“ad fontes!”
inauthentic archaic language, especially as affected by authors of historical novels—UK, 1867—alludes to the fact that, in the 19th century, Wardour Street, in London, became known for its many shops specialising in imitations of antique furniture
Read Moreto have qualities other than mere attractiveness, especially intelligence—UK, 1955—paradoxically, in early use, often employed in a sexist manner
Read Morehumorous—a polite variant of the informal phrase to ‘take the mickey out of’, meaning ‘to tease or ridicule’—UK, 1956
Read Morea woman who had no qualities other than attractiveness, with connotations of low intelligence, or of flightiness, or of low social status and poverty—second half of the 19th century, chiefly in stories by women writers
Read Moretap-water likened to a grand cru—in reference to ‘château’ in names of wines of superior quality—in French ‘Château-la-Pompe’ (i.e. ‘Château-the-Pump’), ‘pompe’ denotes a device for raising water
Read Morewine, especially cheap wine of inferior quality—UK, 1973—from ‘château’ (as used in names of expensive wines of superior quality made at vineyard estates) and ‘plonk’, denoting cheap wine of inferior quality
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UK and Ireland—a dance in which one may supersede a partner—first recorded in 1923—but the expression ‘excuse-me waltz’ had occurred in 1922
Read Moreto do everything possible to achieve a result or effect—UK, 1865 (as ‘to pull out a few more stops’)—alludes to pulling out all the stops of an organ in order to produce a full and thrilling sound
Read Moreto die, or to come to grief, in violent or exceptionally unpleasant circumstances—Australia, 1897—here, the adjective ‘sticky’ means ‘unpleasant’
Read Moresomething of no value, something to which one is utterly indifferent—UK, 1785—derives from a misinterpretation of “Worth makes the Man, and Want of it the Fellow;/The rest, is all but Leather or Prunella.” in An Essay on Man (1734), by Alexander Pope
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