‘zip-lipped’: meanings and origin
having the lips tightly closed—hence, figuratively: uncommunicative, determinedly reticent—USA, 1942—refers to the noun ‘zip’, designating a fastening device
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‘to get off one’s bike’: meaning and origin
to get excited, annoyed, angry—Australia, 1923—maybe based on the image of a person who, while riding a bicycle, gets provoked by another person: the cyclist would then dismount and respond to the provocator
Read More‘hair-triggered’: meanings and origin
literally (UK, 1803): of a firearm: equipped with a hair trigger—hence, figuratively (Ireland, 1853): reacting immediately to the slightest provocation or cause
Read More‘Strawberry Fields’: meaning and origin
LSD (i.e., lysergic acid diethylamide); also other drugs—USA, 1968—alludes to the Beatles’ song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ (1967)
Read More‘love-glove’: meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 1979—a condom—based on the phonetic similarity between the two nouns that compose it
Read More‘to get caught with one’s hand in the cookie jar’: meaning and history
to get caught doing something wrong, unauthorised or illegal—USA, 1933
Read More‘too close for comfort’: meaning and origin
dangerously or uncomfortably close or near—USA, 1827
Read More‘Kafoops’: meanings and origin
(chiefly humorous): a non-specific or hypothetical person, or a person whose name is unknown, forgotten or withheld—Australia, 1902—apparently an arbitrary formation
Read More‘free shave tomorrow’: meanings and origin
USA, 1871—is used of any incentive or reward that is perpetually promised but never actually delivered—refers to a sign displayed as an advertisement for a barber’s shop
Read More‘free beer tomorrow’: meanings and origin
USA, 1889—is used of any incentive or reward that is perpetually promised but never actually delivered—refers to a sign displayed as an advertisement for a pub
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