‘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

‘Mr. Plod’: meaning and origin

23rd Apr 2022.Reading time 19 minutes.

UK, 1963—‘Mr. Plod’, also ‘P.C. Plod’, ‘Plod’: a humorous or mildly derogatory appellation for a policeman or for the police—alludes to ‘Mr. Plod’, the name of the policeman in stories by the English author of children’s fiction Enid Blyton

‘Dutching’: meaning and origin

22nd Apr 2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

UK, 1989—the practice of sending food destined for the British market for irradiation in a country, typically the Netherlands, where this process is permitted, in order to mask any bacterial contamination before it is put on sale—from ‘Dutch’ and the suffix ‘-ing’, forming nouns denoting an action

‘dumb bunny’: meaning and origin

20th Apr 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

USA, 1921—a stupid person—seems to have originated in the slang of the flappers and of their male counterparts

‘rosinback’: meaning and origin

19th Apr 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

USA, 1896, circus slang—a horse used by a bareback rider or acrobat—rosin was rubbed on the horse’s back to prevent the rider or acrobat from slipping

‘spud-bashing’: meanings and origin

18th Apr 2022.Reading time 13 minutes.

UK, WWII, army slang—‘spud-bashing’ (noun): potato-peeling; ‘spud-bash’ (verb): to peel potatoes; ‘spud-basher’ (noun): one who peels potatoes—those words have also been used with reference to potato-digging

‘skirt patrol’: meaning and origin

17th Apr 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

USA, 1941—army slang—a search for female companionship

‘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