‘not cricket’: meanings and origin
the game of cricket played in the incorrect manner or improper spirit—hence, more generally, something contrary to traditional standards of fairness or rectitude—UK, 19th century
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‘Black Hole of Calcutta’: meaning and origin
an oppressive, very confined or crowded space—UK, 1764—refers to the punishment cell at Fort William, Calcutta, in which, in 1756, the Nawab of Bengal reputedly confined British and Anglo-Indian prisoners
Read More‘to be all fingers and thumbs’: meaning and origin
also ‘to be all thumbs’—to be extremely clumsy (i.e., lacking in manual dexterity)—19th century—variants of the original phrase ‘each finger is a thumb’, already proverbial in the mid-16th century
Read More‘Brylcreem Boy’: meanings and origin
UK, 1941—a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force; also used by the military land forces of any member of the R.A.F.—originally referred to WWII advertisements for Brylcreem hair cream, featuring a fighter pilot
Read More‘blood wagon’: meaning and origin
UK—an ambulance (i.e., a vehicle designed to carry sick or injured people)—originally (Royal Air Force slang, 1921): a specially equipped airplane for carrying sick or injured people
Read More‘grass widower’: meaning and origin
a married man living apart from his wife—UK, 1822—coined after ‘grass widow’
Read More‘grass widow’: meanings and origin
a married woman living apart from her husband (18th century)—originally (16th century) an unmarried woman who has borne an illegitimate child—alludes to a bed of grass as a typical place for illicit sexual intercourse
Read More‘passion-killer’: meanings and origin
UK—anything which discourages or inhibits sexual activity—originally (1943, British military slang): the sturdy, practical and unattractive underwear issued to female service personnel
Read More‘Franken-’: meanings and origin
forms nouns with the sense ‘genetically modified ——’; also, occasionally, with the sense ‘—— relating to genetic modification’—first used in 1992 by Paul Lewis to form ‘Frankenfood’—from ‘Frankenstein’, the title character of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel
Read More‘Frankenstein food’: meanings and origin
genetically modified food—but had been used earlier by members of Weight Watchers in the sense of food one is addicted to—in reference to ‘Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus’ (1818), by Mary Shelley
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