history of the phrase ‘(but) some — are more equal than others’
USA—from 1848 onwards in contrast to ‘all men are equal’—now often alludes to ‘but some animals are more equal than others’ in Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945)
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the phrase ‘to move the goalposts’—as used in Britain
1924—to unfairly alter the terms of a procedure during its course—also (humorous): the only way for an unsuccessful soccer team to score a goal
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘no joy in Mudville’
USA, 1895—a sense of pervasive and shared disappointment—alludes to the defeat of the baseball team of Mudville, a fictional town in E. L. Thayer’s 1888 poem ‘Casey at the Bat’
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘a sheep in sheep’s clothing’
USA, 1884—a person whose lack of courage is as real as it appears to be—jocular variant of ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’—often misattributed to Winston Churchill
Read Moremeanings and origin of the term ‘Philadelphia lawyer’
USA, 1788—an able, clever lawyer; now often one who is unscrupulous in the manipulation of the law—from Philadelphia lawyers’ reputation since the colonial period
Read Morenotes on ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under Stalin, as characterised by Winston Churchill in a speech broadcast on the radio on 1st October 1939
Read Moremeaning and origin of the term ‘éminence grise’
UK, 1877—a person who wields unofficial power and influence—originally applied to Père Joseph (François Leclerc du Tremblay), French friar, confidential agent of Cardinal Richelieu
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Comstockism’ and ‘Comstockery’
USA—‘Comstockism’ 1878, ‘Comstockery’ 1889—strict censorship of materials considered obscene—after anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock (1844-1915)
Read Moreorigin and sense development of the verb ‘shanghai’
USA—1853 to kidnap for service aboard ship—seems to have originated in San Francisco—refers to Shanghai in China, the ships in question going to eastern Asia
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘sentence first (and) verdict afterwards’
UK, 1869—used to denounce arbitrariness—alludes to a demand by the Queen of Hearts during the trial of the Knave of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
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word histories 