‘garbologist’: original meanings and early occurrences

23rd Aug 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

a person whose job is to collect domestic refuse—also, an expert in the treatment of refuse—USA, 1946—from ‘garb-’ in ‘garbage’, and the combining form ‘-ologist’

‘summer of discontent’: meaning and origin

21st Aug 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK—the summer of 2022, during which numerous strikes took place—alludes to ‘winter of discontent’, i.e., the winter of 1978-79, during which widespread strikes took place in protest against the government’s wage limits

‘Generals January and February’: meaning and origin

20th Aug 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

personify January and February as army commanders, especially in reference to winter as detrimental or destructive to a military campaign—apparently coined by Russian Prince Alexander Menshikov in 1855, during the Crimean War

‘General Winter’: meaning and origin

19th Aug 2022.Reading time 12 minutes.

personifies the winter season as an army commander, especially in reference to winter as detrimental or destructive to a military campaign—UK, 1777, in reference to the War of American Independence

‘limerence’: meaning, origin and early occurrences

17th Aug 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

the state of being romantically infatuated or obsessed with another person—USA, 1975—coined by U.S. psychologist Dorothy Tennov

‘to study the history of the four kings’ (to play cards)

16th Aug 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

from ‘the history of the four kings’, punning on ‘the four kings’ (the four playing cards in a pack, each bearing a representation of a king) and ‘the Book of Kings’ (the name of two, formerly four, books of the Old Testament)

‘Queen Elizabeth is dead’ | ‘Queen Anne is dead’: meaning and origin

15th Aug 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

18th century—used humorously and ironically to denote old news, usually with the implication that the person whom the speaker is referring to is simply stating the obvious or restating a well-worn or accepted truth

‘a safe pair of hands’: meanings and origin

13th Aug 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

UK, 1921—someone who is capable, reliable or trustworthy in the management of a situation—1854: originated in cricket, with reference to skill and reliability in catching a ball—later applied to rugby players (1894) and to goalkeepers in soccer (1899)

a British phrase: ‘to go like a bomb’

11th Aug 2022.Reading time 12 minutes.

from the image of a speeding explosive projectile—primary meaning (of a motorcar, an aircraft, a motorcycle, an animal, a person): to move very fast—later (also ‘to go down like a bomb’ and ‘to go down a bomb’): to be very successful or popular

‘soapedy’: meaning and origin

9th Aug 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

a television programme or cinema film exhibiting qualities of both drama and comedy—USA, 1998—blend of ‘soap (opera)’, or of ‘soaper’, and of ‘comedy’—coined on various occasions by different persons, independently from one another