‘itchy feet’, ‘itching palm’: restless desires
As qualifiers of nouns denoting bodily organs, ‘itchy’ and ‘itching’ denote a restless desire—‘itchy feet’, US, 1900s—‘itching palm’, Shakespeare, circa 1599
Read MoreCategory: United Kingdom & Ireland
the emergence of ‘boycott’ in The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, in 1880
from the name of Captain Charles C. Boycott, land agent in Ireland, who was ostracised for refusing to reduce rents during the Land League agitation in 1880
Read Moreorigin of ‘to break the ice’
from the image of breaking the frozen surface of a river in order to make a passage for boats – probably from Latin ‘scindere glaciem’, in Erasmus’s Adages
Read Moresome British uses of ‘the enemy within’
a threat within a community, nation, etc., as distinct from an external enemy—infamously used of British miners’ leaders by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Vicar of Bray’
one who changes their principles to suit the circumstances—from a vicar who was twice a Catholic and twice a Protestant from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I’s reigns
Read MoreA French kiss was originally a kiss on both cheeks.
‘French kiss’—19th century: a kiss on both cheeks—early 20th century (USA): a kiss with contact between tongues
Read Moremeaning and early instances of ‘small potatoes’
USA, early 19th century—‘small potatoes’: person or thing considered petty, unimportant, insignificant or worthless
Read Morethe various meanings and origins of ‘Franglais’
Since WWI, ‘Franglais’ has been coined to denote: French spoken by an Anglophone, English spoken by a Francophone and French speech using English words.
Read Moreorigin of ‘Froggy’ (French)
mid-19th cent.—perhaps from a specific application of the general term of abuse ‘Frog’, aided by the shared initial consonant cluster in ‘French’ and ‘frog’
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘small beer’
‘small beer’: ‘person(s) or matter(s) of little or no importance’ (first use by Shakespeare), from the literal sense ‘beer of a weak, poor or inferior quality’
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