‘happy little Vegemite’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1980—a contented person—originated in advertisements for Vegemite, a type of savoury spread made from yeast extract and vegetable extract
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‘prosecco socialist’: meaning and origin
UK, 2001—used as a self-designation by persons with left-wing political views who think of themselves as being better in touch with reality than champagne socialists are—coined after, and in contrast to, ‘champagne socialist’
Read More‘chardonnay socialist’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1985—a person who espouses socialist ideals while enjoying a wealthy lifestyle—coined after the synonymous expression ‘champagne socialist’—popularised by Emerald City (1987), by the Australian playwright David Williamson
Read More‘flat out like a lizard drinking’: meanings and origin
Australia, 1930—a humorous extended form of ‘flat out’, meaning ‘with the maximum speed or effort’ (apparently with wordplay on ‘flat out’, meaning ‘lying stretched out’)—has occasionally been used in the opposite sense
Read More‘a rat with a gold tooth’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1972—a person, usually a man, who, in spite of a superficial smartness, is untrustworthy—‘rat’ refers to a deceitful or disloyal man—the image is that, despite the gold tooth, a rat’s basic nature cannot change
Read More‘the ant’s pants’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1928—an outstandingly good person or thing—variant of the synonymous jocular expressions, of U.S. origin, based on various parts of animals’ real or fanciful anatomy and other attributes, such as ‘the bee’s knees’ and ‘the cat’s whiskers’
Read More‘not to know whether one is Arthur or Martha’
Australia, 1941—to be in a state of confusion—has come to be also used with reference to sexual orientation or gender identity
Read More‘to treat with ignore’: meaning and early occurrences
Australia, 1935—meaning: ‘to deliberately ignore someone’s presence, request, etc.’—has erroneously been said to have originated in army slang during the Second World War
Read More‘as demure as a whore at a christening’: meaning and origin
1695—This phrase means ‘having an appearance of respectability’. The image of a prostitute at a christening is used to indicate that a person is out of place in a particular situation.
Read More‘an egg yesterday and a feather-duster tomorrow’
USA 1907—used of the inanity of life and of the transitoriness of success—originated in the captions to a cartoon known as ‘The Dejected Rooster’, by Mark Fenderson, published by the weekly magazine Life (New York City) in 1907
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word histories 