a hypothesis as to the origin of ‘to get down to brass tacks’
USA, 1868—‘brass tacks’: the nails studded over a coffin, hence figuratively the end of any possibility of deceit, the return to essentials
Read MoreTag: Christianity
origin of the term ‘brass monkey’ (extremely cold weather)
USA, 1838—used with reference to extreme cold, extreme heat and other notions such as ridiculousness—from jocular allusions to brass statuettes of monkeys
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘alive and well (and living in ——)’
‘alive and well’ (ca 1590): still existing or active—‘alive and well and living in ——’ (1834): originally referring to persons thought to have been murdered
Read Moreorigin and meanings of ‘shotgun wedding’, or ‘shotgun marriage’
USA, 1878—an enforced wedding—from the fact that, on occasions, men were actually coerced at gunpoint into marriage
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to grasp the nettle’
from the idea that it takes some pluck to put to the test the belief that a nettle stings less painfully when seized tightly than when touched lightly
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘Benjamin’s portion’
UK, 1753—the largest share—alludes to Genesis, 43:34, where Benjamin receives the largest portion of food from his brother Joseph
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘the law of the Medes and Persians’
England, 1627—something which cannot be altered—refers to the unalterableness of the law of the Medes and Persians in the Book of Daniel, 6
Read Moremeanings and early instances of ‘alive and kicking’
UK, 1807—(of someone) active and in good health—(of something) prevalent and very active
Read Morethe coinage of an Irish political term: ‘whataboutery’
1974—coined by the Irish journalist John Healy with reference to the Troubles in Northern Ireland
Read Moreorigin and sense development of Anglo-Irish ‘bejesus’
1825, Anglo-Irish alteration of ‘by Jesus’—1867 as one word—‘the bejesus out of’ (1931) intensifies the action conveyed by the preceding verb
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