word histories

“Ad fontes!”

‘to out-Herod Herod’ | ‘to out-Zola Zola’

12th Oct 2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

the phrases built on the pattern ‘to out-X X’, in which ‘X’ is a person’s name, mean to be superior to X in his or her characteristics—the prefix ‘out-’ has been used to form verbs conveying the sense of surpassing, exceeding or beating in the action described by the simple verb

‘if my aunt had balls’ | ‘si ma tante en avait’

1st Sep 2020.Reading time 18 minutes.

used to rebuke an unrealistic conditional—USA, 1808: ‘if my aunt had been my uncle, what would have been her gender?’—France, 1843: ‘si ma tante était un homme, ça serait mon oncle’ (‘if my aunt were a man, that would be my uncle’)