‘Flypaper Act’ | ‘to be under, or on, the flypaper’
UK slang, 1906—‘Flypaper Act’: the Prevention of Crimes Act—‘to be under, or on, the flypaper’: to be subject to the Prevention of Crimes Act
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‘the squire has been foully murdered’: meaning, origin
UK, 1918—popular among British soldiers during WWI—satirises “the squire has been foully murdered”, a topos from late-Victorian and Edwardian melodrama
Read More‘God bless the Duke of Argyll’: meaning and origin
UK, 1825—the Scots, allegedly verminous, were said to rub themselves against posts erected by the Duke of Argyll and to bless the Duke when doing so
Read More‘men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses’
USA—from two-line poem ‘News Item’ (1926), by Dorothy Parker—has given rise to jocular variants, especially playing on ‘glasses’ (eyewear/drinking containers)
Read More‘a fool at one end and a fire at the other’: meaning and history
a cigar or a cigarette—USA, 1841—probably patterned on phrases such as ‘a fool at one end and a maggot at the other’, describing a fishing rod
Read Morea crude phrase: ‘to see a woman’s breakfast’
UK, 1973—refers to a woman’s breasts as revealed e.g. by a very low-cut dress, or to (the contours of) a woman’s genitals as revealed e.g. by a very short skirt
Read More‘I would not call the Queen my aunt’: meaning and history
I am happy with my situation (so much so that even becoming royalty could not improve on it)—UK, 1843 as ‘I would not give sixpence to call the Queen my aunt’
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘are you there with your bears?’
16th century—exclamation of annoyance at the reappearance of someone or something—from bear-leaders’ regular visits or from story of Elisha and the bears
Read More‘booze cruise’ #2: a British acceptation
1980—a brief excursion by ferry from Britain to France for the purposes of buying cheap alcohol, cigarettes, etc.—soon extended to a trip by coach, rail or car
Read More‘booze cruise’ #1: a Scottish acceptation
1950—Sunday trip by car or bus, making use of the bona fide clause in licensing laws, by which non-residents got alcohol—coined by Scottish novelist George Blake
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