‘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
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‘as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike’: meaning and early occurrences
This phrase means ‘utterly useless’. The earliest occurrences that I have found are British English (from 1981 onwards) and Australian English (from 1983 onwards).
Read More‘to get off at Redfern’ (to practise coitus interruptus)
Australia, 1967—Redfern: a train station positioned one stop before Sydney Central Station—British-English regional variations include, in Newcastle upon Tyne: ‘to get out at Gateshead’
Read More‘the man outside Hoyt’s’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1935—a person with extensive knowledge—originally the announcer outside Hoyt’s Theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, who wore a most elaborate uniform
Read More‘too thick to drink and too thin to plow’
U.S.—used in reference to several muddy rivers, and, occasionally, to other waterbodies—originally (1890 to 1902) used in reference to the Missouri River
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‘stick it up your jumper’: meaning and origin
UK, 1968—British and Australian: expresses indifference towards, or rejection of, a suggestion—from ‘Umpa, Umpa, Stick It Up Your Jumper’, a song recorded in 1935 by The Two Leslies (Leslie Sarony and Leslie Holmes)
Read More‘the things I’ve done for England’: meaning and origin
conveys derisive self-congratulation for an action that the speaker has done from a sense of duty rather than for pleasure—from a line uttered by Charles Laughton in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII
Read More‘don’t laugh—your daughter may be inside’
USA, 1938: painted by teenagers on the dilapidated old cars they drove—Australia, 1948: painted on cars, too, but, apparently, not specifically by teenagers—later, on bumper stickers
Read More‘don’t argue’: meaning and origin of this rugby phrase
Australia, 1914—the straight-arm fend-off—from advertisements for J. C. Hutton Pty Ltd, depicting a man putting a hand in another man’s face and saying “Don’t argue—Hutton’s bacon is the best”
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