origin of the word ‘geek’
19th century, northern England—apparently a variant of ‘geck’, of Germanic origin, meaning ‘a fool’, ‘a dupe’, ‘an oaf’
Read MoreCategory: USA & Canada
meaning and origin of ‘Pooh-Bah’
from the name of a character who holds many high offices in ‘The Mikado’ (1885), an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘King Charles’s head’
obsession—from Dickens’s ‘David Copperfield’, in which Mr. Dick is unable to write his memoirs because of the intrusive image of King Charles the First’s head
Read Moreorigin of ‘up the river’ (to prison)
US, 19th cent.—‘to send up the river’ (to send to prison)—originally referred to Sing Sing prison, situated up the Hudson River from the city of New York
Read More‘To sell down the river’ originated in the history of American slavery.
This phrase originated in the history of American slavery: the river was the Mississippi and down implied the transfer of slaves from north to south.
Read Moresexual origin of ‘merrythought’ (‘wishbone’)
‘merrythought’, late 16th century— the forked bone between the neck and breast of a bird—so called from its resemblance to a woman’s external genitals
Read Morethe origin of ‘to pull the wool over someone’s eyes’?
‘to pull the wool over someone’s eyes’, US, 1830s—perhaps from sheep farming: the hair that grows around a sheep’s eyes can get into them and blind the animal.
Read Morethe long history of the word ‘blues’
‘blues’—from ‘blue’ (‘sorrowful’) and elliptically from ‘blue devils’ (‘depression’)—originally a metaphorical use of ‘blue’ (‘bruised’), as in ‘black and blue’
Read MoreAbraham Lincoln and ‘to swap horses while crossing a stream’
used by Abraham Lincoln to indicate that he was renominated for President because the Republicans did not want to take a risk during the American Civil War
Read Morethe rise of the ‘pin-up girl’
‘pin-up’—US, 1941, in ‘pin-up girl’, denoting a woman being the subject of a picture that a serviceman displays on a locker-door, on a wall, etc.
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word histories 