‘to walk like an Egyptian’: meaning and origin

16th Jul 2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

to walk with arms extended, elbows and wrists bent at right angles, one arm up, one down—1962 in To Kill a Mockingbird—refers to the representation of the human body by the ancient Egyptians

‘the university of life’: meaning and early occurrences

15th Jul 2023.Reading time 15 minutes.

USA, 1854—the experience of life regarded as a means of instruction, in contrast to formal (higher) education—now often used with the implication that life experience is of greater benefit than formal education

‘talking head’: meaning and early occurrences

14th Jul 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

USA, 1963—frequently in plural: a person on television who is shown merely speaking, as in a newscast or an interview

‘to drive a coach and horses through something’: meaning and origin

13th Jul 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

1691—to expose the flaws in something such as a law, a policy, an argument or a belief—these flaws are likened to holes large enough to drive a coach and horses through them

‘blue funk’ (American usage)

11th Jul 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

a state of depression or despair—1893—a shift in meaning of the British-English expression ‘blue funk’, denoting a state of extreme nervousness or dread (the original meaning in American English)

‘blue funk’ (British and Irish usage)

10th Jul 2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

a state of extreme nervousness or dread—UK, mid-19th century—‘blue’ is an intensifier of ‘funk’, denoting a state of extreme nervousness or dread

‘ugly duckling’: meaning and origin

9th Jul 2023.Reading time 16 minutes.

a person or thing, initially ugly or unpromising, that changes into something beautiful or admirable—New Zealand, 1848—from Hans Christian Andersen’s story about a supposed ugly duckling that turns out to be a swan

‘twelve good men and true’: meaning and origin

8th Jul 2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

a jury in a lawcourt—17th century—but the selection of twelve good men and true to form a jury was mentioned in the 16th century

‘blue flu’: meaning and origin

7th Jul 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

absenteeism among police officers (and by extension other workers) who claim to be ill but are in fact absent to support union contract demands or negotiations—USA, 1967—alludes to the traditional colour of police uniforms

‘never the twain shall meet’: meaning and origin

6th Jul 2023.Reading time 15 minutes.

two different people or things are totally incompatible—1901—alludes to “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” in Ballad of East and West (1892), by Rudyard Kipling