meaning and origin of the British phrase ‘sitting by Nellie’
1956—learning a job by observing how an experienced worker does it—‘Nellie’ is simply a generic name for a trained worker.
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Why ‘gerrymander’ was originally the name of a monstrous salamander.
the drawing of the ‘Gerry-mander’ and the accompanying text—as published in the Boston Gazette (Boston, Massachusetts) of 26 March 1812
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘plain Jane’
UK, 1898, in ‘plain Jane and no nonsense’—a dull or unattractive girl or woman—‘Jane’ chosen because it is common and rhymes with ‘plain’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British-English phrase ‘64,000 question’
1956—a crucial question or issue—from The 64,000 Question, the name of a TV quiz show adapted from U.S. TV programme The $64,000 Question
Read More“Nice one, Cyril!”, or the birth of British catchphrases
a view on the manner in which catchphrases created by comedians and advertising gain currency
Read Moreorigin of ‘bodkin’ (a person wedged between others)
isolated use in The Fancies, Chast and Noble (1638), by John Ford—1795 as ‘to ride bodkin’—seems to allude to the thinness of the tools that have that name
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘damp squib’ and of French ‘pétard mouillé’
UK, 1837—something intended, but failing, to impress—if damp, a squib [a small firework] will fail to work
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British phrase ‘(as) daft as a brush’
1892, as ‘mazed as a brish’ (Devon)—meaning: extremely stupid—possible origin: anything is daft that does all the hard work
Read Morean investigation into the origin of the portmanteau word ‘bankster’
USA, 1931—presented as being of French origin, but French earliest known uses, in 1933, are from American English
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British phrase ‘big girl’s blouse’
1969—a weak, cowardly or oversensitive man—analogy between a cowardly man “in a flap” and an oversize garment hanging loose, fluttering
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word histories 