“ad fontes!”
Ireland, 1891—used in negative contexts to denote rejection, especially in ‘not for all the tea in China’, meaning ‘not in any circumstances’—refers to China as a major producer of tea, and to tea as a commodity of great value
Read MoreAustralia, 1846—the name of a coarse green tea drunk in the bush—this name referred to the colour of this tea and to its awful taste
Read Morehumorous variant of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’—USA, 1938—used in particular to play on the surnames ‘Mead’ and ‘Meade’
Read Morea person who struggles for a livelihood, and who displays great determination in so doing—Australia, 1974—originally applied to the Australian television host, radio presenter and singer Ernie Sigley
Read Moredrunk—Australia, 1983—refers to Bourke Street, one of the main streets in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria—in Australian English, the adjective ‘full’ is used in various phrases referring to drunkenness
Read Morea wine, or a vintage, produced in a year in which a notable comet appeared, and therefore thought to be of superior quality—UK—‘comet wine’ 1817—‘comet vintage’ 1819
Read Moreto vomit from drunkenness—U.S. students’ slang, 1980—likens the position of the hands of a person holding onto the sides of a toilet bowl while vomiting therein, to that of a bus driver’s hands holding the steering wheel
Read Morea drink consisting of vodka and Clamato juice—Canada, 1969—coined after ‘Bloody Mary’—this drink is said to have been invented by bartender Walter Chell
Read MoreUK—anything which discourages or inhibits sexual activity—originally (1943, British military slang): the sturdy, practical and unattractive underwear issued to female service personnel
Read MoreAustralia, 1927—alteration of ‘blanc’ in French ‘vin blanc’ (‘white wine’)—via rhyming slang forms such as ‘plinketty-plonk’, from phrases such as ‘vin blank’ in the slang of soldiers stationed in France during WWI
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word histories 