‘old boiler’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1950—UK, 1962—derogatory and offensive: a middle-aged or elderly woman, especially one who is unattractive or unfeminine—refers to ‘boiler’, i.e., a tough old chicken for cooking by boiling
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‘brimstone and treacle’: meaning and origin
Britain, 1746—refers to old-fashioned medicinal remedies—notably used by Charles Dickens in ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’ (1838-39)
Read More‘the lady’s not for turning’: meaning and origin
UK, 1980—is used by, or of, a woman who asserts her determination to do what she has decided to do—from Margaret Thatcher’s speech delivered on 10 October 1980 at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton
Read More‘parkour’: meaning and origin
the discipline of moving rapidly and freely over or around the obstacles presented by an urban environment by running, jumping, climbing, etc.—French—altered spelling of the noun ‘parcours’ in ‘parcours d’obstacles’ (i.e., ‘obstacle course’)
Read More‘elementary, my dear Watson’: meaning and early occurrences
the solution to a problem is very straightforward and easy—UK, 1901—supposedly said by Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson—but this phrase is not (in this form) found in any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories
Read More‘Paralympics’: meaning and origin
an international athletic competition, modelled on the Olympic Games, for disabled athletes—UK, 1953—from the prefix ‘para-‘ in ‘paraplegic’ and ‘-lympics’ in ‘Olympics’—cf. early synonym ‘Paraplegic Games’
Read More‘tarpaulin muster’: meaning and origin
the collecting of a pool of money, to be used either to provide assistance to some (other) person(s) or cause, or to buy drinks for the contributors—USA, 1863—nautical origin: such funds were originally collected by having the ship’s crew drop their money onto a tarpaulin
Read More‘you can’t polish a turd’: meaning and origin
you cannot improve something which is inherently or unalterably unpleasant, or of poor quality—USA, 1977—originally in reference to rock music
Read More‘skateboarding duck’: meaning and origin
UK—a trifling, whimsical news item, especially one that is used as a light-note ending to a television or radio news broadcast—from a short film about a pet duck, first broadcast on the BBC on 24 May 1978
Read More‘without fear or favour’: meaning and origin
without pressure from, or partiality to, any person or other external influence—1638, as a translation of French ‘sans crainte et sans respect’ (‘without fear and without respect’)
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