origin of the term ‘brass monkey’ (extremely cold weather)
USA, 1838—used with reference to extreme cold, extreme heat and other notions such as ridiculousness—from jocular allusions to brass statuettes of monkeys
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a hypothesis as to the origin of the phrase ‘a Chinaman’s chance’
USA, 1893—a negligible likelihood—might refer to the fact that the Chinese had little prospect of obtaining reparations for racial discrimination
Read MoreHow ‘tycoon’ acquired its current sense in 1860.
From Japanese ‘taikun’, ‘tycoon’ was originally the title by which the shogun of Japan was described to foreigners. The current sense originated in the Japanese Embassy to the United States in 1860, not from the use of ‘tycoon’ as a nickname of Abraham Lincoln.
Read MoreAbraham Lincoln and ‘to swap horses while crossing a stream’
used by Abraham Lincoln to indicate that he was renominated for President because the Republicans did not want to take a risk during the American Civil War
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