origin of the phrases containing ‘mustard’
The various phrases containing the word ‘mustard’ are based on the image of something which adds heat or pungency.
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the supposed origin of ‘to have one’s work cut out’: tailoring
supposedly an allusion to the preparation of fabric to be worked on: once the shapes have been cut out, the tailor still has a lot of sewing to do
Read More‘proud as a louse’ and other linguistic notes on ‘Punchinello’
Several English and French words and phrases are ultimately derived the Latin noun ‘pullus’, meaning ‘young animal’, in particular ‘young fowl’.
Read Morethe probable origin of ‘one over the eight’ (‘one drink too many’)
UK, 1919—possibly a mere euphemism for having too much to drink, regardless of the actual number of drinks that have been consumed (‘eight’ probably arbitrary)
Read Morethe mistaken origin of ‘white elephant’ in the Oxford English Dictionary
refers to the rarity of white elephants and to the story that the king of Pegu waged war on the king of Siam, who had refused to sell him one
Read More‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’: origin
from the observation made by the soldier Marcellus in ‘Hamlet’, by Shakespeare, when the eponymous character is following the ghost of his father
Read Moreorigin of ‘flash in the pan’ and of the French verb ‘rater’
‘flash in the pan’: originally referred to the priming gunpowder flaring up in the flash-pan without then exploding the main charge in the barrel of a firearm
Read Moreorigin of the British phrase ‘to go for a burton’
to meet with disaster; to be ruined, destroyed or killed—UK, 1941, RAF slang: (of an airman) to be killed—perhaps from ‘to go for a drink (of Burton ale)’
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘j’accuse’
1899—public accusation in response to a perceived injustice—from the title of an open letter (1898) by Émile Zola, condemning the imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus
Read More‘to take the mickey out of someone’: meaning and origin
UK, 1891—‘to take the mickey (or ‘the mike’) out of’: ‘to tease or ridicule’—probably after ‘Mickey (or ‘Mike’) Bliss’, rhyming slang for ‘piss’
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