‘bread always falls with the buttered side down’

10th Mar 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

USA, 1829—expresses picturesquely the supposed law of nature according to which, for any given situation, the worst of possible outcomes will inevitably occur

‘a fool at one end and a fire at the other’: meaning and history

10th Mar 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

a cigar or a cigarette—USA, 1841—probably patterned on phrases such as ‘a fool at one end and a maggot at the other’, describing a fishing rod

‘busman’s holiday’: meaning and origin

8th Mar 2020.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1888—a holiday spent doing the same sort of thing as one does at work—apparently from the busmen’s habit of spending their days off riding on friends’ buses

‘protocol, alcohol and Geritol’: original meaning

7th Mar 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

USA, 1959—a summary of social life in Washington DC, especially for aged men—attributed by columnist Betty Beale to Columbia University President Grayson Kirk

a crude phrase: ‘to see a woman’s breakfast’

5th Mar 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK, 1973—refers to a woman’s breasts as revealed e.g. by a very low-cut dress, or to (the contours of) a woman’s genitals as revealed e.g. by a very short skirt

‘I would not call the Queen my aunt’: meaning and history

4th Mar 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

I am happy with my situation (so much so that even becoming royalty could not improve on it)—UK, 1843 as ‘I would not give sixpence to call the Queen my aunt’

‘your policemen are wonderful’: meaning and history

3rd Mar 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

1928—used of British police officers, chiefly those of London, by persons, mostly women, visiting the United Kingdom—became rapidly a cliché used jocularly

meaning and origin of ‘to grow hair on a billiard ball’

1st Mar 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

to achieve the impossible—USA, 1881—originally and chiefly used with reference to hair loss treatment

history of ‘slower than the second coming of Christ’

29th Feb 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

extremely slow—USA, 1874—in Christian theology, the Second Coming of Christ is the prophesied return of Christ to Earth at the Last Judgement

history of ‘many are cold (but) few are frozen’

28th Feb 2020.Reading time 7 minutes.

USA, 1885—humorous alteration of ‘many are called (but) few are chosen’, which refers to The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (gospel of Matthew, 20:1-16)