‘skirt patrol’: meaning and origin
USA, 1941—army slang—a search for female companionship
Read More‘brown bomber’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘squillion’ | ‘squillionaire’
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
Read More‘Johnny Foreigner’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘spud-barber’: meaning and origin
jocular—denotes ‘one who peels potatoes’—also used as a verb meaning ‘to peel potatoes’—1915, USA—other early occurrences, Australia
Read More‘Spam medal’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘Sloane Ranger’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘a spare tyre around the waistline’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘Johnny Arab’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘Red Sea pedestrian’: meaning and origin
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
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