meaning and origin of the Northern-Irish term ‘Tartan gang’
1971—any of the Protestant street gangs of young men in Northern Ireland—from their traditional support of Glasgow Rangers Football Club
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origin of ‘armed to the teeth’: French ‘armé jusqu’aux dents’
1735, as ‘armed up to the very teeth’ in a translation of Alain-René Lesage’s Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘like turkeys voting for Christmas’
(of an action or decision) hopelessly self-defeating—UK, 1979, with reference to the Scottish National Party’s decision to vote with the Tories
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘the law of the Medes and Persians’
England, 1627—something which cannot be altered—refers to the unalterableness of the law of the Medes and Persians in the Book of Daniel, 6
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘alarums and excursions’
confused activity and uproar—alludes to the frequent collocation of ‘alarum’ and ‘excursion’ in stage directions in Shakespearean drama
Read Moreorigin of ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get(s) going’
USA, 1953—originally a motto adopted by football coaches—has often been used humorously with variation of the main clause
Read Morethe emergence of the political term ‘whataboutism’ in 1978
The Guardian, UK, 23 May 1978—used by one Lionel Bloch to designate—and denounce—the rhetoric employed by the advocates of the communist regimes
Read Morethe coinage of an Irish political term: ‘whataboutery’
1974—coined by the Irish journalist John Healy with reference to the Troubles in Northern Ireland
Read Moreorigin and sense development of Anglo-Irish ‘bejesus’
1825, Anglo-Irish alteration of ‘by Jesus’—1867 as one word—‘the bejesus out of’ (1931) intensifies the action conveyed by the preceding verb
Read Moreorigin of ‘beard the lion in his den’ (confront someone on their own ground)
Scotland, 1749—from the idea of daring to grab a lion’s “beard” and figurative uses of ‘beard’: (verb) ‘confront’ – (noun) ‘face’
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