ in Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘yellow brick road’
USA, 1939—road to success or happiness—from the road paved with yellow brick in Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
Read MoreThe term ‘empty suit’ originated in Broadway slang.
1950, Broadway slang, pejorative—a wealthy man who, in return for their company, lavished money on showbusiness people and those mixing with them
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘come up and see me sometime’
USA, 1933—a famous invitation to sexual dalliance—alteration of ‘come up sometime and see me’, uttered by Mae West in the 1933 film ‘She Done Him Wrong’
Read Moremeaning and history of the term ‘man flu’
1999—a cold as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms—popularised by British magazine Nuts in 2006
Read Moremeaning and origin of the adjective ‘Capraesque’
UK, 1939—characteristic of, or similar in spirit to, the films of the Italian-born American film director Frank Capra (1897-1991)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British term ‘(Colonel) Blimp’
1934—pompous, reactionary type of person—from the cartoon character (a pompous retired British army officer voicing a hatred of new ideas) created by David Low
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘not in Kansas anymore’
USA, 1971—in dramatically changed circumstances—said by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) when realising she has been transported from Kansas to the land of Oz
Read Moremeaning and origin of the common noun ‘Debbie Downer’
USA 2005—a pessimistic or negative person—popularised, if not introduced, by the character of Debbie Downer in the U.S. television variety series Saturday Night Live
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word histories 