‘the pen is mightier than the sword’: meaning and early occurrences
writing is more effective than military power or violence—UK, 1832—often erroneously ascribed to E. Bulwer-Lytton in ‘Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy’ (1839)
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‘blind Freddy’: meaning and origin
personifies the highest degree of disability or incompetence—Sydney, Australia, 1910s—variant, probably referring to a local individual, of the earlier synonymous phrase ‘blind man’
Read Moremeaning of the phrase ‘awkward turtle’
U.S. slang, 2005—a gesture consisting in placing one hand on top of the other and wiggling the thumbs, made to reduce embarrassment
Read More‘Coggeshall job’: meaning and origin
any muddle-headed business—UK, 1813—the stupidity of the people of Coggeshall, a small town in Essex, England, has been proverbial since the mid-17th century
Read Morenotes on ‘choke, chicken: more are hatching’
said to console a child choking over his or her food—UK, obsolete—first recorded in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738), by Jonathan Swift
Read More19th-century nicknames for London newspapers
The Times: nicknamed Thunderer—the Morning Advertiser: Gin-and-Gospel Gazette, Tap-tub—The Morning Post: Jeames—The Morning Herald and The Standard: respectively Mrs Harris and Mrs Gamp
Read More‘to tap the Admiral’: meaning and early occurrences
applied to someone who will drink anything—UK, 1790—from the tale of the sailor(s) who stole spirits from the cask in which a dead Admiral was being preserved for interment in England
Read Morenotes on the phrase ‘black over Bill’s mother’s’
UK—applied to dark clouds looming—originally (1927) ‘over Will’s mother’s’ denoted the west—origin unknown
Read More‘anything for a quiet wife’ | ‘anything for a quiet life’
‘anything for a quiet wife’ (1875)—jocular variant of ‘anything for a quiet life’ (ca. 1620), which expresses concession or resigned agreement, to ensure one is not disturbed
Read More‘one’s trumpeter is dead’: meaning and origin
to praise oneself—first used by Benjamin Franklin in 1729—the image is that, when one’s trumpeter is dead, one is forced to find one’s own trumpet
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