‘the cream of the crop’: meaning and origin
the best produce from a harvest—hence: the best of a group of people or things—UK, 1828—from ‘cream’ (i.e., the most excellent element or part)
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‘ice-cream headache’: meaning and origin
USA, 1892—severe but usually short-lived headache induced by the consumption of very cold food or drink
Read More‘ice-cream van’: meaning and origin
USA, 1874 & Britain, 1875: a commercial vehicle from which ice cream is sold, typically at the roadside—originally in Britain: typically at a fair
Read More‘horse doovers’: meaning and origin
UK, 1851, as ‘haw-doovers’—humorous and colloquial alteration of ‘hors d’oeuvres’, plural of the noun ‘hors d’oeuvre’ (i.e.: an extra dish served as a relish to whet the appetite usually before the main meal)
Read More‘to get caught with one’s hand in the cookie jar’: meaning and history
to get caught doing something wrong, unauthorised or illegal—USA, 1933
Read More‘not the only onion in the hash’: meaning and origin
not the only person or thing to be taken into consideration—USA, 1918, in a story by Harry Charles Witwer—later popularised by P. G. Wodehouse
Read More‘(as) hungry as a hunter’: meaning and origin
extremely hungry—circa 1623 as ‘(as) hungry as a huntsman’—1756 as ‘(as) hungry as a hunter’
Read More‘to live on one’s hump’: meaning and origin
late 19th century—to be self-sufficient, to operate from resources accumulated earlier—refers to the ability of a camel to survive for long periods without food or water by drawing on the store of nourishment contained in its hump
Read More‘to box Harry’: meaning and origin
UK, 1802—to go without food, or have a meagre meal, in order to save money—perhaps from the verb ‘box’, meaning: to strike with the fist, and from the male forename ‘Harry’, designating the Devil
Read More‘barmy in the crumpet’: meaning and origin
wrong in the head, crazy—British slang, 1882-83—the noun ‘crumpet’ designates the head, and the adjective ‘barmy’ means: crazy
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