meaning and origin of ‘by a long chalk’
‘by a long chalk’: in a great degree, by far — 19th century, from the practice of using chalk to mark up the points scored in a game
Read MoreTag: Ireland
meaning and origin of the phrase ‘keep your hair on’
‘keep your hair on’ (British, late 19th century): perhaps from the image of pulling one’s hair out, or one’s wig off, in exasperation, anger or frustration
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘over the moon’
The phrase ‘over the moon’ means ‘very happy’, ‘delighted’. It seems to have originated in Ireland in the early 18th century.
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to send to Coventry’
probable origin: in 1642, during the English Civil War, Royalists had been captured at Birmingham and sent to Coventry, which was a Parliamentarian stronghold.
Read Moreorigin of ‘Gorgeous Wrecks’ (members of the Volunteer Training Corps)
‘Gorgeous Wrecks’ (UK, WWI): members of the Volunteer Training Corps, from the letters ‘G.R.’ (‘Government Recognition’) interpreted as meaning ‘Georgius Rex’
Read Moreorigin of the word ‘sneeze’
The verb ‘sneeze’ is an alteration of the obsolete verb ‘fnese’ due to misreading or misprinting it as ‘ſnese’ (= ‘snese’).
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘over the top’
‘Over the top’, which means ‘excessive’, originated as a WWI expression meaning ‘over the parapet of a trench and into battle’.
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘(with) tongue in cheek’
The phrase ‘(with) tongue in cheek’ originally referred to a sign of contempt or derision consisting in sticking one’s tongue in one’s cheek.
Read Morea hypothesis as to the origin of ‘mad as a hatter’
‘Mad as a hatter’ might be from ‘like a hatter’, an intensive phrase meaning ‘like mad’, perhaps related to the verb ‘hotter’, expressing motion and emotion.
Read Moreorigin of ‘quiz’ (“Vir bonus est quis?”)?
Originally meaning ‘person of ridiculous appearance’, ‘quiz’ (students’ slang, late 18th century) was jocularly derived from the Latin interrogative pronoun ‘quis’ in “Vir bonus est quis?” (“Who is a good man?”)—a good, ingenuous, harmless man being likely to become an object of ridicule or even of harassment.
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