meaning and origin of ‘nothing to write home about’
USA, 1905—unremarkable or mediocre—based on the image of something that is worth writing to one’s friends or family at home about
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meaning and origin of ‘belt and braces’–‘belt and suspenders’
UK, 1948—USA, 1952—from the image of the over-cautious man who wears both a belt and braces/suspenders to hold up his trousers
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘plain Jane’
UK, 1898, in ‘plain Jane and no nonsense’—a dull or unattractive girl or woman—‘Jane’ chosen because it is common and rhymes with ‘plain’
Read Morethe cinematographic origin of the phrase ‘off the cuff’ (spontaneously)
USA, 1928—originally referred to scenario improvising during the silent-film era—the image is of notes written on a shirt-cuff
Read Morethe story of ‘John Lennon spectacles’
USA, 1967—metal-framed spectacles with small, round lenses—worn and popularised by the English singer, musician and songwriter John Lennon (1940-80)
Read More‘to get one’s knickers in a twist’: meaning and origin
(jocular) to become unduly agitated or angry—twisted clothing as a metaphor for mental confusion—UK, 1971, in the comic strip Andy Capp
Read More‘bedside manner’: originally applied to fashionable ladies’ doctors
UK, 1849—in the medical profession, appearances, among which a good bedside manner, prevailed over qualifications
Read Morethe tautological phrase ‘in this day and age’
‘in this day and age’ (‘at the present time’)—USA, 1832—tautology, that is to say, ‘day’ and ‘age’ are synonymous, ‘day’ meaning ‘a period of time’
Read More‘like a million dollars’ vs. ‘like thirty cents’
USA—‘to look, or to feel, (like) a million dollars’, or ‘(like) a million bucks’: to look, or to feel, extremely good, or extremely attractive (early 20th century)—sometimes used in contrast to ‘like thirty, or 30, cents’: cheap, worthless (late 19th century)
Read Moreadolescence: ‘the awkward age’ – ‘l’âge ingrat’
UK, 1832—‘the awkward age’: the adolescence, when one is no longer a child but not yet properly grown up, a time of life characterised by physical and emotional changes—translates in French as ‘l’âge ingrat’, ‘the thankless age’
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