‘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)’
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‘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
Read Morea male-chauvinistic phrase: ‘barefoot(ed) and pregnant’
USA, 1938—male-chauvinistic phrase meaning that the place of women is in the home and that their role is to bear children—also ‘pregnant and barefoot(ed)’
Read More‘take me to your leader’: meaning and early occurrences
the demand that an extraterrestrial makes to the first human being or animal it encounters after alighting from its flying saucer—USA, 1956—from a cliché in science-fiction stories
Read More‘home, James (and don’t spare the horses)’: meaning and early occurrences
used as a humorous exhortation to a driver (‘James’: generic posh Christian name)—USA—shorter form: late 19th century—extended form: 1911
Read More19th-century nicknames for London newspapers
The Times: nicknamed Thunderer—the Morning Advertiser: Gin-and-Gospel Gazette, Tap-tub—The Morning Post: Jeames—The Morning Herald and The Standard: respectively Mrs Harris and Mrs Gamp
Read More‘storm on Channel—Continent isolated’: meaning and early occurrences
satirical of British insularity (describes Continental Europe as being cut off from the British Isles)—UK 1930, USA 1931—allegedly originated in a newspaper headline, but this is probably apocryphal
Read More‘teeth like stars’, i.e., false teeth
USA, 1893—the phrase ‘teeth like stars’ is applied to false teeth, the image being that they ‘come out’ at night
Read More‘to tap the Admiral’: meaning and early occurrences
applied to someone who will drink anything—UK, 1790—from the tale of the sailor(s) who stole spirits from the cask in which a dead Admiral was being preserved for interment in England
Read More‘to talk a glass eye to sleep’: meanings and early occurrences
applied either to a wearisome talker or to a persuasive talker—first occurs in the latter sense and in connection with boxing: Australia 1952, UK 1954
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word histories 