word histories

“Ad fontes!”

history of ‘come up and see my etchings’

11th Jan 2020.Reading time 19 minutes.

USA, early 20th century—used as an invitation to sexual dalliance—in 1937, William Hays’s censorship office apparently banned it in cinema films

origin of ‘to have, or to get, egg on one’s face’

5th Apr 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

USA, 1946—‘to have, or to get, egg on one’s face’: to be, or to get, embarrassed or humiliated by the turn of events—refers either to having eggs thrown at one’s face or to yolk stains left on the face after the careless eating of a soft-boiled egg