‘not worth a pudding’: meaning and early occurrences
1546—of little or no worth—here, ‘pudding’ refers to a sausage-like mass of seasoned minced meat, oatmeal, etc., stuffed into a prepared skin and boiled
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‘not a word of the pudding’: meaning and early occurrences
1666—a warning or exhortation to say nothing about a particular matter—of unknown origin—may allude to the mysterious nature of pudding stuffing
Read More‘al desko’: meaning and origin
USA, 1981—adverb meaning: at one’s desk—especially used with reference to eating lunch or other meals there—humorous alteration of ‘al fresco’
Read More‘bag stuffer’: meaning and origin
USA, 1950, as ‘shopping-bag stuffer’—an advertising leaflet or similar piece of promotional material handed out to shoppers or placed in shopping bags alongside goods purchased
Read More‘parson’s nose’: meaning and origin
the fatty extremity of the rump of a goose, fowl, etc.—so called from the resemblance of this fatty extremity to the human nose—UK, 1826—earlier synonym: ‘pope’s nose’ (UK, 1788)
Read More‘ugly sister(s)’: meaning and origin
UK, 1851—a person (or persons) or a thing (or things) considered unattractive, inferior or unpleasant, compared to others of the same type or group—alludes to Cinderella’s ugly and unpleasant stepsisters in the fairy tale Cinderella
Read More‘skin and grief’: meaning and origin
British, 1771—as an adjective: emaciated; weak and starving—as a noun: an emaciated or starving person
Read More‘every herring must hang by its own gill’: meaning and origin
everyone is accountable for their own actions—17th century—may refer to herrings being hung when up for sale (that is to say: every piece of merchandise must sell on its own merits)
Read More‘like herrings in a barrel’: meaning and origin
crowded or confined tightly together—Britain, 1706—in early use, this phrase often referred to the transatlantic slave trade
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
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