‘one may as well have the game as the name’
American English, 1823—meaning: if one is falsely reputed to act in a specific manner, then one may as well act in that manner
Read MoreTag: medicine
notes on the phrase ‘social distancing’
21st century: the practice of maintaining a certain distance between oneself and other people in order to prevent infection with a disease—20th century: the practice of maintaining a degree of remoteness or emotional separation from another person or social group
Read More‘even paranoids have enemies’: meaning and origin
retort to the accusation of being paranoid (i.e., of seeing imaginary enemies)—USA, 1966—often ascribed to U.S. poet Delmore Schwartz
Read More‘look (mum, or ma), no hands!’: meaning and origin
used of something done cleverly—British and American—originated as the proud exclamation of a child riding a bicycle with no hands on the handlebars
Read More‘that Kruschen feeling’: meaning and origin
great vitality, enthusiasm and liveliness—UK, 1922—originally (from 1921 onwards) used in the advertisements for Kruschen Salts
Read More‘hell hath no fury like a woman’s corns’
Ireland, 1845: ‘hell has no fury like a woman corned’—puns on ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’, which refers to Congreve’s ‘The Mourning Bride’ (1697)
Read More‘protocol, alcohol and Geritol’: original meaning
USA, 1959—a summary of social life in Washington DC, especially for aged men—attributed by columnist Betty Beale to Columbia University President Grayson Kirk
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to grow hair on a billiard ball’
to achieve the impossible—USA, 1881—originally and chiefly used with reference to hair loss treatment
Read More‘damaged goods’ and venereal disease
1911—‘Damaged Goods’, translation of ‘Les Avariés’, by French dramatist Eugène Brieux, about the dangers of ignorance concerning sexually transmitted diseases
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘every picture tells a story’
used of images suggestive of real or imaginary events—UK and USA early 1900s: popularised by its use as an advertising slogan for Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills
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word histories 