‘brown bomber’: meaning and origin

16th Apr 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

Australia, 1950—a traffic warden in the state of New South Wales—‘brown’ probably refers to the colour of those traffic wardens’ uniform—‘bomber’ may refer to the fact that many of those traffic wardens were originally war veterans; or perhaps to the Australian-English use of the noun ‘bomb’ for an old car

‘squillion’ | ‘squillionaire’

15th Apr 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

USA—‘squillion’ (1879): an extremely large but unspecified number, quantity or amount; arbitrary and humorous alteration of ‘million’, ‘billion’, etc.—‘squillionaire’ (1895): a person who has an extremely large but unspecified amount of money

‘Johnny Foreigner’: meaning and origin

13th Apr 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

UK, 1899—derogatory—a foreigner; a personification of foreign people—‘Johnny’ is used with modifying word to designate a person of the type, group, profession, etc., specified

‘spud-barber’: meaning and origin

12th Apr 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

jocular—denotes ‘one who peels potatoes’—also used as a verb meaning ‘to peel potatoes’—1915, USA—other early occurrences, Australia

‘Spam medal’: meaning and origin

11th Apr 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

military slang, 1944—a medal awarded to all members of a force—especially the 1939-1945 Star, awarded to British service personnel who took part in WWII—refers to the ubiquitousness of Spam as a foodstuff

‘Sloane Ranger’: meaning and origin

10th Apr 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

UK, 1975—an upper-class and fashionable, but conventional, young woman in London—blend of ‘Sloane Square’, the name of a square located in an affluent area of London, and ‘Lone Ranger’, the name of a well-known hero of western stories and films

‘a spare tyre around the waistline’: meaning and origin

9th Apr 2022.Reading time 15 minutes.

USA, 1929—UK, 1933—in the phrase ‘a spare tyre around the waistline’, and its variants, the noun ‘spare tyre’ denotes a roll of fat

‘Johnny Arab’: meaning and origin

8th Apr 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK, 1920—an Arab man—‘Johnny’, a pet form of ‘John’, is used, with modifying word, to designate a person, especially a man, of the type, group, profession, etc., specified

‘Red Sea pedestrian’: meaning and origin

7th Apr 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

UK, 1912—humorous: a Jewish person—refers to the Crossing of the Red Sea, as recounted in the Book of Exodus—coined on various occasions by different persons, independently from each other

‘foolometer’: meaning and origin

5th Apr 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

a standard or device for the measurement of foolishness or folly—coined by the British author Sydney Smith (1771-1845) in ‘Second Letter to Archdeacon Singleton, Being the Third of the Cathedral Letters’ (London, 1838)