‘to take one’s courage in both hands’: meaning and origin
to muster up all one’s courage—UK, 1830—probably a calque of the French phrase ‘prendre son courage à deux mains’
Read MoreTag: Ireland
‘curtain-twitching’ | ‘curtain-twitcher’
used of a person who likes to observe other people’s activities from his or her window, in a furtive and prying manner—UK and Ireland, 1940
Read More‘cupboard love’: meaning and origin
love or affection insincerely professed or displayed as a means of gaining a benefit or advantage—circa 1665—the image is of love given in return for food from a cupboard
Read More‘what can you expect from a hog but a grunt?’: meaning and early occurrences
meaning: a person cannot be expected to behave in a manner that is not in their character—numerous variants—first recorded in 1731 as ‘If we petition a Hog, what can we expect but a grunt’
Read More‘to drive pigs (to market)’: meaning and origin
to snore—UK, 1828—this phrase likens a person’s snoring to the sound made by a herd of pigs
Read More‘please the pigs’: meaning and early occurrences
meaning: if circumstances permit, if all is well—first recorded in 1683—of unknown origin
Read More‘to drop — like a hot potato’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1815—to abandon a person or undertaking hastily, especially when they become controversial or difficult to handle, as a hot potato is
Read More‘prunes and prism(s)’: meaning and origin
a prim or affected facial expression or manner of speaking; affected mannerisms, superficial accomplishments—originally, in Little Dorrit (1857), by Charles Dickens, a phrase spoken aloud in order to form the lips into an attractive shape
Read More‘not to be just a pretty face’: meaning and early occurrences
to have qualities other than mere attractiveness, especially intelligence—UK, 1955—paradoxically, in early use, often employed in a sexist manner
Read More‘to extract the Michael’: meaning and origin
humorous—a polite variant of the informal phrase to ‘take the mickey out of’, meaning ‘to tease or ridicule’—UK, 1956
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