‘the (little) man in the boat’: meaning and origin
UK, 1896—the clitoris—likens the clitoris, placed between the inner labia of the vulva, to a person in a boat
Read MoreTag: judicial
meaning and origin of the British noun ‘fly-tipping’
1947—the unauthorised dumping of waste, especially while in the process of transporting it—‘fly’ refers to ‘on the fly’, meaning ‘while in motion or progress’—‘tipping’ is the gerund of the verb ‘tip’, in the sense ‘to dump’
Read More‘T.W.O.C’: meaning and sociological background
UK, 1972—the offence of taking a car without the owner’s consent, especially for the purpose of joyriding, which was a social phenomenon prevalent in north-eastern England—acronym for ‘taking without owner’s consent’
Read Morehistory of ‘piece of work’ (unpleasant person)
literal meaning, 1473: something produced or manufactured—1534: an arduous task—1810: a commotion, a fuss—1623: ‘a filthy piece of work’ is applied to a person in Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
Read More‘the order of the boot’: meaning and origin
dismissal from employment—UK, 1882, as ‘the noble order of the boot’—‘the boot’ refers to kicking somebody out—the phrase puns on two acceptations of ‘order’: an authoritative command and an institution founded for the purpose of honouring meritorious conduct
Read More‘the whole caboodle’: meaning and origin
USA, 1839—the whole group or set of people, animals or things—origin unknown—perhaps from the Dutch expression ‘de hele kit en boedel’, meaning ‘the entire house and everything in it’
Read More‘in a cleft stick’: meaning and origin
UK, 1710—in a situation in which any action one takes will have adverse consequences—‘cleft’, past participle of the verb ‘cleave’, means ‘split in two to a certain depth’—the image is of one being squeezed between the stick’s prongs
Read More‘Hollywood ending’: meanings and origin
USA, 1927—a conventional film ending, regarded as sentimental or simplistic, and often featuring an improbably positive outcome—by extension: an improbably positive outcome to a real-life situation
Read More‘Malabar Hilton’: meaning and early occurrences
Australia, 1982—a familiar name given to the Long Bay Correctional Complex, a correctional facility located in Malabar, Sydney, New South Wales
Read More‘bush telegraph’: meanings and origin
Australia, 1863—originally referred to any chain of communications by which bushrangers were warned of police movements—soon extended to any rapid informal network by which information, rumour, gossip, etc., is spread
Read More