origin of ‘to drop a clanger’ (to make an absurd or embarrassing blunder)
British Army slang, 1945—the image is of something dropping with a clang, i.e. with a loud resonant ringing sound.
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Anglo-Indian origin of ‘loot’ (goods stolen in war)
UK, early 19th century—private property taken from an enemy in war—originally an Anglo-Indian noun, from Hindi ‘lūṭ’, from Sanskrit ‘luṇṭh-‘, ‘to rob’—came to be also used as slang for ‘money’ and to also denote ‘wedding presents’
Read Morethe authentic origin of ‘doolally’
Four’s a Crowd.—A merry, irresponsible farce that dips frequently into pure crazy comedy. For this they have chosen to give Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland a “break” from their usual story book hero and heroine types. These two lovely young people do very well, but I cannot think that crazy comedy suits them best. […]
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