‘fine weather for ducks’: meaning and origin
UK, 1811—refers humorously to wet weather
Read MoreCategory: United Kingdom & Ireland
‘back of an envelope’: meaning and origin
USA, 1931—indicates that something has been formulated or devised hurriedly, roughly or carelessly, as though sketched or scribbled on the back of an envelope
Read More‘mischief night’: original meaning
Yorkshire & Lancashire (northern England), first half of the 19th century—the evening of 30th April (May Eve), on which people traditionally indulged in mischievous pranks
Read Moreprecursors of French ‘féminicide’ and of English ‘femicide’
French, 1648: ‘famicide’; 1684: ‘femmicide’; 1695: ‘femmicide’—English, 1718: ‘femmicide’ (from French)—the killing of a woman or girl by a man
Read More‘back of a cigarette packet’: meaning and origin
UK, 1967—indicates that something has been formulated or devised hurriedly, roughly or carelessly, as though sketched or scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet
Read More‘nice little earner’: meaning and origin
UK, 1982—a profitable undertaking, especially one that is not strenuous or demanding—popularised by the British television series Minder (1979-1989)
Read More‘dusty answer’: meaning and origin
an unhelpful or bad-tempered reply—1862 in Modern Love, by George Meredith—this sense of ‘dusty’ is related to corresponding uses of ‘dust’, as in ‘dry as dust’
Read More‘shabby chic’: meaning and origin
someone or something that is fashionably or artfully dishevelled or dilapidated—in early use: someone or something whose dishevelment or dilapidation is unintentionally attractive or fashionable—USA, 1901
Read More‘beer-belly’: meanings and origin
1615—a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking; a person (typically a man) who has a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking
Read More‘like a duck takes to water’: meaning and origin
easily, readily—UK, 1825
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