meanings and origin of the phrases ‘dry/wet behind the ears’
USA, 1802 and 1851—translations from German—apparently from the idea that the area behind the ears is the last part to become dry after birth
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linguistic notes on the ‘one’ in ‘alone’ and ‘only’
Why is the element one in words such as alone and only not pronounced like the numeral one? Both the indefinite article an (a before consonant) and the numeral one are from Old English ān—which has survived in Scotland as ane, used both as indefinite article and as numeral. This Old-English word ān meant a/an, one, […]
Read Morethe German origin of the phrase ‘to throw the baby out with the bathwater’
mid-19th century—loan translation from German ‘das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten’ (to empty out the child with the bath), early 16th century
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to paper over the cracks’
to use a temporary expedient—UK, 1889—origin attributed to Prussian statesman Bismarck in a letter written during the negotiations of the Convention of Gastein (1865)
Read Moreorigin of ‘double Dutch’ and ‘High Dutch’ (‘gibberish’)
‘double Dutch’, 19th century—from ‘Dutch’ in the sense of a language that few people can speak, and ‘double’ as a mere intensifier—‘High Dutch’, 17th century—loan translation from French ‘haut allemand’ (= ‘High German’), used in the sense of gibberish
Read Moreorigin of ‘Dutch treat’ and ‘to go Dutch’
USA—‘to go Dutch’ (1907): to have every participant pay their own expenses, or share expenses equally—via ‘to go Dutch treat’ (1887), from ‘Dutch treat’ (1873): a meal, etc., at which each participant pays their share of the expenses—from a German practice
Read More‘better red than dead’ – ‘better dead than red’
During the Cold War, especially in the context of a possible nuclear war, ‘better red than dead’ was used to warn against uncompromising opposition to communism, while ‘better dead than red’ was used to express unconditional opposition to communism.
Read MoreHow ‘blue Monday’ came to denote a gloomy Monday.
A calque of German ‘blauer Montag’, ‘blue Monday’ originally denoted a Monday on which people chose not to work as a result of excessive indulgence over the course of the weekend. Under the influence of the adjective ‘blue’ in the sense ‘dismal’, it came to denote a Monday that is depressing or trying.
Read Moreorigin of ‘dada’ (‘hobby’) and ‘Dada’ (artistic movement)
The 1776 French translation of Laurence Sterne’s ‘The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy’ gave to French ‘dada’, a child’s noun for ‘horse’, the figurative meaning of ‘favourite pastime’ or ‘pet idea’.
Read More‘hobby’, originally a diminutive of ‘Hob’, pet form of ‘Robert’
‘Hobby’, diminutive of ‘Hob’, pet form of ‘Robert’, was used to denote a small horse, hence a child’s toy with a horse’s head, hence a favourite occupation—cf. French ‘dada’, child’s word for horse, used to denote a favourite pastime
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