‘flat-earther’: meaning and origin
a person who believes that the planet Earth is flat—USA, 1896—earlier synonym: ‘flat-earth man’ (UK, 1872) applied to John Hampden (1819-1891)
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‘Rasputin’: meaning and origin
a person exercising an insidious or corrupting influence, especially over a ruler, government, etc.—UK, 1917—refers to Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (circa 1869-1916), mystic and influential favourite at the court of Tsar Nicholas II
Read More‘cop shop’: meaning and origin
a police station—USA, 1882—here, the noun ‘cop’ designates a police officer and the noun ‘shop’ designates the place where one works
Read More‘omniverbivorous’: meaning and origin
having a large or inexhaustible appetite for words—USA, 1858—coined by the U.S. physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
Read More‘from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’: meaning and origin
wealth gained in one generation of a family will be lost by the third generation—USA, 1874—refers to a hard-working man wearing a shirt with nothing over it
Read More‘mechanical bull’: original meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1869—a mechanised full-size model of a bull, simulating the movement and behaviour of a bull (particularly in a corrida), used in public entertainments
Read More‘chatmate’: meaning and origin
1599—a person with whom one chats, a partner in informal or friendly conversation—now, more specifically: a person with whom one communicates via online chat or messaging
Read More‘in two shakes of a lamb’s tail’: meaning and origin
very soon or very quickly—USA, 1836, in a text attributed to Davy Crockett—alludes to the friskiness of lambs
Read MoreIs ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’?
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read More‘empleomania’: meaning and origin
mania for holding public office—USA, 1829—a borrowing from Spanish ‘empleomanía’, from ‘empleo’ (i.e., ‘employment’) and the suffix ‘‑manía’ (i.e., ‘-mania’)
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