“ad fontes!”
‘we aim to please’ (1817): originally chiefly used as a commercial slogan meaning ‘our customers’ satisfaction is our goal’—extended form ‘we aim to please; you aim too, please’ (1941): used in a variety of contexts
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a deliberate malapropism punning on ‘to cast aspersions on’—UK, 1902—nasturtiums are low plants with large round leaves and orange, red or yellow flowers
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UK 1934 – USA 1935—alludes to a sardonic song by Cole Porter, about the lynching of an upper-class woman after she murders her unfaithful lover
Read More1928—addressed to someone who looks glum—‘scone’ (originally Scots, early 16th century) denotes a light plain doughy cake
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USA, 1830—used in association with ‘see’, ‘said the blind man’ puns on this verb’s primary meaning (‘to perceive with the eyes’) and secondary meanings (‘to understand’, ‘to find out’, ‘to examine’)
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writing is more effective than military power or violence—UK, 1832—often erroneously ascribed to E. Bulwer-Lytton in ‘Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy’ (1839)
Read Moreaddressed to a poor horseman—means ‘get out of the public view and hide in shame’—UK, 1842
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a great commotion about a trivial matter—‘a storm in a teacup’: UK, 1775—‘une tempête dans un verre d’eau’: France, 1785
Read MoreUK, 1904—punning extension (in which ‘time’ is a verb, and ‘flies’ a noun) of the cliché ‘time flies’
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originated in magazine advertisements for the bodybuilding course created and marketed by Italian-born U.S. bodybuilder Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano – 1892-1972)
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