“ad fontes!”
UK—‘a legend in your lifetime’ (1913): allegedly said by Benjamin Jowett to Florence Nightingale—‘a legend in his own lunchtime’ (1969): first recorded in a theatrical review by John Cunningham
Read Morea Latin-American country that is politically unstable because its economy, controlled by U.S. capital, wholly depends on the export of bananas
Read More
UK, 1852—of a person or thing: irretrievably defunct or out of date—with reference to the extinct bird of Mauritius
Read MoreUK, 1820—to show willingness to enter into a contest or take up a challenge, especially in business or politics—originally (1804) used in boxing with reference to the custom of throwing a hat into the ring to signal willingness to enter a contest
Read More
‘in this day and age’ (‘at the present time’)—USA, 1832—tautology, that is to say, ‘day’ and ‘age’ are synonymous, ‘day’ meaning ‘a period of time’
Read Morecoined as ‘tired and overwrought’ in ‘Private Eye’ (London) of 29 September 1967 about British Labour politician George Brown (1914-85)
Read More
based on the notion of execution by beheading—popularised by a literal threat of executions made on 25th September 1930 by Adolf Hitler
Read MoreUSA—‘hatchet man’ (1874): a hired Chinese assassin using a hatchet or cleaver—‘hatchet work’ (1895): a murder carried out by a hatchet man
Read Moreattested in the Later Version (1395) of the Wycliffe Bible—‘ghost’ means ‘the soul or spirit, as the principle of life’
Read Morefrom Old French and Anglo-Norman ‘aveir de peis’, ‘goods of weight’, as distinguished from the goods sold by measure or number
Read More
word histories 