‘to cross the floor’: meanings and origin

25th Jan 2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1822—of a member of parliament: to join the party opposed to one’s present party—also to vote against one’s own party; to change sides on an issue—from the practice whereby a member of parliament literally crosses the floor to join another party

‘paper tiger’: meaning and origin

24th Jan 2021.Reading time 13 minutes.

UK, 1836—a person, country, etc., that appears powerful or threatening but is actually weak or ineffective—from Chinese ‘zhǐlǎohǔ’ (‘zhǐ’, paper, ‘lǎohǔ’, tiger)—used in the post-war years by the Chinese Communist Party of the USA and other reactionaries

‘loony bin’: meaning and origin

22nd Jan 2021.Reading time 16 minutes.

1909 to 1923 in stories by English author P. G. Wodehouse—a facetious appellation for a home or hospital for people with mental illnesses—‘loony’: shortened form of ‘lunatic’

‘to laugh like a drain’: meaning and origin

21st Jan 2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1935—to laugh loudly and coarsely—alludes to the sound of water gurgling down a drain

‘when push comes to shove’: meaning and origin

20th Jan 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

USA, 1889—when a situation reaches a critical point and one must commit oneself to an action or decision—the image is of having to shove when mere pushing is ineffective

‘Siberian Express’: meaning and origin

18th Jan 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

American English—a surge of extremely cold air which causes rapid falls in temperature and severe wintry weather in central and eastern areas of the United States and Canada—after ‘Trans-Siberian Express’, the name of a railway running from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan

‘bush telegraph’: meanings and origin

17th Jan 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

Australia, 1863—originally referred to any chain of communications by which bushrangers were warned of police movements—soon extended to any rapid informal network by which information, rumour, gossip, etc., is spread

‘to nail one’s colours to the mast’: meanings and origin

16th Jan 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

UK, 1808—to make one’s beliefs or intentions plain—from the former practice of nailing an ensign to the mast of a ship, after damage during battle resulted in the ship’s colours no longer being clearly displayed, which otherwise might have been interpreted as a signal of surrender

‘cold turkey’ (as used of a drug addict)

15th Jan 2021.Reading time 13 minutes.

USA, 1917—a method of treating a drug addict by sudden and complete withdrawal of the drug, instead of by a gradual process—alludes to the goose pimples, resembling the skin of a cold turkey, that a person experiences as a side effect of the treatment

‘(as) right as a trivet’: meaning and origin

15th Jan 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

UK, 1824—thoroughly or perfectly right—‘trivet’: a metal tripod for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on—the phrase refers to a trivet’s always standing firm on its three feet