‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’: meaning and origin
USA, 1962—if something is successful, effective or not obviously defective, there is no need to change or replace it
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‘to burn one’s bridges behind one’: meaning and origin
to commit oneself to a course from which there is no retreat—U.S. politics, 1852—from a military tactic in which an army cuts off its means of retreat by destroying the route by which it might be pursued
Read More‘oo-la-la land’: meaning and origin
a humorous appellation for France—USA, 1921—‘oo-la-la’ (from the French interjection ‘oh là là’) is stereotypically associated with France
Read More‘to flap one’s gums’: meaning and origin
to chatter, i.e., to talk continuously about things regarded as trivial or unimportant—USA, 1940
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‘zip-lipped’: meanings and origin
having the lips tightly closed—hence, figuratively: uncommunicative, determinedly reticent—USA, 1942—refers to the noun ‘zip’, designating a fastening device
Read More‘hair-triggered’: meanings and origin
literally (UK, 1803): of a firearm: equipped with a hair trigger—hence, figuratively (Ireland, 1853): reacting immediately to the slightest provocation or cause
Read More‘the white man’s grave’: meaning and origin
Sierra Leone, a former British colony in West Africa, and, by extension, equatorial West Africa in general—UK, 1833—refers to the high mortality rate among white colonisers of the region
Read More‘to throw away the scabbard’: meaning and origin
to abandon all thought of making peace—1658—originally in the proverb ‘who draws his sword against his prince, must throw away the scabbard’ and variants
Read More‘cakehole’: meaning and origin
a person’s mouth—British-Army slang, 1916
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