a Briticism: ‘Gavin and Stacey’ used as an attributive modifier
2019—used to mean ‘Anglo-Welsh’—from ‘Gavin & Stacey’, a sitcom about the relationship between an Englishman and a Welsh woman
Read MoreCategory: United Kingdom & Ireland
meaning and origin of the term ‘bunny boiler’
1989—a person acting vengefully after having been spurned by their lover—from 1987 film Fatal Attraction, in which a rejected woman boils her lover’s pet rabbit
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘alive and well (and living in ——)’
‘alive and well’ (ca 1590): still existing or active—‘alive and well and living in ——’ (1834): originally referring to persons thought to have been murdered
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘all-singing, all-dancing’
UK, 1959—having every desirable feature possible—from ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ as used in the billing given to film or stage musical productions
Read Moremeaning (and origin?) of the obsolete noun ‘quoz’
UK, circa 1780—an odd or ridiculous person or thing—synonym – and apparently fanciful variant – of ‘quiz’
Read Moremeaning and evolution of ‘had one but the wheel(s) came off’
UK, 1924—used to indicate that the speaker has been inattentive or has not understood what has just been said
Read Morethe acronym ‘Wags’ and its derivative ‘Gwags’
‘WAGs’ (1987): the wives and girlfriends of the players of the Scottish football team Dundee United F.C.—‘Gwags’ (2006): golfers’ wives and girlfriends
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘the silly season’
coined in The Saturday Review (London, 13 July 1861) about the shortage of important news in autumn in The Times of London
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘all over the shop’
UK, 1862—‘in every direction’ and ‘in a disorganised or confused state’—apparently originated in sports slang
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British phrase ‘to give it some welly’
to put more effort in it—1976 with reference to putting one’s foot down on the accelerator pedal in a motor vehicle
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