“ad fontes!”
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 Moreis 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 MoreAustralia, 1929—mistaken, astray, following the wrong tactics
Read Morethe 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 Moreto 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 Morewithout 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’)
Read Morethe longest serving female member of the British House of Commons—1920—originally applied to Nancy Astor, Member of Parliament from 1919 to 1945—coined after ‘Father of the House (of Commons)’
Read MoreUK, 2001: the defeat of a high-profile Member of Parliament, indicating a significant political change—originally, UK, 1997: the announcement of Michael Portillo’s defeat, seen as emblematic of the Conservative defeat in the general election
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Australia, 1943, derogatory—a soldier who does not see active service, especially a reservist—from ‘cut lunch’, denoting a packed lunch, typically consisting of sandwiches
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USA, 1929: to force someone into a situation from which it is not easy to escape—the image is of someone who is painting a floor and ends up in a corner of the room with wet paint all around them (USA, 1913)
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word histories 