the emergence of a British controversy: white-vs.-red poppy in 1933
white poppy: introduced in 1933 by the Women’s Co-operative Guild, which wanted it to be made by, and to benefit, ex-servicemen, but the British Legion refused
Read MoreTag: military
the origin of ‘Kilroy’?
Sgt Francis J. Kilroy’s surname, first written in 1943 by his friend Sgt James Maloney (source: Army Public Relations, in the Tucson Daily Citizen, 8 Nov. 1945)
Read Moreearly instances of ‘Kilroy’
first recorded at Kearns air force base and Salt Lake City, both in Utah, in June and July 1945; originally seen merely as an amusing legend
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘on the spur of the moment’
UK, 1784—elaborated on the archaic ‘on the spur’, which meant ‘in great haste’ and referred to the use of spurs to urge a horse forward
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘for the duration’
UK, 1917—originally used of the First World War, from the term of enlistment ‘for three’, or ‘four’, ‘years or for the duration of the war’
Read Moremilitary origin of ‘to save the day’
originated in the context of military engagements: ‘day’ denotes ‘a day of contest on the battlefield’ and the phrase means ‘to avert defeat in battle’
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘to take the (King’s/Queen’s) shilling’
UK, 1707—‘to take the (King’s/Queen’s) shilling’: to sign up as a soldier, from the former practice of giving a shilling to a recruit when he enlisted
Read Moreorigin of the word ‘point-blank’
1571—probably from obsolete French ‘de pointe en blanc’, used of firing into empty space for the purpose of seeing how far a piece of artillery would carry
Read Morea 19th-century document on English phrases
remarks on English phrases (‘to rain cats and dogs’, ‘tit for tat’, ‘the devil to pay’, etc.) – from Notes and Queries (London), 9th November 1861
Read Morethe authentic origin of ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’
early 17th century, with ‘the Dead Sea’ and ‘the deep sea’—originated in the image of a choice between damnation (‘the Devil’) and drowning (‘the sea’)
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