origin of the phrase ‘as the crow flies’ (in a straight line)
Attested in 1761, ‘as the crow flies’ originally referred to the interior of a country; it did not originate in a practice of early navigation at sea.
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to paper over the cracks’
to use a temporary expedient—UK, 1889—origin attributed to Prussian statesman Bismarck in a letter written during the negotiations of the Convention of Gastein (1865)
Read Moreorigin of ‘couch potato’ and of ‘boob tuber’ (TV addict)
In ‘couch potato’, ‘potato’ may be a pun on ‘tuber’ in ‘boob tuber’, from ‘boob tube’ (= television (set)), in which ‘boob’ means ‘stupid, foolish’.
Read Moreorigin of ‘gone coon’ (a person or thing that is beyond hope)
USA, 1837—The image is of a racoon that has been treed but the construction ‘gone + animal name’ has more generally been used in phrases of same sense.
Read Moreorigin of ‘bee’ (social gathering for a specific purpose)
USA, late 18th century—perhaps a folk-etymological alteration of British dialectal variants of ‘boon’, meaning ‘help given by neighbours’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to dodge the column’
to avoid work, to shirk one’s duty—originated in military slang during the First World War, the word ‘column’ denoting a formation of marching soldiers
Read Moreoriginal meaning and sense development of ‘wild-goose chase’
originally a kind of horse chase in which the second horse had to follow the course of the leader, like a flight of wild geese
Read Moreorigin of ‘steeplechase’: a horse race with a steeple as goal
UK, 1793—a horse race across a stretch of open countryside, with a church steeple in view as goal
Read More‘(just) what the doctor ordered’ (exactly what is needed)
‘(just) what the doctor ordered’: very beneficial or desirable under the circumstances—origin: USA, second half of the 19th century
Read Moreorigin of ‘to bell the cat’ (to undertake a very dangerous mission)
ultimately based on the fable of the mice, or rats, who proposed to hang a bell round the cat’s neck, so as to be warned of its approach
Read More
word histories 