the figurative use of ‘bowler (hat)’: civilian life
UK, 1925—symbol of civilian life as opposed to service in the armed forces and of demobilisation or dismissal from the army
Read Morethe long history of the phrase ‘blood, sweat, and tears’
current use seems to allude to a speech by Winston Churchill in May 1940—but the metaphor goes back to the early 17th century
Read Moremeaning and origin of the term ‘Streisand effect’
USA, 2005—coined by Mike Masnick on Techdirt.com—refers to Barbra Streisand’s counterproductive attempt in 2003 to ban a photo of her house
Read Morethe cultural background to the term ‘blind date’
USA, 1922—seems to have originated in the slang of the flappers (the young women who showed freedom from conventions) and of their male counterparts
Read Morethe gruesome origin of the term ‘basket case’
USA, 1918—originally a soldier who had lost all four limbs during the First World War and had to be transported in a basket
Read Moremeaning and history of ‘to laugh/cry all the way to the bank’
USA, 1908—to relish – or ironically deplore – the fact that one is making money, especially undeservedly or at the expense of others
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘the tail wags the dog’
USA, 1870—an unimportant or subsidiary factor, person or thing dominates the situation—based on the image of the inversion of the natural order
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘the great unwashed’
UK, 1829—a pejorative appellation of the lower classes by the middle and upper classes, although apparently appropriated by the lower classes
Read Morea Briticism: ‘Gavin and Stacey’ used as an attributive modifier
2019—used to mean ‘Anglo-Welsh’—from ‘Gavin & Stacey’, a sitcom about the relationship between an Englishman and a Welsh woman
Read Moremeaning and origin of the term ‘bunny boiler’
1989—a person acting vengefully after having been spurned by their lover—from 1987 film Fatal Attraction, in which a rejected woman boils her lover’s pet rabbit
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word histories 