‘wallflower’ | ‘faire tapisserie’: on the fringes of a dance

3rd Nov 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

UK 1801 ‘wallflower’—France 1806 ‘faire tapisserie’ (= ‘to do tapestry’)—in both cases because the person keeps their seat at the side of a room during dancing

meaning and origin of the phrase ‘like a bride’s nightie’

2nd Nov 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Australia, 1969—used to denote a fast-moving person or situation—alludes to the quickness with which a bride’s nightdress comes off on the wedding night

meaning and origin of the phrase ‘not Pygmalion likely’

31st Oct 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

euphemistic jocular variant of ‘not bloody likely’—UK, 1914—from the sensation caused by the use of the expletive ‘bloody’ in George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’

‘are there any more at home like you?’: usage and origin

30th Oct 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

chat-up line—from ‘Tell me, pretty maiden (I must love some one)’, a song of the musical comedy ‘Florodora’, produced in Britain in 1899 and in the USA in 1900

history of ‘did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’

29th Oct 2019.Reading time 13 minutes.

originally a chat-up line that supposedly met a demand for originality (USA 1985)—while it soon became one of the favourite lines used by men, women loathe it

the British and Irish phrase ‘No-Mates’ (friendless)

26th Oct 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

UK, 1993—a person, usually a man, regarded as friendless—often used as a humorous surname following a generic first name such as ‘Billy’

a Liverpudlian phrase: ‘don’t forget the diver’

25th Oct 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

1923—from Bernard Pykett’s plea when asking for money after his diving exhibitions—popularised from 1941 onwards by the BBC radio comedy programme It’s That Man Again

the origin and various meanings of ‘buy me and stop one’

24th Oct 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

UK, 1970s: frequently scrawled on contraceptive-vending devices in public conveniences—reversal of ‘stop me and buy one’, Wall’s Ice Cream advertising slogan

meaning and origin of the phrase ‘stop me and buy one’

23rd Oct 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1920s—refers to a person going from one place to another with something to sell—from the slogan on the box-tricycles selling Wall’s Ice Cream

meaning and history of ‘good enough for Punch’

22nd Oct 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

UK, 1872—used of a very funny joke or real-life event—refers to ‘Punch or the London Charivari’, a British weekly magazine of humour and satire