‘time flies? you cannot: they go too fast’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1904—punning extension (in which ‘time’ is a verb, and ‘flies’ a noun) of the cliché ‘time flies’
Read More‘would you buy a second-hand car from this man?’: origin and early occurrences
USA—originally used during the 1960 presidential election campaign by the Democratic Party to denigrate Richard Nixon, the Republican Party’s nominee
Read More‘you, too, can have a body like mine’: origin and early occurrences
originated in magazine advertisements for the bodybuilding course created and marketed by Italian-born U.S. bodybuilder Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano – 1892-1972)
Read Moremeaning of the phrase ‘awkward turtle’
U.S. slang, 2005—a gesture consisting in placing one hand on top of the other and wiggling the thumbs, made to reduce embarrassment
Read More‘Coggeshall job’: meaning and origin
any muddle-headed business—UK, 1813—the stupidity of the people of Coggeshall, a small town in Essex, England, has been proverbial since the mid-17th century
Read More‘— is dead but won’t lie down’: meaning and history
used of someone who won’t admit defeat—USA, early 20th century—but used in the late 19th century in reference to physical weakness
Read Morenotes on ‘a green winter makes a fat churchyard’
refers to the fact that the winter cold is essential to plants and crops—UK, first recorded in the mid-17th century, but already proverbial
Read Morenotes on ‘choke, chicken: more are hatching’
said to console a child choking over his or her food—UK, obsolete—first recorded in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738), by Jonathan Swift
Read More‘like pulling teeth’: meaning and early occurrences
used to convey that something is extremely difficult to do—USA, 1835—also ‘like pulling eyeteeth’, ‘like pulling elephants’ teeth (with a dentist’s forceps)’
Read More‘behind the eight ball’: meaning and origin
in trouble; at a disadvantage—USA, 1923—refers to a position in a game of pool in which a player cannot make a direct shot at the target ball because the black eight ball obstructs the cue ball
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word histories 