meaning and origin of ‘Matthew effect’ and of ‘Matthew principle’
USA, 1960s—those who already have will receive more—refers to gospel of Matthew—coined by sociologist Robert King Merton
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the authentic origin of the phrase ‘(as) bold as brass’
UK, 1789—aided by alliteration, arose from a long-established figurative use of ‘brass’, sometimes in association with ‘bold’
Read More‘trickle-down theory’ and ‘crumbs from a rich man’s table’
‘crumbs from a rich man’s table’—late 18th century—from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the gospel of Luke, 16:19-31
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to bow (down) in the house of Rimmon’
1718—to sacrifice one’s principles for the sake of conformity—from 2 Kings, where Naaman seeks permission from Elisha to worship the Aramaean god Rimmon
Read More‘to give up the ghost’ (to breathe one’s last)
attested in the Later Version (1395) of the Wycliffe Bible—‘ghost’ means ‘the soul or spirit, as the principle of life’
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to raise Cain’
to create trouble or a commotion—USA, 1840—a euphemism for synonymous phrases such as ‘to raise the Devil’ and ‘to raise hell’—from the name of the eldest son of Adam and Eve and murderer of his brother Abel
Read MoreWerewolves were originally in the service of Satan.
Old English ‘werewulf’ (first element identified with Old English ‘wer’, ‘man’) first used for ‘wolf’ to denote a person serving Satan (cf. Gospel of Matthew “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves”)
Read Moreoriginal sense of ‘chop and change’: ‘barter and exchange’
The phrase to chop and change means to change one’s opinions or behaviour repeatedly and abruptly. Here, chop originally meant to barter, and change meant to make an exchange with; in other words, this was an alliterative repetitive expression, the two verbs having roughly the same meaning (cf. also, for example, the alliterative phrase to be part and […]
Read Morethe supposed origin of ‘to have one’s work cut out’: tailoring
supposedly an allusion to the preparation of fabric to be worked on: once the shapes have been cut out, the tailor still has a lot of sewing to do
Read Morethe devotional origin of ‘lip service’
First recorded in 1590, the term ‘lip service’ originally referred to prayer as a mere formal practice, as a sort of mechanical physical exercise.
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