Ireland, 1809—the Wednesday before Easter—refers to the day on which Judas Iscariot formed the intent to betray Jesus—‘spy’ denotes ‘one who spies upon, or watches, a person or persons secretly’, because, from Wednesday onwards, Judas Iscariot secretly sought an opportunity to deliver Jesus to the Jewish authorities
Read MoreUK, 1773—physical cleanliness betokens spiritual purity, i.e., cleanliness proceeds from piety—apparently, this phrase is erroneously ascribed to the English preacher and co-founder of Methodism John Wesley
Read MoreUSA, 1871—The phrase ‘a whale of a (good) time’ denotes a hugely enjoyable time, and alludes to the enormousness of whales.
Read MoreUK, 1844—extreme meanness never made anyone better off—compare Book of Proverbs, 11:24: “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.”
Read Morebe 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 MoreUSA, 1868—coined by U.S. critic Richard Grant White (1822-1885) to denote a word or expression whose original acceptation (preserved in U.S. English) was changed to one that he regarded as debased
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UK, 1906—used by a workman asked to lift too heavy an object—‘Simpson’ chosen for its similarity with ‘Samson’, the name of a biblical hero of enormous strength
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USA, 1885—humorous alteration of ‘many are called (but) few are chosen’, which refers to The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (gospel of Matthew, 20:1-16)
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16th century—exclamation of annoyance at the reappearance of someone or something—from bear-leaders’ regular visits or from story of Elisha and the bears
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UK, 18th and 19th centuries—‘trunkmaker’ was often employed with allusion to the use of the sheets of unsaleable books for trunk-linings
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