“ad fontes!”
UK, 1849—transformation into a pumpkin; extravagant or absurdly uncritical glorification—coined after Hellenistic Greek ‘ἀποκολοκύντωσις’, the title of a travesty ascribed to Seneca, according to which the deceased Roman emperor Claudius, instead of being elevated to divine status, is changed into a pumpkin
Read MoreUSA, 1954—used of a theory that a political event or development in one country, etc., will lead to its occurrence in others—the image is of a falling domino causing an entire row of upended dominoes to fall
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USA, 1898—a view as seen from below or from a humble position—refers to a view taken as from the standpoint of a worm, i.e. from ground-level—coined after ‘bird’s-eye view’ (1782), denoting a view of a landscape from above, such as is presented to the eye of a bird
Read More‘to be destined or appropriate for a particular person’—originated during the First World War as ‘to have a person’s name and number on it’, and meant, of a bullet, etc., ‘to be destined to hit a particular person’
Read MoreCanada and UK, 1978—to publicly disclose perceived wrongdoing or failure on the part of a person or institution; to expose private behaviour to public censure—earlier longer phrases include ‘blame’
Read MoreUK, 1890—used to indicate that the person or persons guilty of a misdemeanour will not be named, in order to spare them recrimination—‘pack drill’: a military punishment involving a lengthy period of marching up and down carrying full equipment
Read MoreUSA, 1838—the place or area where someone lives—originally: a narrow stretch of wood; by extension: a settlement in wooded or remote country—formerly also ‘neck of timber’
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UK and Ireland—used of someone who makes a mistake because of poor eyesight—refers to the British optical retail chain Specsavers Optical Group Ltd, in particular to its advertising slogan, ‘should’ve gone to Specsavers’
Read MoreUSA, 1903—the socially inferior part of a town—alludes to the division of a town into areas separated by railway tracks
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USA, 1928—Based on the contrast between the adjectives ‘little’ and ‘big’, this humorous phrase means: to applaud a woman for an achievement.
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word histories 