meaning and origin of the phrase ‘not to know — from a bar of soap’
to be completely unacquainted with someone or something—most earliest uses (late 19th century) in U.S. publications, but a few in Australian publications
Read MoreTag: dictionaries
meaning and history of the phrase ‘feed the brute’
nourish your husband—1882 in ‘Vanity Fair’ (London)—popularised in 1885 by a cartoon by George du Maurier, published in ‘Punch, or the London Charivari’
Read Morethe origin and various meanings of ‘Macready pause’
UK, 1842—theatre: a long pause during the delivery of a speech—refers to the English actor William Macready (1793-1873), who was given to making long pauses
Read Morenotes on the British phrase ‘some mothers do have ’em’
1941—expresses exasperation or derision at a clumsy, erratic or idiotic person—popularised by Jimmy Clitheroe in his radio programme The Clitheroe Kid (1958-72)
Read More1806: earliest definition of ‘cocktail’ (mixed drink with a spirit base)
13 May 1806—The Balance, and Columbian Repository (Hudson, New York, USA)—“a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters”
Read Morenotes on the earliest mention of a drink called ‘cocktail’
UK, 1798—‘cocktail’ explained as being “vulgarly called ginger”—perhaps from the use of ‘ginger’ to denote a cock with red plumage
Read Moremeaning and history of ‘spring forward, fall back’
USA, 1936—serves as a mnemonic for remembering to set the clocks when daylight-saving time comes into effect and when it ends
Read Moremeanings and history of ‘the usual suspects’
USA, 1932—originally used of the impunity enjoyed by gangsters when one of them was murdered—therefore, did not originate in the 1942 film Casablanca
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘Judas sheep’ and ‘Judas goat’
USA, early 20th century—a sheep or a goat used to lead sheep to slaughter—hence any person or thing used as a decoy to lure people into being caught, arrested, etc.
Read More‘the beast with two backs’ | ‘la bête à deux dos’
a man and woman in the act of copulation—English: earliest in Shakespeare’s Othello—perhaps a calque of French: earliest in Rabelais’s Gargantua (1542)
Read More