“ad fontes!”
to engage in pointless or futile activity in the face of disaster—USA, 1969—apparently first used, and perhaps coined, by Elizabeth Carpenter, press secretary for the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson
Read Morethe principle that, where an effective legal system is absent or does not apply, brute strength and self-interested ruthlessness are what determine success, ownership, etc.—USA, 1878—predates Kipling’s Jungle book
Read MoreCanada, 1985—one who is born into the Anglican Church (i.e., an Anglican ‘from the cradle’)
Read MoreUK, 1930—one who is born into the Roman Catholic Church (i.e., a Catholic ‘from the cradle’)
Read More1546—of little or no worth—here, ‘pudding’ refers to a sausage-like mass of seasoned minced meat, oatmeal, etc., stuffed into a prepared skin and boiled
Read Morethe earliest occurrences of ‘feet of clay’, used without explicit reference to the Bible, date from the French Revolution (1789-1799) and translate French ‘pieds d’argile’
Read Morethe fatty extremity of the rump of a goose, fowl, etc.—so called from the resemblance of this fatty extremity to the human nose—UK, 1826—earlier synonym: ‘pope’s nose’ (UK, 1788)
Read MoreUK, 1828: an extremely severe clerical schoolmaster—Australia, 1885: any extremely severe magistrate, originally in reference to Parramatta magistrate Samuel Marsden (1765-1838)
Read Morea sly, treacherous or deceitful person, especially one who is secretly acting against the interests of the community or organisation to which he or she belongs—mid-19th century
Read Morea person who overestimates their own influence—1661—alludes to the fable of a fly sitting on the axletree of a moving chariot and saying, “See what a dust I raise”
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