‘Hob Collingwood’: meaning and early occurrences
in the game of whist: the four of hearts, considered as an unlucky card—southeastern Scotland and northeastern England, early 19th century—origin unknown
Read MoreTag: folk etymology
‘Mother of Parliaments’: meanings and origin
England; also: the British Parliament—UK, 1857—popularised in 1865 by the British politician John Bright
Read More‘(as) thick as herrings’: meaning and origin
said of a great number of persons or things, especially when pressed against one another—UK, 1776—refers to herrings in a barrel
Read More‘to have come down in the last shower’: meaning and origin
New Zealand, 1877, & Australia, 1878—to be inexperienced, to be gullible
Read MoreIs ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’?
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read More‘Z-car’: meaning and origin
a police patrol car—UK, 1959—originally any of the special crime police patrol cars used in Lancashire—from the radio call-sign ‘Z’ allotted to such cars—popularised by the British television series ‘Z Cars’ (1962-78)
Read Moreadditional notes on ‘Hobson’s choice’
an early account of a forced choice from a number of horses, associated with William Hobson (died 1581), a London haberdasher—itself adapted from earlier accounts, in which the main protagonist remained unnamed
Read More‘what do you think this is, bush week?’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1938—an indignant response to someone who is taking the speaker for a fool—alludes to the condescending way in which townspeople treated people from the country during bush week (i.e., a festival held in a town or city, celebrating bush produce, activities, etc.)
Read More‘blue funk’ (American usage)
a state of depression or despair—1893—a shift in meaning of the British-English expression ‘blue funk’, denoting a state of extreme nervousness or dread (the original meaning in American English)
Read More‘wheelie bin’: meaning and origin
UK, 1983—a large, rectangular dustbin with a hinged lid and wheels on two of the corners—bins on wheels were introduced into the United Kingdom in 1980 on the model of what was done in the Federal Republic of Germany
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