‘sitting duck’: meaning and origin
an easy target, i.e., a person who, or thing that, is defenceless against an attack or other danger—first used in 1936 & 1937 by the Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair
Read MoreTag: H. G. Wells
origin of the phrase ‘the bitch goddess’ (material success)
11 September 1906 in a letter addressed to the English novelist H. G. Wells by the American philosopher and psychologist William James
Read Moremeanings and history of the British-English phrase ‘to drop a brick’
UK, 1920—to commit a blunder; to make a tactless or indiscreet remark—meaning obscure in some early uses
Read More
word histories 