‘like a stunned mullet’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1918—dazed and uncomprehending—from the image of a mullet that has been stunned
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‘can a moose crochet?’: meaning and origin
USA, 1967—emphatic negative phrase meaning ‘well, hardly’ or ‘no, that’s impossible’—used as the title of a jazz piece composed by Johnny Hodges—said to be a folk phrase that he had heard “out West”
Read More‘Malley’s cow’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1951—used of someone who has departed and left no indication of their present whereabouts—purportedly from the story of one Malley, who was told by his boss to hold a cow; on the boss’s return, the cow had disappeared, and Malley said “She’s a goner!”
Read More‘(as) fit as a mallee bull’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1960—very fit and well, in robust health—the image is of a bull strengthened by his living in one of the semi-desert areas of Australia in which the principal vegetation is mallee, i.e., low-growing bushy eucalyptus
Read More‘keep your eye on the sparrow’: meaning and origin
be totally focused on your objective—USA — already well established in 1932—originated in the image of God’s watchful eye upon the sparrow, with reference to the gospel of Matthew, 10:29-32
Read More‘a fox in a forest fire’: meanings and origin
USA, 1931—originated in sporting parlance—emphasises the meaning of the adjective it immediately follows—that adjective usually is ‘hot’ (used literally or figuratively) or describes agitation, erraticism
Read More‘I hope your rabbit dies’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1918—a malediction, typically uttered as a parting shot after a quarrel—seems to have originated as one child’s threat to another—the reason the word ‘rabbit’ was chosen is unknown
Read More‘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
Read More‘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.”
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