‘jukebox’: meaning and origin
a coin-operated phonograph (typically in a gaudy, illuminated cabinet) having a variety of records that can be selected by push button—USA, 1939—earlier appellation: jook organ (Florida, 1937)
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‘flopbuster’: meaning and origin
a film which fails to achieve the commercial success that was expected—UK, 1986—from ‘flop’ (a failure) and ‘-buster’ in ‘blockbuster’ (a film which achieves great commercial success)
Read More‘blue flu’: meaning and origin
absenteeism among police officers (and by extension other workers) who claim to be ill but are in fact absent to support union contract demands or negotiations—USA, 1967—alludes to the traditional colour of police uniforms
Read More‘light at the end of the tunnel’: meaning and origin
a long-awaited sign that a period of hardship or adversity is nearing an end—UK, 1862—the image is of a railway tunnel, and the phrase has been used literally
Read More‘Micawberism’: meaning and origin
irresponsible or unfounded optimism—1857, apparently coined by Charles Dickens—refers to Wilkins Micawber, a character in Dickens’s novel David Copperfield (1850)
Read More‘bob-a-job’: meaning and origin
UK, 1944—the slogan of the Boy Scout Association’s effort to raise money for funds by doing jobs, originally at a shilling a time
Read More‘Butskellism’: meanings and origin
UK, 1954—the economic policy of Rab Butler, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951-5), regarded as largely indistinguishable from that of Hugh Gaitskell, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer (1950-1)—blend of ‘Butler’ and ‘Gaitskell’ plus suffix ‘-ism’
Read Moreto be caught with one’s pants down’: meaning and origin
to be caught off-guard; to be surprised in an embarrassing or compromising situation—USA, 1886
Read More‘to throw someone under the bus’: meaning and origin
to abandon or betray someone in order to protect or advance one’s own interests—originally (British politics, 1971) ‘to push someone under a bus’—derived from ‘to walk under a bus’ (British politics, 1966)
Read More‘the balloon goes up’: meaning and origin
the action, excitement or trouble starts—USA, late 19th century—originally alluded to the release of a balloon to mark an event
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