the origin and various meanings of ‘buy me and stop one’
UK, 1970s: frequently scrawled on contraceptive-vending devices in public conveniences—reversal of ‘stop me and buy one’, Wall’s Ice Cream advertising slogan
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meaning and history of ‘good enough for Punch’
UK, 1872—used of a very funny joke or real-life event—refers to ‘Punch or the London Charivari’, a British weekly magazine of humour and satire
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘only here for the beer’
UK Ireland—only here for a bit of fun—from “I’m only here for the beer. It’s Double Diamond”, advertising slogan for Double Diamond pale ale from 1969 onwards
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Poona’ as applied to army officers
UK, 1930s—the reactionary opinions and pompous manner of the army officers who had been stationed at Poona, a military and administrative centre in India
Read Moreearly occurrences of the phrase ‘a nail in the coffin’
something that hastens, or contributes to, the end of the person or thing referred to—USA, 1805 in an open letter by the English political writer Thomas Paine
Read Moremeanings of the Irish-English phrase ‘like snuff at a wake’
1844—various senses, especially ‘hither and thither’ and ‘lavishly’—from the custom of sharing snuff during a vigil held beside the body of someone who has died
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 second-earliest mentions of a drink called ‘cocktail’
USA, 1803—associated with a lounger—precise meaning of ‘cocktail’ is not defined, but the word denotes an alcoholic drink apparently taken as hair of the dog
Read Moremeanings and origin of the British phrase ‘gin and Jaguar’
1963—refers to the wealthy English middle-class people, characterised as drinking gin and driving luxury cars such as Jaguars, and to the areas where they live
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
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