origin of ‘to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face’
history (and Latin and French equivalents) of ‘to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face’ (to carry out a vengeful action that hurts oneself more than another)
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origin of ‘the world is my oyster’
refers to the possibility of finding a pearl in an oyster—coined by Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor, perhaps in allusion to a proverb
Read Moresexual origin of ‘merrythought’ (‘wishbone’)
‘merrythought’, late 16th century— the forked bone between the neck and breast of a bird—so called from its resemblance to a woman’s external genitals
Read More‘no man’s land’ and three different types of death
‘no man’s land’—first a place of execution outside London; then a mass burial ground during the Black Death; later an unoccupied zone between opposing forces
Read Morethe long history of the word ‘blues’
‘blues’—from ‘blue’ (‘sorrowful’) and elliptically from ‘blue devils’ (‘depression’)—originally a metaphorical use of ‘blue’ (‘bruised’), as in ‘black and blue’
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘something nasty in the woodshed’
UK, 1930s—from Cold Comfort Farm (1932), by Stella Gibbons, in which a character exploits a traumatic childhood experience to exert control over her family
Read Morethe making of ‘omelette’
1611—from French ‘omelette’, ultimately an alteration of ‘lemelle’, ‘knife blade’ (from Latin ‘lamella’), with reference to the flattened shape of the dish
Read Morea linguistic investigation into hooliganism
UK, late 19th cent.—probably a rendering of an Irish patronym, based on stereotypes generated by Irish immigration to Britain and popularised by theatre
Read Moreorigin of ‘eavesdrop’
‘To eavesdrop’ originally referred to standing within the eavesdrop (the ground on to which water drips from the eaves of a house) in order to overhear what is going on inside.
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘ivory tower’ (‘tour d’ivoire’)
1837—used by Sainte-Beuve to describe French poet Vigny’s seclusion in a turret room and preoccupation with inspiration unconnected with practical matters
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