‘brimstone and treacle’: meaning and origin
Britain, 1746—refers to old-fashioned medicinal remedies—notably used by Charles Dickens in ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’ (1838-39)
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‘grey death’: meaning and origin
Australian slang, 1960s—the unpalatable and unnutritious evening stew that used to be served to prison inmates—by extension: any unpalatable item of food
Read More‘the lady’s not for turning’: meaning and origin
UK, 1980—is used by, or of, a woman who asserts her determination to do what she has decided to do—from Margaret Thatcher’s speech delivered on 10 October 1980 at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton
Read More‘elementary, my dear Watson’: meaning and early occurrences
the solution to a problem is very straightforward and easy—UK, 1901—supposedly said by Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson—but this phrase is not (in this form) found in any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories
Read More‘Paralympics’: meaning and origin
an international athletic competition, modelled on the Olympic Games, for disabled athletes—UK, 1953—from the prefix ‘para-‘ in ‘paraplegic’ and ‘-lympics’ in ‘Olympics’—cf. early synonym ‘Paraplegic Games’
Read More‘monkey see, monkey do’: meaning and origin
is used to comment contemptuously on an instance of unthinking imitation, or of learning or performing by rote—USA, 1889—apparently first used by Californian retailers
Read More‘on the wrong tram’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1929—mistaken, astray, following the wrong tactics
Read More‘tarpaulin muster’: meaning and origin
the collecting of a pool of money, to be used either to provide assistance to some (other) person(s) or cause, or to buy drinks for the contributors—USA, 1863—nautical origin: such funds were originally collected by having the ship’s crew drop their money onto a tarpaulin
Read More‘to do a perish(er)’: meaning and origin
to reach, or to be in, a state of extreme privation; to suffer hardship; to die, especially of thirst—New Zealand (miners, 1871) & Australia (1881)
Read More‘without fear or favour’: meaning and origin
without pressure from, or partiality to, any person or other external influence—1638, as a translation of French ‘sans crainte et sans respect’ (‘without fear and without respect’)
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