‘to put [something] where the monkey put(s) the nuts’
UK—1879 “where the monkey put the shells”—1892 “where the monkey put the nuts”—with reference to the anus, this slang phrase expresses contemptuous rejection
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‘the (great) Australian salute’: meaning and origin
the movement of the hand in brushing away flies—first recorded in 1967 in a speech by Fred Chaney, Member of the Australian House of Representatives—variants: ‘the Queensland salute’; ‘the Barcoo salute’
Read More‘in clover’: meaning and origin of this phrase
UK, 1710—in ease and luxury—refers to the use of clover as fodder, as explained by Samuel Johnson in A Dictionary of the English Language (1755): “To live in Clover, is to live luxuriously; clover being extremely delicious and fattening to cattle.”
Read More‘underground mutton’: meanings and origin
Australia, 1900: rabbit meat—later also: rabbits—‘mutton’, denoting a choice meat, was derisively substituted for ‘rabbit’, denoting the inferior meat that had to be eaten when butcher’s meat was too costly
Read More‘further back than Walla Walla’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1949—at a disadvantage or delayed—refers to Walla Walla, a champion pacer of the 1930s which conceded its rivals starts of up to 288 yards
Read More‘a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do’
USA, 1939 in The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck—a piece of homespun philosophy meaning that a man must do what he feels needs to be done, even if it is dangerous or undesirable
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘Scout’s honour’
UK, 1909: expresses the speaker’s good faith—literally, in Scouting for Boys (1908), by Robert Baden-Powell: the honour on which a Scout promises to obey the Scout Law
Read More‘to have death adders in one’s pocket’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1930—describes a person who is reluctant, or very slow, to pay for something—the image is of a snake biting the person when they put their hand in their pocket to get at their money
Read More‘(white) rabbit(s)’: a British good-luck incantation
According to superstition, if on waking on the first morning of a month one mutters to oneself ‘(white) rabbit(s)’ three times before speaking to anyone, then one will have good luck during the whole month.
Read More‘calves’ heads are best hot’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1823 as ‘calf’s head is best hot’, defined by John Badcock as “the apology for one of those who made no bones of dining with his topper on” in Slang. A Dictionary of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, the Pit, of Bon-ton, and the Varieties of Life
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