‘come (right) down to the brass’|‘come down to brass tacks’
USA—‘come (right) down to the brass’ (1854): get to the point; tackle the essentials—‘come down to brass tacks’ (1863): tackle the essentials
Read MoreTag: military
origin of the term ‘brass monkey’ (extremely cold weather)
USA, 1838—used with reference to extreme cold, extreme heat and other notions such as ridiculousness—from jocular allusions to brass statuettes of monkeys
Read Morethe figurative use of ‘bowler (hat)’: civilian life
UK, 1925—symbol of civilian life as opposed to service in the armed forces and of demobilisation or dismissal from the army
Read Morethe long history of the phrase ‘blood, sweat, and tears’
current use seems to allude to a speech by Winston Churchill in May 1940—but the metaphor goes back to the early 17th century
Read Morethe gruesome origin of the term ‘basket case’
USA, 1918—originally a soldier who had lost all four limbs during the First World War and had to be transported in a basket
Read Morerefutation of received ideas on the origin of ‘bikini’
not originally coined because of the connotation of explosiveness, but because of the connotations of pleasure, beauty and tininess
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’
sexual intercourse conducted quickly and without tenderness—originally used (USA, 1950) in the generic, neutral sense of ‘quickness’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘wigs on the green’
Ireland, 1820—violent quarrel—refers to the fact that wigs are liable to fall or to be pulled off in a fray
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘(and) the best of British luck’
UK, 1957—an expression of encouragement, but often used ironically with the opposite meaning—origin unclear
Read Moremeaning and origin of the Northern-Irish term ‘Tartan gang’
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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word histories 