‘English as she is spoke’: meaning and origin
broken English—UK, 1883—from ‘English As She is Spoke: or A Jest in Sober Earnest’ (London: Field & Tuer, 1883), title given to a book intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide
Read MoreCategory: USA & Canada
‘even paranoids have enemies’: meaning and origin
retort to the accusation of being paranoid (i.e., of seeing imaginary enemies)—USA, 1966—often ascribed to U.S. poet Delmore Schwartz
Read More‘from marbles to manslaughter’: meaning and origin
meaning: any possible thing, event, or situation is envisaged or found—UK, 1839—image of a scope ranging from the most innocuous to the most harmful
Read More‘nice but dim’: meaning and early occurrences
a person regarded as good-natured but also not ‘bright’ intellectually—UK, 1981—Australia, 1982—USA, 1986
Read Morethe ‘Apaches’ of Paris: meaning and origin
circa 1900: by association with the reputed ferocity of the North-American Indian people, ‘Apache’ came to designate a violent street ruffian in Paris
Read More‘the only pebble on the beach’: meaning and early occurrences
the only person or thing to be considered in a particular situation—USA, 1895—popularised by 1896 song ‘You’re Not the Only Pebble on the Beach’
Read More‘plain vanilla’ | ‘vanilla sex’: early occurrences
from the popular perception of vanilla as the ordinary, bland flavour of ice-cream—USA—‘plain vanilla’ 1934—‘vanilla sex’ 1960
Read More‘(you’re) damned if you do and damned if you don’t’
means that, in a specific situation, a person will be blamed or considered wrong no matter what he or she does—USA, 1817—originally used in Christian contexts
Read More‘you’ll be smoking next’: meaning and early occurrences
used to rebuke someone, especially, jocularly, for an act far more improper or audacious than mere tobacco-smoking—USA, 1889
Read More‘Tom Mix in Cement’: meaning and origin
a retort to ‘what’s on at the pictures?’—USA, 1924—with pun on ‘to mix cement’, refers to U.S. film actor Tom Mix
Read More
word histories 