‘few and far between’: meanings and origin
scarce; infrequent; difficult to find or to come by—one early use in 1668—but popularised by the Irish author Thomas Campbell in The Pleasures of Hope (1799)
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‘to rain pitchforks (with their points downwards)’: meaning and origin
to rain very heavily—UK, 1820—sometimes appended to the phrase ‘to rain cats and dogs’
Read More‘to be thankful for small mercies’: meaning and origin
to be glad of minor benefits, especially in an otherwise unpleasant or troublesome situation—first recorded in The Heart of Midlothian (1818), by Walter Scott
Read More‘Dunning-Kruger effect’: meaning and origin
a bias whereby people who have little ability in, or knowledge of, a particular task or subject tend to overestimate their capabilities—USA, 2008—refers to David Dunning and Justin Kruger, who described this bias in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1999
Read More‘mauvais coucheur’: meaning and origin
a difficult, uncooperative or unsociable person—UK, 1829—from French ‘mauvais coucheur’, literally ‘bad bedfellow’, with original allusion to a person whom a traveller had to share a bed with when stopping over at an inn
Read More‘to rain cats and dogs and to hail cabs’: meaning and origin
UK, 1856—jocular extension of ‘to rain cats and dogs’ (i.e., ‘to rain very hard’)—puns on the verb ‘hail’ (i.e., ‘to pour down like hail’) and the verb ‘hail’ (i.e., ‘to call out (a cab)’)
Read More‘Bloody Caesar’: meaning and origin
a drink consisting of vodka and Clamato juice—Canada, 1969—coined after ‘Bloody Mary’—this drink is said to have been invented by bartender Walter Chell
Read More‘the balloon goes up’: meaning and origin
the action, excitement or trouble starts—USA, late 19th century—originally alluded to the release of a balloon to mark an event
Read More‘Lear without the King’ | ‘Henry V without the King’
an event or occasion at which the expected principal participant is not present—coined after ‘Hamlet without the Prince’—‘Lear without the King’ 1904—‘Henry V without the King’ 1964
Read Morenotes on ‘wave’ (i.e., crowd motion)
USA, 1981—said to have been invented by cheerleader ‘Krazy George’—popularised worldwide during the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, as a translation of Spanish ‘ola’—hence the British phrase ‘Mexican wave’ (1986)
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