‘to smoke like a chimney’: meaning and origin
to smoke tobacco very heavily —UK, 1824, as “smoking away like the chimney of the King of the Netherlands”
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original meaning of ‘dead man’s float’
a floating position, used as a survival technique, consisting in lying on one’s back in the water—UK, 1841
Read More‘skull-bucket’: meaning and origin
USA, 1968: colloquial humorous appellation for a crash-helmet—also, USA, 1942: protective head-covering worn by soldiers
Read More‘milk-bar cowboy’: meaning and origin
a young man who, as part of a motorcycle gang, congregates in or around a milk bar—New Zealand, 1951—such gangs congregate there because milk bars stay open long after the shops are shut
Read More‘to poison the wellspring’: meaning and origin
to corrupt the very essence (of something)—UK, early 19th century—has particularly been used in theological contexts
Read More‘reasonable force’: meaning and origin
UK, 1809—the level of physical force deemed appropriate or justifiable by law in protecting oneself or one’s family or property; also: in apprehending a criminal suspect or preventing a crime
Read More‘kerb-crawl’: meaning and origin
to drive slowly along the edge of a road (UK, 1924)—specifically: with the intention of soliciting people for casual sexual activity (Canada, 1926)
Read More‘scumbag’: meanings and origin
USA, 1953: a base, despicable person—from ‘scumbag’ in the sense of ‘a condom’ (here, the noun ‘scum’ is slang for ‘semen’)
Read More‘to get off one’s bike’: meaning and origin
to get excited, annoyed, angry—Australia, 1923—maybe based on the image of a person who, while riding a bicycle, gets provoked by another person: the cyclist would then dismount and respond to the provocator
Read More‘Kafoops’: meanings and origin
(chiefly humorous): a non-specific or hypothetical person, or a person whose name is unknown, forgotten or withheld—Australia, 1902—apparently an arbitrary formation
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