“ad fontes!”
theatre—a typical entrance or exit line given to a young man in a superficial drawing-room comedy—USA 1934—but 1908 in a short story evoking the pastimes of members of the leisured class during a stay at a country house
Read MoreAmerican English, 1823—meaning: if one is falsely reputed to act in a specific manner, then one may as well act in that manner
Read Moredirty fingernails—1906—British and Irish English—but the comparison between the dirt edging the fingernails and the black border edging mourning paper dates back to the 19th century
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originally applied to someone’s absence—Australia, 1945—originated in 1940s advertisements for Gowings, showing scenes vacated in a hurry by those seeking bargains
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USA, 1944—was used when a cattle-owner let the autumn book tally stand all winter and sold out the herd on that basis, no matter how many head froze or got stolen over winter
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U.S. underworld phrase, 1931—The image is of a man whose hat is only a six-incher, but who needs a fifty-inch chest measurement in shirts.
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USA and Australia respectively—from a joke about robbers threatening to kiss every woman on the train/coach: when a gentleman asks them not to, a lady protests ‘who’s robbing this train/coach?’
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writing is more effective than military power or violence—UK, 1832—often erroneously ascribed to E. Bulwer-Lytton in ‘Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy’ (1839)
Read Morepersonifies the highest degree of disability or incompetence—Sydney, Australia, 1910s—variant, probably referring to a local individual, of the earlier synonymous phrase ‘blind man’
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U.S. slang, 2005—a gesture consisting in placing one hand on top of the other and wiggling the thumbs, made to reduce embarrassment
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word histories 