meaning and origin of ‘not to know (something) from Shinola’
USA, 1946—to be completely unaware or innocent—from ‘Shinola’, the trade name of an American brand of shoe polish
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‘to count sheep’ – French ‘compter les moutons’
‘to count sheep’ (French ‘compter les moutons’): to count imaginary sheep jumping over an obstacle one by one, as a way of sending oneself to sleep
Read Moreorigin of the phrase ‘three sheets in the wind’ (drunk)
comparison between a drunken person and a ship careering because the sheets (ropes controlling the sets of the sails) are hanging freely
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘things that go bump in the night’
UK, 1912—from the prayer “From Ghoulies and Ghoosties, long-leggety Beasties, and Things that go Bump in the Night, Good Lord, deliver us!”
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan’
USA, 1960s—extreme right-wing views associated with the supposedly barbaric and tyrannical rule of Genghis Khan—the name Attila is also used
Read Morethe American-English origin of the phrase ‘like greased lightning’
denotes extreme quickness of movement—the use of ‘greased’ likens lightning to a machine that a mechanic has lubricated in order to minimise the friction and make it run easily
Read More‘life in the fast lane’ and ‘Hotel California’, by the Eagles
Of American-English origin, the phrase life in the fast lane denotes a glamorous or highly pressured lifestyle. It refers to fast lane, denoting a traffic lane, usually that farthest from the outer edge of a motorway or dual carriageway, intended for drivers who wish to overtake slower cars. The earliest figurative use of fast lane […]
Read MoreWho invented—and named—the Bloody Mary?
It seems that the American comedian George Jessel (1898-1981) invented the Bloody Mary and named it after Mary Brown Warburton (1896-1937).
Read More‘a legend in one’s lifetime’ | ‘a legend in one’s lunchtime’
UK—‘a legend in your lifetime’ (1913): allegedly said by Benjamin Jowett to Florence Nightingale—‘a legend in his own lunchtime’ (1969): first recorded in a theatrical review by John Cunningham
Read Morethe theatrical origin of the phrase ‘top banana’
USA, 1947—the leading comic in a burlesque entertainment—also ‘first banana’, in contrast to ‘second banana’ and ‘third banana’
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