the phrase ‘to move the goalposts’—as used in Britain
1924—to unfairly alter the terms of a procedure during its course—also (humorous): the only way for an unsuccessful soccer team to score a goal
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘no joy in Mudville’
USA, 1895—a sense of pervasive and shared disappointment—alludes to the defeat of the baseball team of Mudville, a fictional town in E. L. Thayer’s 1888 poem ‘Casey at the Bat’
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘a sheep in sheep’s clothing’
USA, 1884—a person whose lack of courage is as real as it appears to be—jocular variant of ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’—often misattributed to Winston Churchill
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘yellow brick road’
USA, 1939—road to success or happiness—from the road paved with yellow brick in Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
Read MoreWhy ‘island’ and ‘aisle’ ought to be spelt ‘iland’ and ‘aile’.
The letter ‘s’ in both the nouns currently spelt ‘island’ and ‘aisle’ is due to folk-etymological association of those words with the unrelated noun ‘isle’.
Read Moremeanings and origin of the term ‘Philadelphia lawyer’
USA, 1788—an able, clever lawyer; now often one who is unscrupulous in the manipulation of the law—from Philadelphia lawyers’ reputation since the colonial period
Read Morenotes on ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under Stalin, as characterised by Winston Churchill in a speech broadcast on the radio on 1st October 1939
Read MoreThe term ‘empty suit’ originated in Broadway slang.
1950, Broadway slang, pejorative—a wealthy man who, in return for their company, lavished money on showbusiness people and those mixing with them
Read Moremeaning and origin of the term ‘éminence grise’
UK, 1877—a person who wields unofficial power and influence—originally applied to Père Joseph (François Leclerc du Tremblay), French friar, confidential agent of Cardinal Richelieu
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Comstockism’ and ‘Comstockery’
USA—‘Comstockism’ 1878, ‘Comstockery’ 1889—strict censorship of materials considered obscene—after anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock (1844-1915)
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word histories 