“ad fontes!”
USA, 1983—an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to enhance memorability or as a fanciful explanation of a word’s origin—blend of the adjective ‘back’ and of the noun ‘acronym’
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a sample text beginning with ‘lorem ipsum’, based on jumbled elements from Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum—‘lorem ipsum’: arbitrary clipping of the first syllable of ‘dolorem ipsum’ in Cicero’s text
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UK, 1822—of a member of parliament: to join the party opposed to one’s present party—also to vote against one’s own party; to change sides on an issue—from the practice whereby a member of parliament literally crosses the floor to join another party
Read MoreAustralia, 1863—originally referred to any chain of communications by which bushrangers were warned of police movements—soon extended to any rapid informal network by which information, rumour, gossip, etc., is spread
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Australia, 1927—very drunk; sated with food—‘goog’, Australian-English slang for an egg, was perhaps formed on the sense of ‘gog’ in ‘goosgog’, denoting a gooseberry
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Australia—familiar name of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Sydney—‘Jesus’ refers to the fact that the hospital is operated by a religious organisation—‘Hilton’ alludes to the hospital’s plushness
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Australia, 1966—typically Australian in character—alteration of the phrase ‘as American as apple pie’, with reference to the prominence of meat pie in Australian diet
Read MoreAustralia, 1918—dazed and uncomprehending—from the image of a mullet that has been stunned
Read MoreAustralia, 1982—a stretch of Oxford Street, in Sydney, which is the city’s main gay district—refers to the use of Vaseline to ease anal intercourse, and based on the alliteration in /v/
Read MoreAustralia, 1876—a person drinking alone at a bar; a drink taken alone—origin unknown—perhaps related to ‘Johnny Warder’, denoting “an idle drunkard who hangs about pub corners looking for a drink”
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