‘protocol, alcohol and Geritol’: original meaning
USA, 1959—a summary of social life in Washington DC, especially for aged men—attributed by columnist Betty Beale to Columbia University President Grayson Kirk
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‘I would not call the Queen my aunt’: meaning and history
I am happy with my situation (so much so that even becoming royalty could not improve on it)—UK, 1843 as ‘I would not give sixpence to call the Queen my aunt’
Read More‘your policemen are wonderful’: meaning and history
1928—used of British police officers, chiefly those of London, by persons, mostly women, visiting the United Kingdom—became rapidly a cliché used jocularly
Read More‘lay on, Macduff’ | ‘lead on, Macduff’
from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’—1814 ‘lay on, Macduff’: go ahead (and give it your best try)—1855 misquotation ‘lead on, Macduff’: let’s get going, start us off
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘to spend a penny’
UK, 1945—with allusion to the former price of admission to public lavatories: to use a public convenience—by extension: to urinate
Read Morethe humorous phrase ‘late for one’s own funeral’
UK and USA, 1881—addressed or applied to one guilty of chronic and irritating unpunctuality—occasionally used literally
Read Moremeaning and early occurrences of ‘kiss my arse’
very rude way of expressing profound contempt—first recorded in The Killing of Abel, one of the 15th-century mystery plays known as the Wakefield, or Towneley, plays
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to box clever’
UK, 1935—to conduct oneself adroitly (‘clever’: adverb meaning ‘skilfully’)—originated in boxing
Read More‘damaged goods’ and venereal disease
1911—‘Damaged Goods’, translation of ‘Les Avariés’, by French dramatist Eugène Brieux, about the dangers of ignorance concerning sexually transmitted diseases
Read More‘booze cruise’ #1: a Scottish acceptation
1950—Sunday trip by car or bus, making use of the bona fide clause in licensing laws, by which non-residents got alcohol—coined by Scottish novelist George Blake
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