“ad fontes!”
real events and situations are often more remarkable or incredible than those made up in fiction—first occurred as ‘truth is always strange, stranger than fiction’ in Don Juan (1823), by George Gordon Byron
Read Moresmartly dressed—from the verb ‘fig out/up’, meaning ‘to smarten up’—this verb is probably an alteration of the verb ‘feague’, of uncertain origin, meaning ‘to make (a horse) lively’
Read Moreto be glad of minor benefits, especially in an otherwise unpleasant or troublesome situation—first recorded in The Heart of Midlothian (1818), by Walter Scott
Read MoreUK, 1999—refers to ‘Waiting for Godot’, a play by Samuel Beckett—absurd phrase, since the titular character never appears in the play—always occurs in association with the phrase ‘Hamlet without the Prince’
Read Morean 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 Morealso ‘to be all thumbs’—to be extremely clumsy (i.e., lacking in manual dexterity)—19th century—variants of the original phrase ‘each finger is a thumb’, already proverbial in the mid-16th century
Read Morea married man living apart from his wife—UK, 1822—coined after ‘grass widow’
Read Moreto intimidate somebody—UK, from 1958 onwards in books by Frank Norman (1930-1980)—also, the noun ‘frightener’ designates a member of a criminal gang who intimidates the victims of its activities
Read More‘raspberry’: a rude sound (suggestive of breaking wind) made by blowing with the tongue between the lips, as an expression of mockery or contempt—UK, 1888—‘raspberry’ (short for ‘raspberry tart’): rhyming slang for ‘fart’
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a woman regarded as an object of sexual desire—UK, 1895—from ‘crackling’, denoting the crisp skin or rind of roast pork
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word histories 