‘to sit on one’s hands’: meanings and origin
USA, 1878 (of an audience, an assembly, etc.): to withhold, or be sparing of, applause—USA, 1883: to be inactive, to take no action
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‘to run on fumes’: meanings and origin
of a vehicle or engine: to operate with little or no fuel in the tank (USA, 1952)—hence, of a person or team, originally in sports: to function despite having little or no energy left (USA, 1959)
Read More‘very like a whale’: meaning and origin
is used of something that is very improbable—USA, 1768—alludes to Hamlet (Act 3, scene 2), by Shakespeare
Read More‘truth or dare’: meaning and origin
USA, 1927—a game in which each participant, in turn, has to either answer truthfully a question put to him or her by one of the other players, or fulfil an alternative requirement put to him or her by one of the other players
Read More‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’: meaning and origin
USA, 1962—if something is successful, effective or not obviously defective, there is no need to change or replace it
Read More‘to burn one’s bridges behind one’: meaning and origin
to commit oneself to a course from which there is no retreat—U.S. politics, 1852—from a military tactic in which an army cuts off its means of retreat by destroying the route by which it might be pursued
Read More‘to cross a bridge when one comes to it’: meaning and origin
to deal with a problem when and if it arises, but not beforehand—11th January 1849 in The Independent (New York City, New York, USA)
Read More‘café-hopping’: original meaning
USA, 1917—the practice of enjoying the nightlife of a city or town by visiting multiple bars and nightclubs
Read More‘cafeteria court’: meaning and origin
USA, 1923: a court in which a perpetrator of a minor offence may sentence themself and their fellow offenders—USA, 1925: a court in which a perpetrator of a minor offence may pay a fixed fine without having to stand trial
Read More‘twenty-four carat(s)’: meaning and origin
something or someone that is unalloyed, throughgoing, trustworthy—USA, 1848—refers to gold with the complete purity of twenty-four parts out of twenty-four
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