‘cheese-eating/tea-drinking surrender monkeys’
‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’: the French people (USA, 1995) from The Simpsons—‘tea-drinking surrender monkeys’: the British people (Ireland, 2004)
Read MoreTag: military
meaning and possible origin of ‘the (dog’s) bollocks’
UK, 1980s—the very best—perhaps from ‘it sticks out like a dog’s ballocks’, denoting something obvious, hence someone or something that sticks out from the rest
Read Moremeaning and origin of the British phrase ‘a racing dog’s bollocks’
UK, 1988—used in similes to denote something that protrudes—originated in British military slang
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to go commando’
USA, 1974—to wear no underpants—originated in university slang—perhaps because commandos wear no underpants in order to prevent crotch rot and rashes
Read Moremeaning and possible origin of ‘to push the boat out’
UK, 1915—to be lavish in one’s celebrations or spending—Army and Navy slang: to buy a round of drinks—’a boat’ might be metaphorical for ‘a glass’ (i.e., ‘a drink’)
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘Dunkirk spirit’
1940 as ‘spirit of Dunkirk’—determination to endure hardship—refers to the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in May/June 1940
Read Morethe military origin of the adjective ‘last-ditch’
UK, 1845: made as a last desperate attempt—from the 18th-century phrase ‘to die in the last ditch’, ‘ditch’ denoting a defensive entrenchment
Read More‘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 Moreorigin 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
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