‘not to put a foot wrong’: meaning and origin
to make no mistakes at all—UK, 1864—this phrase was originally used of racehorses and hunting horses
Read MoreTag: Ireland
‘Black Hole of Calcutta’: meaning and origin
an oppressive, very confined or crowded space—UK, 1764—refers to the punishment cell at Fort William, Calcutta, in which, in 1756, the Nawab of Bengal reputedly confined British and Anglo-Indian prisoners
Read More‘bonkbuster’: meaning and origin
a type of popular novel characterised by frequent explicit descriptions of sexual encounters between the characters—from ‘bonk’, referring to sexual intercourse, and ‘blockbuster’—UK, 1988—perhaps coined by Sue Limb
Read More‘to go home in an ambulance’: meaning and origin
to get a severe beating—popularised in UK & Ireland in the 2nd half of the 20th century through its use in chants by supporters at Association-Football matches, chiefly to threaten opposing away supporters
Read More‘blood wagon’: meaning and origin
UK—an ambulance (i.e., a vehicle designed to carry sick or injured people)—originally (Royal Air Force slang, 1921): a specially equipped airplane for carrying sick or injured people
Read More‘grass widower’: meaning and origin
a married man living apart from his wife—UK, 1822—coined after ‘grass widow’
Read More‘Frankenstein’s monster’: meaning and origin
also ‘Frankenstein’—a creation over which the creator loses control, eventually being destroyed by it—UK, 1822—alludes to ‘Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus’ (1818), by Mary Shelley
Read More‘to (play) hide the sausage’: meaning and origin
to have sexual intercourse—UK, Ireland and Australia, second half of the 20th century—here, the noun ‘sausage’ denotes the penis
Read More‘to extract the urine’: meaning and origin
humorous—a polite variant of the slang phrase to ‘take the piss out of’, meaning ‘to tease or ridicule’—Ireland, 1987
Read More‘glutton for punishment’: meaning and origin
a person who seems eager to take on difficult or unpleasant tasks—UK, 1829—originally, in pugilistic slang, a fighter who “takes a deal of punishment before he is satisfied”
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