the phrase ‘like the man who fell out of the balloon, not in it’
refers to someone who stands no chance whatsoever in an undertaking—UK, 1880—perhaps originally a line in The World, a drama by Meritt, Pettitt and Harris
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the origin and various meanings of ‘Macready pause’
UK, 1842—theatre: a long pause during the delivery of a speech—refers to the English actor William Macready (1793-1873), who was given to making long pauses
Read More‘wait and see’: from Prime Minister to friction-matches
gained currency in 1910 from Prime Minister Asquith’s repeated use in reply to questions in Parliament—hence WWI slang for French matches difficult to ignite
Read Morea pessimistic phrase: ‘every silver lining has a cloud’
every comforting or hopeful situation has a sad or unpleasant side to it—pessimistic reversal of ‘every cloud has a silver lining’—1900 (already clichéd)
Read Moremeanings of the Irish-English phrase ‘like snuff at a wake’
1844—various senses, especially ‘hither and thither’ and ‘lavishly’—from the custom of sharing snuff during a vigil held beside the body of someone who has died
Read Morethe phrase ‘to spend money as if it were going out of fashion’
British and Irish—to spend money as if it were worthless or soon to become so—first (from 1962 onwards) as a misogynistic cliché hammered by the Liverpool Echo
Read Morenotes on the British phrase ‘some mothers do have ’em’
1941—expresses exasperation or derision at a clumsy, erratic or idiotic person—popularised by Jimmy Clitheroe in his radio programme The Clitheroe Kid (1958-72)
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘does your mother know you’re out?’
Irish English, 1836—mocking or condescending question addressed to a person whose behaviour is regarded as puerile or inappropriate
Read More‘Mc-’: prefix inspired by the McDonald’s restaurant chain
USA, early 1980s—depreciative—suggests values epitomised by the McDonald’s restaurant chain, such as low quality, blandness, standardisation, superficiality
Read Moresome early figurative uses of ‘Möbius strip’
US 1960—person of whom only one aspect is known; continual phenomenon—from the one-sided continuous surface formed by joining the ends of a half-twisted strip
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word histories 