‘Madchester’: meaning and origin

4th May 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK, 1989—refers to Manchester, in north-western England, as a centre of popular music and club subculture in Britain in the late 1980s and early 1990s—blend of ‘mad’ and ‘Manchester’

‘porky’ (rhyming slang for ‘lie’)

3rd May 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

In British English, the noun ‘porky’ (also ‘porkie’) is short for ‘porky pie’ (also ‘porkie pie’), which is an alteration of ‘pork pie’, rhyming slang for the noun ‘lie’.

attributive use of ‘postcode’

2nd May 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

UK, 1993—meaning: influenced or determined by a person’s locality or postal address—in phrases such as ‘postcode discrimination’—frequently with reference to the unequal provision of healthcare

‘tiswas’: meaning and origin

1st May 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK, 1938—a state of nervous agitation or confusion; also, occasionally: a state of physical disorder or chaos—of unknown origin; perhaps a fanciful variant of the synonymous noun ‘tizz’

‘lightbulb moment’: meaning and origin

30th Apr 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

USA, 1974—a moment of sudden realisation, enlightenment or inspiration—alludes to the representation of an illuminated lightbulb above a character’s head in a cartoon or comic strip, indicating that this character has had an idea

‘not to be able to [verb] for toffee’: meaning and origin

29th Apr 2022.Reading time 31 minutes.

UK, 1886—to be incompetent at performing the action denoted by the verb—the underlying notion is presumably of failing to win even the smallest prize

‘omnishambles’: meaning and origin

27th Apr 2022.Reading time 16 minutes.

a situation that has been completely mismanaged—from ‘omni-’ and ‘shambles’—coined by Tony Roche in the British television series The Thick of It (3rd series, episode 1, 24 October 2009)

‘to drink the Kool-Aid’: meanings and origin

26th Apr 2022.Reading time 19 minutes.

USA, 1978—to commit suicide; to demonstrate unquestioning obedience or loyalty—alludes to a mass suicide, in 1978, by members of the Peoples’ Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, who drank a cyanide-laced drink thought to be similar to Kool-Aid

‘squeaky clean’: meanings and origin

25th Apr 2022.Reading time 8 minutes.

USA, 1938—(of hair) washed and rinsed so clean that it squeaks—by extension: completely clean—figuratively: above criticism, beyond reproach

‘grease monkey’: meaning and origin

24th Apr 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

USA, 1918—a mechanic—since the 17th century, ‘monkey’ has been used (frequently with modifying word indicating the occupation concerned) to denote a person engaged in a trade or profession