“ad fontes!”
a person exercising an insidious or corrupting influence, especially over a ruler, government, etc.—UK, 1917—refers to Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (circa 1869-1916), mystic and influential favourite at the court of Tsar Nicholas II
Read More1625—an imminent danger—alludes to Damocles, a courtier of ancient Syracuse, who was given a lesson in the perils to a ruler’s life when forced to sit under a naked sword hanging by a single hair
Read MoreUK, 1833: a small castle-like structure made of wet sand, as by children on a beach—UK, 1837: a plan or idea with little substance
Read MoreUK, 1827—a mood or attitude appropriate to the Christmas season, especially one involving feelings of goodwill, benevolence and a willingness to enjoy oneself
Read MoreUK, 1867—a disastrous or particularly unpleasant year—Latin, literally ‘a horrible year’—coined after Latin ‘annus mirabilis’, literally ‘an extraordinary year’
Read MoreBritain, 1746—refers to old-fashioned medicinal remedies—notably used by Charles Dickens in ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’ (1838-39)
Read Morewithout pressure from, or partiality to, any person or other external influence—1638, as a translation of French ‘sans crainte et sans respect’ (‘without fear and without respect’)
Read More1673—a person who aggravates distress under the guise of administering comfort—alludes to Job’s reply to his friends in the Book of Job, 16:2
Read More1962: a type of popular music that is rapidly discarded—also, 1967: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, regarded as a lachrymose piece of music by Igor Stravinsky—‘Kleenex’: a proprietary name for a soft, disposable paper tissue
Read MoreUK, 1836—that’s a surprisingly unfair criticism, considering that the person who has just made it has the same fault—here, ‘rich’ means ‘preposterous’, ‘outrageous’
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word histories 