history of the phrase ‘close your eyes and think of England’
France, 1954: purported advice given to English brides-to-be on how to cope with unwanted but inevitable sexual intercourse—but this occurs in a humoristic book
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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘nudge, nudge’
draws attention to a sexual innuendo—generally refers to an October 1969 sketch from the British comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus—but in use earlier
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘back to square one’
UK, 1952—back to where one started, with no progress having been made—refers to the game of snakes and ladders
Read Morethe British phrase ‘bless my—or another’s—cotton socks’
1930 ‘bless my cotton socks’: exclamation of surprise, consternation, etc.—1935 ‘bless another’s cotton socks’: expresses affection, benevolence or gratitude
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Dickin Medal’
UK, 1943—a medal awarded to an animal in recognition of an act of bravery—named after M. E. Dickin, founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals in 1917
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to come to Hecuba’
to come to the point—in Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, the title role urges an actor to go straight to Hecuba’s reaction to her husband’s killing
Read More‘Charlie’s dead’ (your petticoat is showing)
UK, 1950s—used among schoolgirls when one’s petticoat was showing (origin unknown)—synonyms: ‘it’s snowing again’, ‘you’re showing next week’s washing’
Read Morethe cultural background to the plebeian ‘trunkmaker’
UK, 18th and 19th centuries—‘trunkmaker’ was often employed with allusion to the use of the sheets of unsaleable books for trunk-linings
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘jam and Jerusalem’
UK, 20th century—the Women’s Institutes—‘jam’, from jam-making as a typical activity practised by members—‘Jerusalem’, the hymn that members sing at meetings
Read Morethe phrase ‘you can hear the neighbours change their minds’
UK, 1909—used when the dividing walls between adjacent houses or flats are thin—also used of the passage of sound between floors
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word histories 