‘(as) independent as a hog on ice’: meaning and origin
(humorous and frequently ironic) determinedly or stubbornly independent—USA, 1841—apparently refers to the extreme helplessness of a hog (i.e., a pig) on the ice
Read MoreCategory: religion
‘holier-than-thou’: meaning and origin
self-righteously or sanctimoniously virtuous, or professing to be so—UK, 1834—alludes to the Book of Isaiah, 65:5: “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.”
Read More‘ember months’: meaning and origin
the final four months of the calendar year, i.e., September, October, November and December—UK, 1863—from ‘-ember’ in ‘September’, ‘November’ and ‘December’
Read More‘autumn-spring’: meanings and origin
a period of warm, springlike weather occurring in the autumn—hence, figuratively, a late period of youthfulness—first used from 1639 onwards by the Anglican clergyman and historian Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)
Read Morenotes on ‘no joy without alloy’
also ‘no joy without annoy’—meaning: there is a trace of trouble or difficulty in every pleasure—was already a common proverb in the late sixteenth century
Read More‘(just) a pretty face’: original meaning and early occurrences
a woman who had no qualities other than attractiveness, with connotations of low intelligence, or of flightiness, or of low social status and poverty—second half of the 19th century, chiefly in stories by women writers
Read More‘poacher turned gamekeeper’: meaning and origin
a person who now preserves the interests that he or she previously attacked—UK, 19th century—but the notion occurred in Chaucer’s Physician’s Tale and ‘the greatest deer-stealers make the best park-keepers’ in The Church-History of Britain (1655)
Read More‘sunlit uplands’ (as applied to post-Brexit Britain)
The phrase ‘sunlit uplands’ denotes an idealised or longed-for future time of happiness, prosperity, good fortune, etc. Popularised by Winston Churchill in 1940, this phrase has been associated with the bright future that Brexit was supposed to usher in.
Read More‘to study the history of the four kings’ (to play cards)
from ‘the history of the four kings’, punning on ‘the four kings’ (the four playing cards in a pack, each bearing a representation of a king) and ‘the Book of Kings’ (the name of two, formerly four, books of the Old Testament)
Read More‘to slave over a hot stove’: meaning and origin
to toil long and hard in cooking—USA, 1843—originally used in relation to women’s subjection to men
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