“ad fontes!”
Somerset, England, 1931—‘punkie (lantern)’: a lantern made by setting a candle in a hollowed-out mangel-wurzel—‘punkie night’: a night, in late October, on which punkies are paraded—‘punkie’: perhaps an alteration of ‘pumpkin’
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USA, 1938: painted by teenagers on the dilapidated old cars they drove—Australia, 1948: painted on cars, too, but, apparently, not specifically by teenagers—later, on bumper stickers
Read MoreUSA, 1883—exclamation of surprise at seeing something or somebody unexpected—alludes to a hunter who will lament seeing all sorts of game when he goes out into the woods and fields without his gun
Read MoreAccording to superstition, if on waking on the first morning of a month one mutters to oneself ‘(white) rabbit(s)’ three times before speaking to anyone, then one will have good luck during the whole month.
Read MoreUK, 1862—originally said to children in order that they develop an upright posture—came to be humorously used when declining a proffered seat
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UK 1934 – USA 1935—alludes to a sardonic song by Cole Porter, about the lynching of an upper-class woman after she murders her unfaithful lover
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UK, 1851—a disappointing end to an otherwise exciting display—refers to the cleaning-up, especially of horse-dung, necessary after the Lord Mayor’s Show, in London
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great vitality, enthusiasm and liveliness—UK, 1922—originally (from 1921 onwards) used in the advertisements for Kruschen Salts
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one is experiencing remarkably good fortune; one has everything one could have wished or hoped for—Australia, 1932
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1) a seemingly devout or respectable person who lacks virtue—2) (with a pun on ‘holey’, i.e., full of holes) jocularly applied to holey things such as clothes
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