‘the Hungry Mile’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1925—a section of Sussex Street, on the Sydney waterfront, along which, in the 1920s and 1930s, unemployed wharf-labourers trudged, waiting to be handpicked for the few available jobs
Read More‘(as) scarce as hen’s teeth’: meaning and origin
USA, 1831—very rare—since the late 17th century, the expression ‘hen’s teeth’ has been used as a type of something which is extremely rare, unattainable or non-existent
Read More‘one man’s Mede is another man’s Persian’: meaning and origin
humorous variant of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’—USA, 1929—refers to the phrase ‘the law of the Medes and Persians’, denoting something which cannot be altered
Read More‘Jack the Painter’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1846—the name of a coarse green tea drunk in the bush—this name referred to the colour of this tea and to its awful taste
Read More‘one man’s mead is another man’s poison’: meanings and origin
humorous variant of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’—USA, 1938—used in particular to play on the surnames ‘Mead’ and ‘Meade’
Read More‘Pommy-bashing’: meaning and origin
Australia & New Zealand, early 1970s—‘Pommy’: a British immigrant to Australia or New Zealand; a British (especially an English) person—‘-bashing’: the activity of abusing or attacking the people mentioned just because they belong to a particular group or community
Read More‘Pommy shop steward’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1974—a radical British shop steward in an Australian trade union—‘Pommy’ designates a British immigrant to Australia, also a British (especially an English) person
Read More‘whingeing Pommy’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1962—an immigrant from Britain who complains about Australia—‘Pommy’: apparently a shortening of ‘pomegranate’, used to designate an immigrant from Britain
Read More‘like a robber’s dog’: meanings and origin
Australia & UK—denotes physical ugliness; also used of temporary states such as tiredness, hangover, anger, etc. (Australia, 1946)—also denotes rapidity (Australia, 1947)
Read More‘like a beaten favourite’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1982—denotes physical ugliness
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word histories 