‘the pen is mightier than the sword’: meaning and early occurrences
writing is more effective than military power or violence—UK, 1832—often erroneously ascribed to E. Bulwer-Lytton in ‘Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy’ (1839)
Read MoreTag: folk etymology
‘storm on Channel—Continent isolated’: meaning and early occurrences
satirical of British insularity (describes Continental Europe as being cut off from the British Isles)—UK 1930, USA 1931—allegedly originated in a newspaper headline, but this is probably apocryphal
Read More‘stop the world, I want to get off’: meaning and early occurrences
I’m tired of life (but intended serio-ironically, not in genuine despair)—USA 1951, UK 1956—popularised by ‘Stop the World—I Want to Get Off’, a 1961 British musical
Read Morenotes on the phrase ‘black over Bill’s mother’s’
UK—applied to dark clouds looming—originally (1927) ‘over Will’s mother’s’ denoted the west—origin unknown
Read More‘why is a mouse when it spins? because the higher the fewer’
nonsensical question and answer—UK 1892—USA 1893—the question has been used to treat someone or something as unworthy of serious consideration
Read More‘to play billiards well is a sign of a misspent youth’
UK, 1884—often erroneously attributed to philosopher Herbert Spencer, who said he only repeated an assertion made by a friend of his, Charles Roupell
Read More‘a bird cannot fly on one wing’: meaning and origin
USA, 1902—jocularly used to justify the necessity of taking another alcoholic drink—Irish variant (1947): ‘a bird never flew on one wing’
Read Morehistory of ‘money tree’ and ‘to shake the money tree’
‘money tree’ (UK, 1749): a source of easily obtained or unlimited money—‘to shake the money tree’ (UK, 1851)—related to proverb ‘money does not grow on trees’
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘close your eyes and think of England’
France, 1954: purported advice given to English brides-to-be on how to cope with unwanted but inevitable sexual intercourse—but this occurs in a humoristic book
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘back to square one’
UK, 1952—back to where one started, with no progress having been made—refers to the game of snakes and ladders
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