meaning and origin of ‘to take the (King’s/Queen’s) shilling’
UK, 1707—‘to take the (King’s/Queen’s) shilling’: to sign up as a soldier, from the former practice of giving a shilling to a recruit when he enlisted
Read MoreTag: economics
meaning and origin of ‘all Lombard Street to a China orange’
UK (early form: 1763): a fanciful bet wagering the wealth that is available in Lombard Street—a centre of London banking—against something of trifling value
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘an albatross around one’s neck’
In allusion to The Tale of the Ancyent Marinere (1798), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: the albatross killed by the mariner is hung around his neck as punishment.
Read Moreorigin of the word ‘skinflint’
attested 1699—from the hyperbolical phrase ‘to skin a flint’ (1656)—cf. ‘to skin a flea for its hide and tallow’ and French ‘tondre un œuf’ (‘to shave an egg’)
Read Moreorigin of ‘to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’
alludes to the gift of a spoon to a child at its christening—1762 as ‘one man is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and another with a wooden ladle’
Read Moreorigin of ‘simon-pure’
1790—from the name of a Quaker who must prove his identity against an impostor’s claims in ‘A Bold Stroke for a Wife’ (1718), a comedy by Susanna Centlivre
Read Moreorigin of ‘sixty-four (thousand) dollar question’
US, 1941—originated in ‘Take It or Leave It’, a radio quiz for a prize of sixty-four dollars—developed to ‘sixty-four thousand dollar question’ as early as 1943
Read Morethe British use of ‘dole’
(British) benefit paid by the state to the unemployed (1919)—from Middle-English sense ‘food or money given in charity’—from primary sense ‘portion’, ‘share’
Read More‘To sell down the river’ originated in the history of American slavery.
This phrase originated in the history of American slavery: the river was the Mississippi and down implied the transfer of slaves from north to south.
Read Moremeanings of ‘Tom Tiddler’s ground’
a game in which the player who has the role of Tom Tiddler defends his territory against the others, who try to steal his money—hence a source of easy money
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