‘mugshot’: meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 1935—a photograph of a person’s face, especially in police or other official records—from ‘mug’ (a person’s face) and ‘shot’ (a single photographic exposure)
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‘rumpy-pumpy’: meaning and origin
sexual intercourse—Scotland, 1968—reduplication (with variation of the initial consonant and addition of the suffix ‘-y’) of the noun ‘rump’, denoting a person’s buttocks
Read More‘blockbuster’: meanings and origin
USA, 1942: a large aerial bomb that can destroy a whole block of buildings—USA, 1942: a thing of enormous impact, power or size
Read More‘cliffhanger’: meanings, origin and early occurrences
a suspenseful ending to an episode of a serial; the serial itself—USA, early 1930s—originally referred to serials which ended episodes with their protagonists literally hanging from cliffs, or in similarly dangerous situations
Read More‘flopbuster’: meaning and origin
a film which fails to achieve the commercial success that was expected—UK, 1986—from ‘flop’ (a failure) and ‘-buster’ in ‘blockbuster’ (a film which achieves great commercial success)
Read More‘to walk like an Egyptian’: meaning and origin
to walk with arms extended, elbows and wrists bent at right angles, one arm up, one down—1962 in To Kill a Mockingbird—refers to the representation of the human body by the ancient Egyptians
Read More‘to hang someone out to dry’: meaning and origin
to put someone in a difficult, vulnerable or compromising situation, especially by exposing them to blame—USA, 1945, sports—the image is of suspending wet washing in the open so that it can dry
Read More‘tinfoil hat’ (used in relation to protection)
alludes to the belief that such a hat or cap protects the wearer from mind control, surveillance or similar types of threat—USA, 1972 as ‘tinfoil-lined hat’
Read More‘passion-killer’: meanings and origin
UK—anything which discourages or inhibits sexual activity—originally (1943, British military slang): the sturdy, practical and unattractive underwear issued to female service personnel
Read More‘to (play) hide the salami’: meaning and origin
to have sexual intercourse—USA, second half of the 20th century—here, the noun ‘salami’ denotes the penis
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