‘platinum blonde’: meanings and origin
USA, 1927: a woman with a silvery-blonde hair colour—USA, 1930: specifically applied to Jean Harlow—also (USA, 1927) ‘platinum’: a silvery-blonde hair colour
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‘hollow legs’: meaning and origin
USA, 1866—the capacity to eat or drink a lot without ill effects
Read More‘to pee on a stick’: meanings and origin
USA & UK, 1995—to take a pregnancy test of a type involving urinating on a disposable plastic stick which immediately indicates the result—also, more generally: to take any of various other diagnostic tests of this type
Read More‘rabbit punch’: meaning and origin
UK, 1911—a sharp blow to the back of the neck—refers to the practice of killing rabbits in this way, and originated in boxing—Australia, 1913: ‘rabbit killer’, also ‘rabbit-killer punch’
Read More‘from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’: meaning and origin
wealth gained in one generation of a family will be lost by the third generation—USA, 1874—refers to a hard-working man wearing a shirt with nothing over it
Read More‘from clogs to clogs in three generations’: meaning and origin
wealth gained in one generation of a family will be lost by the third generation—UK, 1842, as “there is but one generation in Lancashire between clog and clog”—refers to clogs being typically worn by factory workers
Read MoreIs ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’?
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read More‘ashtray breath’: meaning and origin
foul-smelling breath caused by smoking—USA, 1931, in advertisements for Old Golds, a U.S. brand of cigarettes
Read More‘information fatigue’: meaning and early occurrences
1988, Australia & USA—apathy, indifference or mental exhaustion arising from exposure to too much information—especially stress induced by the attempt to assimilate excessive amounts of information from the media, the Internet or at work
Read More‘hen’s milk’: meaning and origin
UK, 1793—a drink made from an egg yolk whisked into warm water, used as a remedy for colds—loan translation from French ‘lait de poule’ (1746)
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