“ad fontes!”
1755: a musical performance in which each participant plays or sings a different tune—1759: a confused or discordant medley—one of several phrases in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
Read More1851—to depart unnoticed or without permission—one of several phrases in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
Read More1973: a woman who works as a hired killer—hence, 1975: a woman who carries out a particular task effectively and ruthlessly—coined after ‘hitman’
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USA, 1942—has often been attributed to the Irish author George Bernard Shaw—has occasionally been applied to the relations between Australia and the USA
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UK, 1916—a scrawny girl or woman—may have originated in the title of a successful song (and in the name of an equally popular character) created in 1911 by the comedienne Lily Long
Read MoreUK, 1871—a paper bag, balloon, etc., filled with flour and thrown or dropped such that it bursts and disperses its contents over the target on impact, usually as a prank or as part of a protest or public demonstration
Read Moreimpressively or shockingly big—a blend of ‘gigantic’ and ‘enormous’—apparently coined by Welsh novelist Berta Ruck in Wedding March (1938)
Read Morea picture conveys far more than words—USA, 1877, as ‘a picture tells more than printed words’—from 1866 to 1876 the notion had been used with specific reference to pictures by the cartoonist Thomas Nast
Read Moreto urinate—slang—2nd half of the 20th century—based on the sound /eɪn/, common to the verb, adjective and noun that compose it—‘main vein’ probably refers to the penis
Read MoreUK, 1917—‘what an idiot!’—a borrowing from French
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word histories 