the origin of ‘to pull the wool over someone’s eyes’?
‘to pull the wool over someone’s eyes’, US, 1830s—perhaps from sheep farming: the hair that grows around a sheep’s eyes can get into them and blind the animal.
Read MoreTag: human body
the long history of the word ‘blues’
‘blues’—from ‘blue’ (‘sorrowful’) and elliptically from ‘blue devils’ (‘depression’)—originally a metaphorical use of ‘blue’ (‘bruised’), as in ‘black and blue’
Read Morethe rise of the ‘pin-up girl’
‘pin-up’—US, 1941, in ‘pin-up girl’, denoting a woman being the subject of a picture that a serviceman displays on a locker-door, on a wall, etc.
Read Morethe authentic origin of ‘to turn a blind eye’
early 19th century—shortening of ‘to turn the deaf ear and the blind eye’ and variants
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘warts and all’
said to have originated in Oliver Cromwell’s instructions to the painter Peter Lely to represent him as he truly was, without concealing his blemishes
Read Moremeaning and early instances of the phrase ‘tooth fairy’
‘tooth fairy’—USA, 1908: a fairy believed by children to take away milk teeth and leave a small sum of money or a small gift under the child’s pillow
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘ivory tower’ (‘tour d’ivoire’)
1837—used by Sainte-Beuve to describe French poet Vigny’s seclusion in a turret room and preoccupation with inspiration unconnected with practical matters
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘a nod is as good as a wink’
‘a nod’s as good as a wink (to a blind horse)’ 18th century—acknowledges that a hint or suggestion has been understood without the need of further elaboration
Read More‘itchy feet’, ‘itching palm’: restless desires
As qualifiers of nouns denoting bodily organs, ‘itchy’ and ‘itching’ denote a restless desire—‘itchy feet’, US, 1900s—‘itching palm’, Shakespeare, circa 1599
Read More‘bad hair day’ (when everything seems to go badly)
US, 1990s—a day on which one’s hair is unmanageable, hence a day on which everything seems to go wrong, a period of unusual agitation, frustration or uneasiness
Read More
word histories 