meaning and origin of the phrase ‘the silly season’
coined in The Saturday Review (London, 13 July 1861) about the shortage of important news in autumn in The Times of London
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the acronym ‘EGOT’, or a tale of egotism
USA, 1984—the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards viewed as a single achievement—coined by U.S. actor and musician Philip Michael Thomas
Read Morethe birth of some 19th-century advertising catchphrases
the origin of some famous catchphrases used in 19th-century advertising campaigns
Read Moreorigin of the catchphrase ‘Alas! my poor brother’
from an advertisement for the concentrated beef extract Bovril, showing a bullock lamenting over a jar of the product
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘(and) the best of British luck’
UK, 1957—an expression of encouragement, but often used ironically with the opposite meaning—origin unclear
Read Moreorigin of ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get(s) going’
USA, 1953—originally a motto adopted by football coaches—has often been used humorously with variation of the main clause
Read Moreearly meanings of the portmanteau ‘screenager’
USA—blend of ‘screen’ and ‘teenager’—(1957) teenagers reacting to a movie—(1985) teenagers as represented by TV and cinema
Read Morenotes on the origin of ‘easy-peasy (lemon squeezy)’
Contrary to what is claimed, ‘easy-peasy’ doesn’t seem to be of British origin, nor to be connected with the British washing-up liquid Sqezy.
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘plain Jane’
UK, 1898, in ‘plain Jane and no nonsense’—a dull or unattractive girl or woman—‘Jane’ chosen because it is common and rhymes with ‘plain’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British-English phrase ‘64,000 question’
1956—a crucial question or issue—from The 64,000 Question, the name of a TV quiz show adapted from U.S. TV programme The $64,000 Question
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