‘every little helps’: meaning and origin

23rd Jan 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

every contribution towards a goal is valuable, regardless of how small it may be—UK, 1707—in Britain, particularly associated with Tesco, which has used this phrase as its slogan since 1993

‘Tardis’: meanings and origin

22nd Jan 2023.Reading time 16 minutes.

various meanings, in particular: something with a larger capacity than its outward appearance suggests—UK, 1968—the name, in TV series Doctor Who, of a time machine outwardly resembling a police telephone box, yet inwardly much larger

‘not cricket’: meanings and origin

21st Jan 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

the game of cricket played in the incorrect manner or improper spirit—hence, more generally, something contrary to traditional standards of fairness or rectitude—UK, 19th century

‘a walk in the park’: meaning and origin

19th Jan 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

(the type of) something easy, effortless or pleasant—USA, 1937—originally denoted, in golf caddies’ slang, a nine-hole round, with some reference to the literal sense of the phrase

‘not to put a foot wrong’: meaning and origin

18th Jan 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

to make no mistakes at all—UK, 1864—this phrase was originally used of racehorses and hunting horses

‘Black Hole of Calcutta’: meaning and origin

17th Jan 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

an oppressive, very confined or crowded space—UK, 1764—refers to the punishment cell at Fort William, Calcutta, in which, in 1756, the Nawab of Bengal reputedly confined British and Anglo-Indian prisoners

‘the second sex’: meaning and origin

15th Jan 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

women collectively, regarded as inferior to men—first occurred in ‘Don Juan’ (1821), by George Gordon Byron

‘bonkbuster’: meaning and origin

13th Jan 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

a type of popular novel characterised by frequent explicit descriptions of sexual encounters between the characters—from ‘bonk’, referring to sexual intercourse, and ‘blockbuster’—UK, 1988—perhaps coined by Sue Limb

‘sex and shopping’: meaning and origin

12th Jan 2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

a genre of popular fiction featuring wealthy and glamorous characters who typically engage in frequent sexual encounters and extravagant spending—USA, 1985 & 1986, in reference to British novelist Jackie Collins and U.S. novelist Judith Krantz

‘to be all fingers and thumbs’: meaning and origin

11th Jan 2023.Reading time 11 minutes.

also ‘to be all thumbs’—to be extremely clumsy (i.e., lacking in manual dexterity)—19th century—variants of the original phrase ‘each finger is a thumb’, already proverbial in the mid-16th century