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Tag: Lancashire

‘God help those who are caught helping themselves’

29th Jul 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

addition to proverb ‘God helps those who help themselves’—USA, UK and Australia, late 19th century—originated as a warning to shoplifters

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a British phrase: ‘(there’s) trouble at t’mill’

15th May 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

1955—originated in stage plays purporting to depict life in northern England, particularly in Lancashire—‘mill’: a factory

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notes on the British phrase ‘some mothers do have ’em’

24th Sep 2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

1941—expresses exasperation or derision at a clumsy, erratic or idiotic person—popularised by Jimmy Clitheroe in his radio programme The Clitheroe Kid (1958-72)

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘all-singing, all-dancing’

12th Mar 2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

UK, 1959—having every desirable feature possible—from ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ as used in the billing given to film or stage musical productions

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the birth of some 19th-century advertising catchphrases

27th Jan 2019.Reading time 18 minutes.

the origin of some famous catchphrases used in 19th-century advertising campaigns

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meaning and origin of the phrase ‘(and) the best of British luck’

22nd Jan 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

UK, 1957—an expression of encouragement, but often used ironically with the opposite meaning—origin unclear

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meaning and origin of the Northern-Irish term ‘Tartan gang’

15th Jan 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

1971—any of the Protestant street gangs of young men in Northern Ireland—from their traditional support of Glasgow Rangers Football Club

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meaning and origin of the football term ‘Tartan army’

15th Jan 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

England, 1971—(informal, humorous) the fans of the Scottish football team, considered as a group

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meaning and origin of the British phrase ‘big girl’s blouse’

20th Oct 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

1969—a weak, cowardly or oversensitive man—analogy between a cowardly man “in a flap” and an oversize garment hanging loose, fluttering

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origin and meanings of ‘dreaming spires’

12th Sep 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

the city or university of Oxford; the sheltered condition of unworldly academics—from the poem ‘Thyrsis’ (1866), by Matthew Arnold

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