origin of ‘to buttonhole’ (to detain in conversation)
19th cent.—‘button-hold’ was probably mistaken in spoken language for a past form, hence the coinage of ‘buttonhole’ in order to match the original error
Read MoreCategory: United Kingdom & Ireland
the origin of ‘spud’ (potato)
The noun ‘spud’, originally the name for the digging implement used to dig up potatoes, was applied to the latter in the 19th century.
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘eager beaver’
1942—In US Air Force’s slang, ‘eager beaver’ denoted an alert and efficient student cadet, with allusion to the animal’s industriousness.
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘Mummerset’
UK, 1915—humorous blend of the common noun ‘mummer’ and of the name ‘Somerset’—denotes a pseudo-rustic dialect used by actors and an imaginary rustic county.
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to pull one’s socks up’
probably British English, 1880s—to make an effort to improve or reform, ‘to pull oneself together’—based on the image of sprucing oneself up
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to come the old soldier over someone’
British, 1810—to use one’s greater age or experience to deceive someone or to shirk a duty—from ‘old soldier’ meaning ‘a person much experienced in something’
Read Moremeanings of ‘up in Annie’s room’
late 1910s: an answer to an enquiry as to the whereabouts of someone who cannot be found—1930s: the space at the top of the dartboard where scores are doubled
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘an albatross around one’s neck’
In allusion to The Tale of the Ancyent Marinere (1798), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: the albatross killed by the mariner is hung around his neck as punishment.
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘on the side of the angels’
‘on the righteous side’—originally used in 1864 by Benjamin Disraeli to contrast the theory of evolution with the theory of the divine creation of humankind
Read Moreorigin of the word ‘skinflint’
attested 1699—from the hyperbolical phrase ‘to skin a flint’ (1656)—cf. ‘to skin a flea for its hide and tallow’ and French ‘tondre un œuf’ (‘to shave an egg’)
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word histories 