origin of the phrase ‘the best thing since sliced bread’
After ready-sliced bread was introduced, improvements in the baking industry were assessed by comparison with it—hence the figurative use of ‘since sliced bread’
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origin of the Irish-English phrase ‘up the pole’ (‘pregnant’)
probably refers to pregnancy as an awkward condition, the image being apparently of an uncomfortable position at the top of a pole
Read Morethe tautological phrase ‘in this day and age’
‘in this day and age’ (‘at the present time’)—USA, 1832—tautology, that is to say, ‘day’ and ‘age’ are synonymous, ‘day’ meaning ‘a period of time’
Read Moreorigin of ‘hatchet man’: a hired Chinese assassin
USA—‘hatchet man’ (1874): a hired Chinese assassin using a hatchet or cleaver—‘hatchet work’ (1895): a murder carried out by a hatchet man
Read Morethe Communist origin of ‘to vote with one’s feet’
UK, 1934—image said to have been first used by Lenin about the Russian soldiers who were abandoning the war during the Russian Revolution of 1917
Read Morethe curious origin of ‘the mind boggles’
primary meaning of ‘boggle’ was ‘to start with fright’, originally with reference to horses—probably related to the nouns ‘bogle’ and ‘bogey’, denoting an evil spirit such as horses are reputed to see
Read Moreorigin of ‘to know where the bodies are buried’
‘to know where the bodies are buried’: to have personal knowledge of the secrets or confidential affairs of an organisation or individual—USA, 1928, as ‘to know where the body is buried’
Read Morethe cinematographic origin of ‘boy meets girl’
used with reference to a conventional or idealised romance—originated (USA, 1931) in cinematographic plot summaries in which ‘boy meets girl’ featured
Read Moreorigin of ‘Stepford’ (robotically conformist or obedient)
robotically conformist or obedient—from The Stepford Wives (1972 novel by Ira Levin and 1975 film adaptation by Bryan Forbes), in which Stepford is the name of a superficially idyllic suburb where the men have replaced their wives with obedient robots
Read More‘gung ho’ and American admiration for communist China
from Chinese ‘gōnghé’, short for ‘Zhōngguó Gōngyè Hézuò Shè’ (Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society)—interpreted as a slogan meaning ‘work together’ (USA, 1941)—adopted by Evans F. Carlson, commander of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion (1942)
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